When asked where you work, answers such as "Downtown Disney" and "Merchandise" don't count as real answers. In fact, that tells me nothing about where you work. Just notating that.
Also, if you're late to your shift, you can't just call Deployment and have them change your time. It's a good try, but it's not that easy. :)
My favorite thing about my hours lately are that I've been finishing right as the fireworks go off! I love walking through the parking lot, hearing all the car alarms going crazy. One of the most wonderful things ever.
On a different note, only two days before I get to eat chocolate again! Really only one more day I have to go without chocolate. I gave it up for lent. I'm glad I did... but at the same time I'm not sure I'll ever do it again. I don't really feel that much healthier.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Give Kids the World
I wish I had taken photos of tonight. I forgot to bring my camera. But no worries, there will be other opportunities. I am definitely going back to Give Kids the World to volunteer. I don't think I have ever been so happy to help people in my entire life.
I signed up like a month ago to join this random team from Disney who was going to volunteer. Disney's cool like that and is always sending groups over, but I've never been able to commit any of the other times because of my crazy schedule. But tonight, it worked out!
So we served Christmas dinner to the kids in the Gingerbread House tonight. Every Thursday night is Christmas. To be honest, I don't even know what they served for dinner, I was busing. At first, I was a little bummed to be busing as I was expecting to serve food, but it turned out to be possibly the best time I've ever had busing tables.
The families were sincerely some of the best people I've ever met in my entire life. All of them, so happy, so grateful, so kind, loving, and just to reiterate, happy.
We carried the trays for the families to the tables, especially the ones with little kids (it was cafeteria style). Then walked around tables asking if people wanted refills on drinks (we weren't technically supposed to do that, but those cups are TINY! it's impossible not to). Then cleaned and bussed after the family was done. At one point I asked a family if I could take their dishes and the little boy in the wheelchair held up his little bowl of corn. Just a few kernels were left in it, but as I reached for it his mom said, "No honey, look. There's still corn in there. We don't waste food."
Normally when a parent tells a kid to finish their vegetables there's at least a bit of a fight. This boy put the bowl down and looked at it. Then looked at me grinning. "Oops. One second. I have one more bite!" His dad helped him scoop out that last bite of corn, and really it ended up being two bites. He obediently ate it and then held his plate high to me to take away, with a huge smile on his face. And then he told me "thank you."
You would think a family who was getting unlimited food for free for a week wouldn't even notice that. But these people notice everything. Most of the plates were entirely spotless. Cleaner than when I used to bus tables at Texas Steakhouse.
It's funny how, when you take money out of the equation, it changes people. Well, I guess you take money out and put in some life threatening illnesses, it really changes them. The truth is, I didn't even think once about how these children were so sick tonight. It hardly even occurred to me until I was on my way home and started thinking about that little boy with the tube in his throat playing the clapping games with his dad and showing me how he could dance. The girl who we carried the tray for because she couldn't walk without her crutches. The kid who was in that wheelchair finishing his corn.
No, I didn't cry. No one did. We were all having too much fun seeing Santa and getting ready for the little parade. We had too much fun laughing with the little kids and meeting the families. I had too much fun meeting the people I was working with. The guy I was busing with was from Alabama and was visiting here on some conference for work (he's some important guy that works at Sam's Club). There were also some kids from a college in Minnesota. They said for their Spring break they chose to go on a service trip down here for a week and help out at GKtW.
I felt so humbled by the incredible families and their joyful lives. So humbled by the people who travel hundreds of miles and choose to go to Give Kids the World, when I live twenty minutes away and this was my first time. It felt like I visited a whole different world tonight. And I certainly plan on going back to it. I just hope it will always be my choice to be there.
I signed up like a month ago to join this random team from Disney who was going to volunteer. Disney's cool like that and is always sending groups over, but I've never been able to commit any of the other times because of my crazy schedule. But tonight, it worked out!
So we served Christmas dinner to the kids in the Gingerbread House tonight. Every Thursday night is Christmas. To be honest, I don't even know what they served for dinner, I was busing. At first, I was a little bummed to be busing as I was expecting to serve food, but it turned out to be possibly the best time I've ever had busing tables.
