Bad Travel Karma

My bad travel karma continues. I did OK getting the four blocks to the rental car company -- I had decided to drive to DC based on traveling on Good Friday and thinking the train could be a mob scene... so it was a long wait for my car, during which time this irate customer left over from Saturday came to speak with a manager and he got no car and was still pissed off.

The rental car woman sort of blew him off in a way that would have angered me, saying he had to call customer service. Then she says to him that you should always make two reservations, one with Dollar and one with another company. I know she was trying to be helpful and it's probably good advice, but come on, folks. She said especially if you rent on a summer weekend. Something to think about. She was saying it trying to be helpful.

So off I went only to be stopped dead on the NJ Turnpike... ALL LANES CLOSED... due to an accident. I sat with the car in Park and actually took a nap... put my head back and closed my eyes, thinking somebody will honk if the traffic starts moving. That was about two hours.

When I stopped to get something to eat, I saw an ATM and I had about $80 but I was trying to de-stress and decided to get more money so I wouldn't have to think about it. Used the ATM to get $200.

All I got was a receipt, no money, and the machine went out of order. No one could help me, until finally they called the manager of the whole place (rest stop on the turnpike) who just off-handedly told me he could do nothing, it's not their machine, take it up with my bank. I hate that. Clearly the turnpike authority gets something from this ATM machine, but I didn't argue. And rather than calling Citibank right then and there, I'm going to send a email message from Citibank's electronic banking website tonight.

It was a long trip -- and this place is a strange location -- National Harbor so I wasn't really sure where I was going -- kept alternating between wanting to stop to go to the toilet and thinking just get to the hotel. When I pulled up to the hotel, I hate the way they attack the car...by that I mean the doormen and luggage carriers. This is a huge place, checked in, nice room... and I was in my room for about 45 minutes when there was a knock on the door. My client sent me a fruit and cheese platter, some soda, a bottle of wine, two bottles of fancy water. Very nice. So I just had that for dinner. The platter came with this dipping sauce of honey. I'm not sure if it was for the fruit or the cheese, but I dipped the cheese in it. It came with this really lovely note so as I'm sitting there enjoying it, I had that feeling of "return to feeling like a human" come over me. So all's well that ends well. Now it's on to Citibank. That's happened to me once before -- about 30 years ago.