Sleep Deprivation, Cheap Water and Politically-Correct Shampoo

 I arrived safely in Sacramento and have already seen a great deal of it for two reasons: my overall cheapness and my inability to sleep due to the three hour time change.  My hotel, right across the street from the State Capitol is lovely, but regardless of its niceties, my regular room inspection immediately took place.  This includes a bed bug check, a wipe-down of all handles and bathroom fixtures and a good dose of Lysol spray on the pillows, whether used or not.  Although my husband is not with me on this trip, he did ask me on the phone if I had completed “the inspection.” When answering in the affirmative, he gave me his usual response, “Crazy.” 

I also checked to see if any bottled water was available in the room and learned that there was…for $8.00 each. I don’t care how fancy the bottle is or what waterfall in Maine that it comes from, it’s still water. I would be damned if I was paying that much and though I was tired, I put my jacket back on and started walking to find a reasonably-priced bottle.  

Finding one however, was not as easy as I thought it would be. First, while a lovely city, lots of businesses were already closed…at 6:30 pm.  I assumed that there must be a 24 hour CVS nearby, but finding one also became a problem.  When I typed into Waze, “CVS stores near me,” an address came up 3000 miles away. I clearly did something wrong but thought I would just find one the old fashion way and keep walking and hoping I would come across a store.  It only took 40 minutes and about 1 1/2 miles but I bought twice as much water for half the price.  I have no idea where the water came from but it tasted fine and that was good enough for me.  

After a dinner that ended at 8 pm, I was exhausted and ready to go to sleep but knew that if I went to bed so early, I would be up half the night. I stayed awake for two more hours and still woke up at 3 am.  By 9 am this morning, I had reviewed my presentation, exercised, went for a long walk, drank two cups of coffee, talked to my husband twice (which did not include his two butt dials to me) and had a stressful conversation with a United Airlines representative over a message I received from the airline regarding one of my flights being late and asking whether I wanted to rebook my flights.  Even being sleep-deprived, I assumed that the late flight was referring to one of my flights home tomorrow.  

Incorrect. 

The agent confirmed what I was reading on the United App, that both flights tomorrow are currently “On time.” When I tamped down the panic, I realized that United was referring to yesterday’s late flight and not tomorrow’s. For God’s sake, I’m already here, why would I want to rebook tomorrow’s flights? Just another piece of evidence that air travel remains not for the faint of heart.

One last thing.  I didn’t realize that political correctness now included shampoo and conditioner. I always like trying the hotel products, mainly because our water is so hard at home, I will use whatever it takes to manage the hair frizz.  I was washing my hair this morning and leaned over to see the name of the product and saw that below the product name, it said, “Cruelty Free and Vegan.” I get the “Cruelty Free,” statement particularly since there was a small sketch of a rabbit (that I initially thought was a Court jester’s cap because I didn’t have my glasses on) in the corner of the bottle with the disclaimer underneath, “No animal testing.” It was the “Vegan” disclaimer that had me wondering.  Could the people at “Pharmacopia” Shampoo and Conditioner think that there is a risk that vegans will eat their product?  I’m sure that there is a logical explanation and I am also sure that after they role their eyes at me, my children will explain to me why this is included on the packaging. But right now, I’m still laughing at the visual.