Screw Motel 6 Part Duex

Well to my surprise I got a letter back from the corporate office of Motel 6, and needless to say it was not much better than the actual encounter I had with the front desk clerks in San Jose. It seems like this place is run by some less that college material people. And to be honest this policy is chasing away some serious clientele, I mean what man is going to rent a room to bang his mistress if both parties have to show ID?!?! Come on now lets get real here; this is a Motel 6 in a funky part of town, a block away from a liquor store, a Chucky Cheese and a head shop ( AKA bong world)! Who are you trying to fool?
But anyway here is the letter I received from the office of Motel 6:

July 18, 2013
Mr. Honkeie
None of your damn business where I live
San Jose, CA

Dear Mr. Honkeie
We appreciate your feedback regarding your recent experience at
our Motel 6 property in San Jose S, California.
For the safety and security of our guests and employees, our
Corporate Safety and Security Department requires the registering
guest to present positive identification (ID). This is a standard policy at
Motel 6 locations nationwide. However, due to local ordinances or in
cooperation with local government, some of our properties may be
required to photocopy the ID presented. In this instance, the photo copy
of the ID is locked and secured for five (5) years, after which time the
copy is destroyed. The general manager is the only individual with
access to the copy.
I have forwarded a copy of your comments to the Regional
Management Team and our Corporate Safety and Security Department.
In an effort to bring consistency at all of our properties with regard to
our ID policy, both teams have reviewed the statute and are working
together so that all our properties will conform with the law accordingly.
Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have
caused you. As a valued guest we respect your opinion and are most
appreciative of your views. We hope you will continue to consider Motel
6 your preferred choice for future lodging.
Sincerely,
Ken Kincaid
Guest Relations Specialist Report:1025582
_________________________________________________________________________________

And here is my response to that letter:

Thank you for getting back to me so promptly, but in ending this communication all I have to say about this policy is that it is very open ended.


What I mean by this, is that the sign at the motel I was at said ALL guest must show ID and now this letter states that 'registering guest to present positive identification'. This is such a vague policy that one has to ask the questions; Who does ALL refer to and to whom does the registering guest apply to? Do children under 18 that normally do not have ID's have to show proof and does registering guest mean the person with the reservation or everyone in their party?
I have written numerous policies for several different companies that I have worked for and this is not a well thought out policy, and if one were to really dig I think you are opening yourself up to possible legal action. I myself am not looking to do that, I am just saying that:

1) The employees at this particular Motel 6 were not clear on what the policy standards were and even seemed to ad lib answers to my questions as the conversation went into the exacts of this policy.

2) That the policy is very ambiguous and too open for question.
_________________________________________________________________________________

I am not the smartest man on the planet but when people start telling me the rules of an establishment it had better be consistent and on point. And this was not the case with Motel 6. I mean I could have gone all lawyer crazy with this and cry discrimination, but I do not have an ethic bone in my body. Well I guess I could say it was because my great grandmother was a Native American or that its because I am part Irish............but I am not sure that would have worked in this media frenzy of ethic inequality. But then again one of my guest that day is Jewish and the other one is from Trinidad. And in all honesty I could see someone using this very policy to discriminate against people they do not want staying at their establishment. I could be wrong it could another way to safeguard the public from themselves, or just another BS tactic to make the everyday person feel like a criminal.

Screw Motel 6

Over the weekend I tried to reserve a room at Motel 6 here in San Jose. And below you will read the letter I sent to the corporate office about what went down:

I recently booked a room at this Motel 6:

2560 Fontaine Road
San Jose, CA 95121

Upon arrival I was informed that ALL guest under 20 had to show ID or we could not stay. Two of us had ID's but my 17 year old son and his 17 year old friend did not have a state issued ID and we were refused service based on this. I asked the front desk person if I had my 6 year old with me would he have to show ID, because the sign clearly stated that ALL guest had to have ID. I was informed no that children did not need to have ID. I informed her that the two without ID's were under age (and under 20 as they previously asked) and one being my son. To me is seemed like this location is making up stuff as they go, I will not be staying in a Motel 6 ever and I will be advising all I know to avoid Motel 6 in the future.
Just a side note here:
We drove from NJ to CA and not once at any hotel/motel/Inn were we asked to show ID for everyone and the idea of Motel 6 keeping a copy of everyones ID on file did not sit well with me. You have my ID, my credit card and even my license plate that really is all I feel any establishment needs. Maybe I am wrong but out of the last 7 places we have stayed at on this trip, this only one that left a bad taste in my mouth.

And below you will find the sign that has this loosely based policy on guest at this place:

You would have thought that you were checking into the White House or something!?!?! But like the title of this post says, screw you Motel 6! You can keep the light on all you want, you and Tom Bodett and go fuck yourself with something hard and sandpapery!

Santa Cruz 2013

Over the weekend my son (Devon), my brother in law (Allen) and their two friends; Shayne and Mitchell, drove out to visit me in CA! It was a rode trip of a lifetime for the four of them making stops along the way to see things like the Grand Canyon and Allen's girlfriend that now lives in Missouri! So you know that was a detour that had to happen lol
While here we did some of the usual touristy things like go to Santa Cruz:

1) Who doesnt love getting buried in the sand? Well, me I hate that feeling!

