Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
I just realised that I am soooo far behind in this blog. Remember that time I went to Los Angeles? Oh, right, no, because I barely wrote anything about it.
It was great. Day was is highlighted two posts ago. Day two was spent in "glorious" Hollywood poking about and on a tour. I have pictures. Vee and I went to Santa Monica that day as well, it was VERY nice! (Glorious without the quotation marks.) We went down to the beach and I got wet in the Pacific Ocean. I wanted to touch it, just because I had never seen it before. Well, I kept walking a little closer to the water's edge, hand reached out to touch the sea. The waves stopped coming in so far but I knew better than to keep venturing out. I shrugged, and called it a day. I turned around to rejoin Vanessa on the beach where she was holding my camera. Three...two... one... a wave comes crashing around my feet and my sneakers are soaked, along with the bottom three inches of my pants! Zut alors! Luckily Vanessa had some flipflops in her bag so I wore them for the rest of the day.
After Santa Monica we took a super long bus ride to Disneyland!! Yup, we are nerds. We left Walt Disney World and went to Disneyland. But we got in for free, so it's okay :) Disneyland was AWESOME! It was so much fun... I've kind of worn out the fun of Walt Disney World, so Disneyland was refreshing as it was different, but the same... It was smaller, but it looked so nice as they really spiffed it up for the 50th-Anniversary celebration. Some rides were completely new to me, and some were familiar. Splash Mountain was a bit different, and for some reason the water current must have been on "rush those suckers through!" high speed as it seemed like we zipped through the whole ride. We also went to Disney's California Adventure. I can see why people don't like it, as it does kind of lack the typical Disney touch, but I was expecting it to be worse. I LOVED the rollercoaster there! Also, any park wise enough to house Tower of Terror has to be good, eh?
On Sat night we arrived at Disneyland just in time to take in the fireworks. They were so great - they almost made me cry. Turning into such a sap, I am. They started off similar to the ones at the Magic Kingdom but took a twist as the firework show has sections devoted to different attractions in the park.
We went on the Matterhorn at night and it kind of scared the crap out of me. By the time we got back to our hotel circa 11:30 we were exhausted and pretty much crashed. Early morning the following day as we had to head back to Disneyland and get to the airport. By the way, important to note that you need your MAINGATE to get into Disneyland!! Really didn't see that one coming and I had only my WDW ID. Luckily Vanessa had hers with her. So in we went. Same deal on Sunday morning.
On Sunday night we flew out of LA at about 10:00 and got into Orlando at about 6:30 in the morning. I slept for, well, an hour or so and then hopped off to work.
It really wasn't my best day at work. My years were really plugged up from the plane and I was having a TERRIBLE time hearing people! It also sort of threw my balance off. And, of course, I was soooo tired.
The end.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
So today I couldn't remember where O'Leary was. Whoops. I was pretty sure it was up west somewhere. Candace confirmed to me that, indeed, it is west.
Actually, my geography knowledge of PEI was never much good. I know my way around places that I travel on foot or by bus a lot. Most my journeys around PEI were before I learned how to drive so I never paid much attention. Post receiving a drivers licenced, I generally travelled to Bordon (bonjour, bridge!) or the beach someone. (Twenty minutes in any general direction, really.)
There are so many Canadians around here that you never feel "isolated", for lack of a better word, from your culture. Expect on Wedneday. On Wednesday night I was at a throw-out and following the throw-out was discussing the following day's ice cream social to be held at work. (Thirty days without an accident! Lets have ice cream!) I started to sing the song Ice Cream from Anne of Green Gables and NO ONE knew what I was singing. Mind you not every single Canadian was around... but still! Someone said, "Are you just making up some random ice cream song?" GASP!!! NOOOO!!! So I said I would find the lyrics to the song and teach them some of it. Low and behold, the internet has failed me, and I could NOT find the lyrics to the song anywhere online.
I've recently developed a fondness for steel drums. Maybe we can update Ice Cream with steel drums? Ha ha!
The weather here is AMAZING. I LOVE SUMMER. The past couple of nights it has been warm enough for shorts in the evening. I love it. Winter? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I get confused and sometimes think, "I guess we're just getting a warm front..." but then realise that we are getting pretty seasonal weather with some days being warmer and some being cooler. I can't believe I'm going to have to put up with winter next year. However, I do recall purchasing an extra-classy orage winter coat towards the end of last winter (Hello, 9GBP, Foxhole!) that may make dealing with winter easier.
As some of the masses know, my mum, grandmother and two cousins were visiting this week. I met them at their hotel on Saturday night and bummed about for a bit. On Sunday I worked in the lunch shift and met up with them afterwards. I finally had one of those "make your own marshmellow/apple/rice krispe/calor-ific! treat" things at Goofy's Candy place at Downtown Disney. They look better than they taste. However, what else would we expect from American chocolate? Dear US: Stick to your Root Beer and hot dogs; Europe has you beat on this one. Speaking of which, anyone wanting to send me British easter chocolate is more than welcome to. Just wanted to clear up any confusion on that.
On Monday I met up with the fam before work and let them into the parks for the day. I met up with them at the Magic Kingdom when I was done at work, (at no other place can, "I'll meet you at Cinderella's Castle," be met with such an understanding nod,) and we went on rides, because that's what people do at Disney World. I also ate really, really hot soup. I should have spilled it on me and sued. I proceeded to pretty much fall asleep on the monorail back to the TTC AND on the bus back to the Commons. Somehow, I summoned the energy to go to Pleasure Island that night. Call me a trooper! I bought a drink called "The Big Apple Martini" or something similar. WOW. Ninety-eight percent alcohol, I would venture. Bing!
On Tuesday I worked than went with non-family Sandra to the Earl of Sandwich. After visiting the Earl, a visit to Subway is never the same. I remember when I thought Subway was good. Earl of Sandwich blows Subway soooooo far out of the water that... umm, I can't think of a clever way to end that phrase. Afterwards we wandered about and grabbed a PROPER PINT (!!!) at Raglan Road and sat outside. It was quite nice! And, having been drinking American beer for the better part of six months, the Stella seemed rather strong. Super Tennants strong. We were going to head out that night but somehow got sidetracked but were still up til 3:00 am anyway. Thus the life of the Commons.
Wednesday the phone woke me up about two hours too early. So I ended up meeting the family at random Disney hotel for a swim/snooze in the sun. Then I dragged my ass too work with an entire TWO minutes to spare.
Thursday was park day again! I also ate at Le Cellier for the first time. That's right, I actually ate at my workplace. It turns out the food IS amazing and I haven't been lieing to everyone!! And maple creme brullee is worth the fuss people make over it. It may even beat the apple cobbler... Thursday night was Chase's throw out. I'm bitter about his leaving, but anyway.
Then there was Friday - Typhoon Lagoon with Keltie and Vanessa day!!!! I tell ya, this place should be featured front and centre in all Walt Disney World advertising. That water park is AMAZING. I'm so glad it's not "winter" anymore so we can go to water parks. I heart you, Typhoon Lagoon! Anyway, said good-bye in the evening after a plate of half-assed nachos from Bennigans. Kind of sad. Both saying good-bye and the sub-par nachos.
Speaking of Bennigans, don't bother unless you're there for the bar.
And now we are at Saturday. I worked today. It sucked. Sometimes I'm not in the mood for work but it fades once I get there and start working. I just couldn't get into it and didn't enjoy myself very much. I have had a lot of Saturdays off as of late, which is good as it seems whenever I work a Saturday they go terribly wrong. Ah well, third time is the charm with next Saturday!
My six-month anniversary is on Monday. I can't believe it. I feel like I have accomplished NOTHING. Even with an average of one trip per month I won't make it everywhere. What is a girl to do? And what about when I go home? I don't know what to do. At all. Will someone give me guidance? How is whatever I do supposed to even compare to the last two years of my life?! Or even the three years as my last year of University was quite the blast as well.
I think I expect too much of myself at work. Want everyone to love me, and annoyed at myself when I don't get refills out before the guest actually asks for them. But I also get annoyed that people drink so much soda. Are you SURE you need that much more sugar?? Or maybe I should just stop reading Don't Eat This Book. I swear I don't know what to eat anymore. What's low in calories, fat, sugar, and carbs? At the same time, it should be high in fiber?
Mmm, water and apple peelings.
I remember before I came to Florida I thought, "Wow, I am going to buy so much cool clothing and be, like, so cool in my cool clothing of coolness!"
I haven't been to the Florida Mall once. Not a single journey. I have bought some stuff, but considering how much I have worn a lot of my clothing I'm sure some more could be replaced.
Anyway, phone rang so I'm oot!
Actually, my geography knowledge of PEI was never much good. I know my way around places that I travel on foot or by bus a lot. Most my journeys around PEI were before I learned how to drive so I never paid much attention. Post receiving a drivers licenced, I generally travelled to Bordon (bonjour, bridge!) or the beach someone. (Twenty minutes in any general direction, really.)
There are so many Canadians around here that you never feel "isolated", for lack of a better word, from your culture. Expect on Wedneday. On Wednesday night I was at a throw-out and following the throw-out was discussing the following day's ice cream social to be held at work. (Thirty days without an accident! Lets have ice cream!) I started to sing the song Ice Cream from Anne of Green Gables and NO ONE knew what I was singing. Mind you not every single Canadian was around... but still! Someone said, "Are you just making up some random ice cream song?" GASP!!! NOOOO!!! So I said I would find the lyrics to the song and teach them some of it. Low and behold, the internet has failed me, and I could NOT find the lyrics to the song anywhere online.
I've recently developed a fondness for steel drums. Maybe we can update Ice Cream with steel drums? Ha ha!
The weather here is AMAZING. I LOVE SUMMER. The past couple of nights it has been warm enough for shorts in the evening. I love it. Winter? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I get confused and sometimes think, "I guess we're just getting a warm front..." but then realise that we are getting pretty seasonal weather with some days being warmer and some being cooler. I can't believe I'm going to have to put up with winter next year. However, I do recall purchasing an extra-classy orage winter coat towards the end of last winter (Hello, 9GBP, Foxhole!) that may make dealing with winter easier.
As some of the masses know, my mum, grandmother and two cousins were visiting this week. I met them at their hotel on Saturday night and bummed about for a bit. On Sunday I worked in the lunch shift and met up with them afterwards. I finally had one of those "make your own marshmellow/apple/rice krispe/calor-ific! treat" things at Goofy's Candy place at Downtown Disney. They look better than they taste. However, what else would we expect from American chocolate? Dear US: Stick to your Root Beer and hot dogs; Europe has you beat on this one. Speaking of which, anyone wanting to send me British easter chocolate is more than welcome to. Just wanted to clear up any confusion on that.
On Monday I met up with the fam before work and let them into the parks for the day. I met up with them at the Magic Kingdom when I was done at work, (at no other place can, "I'll meet you at Cinderella's Castle," be met with such an understanding nod,) and we went on rides, because that's what people do at Disney World. I also ate really, really hot soup. I should have spilled it on me and sued. I proceeded to pretty much fall asleep on the monorail back to the TTC AND on the bus back to the Commons. Somehow, I summoned the energy to go to Pleasure Island that night. Call me a trooper! I bought a drink called "The Big Apple Martini" or something similar. WOW. Ninety-eight percent alcohol, I would venture. Bing!
On Tuesday I worked than went with non-family Sandra to the Earl of Sandwich. After visiting the Earl, a visit to Subway is never the same. I remember when I thought Subway was good. Earl of Sandwich blows Subway soooooo far out of the water that... umm, I can't think of a clever way to end that phrase. Afterwards we wandered about and grabbed a PROPER PINT (!!!) at Raglan Road and sat outside. It was quite nice! And, having been drinking American beer for the better part of six months, the Stella seemed rather strong. Super Tennants strong. We were going to head out that night but somehow got sidetracked but were still up til 3:00 am anyway. Thus the life of the Commons.
Wednesday the phone woke me up about two hours too early. So I ended up meeting the family at random Disney hotel for a swim/snooze in the sun. Then I dragged my ass too work with an entire TWO minutes to spare.
