So I suckered for a name.
I am in Oklahoma City about twice a year to work with a company that owns numerous nursing homes in Oklahoma. I usually stay at a Hampton Inn which is about five minutes from the corporate headquarters, where I usually work. I primarily do education here and we use a conference room at the headquarters. Last year when I worked with a bigger group that needed a larger room, we met off site at a very nice Best Western, but I still stayed at the Hampton.
So now for this year. The initial plan was to use the Best Western again, but they ended up not having a room large enough and the event was moved to the Biltmore Hotel. I decided to change my reservation to the Biltmore thinking it would be a bit more cushy than the Hampton (after all, it's a Biltmore). I'm picturing a large several story hotel with room service, restaurants, and plush.
Not so.
I didn't bother with the GPS as the address was Meridian Street. This street runs straight from the airport and is called 'Hotel Way' by the locals. It's the street where the Hampton is located and everyother hotel you can think of. I drove along looking for the Biltmore and couldn't find it. I was starting to be concerned and decided if I hadn't found it by the time I reached McDonald's I would stop and get the GPS out of the trunk. Wonder of Wonders....it was right across the street from McDonald's and was a two story motel, NOT the Biltmore I had imagined. Granted it was large, consisting of three two story buildings, three swimming pools and a tennis court. My room was clean and comfortable and the mattress was wonderful. It just wasn't what I had in mind when the name was 'Biltmore'.
And they even gave me a free drink coupon. Only problem was that when I went to cash it in, the only kind of wine they had was 'preimum' Sutter Home. I decided to find a different restaurant where the wine list was a little more appealing.
When I returned to the 'hotel' I realized I left my key card in my room. I truged to the front desk to get a new one. She said she would have maintenance meet me at my room to let me in. I asked why she couldn't just make me a new card. The answer....."There is a $1 charge for a new key card."
I wondered why the cost of the room was only $72 per night. That should have been a clue. You get what you pay for.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
News
It's been a pretty tough month. I've been all over the country and had limited week-end time. I have either had to leave on Sunday, or not arrived home until Saturday, resulting in several one day week-ends. Interesting trivia about these times.
I arrived in KC around mid-night one Tuesday and needed to pick-up a rental car. When I reached the rental car facility the attendant asked me what my name was, then told me they did not have any executive level cars available and that I would have to take this Mercedes. Oh Darn!! It was a great little car and every time I parked it I was impressed that I had gotten out of that nifty car with the Mercedes emblem on the front.
I made a quick (less than 24 hours) trip to Florida and had a late flight back to KC so I could work in KC on the next day. I was reading my Kindle when the announcement was made to turn off all electronic devices for landing. I turned it off, then apparently went soundly to sleep. The next thing I knew, the flight attendant was waking me up and the plane was empty. I felt like those kids who get left on the school bus.
Austin, Texas totally overwhemled me with regard to getting from one place to the next. I realize some of that is due to the fact that my GPS has not been updated since 2008. I-35 runs directly through down town and has one-way outer roads on each side. To get from one direction to the other is trickey and I couldn't always figure out what the GPS wanted me to do, especially since it thought there were roads that weren't there. When I finally arrived at the health care center, they asked me if I had the key to my room?????? Seems I could have had a guest room at the community which would have been much easier. If I ever go there again I will remember to ask for a guest room, ......... or purchase an upgrade for the GPS.
October 1 is this Saturday and the schedule should improve. I will try to get my week-ends back.
I arrived in KC around mid-night one Tuesday and needed to pick-up a rental car. When I reached the rental car facility the attendant asked me what my name was, then told me they did not have any executive level cars available and that I would have to take this Mercedes. Oh Darn!! It was a great little car and every time I parked it I was impressed that I had gotten out of that nifty car with the Mercedes emblem on the front.
I made a quick (less than 24 hours) trip to Florida and had a late flight back to KC so I could work in KC on the next day. I was reading my Kindle when the announcement was made to turn off all electronic devices for landing. I turned it off, then apparently went soundly to sleep. The next thing I knew, the flight attendant was waking me up and the plane was empty. I felt like those kids who get left on the school bus.
Austin, Texas totally overwhemled me with regard to getting from one place to the next. I realize some of that is due to the fact that my GPS has not been updated since 2008. I-35 runs directly through down town and has one-way outer roads on each side. To get from one direction to the other is trickey and I couldn't always figure out what the GPS wanted me to do, especially since it thought there were roads that weren't there. When I finally arrived at the health care center, they asked me if I had the key to my room?????? Seems I could have had a guest room at the community which would have been much easier. If I ever go there again I will remember to ask for a guest room, ......... or purchase an upgrade for the GPS.
