From Charlotte, North Carolina -
As Democrats get ready to officially start their convention in Charlotte, I encountered more fun tales while pounding the pavement around the Queen City, more evidence of how fun - and frustrating - it can be to cover a political gathering like this.
Sometimes there are the little victories, like getting out to the meeting of the Ohio delegation on Monday and realizing that the only way I was going to get an audio feed of the speeches was if I could find one little adapter deep in my radio bag.
Okay, I know this is really geeky stuff, but when I yanked out that piece of hardware from the bottom of my bag, I was pretty pumped up.
It's not often that the mini-to-phone plug adapter comes in handy, but in this case, it helped me get some great sound bites from Buckeye State Democrats.
That was welcome news because originally I had driven to the hotel where the Oklahoma delegation was having their breakfast meeting - or, the hotel where I thought the delegation was meeting.
As I had left my work space, I grabbed the DNC convention guide, which listed all of the hotel addresses for each delegation; unfortunately, the DNC picked the wrong one for the Sooner State Democratic delegation, sending me a good 45 minutes out of my way.
But after I got a boost from my Ohio delegation stop, I made it back to the correct hotel and found a few Oklahoma delegates in the lobby.
One note about the Oklahoma delegation hotel - there isn't any meeting space in their hotel - so they had an air conditioned tent put up in the parking lot out back, and that's where they are holding their delegation breakfast meetings each day.
Heading back to my workspace near the convention hall, I got a taste of the traffic gridlock that was hitting Charlotte on Labor Day, as I idled for a good five minutes, waiting to move about 100 feet to get in my parking garage.
As for my workspace, evidently there was a big brouhaha there on Sunday night after I left over chairs - yes, I said chairs.
What happened was that one of our TV teams working from our space pulled in two extra chairs to use - that greatly upset the powers that be, who walked over and handed the guys a bill for $500 - for two chairs.
Needless to say, our team was a bit reluctant to pay $500 on the spot for two chairs, and luckily by today, things had calmed down so that there wasn't any financial duel going on.
While I wouldn't pay $500 for two chairs, I might pay it to get a look at the schedule for the Democratic National Convention, which as of this writing late on Monday night, still has not been issued.
Why is that such a big deal?
Well, it is sort of hard to write stories about what is going to happen on Tuesday when you don't know the full details of what is going to happen on Tuesday.
What was happening Monday was that delegates were still having lots of fun, at receptions, lunches, on some sightseeing trips and more.
While I was walking around downtown Charlotte, I actually ran in to a couple of delegates whom I had interviewed already; they were all smiles and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
One group that was definitely smiling was a bunch of top Democrats from Georgia, who held a formal event in the Charlotte City Club, which has a commanding view of the city from a tall building across the street from where the Florida delegation is staying.
While everyone was dressed to the nines, I arrived somewhat damp after walking over in the aftermath of a thunderstorm, my pincord summer suit spotted with big raindrops.
Under the eagle eye of some serious security people - which told me that someone rather important was going to be there soon - I made my way to the top floor where I received a hearty welcome from Georgia delegates who hear me on the Mother Ship, WSB-AM/FM in Atlanta.
At the event, I ran into some of the Georgia officials who had secreted me and a colleague into the NASCAR Hall of Fame for some interviews with state delegates, only to see me barred at the door later by some overzealous security aides.
The Georgia officials said they had made clear to the security people that they were wrong to give me the boot on Sunday evening.
I told the party leaders that actually, being tossed out was a badge of honor, as now I can say I was thrown out of one event at the Republican convention and one at the Democratic convention.
"Jamie, what the hell is it with you getting tossed out of or denied entry into places," asked one of my listeners on Facedbook.
Well, the funny part is that I haven't really tried to get myself in hot water.
Speaking of hot water, I got myself a different hotel room where there actually was hot water coming out of the shower, instead of the chilly showers I had on my first few days in Charlotte.
But as with most things in life, when I take one step forward, sometimes I take a half step back. Or more.
There is hot water in my new room at the hotel - but there is no shower curtain.
Oh, and there is a cricket somewhere in the room, too.
Like I always say, you can't make this stuff up.
