A co-worker and I arrived in a city that I'll call "Dallas" safely enough. From the terminal we were off to the rental car area where our chariot was waiting. Renting a car for the lowest price is a lot like Russian Roulette without the opportunity to get lucky and end your suffering. But the rental gods smiled upon us as we were paired with a canary yellow Chevy Cobalt. Note to GM: I know why you're going bankrupt!
I spooled up the peppy little four banger and we were off and running, which in theory would have been quicker.
I'd spend time commenting on dinner, but suffice to say, when you have a $14 dinner per-diem, what's really to be said? Met a couple of new people and enjoying good conversation, so overall it was a pretty relax time, and I wasn't starving when done.
One quick note, apparently in Texas, there is an indigenous bird called the Grackle. It's large, black, has beady eyes and a shriek that reminds me of an old girlfriend. I hate those aptly-named creatures.
Next stop, about 20 miles away in Plano. Only 20 miles turned into 25 miles thanks to the HOV lane. HOV lanes, for those not familiar, are the same as a carpool lane. What a great invention. Even in a Cobalt, you can whiz by traffic and laugh heartily at the people crawling along in the other lanes. Only problem with this maneuver was the exit I needed just so happened to be boarded up. There was no warning, just a closed exit especially for people in the HOV lane. So we continued on down the road to turn around and try again.
Successfully on our way to Plano now, it was time to turn our attention to the hotel we had reserved, namely directions to the fine establishment. It's never a good sign when you call for directions and the recording says "The directions to the hotel have changed." What, did it up and move???? We should have taken that as a sign, but no, not us. On we motored until we got to the end of the rainbow.
All you need to know about the hotel can be summed up in three words: Red Roof Inn. Of course, those of us in the business know it simply as RRI. Getting out of the car in the unlit parking lot had sort of an Overlook Hotel (from The Shining) meets abandoned crack house feel to it. Let's call it rustic charm.
Sliding or even revolving doors were not yet in fashion when our RRI was built, so doors were opened, bags were wrestled in and the smell of institutional disinfectant was noted. Check-in was fairly routine with the exception of two exchanges. First, as I have not yet been issued a new company credit card, I procured the two rooms with my personal card. Just so happens my person card also happens to be a Marriott Rewards card. Well, that wasn't getting past the watchful eye of the receptionist. She had her line ready to go - "Marriott huh, you should have stayed there." Obviously, she was proud to be part of the RRI Welcome Wagon. But she did add, "But you are saving money by staying here." Yes, yes we are, and losing self-respect while we're at it.
The receptionist also noted one room had two beds and one was a single, pointing out there was only one single available. My companion took one look at my girth as opposed to her and came to the logical conclusion that I should take the single room, as the bed would be larger. Oh, that crazy logic! The receptionist says to me, she says, "No, it's the same size bed, there's just one, would you like me to put you in a king room?" Uh, yeah that would be great, but just moments earlier, she told us there was only one single room available. Hmmm, better off not questioning that one. "Nope, what you've given us will be fine," was the best I could muster. Little did I know how wrong I was.
From there it was off to our rooms, but like an episode of Batman, or when "The Fonz" tried to jump the shark, you'll have to tune back in tomorrow to hear the rest of the story. But as a little tease, I'll give you one word that will play a significant role in tomorrow's installment - glue.
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