Rose Bowl Commemorative Football

Just a quick update to yesterday's posting. Here is the football that the winner of our contest will receive.

It only costs $1 to enter, however you can enter as many times as you like and at the end of the day, all proceeds go to the Pasadena Humane Society.

We promise you that you'll not find another football like this one.

Good luck!

Rose Parade, Rose Bowl & BCS Championship

January is set to be a very busy month in Pasadena, CA. And that's just taking into account the first 7 days of the month. The annual Tournament of Roses Parade will take place on schedule at 8am on January 1st with the Rose Bowl taking place in the early afternoon. Everyone is super excited to have Captain Sullenberger in town as our Grand Marshal of the parade, and this year's theme, 'A Cut Above'. And then to have Ohio State and Oregon in town, should cap off a wonderful day.

To make sure we stay grounded at the hotel, we're making sure that we keep an emphasis on our hometown of Pasadena and getting things off to a good start in the new year. We will be offering a commemorative football for the Rose Bowl and the two teams playing that is decorated with pictures of Pasadena that will hopefully be a wonderful keepsake of this year's Rose Bowl. To enter, they simply need to donate a dollar to the Pasadena Humane Society, and they'll be all set. They can even enter multiple times to increase their chances.

We'll post a picture of the ball soon to hopefully help get the word out.

As far as the homeowner front, I'm afraid I've been slacking. With posting blogs that is. I finished up the wooden gate, but didn't have the before and after pictures, so as far as everyone knows, I could have been taking a picture of a neighbor's gate; I wouldn't want to risk any scandal with this. Also, I had my first stab at roofing this past weekend and trying to fix a leak that is coming in over my skylight. Its really a never-ending process, but so far as I keep learning, and can keep fixing things, I guess it must be okay. I'm not sure what the next project is going to be, however if we can get some money raised for the Humane Society, then that will be a good enough start to the new year. That and my roof not leaking any more.

Until next time...

Training, training and more training

Training...
This has been the be all, end all, trav-all and learn all for the month of November. I've been trained up one side and twice down the other, but I've made it through. For anyone who is under the assumption that hotels simply hire personnel, give a little OJT and then let them go, please be assured that nothing could be further from the truth. Now that theory does hold true with my home improvement projects, but we take out hotels a little more seriously.

The first training took place in Seattle Washington and surprisingly enough, in pretty good weather. I learned everything there is to know about Courtyard and Marriott hotels and if you thought bacon being accompanied by eggs is just an old adage passed down through time, its not. Marriott came up with that. Okay, maybe not, however when you come to breakfast, dinner or even get a snack out of the market, all of these things occur according to a very specific plan. A place for everything and everything in its place.

The second training took place in Washington, DC. President Obama wanted to get together to go over some of these policies and standards, however really, who has the time. I apologized very graciously and continued on with my training. This section went over all kinds of great things that go into making the team that is at the hotel as successful as possible. And in hotels, the happier our team members are, the more successful they are. I had a severe case of jet lag, a sinus infection and was on the verge of information overload, however when they put you in a room, blindfold you and tell you to figure out what parts are missing from a puzzle you and your class are holding, you can't help but be interested. And you learn the value of communication.

So at the end of this, I'm a little smarter and hopefully will perform my job a little better. The next thing is to see if it will help with the next home improvement project. That will consist of replacing a chain link fence with a new wooden fence. I'll have pictures shortly.

Thanks for reading.

U2 and the Happy Cat

Its Monday morning in Pasadena at our hotel, the Courtyard Old Pasadena. The sun is taking a little while to get up and going, but the weather outside is nice and cool, so we'll take it for now, as I'm sure the sun will be out shortly.

We had a good busy weekend with our Cal Berkeley and UCLA fans in over the weekend. There's nothing like being in an area that hosts college football games on a regular basis. Our hotel is super convenient as we're just across the street from one of the overflow parking lots for the Rose Bowl, so our guests literally walk across the street and down a block and jump on the shuttle.

With the last UCLA home game for October past us, we move on to the big U2 concert this weekend. We are still in disbelief of the fan following that U2 has. The Rose Bowl concert is their only stop in Southern California and it shows. We are on track for one of our busiest weekends other than the Rose Bowl game itself, so it should be very exciting. For those of you who haven't heard, the concert is next Sunday, Oct 25th, and I believe the Black Eyed Peas are the opening act. It should be a great show.

The homefront saw the completion of my project, the cat tree. I can't tell you how exciting I know all of this sounds after writing about college football, a U2 concert and now on to....a cat tree. For those of you with cats, you'll know that the first two topics are of no interest, but the last is an endless source of relaxation and entertainment.