Thursday was park day again! I also ate at Le Cellier for the first time. That's right, I actually ate at my workplace. It turns out the food IS amazing and I haven't been lieing to everyone!! And maple creme brullee is worth the fuss people make over it. It may even beat the apple cobbler... Thursday night was Chase's throw out. I'm bitter about his leaving, but anyway.
Then there was Friday - Typhoon Lagoon with Keltie and Vanessa day!!!! I tell ya, this place should be featured front and centre in all Walt Disney World advertising. That water park is AMAZING. I'm so glad it's not "winter" anymore so we can go to water parks. I heart you, Typhoon Lagoon! Anyway, said good-bye in the evening after a plate of half-assed nachos from Bennigans. Kind of sad. Both saying good-bye and the sub-par nachos.
Speaking of Bennigans, don't bother unless you're there for the bar.
And now we are at Saturday. I worked today. It sucked. Sometimes I'm not in the mood for work but it fades once I get there and start working. I just couldn't get into it and didn't enjoy myself very much. I have had a lot of Saturdays off as of late, which is good as it seems whenever I work a Saturday they go terribly wrong. Ah well, third time is the charm with next Saturday!
My six-month anniversary is on Monday. I can't believe it. I feel like I have accomplished NOTHING. Even with an average of one trip per month I won't make it everywhere. What is a girl to do? And what about when I go home? I don't know what to do. At all. Will someone give me guidance? How is whatever I do supposed to even compare to the last two years of my life?! Or even the three years as my last year of University was quite the blast as well.
I think I expect too much of myself at work. Want everyone to love me, and annoyed at myself when I don't get refills out before the guest actually asks for them. But I also get annoyed that people drink so much soda. Are you SURE you need that much more sugar?? Or maybe I should just stop reading Don't Eat This Book. I swear I don't know what to eat anymore. What's low in calories, fat, sugar, and carbs? At the same time, it should be high in fiber?
Mmm, water and apple peelings.
I remember before I came to Florida I thought, "Wow, I am going to buy so much cool clothing and be, like, so cool in my cool clothing of coolness!"
I haven't been to the Florida Mall once. Not a single journey. I have bought some stuff, but considering how much I have worn a lot of my clothing I'm sure some more could be replaced.
Anyway, phone rang so I'm oot!
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Heeeeeey....!
It's been awhile, eh?
Truth be told, after running about all day at work I generally don't have the ambition to sit down and think. No thinking means no emails and no blogs. However, I like reading blogs of other people so perhaps people like reading my blog. Just a thought...
Since I last posted I haven't been fired! That, my friends, is a good thing. I also took a whirl-wind trip to Los Angeles. Vanessa and I booked our flight/hotel on Monday night and zoomed off in a big plane on Friday morning. Our last-minute package included our flight and hotel and was a fabulous $302.00!! Pretty spiffy considering I was looking at flights initially and they alone were in the $400 - $450 range.
So Vanessa and I flew into LA Friday morning a couple of weeks back. Our flight left at about 7:00 and we were lucky enough to catch a drive to the airport with Derek who was going home for a long weekend! In a busy airport day, another canadian, Sarah, was also going home for a few days. Vanessa and I got into LA at about 9:45. By the time we got to our hotel and ate and headed back out it was about 2:00. We went to glorious Hollywood! Actually, make that "glorious" Hollywood! Ahem, quite the scuzzy place. The Kodak Theatre that hosts the Oscars, i.e., what we see on TV, and the Chinese Theatre take up about one block of space on the north side. The south side has El Capitan, a restored cinema thanks to Disney. The other blocks... umm, rather dodgy. Sketchville, USA.
And, of course, that's all I have time to write at the moment. Pushing the clock as usual. Big posts are coming though, I promise! I am off for TWO WHOLE DAYS and have NO plans! For once, I am excited about that. A wee bit of rest and relaxation :) I plan on doing some emailing, seriously, and posting, seriously!
Seriously!
Heart you all... ;)
It's been awhile, eh?
Truth be told, after running about all day at work I generally don't have the ambition to sit down and think. No thinking means no emails and no blogs. However, I like reading blogs of other people so perhaps people like reading my blog. Just a thought...
Since I last posted I haven't been fired! That, my friends, is a good thing. I also took a whirl-wind trip to Los Angeles. Vanessa and I booked our flight/hotel on Monday night and zoomed off in a big plane on Friday morning. Our last-minute package included our flight and hotel and was a fabulous $302.00!! Pretty spiffy considering I was looking at flights initially and they alone were in the $400 - $450 range.
So Vanessa and I flew into LA Friday morning a couple of weeks back. Our flight left at about 7:00 and we were lucky enough to catch a drive to the airport with Derek who was going home for a long weekend! In a busy airport day, another canadian, Sarah, was also going home for a few days. Vanessa and I got into LA at about 9:45. By the time we got to our hotel and ate and headed back out it was about 2:00. We went to glorious Hollywood! Actually, make that "glorious" Hollywood! Ahem, quite the scuzzy place. The Kodak Theatre that hosts the Oscars, i.e., what we see on TV, and the Chinese Theatre take up about one block of space on the north side. The south side has El Capitan, a restored cinema thanks to Disney. The other blocks... umm, rather dodgy. Sketchville, USA.
And, of course, that's all I have time to write at the moment. Pushing the clock as usual. Big posts are coming though, I promise! I am off for TWO WHOLE DAYS and have NO plans! For once, I am excited about that. A wee bit of rest and relaxation :) I plan on doing some emailing, seriously, and posting, seriously!
Seriously!
Heart you all... ;)
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Yay, so I'm awake because I keep having dreams about forgetting about people's allergies and therefore getting fired.
The only good thing about this is that I realised at some point during my random wakings and two-minute sleeps that I had set my alarm too early as today is Wednesday and my shift today doesn't start untl 11:15, not 10:15 as I had thought.
On Monday night and yesterday at work some people were complaining about the election results. I asked the complainers if any of them had voted and they all said no. I remember back in early January how I thought about organising something so we could all send off our voting paperwork together but, of course, forgot and found myself remembering at inappropriate moments.
Ooh, on Monday I got to serve the VP of Food and Beverage for Epcot. I'm not sure why I served his party given that I was easily the newest server on the floor (hola, dia numero dos!) but I imagine it's because we have been extremely short-staffed and I was probably the only one with a table open at the time he checked in. Important people don't have to wait at Le Cellier ;) My manager told me yesterday morning that Mr. Big Shot, (and I don't mean that in a rude way,) had emailed him and said I did a great job. Woohoo! Probably because he didn't have any allergies so I didn't accidently kill him.
My first day serving, Sunday, I had a guest ask to speak to the manager since I wasn't apologetic enough about a mistake I had made. (I didn't realise one of our sauces was available at suppertime only.) I don't think the manager on duty cared too much since the guest was being a winer and was a castmember. It's sad, but sometimes castmembers put ridiculously high expections on us. The table next to them, most likely, overheard and then they asked to speak to the manager before they headed out. However, they raved about me so all was good. They were probably happy they didn't have any allergies or else I probably would have forgotten about them and accidently killed the entire party.
I really don't want to get deported =( Tear. Cry. Sad. And yes, it is worth losing sleep over and putting myself though intensive retail therapy.
In a somewhat related note, I quite love working the lunch shift. The money isn't nearly as good as a dinner shift, but I love having free evenings! On Sunday after work I went to the Olive Garden with two of the other newest servers and it was soooo good. Pretty cheap too! (Guess I'm getting used to WDW prices... ;) ) On Monday night after work I wandered around Epcot looking to spend money and enjoy some rides. I ran into a friend, Kaitlyn, rather randomly so we ended up staying until close. Last night Vanessa and I took off to Disney-MGM Studios after work to also spend money and have some fun. It's not that I'm making boatloads of money or anything, but we are currently getting 40% off merchandise as part of our company Christmas present so I'm being proactive and buying stuff I know I'll want before I go home. So I'm buying August's souvenirs today! I will admit though, I probably wouldn't be spending quite so much if I wasn't leaving work with a nice wad o' bills in my pocket at the end of my shift. Hmm....
Today's shift will be a good one. I can tell. Cross yer fingers fer me!
Back, I say back, to bed I say.
And to reset my alarm!!
The only good thing about this is that I realised at some point during my random wakings and two-minute sleeps that I had set my alarm too early as today is Wednesday and my shift today doesn't start untl 11:15, not 10:15 as I had thought.
On Monday night and yesterday at work some people were complaining about the election results. I asked the complainers if any of them had voted and they all said no. I remember back in early January how I thought about organising something so we could all send off our voting paperwork together but, of course, forgot and found myself remembering at inappropriate moments.
Ooh, on Monday I got to serve the VP of Food and Beverage for Epcot. I'm not sure why I served his party given that I was easily the newest server on the floor (hola, dia numero dos!) but I imagine it's because we have been extremely short-staffed and I was probably the only one with a table open at the time he checked in. Important people don't have to wait at Le Cellier ;) My manager told me yesterday morning that Mr. Big Shot, (and I don't mean that in a rude way,) had emailed him and said I did a great job. Woohoo! Probably because he didn't have any allergies so I didn't accidently kill him.
My first day serving, Sunday, I had a guest ask to speak to the manager since I wasn't apologetic enough about a mistake I had made. (I didn't realise one of our sauces was available at suppertime only.) I don't think the manager on duty cared too much since the guest was being a winer and was a castmember. It's sad, but sometimes castmembers put ridiculously high expections on us. The table next to them, most likely, overheard and then they asked to speak to the manager before they headed out. However, they raved about me so all was good. They were probably happy they didn't have any allergies or else I probably would have forgotten about them and accidently killed the entire party.
I really don't want to get deported =( Tear. Cry. Sad. And yes, it is worth losing sleep over and putting myself though intensive retail therapy.
In a somewhat related note, I quite love working the lunch shift. The money isn't nearly as good as a dinner shift, but I love having free evenings! On Sunday after work I went to the Olive Garden with two of the other newest servers and it was soooo good. Pretty cheap too! (Guess I'm getting used to WDW prices... ;) ) On Monday night after work I wandered around Epcot looking to spend money and enjoy some rides. I ran into a friend, Kaitlyn, rather randomly so we ended up staying until close. Last night Vanessa and I took off to Disney-MGM Studios after work to also spend money and have some fun. It's not that I'm making boatloads of money or anything, but we are currently getting 40% off merchandise as part of our company Christmas present so I'm being proactive and buying stuff I know I'll want before I go home. So I'm buying August's souvenirs today! I will admit though, I probably wouldn't be spending quite so much if I wasn't leaving work with a nice wad o' bills in my pocket at the end of my shift. Hmm....
Today's shift will be a good one. I can tell. Cross yer fingers fer me!
Back, I say back, to bed I say.
And to reset my alarm!!
Hmm, such an up-and-down day today.
If I come home from Florida early I can tell you exactly why ahead of time: I'll get fired for forgetting about peoples' allergies. Basically, you get fired if you forget about an allergy more than two times. Even if you remember and tell the chef but forget to put it in the computer. So, by day three of my serving career, I have already forgotten once. It's kind of depressing because I knew my ass was covered before and I was not doing anything that would ever get me termed. So this will be it. Seriously. I have SUCH issues with my short-term memory that I feel like I should run a lottery on what month I'll be deported back to Canada. So I'm a bit bummed. I had a rather bad start today with issues at two of my first three tables. However, the nice thing is every table is a fresh start and the new guests don't know that you messed you severley on the previous table or that you drop a bunch of bread and butter on the dining room floor. Sigh. So I had a bit of a stupid day and quite want a day off. Frankly, I don't like the weight of constantly wonder whether I'm going to kill someone by serving them food. Sigh. So yup, good times. Whatever.
So I made it to Pittsburgh and it was good fun! It was awesome to see Emily! I'm definitely going back at some point. It was kind of interesting to be in an actual American city rather than Disney World... There are some cultural differences. Yup.
I'm glum thus heading to bed. See you in February when I get deported.
