In and Out

Part III:

So, we're finally in the airport, on our way to...Adventure!

Actually, we're on our way to get our rental car. Luckily there's no lineup at the counter, which is odd for me, because I've only ever rented cars in Florida before, and there's ALWAYS a huge lineup there in the Spring.

So we tell the lady at the counter our names for the reservation, and she says "Can I see a credit card please?", and my wife responds "well, it's pre-paid", and she's like "Can I see a credit card please??", and my wife pulls out a piece of paper, from the company, that says "don't show the counter people your credit card until after you've shown them this piece of paper with the confirmation # first". And she thus responds with "Mame, show me your credit card, or you won't get a rental car!". So we finally do, always having planned to, but just doing what the company told us to do, and then the woman behind the counter switches to all fake nice "What brings you to Arizona? Oh, a wedding? That'll be fun" "S'hup bitch, give us our wheels".

Anyway, that brings me another annoyance. Rental car companies telling you exactly what car they're going to give you when you place your reservation, only to always give you a different car when you're there. If you're just giving a holding spot for a midsize sedan, just say "midsize sedan", not specifically "Chevy S-Series, 2004 with 4 doors and it likes to be called Steve, once it trusts you". And they always look confused when you ask why you're not getting the car it says you're getting, but a much lower quality model. The excuse this time was "But...we don't have any of those kinds". It'd be like if I ordered a sandwich at a restaurant, the waiter goes "Great, I'll be right out with it", and then brings you fried chicken, and says "Well, it's roughly the same size. Take it or you won't get to eat," and then looks confused when you ask why you didn't get a sandwich.

Well, maybe not exactly like that, but I'm hungry.

So we get our car, and get the air conditioning going, because it's June in Arizona, and I'm a Canadian.

Then we go check in at our hotel, which seems alright, but has WAY too much staff in the hallway compared to guests, who seem to stare at us really intently all the way down the hallway, until we get close, and then say "Oh, hi!". The hotel is confusing, so we ended up parking far away from our room, but we only took small suitcases (carry-ons only, so there's no problems with losing baggage or checking them in at the airport. Saves much time.), and we're a hearty crew, so we get there alright.

Before we go for lunch, I go check where the ice machine is at, because that's very important. Right beside the ice machine is what looks to be an open door to a closet, but instead is an open door to some guy's sad little office, and he just stares out the door, and anyone who is getting ice near his sad little office. I decide to go up one floor in the future to get ice.

...and the vacation continues from there.