METRO SHMETRO

I'm a native of Phoenix, I've seen it through its best and its worst, and right now Phoenix is at a crossroads and can make some choices that really affect it's future.

ASU Downtown Campus is open, and housing more than 500 students. The public is paying for a 1.4 billion dollar light rail system. The new convention center is about to open, and hold conventions larger than this city has ever seen. It is a crucial time for the city of Phoenix, and the whole region in general. Phoenix also has the highest DUI rate in the region, so I pose the question, don't we have a gigantic opportunity here?!

Rick Simonetta, the head train guy with METRO announced that the hours for the train operation would be 4-12 M-Sun, 4 being when the train leaves the first station, and 12 being when it reaches the end of the line. You would think with the levels of DUIs in the city, they would see the opportunity to possibly curb that and run the train later, to accommodate last call. One would think that with the ASU campus being full of kids going to and from tempe, they would want to accommodate that late night schedule. I would also guess that conventioneers and late night workers could take advantage of the later hours. They had a meeting scheduled today at 9AM, open to the public, so I went to see what was going on.

Rick Simonetta spoke first, indicating that they were open to changing special event and weekend hours to later times but that was it. The cost of running trains until 2AM on friday and saturday nights.... 350K per year. Every time someone mentioned staying open later, Mr. Simonetta threw up a roadblock, so it is obvious to me he does not have the same interests in mind as the rest of us.

There were arguments made that it would lower the cost of enforcing DUIs, would raise business levels at local shops and restaurants. Perhaps the best argument was made by a girl named Kimber, who brought it to our attention that lots of visitors would skip downtown Phoenix all together if they knew they would have a ride there, but no ride home back to the burbs. That actually got Vice Mayor thinking.

The city leaders are going to look at costs involving cost to run the rail, cost of connecting busses, and cost of dial a ride (ada requirement that it run the same hours as the rest of the system) and cost of security involved along with labor. The economic benefit of this could easily make or break the added cost or running the system. I vote for it, as much as it costs I think it could weight out nicely.

Shaq

I don't understand the Lakers, they kept the grumpy one and traded the happy one. Shaq is the shit.

The Miller Lite taste test

Sitting in a bar having a margarita, two very attractive chicas approach me. Obviously they are not approaching me for the reason I want it to be, well maybe not THE reason, but offering a dude free beer is a good consolation. They asked me what I usually drink and I said Coors or Bud light, and never Miller Lite. So, she had poured two cups of rando-beer and had me first smell them and say which one I would rather drink and the miller light did smell better (I could tell which was which) but the Bud Light tasted wayyyy better, and much less like warm vomit. She got mad when I said Miller tastes that way, but whatever, I got free beer from a hot blonde and proved that BL is better than ML

CHANGEEEE

So here I am minding my own business, and a bum asks us for money. OK, this is pretty normal right, yeah, its normal all right but here is the peculiar thing about this bum. He has a glass glass, not a dunkin donuts cup, or a styrofoam cup, but a fucking glass. I hooked him up with half the change in my pocket (never give away all your change you never know when you might need that shit) and told him what he needs to do is get a dunkin donuts cup and say CHANGEEEEEE can you spare some CHANGEEEEEE? so what does he do next you ask? he walks up to people and says it just like I told him, rattling his glass of change saying CHANGEEEEEE! Alright, so we left.

Not even a minute or two later, dude pulls up in a Toyota and offers us a ride home. WTF bitches, you asked me for change and now are in a financial position to give us a ride home in your car? Doesn't add up dude... so we took the ride, and it turns out he has a job, owns a home, and owns a car, married with kids. SWINDLED... WE GOT SWINDLED. Wasn't a bum at all, and he told us his secret... buy your clothes at the thrift sto' or ross, because they are already broken, dont shave, and you can make 80 bucks a night... seriously... fuck... this is my new job from now on, thats like 10 bucks an hour! for saying CHANGEEEEEEEE. 

Good thing I kept the rest of my CHANGEEEEEEE, because I did need it, to give to this genius in his cars ash tray.  And he promised me he would get a dunkin donuts cup for next time. If he doesn't have it next time I see him, I'm gonna punch him in the dick.

