A Little Work, A Little Reverend, and Some Banjo

Work's been going pretty good. There are still a few major frustrations with the organization, but since I have pretty minimal contact with staff and guests, I shouldn't complain. Plus, I was incredibly lucky to get stuck working with a cantankorous young asshole who wears weird hats and carries his own guitar pick.
I'm starting to feel out my routine pretty well, and I do like the freedom I'm given to do my work as I see fit.
I've also been surprised to realize that I can sit down at home and work on a comic page for up to 2 hours at a time. It feels nice to work on something and not get all ADHD and have to get up and find something else to do to burn out that "inattentive" itch. Plus, the artwork has been coming out better. Not to toot my own horn too much, but with Golden Brown, I often finished a page with a "good enough" attitude. Now, I'm willing to put a little more effort into it with Banjo's Tune. It also helps that I placed my own restrictions on the artistic guidelines, like eliminating the little shading lines and keeping a more stark, chiaroscuro feel. It's weird not trying to think of a bunch of stupid jokes to put in, though.
Kevin and I got to jam in the garage a couple times lately. Every now and then, we get a little sick of watching Open Mic @ Mike's, so I pick up a guitar, and we see what sounds good. I'm still anxious for him to get his drums down here, I could really use the percussion side to kick in. Maybe some day, we'll hit that Open Mic night ourselves and give them something good to listen to.
Two weeks ago, Karissa and I headed up to Minneapolis to see Reverend Horton Heat & Nekromantix. Karissa's not a big fan of the Reverend, but she does seem to like the Nekromantix. I thought the whole fucking show was just awesome. I never get tired of seeing that stuff. Unfortunately, the Reverend is coming back to Minneapolis 8/28 with fucking MOTORHEAD, and I can't go. Also, Big John Bates, another favorite, is coming back to Fargo on 9/13--Isabella's Birthday! Shouldn't complain, though, I got to see the Nekromantix. The shows are pretty simply, just club venues, but the musicans playing in them are unbelievable. Oh yeah, and the Cambria Suites wasn't haf bad, either. Pretty swanky digs.
Last saturday we went to Kevin's birthday party(though you wouldn't know we were there because April didn't take any pictures of us--thanks alot april!!--jeeeeez...). I had fun, and didn't really want to leave, but I had to work, plus Amadon was coming, and I wasn't in any mood to be in the same house as him. All in all, lotsa food, lotsa cleavage, lotsa fun.
My old boss was celebrating her husband's birthday as well on saturday, but I didn't have time to make it there. Later that night they took a Travelodge sleepy bear cardboard cutout (which some hoodlums had taken and left there, I'm sure) and burned him in a bonfire. They sent me a picture, which I will always treasure.
I've probably got more to say, but I got a hankerin' to draw, and I feel a little "Banjo's Tune" comin' on...

Quick Little Update...

The new job is going good. At one point the boss told me not to worry too much about every little thing that needs to be done, or about screwing up "it's not like you need to save us or anything". Honestly, I think I do. The place is real nice, clean, but there are some real organization issues, and I think my contribution there will not be light. So take that.
I'm still getting used to the schedule change. It's weird getting home while it's just barely light out and still considered night. What kind of sucks is that I'm going to miss a couple of my favorite shows due to the change. Oh well.
I haven't even started on the next page of the comic yet, but I plan on it pretty darned quick at some point here...

Last Coupla Weeks...

What a couple of weeks!! We lose Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays AND Karl Malden. Tornadoes within city limits. I lose a job. I get to jam in my garage. I get a job. I get to go to the Drive-In again. What's that? Oh yeah, I totally got a new job. I start at the C'Mon Inn Monday doing courtyard maintenance. I'll also help out at the front desk every now and then, but mainly I get to help maintain the jaccuzis, clean meeting rooms, security, all the fun stuff! I hope I like it.
I'm sick of hearing everything about Jacko and nothing about anyone else who's dying. Billy Mays, who as far as we know was NOT on any kind of drug, worked his ass off and promoted products he really believed worked. Farrah Fawcett was a mediocre actress who had cancer and wanted it documented, which in my eyes is still more tv-worthy than all frickin tributes to Jackson. Anyone know who Karl Malden was? I've seen him in a few movies, but the one I will always respect him for was his character, Father Barry in On the Waterfront--my favorite character, I might add.
Kevin and I ducked out of the open mic night early to go make some music ourselves. He got on the bass and learned some basic bass lines to a couple songs with me, and we actually sounded pretty good! At least, we sounded as good as we could not being a full band. I could use some drums on some of these songs. But, I got a bassline to play with, I can't complain.
Last night Karissa and I went to the Drive In again to see Gran Torino. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. And I would totally live at the drive in. Seriously. When we move, I'm hoping I will be able to make a little mini-drive in of my own at our new house, whenever the hell that'll be.
Oh, and more pages of Banjo will appear soon, just not for a little bit due to the unintended hiatus.

Not My Travelodge Anymore

On Monday evening I received a call from the evening front desk clerk, Ray. He told me my manager, Becky, had been fired. And Avis (morning front desk/Becky's mom) quit. And Katie (Head Housekeeper) quit. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Travelodge had just been bought by a Middle Easterner about a month ago, and we were all assured nothing would change, no one was going anywhere.
I assured Ray I would be there to relieve his shift, but I knew beyond that I couldn't work in that place anymore, not without the people I've seen 5 days a week for the past 6 years.
I came in to start my shift, and Gary (the new owner) came down from the room he was staying in. Ray took off, Gary asked me how I was doing and if I heard about Becky, and I went off. I informed him that this would be my last shift as well. I said it was crap what he did to Becky, that he's lost the best manager/head housekeeper/morning person/night auditor he'll ever hope to find. He tried feebly to defend his position that he couldn't afford Becky, and even made some allusions to the fact that he would have fired some front desk staff, but she took the bullet instead of us. He assured me that he told her in person, not on the phone, and I said "well how nice of you, that's great of you to have given her your presence when firing her!"
He said I didn't give him a chance, I told him I was on board with his updates to the motel, so I gave him his chance, and he really blew it. I went back and got coffee, then came back to find him still not gone. Frustrated, I said "Just go back to your room NOW and I'll see you in the morning."
He tried to ask me right after that to show him the audit one more time, and I said "No, you have a cheat sheet, you can use that."
He never fought me about how I was talking to him. I would NEVER have talked that way to Becky or Ernie, but Gary didn't deserve one ounce of respect.
I performed the duties of my last shift like any other night. I folded a few linens, I stocked the 2nd floor housekeeping closet, did my security walks, prepared breakfast, and salvaged the broken breakfast sign that some nameless (not me) hooligan had broken into 4 pieces (and that I have hated for a looooong time).
Gary came in at 7:30 the next morning, I gave him the keys and said good luck, and that was it. 6 years, a huge chapter, my identity, gone. And now I have to start that all over. I'll miss the place, the people and the way I spent my nights. On the upshot, I am ABSOLUTELY proud of myself about the way I left and the way I talked to Gary. I actually feel like I kept a great sense of dignity.