The Move to Charlotte

Blogging

2009-03-19T21:43:00.002-04:00

Good evening.

I'm sitting in Atlanta on the last night of my vacation before heading home to Charlotte tomorrow. I don't go back to work until Monday, so I'll have the weekend to rest and get ready to go back to work. I was a little bit aggressive when planning this trip - over 2,500 miles and driving through nine states. There was a very special reason for me to plan this trip and unfortunately due to circumstances beyond mine and others' control my entire reason for making this trip was not to be realized. And I am very sad that it happened that way.

Recently I was asked by one of Canadian friends to start an account on Facebook. I did so and in the short time that I have been on the site, a little over 100 people from my life, current and past have befriended me. Family members, former co-workers and friends from all parts of my life going back to my best friend when I was in elementary school. It has become an easy way to keep track of what everyone is up to and let them know what I'm up to. I tried to keep an account of my vacation on Facebook and my last posting on Nashville was actually a cross post of what I put on Facebook.

The reason I mention this, is because I'm not really sure how many people are checking into this blog. I know of one important person for sure and a few others have mentioned that over the year I've been posting that they have looked once or twice. So, I'm at a point where I'm questioning whether I want to continue with this blog.

So, if there are people out there reading this and are really interested in me and what I'm doing with my life here in Charlotte (well Atlanta right now) then please let me know. Of course there are less restrictions here, then on Facebook, but have I really posted anything that could be deemed controversial?

Thanks to those who have been reading and I hope to hear from more than just one person on this.

Visit to Music City

2009-03-16T17:46:00.006-04:00

I checked into the hotel and went to explore the city - walking down the main street which is called Broadway. Although there aren't any "theatres" along this Broadway like in NYC, you can hear music pouring out of the bars and clubs all hours of the day. I was walking along the street at 4:00 pm and each doorway I passed had live music wafting from inside -- and a lot of patrons taking in the sounds.
I also took a walk up to see the State Capital Building and then ventured over to pass the city hall and a nice riverside park. Along the river you can find more clubs - but these must be the late night clubs because none of these were open. Across the street from these clubs is a scale model of the original fort that stood in the area and was the basis for the founding of the city. Kind of weird to see these 18th century stuctures across from those from the 19th and 20th centuries as this city has over 200 years of history, celebrating their bicentennial in 1996.
The city also hosts two major league teams with an arena right downtown and a stadium across the river which is the anchor for a greenway that is being built along the river. They even have a pedestrian bridge over the river to get from downtown area (or The District as it's called) to the stadium.

A Southeast Whistlestop Tour

2009-03-13T10:34:00.004-04:00

Back in January we had to submit our vacation requests for the year and with five weeks of vacation and personal time being earned this year I had to make some choices. The first week I picked was the week of March 14 through the 20. My friend's birthday falls in that week and figured if I could swing it, perhaps I could visit for his birthday.
The beginning of February I started making the plans and found out that he'd be in Oklahoma City on the 14th for a rugby match, so my goal was to meet up there and plan a surprise. Since I like to drive I started working out the plan and extended my vacation to begin on the 11th using a vacation day on Wednesday and taking Thursday and Friday as my days off that week (although it did mean working an eight day stretch from my last day off. I sat and mapped out the trip in February tweeking the hotel choices and figuring out distances in order to not drive too far each day. The itinerary was: 3/11 - Nashville, 3/12 - Little Rock, 3/13 - Oklahoma City, 3/14-3/16 - Dallas/Fort Worth area, 3/17-3/18 - New Orleans, 3/19 - Montgomery, with an optional stop in Atlanta on the 20th - all totalled roughly 2,500 miles!
Those who know me know that I love to keep lists and get small goals for myself and one of those lists is the states and state capitals I have visited. (Visit means, slept in or did more than just drive through - feet have to touch the soil). This trip would add seven states to the 24 already visited and six state capitals!
I packed on Tuesday night after work in preparation of getting an early start in the morning. Well, I overslept a little bit, but decided that this was supposed to be a stress-free vacation - so I went with the flow and left the house at 8:24 am. I forgot to mention that over the last weekend I got a Blackberry, and I can post about that at another time when I learn how to fully use it, but the reason i bring it up is that I put a navagation system on it since the first month was free, it's a great chance to try it out. A little weird though is that it was sending me through Uptown Charlotte to get onto I-85 South which was aready reading a 20 minute delay ... so i overroad the system and went my own way. The route I took to Nashville went from Charlotte south on I-85 to Spartanburg, then head north on I-26 into Asheville, NC hooking up to I-40 west through Knoxville and into Nashville. And so, the journey began!

Along the drive to Nashville I drove through a mountain tunnel for the 2nd time in my life (first was a few years ago in Pennsylvania), drove through the Great Smokey Mountains and possible the Blue Ridge Mountains as well and for the first time in my life I drove across a time zone! It was also the first time I've been in Tennessee except to change planes once in Memphis many years ago. The drive took a little more than the seven hours expected with a couple of stops along the way at the Tennessee welcome center in I-40 and to get gas and food. The car averaged aoubt 32 miles to the gallon on the drive!

More about Nashville on the next posting - until then, enjoy this video for out of state drivers from the state of tennessee. . .

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted . . .

2009-03-09T23:42:00.003-04:00

Well, it's sort of appropriate that my last post was about my trip to Dallas, because although it was a only a long weekend, it was the last trip that could somewhat be classified as a vacation. I had two vacations cancelled last year due to another member of my staff getting sick, so I'm really excited that after work on Tuesday, I am on V A C A T I O N!! I have a nice little trip planned out visiting a few places here in the southeast I haven't had a chance to visit since being down here. I'll be reporting out as I travel so you can experience it a bit with me. So until Wednesday I'm signing off to finish some laundry and starting to pack. Bon Voyage!!

First Time in Texas

2009-02-27T22:30:00.020-05:00

In my last post I listed a bunch of stuff that I've done in the year since I've moved to North Carolina. I also mentioned that there were plenty of other things out there that I probably forgot, but would mention when they came to mind. Here is one!

In October my buddy Jim made it possible for me to to visit him and make my first trip to the big state of Texas. I must admit that I was in Texas one other time, but that was only for the plane to land, let some passenger off and let others on while I was heading to Portland, Oregon. This time I was able to get off the plane and breath Texan air. I was able to swing a weekend off and it just so happened to be the weekend of Jim's company picnic that was being held at the Alliance Airfield in Fort Worth on October 11 the same weekend as the Fort Worth Alliance Airshow, one of the premier airshows in the country. So another first for me would be to attend an airshow - not really knowing what to expect. But more about that in a little bit. I flew down to Texas after work on Friday night and arrived just after dark with Jim waiting in the airport to meet me. It was a great long weekend getting to visit with my best friend, meet his new Texas friends, see some sights, drink some beer and visit some more with my best friend.

On Saturday his friend Shayne joined us as we headed to the Fort Worth Alliance Airport. My buddy's company abuts the airport and they were a corporate sponsor of the show in 2008. So the day was also the company picnic being held at the airport with front line viewing of all the festivities. A tent is set up for the employees and their guests with catered picnic food - some of my favorites; hot dogs, chili, burgers, grilled chicken, salad and chips on one side -- on the other side; soda, bottled water, Coors and Coors Light. It was a nice set-up and all you could eat and drink, although the beer was limited.

As I have said, this was my first time at an airshow, I knew there would be planes flying around, but didn't know there were other planes around the area that you could get up close and personal with. Military jets, commercial planes, helicopters and personal aircraft all displayed out in the open with people to explain what you were looking at. A bright clear sunny sky made for a great day. The highlight of the day was a performance by the Air Force Thunderbirds - the precision stunt team of the USAF. All I can say is AMAZING. It's hard to describe everything that they did, but it is hard to believe that these planes could be flying just feet from each other, turning together and passing each other from opposite directions and again coming within feet of the other planes all while rock music is blasting from the loudspeakers all around the airfield. It was interesting to see how the roar of the jets' engines can be used as part of their defences. At one point in the show every one's attention is directed to one side of the airfield as two jets perform and go off in the distance - within seconds another jet has "sneaked up" from behind, already on top of us before we even hear it. Truly AMAZING (as I mentioned before).

The part of the show that I found the most moving is when they paired up fighter aircraft of both World Wars with current fighter aircraft. Prop fighters that were the state of the art of their era flying side by side with the supersonic jet fighters of today. It really drove home how far science and technology has advanced in the past 100 years or so. Of course if I had written this back in October I could tell you more about the planes and what they did and I'm sorry I didn't do it right away.

Sunday was a trip to the NorthPark Center Mall in Dallas. Opened in the early 60's it is an open and airy indoor mall that has the distinction of housing a lot of artwork.
From the mall it was off to a bar to meet some more friends and just hang out on a Sunday afternoon and evening. Being a Giant fan, it was fun to be in a bar in Dallas watching the Cowboys loose a game in overtime. It's amazing how those Texas fans were cheering like they won the Super Bowl just because the game went into overtime ... but it got real quiet, real quick when they lost the game shortly into the overtime period.

It was a great trip and one that was definitely needed. My buddy's new house in a Dallas suburb near the DFW Airport is beautiful. Great curb appeal with lots of little unique accents inside and out - with a gorgeous pool and whirlpool in the backyard with a fire pit and a huge built in grill. The master bedroom is on the ground floor with access out to the patio and backyard, making it easy to live on the first floor of the house only needing to venture to the second floor when entertaining visitors. A nice large eat-in kitchen, formal dining room, entrance parlor, large living room and laundry room round out the first floor with a nice flow around the house. It seemed very comfortable for the time I was there.

I returned to Charlotte relaxed and in a great mood to see that he was getting acclimated to his surroundings. I enjoyed my first visit to Dallas and Texas in general and I can't wait to pay another visit, see more of the state perhaps. Words really cannot express my thanks for the opportunity to make this visit and truly can't wait to visit with my best buddy again soon!!

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

One Year Already!

