Stephani

My aunt's been putting the pressure on about writing something special for my grandparents for Xmas. She wasn't gonna get them anything cause of the economy and blah, blah, but then she decided to do something from Oprah. So it took me forever, mostly cause I've been working and having put any thought into it. Then she said 2 of my cousins wrote poems, and another did the meaning of grandparents in 30 languages. Kinda puts the pressure on. But then again one of the poem writing cousins wants to write scripts for a living. I used to be able to write poems back in freshman, sophomore year, I even pulled them out but none were useable for this situation. So I ended up writing a letter thanking them for spending so much time with us and living so close, and put in a lot of specific memories...because I figure if it triggers emotions, it's good. Well, and I told myself I'd have it done before work today. Damn, and I already bought them a Disney ornament when my present is now pretty much taken care of. My mom said they didn't want anything, but with the crazy 50% discounts I got at Disney, I would've just bought more crap for myself than I already did anywas. So far for each present I've bought for someone else, I've bought one for myself. But seriously, a $65 now discontinued Pal Mickey for $35, a $52 hoodie for $26? Who would pass that up?
And I got my sister Mickey ears for her graduation next week. They no longer have grad earsm, but they had a through the years Mickey one for $3 on clearance, then down to $1.50 after discount. But I did splurge $3 more for her name. If she asks, I'm saying Mickey through the years and graduation seemed to coincide; they both show progression and growth through the years. After writing that letter, my gift of bullshitting has returned. That's how I did so well in college English, I didn't believe half the shit I wrote, but it sounded awesome. So now I'm off to work. Tried to give the shift away cause last Thursday was horribly slow but today had to be apporved by the GM and he wasn't approving switches because some important people are coming and he only wanted the servers he scheduled. I'm not sure yet if that's going to be the best servers or just the best-looking, good servers. I guess I'll find out when I get there. Either way, that a compliment considering the girl that wanted my shift has been with the company a lot longer.

I saw Avenue Q tonight. It was awesome. And my first theater show outside of UCF. Most memorable part: puppet sex and "George Bush is only for now". Oh and some part were the got donations for the audience then said they got (whatever amount) dollars and a Holy Land Experience ticket stub. I passed Holy Land on my way home, that's the first time it's ever made me smile. Usually I think, who the fuck goes to that? I gave up a Friday dinner shift and put the ticket on my credit card which I'd stopped using for a while in attempt to pay it down, but it was worth it. And for the record, Lymmo does not stop every 10 min as the website says. I waited 25 friggin minutes for that damn bus. First time ever riding a public bus though (even tho that one is free) since I don't count Disney buses. Is it weird that I'm 24 and have never ridden a public bus before? Or does that mean I'm terribly spoiled? Anyway, my favorite part was the last song, "For Now". Totally decribes my life...what I'm doing now is temporary. Although my parents don't see it that way. They see it as I'm 24 and working 2 part-time jobs. I see it as I work part-time at one job because it's not the position I want, but I'm tranferring to a more desirable position in January (if they don't delay my tranfer a third time), which is a step towards working my way up in either entertainment or operations at WDW, since the new role is in Attractions. And the 2nd job pays my bills...my CPK server job...I'm good at serving, I make good money, so I keep going back to it. I won't be a server for the rest of my life, neither do I have any desire to work my way up in Food/Beverage. My parents constantly ask if I've found roommates yet. The friggin rooms have only been ready for 2 weeks, give me a break. I know I'll find roommates, I'm a optimist, always have been, I know from experience things work out for me in the end. This is all just for now.

Ugh, today just keeps getting worse. First I had to disassemble the 3 barstools I put together yesterday b/c my mom decided on a whim she like these other ones better which the only main diff is the seats are beige instead of off white. I go to work and the busser walks out, so we have no one cleaning the tables. The manager I don't like is up everyone's asses more than usual, telling to me vacuum my section when it's the day shifts job. He tells me then I shouldn't have signed off on their check-out if they didn't do it....but I didn't. Either they had some random signatures or the manager didn't make sure they were signed out. This one asshole sends back a pizza b/c "it smells like pepperoni" and he doesn't eat meat. He ordered it italian tomato basil pizza. It has cheese, sauce, tomatoes and basil...plus the onions and corn he asked to add. No meat. I insist there is no meat on it and tell him we even cut meat and non-meat pizzas with different pizza cutters. He doesn't care, so the manager comps the pizza and his drink and appetizer. No tip on that one. Another table gets a Greek pizza. They say it's cold (granted the topping on this pizza is COLD greek salad. The manager remakes it and comps their check. No tip (plus, they were foreign). Another table I don't even bring their Hawaiian pizza out and immediatly send the manager out b/c the pizza was burnt. It's remade, he comps the pizza, I get a decent tip. And guess who the new pizza cook is...my old general manager from Wing Shack...the one who was fired for stealing money from the company within days after I was fired for 2 write-ups...1 for missing a meeting that was posted after I got my schedule and before my next shift so I had no way of knowing about it and one for being 20 min late...when I had called to tell them b/c there was a bad traffic accident and traffic wasn't moving at all...but then I got the job at BWW 2 weeks later which was soooo much better. So this asshole I used to work for is fucking up a bunch of my orders cause he obviously isn't trained well enough to be left alone. So I get home (after having to stay later to do extra sidework because we had no buser), make dinner then go in my room to relax and watch a DVD since I haven't had cable installed yet and guess what..my TV doesn't turn on. I try different outlets, and yep, it's broken. And it didn't happen during the move b/c I watched and DVD on Thursday and it was fine. So I guess instead of asking for money from my parents for X-mas I have to ask for a new TV. And I won't be able to get internet and cable installed at the same time, which would probably save money, since there's really no point in having cable without a working TV.

