TBB’s latest 3 awesome links: Marriott to destroy SPG, a must read seminal read on “Why We Work So Hard” & a creepy story on The Voyer’s Motel. Enjoy!
TBB Blog Mission: To Entertain. Educate. Inspire. In That Order!
This site is AD-FREE! You can support it by applying for CREDIT CARDS, shopping with our AMAZON AFFILIATE LINK and clicking/forwarding any of our REFERRAL LINKS. Thank you for your support!
I have some really eclectic stuff for you today. THE definitive read on the Marriott Starwood merger, a mind blowing read on the topic of why we work so hard and then one of the all time creepiest reads I have encountered of a motel owner voyer who was peeping for decades and is now coming out to take credit as a…sex researcher. You can read about the same old benefits of the same old travel rewards credit cards that other bloggers keep pumping to their readers nonstop. Or totally unimportant stuff like the Daily Getaway nodeals, trip reports of the same places we have seen numerous times or on and on and on. Or you can read my blog, it’s your clicks!
Marriott and Starwood Shareholders Approve Merger to Become World’s Largest Hotel Company. This Skift article covers everything. How we got here, the BS coming from both exec rooms, what is coming and when. It will likely be much worse than the BS coming out of their mouths. One of those events that will go down in infamy as a HUGE blow to our hobby. The most valuable hotel points are going away. And the suite upgrades. And the most aspirational properties. And likely the amazing credit card as well. #RIP SPG!
Why do we work so hard? This is a must read. It blew me away. Thought provoking to say the least! I agree with its main points. Then again, am I biased so I feel better about myself? Just a few excerpts to pique your interest:
- Work, in this context, means active, billable labour. But in reality, it rarely stops. It follows us home on our smartphones, tugging at us during an evening out or in the middle of our children’s bedtime routines. It makes permanent use of valuable cognitive space, and chooses odd hours to pace through our thoughts, shoving aside whatever might have been there before. It colonises our personal relationships and uses them for its own ends. It becomes our lives if we are not careful. It becomes us.
- One possibility is that we have all got stuck on a treadmill. Technology and globalisation mean that an increasing number of good jobs are winner-take-most competitions…This relentless competition increases the need to earn high salaries, for as well-paid people cluster together they bid up the price of the resources for which they compete. In the brainpower-heavy cities where most of them live, getting on the property ladder requires the sort of sum that can be built up only through long hours in an important job…But that is not quite how it is. The problem is not that overworked professionals are all miserable. The problem is that they are not.
- It is a cognitive and emotional relief to immerse oneself in something all-consuming while other difficulties float by. The complexities of intellectual puzzles are nothing to those of emotional ones. Work is a wonderful refuge.
- There is a psychic value to the intertwining of life and work as well as an economic one. The society of people like us reinforces our belief in what we do. Working effectively at a good job builds up our identity and esteem in the eyes of others. We cheer each other on, we share in (and quietly regret) the successes of our friends, we lose touch with people beyond our network. Spending our leisure time with other professional strivers buttresses the notion that hard work is part of the good life and that the sacrifices it entails are those that a decent person makes.
- And I begin to understand the nature of the trouble I’m having communicating to my parents precisely why what I’m doing appeals to me. They are asking about a job. I am thinking about identity, community, purpose – the things that provide meaning and motivation. I am talking about my life.
The Voyer’s Motel. Well, this is one of the creepiest stories I have ever read! You will hear more about this guy very soon I am sure. I am not sure if I was more upset by what he did but how the writer went along with it for decades. In a nut-shell, the guy liked to watch others. Like a lot. To the point where he bought a motel and installed special vents in the attic where he could just sit there and watch his guests have sex. And, yeah it gets creepier! He took very detailed notes of what he witnessed for…sex research! So, he contacts this writer, makes him sign a confidentiality agreement not to reveal his identity and kept feeding him his “research” notes. Over decades. Including witnessing a murder. Wow. Anyways, the guy bought a second motel. His wife was in it all along. He is retired and old now and he is coming out and just signed (AND collected) a sum of money for a book deal. Only in America. Fukd up! Can you imagine if the motel was part of a chain and could earn hotel points? I am trying to lighten up the mood now after this, not sure I am succeeding.
And I leave you with this…
Please help bloggers you appreciate & make a positive difference in your life by spreading the word about their blogs, emailing and commenting and using their few $ links, thank you!
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
Follow TBB on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2
You can subscribe to TBB below, winners only!
First??
Woohoo! Today’s going to be my day!
Bronze!
I say Silver! Pointsloverrrr can’t have Gold and Silver.
I should edit the gif and add it is Pointsloverrrr lol.
I’ll settle for Bronze again… Great read on the merger… Nothing positive comes out of these for our industry… RE: NW, CO, US and now SPG.
Time to burn the SPG while they are worth something!
Snow here yesterday, in April, made me think I was back in MI for a moment
Today here in Ann Arbor was ridiculously cold!
Burn them SPG points. I have about 55k left…
Why do we have so many hotel brands? Marriott has 17 brands and SPG has 11 brands, most of which customers are not necessarily loyal to. Why do we need Westin/Sheraton & Marriott, Luxury Collection & Autograph Collection, Courtyard & Four Points, Le Meridien & Renaissance and JW Marriott & whatever its equivalent is?
I would whittle all this down to something under 10. Keep the stronger of the comparable SPG or Marriott brand and maybe a few local or high-end brands that have strong appeal (Protea, Delta, AC, RC, St Regis, etc). While I’m at it, if I were Marriott I would ask myself what is the difference between Springhill Suites, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn and Townplace Suites except a reason to have duplicative marketing and overhead budgets?
Yeah, I agree, really!
I think I read the new company will have 30 brands…but who’s counting. I think it is completely absurd….and you nail it with this:
what is the difference between Springhill Suites, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn and Townplace Suites except a reason to have duplicative marketing and overhead budgets?
Aluminum !