RWA Dallas Day 1

Arrived yesterday. Luggage didn't. The shuttle service was the kind that circled the airport until it had enough passengers to make the trip worthwhile, not to mention the driver said downtown wasn't his route, and it took several calls to dispatch to figure out that he should take us because the 'regular' van was nowhere to be found.

Registration was excellent, and after being given a complimentary toiletries kit, I found the bar. Numerous calls to the baggage service department's automated phone message center finally located my bag -- these bags have computerized bar codes on them, yet it took 4 hours to figure out where my suitcase was. And it was a nonstop flight. One bag made it, and I violated my own rule about packing everything into checked luggage, but I didn't want to have to carry a lot of stuff on the plane. Never again.

The bag finally made it to the hotel 12 hours after my plane landed, but at least I had it for the day's tour.

We were bussed to Fort Worth to their police department training center with lectures by officers in crimes against children, homicide, cold cases and forensics.

I'm not sure if this was set out as a joke or if this really was typical fare for their center:

Very much like what I learned in the Civilian Police Academy at home. Lunch was at a local Mexican restaurant, followed by a return to the hotel where 3 SAR dogs and their handlers were waiting to tell us all about search and rescue.

I'm planning to catch up on sleep tonight, and am looking forward to my book signing and seeing my books in print tomorrow for the first time.