Finally, A Job!!

After close to 4 weeks, I've finally gotten a job. It's entry level, but I think I'm going to like it. It's with Petsmart, which is located all over the US and Canada so once Cameron is done with school I can transfer to other locations. I'll be cashiering in the regular store and also working in the pet hotel part of it. I love the animals and the hotel lets me play with them and interact a lot. The starting pay isn't spectacular, but will get us through the year and then we'll see where his work takes us.

Other big news, Cameron got hired on as keyboard player for a local band. I think they're called The Eleventh Hour and they play a wide assortment of styles. Since they have a sax, horn, bass, drum, and keyboard players, they can handle just about anything. They have a woman doing vocals that has a beautiful, clear voice. When Cameron was auditioning, there was a guy auditioning for male vocalist, as well. He was great, but apparently they wanted someone with more experience doing duets and harmonizing. They practice every Sunday so I made myself available to work then, since we wouldn't be able to go on any long rides that day.

I'm seeing more of Phoenix, especially today, since the store I'm working at is located in an area called Paradise Valley. It's a 25 minute drive through a very nice part of town with custom homes and unusual restaurants/shops. It's on the other side of the hills (definitely not mountains like in Albuquerque) from where we live so I take surface streets that skirt around them. It would be a much shorter drive if not for the hills. The place where Cameron will be going to rehearse is in Gonzales, which is just south of Tempe. Tempe is south east of Phoenix. Everything runs together here, like LA, so it's hard to tell where one town ends and another begins. The skyline is much lower than LA. There aren't as many highrise buildings clumped together in a downtown area. They are mostly scattered and not nearly as tall, at least what I've seen so far. Most of the residential areas remind me of the San Fernando Valley with ranch-style homes and that non-descript look about them. That's why it was so nice to see the Paradise Valley area. It redeemed Phoenix a little, but I still miss Albuquerque a lot.

The people of Paradise Valley are nicer, friendlier than the area we live in. In our part of town, it's like LA with everyone just looking forward and not acknowleging anyone around them. It's very impersonal. When I was walking into the Petsmart store for my interview, someone said hello to me in the parking lot and another smiled and nodded at me when I went through the door. I even had a driver give me space to merge into her lane when the lane I was in was closing due to construction. It all sounds so minor and common place, but when it's not there, you miss it.

There is another MMI student living downstairs and to the back of us, that I met recently. He and his wife are here from someplace back east (the place escapes me at the moment), and they have 2 dogs. One is a small to medium german shepard type and the other is a miniature chihuahua. Both are very friendly (I am still amazed at the friendliness of the chihuahua) and anxious to meet Tuesday. Unfortunately, they were a little too anxious and scared her. I'm hoping she'll get used to them so she can have some friends. She's still so traumatized from the dogs in the neighborhood we were in, in Bakersfield. They were all so mean and would charge her when she tried to make friends. There was a very polite and easy-going poodle mix dog at our place in Albuquerque that she was beginning to make friends with so I know there is hope. It will just take some time and being with the properly behaved (ones that follow dog ettiquette such as all the sniffing and introductions before charging up to someone) ones that won't scare her away before she has a chance to get to know them.

Well, it's getting late so I'd better put this to bed so I can, as well. More later...