OHIO = HELL

this is not OPA!

If hell were a place it would be Ohio. Columbus, Toledo, Cincinnati, Akron, Dayton, Dublin, Springfield, and every other crappy city/town in the state that is a little less than 45000 sq miles. Not only would the land be hell, everyone that lives in OHIO, or thinks of it as their home would be hell.

For those who weren’t aware, I have been in Columbus Ohio for just about 3 months…3 months longer than I would have ever wanted.

When I took my new job back in June, I chose a region that had most properties in Chicago (my favorite place in the world) and a different hotel brand, but one I thought would be a good fit for me, and would be a good opportunity to develop myself.

The first place they sent me was Horsham (Philadelphia) PA, which started off rough, but had everything I loved about work…and I met Chris, so it was good.

I was expecting to be there longer, but then I was moved to Columbus OH and have been here since July 11, 3 months ago today.

I had heard horror stories about this hotel…its in the ghetto, has a gate, uses a temp agency, scary guests, unsafe and more…. the hotel also is up for sale and doesn’t have a brand name…its to the crappy hotel on the side of the road.

The hotel is nice, the area sucks, and the people that work here are crazy!

I had the girl on drugs that would show up hours late to work (who eventually quit without calling or anything), the girl who was supposed to work night audit and refused to (she tried to say I was racist…forgetting she had a rigid personality and bad work ethics), the girl who seemed sweet, nice, caring, who broke rules, used fake/stolen credit cards for friends, stayed on property without permission and more (who blew up when I fired her and refused to leave the hotel yelling “ILL LEAVE WHEN I WANT!) And the other lady, the DIRECTOR of SALES who was just given a fake title who came and went as she pleased and was the shit starter for the other hotel…I had told her to “go home! and don’t come back tomorrow either!” when she was hours late to work…(she had the easiest job in the world!) She finally quit today, but didn’t tell me, she told all the hourly employees and then emailed my boss…. funny thing was my employees told me what was happening, and he knew, and I locked her off property!

Do the horrible, lazy, whiny, trashy, ghetto; people that work at my hotel represent that whole state of Ohio? …. I would have to say yes!

The hotel I work for is quiet so I try to keep busy by eating out, and going to the movies and other stuff…. Ohio has the WORST drivers I have ever encountered…stupid, slow, and just plain old bad…

The food is messed up…I went to a Greek place last night and I asked if they flamed the saganaiki at the table and the girl looked at me like I was retarded…. I said, light it on fire and yell opa…and she said, “O I have heard of that”

When they served the saganaki they had Parmesan cheese on top of it…that’s like topping tomatoes with catsup. STUPID OHIO!

I was going to continue writing about OHIO but I think I wont give it anymore time.

Other than all that shit I am doing good! Chris, my brother, and myself all went to Chicago last weekend…. what a great time. 

my new job! crazy story

What a crazy week I have had.

Sunday I had to pack for my three week trip. After a goodbye lunch with Alex and don I came home to no power!

Went to my folks place, then went home to pack then went back to their place.

Monday I worked from 8-12, and had a goodbye lunch with matt and some other people I worked with. It was so strange. I have never said bye to people I actually liked and cared about.

So I get to the airport and there was no line. Thank god I was there 2 hours before my flight! They booked me on southwest because its an open ended job, no return flight scheduled just yet…

I enjoy southwest. Its so funny, laid back, non professional. It’s a nice change of pace.

Not only do they board you in group order, they do it by number now. I was A1, first on the plane. My company booked it business class and I got 2 free drink coupons! What could go wrong?

I flew from Detroit to Midway and the flight was good and on time. 2 hour layover and on to philly. Except my flight was delayed 1.5 hours. I was so bummed! At the original take off time they lined us up saying we could board. Then they realized there was no flight crew and they said “hold up yall”

The flight in was good. Bumpy towards the end. I didn’t get to the airport til 11, and then sat on the runway for 45minutes because there was no gate for us to go to. At 1215a I finally got my luggage and went to find my shuttle company. It took 40 minutes for that and another 45-1hr to get to the hotel.

At 230a finally getting settled I reviewed some of the hotel issues and I was beat. I fell asleep at 4a and was up at 7a to get ready for my big day!

The place is crazy. Total chaos, disorganization, a mess, I don’t even know where to begin. I worked a crazy 13 hours finally eating food for lunch at 3p. at 9p I came up to my room and got ready for bed. Took my lunesta and made some phone calls.

