So Long, Summer. Hello...Paycheck!?

As I write this, the season isn't the only thing that changed - I finally got a job!

After being back in Oklahoma for about three weeks, I got a phone call about the very same job that I didn't get back in May. It turns out that the woman they hired is moving back home to another state, so I was called in for a meeting. We reviewed the position a little, and then they asked if I could start on Monday!

So tomorrow morning at 8:30 I'll be sitting at "my" desk, in front of "my" computer, answering "my" phone and identifying myself with other sorts of things that aren't really mine at all. I've got to admit, I am wondering how this experience of being laid off for nearly 18 months will affect my relationship with the newly minted work-me. I am excited about this new opportunity, and I consider myself very lucky to be now one of the nation's employed. I also know there are still countless others looking for work comparable to what they had when they lost their last jobs, and unfortunately, I know just how easily I could end up back where I was.

I'll tell you this: I feel like I'm going into this situation blind. And I'm not talking about being the new guy and having systems and processes to learn. I've just been out of the game for a while now. So I wonder what has changed more during that while. Me? Or business?

Despite what I've been reading and hearing about companies demanding more and more from employees in exchange for lower pay and benefits packages, I can promise you that I am entering into this new relationship with a clean slate. I think it's only fair to myself, and my new employer. I took this job because I like the company. I like what they do and who they do it for. I took this job because it pays money and I need money. I'm also someone who takes pride in anything I do, but I have absolutely zero plans to jump back into any competitive rat race. The last one, I'm talking about the radio job, almost killed me. I was becoming something I hated, and I was chasing all the wrong things.

So, that's my big news for now. I have a new job and I'm really excited. I'm sad to leave my days of spending lots of time with my animals, friends and family, and going wherever we want with a moment's notice and no vacation request form. But, I promise to continue making time for the things that will keep me being me. That's one important lesson that losing my job has taught me. I can't let anything, or anyone, keep me from being me.

A few other things:
I've also been waitressing at my friend's new restaurant. I'll keep doing that in spite of the new full-time gig. I am really so glad that I decided to ask him for a job there. Waiting tables is a lot of fun, and you can walk out with a paycheck every day that you work. It's also nice to meet some new people, and getting a job in a restaurant is a great way to meet fun people.

And lastly, I may be bringing this blog to a close. When I started, it was all about our dual-unemployment and the adventures we were having in spite that speed bump. Since we both have jobs now, the unemployment part is obviously no more. Also, I've felt more of a desire to keep my adventures somewhat private lately. I was hoping this blog would be a place where I could write and express myself and say how I see things, but I realize now there is no such thing. Anything I put out here on the big ole internet can be read by just about anyone. It can be read, misread, understood and also, misunderstood.

If I do close this blog, I will likely start another one more relevant to what's going on with us. But for now, I think we are headed into a new stage in our lives and our relationship. Hmm...you guys wouldn't follow a Greggles and Berls wedding blog, would ya? :)

I will keep everyone posted, and thank you for reading and being great friends!

Hugs and high fives ;)
Berly

Comparatively Speaking...

Well, I've officially been back in Tulsa for 8 days now. After living more or less outdoors for the past three and a half months, I am still getting used to living in a house with multiple ROOMS. A room for laundry, a room for cooking, a room for watching tv, a room for relaxing and reading a book, a room for painting, a few rooms for guests to stay in, a room for guests to shower and use the bathroom, a room to draw and use the computer, a room to sleep in, a room for my cars and tools, and my very own bathroom!

Wow. All of a sudden, I have a lot of rooms vying for my attention.

I've started making a couple of lists. One, of things here in the house in Tulsa that I didn't realize I'd taken for granted. The other, a list of things that I thought I'd surely miss or be miserable without, but apparently aren't of great importance after all. So which do I prefer - a house in Tulsa or alternative living in Flagstaff? A combination of the two would be lovely, but of course, impossible. Good thing I don't have to make that decision just yet. 

