three fun stories

I have three stories for you.

They all three happened yesterday.

They may make us/me look either stupid, crazy, spoiled, or strange. Maybe all of them.

But I think they're funny.

So here we go.


1.  Rental Car Remembering is Really Hard.

I booked our flight, car, and hotel for this trip back in July. I had all of the confirmation emails sent to Aaron.

Tuesday, Aaron found the flight itinerary in his email to make sure we knew the times. So that was good.

Wednesday, we got on the plane in Raleigh.

"Hey, do you know where we rented a car from?" Aaron asked me.

"Oh...I don't remember. Maybe Hertz? No, that's not right. Maybe Budget?" I replied.

It was too late to look for it on our email then, so we waited until we landed.

It's kind of difficult to search through archives and archives of emails over 3G networks and iPhones though. Needless to say, we had no luck recovering our confirmation email.

I however, was confident we did indeed have a car reserved. It was only a matter of where.

We came down the escalator from baggage claim and were greeted by the bright lights of neon signs, zig-zag lines, and people clearly in a hurry to get their rental cars.

There were about eight different desk options of rental car companies.

"Where should we start?" Aaron asked.

"Well, I am almost positive it's not Hertz. Enterprise doesn't sound right either. Maybe Avis? Or Budget? Let's start with Budget. I think that sounds right." (But none of them really sounded right at all...)

I waited with the bags while Aaron waited behind the few people in the line for Budget. No luck there.

He hopped over to Avis. No luck there.

We re-grouped.

"Ok, this is going to take all day. Why don't you go check at Enterprise and I'll go check at Hertz next?" Aaron formed a divide and conquer plan.

"Ok. Deal."

I meandered over to the Enterprise line. There was only one lady working. She was helping the man in front of me. I glanced across the room at Aaron. He had a couple people in front of him at Hertz.

"How can I help you today?" The nice lady asked me finally.

I gave her my most innocent smile. "Well, my husband and I are sort of crazy. We can't seem to remember where we rented a car from..."

She rolled her eyes (in a friendly way).

"What's your name?"

"It's Bauer. B-A-U-E-R."

She typed. She looked.

"And what would his name be?"

"Aaron."

She sighed. "Well, you best tell him to stop looking."

"Oh! Yay! Thank you!"

I called Aaron. He was just getting to the desk, and was rejected a third time when he answered.

He came over to Enterprise.

"Now I should threaten to double your rate for forgetting Enterprise was your rental company..." she said sarcastically.

"We are so sorry."

She gave us the price and asked if it sounded right.

We looked at each other. "Sure!"

"Right...because how would you remember how much it was. You can't even remember where it's supposed to come from."

We laughed. She gave us our paperwork. And we went on our way. I'm sure we gave her a fun story as well.

2.  First Floors Just Aren't as Fun

We got to the Hampton Inn in Murfreesboro, where we have stayed a couple times on previous trips. It is a very nice Hampton Inn. Although, I will say I've never stayed in a bad Hampton Inn.

Anyway, Hunter, the Hampton Inn front desk guy, was very happy to help us check in to our hotel room for our stay.

He was friendly enough.

I was half paying attention when I heard him say, "Will the first floor be okay for you?"

Before I could process that enough to say something, Aaron piped in with "Sure."

And then we were handed our keys and wished a nice stay and off we went down the hallway.

I was troubled.

1. The first floor is on the ground. I'm on the ground all of the time. This is vacation. It's not as fun to not be on the ground.
2. The first floor is next to the parking lot. There are cars and honking of locks and doors slamming. Maybe not, but that's what I hear in my head.
3. The first floor is right there on the people level. I like to open the curtains. I do not like to open the curtains when I feel like I'm being watched.
4. The first floor is perfectly fine. I realized I was being ridiculous. Alas, I am ridiculous sometimes. 

So, indeed, I was troubled.

"Hey, Aaron?" I asked innocently as we neared our first floor room.

"Yes?"

"Don't you think it will be kind of loud on the first floor?"

"No."

"Oh." He opened the door to our room. We went inside.

"Won't it be weird to have the curtains open on the first floor?" I tried again.

"Why do you need the curtains open?"

"To see the view, you know?"

He went over the the window and pulled back the curtains. "Of the parking lot?"

"Well...don't you just think a higher floor is more fun?"

"More fun?"

"Yeah, you know, for vacation?"

"Why didn't you say something when he asked if the first floor was ok?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry. I didn't have enough time to think about it."

"Am I going back to ask Hunter for a new room, or are you going to be ok?"

I plopped down on the bench next to the bed. "I guess I'll be fine..."

"Will you?"

"Do you think you could go ask him?"

"Seriously?"

"Ok, nevermind."

He stared at me for a few seconds. "I'll go ask for a different room, but you have to blog about it."

"What?! No!"

"Yes. You have to blog about it because you are crazy."

"Ok. Fine."

Aaron left.

He came back a few minutes later.

"Will the third floor suit you, princess?"

"Oh, yes, thank you." I sprung up and smiled.

"Hunter was NOT amused. Apparently saying 'The first floor is not as fun,' is not a viable excuse for a room change."

Nonetheless, thanks to Aaron and Hunter, I am enjoying my third floor view of the parking lots of Murfreesboro.

Don't you think the third floor sounds more fun? I promise I'm not spoiled too much. Oh goodness.

3.  Time Change Late Night Grilling

We pulled up to the hotel around 11:30pm on Wednesday night, although it felt like after midnight to us. This was in front of our car.

I was still making excuses for my earlier behavior as we shut our car doors loudly.

"See, that would be annoying if that was your hotel room right there. And, look, what is that? A grill? That would be weird."

Aaron started laughing.

"What?!" I looked back at the "grill." "OH! It's a light!"

And then we died of laughter.

But, really, doesn't in sort of look like a grill for a second? Until you see the bright light?

Maybe I am crazy...

THE END.