Thursday, June 05, 2008

The Great Getaway

Paul and I like to take an overnight getaway in June before our marriage takes its annual battering during harvest in July and August. This time Paul went above-and-beyond and booked a lunch cruise tomorrow on a ship in Portland and a room at the Holiday Inn. Through Priceline of course.

So we checked in this afternoon. The room was on the fourth floor, and beautiful. And cold. It's good and chilly outside and felt the same in here. Sitting around in coats is not really romantic. So we cranked up the thermostat and went over to the Lloyd Center to see the roses on display in what is normally the ice rink where Tonya Harding used to practice.

Then we went out to eat and I put my leftovers into a takeout box of course, but realized when we came back here that it would look pretty redneck to sashay through that swanky lobby with a plastic bubble of Mexican food. So I tucked it into my purse, mess or no mess, but we don't think I fooled anyone about my sophistication level.

When we came back the room was still cold. Paul who is more warmblooded would have been happy to just endure. I called the front desk and soon a tall, skinny man with a short ladder and an Eastern-European accent and lots of apologies showed up at the door. He poked and fiddled for a long time and finally said something that apparently meant he had fixed it.

Wonderful. Slowly the room warmed up and I decided to take a long hot bath. It took about five minutes for the water to finally run hot and then I realized that the cold water in the tub was not going down the drain. I fiddled with the plug, the up-and-twist kind, pushing, yanking, turning. Nothing.

I called the front desk again. The tall skinny guy showed up with the same accent and more apologies but a bucket and electric drill this time. He went into the bathroom and began banging around. He drilled and rattled and banged, then drilled some more for probably 15 minutes. It sounded like he was digging for oil and I could just picture him hitting black gold and it would come fountaining out into the bathroom like the old oil wells in Oklahoma.

Finally with an accented explanation that we couldn't understand, he left. But he wasn't done, he was just off for more supplies. He came back and banged some more. After a while I thought maybe we were supposed to invite him to spend the night, that's why they supply us with two beds in here.

Just a few minutes ago he left again, saying something we couldn't understand. I don't know if the drain is fixed or not. He'll probably be back soon with his toothbrush and pajamas and popcorn and a movie.

Go visit your Holiday Inn for your next romantic getaway, the one with three curved sides, on NE 2nd just across from the Rose Garden.

Quote of the Day:
"A warm blend of sparkling bergamot and fresh ginger. Clean musk notes of white tea, amid spicy nuances of vetiver and nutmeg."
--the little soap box at Holiday Inn. Who writes this stuff? What a dream job.

P.S. When we checked out, Paul asked if they could take anything off the price because of the inconvenience we suffered. The brisk young woman looked like we had asked her something terribly audacious, like would she trim our toenails for us. "Was a maintenance person sent up promptly?" she said. (Yes) "And was the problem fixed?" (Yes) Well then. We thought but did not say THAT'S NOT THE POINT. Finally she offered us a free breakfast, [at 10:30] but we were about to eat lunch on the cruise. Paul asked if she could take off the $10 we had had to pay to park in the parking lot. She said yes.

7 comments:

  1. That isn't sounding like a romantic time at all!I hope you get another room, or perhaps a reinbursment!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. i'm sorry. :( there's another one of those moments... i just read that story you wrote in UtPaR--about how Paul and Matt and you were all sick at the same time in the middle of the night... etc... and Kon and Shannon's wedding. :-) maybe you can write a sequel to that story, about this experience?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to say, I did some LOLing. My husband stays in hotels much of the time, and I'm sure he'll enjoy your post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the funny post, Dorcas.

    I featured it on one of my blogs a bit ago.

    And linked to it at WorldMagBlog.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Prime fodder for your novel...priceless material!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey, at least the internet connection works. Thanks for the post. Romance in the movies is prettier, but real life is great for laughter and memories. Hopefully, you and Paul will find some time alone...eventually.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i can't even pronounce some of those words, let alone know what they mean!
    bethany

    ReplyDelete