Sights Family Weblog

Excellent Customer Service vs. Stalking

Well...I'm trying to figure out if the hotel I've been staying at provides excellent customer service or if they are stalkers. Here's what happened. I arrived at the hotel late on Monday night and as I arrived, all of the staff at the front greeted me by name. Okay...not too weird, right? Well, I was hungry so after getting situated in my room, which I'm pretty sure wasn't clean, but had no proof. The chair wasn't pushed up to the desk, the couch looked like someone had sat on it, the card about changing the bedding wasn't exactly where it has been every other time I had been there, but oh well. I then  headed down to dinner. Here's where it starts to get a little weird...

My waitress (who I have NEVER before seen in my life) greeted me by name. Hmmm...weird, but okay. I'm still not completely freaking out. So. She brings me my dinner, which was fine. But she keeps staring at me with the biggest eyes I have ever seen. I mean seriously, where did she get mascara that makes her eyes look like that? They were creepy eyes...I'm pretty sure I've seen her before. In an episode of Criminal Minds or CSI--I think she may have been a dead hooker in an alley. How do I ask if she's a part time star working as a waitress at Hilton? And she proceeds to tell me they've missed me since I wasn't there the week before. Now it's getting a little weird. She asks if I'm going to be there weekly again. Uh. Okay. How do you know that?!? Then she asked if I wanted coffee with my usual flavored creamer. Uh...I've never ordered coffee from her so unless she watches me get it in the morning, she shouldn't know that! So, I pretended that I was completely engrossed in my book and decided right then that I would NOT be eating in the restaurant again.

I rushed back to my room. A little weirded out, but whatever. Maybe they were just trying to be nice. So, I work until 1:30 in the morning. Tons to do. And I'm tired of sitting so I plug in the computer next to the bed. As I move out the night stand, I see a tissue behind it. Not used, but a tissue. Ewww. Well I sure as hell wasn't going to pick it up, so I left it. So...my eyes are burning, so I decide it's time to go to sleep. I climb under the covers (which appeared clean) and can't fall asleep. I move the pillow and smell old lady perfume. Then I move the other one and smell Old Spice. Seriously. I'm so grossed out, but afraid that if I call the front desk, freaky eyed girl will show up to bring me new pillows. Did I mention that the temperature of the room was set on hell? I turned it to 50 and it wouldn't cool down. Night from hell.

The next morning I have meetings to be at, so I head out after showering. I get back after work and as I'm walking up to the hotel, what do I see through the glass? Creepy huge porcelain doll eyes and a big smile. Yeah. Not eating in the restaurant tonight! She kind of calls out my name as I get walk in so I pretend I'm on the phone and do that smile/wave so it doesn't get uncomfortable for either one of us. I head up to my room and everything is where it should be. Including my toothbrush. I always put it away because I'm a little grossed out that the person that cleans my toilet may then move my toothbrush when cleaning the vanity. And do they remove their gloves? Or use my toothbrush? Okay...back to what I was saying about the room.

I plug in my computer and check behind the night stand...tissue still there. But the weird part is that they changed my pillows. I smelled them. And I hadn't remembered to put the, "Please change linens" card on the bed. I then head to the bathroom. Here's where the REALLY weird things start to happen....they changed out my toilet paper for better toilet paper. As in generic for Charmin. I mean quilted, really nice toilet paper. Okay...I've moved up from Blue status to Silver, so maybe toilet paper is part of it. I don't know. But then I look again. And...THE ROLL IS USED!!! It's like half full. And my roll the day before was 1/2 full, but cheap toilet paper. How weird is that???

This was all very stressful, so I felt that I deserved Chocolate. I ordered room service and who should appear at my door? CRAZY EYE GIRL!!! Thankfully I was on the phone with my best friend and she prevented me from having to speak to her. Weird. Stalkerish. But whatever. I locked my door. But then I started thinking...they have to have a way to get into the room if someone dies in there, so they probably have a device to open those latch things. What if crazy stalker girl has one. And wants in my room to watch me sleep. AAAHHHH. So. I'm getting ready for bed. And I hear whispers outside my room. Is it haunted??? VERY bizarre. And there wasn't anyone outside the room. I checked. Not sure what was going on, but I'm a little creeped out...and I have to stay there again next week.

So, what I'm trying to figure out is, have they just learned my habits and are providing excellent customer service and I am being completely paranoid...OR...are they stalking me and watching me when I sleep???