If I come home from Florida early I can tell you exactly why ahead of time: I'll get fired for forgetting about peoples' allergies. Basically, you get fired if you forget about an allergy more than two times. Even if you remember and tell the chef but forget to put it in the computer. So, by day three of my serving career, I have already forgotten once. It's kind of depressing because I knew my ass was covered before and I was not doing anything that would ever get me termed. So this will be it. Seriously. I have SUCH issues with my short-term memory that I feel like I should run a lottery on what month I'll be deported back to Canada. So I'm a bit bummed. I had a rather bad start today with issues at two of my first three tables. However, the nice thing is every table is a fresh start and the new guests don't know that you messed you severley on the previous table or that you drop a bunch of bread and butter on the dining room floor. Sigh. So I had a bit of a stupid day and quite want a day off. Frankly, I don't like the weight of constantly wonder whether I'm going to kill someone by serving them food. Sigh. So yup, good times. Whatever.
So I made it to Pittsburgh and it was good fun! It was awesome to see Emily! I'm definitely going back at some point. It was kind of interesting to be in an actual American city rather than Disney World... There are some cultural differences. Yup.
I'm glum thus heading to bed. See you in February when I get deported.
Monday, January 09, 2006
It's a Wonderful Life
Well, I should be in bed, sleeping. But I have other things on my mind this evening... Like how I should be emailing people, (thanks for the Christmas wishes, everyone!, and Happy Engagement to Kiki!) but can't even decide with whom to begin since I am, as per usual, massively far behind in emailing.
I'm going to be proactive. All those folks with birthdays at some point in 2006? Happy Birthday, [insert name]!
So what is on my mind is my life since May 2004. Basically since I left PEI on a permament, non-school basis. Lord, basically since I have left the country, ha ha! Heh. So yup, just scanning my mind as to what I would be doing now if I hadn't left Canada or, more specifically, PEI.
Wee PEI, how precious you are.
I wonder how many new people I would have met, I wonder where I would be working, and I wonder if I would still go to the Wave. Probably not that much, as the novelty wears thin once you realise the main draw of going to the Wave was seeing those people that you weren't super close with, but still liked to randomly sit with and chat for awhile.
I don't know what to do in October... I'd like to start working on getting a proper career, but there is still other stuff I want to do. I want to go live in France, but sometimes I get sick of being so far away from home. A trip home is planned a least a month in advance instead of the 15 minutes it would require to plan a quick weekend trip home if I lived in the maritimes. Despites this, I'm rather bitter that my UK work permit will expire at the end of April. That will be a sad day. It feels like I'm watching ice cream melt in the heat and can't reach it to eat it. My work permit is going to waste! I quite miss Edinburgh and find my mind rolling back to grade-twelve economics and first-year economics at fabulous UPEI... The opporunity cost of an action. In economics you can literally put a dollar figure on it, but this is more qualitative. I could make it quantitative by figuring out the wage I would have earned in the UK (minus expenses) versus that of a similar job in Canada. However, if in Canada, I would not have had a similar job. The day you find me filing full-time in Charlottetown is the day you find out that Ottawa has been demoted as the capital city and Tignish is the feds' new home.
Speaking of Feds, there is an election coming up!
Shit. I can't vote. I have NEVER voted in a federal election =( Last time there was one, summer '04, I was working at lovely Balfour Beatty sneakingly following the news around the impending election and never even THOUGHT about voting. I honestly forgot that I could vote. It was the first time there had been a federal election since I had become old enough to vote. This time around, I kept forgetting to visit Election Canada's website to get the proper stuff to vote as a resident abroad. I just checked it out, and if I want to vote I have an entire thirty-seven hours to get my application back up North. Umm, right. THAT would go over something great. So here is to another five years of waiting... Unless the same thing happens as the reason for this election being called.
Man, I need to go to bed. This is just getting retarded... I don't even remember the last time I was in bed before 2:00... This week I was especially bad as I worked late shifts during the last half of the week. Bonjour 4:00, 5:00, etc., bedtime.
Adios!
I'm going to be proactive. All those folks with birthdays at some point in 2006? Happy Birthday, [insert name]!
So what is on my mind is my life since May 2004. Basically since I left PEI on a permament, non-school basis. Lord, basically since I have left the country, ha ha! Heh. So yup, just scanning my mind as to what I would be doing now if I hadn't left Canada or, more specifically, PEI.
Wee PEI, how precious you are.
I wonder how many new people I would have met, I wonder where I would be working, and I wonder if I would still go to the Wave. Probably not that much, as the novelty wears thin once you realise the main draw of going to the Wave was seeing those people that you weren't super close with, but still liked to randomly sit with and chat for awhile.
I don't know what to do in October... I'd like to start working on getting a proper career, but there is still other stuff I want to do. I want to go live in France, but sometimes I get sick of being so far away from home. A trip home is planned a least a month in advance instead of the 15 minutes it would require to plan a quick weekend trip home if I lived in the maritimes. Despites this, I'm rather bitter that my UK work permit will expire at the end of April. That will be a sad day. It feels like I'm watching ice cream melt in the heat and can't reach it to eat it. My work permit is going to waste! I quite miss Edinburgh and find my mind rolling back to grade-twelve economics and first-year economics at fabulous UPEI... The opporunity cost of an action. In economics you can literally put a dollar figure on it, but this is more qualitative. I could make it quantitative by figuring out the wage I would have earned in the UK (minus expenses) versus that of a similar job in Canada. However, if in Canada, I would not have had a similar job. The day you find me filing full-time in Charlottetown is the day you find out that Ottawa has been demoted as the capital city and Tignish is the feds' new home.
Speaking of Feds, there is an election coming up!
Shit. I can't vote. I have NEVER voted in a federal election =( Last time there was one, summer '04, I was working at lovely Balfour Beatty sneakingly following the news around the impending election and never even THOUGHT about voting. I honestly forgot that I could vote. It was the first time there had been a federal election since I had become old enough to vote. This time around, I kept forgetting to visit Election Canada's website to get the proper stuff to vote as a resident abroad. I just checked it out, and if I want to vote I have an entire thirty-seven hours to get my application back up North. Umm, right. THAT would go over something great. So here is to another five years of waiting... Unless the same thing happens as the reason for this election being called.
Man, I need to go to bed. This is just getting retarded... I don't even remember the last time I was in bed before 2:00... This week I was especially bad as I worked late shifts during the last half of the week. Bonjour 4:00, 5:00, etc., bedtime.
Adios!
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
So... this is the third time I am writing this blog. Through the joys of my trackpad, I managed to erase my other posts just as I was hitting the post button.
The weather has been AMAZING as of late! Honestly, I knew I wasn't in for a chilly winter but this has easily exceded my expectations. I do believe it has been unseasonably warm though and this isn't the norm. Today, after spending yesterday trudging around resorts and randomly falling asleep everytime I set foot on a bus, I slept until almost noon and was lazy. I layed in the sun and read. I thought about stuff I *could* be doing, but it wasn't that enticing. I was going to be a good girl and clean my room some this evening but my roommate is napping so I have a *very* good excuse not to!
Next week good things are coming my way: tips and a trip to Pittsburgh! I am moving into food running next week and am flying up to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to spend a glorious 36ish hours with Emily. For the record, food runners are responsible for helping servers bring entrees to guests. They help with appetizers and desserts as well, but entrees are their main responsibilities. This is basically a predisecer (sp?) to serving. I'm looking forward to it, as it's something new and a little more profitable! The servers are *supposed* to give the food runners 1% of their gross for the night. I think. So while not as profitable as serving, there is a guarantee income whereas with serving there is not. (Some people don't find it necessary to leave a tip after a $35.00 meal. Per person.)
Epcot has been holding a "Candlelight Processional" every night since Thanksgiving up until December 30th. There is a celebrity narrator and a very talented choir that reads/sings the story of Jesus. The singing is the focus, and with good reason. The narrator is important, but the choir deserves the real applause, as with the orchestra. On December 25th, 26th, and 27th John Stamos was the narrator! I went to see it with my parents.
John Stamos.
The guy who played Jesus in The Passion of Christ narrated on December 22nd, 23rd and 24th. The following week he and his extended family had dinner at Le Cellier. MY RESTAURANT. I saw him. I never would have recognised him if we had not been discussing his arrival all day and he came in as an ordinary guest under a fake name. Anyway, I got to clear his table when everyone was done. So I have cleaned up Jesus's mess.
This week four of my five shifts are six hours. Umm.... $$$$$??? I think not! Not this week anyway.
Yesterday I came to the conclusion that the best Disney Christmas decorations that I have seen this year and last are those at Disneyland Parc Paris, and at Port Orleans French Quarter Resort here. Just for the record. The winners of this little contest get no prize except public recognition by me. Felicitations!
Speaking of (in) French, I got my French flag on my nametag now to show that I can speak French. I feel like I'm lieing as my French isn't very good! So when I could tell one family was French I kind of diverted my nametag and repositioned myself and hoped they couldn't see it. Wow, I am so brave. Brave is thy jen.
I worked on New Years Eve so it was rather uneventful. I was in such a fowl mood at first as my shift didn't start until 5:30 and with my retarded cold I find my head just about collapses around 6:00 every night. (By collapses I mean gets really stuffy so I can hardly hear and my neck aches. It's quite lovely, really.) It ended fine though, we got to go outside and watch the fireworks as a big Canadian, "Sorry are we blocking your view, suckers?" family. They were quite good, and then we ate some leftovers in the kitchen from the New Year's Eve special dinner that apparently no one ordered.
Anyway, enough for now as I'll probably fumble with my keyboard (stupid trackpad) and accidently delete everything again.
The weather has been AMAZING as of late! Honestly, I knew I wasn't in for a chilly winter but this has easily exceded my expectations. I do believe it has been unseasonably warm though and this isn't the norm. Today, after spending yesterday trudging around resorts and randomly falling asleep everytime I set foot on a bus, I slept until almost noon and was lazy. I layed in the sun and read. I thought about stuff I *could* be doing, but it wasn't that enticing. I was going to be a good girl and clean my room some this evening but my roommate is napping so I have a *very* good excuse not to!
Next week good things are coming my way: tips and a trip to Pittsburgh! I am moving into food running next week and am flying up to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to spend a glorious 36ish hours with Emily. For the record, food runners are responsible for helping servers bring entrees to guests. They help with appetizers and desserts as well, but entrees are their main responsibilities. This is basically a predisecer (sp?) to serving. I'm looking forward to it, as it's something new and a little more profitable! The servers are *supposed* to give the food runners 1% of their gross for the night. I think. So while not as profitable as serving, there is a guarantee income whereas with serving there is not. (Some people don't find it necessary to leave a tip after a $35.00 meal. Per person.)
Epcot has been holding a "Candlelight Processional" every night since Thanksgiving up until December 30th. There is a celebrity narrator and a very talented choir that reads/sings the story of Jesus. The singing is the focus, and with good reason. The narrator is important, but the choir deserves the real applause, as with the orchestra. On December 25th, 26th, and 27th John Stamos was the narrator! I went to see it with my parents.
John Stamos.
The guy who played Jesus in The Passion of Christ narrated on December 22nd, 23rd and 24th. The following week he and his extended family had dinner at Le Cellier. MY RESTAURANT. I saw him. I never would have recognised him if we had not been discussing his arrival all day and he came in as an ordinary guest under a fake name. Anyway, I got to clear his table when everyone was done. So I have cleaned up Jesus's mess.
This week four of my five shifts are six hours. Umm.... $$$$$??? I think not! Not this week anyway.
Yesterday I came to the conclusion that the best Disney Christmas decorations that I have seen this year and last are those at Disneyland Parc Paris, and at Port Orleans French Quarter Resort here. Just for the record. The winners of this little contest get no prize except public recognition by me. Felicitations!
Speaking of (in) French, I got my French flag on my nametag now to show that I can speak French. I feel like I'm lieing as my French isn't very good! So when I could tell one family was French I kind of diverted my nametag and repositioned myself and hoped they couldn't see it. Wow, I am so brave. Brave is thy jen.
