Rental Rage

Greetings from the UK,

This blog title should have read… “Greetings from the White Cliffs of Dover”…. But we had a diversion of sorts. We rented a car and tried to drive the southeast coast of England all the way over to Dover.

The problem started with The Hansen’s renting a car. I adore Harry and almost everything about him…. except his driving. It can be a little annoying! And that’s in normal circumstances…. toss in foreign land….foreign car….wrong side of the road driving…. Wrong side of the car steering! Not to mention manual car driving with your left hand instead of your right. I concede the fact that it takes a little while to get used to the difference.

I, of course, am the navigator (from the left seat this time). And I think I do pretty good job. Yet, if you were to ask Harry… he may not agree. But I think I do an excellent with the directions. Fortunately from my dad, I have an amazing sense of direction. If I have been there once, I can get back there again typically no problem. I can read a map. I can distinguish north, south, east, and west. Unfortunate for Harry, he does not.

You would think a pilot would have an acute sense of direction….let me tell you…NO. If those guys did not have GPS and wing walkers for their airplane …they would need their wives their to help guide them in!!!

I digress…back to the White Cliffs of Dover…. rented the car… waited over 1 ½ hours for Harry to finish his training that was way late…. difficulties with foreign automotives!
Picture this…. Harry driving, me navigating…

WOW car too close to my side!

“Wow”, I navigate back to the captain….

slam on brakes…

“What?, I saw it”, Harry says vehemently …

“Okay, then why did we come so close to hitting that car if you saw it?” I spat back …

And that is the first conversation we had out of the parking lot!

The first conversation started the tone for the entire evening. He wanted me to help with the signs. Every “turn” is actually a roundabout, an unfamiliar concept with Harry. So I helped him read the signs.
Picture this….

“Harry, there… sign to Hastings”….

“I SEE IT”, says Harry.

“Okay, I thought I was supposed to help you read the signs”, says a confused me.

“Yeah, help me when I cannot see them”, says Harry.

“Okay, how do I know what you can and cannot see?”, says a sarcastic Kristie.


So I pouted and refused to help him read any of the signs! That will show him! Or so I thought. Have you ever been stuck in a roundabout? Think, National Lampoon’s European Vacation. “Look kids it’s Big Ben.”

Another complication: Harry drives a manual car in Souda. However the manual car in Souda is not the same manual car rented in England. I understand this fact! It takes a while to adjust. All clutches are different… have a different touch… different finesse to them. Key words there: finesse! I had to do the walk around with the rental agent (Harry was still in class remember). He pointed out several dings and scratches on the exterior of the car. Thank God the clutch is not part of the walk around. If so… we would need to buy a new one. Poor clutch! And for the life of me I have no clue why Harry could not find 3 or 4th gear. I mean sure… after the first few times….but 3 hours later? Grinding gears and jerking the car in 1st instead of 3rd? Or 2nd instead of 4th? (Harry’s might be upset when he reads this …but good grief already)

I should have known better…. we do not play well together in the car. Seven years ago, on our honeymoon, we rented a car in Czech Republic. Same problems: foreign car, foreign land, foreign language, foreign characters. We were used to at least the same letters in the alphabet, not foreign symbols we had never seen before. We were both surprised the marriage lasted past the honeymoon. I think that was the last time we have rented a car in a foreign country? Yelp, it was…. how soon we forget our rental rage?

Needless to say… we never made it to Dover last night. We could have continued on, but it was dark. I was not sure if Dover lights up the cliffs at night. We American capitalist would defiantly have the entire seaport lit up like the Empire State Building at night, taking the last tourist up around midnight. Have you ever been to Niagara Falls? It’s beautiful at night.

So instead of beautiful pictures of Hastings, Dover, and the amazing White Cliffs… we have nothing. We did not want to stop until we reached Dover. We were running against the sunlight clock. We did make a pit stop to fuel up grab a small bite to eat. I had prawns and Harry had steak and onions….







We did not even stop to eat a real meal. Although, Harry said his tasted like onions and mine had the distinct taste of cocktail sauce and ketchup! "Yummy" The hotel stay includes meals, so we came back here to eat. It’s good food, but it would have been nice to eat along the coast somewhere. We did not make it back here until 10 pm. Tired and frustrated. We have had better days.

So tonight I do not have any picturesque sights captured for you…no words of wisdom…not even a applicable Bible verse to go along with my frustrations… and definitely no marriage tips. Or maybe I do…. If you and your husband do not play well together in the car….do not rent one unless you have supervision!

Blessings until the next excursion,
Kristie


p.s. (Harry read this before I posted and thought maybe I should not… he thought it was too negative….so of course I m going to post it!.. remember I am in Lewes, land of nonconformist!) .... (and to show everyone...life as Chaplain and spouse has its issues as well)