My Test

I am having to practice what I preach - kinda. I always try to look for the best in a situation. Well, I am trying, trying very hard and well, still trying.

I travel a bit for work and I am San Jose for a meeting at my office. It is nice that my boss has brought all the travelers' together for a meeting for team building. But they selected the hotel that we were to stay in. I am very sure they are unaware of the ick factor of this hotel.

I stayed here 3 months or so ago and it has gone down hill since then. It has been bought out from being a Holiday Inn to some unknown brand.

How bad can it really be Astor? Hum.... I only have one bar of soap - One. Not one bar for my hands and a bath gel for the shower, just one bar of soap for my hands and for the morning shower.

My garden view is - of a parking lot!!! Now, how do I say this without offending certain people in our country, but a car in my yard has never been considered art for a garden, in my view. I know if I say anything I will get the comment that I have a balcony that is what the garden view is. But that's not a view that is an amenity, kinda. Remember its a parking lot - I might end up with carbon monoxide poisoning.

The room does have coffee maker - not that the coffee is even drinkable, oh the Seattlites and their snobby coffee. I have no idea what brand it is but it tastes like color water.

I have yet to even discuss the cleanliness of the room. HUM, when was it vacuumed. The tiles in the bathroom and the entrance way when was the last time they saw anything more abrasive then the bottom of a shoe. My white socks I am afraid will never be white again even with two washes in bleach.

My co-worker, he does have a view of the center courtyard. That is good especially since it is his first trip to San Jose.

I will not be staying at this hotel - if I ever have a choice in the matter. But for now I have to "endure" this hotel. A one star is just to nice to give this hotel. To place a complaint with this hotel will be useless. They obviously dont care for the guests only the money that they bring in. You know this is Silicon valley, I wouldn't have expect a trashy hotel in this area - but then again Silicon valley maybe everyone is just telecommuting and doing gotomeeting.com.

And to think the last hotel I was in was in Las Vegas at the Palazzo, yes it feels like from heaven to ($##.

Yes, I am tired so that will be a contributing factor to 'meanness". I had to turn the heat on and the noise and whining from the machine is the only thing louder and longer then my whining.

I have to go and get ready for the day because sitting here writing this, the smell of musty old carpet is getting to be to much.

Grammer

Enough is enough. This week has had to many errors in the news, by those who should know better.

Mrs. Edwards has passed, Prince Charles had his car attacked and most Christians believe this is the birth time of Jesus. What do the three of these news stories have in common? They show the lack of skill of the English language to those in the media. I am not a journalist, reporter or any such. I am only a blogger. My career depends on good communications - in fact most careers require good communication, but when your career is communications these errors are unacceptable.

We're talking about how to pluralize a word that ends in 's'.

The first, when written it is s' ie. Jesus' birth, Prince Charles' car, Elizabeth Edwards' funeral. Not," Jesuses", Prince "Charles's" or Mrs." Edwardss". Nor is it pronounced as the later. When you say Jesus' birth it is said Jesus birth. Prince Charles' car was attacked, stated as Prince Charles car was attacked. What is really unbelievable is that spell check knows that Jesuses is not the correct plural, so how are these reporters able to get copy out with that error?

I have seen this grammatical error in magazines also such as Architectural Digest (another reason I am not renewing my subscription).

How is it 1. that the writers are not schooled properly 2. where are the proofreaders?

My other huge issue with grammar is co-conspirator. Really?! Its takes two to conspire there is no co anything. You are just conspiring.

English is a living language, that doesn't mean you can make up your own rules and still look educated.

Money doesn't make you better

Another story from Vegas.

I usually get a sedan to take me to and from my hotel when I go to Vegas. This company has the best drivers, very nice, very professional and they actually are the least expensive.

This driver was exceptionally fun. He talked to us about some of the celebrities he had driven. I was surprised by some of his comments of who is cool and who isn't.

But one thing is for sure, just because you are paying someone for a service doesn't mean you can treat them as a lesser human being. In fact, just because you have money doesn't mean you are a better human then others with less money. At times I find it inversely proportional, the more money the sadder, less useful and less productive a human they are.

