Dear Friends,
It’s weird transitioning out of a job and into a new one. My new employer wants all kinds of information, so I’ve been jumping through hoops to get it all to them. I have never had to submit so much stuff before. People think it is easy to be a teacher these days and they are wrong. It’s easy to be a teacher at a non-certified school like a charter. That’s easy. All you need is a pulse to work at a Charter.
I have a lot to say about this, but I think I should probably wait until after I am officially gone from my current place of employment. No need to stir the pot any more than I already have. In some good news, my soon-to-be former principal was really great about it when I handed in my letter of resignation on Monday. He was very supportive and understanding.
We had a really lovely time at our friend’s house on Halloween. Quentin, Renee, and Tom are about the best friends and hosts a person could ask for and we enjoyed dinner, a bit of Psycho, and excellent conversation while the trick or treaters came by. We also got to hang with their friends, James and Sabrina, and that was awesome, too.
*****
I never finished my trip story and left it with how the “fun began” in Wichita.
I had listened to about a day’s worth of SmartLess on the way from Rockford, IL to Wichita, KS. That show is addictive. Kind of crack-ish, really, in that you just want to hear more and more after each episode. After I left the greater Kansas City area, which you kind of skirt on the route I took, I really don’t remember much about the drive.
It was long and I was beat up, basically, and Kansas isn’t particularly memorable. There are tons of tiny towns, and they all look the same. When I got to Wichita, it felt almost urban. It’s a city, I know, albeit small compared to Phoenix, but my motel was in the “downtown” area.
When I booked it online a few weeks before leaving, it seemed like a decent enough place. The pictures made the building look very nice, and I expected the neighborhood to be a tad nicer than it was. What I got was kind of scary and off-putting, to be honest, and after a long day in the car, I really could have used a relaxing walk with Bailey. After looking around and listening to my spider-sense, I decided a walk was not a good idea. I think Bailey felt the same way because she seemed to want to be in the hotel room.
I was starving, too. I have developed this habit on the long drives of just snacking during the day and not having a proper meal until I stop. This seems to help with avoiding feeling overly tired and also keeps me on schedule. There was a hamburger place that was kitty corner to the hotel called “Spangles” or something like it. The nice lady who checked me in said they had a good mushroom burger and I was down for that.
Bailey and I got in the car and went through the drive-thru because walking over there did not seem like the best idea. We waited and waited and waited for the one car in front of us to place their order. It gave me time to peruse the menu and I was intrigued by the fact they had cocktails to go. That seemed pretty progressive for Kansas to me.
When it was finally my turn to order, the young lady working the drive thru did not seem pleasant or happy to be helpful at all. In short, she was rude as fuck (rudeAF, as the kids write). I placed my order and drove around. I had selected the previously mentioned mushroom burger (with swiss cheese) and some onion rings. Relieved to be done with the bitchy girl at the window, I headed back to the hotel and took the first load of stuff up to the room.
Traveling alone with a dog means that you need two trips for some things. Being that the area was sketchy, I didn’t want to leave much visible in the car, so two trips were necessary. I got Bailey and the first batch of stuff up to the room and it was pleasantly surprising. Very comfortable and nice for the buck, that’s for sure.
I dumped my stuff, through my food on the bed, and got Bailey’s dinner going for her, too. I figured she could eat while I grabbed the other bags and headed down to the car.
Well, she ate.
She ate my whole bag of food. When I got back up to the room, she was sitting on the bed looking very guilty with just a little container of ketchup in front of her. She didn’t make a mess, which was nice, but she didn’t leave me anything to eat. I considered heading back to Spangles and getting another burger or just going back to the car and getting some snacks, but I didn’t do either thing.
Part of me was so tired that I thought I might just have a couple of beers and pass out, then I thought about how I would feel in the morning if I did that. I had a long drive ahead of me to Albuquerque, so I decided to order a pizza from Papa John’s. An hour later, I got to eat and it was the most expensive meal of the trip, by far, and probably the least satisfying. At least I had left over pizza for dinner in New Mexico.
I texted home and said what Bailey had done. Teresa let me know that onions and dogs do not mix, so I stressed about that all night. Luckily it was not enough onion to mess with a dog Bailey’s size, but I half expected her to be sick the next two days in the car. Just one she got pretty good about pooping on the road, I figured it was time for her to get sick from onions.
See you tomorrow.
I needed gas before I got to Wichita and a pee and Bailey needed to pee, so we stopped here. You can tell it is a flat place.
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