Sunderland, GBR - Day Four

So today got off to a rocky start. My plan was to check out of my hotel and move to another one around the corner. Sounds simple enough, but not here. After packing up my room I headed downstairs to the reception and while I was trying to pay for my stay my Visa card wouldn't work. The first time they swiped it, declined. The second time, declined. I even went to an ATM and again declined. Then I asked if I could write them a check but halfway through writing it the manager came out and said they didn't accept foreign checks. Great! At this point I was about to have a nervous breakdown because if it didn't work at the hotel it might not work anywhere and I needed to check out of that hotel and move into the other one. So after talking to the manager I was able to give her all of the cash I had on me just to start the payment and show that I was going to pay for my stay. So after giving her the money I then had to give them a copy of my passport, you know just in case I tried to flee the country without paying them. Yeah right, my luck I would get stopped by the Bobbies (police) at the airport and spend the rest of my life in prison. Anyway so I told her I would be back at the end of the day, I just needed to get to the bank to figure everything out. So first I had to get to the courts to warm up my doubles partner for her singles match. And luckily she was 2nd on after 10:30 and our doubles was 4th on. So after hitting I had to go to Sunderland City Centre and find a bank and thank goodness the girl (Vicky) that drives the shuttle bus was able to drop me off in between runs to the courts and the hotel. So she dropped me off at Barclays which she told me was a major bank in England and I believed it seeing as though I've heard of it before. So I go into the bank and there is people everywhere. I think it was the busiest bank I've seen for a Thursday morning. Anyway I walk in and the tellers are to my left and straight ahead a guy in his late 20s early 30s was standing, and I smile just to be polite as we made eye contact. So I'm looking around with a confused look on my face and walk over to him and ask if he could help. I told him I'm here for tennis, and my card wasn't working and I needed to get money out to pay for this. So he informs me that banks shut cards off in case they feel as though they've detected fraud, and that I should have told my bank before leaving the States that I was traveling abroad (Remember that if traveling outside of your country of origin). So he told me that I needed to call my bank and tell them where I was and to turn my card back on. So he looked for an open phone in the bank and they were all in use, so he takes out his own cell phone and calls an international number. You know that that is expensive and calling a bank is going to tack on minutes because you never get a live person on the phone, you get press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounts, press 3 for lives sales rep and when you press 3 they can't understand what you pressed and you need to start over again. So after about 10 minutes finally some woman with a southern accent gets on the phone and asks a bunch of questions, and I couldn't even  understand what she was saying with her southern twang. I could understand the British guy better then her and that shouldn't be right. But finally after about a 20 minute phone call everything gets squared away, I just needed to wait about 20 minutes before taking money out or use the card. So I told the guy how much I appreciated his help, told him have fun in Florida in December visiting his parents (that's how long we were on hold). So then I had to hop back on the bus which was waiting outside with other players waiting to get to the courts. Dropped the players off went inside for about 10 minutes just to see that my doubles partner just got on the court and our scheduled court was still in the first match. The tournament director then finds me to ask if everything was ok because Vicky was looking for me to head back to the bank. And the tournament director was very helpful, said she could call the hotel to figure something out, or use my prize money to pay, she told me all the options. That was nice to hear. So a few minutes later Vicky and I head to the bank again, my card is working again. I get money out and on the receipt there is a lottery drawing to win Barclays Premier League soccer (football) tickets so I give it to Vicky. And I hope she wins because of all of the driving she did just for me. If she did she would send me a picture haha. So all of this took place in between warming my doubles partner up and our doubles match. It seemed like the longest day and I didn't really think about playing doubles until we got on the court. But doubles went a bit smoother then the morning that's for sure. We ended up winning 6-3 6-1. We played really well, didn't make too many mistakes, but we played smart. So we play the semifinals tomorrow against a team that took out the number 1 seeds in a 3rd set tie breaker. Should be a good match. Looking forward to it. Oh and after doubles I had to go back to the hotel, finish paying them, then head to my new hotel for the rest of the week. So now I can leave the country! yay! But it was a long and stressful day, I'm glad it's over. Now I get to sleep and be ready for doubles tomorrow.