I worked on New Years Eve so it was rather uneventful. I was in such a fowl mood at first as my shift didn't start until 5:30 and with my retarded cold I find my head just about collapses around 6:00 every night. (By collapses I mean gets really stuffy so I can hardly hear and my neck aches. It's quite lovely, really.) It ended fine though, we got to go outside and watch the fireworks as a big Canadian, "Sorry are we blocking your view, suckers?" family. They were quite good, and then we ate some leftovers in the kitchen from the New Year's Eve special dinner that apparently no one ordered.
Anyway, enough for now as I'll probably fumble with my keyboard (stupid trackpad) and accidently delete everything again.
Monday, January 02, 2006
For Christ sake. I just wrote the longest blog post EVER and it disapeared when I was copying and pasting it into Word in case it didn't work. It's my fault because I find the lack of mouse awkward on my laptop. I'm trying not to curse.
Summary of blog:
- I'm going to Pittsburgh next week.
- I start getting tips next week.
- I'm tired.
- I'm going to the gym cause I'm getting fat.
- I got hurt on a rollercoaster.
- My family's visit was qutie lovely and I'm glad they were here.
- I wore shorts and a tank top today and yesteday. Outside. Take that, Canada!
- I am going to be better at keeping in touch with you all.
- I saw John Stamos.
- Jesus ate at Le Cellier and I got to walk by him and clear his table.
The end.
Ugh. *(*$#*(%
Summary of blog:
- I'm going to Pittsburgh next week.
- I start getting tips next week.
- I'm tired.
- I'm going to the gym cause I'm getting fat.
- I got hurt on a rollercoaster.
- My family's visit was qutie lovely and I'm glad they were here.
- I wore shorts and a tank top today and yesteday. Outside. Take that, Canada!
- I am going to be better at keeping in touch with you all.
- I saw John Stamos.
- Jesus ate at Le Cellier and I got to walk by him and clear his table.
The end.
Ugh. *(*$#*(%
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Meeeeh.... I've been recovering from a bit of a nasty cold. It, combined with nine consecutive days of work, four eleven-hour days and minimal sleep from excessive coughing, has left me rather exhausted! I'm so sloth like. I'm off today and was going to go to the gym but slept, watched tv and ate Skittles instead.
It's quite terrible. I bought Christmas cards before I went to New York. They are all filled in and ready to post, but God forbid I find a place that sells the appropriate stamps. I should have just bought stamps and covered the envelopes with them but I was a knob and though I would find a place with the exact postage. Ha, what a fool I am. So let it be known that I have Christmas cards for lots of people, but the cards are still sitting in my purse. It's not that I don't love you, it's that it would take me two hours, (at least!) to walk to the Post Office. Bloody hell.
Man, I'm lazy today. Between my laziness and my passion for a giant bag of Skittles that was given to me for my birthday we're going to need a forklift to move me into the New Year.
In GREAT news I now have cough syrup! This is HUGE, and I'm sure my roommate will be thrilled. Seriously. I'm lucky though, a lot of people get colds or sick within a couple of weeks of being here. My immune system held strong untl now!
Things I did in New York City: Empire State Building at night, Central Park by the chilly day, wandered about Times Square/5th Avenue/6th Avenue by night, got to be ON TV.
By TV I really mean TELEVISION.
Seriously, Sonia and I got up early and after asking many people for directions found the outdoors taping on the Early Show for CBS. We got free bagels, cookies, hot chocolate, coffee and tea and got to cheer when they went outside for filming. It was nice to be famous for three seconds.
I just realised that although I bought this cough syrup, I haven't taken it yet. However, I have drinken about a half-litre of orange juice in the past two hours. Good thing I bought the reduced-calorie stuff.... (See previous fork lift comment.)
Umm, done.
It's quite terrible. I bought Christmas cards before I went to New York. They are all filled in and ready to post, but God forbid I find a place that sells the appropriate stamps. I should have just bought stamps and covered the envelopes with them but I was a knob and though I would find a place with the exact postage. Ha, what a fool I am. So let it be known that I have Christmas cards for lots of people, but the cards are still sitting in my purse. It's not that I don't love you, it's that it would take me two hours, (at least!) to walk to the Post Office. Bloody hell.
Man, I'm lazy today. Between my laziness and my passion for a giant bag of Skittles that was given to me for my birthday we're going to need a forklift to move me into the New Year.
In GREAT news I now have cough syrup! This is HUGE, and I'm sure my roommate will be thrilled. Seriously. I'm lucky though, a lot of people get colds or sick within a couple of weeks of being here. My immune system held strong untl now!
Things I did in New York City: Empire State Building at night, Central Park by the chilly day, wandered about Times Square/5th Avenue/6th Avenue by night, got to be ON TV.
By TV I really mean TELEVISION.
Seriously, Sonia and I got up early and after asking many people for directions found the outdoors taping on the Early Show for CBS. We got free bagels, cookies, hot chocolate, coffee and tea and got to cheer when they went outside for filming. It was nice to be famous for three seconds.
I just realised that although I bought this cough syrup, I haven't taken it yet. However, I have drinken about a half-litre of orange juice in the past two hours. Good thing I bought the reduced-calorie stuff.... (See previous fork lift comment.)
Umm, done.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Tonight I was reading someones MSN space (Big Steve's, for the record!) and realised how much I miss people and how much I love reading everyones blogs. Then I thought about how little I update and thought, "Hey, maybe people like reading my blog." So, just in case my suspicions ae correct, I am going to make an effort to update this a bit more.
Thank you to everyone that sent me birthday wishes!!! I really appreciate it!!!
My birthday was GREAT! I was a bit bummed the day before as this is the first time I have been away from PEI on my birthday.
December 8th started off with a phone call from Aunt Adele, then me running down to an office to fetch a package from home. A couple of phone calls later from the parents and me taring into my package I ran off to catch the bus with my roommate (however we aren't late everyday is beyond me) and met a few friends to go to the Beach Club Resort for the infamous character breakfast I have been telling EVERYONE about for the past two weeks. The wait, my friends, was worth it and i will be posting pictures soon! The food was good, (not amazing, but still very good,) and I had such a nice time with my Florida buddies. It made me happy as although they don't replace my friends and family at home, they've become quite important to me and I'm lucky to have friends from so many places! :)
Oh yes, I got a free wee cake at the restaurant delivered to me by Goofy. So yes, a normal, run-of-the-mill, birthday breakfast ;)
End gushiness.
After breakfast I didn't do too much and had to work at 4:00. I had gotten two birthday pins, one with my cake at the Beach Club and one from a castmember at the back entrance to Epcot, and my managers said I could wear my Epcot one while working! I was happy. Two guests even sang me a birthday song! When little kids came in I would always point out to them that we have the same birthday. I would also make a point of asking everyone if they were turning 23 as well... Kids laughed... as did the older folk I asked! It was a good night. I got home and mostly packed and went to bed at about 3:00. At 4:50 my alarm blared and it was time to leave for New York City! So it was a rather sleepless night, as was the night before. (The night before I was paranoid I was going to sleep in and miss my breakfast.)
New York was FABULOUS! However, we did get off to a rough start. The cab I had arranged did not show up. We almost missed our flight. (We are talking mere MOMENTS.) But all was fine once we hit New Jersey and submerged ourselves into the Lincoln Tunnel and found ourselves in New York City.
End post. I am quite tired.
But I feel the need to do shout-outs!
Birthday bash attendance list (starting with me and going anticlockwise [because I still like to use british terminology]):
Jen
Chris
Sonia
Patrick
Erynn S.
Erin B.
Derek
Frankie
Vanessa.
New York Comrades:
Jen (again?! What are the odds?)
Sonia (Vive la France!)
Manuel (Vive la Fance encore!)
Meg (konechewa! Goooooo Japan!)
Time for bed.
Thank you to everyone that sent me birthday wishes!!! I really appreciate it!!!
My birthday was GREAT! I was a bit bummed the day before as this is the first time I have been away from PEI on my birthday.
December 8th started off with a phone call from Aunt Adele, then me running down to an office to fetch a package from home. A couple of phone calls later from the parents and me taring into my package I ran off to catch the bus with my roommate (however we aren't late everyday is beyond me) and met a few friends to go to the Beach Club Resort for the infamous character breakfast I have been telling EVERYONE about for the past two weeks. The wait, my friends, was worth it and i will be posting pictures soon! The food was good, (not amazing, but still very good,) and I had such a nice time with my Florida buddies. It made me happy as although they don't replace my friends and family at home, they've become quite important to me and I'm lucky to have friends from so many places! :)
Oh yes, I got a free wee cake at the restaurant delivered to me by Goofy. So yes, a normal, run-of-the-mill, birthday breakfast ;)
End gushiness.
After breakfast I didn't do too much and had to work at 4:00. I had gotten two birthday pins, one with my cake at the Beach Club and one from a castmember at the back entrance to Epcot, and my managers said I could wear my Epcot one while working! I was happy. Two guests even sang me a birthday song! When little kids came in I would always point out to them that we have the same birthday. I would also make a point of asking everyone if they were turning 23 as well... Kids laughed... as did the older folk I asked! It was a good night. I got home and mostly packed and went to bed at about 3:00. At 4:50 my alarm blared and it was time to leave for New York City! So it was a rather sleepless night, as was the night before. (The night before I was paranoid I was going to sleep in and miss my breakfast.)
New York was FABULOUS! However, we did get off to a rough start. The cab I had arranged did not show up. We almost missed our flight. (We are talking mere MOMENTS.) But all was fine once we hit New Jersey and submerged ourselves into the Lincoln Tunnel and found ourselves in New York City.
End post. I am quite tired.
But I feel the need to do shout-outs!
Birthday bash attendance list (starting with me and going anticlockwise [because I still like to use british terminology]):
Jen
Chris
Sonia
Patrick
Erynn S.
Erin B.
Derek
Frankie
Vanessa.
New York Comrades:
Jen (again?! What are the odds?)
Sonia (Vive la France!)
Manuel (Vive la Fance encore!)
Meg (konechewa! Goooooo Japan!)
Time for bed.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Character Breakfast! New York City!
Woohoo!
Well, this is going to be a quickie as I am leaving for work in 20 mins and not quite ready. Me, last minute? Never....
On Thursday to celebrate becoming the fabulous age of 23 I'm dragging some folk to a character breakfast at a hotel close to Epcot. (The Beach Club, for those in the know.) I am REALLY looking forward to it as I have never been to a character breakfast before! It's an all-you-can-eat breakfast, (here's hoping for strawberries and cantelope!) featuring Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale and maybe some others. They walk around, pose for picture, sign autographs, etc. On Friday morning at 5:30 myself, two francaises and a japanese girl are chucking us on a cab to new York City! Mind you, the cab will take us only to the airport. We are relying on Continental Airlines to get us into Nifty Newark. I am soooo excitied for this trip! We are staying for three nights and pretty much have a full four days since we should be into New York City by noon on Friday and our flight doesn't leave Newark until 8:30ish on Monday night. I feel like I haven't been travelling in so long, and I can't even express how excited I am!
However, I have encountered a couple of wee problems. One, I'm cheap, but I'm willing to attack the bank account for this trip! Two, the cold. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that there will be snow and we can go skating and the Christmas stuff will be up, but when I came to Florida I really didn't prepare for the cold (we're talking below freezing!!!). I'm fine here, but I don't have a winter coat, mitts, a scarf, or appropriate footwear. Hmm. So, here comes the saving grace of the Epcot Costuming Department! As part of outdoor foods, I get issued a coat, hat, turtle neck and perhaps a scarf and a pair of mitts. Hey, it's cheaper than buying this stuff! Although I may buy a pair of mitts just to have as it does get a wee bit chilly here on some nights when we are outside for throw-outs.
Anyway, ten mintues to get ready for work... oops.
Adios!
Well, this is going to be a quickie as I am leaving for work in 20 mins and not quite ready. Me, last minute? Never....
