A Big Hole in the Ground

Still in sunny, hot Arizona. Finally made it to a couple of the best spots in AZ though!

I met up with my friend Sarah who's been working in Phoenix and we headed north to see the red rocks of Sedona:

Beautiful! It's almost shockingly so after seeing so much brown and dull green around Tucson these past couple months. I lucked out this time too and got a great car! =) Love my bug! Too bad I got stuck with a Yaris when I came back after my weekend home. =(

Then, we headed farther north... to see a big hole in the ground:
Completely worth the drive! We stayed for sunset,
then headed back to Phoenix for a little wandering around before I headed back to Tucson once again. What a fun weekend! Even brought home a couple souvenirs - a baby palm and a baby agave cactus. =) The drive north is awesome. The terrain changes so many times along the way, it's as though you've passed through 3-4 states along the way...

My flight out this past weekend was delayed due to weather (Monsoon season has officially begun), but we got a great view while we waited!I'm now down in Rio Rico and just finished an office in Nogales (border town). It's beautiful down here, but there's not much to do. The resort grounds are full of birds though and I wake each morning to various, interesting bird noises. =) Much nicer way to wake than either an alarm or the trash truck I heard each morning at another hotel. haha I even saw a roadrunner about 15 feet off my patio yesterday! =) Tomorrow, I'm heading slightly east to another border town, Douglas, but I'll be staying in (more than likely) Tombstone. =)

Feeling completely lazy... and loving it.

I did nothing this weekend. Nothing. Barely even left my hotel room. Everything that even slightly interested me was at least a 2+ hr drive away and I didn't feel motivated for a 4+ hr round trip in the car knowing I have a 4-hr drive tomorrow to get back to Tucson. heh So I stayed in and vegged. It was nice. =) Nowhere to be, nothing I had to do. I read a lot... putzed around online... and read some more. Eclipse is awesome! Nearly finished and ready to start Breaking Dawn soon. =)

I haven't knit a single stitch since getting back to Arizona. I knit on a sock at the airport in Indy, but the two small projects I brought along haven't seen the light of day since. haha Left my sweater at home this trip. All that's left to do is the button band and I haven't totally decided if I want to do buttons or if I want to go with a pin instead. Kinda need to decide that before doing the second side at least. I LOVE it though and nearly can't wait until it gets cool enough to actualyl wear it! And I love my socks (that are nearly finished). I even love what I have so far on the first block of my afghan. That plan of one block each trip out isn't going so well though. haha Whatever. Knitting is not something to stress about. They'll all get finished eventually. I think I just needed a weekend with nothing in it. Ahhhhhh. Very relaxing. =) I used to feel a little bad being out on the road and not doing enough sightseeing, like I was wasting a good opportunity. Now, I'm realizing that I need to do what I want and not feel obligated to do the touristy thing. There are a couple places I plan to stop along the way tomorrow. I'm happy with that. =)

I had a long talk with a good friend tonight. One who is incredibly supportive, yet totally rational. She may be 3600 miles away, but she had perfect timing. I needed that this weekend. It's just so nice to have someone who listens and doesn't immediately dismiss my ideas as stupid or ridiculous. If only there were a few people like that in my family. haha

Why do they make it so hard?

Arizona continues to be, um, not the best project I've been on. heh This trip back, I'm in Yuma. Up to now, I'd been getting straight flights from Indy to Phoenix and either driving down or catching another flight to Tucson. This time, I flew from Indy to the east coast (Charlotte) and then back west to Phoenix... then had a three-hour drive in the dark on a two-lane highway with tons of construction... to get to Yuma. 16 hours after leaving home, I finally made it to my hotel at 11:30pm. A couple days later, I leave the office I'm working in, start the car... and can't go anywhere. The car won't go into gear. *sigh* So I mess with it awhile hoping it's a fluke and I can get it moving, no luck, finally call the roadside service number and get a nice guy who tries to help. He has to call the office in Phoenix and tells me I'll have to swap cars in Phoenix... three hours away. Right, there's no Enterprise here in Yuma?!? Oh, sure, sure... but they all closed at 6pm... 5 minutes ago. *sigh* Through this I finally get the stupid car into gear and head to a gas station to fill up since I'll be swapping it out and have to return it with a full tank, right? Let's not talk about that the tank wasn't full when I got it. Grr. I stop at a gas station. Can't pay a tthe pump. Go inside... I have to know how much gas I'm putting in and prepay. How the heck am I supposed to know how much gas I need??? She shrugs and says I have to prepay. Fine. I leave and go down the block to a different station where I can pay at the pump. I fill up (after having to back up and pull in on the other side - why the heck do so many cars have the gas tanks on the passenger side now?! The driver fills up the car, right?!). So, the machine prints my receipt... it's blank. I have to go inside and have them print another one. Through all this, I'm still on the phone with the roadside guy and Enterprise and have gone through the whole story no less than four times and been told it's user error multiple times and told repeated how to put the car into gear... a car I drove for two days with no problem. They refuse to give me a different car! Seriously?! The woman at Enterprise finally just said they won't authorize a swap if there's nothing wrong with the car and she hangs up on me! The roadside guy apologizes, but there's nothing more he can do and tells me this happens A LOT. So much for customer service. =( Interesting that there are scratches all around this little plastic cover that says gear shift unlock. Sure, this has never happened before. Idiots. So I get my company's travel person involved. Funny, now that corporate is involved, now Enterprise is willing to give me another car. So after work, I try to leave to head to Enterprise at the microscopic airport here in Yuma (which, BTW, was open until 8:30pm the night before - had I known...), the car won't go into gear again. Yes, I pushed down on the gear shift before I tried to move it over. Yes, the stearing wheel was unlocked. Yes, the car has a major issue! I finally get it into gear, get to the airport and go in search of the car rental counters. No signs anywhere, of course. Find the guy, get him to stop chatting with his buddy and actually wait on me... and he has no idea what the heck I'm talking about when I say who I am and that I'm here to switch cars. The manager didn't bother to tell him anything. Nice. So he calls Phoenix and sits on hold for 10 minutes before getting authorization to give me this other car, tells them yes, it has a full tank of gas. I finally get the keys and surprise! It has just over half a tank of gas. I go back inside... nope, they can't fill it. I just have to take it. I gotta tell ya, if I'd had any choice in the matter, I would have handed him back the damn keys and gone to one of the other car rental companies. I'm so sick of these people! So I went and filled it up and will try to figure out how much gas to put in so I return it with a half tank of gas. =( I know if I ever need a rental personally, I won't be going to Enterprise! Anywhere else has to be better than these people! I get back to my hotel with the new car (this one moves, but it's the most basic thing they could find apparently) and stop at the front desk to fax my paperwork. No one is anywhere to be found. I stand there 10 minutes before some guy wanders through the lobby with a cup of coffee and asks if I'm checking in. Uh, no, you talked to me here yesterday, remember? He takes my paper to fax... then asks this other lady who just walked up if he can help her. Excuse me, you were helping me! Sheesh! After the great service at the hotel in Tucson (Residence Inn Williams Circle), this place is such a great disappointment. Every time I go tot he front desk, they ask if I'm checking in. Dude, I just walked out of the elevator... pretty good guess that I'm already staying here! The same people ask me over and over if I'm checking in. I ask to fax something, they do... and then ask if I'm checking in. hahaha No, I'm just using your free fax, moron. heh I'm stuck here until Monday, then head back to Tucson to finish out the week and head home... where I will hopefully either stay or fly soemwhere else. I'm just praying they don't send me back to AZ. Two months here is MORE than enough!

