I'm here and soon it will begin

It's 4pm and I'm sitting in my hotel room. Joy. I'm at the Hilton. You'd think I'd be happy.

Not so much.

See I just laid down a whole ton of cash to stay here – even with the “group rate” for the marathon – and the amenities are few.

Yes, I have two double beds with super thick mattresses, 4 pillows on each plus a neck pillow which I'll use for my knees; I have a huge tv, 4x the size of mine with some sort of gaming set up connected (I'm not a gamer so I'm not sure which); I have a marble (faux, maybe) top desk and a fancy ergonomic chair; the bathroom has plush towels, Crabtree & Evelyn products and a hair dryer for my use; and the view of down town Mpls is beautiful – I can see Orchestra Hall from my window.

But, I have no refrigerator, no microwave, no Internet access (well I can access the Internet only if I'd like to pay $7 an hour or $13-14 a day) and no other good things like my normal dwelling place has (plastic plates and silverware which while not 'green' are a lifesaver when I forget mine at home). And I had to pay for parking - $12 a day.

Now I know for the food thing they are trying to push use of their hotel dining and/or room service. But for a kid like me who's shelling out mega bucks already and on a (semi) strict marathon diet plan, spending extra dough on food which I already brought with me is annoying. This messes up my plan for dinner tonight and for breakfast tomorrow – two very key meals for me.

So now I'm heading to meet with Debbie, aka Schlepper, and will get something – hopefully low in fat but good in carbs and protein – because the cold chicken/veggies and noodles I just ate is not sitting well in my stomach. And I will probably have to suck it up and order room service for tomorrow AM and tack on more money to my bill.

This is not how this weekend was supposed to start.

It did start well, actually. After stopping in to see some of my work folks and getting told in a snotty voice that “other people can do your job”, I set out on the road anxious to meet up with Keith for a pre-race massage. It was just as good as I expected, if not better. He helped get my hips and quads loosened up so I'm ready to go tomorrow. I know I couldn't do this without his help. Thank God for Keith. He is awesome at what he does. (Is your ego stroked enough now, Keith?) LOL.

Then I went for my packet pickup. Another $10 shelled out for parking for a 10 minute interlude. I suppose I could have spent more time at the Expo, but that's just asking for trouble and me buying more things I don't need – or that I need but not right now.

And now we're where I began. So I'm off. I'll be back later! :)