Sorry for the extended absence. I've been busy. First I was packing for a brief vacation (while simultaneously trying to make a birthday video for my nephew and watching the Cards compete in the World's Series), then I was on said brief vacation, and now I'm recovering from the brief vacation. I was out of town about 3.5 days, and about 20 hours of that was driving a rental car up to KY and back. And another 8 or so hours of that was riding as a passenger in my mom's car, but I digress.
Let's go back to that 20 hours of driving a rental car thing, because that's pretty much what this post is about. I'm 31 years old, but until recently, I've never actually rented a car. The only reason I did this time is because my car is dying, and I owe more on it than the car is actually worth (fun, fun!), so getting a new car isn't really an option at the moment. Then the amazing family I nanny for decided I needed a present for being their nanny/babysitter for 3 years, and they decided to pay for a rental car for my trip to KY. So I rented a car.
Now, the cheapest deal for renting a car around here was to rent one from the airport, and honestly, I'm not too sure that I'm supposed to rent a car from the airport unless I'm actually flying into the airport. So when I reserved the car, I had all this nervousness aside from the usual nervousness I feel when I try anything new--like renting a car. I was also nervous because I was renting a car when I wasn't sure I was supposed to be renting a car, but I figured I'd abide by my own version of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. If they didn't ask me if I was flying in from another area, I wouldn't tell them that I wasn't.
My friend dropped me off at the airport and walked in with me (because I needed someone to hold my hand--I really don't do new experiences well). Everything went smoothly. I bid farewell to her, got in the car, and drove up to the gate to depart the rental car area.
Now, let me just say that driving a car that's not mine is like wearing someone else's clothes--only even more dangerous. This car only had about 1100 miles on it, so when I did something like step on the accelerator, it actually went vroom without a fight. When I stepped on the brakes, the car immediately stopped without any coaxing. This is what a car is supposed to do, but my poor old dying car needs prodding. It needs a firm hand. I actually kind of like this about my car. I know it's not going to do something that I haven't specifically told it to do. And this new car I was driving, well, it responded way too quickly for my comfort. And I didn't opt for the optional insurance (everyone says that's a rip-off...which I guess it is, unless you get into an accident). So I was a nervous wreck the whole time I was driving it, which was, as I said before, about 20 hours.
But before I ever got out of the gate, I had a problem. I couldn't figure out how to roll the windows down. So when the guy at the gate wanted to look at my receipt, I had to pull the "helpless blonde" routine, and the nice man showed me how to roll down my windows. I was pushing the button the wrong direction, okay. It could have happened to anyone.
But after the nice man taught me how to push a button, he asked me a question. "Where are you coming from?"
Ugh. I didn't want to admit that I was from the same city as the airport, so I said, "Around."
He said, "Everyone has to come from somewhere."
I said, "I'm from Kentucky," which wasn't a lie. I am from KY. That's why I was renting a car so I could drive to KY. He just didn't need to know that specific detail.
I got out of the airport and was on my way. It occurred to me a couple hours into my trip that I was going to double the mileage on the rental car. As I had unlimited mileage use for the car, I wasn't too worried (don't, ask, don't tell), but it just struck me as funny. I had never driven a car this new, and that made me even more nervous, but eventually I got the feel for the car.
And I drove that thing to KY and back without hurting it at all. I didn't have a wreck. I didn't run it off the road. I didn't get a scratch on it. And I was breathing a huge sigh of relief as I pulled into a gas station about 2 miles from the airport so I could refill the tank. It was then that I opened the car door directly into a concrete pole.
D'oh.
Fortunately, the story does have a happy ending. The car was undamaged. I turned it in. No one said a word about the fact that I'd doubled the mileage on the car.
And now I can add "car rental" to my list of life experiences.
Woo hoo! Dream big!
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