I had a bad morning – allergies, headache, generally not feeling good. I didn’t do much but lay in bed and doze until the afternoon.
I did have one great thing happen this morning: Joe called and said that not only were he and Miguel driving down from L.A. to be with me this weekend, but they wanted me to stay over in the hotel with them, so they got a room with a suite, so they can sleep in the bedroom and I can sleep on a pull-out couch in the living room. I’m SO excited! They’re so sweet! He said Miguel wanted to have another sleep-over, since we had so much fun the last time I stayed over (when I went to my cousin Evan’s Bar Mitzvah!).
The other fabulous thing is that we’re staying downtown, which is someplace I really never go. I’ve been to Little Italy a lot, and went to eat downtown and saw SPRING AWAKENING with Ilene when she was here, but other than that, I’ve very rarely been in the city.
We’re staying at the SHERATON SUITES AT SYMPHONY HALL! I’m so excited. They’re going to pick me up tomorrow afternoon, so I have to pack. They’re going to laugh at me when I go out to the car with my little pink suitcase on wheels, but if I’m packing my pjs, toiletries, my pillow, and an outfit to change into for the evening, I’m going to need to bring that!
Anyway, at about 1:30pm I finally felt well enough to get out of bed and I decided to call the garage to see if the PT was ready. They said it would be ready at 5:00pm and they would call me.
I then called Enterprise to say I would be returning the car this afternoon and they told me they close at 6:00pm.
I ran some errands, drove through Starbucks, did two loads of laundry, brought the rest of the wardrobe boxes up from the car, and packed a little bit more, waiting for my 5:00pm call. It never came. At 5:09pm I called them. The girl who answered told me that they “couldn’t find the clips” for the car and to call back in 15 minutes. I have NO idea what the clips are, but I was assuming it had something to do with attaching the bumper.
I called back in EXACTLY 15 minutes and she said the car was ready and I could pick it up. It was now 5:25pm. I told her that I was on my way, but that I had to return my rental first, which is right across the street. At this point, she tells me that they’re only open until 6:00pm.
I explained to her that THEY told me the car would be ready at 5:00pm. I was ready at 5:00pm. It was THEIR fault it wasn’t ready at 5:00pm, and now she’s telling me there won’t be anyone there after 6:00pm? I asked her if someone could wait until I got there. She put me on hold, came back on and said “the supervisor” would wait 10 minutes.
By now, I’m in the car and leaving the parking lot of my apartment. I was totally ready, and started walking while I was still on the phone with her, as soon as she said it was ready. I didn’t want to get into an accident with the rental, but I was totally stressed, because I knew I had to go back to Enterprise, sign the car back in, and then get a ride across the street and do all the paperwork to pick up my car. You might ask, "Why do you need a ride across the street?" It's because it's Balboa Avenue and it's 3 lanes each way with no center divider, so it's REALLY tricky to cross.
Now I live just 10 minutes away, but it WAS rush hour, so there was a lot of traffic on Balboa. By the time I got there, it was 5:45pm. I decided to go into the office of the garage first, and tell them that someone BETTER be there when I get back. I told them that if I returned the rental and came across the street and they had left I would have no way to get home (I could have called several people, but they didn’t know that).
I then drove across the street and returned the car and they brought me back over. I was back before 6:00pm. Stan was there to greet me. I don’t know if he’s “the supervisor” the girl spoke of on the phone, but I told him that I was freaking out because I was afraid they’d close and I wouldn’t be able to get my car. He told me I shouldn’t have worried, and that he would have waited, and I told him that the girl I spoke to said he would wait 10 minutes – and was very rude about it. He could see I was “in a tizzy” and told me it was okay and he wanted to show me the car. He said he would talk to the girl and I said, “Tell her instead of freaking the customers out, she should calm them down and assure them that everything would be okay.” He agreed.
I explained to him that I have a LOT going on (which he already knew, because I told him I needed to get the car fixed before I move back to NY). He showed me my beautiful new bumper and then I paid for my portion (I had already received the check from GMAC, so I owed the garage that amount). It ended up costing over $1,200 and they paid me just over $600, so GMAC picked up the rest directly. Very cool!
I also had to pay $75 for the rental for the week, which I will get back from AAA the insurance company of the car that hit me. So, the whole thing ended up costing me $6 – for 3 gallons of gas to fill the car back up. I only did 50 miles the whole week!
I’m so glad that’s over and I have one less thing to think about! Now I just have to follow up with AAA to get my $75.
When I got back to the apartment I just had a few minutes to get myself together and then I went to pick up Marti, who lives just down Clairemont Drive (right near Starbucks – who could be so lucky?). We went to Filippi’s on Clairemont Mesa for a great Italian dinner (it’s one of three family-owned restaurants and now I’ve been to all three. There’s one in Pacific Beach, the original (in Little Italy), and this one). I had angel hair pasta with shrimp and mushrooms and Marti had lasagna.
Then, at 9:00pm we went over to THE CARRIAGE HOUSE LOUNGE on Balboa and hung out there until about 12:30am. I knew the Karaoke hostess (known as a KJ) from a focus group I did months ago, and she was working tonight! I couldn't believe she remembered me, and she was really sweet.
There were a LOT of people there, and a LOT of singers, but Marti sang three songs and I got to sing two. Marti has a fabulous voice. Powerful, yet sweet and clear. You know she’s got chops because she sang EVERGREEN, a Barbara Streisand song. If you can Karaoke a Barbara Streisand song, you know you’ve “got it.”
I sang TO SIR WITH LOVE and then, a few hours later, I wanted to sing WIDE OPEN SPACES by the DIXIE CHICKS, but when the song started, I couldn’t remember how it went! It was embarrassing! Just because they give you the lyrics doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to know how the song goes! I used to sing that song years ago, but I haven't sung it in a long time and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember the beginning!
Anyway, the KJ immediately put on my third choice was AT LAST by Etta James, which I’ve sung so many times I definitely can’t forget it. By the time I sang this it was after 11:00pm. Although there’s no smoking in the bar, the patio where there IS smoking is about 10 feet from where I was sitting and I was breathing in cigarette smoke all night, and talking above the loud music, so by the time I sang my second song my voice was cracking and didn’t sound too good. Oh, well, at least I tried!
Everyone there was SO friendly, which is very unusual. Usually Karaoke Bars are filled with "regulars" who are very click-y, but we made some friends, and we promised to go back in two Wednesdays (Marti will be out of town next Wednesday – in San Francisco). Nicole, the KJ, told us that Wednesdays are very quiet and we can sing a lot more. We were there for three hours and I only got called up twice. That’s how busy it was!
Marti is a great girl and she's really fun to be with. I feel bad that we didn't get to go out a lot more before I left, but we're going to make the best of the next four weeks!
When I got home I blogged and I’m going to bed soon, because I have a big weekend ahead of me. I am SO excited to spend the weekend with Joe and Miguel. We’re going to have so much fun!