My job this week was to fly into Chicago and drive an ambulance back for a company that is going to use it for non-emergency medical transport in Montana. It’s safe to say I was looking forward to the flight to Chicago more than I was the drive back.
When I arrived in Chicago, it was snowing really hard. “This is just my luck!” I thought. The ambulance was in Crystal Lake, which is about 54 miles north of the Chicago airport. I scheduled a ride with Uber and waited at the pickup location. The driver called, and told me he was at the airport, but not at the location I was. When I asked for directions, let’s just say there was a definite language barrier. After standing in a snowstorm for 5 minutes, trying to determine where he wanted me to go, he just hung up. I received a message telling me the trip was cancelled, and they were charging me five dollars. I’ll wait while you imagine the rant going on in my head. Okay, back to the story. I scheduled another ride, and the driver was nice and got me to Crystal Lake just fine.
The company I picked up the ambulance from was Signature Auto Group, and they were very professional. It was refreshing to receive such excellent customer service. If you are looking for a company you can trust to take care of you, you should contact them. www.customercargrouop.com There is more about them I will share with you later.
I left Crystal Lake thinking it would snow on me most of the way, but after about ten miles, the sky was clear and the road dry. Someone must be looking out for me. Thank you, sweetheart! The route I took coming back was I80 West. This was my first time driving through Iowa and Nebraska. I don’t really have any good stories about the scenery, because it all kind of looked the same. Oh yeah, except for all the John Deere equipment. That was beautiful!
Wednesday night, I arrived in Cheyenne Wyoming, and decided to stay there for the night. The Comfort Inn was closest to the freeway, so I chose to stay there. I walked in, and the two people behind the desk were more interested in their phones than checking me in. Finally, the man begrudgingly decided to wait on me. I was getting unhappier as things went on. The worst was when I said I needed to go get the information on the vehicle. “You don’t know what state is on the license plate?” he asked in a rude tone. “It’s a used ambulance purchased in Chicago that I’m driving back to Idaho, so NO, I don’t know the State on the temporary permit,” I replied as frustrated as I could. I almost decided to leave, but I was tired and just wanted to get to a room. Also, this way I could let a manager know in the morning about the poor customer service. “You can’t fix the problem if you don’t know about the problem,” has always been my motto.
I checked into my room, and noticed the pool closed at 11:00 pm. I decided to take advantage of the pool first before it closed, and then I would go get something to eat. There were about five different fast food restaurants within walking distance, so after I got through swimming, I headed to the closest one. I wasn’t really thinking about the time when I walked up to front door of Burger King. It really made me feel special when the girl watched me walking up, and then locked the door. I walked over to Subway, and noticed they closed at 10:00 also. It seems all of them closed at 10:00. What’s that old joke: “I went to Cheyenne Wyoming, but it was closed!”
Now to tell you more about Signature Auto Group. I was talking with the general manager Brent Pennington while they were finishing the paperwork. I had my Shannon Wilker Foundation t-shirt on, and he asked me about it. I told him about the Foundation, and my book. He asked me to send him some information on the Foundation. He told me they would put the information about the Foundation and the book on their Facebook page. I thanked him, and told him how happy and grateful I am. “With your help, I’m keeping her memory alive in Illinois!” I said. Thank you, Shannon, for always watching over me. I will always LOVE AND MISS YOU sweetheart.
Next week: Happy St. Patrick’s Day
P.S. I think I should get a bonus for not causing myself or anyone else the need for the use of the ambulance.