2009-02-24T07:55:00.008-05:00

One year ago today I arrived in Charlotte for only the second time in my life. The difference this time was that my car was full of everything I felt I needed to survive until I made the official move, hopefully in a month or two. I made the drive of about 600 miles in two legs, stopping overnight in Richmond, VA - getting on the road just before noon and rolling up to the hotel around 5:00 pm. I started this blog to document my experiences at relocating but was not very good at keeping up with it during the year and left A LOT of stuff out, so today I will post a list of the things that I can remember that I've done since being down here in the order they come to mind, not the order they happened:

1. Saw Avenue Q at the Belk Theatre
2. Found out my license was suspended in NJ
3. Passed the NC drivers test with flying colors
4. Visited the following places: Spartanburg, Greenville, Columbia & Charleston in SC; Winston-Salem, Thomasville, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Asheville & Hickory in NC.
5. Made three trips back to NJ - 2 driving, 1 flying
6. Watched my Jeep die
7. Bought a new used Hyundai
8. Adjusted to new driving habits you don't find in NJ
9. Made Harris Teeter my favorite supermarket
10. Crossed the Eastern Continental Divide
11. Took a boat ride on Lake Norman (work outing)
12. Went to a Charlotte Checkers hockey game (work outing)
13. Met many of the Carolina Panthers football team
14. Became a fan of the Panthers (even though the Giants are still my favorite team)
15. Only had one friend visit me (thanks Jim!)
16. Found an apartment
17. Lived in one hotel for 100 nights
18. Lived out of my suitcase moving from hotel to hotel waiting for my apartment and stuff from NJ
19. Visited the Levine Museum of the New South
20. Became a regular at one of the Charlotte bars (first visited 3 days after arriving)
21. Joined Facebook
22. Visited Dallas for a long weekend with a friend's help (thanks Jim!)
23. Wondered many times if I made the right decision about moving and other things
24. Watched 4 contracts get drawn on the sale of my place in NJ and see 4 of them get broken
25. Ended the year with 45 vacation days left over from past years
26. Attended Charlotte's gay pride celebration
27. Went to the One Voice Chorus' holiday concert
28. Found out that in NC you get your license at one place, your registration and plates at another and get your car inspected at yet another place
29. Discovered that you pay "property tax" on your car each year
30. Ate at Bojangles and Jack in the Box for the first time
31. Opened a bank account at a local bank that is actually a Canadian bank and feel they have too many fees
32. Made it home for Christmas
33. Worked a double shift on Thanksgiving (7:00 am to 11:00 pm)
34. Realized that it takes a while to learn the streets in Charlotte because they keep changing names
35. Found that hotel guests are the same no matter where you work
36. Spent an afternoon in Augusta, GA

That's what has come to mind right now. I'm sure I've missed some stuff and in coming posts will add if needed.

Thanks for reading!

Oh No!!

2009-02-22T19:30:00.003-05:00

A couple of days ago, I got into my car to leave work and looking down at the dashboard saw a sight that was familiar on my old car ... the check engine light was on! My first thought was to utter an obsenity, so I did. Each day there after, on my way to work I vowed that I'd call and make an appointment to take it in to have it looked at. I only have one day off this week and that is Monday -- and of course each day would go by and I'd look at a clock and it was after 5:00 pm. Too late to call to make an appointment ... grrrrrr. So Saturday rolls around and I went on-line to look up the number for the dealer and found out that you can book service appointments on-line. How cool! So, I set up my profile and went in to make my appointment. Unfortunately there were no spaces available on Monday, but I was able to book on Tuesday morning since I work the PM shift on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The dealership has a nice waiting area with wifi available, so I hope to have a pleasant time waiting for the car to be ready! I think I need to be nicer to this car than the last one ... I admit that I abused the Jeep, but it did last 7 years and 210,000 miles - imagine how long my cars will survive if I take care of them! I'll let you know.

Good night for now!

Firebirds

2009-02-18T21:40:00.009-05:00

Tonight I was able to take advantage of a perk of my job and that was an invitation by one of the local restaurants to enjoy a meal on the house. Firebirds, in South Park opened in August of 2008 and is the 15th restaurant for this chain that began in Charlotte eight years ago. Although founded in Charlotte the restaurant has a lodge feel with lots of stone and wood as well as fireplaces and a show kitchen. They use three types of wood to fire their grill and obviously feature mostly grilled meats.

Staff members from the hotels in the area were invited and treated to an assortment of appetizers that included their signature app, Lobster Spinach Queso Dip as well as sliders, buffalo shrimp and onion rings. The Lobster Queso Dip with tri-color nacho chips were the stand out closely followed by the buffalo shrimp. Next came our salad course where they served us a sample of their BLT Salad with ranch dressing and a mixed green salad with chile pecans. Both were fantastic!

For our entree, we had the choice of a Chile rubbed Delmonico, cilantro grilled chicken and wood fired salmon. I was the only person to choose the salmon, the rest chose the steak from what I heard was very good. I really enjoyed the salmon, which was cooked perfectly for me, each of the entrees was served with Parmesan mashed potatoes. But just like the Ginsu knives, there was more - an assortment of desserts featuring Big Daddy Chocolate Cake, key lime pie and Creme Brulee Cheesecake. For anyone who knows me, dessert was the best part of the meal and my favorite was the Creme Brulee Cheesecake which was simply a light cheesecake covered with sugar and the sugar caramelized on top. It was so good, that I brought 1/2 of it home with me. YUMMMMMM.

Usually when you attend these events they put out small samples of the items on the menu, but we were all served a full meal. Shared appetizers, family style salad, full entree and shared desserts (the dessert forks have handles that must be about 18 inches in length making it easy to share the dessert - nice touch!) They certainly gave us a great show and left an impression with all of us in attendance. In all there were 4 hotels represented by 7 people. We were also treated to tasting of their private label wines from the California vineyards of one of the restaurant's investors.

This is most definitely a restaurant that will be on my list to take visitors to Charlotte. The food they served was great, the atmosphere casual and comfortable and the prices were mid-range.

Thanks Firebirds!!

Letting things go...

2009-02-11T15:08:00.003-05:00

It's been a hectic time at work recently and I'm trying to not get too stressed out, but it's hard. But that's not what I'm here to talk about today. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am very sentimental. I hold onto things forever! I have a box of stuff from high school that moves from place to place with me full of letters, cards and other keepsakes. Today I took a step at becoming less sentimental about a part of my life. I knew that I had some metal collar stays someplace and I was looking for them because the plastic ones in my dress shirts have been cracking recently. While looking for them, I came across my high school class ring. I graduated high school 26 years ago, and I don't think I've worn the ring in about 20 years so I tried to figure out why I still have it? I've been seeing a lot of commercials lately about selling old jewelry and decided that I might as well see if I can get some cash for it.

Since I made the decision to sell my class ring, I decided to look at a couple of other things I've been sentimental about and cut those ties as well. I've been single since August of 2004 and my wedding band has been sitting on my dresser since then -- time to see if it can help me pay a bill or two, so I put it in my pocket along with my class ring. Then I found an initial ring that I received from my ex on our first Christmas together, with an engraving inside to commemorate that event - that went into the pocket as well.

Off to a jewelry store in the Arboretum area of Charlotte hoping to get at least $50.00 which will help with my utility bills. The class ring and wedding band were 10k and the initial ring 14k and I was very happy to receive a check for $210.00 for the three rings!!

I can't lie, I was feeling very sentimental about selling these rings - but at the same time, I was closing the book a little bit more on some difficult memories of my life that were attached to the wedding band. A little knot in my stomach as I did it -- but you have to admit -- it was time!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!! It's 69 degrees right now and a beautiful day in Charlotte - so I'm off to enjoy the great day!

One Month Fast Food Free!

2009-02-02T19:45:00.006-05:00

Well, last week I mentioned that there was something I hadn't done in about 30 days that it's been years that I hadn't gone that long. Well my buddy in Texas (BHS) was able to figure it out with a few hints because the last time I did it was with him on the way to DC from NJ. If you haven't figured out yet, I haven't been to or ordered from a fast food place in over a month, which means this whole year! So far 2009 has been junk food free!! I didn't plan to make it happen, but since I had gone a few weeks already, I decided to try and see how long I can make it happen. Burger King was my favorite since there was a 24 hour drive thru on the way home from work. Well, BK was my favorite back home too (I practically lived at the BK on the edge of campus in college!). But it's weird - they just taste different down here. My usual meal was a Original Chicken Sandwich meal, king sized with two cheeseburgers, one as an appetizer and one as dessert. (sometimes I'll substitute a Whopper for the chicken sandwich) LOL I think they put more mustard on the cheeseburgers down here and that might be why they just don't taste the same. So we will see how long I can go without a trip to Burger King, Wendy's, Bojangles, McDonald's, Jack in the Box or Chick-fil-a. I'm sure I've had a few more ... but those are the closest to my home here in Charlotte ... wish me luck!!

Comfort Food

2009-01-28T23:49:00.011-05:00

One of the things that's easy to miss when you move from NJ to CLT is the availability of Italian food. Back home, every town had at least two Italian restaurants of one kind or another. Some of the best food was at the small family run pizza places on the corner. They are not as common here as back home -- I haven't found one here in Charlotte yet, but did find one in Winston-Salem, as mentioned in my blog posting about my trip up there. There are the chain restaurants and some high end ones, but I miss the small corner places. So recently I've been getting cravings for Italian food ... I found Celentano frozen food at the Harris Teeter down here, so I've have some eggplant parmigiana recently, although it seems the portions are a lot smaller than I remember them. During my day off this week, I saw a commercial for Pizza Hut, promoting their new Lasagna. So, not really wanting to cook, I took the risk and ordered it. I mean, over the years, I've had some really bad Italian food and I've had some of the best - thanks to my Mom, Mrs. Piccinnini and Mrs. Galante! While not really holding much hope for it, I placed the order. $20.00 got me a pan of lasagna and a two liter bottle of Sierra Mist and figured it can work out to be dinner for three days. About 25 minutes after placing the order there was a knock at the door and dinner was here!

I opened the box and found what looked like lasagna - crispy around the edges (the best part) and sauce covering the top. I got out the spatula and a couple of pieces on my plate and sat down to eat. From the look, the only negative was that it's not a deep dish lasagna, but only two or three layers. I sat down and took a bite and was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good. Plenty of ricotta and the sauce had a good taste about it - not sweet like Stouffer's. Being single and living alone, the 1/2 pan size should make for a few days meals. Included with the lasagna was a bag with five bread sticks which you really can't reheat, so I had to eat them that night.