The families were sincerely some of the best people I've ever met in my entire life. All of them, so happy, so grateful, so kind, loving, and just to reiterate, happy.
We carried the trays for the families to the tables, especially the ones with little kids (it was cafeteria style). Then walked around tables asking if people wanted refills on drinks (we weren't technically supposed to do that, but those cups are TINY! it's impossible not to). Then cleaned and bussed after the family was done. At one point I asked a family if I could take their dishes and the little boy in the wheelchair held up his little bowl of corn. Just a few kernels were left in it, but as I reached for it his mom said, "No honey, look. There's still corn in there. We don't waste food."
Normally when a parent tells a kid to finish their vegetables there's at least a bit of a fight. This boy put the bowl down and looked at it. Then looked at me grinning. "Oops. One second. I have one more bite!" His dad helped him scoop out that last bite of corn, and really it ended up being two bites. He obediently ate it and then held his plate high to me to take away, with a huge smile on his face. And then he told me "thank you."
You would think a family who was getting unlimited food for free for a week wouldn't even notice that. But these people notice everything. Most of the plates were entirely spotless. Cleaner than when I used to bus tables at Texas Steakhouse.
It's funny how, when you take money out of the equation, it changes people. Well, I guess you take money out and put in some life threatening illnesses, it really changes them. The truth is, I didn't even think once about how these children were so sick tonight. It hardly even occurred to me until I was on my way home and started thinking about that little boy with the tube in his throat playing the clapping games with his dad and showing me how he could dance. The girl who we carried the tray for because she couldn't walk without her crutches. The kid who was in that wheelchair finishing his corn.
No, I didn't cry. No one did. We were all having too much fun seeing Santa and getting ready for the little parade. We had too much fun laughing with the little kids and meeting the families. I had too much fun meeting the people I was working with. The guy I was busing with was from Alabama and was visiting here on some conference for work (he's some important guy that works at Sam's Club). There were also some kids from a college in Minnesota. They said for their Spring break they chose to go on a service trip down here for a week and help out at GKtW.
I felt so humbled by the incredible families and their joyful lives. So humbled by the people who travel hundreds of miles and choose to go to Give Kids the World, when I live twenty minutes away and this was my first time. It felt like I visited a whole different world tonight. And I certainly plan on going back to it. I just hope it will always be my choice to be there.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Men vs. Women
Our shower has gotten some rust stains in it recently. I was really worried about the rust, even though it was just a tiny bit. I was worried it would be permanent and that we'd be charged the price of an entirely new shower when we moved out because it's been totally and entirely ruined. I worry like that.
Well, after talking with my roommate, we decided to go online and see if we could fix these rust stains ourselves. We searched and searched and eventually started Youtube-ing things to figure out what would actually work.
In doing this, I learned a little more than just how to get rust out of a shower. All of the videos we watched that were created by women had fixes using household products such as salt, vinegar, cream of tartar, etc.
The videos made by men only included power tools.
One dude has this funny looking buffer/sander type thing he used on it.
Considering "the girl way" is far cheaper and simpler, and less dangerous (power tools in a bathtub, really?) I went with that. Even if it's not as fast. It hasn't been quite as effective. I've now done the salt + lemon juice thing twice and the cream of tartar + vinegar thing twice and still have a little bit left. But, I refuse to spend money on power tools.
Gotta love the internet and all you can learn from it.
Well, after talking with my roommate, we decided to go online and see if we could fix these rust stains ourselves. We searched and searched and eventually started Youtube-ing things to figure out what would actually work.
In doing this, I learned a little more than just how to get rust out of a shower. All of the videos we watched that were created by women had fixes using household products such as salt, vinegar, cream of tartar, etc.
The videos made by men only included power tools.
One dude has this funny looking buffer/sander type thing he used on it.
Considering "the girl way" is far cheaper and simpler, and less dangerous (power tools in a bathtub, really?) I went with that. Even if it's not as fast. It hasn't been quite as effective. I've now done the salt + lemon juice thing twice and the cream of tartar + vinegar thing twice and still have a little bit left. But, I refuse to spend money on power tools.