Things in Tulsa that I Didn’t Realize I Had Taken For Granted 

1. The feeling of clean carpet underneath my bare feet
For over 3 months, I had worn my beloved Chaco flip-flops everywhere, even in the shower. The only time I didn’t wear them was when I was wearing my jogging shoes, or when I went to bed at night. So when I got home, I flipped off my flops to walk across my living room. Mom and Dad had cleaned the carpets a few times while we were gone, so it smelled like a new apartment inside (that’s a good thing). I stepped onto the carpet and my feet just melted on top of the air-conditioning cooled, clean carpet. Ahhhhhhh.

2. Steam from opening a dishwasher that has just finished the dry cycle.
Edwina was lovely and accomodating, but dishes were washed by hand and dried by AIR! No lemon-scented steam baths :( Mmmmmm.

Things That I Don’t Really Miss that I Thought I Would

1. Hot showers
I haven’t turned the gas back on in the house yet. Why? Because ONG wanted to charge us $40 a month while we were out of town. The only option, other than bending over to pay it, was to shut it off for 6 months, and then they would only charge me a one-time $35 to turn it back on. Why must it be 6 months? Because that is the ONG way. And probably because they noticed that there are people who move away temporarily for the summer, and that is usually a maximum of 4 months that they don’t get their little payday from you. So why wouldn’t they want to just let you turn it off for 4 months, then they’d be making more money because you’d be turning it back on sooner, right?!?! Hmmm. Actually, they’d make more money if you just decided to bend over and pay it for the 4 months that you’re gone. So, for that reason, and not because I can’t afford it, I refuse to turn the gas on until November. By the way, if I turn it on before 6 months, they charge me $40 a month for every month that it was turned off. And if I turn it off at 6 months, they only charge me $35 one time. I’m 4 months in, and I'm not backing down now! (ONG appreciates your business. And by "appreciates" I mean "date rapes".)
 
Plus, right now the water just isn’t that cold so it’s kind of a non-issue to me. I don’t know if the occasional cold shower that I took this summer had anything to do with the evolution of this superhero ability to tolerate cold water running down my back everyday, but I don’t mind my showers at all. And bonus: I actually look better when I get out of a cold shower. Yes, but that's not why. My skin is tighter and not as red and splotchy. With hot showers, I’m always red and splotchy until I put lotion on and cool down. So there. Enjoy those mental images, like pouring bleach in your mind's eye. I don’t miss hot showers.

2. Television
As much as I wanted to not miss television, I was positive that I would. Turns out, my wish was granted. I came home almost completely NUMB to my $10.99/month Dish Network programming that I decided to leave on in our absence. I decided to leave it on because my only other option was to “suspend” service while we were gone. But I’m under contract with these guys, so I decided that I’d rather be that much closer to ending said contract, which the suspension wouldn’t do. (There is a special place for the CEOs of ONG and Dish Network, and I hear it's hot there...so enjoy your showers, gentlemen! Mua-haha!!)

I digress. So the programming stayed, albeit in the form of cheapest programming package available on Earth. In truth, I have watched my fair share of television since getting back to Tulsa, but not more than an hour or so each day. In fact, the only thing I really try to catch is the 3 back-to-back episodes of The Golden Girls each night on the Hallmark Channel. Side note: I have thus far been unsuccessful in recruiting any fans for this wonderful show, which is more comforting to me than the biggest bowl of macaroni and cheese in the world, but that’s okay by me. I am proud of my GG obsession regardless of my lack of peer supports. (But seriously people, are you just lying to me? How can you not love those crazy old ladies?! Sex, cheesecake and St. Olaf jokes?!?! Vintage Betty White?! Gah!)

So there you have it, further evidence of my weirdness: I don't watch tv*, I prefer cold showers, and going barefoot on carpet and opening the dishwasher are special treats. Let me know when you want to hang out. I know how to party.

*Watching GG doesn't count, I have it on DVD. No, you may not borrow.

Old Posters: Awkwardly Entertaining or Totally Creepy?

I was looking through Google images for some examples of old timey movie posters, preferably romantic westerns (don't ask, yes I am working on a project). I didn't really find exactly what I had in mind, but that's beside the point. I found these images of old posters. But I can't tell these days what is really old and what's just designed to look old. Does anyone know if these really exist(ed)?

Interesting.

