I made a trip down to my old high school today. I have not been back for almost a year. I like to go back every once in a while just to see the few teachers I liked. It’s weird to go back there, the school has changed. The main reason I went back was to go and see my old Football Coach who also doubles as a History teacher. Mr. Peterson started when my class were freshman so I think we got to know him better than the rest of the teachers we had. It was like we started high school together in a way.

While I was sitting there talking to him, I for some reason couldn’t help but think of this one time around my freshman/sophomore year when I was out for basketball. It was at practice and someone came and told Mr. Peterson some bad news. I really don’t remember who told him or if he came to practice knowing this bad news. So any way we had been doing some running drills or something and Fago had falling down and twisted his ankle or some shit like that. So Peterson gave me his keys to go and get bandages and stuff like that. Keep in mind the keys were not only to the coaches office but his keys to his car and home. The varsity coach was leaving to go home around this time so Peterson stressed not to forget to bring the keys back up.

And of course I forgot the keys down in the office, which I made sure was locked when I came back up. Well he took care of Fago and then asked for his keys. This was when I figured out I left them down in the office. Without sounding as if Peterson was a bad guy He quite frankly snapped. He was pissed. I remember that his face got as red as can be. He told me to go and do stairs. That’s when you run up the stairs and then back down the stairs and repeat. Now under normal circumstances I hate doing stairs. But he was so mad that I obliged him no problem. In fact after he had cooled down and explained what had happened he told me to stop doing the stairs. I clearly remember telling him “That’s ok Coach I’ll just keep doing stairs.”

You see his uncle or aunt had passed away and he took it pretty hard. But when Peterson told you to do something you did it. There was no smart mouthing or any of that shit. I think (and I’m not a coaching expert) that those ten years ago when my class was in school still, discipline was something we believed in. And I admit that I didn’t really care to much about discipline in the classroom. But for sports I really believe it means something. I don’t claim to know what the football coach for South Beloit is like now but I do know that their record is zero wins. We had a winning record back in the day. My last to years in school is what I’m talking about. And I think it had a lot to do with the coaches we had. You figure out who coached at that time.

Well all kinds of interesting things have been going on here in the web world and also back in the real world. I have had a tremendous boost in hits thanks to those fine people at www.ishouldbeworking.com who you go and see by the way. I went from a meager following of three people (and you know who you are) to almost an average of 60 hits a day. I forgot to put up a link to the www.ishouldbeworking.com link page I’m on. I’m at the top of the page for now. So that’s pretty cool. The only bad thing is if I’m going to actually get people who keep coming back I’m going to have to do more than one update a month as my schedule has been the last couple of months. So I’m working on that. I should have a new installment of the Management Memoirs done soon, I’m just waiting on some editorial help that a friend said they would do.

I’m also kicking around an idea to start a sort of guest commentary page. Another suggestion from my editor friend. So if you are bored and want to write anything, it doesn’t have to be about hotels or anything just something interesting or hell even something not interesting. I would like some more people to get involved in this just send to me. The e-mail address is @hotelblues.com. I also have a few people that write stuff every once in a while. So I’m hoping to hear from my old bud Sergei Fedorov one of these days. So write in.

Ok it’s the last day of the year, and I really don’t have anything worth while to say. I really have not had much to say the whole month as you can tell by the fact this is the first time I opened my mouth in December.

So here is a little something to try why you wait for the end of the world or do whatever your going to be doing.

It appears that George Lucas uses a formula to create all those silly names you see in the Star Wars trilogy and Phantom Menace (JarJarBinks, ObiWan, etc.)

Well…I have gotten a hold of the formula! To see what your Star Wars name is, follow the steps below…

Your Star Wars First Name:

1. Take the first 3 letters of your last name.
2. Add to that, the first 2 letters of your first name.

Your Star Wars Last Name:

1. Take the first 2 letters of your mother’s maiden name.
2. Add the first 3 letters of the name of the town in which you were born.

There you go! That’s your Star Wars Name.

Thanks To Jen for sending me this. This is Winch Webel signing off. And here is a link to Your Star Wars Name cgi script made by the same crazy guys who did the Furby Hooker Network.

First before I do anything I have to direct you into the murky depths of the archive and have you read the posts on November 28th 1998, especially the one called “I’m Not Happy.” But come back.

