It's fun to write this week's review while sitting in the lobby of the Sheraton New York. Free wi-fi access is available in 30 minute increments, so I get to pretend I'm a member of the press trying to meet a deadline. If only I'd taken more notes!
It had been eight hours of traveling, saddled with a bit of fatigue as well as luggage, and with daylight descending on my first hour in the city. I got my hotel room key, took ten steps toward relaxation, and was beckoned back to the front desk. My payment card had been declined. It's debit, you see. With a $500 daily limit. And they charge all three days in advance. On Sunday evenings my bank is closed, so no way to get the debit limit temporarily lifted. I took a long shot and asked if a personal check would be acceptable, nope.
The attendant stepped away to talk with management. I began to weigh various unsavory ways of selling aspects of my person on short notice to raise the funds. I doubted that I could find a plasma donation lab nearby, or that I'd have enough in my body to cover a night's stay in New York, or would be successful in enslaving sufficient other people to donate the balance. Unless basketball-related maneuvers would qualify as "exotic," then dancing was out. And I didn't see anyone in feathered hats and fur coats on the way in.
Fortunately they allowed me to stay one night, and this morning I got it all sorted out. Still, nothing qualifies so readily as a low point as the thought of sleeping in a strange dark urine-scented city alley with a laptop computer. Except maybe the thought of walking unshowered into the actuarial conference the next morning.
I enjoyed going to two wiener roasts on Friday night with Higher Ground and Saturday night with the old gang from Calvary United Methodist Church. It had been a while. In fact, the Saturday outing brought together a collection of people I'd befriended in separate locations, but had come to find each other in friendship through the years with no involvement from me. That says something about good fortune and, I suppose, consistency in the characteristics I look for in friends.
By the way, for a quick inside joke - a shout out to the best Agape Chapel of all time. Kevin Hoss, Eric Paullin, Jeff Able and Ken Von Qualen.
Except for the financial snafu, the New York trip has been smooth and fascinating (more to come in subsequent posts). I love getting away from time to time! Having this laptop is tremendous. Plus I picked up a book in the airport called "SuperFreakonomics" that I'm sure Dena will love (or already has) since we read its predecessor with great enjoyment on our way out to Hatteras.
Dena worked herself to the bone this week on graphic design stuff, enough to go down for the count for a night, and also to make good progress on her Calvary newsletter, Eastview Christian Church study guide design and Kiwanis correspondence.
Thank goodness I can learn and take in this travel experience knowing that the folks back home are getting the job done. I attended a session on leading employees to self-reliance and have some exciting topics to bring up when I get back. Which will be soon enough!
Ah, made my press deadline...
No comments:
Post a Comment