Heading home from work tonight, I had to stop to pick up a couple of cases of water. While walking through the Harris Teeter, I walked past the Entenmann's display, thinking that maybe a box of fudge covered donuts might jump into my cart ... but then I noticed the marble pound cake and my mind went back to childhood ... toasted pound cake with melted butter on top!! YUMMMMMM ... it's been a couple of years since I've had that, so of course I had to get the pound cake and a tub of Land O Lakes whipped butter. Of course Breakstone's was more a part of my memories, but couldn't find that down here. So, tonight after I have my reheated Pizza Hut Lasagna, I opened the box (opened from the end instead of flip-top like I remembered ) and toasted a couple of slices of pound cake and enjoyed a dessert that took me back to my childhood ... Now that is comfort food!!

Thanks for reading and I'll be posting again soon. . .

It's been a month . . .

2009-01-26T16:47:00.000-05:00

Some may find this amazing - but there is something I haven't done since December 27th - 30 days ago. It's something that I would do at least twice a week for the last several years. I was tempted this past week - but when I realized that I'd gone this long, I decided to fight the desire and not do it. I think those who know me will be surprised, it's a good thing - a step toward bettering myself - making changes in my life. I'm sure anyone reading this is trying to figure out exactly what it is that I've been able to avoid for the past 30 days ... and now I wonder if I should post what it is or ask people to guess in my comment section.

Hmmmmm -- how obnoxious do I feel? Very, I think -- so I'll wait a few days and post what it is that I haven't done in 30 days at the end of the month when I can go the first full month of 2009 without doing it.

So please leave me a comment of what you think it is that I haven't done for this long for the first time in many, many years. Looking forward to hearing from whomever reads this blog to see how well you all know me ... he he

Thanks for checking out my blog and I'll be back later!

Snow Emergency

2009-01-20T21:24:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning to panic on the news stations... S N O W!!! Schools were closed all over the greater Charlotte area, government offices closed, accidents all over the region and people calling out of work. Back in NJ that would mean about 5" to 6" of snow would have fallen overnight.

But here in Charlotte ... that mean 1" to 2" of snow fell overnight in the South Park area of Charlotte - and that was mostly just on the cars and grassy areas. It was mentioned on the news this morning that they haven't seen show this severe in Charlotte since 2004. I'm scared!!

My Ride

2009-01-17T18:44:00.000-05:00

Howdy! Back in June, 2001 I was driving home from work along Route 46 in Parsippany when I noticed a really cool looking vehicle in front of the Jeep dealership. It sort of looked like a Jeep, but really different. I had seen my first Jeep Liberty and about a month later I owned my own Jeep Liberty Limited Edition in Patriot Blue. (the picture is not of my Jeep) I referred to it as a "fake jeep" considering it had lots of luxuries like leather seats and steering wheel, everything electric, heated seats and side mirrors, etc. Over the years this Jeep helped people move, made warehouse runs for the deli and took me lots and lots of places. Only a few months after buying the Jeep I moved down the Jersey Shore meaning that I had a roughly one hour commute each way everyday for work. This length of commute lasted until I moved down here to Charlotte which of course means lots of mileage going onto the vehicle.

Over the years my Jeep took to places from Manassas, Va in the south to Boston, Ma in the north as well as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal numerous times. Although I loved the car, I wasn't the best owner, being bad on getting oil changes (sometimes going over 20,000 miles and nearly a year between oil changes) In it's 3rd or 4th year the car was found to have a cracked engine block and the dealership just put some "stop leak" in the cooling system and it ran fine. I had to repeat that process a couple of times over the years.

Well, all good things must come to an end. In early November, 2008 just a month after hitting 210,000 miles the Jeep started acting up again as if it needed it's shot of "stop leak". Well, that didn't help this time - in the three mile commute to work the car was overheating and the engine started to make some noises that didn't really sound very good. So, on November 17, I broke down and called the garage that had been servicing my Jeep and they sent a flatbed to pick it up from work. The news was bad this time ... two cylinders and a few rods were gone which meant that a new engine was needed to keep the Jeep on the road. With an estimate of between $4,000 and $7,000 to have that done, the decision had to be made to say good-bye to the car that was part of me for over 100 months - and I hate shopping for a car.

Lucky for me, one of the woman in our sales department had a connection with one of the local dealers here in Charlotte. So I made my way to the dealership to see what they could do for me. With no money for a down payment, a mortgage that was in arrears in NJ and a poor credit rating I wasn't very positive that I'd be able to get anything worthwhile. A call was made to the GM of the dealership and I explained my situation to the salesman. I must say, the dealership did everything in their power to get me into a car. After the first visit on a Friday, I needed to return on Saturday to pick up a white 2007 Ford Focus that was previously a rental car in Chicago. The car had around 30,000 miles on it but ran fine. A little smaller than what I was used to, but it was a set of wheels to get me from point A to point B safely.

I signed and filled out the paperwork needed, but when I got home and went to insure it I couldn't find the name of the loan holder anyplace. I received a call a few days later asking me to come back in because they needed some further information from me. Knowing that I was going to have car payments again, which I haven't had in over a year - I checked on my retirement account to see if there was any money available to take out to pay off some outstanding debt to get it out of the way and found that I was legally able to take out $2,000 - so I made the request for the money. When I got to the dealership the next day, I was told that due to the mortgage issues back in NJ, they are having trouble finding a lender to approve my loan for the Ford Focus. If I was able to come up with more of a down payment, then they might have a chance. So an appointment was made to go back when the funds were in my account.

I returned at 1:00pm a couple of days later with a check expecting to leave a short time later with my new car. Well, as things happen in my life, that was not going to happen. After sitting across the desk from my salesman for about 3 hours while the credit manager worked on my loan, my salesman was called over to the credit desk. He came back to let me know that they would not be able to sell me the Focus, because they could not get a lender to finance that car for me. But the GM had told them that I had to leave in a car that night. They had two cars that could be financed. Both were pretty much the same car but a difference in color - 4 door 2008 Hyundai Accents - one in ice blue the other in white and both had about 17,000 miles on them. I test drove the blue one because the white one wasn't on the lot that night. I opted for the white one and left the dealership about 8:00 pm (7 hours after I arrived) to return the next day after work to pick up my new car. From the time I first entered the dealership until I picked up the car was just about 2 weeks and although it sounds like it was challenging at times, I really have to say that the dealership worked their butts off to get me into a car and I am very grateful for that!

The drive back to NJ for Christmas was done in this new car -- it has a 10 gallon gas tank that I only had to fill twice each way!! I would have filled the Jeep at least twice as many times, YAY! It's taking a little getting used to, but overall, so far I'm happy with my new car!

Thanks for reading and more news to come!

Housing

2009-01-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

As promised, I am trying to post more often and bring everyone up-to-date on what's going on here in Charlotte for me. This post will focus on living arrangements. During the first week of July I moved into my apartment in the South Park area of Charlotte. I'm renting a townhouse style apartment with 2 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. The layout is nice with a large dining/living room combination which gives a nice feeling of space. It even has a comfortable and private although small deck off the living room. At 1,458 square feet, there is plenty of space and at times over the past few months I've even wondered if it's too much space! The eat-in kitchen is a nice size with a large picture/bay window in the front giving it lots of light. This particular unit has not been updated and was built about 25 years ago, so the appliances are not up-to-date but work fine. You can sort of tell the age by the lack of a built in microwave - something I didn't even realize until I bought some frozen food to eat on unpacking day and found out I couldn't cook it when I got home! Luckily for me, my sister had an extra microwave which she gave to me when I was for my visit in December.

Upstairs are two bedrooms that are very close in size and each has a large closet that runs just about the entire length of each room. There is another large clothes closet in the hallway and a linen closet as well. What is really nice about the layout is that the bathrooms form a barrier between the bedrooms, so you really can't hear anything between the rooms. Although I'm living here alone, I'm sure that is a nice feature for roommates or families. Although I have used all the closets for some sort of storage, I don't even have enough clothes to fill all the closets!! Believe it or not. Currently I'm living in the "guest room" because my plan when my place in NJ sold was to buy a new bed for the master bedroom. I'm still sleeping on a full size bed that I bought at Bamberger's when I worked for them during college ... so you know how old it really is. The base rent for this unit is $925 a month and extended basic cable is only $20 more a month. Being only 3 miles away from work makes it all worth it! The place is built well, in all the time I've been here, only once have I heard noise from one of the apartments on either side of me. Back at my place in NJ, I could hear the neighbors sneeze! It is very quiet here.

Speaking of the quiet feel, the complex is comprised of about 83 acres and feels very much like a small town rather than an apartment complex. There are tennis courts, a kids playground and three seperate pools around the grounds. The clubhouse/office also has a workout room that is available 24 hours a day (a place i admit i have not visited yet, but plan to start using soon). On the south end of the complex is a small shopping center with a supermarket, drug store, drycleaner and several restaurants. All is within about a 2 to 3 block walk from my apartment so that is very convenient.

I've only experienced a few challenges with the apartment, the first being a leak in the air duct over the living room which caused part of the ceiling needing to be replaced and as it got cold down here an infestation of ant ... but these issues were taken care of and no longer exist. When my best buddy visited last week after our drive back from NJ, he seemed impressed with the apartment which was comforting to me, since I always question every decision I make in my life.

That's what's happening down in Charlotte - back in NJ my co-op still has not sold. When I rented the apartment and moved in, there was supposed to be a closing within the next couple of weeks. Well, as my luck usually unfolds, the potential buyers were not able to get the financing to close. That was after being under contract for about 3 to 4 months, building inspections and having to make some minor repairs. That contract was for $140,000 which was about $30,000 more than I owed on the mortgage. I was excited because I would have enough money left to pay off any outstanding debt and replace or buy some furniture that I needed. We put the co-op back on the market but prices had dropped already by about $20,000 and we tried to put it on the market to at least break even. Since July, I've had three other potential buyers, each at a lower price than the last and each was unable to secure financing. The title company was able to negotiate a short sale with the mortgage bank and they held off foreclosure proceedings as long as a contract was drawn. The last offer came in on December, 22 at $86,000 cash. I'm not sure how this will work out ... whether the bank will accept this offer -- but I just need to get my name off this piece of property in NJ so that I can try to get my credit back on track. With the apartment here I have not been able to make any sort of mortgage payment since June. Please keep your fingers crossed that something happens soon!!

That about does it for today's post ... today is my first day off this year! So, there is laundry and cleaning to do and guess it is time to take down the tree and christmas village ... thanks for reading and I'll be posting soon!