On Thursday to celebrate becoming the fabulous age of 23 I'm dragging some folk to a character breakfast at a hotel close to Epcot. (The Beach Club, for those in the know.) I am REALLY looking forward to it as I have never been to a character breakfast before! It's an all-you-can-eat breakfast, (here's hoping for strawberries and cantelope!) featuring Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale and maybe some others. They walk around, pose for picture, sign autographs, etc. On Friday morning at 5:30 myself, two francaises and a japanese girl are chucking us on a cab to new York City! Mind you, the cab will take us only to the airport. We are relying on Continental Airlines to get us into Nifty Newark. I am soooo excitied for this trip! We are staying for three nights and pretty much have a full four days since we should be into New York City by noon on Friday and our flight doesn't leave Newark until 8:30ish on Monday night. I feel like I haven't been travelling in so long, and I can't even express how excited I am!
However, I have encountered a couple of wee problems. One, I'm cheap, but I'm willing to attack the bank account for this trip! Two, the cold. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that there will be snow and we can go skating and the Christmas stuff will be up, but when I came to Florida I really didn't prepare for the cold (we're talking below freezing!!!). I'm fine here, but I don't have a winter coat, mitts, a scarf, or appropriate footwear. Hmm. So, here comes the saving grace of the Epcot Costuming Department! As part of outdoor foods, I get issued a coat, hat, turtle neck and perhaps a scarf and a pair of mitts. Hey, it's cheaper than buying this stuff! Although I may buy a pair of mitts just to have as it does get a wee bit chilly here on some nights when we are outside for throw-outs.
Anyway, ten mintues to get ready for work... oops.
Adios!
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Wait a minute...!
I just checked my last post to make sure it worked properly and noticed the date: November 26th. When the hell did that happen?!?! Christ, I'm going to back in Canada before I know it... 0_0
In an unrelated note, i was called over to the PEI section of the restaurant Thursday and there was a guest that just NEEDED TO KNOW how long the Confederation Bridge is. Swoop in Islander Jen to save the day!! :)
I heart PEI - I really do ^_^
In an unrelated note, i was called over to the PEI section of the restaurant Thursday and there was a guest that just NEEDED TO KNOW how long the Confederation Bridge is. Swoop in Islander Jen to save the day!! :)
I heart PEI - I really do ^_^
Yaaaaaaawn.
I am TIRED, as per usual.
And lazy. Gah.
It's about 11.40 and I'm still bumming around in my pjs trying to decide what to do today. I have to go into work to get costumes but other than that I am freeeeee. Well, free to the restricted world of public transportation.
In bad news, my hearing aid is on the fritz and doesn't work. At all. Hmm. So sometimes when children talk to me I just smile and nod. It *seems* to work and I'm hoping I haven't somehow insulted some of them!
Happy two-days-late American Thanksgiving! Disney held a thanksgiving-dessert party for all the internationals and college program students on Tuesday evening. I was working too late and missed out on the pie, but got a couple of good squares, some cookies and delicious hot chocolate. On Thursday the restaurant where I work was doing a thanksgiving dinner for the (paying) guests. We got to eat the leftovers and they were sooooo good. Honestly, I think we are the number two restaurant in WDW (and apparently no. 3 or 4 in Florida?) for a very, very, VERY good reason. On Thursday night we went to PI. Honestly, there were soooo many people out! I figured it might be a bit slower due to the holiday but the bus we took there and home was absolutely packed.
On Friday morning I set my alarm somewhat early (8.30 - which is early when you went to bed at about 3.30!) and went to take in the "Black Friday" sales at the outlets across the street. Some stores had good sales, some had NO sales - including the store at which I really wanted to do some shopping! Between my shopping excursion, ($80, but that's not too bad as I bought a pair of boots since mine have needed to be replaced for, well, a bloody YEAR,) groceries ($50) and last night's entertainment ($15) I feel like I completely blew my paycheque. This week I made $180ish post-rent thus now have $35 remaining. Wow. Am I in service yet? I think I'll like the tips...
Last night I went to see Rent with a fellow food and wine alumni. The movie was mostly good, but I fell asleep anyway. At the cinema. I also fell asleep during Harry Potter last week. The movie was AMAZING, but seeing a show at 12.01am after five hours of sleep the night before and working all day pretty much did me in. And I think I only dozed off for a few minutes. I hope.
Anyway, I am off. I need to do something. I kind of feel like I wasted yesterday and wasn't too productive (although my new boots are quite a feet ;))
So today will be a Disney day as I know no one else off today (crap - why I miss Monday - Friday, 9-5) and do not have a car. I thought of going to downtown Orlando, but have the "must get costume" thing floating over my head. Ah well, maybe next week...
Ta!
I am TIRED, as per usual.
And lazy. Gah.
It's about 11.40 and I'm still bumming around in my pjs trying to decide what to do today. I have to go into work to get costumes but other than that I am freeeeee. Well, free to the restricted world of public transportation.
In bad news, my hearing aid is on the fritz and doesn't work. At all. Hmm. So sometimes when children talk to me I just smile and nod. It *seems* to work and I'm hoping I haven't somehow insulted some of them!
Happy two-days-late American Thanksgiving! Disney held a thanksgiving-dessert party for all the internationals and college program students on Tuesday evening. I was working too late and missed out on the pie, but got a couple of good squares, some cookies and delicious hot chocolate. On Thursday the restaurant where I work was doing a thanksgiving dinner for the (paying) guests. We got to eat the leftovers and they were sooooo good. Honestly, I think we are the number two restaurant in WDW (and apparently no. 3 or 4 in Florida?) for a very, very, VERY good reason. On Thursday night we went to PI. Honestly, there were soooo many people out! I figured it might be a bit slower due to the holiday but the bus we took there and home was absolutely packed.
On Friday morning I set my alarm somewhat early (8.30 - which is early when you went to bed at about 3.30!) and went to take in the "Black Friday" sales at the outlets across the street. Some stores had good sales, some had NO sales - including the store at which I really wanted to do some shopping! Between my shopping excursion, ($80, but that's not too bad as I bought a pair of boots since mine have needed to be replaced for, well, a bloody YEAR,) groceries ($50) and last night's entertainment ($15) I feel like I completely blew my paycheque. This week I made $180ish post-rent thus now have $35 remaining. Wow. Am I in service yet? I think I'll like the tips...
Last night I went to see Rent with a fellow food and wine alumni. The movie was mostly good, but I fell asleep anyway. At the cinema. I also fell asleep during Harry Potter last week. The movie was AMAZING, but seeing a show at 12.01am after five hours of sleep the night before and working all day pretty much did me in. And I think I only dozed off for a few minutes. I hope.
Anyway, I am off. I need to do something. I kind of feel like I wasted yesterday and wasn't too productive (although my new boots are quite a feet ;))
So today will be a Disney day as I know no one else off today (crap - why I miss Monday - Friday, 9-5) and do not have a car. I thought of going to downtown Orlando, but have the "must get costume" thing floating over my head. Ah well, maybe next week...
Ta!
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
oh me me.
Lets summarise what's been going on here lately.
Last week my parents were here! It was good fun and very nice to have them here. On the Saturday they arrived I took them to the Hoop-dee-do review dinner show for some entertainment and "fine" dining. There was salad, bread, baked beans, ribs, fried chicken, corn (mmmmm), and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The show was cheesy and quite funny and I would definitely recommend it! The following day I did not see them as I had a long day of work. On Monday I took them into Epcot before I started work and they spend the day poking about there until I joined them when my shift was over. We wandered around the Food and Wine Festival some and went to the Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks. I was rather tired as I had felt the need to stay out until 2.00ish the night before and then had to be up at 7.45. Later, I left my parents and went to PI for a night out. Cue another late night followed by another earlish morning as my parents had hired a car for a couple of days! On Tuesday we, among other things, drove to a VERY small down called Mount Dora. It was cute and filled with antique shops and a large everglade-esque lake. I also got bit by an ant, but luckily not very badly. Those little buggers leave quite the scars and itchiness (just ask my dad!).
On Wednesday we drove east to a wildlife refuge and Cape Canaveral area. It was quite pretty and I saw flying/jumping fish! It quite reminded me of Super Mario Bros.
Wednesday turned out to be rather drama-filled post 1.30am. Prior to that I had booked a flight to New York for December (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and went to a friend's place for crepes and company. I got back to my apartment to find a lovely squad car outside my building. Turns out my housemate's iPod had been stolen. Long story short, I checked my locker and I was missing a goooooooood chunk of money. I usually lock my locker, but had forgotten to a few days earlier. Sigh. Although I realised I was missing stuff as well, I was terrified that I would find stolen stuff planted in my room. Maybe someone wanted me gone? But it was fine, and I didn't think anyone had any reason to dislike me but who knows....? Anyway, my flight to New York was only $145 (although I found a better one today for $110, boo) and I had about $100 stolen so I guess I can think of my flight as costing $245. Or something. Anyway, the whole ordeal made for a rather late night. The next morning I met my parents at the Animal Kingdom for a hop about in the parks before I started work. I was in a bit of a bad mood based on the previous night's events. However, I eventually cheered up and all was good. Friday and Saturday I worked, weeeeee.
My parents left on Sunday. As well, Sunday was the LAST DAY OF THE FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL!!!!!!! We cheered when we got to drop the front flaps of the kiosk once Illuminations (the fireworks show) started up. I'm a bit sad though, I met a lot of great people that I would have NEVER have met had I been working in the restaurant or on popcorn. At the same time, I'm never pouring a cup of cheddar cheese soup again. EVER. Mwwwwwaaaaaaa. It wasn't as monumental as finishing my filing job, but I'm happy it's over. Don't get me wrong, I *would* do it again, but I don't know how many more weeks of it I could have taken.
I was off on Monday and went to Typhoon Lagoon with Erin! It was soooo much fun!! Typhoon Lagoon is one of Disney's waterparks and it has the best wave pool EVER. The waves are huuuge and I LOVE THEM. The waterslides are good too, but the wave pool is definitely tops in my book. Some of the lifeguards were also good. *ahem*
Monday night was another reallllly late night and for some AWFUL TERRIBLE BRUTAL reason I just could NOT manage to sleep in on Tuesday morning. I was tired and groggy all day and couldn't be bothered calling anyone despite it being my day off. I went to the mall across the way and spent too much time readings books in a store. My quest to buy footwear and jeans didn't go over so well.
Today was my first day in the restaurant! The uniform made me feel like a nun as the costume covers everything from the neck down save your hands. Weird, especially after wearing shortsleeves and shorts for two months outside. The restaurant is a completely different pace than being outside and seems much more proper. I do like the potential for longer guest contact though rather than a thirty-second meet and serve thing.
A few nights ago I set up a msn space for storing my pics as Yahoo has been pissing me off immensely. My msn space/photo album.
Anyway, I'm off. I've been ridiculously lazy tonight and have done NOTHING since getting home from work. Oh right, I tried setting up an account with an online long-distance provider and got ripped off. After paying $15 (pay-as-you-go long distance using the internet for outbound calls) the firewall/network wouldn't let me use it. So I'll have to give iNet a jingle and express my frustration with them. Boo. I figured that would be convenient as I LOST my last phone card (I believe the same day that I had my money stolen AND lost a necklace that I had bloody *&%$#* bought a mere FIVE FJOINOGIEGIOJOIE**###& MINUTES EARLIER.).
Christ I hate losing things. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE. It makes me feel like a clueless knob.
A year ago today I was in Tampere, Finland. Six months ago I was in Switzerland. Now I'm in Florida! hee hee hee.... :)
Adios!
And shout-out to Anne, as it's her birthday today. Happy birthday, Anne!!!
Lets summarise what's been going on here lately.