At 1050 the front desk called to say the night auditor called off…so on lunesta, on no sleep, I worked from 11p-7a.

The hotel had been expecting their Quality Audit and I told the front desk not to wake me unless the building was on fire, or the QA showed up. I took half a lunesta and went to bed at 730, and at 830a, the front desk called saying the QA was there…

The lady was nice, boston accent, felt bad I had been up for 24+hours and was really kind hearted. It was weird touring a hotel and getting inspected when I knew where nothing was, who anyone was…I took care of some thing immediately on Tuesday morning and the hotel thankfully passes the audit.

I went to bed and slept for a long while.

I have worked non stop since tue, and then Thursday and Friday I had crazy days. This place is only 95 rooms but in total disarray that the small staff they have cant run it…I have already worked on hiring replacements and additional staff. My old hotel had my GM, myself, director of sales, account manager, executive housekeeper and chief engineer….this hotel has me as the GM, no AGM, no DOS, no sales manager, a unqualified (nut nice) housekeeping supervisor and 2 guys that don’t speak any English (but nice) engineers. The hotel is expected to run like a normal hotel with no support staff. Its interesting.

Accounts receivable usually goes from current -30days, 30-60days, 60-120, 120+.

My hotel in Livonia had everything current and we would go crazy if things hit the 30 day mark, here they have stuff from 2007! Which is well over the 120 day mark. MY GOD!!

Their petty cash safe had no money in it. What the hell!

The tons of work I have put in, have left a little dent on the hotel, but I think I am starting to make a difference. I have a ton of people coming out to fix broken things so the hotel can look better and run smoother. Hopefully I will start some change and make the hotel successful and look good! Or I might end up back at home. Whatever, I am working hard, and kind of having fun. Thankfully everyone has been pleasant to work with, and thankfully I know my stuff.

I am here, chillin, so give me a call, shoot me a text, whatever. And when I am back home…I want to see everyone!

New Job, starts June 16, 2008

At the beginning of may i flew to Chicago to meet with a regional manager in regards to a Bench GM posistion with my company. A bench's job is 100% travel, going from hotel to hotel, most likely when someone is laid off, but also could be a long term absence of a GM, someone quit, or more as a consultant to under-preforming hotels.
The interview went well, and i knew i was going to recieve an offer after i spoke with my companys VP of Operations.
That interview the following week went well. the company than had me talk with one other reginonal manager.
I waited 3 weeks and the job mysteriously dissapaered from our companys job listings and i received an email from the original regional manager saying she would call monday...that never happened.
The following day i got a call from the regional who said i had the job!
i got a phone call friday saying they need me this monday 6/16 in Philidelphia PA.
i will be gone for probably 3 weeks...i will update more as i find out more.

PROMTION

i was promoted today to a bench GM job with my company.
i will be the "substitute teacher" for my hotels when a GM is fired or off for an extended period of time!
great pay increase, and 100% travel, so i can bank up some money.

Chicago a no-go

after the offer for a new opportunity...after a 1 hour online application, personality test, 1 interview, 2nd interview, 3rd interview (250 miles away), 4th interview, all saying i was what they were looking for and i "had the job"...after an intense 2.5 weeks i was told late last week that they have gone with an internal candidate (who applied at the last minute) for the job i was expecting to accept.
i was supposed to have an offer as an AGM at a not yet opened Residence Inn outside of Chicago. The internal candidate stole my job!
A lot of people have been saying sorry (including those who interviewed me) that i didn't get the job. i don't feel that is necessary though. i was not looking for a job. i have a job and content with the workload and the salary. something was offered and i was told to apply...i was told i had the job but needed to go through the process....i did that...
i am not bummed out...nothing to be upset about...the other person had the same qualifications but was an internal candidate and was local to the area.
so there you go...for those of you that heard i was moving, i am not, and for those hoping i wouldnt leave...i am not!

be safe, bz

America's Most Miserable Cities

THIS ARTICLE SAYS IT ALL!!

America's Most Miserable Cities

By Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes.com

Feb 11th, 2008

Imagine living in a city with the country's highest rate for violent crime and the second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker you need more Superfund dollars allocated to your city to clean up contaminated toxic waste sites than just about any other metro.

Unfortunately, this nightmare is a reality for the residents of Detroit. The Motor City grabs the top spot on Forbes' inaugural list of America's Most Miserable Cities.

Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s.

