I’m visiting Louisville and Broomfield in Colorado this week as part of the ongoing Sun+StorageTek integration work, and so I took the first flight from Boston to Denver this morning. I had a couple of surprises. First, I was upgraded to first class for some reason (something to do with rectifying another travel agency screwup). Then when I checked in my boarding card was marked “SSSSS“, which meant that I was pulled aside for the full search: bags, wanding, pat-down, even what the agent called “the TSA back-rub”. The wand was turned up so high that the zipper on my trousers set it off!
The flight was uneventful: I slept most of the way. However when I reached Denver, the Avis reservation computers were down, so they were processing every car rental booking by hand. Eventually I got to the front of the (long) line, was asked “Is a red Ford minivan OK?”, said yes, and was given a contract and a bay number. I walked out to that bay, and found a blue Chevy SUV. Different colour, different make, and – most important – different registration. I flagged down a passing Avis staff member, we hunted around a bit for the Ford, and then she gestured to the SUV and said, “Are you OK with this?” I shrugged, “Sure – it’s got four wheels and a tank of gas”, so she amended my contract with the relevant info. So now, for perhaps the first time, I’m driving an oversized SUV. It has the aerodynamics (and wind noise) of a brick, and the driving position is uncomfortably upright, but it works.
Mind you, having AWD may be useful. They’re forecasting 1-3 inches of snow this evening, with 25-40 mph winds….