Delays

Sharing these new words with you - thank you to Jessie for bringing them into my world. I like them very much.

Coddiwomple: (v) to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination

Solivagant: (adj) someone who wanders or travels the world alone; a solitary adventurer

This has been an interesting week. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that it has been a week already. I feel as though I haven't accomplished much... but that's part of the experience. Part of what I'm learning.

I left Seattle and headed to Mt Rainier National Park. It was absolutely incredible. I hiked the Nisqually Vista Trail with some snow on the ground - amazing. It is a stunning spectacle. And I know people who have been to the summit... THAT was awesome before I saw it in person but NOW... it's nearly untenable. Truly something I've never imagined doing - and honestly have no interest in doing. But I stand in awe of those that do!

That night I stayed at a trucker stop just near Mt. St. Helens. Unfortunately, the next morning was so hazy, I couldn't see the mountain when I was standing right next to it! So, off I went to a Wildlife Refuge right on the border between Washington and Oregon. I made it to Portland in record time and messed up some more time zones and was done with all my meetings by 2:30 when I didn't think I'd be done until 6p. Luckily, my friend Kim who I was meeting could meet earlier.

We went to a food truck lot and had some amazing grilled cheese - and there was a live band!!!! I haven't seen any live entertainment in over 7 months. It was truly amazing. There was a harmonica and a washboard!!!! We had a great time catching up and listening to music. I stayed in Portland that night because I was scheduled to have an oil change the next morning.

My appointment was at 8:30am at the local Chevrolet dealership. Their oil changes are a full check up with tire rotation and a check out of the whole car - perfect. Off to the waiting room I went and got to work. After an hour, I had a meeting. My new Chevy friend, Jason, lead me to a quiet place I could be out of the way. After the meeting, I went back to the waiting room and continued to wait. After two hours, Jason came in and said the car was due for some other things. I checked in to make sure those were ok and then approved them. And continued to wait. By this time, I was caught up on work so I started reading the new Lexi Ryan book that came out a couple weeks ago.

After another hour, Jason came in and said the car was ready. Three hours. I get in the car, fill it up with gas, grab some lunch, and get on the road. As soon as I'm out of town and on a highway, I get to about 45 mph and the car starts shaking - badly. Was it how fast I was going? Was it a certain rpm? Did I push a button? After a few more miles and continuous shaking, I pulled over. I called the Chevy dealership and explained what was happening, told them I wasn't from the area or planning to return and asked if I should turn around and come back - they did.

So I did. Back to the dealership where they prioritized me and got me right back in. Back to the waiting room. Another hour goes by and my new best friend, Jason, comes in and says we're going for a test drive. They think the shaking is coming from the mud on the wheels - I had just gotten a car wash the day before. But they were going to pay for another one - off we went. Through the car wash and then on to the interstate to test the car - it got to 55 before the shake came back. Back to the dealership. Back to the waiting room.

Another hour and a half passes and Jason comes in. They've put the car on a lift, cleaned the entire undercarriage and wheels, took it for a test drive themselves, and said it was fine. So. Off I go.

And sure enough, it was fine! I was off. It was 3:30pm. My original plan for the day was to drive the coast but at this point it would almost be sunset by the time I got there. So I got to the coast and found a place to camp and called it a night.

The next morning was beautiful and I headed down the coast. Haystack Rock, Arch Cape - where I took a nice, long, meditative walk on the beach - Three Cape scenic drive, Thor's Well: it was a wonderful day. I camped at a campground on the beach that night - you could walk through the campground and be ON the beach, hear the ocean from my spot...

During a movie stream that evening, my computer suddenly stopped and started buffering. About 20 seconds later I got a text from At&t stating I had used all of my high-speed hotspot data and my speed would now be lessened significantly until my bill renews next week. That is problematic. It was so slow that even checking my email was challenging. How was I going to work this week with this speed - I couldn't.

My Halloween started with a phone call to At&t Customer Service. After being on hold for 35 minutes, I got to Richard. He explained that since I'm on the highest plan, there is nothing he could give me. They have no add-ons, I can't pay my bill and start my cycle over now... I could add a separate device and make it a hot spot if I had any extra phones on me? Nope. Ok, there is a hot spot device I can buy and add service to and they can ship it to me in 2-5 days. Nope. I can go to a local store and buy this device - YES! Off to the closes At&t store that opens soonest - 9am. There, I meet Adam, who I explain my situation to and say I'd like to buy the hot spot - they don't have any in stock. Neither do any stores in the area. Or in Oregon... I go on the app and check New York and Florida - not that this would help today - and no. There are NO devices. So Adam, let me just make sure I understand. I, the customer, am asking to pay you, the At&t, money to add more services/data/devices and you, At&t, can not help me.

Correct.

Adam says the only thing he can think of is to call Customer Service back and ask for the Loyalty Department since I've been a customer for so long. They might have some magic tricks up my sleeve that could help in an emergency.

Back to the phone I go. And when you ask for the Loyalty Department, they get you on the phone right away. Meet my new friend, Craig. I explain the situation to Craig and tell him all the steps I've already taken and tell him I have a meeting at 10a that I will not be able to participate in if he can't help me. Craig says I'm in the right place. He puts me on a brief hold and then comes back and says he has a plan. He's going to bump me off my current plan and let the system save that change and then put me back on my current plan and it should reinstate my data speed. He executes said plan and asks me to check it. I jump on my laptop and things are loading immediately. I click on something to stream... and IT WORKS!!!!

But why? Why did I have to spend THREE HOURS attempting to solve this problem when it literally took Craig 5 minutes? Why is the Customer Service agent not able to give their Customer service? Why is the store clerk not able to help the people in the store? Some of life's unknowns...

No matter, I log on to my meeting and find an amazing parking lot ON the beach to park and sit in my meeting and multi-task working on a new project as part of my VA work. I get some lunch and sit in a different parking lot while I finish my project... that won't save. I copy the info and find a place to camp for the night and get settled... and Microsoft Word has crashed... and my document I've been working on for the last 6 hours is gone.

In times like these, it's good to remember the little things. No one has died. Time is a construct. It could always be worse. I start over.

Three hours later I'm done and it saves and I send it off and all is well.

Before I fall asleep that night, I finish The Big Bang Theory which I have spent the last many months working my way through all 12 seasons. 20 minutes here, 20 minutes there and all are done now.

Today was a new day. I woke up, had a good morning meeting, took a shower in a heated bathroom and off I went to the Mt Hood Scenic loop. It was a beautiful drive past many waterfalls and the mountain is gorgeous but every single stop on the route was PACKED! The parking lots were near capacity. There were people everywhere and it felt like I was in an alternate universe. So I did not hike. I did not linger. I took some pics - sometimes from the safety of my car - and moved on. I finished the day at Smith Rock - which is stunning - and watched some folkx who are much more adventurous than I rock climb!

And here I am. Camping tonight in Culver, Oregon - my fifth night in this state. Certainly not expected. But nothing is lost. Even the day in the Chevy dealership I got so much work done. I started reading a great book. And even the day I lost hours of work - it was repeatable. These are the days I'm grateful I'm not on deadlines or don't have to be in a certain place at a certain time. When things happen, I can deal with them before I move on. So another couple of days in Oregon and then, I'll move on!

In the immortal words of Dory, "just keep swimming."

IMAGE: Bird on hood of car in beach parking lot.