Friday, February 3, 2006

Hotel Hobbies....

I saw the beach today.

You have to understand something about mt & the beach; there's something about it that just puts my soul at ease, no matter what else is going on. It's been almost 3 years since I've so much as seen the beach, and this morning, walking along the sand with the sun rising behind my back, I swear I could see how someone could just drop out & become a beach bum forever. Just give me some shorts, some Jimmy Buffett, and a place to sit & watch the ocean, and I'm pretty sure I'd be content for the rest of my life. I keep telling myself I'll move to the beach one day...but then again, I keep telling myself a lot of things. Still...it did me more good than I can even begin to tell you.

There's also something to be said for living out of hotels while on the road; you can trash the place every morning & it's always clean when you get back, the towels are plentiful, the water pressure is good, and there's all the free ice you can carry. The free wireless internet is the real bonus, tho...

I've spent my fair share of time in more hotels across the world than I can count; some nice & so not so. One time, while I was on a job in Vegas a few years back, I ran afoul of the local Teamsters at the trade show we were working, and I was kicked out of the Las Vegas Convention Center & presumably banned from working in the facility for life. This happened about 3 days into a 3-week trip, so I just decided not to say anything & lie low in the hotel room that had already been booked for me for the next 3 weeks & see if I would still get paid. So, I spent those weeks laying by the pool during the day, and hanging out in the hotel's casino all night. I won about $300 and that, combined with my per diem, allowed me a nice little free vacation. I finally ran into another guy from our crew the day before we were supposed to leave, and he & everybody else had thought I had gotten on a plane home weeks ago. My crew took care of the job, my boss never ended up flying out to check on things, I still got my check & nobody was ever the wiser. That was good times...

Then there was the time I almost burned down a hotel in the south of France because I was trying to cook a pizza in the little built-in room oven, and I ouldn't make the conversions from fahrenheit to celcius, so the thing went up like a tinderbox, filling the room with so much smoke that the alarms went off & they evacuated the floor.

And of course, there was the hotel in Miami, where we stole a key to our bosses room, stole all the furniture & set it up in the continental breakfast room next door, along with his alarm clock & luggage. There was a running $100 bet that he was gonna fire us on the spot (which I could have cared less about at that point), but one of the guys (who was a lil' weasel that nobody got along with) chickened out & tried to move everything back without us knowing, and the hotel staff caught him dragging the TV stand down the hall & called the cops. Of course, we denied everything & they called the cops on him and tossed him ut of the place, where he had to sneak back in at night & bunk w' somebody else for the remainder of the trip. God, I wish we'd have gotten pictures of that...

Then, there was the time in France again where I had hooked up with this really hot English girl who was staying there, and after work that night, I went to go take a shower & brush my teeth before heading down to my room, and I mistakenly gabbed my roommate's tube of Icy-Hot instead of my toothpaste. You ever had your gums feel like someone's holding a red-hot poker to them? Try it sometime. I couldn't feel a thing in my mouth for two days, which, under the circumstances, was a damn, damn shame.

So, in other words, I've learned to make the most of life on the road. I haven't done it for a few years, but this trip has brouht back a lot of good memories so far.

Also, things have been going really great for us down here. We've secured the services of a highly respected makeup FX artist, who's worked on everything from Planet of the Apes to Manhunter, and the film commission here has been bending over backwards to help us. Now, if someone would just sign that final check so we'd actually have the money to make the damn thing. It'll happen tho...I' pretty sure about it now. And the ride down wasn't even too tough on my bad back...although the Codeine I scored from my shady lil' brother sure didn't hurt...

Anyway, I'm about to nod off from exhaustion, but I was so jazzed about getting this stupid wireless connection to work that I had to write something. I'll hopefeully be done earlier tomorrow night & can post again soon...so, until then, I'll see you guys later. I'm gonna go try to steal all the towels from my boss' room & then go pass out....

7 Comments:

Blogger PrincessMax recalled...

I was only on tour once living out of hotel rooms for about five months, but I, too, loved living out of hotel rooms. It felt like a traveling college dorm. We became this odd group of friends and acquaintances who had to figure out new every week where each others' rooms were in order to borrow outfits, stumble down the hallways drunk and hang socks on the doorhandles. Fun.

Friday, February 03, 2006 7:06:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous recalled...

Sheesh, can I come? I'm afraid I'm a little too straight and a worrywart (about being caught) to have any fun stories like that!

Friday, February 03, 2006 8:28:00 AM  
Blogger pookalu recalled...

man, it's so true, if you're not a business person (or anyone of the sort) who travels all the time, hotels can be a blast!

don't forget to break into the maid's closet and steal a year's supply of shampoo and conditioner!

(good to know everything work related is going fairly swimmingly!)

Friday, February 03, 2006 8:45:00 AM  
Blogger Nic recalled...

I agree. Even making it to the beach in San Francisco - which is often cold and foggy - is invigorating.

By the way, your hotel stories pretty much sum up why I love guys. Girls raid the mini bar, watch movies, and paint toes when at hotels. Guys are so creative!

Friday, February 03, 2006 11:45:00 AM  
Blogger PAINKEY recalled...

gosh, are u a cancer? I am, and the beach does wonders for my soul too!
anyhow, your trip sounds so great. You deserve it. Have oodles and doodles of fun ;)

blog ya later

Friday, February 03, 2006 12:21:00 PM  
Blogger Jenn recalled...

one word. PICS!!

xo

Friday, February 03, 2006 4:32:00 PM  
Blogger the girl recalled...

I get to see the beach and the ocean once a year. When I get my first glimpse of the sand and the water coming over the bridge to the island, I break into tears each and every time.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006 1:28:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home