Extended Stay(s)

I am not one to normally bash on a business establishment. I rarely send my food back when prepared wrong, hardly complain when the service is horrible, and infrequently speak up when the situation strays from my projected path. Until now...

I spent a week at an extended stay hotel arrangement last week while in KC and found a whole new side of life for which I can detest. Never have I felt so afraid for the well being of my 4Runner in the parking lot, nor been inclined to bolt the door and sit with a pistol during the night. But my week at the extended stay proved to me there is much more to life than I pretend exists outside my bubble.

First things first, I hate extended stay hotels for one main reason. They have kitchens. In those kitchens people cook. The byproduct of such culinary experimentation is aroma...or odor as is usually the case. Nothing makes me more uneasy with my surroundings than to be engulfed in a flood of pungent odor when walking through the door. I mean who in their right mind thinks cooking CURRIED FISH is a good idea under normal circumstances, not to mention the small space to which we are crammed...if I wanted to live like this I would rent a studio flat in NYC...

Secondly, cheap extended stay hotels are full of migrant workers...I mean they could be rednecks from Texas or hippies from Cali...but running around loud, drunk, and screaming at two in the morning is acceptable if you live in a fraternity house. Quite another to be older and wiser. Having to dodge the cracked out construction workers with their meth teeth and heroin bodies is just a bit more than that with which I like to contend.

I am not a snob by any stretch of the imagination. And yes I could be slightly spoiled from my days soaking in the pool of the Camelback Inn...but give me a break...how bad does it have to get before an establishment decides "hmm, maybe we have gone the wrong direction with our marketing tactics"? Clue in people...call it what it is...anything but an "amenity rich and relaxing environment". Meth teeth, are you serious? I'm surprised I didn't see anyone shooting up next to the dumpster.

Anxiety Rox

Tomorrow is the first official day of my new job. It is 3 hrs away. It just hit me as I'm packing a bag just how much activity will transpire over the next several months...house listing, house hunting, blah blah. WTF have I managed to get myself into this time? My mind is spinning like a Tilt-A-Whirl...this is not the most conducive mental state to begin a new job...whoa over-stimulation. Ok, I took a cleansing breath to harness my chi. Now where the hell do I start? I still have not heard from volunteers to help pack...although I did get one "yes that is my truck, and no I will not help you move jackass" so there is still hope. I'll even throw in a case of beer. Cheap stuff...not my good stuff. Anyone? No? Guess I'll just have to put Fin and Ev to work then.

The Dismantling of Christmas

I am all in favor of not putting up decorations next year. No lights. No wreaths. No 9' tree full of fragile trinkets which are destined to break. Something so joyous should not have to include a full day of dismantling the paraphernalia...ugh. Is it summer yet? I don't wanna even start the process, but I'm so sick of being surrounded by the perpetual holiday cheer it serves as an excellent motivator. Dig out the boxes. Unpack the junk which had to be packed to unpack the packed cheery items from the start. I don't get it...there has GOT to be an easier way to do this...maybe I should hire someone to do it for me while I sit back with a stiff drink and supervise. Excellent plan...now where do I find such a stooge?

Sweet Unemployment

It has been a few weeks since I last posted, don't be a hater but you can blame Facebook, the annoyingly addictive cyber crack of a website site it is. I'm sure you know now that I got canned a few weeks ago. No more General Growth for me...but it's all good, I have another job. I start Dec 29th and we will be packin our trinkets and heading north to KC once E completes the school year. It's hard to be excited about moving, but the job is so enticing it makes the move seem far less life-altering.

Getting downsized from a corporate job is a surreal experience. Even though I knew it was coming for months and managed to avoid the first two rounds, when the day came it was quite a bizarre stream of emotions. This is the stuff that happens to people on the news, not me...until now. Thankfully, I had managed to secure my new job at exactly the same time so the timing could not have been more perfect. Hmm, divine intervention maybe? I don't see how, I certainly haven't been an angel this year...heh heh heh...

I managed to get a severance package in lieu of my annual bonus so the transition to a new job will be way too easy. I fear it is too good to be true...but for now it freakin rocks! I am totally stoked to start the new job. The day of my interview I called Cindy to inform her this is my dream job (well besides being a ninja or professional Rock Band player). The fact it happens to be in KC doesn't really bother me so much after all. In a good job market this decision would have been a no-brainer so it goes without saying it's a minor miracle in this shitty one.

So the Carpenter's are on the move yet again...we keep moving north like this and we'll end up in Maine before retiring. Feel free to come help pack...we need all the help we can get. The tour of chaos will be storming into KC in short order...watch out!

Turkey

It must be the addiction to tryptophan which relinquishes my inner child to spill forth and declare my love of the holiday's. Hmm...interesting...there is just something about the holidays which brings out my inner child...well more so than normal. Afterall, I am a child at heart. I took great pleasure in building Lincoln Log tunnels for the model train set which adorns the bottom of our tree. Oh yes, the tree is already up at casa de carpenter...sad, but true. I fight it, although I know deep down I actually love it. May your thx be as giving as mine. Peace.

Friendship

Ok, so I admit it...I am a little sappy...but there are no holds barred when it comes to those I consider my friends. For the longest time, I have valued friendship as family. Even in college I grew close to my fraternity brothers as if they were my family and to this day still value many of them as such. What really hits home to me even at the ripe ol' age of 34, is my ability to still find them. Be it work friends, neighbors, couples, new, young, old (no specific age defined, uh hmmm).

Friendship is a strange beast. There are scattered layers of friends: those you can trust, those you have fun with, those you reveal your most intimate secrets (I know I sound like I have a va-jay-jay), those you get drunk with, those you hold back from, those you help, those who see it wise to help you, those that just seem to be at the right place at the right time...to everything turn-turn-turn...

The real truth is friendship is summed up in one very important philosophy of life...it's not the action of the man, it's the reaction of those around him. I am blessed with friends from all walks of life. Each of those people have given back to me unselfishly what I have hopefully given first. So as I ramble on and on about the intricacies of Eli's friendship milieu, I have really but one thing to say...thanks to all of my friends. I am who I am because of those friendships which have touched my life. They may be long term, they may be short lived, they may be but just a brief encounter, but each of my friends have shaped me into who I am. I truly hope I have done the same in return.

Looking Down on the World

Flying from Dallas to St Louis last week, I was enjoying my second cocktail when I happened to glance out the window to catch the landscape below. Hmm...that seems familiar...I think that is Fayetteville, I thought to myself.

I quickly started rifling through my stuffed backpack for my camera...and not a moment too soon. Papers were flying, dropping my iPod and yanking out my earbuds, spilling my drink, knocking my head into the flimsy tray table...you can just image the spectacle I'm sure I created. My seat mates were chuckling. No matter to me...I was in awe. From a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, I captured my home. Ok, so its a speck, but it's still there! Just thought I would share a couple, things like that don't just happen every day you know...