Officially Irritated

[mrdreamjeans]

I am officially irritated, rather than casually irritated. I should be able to focus on the excitement of my trip to Minneapolis tomorrow. I am packed. I believe I've got everything together that I will need. I have a present for John for his birthday and I only have to work half a day before I drive to Dallas. I am ready to get the hell out of Dodge ... well, actually Brenham .. I an thrilled to be going to see my Twin Cities friends!!!

What's set me off? I have been on hold with Orbitz customer service twice for 10 minutes and the third time, when I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was put on hold for 20 minutes and finally hung up. I guess it took a long time to reach the customer service reps, Nick and Michelle. Despite their names, they are clearly based in India. When I booked my flight a month ago, I selected the option to reserve covered parking at DFW Airport for my time away. I was told my credit card had been charged. Tonight, when I called to reconfirm, there was no record of it; further more, I was told the parking I had selected was no longer available. I have a three-hour drive from here to the Dallas Airport. I guess I'll be figuring it out as I go along. I've only flown out of DFW once before. Grrrr ...

And since I'm on a bit of a rant ... What the hell was going on at the Miss Universe Pageant? It was held in Mexico City on Monday night. Miss USA and Miss Mexico were in the top 10. When Miss USA made the top five along with Brazil, Venezuela, Korea and Japan, and Mexico was cut (and with her face, she should have been), the audience booed and catcalled as she tried to answer her final question. I'm still not sure if it was Mexico partisans or Venezuela patriots who were the unruly culprits. Miss USA, a stunning African-American woman, finished fourth runner-up. Miss Japan won. The other bizarre incident was that Miss USA, in evening gown, had her feet slide out from under her. She landed on her ass in front of millions. That she got through all of this with some measure of dignity and grace intact was a miracle. (Just for the record, the only other Miss USA to fall in the competition was back in the 1970s. Miss USA was Kim Tomes and she was a classmate of mine at Texas A&M. She finished 1st runner-up.)

My good humor will return in the morning. I've been working on some positive projects, such as a cabaret act. I was going to share the details in this post, but I don't want to mix irritation with pleasure. I am tired and cranky ... officially irritated ... Please throw up a wish that parking karma heads my way ....

Comments

Wanna REALLY get Orbitz's attention? Here's how.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

1. IMMEDIATELY consult your credit card statements and see if you have been charged.

2. Assuming you HAVE been charged, IMMEDIATELY (not tomorrow, but TONIGHT) call the bank that issued the card and notify them that you have a fraudulent charge. You'll probably still need to write them a letter and photocopy the credit card statement, highlighting the disputed item, but it'll be worth it.

3. Most banks will remove the offending charge temporarily, pending investigation.

4. Head off to the Twin Cities whistling happily, knowing that Orbitz is having to dig through all of their records to defend themselves against a fraudulent charge.

"But Allan," I hear someone crying, "it's not a fraudulent charge; it was authorized at the time!"

Did you receive the product or service that you paid for?

No?

Well, then ... it's a fraudulent charge.

Re: Wanna REALLY get Orbitz's attention? Here's how.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice!

[gayhawk.livejournal.com]

Your karma wish has been submitted and hopefully granted.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I really sorry that we're passing ships this weekend! But next time, definitely next time!

[gayhawk.livejournal.com]

Well, Neil, it was certainly a pleasure NOT passing in the night. I'm so glad I got the chance to meet you and give you the hugs I've been offering. I hope you find all the resources you need to meet all of your needs!

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

It was all too brief! I was a bit flustered because I didn't expect to meet you and there you were in all of your handsomeness:) I hope I didn't come across as dingy. I was operating on very little sleep and people overload. I had a great time, but will certainly fall into bed exhausted tonight.

By the way, you and I need to have a conversation about the company that you work for .. I don't know if I've mentioned to you that my oldest nephew is autistic and mentally-retarded and has been in a group home since he was 10.

Big HUGS! Till we meet again ....

[gayhawk.livejournal.com]

My dear, you looked great.

I'd be happy to talk with you about your nephew, but I work more in the business aspect. Scott has worked directly in the field and you could probably have a lengthy discussion with him. He also has a nephew who is mildly autistic.

HUGS always...

[elfkat.livejournal.com]

Fair winds and Folloing seas to you. Have a fun trip!

Hugs!

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

The fun has begun!

[cimarrondfw.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure what inspired the booing, but it was certainly tacky.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Yep! I could barely hear her answer ... and after she fell ... wow ... I am amazed that she didn't get hurt. Bet it's a long time before Trump takes the pageant that way again. I told my mother beforehand ... after the first viewing of the contestants .. that one of the Asian girls was going to win.

[cimarrondfw.livejournal.com]

It seemed to me that neither the Korean nor the Japanese seemed to appear decidedly ethnic. I also noted that the Korean woman's given name was Honey so I wondered if they were mixed race and/or had had cosmetic surgery to look more Western.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Both of them were also 5'9" tall. Miss USA was also mixed race. Stunning women all three!

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

Calming thoughts handsome. After all, how on earth could you be out of sorts in Minneapolis? :) (those lucky buggers!) You should also make sure that they really did not charge your account, no sense paying for something they didn't give you. (Next time try Travelocity.)

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

I will make sure they didn't charge me. I'm calm now ... after all, I'm in Minneapolis now:) If my trip here is half as much fun as yours in KC last weekend, I will have had a great time! HUGS!

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[bruinwi.livejournal.com]

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Re: Thank you for using Live Journal

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Have a great weekend with the concerts! Please give madisonbear and designerotter big hugs from me and then get them both to hug you from me!!! :)

[bearnight.livejournal.com]

Breathe in, Breathe out. Breathe in, Breathe out.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

I guess I was holding my breath! When the customer service agents came on and could barely speak English and told me their names were Nick and Michelle, my first instinct was to say, well, if you're Nick, then I'm Sanjaya:) I know that it is a conscious decision to have the overseas personnel take on American sounding names, but jeez ... when you get to them ... and then they put you on hold for huge chunks of time .. and the result is "I"m sorry Sir, there the parking is full." You're put on hold for 20 minutes and the supervisor never does take the call .... (Ok, I"m breathing again:) Thanks!!! See you today or tomorrow, I hope! HUGS!

[bearnight.livejournal.com]

I suspect the American names are a company policy. The one's I deal with may adopt a shorter nickname if their name is very long and unusual, but I've never heard them adopted American names.

I had a friend in law school, Kauai (like the Hawaii island ), from Hong Kong. She said everyone adopts American names - hers was Shirley. We persuaded her to stay with Kauai.

[nlotic.livejournal.com]

Do you want to do breakfast/brunch on either Monday or Wednesday morning?

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see you ... and I know you have the kids this weekend, but I'm only here today and tomorrow. I have to be at airport on Sunday morning at 7:15am. Wish our paths could cross! Btw, did you see my homage to trombone players? I posted about three days ... it's photos from my childhood. I was thinking of Jim, Chip and you when I selected it:)

HUGS! Give ma a holler at John's if we won't see each other.