I’m writing from Gate C4 at McCarren International (and on their WiFi). Why would you name a gate after a a deadly plastic explosive?
Helaine had trouble sleeping and was out of the room before I was awake. I had no trouble sleeping. These beds are firm with a pillow top.
It’s December, but it’s hard to tell out here. I looked out our window when I got up. The pool had guests yesterday. Now it’s drained. Closed for the winter. That’s sad.
As I was getting out of bed Helaine was coming back to the room. I showered and we headed for breakfast at the Carnegie Deli. After my week of poker, I went to see the manager. Maybe they’d like to buy my meal? Within a few seconds I was the proud possessor of a $15 food ticket. The comp has been converted to ‘black and white’ cookies from the Carnegie! Poker is low profit for them. Any food comp is a big deal.
While Helaine finished the paperwork, I waited for the bellman. As with all of Las Vegas, he was chatty. He was working for his tip. Mission accomplished. Ten minutes, ten bucks and we were at the North Valet Parking stand.
If you ever go to the Mirage, here’s my one worthwhile tip. The North Valet is much faster and easier than the man area–especially for auto pickup.
We got in the car and headed up Las Vegas Boulevard for the rental car center. All the rental companies operate under one roof about a half mile from the airport. I had to stop and top off the tank. I’d only gone 90 miles or so. I expected to put in a few gallons at the most.
When the pump got to 5 gallons I started to get upset–then 6 and 7. When we got to Enterprise I said something to the attendant. You are about to get a story about good and bad customer service.
The attendant checking in my car immediately copped an attitude. It was only a few bucks and I didn’t even care about the dollars involved. I just wanted an acknowledgment. He pushed back. “Maybe this car just gets really bad mileage,” he said.
Seriously? Is this guy nuts? He had taken something inconsequential and elevated it. Now it was a matter if principle. I needed a manager.
In stepped Anthony who took control and took responsibility. I told him I didn’t want any money. I just wanted Enterprise to understand my upset. He said all the right things, including a promise to talk to the attendant. He handed me my receipt and I walked away reasonably satisfied.
When I looked at the receipt, he had taken $13 from my bill. I turned around and told him I didn’t want that, but he wanted to do right by me and he did. Good for you Enterprise.
Though I checked in within minutes of our flight’s available time, we were given “B” boarding passes. I think we’ll still sit together, but I was surprised. Probably a lot of others connecting with our Hartford flight at Las Vegas who were able to checking before us.
We pushed our bags to the curbside checking where we were told one bag was eight pounds over. Uh oh. Actually, no big deal. The skycap invited Helaine behind the counter to shift some weight to another bag.
And there you have it. Sometime around midnight Eastern we’ll be back at Bradley and home by 2:00 AM.
It seems like we’ve been gone a month!