Wild Start to 2009

2009-01-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

You never know what to expect on New Year's Eve when working in a hotel. There is always the concern that people will rent rooms to have a party and end up disrupting everyone else around them. Luckily that wasn't the problem this year at my hotel, but the problem was people who partied elsewhere and then came back to the hotel. It is amazing what happens to people when they have had tooooo much to drink (not that I've ever been there, LOL). I spent over an hour trying to calm down a couple who had woken up 1/2 of the floor they were on. It's a long story, but it involved a door being kicked by the girlfriend while wearing a towel and her boyfriend was sitting in the bathtub under the running water. It was quite a night. I ended up working from 5:00 pm on the 31st to 7:00 am on the 1st, with only about 3 hours of sleep total from the day before. My lack of sleep began over the holiday weekend . . .

I drove back to NJ in my new car (more about that in another post) to visit with my Mother, my sister and her family. The visit was nice, it had been six months since I had last seen them and I was lucky enough to spend a short time with my nephew who I hadn't seen for a longer period of time than that. It's been a long time since I've been around kids on Christmas and it was fun to watch them opening gifts and the anticipation of waiting for Santa to arrive. My brother-in-law's son hosted us for dinner on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The food both nights was delicious - it's been a long time since I've eaten that well! Following some of the family's Polish traditions, Christmas Eve is a meatless holiday and our menu included lobster tail, scallops, shrimp and three kinds of pierogi. Yummmmm. The meal started with a bowl of homemade mushroom soup made by Ann - the recipe has been published and although I'm not much of a fan of mushrooms, the soup was DELICIOUS! After soup the kids get to open their presents which is for them the highlight of the night. The family also has a tradition of the kids making gingerbread houses - this year they were gingerbread trains and the they made it competition this year between the boys and the girls. Of course it ended up a tie...

Friday was spent with my Mother, Sister and Brother-in-law at their lake house in northern NJ. My brother-in-law has been doing some renovation work on the house and it all looks great. It is amazing the work they have done on this house over the years making it more and more comfortable. It was great to spend time together since it is hard to see each other very often living about 600 miles apart from each other.

Friday night I made my way down the Jersey Shore to meet up with a few friends from where I used to live. A small group of friends were out on Friday night at what I think is the new hangout, since our regular bar in Asbury Park closed on December 20th. It was great to see them as well and I really miss hanging out with them on a more regular basis, it takes time to build the type of friendships I had back in Jersey, but I'm sure in time I'll have some similar friends here in Charlotte.

Saturday was the start of my trip back to Charlotte. I had made plans to make the trip back with my best friend Jim, who had been up in Dutchess County, NY visiting with his family for Christmas. We planned to drive down to DC and spend a couple of nights and then drive to Charlotte and he'd fly home to Texas from Charlotte. Unfortunately, it seems like everyone decided to travel by car on Saturday. It usually takes about 4 hours to drive from central Jersey to DC, but this time it took 7 1/2 hours. Thank God I had such great company in the car with me or the trip would have been unbearable. I don't think I hit 30 mph at any point of the trip between the Delaware/NJ border and Baltimore. UGH! But I had Jim with me and the Christmas cookies his family had made - so it was bearable, very bearable!

I was really looking forward to visiting with Jim for these few days, it's been several months since he helped me visit him in Dallas. It didn't quite work out that way - to no fault of anyone really. My best buddy has a new boyfriend in his life who happened to also be in the DC area visiting family for the holidays. It ends up that he and I were both looking forward to spending quality time in DC with Jim. (He IS that special). The new bf and I both ended up getting mad at Jim to no fault of his. Jim and I did get to spend Sunday night together having dinner and then touring the sights of the National Mall at night, seeing the Jefferson Memorial, the little known George Mason Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Washington Monument and the National Christmas Tree (and Menorah). We drove back to Charlotte on Monday, had a nice dinner, showed off my apartment and watched some tv before I dropped Jim off at the airport on Tuesday morning.

My mind has been working overtime since arriving back to Charlotte reflecting on the weekend. It had very high points and also some very low points - just like any holiday celebration. DC used to be a favorite vacation spot for me, but I doubt I'll be returning anytime soon since it is the place where my best friend and I let each other down just because of circumstances. Neither of us planned or wanted to hurt each other, but it happened, and I am sure that both of us want to work through this. And we will.

Well, it's time to get ready for work today ... thanks for reading and I'll be posting again soon.

The end of 2008

2008-12-31T11:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't posted anything here since July and when I went back to NJ for Christmas I was reminded of that fact. A lot has happened here since my last post. I moved into my apartment, still haven't sold my place in NJ, car died, bought new car, visited 2 state capitals (Raleigh & Columbia), met some new people and pissed off some friends.

All in all, 2008 was another bad year for me. Each time I felt that I was making a step forward in financial and personal issues - something would happen to cause me to take two steps back - or maybe to be somewhat optimistic, I should say for every 3 steps forward I made 2 steps back.

I've sat down a few times and started blog posts, but never got around to posting them. My New Year's resolution is to be more focused on these posts. If anything, they will help me say stuff out loud that I need to -- and it really is good for my family and friends to know that I am still alive and just haven't fallen off the face of the earth (although at times I have felt like that would be a good thing).

I'm sitting here at 11:35am on December 31, 2008 - getting ready to go to bed because I have to work today from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am due to turnover in my overnight staff. It is a perfect way to end 2008 -- working ... but I hope that going forward, 2009 will be a much better year.

Just as when any New Years holiday rolls around, we all will reflect of what we have done this past year -- are we better off than last 12/31? are we happier than the last 12/31? have we made any sort of impact on the world or others since the last 12/31? We would all love to say a resounding YES!! to all of those questions, but can we? I'm not sure I can say yes to any of them. So the next response would be ... there's always next year. . .

My plan for this year is to focus on my financial situation ... starting tomorrow all extra curricular spending will be restricted. Except for necessities, all income will go toward working on paying off my outstanding debt. When I can only have my rent and car payments left, then I can look at traveling again, going out on weekends and updating my furniture. This time next year I want to be able to say YES I am better off than I was last year, YES I am happier than I was last year and YES I have made an impact on others this year.

To anyone who reads this blog - I hope that you enjoyed the posts from the beginning of the year. I hope that you will continue to read as we go forward - I will try to bring everything current in the next month -- so it may be weird as you read about stuff that happened 6 months ago and then read about something happening this past week - but please bear with me on that.

Thank you for reading this blog and for putting up with my ramblings today. I close with the following statement:

As 2009 rolls in tonight - I will be looking forward and smiling at what is to come instead of looking back and crying over what has been. Happy New Year to all and to all a good night (afternoon).

Officially a Charlottean

2008-07-10T08:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a very big day in my move to Charlotte - I finally slept in my own apartment in my own bed! Since arriving in Charlotte on February 24th, I have been living in hotels - the reason for this is that I was unable to rent anything here until I was able to sell me co-op back in NJ. Well, the closing should be happening within the week, so I went apartment hunting in late May and chose an apartment in early June. After signing the lease, it was a waiting period until I was able to get my keys on July 3rd.

During that time I had to set up the utilities and planning the move from Jersey. More about the apartment later - but here's all you need to know about the move. On Saturday, June 29th I worked the morning shift then made the run to the airport to catch my flight at 5:55 pm to go back to NJ to meet the packers and movers. The relocation package included packing, moving and unpacking as well as the trip home to meet the movers and make the final move. I checked into my flight on-line the day before and noticed that the flight was only 1/2 full, so I was a little concerned that the flight would be cancelled in the current status of the airlines - but figured I'd deal with that as it happens. I got to the airport about 90 minutes before my flight time, I wasn't checking any bags, so I headed to the gate with my boarding pass and drivers license. Passed through security - only issue there was that someone else took my laptop off the belt, but we cleared that up quickly. As I was walking down to my gate, I checked the departure monitor to verify the same gate, and noticed that the flight was indeed cancelled! I made my way to the gate and there was another flight to Newark that was posted as "boarding". The woman at the gate first told me that the current flight had already left and they would put me on another airline. She then turned around and noticed that the plane was still there, she called to see if the door was closed because there was one empty seat on the plane - after some back and forth with the plane, she led me down the jetway and they reopened the door to the plane. The flight attendant informed us that he had 50 passengers on the plane and no empty seats - but the manifest only showed 49. I am assuming that the empty seat was filled with an airline employee, because a gentleman came forward and moved into the cockpit to sit on the jumper seat. So I got on an earlier flight, or so I thought! The door was closed again, we pulled away from the gate and started taxiing toward the runway, only to pull over because the air traffic in the New York area was full and we would have to wait. We ended up leaving at the same time my original flight would have left! I arrived in Newark, took the monorail to the car rental and got my Hyandai for the weekend. Then off to Tinton Falls to check into a hotel.

Saturday night I went out to Asbury Park hoping to see some of my friends on my last visit to NJ until at least October. Luckily I ran into a couple of friends, so it was a nice evening out, although I was a little off my game, since I didn't close the bar. (LOL)

On Sunday, I went over to my old co-op and made sure that I had it ready to be packed up on Monday. Did some work and made sure everything was ready. On Monday morning two gentlemen arrived to pack all my stuff up. It took several hours, but when they left, they had packed about 43 cartons - cleaning out all cabinets, closets and shelves as well all the pictures off the walls. As the pictures show, everything was packed up and ready for the movers to arrive on July 1st to pack everything into the truck. Four guys got there between 10 and 11 and after a quick tour of the co-op and letting them know what was going and what was staying, they started loading the truck. It took about 5 or 6 hours for them to get it all loaded - with another load in front of mine that was heading to Wilmington, NC after they make my delivery. Two of the guys that loaded the truck would be making the drive down to Charlotte and at that time they were unable to let me know when they would be arriving except to say that it would be the following week, due to the holiday on Friday (July 4th). With the truck loaded and having checked out of the hotel that morning, I headed up to Passaic County to visit my Mom and Sister before the "final move" to Charlotte. We had dinner and a nice visit and before it got too late, I headed down into Bergen County for the night. On Wednesday morning I was able to visit with a friend who used to work for me at a previous hotel and now she is the AGM of a new hotel. We hadn't seen each other in at least 4 years and it was really nice to catch up with each other. Then it was off to the airport to catch my flight back home! I joked all week that during this trip I was going "home" twice, once back to NJ and then back to Charlotte since that is now my new home.

More on the delivery and unpacking on the next post -- but the BIG NEWS is that for the first time in over four months, I was able to say, "I'm going home.", when I left work last night and woke up in my own bed this morning!!