Money really seems to taint the thinking of some people and that is sad. If money has tainted you into thinking you are better then others, then there really is something so sad with you, something so lacking in your life.

Vegas and Frustration

I had a very interesting experience in La Perla in Las Vegas.

I had been looking for a bra set, wearing beautiful lingerie can make you feel wonderful and so feminine.

My experience at the sales counter started as far from wonderful as possible.

I didn't know what was going on, but when I was done selecting my lingerie, I went to pay only to find a women so totally frustrated she was no longer herself. She had turned into a diva. She was so mad because her gift was not exchangeable in the Las Vegas store. Something that corporate headquarters should fix. She was so frustrated which then fell onto everyone around her. The poor sales clerks were doing what they could which was not acceptable to this women. To top it off here I come into the picture. The sales protocol was to take care of the first customer. Since I was in the store before this women, I was to be taken care of before her. Well this just made her so incensed. She was fit to be tied.

The saleswomen apologized to me, I felt bad for her to deal with the frustrated women. Maybe she heard me say that to the saleswomen. I dont know what changed her attitude but she turned to me and apologized that this was not her normal behavior. I could tell she was simply frustrated. But what I was going to say to this women when I left was her diva behavior had soiled my experience.

Thankfully, this women saw she was acting beyond what she thought was good. She saw her bad behavior. We all need to remember that we also will get frustrated and will behave in a way beyond our character. It is what we do when we see ourselves and our bad, non-elegant behavior what we do with that. This women, as important as she is in her career, saw me as another human being, due the same respect she was demanding, and with grace fixed the situation.

To be honest when I heard her she was going to be an example on this blog as "what has our world come to", but she showed such grace and class, she hit this blog as an example of what happens to us all, we get caught up in the moment but how we handle our bad behavior, that makes elegant or average.

Las Vegas Strip

Yes, it has been a long time between posts. Please remember I have a new job and that will take my time.

Anyway I was in Las Vegas for business and Brooks came down for the week.

Boy do we have a lot to blog about our time on the strip. I am making sure to define that we were on the strip and this has nothing to do with Vegas natives. To be even more specific between THEhotel at Mandalay bay and the Palazzo.

There are just so many things to comment on, from the fake grass to the TSA agents that made it so easy for us to go thru security, to the sales snake at a store selling facial products ( oh yea he should get his own posting) , to the frustrated women at La Perla.

There will have to be multiple posts and I will need to bribe Brooks to post.

Well that explains it!

Wish I had taken a look at the magazine's name, all I know is it was October 2010. But they had an article that explains a lot. It was a survey and one of the questions was who is Emily Post. Thankfully most people didn't say the owner of a cereal company but more then 60% of "younger" readers 18-34 didn't know who she was.

That really explains a lot. I'm not saying that these readers don't have manners. If you need to write a thank you note, the internet is a great resource and if you type in manners into yahoo's search engine Miss Manners and Emily Post are on the first page. The question is, do you know when to write a thank you note?

Do you really think you're more important then the person next to you?

You do - THEN STOP IT!
We are all important.
So, stop showing us your bad behavior.

Whose the bigger fool?

There is a new show on MSNBC. I fully intended to take a look at the Lawrence O'Donnell's new show. His first night he had the VP of the US as his guest. Well, I've changed my mind. Watching "Morning Joe" on Wednesday (which I've stopped watching as of the end of last week, check an up coming post for the reason) they showed a clip of Mr. O'Donnell's guest, Levi Johnson. Are you kidding me? This "serious" MSNBC show had Levi Johnson on the night after the VP? I didn't think you could fall, that far, that fast.

Most know Levi is running for mayor of Wasilla AK. Why he is running? Not sure anyone has really ascertained the reason. Levi has yet to finish high school, which I think, in this day and age the laws should be change to not only to age but high school / GED education requirements for public office. That aside...