October 1 is this Saturday and the schedule should improve. I will try to get my week-ends back.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Early Morning Disasters
Last Friday morning I was headed home from Northern California. My flight was to leave the airport in Sacramento at 6:20 AM. The hotel was supposedly 15 minutes from the airport. My plan was to be up by 4AM and leave the hotel by 4:30. I would drop the car off and take the shuttle and be at the airport by 5. I was flying Delta and would have priority status, so I could get right through check-in and security and have time to spare. Good planning does not always work out.
I got up without a problem. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and was loading the car by 4:25. Ever since that fiasco with locking the keys in the trunk I do not lay the keys in the trunk. I set them on the bumper. As I closed the trunk I realize the keys were going to be trapped, but it was too late to do anything about it. Luckily the key-bob was on the outside and I pushed the button to unlock the car doors and popped the trunk. Good save, except that the key was now bent and could not be fully inserted into the ignition. I look at it with a knot in my stomach and sat down on the curb to see if I could un-bend it without breaking it. It straightened somewhat and I tried it in the ignition again, but it still didn't work. The only choice was to again use the concrete and pressure to try to straighten it some more. I decided the worst thing that could happen was that I would break the key, but it didn't work now, so I wouldn't be any worse off than I was. This time it was straight enough and I was able to start the car. YEA!!!!
I set the GPS and headed to the airport. My first turn was onto the entrance ramp onto I-5. Hmmm. The ramp was closed for construction. I punched the 'detour' option into the GPS and followed the directions. The GPS apparently presumed I-5 was the problem and not the entrance ramp. What was supposed to be a 15 minute drive actually took 45 minutes. And it was dark. I think I would have seem some interesting terrain, but I couldn't see anything and was starting to panic that I would miss the plane. I was 5:30 when I reached the car rental return. Normally there are shuttles one after another. You check in the car and get on the shuttle. Not so today. I waited almost 10 minutes for a shuttle. This doesn't seem long, unless your plane is scheduled to leave in 50 minutes. I forced myself to breath slowly and be calm. I would either make it or not and there was nothing I could do about it.
I did have an express lane to check-in, but there was no express lane for security and a very long line. It is now 5:50--30 minutes before my plane is scheduled to leave. I was amazed at how fast the security line moved. I timed it and was through security in 10 minutes. I made it to the gate where they were loading the plane. And took a deep breath of relief.
I got up without a problem. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and was loading the car by 4:25. Ever since that fiasco with locking the keys in the trunk I do not lay the keys in the trunk. I set them on the bumper. As I closed the trunk I realize the keys were going to be trapped, but it was too late to do anything about it. Luckily the key-bob was on the outside and I pushed the button to unlock the car doors and popped the trunk. Good save, except that the key was now bent and could not be fully inserted into the ignition. I look at it with a knot in my stomach and sat down on the curb to see if I could un-bend it without breaking it. It straightened somewhat and I tried it in the ignition again, but it still didn't work. The only choice was to again use the concrete and pressure to try to straighten it some more. I decided the worst thing that could happen was that I would break the key, but it didn't work now, so I wouldn't be any worse off than I was. This time it was straight enough and I was able to start the car. YEA!!!!
I set the GPS and headed to the airport. My first turn was onto the entrance ramp onto I-5. Hmmm. The ramp was closed for construction. I punched the 'detour' option into the GPS and followed the directions. The GPS apparently presumed I-5 was the problem and not the entrance ramp. What was supposed to be a 15 minute drive actually took 45 minutes. And it was dark. I think I would have seem some interesting terrain, but I couldn't see anything and was starting to panic that I would miss the plane. I was 5:30 when I reached the car rental return. Normally there are shuttles one after another. You check in the car and get on the shuttle. Not so today. I waited almost 10 minutes for a shuttle. This doesn't seem long, unless your plane is scheduled to leave in 50 minutes. I forced myself to breath slowly and be calm. I would either make it or not and there was nothing I could do about it.
I did have an express lane to check-in, but there was no express lane for security and a very long line. It is now 5:50--30 minutes before my plane is scheduled to leave. I was amazed at how fast the security line moved. I timed it and was through security in 10 minutes. I made it to the gate where they were loading the plane. And took a deep breath of relief.
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