More Random Ramblings: Things are picking up edition

The old Pink Dell sold! It's being shipped in the morning. The battery never sold though. This makes me sad.

I've got some of my debts cleared up for now. This makes me happy. Getting holiday pay + overtime + paid for selling stuff is a big help.

I'm now well into the second chapter of my futuristic, sci-fi, cyber-punk novel. Nearly all of it has been written on the bus. Not lie. I guess I should thank PSTA for that, but their service still sucks and the bus I was on tonight smelled like shit and piss.

Speaking of feverishly typing while on the bus, it's really fucking rude to look over someone's shoulder when they are doing such. And if you are being so fucking rude, don't bitch about what you see. Case in point, The other day I was on the bus typing away. This crabby old wretch behind me looks over my shoulder and starts bitching at me about the scantly-clad anime girl on my desktop. I've got a pretty big screen so it's silly to maximize my word processor. She got told to stop looking and mind her own fucking business. I have to say though, that incident was not anywhere near as funny as the old homeless woman that thought I was typing something about her.

Is it just the places I shop, or have the receipts from discount department stores been getting longer? Seriously, WTF? Why in the ever loving fuck do I need 2 feet of paper when I only purchased 2 cans of Monster? And there was a whole lot of shit printed on this receipt too. Return policies, some thing about a survey, some other thing about a rewards card. Really, just save yourself the paper and print me a nice, short, simple receipt like back in the olden days. Fuck you and fuck your 2 foot receipt! Fuck you straight up the ass with a cheese grater!

So I have this urge to bake stuff. I'm not sure why. If I had a vagina I'd think that either I was pregnant or my biological clock was ticking. Maybe it is ticking. I mean I'm almost 34 and I don't have kids. I kinda want one or two. I'm not in a position to be a good parent though. But at the least, I want to bake things like cookies, cupcakes, pies, cheesecake. Yeah, kinda weird, right? I mean I like to cook, but baking? Not something I usually do.

If my co-workers still read this, I wonder if they are expecting me to bring something in. I might. They do it, I guess I could too. Maybe.

Speaking of my co-workers, one of them got divorced. CONGRATS!!!!!! is she's reading this that is.

If you noticed the links, I signed up for the Amazon Associates program. So now I have product links in my blog. I am trying to make some comedy of it. Or at least make cool links. I get paid if you click them, more if you buy something. I think that's how it works.

I've got this rather obnoxious, stupid, loser starting shit with me on TOL. The guy is 30, single, still a virgin, lives at home, works in a pizza shop and has no education or life experience to speak of, yet he speaks like he thinks he's some sort of an authority. Amusingly enough, Adam Briggs is his pastor. The really funny thing is that he has me on ignore yet still talks trash. Seems a bit cowardly. But look at the spineless piece of shit he's got for a spiritual leader.

That's it for this installment. Drop me a comment, I'd like to know what anyone reading this has to say.

And in between people and work that keeps me busy, I blog

I said it before. I'll say it again. This hotel I work at could really benefit from having an extra person on weekends to do housekeeping, maintenance and security. Yeah, that's more they have to pay out in labor, more that cuts in to the profits, but that's why you jack up the price a little on weekends. Just a thought. There's probly more to it than what's om my mind here. I'm sure there's a reason why there has never anything more than auditors on this shift. Probly more cost effective that way or something.

Whatever. That's all I got to say about that.

Is a fully automatic shotgun too much to ask for?

Or a classic, a mounted MG-42 (Hitler's buzzsaw!) on the desk labeled "Complaints Department."

This place can stress me out so much. Yes, that much.

I think I've said enough now. I think you get my point.

In other news....

My name is Pastor Adam Briggs of Damascus Road Bible Fellowship, today is October the 29th 2010, we're here in Indianapolis, it's Friday night and I'm afraid to respond to this blog.

Yeah I'm not done picking on him. It's too much fun and I doubt he's got the balls to say anything to me here. Maybe I should spam his blog with links to mine. Maybe that would just be too asinine for me.

Moving on, I need to get seriously cracking on losing weight. I want to be thin by the next DragonCon. I want to go there in a Sisters of Battle costume and I want to look DAMNED good in it. I want to be at the 40K tables wearing it while I play my Chaos Noise Marines army. That should really fuck with some heads. I want across from me to be another Sister looking just as hot if not more so fielding Crimson Fists or Blood Angels. That would be just fucking epic.

If I can just get one of these made, one for Kathy, it would just fucking rock. Hope she can handle all the attention. There's a few other costumes I want that I need the right body to go with, but this is the big one. I'd wear it on stage too.

Don't mind me I'm just rambling like an idiot

Yeah so I'm at the desk watching a youtube video and I had to stop it because some guest walked in and decided to use the lobby computer. So I'll blog instead while I have the video on pause. I guess I'll watch it later. I have shit I should be doing any way. Holy shit! I'm distracted and have to do things I get paid for at the moment.

Well that never fails. I get to doing things I get paid to do and I get a guest nagging at me at the same time. And why do they always ask me how I'm doing? I know it's a politeness thing but really, just get to the point. No one calls in the middle of the night to check on the well being of the guy at the desk. Except maybe my mother. Or your mother, but that's another story that she told me not to tell anyone.

OH SHIT!

But enough of that. Fuck it. I really need to move on to something else. Or something. I really need to find a new job to be unhappy with and bitch about.

So any way. What else?

I can't say for sure, but I think Halloween night is going to be spent with my girlfriend at home. Unless someone I know is having a house party or something that night and hasn't told me. Part of me wants to go to a bar or night club or something, but I'm not up for dealing with crowds of gawkers and douchebags. And there's only a few places that play music I like. I guess I would be more inclined to go out, but I don't live by any place I want to go and I lack in transportation. Whoring myself out for a ride never works. I just still don't know what I am going to do.

I think I'm starting to prefer cons to Halloween, truthfully. Maybe I just need to move to a part of the world that doesn't suck. Seriously. I don't think I'd have this issue if I lived in a big city. Fuck Largo. And fuck you if you live there. Can someone please open up a decent night club in this shit hole? Or 2 maybe? One that has drag queens and one that plays punk, industrial and metal? Hell all that under the same roof would be fucking epic! Seriously!

Maybe I should do that. I don't know. Could it work?

For once I'm not bitching about my co-workers, but still bitching about my job at the hotel

I don't know if there's any way to completely avoid having parties in rooms, but if there is, I'd like to know.

Honestly, I don't care what people are doing in their rooms, even if it is a party. I've been to quite a few parties in hotel rooms, even hosted a few. Never was a problem for hotel staff and certainly was not at all rude to them. However, when my phone rings at the desk and there's a guest complaining about noise on the line, I HAVE TO care.

I have a splitting headache right now. Been dealing with drunk, stupid, and just flat out annoying people all night. Had the police here three times so far. I'm just sick of it all. So sick of it.

I'm going to take a little bit of time for some therapeutic venting about some of the more ridiculous things I hear from guests when I have to tell them they need to shut the fuck up, erm I mean quiet down.

Which room was it?

No, I'm not telling you which room. Does it fucking matter? You need to shut the fuck up that's all you need to know, that simple. Now shut the fuck up. No, you can't smooth it over with them. You woke them up or you are keeping them awake. Shutting the fuck up is the best way to smooth it over. SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Do you know how much I spent? