Sigh- the Invasion is Over

I made it, and so did Denver, through the DNC. I was very worried last week about the prospect of 50,000 people of media and politic crazies descending on Denver. Given that I work in the Chase Bank Building which is in the very center of the city and received several emails with information such as:

"our building is right next to approved demonstration sites, and because there are high profile tenants in this building, access to the building will be limited."

and "Also note that given our building is centrally located between other well known locations, companies and hotels, police will be setting up a command post in our building."

and "If things get ugly outside, Management has purchased plywood to protect broken windows, cots, and extra water and food for emergency purposes. If you are here and something occurs, they would prefer and ask that you stay here (although they can not force you). NO ONE will be allowed in however. If you choose to leave, you will not be allowed back in."

and "In case of tear gas, outside air intakes will be shut down, entry doors will be covered with tarps and duct tape, and elevators may not run."

I also found out that the Obama camp was staying at the Westin Hotel which is literally across the street from my building. All of this put together sounded like so much fun that I thought that I should pass and work from home. I worked from home on Monday but I had to come in to the office on Tuesday because I had to print and I can't from home. There were ton's of people! No really- TONS! Nothing too exciting though. I worked from home on Wednesday but decided to come in and risk it on Thursday. In the afternoon there were a bunch of police on motorcycles outside the Westin and a group of us went outside to see what was going to happen. The BMOC left in his motorcade and waved to the crowd. It was cool to see him- even though I am not a fan. You have to respect anybody that can have such a profound affect on that many people. It was neat to see him in the flesh, not just on the TV or Internet.

My cousin AJ works at Earls downtown- he is a chef. I had heard that Oprah was going to be eating there so I sent him a text message to ask if he had seen her. He replied with "yes, and Danny Glover, Zoe Dechanel, Anne Hathoway, Spike Lee, Al Sharpton, the kings list goes on, it was pretty sweet!" How cool is that! I am not one to be a celebrity gaulker, but I wouldn't mind running into a few celebrities.

I am glad that today is almost back to normal in Denver. I am glad that building management didn't have to get the plywood out and that I wasn't voluntarily forced to stay at work. I am anxious for the Republican Convention to begin now and I hope that it goes just as smoothly if not more so than the DNC.