So picking up the rental car was uneventful and it took me some time to understand how to get the bluetooth to understand my phone. I've had bluetooth in a few of my rental cars but this is the first one that could connect to the extremely popular Samsung phone that I own. Go fig. I have saved up my bandwidth and I planned on using my Google Play account to enjoy tunes all across the rolling hills of Iowa. We then packed up the car and loaded the pool toys that Ellie filled with air for Bennet. When we would actually have time to use the pool, I didn't know, but I checked on the website and the motel had a pool, so we took stuff for it.
Madsen rode in the van with his team all the way to Lincoln. Aside from an accident that backed up traffic for several tens of miles around Iowa City, the trip was uneventful. I'd taken it several times before so it was well remembered.
When we arrived, I couldn't remember the name of the motel and with a check of my email, I eventually found it on my map. It was just across the road from where I stopped to check. We met Madsen in the lobby as they had just arrived a few minutes before we did. The room was nice and clean. It had a fridge that I promptly plugged in and put in my diet Dr. Pepper for later. I planned out the next day on my computer to make sure I knew where things were. Madsen was leaving at 6:30am but the competition didn't really start until around 11:30am. I wanted to stop at the University of Nebraska to just check out the campus that I had seen so many times on televised football games. The bookstore opened at 10am so I had plenty of time to find a parking spot. The map mentioned that there were metered stalls all around the place so I shouldn't have a problem.
Morning went off without a hitch. Madsen went with his team. Bennet and I ate breakfast and I even made a marvelous waffle for Bennet. We packed up the car for the day and off we went. Finding the university wasn't hard at all. The stadium was huge and stood out on the skyline. It didn't hurt that it was only a few miles from where we were staying. We also found out that there wasn't an indoor pool. The other motel in Lincoln for this brand did, but not this one. Bennet was greatly disappointed.
Here is the problem. There was parking everywhere. All meters. The thing is, on the way there, I realized I didn't have any change. I figured that I would need at least a dollar for an hour, and all I had was some dimes and pennies. Still, I found a parking spot right behind the bookstore and went out to see what the meter had written on it so I could pay for parking. Hmmm. it seemed I had to load an app on my phone in order to park. I don't want to load an app on my phone. This is stupid. The meters stopped being needed at noon and it was close to that. Did I take a chance of getting a ticket? I'm in a rental car and I know they don't take too kindly to getting tickets on their cars. Grrr. Ok, maybe there's some parking. a little south of here. I just needed an hour.
So I drove around town, expressing my frustration to Bennet about how I couldn't find a place to park yet there were spaces everywhere. I eventually found myself on the other side of the stadium, having come full circle around the campus. I pulled in to a vacant lot and got out to re-read the meter to see if I could do this without giving my life history on an app just to park in a strange town for an hour. I noticed that I could go to a website and do this. Perhaps that was less intrusive. So I stood out in the wind going through a setup process. Ok. login...choose password....who am I....choose a pin...get a text....put in the code...THIS IS FREAKING RIDICULOUS!....I'll just park and get a ticket. This is maddening.
I made our way back to the bookstore, trying to avoid a bunch of high school students carrying pro-life protest signs. Hmmm. Well, I'm in the bible belt so I guess that fits. I once again faced my nemesis parking meter....OK fine!! I don't want to cheat the residents of Nebraska from their dollar. SHEESH! So I took my phone out and looked at the web page again. It wanted my credit card. I don't want to give you my credit card. I really don't. I know you are safe but....Let me just look at the other side of this meter....Oh. What's this? What appeared to me is what you see in the photo above. There was slot for coins. "Insert coins at anytime" OK. I didn't have any, but cool. What really captured my attention was that thing on the left....it was a credit card slot. In Chicago, there are stations on every block where you pay and you then put the stub in your window. I was hoping that is what I was to find in Lincoln. Instead, if I had just taken the time to walk around the stupid meter, I would have found this on every meter. I checked the other meters and sure enough, each one had one. So I fished out my visa card and slipped it in. $1.25 for an hour. Ok. Credit or Debit. Credit. Done. Thank you. What a way to waste time. I felt so stupid. Of course the engineer in me immediately wanted to know how they were connected to the central office but I pushed those thoughts down as I took Bennet on campus.
I went to the bookstore and found the pens that Tracy wanted and I fought back the urge to buy an engineering pad. I had enough paper, but I did have to handle them a bit, to get my fix. I walked back to the T-shirts to find an affordable shirt, red, with "Nebraska" on it. I had to look a bit but I found one. I purchased it and walked out to check the rest of the place.
-To be continued.
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