Before I get into the meat of the story, let me tell you about my last night in Europe. Nestled in the heart of Spain, the center of the city, during one of the most popular holidays of the year, Madrid at the stroke of midnight on Kings Day is quite the treat. For “El Dia de los Reyes,” thousands of people fill the streets creating an ocean of festive, often times drunk, very happy Spanish people. With Ox Tail, Seafood Paella, and Churros in my belly, I went to sleep filled with not just yummy food but pure joy gathered from my surroundings. At 8AM the next day, the real craziness begins.

Trying to pay for my hotel stay was the first hurdle, and the easiest one of the day. None of my credit or debit cards were being accepted by their machine (at which time I concluded that the guy behind the counter was a complete moron when it comes to technology). With only 15 Euros to my name, I offered to pay the man with US Dollars. Luckily for me, he accepted. With this, I make my way through the steep levels of the Madrid Metro system and into the airport. As expected, the lines at the Barajas airport are stupidly long. But we manage to make our flight just as they were boarding. Not too bad.

After 8 hours crossing the Atlantic Ocean, we land in Philly for customs. (NOTE: If you ever travel internationally through USA, please take this advice: Allocate at least 3-4 hours between flights.) We are cleared through passport security and on our way to pick up our luggage for claims and recheck. Keep in mind, there are lines for every part of this process and they are all about ¼ mile long. With one hour before takeoff, we make our way from rechecking our bags to the TSA security checkpoint (the one place in the airport where it’s okay to get undressed in public). They check our boarding ticket and passport to make sure we’re using our own name. But at that very moment, my name for this flight was Jose.

I go back to the ticket counter for a new ticket, one with MY name on it. I take this ticket and literally RUN through 500 people waiting in line at the security checkpoint. This caused about 300 of them into a fussy fury. Giving me evil looks and sneering at my explanation, they call over the TSA security agent to investigate my rush to the front of the line. With great success, she signals me past all 500 of them! *High Five* With just 10 minutes until takeoff, I somehow manage to pull off my shoes, throw all of my carry-ons into 2 bins, pass the metal detector, redress myself, and RUN like Speedy Gonzalez to my gate. I expected my plane to be in the air, as it was 5 minutes past. For the first time ever, I was thankful that my plane was having engine problems and stayed grounded for an extra 45 minutes. I made my flight! Now I’m on my way to the USA.

When I finally arrive in Dallas at 11pm, I discover that my bags are still in Philly because US Airways is a piece of poop. Five minutes later, my boyfriend calls to tell me that he won’t be able to make it for dinner because he just got into a 12-car accident on the highway. At this point, I am my own little wreck. After 3 hours of helping him work out the situation, I wash my clothes, pack my bag and catch my 4:30AM Super Shuttle to DFW Airport. Onward to Vegas for CES.

Working on 36 hours without sleep was a trip. However, being with my girls and playing Team Fortress 2 all day was a good stress reliever. And the Dell guys at the Extreme Gaming Tour bus were super nice (including the DJ that played really good music). Although I was a bit delirious, I think I managed to speak English fairly well. However, when I got frustrated I seemed to mutter things in Spanish. By the 48th hour, I was ready to pass out (bed-head, drool, snoring, all of it). It was a long and eventful day of running around on a tight schedule, but now I am well-rested and ready for my next 48-hour adventure.