If I had a million dollars...I'd buy this: http://www.cruzincooler.com/.

I don't have a puppy! Kids in the neighborhood keep asking that. No, you cannot pet my puppy cause I don't have one, I have a dog, he'll be a year and a half this month. And you can't pet him anyway. He bites strangers. I can't help that and I'm not gonna get in trouble for it when he does. He doesn't like you already...he's terrified of kids...you didn't assume that when he growled at you?

Back at Disney after a year and a half...now at Animal Kingdom Tusker House as a seater while I sit in the Character Pool. 2 days of training down (Traditions & Food/Bev Basics), 3 more to go: DAKlimations on Wednesday, then 2 days of Tusker House on the job training Thurs & Fri. Then hopefully there'll be lots of shifts to pick up b/c I need monies.

I think I'm a little too cautious/overprotective of Tequila...I realize this when I finished writing a page and a half of instructions and info about him to give to my dad when I go to California in a week. And my parents have 4 chihuahuas, which we've had since they were puppies, ranging from 3( or 4?)-8 years old. It's gonna be hard leaving my baby alone for the first time. My mom said I could ask my aunt if she'd mind him coming along (we're staying w/ her in CA), but first I checked Southwest Airlines' site and they don't allow animals at all. :( I wanted a travel sized dog so I wouldn't have to leave him...I even asked my mom if it'd cost extra to change my dates so I could come home early (partially b/c I really can't afford to miss a whole week of work b/c money's gonna be really tight after that, and b/c I'm an overprotective mommy who doesn't want to leave her puppy alone that long).

So I got the stupidest guest complaint tonight. She complained to the manager that I refilled her soda without her asking and brought take-out boxes without them asking(which is a lie b/c I asked them when I was at their table when they asked for the manager b/c they had stopped eating for a while). My manager said it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard and wanted to smack the bitch and tell her never to come back. He said she basically complained that I did what they teach us. It's FREE refills, if you don't want more, say something while I'm reaching for your cup...it's not like I sneak up from behind and snatch it.

So he said it wasn't going in my file b/c it was so ridiculous and gave them 25% off to shut them up (which may be what they wanted in the first place).

Also, because the way they paid, I'm almost certain they were broke and looking to get a discount and justify not tipping. They handed me cash and a debit card and said use the cash first and put the rest on the card. The bill was $17something. When I got to the computer and counted the cash it was $16, so less than $2 went on the card. The only reason I see for doing that is if you don't have enough cash or $ left on your debit card (b/c I've done that with credit cards before at Target). And if you don't have $18 on your debit card, you're in trouble. If you can't afford to eat out and tip your server what they deserved, eat at home, or do take-out. Cheap bastards!

Plus, we were 4 servers short, including 2 closers which mean I had to stay til 3am to close, but luckily I made really good money b/c we all had more tables.

I'm so tired, but possibly working in the morning. The manager begged me but I said no b/c I didn't leave til 3am, so really it's what I decide when I wake up since they don't expect me to be there. I can always use extra money, but I have 4 shifts this week...the other 3 being really good shifts (Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights) so I don't need to sacrifice sleep for $40 more at most. Not that still being awake at 4am is helping my chances of getting up in time, but the puppy was crated for 9 hours while I worked anyways so he's super hyper and I wouldn't be able to sleep til he chills out.

BWW now is making me work at 6pm on Easter (why are they even open?), so my family has to eat extra early so I can get back to Orlando. Apparently they're not taking schedule requests right now unless you get special permission from the GM who isn't there that much. Gonna suck if I'm scheduled next weekend when I have family from Massachusetts visiting Tampa and then going to Epcot sometime next week. If they schedule me on the Epcot day I'd have to call out, hostess wages just aren't worth it. Plus I can always get a legitimate doctor's note for my back anytime I feel like skipping work.

Buffalo Wild Wings is really starting to piss me off. The 1st 2 week were great then it started sucking. They even have a rule that even if I'm there in normal clothes on my day off as a paying customer I can't sit/stand at the bar even if I have 4 friends already there. And apparently I'm not hostessing instead of serving, so I need a 2nd job to pay the bills. I wrote a long explanation in my MySpace blog and it ran into some technical error when I tried to post and deleted everything I wrote, so details will come later.

Edit: Amigo's (where I applied the same day I did to BWW) called me literally 2 seconds after I posted this to set up an interview for tomorrow. Freaky. And extremely lucky. They actually called like a week and 1/2 ago but I deleted the voicemail b/c everything was still fine at BWW. I have the most awesome luck...whenever things are shitty, once I get to the point where things are about to completely fall apart, something awesome happens...like my tax refund being deposited the day after my checking account was down to 20 cents, or being hired at BWW just as I was out of money. :)