The Grind

     I am home safe and sound. I actually returned last Weds and have been trying to write an entry but my laptop has been giving me some issues. It is working for whatever reason right now and I am not going to question it.
 
  The trip was pretty great. It was so good to see my brother again and to be able to spend time with him and my aunt and uncle. For so long I have been absent from my father’s side of the family and held a pretty negative image of them based on my father’s actions..so it was wonderful to meet these people and realize that not everyone is my father…they don’t all suffer from his afflictions and poor character traits you know? I spent a lot of time chatting with my aunt learning about my family and just bonding in general. I would look forward to going to sleep at night so in the morning we could have our talks over coffee on her front porch before we would start the day. I feel like I left Michigan with a big void that had been partially filled for the first time in my life. Now I miss them all terribly. As much as I love my mom and as much as she is at the root of all things in my life, I felt a sense of home and peace at my aunt’s. I doubt it will be long before I am up there again. 
 
 Her house is absolutely stunning and spacious. It is miles off of any main roads and is built in the middle of the woods, the view is just amazing. When my brother gave me a tour of the house and property I considered maybe I had been raised on the wrong side of the family! haha. We did a lot of out-doorsy sort of things, like riding the quad through trails in the woods, riding the jeep through trails in the woods and picking AND eating fresh apples. On a couple of the warmer days my uncle would take me for a ride on his bike…no sissy bar either, how hard core am I? Heehee.
 
The few days I spent in Toronto with my friend Freddie was pretty cool. I got to go to work with him one day (works for Toronto Police) and be a cop for a day and even did a ride-along. So I really got a chance to see the city! We also went to Niagara Falls which was pretty effing awesome. I have always wanted to see a waterfall and go the mother of all waterfalls! Most of all it was cool to meet a friend I have been talking to since I was 13! I think his girlfriend was a bit unsure of me at first but once she realized I wasn’t there to see my friend romantically she warmed up to me. I have never heard him talk about a girl the way he does her. I am half expecting a wedding invitation in the next year! 
 
Coming back from Canada was a bitch though. I was stuck in Toronto traffic for 3 1/2 hours and then again at the boarder for almost another 2 hours. (In which I was the only car that the guard made me shut off my car and give him the keys while he searched it.) So stupid. I was sitting on the bridge and could see down the line of cars  in my lane he didn’t search one car. WTF made me look so guilty? I get that boarder patrol is his job, but damn!  I didn’t get back to my brothers until late evening, ruining big plans I had made for when I got back that day. 
 
Guess that’s incentive to try and get back up there sooner. =/ 
 
Anyway, while I as gone big changes went down at work. Our AGM got transfered to Memphis (which might as well be a prison sentence) and no longer works for our property. And instead of promoting B (who busts her ass at work) they hired some 23 year old girl who works at Wal-Mart and gave her the AGM position. What does she know about hospitality? I can’t even think of one time I have gotten pleasant service at a Wal-Mart! She doesn’t know anything about food and beverage, or banquets, or the hotel, or the paper-work…blah blah blah…so now that the AGM is gone she is doing all of his work and not getting paid any extra for it until this Wally-World girl gets trained. STUPID. When B applied for the position they told her she didn’t have enough experience. But she has enough to cover the AGM’s work until this girl is trained? And this Wally-World girl who has never had any other job is more qualified? It just doesn’t make sense. I think it’s obvious this chick is related or friendly with some one higher up in the company to be able to land this job. I can’t imagine not working with our other AGM though. Not only was he a dependable boss he is also a good friend outside of work. (Same one who is having me do his website work)  It felt so weird being at work this weekend and him not being there. He got promoted to GM in Memphis which is a positive thing, but it’s a horrible location (because Memphis fucking sucks) and his entire life is here, even the new house he just had built. I wish they’d fire our lazy ass GM and promote him here! But I guess what’s done is done and you just have to go with it….keep moving forward. 
 
It is also rumored that I will be promoted to a supervisor after the first of the year. The other day they had B showing me how to do some administration stuff I haven’t learned before along with other supervisor duties. She said they had a meeting about getting another supervisor and my name was mentioned as the prime candidate. I am not supposed to know though so I can’t really ask any questions about what’s going on. My annual review is coming up in a couple of weeks and I am going to ask if I get an aditional raise for the part time MOD promotion I recieved last month. Extra responsibility should include extra money on my paycheck..
 
Anyway I am going to go catch up on some OD reading and figure out if I want to even get out of bed or out of my pajamas today…I am thinking not….it’s a dreary fall day and it’s the first time since moving out on my own where I have aboslutely nothing going on and no responsibilities other than figuring out what to do for dinner. 
 
Or maybe I’ll just take a nap. 😉