You gotta wonder wherein loyalty lies

Got called into HR today, following my colleague. He got the axe, I was supposed to get the axe, but for some reason did not. I guess they felt he was more at fault than I was, but I don't feel that either of us were. The guy had been here over 5 years, never missed a day of work, and always bent over backwards for the hotel. The story is that he offered to comp something here at the hotel in exchange for the guy fixing his phone, you know quid pro quo... or at least he didn't mean it that way I'm sure, but thats how it was interpreted.

So throw all that loyalty out the window, forget the fact that he has been a faithful and efficent employee to your company. Just can him because people like that are easily replaced, simply with no effort. Forget the fact that his colleagues looked up to him like a father, or forget the fact that he always was into doing the good that needed to be done, that he would stand up for anyone, and wouldn't do anything malicious to anyone or anything.

There is no loyalty.

my favorites

I always find certain ironic misspellings of words humorous. You know, like when someone misspells something in a context that totally makes them look like an ass? 

I was browsing myspace profiles, and someone misspelled pathetic. What made it funny is she was referencing a "pathedic doush" but the first thing I thought was how much of a pathetic douche she must be at 22 years old to not have obtained proper spelling skills. 

Or one time someone wrote "rediculus" in an email to me. Good choice of words, because I was just thinking how ridiculous your spelling skills are.

There was the one time on a car forum where a guy questioned my "entelegence." I couldn't lay off that one. I called him a fuck and that was that.

Maybe we should start thinking about ways to fund our school system, or start shooting unfit parents before they conceive their destined to be dumb forever children.

I gotta wonder what goes through some peoples heads

Yesterday, a squirelly looking egyptian guy came to the concierge desk and asked me to confirm his flight. Sure, I can do this... so I responded, you would like your boarding pass? Dude flips out, starts arguing with me and telling me all the concierges do this when he travels. Keep in mind I still don't know what the fuck he wants. I ask if he wants me to track it? he says no, and repeats that he indeed needs it confirmed, all the while holding his flight confirmation in his hand. Finally he explains that he wants me to call the airline, and confirm that he is booked on the flight. Hey, dickhead, you've got a confirmation in your hand, that means you are confirmed. Not only that, but all this time he is telling us he is flying Lufthansa, whom might I add does not fly out of Phoenix, come to find out its United. Then we find out... here is the good part... his flight is 4 days away. Nice! Even if I wanted to call an airline and say hi, I have a confirmation/receipt for my ticket, but I just wanted to make sure I have a ticket, it was still 4 days off.

His boarding pass was printed off today, and upon handing it to him, he seemed bewildered that it took several days to get. God, I hate international guests. Just don't understand the way things work. When I travel, and realize it doesn't work like home, I'm going to make that adjustment... because I'm not a dick.

So this was a few days ago. He came to visit again tonight, and sure enough was a dickhead again. Dude.... "send my box to my room" is not an appropriate way to describe what you would like done. You and I have already had an issue with you not being able to explain yourself, lets not have another, k? I was smart enough to figure out he had a parcel shipped to the hotel and wanted a bellman to deliver it. So rather than going to the business center (where parcels are received/kept) or the bell desk (who would deliver the parcel) he came to me. Someone he has already had an issue with, whom in his feeble mind has already deemed incompetent, which in my mind is the logical way to get what you want. But I do a nice job, and made sure he got his box. The funny part is, when the bellman arrived with the package, he opened up the door and before saying anything else, asked the bellman "is that it?!"

For someone who travels all around the world to great hotels as you put it, you're a slow learner on how things work. Go back to Egypt mr Hawass.

And that was the second time I saw someone get tazered

The fist time was when I witnessed a drunk driving accident. That was all good and such, because it had nothing to do with where I live. This time, the helicopter was circling above a point less than 100 ft from my front door, screaming at some guy to get on the ground. The cops tazed him, and he got on the ground right quick. 

Probably the most fun thing I've ever watched, I just don't want it going on near where I live.

Red Bull cures the common cold

I was feeling a bit down this morning. Just slightly shitty, you know, a bit better than awful. I popped open a can of Red Bull, not that imitation  stuff, but actual Red Bull. I quickly felt like I had wings. Seriously though, it must have some invigorating healing powers.

1. My nose could actually breathe, it was like I took a decongestant/expectorant.

2. No headache, yeah, just like that it dissapeared.

3. Everything seemed like it was working properly, and I felt better.

I honestly believe Red Bull has the ultimate healing powers.

-j