Party on, Room 1117

I took my engineer-in-training exam on Saturday. It was at the Spokane Convention Center, where about 150 other wannabe engineers converged for 8 hours of head scratching. Do I think I passed? I'm not sure. The morning session felt pretty good, the afternoon not so good. It didn't help that I had 2 hours of sleep the night before.

Yeah. 2 hours. In the book of practice problems for the exam, it suggests getting a hotel room near the test site. That way, you don't hafta worry about parking, and I thought it would be nice to get a good nights sleep. No such luck.

I spent most of Friday afternoon in a room at the downtown Ridpath, doing some last minute studying and enjoying the view from the 10th floor. I had a friend talk me into going to The Onion for dinner, and got back to the hotel a little after 9. Plenty of time to get a good nights sleep, so I thought.

Turns out, the people upstairs (in room 1117) didn't have a test to take. They got a room for one reason, apparently - to party. I could hear every detail of every stupid, drunken conversation they had. I laid awake most of the night, tempted to call the front desk... but I kept figuring they'd pass out. They finally did, around 4 in the morning. So, 2 hours later, my alarm went off. I figured I was screwed.

Surprisingly, after some coffee and a disgusting gas station sandwich, I was ready to go. The morning was fine. The afternoon sucked. I was exhausted.

Later that night, I waited for the elevator in the hotel lobby. There was a twenty-something girl standing there, also waiting to get on the elevator. When we got in, she sweetly asked:

"What floor are you on?"

"10", I replied. I glanced over as she pushed the 10 button, and noticed that the 11 button was also lit. I couldn't resist asking.

"You're not in room 1117, are you?"

"Yes. Oh God! Were we too loud last night? It's my aunt's room, and she got a little crazy!"

I pondered my response for a moment. I wanted SOOOO bad to say:

"Yeah, actually you were VERY loud. I got a room here just so I could get a good night's sleep, prior to taking an 8 hour exam that I've spent months preparing for. Thanks to you guys, I got around 2 hours, and possibly bombed it."

But, I couldn't do it. I could tell she was genuinely concerned about the whole thing, so I simply replied:

"Nah, it's okay. Sounded like you guys were having a good time. At least tonight I'll know to expect it." Right about then we reached the 10th floor. I smiled as I stepped out, and she smiled back.

I stayed awake until about 3 am watching a poker tournament on TV, figuring I wouldn't be able to sleep again. Funny thing is, room 1117 was dead silent.

All night. :)