Restarting my life
I have decided it is time for my life to be my own. I am going to take charge and change things.
In the past I have made some effort in that direction today I am going to go the whole 9 yards. No ifs ands or buts. No excuses. I am the only one who can change me. The beginning of that is this blog. I will be opening my heart and soul here. I may say things that make people uncomfortable and even angry. I have been told the Internet is no place to put your feelings. I learned from reading both my daughter in law's and my step daughter's blogs that sometimes it is the best place to vent those feelings. This is a new age and time. I do not want to bury myself anymore.
Where to start? There are so many things running in my brain. I think I will start with the journey I just finished to get to the physical place I am at now. The emotional one is still a long way away. Although I am beginning to see and realize where I am supposed to be.
On November 4th, my 49th birthday, I left Campbell, CA. in a 16' moving truck, towing my car to head cross country to the Metro Washington DC area. In the truck with me was my husband Richard. In the car were my two birds, Tweety and Cheeky, two cats, Esmerelda and Ezekial, and my dog Athena. We started the drive at 10:30am, 5 and 1/2 hours after our scheduled departure time. Packing and loading took way longer then anticipated. I ended up discarding a number of things I had not initially planned on discarding. But none of it was anything I could not live without.
The traffic was light and there were no issues there. We had been told that the gas gauge had been acting up on the truck before we left, but that it was nothing to worry about. The weather was sunny and clear all the way through Donner Pass. We got the first 285 miles down without a hitch. When we stopped to gas up and grab some food it had snowed before we got to this spot. Snow on the ground but not on the roads. I got Esmerelda and Rich grabbed Athena out for a walk. Essie loved the snow. Athena just did her thing. One of the truckers took a picture of my cat on a leash in the snow.
After about 20 min we got back in the truck and headed down the road. It was about 20 miles outside of Reno when we realized that the gas gauge was seriously messed up. It was ready almost empty and the low fuel light was on. We talked about it and decided to try just to gauge the miles using the odometer. Fill up every 200 to 250 miles. No worries. So I got my pen and notebook out to write down the mileage. I asked Rich for the numbers and he was like, "Uh, I can't." What do you mean you can't? "There are no numbers just the words 'low fuel'." Oh, oh, that is not good.
The girl where we picked up the truck said we should call her if we had any problems so I did. She told me that we needed to reset the reader and to stop somewhere for like 20 min so it would reset. Isn't that what we did after gassing up? Okay we will do it. We pulled of the road shut it all off. With her still on the phone we turned it on again. No change. So we hung up with her. It was 3:30pm only 5 hours into my cross country trip. Only 80 hours to go, right? After about 15 minutes we tried restarting the truck again, yeah, no change.
So I called roadside assistance. I got them on the phone and explained what the problem was. She asked if we were in a safe place. I said we were, that we were now about 12 miles west of Reno. She said that it did not sound like we had a problem that roadside could fix by the side of the road. I asked if that meant we needed to get a motel for the night. She said that would be the best choice. All I could think of was that I did not budget for a nights stay tonight.
When I asked her whether Budget would pay for the stay she said I would have to talk to customer service. I said fine let me talk to customer service about it. So she transferred me. After being on hold for about 15 min I finally got a customer service person and explained everything again to her. She asked for the truck number again. Apparently the roadside person never entered it into the system. Or at the least did not save it. So the customer service person was like, "I am sorry but until it is in the system I can't authorize anything. I will reconnect you with roadside." And I am on hold again.
At least this wait was less then 5 min. The girl I got this time was all apologies. She entered my information in the system. Asked me if we wanted to wait by the side of the road or go to the hotel? Oh My God, so I explained my situation to her about trying to get customer service to help and getting transferred back and forth. She said that she would stay on the phone with me while she got ahold of customer service and explain the situation to them. Back on hold again. I glance at the clock and realize its 4:50pm. I have been at the side of the road dealing with these people for almost 1 and 1/2 hours.
Several minutes pass and a new voice comes on the line. "I am sorry ma'am but there is nothing we can do for you tonight about the hotel. It is 2 minutes until we close the office." You have got to be kidding me. I am on the side of the road and you are worried about getting off work. So I asked her name , Lori, and what should I do. "Go to the hotel see if roadside can get someone to you. Call customer service in the morning and I am sure they will reimburse you for the stay." So I will get reimbursed tomorrow? "No ma'am. In 3 to 5 working days. I am transferring you back to roadside." And I am back on hold. *Sigh*
At this point I am in tears with frustration and exhaustion. I slept only about 45 min the night before, finishing the packing. Roadside comes back on the line and explains that there is no service available at this time and that I need to stay in a hotel for the night. Really? I had that figured out already. Happy Birthday to me! She wanted me to call roadside back and give them the hotel information once I checked in.
I was very thankful I had a motel 6 directory at my fingertips. I looked up Reno, Nevada and called one of the motels. The desk person that answered was Susan. She was awesome gave us directions on how to find her and everything. Within 45 min we had our room and the animals, except the birds in a room. On our way in I saw a Denny's so I knew where I wanted to eat dinner. Yea, free for my birthday!
