So we’re home now and getting back to our lives. Danelle and I have actually been out of town for about two weeks, and it’s always interesting coming home. You’re excited to sleep in your own bed, but at the same time you’ve been enjoying the carefree nature of your out-of-town-ness and you’re not too eager to get back to the grind. Now that I’ve had a chance to organize my thoughts and cool my head a little bit, here’s the breakdown of our trip.
We left our house-sitting and headed toward Santa Maria at about 12:00, but not before a lively discussion about whether or not we had packed too much. Believe it or not I was actually in favor of taking more clothes than was needed. I know it’s scary, but please stop hiding under your desk; the world hasn’t ended. Bags tossed in the back of the truck we pulled in to Safeway for some fuel, then started on our way. The actual ride up was pretty uneventful except for our brief stop in Salinas where we got to spy the Blue Angels practicing for the air show that weekend. There’s nothing quite like the noise of a fighter jet flying overhead. If I was hiding in a cave somewhere, that would certainly freak me out. Danelle and I passed the time with some music and hilarity, and arrived at our hotel sometime around 3:30. Then it started to get interesting.
We’ve been saving for a little bit to make sure that our trip to Camp Meeting was entirely paid for, and seeing as how I had not yet needed access to the saved funds, I hadn’t transferred them to the checking. This wasn’t an issue at all until I tried to check in. My first impression of the Quality Inn in Santa Maria wasn’t that great. The lobby looked “previously loved” and I was a little concerned about the actual quality of our Quality Inn room. I politely informed the girl behind the counter that I was checking in, and gladly provided my bank card and ID when she asked for it. At first she couldn’t find our reservation, and (with my driver license in hand) needed me to spell my last name for her a couple times, then re-explain that the reservation was under my wife’s name. At this point I’m not really inconvenienced because this is just the nature of life. Things don’t always go as planned.
She politely asks me if I would like to run my card as debit or credit, and when I say credit I am abruptly informed that their system does not distinguish between debit and credit. If my card is a debit card then it will simply be run as such. Ok, again no big deal. She then lets me know that since I’m running the card as debit (she just told me I didn’t have a choice) that there would be my room charge, plus 15% incidental fees (in case I abscond with the towels) billed to my card. The incidental fees will not be returned for 15 days. You know, in case I steal something and they don’t notice it’s missing for a while. At this point I’ve been standing there for about 20 minutes and I’m starting to get a little bit annoyed. To my surprise the girl hands the card back to me after a few moments and advises me that it has been declined. Declined? I haven’t even checked in yet!
After reminding myself that I’m a good Christian, and that I’m here representing Pentecost by using the discount provided for Camp Meeting, I calmly tell the girl that I simply forgot to transfer funds from savings, and that it will take only a moment. Because I’m a mobile kind of guy, I have an app for my bank on my iPhone, and within seconds the transfer has been made. I advise the girl that she can now try the card again. I’m still miffed that I’m being charged at the beginning of my stay instead of after, but we’re here and I just want to lay down before church. Plus Danelle is in a hurry to get to the restroom, which is no big surprise if you’ve ever been in a car with her before 
. By now the woman I’ve been dealing with has been joined by a rather rugged looking “seasoned” woman with dyed red hair. She’s also been giving me sideways glances that could make Einstein feel like a special needs kid. Woman A runs my card again, and lo and behold their card processing system goes down. Looks like it’s time for a phone call to corporate. Oh goody!
Woman A slides me my room key and Danelle walks in to see what’s taking so long. She asks Red if we can just check into the room while they’re sorting out the system issues, and with a chain smokers rattle she condescendingly advises Danelle that our card was declined. Now I have to explain this to my anxious wife. After bringing her up to speed in a couple of seconds, I look back at Red and tell her that I just made the necessary funds transfer and that I can assure her the card is fine. The near death rattle of her voice replies “We don’t know that.” If it was possible for steam to come out of someone’s ears like it does in cartoons, I would have fogged every window in the lobby. The manager must have gotten curious at the self righteous gurgling coming out of Red, and came to assess the situation. Red sees Danelle make for the door and cries out “Is she going to the room?” Yes, I calmly explain to Red with the manager present. We want to unpack our bags and get settled while your sort out your computer problem. The manager agrees and promises to call if there are any issues, and I haul my simmering visage out the front door after Danelle.
Danelle and I grabbed a couple of bags and made our way from our parking spot to our room. In order to enter the room area you first have to go through a side door that reads your room key and grants you access. When we approached the door a little girl was busily swiping her card over and over again, so I took advantage of the situation and just opened it for her. After using our own key on our room, I dropped off the first round of bags and headed back out to the truck to get the rest. I swiped my card at the side door and, to my burdened surprise, nothing happened. I swiped it again. Still nothing. Several more attempts. Still nothing. Aggravated to the point of insanity I called Danelle and had her come and let me in. I dropped off the bags and made my way to the front desk determined not to lose my cool on someone.