Bike Shop Party Dancing Man

About a month ago, we were walking around downtown Flagstaff and came upon a party at a local bike shop. There was a band playing and there were snacks, so I'm sure it was a party. I had just gotten my video camera, and I was filming everything. This video is actually pretty terrible, so I apologize for that. But it gets pretty awesome toward the end, so in my personal biased opinion it's worth three and a half minutes of your life.

I don't remember this guy's name, and I wouldn't publish it if I did, but he is epically cool.

48 Hours Before Our Hometrip!

Please enjoy this pixelated little slide-show set to music. This is honestly pretty terrible, and sadly, also took me a long time, but I'm publishing it anyway!

Lots of VWs, dog shots, a Mustang and Edwina's new paint job.

I took all pictures with Greg's chronically ill iPhone over the past 2 days. (I was charging my new camera when I decided to start this little experiment picture project, so I decided that the iPhone should be allowed to finish what it started!)

A Weekend in Jerome

Why do I always fall in love with lazy little art towns that are crawling up steep mountains?

First, I fell for Eureka Springs, Arkansas. And now....Jerome, Arizona. Just: lovely. I realize that I overuse the word "lovely", but what more should I say? It's simple and perfect, just like Jerome.

It was raining a bit on our way out of Flagstaff, but I think we're all actually embracing the rain these days. Not because high temperatures of 85 degrees are anything to complain about, I guess sometimes it's just nice to get a little rain in your hair.

Before I get into what we did and saw there, I should admit that I didn't really have any knowledge of Jerome or it's history before we went there. I think I would've enjoyed our visit even more if I would have done some prerequisite research. Presearch, if you will. Going forward, I'll try to remember that a quick visit with my wise little friend the Internet should precede any road trip.

In this case, I actually hit Wikipedia after we got home. (Note: I've been driving myself bonkers trying to figure out the proper (MLA) way to insert a Wikipedia excerpt into my blog post, and I just aint havin' no luck wit dat. Ha! So, just know that I tried to do it the right way :))

Here's what Wikipedia had to say about Jerome:

A mining town named Jerome was established on the side of Cleopatra Hill in 1883. It was named for Eugene Murray Jerome, a New York investor who owned the mineral rights and financed mining there. Eugene Jerome never visited his namesake town. The town housed the workers in the nearby United Verde Mine, which was to produce over 1 billion dollars in copper, gold and silver over the next 70 years.

Jerome became a notorious "wild west" town, a hotbed of prostitution, gambling, and vice. On 5 February 1903, the New York Sun proclaimed Jerome to be "the wickedest town in the West".

In 1915 the population of Jerome was estimated at 2,500. 

Jerome had three major fires between 1897 and 1899, burning out much of the town. One of the mine fires continued to burn for twenty years. This prompted the phasing out of underground mining in favor of open pit mining at the United Verde. Blasting in the mines frequently shook the town, sometimes damaging or moving buildings; after one blast in the 1930s the city jail slid one block down hill intact. Lawsuits were frequent, but the mining companies usually won.

By 1929 Jerome's population was over 15,000. Arizona had become the nation's leading copper-producer.

The United Verde and Jerome prospered in the war years, but the end was now in sight. In 1953 the last of Jerome's mines closed, and much of the population left town. Jerome's population reached a low point of about 50 people in the late 1950s.

In 1967 Jerome was designated a Historic District, and a National Historic Landmark in 1976, known as Jerome Historic District. 

Today Jerome is a tourist destination, with many abandoned and refurbished buildings from its boom town days. Jerome has a large mining museum, presenting the town history, labor-management disputes, geological structure models, mineral samples, and equipment used in both underground and open-pit mining. The National Historic Landmark designation has assured architectural preservation in this town, a mile high on the side of Mingus Mountain.

There are numerous bed and breakfasts in Jerome and two hotels, The Connor Hotel and The Grand Hotel. Restaurants range from hamburgers to fine dining. The two local bars, one of them Arizona's oldest family owned bar, both regularly have live music on weekends.

The community spirit in this town of 400 has created a vibrant group of events from its Halloweeen Dance to the Jerome Home Tour in May. This is the oldest yearly Home Tour in the state of Arizona.

