What Happens in Vegas...[Sucks]
So, last week I finally got my car back. I've been meaning to blog about it but I didn't even want to remember that whole day, so I'm just now getting around to it. Actually I wrote out a super long blog detailing the day which Firefox then erased when it decided to shut down. Dammit. So here's the story again, condensed with some stuff left out. (Note: It kinda goes back and forth between past and present tense, so just ignore that. 🙂)
I wake up on the morning we leave tired and not well-rested at all. I had only gotten like three hours of sleep, and the night before that I had only gotten like five. The thought of trekking to Vegas made me want to shoot myself. I'm already a little stressed because while I'd been able to borrow the money I'd need, the thought of how long it's gonna take was freaking me out. Andrea takes me and Becka to Provo where we get on the bus to Vegas.
The actual trip to Vegas wasn't too bad. It was only six hours, pretty much to the minute, and even though we were both tired we had some good conversation on the way. Becka was able to get like twenty minutes of sleep somehow, I wasn't able to get any because the seat wasn't very comfortable.
Once we get to Vegas our first priority is to try to get to Kinko's. We're not even certain that getting my car back is a 100% sure thing that night, because the impound lot had the car under the wrong name. To get it back I was supposed to bring my ID and my title. Well, I'm titleless because all of that paperwork was in my car still, since it got stolen right after I got to Utah. So we're trying to get to Kinko's to fax the title place my ID and such so they'll give the impound the correct information so I can get my car. Some sleazeball guy tried telling us he was a taxi driver but when we saw his car we could tell he obviously wasn't. By the time we actually find a legitimate taxi the place is closed, so we head straight towards the place where my car is.
I talk to the people for what seems like forever. I explained to them the wrong name was on their record (the police had written down my first name and my grandfather's last name). I even showed them my insurance card, but they still we're being unreasonably stubborn...c'mon people, the card has the car VIN number and the names of the registered owners. I finally convince them after like twenty minutes to call and talk to the Orem police, who I presume told them I *was* the owner. The woman agreed to release the car, but we don't have the money in cash on us. So we walk for a while until we find a Best Western with an ATM. I had forgotten that ATM's have a withdrawal limit, so we're only able to get $500 of the $730 we need. Becka calls her bank, trying to get them to raise her ATM limit, but they don't do it. The manager of the Best Western gets his friend to drive us to a Wells Fargo, but they won't help because they won't take Becka's temporary ID. So we go in search of another Wells Fargo, which turns out to be located in this all-Spanish store in the ghetto of Vegas. This takes about half an hour at least because the line is so long, but Becka is able to get the rest of the money. We're happy at this point because we think we'll be leaving Vegas in no time.
Well, the guy, Scott, drops us off at the towing place. Let me just interject here and say it was nothing less than a miracle that we were able to meet the people we did because if we hadn't gotten a ride we NEVER would have made it anywhere. Anyhoo, we go in to get my car. It's been several hours since we were there, and it's "after hours" or whatever, so it turns out we don't seem to have enough money because they charge an additional fee after five. At this point I'm so stressed out I'm vividly fantasizing about murdering each person behind the counter, and possibly blowing Vegas off the map while I'm at it, if I can only get my hands on an atom bomb...
But that too worked itself out in the end, as the supervisor kindly dropped the fee. So I'm happy once more and wait to be escorted to my car, almost $800 later. This girl walks me to my car, and when I see it all I'm thinking is "Oh my beautiful, beautiful baby, how've I've missed thee so", but then it turns out the people were wrong when they told me days earlier the car was recovered with the key. THERE'S NO DAMN KEY!
Naturally, I start freaking out again and thought I was gonna have a panic attack. No key to my car, and we're almost broke, and stranded in Vegas. It turns out Pop-a-Lock can make a new key, but since my car requires a chip to start, the key is gonna be like $225. So then we have to wait like an hour for the guy to arrive. (Side-story: While we're waiting, Becka and I go looking for a place to eat. We don't find it, but I almost end up peeing on some homeless guy's head. I just walk up to a bush and then spot this guy just lying there, who seemingly just appeared out of thin air because I didn't see him at all as I was approaching the bush. And it's Vegas, so you know it's a shitty little thirsty bush. But I do finally find a spot to relieve myself without spraying random homeless people so yay for that small blessing.)
It takes a while for the guy to make the car. But then, I guess it was just the universe putting a pinch more salt in the wound, the battery is dead. Not really a huge deal since the guy gives us a free jump start, but it's incredibly annoying all the same.
At this point I am so tired and exhausted all I want to do is go to sleep, but we had a six hour drive ahead of us. By the time we get home I'm so exhausted I don't think I'll ever feel normal again, but I actually went to sleep with a smile on my face. It was one of the most stressful days of my life, but it was also one of the best, it felt like a victory somehow. That day almost seems like a dream now, I mean how random is it to just hop a bus to Vegas and have so much go wrong during the middle of the week? I guess it wasn't so bad, because even though everything pretty much went wrong, it all worked itself out in the end.