Story of the Day 7/ 20/ 2012

This is a short Story of the Day.
Okay, a relatively short Story of the Day.

It is short because we are safely in Binghamton.

We arrived her by way of rental car, after being dropped off at the airport.
The airport in Rochester. Not LaGuardia.

You see, by the time we arrived in Rochester, it was almost time for the awards ceremony. Almost time meaning that taking the time to pick up our rental car would have been....a bad idea.
Instead, we were picked up by a black town car. No not by a black Town Car. Also, not by a blue van pretending to be a black Town Car, but by a Mustang. Sarah and I recognized it because it had a horse emblem on the front. We saw numerous cars - but when we saw the horse emblem, it occurred to both of us, sleep deprived as we were, that this emblem probably was the emblem for a Mustang.

What can I say, this trip has been a learning experience.

The driver of the Mustang had never seen us before, but, apparently, two women standing by the curb at the arrivals pick up area and looking like they had spent a long, sweaty, and body cavity search filled trip getting to Syracuse were hard to miss.

We were taken to RIT with no strange detours, and the air-conditioning was working just fine.

We managed to find some vegetarian food to eat, and proceeded to enjoy the awards ceremony and the chance to sit someplace without worrying about where we were supposed to be headed, in a few hours.
Neither of us was really very concerned when they showed Sarah's video, and forgot to turn on the sound.
As I said, the air-conditioning was working and we were not stranded anywhere, so it was fine.

After being dropped back at the airport, we picked up our rental car with only few minor annoyances. Like the guy at the desk who added extra charges and tried to sneak them past me.
Fortunately, I read contracts before I sign them,
and I noticed that the $218 car rental was no longer $218.

I asked, " Why is this not the same amount I was assured I would get when I made the reservation?"

"Oh, that charge is for the roadside assistance. You don't' want to be stranded if the car breaks down."

" I have AAA, and I brought my card with me."

"And this is for the insurance."

"I have car insurance."

" But it has a deductible."

" I know, take it off."

"But you want to be fully covered."

"Take it off."

We went through this a few more times.
Amazingly, at the end, it cost me $218.

Then it was off to Binghamton with the borrowed GPS and a Trip Tik from AAA. ( the same one whose card was in my wallet.)
This was a rare instance when the AAA Trip Tik came in handy. The GPS was wrong.
Now I know why I paid for that membership.
I bet you thought it was because one of our cars is a 1993 and another is a 1997.

When we arrived in Binghamton, Ely fed us. Food, real , food. Good tasting even.
And we slept in beds that we didn't have to check, first, for bedbugs.
And we got to take showers and change clothes.
And we even got to sleep without being attached by cords to multiple armed, I mean alarmed cell phones.

And , come this morning, we even resembled human beings.

The result of this being that it would have been a lot harder for the lady who picked us up at the airport in Rochester to identify so easily.

In the meanwhile, I have told Sarah that I would be happy if she enters the contest, again, this coming year.

But if she wins, can we please stay home......