trip rewards

By all accounts, this trip should have sucked.

First of all, I totally spaced out while I was packing. I forgot to bring any shoes other than the quilted white tennis shoes I was wearing. Since most of this trip involves meetings and work-related stuff, the quilted zip-ups do not cut it. I also forgot to pack a jacket, and the weather got seriously cold.

Picking up the rental car was a disaster. I made the reservation online, and when I showed up at the place (with my confirmation in hand), they refused to honor it and wanted to charge me $75 more than I'd agreed to pay. "We're a franchise, and the website is corporate," they 'reasoned.' But yet the website had allowed me to make the reservation. They refused to negotiate, and lost a customer. I had to go to two other places before I found a car in my price range (10 minutes before the place closed), but at least I stuck to my guns.

And then I realized that I forgot to pack one more thing -- audiobooks. And I was leaving in the evening, so the library wasn't open, and I was left to the mercy of the airwaves, which aren't compassionate. I used to be a juggernaut in the "find the NPR station" olympics, but I've gone soft since I discovered books on tape.

Then I got sick. My brain dissolved into a pool of mushiness, I checked into my hotel room early and spent 22 hours mostly asleep. I roused myself at some point to drive to Walgreen's and purchase some more Tylenol and a thermometer. While I was checking out, the cashier was all "We've got a code 4 up here" over the loudspeaker. I guessed I must look even worse than I felt. I imagined the response to a Code 4 -- a revolving blue light, ambulance, stretcher, buff EMTs carrying me away. As it turns out, the guy was just going on break, and I may have been hallucinating slightly. Disappointingly, though, my temp was hovering around 101. Not life-threatening in the least.

So yeah, the odds were stacked up, not so much in my favor. But the trip didn't suck. The work parts are going ok, and I did get to spend a long time watching "What not to Wear." So, you know, it all evens out in the end.