It is a beautiful 82 degrees and sunny. We finished hanging dispensers and making the final touches to the booth and I received high praise from John with a "I think this looks like the best booth yet...considering he's disliked the last several years booths I'd say I'm okay."

So the hotel we are staying at - the Quality Inn is kind ....um...dumpy. So before the rest of my team arrived I sent them a note explaining to them the quality in quality inn might not be the true definition of the word. Its not terrible by any means just kind of ...um...dumpy.

I also told them that I thought there would be room in the booth should they want to bring their laptops or anything with them that they wouldn't want left in the room as a courtesy. Anyhow, at about 10:30 this a.m. I get a call from our sales manager yelling at me because marketing should do a better job at getting hotels and how he's not going to have his sales managers come to trade shows if marketing can't do a better job...which when he says marketing, he really means me. What he doesn't realize is that you always have to go through a housing bureau and this particular trade show fills up fast and as Eco-land doesn't allow me to spend my budget for hotel reservations until January first we are pretty well stuck with slim pickin's we've been very blessed in the past but sincerely this year wasn't the luck of the draw.

I don't like staying in dumps MORE than most people - in fact I'm a tad irritated that he insuates that I did this on purpose. I arrive almost two full days before everyone and have to stay in these hotels alone...anyhow...it just irritates me beyond belief that he could be so obnoxiously insensitive when I've warned the whole group from the beginning of my first memo back in January that the only hotel available was the Quality Inn.

I imagine there could be worse problems but I'm seeing him at dinner in an hour and a half and if I don't get this off my mind I do believe he may just get an earful.