Today I had company at the Cape Town interviews. With Mike and I, God willing, on holiday in October, great friend Riana joined me to do a bit of work shadowing so that if there are interviews in October, she can attend them in my absence. She was a star today. Such a wonderful people person that gels naturally with everyone. And fluent in Afrikaans which was absolutely one up on me! We had a bite to eat after the interviews and then I left for the airport and she headed home. But I have to tell you # 302 of my 1000 thanks! I’m always trying to try and save the company a little bit here and there. I don’t want to compromise my safety or comfort, but if I can reduce a price somewhere along the line, I like to try and do it. So when we are at a hotel for interviews and need to park at them, I ask if we can get free parking. At the hotel we were at this morning, they have always said no. So today, we go to pay, and I’ve lost my parking ticket! I could not find it anywhere, both then and now. I just don’t know where it went. Riana had hers so I thought maybe they could scan that and I’ll pay the same price, so we trek back to the reception and very embarrassed I admit I’ve lost my card. The receptionist acknowledges this and says, “hold on a moment”. She walks away and comes back with free parking tickets for both of us! Win! We scored free parking and saved about R100 or more.
Off to the airport I dashed, because after the ticket story I wasn’t out quite as early as I wanted to be, but got to the airport on time and flew to Durban quite uneventfully. I was a bit unsure this time of how I was going to get from Durban airport to my hotel in the City. The regular R80 shuttle I use leaves at quarter to every hour and my flight was due to arrive at about 4-55pm, so I guessed I was going to have to wait 50 minutes for the next one. While I was still on the plane, I called the shuttle service and the lady promptly told me the driver had a full load and could not wait. My next plan was to uber. I looked up the price and it was R287. I was about to hit ‘done’ when I had a thought…just walk to the shuttle parking and see if he is still there. He was. I asked when he was leaving and he said “right now!” I couldn’t believe it. I thanked the Lord. I acknowledge that He set that up. He knows. When I was in the air and looking down from 11.2km up and seeing the mountains, I asked the Lord, “what do you see?” “I see it all.” Flying at 1000km / hour with a 200km/hour tail wind, we arrived in time for me to catch the shuttle. It was the fastest I’ve ever got to Durban. Then, in another bizarre circumstance, as if the Lord was showing me that there was no difference between catching the shuttle or taking other transport, I ended up at the hotel at the same time as the guy who was sitting next to me on the plane, with whom I had not exchanged a single word – (although we did have a free seat between us!) We both checked into the hotel at the same time!
#303 of my 1000 thanks was that shuttle sitting there, not fully loaded, waiting for me. So grateful!
And then the final thing was how I was welcomed at the hotel. Last time I was here, I had a terrible experience. Instead of expressing my wrath on Trip Advisor, I wrote directly to the hotel and they clearly had flagged my reservation. I had the manager personally welcome me and was escorted to the lift by the guy who checked me in. I was upgraded to a suite and having not eaten since lunchtime, this was waiting in my hotel room and has become dinner!
Now I’m about to watch the cricket and settle in the for the evening. The sun set at just after 5pm, so it’s been dark for a couple of hours already and it feels like 10pm. 🙂
Psalm 23:2
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters…
These are the days!
Keep the smile going!
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