To Be Continued.
In the past I have made some effort in that direction today I am going to go the whole 9 yards. No ifs ands or buts. No excuses. I am the only one who can change me. The beginning of that is this blog. I will be opening my heart and soul here. I may say things that make people uncomfortable and even angry. I have been told the Internet is no place to put your feelings. I learned from reading both my daughter in law's and my step daughter's blogs that sometimes it is the best place to vent those feelings. This is a new age and time. I do not want to bury myself anymore.
Where to start? There are so many things running in my brain. I think I will start with the journey I just finished to get to the physical place I am at now. The emotional one is still a long way away. Although I am beginning to see and realize where I am supposed to be.
On November 4th, my 49th birthday, I left Campbell, CA. in a 16' moving truck, towing my car to head cross country to the Metro Washington DC area. In the truck with me was my husband Richard. In the car were my two birds, Tweety and Cheeky, two cats, Esmerelda and Ezekial, and my dog Athena. We started the drive at 10:30am, 5 and 1/2 hours after our scheduled departure time. Packing and loading took way longer then anticipated. I ended up discarding a number of things I had not initially planned on discarding. But none of it was anything I could not live without.
The traffic was light and there were no issues there. We had been told that the gas gauge had been acting up on the truck before we left, but that it was nothing to worry about. The weather was sunny and clear all the way through Donner Pass. We got the first 285 miles down without a hitch. When we stopped to gas up and grab some food it had snowed before we got to this spot. Snow on the ground but not on the roads. I got Esmerelda and Rich grabbed Athena out for a walk. Essie loved the snow. Athena just did her thing. One of the truckers took a picture of my cat on a leash in the snow.
After about 20 min we got back in the truck and headed down the road. It was about 20 miles outside of Reno when we realized that the gas gauge was seriously messed up. It was ready almost empty and the low fuel light was on. We talked about it and decided to try just to gauge the miles using the odometer. Fill up every 200 to 250 miles. No worries. So I got my pen and notebook out to write down the mileage. I asked Rich for the numbers and he was like, "Uh, I can't." What do you mean you can't? "There are no numbers just the words 'low fuel'." Oh, oh, that is not good.
The girl where we picked up the truck said we should call her if we had any problems so I did. She told me that we needed to reset the reader and to stop somewhere for like 20 min so it would reset. Isn't that what we did after gassing up? Okay we will do it. We pulled of the road shut it all off. With her still on the phone we turned it on again. No change. So we hung up with her. It was 3:30pm only 5 hours into my cross country trip. Only 80 hours to go, right? After about 15 minutes we tried restarting the truck again, yeah, no change.
So I called roadside assistance. I got them on the phone and explained what the problem was. She asked if we were in a safe place. I said we were, that we were now about 12 miles west of Reno. She said that it did not sound like we had a problem that roadside could fix by the side of the road. I asked if that meant we needed to get a motel for the night. She said that would be the best choice. All I could think of was that I did not budget for a nights stay tonight.
When I asked her whether Budget would pay for the stay she said I would have to talk to customer service. I said fine let me talk to customer service about it. So she transferred me. After being on hold for about 15 min I finally got a customer service person and explained everything again to her. She asked for the truck number again. Apparently the roadside person never entered it into the system. Or at the least did not save it. So the customer service person was like, "I am sorry but until it is in the system I can't authorize anything. I will reconnect you with roadside." And I am on hold again.
At least this wait was less then 5 min. The girl I got this time was all apologies. She entered my information in the system. Asked me if we wanted to wait by the side of the road or go to the hotel? Oh My God, so I explained my situation to her about trying to get customer service to help and getting transferred back and forth. She said that she would stay on the phone with me while she got ahold of customer service and explain the situation to them. Back on hold again. I glance at the clock and realize its 4:50pm. I have been at the side of the road dealing with these people for almost 1 and 1/2 hours.
Several minutes pass and a new voice comes on the line. "I am sorry ma'am but there is nothing we can do for you tonight about the hotel. It is 2 minutes until we close the office." You have got to be kidding me. I am on the side of the road and you are worried about getting off work. So I asked her name , Lori, and what should I do. "Go to the hotel see if roadside can get someone to you. Call customer service in the morning and I am sure they will reimburse you for the stay." So I will get reimbursed tomorrow? "No ma'am. In 3 to 5 working days. I am transferring you back to roadside." And I am back on hold. *Sigh*
At this point I am in tears with frustration and exhaustion. I slept only about 45 min the night before, finishing the packing. Roadside comes back on the line and explains that there is no service available at this time and that I need to stay in a hotel for the night. Really? I had that figured out already. Happy Birthday to me! She wanted me to call roadside back and give them the hotel information once I checked in.
I was very thankful I had a motel 6 directory at my fingertips. I looked up Reno, Nevada and called one of the motels. The desk person that answered was Susan. She was awesome gave us directions on how to find her and everything. Within 45 min we had our room and the animals, except the birds in a room. On our way in I saw a Denny's so I knew where I wanted to eat dinner. Yea, free for my birthday!
To Be Continued.
Comments
Post a Comment