Mood:
irritatedThe last day was a bit of a challenge. The plan was to just kill some time until around 11:00a, at which time we would eat lunch, and then head to the airport to return the car and get home.
Good plan. –Not really.
We went back on top of Mount Wellington hoping to get more clear photographs of Hobart without a lot of haze. That didn’t work out so well, although we got more pictures of Hobart with some pretty cool sunrise effects.
After Mount Wellington, we decided to go to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. We got there, parked, and realized the museum didn’t open for other hour (it was 9:00a).
So we went into the Maritime Museum, only to discover that it was paid entry. Not being very nautically motivated, we hung out in the gift/book shop for a little while. Then we headed out for a wander around another store that we already shopped at a few days before. We did discover that there was a Chinese Buffet that opened at 11:00, so we had choices for lunch! To that point, we thought we would have to eat at Hog’s Breath Saloon, since their radio commercial said it opened at 11:00.
Once 10:00a rolled around, we went back to the museum, which took us about 45 minutes to walk through. Then we left for the Chinese Buffet. Once we got there, Kimberly noticed the door said they opened at 11:30a. I checked my newly acquired flyer. 11:00. I looked at the door. 11:30. Damn! We left for Hog’s Breath. Right when we got there, we saw the guy unlocking the door. Great! We tried the door, and it didn’t budge. Damn! Apparently the guy saw us pull in and remembered that he failed to lock the door when he got in to work. The guy came over, opened the door and said, “11:30. Sorry for the inconvenience.” He was unimpressed with my pleas to his radio commercial and said we’d have to come back. Right. I’ve been thwarted, again! He wants us to come back? Not gonna happen.
So we went to a sandwich shop. By now I am highly irritated about driving back and forth all over Hobart to find food. We get to the sandwich shop. I find an available parking place, which I over shot just a little. Backed the car up about 10 feet, and then, BAM! Another car was leaving her parking place, didn’t see us, and smashed into the back of the rental car. DAMN!!!!! So now I’m standing around, trying to call Thrifty to tell them there’s been an accident, no, no one’s hurt, yes, the car is drivable. Once complete, still angry about the restaurants being closed, the accident, the being but on perpetual hold by Thrifty, we finally went in to get lunch.
We ate a quick sandwich and then left for the airport. About three minutes into our drive, Kimberly points to the windshield and says, “What’s that?” DAMN!!!! I forgot to pay for my parking space and got a ticket!
I’m not having a good day, to this point.
We finally get to the airport. Now I have to deal with Thrifty-boy. He comes out, views the damage, writes some notes, and then points to the front bumper. “Did this damage occur during the accident?” I said, “No, the accident was just the back. That damage to the front bumper was there.” He gives me a sceptical look. Now I’m wondering, “Holy crap! I didn’t look at the car when we picket it up. Did I damage the front end driving over Charles Mountain?!? I didn’t hit anything! I bottomed out once or twice, but didn’t hit anything!”
Thrifty-boy checks his paperwork, turns to me and says, “This just says scratches/abrasions. That’s a hole in the bumper!” I turn back to him and said, “We didn’t hit anything. We noticed the bumper damage, checked the paperwork, saw the marks, and thought nothing of it.”
Then we went inside and finished the paperwork, during which time he explained to me that despite the accident not being my fault, despite the other lady admitting being at fault, the proper way to proceed is to charge my credit card $3,130 for the damage while the Thrifty people deal with the lady’s insurance people. With any luck, the charge should get refunded within a week or so.
DAMN!!!!!
Now, to give all of this just one more twist, we came home and found that USAA shut off my credit card because of fraudulent charges.
DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I called them immediately, and they were right. Stuff was showing up on my credit card that we didn’t do. So USAA terminated that card and is sending me a new one. What does that mean? Nothing to me. Thrifty is going to have a hard time charging me if that lady’s insurance doesn’t clear this up!
Anyway, there was no further drama for the return trip. Peter was there to pick us up, and took us right home. We gave him his chocolate and invited him to dinner, which he accepted, so we all went to the Tradies Club to get our Chinese Buffet that started this whole mess about 12 hours before.
It was damn good!
