Westward Ho!

   I have not mentioned, because everything was still in self-debate stage, that I will be driving off into
the sunset..literally. Heading west, time to leave West Virginia, and all it's (cough-cough) glory. I originally came here with someone that I hoped (at that time) would be the person I shared the rest of my life with. That was my thought...his was a paid for move, bide some time, and kick me out to start over with someone younger.(oh and cheating..did I mention cheating?) My sad tale is but one of thousands. Both women and men can vouch for similar circumstances. That selfish partner? Good bye and good riddance to bad garbage. I've been on my own for 3 years and have happily survived his betrayal.

So..it's time to move and see what life is like someplace else. New opportunities, new adventures, one of the biggest being the first time I will be traveling 1700 miles alone. (I will have a furry co-pilot who is sure to sing his woes for a couple hundred of miles at the minimum) I am not bound, like some people I know, to any old memories or ties to this part of the planet. I am really looking forward to trying my luck in Colorado.
The added benefit is that I Will have family there, and they Do want me to come and stay. That means a lot after some pretty lonely holidays spent here, and I am grateful that they are welcoming me into their home as I launch into a new start.

I'm also going to make myself become part of something bigger. Jump in and make new friends... rediscover the peace that church can bring. And ..the biggest step of all, quitting smoking. It's past time for that change. I want to be able to breathe that mountain air and not be bent double wheezing and choking, heart pounding.

Everyone does the "nudge-nudge-know-what-I mean!" line when they hear I am moving someplace that pot is legal. I have to say, I tried it years ago, more than once..my psyche is really not too keen on how I feel when I do smoke it, so I will likely pass on that doobie, not bogart it.

I have a few months to get ready, and a much needed vacation coming up next week. Mel will be tucked into her air mattress for the last visit up here. We have places to explore and wild oats to be sown.
Watch out West Virginia! One more for road.

~K~

The Heat is On!

The last 4 summers has been an experience I call "Trial by Sweat." In my job I am required to wear a shirt and a jacket (polyester-so are the pants) with a lining,  inside an increasingly hot and humid building. Our guests arrive in shorts and short sleeved shirts, or sleeveless long cool cotton dresses. They claim "too cold" while I stand before them with perspiration literally dripping down my face, and other unmentionable areas.
It feels like torture, and in some respects I believe it is. Is an image truly that effective when the person representing appears to be suffering? I grant that it gets the sympathy vote, but little else.

We have been very busy being as short staffed as we have been for several months. Everyone of us has to hustle though out a long and arduous shift. Tonight I did not have 10 minutes to call my own inside of 9 hours. Yes, there are a small few zones that are comfortable. But when it is close to 100 degrees outside and the air is not working as it should inside then we, the staff, suffer. Then there is an incident in the garage (no air) and I am standing outside with a head completely saturated in sweat inside 2 minutes of being out there.
I feel sometimes as though I am being punished for some unknown infraction. WHY would any reasonable company expect their employees to physically suffer while they are at work?

Image. That is the answer I have received these past 4 summers. We have to present a professional appearance. How pleasant can someone be to other people if they are miserable? The answer is they can't. The feeling of being miserable is all consuming, it leaks out whether we intend to be cranky or not.

I'd rather be outside sweating in shorts and a cool top then buried under layers that would be comfortable in the winter months, inside a building with faulty air conditioning,  Seriously....

Ok..whine over..time to move on.

~K