Jerome is known as an art destination, with more than 30 galleries and working studios. First Saturday Art Walk began in 2006, and has become a popular monthly event. In 2007, Jerome became a sponsor of The Sedona Plein Air Festival, and hosted some of the best-known plein air painters in the country. The Old Jerome High School is home to many artists and their open studios. Artists and craftspeople display their work in an open-air art park in nice weather.

Jerome is referenced in the Barenaked Ladies latest record, All In Good Time. It is the title of Track 9 with references to Mingus Mountain, from which Jerome can be seen.

According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 353.

"Jerome, Arizona." Wikipedia. 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. August 19, 2000 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome,_Arizona>
If you'd like to read the entire Wikipedia article, click on the url in the citation above or, just click here.


So now that you know more about this small town with a big history, I hope you enjoy the following pics from our weekend :)

 If only loading your VW bus got as much respect from the city official in charge of signage...

It is good bread. But you're not getting any! We're closed!

Hope someone doesn't mind :) I was leaning with LOVE! Cool bus.

The sun setting on the homes and hillsides was an incredible sight.

A Bordello Pizzeria? How Keith walked by this one I'll never know... 

Mmm....the Haunted Hamburger. I wonder if "Ghost Beef" is on the menu?

The iPhone doesn't have a flash, so this was the last picture of the night.

Look closely...it's Keith riding a tiny toy horse. Adorbs.

That night, we camped on Mingus Mountain, which can be reached by basically taking the main road through Jerome all the way to the top. I actually had a terrible migraine that night, so I was lying down in the back of the bus as we were driving up there to camp. Keith and Greg said they could barely see past the headlights due to the thick fog that had set. 

The next morning, I was the first one to wake up. I got up, let the dogs out and stepped out into a total still. No wind, no animals chirping. Just complete, utter still and silence, and a light, cool and crisp morning air.

  And apparently, the thick fog from the night before. 

Awesome.

About 50 feet from our campsite was the edge of the mountain, which was more like a cliff. Greg was really glad that I woke him up to see what he described as, "the end of the world". Imagine walking out onto a rock and seeing nothing but fog. It was very Lord of the Rings-y.

I know, I look hot in the morning. But look at that fog!

In the moment I was taking this picture, I remember thinking, "I hope Willie doesn't think she sees a tennis ball or a squirrel down there". 

I do wonder what that little dog head was thinking about looking over the edge into the fog. 

Probably tennis balls and squirrels.

Willie also found an interesting little fungus that looked like a bunch of cheese balls. 

She knows that her daddy loves some cheese balls.

The fog finally lifted off. Shortly thereafter, so did we! 

Very cool place to camp, we'll be back.

YEAH! :) 

But seriously people, yeah.

:)
Berls

Birthday Weekend!

And what a lovely weekend it was!

It was also the weekend that we thought we would be looking forward to all summer long - the High Altitude VW Campout here at the campground. It had gotten canceled over a month ago because basically the manager here is 35 going on 13. And even though this event is her baby, she canceled it in a grand and dramatic fashion that left everyone scratching their heads, biting their tongues and rolling their eyes. She also put all of her VWs up for sale on Craigslist. Then she reinstated the campout about a week later, but the damage was done. Thankfully, someone else had already scheduled another VW campout in the Grand Canyon Caverns, and it was a blissful alternative to the monkey-fart circus that the Low Aptitude VW Campout had become.

FRIDAY
A fair amount of folks turned out for the deal here at the campground, and I did meet some nice ladies and gents right before we left for the Caverns on Friday afternoon. Someone even asked for a ride in my beetle! Naturally, five minutes into our ride, they brought Monkeyfarts up and I got an earful. Apparently no one else cares for the her pseudo-peace-and-VW-love, either. I honestly didn't care anymore, I was ready to evict her from my brain for the weekend.

Four buses met at the shop and we set out on The Mother Road: Route 66. It took about 2 hours to reach the cavern campground. For lack of a better detailed description of the drive, let's just say it was a beyoot of a journey. I highly recommend that you drive it for yourself if you haven't already :)

Greg and Keith had gifted me with a Sony Webbie HD video camera for an early birthday present, and almost immediately I think they regretted their generous and thoughtful gift. Anyone who has ever seen me with a regular camera knows that I take 10 pictures of most things, and 20 pictures of everything else. Having a video camera negates the need to take picture after picture after picture, because, well, the camera does it for me!

