Making Plans...

Today was the last day I needed to help out at the N. Bergen location. About 80% of the population at this location ONLY speaks Spanish. When the manager went out to pick up her lunch order, my patience were put to the test with the next couple of customers we had. The first woman called to find out the last day she needed to be out of her unit without owing any more money. It sounded like she had an Indian accent as her "B's" sounded like "V's" and I had to have her spell her name at least five times before I could find it in the computer. Oh My ! Then, a woman came in who spoke barely any English and tried to explain to me that she wanted a storage unit (often called a box by the locals). As is our policy everyone must see a unit before they can rent one so the next thing I had to do was find the keys so I could lock up and take her to the unit I identified on the computer. It was pouring rain outside and normally we would take the golf cart but the batteries were dead (the manager hadn't plugged it in last time they put it away) and even if it was working, we would have gotten soaked riding in it. We jumped in my car and started towards the gate, going to the three outer buildings. About this time, the manager returned from picking up lunch and I told her I was going to show a unit but to be around when we got back as the prospective tenant spoke very little English and I'd need her to go over info with her. That was a frustrating process....with the manager's help we found this woman a unit to her liking. I can't imagine working at that location without knowing Spanish. You feel at a distinct disadvantage when there is a huge language barrier such as I had today. I don't like it. Guess that's why I'm not a world traveler....makes me too uncomfortable to try and communicate in a foreign land.

Linda is working on our travel plans, charting our course to Florida. I'm waiting for the RV repair service to call me back so we'll know if they'll take care of our issues or if we'll need to have someone else do the repairs. I'm excited to go to the Tampa RV show. I was there two years ago and it was awesome. 1100 rigs, of every size and classification, on display and hundreds of vendors. We're going to make a list of the things we want to check out so we're sure to not miss anything. We're still thinking that we'll be pulling out of here on Sunday, January 10. We will drive to Virginia Beach and spend our first night there so Linda can visit with three of her kids there and then we'll hit the road in the morning...heading to Florida. We can't wait !!!