The Phoenix is rising from the ashes...

     Like the mighty Phoenix rising from the ashes, the intrepid blogger rises and gets back to the keyboard.  Like the hibernating bear, the blogger has awakened from a long winter nap and gets back to the keyboard.  In the spirit of Easter, the blogger has rolled the stone away from the tomb of writer's block and creative numbness and has risen again to return to the keyboard...(I do not claim any resemblance to the Truly Risen Lord, but the metaphor was too good to pass up).  Can I get an amen? (ok, that's pushing it).  What I am trying to say is... I have found my voice in the desert and it's time to back to work...

     A little background... Eight months ago I went to work for Hyatt at the beautiful Andaz Resort and Spa in Scottsdale.  I took the overnight position (10:30pm-7:00am) thinking that working nights would free me up to pursue my one and true love (golf, of course!) and it would be cool to have the days free and it was still security which I really enjoyed.  Let me tell you something...it's anything but cool.  Sleeping during the day isn't so bad...(everyone else is at work) but the drain on you is something you can't prepare for.  I now firmly believe that the person who came up with idea for the TV show "The Walking Dead" was a former graveyard shift worker.  Zombies do exist!  It's the horde of people (shells of their former selves) walking around during the day after getting off shift.  At first it was just getting used to the changing sleep cycle but then even the change had a profound effect on my entire existence.  I was tired all the time even after sleeping all day.  It was difficult to focus...(which was always the case anyway. Now it was even harder!).  Plus the fact that nothing happened after 1 am... NOTHING!  The boredom and quiet wrapped around me and sapped all strength and ambition from my body.  I needed to be around people and if I was going to work, I needed to get it back to being on my terms.  After all, that was the plan when I moved out to the Valley of the Sun.

     So I started looking elsewhere for employment.  Couldn't find anything I liked.  There were many security jobs available, but it meant starting back at square one with benefits and vacation time.  Then, out of the blue, my current boss asks if I would interested in a job at another Hyatt property in Scottsdale, the Hyatt Regency at Gainey Ranch.  It's a beautiful property with 10 pools, meeting facilities and a GOLF COURSE!! I told him that I would like to interview for the position.  I met with Colleen at Gainey Ranch and it was a dream come true...Three 12 hour shifts per week (7am-7pm) with 4 days off, no interruption of benefits or vacation time (I would still be a Hyatt employee) and golf privileges during the summer.  I told her I would like to be considered for the position.  She said "When can you start?" and long story longer (it is my style, after all), I start on Monday April 8.  That means I have 5 more shifts on the overnight zombie train.  The count down has begun!  Arizona Jim is returning to the land of the living! It may be more than I bargained for and hard as hell, but it's only 3 days a week.  And who isn't up for a new adventure?  Change is good and so is life!

     I would be remiss if I didn't admit that there was another reason I am back at the keyboard.  Baseball season has begun again (yes, I am still a die hard Met fan and part time Dback fan) and I saw that the Yankee home opener and Mets-Phillies game was postponed because of snow! Snow in April! Meanwhile, here in my little slice of paradise the nights are in the mid 50's-low 60's and the days touch 90 degrees. It hasn't rained since sister Sheryl visited here in February (a visit that I enjoyed immensely).  I don't have a clue how much fun it is to shovel snow in April but shoveling sunshine year round keeps me in pretty good shape!  Ok, enough with the weather jokes...(although I do enjoy them).  On the whole, I return to the keyboard with good health...(as healthy as a 59 year old man can be), a brand new positive attitude (see Job above) and a renewed faith that God is Great and that he has a soft spot in His heart for recovering drunks and scatter-brained bloggers (that would be me).  I hope this blog finds all my readers...(I hope you're still out there) healthy and prosperous.  I love you all.