It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. OK, it wasn't either of those, but it certainly wasn't fun. I had a work trip planned that was taking me to the United Kingdom, and I was leaving on Halloween. The flight from O'Hare airport to London Heathrow was just over 7 1/2 hours long. That flight was actually the best part of the two days. I landed, picked up my luggage, and started to make my way to the hotel that was supposed to be connected to the airport. I managed to discover that it was located near a different terminal so I headed to the train and took that towards Terminal 4. As I was getting off the train someone knocked my laptop bag off of my suitcase, and as I made an effort to save it from hitting the ground something happened to two of the wheels on the suitcase that basically made the suitcase un-wheelable. So now I had to carry/drag this bag to the hotel. The hotel, where it is connected to Terminal 4, really isn't all that close. They have a long walkway that connects the two together. Anyway, eventually I was able to get to the hotel, check in, and get up to my room.
Once I arrived in my room I discovered that I didn't have any mobile phone service. To be real honest I wasn't too worried about this except for the fact that I had to contact the customer (ironically, a mobile phone provider) on Monday via phone, and I also had a 2 1/2 hour drive to Trowbridge where who knows what could happen. I called my cell phone service provider to see if they could help and of course they couldn't. Oh well, time to pick up a mobile "pay-as-you-go" phone for the week. Not a problem. I wish that had been the end of the issues, since it really wasn't too bad so far. Not great, but not absoultely horrible, either.
The next morning I went to pick up my car at the car rental. Lucky for me, they still had an automatic available. Most vehicles in the UK are manual transmission, and with the steering wheel on the right, I don't think I would've gotten comfortable trying to shift with my left hand. Unfortunately for me, Heathrow is west of London, and my hotel was on the far east side of London near Tower Bridge so I had to drive across all of London to get there. The driving was going OK, even though it felt awkward to be on the left side of the road. The real problem I was having driving in London was all the scooters and motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic. It was this that caused my next dilemma. As I was making a right turn near Piccadilly Circus, a scooter was weaving between me and another vehicle in the lane next to me when he suddenly cut over in front of me. I thought I was going to hit him so I swerved to my left, striking the curb hard and bursting the front left tire. Because I was on one of the busier streets in London, I turned as soon as I could and just parked where I could find a spot for the vehicle.
This vehicle didn't come with a spare, it only came with a repair kit, which wasn't going to fix the blown sidewall I had (see picture). Without a working cell phone I was going to be forced to leave the car and find a way to get assistance. I used one of the phone booths (Thank goodness for those old red booths!!) and was able to get a hold of the rental agency's road assistance personnel, who said they'd send somebody out and that they'd be there within the hour. I waited at the nearest intersection per their instructions, and once I saw their vehicle I flagged him down and pointed out where my vehicle was parked. As I approached the vehicle I found another person staring at it. I didn't recognize the person at first, but it turns out it was a police officer that was writing out a ticket for my vehicle! Are you kidding me!?! I tried to convince the officer about my issue, but he informed me there was nothing he could do because the ticket was "written" out in his hand-held computer thing already. Awesome!!
...and now the piano falls out of the sky and lands on me...
Just kidding, but you can probably see how I felt. Just one thing after another. The road assistance gentleman tells me he can't do anything about the tire and will need to call for a tow, and because Budget's only rental facilities near London are at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, the vehicle will need to be towed back to the rental agency, which is completely the wrong direction for me. The tow eventually shows up about 3 hours later, and after the 1 hour tow ride back to Heathrow and filling out new paperwork for a new vehicle, I was able to do the drive all over again, now only it's dark and raining out, too!
...and now I get in accident number two, right?
Nope, no incidents on the second drive through London, but it was pretty much a wasted day for me. Instead of getting out in London for all day Saturday I didn't even get checked in until almost 8pm. My body was still getting adjusted to the 5-hour time difference, too. I took a short walk near Tower Bridge, found a nice pub nearby the hotel, sat down for some bitters and some fish & chips, and just called it a night. Not a fun day, but I planned to be well rested for spending all of Sunday out and about in London!
It's all OK now, the trip got better on Sunday, and I've still got the week in Trowbridge and Bath to go. More pictures to come...
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