Here in Charlotte when you leave the airport you have the choice of either I-77 south or I-85 north. I-77 is Billy Graham Parkway. I-85 is Billy Graham Parkway. Now, I've never met the man, nor even heard him preach, but isn't it a bit excessive to name two roads for one person? Or is this (the south/north dichotomy) representative of the eternal struggle between good and evil which Rev. Graham has undoubtedly addressed many times? Or am I just spending way too much time thinking about our National Defense Highway system?

Whenever I get into a rental car, it always feels vaguely like a toy. Nothing is in the right place and it all feels rather tinny and not glued together very well. The seat is never at the correct height (and can't be adjusted), the steering wheel doesn't have the same feel, and the turn signals don't make the right clicking sound. I'm always glad to get back to the familiarity of my broken in car.

And whatever happened to attacking tourists in rental cars? A few years ago there was a big hue and cry after tourists were killed in Florida after being identified as such because all rental car plates started with a "Z". Now rental cars allegedly have no identifying features and the killings seem to have abated. Is the criminal mind really that limited? Aren't all those cars overfilled with luggage and squabbling families like big blinking red neon signs saying "TOURISTS HERE"? Perhaps not.

Charlotte really seemed to be buttoned up tight on a rainy Tuesday evening at 8:00 PM as I drove to my hotel. Now, it's not as if I was out looking for strippers and hookers, which would probably have taken me to parts of town that were less quiet, but it did appear as if aliens had descended on town and whisked all Charlottians away to be probed. Maybe they were all safe and cozy in their homes waiting for the - better sit down here - 3 inches of snow that is rapidly approaching. I received an email from the client I'm visiting telling me that if that happens, the roads will be impassable and I might as well break up the furniture in my hotel room to make a fire because the entire city will be in a state of emergency (I might have embroidered that a little). One can only hope...