Gotta love the internet and all you can learn from it.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Hunger Games
After Harry Potter became my favorite book series ever, I was fairly certain no other book would capture me as well as it did. Then Twilight came out and proved my theory even more accurate. So when The Hunger Games series became "all that" I was very skeptical.
But my roommate Kim just loves to read and talked me into at least trying to read the book. And I have to admit, she got me hooked. If I didn't have work and sleep to deal with I would have read the whole book in a day! Okay, no, I'll be honest, it took me a few chapters to really get into it because I was so determined to not like the book. Especially since it is slightly horrific! In fact, I'm a little nervous to see the movie because of the violence I know will be in it.
Oh yes, the movie. It comes out Thursday. I picked a great time to get into this series! I finished the first book last night and have two more to go.
I would definitely highly recommend it. I was skeptical at first, especially with how totally horrible and demonic it is, but I think it's leading to something great. At least, I hope so.
I'll check back in when I'm done with the next two books!
But my roommate Kim just loves to read and talked me into at least trying to read the book. And I have to admit, she got me hooked. If I didn't have work and sleep to deal with I would have read the whole book in a day! Okay, no, I'll be honest, it took me a few chapters to really get into it because I was so determined to not like the book. Especially since it is slightly horrific! In fact, I'm a little nervous to see the movie because of the violence I know will be in it.
Oh yes, the movie. It comes out Thursday. I picked a great time to get into this series! I finished the first book last night and have two more to go.
I'll check back in when I'm done with the next two books!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
First Phones Shift
Today was my first phones shift. I'm running out of firsts, as I've been working here almost two months now. But I still want to consider myself the "new person" as long as I can until I stop making mistakes.
Well, one of our systems has been down for the past day. I can't tell you what a huge hassle this has been. It's been messing up clocking, ERs, extends, call ins, basically everything with the resorts. None of the cast member's schedules came out today like they were supposed to. Well, they were made and were ready to come out. But the system that allows you to see your schedule from home was the one that was down. At one point, cast members couldn't even log into the Hub, and we were getting calls about that.
And me being on phones, I was dealing with it first hand. Absolutely crazy, but so much fun. It kept me on my toes today as I took care of everything. I was far busier than I thought I'd be but it was still so much fun.
It's very satisfying to have a job where I solve problems all day long. Slightly repetitive sometimes, but very satisfying. I love it!
Well, one of our systems has been down for the past day. I can't tell you what a huge hassle this has been. It's been messing up clocking, ERs, extends, call ins, basically everything with the resorts. None of the cast member's schedules came out today like they were supposed to. Well, they were made and were ready to come out. But the system that allows you to see your schedule from home was the one that was down. At one point, cast members couldn't even log into the Hub, and we were getting calls about that.
And me being on phones, I was dealing with it first hand. Absolutely crazy, but so much fun. It kept me on my toes today as I took care of everything. I was far busier than I thought I'd be but it was still so much fun.
It's very satisfying to have a job where I solve problems all day long. Slightly repetitive sometimes, but very satisfying. I love it!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Learn Something New Every Day
Today I learned that Spinach tortillas at Publix are exactly one penny cheaper than at Wal Mart! I didn't think that was possible!
I learned that eating Mrs. Freshleys powdered sugar donuts, while very messy, are almost as satisfying as chocolate. Oh, yeah, so did I mention I'm not eating chocolate? It's for lent.
I also learned that instead of going until Easter Sunday without eating chocolate, I only have to go til Palm Sunday which is the week before! Which means I can eat chocolate at my brother's wedding!
And I learned that the radio that I thought I hated, isn't too bad as long as the locations are staffed well. Yesterday was a great day. And I intend to have more of those days.
I learned that eating Mrs. Freshleys powdered sugar donuts, while very messy, are almost as satisfying as chocolate. Oh, yeah, so did I mention I'm not eating chocolate? It's for lent.
I also learned that instead of going until Easter Sunday without eating chocolate, I only have to go til Palm Sunday which is the week before! Which means I can eat chocolate at my brother's wedding!
And I learned that the radio that I thought I hated, isn't too bad as long as the locations are staffed well. Yesterday was a great day. And I intend to have more of those days.
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