Finally, a day off from The Dirty Gig, because we are “snowed out.” … This time the PingWi-Fi tour stops in “The Cities” — Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. … time to shoot photos, test Wi-Fi, blog, listen to music…
I am reeling at just how well Apple iTunes Radio knows me (or have they have somehow “roboted” through my computer data?) — the other night I selected Sparkle Horse and iTunes radio, a station I for new and eclectic sounds. Listening to it, I was reminded of how The Flaming Lips dedicated a song to the leader singer of Sparkle Horse, in a concert soon after Mark Linkous killed himself. When I saw The Lips in concert the first time, they dedicated “Waiting for Superman” to Linkous and mentioned they also played the song in memory of Elliot Smith a few years earlier, “when he allegedly killed himself.” I guess “Waiting For Superman” is their designated suicide song … I digress … Any way … the point – I was impressed that iTunes played Sparkle Horse, Flaming Lips and Elliot Smith in a row, just for me.
Love it when things come together. Here’s another one … This time it is the work worlds colliding … careers, past, present and alternative … kind of cool. Let me set this up …
Years ago, at a large agency in Dallas, one of my PR clients was a bus company — the same bus company whose vehicle almost went into the Mississippi River when the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, Minn. Luckily, that story had a happy ending, at least for the client’s bus and the school kids on board. A driver heroically got the kids to safety and was rewarded monetarily and with several TV interviews while the PR team was on site there in Minneapolis. A PR win.
I am reminded of that event every time I walk to the parking lot of my hotel. The company’s busses and cars are all over the parking lot here in Kansas City. Apparently there is some training facility nearby, and many of the drivers are sharing this hotel.
So that is one little interesting career note about this hotel, The Drury Inn in Merriam, Kansas.
Even more interesting, my two current careers have intersected here at the corner of Drury and Inn … The Dirty Gig meets the travel blog. I am staying in the Drury — enjoying great Wi-Fi I might add — and writing about it. In addition, I was surprised to learn that the lower floor of this very hotel flooded right after I went to work the other day. (You know that is the kind of thing we handle on the Dirty Gig part of my travels … when I am not travel blogging.) My temporary residence is now also a client, more or less.
Instantly my Imagination went wild … me asking myself … “Oh wow … I didn’t flush anything … uh … ‘problematic,’ did I?” Good news, it wasn’t me. But there was a hot mess as they say. Great news. It was fixed immediately.
Later I heard that a pipe had broken. I heard this little clean up was quite the funk … but I didn’t have to deal with it. Local Kansas City guys from the disaster company I travel with were on the hotel job, and my assignment was elsewhere, near Kansas City’s Plaza. But, from “water cooler” chat, I do probably know more than I want to know about the flood … but that’s another story. No one’s fault. With the recent bitter cold, there have been pipes freezing, thawing, bursting all over The Cities.
So about this Drury …
Let’s talk Wi-Fi first. The network here is great, perhaps as good as any I have encountered at a mid-range affordable hotel. Free. It has performed well — allowing me to download the entire “The Clash Live At Shea Stadium,” lickety-split, off iTunes, without a glitch. Also, my laptop finds and reconnects to the network very quickly, when I venture out of my room on the third floor to the lobby, near the free popcorn machine:) I was so impressed from the point I checked in. The front desk not only knew the hotspot name, they were kind enough to warn me against the weak hotspot of a neighboring company. On the Drury hotspot, I FaceTimed a little, and I was impressed with the clear picture of my friend in New York City.
Hotspot … hot popcorn … take off one point for the “hot mess.” Drury Wi-Fi in KC gets six of seven possible pings.
Elsewhere in The Drury, I have enjoyed the free dinner’s each evening and felt like a big shot as I bought complete strangers drinks with my complimentary hotel drink vouchers, that would otherwise be wasted (since I don’t drink). By the second week of the visit I had learned the meal schedule — chicken strips, pasta, hotdogs … repeat … with a side order of mac & cheese.
I guess most people don’t stay in the hotel months at a time and have no idea of what to expect. However, I do get the impression that some people picked this hotel for their stay based on the free food/drink provided. Call me a travel snob, but I think the demographic mix and the conversations at dinner reflect this.
“I am at the ‘Durrie’ off I-35. When you come to tow my car, it is the white one that won’t start in the parking lot … yes … “Durrie” … D-O-O-R-E-Y,” I overheard the other night … I digress.
Another night there was a lady with a service dog … who took great pride in having trained her own dog, (as she should be). Then there was an elderly couple with long, “Wavy Gravy” hair (long hair like I rocked for a while) … with apparent home-made trims on their bangs … The stylish couple jumped into the dog conversation, to compliment Drury on allowing their pets to stay in the hotel.
After three nights of the couple’s dogs barking all night, very near my room, I was not quite so proud of Drury’s stance to elevate canine needs above human guests. Surprisingly, when I called the front desk to see if the management might ask the dog-love couple to stifle during the night, I was told to see if it happened in the night and call the desk if it did. Somehow I didn’t see that being very pro-active … and believe you me, no one at the front desk would want to talk to me after I had been awoken for the second or third night in a row. The problem persisted, no change, until the dog show hit the road.
Things got better.
Disclaimer time … I realize as a travel blogger it is probably not fair for me to stay in a hotel for months at a time and divulge all. I see all the ups and downs that a one-night or two-night guess might miss. I usually try to take this into consideration … sort of.
So without airing all the hotel’s dirty laundry, the other day there was an issue in my room. Just one of those things. I complained a couple of times, and then the manager took control of the situation and upgraded me to one of the biggest rooms … just in time for the game that was supposed to be “The Super Bowl.” Good call, Jessica.
Thanks to the manager’s quick action, the cranky guy in 312 is now the very happy guy in … let’s just say … a bigger/better room not to be disclosed because it is where I keep “all my pertinents and such.”
Know what I sayin?