Thanks for reading and hope all is well on your end!

Birthday Dinner

2008-07-07T01:34:00.000-04:00

I'm a little bit behind in posting to the blog, and I appologize for that. But after heading up to Winston-Salem, the next big thing I was looking forward to was a visit from my best buddy (now) from Texas. He had to make a visit to Charlotte for business and we were able to get together for a couple of nights. Although there was some problems during my birthday, we were able to work those out and it was the highlight of a very busy week.

Saturday saw the Chairman and CEO of the company pay a visit to the hotel. The visit went really well and he actually didn't have any negative comments or recommendations to make about the hotel. On Sunday, I facilitated a training class, that should have had about 15 attendees, and only 2 showed up - but we still held the class and it was good because it was very hands on for the attendees. On Monday the Health Inspector showed up to inspect the hotel's food and beverage outlets - they passed with a score of 98 (in NC they post the actual score in the establishment) which is very good. Then later on Monday, the corporate auditor checked into the hotel - she was expected but it still is a very stressful time in the hotel. The audit takes place on the night of check-in and then during the following day. You get the score before the auditor leaves the building - and we improved over last year's score by 4 points! Small steps lead to greater things!

Right from getting the score I ran to the airort to pick up my buddy! His flight was running early so I headed out and sent a text message to call me when they touched down. The Charlotte Douglas Airport has a "Cell Lot" which is a lot you can park in while waiting for a plane to land to pick someone up. In the past at Newark, I've had to circle the airport over and over waiting for friends to get off the plane and pick up luggage. After a short wait he was ready and we headed back toward the SouthPark area. He was in town for two nights, and we planned to do a nice dinner for my birthday on the second night. So we checked him into the hotel and headed over to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner (even though i didn't have pizza). During dinner we looked over my reservations for next year's birthday trip - places ranging from Anchorage, Palm Desert and Orlando to Prague, Munich and Edinburgh - oh yeah, was also able to find some associate rates in Australia! My buddy seemed most interested in seeing what Anchorage would be like in June. So maybe I'll be returning to Alaska! It was great to spend some time with my buddy - after dinner it was back to the hotel to hang out for a while.

The following evening a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers were delivered to the room, which made for a nice warm up for dinner. Sitting on the balcony enjoying a little wine and a lot of cheese and crackers! Then after a little nap it was off to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. This was my first time going to a "real" steakhouse - and I enjoyed it! I'm not a big steak person because I'm very picky when it comes to meat. I have a problem with fat and grizzle and my Mom used to hate serving steak to me as a kid because I used to surgically disect the piece of meat cutting all the fat and grizzle off the steak before I'd eat it. But the difference here is that the steak is prime and I ordered filet mignon. But I get ahead here. The meal began with a bottle of Newcastle with Cesaer Salad - both were very good. Then another bottle of Newcastle and the Petite Filet with Shrimp, with sides of mashed potatoes and their famous creamed spinach - YUMMMMMMM! The only thing better than the meal was the company across the table! The steak was cooked just the way I liked it and just outright delicious. For desert it was a glass of port and Creme Brulee - which really is my favorite desert. Overall - this was a great birthday meal and it made up for some of the trials of the week of my actual birthday week.

Unfortunately the next day we had to say goodbye and not sure when we will see each other next. I'm hoping to make a trip down to Dallas/Fort Worth for the Labor Day weekend - I've booked a hotel and have the weekend off. Hopefully the trip will happen because with all the changes happening in both of our lives, we are sort of holding each other up - even with such a distance between us. It is always a very special time when we get together and I don't want either of us to miss out on it as often as we can.

Well, big news coming in the next post (hopefully tomorrow) and as always - thanks for reading and have a good night!

Winston-Salem

2008-06-30T18:28:00.000-04:00

Work has been busy lately - with one supervisor out on a medical leave of absence and my other supervisor going on vacation. A supervisor from a hotel in South Carolina came to fill in the gap for nine days. Thursday the 19th was my only day off that week, so after work on Wednesday I decided to escape the hotel for at least a day to enjoy the day off. I was able to find the associate rate available in Winston-Salem and made the 90 minute drive north to historic W-S.

I didn't get into town until around 11:00 pm, so there wasn't much exploring to be done that night, but the next morning I decided to visit Bethabara Park just a couple of miles from the downtown area. The park is the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina in 1753. The Moravians were a German speaking Protestant sect that predates the Lutherans. Bethabara ("House of Passage") was a center for religion, governance, trade, industry, culture, education, and the arts. The Moravians constructed over 75 buildings during the first 20 years of the settlement's existence. During the French and Indian War (1753-1762), Bethabara and its two forts served as defensive centers for regional settlers and a supply depot for the Catawba allies of the British.

Today the park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places with several original buildings still in existance. The most important one is the 1788 Gemeinhaus (church), uniquely the last remaining eighteenth-century German church with attached living quarters remaining in the United States, furnished with period furniture, some original to the building. Across the street from the Gemeinhaus is the house of the village's distiller and brewer. Behind the Gemeinhaus are several archeological digs that show the foundations and cellars for several other important buildings. The most notable are the apothecary and doctor's office. People would travel miles to visit the doctor - so much so, that outbuildings were also built to house the "strangers" who came to visit the community. Since all members of the community spoke German, one person who spoke English was chosen to be the greeter of visitors to Bethabara. Life of the community was very well documented, sketches of the buildings as well as a journal of daily life. Because of this they were able to reconstruct parts of the village as well. This journal also made it easier to determine where to dig for atrifacts and what they were finding when they did dig. I didn't take the tour this time around, but opted to roam around the site myself at my own pace. It was interesting to see the "walls" of the fort - the walls are comprised of tall wooden poles stuck into the ground very close together, nothing tying them together and able to be seen through - not exactly the image of forts that I had as a kid!

There are about 20 miles worth of trails that run through the park, originating at the historic area. They have maps the guide you throughout the park - there are two main trails that run at 10K if you take the full walk. I took the "lower trial" which runs along the creek to the site of the old mill then through the marsh to a beaver pond. They have piers that go out over the pond which was very relaxing to stand on. Near the beaver pond was a strip mall and the map recommended it was a good place to get water for the remainder of the walk. Since it was around 90 that day I decided it was a good thing to do as well. Well being hungry as well, I noticed a pizzeria/restaurant next to the Harris Teeter. I went in for some lunch and was pleasantly suprised to find a real italian menu offered. I went out on a limb and ordered a slice of pizza to start and eggplant parmesian for my meal. I was even more suprised to find that the pizza was good and the eggplant was VERY good (not as good as Mom's but still good). The eggplant was cut very thin and lot layered too thick nor over cooked or mushy. I left the restaurant very full and really not wanting to complete the walk back to the car, but I perservered and finished the walk.

Then it was time to travel back to Charlotte after a strenous but relaxing day in Winston-Salem.

Things to get used to...

2008-06-20T01:29:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been here nearly 4 months now and there are a few things that I'm still not used to.

A major one that I do like is that you are able to make left turns here North Carolina. As the folks in NJ know, it is hard to find many places to make left turns especially on 4 lane roads. I haven't seen a single "jughandle" here in NC!
The next is the fact that you can make U-turns around medians at traffic lights here. A MAJOR offense across the state of NJ - I still find myself passing an intersection and trying to go around the block - which brings me to the next thing -
this section of Charlotte (SouthPark) is not laid out in a grid pattern which means if you miss a turn, it may take 5 or 10 minutes to get back to where you wanted to go - unless you make a U-turn!
You don't need to keep change in the car down here - I haven't seen a toll both since I've been here. Which I am not complaining about.
I miss 24 hour convience stores -- no WaWa's down here and hard to find a 7-11.
I'm undecided on pumping my own gas ... although it can be annoying, you get in and out a lot quicker!
And speaking of gas - get a load of the picture -- 100 octane gas sold at the Texaco station I usually go to --- sorry, I forgot to check on the price...

Well, I think I'm off to bed for tonight and should have a new post in the next couple of days to talk about my trip to Winston-Salem. Thanks for reading and blog to you soon!

The Birthday

2008-06-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

So, here I am - a day after the rantings of my 43rd birthday. I decided to not spend the day doing laundry, but do something with the day.
I headed uptown Charlotte and checked into the hotel and got a room on the 16th floor with a nice view of an office building, a condo building and landscapes behind. Shortly thereafter I went for a walk to the Levine Museum of the New South. The museum looks at the history of Charlotte and the Piedmont Region from it's founding to today. Charlotte grew because it was at the crossroads of the two main Indian trading routes of the time which are now known as Tryon and Trade Streets. North Carolina was good for two different crops - cotton and tobacco. The environment around Charlotte was much better for cotton, so that became the crop of the region. After the Civil War, the business people in the region wondered why they were sending all the raw cotton to the textile mills of New England and began building their own mills. The mills would included villages of three or five room homes for the mill workers and their families. A company store, room for a garden, livestock, churches and schools were all part of these mills. More and more farmers came off the farms to the mill towns to work the mills because it was less backbreaking work. Cannon Mills and Springmaid are two of the mills that are still in existance today that started in this area during this era. As a matter of fact, the city of Kannapolis, NC was founded by Cannon Mills. Because of importance of cotton as the cash crop, Charlotte was an imporant city in the region, so as the textile businesses began to fade, then banking took over as the main industry of the city starting in the 70's. Many mills still exist but are being used for many other purposes. Today Greater Charlotte is the home of eight Fortune 500 companies: Bank of America, Lowe's, Wachovia, Duke Energy, Nucor, Sonic Automotive, Family Dollar, Goodrich and SPX - this ranks Charlotte #6 on the list of cities called home by the most Fortune 500 companies, tied with Philadelphia and Minneapolis. Of course, being the home of two of the three largest banks in the US - also makes Charlotte second only to NYC in importance in the financial world. It's a long way from a speech made by FDR in Charlotte where he called the South the largest economic concern of the country! The visit to the museum was very interesting and I learned a lot about my new home.

