It can't get worse, can it?
Composed 16:26ET 12/31/2007
ABOARD AIRTRAN 984 (PIT-ATL) -- This has been one of those days when I shouldn't have gotten out of bed. And if I didn't have to go to Pittsburgh to catch my flights to Atlanta and Phoenix, maybe I should've.
Instead of withdrawing from an ATM for travel money, I cashed one of my savings bonds at the bond. Unfortunately, the teller was a bit confused when it came to my identity. Granted, my switching back and forth between first and middle names can be challenging, but not impossible.
The savings bond was made out to {First M Last Jr},my driver's license license reads {Last, First Middle Jr}, and my deposit slip (for the residual change) is listed as {F Middle Last Jr}. So when I got ready to sign off on the bank-generated interest report, the teller had entered {First M Middle Jr}. When I asked if she could adjust that to my correct name, she got a bit confused on how to do it. Eventually, she came up with {First M Middle Last Jr}. Good enough, so I left, cash in hand.
(On a side note, I caught our church's financial secretary in the parking lot after depositing yesterday's haul. When I questioned her about why she didn't say "hi" while we were inside, she said I looked busy. And I was.)
I had left my home charger at my grandfather's house over Christmas, so instead of the 30-minute detour to his house en route to Pittsburgh, I stopped off at the mall in Clarksburg.
Apparently, the holiday season wiped out all the cellphone mall kiosks of home chargers -- plenty of car chargers, though -- so I ended up going to Radio Shack.
However, the shopping delay pushed me closer than comfortable to my departure time. So when I got to the off-site parking location ($6.95/day) near the airport, I grabbed and dashed to the shuttle.
At the ticket counter I discovered that (A)I had missed the cut-off to check in my luggage -- forcing me to take my suitcase through security, losing certain large toiletries in the process -- and more importantly, (B)my driver's license was still in my car, apparently tuckered out from its workout at the bank. (My state ID worked just fine as a who-are-you for both the airline and TSA.)
So, once I get to Atlanta, I'll have to call up Travelocity and see what I can do about my car rental. If what I suspect they'll say becomes so, I'll have to adjust my hotels -- no side-trips to Tucson or Lake Havasu City -- and learn the Phoenix Metro Transit bus system in a hurry.
ABOARD AIRTRAN 984 (PIT-ATL) -- This has been one of those days when I shouldn't have gotten out of bed. And if I didn't have to go to Pittsburgh to catch my flights to Atlanta and Phoenix, maybe I should've.
Instead of withdrawing from an ATM for travel money, I cashed one of my savings bonds at the bond. Unfortunately, the teller was a bit confused when it came to my identity. Granted, my switching back and forth between first and middle names can be challenging, but not impossible.
The savings bond was made out to {First M Last Jr},my driver's license license reads {Last, First Middle Jr}, and my deposit slip (for the residual change) is listed as {F Middle Last Jr}. So when I got ready to sign off on the bank-generated interest report, the teller had entered {First M Middle Jr}. When I asked if she could adjust that to my correct name, she got a bit confused on how to do it. Eventually, she came up with {First M Middle Last Jr}. Good enough, so I left, cash in hand.
(On a side note, I caught our church's financial secretary in the parking lot after depositing yesterday's haul. When I questioned her about why she didn't say "hi" while we were inside, she said I looked busy. And I was.)
I had left my home charger at my grandfather's house over Christmas, so instead of the 30-minute detour to his house en route to Pittsburgh, I stopped off at the mall in Clarksburg.
Apparently, the holiday season wiped out all the cellphone mall kiosks of home chargers -- plenty of car chargers, though -- so I ended up going to Radio Shack.
However, the shopping delay pushed me closer than comfortable to my departure time. So when I got to the off-site parking location ($6.95/day) near the airport, I grabbed and dashed to the shuttle.
At the ticket counter I discovered that (A)I had missed the cut-off to check in my luggage -- forcing me to take my suitcase through security, losing certain large toiletries in the process -- and more importantly, (B)my driver's license was still in my car, apparently tuckered out from its workout at the bank. (My state ID worked just fine as a who-are-you for both the airline and TSA.)
So, once I get to Atlanta, I'll have to call up Travelocity and see what I can do about my car rental. If what I suspect they'll say becomes so, I'll have to adjust my hotels -- no side-trips to Tucson or Lake Havasu City -- and learn the Phoenix Metro Transit bus system in a hurry.