Sunday, August 22nd - Grand Canyons
So last weekend Corey and I went up to Vegas to see my brother who's there for the month. My mom and sister also flew down to see him too, so the five of us sort of had a family reunion of sorts.
It was so cool, it was like Corey had been a part of the family for years. In fact for a large part of the weekend I just sat back and watched Corey and my brother and sister interact.
I know Corey was nervous that him and my brother wouldn't hit it off, but they are so much alike I knew they would.
On our way out of town we found out we were overdrawn big time even though we shouldn't have been, so half our travel money wasn't available to us. Turns out my mom had already decided to pay our way (charge it now, pay for it forever). And we ended up sharing a room with my mom and sister who had one bed and Corey and I had the other.
One of the big surprises was my sister. I've never seen her drunk before. Well by the time we got there she already had a few 99cent Margarita's in her and she was flying high. As we drove down the strip she would point out all the places that had 99cent Margarita's. She was very funny though. When Corey and I and her were at the Star Trek Experience sitting at the bar at Quarks, a klingon came up and told her that he found her smooth forehead repulsive. Well she took that as a challenge and decided he needed to smile. So she essentially started hitting on him. *giggle* Then at dinner she was getting up to go to the restrooms with my mom and slid off the booth chair and onto the floor. Wee all got a great laugh out of that including my sister.
Corey, my sister and brother spent one day hunting down as many roller coasters and rides as they could find. All of them went upside down, so I didn't go on them, but they all three had a ball which was rewarding enough for me. At one point Corey told me excitedly "Finally I have a family to do this kinda stuff with."
We've got to get my brother to come visit (if not move permanently) here. It'd be so cool. Especially if we could get Sara here too. *hint hint*
Sunday we took off to go see the Grand Canyon, something my mom has been wishing for for years (taking me and my siblings there that is cause she's seen it years ago). And Corey has lived in Arizona most of his life, and his life and has never seen it either.
It took longer to get to it than we though it would, but that was fine cause it meant we were all in the same place (the rental van) for a few hours and got to talk and stuff which you really cant do to much of in a crowded casino.
We finally got to the canyon about an hour before dark (it only took us 4 hours to find a place in Vegas that we wanted to have breakfast that morning or we would have gotten there much sooner). It was an awesome sight, but not the religious experience I've been told it can be. Maybe it's cause I hate heights, but it was still cool.
My brother quickly emptied his camera, so me and him went back to the van (which was illegally parked in a bus zone cause we kinda got stuck in traffic cause everyone was parking in stupid places so they could go see the sunset real quick. As soon as he shut the door I asked "you got the keys right?" An odd expression came over his face as he said "No." I asked him if he was joking and again he said "No." This time with as freaked out look on his face. By this time the parking lot was clearing out and it was starting to get dark fast and there on the front seat was the only set of keys, and not a phone in site.
A quick note on Cancers. They blame themselves for a lot of things and they like to kick themselves repeatedly. I see this in Corey, and I've seen it in a friend I had in school, and I've seen more than my share of it in my brother.
We went back onto the path after checking the rest of the vans openings (autolock is such a great invention NOT). No sign of the rest of the group. They were back at the van though and we relayed the tale. They all got a great laugh out of it except my brother who was still kicking himself (especially since he didn't let anyone know he was leaving town let alone the state, and if they found out he would be considered AWOL).
About 15 minutes after telling them the tale the first buss came along. I quickly relayed the tale to her cause she was obviously a little ticked at us being parked in her way. She called in for a locksmith and took an alternative route through the parking lot. 15 minutes later the second bus came along and again I relayed the story to him. "You do know your illegally parked don't you?" he asked stupidly. I though for sure we were going to get a ticket, but it turns out we probably didn't even have to pay for the locksmith who came a few minutes later cause it should be covered by insurance and stuff.
There was a cool thunder storm off in the distance as we were driving away from the canyon, and about halfway home we stopped for about a half hour to look at the stars. It was the first time Corey had seen the Milky Way. My poor brother kept missing all the shooting stars that were falling, but he finally saw one just before we left.
We stopped at Hover Dam and looked at that for about a half hour too. Again with the height thing, eesh. It was cool, but it looks bigger in movies than it did in real life.
We stopped just outside of Las Vegas to look at the city all lit up, then we went to the hotel and dropped my brother off at his room and Corey and I went to our room to go to sleep cause we needed to leave as early as possible cause Corey needed to get back and go to work at 5pm. My sister and mom went back down to the casino and found the free drinks. About an hour before we were to leave they came back to the room. My sister was absolutely shit faced and couldn't stop giggling. I was to tired to join in and just rolled over and went back to sleep.
The drive home was uneventful. Corey kept commenting how beautiful the Arizona countryside is
but I just don't see it. Everything looks sparse and dirty. I'm used to the vibrant greens and dense lush moist forests of Oregon. This is going to take a while to get used to. Interesting rock formations everywhere though. I still prefer trees though.
Thursday I went to Orientation for my new job at the bank. I even drove downtown all by myself to get to it too. :)
I don't know who's idea it was to have an orientation for a night job start at 8 in the morning. *shakes head*
It was kinda interesting though. Learned some things. It was cool to see things in the brochures and stuff list "spouse or significant other" as options for benefit and stuff.
First day on the new job...
Seems my boss is on vacation, something I found out when I came in 15 minutes early in case there was paperwork to fill out or stuff. Then 15 minutes later everyone else showed up. I wont be so early next time.
The job is similar to bussing and dishwashing. I go out and pick up packs of sorted checks (getting empty dishes off tables) and bring them back to my table and pack them up to be shipped out (like putting dishes in a rack to be cleaned so they can be put away).
It's quite simple (or else I'm doing something wrong). I slipped right back into dishwashing mode. Several people commented that I was working "to fast". That's a new one.
It's a job though. And I'm getting a few more hours than I did at the restaurant, and getting payed for starters what it took 11 and a half years at the restaurant to get.
And hey, I still get cuts all over my hands just like dishwashing except they are paper cuts instead of fork cuts, and I don't have to get wet to do it. :) And I get breaks.
Did I mention our only Air Conditioner finally bit the dust. My first payday cant get here fast enough.
