Friday, May 13, 2005
A Little Positive Thinking
Recently, we have had to move from one hotel to another due to "office Politics". We weren't fired, or kicked out...just transferred. The situation we were in was bad enough without our having to move to something "less than", and it has not been an easy week for our psychological health. The first part of this move saw me bitter and angry, and I was definitely not a good first impression for karim's new boss when he asked me how I like Texas. My reply, naturally, because I'm a whiner, was, "I don't like Houston and I don't like the people." Karim, embarrassed, explained that I'm a Washingtonian (the state, that is) and that I don't do well in large cities. That's partly true. But, I hate Houston and I don't like the people. THAT'S the truth. My point in being honest, which was more likely idiotic, but that's usually the way I work, was to point out to the new boss, who is the old boss's brother, that I didn't like the old boss or the people Karim was working with. After all, it is their fault we are here in the first place. I think it was fairly obvious that I didn't want to be here.
However, today, I'm feeling much better. I know that Karim hates it because the work at the front desk hasn't even come into the 60's yet, let alone the 21st century. Technology? Never heard of it. Everything has to be done by hand and brain...(oh, God, not manual math!!! Whatever shall we do??)...so he is mentally weary when he comes home in the morning after a long night of working. I went to work today a little more positively than I thought I would. I really don't mind the drive because I can plug in my "Simon and Garfunkel" CD and harmonize the miles away. I thought about everything this morning...the pros and cons of our situation...on the freeway. Yes, there are a lot of minuses in this place; it's miles from anywhere normal, it's low-class (prostitutes, gangs, drugs, etc.), and it smells like really cheap carpet shampoo, but on the other hand, there are positivities that needed to be mentally addressed by me. The room is slightly larger, and although we had to buy our own coffee pot and grill and a set of shelves to put them on, we have more space in the fridge that has been provided for us. We can buy more quantities and better qualities of food than before. Although we are off the interstate immediately, it is quieter here, as the rooms are a little better sound-proofed. The bathroom is bigger and has a counter inside of it instead of outside in the entry/closet. We have Showtime, which is far superior to HBO, and we have 3 different channels of it, where we only had one channel of HBO before, so now we can watch Fat Actress...because we love Kirstie Alley! We don't have a good view of the pool like we did before, but at least now we have a window that opens so we can let the room air out when it gets stuffy and smelly. The laundry facility is at the end of my floor instead of in the Cabana building and it's a quarter less each to wash and dry. There are snacks for sale here, and there is an adjoining restaurant and bar, where we can go to drown our sorrows should we so unwisely choose.
I won't miss the types of people who checked in to the other hotel, as they were the rough sort...seamen, hired on to work in the refineries (which spewed their ugly, evil smoke all around us). Here, there are a lot of people traveling, truckers, average income families, and prostitutes. I don't like the latter, but, hey, if they stay away from Karim, we will get along just fine. I won't miss some of the people Karim worked with in the other hotel...I will call her "Princess Di, spawn of the Devil" (she has a sequel at my place of work...). I certainly won't miss the old boss, "King K---". (I give all the awful bosses nicknames based on their given names.) I don't know about the new boss, but as I said before, he is the old boss's brother, so it's doubtful that he will ever be able to redeem himself--innocent or not--in my eyes.
So, I think I will be okay in this place. I will have to help Karim to feel the same way. Both of us are suffering from stress related depression but the only way out of it, seemingly is to pray and think positively. That's not an easy task for a pessimist like myself. I tend to be extremely negative. As a matter of fact, my first reaction over this entire issue was to try to figure out what I did to Piss God off! Maybe, being here will be an easier way out when it's time to move on. I'm ready to go back to Washington, but until then, I will have to be content with what we have right now.
However, today, I'm feeling much better. I know that Karim hates it because the work at the front desk hasn't even come into the 60's yet, let alone the 21st century. Technology? Never heard of it. Everything has to be done by hand and brain...(oh, God, not manual math!!! Whatever shall we do??)...so he is mentally weary when he comes home in the morning after a long night of working. I went to work today a little more positively than I thought I would. I really don't mind the drive because I can plug in my "Simon and Garfunkel" CD and harmonize the miles away. I thought about everything this morning...the pros and cons of our situation...on the freeway. Yes, there are a lot of minuses in this place; it's miles from anywhere normal, it's low-class (prostitutes, gangs, drugs, etc.), and it smells like really cheap carpet shampoo, but on the other hand, there are positivities that needed to be mentally addressed by me. The room is slightly larger, and although we had to buy our own coffee pot and grill and a set of shelves to put them on, we have more space in the fridge that has been provided for us. We can buy more quantities and better qualities of food than before. Although we are off the interstate immediately, it is quieter here, as the rooms are a little better sound-proofed. The bathroom is bigger and has a counter inside of it instead of outside in the entry/closet. We have Showtime, which is far superior to HBO, and we have 3 different channels of it, where we only had one channel of HBO before, so now we can watch Fat Actress...because we love Kirstie Alley! We don't have a good view of the pool like we did before, but at least now we have a window that opens so we can let the room air out when it gets stuffy and smelly. The laundry facility is at the end of my floor instead of in the Cabana building and it's a quarter less each to wash and dry. There are snacks for sale here, and there is an adjoining restaurant and bar, where we can go to drown our sorrows should we so unwisely choose.
I won't miss the types of people who checked in to the other hotel, as they were the rough sort...seamen, hired on to work in the refineries (which spewed their ugly, evil smoke all around us). Here, there are a lot of people traveling, truckers, average income families, and prostitutes. I don't like the latter, but, hey, if they stay away from Karim, we will get along just fine. I won't miss some of the people Karim worked with in the other hotel...I will call her "Princess Di, spawn of the Devil" (she has a sequel at my place of work...). I certainly won't miss the old boss, "King K---". (I give all the awful bosses nicknames based on their given names.) I don't know about the new boss, but as I said before, he is the old boss's brother, so it's doubtful that he will ever be able to redeem himself--innocent or not--in my eyes.
So, I think I will be okay in this place. I will have to help Karim to feel the same way. Both of us are suffering from stress related depression but the only way out of it, seemingly is to pray and think positively. That's not an easy task for a pessimist like myself. I tend to be extremely negative. As a matter of fact, my first reaction over this entire issue was to try to figure out what I did to Piss God off! Maybe, being here will be an easier way out when it's time to move on. I'm ready to go back to Washington, but until then, I will have to be content with what we have right now.
