DNC Day 1 Report: Denver 1 - Jeff Walters 0

It was tough day for the home team here at Cotton Mouth. The day started for me at 6:00AM with the realization that I had lost my debit card the night before. My ride was to pick me up at 6:30 to take me to the airport for my 9:00 flight. I frantically had to make sure my room which was booked on the lost card would not be cancelled by my subsequent cancellation of the lost card.

For money, I had to write an enormous check to a friend of mine who went the extra mile that only a true friend would do, and spent a good hour of his work day attempting to, and finally succeeding to wire me some cash. I had to handle all of this from the Jackson and Houston airport terminals while still trying to make my flights on time with my stuff intact.

My stress level was pretty high to say the least. Finally I received word from the Hotel in Denver that as long as I paid cash up front, I would not have to put down a credit card. This was my first of a couple of victories today, stacked against a ton of losses.

I arrived in Denver around 1:30 local time. It took another 45 minutes for my shuttle to show up to take to the hotel. I had to stop at a Safeway to pick up my Western Union. The only problem was, was that they did not have enough cash to fill my transfer. I then had to call the shuttle again this time to take me to a Wal Mart who presumable had the money. The bank inside of the Wal Mart was able to do it for at 3:58 local time. The bank closed at 4:00. That was the second and last of my victories today.

Finally with cash in hand I was able to check in. The computers at my hotel were down when I arrived, and it took the nice lady at least 30 minutes to check me in. I quickly cleaned up and prepared to headed downstairs to find my way downtown. There was a free shuttle that would take you to the convention as long were credentialed. The only problem there was my credentials were downtown. This was a classic case of chicken or the egg. Without my credentials the was no shuttle for me, so I caught a ride with the hotel to the bus stop.

The bus I needed to be on to get downtown pulled away from the gate as we turned in. I had to wait another 30 minutes for the next bus. By this time it was 6:00 local time. It was supposed to be a 30 minute bus ride to downtown. Due to traffic, I did not arrive until 7:00 local time. Now I had to get my credentials. I was told repeatedly that I needed to go the Sheraton on Court street a few blocks down to pick up my credentials.

I made my way slowly through the crowd to the Sheraton. I was getting agitated because nobody could give me a straight answer on where to pick up my credentials. Finally I arrive, out of breath to the front door of the Sheraton. As I reached for the door, they slammed it in my face and locked it. Shouting through the glass a concierge yelled "We are under lock down, no one can come in or leave."

Bewildered, I turned around and came to the realization I probably was not going to get in the convention tonight. About that time a group of 30 or 40 riot gear clad police trotted right by me. One of the police officers on the scene not dressed in riot gear told me that if he were me he would be moving along. I took his advice to heart and quickly started backtracking. I did not make it to the end of the Sheraton when another group of 30-40 riot gear clad police jogged right by me again.

Now I was really curious as to what was going on. I joined a group of 25 or so onlookers at the corner of the Sheraton and watched the riot police form a secure perimeter around the back side of the building. Before long they had their pepper spray dispensers pointed right at us and told us to get down the road or get sprayed. I don't think I heard the end of this sentence.

Feeling defeated I found a little dive to get something to eat. Figuring my best bet was to call it day and recharge for a full day Tuesday, I headed back to the hotel. There I found other bloggers who informed me on where and when to pick up my credentials. As I lat down on the bed I chuckled to myself, Denver 1 Jeff Walters 0.