I tell you, there are times when modern life isn't worth living. Pat dropped me off at Enterprise in Manahawkin, the ONLY car rental place less than 50 miles away (remember, we live in the sticks). It took us an age just to find it, as it's hidden away on Route 72 next to Goodyear Tires, but I was there at 11:00 when I said I would be.
My car wasn't. I cooled my heels for 45 minutes, waiting for a young woman "on her way from Barneget" to return the car. She finally got there and half the sales crew, including my rep, went out to clean the vehicle, all dressed in suits and ties as they were. (I can't believe this is how it works in Manhattan or, for that matter, Upper Jippip.) This would only take a minute except--oops!--the car was so filthy (it seems her two dogs had lived in it) that the entire inside would have to be gutted and they couldn't give it to me. I was steamed, of course, and said, "Well, just give me another car." They didn't have another car, but would get one (from Outer Mongolia, I guess) and deliver it to my house as soon as they could. "Rob" drove me home and I got over my mad, of course. The old employment manager dies hard and we had an interesting conversation about where he went to college, his major, and how he happened to work at Enterprise.
Got home, made Pat lunch before he went down the bay,then called Charlie's Auto Repair and asked them to send a tow truck.
I then had to wait--inside! the whole day!--for 1. the tow truck; 2. the rental car, and 3. the cleaning people.
What the hey do you do inside, all day, in weather that's blazingly hot, and just calls for you to go to the pool or to Kohl's for their Wednesday senior citizen discounts, or out to lunch--and you have to stay in???
It was brutal, I tell you. I sulked for while, but that's no fun when you're by yourself. Read a magazine and some of my current books. Played "Wordslinger" until even I got sick of it. Did some wash and puttered around. At one low point, I even turned on the television, but that was enough to make me think I was actually confined in the loony bin.
Finally, the cleaners got here at the same time my car did, then the guy from Charlie's showed up, and all was well. For the first time in ages, I got Pat take-out (fried flounder and spaghetti); I had Boca sausage and mixed veggies.
Alison called from New Mexico. They were on their way to the "white sands" and cave-dweller sites, passing an air force base and watching the Stealth (ugh) planes on maneuvers. I miss her a lot, but am so glad they're having such a great time.
I like the rental, which is a--I think, Chevvy--hatchback and is easy to drive. Not sure when my car will be finished, but now that I have this little beauty, I don't care.
Tonight, Marge and I will go to Poseidon at 4:00 for the early-bird dinner, so I'll be home in time to make Pat something. Hey, life's not so bad, after all.