Stress Foot

Have you ever had one of those God awful foot cramps that pulls your second toe down past all the others towards the ball of your foot? I don't know what causes it, but I'm going to go with Stress. Yes. Stress. Tonight, while sitting on my hotel bed that is approximately 76 feet from the television (somehow I got the handicapped room--I guess they didn't consider low vision as an option when planning this horrific room). Anyway, I was just sitting here, casually talking to my Dad. When all of a sudden it hit me. Stress Foot. And what was my first thought? I should Instagram this and see if anyone else has ever had this happen! Dad said he didn't want to see it and because I was on the phone with him I couldn't send the picture. Whew. That could have been bad. So...you're probably wanting to know what is going on that is causing stress. Nothing much really. It started like this...I woke up at 4:45 so that I could get to Indiana for a meeting at Noon. Not a problem. I was able to spend time with my family last night and I even hung some insulation (more on that later). So I got up. And things went somewhat smoothly. I had everything packed and layed out the night before so it wasn't going to be a problem. The problem? I must have been blind when I picked out the jacket I was wearing--they were two different blacks. And by two different blacks I mean that one was black. And the other was black. But when you put them together it was as if one had a brown tint to it. You know what I'm talking about ? So I had to scramble to find the right jacket. I did. No stress yet. So I'm getting ready to leave....and as I pack my bag I realize that I don't have my computer cord. Going to need that. After searching for I swear 3 hours and 42 minutes, I found it. In my office/studio/catch all room. Right on the table. Ugh. So I'm still leaving on time.  I go to put on my flats (why wear heels when traveling???) and I can only find one. I found the other. Under Bigsby's "baby". I'm not sure it didn't have drool in it. I'm still on time! In fact, a few minutes early! I haul all of my crap to my car and as I get there, I realize that I have dropped ALL of my business cards out of my work bag and had to scramble to pick them up. They were dirty and I had to throw them away, run back to the house and get more! So. I'm not early anymore. But I am still on time! I get on the road and realize...I need Gas. Are you kidding me??? WHAT??? I got gas. And coffee. And as I get my coffee, I just finished putting the cream in when I realize that they have my FAVORITE creamer and I had just added French Vanilla. I hate french vanilla. Well, not really, but I do when I know that there are better creamers available. So I suck it up (after considering pocketing 400 of the other creamers) and head to the check out. She couldn't figure out the register. I'm starting to get a little irritated, but the cashier was tired, so I can't fault her. I mean, it's barely 6 a.m. Then some creepy guy walks by my and hits me in the boob. He doesn't apologize and he looks back and grunts. I'm sorry that my boobs were in your way. HAVE SOME DECENCY! At least compliment me if you're going to cop a feel! But no...nasty creepy guy made me feel like I was having an "I must look like crap" kind of day. So, I hop back in the car and hit the road. Only running about 10 minutes behind. Other than a bruised ego, still no problem. I will totally make that time up! It's a 5 hour drive! So I'm driving and really, all went well--until I got to Indiana and saw a car that was going the wrong way down the ramp on 74. Some old guy and his wife. I wonder how far he drove like that? It's still not so bad. I'm actually early at this point. Somehow I gained almost 1/2 an hour! I pull up to our center and all is good! I get to the hospital on time. Here's where the real stress comes in...I pull up to where I thought we went in last time. Only to find that nothing looked the same. So I asked for help. And walked 500 miles (makes you think of that song, huh?) to find out I was in the wrong area of the hospital. In heels. No stress foot yet though! So, I finally get to the meeting room after calling and texting several people because I was lost. And I'm the first one there! One minute late and I'm the first one? Huh? Wait a second...yes. I had the wrong time. Want to know why? Because somehow my Blackberry changes everything to Central Standard Time. Hey great. In Illinois. I'm in FREAKING INDIANA!!! And 59 minutes early to the meeting! Oh well. I'm early. Better than late! So I head to the bathroom to wipe my sweaty armpits (I REALLY need to exercise more!) and compose myself before the meeting! It goes well and it goes over...I'm running late to a conference call! AAAAHHHH! It's with the Division! And it's on my conference line!!!! AAAAHHHH! Can you see the panic here? So I hop on. And I'm on the only one. Hmm...freaking Blackberry! Changed the damn time again! Again, at least I wasn't late! So, an hour later, it went well. After dealing with some other drama, I try to find my hotel. And can't find the entrance. It's new. And no lit entrance. I'm pretty sure I got to the parking lot through a field entrance. Not positive. I check in...that went well. And get to my room. I guess I said I was handicapped and the room is huge...and wheelchair accessible. Oh well. The bed is the same. So I'm hungry. And not wanting room service. Hey! I'll have Papa John's. I excercised, right? And I'll get thin crust because it's healthier. Yeah. It wasn't even worth chewing. I gave up. And that stressed me out. Then I had computer issues. Oh. And I'm having the period from hell. And THAT is how I got Stress Foot. THAT has been my day. How was yours?