I started working on the carpet around 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon; I was done by 8 o'clock. I'd never worked with a hot glue gun before, but now am fairly experienced. I also have a couple of scars where the glue kept coming when I had it over a hand or arm; but nothing that will last.

I've not decided on what will be the next project, but its looking like a wooden gate to replace a chain link one at the house. And no, the leak hasn't been fixed yet from the skylight. I'm hoping to gain the assistance of our Chief Engineer with that one.

An any homeowner will say, your work is never ever ever done.

The rain is gone and here come the Cal Bears

The rains have finished, the air is clean and everything is green. And we are all set for a warm weekend and more UCLA football. They are facing the Cal Berkeley Bears this Saturday at noon. If you plan on tailgating and have nothing to do on Saturday morning, Texas is playing Oklahoma at 9am, but you'll have to catch that one on TV. Being from the east coast and naturally an early-riser, I can't tell you how much I love morning football; the earlier the better.

We are all set for a busy weekend here at the hotel. Our staff knows exactly when the games occur and start asking at the beginning of the week. A full hotel is a happy hotel.

On the homeowner side, I discovered a leak in my skylight with the recent rain. Unfortunately, this is not one of those projects that can be placed on the backburner, so I'll have to get it taken care of this weekend or early next week. These things happen, but on to the project at hand.

The structure for the cat tree is all complete and ready for the carpet to be put on . And as I mentioned, this thing could probably hold up a Buick, so its very structurally sound. Everything was designed 'playing it by ear', utilizing some scrap wood and things that I had around the house from other projects; some that were finished and others that were not. I've put 3 shelves on the structure and reinforced with 2 x 4's EVERYWHERE. I've not had the pleasure of working with carpet or a hot glue gun, but that project is set for this Saturday, where hopefully I'll have it all complete, and post a picture of the finished project.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the weekend.

Rain can't slow us down...

Its Tuesday morning and SoCal is getting its first rain of the season. The hotel is running well, with all of our guests grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading out into the weather. Most likely, a good part of our guests are prepared, however we do lend out umbrellas at our Front Desk on the honor system. In other words, if you don't return it, we honor you by coming by your room in the evening to collect our umbrella. Just kidding. We're a little nicer than that.

On the homeowner side, one thing I've found is that there is always something to do. While I was an apartment dweller, there was no yard work, roofing repairs or walls to paint. I never even thought of those things. Since moving into a house, I can't get a break. Every time I look around, I see something else I want to do...something I want to improve. Normally, though, its the regular routine maintenance that takes up time. But that's changing. And I'm bringing this blog along with me. You'll get to experience all of my home improvements from the before to the after. I will include pictures and progress reports. The only thing you won't have access to are all of the bad words that come with me trying to do home improvements.

My first one that I'm working on isn't even a home improvement, but more a practice run at wood working. My wife's sister has this crazy cat that I've offered to build a cat tree for. For those of you who do not know, a cat tree is basically a skeleton of wood and parts that is then covered with carpet that creates a resort area for the kitty. There are two advantages to this first project of mine. Number one is that its giving me good practice with sawing, drilling and nailing wood pieces together, along with working with a hot glue gun. Number two, is that since I'm a beginner and this thing may turn out to not be structurally sound, that crazy cat might finally get what's coming to him.
That last part is a joke, as that cat weighs about 8 pounds and this structure I'm building can probably hold a Buick. So we're safe.
I'll post the before pictures and keep a running count of bad words until we get to the after.

Have a great rainy Tuesday and be careful driving.

UCLA Football to Long Beach Marathon-LA has it all

The weather has turned cool here in Southern California and Pasadena; perfect for everything outdoors. It was perfect for some cycling on Saturday morning and as I was headed down to the Rose Bowl for a few laps, I noticed all of the blockades for the football game. Oregon was in town for a noon game and didn't go away disappointed. Home games at the Rose Bowl always put an extra air of excitement into the normal relaxed hum of Pasadena. People who aren't fortunate enough to have their team play here don't realize what they are missing. To have Old Town Pasadena so close to such a great sporting institution like the Rose Bowl makes for a really great combination; so much to do before, during and after the game.

Home games, however, do not make the best environment for doing laps around the Rose Bowl. I said a quick hello and good-bye to one of the friendly officers helping with traffic, and I was on my way towards east Pasadena. It took me a couple of moments to get my sense of direction back, but in just a few moments I was back on track on Orange Grove Blvd and headed towards the little town of Sierra Madre. Its pretty flat getting out there so not too tiring, however as I was passed up by a more experienced cyclist and I tried to keep up, my legs grew a little tired any way.

