Last off season I vowed to not travel as much, or at all, during the fall off season. Well, so much for that.
The spa officially closes on October 29, and stays closed until November 24. I am visiting 4 major cities between now and then.
Denver: to visit Mikey. Monica is flying in from D.C. and Jay is flying in from Seattle. It should be a fun little reunion.
San Francisco: Jon and I are flying to SF for his friend Brian's wedding. It is a black tie event. I need to buy some shoes, all I own are flip flops.
Seattle: Jon and I are driving to Seattle to see my family. He's never been to Seattle, so it will be fun. And then we're flying out of Seattle to see his family in...
Boston: Jon is from Boston and his family is still there. We will celebrate Thanksgiving with them this year.
The day after Thanksgiving we fly back to Seattle, then the following day we will drive back to Jackson.
So again, so much for not traveling.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Los perros
Until moving to Wyoming, I never spent much time with dogs. But here, it seems as if everyone has a dog. At first, this was difficult for me. But now I live with two dogs and I love it and I can't believe I didn't start loving dogs sooner.
This is Coal. He is a big dopey-faced baby. He thinks I'm his mommy and I love the crap out of him even though sometimes he is bad.
This is Buck. He is magestic and poses for photographs. It's his birthday today and he is 8 years old. We love him, he is smart and handsome!
This is Coal. He is a big dopey-faced baby. He thinks I'm his mommy and I love the crap out of him even though sometimes he is bad.
This is Buck. He is magestic and poses for photographs. It's his birthday today and he is 8 years old. We love him, he is smart and handsome!
Friday, August 31, 2012
El verano
My first summer in Jackson is almost over. I've done tons of new activities and bought some new toys. I've been rock climbing, mountain biking, canoeing, rafting, road biking, hiking, whitewater kayaking, and soon to have been backpacking.
I bought a mountain bike! I had never mountain biked before this summer and I absolutely love it. It's something Jon and I do together. We bring the dogs and go out for an hour or so before we have to go to work. It's perfect.
I am going to be purchasing a whitewater kayak soon. I went out with my boss one day on the river. I flipped over and it was awesome.
Jon and I have Monday and Tuesday off so we're going to do a little overnight backpacking trip in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness. It's convenient because it's only fifteen minutes from the house. The doggies get to come too since it is not part of the national park.
I bought a mountain bike! I had never mountain biked before this summer and I absolutely love it. It's something Jon and I do together. We bring the dogs and go out for an hour or so before we have to go to work. It's perfect.
I am going to be purchasing a whitewater kayak soon. I went out with my boss one day on the river. I flipped over and it was awesome.
Jon and I have Monday and Tuesday off so we're going to do a little overnight backpacking trip in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness. It's convenient because it's only fifteen minutes from the house. The doggies get to come too since it is not part of the national park.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Una curiosa experiencia
I moved to Jackson without any job prospects whatsoever. When I got here I went and applied in person for a lot of jobs, I was ready to take any job that came up. I felt lucky when the local temp agency called me wanting me to work for a sheepskin and leather company near the town square. They were going to pay me $10/hour to process online orders and phone orders for a company selling items I would never want to own or wear myself. But that didn't matter, I had a job and I was happy! Things were coming together.
About a week before Christmas, I was offered a job in a spa in one of the hotels in the village (where the ski resort is). This job was way more my style than the sheepskin company. Plus, it was for a bigger, legitimate, well-established company that I could trust was going to pay me on time, who pays their taxes, etc.
By this time I was doing the payroll and bookkeeping for the leather company, and they had some pretty sketchy business practices that I did not feel very comfortable being a part of.
I took the spa job, I started on December 27. It was so busy, trying to learn the job with so many people coming and going, checking in, trying to pay for their massages. It was hard!
After a few weeks of trying to work for both the spa and the leather company, I was feeling pretty burnt out. It was then that things at the sheepskin store started to get really sketchy. The owner had no money to pay people back for returned items that were arriving in the mail each day. More and more angry people were calling, trying to get their money back. They would change the tags on the jackets to say the size was different than the actual size, then ship it to the customer anyway, even though they knew it wouldn't fit. They were cutting out the "Made in China" tags on their products and claiming everything was made in the U.S. All sorts of bad stuff. At that point I left. I couldn't associate with a company who practices business in that way.
