3 in 3: Part Two

At the Minneapolis Convention Center, we met up with Oregon delegates as they did their part to create more than 80,000 comfort kits for those affected by Hurricane Gustav.  With good video and sound in our hands from the event, we were ready to make our way to St. Paul.  But we didn't have any money for parking.  

My ATM card didn't work inside the convention center and my reporter could not remember his pin so we began a wild goose chase for another ATM. Everyone knew of an ATM but couldn't give us correct directions. Entering and exiting every building as we moved away from the convention center, we tried to find an ATM while carrying all of our equipment around downtown.  Once we got into a hotel with an ATM, several blocks later, I tried my card again.  Tired of running and frustrated with the time we had lost, I was told by this ATM what the one back in the convention center could not, my card had expired. 

Parking was eight dollars, my reporter and I had four between us but with no way to get more cash we got desperate.  We begged the parking gate attendant to let us through and he did after taking our four and writing down my reporter's address in order to guarantee he would get the remaining four.  

Two hours until we needed to have our piece in Bend with nothing written or edited, we made our way to the Xcel Energy Center. Our script was written in the car but we lost a good thirty minutes walking to the X and getting inside.  Mult-tasking like we had never done before, our story got to Bend as it turned 5 p.m. on the west coast.  We took a breath, relaxed, and prepared for Part Three: The VP acceptance speech.