It's raining in Michigan

The card on the tack board in the hotel room reads, "It is important that you know the exact location of this hotel so you can know whether a severe weather alert will affect you. This hotel is in Lansing, Michigan, Ingham County."

That's all. No instructions on where to go or what to do during the severe weather. Michigan counts as Midwest, right? Don't you think they should have tornado shelters? Does this hotel have a tornado shelter? And where would I hear about severe weather? Clock radio? TV? I don't see any weather radios in this hotel room.

In the event that this thunderstorm turns severe, and the tornado comes plowing through my window, I will be able to state confidently that Lansing is in Ingham County, Michigan. Just in case anyone wants to know during a tornado. Do you think I could stop a tornado, by knowing something like that? It must be important, or they wouldn't have tacked it to the board in the room here.

***

Solo trips for business are very good for getting work done. But I miss my comfy sofa at home, and my own bed. And my boys. And tornadoes almost never happen in the West.

***

Last night, a woman pounded on my door after I had put my pajamas on and was settling into bed to work.

"Is there an alarm on in there?"

"Uh... No," I called from inside, peering out the peep hole.

"I hear an alarm -- a buzzing sound -- in my room. Will you turn it off?"

"Uh... I don't hear anything. Try the room on the other side?"

A few minutes later, my reading was interrupted by the hotel phone ringing.

"Hello, this is the front desk," said a chipper voice. "Another guest is complaining about an alarm going off in the room next door."

"Yes, she already contacted me. It isn't in this room."

"You're sure? You don't hear anything?"

"No."

"Do you hear it in the hall?"

"I'm not in the hall. I'm not going out into the hall to check. Maybe you should come down to see if you can hear it." (Can you tell I was getting annoyed? I have no excuses. Sometimes I am not a nice person.)

"There's not a fire alarm going off in your room?"

"I think I would notice a fire alarm."

"OK. Well thank you."

Tonight there is still no alarm going off in this room, although I hear the thunder approaching, and the rain bouncing off the window. It's actually a soothing sound, if I ignore that card tacked to the board over the table.

Ingham County.

Good to know.

I'll be back home tomorrow. I can't wait. Meanwhile, I'll try to be nice.