When I get there it’s just me and Red. With miraculous politeness I advise her that our room key doesn’t open the side door for some reason, and I would like to have another key. She takes my key with an inconvenienced look, swipes it through something under the counter, and lets me know that the card is fine. She then goes on to give me a five minute lecture on the proper use of a hotel key and card reader. You know, because being on of billions with a credit card, I may never have actually had the experience of swiping a card with a magnetic strip through a slot before. When all she gets is a contained fiery stare from me she proceeds to issue me two new room keys. Finally. I take my mysterious magical rectangles and approach the side door not really knowing what to expect. Of course I was right, and the new key opened the door without a problem. Gee, I guess I did know how to swipe it right after all.
That out of the way I walk into the room and plop on the bed, ready for a little bit of crash time before I have to take Danelle to praise practice. After a little R&R, I start unloading clothing and pulling out the things I need to wear to church, as well as my shaving paraphernalia and tooth brush. I almost immediately start noticing things I wouldn’t expect in an Inn branded Quality. There were holes cut out in several places along the wall across from the beds. They were hastily patched, and no one even bothered to try and cover the fact that the wallpaper was cut out. On my side of the bed most of the bottom of the wall had been cut out, and pieces of mismatched sheetrock had been put in. Again without attempt to hide it. In the bathroom the sink was rusted through toward the top, and the tub had a large sheet of what I assumed was non-slip paper just kind of casually stuck into it. You now understand why I will forever refer to this chain as the Poor Quality Inn. By now I’m just too tired to argue, and I have to get ready for church, so I just leave everything as is and decide not to bother asking for another room. It’s probably no a whole lot better anyway.
After a few minutes of roaming around the room getting things together there was a knock at the door. Seeing Omar through the peep hole, I let myself out and struck up a conversation with him. As it turned out, the same dynamic duo that checked me into our hostel (yes ‘hostel’) told Omar that they didn’t accept debit cards at all, and sent him scouring around the city for a prepaid Visa instead. Wow, there simply were no words for the lack of service we had both thus far received. After talking for a little while, I headed back inside, got dressed, and Danelle and I made our way to the camp ground. Our frustration at the hotel instantly vaporized under the pressure of our excitement to finally be there. Because she was on the platform, I pulled the truck up behind the tent and let her out. I then headed out on foot to check in with Bro. McDaniel to let him know that I would be available for the graveyard security shift both nights of our stay. After our hellos I walked away with a smile on my face and stopped by the exhibit hall to see if the suit guy and fake watch guy were there this year. Unfortunately suit guy is now part of the southern district, and fake watch guy still hasn’t been back in two years. Oh well. Off to the truck to get it washed and grab some pre-service caffeine for Danelle.
I headed out the front gate and made my way down Broadway on a mission. I wanted a bank, a car wash, a Taco Bell, and a Starbucks. Wouldn’t you know all of those were on the same street within blocks of each other? Errands done I headed back to the big top and started looking up my friends. I connected with a few people, then settled in for the service, chatting with Bro. Len a little while during the always extensive preliminaries. After a while Nathaniel, Mom Hurst, Grandma Hurst, and Gary all joined me and the fun began. Than is of course a riot in any given situation, and him and I chuckled for a little while before I headed across the tabernacle to sit with Danelle. Bro. Kinsey preached like a whirlwind of fire, and the altars rapidly filled with hungry souls. I worked the altars a little, got a blessing for myself, and when it was apparent the service was at its end, started tracking down people for a dinner party. I managed to nab Josh before he got too far, and between Danelle and I we roped in Candace, Chelsea, Clint, Jesse and his wife, Adam and Misty, and all accompanying babies.
Because it was already late I managed to speed through Danelle’s tour of the exhibit hall and head over to Cool Hand Luke’s to secure us a table before they closed. We made it two minutes past closing time, but the prospect of so many guests prompted the manager to make an exception and give us a table. After hilarious and memorable conversation and good food, we let ourselves out of the restaurant as the last people to leave. While Danelle wanted to stay and chat for a while longer at the front door, I whisked her back to the hotel so I could change and head back to the grounds to begin my shift.
After a quick garment overhaul I drove over the camp and picked up the cart that Josh graciously leant me for my duties that night. I was still in need of a jacket and radio, so after a quick lap around I intercepted Bro. McDaniel and two other guards that had everything I needed. Alone and ready to rock I started to make my rounds. I hooked up with my friend Dave I met during security last year, and we caught up while we did our rounds. The night was pretty uneventful though, and after a while I found myself being the only one wandering around in a yellow jacket. Seeing as how it was about 3:45, I had been shivering for an hour, and my borrowed flash light was dead, I decided it was time to call it a night.
Cart returned I headed to my truck, drove around to gate seven, dropped off my jacket and radio, and headed back to the PQI to grab a few hours sleep before morning. The first day of camp was a success, and after some time with The Secret of Monkey Island nostalgia on my iPhone, I crashed into a deep sleep.
. I had originally had a longer post in mind but I had to plug these leaks in my brain first. Maybe next time.
Oh yes, at Ghirardelli’s we’re number one. And don’t you forget it…