It's Not All Cornfields And Crows

So I'm in Omaha. We worked all morning and then my rep dropped me off at my hotel. Last night I got on at 10 and they never got the jet bridge to us until 10:30 and, because I had gotten to the gate so late, they had plane side checked my bag. So when they finally brought the jet bridge, she said, to make it easier for us (eye roll), they were just going to send all the bags to the bag carousel.

I've never seen an airport so busy at 11 at night, considering the size! We all made our way from the plane down to baggage claim and proceeded to stand for the next 30 minutes! What made it even worse was that 2 other flights had bags coming out before us. Washington DC and stupid Portland....:). And apparently Nebraska kids don't really place with those shape puzzles when theyre little because they kept sending out things on the regular nag claim that obviously would not fit and so they'd get stuck in the door coming out and the belt would run and then all of a sudden shut down and the red sirens and alarms would go off and then some disgruntled passenger would go over and free the item from the door somehow and the belt would start coming out again. I had a lot of time to stand and look at local ads and pictures. We all know Mutual of Omaha is here in lovely Omaha, but did you know Woodsmens Insurance is here too?! And from what I gathered, you don't have to be a woodsman to get their insurance - actually - there don't seem to be a lot of woods here in Omaha... It's intriguing....

Anyways - about 11:30 my bag came spinning out like it had never left my side. I uttered a complaint and confirmed in my head why why dont check my bag to begin with, and then I followed the signs marked Rental Car". I followed the signs and followed them (outside...brrrr...) and finally got to the Advantage booth where I discovered that I actually should have found the unmarked closet they were located in back at the terminal and they could have helped me there. I was not a fan of Advantage last night and so I went to Hertz and said "give me a car" (no please - no nothing - just give me a car...) and they said it would be $370 for the week. I had a rate of $114 from Advantage for the week. Do the math. But, it was late and cold so I got a hertz car for one day and figured I'd come back the next day for advantage since I'd be in the area.

That's what I did and I've just come from picking up a nice Passat with sirrius radio, which will be nice when I make the drive to Kansas City.

So my one comment about Omaha in the winter, to quote an episode of "Up All Night" that I just watched on the plane last night...
"Is there a bucket of guns to go with that mug of bullets?"
It's pretty desolate here in the winter. I've been in spring and summer, but winter... Help me... I'm getting clausterphobic because there's nothing but fields here. The downtown is the size of a thimble - I can't escape desolate and depressing.

And everywhere you turn, there's "a little bit of country"...

I picked up my car and was treated to some mighty fine bluegrass as all the presets were on country stations.

I am staying on Council Bluffs (Iowa that is) which is waaaaayyyyyyy worse than Omaha. My Nebraska rep says "Idiots Out Wandering Around" (get it - Iowa...:)) but it's Iowa so we don't expect much (sorry Kim - love ya in Chicago!:)).

Downtown Omaha in the revamped district is actually kind of cool. It's all these old factories converted to shops and there are brick streets.

TD Ameritrade has headquarters here. Century Link as well. And if Warren Buffet still has a house here and drives around in a pick up - Omaha HAS to be doing something right!

And then I found this amazing little cafe/bakery called Bliss. They make great con panne (which no one does cause it's a Europe thing) and amazing lemon cupcakes! Its pretty classy here.

But now I must close as my car is sitting on the street with 30 minutes dwindling down on the meter and I know they check as the rep I worked with today got a $16 ticket because she forgot to feed the Meyer.

I have 3 minutes left....

Back to Wandering Around with the Idiots....