Working Backwards

Due to unforeseen circumstances - REALLY unforeseen - I have been without internet since Wednesday. I am sure the twitch I developed as a result will go away eventually, but in the meantime I have a lot of catching up to do.



And I will.



Here Goes.



So, Wednesday, we drove from Virginia to New York City. We were warned about the traffic, and how long it was going to take, and how awful it would be - it was totally fine. Not bad at all. Nothing worth mentioning. The drama began only after we got to NYC.



We get to NYC, and frankly, it is taking me a while to get my driving moxie back. People are cutting me off, and I am feeling very intimidated and unsure of myself. Which is totally not like me at all - I can drive any cabbie right off the road if need be - and Sami finally asked me what was wrong the last time someone pulled out in front of me. "Honey, just keep going, you know how to deal with these people - don't be nice, just go." Considering where this advice was coming from, I decided to take it with a grain of salt. Because let's just be honest for a moment - who was the licensed driver here ? Right, that would be me. Ahem.



I drove to the hotel. Actually, I drove past the hotel, then had to take an extra 10 minutes to circle around the block and actually stop in front. We get out, hand our keys to the valet, grab our bags, and head to the lobby. Where we were met by a disgruntled crowd, both in front of the desk, and behind it. Everyone had a drink in hand (I told you this was my kind of place....) but the line was definitely not moving. Eventually, word trickled down. The computer system was down. They were registering everyone manually - and what I mean by "manually" was, writing everyone's name down on a legal pad. I am not kidding.



So after a while, we get a room. We have to be escorted upstairs, because they cannot program any room keys. So the bellman takes us up to the room we have been assigned. We go up 12 floors, we twist and wind and turn through these long dark hallways, and I realize I will NEVER find my way back to the elevator. Finally, we reach our destintion. I have no idea how it is possible to walk that far and still be in the same building. The bellman swings open the door - and someone is in there.



Awesome.



So we all turn around, and head back to the lobby. I am not lookng forward to getting back in that line. The bellman suggests that maybe we should go get dinner, and check in later. He offered to store our bags, and we decided that would probably be the best plan of action.



So I knelled down in the middle of the hallway outside the hotel bar, and start opening our suitcases, looking for warm clothes. I basically unpack and repack 3 suitcases, with a huge audience of totally harried and pretty drunk hotel guests, who are all stuck in the lobby.



We hand off our bags and go to dinner. THAT was awesome.

Blue Ribbon Restaurants



Then we went to FAO Schwarz, but they were closing. Fuckers. So we went and spent some money at the Disney Store. We were going to go watch them inflate the balloons for the parade, but it is (in case you were not aware) really FUCKING COLD in New York at the end of November. And windy. So we went back to the hotel. I stopped at a liquor store on the way, so that I would be prepared for whatever might be waiting for us in that lobby.



And when we got there, sure enough, there was still no computer. No room keys. Just the trusty old legal pad. So after explaining that actually, someone ELSE had been in room 1251, the woman at the desk bustled into the back office. She came out 10 minutes later with a smile. "I found you another room !"



She went over to Ye Olde Legal Pad to record our new room number. And surprisingly, it turns out someone was already in that room, too.



So then she just looked at the list, picked a room that didn't have a name next to us, gave us a serious room category upgrade, and sent us on our way - me clutching the paper bag from the liquor store, Sami carrying a suitcase's worth of winter clothes that we had discarded in the heat of the lobby.



Once in our room, with our bags, I tried to get online. Nothing doing. I called downstairs, and was told that because the registration computer was down, I would not be able to accessx the hotel's internet, because I was not technically a registered guest yet. By this time, they had the computers at the front desk up and running, but there was a serious backlog. They told me to give them 15 minutes.



I took a shower, and tried again. Nothing. An hour later, still nothing.
I finally just sat down with my bottle and a plastic cup out of the bathroom, and decided to just forget the whole thing. After all, it was the night before Thanksgiving. And I was on vacation.

More in the next post......