Homeless at the Hilton

It's 5 A.M and the warmth of my laptop is providing the only comfort in this chilly, refrigerated lobby of the DoubleTree Hilton here in San Jose.

My 2 month anticipation of the seminar I am to attend, THE RECONNECTION with Dr. Eric Pearl,  and a calendar with all the daily squares filled in with train departure schedule planning, had me fail to see the little arrow pointing to Thursday as my actual departure date, so I left for the seminar on Wednesday.

MAJOR OOPS!......as my "room at the inn" was booked beginning on Thursday, it was a full-house ( I don't mean a card game, folks!) and all hotels in the area were also full.  It was a fun train ride, but I had no where to sleep.

So, what's a girl to do?  Good fortune in my favor,  I have nice luggage (NOT Gucci or Louis), top quality cosmetics and wore my best jewelry.  Even better, my beloved stylist daughter freshened my almost platinum locks with color and a smart new cut, so throughout this evening's shenanigans, I was not treated like the role of the vagabond I had just assumed.  It was mid afternoon, just about check-in time when I learned there was no room for me until the next day.  I was in such delightful anticipation of spending a free day in a glorious room before the seminar began, I didn't realize I was two days early, and even when the check-in director kindly dealt me the blunt honesty with a smile and a shoulder shrug, I did not let the unreality of my situation diminish my joyful state of mind.  I simply told her with that sweet sense of humor I've been known to have kick in at a twisted time such as this, "well, you'll be wanting to hire me next week, because by tomorrow I'll know every nook and cranny of your fine hotel."  

In my wanderings I made friends with Raphael, the security guard who's shift ended at 11 and let him know he'd be seeing me around and found a nice spot on the atrium roof with two chairs and an ashtray.

To keep this story a blog & not turn it into an actual novel, I'll get to the point that during my wanderings, I found the housekeeping department on the same floor that I discovered an unlocked conference room.  Doing that equation yourself, you can conclude that indeed, I absconded with a pillow, a sheet & two comforters, and by 8 p.m. was nestled on the floor of "The Riesling" room which was a former guest room revamped for conferencing.  Ahhh, it was as quiet as stepping in to a nice private room!  

I kept my stuff organized and in one neat place, laptop charging.  As there was no actual lock on the door, it was kept shut by just that little hardware that all rooms have as an extra security in case some wayward happens to open the door.  So, after a bit of sleep, I heard some wayward try to open the door.  After it happened again, thinking it was maybe some partying firemen from their massive convention occupying the entire hotel I put a barrier of two chairs like you see in the movies when the bad guys are trying to break the door down.....(yes, there were hundreds of really good looking FIREMEN everywhere!) - if I were in that feisty way of my younger day, I'd probably not have the problem of not having a room!   Firemen used to always be that fantasy since I was 18.....and now they were absolutely EVERYWHERE!!!!  Ah the irony!


The wayward intruders turned out to be my security friend and a maintenance man trying to figure out why the door had that fastener on it from the inside.  I moved the chairs, called, "one minute!"~ then answered the door clad in a stark white sheet, tousled blonde hair and a friendly, sleepy smile.  They were quite surprised but friendly at this sight, and told me the banquet manager was going to be here in 10 minutes to prepare the room. As they were going to return the bedding down the hall, I talked them into letting me keep the pillow.  I made my way to a ladies lounge nestled in a more remote area, put two little armless chairs together and continued my attempt at sleep.  It got cold, so I put on more layers and covered up with the hoodie I brought.  

I got enough sleep to have dreams about hotel bathrooms and then the disturbance began with someone using the restroom, followed by a big security officer popping his head in, no doubt following up on a report from the previous intruder.  Telling him my room will be ready in the morning, he kindly said he was going to forget he saw me.  Shortly after this, at just after 4 a.m., I decided to get up, freshen up and start the day.  I brushed the ivories (as daddy used to call our teeth), applied my new cosmetics to a freshly splashed face, stuffed my pillow in my black tote and here I am!  Their cafe opens in 1 minute, and I will be the first one there with my own thermal mug ready for their freshly brewed STARBUCKS!!!!!  This has been more fun than a barrel of firemen, er, monkeys!