Spinning My Wheels

This is how time gets eaten up... I needed to make a car reservation for an upcoming trip. As I've written about, there's a rental place two doors down from where I live. I incorrectly remembered this rental car place as Dollar. So I go to Dollar to make a reservation and there's no location on my block. Look and look and wonder if it's just that there's no cars or if there's no location. So I call Dollar only to be told (after the annoying phone tree) that they "no longer have a location on East 87th St." So I get all upset and go back to see which other rental car company is the most convenient with the best rate etc and I'm taking notes...

Then it occurs to me that maybe it isn't Dollar, so I  check Budget, and there's my location. So I make that reservation on line, all relieved, but when the confirmation comes, it has my last name only as L...Patricia L....I try to "modify" the reservation but it won't change the name.

Back to the annoying phone tree and I call Budget and then I get the Indian lady named Chelsea. Sure, that's your name... who tells me that my last name *is* on the reservation, even though it doesn't show. Fine. I even confirmed the reservation number with her and so all appears to be well.

Meanwhile, I had received from my brokerage house this "you must reply" with the 12-page brochure in fine type about some offer and I have until February 25th to give my decision... but I MUST reply or else they come kill me or something. I tried to understand the offer (really) but finally called my broker who I guess took yesterday off as President's Day. As soon as I hung up with Budget, he called me. He didn't know anything about this offer. I read parts of it to him... He put me on hold for about five minutes, comes back and tells me to junk it as the offer has since been withdrawn. Nice waste of time.

I tell myself I should be happy that *my* rental car place is still there, and I can cross two things off my list, but, man, the hoops we have to jump through just to accomplish simple things!