I do have this outside my window though:

Spotted the parents first. The male flying back and forth gathering twigs an fibers. Then, looking around more, I spotted the kids:

Next tree over. The kids have taken over the nest so I suppose the parents are building on a new wing for themselves. =)

Moving Forward

I've had great timing for my weekends home lately. The last weekend I was home, my niece had her first dance recital so I got to go to that. This time, my oldest nephew, Joe, graduated from high school. =)
I will miss his reception next weekend though. That's him with his little bro, Calvin, who graduates next year. Unfortunately, some of Joe's plans have been altered. He was all set to go into the Air Force mid-June. Two days before graduation, he was out with his friends and went to jump out of the back of a truck, caught his foot and landed on his arm. Broken. Had surgery the day before graduation to have plates and pins put in. Docs say 3 months before he's back to normal. Apparently, the AF won't accept anyone with hardware installed, but he may still be okay since he was already signed up. I'm hoping this delay will get him into a job a little closer to what he ultimately wants to do. Time will tell.

Glad I got home this weekend, but I gotta say, this whole flying on every freaking holiday is getting old. I think Christmas and New Year's have been the only holidays I've not spent on a plane since I started this job last June. I'm beginning to think they're doing it on purpose... Wish I was actually getting holiday pay though. =(

Over 100 degrees or not...

I had to get outside and enjoy the beauty of the desert around Tucson!

The saguaro cacti are starting to bloom! =) So pretty. Hard to get a good shot though since they're SO tall. haha Once more start to bloom, it'll be easier to find some blooms more at my level, but this shot taken standing on a small rock nearby and holding the camera as far above my head as possible turned out pretty well. haha

I went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens today. Spent a couple hours wandering around enjoying the flowers and cacti and the wildlife - LOTS of little lizards, birds, butterflies and bees.

The cacti are even cool after the blooms have faded. Then the fruits appear. I love these. They look like miniature pineapples!

More to come. Still have to finish uploading pics from the Botanical Gardens and Tucson Mountain Park...

BTW - I actually got rained on here today! First weather (other than HOT and a touch of wind) since I've been in Tucson! Supposed to be more isolated thunderstorms the next couple days as well. I heard thunder today and didn't believe it might actually rain until I felt a few drops. haha I even saw one lightning bolt while driving in Tucson Mountain Park!

Just when you think it's getting better...

Someone comes along and crushes your hope that things might be turning around. Why do miserable people want everyone else to be miserable with them? Misery loves company, right? But why? Does it really make them feel better if everyone around them is just as miserable as they are? Why are some people so quick to assume the worst of someone else? Someone they've known for a year and had no reason to question up to now? Maybe I'm just too trusting. Some people need to have spines like cacti so you know who is dangerous and who you can actually trust.

I did meet a couple of very cool people this week though. One had some very interesting suggestions. We'll see where things go from here... I see definite changes in my near future.

I hate everyone.

Do you ever just want to walk away from everything and everyone? Right now, a little cabin in the woods, up in Oregon or Washington, far away from everyone and everything sounds ideal. Just me and the critters and lots of yarn to play with. I'm irritated. Annoyed. Out of patience. I just feel like I'm not getting a break these days. It's all stress, all the time. I know if I just hold on, it'll get better. Don't get me wrong, I'm really thankful to have a decent job (esp in this economy) and I love getting to see so much of the US on someone else's dime. I'm just annoyed, fed up, way too hot (5 straight days of 100+) and ready to be done with Arizona and move on. I'm just praying I don't get stuck on the Missouri project after this. Maybe I just need a real vacation...