After the museum it was time for dinner - in the mood for seafood, I ventured out toward the Convention Center to dine at a restaurant named Aquavina. It is located on the second floor of one of Wachovia's office buildings in Uptown Charlotte. It was just a short 6 or 7 block walk from the hotel - and even though it was over 90 out, it was a nice walk along Tryon Street. Some interesting options on the menu and the presentation was gorgeous. I started my meal with a Peach Passion Martini (Stoli Peach, Blue Curacao and pineapple juice) which was very refreshing on such a hot day. For an appetizer I chose the Asian Pear Salad - greens wrapped in procuitto served on top of sliced pears with dressing on the side. Dinner was Surf & Turf Three Ways - when I read the menu it listed three ways the Surf & Turf is prepared. I thought that you choose which way you wanted it prepared, but it is served all three ways - three plates on a platter - each a miniture version of a full meal. It was very good and even cooked well done as I like! With dinner came the second martini - a Pom Pom which is Pomegranate Liqueur, Stoli, Triple Sec and Lemon Garniture - I enjoyed the Peach Passion better, but think of all the anti-oxidents I got in the Pomegranate Liqueur! Since it was my birthday I felt that desert was in order and had a Carmelized Banana and Chocolate Turnover with banana ice cream. Again, very good! Overall, a very enjoyable meal!

Just outside the restaurant is a little park called The Green that looks like it should be on the edge of a harbor or lake, but with no water in Charlotte, I knew that wasn't the case. In this park they put on Shakespeare plays on a small stage with a grassy area to sit. The whole park has a literary theme with pages out of books and directional signs that use city names to make literary names EMILY, Minnesota & BRONTE, Ontario.

It was then back to the hotel to rest a little while and then out to the bar for a couple of Newcastle's to end the night.

Other big news - I have signed a lease for an apartment - but more information on that in the next posting.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from you soon!

June 9

2008-06-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

Well, it's June 9 - the year is nearly 1/2 over - I'm still living in the hotel (at least 5 days a week) and it's forecasted to hit 99 today. Oh yeah, it's also my birthday.

I swore off birthdays a few years ago after several very poor birthday experiences. When I turned 40 I decided to go away for my birthday - that year I traveled to Toronto. I took myself out shopping and splurged at my favorite store up there buying myself some very nice stuff that I still wear today (you only turn 40 once!). The following year I had planned to travel to San Francisco for a week, but those plans were changed when I was asked to produce an event in Philadelphia - the only days that worked to have the event were June 9 & 10 - so my 41st birthday was spent in Philadelphia. Last year I returned to Canada but this time visited Ottawa and was able to have some great quality time with a friend up there. The usual routine is to spend the day by myself, have a really nice dinner then go out and if friends are out great - if not then it just goes with the rest of the day. This year I had made plans to spend my birthday in Atlanta at the Ritz Carlton - but some problems that popped up here at work have made me change those plans and I will stay here in Charlotte, but at a different hotel so I can have a change of scenery. I still plan to go out for a nice dinner, a couple of martini's and then see where it goes from there.

I've never been a fan of others calling the shots for me - those that know me are probably laughing because I also hate to make decisions. I had about five bad birthdays leading up to my 40th and that is why I decided to start taking my birthday on the road. I just consider age a number anyway - it doesn't mean a person is mature if they have a high number attached, it's all a state of mind. For that reason, it's not a big deal to celebrate a birthday for me. Yes, it's nice to get cards and a phone call wishing me a happy birthday - that people remember, but I don't like parties - I don't like being the center of attention. I usually don't even mention to people that it is my birthday - not wanting people to feel obligated to do something special or feel bad if they didn't. My reasons for this? It goes way back - I remember one birthday back in Bogota when my sister-in-law stopped by and didn't even remember it was my birthday. I wasn't saying anything, didn't want to make a big deal about it - but she found out and felt very, very bad about it. I felt worse that she felt bad, than her not remembering my birthday.

The final several years of my last relationship (years 7-11 probably) were not fun birthdays. Gifts that had no meaning or were just embarassing - half hearted attempts at making a celebration. My favorite was the birthday when I was driving back to Bergen County from the shore (just after we bought the deli) and for about 2o or 30 miles along the GS Parkway a person was hanging out the window of the car in front of me throwing up and it was splattering all over my car. It was lovely - a hot June Sunday afternoon in traffic on the GS Parkway and no way to get from behind that car. So I spent that night washing my car at the self carwash - the spouse down the shore and me at home.

So this year's plans had to be dashed - alternate plans made. Had to work a double shift (7am - 11pm) on both Saturday and Sunday. Get done last night with work, come to my room and log on. Get a great birthday wish from my best buddy in Texas. We start to chat and then after a comment that was meant in a joking manner he abruptly says good night and logs off. Then at 11:59 I recieve a text message calling me out for the comment I made after he was trying to make my birthday special. I sent an apology - no reply.

And so my cursed birthdays continue . . .

A note for next year for anyone who is reading this blog -- no cards, no gifts, no dinners on June 9th. If you want to call and say, "Hi, was thinking about you today and happy birthday" - that's great - but otherwise, just let this day be like any other on the calendar. I'm tired of it causing people harm. It's 10:20 am and I need to get out of bed, shower, check-out of the hotel and head off to spend my birthday doing laundry - just like any other day off.

Thank you for reading -

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T02:55:00.000-04:00

The holiday weekend has come to an end. A big weekend here in Charlotte - it's the culmination of Race Week. It started last weekend with the Sprint All-Star race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway just north of Charlotte in Concord, NC. The track features a main oval of 1.5 miles and various smaller courses, dirt courses and a kart course on the infield. Built in 1959, the "Beast of the South East" can seat 167,000 with room for 50,000 more in the infield. Known as the Charlotte Motor Speedway, in 1999 Lowe's bought the name rights making it the first track in the country to have a corporate name.

During the end of the week they turn the Uptown area into "Speed Streets" which is a big street festival geared toward the NASCAR fans who come into the city. I worked the afternoon shift the whole weekend, so there wasn't a chance to head Uptown for the festivities, but from what I've been told, it's very crowded and I'm not really a crowd person. Concerts, food and vendors giving away free stuff. People walk away with shopping bags full of snacks, beverages food samples and just about anything else that's legal to give away. We had a few of the vendors staying in the hotel, so in the evening we got some care packages at the front desk ... most notably from Vitamin Water!

Sunday brings the Coca-Cola 600 race to LMS. This race is the longest race of the season at over 4 hours and the longest race of any kind on an oval track. The race which started in 1960 as the World 600 goes 400 laps around the track. NASCAR started this race to compete with the Indy 500 which also takes place on Memorial Day weekend - and in the past drivers have driven in both races, by flying from Indianapolis after the end of the Indy and racing at Charlotte - that's 1,100 miles of racing in one day! That's a lot of driving. With the timing of the races today and daylight savings time, there isn't enough of a gap between the races for anyone to accomplish this today. The race was won by Kasey Kahne - his first win of the season - although he also won the Sprint All-Star race last week!

Great news for the hotel as our Satisfaction Scores continue to go up - for our company, we are the highest scoring full-service hotel in North Carolina, #7 in our region and #31 in all of North America! Putting us in the Top 10 in all those rankings. We are also ranking in those zones for our service scores and the scores for our rooms and hallways!

I have a four day weekend coming up and my first thought was to venture toward the mountains and stay in Asheville, NC - the main purpose to visit the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the United States. I booked my hotel room and when I was doing a little research, found out that a ticket to visit the grounds of the Biltmore costs over $50.00 - so I've decided to change those plans until after I sell my house and have a few bucks in the bank. My plan is to now visit Atlanta on Friday and Saturday adding another state capital to my list and pay a first visit to that city.

Getting late here - so I'll be logging off now and will be updating again soon - thanks for reading!

Another long wait...

2008-05-20T18:54:00.000-04:00

OK, OK, OK -- I have to get better at putting some posts on here. It's been almost a month and I was about a month behind last time I posted, so this may be a long one. Still living in the hotel, but some good news is that I have had two offers on my house and one is under contract, the buyers have been approved by the co-op board and the first inspection has been done. From what I've heard so far, there are just some minor fixes to the heating system in the house. So, please keep your fingers crossed that by the end of June I will be moving into my own apartment!!

So, since I'm still living in the hotel, I'm sitting in another local hotel having a Newcastle (or two) while doing my laundry. A big, big storm is rolling through Charlotte - hopefully bringing some needed rain and not just passing over quickly. I'm not too concerned, since I just put my laundry in the dryer, so I have about 90 minutes before I have to venture outside. It's currently 7:00 pm and there is a tornado warning for the northern part of Charlotte until 7:15 pm - no windows in the bar and it's interior of the hotel, so this should be safe.

Anyway -- to fill you all in on what has been happening around here - my best buddy in NJ is now my best buddy in Texas! He's made the move to the Fort Worth area and ventured about 100 miles out of his way while driving down there to pay a visit to Hickory, NC, I ventured up that way so we could have a nice dinner (Carrabba's) and hang out a bit. It's hard to tell at this point when we will see each other again, but we are text messaging or chatting on line almost every day. I'm making plans to make my first visit to Texas (without just changing planes) for the Labor Day holiday this year. Hickory is a small town about an hour north of Charlotte, you drive out to Gastonia, make a right and head on up. It was funny while I was driving, I kept thinking about what a long drive it was, until I realized that my daily commute 4 months ago was about as long!! Funny how soon we forget those things! We had a good visit and he left in the morning for Arkansas and I did laundry. It was a nice visit.

The company had a Regional Town Hall meeting for the hotels in the Carolinas. I was chosen to be part of a small select group to sit with the EVP of the region and we were able to ask questions about the company, region, economy and stuff. Then we had our main meeting to learn what new and exciting things are happening along the eastern seaboard and company wide. A very nice reception followed and during this period the hotel was audited to see if we were in compliance to a new check-in policy we rolled out ... of course we were compliant and recieved a perfect score.

The first weekend of May I paid a surprise visit back home to NJ. After work on Wednesday evening I got on the road and drove up to Woodbridge, VA and stayed overnight. Then on Thursday had breakfast at the hotel and then drove up to Princeton. I decided to avoid the $9.00 it costs to drive 95 through Maryland and Delaware (I'm also sick of that drive) so I got onto US 1 just north of Baltimore and took that through rural Maryland and Pennsylvania - the big highlight was passing over a really neat dam that I was not able to find on a map as well as passing the headquarters of Wawa! (I really do miss Wawa down here - I haven't found anything that matches up).

