Day 1 - The toilet dilemma

Phoenix:

I left this morning feeling like a louse. My mother was right...I wasn't being fair to BaddicusFinch. Yet I left anyway. I'm pretty impulsive, a trait shared by the bipolar folks...but I'm not going to blame it on that. If anything, I'll blame the white kid who called me 'nip' then later scratched his head and tried 'beaner' when I was in junior high. He couldn't decide which slur to hurl at me since he was unsure of my ethnicity. I suppose ever since then I've had a phobia of racist people.

So I chose the southern states to cleanse my hatred once and for all. I'm positive I'll mostly meet good folks and some not so good. This will be my chance to say 'f-you, you dumbass' and tase them in the face.

I reached Phoenix, Arizona at a relatively early time. Baddicus had booked me a motel for a reasonable price, but on the way there I saw a motel called Budget with a sign advertising $23.99 rates. I immediately flipped a u-turn.

The complex has about twenty rooms, but when I pulled in, the other guests opened their doors to peek out. I noticed I was the only one with a car. Weirded out but wanting to stretch my dollars, I took the room. Again, it's not good to be impulsive. The cleaning crew, a mother and a daughter with missing teeth like out of a Dorothea Lange photograph, told me they'll send someone to fix my plugged toilet. I said fine and took a drive.

I went to see the Biltmore Hotel with a concrete block system designed by FL Wright. Very impressive by the way. The people looked healthy with their pearly teeth and golf clubs. I parked by a Bentley and a Jaguar thinking it would be alright. I snapped pictures and was stopped by a valet guy who said he needed my key because I parked in the fire zone. I told him I was almost done and pointed out that the luxury cars were also parked in the red zone. He gave me a sheepish smile and nodded at me. A decent guy. I liked him.

I also stopped by Wright's Carlson House and was disappointed. The famous circular home was nowhere to be seen...and that was because the house was surrounded by thick cement walls. MFKs.

Back at the Budget the toilet was still unusable, but the fine housekeeping staff had left a plunger. Thanks.