Cave Man Face

Well, I finally caught whatever it is that everybody and their brother has. The nighttime sneezing, coughing, aching fever so you can't rest crap. It was so bad the other day as I was driving from Indiana, I was exhausted from blowing my nose...and it just continued to drip...so I did something I would have made fun of ANYONE else for doing. I wadded up a tissue on the end and shoved it in my nose. Kind of like packing a wound. Only my wound was a drippy nose.  I looked like a moron. People passing stared. I didn't care. It did make me wish for NON vanity license plates, but I got over that quickly enough. I then went to a work event, had no more medicine and took some Sudafed from one of the girls I work with. She forgot to mention it was nighttime Sudafed and the entire drive home, all of the headlights had halos around them. Glad I made it home in one piece!

I was convinced I was running a fever and our thermometer didn't work so I made Kevin take me to the store to get a new one. And guess what. It said my temp was 95.6 Now...I'm no medical genius, but even I knew I was warmer than that. I'm thinking I shouldn't have been such a cheapskate and bought the $10 thermometer instead of the $5.97...cheaper isn't always better...Around 3 in the morning, my 95.6 degree fever broke. And then again around 10 a.m. it broke again. Maybe I have some sort of miracle cold that doesn't run a fever but your fever breaks. It's a medical miracle!

Now to the Cave Man Face. I didn't realize that when you have a cold you look like crap. Well, I realized OTHER people did, just not me. I just looked in the mirror. I don't know if my eyes are sunken in or if my forehead is swollen but I appear to look like a long lost cousin to one of the Cave Men in the GEICO commercials. WTH??? This sucks. And I went in public looking like this. What is wrong with my husband for not drawing the curtains and encouraging me to lay on the couch while drinking hot tea. My nose is finally not as stuffy however all air that is passing through my nose is BURNING the inside like there is a small blow torch shoved in each nostril. Instead of waterboarding they should just give prisoners a really bad cold. That would teach them.

Okay...done complaining. Going to bed.

Letting the Crazy all hang out...

So...I realize that there was a time when my husband and I were dating that I hid the crazy. And hid it well. Not so much anymore. In fact, he actually asks what my thought process is when I am reacting (over-reacting) to something. Most recently, it was about antibiotics. Now, you are probably wondering what I could possibly be upset about when it comes to antibiotics. Let me tell you. It begins several months ago when I went to the doctor...

I arrived to my appointment only to be told that even though I felt like total crapola, it was most likely viral and I didn't need antibiotics. Ok. Fine. But then, a light shone down from Heaven, right over my doc and he said the following..."BUT I WILL GIVE YOU A PRESCRIPTION FOR ANTIBIOTICS IN CASE YOU ARE NOT BETTER IN 5 DAYS--THEN YOU CAN FILL IT." I think I heard angels singing when he said those words. What did I do? Drove straight to the pharmacy and filled it. But not because I thought it would be needed, but instead, after watching Revolution and the History Channel, I was convinced that if the end of the world as we know it happened, antibiotics would be very useful. Yep...here's the crazy.

I began to watch things like Doomsday Preppers and began to think that some of the things they were doing made sense. Like stocking up on water. Which I did. I also stocked up on deoderant and toothpaste (which I was able to get free of charge from ALMOST every hotel I stayed at--Damn you Hilton for wanting to charge me) and those little bars of hotel soap. I mean, if we won't have hot water to shower, we better have deoderant! And you know my teeth brushing thing. Okay. Back to the antibiotics. So, I have these antibiotics. A HUGE bottle of them. And my husband gets ill. At the beginning of December. And wants my antibiotics--and our "Good" cough syrup. The kind with codeine. Instead of sharing I suggested he go to the doctor himself. He wouldn't. But with all the hype over December 21st, and the stupid History Channel and their views on what COULD happen, I WAS NOT SHARING. He toughed it out. And made it through. Thanks to behind the counter Sudafed and Mucinex, he survived. But he was MAD. I mean, REALLY irritated. And do you know what he is like when he is sick and mad? Not fun. But I was standing my ground.

But he shared with everyone that I wouldn't share my cough syrup or antibiotics when he needed them (doesn't he know that this is the kind of crazy we don't share with others???). So I told him, that if December 22nd he still felt horrible, he could have them. But until then it was a no. I mean, they could be something we could trade. For food. Or bullets. Or a magic power source. Whatever. And guess what? He recovered. See? He didn't need the antibiotics.  But he hasn't let me live it down.

So I didn't work the 21st. And we had no power (which COULD have been from the end of the world, but was actually from a snowstorm). I thought to myself...Thankfully I'm prepared with the antibiotics. Make fun of me all you want, but I was right! But the power came back on.You know what we have now? A boatload of water, little tiny tubes of toothpaste, deoderant AND antibiotics. And the world is still the same. I guess I can use them now.

