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Sunday, March 13, 2005
Things you don't hear about everyday
It amazes me the things you hear on the news. For instance, the only time you really hear about a drunk driver being pulled over, is when he is famous. Today, I heard something on the San Diego news that was unbelievable in a sense. There was a family that was celebrating their 2 year old's birthday party. It was a great party. They had food, family, games, as well as a huge inflatable slide. The boy's father and uncle decided to start cleaning up the back yard a bit, I guess so the kids could run around. If you've every seen San Diego housing, you know there is not a whole lot of yard to play in, especially after having the slide brought in. Anyhow, they start to move a flower pot, and out from under the pot comes out something you wouldn't normally see. Now, you may be thinking a bug, a snake, or anything like that. But, what really came out was a rusty round object. The father thought it looked like a grenade. They go and call the police, who immediately sent out the bomb squad. Have you ever heard of The Bomb Squad coming to a birthday party. I've never invited them to mine. The squad identified the object as a grenade used in Vietnam. The squad then took the grenade, attached a few wires to it, and tried to find out if it was still live. They took it to a safe area, and tried to detinate it. It worked. the grenade left a large crack in the concrete it was placed on. If I looked at it right. They had first placed it inside a case of some sort. It looked a lot like a briefcase. The family had only lived there about a year. They think that the former owner was a Vietnam Veteran. Now, let's just think about this. I don't usually view myself as the type to raise the "what if..." questions (a matter of opinion. yours may differ. Let me know.), but I had to in this cased, especially since the news reporter did. Let's say they didn't find the grenade when they did. Well, in just a few weeks this chilodren would be meeting once again for another party,...Easter. They would then have an Easter Egg Hunt, where the children would look around the yard for eggs. If you have ever hidden Easter Eggs in your yard for your children, you know that a common place to hide eggs is in or around flower pots. Had the children found it, do you think they would have become curious, and tried to open it? You never know. Thank God it was found before that happened. Make it a great day.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
The Card
Well, the flight was pretty good. It felt like it took forever. The last time I flew, I had a CD player that I could use. I also had a book to read, but who wants to do that, when you’re thousands of miles in the air looking at the beautiful scenery. It’s a whole different world up there. But that’s another story. As long as the flight was, it is hard to believe that it was about 45 minutes EARLY. After the flight, the next stop was to get my rental car. I really didn’t worry about it too much. After all, I had a “Corporate Card”. What could go wrong, when you have a “Corporate Card”? Nothing, right? WRONG!!! So I get to Hertz, thinking I was going to have to wait a while to get a car. I walk in, and the only person in line is the guy that rode the shuttle with me. He walks faster than I do, and he only had 2 bags, as opposed to my 4. What!!!... I had 2 check-ins, my carry on, and my laptop. Besides, my check-ins weren’t that big… Anyhow, I waited for what seemed like forever for him to get done (about 2 minutes). Well, Julia calls me to the counter. She seemed nice, and appeared to know what was going on. I told her that I had a reservation. She takes my last name, and boom she finds my file. I thought, “This is great”. Finally she asks me the big question, “What kind of car do you want, Mr. Allar?” Like I really cared. She shows me about 4 11x17 sheets with several different types of cars on them. I told her that the main thing I needed was a NeverLost GPS Navigation System (Yes, NeverLost is one word, I THINK.) That’s when it happened. A strong wind, maybe even a tornado, came through, or something, because the next thing I knew, all of the sheets were gone!!!
She informed me that they didn’t have any mid-sized cars with a GPS. I thought, “But I Have A Corporate Card!!” She looked for Economy sized cars…Nothing. She tried Full Sized cars…Nothing. I asked if my reservations included a GPS, thinking that someone else had messed up, when making them. Sure enough, the GPS was on my reservation. “Why can’t I have one?” I thought. Suddenly she informs me that she has a “Volvo”, but it will cost me $280 more a week. OUCH!!! All this, because they couldn’t fulfill my reservations. She said she would cut it down to $180 per week, since they didn’t have my car. I had to take it. I mean could you imagine me wandering around San Diego trying to find out where I was? That would not be a good thing. She gives me all of the papers for the “Volvo”. The “Volvo” just so happened to be the furthest car away from the building. It was in stall #634 out of 638. As I approach the car, I get a bad feeling. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I finally get to stall #634, only to find a gray Ford Mustang. Trying to be optimistic, I say well this could work. Then I remember she specifically wrote “VOLVO” on my papers. There’s no way it would pass for a “Volvo”, when I took it through the gate. Had I tried to take it (the keys were it in, by the way), the only gate I would go through would be the one to my cell. That wasn’t happenin’, No Sir. So I go from the last stall, ALL THE WAY BACK INSIDE. Did I mention I was carrying 4 bags? The attendant helped me a bit, when I told him my dilemma. He said, “Uhh…Go back inside, and tell her it ain’t there.” Gee thanks. So I did. She sees me walking up while she is assisting another customer, and asks, “Is something wrong?” that gave a warm fuzzy feeling, I’ll tell you. I said the “Volvo” is a Mustang. Of course her reply was “I hate when they do this to me.” Then she asks the next good question, “Did you look around at the other stalls to see if it was there?” I just smiled, and said, “Yes, and it is a Mustang”. Back to the counter we go. Except, this time she is still dealing with the other guy, so can you guess what I have to do? Yep… I have to wait. There were other lines open, so I could have gone right to the counter, but she was the one that assisted me before. So I had to wait on her. Finally, she finishes with him, tells me to hold on a second, because she sees a car that may have a GPS. So I wait. What did she find? NO GPS… She starts calling other people. I overheard her ask if they had an SUV, a Jaguar (Sweet), or anything with a GPS. They told her no. Oh…Wait a minute, they DO have a car!!! They had Ford Taurus, which is a full sized car, but it has a GPS. Of course, I take it. If you remember, I got charged for a “Volvo” earlier. Julia, let’s me know that she is going to help me out. She took $50 whole dollars off of the “Volvo” price, because I had to walk back in. I asked if that was per day. Can you believe she laughed at me? Anyhow, I took the car. I ask her what I had to do to become a Gold Member. She decides she would sign me up, and waive the $50 registration fee. Hey that’s $100 off. Things are looking better. She then kindly tells me, “Your car should be here any minute. You’ll just have to wait a few minutes. Story of my life…What can I say? It’s Got To Be…”The Card”. Enjoy.
