just took a little thinkin', that's all.....

I'm in one of my favorite places in the world. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for meetings. For the past 10 years or so, whenever I come to Gatlinburg I stay at Riverhouse at the Park. Two reasons - most of the rooms have balconies over the river, and they serve homemade doughnuts for breakfast. I promise you, these doughnuts start melting before you even put them in your mouth. They're that good.

When I got here yesterday, I realized that I didn't have internet connectivity. I tried searching for different wireless networks, but nothing worked. I looked in the hotel information book and it said to call the office for the password to wireless internet. I called and the desk clerk said, "Oh, those are new books, and they weren't supposed to have that in there. We don't have it set up yet. But you can drive down to the Riverhouse Motor Lodge and use their wireless internet." So I did that. Felt like some kind of pervert, sitting in a hotel parking lot with my notebook computer. But I was able to check my e-mail and decided to come on back.

Then it hit me - go out on the balcony and see if you can connect to anything. It worked. And not only that, the view's a whole lot better.....

PS - I was a little shocked about Melinda Doolittle being sent home last night. She was BY FAR the best this season. The results proved that American Idol is no longer a singing competition - it's a voting competition.