After Sierra Madre, I turned it around to Altadena Dr and started the long climb back up the mountain to home. I love living in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, however no matter where I go cycling, I always end it by going uphill to home.

This was a great Saturday morning and the next day would have me going to the city of Long Beach for the marathon; not to run it, of course, but to support a friend who'd spent the last 5 months training for it.

Wiggle Waggle to UCLA Football

The Wiggle Waggle Walk was a great success. My apologies on not posting anything before now, however apparently, this year was a record-setting year. And there were a lot of dogs out there. I had a Mastiff, Pug and Dachsund (Hildegaard, Boe Boe & Stogey), with me and I wasn't sure if the Pug was going to make it. However, after several water breaks and putting water on the head and tummy, Boe Boe made it just fine.

And now its on to UCLA vs Oregon this weekend, Oct 10th. Normally, its all about USC when talking about Pac 10 teams, however both Oregon and UCLA are doing wonderfully this season. We'll see what this weekend brings.
Everyone in Pasadena is especially excited about College Football this year, as we will be hosting both the Rose Bowl and BCS Championship games.
Our Accounting Manager says to keep your eye on Stanford for the Rose Bowl.

Wiggle Waggle on Sep 27th

We're moving forward with helping out the Pasadena Humane Society and participating in the Wiggle Waggle Walk on September 27th at the Rose Bowl. One of our team members has been kind enough to bring several dogs, so a lot of the younger generation will have dogs to walk. This should be a great event that once again, goes to a great cause.
This walk is around the Rose Bowl once and starts at 9am. It is open to all and doesn't require any type of sign up fee. So come out and please feel free to bring a pup with you to keep you company. We hope to see everyone there.

Charity Dog Wash...a clean finish!

Okay, so the title is a little cheesey, however the dog wash was anything but. Thank you to everyone who came out to help support the effort. We ended up raising a bit of money for the Pasadena Humane Society, as well as getting a lot of clean pups in the process. Not to mention, that several of our staff now know how to clean up a self service doggy bath.
A huge thanks to Michael and Rene of Bathe R Doggie (www.batherdoggie.com) .
They were very kind to offer their facility free of charge and then to provide a very generous donation themselves.
If you're ever in need of getting your pets cleaned up, please check out Bathe R Doggie. They not only provide self serve doggie baths, but also full service options as well. My little Dachsund now has nails that she can live comfortably with thanks to these nice folks.

Thank you all again and we hope to do it again. Now, on to the Wiggle Waggle Walk.

9 Days Out - August 22 Dog Wash

We're only 9 days away from our dog wash for the Pasadena Humane Society. We've designed a new T shirt that our volunteers will be wearing and hopefully, we'll get that up on the blog pretty soon. We hope to see everyone come out for this event. Remember, its a self serve dog wash, but we'll have everything you need at Bathe R Doggie. We're looking forward to seeing everyone and every dog there.

Charity Dog Wash

We're big pet lovers here at the Courtyard Old Pasadena and are having an event on August 22nd, Saturday. Instead of the car washes that you normally see around town, we're doing a dog wash, and donating all of the contributions to the Pasadena Humane Society. Its a rough time out there right now to be a pet without a home, so for the great folks at the Humane Society, we want to make sure we're helping out.
Check out our calendar for Aug 22nd and it has all the details. We're just getting started with getting the word out, so if you're reading this, we can use your help. Tell anyone you know with a dog about it and that not only do they get a clean dog out of it and contribute to a worthy cause, but we'll have some great food and prizes as well.
We look forward to seeing everyone there.

Soccer at the Rose Bowl

There's an exciting soccer game happening this weekend at the Rose Bowl. For the second game of this season at the Rose Bowl, the LA Galaxy, lead by David Beckham, will show their skills against Barcelona. This is a very rare chance to see International Soccer at a local level. We hope to see you all there for this exciting event.

Jason David's Golf Tournament on June 26th

Summer is here and along with it our wonderful June gloom. For anyone not from or in Southern California, what this is, is the marine layer comes in heavy and doesn't allow as much sunshine in as people come to expect with 'Sunny Southern California'. We've actually had a little rain and not had to run air conditioners at our homes as its been cooler than normal. I say all this to say...its almost over. And what better way to celebrate it than with a game of golf. And what better day to play golf than on a Friday. Our hotel, the Courtyard Old Pasadena, will be participating in Jason David's Golf Tournament on Friday, June 26th, at Brookside Country Club. It should be a great event and with great weather. This is the first year for this event and we are all excited to be a part of it.
Summer is here in Pasadena and we look forward to all of the great things there will be to see and do.

