Cheapest Hotel

The most expensive part of travel is usually the over night accommodations. We'd all like to stay at the 5 star resorts, but the budget won't allow it. To travel less expensively, you stay at Super 8 or Motel 6. Is money really tight? Then you'll be rolling into the KOA's.

But what if you've decided to see the whole country in 2 months for $150?

The first night of our hitchhiking adventure, Chuck and I slept under a juniper tree outside of Flagstaff, AZ. It was far enough away from the road to not be seen by traffic, and since we had no tent, the tree offered a little protection from the elements. We wanted to travel as light as possible and being 21 we figured we were tough enough to make do with just sleeping bags. By the next night we had only made it as far as Winslow, AZ and splurged on a box of granola bars before camping under a picnic table at a rest stop. Trust me, an April night in Arizona is not warm and we awoke feeling a little cranky about our adventure thus far.

But as our 3rd day warmed up our fortunes improved and we hit the jackpot when a quiet cowboy in a silver truck took us all the way to Oklahoma City. He was tired but couldn't stop for sleep so he picked us up to help him drive. It was dawn when Cowboy let us out and that's when we discovered the accommodations that we used for the rest of our time on the road. We were at a major interchange with several overpasses and men were emerging from the concrete. We couldn't see where they were coming from...it looked like they were just sinking through the road above. They were walking and sliding down to the road below. When the last of them left we climbed up and found this...


...about three feet of warm, safe, privacy. An they were located every few miles all over the country. No reservations required. Sure, there were drawbacks. Concrete is hard. Freeways are noisy. Trucks were rolling just inches over my face. But we loved the fact that they were everywhere and we would be completely hidden while up there. Even if drivers looked for us we couldn't be seen.

We questioned the safety of our shelter just once in Nashville when I was awakened by Chucks scream. I opened my eyes in time to watch him rolling down to the road below as he fought to stop his descent with a single arm coming out of the breathing hole of his mummy sleeping bag. I probably should have been more concerned but I was laughing so hard I couldn't even find my own bags zipper so I could go down and help him. He was bruised and scraped and sore for days but the memory of it still makes both of us laugh.

So there you go. If you are on an extreme budget, I've just tipped you off to the cheapest hotel I know of. 26 years have passed and I still look under the over passes nearly everyday to see who knows the secret.

Pay Cut? No Problem!

As unemployment in our country rises above 8%, my own employer continues to make tough decisions. We had another round of lay-offs this week and each cut seems to get harder and harder on everybody. Three months ago, my division of the company had about 100 employees. Today we are less than 70.

This time we all knew what was going on and we knew the risks of being called to the bosses office. My meeting was as at 8:00 and I was told that my salary was getting cut by 5%. I said, “Thank-you, very much.”

All morning people gathered in huddles quietly discussing events. No one could show too much relief because no one had any idea who survived and who didn’t. When making eye contact with someone in the copy room, one person would just lift a wondering eyebrow and the other would respond with a nod. Then you knew you were safe to talk about it and show relief that you weren't going home.

It wasn't completely surprising to anybody. We're in an industry that represents good times and economic health. People are going to cut their ski vacation from the budget before they stop buying socks, milk, or cable TV. It’s actually remarkable and a testament to good management that we haven’t had deeper cuts. During the good times of the past few years we were actually paying down debt instead of acquiring more. I heard one ski resort closed last month…right at peak season. Rumor has it that other companies are obtaining last minute financing to keep from going under.

We could be in much worse shape, but that doesn’t make it any easier to see your friends lose their jobs. Friends with families and mortgages just like me. People with talent and skills and loyalty. After the cuts were final we had a “survivors meeting” and the VP that had to deliver the news to the victims could barely get through it with out choking up. He made the points that the economy was terrible and we had to reduce cost while trying to preserve as many jobs as we could and there were no guarantees that the layoffs were over. In order to preserve as many jobs as possible, everyone had their wages cut and the CEO would take no salary at all this year. I hope its enough to get through until the economy turns around.

