Funny that only yesterday I felt the need to tell you about my rental car, the trusty KIA Soul.
This morning I received a phone call from Joe at Enterprise.
He started the conversation like a concerned salesmen:
"Hi, this is Joe from Enterprise, I just wanted to check how your experience with the rental car is going."
"Hi Joe, it's going fine..." I find myself groggily replying - it was quite early after all to be answering marketing type phone calls.
"So...." Joe continues. "Our marketing department sold the car you are currently driving."
(Pause)
"So if you could just bring that over today we don't want to cause you any trouble and we'll just change it out for you."
I try not to laugh. "Ok. But I'm in _________ county right now about six hours away....I'm back next week. Does that work?"
Many of my road friends have been sharing with me horror stories about rental cars with flat tires, over sized vans and pick-up trucks that are hard to park and even harder to maneuver. This is my first rental car glitch. Joe was pleasant and we worked it out in the end...despite the neon sign going off in my head saying "they SOLD my KIA???!?!"
So gone are the days of driving the Soul on the Highway, laughing when the song from the hamster commercial comes on the radio.
Looks like another car will be keeping me safe on the road in November!
Safe Travels,
Alexandra
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Rental Cars: a Great Way to Roll
I realize that I have not shared with you the type of rental car I am currently rocking out in.
Here's a clue: Think of the commercials with the gansta' hamsters.
Yes. I am currently driving a KIA Soul :)
When I pulled into the driveway of my parents house in this car, my mom couldn't stop laughing. She calls it the dreaded Gestapo car.
One of my buddys on the road says that it is "Such a woman car!" and that he would never drive one. Despite these remarks, I am thoroughly enjoying it. So far, so good.
What type of rental car are you currently driving? (if you are indeed out on the road)
Safe Travels,
Alexandra
Here's a clue: Think of the commercials with the gansta' hamsters.
Yes. I am currently driving a KIA Soul :)
When I pulled into the driveway of my parents house in this car, my mom couldn't stop laughing. She calls it the dreaded Gestapo car.
One of my buddys on the road says that it is "Such a woman car!" and that he would never drive one. Despite these remarks, I am thoroughly enjoying it. So far, so good.
What type of rental car are you currently driving? (if you are indeed out on the road)
Safe Travels,
Alexandra
Looking to the Past, Preparing for the Future
I travel to New Jersey again next week. I have to mentally prepare for this ahead of time.
In thinking ahead to my upcoming travel, I have been recalling with both horror and amusement my first experience driving in the Garden State only a week ago.
What you should understand is that I recently moved to the town of my current employment from the state of Michigan, where driving on the highway meant going 80 mph and traffic laws seemed to be only loosely followed. I thought driving in Michigan prepared me to drive anywhere. I was wrong.
It was literally my first day of out of state travel for the new job, and I clutched the steering wheel of my rental car, the traffic as I approached the New Jersey border getting thicker. It had started to rain and I squinted through the dusk hoping to find my hotel with my new GPS (named Rhoda). I was a bit appalled as I drove on Route 17 to find that people actually drove on the shoulder of the road to bypass traffic without the blink of an eye!
Then I discovered that my hotel was located on the OTHER side of Route 17, meaning I had to get off at an off ramp, onto another highway, and then back onto Route 17 going in the opposite direction. I continued to clutch the steering wheel - starring more at the GPS than the actual road. I sailed onto Route 17 going in the right direction thinking, "Oh my goodness, I made it!" but to my dismay - another highway was merging with mine on the right. I needed to cross over these lanes to get to my hotel.
I made it safely to the parking lot before I realized - I have to go back into that madness if I want to get dinner.
I have come to the conclusion that people in New Jersey must be religious, in order to trust that when they get into their car, they expect to come out alive when they reach their destination.
The rest of the week, every time I arrived at a college fair or a school visit I felt the urge to jump out the car and yell "Land! Solid Land!" like the little girl in the movie the Pacifier who gets out of a minivan kissing the ground after her teenage sister drives recklessly on the road.
Surprisingly, after all of that, I find myself ready to conquer the roads of the Garden State again. Surely if I can drive in New Jersey, I can drive anywhere.
Safe Travels,
Alexandra
In thinking ahead to my upcoming travel, I have been recalling with both horror and amusement my first experience driving in the Garden State only a week ago.
What you should understand is that I recently moved to the town of my current employment from the state of Michigan, where driving on the highway meant going 80 mph and traffic laws seemed to be only loosely followed. I thought driving in Michigan prepared me to drive anywhere. I was wrong.
It was literally my first day of out of state travel for the new job, and I clutched the steering wheel of my rental car, the traffic as I approached the New Jersey border getting thicker. It had started to rain and I squinted through the dusk hoping to find my hotel with my new GPS (named Rhoda). I was a bit appalled as I drove on Route 17 to find that people actually drove on the shoulder of the road to bypass traffic without the blink of an eye!
Then I discovered that my hotel was located on the OTHER side of Route 17, meaning I had to get off at an off ramp, onto another highway, and then back onto Route 17 going in the opposite direction. I continued to clutch the steering wheel - starring more at the GPS than the actual road. I sailed onto Route 17 going in the right direction thinking, "Oh my goodness, I made it!" but to my dismay - another highway was merging with mine on the right. I needed to cross over these lanes to get to my hotel.
I made it safely to the parking lot before I realized - I have to go back into that madness if I want to get dinner.
I have come to the conclusion that people in New Jersey must be religious, in order to trust that when they get into their car, they expect to come out alive when they reach their destination.
The rest of the week, every time I arrived at a college fair or a school visit I felt the urge to jump out the car and yell "Land! Solid Land!" like the little girl in the movie the Pacifier who gets out of a minivan kissing the ground after her teenage sister drives recklessly on the road.
Surprisingly, after all of that, I find myself ready to conquer the roads of the Garden State again. Surely if I can drive in New Jersey, I can drive anywhere.
Safe Travels,
Alexandra
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Beginning of my Adventures
As I complete my first month of a new job as a college admissions counselor, a common theme I have been hearing on the road has been "Wow, that story is so funny, someone should blog about it."
I could have titled this blog Road Rage, Rental Cars, and how I threw my GPS out the window, or Close Encounters with death on the New Jersey turnpike (it was, after all, my first experience driving in New Jersey last week), or even something similiar to Paula Marantz Cohen's clever subtitle in her novel about college admissions - Love, Death, and the SATs.
However I call it, we all know, as college admissions representatives, or as traveling salesmen (and women) that there is never a dull moment on the road. I hope to share some of the hilarity with you - and I hope you will share your own stories as well!
And for high school students beginning to apply to college perhaps this will bring you, in the stress of application time, a little laughter into your day.
Safe Travels,
Alexandra
I could have titled this blog Road Rage, Rental Cars, and how I threw my GPS out the window, or Close Encounters with death on the New Jersey turnpike (it was, after all, my first experience driving in New Jersey last week), or even something similiar to Paula Marantz Cohen's clever subtitle in her novel about college admissions - Love, Death, and the SATs.
However I call it, we all know, as college admissions representatives, or as traveling salesmen (and women) that there is never a dull moment on the road. I hope to share some of the hilarity with you - and I hope you will share your own stories as well!
And for high school students beginning to apply to college perhaps this will bring you, in the stress of application time, a little laughter into your day.
Safe Travels,
Alexandra
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