run, run, rudolph
i couldn't have scripted it better myself. in those early, restless hours of the morning, i could have written a choose-your-own-adventure short story depending on when i thought i'd wake up. when i was downstairs for breakfast, i balked on asking for an 11:00 wake-up call -- it sounded silly, and besides, i wasn't even staying in my own room. as far as homewood suites austin knew, i was al jones of staff management office 32 in detroit. i didn't even eat downstairs, but filled a plate and took it back up to my room. you know what they say about hindsight being 20/20? well...
despite having set three alarms, and i KNEW three alarms wouldn't be enough, your wannabe hero rolls lazily over to check his phone at exactly 11:50 a.m. -- just like any hotel, checkout is at noon; more importantly, last night, i'd booked a shuttle to take me to the airport at noon, as well (there's another minor, head-aching story involved with that, which i'd promised myself i'd forget in the morning, so we can't go there).
11:50 A.M. -- i knew it was going to happen, i knew it i knew it i knew it i knew it. like i just whined about in the post previous, i've been working overnights, i KNOW my body and i know how much sleep i need and i know how little i usually allow it after i get off work at seven every morning. i know how many alarms it takes to wake me (five, no less) and i know how often even that doesn't work. so i knew, crawling into bed at 6:30 a.m., that there was a chance i'd be finding another way to the airport and possibly another flight, if waking up went as horribly wrong as it could have. i knew this.
still, i thought the importance of waking up on time would somehow worm its way into my brain and, when those three ringtones sounded off at 10:25, :35, and :45, i would wake up bright-eyed and raring to go. even then, i could almost see it...
running around the hotel suite like the crazy-ass i am, mapping out in my mind where everything was in the place, where i'd thrown my socks and where i'd used my phone charger last, my shampoo was in the bathroom, toothbrush by the sink, six-pack of lone star in the fridge for mark when i get back, clothes in here, clothes in there -- i was even humming "run, run, rudolph," humoring myself by thinking i was in a home alone movie.
but i made it downstairs in time, van was outside, filled up my travel mug with some coffee in the lobby, grabbed a newspaper and threw my room keys on the counter. i didn't have time to explain how i wasn't al, which was good, even though they didn't ask anyway, but only wanted to know if he had left or not. he had. they -- oh, you don't even know about al! well, long story short, i'm a stupid, funny fucker who can neither sleep nor wake, currently sitting safely and soundly in austin's bergstrom airport, typing away on my lovebird-defaced laptop and watching beautiful women walk right past me. my flight doesn't start boarding for another hour and a half. i can't even get through security until i finish my coffee, anyway. we're on orange alert, you know...
i met al jones when he came down to work at plastipak, for staff management, the staffing agency from which i've recently resigned, while plastipak served as our site of operations in champaign, il. staff sets up these on-site offices, so every SM office is unique and devoted only to its home factory or warehouse, or whatever the client is. al had come from detroit, through a rather noble move on his part -- corporately (a 22-year-old should never have to be so familiar with the word), staff was having to cut some corners, and most offices evenutally downsized. well, at office 32, they eliminated an entire shift of workers and, consequently, a supervisor's job. rather than see his buddy lose his job, al volunteered to travel with the company and let this other guy fill his own spot. he came down to champaign to help us fill the vacant supervisor's spot on the overnight shift opposite mine. so we worked together. i showed him the lay of the land, the way we run things down there, how to handle plastipak's asshole personnel and when and when not to make exceptions for our own. it's a god-awful job, don't even get me started. point is, al and i worked together for a month or two before they found him a permanent replacement, and i got to thinking al was a pretty cool guy.
well, now, al is part of staff management's "new business" operation. kind of. new business is in charge of rolling out new staff accounts across the country. i say he's kind-of part of it because he's actually still a supervisor in detroit, waiting for his old spot to open back up, but in the meantime he's traveling with new business. a bit of a rotten deal, seeing that new business makes considerably more than us little guys, but then, staff management's a bit of a rotten company. corporation.
al had just spent six weeks in nashville training at one of the new dell accounts SM had somehow sweet-talked their way into. well, actually, i know they'd been trying to secure these dell accounts for over a year and finally did, so they must be doing something right because it's a pretty big-stinking-deal. the nashville account was the prototype that worked, and now, new business, and al jones, were rolling out the rest of the dell accounts nationwide. al came to champaign shortly after i had come back from my first round in austin, so he called me almost as soon as he touched down: "hey man, i'm in austin! you should come visit!"
i told him, matter-of-factly, i was planning on leaving the place soon and was looking to get away for a while, and i'm sure i could pencil austin into my plans. in the following weeks, we'd even set up the possibility of my getting a job down here -- other persons involved had some last-minute schedule changes, so i didn't get to meet with the guys i was to meet with, but al's been hyping me, so we'll see if i can't get a phone interview or something later this week. i wasn't thinking seriously about the offer until now, though, all these gorgeous women walking by...
so yeah, that's al. we had a great time, schmoozed with some of the people he works with at this little dell community down here, got drunk and got lost, and talked our ways into as many free meals or drinks as possible. peas in a pod. he had to leave yesterday, but told the hotel his flight had changed and he'd be staying an extra day, and left the room to me. a free night on staff management, i figure they owe me at least as much, since i'm not so sure my vacation time is going to pay out as accurately as i'm hoping.
anyway, that's my story. my battery is running low, so i'm going to try to post this and pack up, and try finding another starbucks in this place. i'm still sleepy-eyed. i need to wash my face and brush my teeth, too.
gross.
despite having set three alarms, and i KNEW three alarms wouldn't be enough, your wannabe hero rolls lazily over to check his phone at exactly 11:50 a.m. -- just like any hotel, checkout is at noon; more importantly, last night, i'd booked a shuttle to take me to the airport at noon, as well (there's another minor, head-aching story involved with that, which i'd promised myself i'd forget in the morning, so we can't go there).
