American Idol and Ground Hog Day

Have you ever seen the movie Ground Hog Day? Well, today was one of those days. You know you have spent too much time traveling when you are sitting at the airport and start to recognize (or think you do) people in the airport. I'm still waiting for the day when i start to go through security and they treat me like Norm from Cheers..."Lester!!"

Anyway, I'm in Philadelphia this week but let me tell you there's not any brotherly love coming from this southerner. Let me tell you about the car we rented from Hertz. We always rent a full-size car when we travel such as a Ford Taurus. Today was no different. I rented a full size and what we got was a toy car a.k.a a Dodge Calibur. I could not get the door locks to work. I couldn't get the back door to unlock. I tried several times but was unsuccessful until my boss realized i kept hitting the lock button and not the unlock button. Once we got the back door opened we realized there was no way we could fit 3 suitcases and 3 computer bags in the back. We had to lay down part of the back seat just to get everything in the car. We have so much luggage i can not see out the back window. I do have pictures but will post them when i get back to Nashvegas. We drove around for about an hour looking for some place to eat that looked safe and that had past a health inspection. We finally got to the hospital at 3:00. We worked for 3 hours and then left for dinner. Dinner was great except for the church service and debate that happened. One girl started preaching and after about 15 minutes i reached for my purse which they asked what i was doing. "oh, i'm getting out my purse so i can write a check because i know at any minute we are all going to stand and sing 'Just as I am' and pass the collection plate. The debate was over....drum roll....speaking in tongues. By the end of dinner I wanted to rip out their tongues.

We leave the restaurant and head back to the car. Just as i get in the car i am struck with a sudden urge to pee. I knew that we were not too far from the hotel so i decided to hold it. Bad, Bad, Bad idea. In order to get to the hotel we have to drive around Independence Hall (it's sort of like a round-about). As I see the turn i need to make i realize that i am in the wrong lane so i tried to change lanes but i can't see jack b/c of all the darn luggage in the car. I have no idea if there are cars behind me or not. The entire back of the car is a blind spot. I miss our turn so we have to drive around Independence Hall again. It takes about 2-3 minutes to make the entire trip around the Hall. My bladder is starting to hurt. Long story short, we had to drive around the Hall a THIRD time. We finally make it to the street our hotel is on...I can see. I start to tell myself, "i'm going to make it." I pull up to the street and it's blocked off because of road work. We finally make it to the hotel, i parked on the street, left the car running, jumped out and ran inside to the lobby. I can't find the bathroom b/c it's on the lower level and i'm on the second level. I have never ran down a flight of stairs so fast as i did tonight. I make it to the bathroom, and oh, sweet relief.

Did i mention that American Idol is not too far from the hotel holding try-outs.