Comparing Larry and Levi in a mental show down, Levi is woefully unarmed. There is no way this ever was going to be a fair fight. Gentleman engage in fair fights, Larry.
But for Mr. O'Donnell to sit back and let both barrels of his wit, worldliness, and education at Levi was crazy. It was like someone shooting fish in a barrel, where's the sport?

Morning Joe called it embarrassing, I agree just not with the person they were embarrassed for. I was embarrassed for a grown man feeling he had to show up a much younger man from a small town with out a complete formal education. I was also embarrassed for this grown man to even have invited this much younger, less worldly "boy" onto his program only to show us what we already knew.

So, I've learned Mr. O'Donnell doesn't fight fair. Mr. O'Donnell did you pull little girls pig tails when you were in grade school? Did you hit kids with glasses? Why not pick on someone your own mental size? I would hate to think how else he doesn't play fair, or maybe that is just the DC way?

My question, who is the bigger fool? The fool, or the man who show us how much a fool the fool is

Finding the Time

It's very hard to find the time. The time to do what we like vs. what we have to take care.

Sometimes what we have to take care of is ourselves. I would love to post more, but my life has become so crazy that my body has started to react. I need rest and decompression time. Writing is one way to relax, but being ill takes all of your time. Once you have a diagnosis you then can move forward and take steps to mitigate what might be causing the problems / pain.

I have a list of postings, I will take my time and get them posted as long as I have the strength.

The most distressing aspect is trying to stay elegant and maintain dignity, it can be done, but then there are times that the best way to express elegance is to admit this is what it is and what it will be. I do not need makeup to be elegant, but I do need to be kind, just because I am sick and in pain doesn't mean I have to bring those around me down.

Public Transportation

Is exactly what the name implies PUBLIC. This is not your own private world. The more I travel and the more I take cities public transportation the more I am noticing the lack of courtesy from other riders. The car in which are riding does not have your name on it, for if it did you would not be taking public transportation, hence you really could do as you wish.

We all hear your phone conversation. I am still amazed at the amount of phone calls placed and taken that are of a personal nature. Not "hey I"m running late I'll be in in 30 minutes" but at time full fledged fights on the phone. What also amazes me in the era of texting is that people arn't texting while on public transport. That way you can say all you need and have complete privacy.

I was in Portland OR last month. I so wanted to laugh (I think laughter was the sensation I had) but there was this women that called her friend to tell her about her first day at work. Ok but you couldn't wait until you got home? But it was what was next that I was astounded by, seems this women just got out of jail after 18 months for fraud. Now the would MAX car knows it also. Oh this MAX ride was like that. The women just out of jail told us all about the halfway house she was staying out and the amount of time her accomplices were servering. But that was only the start of all the personal things I was to hear that day. Next, another lady called her hairdresser talked 10 minutes about how horrible her sons hair was and all the gossip that would come along with a typical visit to the salon.This is happening at one end of the car, at the other end we have a couple have a very loud fight. I was very happy to get to the airport. In Seattle, the women across the isle from me on light rail picked up her ringing phone and announced "I'm not talking to you I'm mad at you" and she then proceeded to have a fighting conversation with her other on the phone.

Riding light rail I see all the time people totally unaware that others inhabit this earth - especially tourists. Tourists with kids are the worst. They seem to think that they are on vacation and since this isn't their city and there are no worries of running into people they know that could gossip about how horribly behaved their children are then let them run and run like wild animals. Running up and down the isles is not only unsafe for the children but its unsafe for my computer! The sudden stops and starts make the children moving projectiles into the closest object in the opposite motion.

Public lobbies are the same - they are there for all to use. Not for some to dominate with loud screaming conversation.

Again it all comes down to realizing your not the whole world to behaving with dignity and treat others with dignity. But its seems to be an order that is just to much.

Getting to and from public transportation is another issue. When using escalators, if your going to ride up, step the side. Others have places to go and they may be late. If there is no way to move to the side the DONT RIDE them up WALK if there is no one in front of you but a whole line behind you. If you cant walk up you should have taken the elevator. There is no reason for you to hold up a whole line of people behind you. Move with traffic.

There are others in the world and they have the same rights as you.