For months I tried to retrieve my final paycheck but the owner wouldn't pay me. He said he didn't have the money. He blamed me for things I didn't do, threatened me and swore at me when I tried to ask him for my paycheck. I told him I would not tolerate that sort of treatment and that I would take the matter up elsewhere. My boss at the spa advised me to contact the Wyoming Department of Labor Services. I did this, thinking nothing would actually come of it. Weeks passed and I didn't hear from anyone, then one day a check showed up in the mail. Hah! I was shocked. I never thought I would get that money that I worked for.
The leather store is liquidating their assets and closing the store. A week or so ago, my coworker, Kathleen, showed me an article in the paper. Apparently my old boss at the leather store had died of a pulmonary embolism. He was not a nice person, and not an honest business owner in any way. But it is still kind of a sad end to the story, I guess.
About a week before Christmas, I was offered a job in a spa in one of the hotels in the village (where the ski resort is). This job was way more my style than the sheepskin company. Plus, it was for a bigger, legitimate, well-established company that I could trust was going to pay me on time, who pays their taxes, etc.
By this time I was doing the payroll and bookkeeping for the leather company, and they had some pretty sketchy business practices that I did not feel very comfortable being a part of.
I took the spa job, I started on December 27. It was so busy, trying to learn the job with so many people coming and going, checking in, trying to pay for their massages. It was hard!
After a few weeks of trying to work for both the spa and the leather company, I was feeling pretty burnt out. It was then that things at the sheepskin store started to get really sketchy. The owner had no money to pay people back for returned items that were arriving in the mail each day. More and more angry people were calling, trying to get their money back. They would change the tags on the jackets to say the size was different than the actual size, then ship it to the customer anyway, even though they knew it wouldn't fit. They were cutting out the "Made in China" tags on their products and claiming everything was made in the U.S. All sorts of bad stuff. At that point I left. I couldn't associate with a company who practices business in that way.
For months I tried to retrieve my final paycheck but the owner wouldn't pay me. He said he didn't have the money. He blamed me for things I didn't do, threatened me and swore at me when I tried to ask him for my paycheck. I told him I would not tolerate that sort of treatment and that I would take the matter up elsewhere. My boss at the spa advised me to contact the Wyoming Department of Labor Services. I did this, thinking nothing would actually come of it. Weeks passed and I didn't hear from anyone, then one day a check showed up in the mail. Hah! I was shocked. I never thought I would get that money that I worked for.
The leather store is liquidating their assets and closing the store. A week or so ago, my coworker, Kathleen, showed me an article in the paper. Apparently my old boss at the leather store had died of a pulmonary embolism. He was not a nice person, and not an honest business owner in any way. But it is still kind of a sad end to the story, I guess.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Trabajo a trabajo
Turns out working two jobs takes up a lot of time. Especially when one of the jobs you can't do during the hours of 7AM to 5PM and the other job is usually from 12PM to 7PM or so. That makes days off especially important.
However, I'm now so used to being at work that on my days off I feel at a loss for something to do. Which usually ends up with me going to my baking job for a few hours at least.
My full time job is at the spa. I started back in December and I am still here. I like working here, it is a good job. I am pretty good at it now, too.
My other job is baking for a local cafe in town. It is called JH Organics. I go in to bake in the evenings. They are pretty flexible, they let me make whatever I think would be tasty. It is all gluten free and dairy free. Some items I make are vegan. It doesn't pay much but I enjoy it. Today they had someone request a special order of a dozen or something I made last week. That's pretty exciting!
The latest dish I made, that I am quite proud of, I call Marbled Rice Crispy Bars.
However, I'm now so used to being at work that on my days off I feel at a loss for something to do. Which usually ends up with me going to my baking job for a few hours at least.
My full time job is at the spa. I started back in December and I am still here. I like working here, it is a good job. I am pretty good at it now, too.
My other job is baking for a local cafe in town. It is called JH Organics. I go in to bake in the evenings. They are pretty flexible, they let me make whatever I think would be tasty. It is all gluten free and dairy free. Some items I make are vegan. It doesn't pay much but I enjoy it. Today they had someone request a special order of a dozen or something I made last week. That's pretty exciting!
The latest dish I made, that I am quite proud of, I call Marbled Rice Crispy Bars.
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