So I am car-less now. I turned the Ford SUV over to the rental guys.....switching the pumped-up tire original tire back on about a mile outside of the airport. It was losing air from the minute I put it on....but it was still two-thirds inflated when I pulled into the check-in station....so I am done with this stupid tire episode.
For the next twelve months.....I am doing the tourist thing....without a car and see how far I can go with this concept.
As I left Reagan Airport.....I got onboard the Metro for my first real trip. After having ridden in Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, London, Rome and Berlin.....I had high expectations. Perhaps too high.
I like the SmartCard concept and it is easy to grasp. The trains? Well....they were on time and as clean as any I have ever seen. The stations? Well....they were plain, non-descriptive, and very vanilla compared to what you might find in Berlin or Amsterdam.
Then I got onboard the bus system and started counting the number of warning signs onboard. I stopped at fifteen. There was a warning sign for just about everything. If you bring harm to the bus driver....even though you are in Arlington.....theres some kind of DC law that you violated and they will charge you with something. Theres another sign for smoking or the lack of such......another for music.....another for old-folks seats.
With a seven minute ride....I arrived back at the Pike and walked home....300 feet away. This is it....I exist in a car-less world now. It will be curious how this goes.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Car Rental Hell
I had done ok with my rental car business since arriving. Yesterday, I was supposed to turn in the vehicle and go car-free.....but the Sears guys had my bed to come in....and would not deliver. So I made this decision to swap in the small car....get a SUV....and pick up the bed to take back.
The Alamo guys gave me this Ford SUV.....and barely 50 feet out of the place....the air pressure warning came on. I thought....I had already circled the vehicle and everything looked ok......so I figured it was a minor issue. I drove out to Wal-Mart, then onto Sears....and finally home.....almost 30 miles in length.
I pulled into the apartment complex and looked at the tires....and one was 70 percent flat. Yep. And it was hot as heck. I was lucky the tire didn't blow out.
So this morning, I put on the spare.....and checked it out.....big screw in the tire. I'm guessing it has a slow leak. The problem is.....I don't really want to pay for a stupid tire that already had issues before I picked it up.
So I filled the tire up with air this afternoon.....and will put this original tire back on the vehicle just outside of the airport....and see if I can just turn the dang thing in and not get assessed an entire tire on my costs.
The Alamo guys gave me this Ford SUV.....and barely 50 feet out of the place....the air pressure warning came on. I thought....I had already circled the vehicle and everything looked ok......so I figured it was a minor issue. I drove out to Wal-Mart, then onto Sears....and finally home.....almost 30 miles in length.
I pulled into the apartment complex and looked at the tires....and one was 70 percent flat. Yep. And it was hot as heck. I was lucky the tire didn't blow out.
So this morning, I put on the spare.....and checked it out.....big screw in the tire. I'm guessing it has a slow leak. The problem is.....I don't really want to pay for a stupid tire that already had issues before I picked it up.
So I filled the tire up with air this afternoon.....and will put this original tire back on the vehicle just outside of the airport....and see if I can just turn the dang thing in and not get assessed an entire tire on my costs.
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