Last week my parents were here! It was good fun and very nice to have them here. On the Saturday they arrived I took them to the Hoop-dee-do review dinner show for some entertainment and "fine" dining. There was salad, bread, baked beans, ribs, fried chicken, corn (mmmmm), and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The show was cheesy and quite funny and I would definitely recommend it! The following day I did not see them as I had a long day of work. On Monday I took them into Epcot before I started work and they spend the day poking about there until I joined them when my shift was over. We wandered around the Food and Wine Festival some and went to the Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks. I was rather tired as I had felt the need to stay out until 2.00ish the night before and then had to be up at 7.45. Later, I left my parents and went to PI for a night out. Cue another late night followed by another earlish morning as my parents had hired a car for a couple of days! On Tuesday we, among other things, drove to a VERY small down called Mount Dora. It was cute and filled with antique shops and a large everglade-esque lake. I also got bit by an ant, but luckily not very badly. Those little buggers leave quite the scars and itchiness (just ask my dad!).
On Wednesday we drove east to a wildlife refuge and Cape Canaveral area. It was quite pretty and I saw flying/jumping fish! It quite reminded me of Super Mario Bros.
Wednesday turned out to be rather drama-filled post 1.30am. Prior to that I had booked a flight to New York for December (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and went to a friend's place for crepes and company. I got back to my apartment to find a lovely squad car outside my building. Turns out my housemate's iPod had been stolen. Long story short, I checked my locker and I was missing a goooooooood chunk of money. I usually lock my locker, but had forgotten to a few days earlier. Sigh. Although I realised I was missing stuff as well, I was terrified that I would find stolen stuff planted in my room. Maybe someone wanted me gone? But it was fine, and I didn't think anyone had any reason to dislike me but who knows....? Anyway, my flight to New York was only $145 (although I found a better one today for $110, boo) and I had about $100 stolen so I guess I can think of my flight as costing $245. Or something. Anyway, the whole ordeal made for a rather late night. The next morning I met my parents at the Animal Kingdom for a hop about in the parks before I started work. I was in a bit of a bad mood based on the previous night's events. However, I eventually cheered up and all was good. Friday and Saturday I worked, weeeeee.
My parents left on Sunday. As well, Sunday was the LAST DAY OF THE FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL!!!!!!! We cheered when we got to drop the front flaps of the kiosk once Illuminations (the fireworks show) started up. I'm a bit sad though, I met a lot of great people that I would have NEVER have met had I been working in the restaurant or on popcorn. At the same time, I'm never pouring a cup of cheddar cheese soup again. EVER. Mwwwwwaaaaaaa. It wasn't as monumental as finishing my filing job, but I'm happy it's over. Don't get me wrong, I *would* do it again, but I don't know how many more weeks of it I could have taken.
I was off on Monday and went to Typhoon Lagoon with Erin! It was soooo much fun!! Typhoon Lagoon is one of Disney's waterparks and it has the best wave pool EVER. The waves are huuuge and I LOVE THEM. The waterslides are good too, but the wave pool is definitely tops in my book. Some of the lifeguards were also good. *ahem*
Monday night was another reallllly late night and for some AWFUL TERRIBLE BRUTAL reason I just could NOT manage to sleep in on Tuesday morning. I was tired and groggy all day and couldn't be bothered calling anyone despite it being my day off. I went to the mall across the way and spent too much time readings books in a store. My quest to buy footwear and jeans didn't go over so well.
Today was my first day in the restaurant! The uniform made me feel like a nun as the costume covers everything from the neck down save your hands. Weird, especially after wearing shortsleeves and shorts for two months outside. The restaurant is a completely different pace than being outside and seems much more proper. I do like the potential for longer guest contact though rather than a thirty-second meet and serve thing.
A few nights ago I set up a msn space for storing my pics as Yahoo has been pissing me off immensely. My msn space/photo album.
Anyway, I'm off. I've been ridiculously lazy tonight and have done NOTHING since getting home from work. Oh right, I tried setting up an account with an online long-distance provider and got ripped off. After paying $15 (pay-as-you-go long distance using the internet for outbound calls) the firewall/network wouldn't let me use it. So I'll have to give iNet a jingle and express my frustration with them. Boo. I figured that would be convenient as I LOST my last phone card (I believe the same day that I had my money stolen AND lost a necklace that I had bloody *&%$#* bought a mere FIVE FJOINOGIEGIOJOIE**###& MINUTES EARLIER.).
Christ I hate losing things. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE. It makes me feel like a clueless knob.
A year ago today I was in Tampere, Finland. Six months ago I was in Switzerland. Now I'm in Florida! hee hee hee.... :)
Adios!
And shout-out to Anne, as it's her birthday today. Happy birthday, Anne!!!
Friday, November 04, 2005
I started writing an email to someone a couple of nights ago in Word when the internet was fried. I ended up never sending it. So I figure I'll just edit and post it here. So this is late Tuesday night/ early Wednesday morning....
There are just too many fun things to do here! Last night I was supposed to go to the gym and whatnot but found myself at a dinner show, Arabian Nights. The show itself wasn’t very good, the food was fine, and the beer/wine/soda was all you can drink. I got a wee bit tipsy. Shocking, I know. The show usually costs $50.00 or so but the first Tuesday of every night there is an offer for WDW castmembers to go for eight freaking dollars! How cheap is that?!?! I didn’t even have to chip in the for the cab there or back because it is tradition that the folk in tipped positions, provided enough of them go, cover the cost of the cab because they make in one night what the untipped folk make in, well, a week. No lie. So I should be putting in the effort to learn my menu right now, but I find it very hard to bother putting in the effort. I guess I got pretty accustomed to the slacker way of life since university ended! But I’m going to learn my menu…. The dinero is quite enticing. However, I find I get bored of positions easily so I don’t want to get into serving too early on or else I’ll be sick of it by March!
Things here are quite good! I won some kind of award thingie at work for good customer service (the generic term, not the Disney terms of “Take 5 Moments” or “Making Magic”). Weeeee! I’m getting along well with my roomie and housemates and am starting to hang out with some more people.
Tonight I am going out for a friend’s birthday. Splurging on a $25.00 meal but it’s supposed to be amaaaaazing. It’s at a Disney resort called the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It’s African themed so it should be pretty interesting! I’ve been to the resort (Disney never calls accommodations hotels :P ) before and it’s pretty cool – there are giraffes and other animals wandering just outside the hotel! Disney sometimes skimps and does things on the cheap (a testimate to previous management that is no longer in the company) but they did quite go all out with this place.
I’m going to be the size of a small whale by the time I go home. I think one reason for the menu slacking and glutonous eating is that I feel like I’m constantly on holiday. Seriously, this is like a year-long holiday and it’s hard to get into the “real life” way of life that includes actually COOKING and being responsible. So come next week, I’m returning to my gym groove (which is hard when you sometimes spend twelve hours a day standing) and am going to actually start cooking and not eating cereal 400x a day. I’m basically telling you this to shame myself into “healthy living” practices.
One thing I LOVE about it here is learning about the different positions around the resort. Each month there is a schedule of people giving talks about their roles in the company. Some of them look pretty bland judging by the five-line description, but some look pretty interesting. There are also one- or two-hour sessions on various bits of history about the company, behind the scenes tours, and other stuff I gobble up as a fan. I want to explore Florida, but I will admit staying in Orlando on my days off is pretty appealing as there is soooo much to do here. I figure I’ll be sick of the Disney parks soon enough. Today is a shopping day as I haven’t really shopped since arriving here.
Hurricane Wilma hit Florida and some parts of Miami and Fort Lauderdale were without power for a good week. Lots of those folk came up to Disney World to kill some time which resulted in an extremely busy week for us. The hurricane didn’t affect me too much, it was just ridiculously windy and rainy for awhile. Then I hustled off to work for clean-up duty and got slack from a few guests because not everything was open. Umm, considering a HURRICANE had been in the park a mere two-hours earlier I thought we were doing pretty well restocking kiosks and putting all the stuff back together that we had stripped bare the night before. Honestly, SOOOOO much work goes into hurricane preparation. The storm itself probably lasted for only four-five hours, but the labour that goes into moving things indoors and then moving it all back outdoors is right mad. And besides some our Food and Wine Festival being closed, by supper time you would have never known that there had been a hurricane all morning and into the afternoon. Huge props to the custodial crew, they did an amazing job! In fact, they got the place spick and span and I hardly even noticed them. They were subtle!
One thing I love about working the food and wine festival is how many new people I got to meet! Many of the F&W castmembers are either American students on the college programme or older workers that pop out of retirement once in awhile for random work. Some are pretty interesting to talk to – they travel the continent in their RVs working or volunteering post “official” retirement. I think I would like to do that when I pass the half-century mark. Honestly, I’m going to have a hard time saying good-bye to some of the college students, especially some of the cooks that have been working in our kiosk. We have spent SO much time with them over the past weeks that, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m going to be kind of sad when food and wine ends. I know I have some teary good-byes coming my way in the next month of so. =( I actually had my first tear-shed about someone leaving just this week. It makes me realize how fast this year is going to go and it really scares me. There are people that I mean to hang out with but never end of meeting up. I feel, “Hey, there’s lots of time!” but TWO MONTHS have almost passed already. Scary stuff!
This year I had THREE different costumes for Hallowe’en. First up was my super hero costume that I wore to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Hallowe’en Party a few weeks ago. At a Hallowe’en party this weekend I dressed up as a campfire. Shockingly, no one else had the same costume as me. Last night for Hallowe’en we were supposed to go as pirates as part of the “Canadian Girls Drinking Team”. I obliged and splurged and entire $.75 on my costume. Three cheers for a yard of red and white striped fabric from Wal-Mart!
I’ve been practicing my French lately in an effort to get the “I speak French!” portion of my name tag. Basically it is a small attachment of the French flag onto my name badge. After I get the French flag I would like to work toward the Spanish flag but that’ll take a LOT of work on my part! Spanish is SUCH a fast language. Many of the F&W cooks are from Puerto Rico or speak Spanish and they talk so quickly that I find it hard to catch much of what they say. However, I’m going to try as I’m in a good environment to learn.
**** And that's when I stopped typing and started yaking on the phone or something.
Anyway, now to hang up wet laundry. We have a dryer here but I don't use it. I'm energy efficient! But I do need to buy a drying rack... The hangers kind of leave my clothes smelling like metal.
There are just too many fun things to do here! Last night I was supposed to go to the gym and whatnot but found myself at a dinner show, Arabian Nights. The show itself wasn’t very good, the food was fine, and the beer/wine/soda was all you can drink. I got a wee bit tipsy. Shocking, I know. The show usually costs $50.00 or so but the first Tuesday of every night there is an offer for WDW castmembers to go for eight freaking dollars! How cheap is that?!?! I didn’t even have to chip in the for the cab there or back because it is tradition that the folk in tipped positions, provided enough of them go, cover the cost of the cab because they make in one night what the untipped folk make in, well, a week. No lie. So I should be putting in the effort to learn my menu right now, but I find it very hard to bother putting in the effort. I guess I got pretty accustomed to the slacker way of life since university ended! But I’m going to learn my menu…. The dinero is quite enticing. However, I find I get bored of positions easily so I don’t want to get into serving too early on or else I’ll be sick of it by March!
Things here are quite good! I won some kind of award thingie at work for good customer service (the generic term, not the Disney terms of “Take 5 Moments” or “Making Magic”). Weeeee! I’m getting along well with my roomie and housemates and am starting to hang out with some more people.
Tonight I am going out for a friend’s birthday. Splurging on a $25.00 meal but it’s supposed to be amaaaaazing. It’s at a Disney resort called the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It’s African themed so it should be pretty interesting! I’ve been to the resort (Disney never calls accommodations hotels :P ) before and it’s pretty cool – there are giraffes and other animals wandering just outside the hotel! Disney sometimes skimps and does things on the cheap (a testimate to previous management that is no longer in the company) but they did quite go all out with this place.
I’m going to be the size of a small whale by the time I go home. I think one reason for the menu slacking and glutonous eating is that I feel like I’m constantly on holiday. Seriously, this is like a year-long holiday and it’s hard to get into the “real life” way of life that includes actually COOKING and being responsible. So come next week, I’m returning to my gym groove (which is hard when you sometimes spend twelve hours a day standing) and am going to actually start cooking and not eating cereal 400x a day. I’m basically telling you this to shame myself into “healthy living” practices.