Actually I hope it's enough to get through another 3 years until my youngest leaves home. Then I don't need a job or a mortgage. I just haven't decided yet if I'm moving into Todd's basement or Troy's boat. (they think I'm kidding)

Mowing the Lawn

I like to read good writing. Whether it's an entire book or just a bumper sticker, I love when the words are perfectly chosen and arranged to the point where I'm not just reading information...I'm reading art. And I wish I could do that.

So aside from this blog just being a way to keep in touch with friends and family, writng is something I enjoy. And it's a way to practice the art and to try to come close to some of the writers I admire. Sometimes I'll find that among a thousand words, I've strung ten together that are really good and its worth the time I put into it.

I still enjoy it but sometimes it feels like it's becoming a chore. It's like watching the grass in your yard get longer and longer and knowing that you should cut it. It just kind of nags at your brain and you imagine that the neighbors are shaking their heads and blaming you for their sinking property values until you can't take the pressure and you shuffle out and mow your lawn. When you're done, you don't feel pride at a job well done. Just relief that the chore isn't nagging at you anymore.

Any of you other bloggers feel that way? Natalie? Kelly? Brooke? Do you suspect that after a week of nothing new, your readers are saying "Bad blogger, bad blogger! Go to your room!"?

Sorry. I like writing, but I hate mowing the lawn.

Ski Day

A day on the mountain is always better than a day at work. But yesterday I nearly questioned that expression. It was our company ski day and the offices closed for a day of skiing. Or as we say in the ski business, "testing the product".

It was cold, windy, and sunless when I awoke and I hoped it would clear up later but it never did. I picked up my friend Shunnie, drove to Vail and met the rest of our co-workers at the top.

You probably realize that when you ski with co-workers who work for Vail Resorts, you are skiing with excellent skiers. I am not in that category. I can't even fake it anymore because 2 years ago I got hauled off the mountain in a toboggan and straight onto an ambulance. It was hard to keep that quiet when it ruined at the office ski day that year. People remember. I can tell they still keep their eyes on me and ski easier trails when I'm around. I protest that I haven't fallen since then but it's too late. My reputation is established.

Yesterdays conditions were bad. Icy crust and the wind was just about blowing us back up the hill. Icicles formed from our chins as we rode the chairlifts. Nobody wanted to be there but nobody wanted to admit it because we were certain that a day on the mountain was better than a day at work. Lunch at the Game Creek private club was a definite high point and it was the only place I could take a picture. I posted it below.

After lunch, a few of us were standing around (in a freaking blizzard) wondering where to ski next. I knew no one wanted to ski and no one wanted to admit it. So since it was already established that I was the weak link of ski days, I took one for the team and said I didn't want to ski anymore.

"No?" my boss asked.

"Hell No" I confirmed.

Then they readily agreed that if Jim was done they might as well quit too. I bravely sacrificed my reputation (what reputation I have left after my pedicure anyway) to save my friends from freezing.

That's the way I'm going to look at it anyway.

Sweet Feet

I did something yesterday for the first time in my life. I got a pedicure. It wasn't on my list of things to do before I die...I just sort of stumbled into it. I sit on a home owners board and for Christmas they sent me a spa gift card worth $100. I was excited and was looking forward to a nice massage. At least I was looking forward to it until I checked the prices at this very exclusive spa and saw that massages started at $200. So I started looking down the list of services.

I could get my hair high lighted for $125...no
I could get my eyebrows designed with a perfect arch for just $75...pass
The Perfect Eyes treatment was $95 came with the eyebrow arching plus eye shadow recommendations...tempting.
The Gentlemans Manicure was only $50 but if I wasn't getting nail polish then it just seemed like paying a pretty girl to hold my hand....I decided against it.
Then I saw the Signature Pedicure. I thought it was just having someone clip my toenails. But no. It is a cuticle trim, nail shape, exfoliation & polish. It is a complete pedicure using their signature Ginger Peach line. Sounded too tempting and I scheduled it.