As far as setting up camp, Greg, Keith and I can set up faster than the pits at NASCAR if need be. But ideally, bus camping is all about leisure and relaxation, so we took our time on this Friday. Our camp had four buses - us, Mickey, Gina and Christine, and then a neighboring camp had many more. We were like the tiny satellite branch of the bigger bus camp. Full service, just tinier. We had our own campfire and music and they had theirs, and everyone walked freely in between the two to share the super-fun-bus-times.

Believe it or not, I didn't get enough pictures! I have plenty of shaky, amateur, tripodless video footage, but not enough snaps. Ahhh well. Here are a few anyway!

SATURDAY
Saturday morning we woke up early enough to fool ourselves into making lots of big plans for the day. Greg, Keith and I started with a walk up to the campground diner for breakfast. The food was long on the dollar and short on the holler. But a beautiful, busy day was on our horizon so we nommed our plates clean. Have you ever noticed how having someone else make breakfast for you just has a way of not disappointing? I enjoyed my mediocre pancakes, sausage and coffee while eyeballing Keith's mediocre biscuits and gravy (my second choice), and Greggles had himself a mediocre breakfast burrito with eggs, cheddar cheese, ham, and green chili.

After breakfast we went back to the campsite and met up with the others. We all decided that at some point during the day we'd go on a cave tour, play disc golf, watch a movie, find a birthday cake, then go to the campground tavern in the evening to enjoy drinks and live music. 3 hours later after all of these decisions were made, I finally motivated myself to walk the 100 yards to the tour desk and gather information about the cave tours. It was $14.95 for the full 45-minute tour, which was currently running every 30 minutes. I walked back to camp and told the others. Another 3 hours later, we all coordinated the collective motivation to go take the tour.

Our tour guide was an 18-year old guy who had worked there only a month. I was really impressed with the vast amount of knowledge this kid was rattling off for working there only a month. Young people are smart. I feel like most older people (myself included at times) usually give them too much criticism and not enough credit. Gina even peppered him with questions, some damn good questions, while the rest of us just made smart-ass comments and jokes the whole time. We were probably total brats.

It was an awesome cavern. I think he said it had four natural caves and three man-made rooms. And it was a dry cavern, which I think meant that it was no longer growing. We were all having fun. If anyone would've been observing our tour, I'm sure they would've thought it odd that a bunch of thirty-somethings were seemingly heckling this guy. I can justify my actions like this: Keith and I get seriously heckled by no less than 20 octogenarians every day when we work as guides, and usually it has something to do with their 40-foot motorhome that cost them some degree of six-figures, and they are holding us personally responsible for the 200 year old trees that they have to navigate to get to their site.

So, at least our guide-heckling was good-natured. Honestly, it consisted of nothing more than a bunch of "that's what she said" comments, and other pervy comments about wet caverns versus dry caverns. It was a good time for everyone including our guide, and he even showed us some cool stuff that wasn't on the normal tour.

One thing that was on the normal tour, and was in fact a major focal point of the first natural cave we came into, was a fully furnished "room" that you could rent for the night. It was basically a platform with short three and a half foot retaining walls, inside of which was a plush suite complete with a full-kitchen, bathroom, sofas, beds and a big-screen tv and more. The ceiling? It's the cave ceiling, dummy! Pretty much the coolest thing I've seen in a while.

I don't usually get excited about fancy hotel rooms, but I really wanted to rent this cave for a night. We all did. How much? Well, he wasn't supposed to tell us.....but we finally pulled $700 a night out of him. Quick math: there's six of us, so that's doable! Oh.... That price is based on two people. Each additional person is another $100. So. $1,100 for six of us to lock ourselves in an actual cavern for an entire night. Of course it's worth it! And probably not a ton of money to a lot of people, we just don't have it right now. So Kimberly's Cave Rave 2011 has been added to the wish list for next year's birthday celebration :)

Who knows what we'll be up to in a year!? RSVP now for the cave rave.

Here's the $14.95 picture of the $700 cave room, and I have never meant these words more than I do in this instance: this picture does not do justice.