Now for as long as I do a website this day November twenty-eighth will be the day I do a sort of year in review. This day has of course been picked because of my wicked sense of humor. Then again there is the fact that this day holds personal significance to me. This is a year to the day that I was fired from the hotel. I wasn’t to overjoyed by the prospects of losing my job then, but now I find the humor in it. If you don’t know me, after a bout with a job as upper management I have come back to the hotel that fired me. It’s irony on the base level.

This period of a year, from November 28th 1998 to November 28th 1999 has been a very interesting one. It’s had many ups and downs. Instead of using this spot to rant or to maybe rub the fact that I’m back at the hotel that fired me and everything is going great there, I decided that I would use this space to give my humble thanks to a number of fine people who have giving me support and just general friendship in some times of trouble. So bare with me this could run for a while, seeing how I have a lot of people to thank.

First I wanted to thank my family, who bared with me through the six months of unemployment and then the three months of the Amerihost gig. Comments such as “get a job deadbeat” and many others from my brother the bricklayer acted as a much needed emotional support in a way only my brother could give. Also I thank my Dad and Grandma who helped out more times than I remember. I also thank my Dad for the advice he gave me regarding the Amerihost gig.

Next comes all of my friends who have gone beyond the call of duty. These people are the reason I have such a high expectation from some of the other “people” who claim friendship with me. I guess its not there fault. I have been spoiled. So here it goes.

The Isley’s have been my best and longest friends. We go back as far as high school. The wife I have known a little longer. These are among the best people I know. In a cold February I was given something to do when the littlest Isley came fighting into this world. Being there for the birth of little Elaine allowed me to pay one of the many debts I owe Troy and Bobbi. I thank them for being there for me during the whole unemployment phase. There has been many times (present included) when these guys would call me up and want to go to the movies or dinner and I had to tell them sorry I have no money. They would end up dragging my ass with them anyway. Having been through thick and thin with them I always endeavor to learn from their example. These are the kind of people that to me are the archetype of what I consider friends.

Of course after mentioning the Isley’s I have to mention the Smith’s. Bob and Nancy are the kindest, most generous landlords a guy like me could have. I don’t think I can thank them enough for putting up with me during the unemployment time. They are sometimes (in my mind) to nice to me. But when you add the Isley’s with the Smith’s you get the second family I am proud to be a member of.

Also some people I am proud to call friends are the Stanley’s. They have been wonderful friends for a long time also. The Stanley’s consist of Tom, Carla, and Jonathan. Without them I might have gone mad during the unemployment thing. Tom has worked at the hotel longer than he probably would like to remember. Tom is another one of those that I consider being the top of the barrel in what I call friendship. He is a very nice guy. He is quiet and soft spoken and has never done anyone any harm. But don’t let that fool you. Mr. Stanley has a very wicked sense of humor. You have got to be on your toes around this very smart guy. Which brings me to Jonathan, I have often expressed my concerns about this young man considering me the greatest thing since sliced bread. One of the highlights of that nasty time during the unemployment I got to go to Jonathan’s school for special person day. It was one of those experiences that I won’t soon forget. But I have serious reservations about being one of his role models. Again these guys are some of my best friends.

Another guy who has been a good friend is Kevin Rindfleisch. I have known this guy for a long time. He’s another one that I have been through some shit with. Kevin was my mentor at the hotel before he left for bigger and better things. I learned everything I know from this guy. There was even a time when Kevin was considered a bad influence on me. How I miss those times. He was another friend that kept me busy during my unemployment. He also has an uncanny ability to get a laugh out of you at any time.

One person who did show up Kevin during the unemployment is a guy named Jeff Ross. Now when Me and Kevin would hit the bars for drinks, Mr. Ross has more than once showed up at my door with a twelve pack. Me and Ross had a tough time in the beginning, but he is one of those I am proud to call a friend. I also have to mention his lovely wife Cheryl really quick. Wonderful lady. I really mean that. I had tremendous fun at their wedding and the morning after in which I had a killer hangover.

Well I’m getting to the end of this bit, I only have to mention a few more people. I won’t use lots of space, which is no offense to them. The following order has no significance.

Dave, Gilbert, Larry C, and Larry W. are the guys that work the third shift with me as security. They are all nice guys. I have to thank Larry W. for helping me get my part time job.

