Read Free Sunday (RFS) returns.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Saturday, November 6
There were two walk-ins and an arrival in the lobby at the hotel even before ol’ Sparrow had a chance to limber up and get some of Amy’s coffee in him…Usually, you can ease into your shift by printing the emergency reports and get going on caffeination and then start in on the drawers, but not tonight…There was a walk-in, then the final arrival of the nite and almost immediately behind him was another goddamn walk-in.
Those with any front desk instincts know you have to be careful here: you do not want to quote the walk-ins a lesser rate than the rate the arrival is paying…So you go tactical: you review the arrival’s registration card, as if it has some top-secret information necessary to the walk-in’s stay before you quote him a rate…As it was, the arrival, Corey, is paying $108, plus tax, a check of The System showed it was demanding $139, plus tax and ol’ Sparrow quoted the walk-ins $115, plus tax, which would allow Corey to smile smugly to himself.
The first kid pulled out a wallet and wad of cash, but offered a debit card when I asked for a card and an ID, but it was hardly a bulletin when his card was declined because if you pull out a wad of cash you probably 1) want to pay cash in the first place, and 2) probably strongly suspect your debit card will be declined…So I told him his card was declined, shrugged dismissively, and informed him the total would be $125.55.
I thought Corey looked familiar, and it turned out he used to run the tire store on the far side of town The Ex and I would get our tires changed out at twice a year…He also used to live in the small town and run the race on the dirt track a bit north of the fairgrounds before moving to Utah three-four years ago.
The big news is yours truly is surrendering the Battle of the 3-Hole Punch…I am not making that up…Recall I always liked to keep off to the right at the back office desk but someone – and there never were any suspects – would move it from time to time, more frequently as of late…I’m thru fighting it…Tonite it was on the edge of the back office desk, near the door, on the other side of the printer…Not my preferred place, but I can slide over on the chair and, besides, what with the new monitor and keyboard for the keying system rig now taking up space, the 3-hole wasn’t the same good fit it had been.
118, the guy who’s been staying here for a few weeks after losing his mobile home in a fire, is still in-house…And, after a couple of one-nite stays, he’s in house until the 27th, just in time to be kicked out, I suppose, for the holidays and it appears the county is picking up the tab, because my nominal supervisor at the veterans service office (VSO), Jenn, still has her county email attached to the account.
Speaking of long term stays, this guy with gray hair and a ponytail who’s been with us for a couple of weeks or so and is in the habit of reporting to the lobby about 0530 to enjoy morning coffee service (MCS), chat a bit and read the papers on his tablet…He’s from Texas and he’s on record as being in town to buy a house, tho the market isn’t really cooperating with him right now, something I’ve heard from others because it is a seller’s market right now…Anyway, today he informs me the governor of Texas is “after me” – he could show me the email – and he was basically hiding from pretty much every elected official in the state.
Sigh.
You run into these people from time to time…Now, it’s important to note it’s entirely possible the governor of Texas is after him…It’s also – based on some completely modest experience in the matter – that he’s crackers and I gotta be honest, no benefit of the doubt is issued here…You are presumed crackers until proven otherwise…I’m sorry, but I’ve run into too many people claiming the government was out to get them who were utterly deranged to think otherwise.
Two come to mind immediately, both while working security in Sin City casinos and it should be noted the key to success here is to enter their world and be crackers right along with them…The first was outside a hotel and the guy, around my age, was waiting for mommy to send him some money and then he noted he wanted to try out for the NFL.
– Oh yeah, what team:
– Bellagio
Bellagio is a neighboring hotel.
– Oooh, Bellagio’s pretty good…They made the playoffs last year.
– Yeah…I’ll make the team tho.
– Well, Bellagio’s right down that way, sir…If you hurry, you can probably catch their coach before he leaves.
He bought that and wandered off…The other fave example was when I was a security manager and we had this whackjob hooked up for something or another and he allowed how the DEA had a contract out on him and one of the few regrets of my life is I no longer remember the exact lead up to his really funny line…It was, however, after I made a suggestion of some sort:
Now how are we going to do that when we’re in a blaze status???
He had me; I had to admit I had no idea.
Anyway, the Texas guy blabbed on and on about nothing whatsoever: the Texas national guard wanted to buy some property of his and was making life difficult because he won’t sell; the housing market here in town “is heavily regulated” because bastard homeowners won’t sell at prices he’s willing to pay…There were other lamentations, too.
Sparrow’s Sleep Log: 0930 Saturday until 2130 Saturday…12.0 hours for the day and a triumphant 53.5 hours for the week.
Regular readers of this crap know ol’ Sparrow’s really been taking sleep to a whole ‘nother level the past few weeks because this was the sixth 50+ hour sleep week in the last seven, the only slacker being last month’s 49.5 hour week…This sleep increase (SI) ruffly coincides with when I started taking the supplement Fo Ti, but who really knows???
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The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence.
It was inspired by the 19th-century British novel of the same name.
Gaylon’s books can also be found at The Reading Salon.
