Its official. Its known as "Online Reserve" and along with my company's scheduling department, its become the bane of my existence. From what I've been told (all hearsay, of course), we aren't supposed to be assigned 'online reserve' 2 months in a row. And yet, here I sit. And sit. And need I say? SIT. I'm not good at just 'sitting'. I'm a get out there and 'do it' kind of girl. So this whole being trapped in a hotel room for 12 hours a day, chained to the hotel room's telephone is not my kind of gig. Especially when my friends are all running around Italy and Vienna, Austria on this month's schedule of trips. That's where I want to be!!! The only silver lining is the fact that I'm currently fighting off a wicked sinus infection, and being stuck in this hotel room gives me all the opportunity to sleep, sleep and sleep some more, all the while getting paid to do it.
This leads me to the ever more important issue of.......the hotel bed. When it comes to hotel rooms, give me all, or none, of the fanciest, newest gadgets in the world in my hotel room and I dont care. Give me tacky retro chic decor, or simply elegant and understated decor...I dont care. Give me a plasma High Def TV or a 15" set from the 80's...don't care. For me, its ALL ABOUT THE BED. Our normal layover hotel in downtown Leipzig has simply the most fabulous beds you've ever slept in. Down everything, 500 thread count sheets, a mattress to die for... you quite simply, NEVER want to get out of bed! But (insert pity party here), I'm not at THAT hotel this time. It seems that when they went to assign hotel rooms to all of us sitting online reserve, that I was the very last person in the assignment queue. They went through the whole list, and everyone was placed at our 1st choice hotel (with THE BEDS). And when they got to me, and the hotel was completely booked (or rather, its not that the hotel is booked up, the hotel just doesnt want to give out any more rooms to my company at the discounted rate), they had to send me to our 2nd choice hotel, and whaaaaahhhhhhh (insert crying jag here) the beds absolutely suck. I'm sad. I tried everything in my power to get assigned to the other hotel.....i talked to my supervisor, the scheduling supervisor, the travel department supervisor, but NO luck. Don't they understand that its ALL about the BED??? Don't they get it??? Apparently not.... so, I did the unthinkable - I acted like a (gulp)...Tourist. At least I tried to act like a GRACIOUS Tourist, albeit a Tourist. I know, I know...the hypocrisy, right? But I did it anyway.....I proudly called down to the front desk of this 2nd rate hotel and requested 5.....count'em....FIVE extra pillows. And then I went one further, and requested 2 extra down comforters. The front desk clerk was, I can only gather from the tone in her voice, appalled. I expected this. But if they're going to give us sub-standard beds, then I needed to make some 'adjustments'....and fast. After they begrudgingly delivered my requested items, I proceeded to create a 'mini oasis' on my bed. I have 2 beds in my room, so I took one of the down comforters, added that to the 2 they brought me, and created a down "cushion" on which to lay. Then I took the last comforter and am using that to cover up with. I took the 5 extra pillows (along with the 4, already in the room) and created a "pillow moat", if you will, surrounding myself with a sea of pillows. Its not the same as the bed at our regular hotel, but it will work in a pinch.
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