I had to borrow this and other cave pictures from Keith. All I had was 4 videos broken up into 10 minute sections, and it didn't come out too well with all of my stumbling and jerky camera-manning.

After the cave, Greg, Keith and I went back to the diner for the birthday dinner. In hindsight, we should've brought steaks and cooked out. We were camping after all. But we camp everyday so we didn't, and this place didn't have a very good store. The diner was finer, I declare!  

I don't even remember what I ordered. Something forgettable. But I know Keith and Greg got the buffet. And the buffet had mini corndogs. I kept making Greg go back and get me more of those little suckers. Much like breakfast, diner dinner was long on the dollar and short on the holler, but they did have one piece of apple pie left.

So we ordered it with a few scoops of ice cream and a candle and VOILA!  

Birthday Pie.  

I don't know why they put it in this styrofoam container. Perhaps they wanted us to leave because we had overeaten our mini-corndog welcome. We nommed the birthday pie in-house despite their not-so-subtle packaging.

 AND

Greg and Keith sang Happy Birthday to me :) 

Those guys are alriiight.  

 
After food, Greg had the itis so we took a nap while Keith, Gina, Christine and Mickey played a competitive game of horseshoes. Then it rained rivers on us for a few hours, which inspired Keith to coin the phrase, "God likes to party." Shortly after that, we set off to the "camp bar" to check out this live music we'd been so looking forward to...

...we pulled up to an empty parking lot and a glowing neon "Open" sign. We quickly realized that we would either be spending 5 minutes or 5 hours at this little honey of a watering hole.

As soon as we walked inside, the "live music" literally hit a play button and a cover band version of Poison's Nothin' But a Good Time started to bounce off of the wood-paneled and animal hide adorned walls. Yep, the live music was karaoke. And no one was singing.

We weren't the only folks in the bar. There was some guy who looked like the love child of Hulk Hogan and The Nuge. He was there with his old lady. And then of course there was the bartender, who, when he stood up and walked over to take our orders, almost fell on his ass. Twice. 

I ordered a white russian, because it just felt right, and drank about half of it. I don't miss drinking. The rest of our group choked down one flat beer apiece as we officially cheers'd in the addition of another year of living for me.

I like to think that I left that half-full glass of vodka, cream and Kahlua on the table for all my good homies everywhere that I'm missing...wherever you are and especially now, you're all gentle on my mind ;)
I still might run in silence
Tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me till I'm blind
But not to where I cannot see
You walkin' on the back roads
By the rivers flowin' gentle on my mind.
(I don't remember how to write a song credit but that's part of a verse from Gentle on My Mind by Glen Campbell. Yes, it's a love song...but I love you guys! If you're reading this, I'm talking to you! Probably.)


Back to the bar. We left after a Nolte-d local came over to our table and started telling us his entire life story, beginning from 8th grade. (Note: he looked like he'd been out of 8th grade for quite some time)

Once back at camp, we made another campfire and put on some tunes. I was in rare DJ form with my iPod, cranking out everything from Snoop Dogg to Golden Smog. We sipped beers and lame diet colas until close to 3 a.m. before going to sleep.

SUNDAY
We awoke Sunday morning, packed camp, took some bus pics (and the T-Rex picture of Greg), then shagged back to Seligman for some Route 66 photo ops.

The Delgadillo family owns some of the more wacky and entertaining shops and stops on this stretch. We ate burgers at their Snow Cap restaurant, hung out in Juan's Garden, took pictures of some of their silly stuff, then took pictures of our stuff next to their stuff before heading back home to Flagstaff. The pretty blond girl in the bus picture is Christine. The pretty brunette girl sitting on the hot dog wall is Gina. Of course, I'm sure you recognize Keith in all of his rugged, bearded glory standing next to the Burma Shave sign...and the only person I didn't get a good picture of was Mickey. I think it's probably easier to get a good picture of a sasquatch. He senses the camera and does whatever necessary to avoid being captured inside of it.

 
I give this birthday an A+ and a high five!

 Coming Soon:
A weekend in Jerome
Flagstaff Film Festival
19 days until we leave for Oklahoma/Eureka Springs
Our last days at the Flagstaff KOA 

I hope all of you are having an excellent week!
:) love,
Berls