Summertime in Pasadena

Summer is pretty much here and we have some exciting things happening in Pasadena and our hotel, the Courtyard.
There's a big party on the Colorado St Bridge in June where they shut down traffic and everyone gets to party on the bridge, with some of the best views of any where in Pasadena. Its an extreme change for the bridge that was once known as suicide bridge.
Also, we will have European soccer coming to the Rose Bowl in July when Chelsea plays AC Milan. That one should be a lot of fun. I don't follow soccer very much, however I do enjoy the Europeans and Latin Americans playing soccer. There's so much passion and love for the sport that you can't help but get caught up in it.
And for our team here at the Courtyard, we are looking for our next project as a hotel. We completed the Autism Walk to try and help out the community that way, but now its time for the next great thing. Stay tuned for what comes next.
Thank you for joining us and we'll be back soon.

Wedding Show...a Huge Success

Thank you to everyone who came out and visited us on May 17th. I'm a little late in posting my thank you note, however I wanted to make sure that we got the news out there. We had a little over 30 vendors and quite a few couples join us for our first annual show.
We have a great location and enjoy the wedding couples and groups that come to see us.
So, thank you again, and we hope to see you all again real soon.

Courtyard Old Pasadena Hotel Wedding Show 2009

Our team is busy putting the last few details on the wedding show at the hotel today.  For anyone who may be reading this, its from 11am-2pm on Sunday, May 17th.  One of our Sales Managers has put a lot of effort and hard work into the show, and this followed by a full team effort to make everything come off without a hitch.  We'll see how it turns out, but it should be a good time for all.  We look forward to seeing everyone out there today.

2009 Pasadena Autism Walk - Success!

We had a great day yesterday and were very happy with the tremendous turnout for yesterday's autism walk.  We had a good turnout as well from our Courtyard team.  And unlike last year with HOT weather, this year was nice and cool and a great day for a walk. 

We're very proud of our hotel, team and city for making this event so great.  We can't wait til next year.

2 Days Out

We are just two days from the Autism Walk and our team has done a great job with the turnout and signup for this. We currently have 41 people who have signed up and are looking forward to a great event. We are making all of the T-shirts for the event, so we have lots of ironing to do tonight.

Autism Walk...only 4 days away

Well, we're only 4 days away from the Autism Walk at the Rose Bowl and our team at the Courtyard Old Pasadena. We did a sign up log with a link on the last entry, however we set that up prior to asking our team members how they wanted to donate. We're a little old school, so we're actually going to bring the donations with us in old fashioned things like, cash, checks and money orders.

I'm including a picture of our Tshirt on this blog that we'll all be wearing for the event. We're making these inhouse and they're turning out a lot better than last year's. If you recognize them on Saturday morning, please stop and say hi.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading and hope to see a great turnout for Saturday.

Less than 3 Weeks to the Autism Walk

We are less than 3 weeks from the Autism Walk at the Rose Bowl for 2009. Its on April 25th. Our hotel has set up a webpage for donations and are looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish.
Tony Robbins once wrote that you get a lot further along with a goal of one million dollars than you would with a goal of a hundred thousand dollars. You may not make it to either, but the first one gets you further. So we've set our goal at $1000. (Hopefully, Tony will understand)
We're hoping to make this goal and do our part in the research against Autism.
If you happen to be reading this and want to help out, you can go to https://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=288321&lis=1&kntae288321=83D63E3ABD6D491BADA786E98929426F&supId=252515670&team=3376921
That's a long link, but it will get you there. Thanks for reading and hopefully our next posting will have our Tshirt design up for the walk.

Getting Ready for the Wedding Show

We're doing our very first wedding expo on May 17th this year from 11am-2pm. Lots of things to prepare for this as if we are the ones getting married. :)

We'll have all of the hotel information which normally caters to wedding receptions of about 120ppl.  We are busy getting everything set as far as food, drinks and then all of the necessary vendors as well.  I believe we will all be expert wedding planners after this event.

We still have about a month and a half to go, so we're looking forward to it.  Hope to see everyone there.

Autism Walk at the Rose Bowl 2009

Our staff here at the Courtyard Old Pasadena is planning to participate in the Autism Walk at the Rose Bowl. This is our first blog posting and we thought it would be fitting to show one of the things we do in the community. The Rose Bowl is a perfect location for an event like this and it gives us the chance to get together outside of work for a good cause. I'm going to try and post a picture of last year's event and then we can see if we are any better looking this year. :) Thank you for taking the time to view this and we hope to see everyone out there next month.