She informed me that they didn’t have any mid-sized cars with a GPS. I thought, “But I Have A Corporate Card!!” She looked for Economy sized cars…Nothing. She tried Full Sized cars…Nothing. I asked if my reservations included a GPS, thinking that someone else had messed up, when making them. Sure enough, the GPS was on my reservation. “Why can’t I have one?” I thought. Suddenly she informs me that she has a “Volvo”, but it will cost me $280 more a week. OUCH!!! All this, because they couldn’t fulfill my reservations. She said she would cut it down to $180 per week, since they didn’t have my car. I had to take it. I mean could you imagine me wandering around San Diego trying to find out where I was? That would not be a good thing. She gives me all of the papers for the “Volvo”. The “Volvo” just so happened to be the furthest car away from the building. It was in stall #634 out of 638. As I approach the car, I get a bad feeling. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I finally get to stall #634, only to find a gray Ford Mustang. Trying to be optimistic, I say well this could work. Then I remember she specifically wrote “VOLVO” on my papers. There’s no way it would pass for a “Volvo”, when I took it through the gate. Had I tried to take it (the keys were it in, by the way), the only gate I would go through would be the one to my cell. That wasn’t happenin’, No Sir. So I go from the last stall, ALL THE WAY BACK INSIDE. Did I mention I was carrying 4 bags? The attendant helped me a bit, when I told him my dilemma. He said, “Uhh…Go back inside, and tell her it ain’t there.” Gee thanks. So I did. She sees me walking up while she is assisting another customer, and asks, “Is something wrong?” that gave a warm fuzzy feeling, I’ll tell you. I said the “Volvo” is a Mustang. Of course her reply was “I hate when they do this to me.” Then she asks the next good question, “Did you look around at the other stalls to see if it was there?” I just smiled, and said, “Yes, and it is a Mustang”. Back to the counter we go. Except, this time she is still dealing with the other guy, so can you guess what I have to do? Yep… I have to wait. There were other lines open, so I could have gone right to the counter, but she was the one that assisted me before. So I had to wait on her. Finally, she finishes with him, tells me to hold on a second, because she sees a car that may have a GPS. So I wait. What did she find? NO GPS… She starts calling other people. I overheard her ask if they had an SUV, a Jaguar (Sweet), or anything with a GPS. They told her no. Oh…Wait a minute, they DO have a car!!! They had Ford Taurus, which is a full sized car, but it has a GPS. Of course, I take it. If you remember, I got charged for a “Volvo” earlier. Julia, let’s me know that she is going to help me out. She took $50 whole dollars off of the “Volvo” price, because I had to walk back in. I asked if that was per day. Can you believe she laughed at me? Anyhow, I took the car. I ask her what I had to do to become a Gold Member. She decides she would sign me up, and waive the $50 registration fee. Hey that’s $100 off. Things are looking better. She then kindly tells me, “Your car should be here any minute. You’ll just have to wait a few minutes. Story of my life…What can I say? It’s Got To Be…”The Card”. Enjoy.
Short Odd Poem
At last he arrives at his terminal.
His family had just said good-bye.
The children all crying,
The youngest not knowing why.
The children look to their mother
Knowing she has to be strong.
She tells them it will all be alright,
But in her heart something’s wrong.
He calls her to let her know
He made it safely to his plane.
He tells her that he loves her.
And in his heart she will remain.
The trip was long,
But smoothly it went.
His stomach was turning.
Exhausted and spent.
The next stop for him
Was to pick up his car.
He boarded the shuttle
Hoped it wasn’t far.
Carrying all his luggage
Was a little bit hard.
But the rest of the story
Is detailed in “The Card”
His family had just said good-bye.
The children all crying,
The youngest not knowing why.
The children look to their mother
Knowing she has to be strong.
She tells them it will all be alright,
But in her heart something’s wrong.
He calls her to let her know
He made it safely to his plane.
He tells her that he loves her.
And in his heart she will remain.
The trip was long,
But smoothly it went.
His stomach was turning.
Exhausted and spent.
The next stop for him
Was to pick up his car.
He boarded the shuttle
Hoped it wasn’t far.
Carrying all his luggage
Was a little bit hard.
But the rest of the story
Is detailed in “The Card”
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
03/09/2005 - The Start
On this day, I begin my adventure to San Diego. This is my first trip to California, so there is no telling the stories that will come from it. Wish me luck.