One thing I LOVE about it here is learning about the different positions around the resort. Each month there is a schedule of people giving talks about their roles in the company. Some of them look pretty bland judging by the five-line description, but some look pretty interesting. There are also one- or two-hour sessions on various bits of history about the company, behind the scenes tours, and other stuff I gobble up as a fan. I want to explore Florida, but I will admit staying in Orlando on my days off is pretty appealing as there is soooo much to do here. I figure I’ll be sick of the Disney parks soon enough. Today is a shopping day as I haven’t really shopped since arriving here.
Hurricane Wilma hit Florida and some parts of Miami and Fort Lauderdale were without power for a good week. Lots of those folk came up to Disney World to kill some time which resulted in an extremely busy week for us. The hurricane didn’t affect me too much, it was just ridiculously windy and rainy for awhile. Then I hustled off to work for clean-up duty and got slack from a few guests because not everything was open. Umm, considering a HURRICANE had been in the park a mere two-hours earlier I thought we were doing pretty well restocking kiosks and putting all the stuff back together that we had stripped bare the night before. Honestly, SOOOOO much work goes into hurricane preparation. The storm itself probably lasted for only four-five hours, but the labour that goes into moving things indoors and then moving it all back outdoors is right mad. And besides some our Food and Wine Festival being closed, by supper time you would have never known that there had been a hurricane all morning and into the afternoon. Huge props to the custodial crew, they did an amazing job! In fact, they got the place spick and span and I hardly even noticed them. They were subtle!
One thing I love about working the food and wine festival is how many new people I got to meet! Many of the F&W castmembers are either American students on the college programme or older workers that pop out of retirement once in awhile for random work. Some are pretty interesting to talk to – they travel the continent in their RVs working or volunteering post “official” retirement. I think I would like to do that when I pass the half-century mark. Honestly, I’m going to have a hard time saying good-bye to some of the college students, especially some of the cooks that have been working in our kiosk. We have spent SO much time with them over the past weeks that, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m going to be kind of sad when food and wine ends. I know I have some teary good-byes coming my way in the next month of so. =( I actually had my first tear-shed about someone leaving just this week. It makes me realize how fast this year is going to go and it really scares me. There are people that I mean to hang out with but never end of meeting up. I feel, “Hey, there’s lots of time!” but TWO MONTHS have almost passed already. Scary stuff!
This year I had THREE different costumes for Hallowe’en. First up was my super hero costume that I wore to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Hallowe’en Party a few weeks ago. At a Hallowe’en party this weekend I dressed up as a campfire. Shockingly, no one else had the same costume as me. Last night for Hallowe’en we were supposed to go as pirates as part of the “Canadian Girls Drinking Team”. I obliged and splurged and entire $.75 on my costume. Three cheers for a yard of red and white striped fabric from Wal-Mart!
I’ve been practicing my French lately in an effort to get the “I speak French!” portion of my name tag. Basically it is a small attachment of the French flag onto my name badge. After I get the French flag I would like to work toward the Spanish flag but that’ll take a LOT of work on my part! Spanish is SUCH a fast language. Many of the F&W cooks are from Puerto Rico or speak Spanish and they talk so quickly that I find it hard to catch much of what they say. However, I’m going to try as I’m in a good environment to learn.
**** And that's when I stopped typing and started yaking on the phone or something.
Anyway, now to hang up wet laundry. We have a dryer here but I don't use it. I'm energy efficient! But I do need to buy a drying rack... The hangers kind of leave my clothes smelling like metal.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
So I am writing this the night before posting this. My wireless card apparently doesn’t like the network here so I’m without an internet connection at the moment. Usually I would just plug Mr. Laptop into the wall, but not tonight as I have, once again, lost the use of my livingroom to one of my housemates and her boyfriend. Yup, I’m getting bitter about it.
Last night/tonight I went to Spirit of Aloha, a dinner show at the Polynesian Resort with Canuck Chris and Frenchie Sonia. We got 20% discounts for being castmembers, but 18% gratuity is added on top of it. Pfft. It was all you can eat plus all you can drink – including alcohol! Not that I’m a drunk, but usually only sodas come in infamous American bottomless servings. However, one must note that the beer was American beer – the weak stuff. Seriously. I don’t drink that much but I know if I had drank as much Canadian, Scottish, Belgian or ANY other beer as the American beer I drank last night I would have been right sloshed. My favourite part of the meal was the appetizers – pineapple, salad and bread. The bread was pineapple-coconut bread and absolutely delicious! The salad had a really sweat and zangy dressings on it. The servers brought each table giant platters of food. As it was all you can eat, they offered to get more of anything you actually finished. The main course was sautéed veggies, rice, ribs and chicken. I don’t really eat ribs, but I had one and I imagine these are just your typical ribs, as with the chicken. The veggies were really good, and the rice was, well, rice. There isn’t really too much you can do with rice, eh? The dessert was brought in on these plates with smoking volcanoes on them. The dessert was shaped like a trapazoid (uh oh… memories of geometry are sketchy so I’m not sure if that is the proper term…) and was kind of a chocolate-raspberry pudding. It was good, but not blow-me-away good. All the food was good, but nothing absolutely fabulous other than the bread and salad. The show was broke up into three acts. You had food in front of you for the first two so the singing and dancing was minimal, especially during the first act which was rather silly and full of over-exagerated acting. The third act, after our plates were cleared from the table, was really good! It was the actual luau (sp?) and very entertaining with the highlight being a guy doing a dance with batons that were lit with fire at each end. My ticket was $42 and while I don’t mind paying that once, I probably wouldn’t come back to this show as there are soooo many dinner shows in Orlando.
After the show was over we hopped on the monorail and headed to Epcot. It’s funny, I thought I would hate going to Epcot on my days off but I really don’t mind. It’s not like I work at McDonalds – there is sooo much to Epcot and I can easily avoid my work location if I feel like it. We booted it through the park (stopping to say a few hellos along the way) and watched a concert by the Beach Boys! It was pretty good… but man, those guys are OLD! Yet their voices sound the exact same. Afterwards we walked over to the Boardwalk Resort (there is a walkway connecting it to the back entrance of the park) and went to Jellyrolls. I may have mentioned it before, but it’s a bar with two guys playing pianos and they take request from the audience and know an obscure amount of songs! We then walked over to the next bar, an empty danceclub, and pranced about for awhile before cleverly trying to figure out a free way to get home. The gates to Epcot were closed, thus we could not take the Epcot bus home. So we walked to another hotel and caught the bus to Downtown Disney and then one back to the Commons. Phew!
Before the whole dinner show adventure I had went to a “Career Insight” session being given by a Disney imagineer. Imagineers design, build, maintain, etc., the attractions at the park. They probably do work on the restaurants and shops too, but this guy worked with attractions. It was pretty cool and I got to ask some questions. The guy explained how it is sometimes difficult to bring together the practical folk, (say, engineers,) with the creative folk.
So yup, yesterday was a great day! Stuff like this is why I want to stay here for ages… As I told some people before I left, I’m not here because of the work, I’m here for the 102 days off!
This afternoon I’m heading back to Epcot with a couple of friends to partake in the eating and drinking festivities of the Food and Wine Festival. If I don’t go back to Canada weighing 497 lbs I will be FLOORED.
Adios!
Last night/tonight I went to Spirit of Aloha, a dinner show at the Polynesian Resort with Canuck Chris and Frenchie Sonia. We got 20% discounts for being castmembers, but 18% gratuity is added on top of it. Pfft. It was all you can eat plus all you can drink – including alcohol! Not that I’m a drunk, but usually only sodas come in infamous American bottomless servings. However, one must note that the beer was American beer – the weak stuff. Seriously. I don’t drink that much but I know if I had drank as much Canadian, Scottish, Belgian or ANY other beer as the American beer I drank last night I would have been right sloshed. My favourite part of the meal was the appetizers – pineapple, salad and bread. The bread was pineapple-coconut bread and absolutely delicious! The salad had a really sweat and zangy dressings on it. The servers brought each table giant platters of food. As it was all you can eat, they offered to get more of anything you actually finished. The main course was sautéed veggies, rice, ribs and chicken. I don’t really eat ribs, but I had one and I imagine these are just your typical ribs, as with the chicken. The veggies were really good, and the rice was, well, rice. There isn’t really too much you can do with rice, eh? The dessert was brought in on these plates with smoking volcanoes on them. The dessert was shaped like a trapazoid (uh oh… memories of geometry are sketchy so I’m not sure if that is the proper term…) and was kind of a chocolate-raspberry pudding. It was good, but not blow-me-away good. All the food was good, but nothing absolutely fabulous other than the bread and salad. The show was broke up into three acts. You had food in front of you for the first two so the singing and dancing was minimal, especially during the first act which was rather silly and full of over-exagerated acting. The third act, after our plates were cleared from the table, was really good! It was the actual luau (sp?) and very entertaining with the highlight being a guy doing a dance with batons that were lit with fire at each end. My ticket was $42 and while I don’t mind paying that once, I probably wouldn’t come back to this show as there are soooo many dinner shows in Orlando.
After the show was over we hopped on the monorail and headed to Epcot. It’s funny, I thought I would hate going to Epcot on my days off but I really don’t mind. It’s not like I work at McDonalds – there is sooo much to Epcot and I can easily avoid my work location if I feel like it. We booted it through the park (stopping to say a few hellos along the way) and watched a concert by the Beach Boys! It was pretty good… but man, those guys are OLD! Yet their voices sound the exact same. Afterwards we walked over to the Boardwalk Resort (there is a walkway connecting it to the back entrance of the park) and went to Jellyrolls. I may have mentioned it before, but it’s a bar with two guys playing pianos and they take request from the audience and know an obscure amount of songs! We then walked over to the next bar, an empty danceclub, and pranced about for awhile before cleverly trying to figure out a free way to get home. The gates to Epcot were closed, thus we could not take the Epcot bus home. So we walked to another hotel and caught the bus to Downtown Disney and then one back to the Commons. Phew!
Before the whole dinner show adventure I had went to a “Career Insight” session being given by a Disney imagineer. Imagineers design, build, maintain, etc., the attractions at the park. They probably do work on the restaurants and shops too, but this guy worked with attractions. It was pretty cool and I got to ask some questions. The guy explained how it is sometimes difficult to bring together the practical folk, (say, engineers,) with the creative folk.
So yup, yesterday was a great day! Stuff like this is why I want to stay here for ages… As I told some people before I left, I’m not here because of the work, I’m here for the 102 days off!
This afternoon I’m heading back to Epcot with a couple of friends to partake in the eating and drinking festivities of the Food and Wine Festival. If I don’t go back to Canada weighing 497 lbs I will be FLOORED.
Adios!
Monday, October 24, 2005
Happy Hurricane Day!
Weeeee!
Well, I must say that is a *tad* windy today. And rainy. And, shocker, a bit chilly! Wilma has arrived, and while she is not the most pleasant houseguest, (she did get in as my smoker roommate failed to completely close the sliding door to our balcony...), she isn't causing too much chaos. However, she did screw up my plans to go to the House of Blues last night. Hmph.
The Disney parks are actually closed this morning!!! There are plans to reopen at least Magic Kingdom and Epcot (my park) in the afternoon, weather pending.
I think the worst of the weather is over. I woke up around 9:30 as the wind was pounding on our window, but it's calmer now. Too bad as now the video I took doesn't look as good... If only I had went out earlier! Alas, the comfort of my bed was too inviting. And actually, it sounds like I spoke too soon as it's getting really gusty again... Anyway. There isn't any thunder and lightening, so I'm happy. Last night I was working and the lightening was right mad! I really don't like lightening to begin with, so I was quite glad when we got to close our kiosk's flaps so I couldn't at least make out the outlines of the lightening. And in lucky breaks, I was working at a different kiosk last night (a visa no-no, but it was an emergency so it was okay) and when we were clearing it out for hurricane-emergency-preparation-blah-blah-blah I found a rain poncho! Yay! When I saw the fellow canucks later in the evening the poor souls were absolutely DRENCHED. :(
Despite the mad lightening last night, it mostly smoothed over by 9.00 and Illuminations (the fireworks show with the World's Best Music) went on!
