Gas fail

In part two (and an "Only Dan" moment of my Vegas trip), I'm going to talk about rental cars.  Ah, for a brief time while you are out of town, you have the joy of renting a rental car.  The mirrors are out of wack, you don't know where any of the radio stations are located, and you tend not to know the quirks of the car you have rented.  For those of you who have rented a car, you know that you are responsible for the gas you use, and you must return the car with a full tank of gas or you get charged a pretty steep fee.  I was returning my car and I had not yet filled the car up with gas.  Avis, the company I rented from, has a policy that if you have driven the car less than 75 miles, you can return the car and be charged a flat $13 for a refueling fee.  Even though $13 isn't much, I thought it was a bit steep, especially since I didn't think I drove all that much.  I decided to fill up the car myself, turn in my receipt, and have the $13 charged to my account.  I pulled up to the gas station and I started searching for the fuel door lever...I couldn't find one.  I got out of the car thinking the fuel door might have a notch on it that you simply pull open like my car has...it did not.  I search and searched for the lever to open the fuel door and I simply could not find it.  I finally gave up and looked up my car on the internet.  I found out you had to open the fuel door by pushing in on it and it would pop open.  Sure enough, it did.  I filled up my car and the bill ended up being...$11.  I was so proud of myself; I had saved $2!  I was thinking how proud my dad would be of me.

I arrived to the airport and attempted to check into my flight.  The kiosk returned an error and told me to go see an agent.  When I got up to the counter, I was told I had arrived too late without checking in and I would not be allowed to board.  In essence, I was going to miss my flight.  I was told that I could wait for three hours and see if I could get another flight for a fee of $50.  I waited three hours, only to be told that all remaining flights to St. Louis that day were full.  If I wanted to return that day, I was going to have to buy another ticket on another airline.  Total cost to get back to St. Louis...$300.  The reason I missed my flight completely due to not being able to put gas in my car and trying to save a few bucks.

There are many lessons that can be learned from this story.  Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.  Give yourself PLENTY of time to get to the airport.  Above all, though, don't be hard on yourself when you make a mistake.  Surprisingly, I wasn't that upset by the whole ordeal.  I was thankful for having the chance to take such a wonderful trip, see some friends, and enjoy myself  for a weekend.  I've been working on not beating myself up and being more forgiving of the mistakes I make.  This was a good chance to practice this new tact, and I think I handled the situation pretty well.  In a case like this, all you can do is laugh about it and do what it takes to make the situation better.  As it is, I made it home safely...but not without a serious scare in Phoenix that involved the highest branches of the federal government!!! (This is, what we call in the business, a tease...stay tuned for more!)