Mad Finagling

So far I'm having a great time in Minnesota, though my trip started off a little bumpy. On Friday morning, somehow it popped into my head on Friday morning that maybe my driver's license had expired a few days ago on my birthday. I don't know how or why this popped into my head, but I sat up in bed and then ran to my wallet . . . indeed, expired.

This was big deal because part of my trip involved a car rental, and I knew I would now no longer be able to rent a car. Easy, I thought. I'll just go to the driver's license place and get it taken care of. Friday was a staff work day at school, so we had no students, and it would have been easy to sneak away to take care of my license. Alas, as I live in the Land of Lincoln, the state not only celebrates Presidents' Day (a holiday created to combine Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday), but also Lincoln's actual birthday, February 12. That was Friday, so the DMV was closed. Damn you, Lincoln.

So I had to do some mad finagling to arrange airport pick-up, a shuttle reservation, etc. Fortunately there is a Brainerd-Minneapolis shuttle, so I got a spot. Anyway, it all worked out, and after 30 minutes on the phone with Orbitz, I got my car rental refunded.

No harm done.

So now I am in the beautiful Brainerd Lakes area, and I am really enjoying seeing my friends. After a very delicious dinner last night, we went to Zorbaz (where I used to work. DJ WANG!) and whooped it up at their annual Mardi Gras party. Today I'll be heading back to the Z for an afternoon of fun and friends.

I love coming back here.