From Charlotte, North Carolina -
After spending twenty hours at home following the Republican convention, it was back on the road to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Democrats will hold their national gathering this week.
And it was like going back to square one.
After learning the ropes in Tampa, now it was time to figure out where everything was in Charlotte, from the work space to your parking spot, to the hotel and how to get back and forth to the convention site.
I was a bit tired (and a little grumpy) as I emerged with my gear from my hotel and walked into the parking lot to my rental car.
As I popped the trunk open, a police car idled up behind me and stopped.
"Are you Jamie?"
To say the least, I was a bit startled that a local police officer was calling me by name in a place that I had never been before.
"Uhhh, yeah?" I said with a smile, wondering what was about to happen.
It turned out to be one of my listeners who catches me on the Neal Boortz show - Captain Reid Brafford of the Gastonia, North Carolina Police Department.
"I was hoping I would run into you," he said with a big smile.
The Captain was checking up on some of the local hotels where reporters, law enforcement and others involved with the convention were staying.
I figured it was a good omen, especially if he could help with my shower in the hotel room, which was spitting out what I would call a lukewarm temperature.
After a couple of hearty handshakes, the Captain was on his way to check the traps around town, while I was on my way into Charlotte.
In order to get my parking pass for the convention, I had to pay $15 to park in a lot nearby, because no street parking is being allowed near the convention hall or the big media workspace building.
Once I figured out where to go to park, then it was off to the media workspace, which is located in the Charlotte Convention Center, which is actually a few blocks from the Time Warner Cable Arena where the DNC will take place.
It is your classic convention facility with a huge basement area - so big there were people playing frisbee inside - and down there are all kinds of news media organizations setting up for the week.
The biggest concern for me at every political convention is simple - will my ISDN radio broadcast line work or not?
Before you send me all kinds of emails about why I am using ISDN (it isn't for the internet), it is still the best technology available for live radio broadcasts - and so everyone in radio uses it.
But when I plugged my line in, there was something wrong. It was expected, as it is really a convention tradition for me to battle with the phone company technicians, since ISDN tends to be something they rarely install.
Pretty soon, I had a half dozen AT&T techs in my work space, trying to figure out what was wrong.
Luckily, after about 20 minutes, they figured it out real quick - and boom - I was on the air and ready to go.
To find some delegates, I headed over to the hotel where the Florida delegation is staying, and I got to witness a march by protestors through the streets of downtown Charlotte.
As marches go, it was fairly benign. As one of my colleagues said, "It isn't much of a protest if you don't have any tear gas."
Once they were through the streets, I got into the Florida hotel and interviewed a young woman who had just graduated from college, and was more deeply involved in campaign work than most people ever get.
Later I ran into more delegates at a reception held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, but only after a big of wrangling with the Democrats.
While members of the Georgia delegation wanted to get me and my colleague Jim Galloway (Atlanta Journal Constitution) into the event, the powers-that-be said we couldn't come in the doors until it was 90 minutes old.
That made no sense to us, because it would seem like you don't want reporters running around interviewing delegates who have had a few free drinks, and aren't driving.
So the Georgia delegation made sure we slipped through the official dragnet to find a few people to speak with; I dutifully took them outside to chat where it was quiet, but the last time I tried to come back in, I was told I wasn't welcome.
I figured since I had been tossed out of a Georgia Republican event last Sunday, it made sense that an event involving the Georgia Democrats should see me barred at the door - after I had already been inside.
So it was back to the convention center to grind out a few stories for Labor Day Monday on the radio.
It's my 13th political convention, and it seems like it has a familiar flavor. We'll try to get you some of the back stories this week.
Oh, and as for the Captain - he sent me a message later in the day.
"I had a lil talk with the manager at the hotel Jamie. Let me know if you have issues with your hot water again in the morning."
We'll see about that Southern Hospitality.
