Phyllis The Nut Lady

Sometimes at work, when I clean the rooms, I let my mind wander. Well, most of the time, but I think of the people who are staying there, who they are, what their story is, what they are feeling...
I saw this odd hat.
I really don't know who would wear that, does she sell nuts?
Is it a joke?
Is it from work?
Does she have good memories hanging onto that hat?
Is she a drab older lady who never had a family?
Maybe she has a man but he's married?
Maybe she lives her whole life for these stolen weekends with him in hotel rooms and they are all she gets, the only moments in her life she feels love and it's only love on her side. And all she gets is 4 weekends a year but she waits for them.
Or maybe he does love her, maybe he bought her the hat because she's goofy. Maybe she makes him smile before he goes home to his stressful home life. Maybe its his only shining moments at heart.
Maybe his wife is too uptight but she never meant to grow up that way to turn into that, she saw her mother do it to her father and drive him off and here she was doing it to her husband. She didn't mean to, he was the one always remote, distant, as if thinking of a lost love, she only tries to reach him but the further she digs the farther he floats away. It wasn't supposed to be this way, she wasn't supposed to turn into this, somewhere deep inside she knew her soul was still beautiful.

Or maybe, just maybe that Phyllis-she's just a nut salesperson.

And I'm nuts.

I ain't got no crystal ball

Well, just discovered that every video with Sublime's Santeria is censored from youtube.com WTF!
Anyway, my job is so routine that I make shit up while there.
Here's one thing I do.
I have the length of the song Santeria to make a bed.
When I was 18, I used to be able to make a bed in less than 4 minutes, Santeria is 3 minutes and 3 seconds.
I had to make like 18 beds yesterday.
I couldn't do it, by the time the song ended I would have 2 pillows to case and place yet. I kept thinking, stupid 4 pillows on each bed, who does that in a hotel???
Finally on my last bed, at the end of the day, by the time he sang the word "wait" at the very end of the song, I placed the last pillow.
Stupid, I know. But hey, I can make a bed in 3 minutes and 3 seconds. A bed with four pillows.
Wicked!

Santeria

Composing

I don't have work today, so I will talk about work for a minute. I think I need to find a new job, we all got the 4th off because "it's a holiday?" No because they didn't want to pay us time and a half!
Anyways, while I work, one thing I do and feel so guilty for, is I compose.
sometimes, I compose poetry, sometimes short stories, or blogs.
But those don't make me feel guilty.
I compose letters to people in prison.
I know I have no reason to feel guilty, it's just so hard to get any writing done to them. there is so much to do out here, so many responsibilities.
That's no excuse.
I'm gonna write at least one letter today.
Because nothing makes you feel as happy as when you get a letter from the outside.
Here's a bad ass song

Learning to Fly, but I ain't got wings.

I love so many of Tom Petty's songs, so many of them hit home, so you know he has heart.
Yesterday when I was cleaning, I heard Learning To Fly so I will post it at the end here.
That's where I think I am, I think.
I'm learning to fly without wings. I'm learning to be happy and control my emotions by my happiness,...without the aid of alcohol.
I had to open up my heart in MRT class last week and give my testimony. God it was so hard to tell them why I was committed to change. It's not like you can say, "Just cuz." I was able to do it with a shaky voice and ready to cry at times but I did it. I told everything I have ever done bad, well almost but my progression into alcoholism and how easy it was when I moved back to the reservation. I told how it made me forget any bad things I knew I had done, and how easy it was to drown.
And I was drowning that whole time.
I was looking for a life preserver and thought the FBI threw me one. Tell us, they said, everyone will go down.
I did.
And I went down.
That was my first lesson in this government don't give a fuck, this government will lie to you. And they can.
SO that's when I knew.
It was time.
To take care of myself.
The right way.
To stand back up and keep my head up.
I came from my grandmas, and I will not go down like that. I will not be "that one that got locked up." I am still me and I will let everyone know who that is.
I am that one. That one that is a mother to four beautiful children, that one who writes with all her heart, hopefully like Tom Petty sings. That one who loves the Yankees and collects rocks as memories.
And that one,
that is currently learning to fly.

Billy Squier is the shit.

I listen to music at work, and to tell you the truth, I listen to more rock than anything. Nothing can make me as productive at work as rock.
I love it all Manson, Muse, G N R, White Stripes, Metallica.
It's the best sheet snapping, pillow fluffin, tub scrubbing music there is.
So on my rock radio station they played Billy Squier.
I was like I remember this guy.
So I youtubed him when I got the chance and this fucker is pretty bad ass.]
How did I not know him before?
He is or was underrated.
And the worst part is I think I had his cassette and I never knew he was so good.
WTF?
So I'm bringing Billy back!





Maybe I am just an 80's chick but this stuff is the shit!

Billy Squier is Bad Ass.

Ok, now I got that out.

Off to work
From the tub scrubber
Your housekeeper

Imagine that

Work is hard.
I don't have to remind anyone of that because it is a crappy job and everyone knows it and that's why no one works it.
The pay is low, the work is labored.
Feet hurt, backs hurt, you clean up after other people who don't give a crap because it isn't their house so they crap all over, throw stuff all over, they do things in motel rooms you would not believe.
I once had a room where the only thing they used was the bathroom and that was to apparently shave every hair on their body off. ISH!

I don't hate my job, because if I did, I wouldn't work there. But I have my days where it's worse than others.

That's when I listen to Muse or Metallica or Johnny Cash or Five Finger Death Punch because the boys put that music on my playlist and to listen to that music makes me feel better about having a crappy job for some reason.

They also put Imagine by John Lennon on my playlist and today I had that moment that song played into my work.

I opened a room, not too bad, kind of clean actually, just used. The worst thing was the Vicks VapoRub smell in it, which I kind o like----when sick.

But as I stripped the room of dirty linens, I found this note with four dollars under it.

It made me understand that this world has alot of good people in it.
Because four dollars is four dollars and half of what I make in an hour.

Thanks to those people that know how hard us housekeepers work, because tips are far and few. (Not like bartending in a strip bar lol)
But I decided to post the song for this post so that people know, this world is a wonderful place. Life is good and a tip can make a housekeeper's whole day.


Thanks for understanding
from the one who fluffs your pillows
Your housekeeper.

I almost quit today

Well, I contemplate quitting everyday.
But today was a doozer. Our "assistant head housekeeper" who is 24 and LOVES her little bit of authority. Anyway all day I cursed her under my breath. Out loud in my mind as I snapped sheets, whipped pillowcases around and scrubbed the hell out of the tubs. I hated her. How could she not go with the plan, which was have the new girl do our beds, we would get done and all of us work on the rooms the baseball team checked out of late. That was the plan, but NO-Little Miss Authority had to do it her way and then what happened? Everyone was late finishing up, people had to leave to catch buses and go to other jobs.
And in the end, I was left.
With her.
Are you leaving?
She asked me looking all defeated, she was the only one left besides me with another 17 rooms.
I thought about how nice a hot bath or shower would feel.
How I could read or watch TV.
No, I'll stay. I said.
I took a deep breath and continued with my 20th plus room of the day.
I finished at 8:20pm.
As I walked out, over ten hours after I went in to work I could hear people in their rooms getting the rooms all dirty that I had just scrubbed, washed, shined, and made brand new looking hours earlier.
I punched out and wondered why I even stayed when all day all she did was piss me off.
I must still have a soft spot in my heart, eh?
Even when I don't want to.
Here's a song I listened to today while cleaning, the boys made me a playlist.


Thanks to blogger for my vent
From the sheet snapper
Your housekeeper.