Lipstick on a pig

I'd never heard the phrase "lipstick on a pig" until the media furor over Obama's use of it after Palin's convention speech. Since then I've wondered how often it really gets used in daily conversation. I'm glad (sort of) to finally have a use for it. Last week I stayed at a hotel near the airport for an early am flight. Based on the chain name and online photos I was expecting to be pleasantly surprised by the quality and accomodations. Instead I arrive to find out it's a renovated Holiday Inn. No, wait, it's in the process of being renovated. Sure the bedding was updated (thank god no synthetic spongy under blankets) and the toiletries very nice, but underneath it was still a Holiday Inn. I was playing with the unstable bathroom faucet and thinking - you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. Even with a high dollar veneer, I'm still stuck at a rickety holiday inn. Leaving the next morning clinched it for me, when I tripped rolling my luggage into the elevator because it had stopped several inches above the level of the floor.