Well, that's time I won't ever see again...

Nothing like being prepared and on top of things. So I find out that there's a pre-bid meeting on a renovation project that I'm interested in taking place in Raleigh this morning. I understand myself well enough to know that I won't make it to NC State University at 10AM unless I start my trip somewhere closer to Raleigh than I typically begin my day. Since I typically begin my day 3 hours from there.

So I go to Raleigh last night. I highly recommend the Residence Inn near the airport if you need a place in Raleigh. Nice. So I'm heading up and I see that there are threats of weather. In North Carolina, even the whisper of 'snow' makes people rush out to buy bread and milk like there's no tomorrow.

Why do all these people make French Toast when it snows?

So there was a certain level of panic greeting the potential for the 'first winter storm of the season,' but I felt pretty good about my potential for making my meeting on time. After all, my Tom Tom said the address was only 15 minutes for my hotel, so even I should be able to navigate there with satellite assistance in an hour.

And I did.

And I walked 1/2 mile from the parking deck to the student center where we were to meet to have the pre-bid meeting. And I encountered the assistant of the purchasing agent who looked horrified when I told her why I was there.

"You didn't know? It was cancelled because of the weather."

So I drove 3 hours, rented a hotel room, wasted a tank of gas, and drove three hours home. Just to do it all over again next week. Because the purchasing agent didn't want to drive in the mess. The mess that consisted of rain. Cold rain, I'll give you, but rain. There was no ice anywhere, and it was in the upper 30s by the time I left my hotel at 9AM. To say I was irritated would be an understatement.

To say that I felt like I had wasted my efforts at communication when I emailed her and told her I was driving halfway across the state to make this meeting, and if they cancelled on account of weather to please call my cell phone.

I love state purchasing agents. Really, I do.