2) Action shot of the four boys from the East!

 3) Nothing like a little man on man action at the beach!

 4) Allen about to brave the water, yes one would have to be brave to test these waters. It was so cold that it actually took my breath away the moment I jumped it! Lets just say there was major shrinkage going on this day!

 5) Random people sitting next to us on the beach. I have tons of strangers I have never met on my blog and in my photo files, I am such a creeper lol

6) We went to get lunch and I tried this thing called a 'Chilli Bowl' and let me tell you it was awesome. The chilli was soso but the bread, oh my the bread was soo yummy! Why does bread have to be soo tasty?

7) This is the picture that informed me if my need to stay away from the bread lol. I have lost a good bit of the belly fat since I moved here 6 weeks ago but I still need have a bit more to go. I just wish I had the secret formula to getting this last bit off! Oh wait I do, its called running.....did I mention I hate running? HA

I will do a follow up soon about our hike we did the next day in Big Basin State park. But that is for another day................................

And the hunt goes on

Today was a productive day, went to my guard card call in the morning. I have one more class to go to then I am officially all set for the next two years. In the state of CA you must posses what is known as the 'Guard Card' to work in any aspect of the security field. It is kind of the same as the SORA training back east but here in CA companies will not even look at you without one. Its fairly simple stuff; Report writing, the ins and outs of court procedures, the powers of arrest and detention and general stuff someone that wants to be a security guard should know.

They also do fingerprints and background checks, you know just to make sure you are clear of ever getting caught....wink wink emphasis on the 'caught' part lol. And once you pass all the test and the background checks they issue you your card. I have my temporary card, it can take up to three weeks to get the actual card that is issued from the state.

So I put on the suit, the tie and added one more part to my arsenal: My glasses. They say glasses make you look smarter and every bit could help. I have not been using my glasses in my past interviews so lets see if they help on this one. I prefer contacts over glasses but if they can help me look the part of the job I want then glasses I will wear.

Now with my suit on, my temp card, my resume and my little black portfolio I headed into another job interview. I will not say much about it or how I thought it went, I do not want to jinx myself. I really do not believe in that stuff but at this point I will light incense and do naked chants in the backyard if I knew it would help!

Ps......as soon as I have some money I am cutting this mop off my head! I am seriously overdue for a hair cut!

This blog is about six days late, oh well shit happens then you wipe. And repeat if need........
Anywho I went to Alviso, CA this Fourth of July with some friends for beer, barbq and fireworks. Now the funny thing about fireworks is that they are illegal in CA, much like they are in NJ, but for some reason in this little town the cops look the other way.
I mean hell we had to drive to an reservation in another state and go out into the desert to buy these damn things! And they were hella expensive too!
And when I say fireworks I am not just talking about bottle rockets and roman candles, these backyard shows could have put some of the 'organized' fireworks to shame. There were some serious explosions going off all around us, and I mean all around us. I was like one house was trying to outdo the other for blocks and blocks on end!

1) The day started with beer and food, and when I say food I mean really good food. You know the kind that you really should not be eating but cannt help but to shove into your mouth as fast as you can!

 2) Kids love sparklers and ear plugs! Yes many of them had ear plugs in by the time the sun went down.

 3)Here we have my friend Ben (standing next to the atv) and one of his cousins, I swear he is related to just about everyone in this neighborhood in one way or another!

 4) I have no idea what this was called, it was loud, colorful and as loud as army ordnance! And the the quote of the day goes to a meme I saw on FB:  "Kids dont handle the fireworks, they are very dangerous let the adults that have been drinking all day do it"

 5) One of the calmer moments that night, followed by a volley of teeth rattling explosions and bright flashes of light that could have been easily mistake for floodlights on a mac truck

 6) Yes that is the middle of the street, its the safest place to light off a multi color flame thrower....duh

 7) I am not sure what was going on here but I am sure it had something to do with gunpowder and drunken adults.

A great time was had by all, I did not drink as much as I would have liked because I was driving. But it did allow me to people watch, which by the way is one of the best spectator sports in the world! The more they drank the longer they held onto the bottle rockets and the slower they moved away from the the box of mortars they just lit called 'Crack the Sky'.
And to my surprise I never had to breakout the first aide kit, and yes I made sure I brought one. The stories I have been told about what has gone on in previous years dictated to me that I had to have that bad boy on hand.

This year I decide to do a birthday challenge. I challenged myself to a suburban hike to Almaden State Park in San Jose CA and back. And here are the results:

Duration: 2hrs and 2min

Distance: 6.65 miles

Calories Burned: 824

In all it was a good hike, and even took some pictures along the way. Now if you'll excuse me I am off to rest my feet, they are killing me lol

1) It used to be a rock quarry, and is really deep in certain parts. I will be coming back here soon, but next time I am taking a car!

 2) Back in Jersey I always wanted to stop and take pictures of all the roadside memorials I saw. And lets just say there are a lot of them in the part of Jersey I am from. This one is in memory of Ronnie Macdowell, may he rest in peace.