Paula, Liz, and John who are all some of the fine people I work with at the hotel.

My good friend Dan and his wife Kim who I haven’t seen much seeing they live in Arizona but are good friends.

Also I have to thank Chris Saddler (another of my old friends) who signed the guestbook with his take on the movie Saving Private Ryan. Reading this still brings painful chuckles to me.

Thanks to the Johnson’s, who are Mark, Laura, and the kids. These guys have been good friends before and after the firing.

A big thanks to Iggy who every once in a while writes something really damn funny for this site. Iggy if you haven’t guessed is an aka for someone at the hotel.

I have to say hi to Jami who is my counterpart on the audit and who is gracious enough to let me have weekends off.

I also have to say hi to Jen, who I have been e-mailing for a couple of months now. She allowed me to have something to look forward to when I was down in the hell that is Metropolis, Il.

Lastly I have to give thanks to Shawn Kennedy for firing me and then graciously hiring me back eight months later.

Well I think that just about does it. I also want to thank anyone who has viewed this webpage. I don’t care if you got here on accident I thank you for giving me another hit. I also want to thank everyone who has taken the time to sign the guestbook. Now if I have forgot any one please except my apology.

A couple of things I wanted to mention. First today happens to be the 36th anniversary of the BBC TV program Doctor Who. If your familiar with me or have hit the site long enough you should know this. So happy birthday Doctor. To bad the show still isn’t on TV.

Next I wanted to say Hi to some new viewers. I have tried to make this page a little more load friendly by deleting some of the unneeded pictures. I wanted to show some of the newer viewers some of the bad stuff I did so I’m going to put up a link to “Letters From The General Manager” section I used to do. It’s all in the spirit of satire so no one should take it serious. But It makes me laugh, especially the second letter.

And I wanted to apologize to Mr. Ross who received a rather large missive from me, but after talking to Rindfleisch I hear he had been saying how hard it was to get an e-mail from me. So you asked for it Ross.

Well in the spirit of the saying “you can only please some of the people some of the time…” This was left in the GuestBook by someone calling himself/herself the Insider:

Gosh, “Turk” (as you liked to be called here on the net) you have had some interesting things to say as of late. I have picked an appropriate title. Between your usual irrelevant ranting and you trying to figure out who I am you should have a great time with adding fuel to an already dead fire. I found your usage of metaphors slightly overdone in the greatly worded “Where is Sergei Fedorov?” Funny in a pathetic way. So in it’s spirit I will continue with your use of the metaphor “Sergei and the game of hockey”. You must really be in love with the game of hockey. You have to love something a lot to be able to give it up like that. Maybe in your mind you are more akin to Romeo than any hockey star. You must view your life as some great Shakespearian tragedy. Am I hitting home yet? I think your claim of giving up the game of hockey is laughable. Have you stuck to your guns big guy? See any of the game lately? I think Sergei Fedorov must have had you pegged correctly. You think this way and honestly think Fedorov would want a friend like you? Get on with your own life. I also thought it was a little heartless of you to post those remarks found here in the guestbook regarding people being friends at the hotel. You feeling a little vengeful? So its your ball now, to use another metaphor. I have enjoyed your website up until the very recent past. You are a legend in your own mind. Figure me out, and I will give you a cookie and a bozo pin.

What can I say? I don’t care who you are, so figuring you out doesn’t excite me. As far as the “metaphor” you refer, I can only say this: It’s not the quantity of friends it the quality. I’m not the smartest guy and I never claimed to be. But I’ve met some pretty shallow people in my life. Jesus H Christ, if this doesn’t piss me off at the base level. Fine. Whatever. I really am at a loss of words. It finally has happened, I have no smart ass remark no clever comment or a devious play of words.

On the bright side this “Insider” has just made himself/herself into another of the pantheon of weird and interesting people/things this site has and my life has brought about. So good for you. I ate the cookie but if I lay my hands on a bozo pin I’ll give it to you.

What can I say? I admit it I’m a geek. But this has to be the coolest thing I have ever saw. You just have to go and see this awesome creation. A guy named Ben did this, it’s totally homemade.

So what are you waiting for go to his home page.

I say again you have to go and check this out. He has tons of pictures, inside and out.