I think that Paula Deen could be my new best friend. Seriously. I think I could learn to cook with her. And enjoy it. I'm guessing I would laugh a lot. I don't normally want to meet famous people, but she looks like my Auntie Linda. So I don't think I would be nervous. It would be awesome. Yes. She is the famous person I want to meet. But I don't want Kevin to meet her. I want to be able to make something she taught me and not have him show me up in the kitchen. Because it might scare her if I punched him in the throat for showing off. It may make me laugh, but I want to be her friend. Not some crazed fan that she calls security on...

Really??? With the Christmas Movie Channels????

As we are flipping throught the movie channels, looking for something to watch, Kevin pauses his search to talk to me. I glance at the TV and see "Alone, Horny &" I'm not sure what the "&" was, but it should have been "Alone, Horny & HOLY CRAP MY KIDS ARE IN THE ROOM AND WHAT THE HELL IS THIS DOING ON THE GUIDE???" Now...it's not like he was in the PPV movies. He was searching through the Christmas movies. And Trevor was sitting there watching TV. I'm trying to get his attention that he needs to change the channel. But he's really deep in thought telling me something. And I'm trying to tell him in code since Trevor is right there and is watching us. He soooo wasn't getting it. Instead, he continues to talk. And I start to giggle. Because I'm uncomfortable. But it's funny.  But I don't want Trevor to know that it's funny. So...FINALLY. After what seemed like 476 minutes, Kevin looks at the television and sees exactly what I'm talking about. And quickly changes. Now...can someone PLEASE tell me why, when searching for Christmas movies, THAT is one of the choices in the guide??? And it wasn't even a PPV. It was however HD. Maybe they thought that the HD somehow made it a viable option for a Christmas movie. 

I just informed my husband that I think I am going to lose my teeth. He looks at me weird. And I said I'm not kidding. He says, why do you think that? I said...well, sometimes I can feel my heartbeat in them and they hurt more. So I'm pretty sure one day my gums will recede and they will fall out. He asked.

Monograms???

Funny story about my husband...I came home from work shortly before Christmas to find Trevor at the table with a Sharpie. Now...I'm not talking one of those regular kind. I'm talking the poster marker kind that is an inch long. And he is marking on white socks. Initials. Kevin, who is very proud of himself informs me that he and Trevor threw away all of the white socks and started new. Great idea, right? WRONG. He bought me socks that were like the boy kind, only for girls. Then there was the fact that my NEW short socks had been thrown away. Outside. I asked Trevor to go get them and he said, MOM, I can't. There's dog poop on top of them. So there was no possibility of me getting them. Anyway, back to what Trev was doing. He was putting initials on them. Kevin had this great idea to put each of our initials on the bottoms so that they would be easier to mate. Since this is obviously a job that EVERYONE in my house hates and therefore doesn't do. Well, he apparently wasn't watching Trevor put the initials on, because there were really wide (remember, the 1" marker tip???) and were about 4 inches tall. Okay. I exaggerate. Maybe 3 inches. My thought (that Heaven forbid I keep to myself) so keep in mind I said it aloud..."What? So, we're going to go to your Grandparents house for Christmas with these bigass initials on the bottom of them. And we're going to sit down on the floor with our feet in front of us and in pictures, we will appear to be the SLOOOOOOOW family". You have to say it just like I typed Slow. And then, he was ticked. Well again, I couldn't stop. So I said the following...."Did you get me a helmet to wear too?" Again. Not wise. He was really ticked. I thought it was funny. So I proceeded to tell everyone. And by everyone, I mean anyone that would listen. Then..we had friends over. And I walked around prancing so you could see the big initials on the bottoms of my feet. And guess what...almost three months later, the socks are still not mated and now I have huge faded "S"s on the bottom of my feet. Oh the joys of being married. Especially when your husband thinks he is being really smart. I should learn to keep my mouth shut. Kevin has a vein on his head that may or may not burst if I make him that angry again. And I kind of like having him around...

Leeandra cooked dinner tonight. And it was meatloaf. I love meatloaf. It's yummy. The only thing is, I don't like to share. And if I take the leftovers to work tomorrow, then i'm going to have to share. And I don't want to. So...I have a plan. I am going to take them...and when people are out on smoke breaks, I'm going to heat them up. Then...I will lock the door to my office and eat. I will have to eat fast. And anyone that enters my office will most likely assume that I am bulemic scarfing down food. Which I'm not. Because puke makes your teeth squeeky in a weird way. Not in the clean way that toothpaste does. Anyway, then I will have to explain. Or....eat really fast and then when they come in say, "Oh. Sorry. I already ate." That's the plan.

Conversation between Kevin and Trevor:
Kevin: Trevor, what the heck are you doing??? We're running late!
Trevor: I'm looking for Mom's ho
Kevin: Her WHAT???
Trevor: Her Ho. Her other ho. Her panty Ho.

This is funny...he thought that knee highs were panty hose. And being the nerd that he is (and so like his Momma) he was trying to use proper grammar. He thought that hose was plural. I love that kid.