11:50 A.M. -- i knew it was going to happen, i knew it i knew it i knew it i knew it. like i just whined about in the post previous, i've been working overnights, i KNOW my body and i know how much sleep i need and i know how little i usually allow it after i get off work at seven every morning. i know how many alarms it takes to wake me (five, no less) and i know how often even that doesn't work. so i knew, crawling into bed at 6:30 a.m., that there was a chance i'd be finding another way to the airport and possibly another flight, if waking up went as horribly wrong as it could have. i knew this.
still, i thought the importance of waking up on time would somehow worm its way into my brain and, when those three ringtones sounded off at 10:25, :35, and :45, i would wake up bright-eyed and raring to go. even then, i could almost see it...
running around the hotel suite like the crazy-ass i am, mapping out in my mind where everything was in the place, where i'd thrown my socks and where i'd used my phone charger last, my shampoo was in the bathroom, toothbrush by the sink, six-pack of lone star in the fridge for mark when i get back, clothes in here, clothes in there -- i was even humming "run, run, rudolph," humoring myself by thinking i was in a home alone movie.
but i made it downstairs in time, van was outside, filled up my travel mug with some coffee in the lobby, grabbed a newspaper and threw my room keys on the counter. i didn't have time to explain how i wasn't al, which was good, even though they didn't ask anyway, but only wanted to know if he had left or not. he had. they -- oh, you don't even know about al! well, long story short, i'm a stupid, funny fucker who can neither sleep nor wake, currently sitting safely and soundly in austin's bergstrom airport, typing away on my lovebird-defaced laptop and watching beautiful women walk right past me. my flight doesn't start boarding for another hour and a half. i can't even get through security until i finish my coffee, anyway. we're on orange alert, you know...
i met al jones when he came down to work at plastipak, for staff management, the staffing agency from which i've recently resigned, while plastipak served as our site of operations in champaign, il. staff sets up these on-site offices, so every SM office is unique and devoted only to its home factory or warehouse, or whatever the client is. al had come from detroit, through a rather noble move on his part -- corporately (a 22-year-old should never have to be so familiar with the word), staff was having to cut some corners, and most offices evenutally downsized. well, at office 32, they eliminated an entire shift of workers and, consequently, a supervisor's job. rather than see his buddy lose his job, al volunteered to travel with the company and let this other guy fill his own spot. he came down to champaign to help us fill the vacant supervisor's spot on the overnight shift opposite mine. so we worked together. i showed him the lay of the land, the way we run things down there, how to handle plastipak's asshole personnel and when and when not to make exceptions for our own. it's a god-awful job, don't even get me started. point is, al and i worked together for a month or two before they found him a permanent replacement, and i got to thinking al was a pretty cool guy.
well, now, al is part of staff management's "new business" operation. kind of. new business is in charge of rolling out new staff accounts across the country. i say he's kind-of part of it because he's actually still a supervisor in detroit, waiting for his old spot to open back up, but in the meantime he's traveling with new business. a bit of a rotten deal, seeing that new business makes considerably more than us little guys, but then, staff management's a bit of a rotten company. corporation.
al had just spent six weeks in nashville training at one of the new dell accounts SM had somehow sweet-talked their way into. well, actually, i know they'd been trying to secure these dell accounts for over a year and finally did, so they must be doing something right because it's a pretty big-stinking-deal. the nashville account was the prototype that worked, and now, new business, and al jones, were rolling out the rest of the dell accounts nationwide. al came to champaign shortly after i had come back from my first round in austin, so he called me almost as soon as he touched down: "hey man, i'm in austin! you should come visit!"
i told him, matter-of-factly, i was planning on leaving the place soon and was looking to get away for a while, and i'm sure i could pencil austin into my plans. in the following weeks, we'd even set up the possibility of my getting a job down here -- other persons involved had some last-minute schedule changes, so i didn't get to meet with the guys i was to meet with, but al's been hyping me, so we'll see if i can't get a phone interview or something later this week. i wasn't thinking seriously about the offer until now, though, all these gorgeous women walking by...
so yeah, that's al. we had a great time, schmoozed with some of the people he works with at this little dell community down here, got drunk and got lost, and talked our ways into as many free meals or drinks as possible. peas in a pod. he had to leave yesterday, but told the hotel his flight had changed and he'd be staying an extra day, and left the room to me. a free night on staff management, i figure they owe me at least as much, since i'm not so sure my vacation time is going to pay out as accurately as i'm hoping.
anyway, that's my story. my battery is running low, so i'm going to try to post this and pack up, and try finding another starbucks in this place. i'm still sleepy-eyed. i need to wash my face and brush my teeth, too.
gross.
<3 ryan at 12:36 PM
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