For the third time in a row, I was stuck in Seattle last night. All flights back to Wenatchee were cancelled yesterday, and it was so foggy that they couldn't even get a bus on the tarmac to take us over the pass. Worse, there was no guarantee that any flights would be leaving today (and, as far as I know, none ever did).
The good news is that I managed to find a ride back this morning. The bad news is that I had to make the trip on only three hours sleep.
The fancy hotel I stayed at had advertised wireless internet. But when I tried to log on, the billing page refused to fully load. The hotel blamed me, saying my computer "probably wasn't configured properly" and passed me to the provider's support desk at 10:15pm. Unfortunately, they didn't know anything, and said that they would have a "tech manager" call me back.
So I waited, and waited, and waited. But they never called. So I called back at 11:00pm and was told they would send another request. After waiting until midnight, I decided to give up and go to bed. I was looking forward to getting a full 6-hours sleep, because I haven't been getting nearly enough rest the past several weeks.
Naturally the internet support guy decided to call me back at 3:00am.
Since I couldn't get back to sleep, I spent the next three hours catching up on work and random blog surfing now that the billing page was working again.
The hotel refunded me the $9.95 access fee after I complained, but none of this would have happened in the first place if they offered free internet to their customers like they should. I can't help but think that hotels who charge for internet actually end up losing more than they ever gain by the meager fees they receive from charging for it.
I can honestly say that free internet access has now become more important to me than how many stars a hotels has, how fancy the lobby is, how big the rooms are, how many pillows you get on your bed, and whether or not you get a mint on your pillow. Give me a Hampton Inn or a Holiday Inn Express over the competition any day. Why? Complimentary internet.
CHAPTER 14: Crashing Through the Snow.
LEGO ADVENT CALENDAR TOY OF THE DAY: Traffic Light.
After escaping from the evil Lego Buzz, Lego Dave and Barky the Dog rush to get Mr. Mechanic and his severed hand to the hospital...
"Don't worry Mr. Construction Worker" exclaims Lego Dave. "We'll get you to a doctor in time! The hospital is just two blocks away after we turn this corner."
"Thanks guy!" the construction worker replies.
"Bark! Bark!" adds Barky the Dog encouragingly.
As Lego Dave rushes to push the wheelbarrow around the corner, a soccer mom talking on her mobile phone while driving an SUV suddenly runs up onto the sidewalk, heading straight for our heroic trio! With not a moment to lose, Lego Dave veers off the sidewalk, straining to maintain control. He manages to avoid being killed by the idiotic driver, but the wheelbarrow can't hold the sudden turn and runs into a traffic light pole.
Barky the Dog and Mr. Construction Worker are thrown from the wheelbarrow, but are relatively unscathed.
"The wheelbarrow has busted an axle, so we're going to have to walk the rest of the way" declares Lego Dave. "Come on Barky, help me carry Mr. Construction worker to the hospital. We're running out of time!"
"Yeah, my severed hand is starting to smell funny" says the construction worker.
"I hope nothing else comes up to delay us" Lego Dave says cautiously.
Can they make it to the hospital in time to save Mr. Construction Worker's hand?
FIND OUT TOMORROW WHEN DAVE'S "A VERY LEGO HOLIDAY TALE" CONTINUES!
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Jeez, you have really bad luck with the weather.
Lego Dave should sue the SUV b!tch for almost squishing them under her land yacht.
OK, I haven’t been able to post comments or get to your blog (you’re apparently verboten on my laptop again) except through Bloglines, and the whole Lego thing has had me very concerned. I’m wondering if there are different versions of the Lego Advent Calendar? Like maybe you got the Frankie Goes To Hollywood set, or something?
Anyway, the production values are great, and the story, while disturbing, is surprisingly good given the raw material you’ve had to work with. Hopefully you’ll have had all your homicidal tendencies worked out by Christmas. Merry, Merry!
No wonder the hand is starting to smell funky – it’s been severed since the 10th.
Alas Holiday Inn Express charge for Wifi in the UK. At £4.50 per hour 🙁 . And unfortunately this is the norm, not the exception.
I’m guessing it’s because Wifi hasn’t quite taken off in the UK in quite the same way as it has in the US – it’s not like you just use a neighbour’s open Wifi system if the one you want charges.
That said, while sat in Quizno’s in Birmingham I detected 6 wireless networks. Only 2 were open though – 1 was too weak and the other was a T-Mobile hotspot in the nearby Starbucks, which is £5 per hour. No thank you.
Lego dave must be cursing his fire frenzied actions around about now, they’ve brought him nothing but bad luck.
Good, I hope you never come back. Asshole.
Gee… by not mentioning the name of the hotel (which is actually very nice and has a great staff) or the wireless internet provider… I thought that I was being quite kind.
I guess that I don’t see how the failings of the tech support group which takes FIVE HOURS to reply to a problem makes ME the asshole. When somebody is woken from a full sleep at 3am… don’t you think that THEY are the ones who should be “Pissed Off?”
I’m curious how “Pissed Off”, if you didn’t mention the name of the hotel, knew to find this post. It’s not as though s/he could search for “bad reviews of XXX hotel.”
Or do companies always search for the names of customers with less than satisfactory assessments left at the front desk?
So much spit and vinegar spewed on the web these days…
This actually had nothing to do with my experience at the hotel… I tracked the comment down to somebody who was mad because I can’t afford to allow people to hotlink to my images.
If only I was made of money and could afford to make everybody happy. 🙁
Dave,
A three a.m. call from tech support has got to be rough. On the other hand, the folks I work with don’t hesitate to call me at all hours — their thought is “I’m up. I thought you’d be up too.”
Our McDonalds has wireless Internet access. There is some sort of fee to use it so I’ve never gotten past the “Welcome” screen.
Meanwhile, a local non-chain restaurant, has free WiFi.
Let me guess which restaurant you prefer to eat at…
If you become made of money at some point, would you mind sharing the wealth with me? I promise – you can have free web access anyplace I ever own… (enticing, eh?)
My ‘Ask Dave’ widget finally led me to your blog. He gets extra questions today for a reward. We be Jonesin’ together.
I had to read back, and was completely grossed out by the nail clipper. Don’t even wanna picture the porn hippies. It’s like those late Friday night surf moments, when HBO skips past, and there are weird people having sex. Bad image– burns into your brain.
You are so hosed.
Hosed? Oh good then… nothing has changed.
Enticing? Why, it almost makes me want to give you everything I own, Sandra!
Except my television… apparently, there are weird people having sex on HBO late Friday nights. Despite having HBO and a TiVo, I have somehow overlooked this oddly compelling programming. How can I not want to take a look at this… despite the fact that I am risking brain damage?
I hate it when I don’t get free hotel internet access, free open bar and free towels.
Well, the towels I take… and the food from the bar I eat, then repackage the boxes so no one knows I ate them (I stuff them with garbage) — but let’s get back to this free internet access.
like places that feature dr. pepper in their soda fountains, i keep a file of places with free wifi in my brain.
I’ve got free wireless in my front yard. C’mon over!
Tons of coffee places here in Austin, too, have it. Places i have yet to get to, but surely will.