I then stopped into my old hotel bringing a case of Cheerwine with me for the staff to enjoy. Cheerwine is a cherry flavored soda produced here in North Carolina. It has caffiene so I can't tell you how it tastes, but from what I've been told, it is VERY sweet. The website is very interesting and the company obviously has a great sense of humor. They only make this one flavor of soda as well as diet version and they have been around for over 90 years. The company started out making a mint flavored soda ... hmmm, I guess that was a great success!! LOL

The next day I went back to my old house and ... you guessed it ... did laundry. Chatted with the neighbors a bit about the new city and moving and such. Everything looked the same as when I left, but I was able to pick up some extra supplies so that I wouldn't have to be doing laundry quite as much as I was before. Then on Friday night I suprised all my buddies in Asbury Park by showing up for a bar night. No one knew I was in town, so it was fun to hang out without any expections - not much has changed there either, except a few new faces. On Saturday it was a trip to visit my Mom, Sister and Brother-in-Law up in Passaic County, NJ. For anyone who is unfamiliar with Passaic County, it runs the gambut from inner city living like the Cities of Passaic and Paterson to the rural lake living of Ringwood, Wanaque and West Milford. The lake areas are beautiful and there is where my sister and Mom are living now. My sister lives in a cabin like house that overlooks a lake from a high perch - very relaxing to sit on the deck and hear the sounds of nature and dogs barking. Besides getting to visit with family - I also had the first home cooked meal in months!! It was very good and appreciated. Then on Sunday it was back on the road for Charlotte stopping in Richmond at a hotel that has only been open since March. I was able to stay in the capital of Virginia for the first time! That makes 10 state capitals that I have stayed in during my lifetime ... of course the goal is to continue that list - at least with Raleigh, Columbia and Atlanta by the end of the year.

Things at the hotel are going well - our guest satisfaction scores are staying high and the hotel is ranked in the top 10 of the region and the has the highest overall satisfaction score of any full service hotel in our company in North Carolina!! We have a few areas that need improvement and we are working on them and are seeing some gains.

Well, laundry is done and it's time to head back to my hotel - so as usual thanks for reading and hope to hear from you all soon!

Too long a wait for more posts...

2008-04-30T01:50:00.000-04:00

Sorry everyone - I know it's been a while since I've posted, so I'm going to try and throw a few out there to get everyone up to date on what I've been up to.

In the last post, I was in South Carolina visiting with a buddy from NJ. On the way back to Charlotte we stopped at the Revolutionary battleground at Cowpens. It was the site of a defining battle in which the American forces were able to double-back on the British and take 800 prisoners! This battle helped force the British troops north out of the Carolinas. Like most battleground sites, there is a lot of open land with some trees and pastures. They are working on making the site look just as it did 200 years ago when the battle took place. That would entail moving trees and such. From what I could make out the road in the picture was actually a main route through the area. But as you see it was beautiful day to stroll around the grounds reading the informational signs describing this battle as well as the methods of battle at the time. From here it was a drive back to Charlotte to get my buddy to the airport for a flight back to New Jersey. It was great to spend time together and at that point weren't able to make plans for the next opportunity to see each other.

We had a managers' outing at work the following week and went up to the Bobcat Arena to watch the Charlotte Checkers take on the Columbia Inferno. The Checkers is the New York Rangers farm team based in Charlotte. April 3rd was the 2nd to last home game of the season. Unfortunately they lost this game, but it was fun to watch the game from the Uptown Suite - free beer and snack foods! Of course I had to get over the fact that the team is part of the Rangers franchise, being a NJ Devils fan when it comes to hockey, but when 14 of the 21 players are Canadian and one of the US players hails from Rumson, I was able to chow done on some nachos, hot dogs and few Buds and enjoy the game. This was my first time at any farm league sporting event and it was interesting seeing the activities they use to keep the crowd entertained - I also didn't know they have hockey cheerleaders! They had a blimp floating around dropping Chick-fil-a coupons - a frozen t-shirt contest which pits 3 guys trying to get a cruppled up frozen t-shirt over their heads with arms through the quickest. They drive a Jeep around the ice and have fans throw soft yellow pucks at the car trying to get one to go through a small opening in the sunroom to win $500. The game had two good fights, one in the first few minutes and the other in the last couple of minutes. This might be something fun to do next year when the new season begins!

I've been continuing to spend one of my days off each week visiting another hotel in the area to do my laundry - and going out once or twice a week to the bar at which I have pretty much become a regular. We've also be getting some long awaited rain around here with some tornado warnings north and south of the city - so far no threatening storms coming directly over the city.

Well, time for bed here ... I will check my calendar tomorrow and see what else I have been up -- some upcoming highlights include a Regional Town Hall meeting, a trip to Hickory, NC, audits at work, staffing changes and the car hitting a new milestone! Until next time, thanks for reading!

A Trip to South Carolina

2008-04-08T00:32:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a while since my last post - and I apologize. A lot going on down here in Charlotte - I've been very busy at work, had a really nice visit from a Jersey buddy, spent a night across the border in Spartanburg (my first time sleeping in South Carolina), worked more, fought off a bit of a bug, went to a farm league hockey game and facilitated my first training class in the new hotel. So, this won't be a long post, I'll just make a few new posts here to update you all.

The recent highlight has been a visit from my best buddy in Jersey who visited for two days in March. I missed his birthday because I have moved down here, so after he took the train in from Raleigh, I treated him to a Sunday night birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Yummm! Was waiting for a special occasion to make my first visit there and had a great time. On Monday morning it was breakfast at the Original Pancake House for a couple of 5 egg omelets with a side of pancakes, then off to South Carolina.

The first stop was the BMW Manufacturing plant located between Spartanburg and Greenville. There is a small museum on site that cronicles the history of BMW with cars and motorcycles from the 1920's on. We were unable to take a tour of the plant due to the fact that they are expanding the factory. Maybe that's a trip for another day when they are complete. Featured in the BMW Zentrum is the very first Z3 off the line which was hand built in Spartanburg as James Bond's first BMW. The 1,000,000th car to come off the assembly line is also on display.

After the museum it off to the hotel. We were treated to an upgrade at the hotel and given the Governor's Suite in the hotel. I later found out that this suite is the nicest in the hotel with 180 degree view of Spartanburg. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous and it was a nice suprise for my buddy to have such a nice room as part of his birthday celebration. We decided to stay in and have a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. Dessert was a Southern take on a regular menu item, "Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding". Very sweet, as you'd expect, but very good as well. The picture to the right is of the lobby of the hotel, not the suite - although the suite seemed that big - LOL. We had a nice relaxing evening getting to catch up on what's been happening in Jersey while I've been gone. We were also able to discuss the job offer he recieved a couple of days before coming for the visit and I'm happy to say he accepted the job although that means a move to Texas. But that's a blog for another day.

I'll leave it here for tonight - I need to get some rest here and I thank you for taking the time to read my post. If there is anything else you'd like to know about my move - just let me know!

Uptown!

2008-03-18T02:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been in Charlotte for three weeks now and decided it was time to venture into the Uptown section of the city. In most cities it would be called downtown, but I guess since the business area of the city with skyscrapers and such are in the northern part of the city, it is called Uptown. So this afternoon I drove over to the light rail station at Woodlawn. Bought my ticket and timing was on my side because a train pulled in as I got my ticket. The light rail is called Lynx and opened in November - so it's new, clean and wasn't crowded. It was a pleasant ride. You buy your ticket at a ticket machine and get on the train. The have police and ticket checkers on some trains and not all. They ask to see your ticket, if you don't have one with the proper date and time on it, then you are issued a $50.00 summons. On the ride Uptown they checked my ticket - on the ride back they didn't. So, I guess it is sort of the honor system - or like Russian Roulette with $50.00 summons instead of bullets - LOL.

I took the Lynx up to the Bobcat's Arena (soon to be the Time Warner Cable Arena) and walked around the main square area of Charlotte. Walked around the Bank of America Center which at 60 stories is the tallest building between Washington and Atlanta. (I forgot my camera today, so I don't have pictures). Strolling around the area it was easy to notice that the streets and sidewalks were clean. There is alot of construction going on of hotels and high-rise condo buildings all around the area. The Square is the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets - all along Trade Street there were tulips around the trees. The tulips were potted but added a nice touch to the look of the street. While walking around (up and down a few hills) my right leg began to cramp up - so I headed back toward the Lynx after a couple of hours of walking around.

Had a nice ride back down to the car and from there went to check my mailbox in the Foxcroft Shopping Center. Deciding I needed some dinner I went to Brixx in the same shopping center. Ordered a pasta dish and then had a choice of 24 beers on tap! I like to try local brews when I can, so I had a pint of Highland Gaelic Ale (it is St. Patrick's Day after all). The ale turned out to be nice - had a sweet second taste to it. The Highland Brewery is in Asheville, North Carolina at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I plan to visit Asheville at some point during my stay in North Carolina - it is about a two hour drive from Charlotte. Deciding to treat myself for dessert I walked across the parking lot to Ben & Jerry's for a large cup of ice cream.

Then it was back to the hotel - leg still somewhat cramped up for a night of watching television in High Def! Good news for the day is that my best buddy from Jersey will be coming down for a visit next week. He'll be arriving on Sunday evening by train from Raleigh and flying back to Newark on Tuesday evening. Yesterday was his birthday and I wasn't able to celebrate with him, so next week we get to! Can't wait!!

Well, working at 7:00 in the morning, so it's time to sign off and get some sleep -- thanks for reading!

Dam, nice - Weather, bad

2008-03-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Had Friday and Saturday off this week. Slept in on Friday - then it was out to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and the bar for a pint or two. Decided on Saturday to explore a little and headed north toward Cowan's Ford to see the dam that was built between 1959 and 1964 across the Catawba River to create Lake Norman, the largest man made lake in North Carolina. The dam is about a 15 mile drive north of Charlotte and is also a hydroelectric plant for Duke Energy providing "peak" power for the Charlotte area. Next to the dam is the McGuire Nuclear Power Plant generating 20% of the power that Duke Energy produces.

Cowan's Ford is also the site of a revolutionary battle between the armies of Lord Cornwallis and General William Lee Davidson who was killed during the battle. There is a monument to the battle which I was not able to make it to today.

