Friday 14 March 2008

Cleveland Ohio

So I went to Ohio on Sunday- which involved a flight to Chicago, and then a connection to Cleveland airport.
The first leg of the flight was uneventful.......... when I was waiting for boarding for the second leg I was called to the desk. I thought that I was going to be offered an upgrade or something, but instead they took my boarding pass off me- apparently they had a problem with weight on the plane- I am clearly carrying a few pounds!

I was allowed back on when some other calculations had been done that proved that it would still fly.

There was 2' of snow in Cleveland and the hotel pool- shown above, was not particularly inviting!
The work that I was there to do was fine- I looked at the things that I needed to and got the information that I was after.

I hired a 3.6 litre Pontiac Grand-Prix automatic. Powerful, but slow to respond and huge.
There was noting of particular note to report until my last night- when I was left to my own devices. I went out to find a bit of dinner, and ended up very lost. I was not worried about it since I had a map (or so I thought- it turned out to be useless) and I was just having a look about the area anyway.

My hotel was in a leafy and rural area, but as it got dark, I found myself lost in a much more urban and rough looking area. Even that was not too much of a problem, until some guy roared past me as I was deciding where to go- but he didn't leave enough space and so scraped my wing-mirror down his door. He then stopped and got out of the car- as I did. The Pontiac was unscathed, but the other guys car was slightly damaged. He told me that he could not believe that I had hit his car- and so I agreed with him- he had been too close to me! Anyway, when I told him that my car rental details told me that I must call the police and the rental car rescue crew out in order to make a claim possible, he became a bit more irritable (he was not keen on the police coming out.) There were all sorts of people who knew him stopping to ask him if things were OK and the situation was getting less comfortable by the second.
Anyway, to cut the story a bit shorter, he decided that if I gave him all of my money, then I could leave! I gave him my $65 and he advised me to head in the other direction as I was 'I da hood' where I was (He was disappointed that I had not got much on me.) I did this and got back to the hotel safely! What a great alternative to having a nice meal.
The flight home was fine and my only regret is that I did not get a receipt off the guy that I met in 'da hood' so that I could claim it on expenses.
So that's the highlights of the trip!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is "Da Hood" anyway?
So surprising that you encountered violent people in this peace-loving land-of-the-free!
I am impressed that you did not make any racial comments either to the guy or in the blog.
Sorry you had a bad time - remember Randy Newman's song about Cleveland? "city of life city of magic"
wrm

Anonymous said...

OK I think I've got it now
Da Hood is "the neighbourhood" but much easier to spell.
You give a cool account of something that must have been a scary experience! he probably had weapons too.
So glad you are OK
wrm

William said...

The only racial aspect that I can see is WRMs assumption that the guy was black! Was he?
Sounds ike a pant filler to me and I'm glad that you got out of it unscathed, next time rent a car with GPS built in!

Anonymous said...

I deny any assumptions

Anonymous said...

Having watched "Boys in the Hood" I think he must have spotted you as a mark and the accident was intentional. Lucky you only had $65on you and he didn't shoot you. Maybe it's best to eat at your hotel. Forge the receipt, they'll never be able to prove it.Threaten to claim time off for post traumatic shock if it is declined. ajen

Anonymous said...

The guy was black- it seemed to be a black neighbourhood- lots of gangs of people and shouting going on- a bit like a film.

Anonymous said...

Next time, take your mother, she'll see off the local "hoods", whatever their ethnicity.
Sounds like Fallowfields may have been good training.
Glad you kept your cool.
Demand the re-imbursement to diminish stress & reduce sick-leave.
m

Anonymous said...

Where did you "collect" the deer?
m

Anonymous said...

happy birthday ben.ajen

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Anonymous said...

HOW ABOUT A BLOG BEN?
You can't be THAT busy!

Anonymous said...

You got scammed.
Oldest trick in Cleveland.
Next time keep driving.