Adventures in visiting Hotels in Toronto

Unless you're into Hotels, you may not find this post very interesting.  BUT, if you are, you can get a sneak peak of what's hot and not in Toronto Hotels.  My goal by the end of the year is to visit as many hotels here as I can.  Why you ask?  For work you ask?  Nope, for my own pleasure!  I love to check out and see what else is out there.  I went to visit Le Quatre Saison, and in my hotel snob nose in the air terms, I refer to it as a Une Saison if you know what I mean.  It is a pretty nutty place.  The rooms are tired and done on the cheap and I also found out during my visit that some Saudi Prince know it all owns 45% and Bill Gates 45% and 10% to the family and creator of the Quatre Saison.  Bille Gates?? WTF???  Again, this may not be interesting, but I wowed and ahhhh when i was told.  That's pretty neat.  The ballrooms are retarded, nice in a f**ked up way, they have a ballroom that is bright turquoise....your wowed at first and then I dreamt about it all night and woke up hating it.  I just had to share.  If your Jean Paul Gauthier and/or slightly touched in the head, it may be your cup of crazy tea.  They also had this room with Toile walls, really just nuts, all the walls were textured.  Une chance they are building a new one in 2 years or so cause this one - not so much.

I'll update when I think it's worth mentioning, again, when in town, let me know so I can hook you up.

Sometimes it feels just like home

So, after almost 2 months here, I had a Montreal experience.  It really felt like I was back.  I left work, which we do by exiting through the back then across a parking lot.  As I am leaving the lot, a woman and her child are coming towards me, the woman then tells her son, Look at me and not at the prostitute.  I think, Oh neat, there's a prost behind me.  I turn around to look and well there's no one there but moi, little ol me.  You ask, why the hell does this make you think of Montreal?  Well on several occasions I have been mistaken for a prostitute.  Which, if you know me, I am hardly the tramp in personality and in clothing.  I smiled and thought how wonderful!  Just like home!  

My other experience a la Montreal is that I have a Timmy's coffee everyday and it spills on me everyday, which happened to me as well in Montreal, so when i burn myself and walk like a tard with my hand sticking out all the way so I don't get dirty, it just feels like home pour moi.

More upcoming topics

TTC, I haven't forgotten, still not ready.

The fun stuff I have been up to in Toronto.

My neighbourhood.

Holding doors or lack there of

No one holds a door for you here, the folks know you are behind them and yet they don't swing it open.  The folks here slide it open just enough to fit through.  I love it when the folks here look behind, see me and still slither through the door.

I swore to the sky, the ground, the hell and earth and heavens while waiving my fists in the air to towards the floor, to the left and to the right and I promised to never not become oblivious.  As much as I really don't feel the need to hold a door for someone I do it.  I refuse to slither like a snake and squeeze through a small opening when it takes the same amount of energy to just swing it. 

I hope my actions will pay it forward.

 

Cell Phones

When I walk out of work with the thousands of other Zombies, I find myself catching up on my personal phone calls.  So my first call is always Jason just to say I am on my way home and see if he's still at work and so on and so forth.  Second call is Tom where I pretend he is my big closing deal and I am the person still working after I walked out and logged off.  I may also do that with Jason (when I can't reach Tom), where I pretend to close a huge deal as well and we squeeze where I am and when I will be home.  I do this everyday and I still think it's hilarious.  

Well, everyday I have no network or can't call lout for about 5 minutes.  I am technology challenged so I thought at first it was me.  I can't dial, I blame the phone as I have been since I bought the damn thing, then I walk and I watch.  I see all the Torontonians on their cells, working hard.  I create these pretend conversations, i.e. "gotta close that deal, going to check my blackberry emails and send that contract or written consent to you to close the deal and make tons of money.  I like Money.  I like to work and work hard all the time even after I left work. Money money money, gotta make the money."  

I came to the conclusion that too many people are clogging up the network. (nevermind my terms for whatever happens.)  Too many people still working and calling at the same time.  So while I may have an emergency or just want to shout out to my peeps, I can't because they continue to work.  I am not making this shit up.  I ease drop and listen.  

The suits and the cells and the people just walk and don't appreciate the surroundings.  Regardless of the same street and door I walked out of everyday for three years in Montreal, when I walked out I would smell the air, walk around the same unfixed broken sidewalk and appreciated the store windows, if they were changed, updated, laugh or love the clothes, watch people, see what they were drinking and talking about.  Alot of that doesn't happen here, everyone stays in their own world, the bubble as I call it.  So I watch, I listen and I will continue to enjoy the same street, same stores and all the little things.  You can learn alot about a city just by watching.

  

Upcoming topics to be covered

The TTC

The people and their cell phones

The people and holding doors (or lack there of)

1 and a half weeks

So.  One week and 3 days at work so far.  What an experience.  It is so different from Montreal.  I spent 5 days in orientation which in itself is amazing.  I met all the departments, learned the brand standards.  Which I already knew as I have been working for the brand for three years, the only difference is I read it on my own as the brand never offered French so the Hotel couldn't teach it to the employees.  I spent all day Monday and Tuesday reviewing safety standards.  It took me everything not to laugh out loud watching the videos a la 1983 with people slipping and falling all over the place.  It was me on that video without the hair sprayed hair and giant shoulder pads.  Seriously people, who ever took a health and safety course at work???   My modo is suck it up.  I have fallen, slipped, twisted, sprained, bruised, bled and I can really go on for my  three years at the Hotel.  I pulled a muscle near my heart 2 years ago and I could barely breathe and talk and let me tell you my modo SUCK IT UP really helped me get through the pain.  

Now I walk around the office and someone leaves a filling cabinet open and all i can think is "Christ someone can really trip on this" a chair was in the middle of the room and again I caught myself thinking "geez I hope no one get hurts.."  It poisoned me and it has to stop.  I like the danger.  I fell up the stairs this week and burned myself with coffee, so I leave my purse and things to make sure no one walks in it, clean up the mess and the lovely ladies from Human Resources walk by and ask what happened?  I fell but I was just cleaning up, so sorry for the mess.  Then they ask, did you tell your boss?  I reply with well no, I just fell and the mess is clean and well frankly I am behind because of my stupidities that I am a little annoyed with myself and I will be more careful.  Well they insist I tell my boss as I may feel the pain in the upcoming days???  I was like, listen ladies, I fell up some stairs and dropped coffee on myself, I am just happy I didn't dirty myself.  I have a crap load of work to do, the boss is right in the middle of the marketing plan, can we just pretend you didn't see anything??  In Montreal we like to make things go away....if you know what I mean....Long story shorter, the boss comes by the GM and staff, there are forms on my desk....it brought me back to the time in Montreal sometime in March when I opened too many drawers and the filling cabinet fell on me and I picked it up, put the stuff back in and moved on with my life (might I add no one in the office helped as they were laughing way too hard) that is the way I like it.  No blood and tears you can laugh.  Now here I am in Toronto with health and safety forms?????!!!!  I am going nuts here and they would just be horrified there!  

All in all it was a great week, so many stupidities with the TTC which I will cover in the blog shortly, it is too fresh and I am still to angry to talk about it.