Travels with Kris

Reports on weather for Flagstaff on Saturday Dec 28 were bad.   Temperature forecast bounced back and forth between 5 degrees and -3.   Regardless, I thought it would be nice to go somewhere warmer for the night.   Snow hit hard on Thursday and Friday and the roads were pretty bad.   I decided to spend the night in Flagstaff and head out early in the morning towards Camp Verde.   Camp Verde was going to be roughly 20 degrees warmer than Flagstaff, had both a casino and rest area where I could sleep and had a library open on Saturday until 5pm.   I would have preferred to find somewhere that had a library open both Saturday and Sunday that was in the 20-degree range, but Camp Verde was as close as I could get.   Plus, I had missed the hike at Montezuma’s Well National Monument the last time I was in the area.   This would give me a chance to check out the ancient well and structures around it.   I had also planned on doing a restructuri...

No work today and I rented a room at the Monte Vista Hotel which is a historic hotel in downtown Flagstaff.  It was built in 1922 and embraces its historical self and hasn’t modernized too much other than tv and WIFI.  I rented a traditional hotel room there with a shared bathroom and shower.  This is how hotels used to be back in the day.  The more expensive rooms have the bathroom en suite but that isn’t how the original hotel was built.  I like the history.  I was fairly happy that the bathroom was very close, and the shower was right next to it.  I had a nice little spa day planned and having access to the shower was necessary because I was going to color my hair.  I also was going to enjoy some nice adult beverages, so a quick easy access to the toilet was necessary.   I knew that these would be issues when I booked the room, and I debated the convenience vs the historical sig...

Short work week with Xmas being on Wednesday.  Being a temp, I don’t get vacation or holiday pay, so I lose 20% of my paycheck for not working Xmas.  I’m not all that thrilled, I’d rather work.  But the office boss lady let me know on Friday that I can work extra hours to make up the time I’m missing on Wednesday.  So, I come in at 7:30am (I’m always here by then anyway, might as well come inside rather than sit in my car).  And I’m working until 6:30pm.  10-hour shifts for 4 days will give me a complete paycheck.  Its weird being the only one in the office though.  I’m a temp and I’m unsupervised in a government office.  Coming from my security background, my inner auditor is screaming about all the things that could go wrong if I wasn’t a trustable, hardworking adult.  But deep down, I’m happy they trust me to be in the office alone and figure their conversation with Melissa at ...

  Sunday morning was quieter than the day before on the Strip.  I had debated hitting one of the cheap breakfast places for breakfast but decided to head out.  I’d been in the same parking spot since Friday night and it was finally time to move off the Strip.  There were a number of off-strip activities that I had wanted to check out, but I also wanted to get back to Flagstaff early.  I had photo calendars at CVS waiting for pickup and an Amazon order at Whole Foods waiting for pickup.   And I needed to hit the gym before it got too late.  I checked my list and the Anderson Dairy Farm was closed on Sundays…understandable but I had looked forward to this tour and was sad to miss it.  There were two activities on Fremont I had on my list but decided to skip these too.  More traffic/parking issues and I wasn’t in the mood.  The Shelby Museum and Showroom opened at 10am on Sunday a...

Woke up around 8:30am in a much quieter parking garage than I fell asleep in.  I woke up slowly and enjoyed the morning before my bladder finally demanded that I get up.  Luckily, due to Fridays adventures, I knew where both bathrooms in the Miracle Mile were located.  If there is one major complaint about the Strip, it would be the lack of bathrooms.  They have places selling alcohol every 10 feet and they should have as many bathrooms.  I had seen some advertisements the day before about breakfast specials and finally found one at the PBR Rockers & Grill restaurant.  They had a nice outside seating area with fire pits and heaters, and it was a nice position for people watching.  Got a full breakfast for less than $5 and a hot chocolate full of booze and a souvenir cup for $15.   I missed that the drink came in a souvenir cup and was initially irked, but over the weekend it came in very hand...

I head to Las Vegas after 8 hours of work in Flagstaff.  It’s a 4-hour drive but thanks to a time change, I arrived in LV at 8:30pm instead of 9:30pm.  I was really tired for the last hour of the drive and considered stopping, but I’m glad I didn’t.  I was able to knock out a few things on my list before I went to bed.  I’ve heard that Las Vegas pumps oxygen into the casinos to keep people awake and I believe it.  The strip is so well lit its practically daytime and even though I was sleep at 7pm, within 20 minutes of walking around the strip I had a second wind. I parked at the Miracle Mile/Planet Hollywood Hotel parking garage and started with a stroll through Miracle Mile.  I’d been there before, I recognized it from when I took a stripper class there about 7 years ago.  Its basically just a shopping mall with a casino and a few theaters.  I didn’t spend to much time here.  I had a list ...

Third week of work.  The trainer girl and I had a nice conversation this week.  I don’t think she means to be unapproachable; I think she’s just socially awkward and not trained to be a trainer.  Jennifer (our direct supervisor) has announced that she has pulled herself out of the grand jury rotation so she can spend more time training.  Initially, I was grateful.  But it’s the holidays and she’s out a lot the next few weeks.  When I brought her a question, she critizied the way I was doing it and apparently my trainer girl is doing it incorrectly or Jennifer doesn’t actually know that much about the intake process.  I’m sticking with the way trainer girl taught me.  If its wrong, it doesn’t hurt anything.  But if the extra steps she has me doing are correct, not doing it could cause problems.  Friday night, left on time and headed to Vegas.