My trip to the dam and historic site was cut short as thunder started rolling in and about five minutes after getting into my car and continuing along the highway the storms rolled in. These were the same storms that spurred the tornadoes in Atlanta yesterday. After turning around and heading back toward Charlotte the rain became heavier and bolts of lightening could be seen in the distance. Upon returning to the hotel, the local television stations were on alert due to tornado warnings in northern South Carolina, right over the border from Charlotte. At one point the NBC affiliate down here was reporting the touchdown of tornado about midway between Columbia, South Carolina and Charlotte. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Charlotte for this area, but lifted around 6:00 pm. As I am writing this around 9:00 pm, the Weather Channel still has a tornado warning south and east of Charlotte until 1:00 am Sunday morning and several tornadoes were confirmed across South Carolina. The rain and thunder has subsided in this area - and all totalled at least 1.5 inches of rain fell today. Although every drop helps, it's still not enough to help with the drought in the area.

Tomorrow it is back to work - over 100 check-outs tomorrow as the ACC Basketball Tournament comes to a close. The team the hotel was housing lost in the first round and the the team whose fans were staying in the hotel lost in the second round - so not a good year for our hotel's guests in the tournament. The ACC will not be back in Charlotte for at least another eight or ten years because the Bobcat's Arena is too small for the tournament. Next up in a couple of weeks, Charlotte is hosting the Sweet 16 for the NCAA championships. So March has been a busy time here for college basketball.

That is all for today -- thank you for reading!

The Second Week

2008-03-09T23:11:00.000-04:00

Well, I know it's been like a week since I last posted, but I have been busy. Work, socializing, exploring and normal everyday stuff. I worked a couple of AM shifts had a day off then a few PM shifts and a day off.

The weekend was busy at the hotel with the CIAA basketball tournament in town. Hotel was sold out and a lot of activity. We were mostly sold out all week, so it was busy as well. At least this past weekend was a little bit of a rest. So that was the business.

On the personal side, I worked the AM shift over the weekend and had Monday off. Relaxed most of the day and went to another hotel in the area to do my laundry. While the laundry was in the dryer I went back to my hotel to help roll out a new check-in process. Then back to pick up my laundry. I went out a few more times this week - getting to meet a few more people. Worked the PM shift Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Friday off. Relaxed all day on Friday ... it was my first real day off without packing, driving or working in just about 2 weeks - so I slept until almost noon and just hung out until it was time for dinner.

So, a few firsts this week since I've been down here. I needed new dress socks, so it was off to Dillards at the mall. Even though Dillard's is one of the major chains in the US, I've never actually been to one. Staff was nice enough - and I found dress socks 50% off! I think that was Friday night -- then I finally broke down and headed to Burger King for dinner. That was a long stretch - hadn't been to Burger King since I left NJ. Today I ventured out to the nearest supermarket, Harris Teeter. For those back in Jersey and upstate NY - Harris Teeter is like Wegmans. But they have beer and wine too! Was really excited to find Entenmann's at Harris Teeter!! Was even able to find my favorite product.

Had a craving for ice cream and since I was already in the market went to the freezer section and found a local ice cream from High Point, NC. Denali flavors Moose Tracks ice cream. Of course I ate an entire pint of Malted Moose Tracks. Spend Sunday night in ... which brings me to start of my 3rd week in Charlotte.

On the home front in NJ -- still no offers on the co-op and we dropped the price again this week to $149,900. The realtor said that the feedback he is getting doesn't really help ... people don't anything negative to say about it, but also don't have anything positive to say either. UGH!!

Well, it's going to be a busy week this week -- and although this post was probably a bit boring, when something exciting happens, I'll let you know ... until then, Thanks for Reading!

The Deep Freeze

2008-02-29T15:55:00.000-05:00

Wednesday night it dropped below freezing down here - so everyone was complaining about the 22 degrees it bottomed out over night. When I got to the lobby in the morning and looked outside, I noticed that the fountain in front of the hotel froze overnight! I got a picture as you can see.

Today I had to make a presentation to all the other managers and supervisors about a new lobby program. As my buddy put it - I had to jump in with both feet this week! A little bit of reluctance from a couple of people, but overall I think it went well. Now the test will be implimentation which begins on Monday. It's my day off, but I'll be out there to help roll the program out. Thursday night was uneventful and Friday morning I attended my first financial critique meeting at this hotel. One of the supervisors handled it this period, next period it will be up to me!

Working the evening shift Friday and then the morning shift on Saturday - so it's time to get ready for work. Thanks for reading and I'll tell you soon about my first weekend in Charlotte!

Venturing out on my own

2008-02-27T14:40:00.000-05:00

Sorry for this post being late, but I did go out for some nightlife last night and got back late. . .

Another 60 degree day here - a little rain in the morning, but that's a good thing since the Southeast is in a drought situation. After work today I ventured out on my own to get a mailbox to start forwarding my mail down here. Having your mail forwarded to the hotel would seem like the easier thing to do, but it is very had to forward your mail from a commercial address to a residential address, so I felt this would be the easier thing to do. I mapped out the route from the hotel to the Foxcroft Shopping center and found it very easily. I bought a mailbox for six months at a UPS Store. I found my way from the UPS Store to the South Park Mall and found the Bath & Body Works so I could buy some hand soap for my room (not a fan of washing my hands with bar soap). Then I found my way back to the hotel! I am already starting to learn street names.

Since I didn't have to report for work until 1:00 pm on Wednesday, I decided that it would be a good night to go out and get the lay of the land for one of the bars. North Carolina liquor laws require bars to be "private clubs" and in order to go to the bar you need to be a member or be the guest of a member. I had applied for my membership on line before I came down because there is a three day waiting period between filling out your application and getting your membership card. It was a quiet night at the bar - being mid-week - but about 20 people maybe. Met the owner of the bar and chatted with him a little bit. He came to Charlotte about 12 years ago from Chicago and I learned a lot about the scene in Charlotte and where certain groups hang out and that the bars & clubs in this city are facing the same challenges as bars around the country. On tap was Blue Moon, Ice House and Yuengling - I've been suprised to see Yuengling a lot down here and I always thought it was a Pennsylvania & New Jersey thing! It was weird to smell cigarette smoke again in a bar!! I'm sure it will take a long time for smoking to be outlawed in NC - with it still being a big tobacco state - there weren't a lot of people smoking anyway. The bars close at 2:00 am and I think I left shortly before that time.

Well, time to get ready for work -- and thanks for reading!

First Day on the New Job

2008-02-26T02:24:00.000-05:00

It was a foggy morning here in Charlotte - luckily that was outside, so my commute to work today was not impeded. The walk from my room to the front desk was easy to make. I spent the day getting information from the temporary manager about the hotel. I have a cubicle right now, but hopefully that will change after the next set of construction. Not much else to report today, except that it hit close to 60 degrees today.

For dinner i went to PF Chang's with the temp manager. It was my first time going to a PF Chang's and had the "ginger chicken over broccoli" with a pint of Strongarm on the side. For dessert they have these little mini deserts in shot glasses for $2.00 - I tried the S'mores - layers of chocolate, graham cracker crumbs and marshmellow fluff. It was good!

Caught "Little Shop of Horrors" on HDnet Movie channel -- I'm going to get spoiled with this HD television! LOL.

Time for bed now ... thanks for reading!

Made it to North Carolina

2008-02-25T02:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I made it to Charlotte today. The drive from Richmond took about 4:45 minutes and went about 309 miles. Most of the drive was in nice sunny weather, but hit rain as I came into Charlotte, so didn't really get to see the skyline through the clouds.

The trip down for those interested started yesterday in Shrewsbury Twp, NJ -- I took a bunch of local streets to Route 34 south to Route 195 west. From there I took Route 295 to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. From there it was Route 95 south to Baltimore where I switched onto 295 into Washington, DC where I got onto Route 50 then Route 395 and back onto Route 95 to Richmond. Stayed overnight in Richmond - got up this morning and pumped my own gas for what will be a regular occurance and got back onto Route 95 to Petersburg, VA where I got onto Route 85 into Charlotte. Then took Route 77 south for a few exits and then local roads to my new job. Only took 10 hours and two tanks of gas to go about 625 miles! The drive along 85 in VA was nice -- two lanes tree lined on each side with a wide median between the north and south bound lanes. At one point in NC came across an area with grass and trees charred on both sides of the highway -- glad that wasn't today, I'd have to assume the road was closed for a long time!

The rain stopped before I reached the hotel. At least it washed some of the salt off of my car. It took two trips with a full bell cart to load my luggage and "stuff" into my room. Luckily they have me in a room on the first floor close to the lobby, so I didn't have to go far. I unpacked, found places to put everything. I brought a couple of things to make it feel more at home - the plant that my staff sent to me when I was in the hospital back in December and a ceramic dog that holds rings and stuff that used to be on my Dad's dresser when I was growing up. It was just last month that the dog and the dresser were reunited when my Mom moved the dresser was sent to me! They will hopefully be reunited again soon -- anyone looking to buy a 2 bedroom co-op in Shrewsbury Twp, NJ?? Let me know, I have one for sale!

After I unpacked I took a walk over to the South Park Mall (no, not that South Park) for dinner. As soon as I found out there was a CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) at the mall my mouth was watering and I planned on that being my first dinner when I got down here. Food was as good as it usually is -- but the difference of going to a CPK in Charlotte is that NASCAR was on the television and country music was playing on the sound system. I was actually watching the race!! I've realized that I will need to pay more attention and find out who the local favorites are -- I don't think they pick a favorite by who looks the hottest or has the car with the nicest color! LOL

Spent the evening chatting with old friends and maybe some new ones on line while the Oscars played in the background. It's currently 43 degrees outside and expecting a high tomorrow of 62! I'm not in Jersey anymore! LOL

Well, have to report for my first day on the job at 8:00 in the morning, so I am off to bed at about 11:30 here. Will keep you posted on my first day.

Thanks for reading!

My New Volume Opens

2008-02-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

Well, today was the day that I started my move to Charlotte. Having lived in NJ for all but the first two years of my life, this is a very big move for me to take. Luckily my newest and best buddy was there to help me keep my head straight (so to speak) as i prepared to leave today. I usually overpack even when i go away for a weekend, but i was surprised that i was still able to see out the rear window of the Jeep for the drive to Richmond today and then onto Charlotte tomorrow.

The drive was uneventful - just hit a little traffic south of DC - but it took 5 hours 14 minutes to go the 313 miles to Glen Allen, VA. Staying overnight tonight at a SpringHill Suites - hotel #201 for me!

Well, hopefully i'll get in the habit of writing down what i've been discovering as a transplant to North Carolina - i also hope that it gets more interesting as we go along.

thanks for reading!