Pay day

It is officially employment. I got paid. $40.21. It reminds me of the first check I received from Chili’s, Ltd, the company that owned the original Chili’s restaurant on Greenville Avenue in Dallas. I had only subbed there as a cook for several weeks, but the dream was to be able to always say "I worked at a Chili’s." And now the dream to be able to say "I work at a lodge in a national park" has come true.

We are also getting closer to our opening date on May 15th. This morning, I was thrilled to see the dining room is now set and the entire F&B (Food & Beverage) staff was busy folding linens and hearing a lecture on alcoholic beverage sales. The front desk clerks were busy being trained on the property management system at a series of workstations the IT director and I assembled in a corner of the lobby and in accounting we were building the sizable number of banks required to operate the hotel, restaurant, deli, gift shop, camp store and service station. Oh, and the coffee bar and "Roughrider Saloon," named for our great outdoorsman president, Teddy Roosevelt.


This morning also had one additional surprise. How often can you say you were unable to get to your office because you had to wait for the deer to wander through? Or that you lingered for a minute or two because the veranda looked so inviting at 7:50 on a clear Arizona morning? No, it is not perfect. We were unable to watch "Lost" tonight because someone was already watching the NBA. And as much as I am enjoying the food so far, I do miss the haute cuisine of the real world or my famous packages of bread and cheese from Zingerman's. Or even just a bowl of gumbo and a lemon square from the Cafe Pierremont. But, you only live once and this is something I simply had to do.

The clothes are almost dry, Rick will be back soon and I need to fetch my tea chilling on the rear of the Jeep. So, until my next post, don't feed the deer, but you are welcome to enjoy the view.

One more thing -- my mini-fridge arrives on Monday. And it is big enough that all my newfound friends can stash a beer or two. And maybe I can order a nice imported cheese and a split of Chardonnay.