Hi, Y'all.

Just got home from my day trip to Orlando. Here's my report, although I'm sure others will have more details, especially on shrub's second stop.

As I drove by the convention center in search of parking, I passed a small group on the east side holding Bush/Cheney campaign signs (nothing new or original). I kept going past the convention center, saw a few carrying home-made signs walking in front, but I couldn't tell what they were.

Large police presence, most entrances to most parking areas were guarded by the sheriff dept.

I found public parking at the hotel adjacent to the convention center, which was the corner staked out by our side. There were (I'm guessing) about 20 people there, including some Fringe Folk, some Grannies and some from the local Democratic committee. We chanted a few cheers, entertained a few conventioneers, and compared signs and slogans as our photos were taken by someone in a suit.

When the motorcade arrived someone counted 37 motorcycles heading the pack (our tax dollars at work), then a couple of residential limousines, followed by a bunch of SUV's and vans and a few more police and highway patrol cars. They passed in front of us, but on the other side of the road (they were eastbound, we were on the west side) and had to have seen us.

After that, the cameramen from two local stations were doing some interviews. I got to make statements to both, each time saying pretty much the same thing, "The Supreme Court has no right to appoint a president. Bush's actions so far have done more to damage the citizens of this country than any outside force has done in over 200 years."

The others there were heading to the senior citizen center in the Cuban part of town that was supposed to be the next stop on the itinerary. As they were packing up to leave, the Freepers wandered by on the way to their cars. One of them had a sign that said "Florida Loves Bush."

I said, "Oh, a Freeper..." and pointed to that part of his sign. "I am a Floridian and that certainly is not true of my feelings. You should speak for yourself."

His response was, "I'm glad I met you, you are a very nice lady." (Little does he know...)

As the others headed for the next site, I headed for home so I could get back before traffic got messy.

All in all, an interesting day.

Ellen

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