I told my boss that I was leaving work for a pedicure. Becka felt that this was an occasion that should be witnessed so she scheduled one with me. His and Her pedicures with my boss. We arrived and I informed my (pedicurist? nail girl? foot artist?) that I was a first timer and asked her to be gentle with me. I'm not sure what all of the steps were in my pedicure because I was laying back in my massage chair with my eyes closed. I do know that it involved hot bubbly water, clippers, some sort of mineral salts, a big old file that looked like it belonged in my garage, and some sort of moisturizer from their signature ginger peach line. Since I have apparently been neglecting my feet for many decades, that big old garage file got a pretty good work out on the bottom of my feet.

Did any of you guys know that you were supposed to be filing the bottoms of your feet?

I skipped the nail polish but when I saw how good Becka's nails looked with a Hot Bubble Gum shade, I regretted my conservatism. But on the other hand, I could put my shoes on when we were done and she had to walk in flip flops with cottonballs between her toes into a mountain winter day.

Over all, it was a nice experience as long as I didn't have to pay for it. And my feet felt so nice last night that I kept myself awake by rubbing them on my legs.

I may have to bring my file out of the garage and keep it in the shower from now on.

You're Fired

With all of the lay-offs in the news, I’ve been wondering how the word is actually given to the victims. When Panasonic says the are laying off 15,000 people, how do they actually go about it? Email? Bulletin board? Does each person get pulled into an office for a private chat? Or do pink slips really exist that people just find in an envelope with their last paycheck?

I’ve had to fire people. It was always hard, but I’ll admit it did get easier. I can’t remember the name of the first guy I had to fire but I remember everything else about it. I was in my first supervisory position just a couple years out of college. He was the worlds worst parking lot attendant. He wouldn’t shower, he glared at customers, he was seldom on time, he couldn’t count money accurately, and his co-workers hated him. There were complaints everyday. He deserved to be fired but I couldn’t do it. I’d like to say it’s because I was such a nice guy who could see the good in everyone, but that’s not true. I was just afraid to fire someone. I got a four year business degree from a good university and it just never came up in any class.

So I counseled him about cash counting, and gave him warnings about being late, but how do you tell an adult he smells bad and needs to take a shower? He didn’t improve and the other employees were losing respect for me so I had to do it. I lost sleep for 3 nights while I worried about. I worked on various scripts in my head. I had answers for anything he’d say. I had a nice version and a stern version. On the chosen day, I met him at the end of his shift and said,

“It isn’t working out. We’ll have to let you go.”

He shrugged and walked away. It was that easy.

Over the next 20 years I fired a bunch of people. Some were for budget reasons, some were for performance issues. On one bad day, I even fired 6 at once. It was never easy but it was never as hard as that first time.

It's true that you learn more from life than you do from school, but I still think every business degree should offer Firing 101.

Worth It

I don't need to see the odds against winning. I don't need to hear that it's money down the toilet and don't tell me it's foolish.

I'm still going to buy a couple lottery tickets every week.

For two dollars a week I get a 10 minute fantasy. I'm rich. I quit my job, give money to my family, and live in luxury. I buy a couple homes and I travel around the world. I decide I'll need a bodyguard. Maybe a cook or an assistant. A personal trainer definitely. Maybe I'll find one person to do all of those jobs. I wonder if I should hire a private accountant or go with a big firm to manage my money. I figure out how much I'll pay in taxes and get annoyed at the amount. I worry about spoiling my children. I'm concerned about everyone that will be looking for handouts. Where should I live? Could I trust new friends?

So much to think about. I enjoy it. Carrying around a pocket full of possibilities is worth much more to me than the coffee or the slurpee I could have had for the same price.

So shut up! It's worth it!