Inauguration Day

(The below post was originally written on 1/27/09)


I just got back from Washington D.C. where I attended the inauguration of President Barrack Obama. Sorry, but I don't have any pictures of me at the inauguration. I don't have anyhing for other peole who weren't there to say "look, here is my friend, she was there". I was going throug a rough time with my new boyfriend, Ken, and honestly I looked and felt like hell. I didn't feel like having my picture taken. I was exhausted before I even made the trip.

I worked in Kansas City on Thursday night, all night from 7:00 pm till about 5:00am. I got back to the hotel and into bed at 6:00am, woke up about 4 hours later, checked out and drove home 3 and a half hours to Omaha. I had a 6:00 am flight out on Saturday morning but was just too tired to make it. Luckily there was a seat available on the Sunday flight the next day. When I arrived in D.C. I had to took the Metro out to Fairfax where a friend of a friend of a friend from church back home in Chattanooga had arranged to let me stay in her apartment for the week at a bargain basement price of $100 a night, a savings of about $300 per night over the best hotel rate I could find. The friend's Dad picked me up, gave me a tour of the apartment, showed me where the bus stopped and left me with a key. I was on my own with no rental car and two exits on the interstate away from the nearest Metro station. I wondered what I had gotten myself into and $1600 suddenly didn't seem like too much to spend after all. But it was too late to get a room now.

I went out to wait for the bus. Not being quite sure where to stand I tapped on the window of a man sitting in his car warming it up. He pointed out a bench across the street. I walked across and sat there waiting for a few minutes when suddenly he pulled up in front of me in his car. "The bus probably isn't coming this late on a Sunday and it's cold. Can I give you a ride somewhere?" he asked. Could he???!!! My knight in shining armor turned out to be an ex-marine turned cartogropher for Ratheon who was originally from Ecuador and had served two tours of duty in Iraq. He graciously became my transportation back and forth to the Metro station for the rest of my stay.

Once at the Metro station for the second time that day, I found my way downtown to Georgetown where I met a vice president from work and some of his family members for dinner. We had a good time but it would be the last time I would see a familiar face for the rest of my stay. At 10:00pm dinner was finally over and I walked a couple of blocks back to the Metro and caught it back to Faifax. Now how was I going to get back to the apartment? As a gay couple hopped into a cab, I tapped on the window and asked if they'd mind sharing. They didn't and I had a ride home, but I was already beginning to see how exhausting this was all going to be. I started to have sympathy for people who live in suburbs and have no car and have to rely on public tansportation for everything. No wonder they had no energy left to try to improve their lives.

The next morning was Monday and I optimistically went out to wait for the bus again, but it never came. I would have called a cab but like everyone else I know, the girl whose apartment I was borrowing did not have a phone and my own cell phone was dead.  I had packed my charger in my suitcase, I remembered, but unfortunately it was not the suitcase I had brought. Stranded with no transportation and no cell phone I fished in my purse for the Ecuadorian marine's card and went in search of someone from whom to borrow a phone. 

The marine kindly gave me a ride.   You know the rest of the story...