dude, where's my car?

When I landed in Phoenix on Friday night I decided not to try to hassle with finding my car at the same time as I was hauling all the luggage. Yeah, I got incredulous reactions from a couple of people I mentioned this to - but I really did not want to be bothered with it. Yes, I really did misplace it. Or rather, I misplaced the little slip of paper that they'd given me way back the beginning of this month when I left it. Some might say - how could you be that stupid? Anyone who would say that doesn't know me very well. ;) Besides, after a three week business trip trying to remember to collect receipts for my accountant I have a grocery bag full of little slips of paper.

Distances in Phoenix are huge. I had the cab drop me where I thought it was. Three hours and 3 liters of water later I'd found it. I knew I'd parked in a covered lot and vaguely what the logo of the place looked like.

I was wondering... have I missed it behind some large SUV? I've never succumbed to the idea that you should drive everywhere in a giant truck. What if I don't find it? Um, go home and try again tomorrow? Buy another?

I expected to have to explain myself quite a bit more than I did. Nope. The few employees who asked what I was doing didn't really find my errand out-of-the-ordinary although one had a rather unlikely suggestion. "You could probably get a list of all the companies that have shuttle service from the airport and then just call them all."

She meant well. First of all, it violates my first rule of travel: "One should not make one's lack of planning or timeliness someone else's emergency." This definitely fits the "lack of planning" category. Secondly it's not realistic. I traveled for a year out of this airport and I know full well what it's like to try to use the phone to reach a company whose primary place of business is a minimally-staffed wide open space. I know from experience that phoning, even for a ride, can be frustrating.

My dog was happy to see the car as well. But then, she always is.