Tonight I go in for clean up. Basically we put all the stuff in our food and wine kiosks in storage last night and now we have to sort everything and stock 'em back up. "Yay."
Anyway, time to hop off and do something. Adios!
Well, I must say that is a *tad* windy today. And rainy. And, shocker, a bit chilly! Wilma has arrived, and while she is not the most pleasant houseguest, (she did get in as my smoker roommate failed to completely close the sliding door to our balcony...), she isn't causing too much chaos. However, she did screw up my plans to go to the House of Blues last night. Hmph.
The Disney parks are actually closed this morning!!! There are plans to reopen at least Magic Kingdom and Epcot (my park) in the afternoon, weather pending.
I think the worst of the weather is over. I woke up around 9:30 as the wind was pounding on our window, but it's calmer now. Too bad as now the video I took doesn't look as good... If only I had went out earlier! Alas, the comfort of my bed was too inviting. And actually, it sounds like I spoke too soon as it's getting really gusty again... Anyway. There isn't any thunder and lightening, so I'm happy. Last night I was working and the lightening was right mad! I really don't like lightening to begin with, so I was quite glad when we got to close our kiosk's flaps so I couldn't at least make out the outlines of the lightening. And in lucky breaks, I was working at a different kiosk last night (a visa no-no, but it was an emergency so it was okay) and when we were clearing it out for hurricane-emergency-preparation-blah-blah-blah I found a rain poncho! Yay! When I saw the fellow canucks later in the evening the poor souls were absolutely DRENCHED. :(
Despite the mad lightening last night, it mostly smoothed over by 9.00 and Illuminations (the fireworks show with the World's Best Music) went on!
Tonight I go in for clean up. Basically we put all the stuff in our food and wine kiosks in storage last night and now we have to sort everything and stock 'em back up. "Yay."
Anyway, time to hop off and do something. Adios!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
In preparation for the impending hurricane I bought a flashlight today.
Jen = 1, Forces of Nature = 0
Take THAT, Mother Nature!
It even came with batteries.
I actually bought water too, although that was before I learned of the hurricane and it was moreso because the water here tastes like wolf urine and as a result I'm rather dehydrated - not a good thing when working in the hot sun. And although I don't have much water, I have a case of beer to fall back on ;)
I'm lazy... I need to do something. Get some exercise of sorts. But I have to leave for work in less than an hour. Man, time here goes WAY too fast.
Jen = 1, Forces of Nature = 0
Take THAT, Mother Nature!
It even came with batteries.
I actually bought water too, although that was before I learned of the hurricane and it was moreso because the water here tastes like wolf urine and as a result I'm rather dehydrated - not a good thing when working in the hot sun. And although I don't have much water, I have a case of beer to fall back on ;)
I'm lazy... I need to do something. Get some exercise of sorts. But I have to leave for work in less than an hour. Man, time here goes WAY too fast.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Oh, it's been awhile, eh?
A whole week!
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Hallowe'en Party was lots of fun! It was like being a kid again - we got soooo much free candy. I probably have cavities now. The park wasn't too full and we were able to go on lots of rides with minimal waits. It was great! I paid about $30 for my ticket, which I think is worth it. Normally people have to buy a regular ticket and the party add-on for about $40. I'm not sure if I would spring for that. However, I've been to the Magic Kingdom so much now that it was cool to go for something "new", something I have never experienced before! There was a special parade and different fireworks, although some of the music for the fireworks was just weird. Almost like a cheesy radio version of older Disney songs which I didn't really like. There were also "dances" at a couple of venues. I walked into one that reminded me of a Disney World commercial because there were a bunch of characters dancing with children on a dance floor.
Wednesday was back to work and I can't for the life of me remember what I did after work. Probably nothing as I was rather tired as I had been working really long shifts. Thursday I worked a lovely thirteen hours shift. How joyous. I was in an absolute sour mood one day at work last week. I was just tired, the sun was beating down something fierce with minimal wind and a cloudless sky, had been working so much and slightly flipped out at the end of the night on Thursday after my long shift. We got to the bus by it's scheduled departure time but the bus was full so we were turned away. We used to be allowed to stand on the bus like regular public transit, but now it depends on the driver and we weren't allowed. I was pissed as the bus runs only every half hour that late at night and now I wouldn't get home until after 1.30 which would give me less than eight hours before I would have to leave for work again. Anyway, I think I cheered up by Friday night or something. But man, I hadn't been that pissy at work since my early filing days back in July when I used to sit on the floor in the washroom and try and convince myself not to cry.
On Sunday night I changed right after work and went to the House of Blues for some free booze, fun and socialising. Unfortunately, there was no free beer to be had, just mixed drinks or wine.
You know what bar serves the most awful mixed drinks of all time?
Shock! The House of Blues!
Man, those drinks are practically half liquor. It's brutal! The only decent thing I could get from them was amaretto sours and those things have so much sugar that I found my teeth hurting the next day! However, amaretto gives me fond memories of the fabulous Pownel Street summer of 2002 so that was nice. After hopping about to the HoB's horrible techno music we walked over to the ever-present Pleasure Island. Eventually I went home.
Monday was another day of work, but a short one as my shift was only seven hours long! Monday night I planned on staying in as preparation for my Tuesday plans but ended up finding myself at PI, again, and didn't hit the hay until 3.30. My bad.
Today, on THIS GLORIOUS DAY OFF (!!!), I went to Islands of Adventure, Universal's other park. It's pretty cool, although I can't help but think the layout of the park is a bit of a hassle. It's around a lagoon, so you have to walk all the way on either side to get to the "top" bit.
The Spiderman ride was GREAT! It was so different than anything else I've been on. It combines dark ride elements with 3D screens and, just, well, everything! It was so much fun and I probably wouldn't have picked up how they did it but I looked up at the ceiling at one point because I was completely disoriented. It was sooo cool! We also went on a log-flume-ride thing and got completely drenched. Perhaps even dripping. Actually, I know I was dripping. They also allow bystanders to control these weird squirtgun things that are on the ride. A person watching pays 25 cents and has the opportunity to take the riders from the lovely level of "pretty wet" to "soaking wet". Anyway, I got sprayed right in the ear and could feel water gushing around my hearing aid. Here is hoping it still works as I'm so useless without it at work as there is always background music and what not.
Anyway, time to hop off! Things here are, generally, going well. I'm pumped for next Tuesday as I'm going to a career insight session being given by an imagineer! Imagineers are the folk who design the new rides. It's a "clever" take on the words imagination and engineer.
Wee!
A whole week!
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Hallowe'en Party was lots of fun! It was like being a kid again - we got soooo much free candy. I probably have cavities now. The park wasn't too full and we were able to go on lots of rides with minimal waits. It was great! I paid about $30 for my ticket, which I think is worth it. Normally people have to buy a regular ticket and the party add-on for about $40. I'm not sure if I would spring for that. However, I've been to the Magic Kingdom so much now that it was cool to go for something "new", something I have never experienced before! There was a special parade and different fireworks, although some of the music for the fireworks was just weird. Almost like a cheesy radio version of older Disney songs which I didn't really like. There were also "dances" at a couple of venues. I walked into one that reminded me of a Disney World commercial because there were a bunch of characters dancing with children on a dance floor.
Wednesday was back to work and I can't for the life of me remember what I did after work. Probably nothing as I was rather tired as I had been working really long shifts. Thursday I worked a lovely thirteen hours shift. How joyous. I was in an absolute sour mood one day at work last week. I was just tired, the sun was beating down something fierce with minimal wind and a cloudless sky, had been working so much and slightly flipped out at the end of the night on Thursday after my long shift. We got to the bus by it's scheduled departure time but the bus was full so we were turned away. We used to be allowed to stand on the bus like regular public transit, but now it depends on the driver and we weren't allowed. I was pissed as the bus runs only every half hour that late at night and now I wouldn't get home until after 1.30 which would give me less than eight hours before I would have to leave for work again. Anyway, I think I cheered up by Friday night or something. But man, I hadn't been that pissy at work since my early filing days back in July when I used to sit on the floor in the washroom and try and convince myself not to cry.
On Sunday night I changed right after work and went to the House of Blues for some free booze, fun and socialising. Unfortunately, there was no free beer to be had, just mixed drinks or wine.
You know what bar serves the most awful mixed drinks of all time?
Shock! The House of Blues!
Man, those drinks are practically half liquor. It's brutal! The only decent thing I could get from them was amaretto sours and those things have so much sugar that I found my teeth hurting the next day! However, amaretto gives me fond memories of the fabulous Pownel Street summer of 2002 so that was nice. After hopping about to the HoB's horrible techno music we walked over to the ever-present Pleasure Island. Eventually I went home.
Monday was another day of work, but a short one as my shift was only seven hours long! Monday night I planned on staying in as preparation for my Tuesday plans but ended up finding myself at PI, again, and didn't hit the hay until 3.30. My bad.
Today, on THIS GLORIOUS DAY OFF (!!!), I went to Islands of Adventure, Universal's other park. It's pretty cool, although I can't help but think the layout of the park is a bit of a hassle. It's around a lagoon, so you have to walk all the way on either side to get to the "top" bit.
The Spiderman ride was GREAT! It was so different than anything else I've been on. It combines dark ride elements with 3D screens and, just, well, everything! It was so much fun and I probably wouldn't have picked up how they did it but I looked up at the ceiling at one point because I was completely disoriented. It was sooo cool! We also went on a log-flume-ride thing and got completely drenched. Perhaps even dripping. Actually, I know I was dripping. They also allow bystanders to control these weird squirtgun things that are on the ride. A person watching pays 25 cents and has the opportunity to take the riders from the lovely level of "pretty wet" to "soaking wet". Anyway, I got sprayed right in the ear and could feel water gushing around my hearing aid. Here is hoping it still works as I'm so useless without it at work as there is always background music and what not.
Anyway, time to hop off! Things here are, generally, going well. I'm pumped for next Tuesday as I'm going to a career insight session being given by an imagineer! Imagineers are the folk who design the new rides. It's a "clever" take on the words imagination and engineer.
Wee!
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Day Off!!!!
Today I do not work!!! At all. And it's a good thing because I've been working a LOT lately and and pretty much perma-tired. (I cleverly stole that from Anne ["I'm perma-pink"] and modified it for my own use.)
Last night the staff at Le Cellier cooked us up a big turkey and other restaurant food and we had a giant Thanksgiving Potluck. I don't even need to eat today. I woke up this morning after a somewhat restless sleep still absolutely stuffed. That being said, I *think* it was worth it, although my heart and digestive system probably want to murder me. And I'll want to murder me too as I try to fit into a Hallowe'en costume from my thinner (unfortunately thinnest!) days.
Speaking of Hallowe'en (yay!), tonight I am going to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Hallowe'en Party! It's a ticketed event (e.g., you must pay extra) held periodically at the Magic Kingdom throughout October. As castmembers, we get $10.00 off tickets that are usually about $35-40 depending on if you buy in advance.
Anyway, I need to run.... Papa on MSN distracted me (in a good way :) ) and I need to hop off and shower before meeting people in, umm, twelve minutes. Jen, late? Never ;)
Last night the staff at Le Cellier cooked us up a big turkey and other restaurant food and we had a giant Thanksgiving Potluck. I don't even need to eat today. I woke up this morning after a somewhat restless sleep still absolutely stuffed. That being said, I *think* it was worth it, although my heart and digestive system probably want to murder me. And I'll want to murder me too as I try to fit into a Hallowe'en costume from my thinner (unfortunately thinnest!) days.
Speaking of Hallowe'en (yay!), tonight I am going to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Hallowe'en Party! It's a ticketed event (e.g., you must pay extra) held periodically at the Magic Kingdom throughout October. As castmembers, we get $10.00 off tickets that are usually about $35-40 depending on if you buy in advance.
Anyway, I need to run.... Papa on MSN distracted me (in a good way :) ) and I need to hop off and shower before meeting people in, umm, twelve minutes. Jen, late? Never ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)