In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Cities

There also exists a Misery Score, which is the sum of corporate, personal, employer and sales taxes in different countries. France took the top spot (or perhaps bottom is more appropriate) with a score of 166.8, thanks to a top rate of 51% on personal incomes and 45% for employer Social Security.

But aren't there other things that cause Americans misery? Of course. So we decided to expand on the Misery Index and the Misery Score to create our very own Forbes Misery Measure. We're sticking with unemployment and personal tax rates, but we are adding four more factors that can make people miserable: commute times, weather, crime and that toxic waste dump in your backyard.

We looked at only the 150 largest metropolitan areas, which meant a minimum population of 371,000. We ranked the cities on the six criteria above and added their ranks together to establish what we call the Misery Measure. The data used in the rankings came from Portland, Ore., researcher Bert Sperling, who last year published the second edition of Cities Ranked & Rated along with Peter Sander. Economic research firm Economy.com, which is owned by Moody's, also supplied some data.

Detroit in the top spot, with its sister city Flint ranked third, is probably not a great shock. "If Detroit were a baseball team, we'd say they are mired in a slump," says Sperling. Both Detroit and Flint have suffered tremendously from the auto industry downturn. Flint's plight was immortalized in the Michael Moore movie Roger & Me, which chronicles Moore's attempts to meet with then General Motors Chief Executive Roger Smith.

Crime and unemployment are closely linked, according to Sperling. Our three most miserable places bear that out (Stockton, Calif., ranks second). All three are among the eight worst cities in terms of both unemployment and violent crime.

The United States' two biggest cities both induce a ton of misery. New York was the fourth most miserable city by our count, while Los Angeles clocked in at sixth. The Big Apple has the longest commute times (36.2 minutes) and the highest tax rates (10.5%) in the country. As the financial capital of the world and home to write-down kings Merrill Lynch and Citigroup , New York appears poised for more misery in 2008.

The people of La-La Land have some of the best weather in the U.S. (it's ranked seventh) but scored poorly when it came to commute times, Superfund sites and taxes. And we did not even factor in air quality, where Los Angeles is the worst in the nation by far, according to Sperling.

The biggest surprise on our list is Charlotte, N.C. , which is ranked ninth. Charlotte has undergone tremendous economic growth the past decade, while the population has soared 32%. But the current picture isn't as bright. Employment growth has not kept up with population growth, meaning unemployment rates are up more than 50% compared with 10 years ago. Charlotte scored in the bottom half of all six categories we examined. It scored the worst on violent crime, ranking 140th.

So take heart, Detroit, you are not alone. After all, misery loves company.

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seattle so far

i have only been in seattle for a few days....its been fun, busy, intense, meaningful...its been great. i am staying in a hotel in redmond which is about 15-20 miles from downtown seattle. the hotel is in a town center with a mall, literally steps outside the front lobby. lot of stores and eateries. for those of you that know fountain walk....its like that, but upscale, and actually has stores....what a concept! the vending machines there take credit cards also....how awesome!
my flight on sunday was good out here. i took a shared ride from the airport to the hotel. i met this older guy, italian guy from the east coast, buisnessman, staying at the same hotel...i seem to run into him all the time. he keeps saying "hi bryan" and i feel bad because i always forget his name!
i walked around sunday, ordered a pizza and chilled
monday met the group. 8 total including myself and thenour facilitator. its a diverse group in ages and responsibilities. its great. hearing a lot of different ideas on how to perform the job...and GREAT hotel stories. monday was spent going over hotel stuff...it was long, worked from 8-5 minimally.
tuesday we started early and i think i worked til 6. we have different MODULES that we are required to complete, in any amount of time, at our own pace. it should take 2 weeks and a few of us have been pounding them out....working hard and arew almost done with the course! on tuesday we went to downtown seattle. AWESOME
wednesday was spent working and wed night went as a group to a Sushi place and were doing SAKI! i was a little drunk and i tried some crazy abnormal to my diet items
thur was again action pakced, studied a lot and wsent to a Tappas place for dinner. music, dancing, it was great.
i have 3 modules left to complete by next friday. we are going on a field trip now as a group to seattle to hang and have lunch. i have no idea what the weekend will bring, but i am pumped!

the movie thirteen.

i have seen a ton of movies, and for whatever reason this movie horrified me. i feel sick to my stomach. i enjoy movies that make you feel good afterwards. i have no happy feeling from that movie. i feel like crap now!

i bought the music from the movie JUNO. if you havent seen the movie yet, go see it, hell ill see it again!

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