 3) I took this picture to help me remember the name of the park, I kept forgetting lol.

 4) My camera does not do this scenery justice, but you get the idea. They have fishing, boating, swimming and......well I forget what else. But I am going to come back as soon as my feet feel like they attached to my legs!

In all it was a great hike, but boy was I glad it was over! My feet are still mad at me for abusing them like that but it was so worth it. And it sure beats jogging, it might have taken longer to burn as many calories but at least I did get the dry heaves hahaha

Cali sun, fun and work

Ok, I have been in CA now for almost a month. The job hunt is slow going but it is going. There have been a few things I have had to obtain before I could really get a move on the hunt.
One: Get a Cali drivers license. Got that last week, I had to bring in my birth certificate and my old NJ license then take the written test. Yes, I had to take the written test, the very one I took when I was 19! I passed, it was not all that hard. Some of it was common sense and some of it was just......well, NO DUH! But I did learn that it is illegal to smoke in your own car if there are persons under the age of 18 in the car with you. I did not know that!

Secondly, I had to obtain a guard card. It is a card that says you have paid a large sum of money to a certified company to tell you what is on this state run multiple guess test. And once you pass it you then go through a background check and fingerprint check. And once all that is done you get this card that says you can go work as a security guard. To me it seems more like a tax for being 'allowed' to work as a guard and not so much a certificate of being competent.
Most of the questions were......well again NO DUH! I paid my $325 and passed the test for section one of three. I go back for round 2 next week to complete my training. The card is good for two years and after the two years the only thing I have to do is pay $35 to the state to keep the card in good standing. Again see how one could see this as a tax and not an actual certificate?

But anywho, that has been my world so far. I do have some friends out here that I hang out with whenever I can. Last weekend we went to Tahoe and did a little gambling, nothing fancy just a little road trip to blow off some steam and buy fireworks ;-)

And before I go here is a road sign I saw today just chilling by the highway. And yes I was a red light waiting to get on the highway. Oh and before I forget it got up to 107 today, no humidity.....thank god for that!

Well spank me stoopid........

I have finally gotten my blog back up and running, I am not sure if I want to keep this blog or if I want to start fresh, I have been with this one since 2005! And I feel that I have learned soo much since then; my writing style has changed, my look has changed, my life has changed and even my location has changed.

I have soo much I have to say that I am not even sure I can, I mean I know I can but I do not know if I really want to go back and do a years worth of recaps!! But I guess I can just do a fast and dirty version of what I have been through:

• Graduated college
• Hurricane Sandy beat up NJ
• The family has been doing well
• Lilian bought a new car, a Kia Serento
• The sister-in-law is now a nurse
• The wife now works in the corporate office of her job
• And I now live in San Jose, CA

Yes, I said I now live in San Jose, CA! We have been planning on this move for about three years now, and just this past July I made the move over. We packed my car and I drove from NJ to CA via route 80. It took me five days to complete my trip, I stopped four times along the way: Indiana, Nebraska, Wyoming and Nevada. I could have made it in four days but the wife found a super cheap room at Circus Circus in Reno and I just could not say no to staying in Reno!

It cost me about $305 in gas and about $210 in hotels. It also cost me a sore butt from all that driving lol! The drive was as smooth as anyone could have hoped for, only a small amount of traffic in Pennsylvania and a small bout of rain in Nebraska. Other than that it was smooth sailing.

Found a room to rent on the second day I was in CA and that has been home ever since. The only hard part about this adventure is that I miss everyone back home, I miss them tremendously. I underestimated how much I would miss everyone, but we knew this coming into this endeavor and I am not about to back down on what I came out here to do.

I have been out here for almost a month now and the job hunt is on! I have had two interviews and I have another one lined up this Friday. I have been applying to just about any place that I think my schooling and background fits, so wish me luck on the hunt for a job......no a hunt for a career!

I will be coming back as often as I can to post pictures, because I love posting pictures! Life is truly just the memories you make along the way, and I use a camera to help preserve them. And to end this post I think I will post a few of the ones I took on the ride over:


My last trip to double D's

 Yep its only 46 hours and 39 minutes to go!

This is pretty much what it looked like for 90% of the trip

 Here are my two travel buddies, well actually they belong to Seth and Lucas but they are mine now!

 And here is my other traveling buddy, and luckily it was only need to open bags of chips and beef jerky lol

 I stopped in Lincoln Nebraska at the Horizon Inn and next door they had the only 24 hour sex shop I have ever seen......and by the way if you are looking for a clean and cheap room in Nebraska, the Horizon Inn is the place. Great place in my book.

Other road shot

I found this gas station in the middle of fucking nowhere Wyoming and this was the sign in the bathroom. It was really off the beaten path but they had what I needed.

 This is the Tree of Utah, found right off route 80 in the salt flats of Utah. Not sure what or why but it sure made for a cool photo.

Usual gas station condom machines lol

 Breakfast at Denny's......I was really hungry!

 The room I found in San Jose, it might look small but it is all I need for the time being.

And that is it for now, I will be back sometimes this week to continue breathing life into this place. So many fond memories at blogspot with so many more to come.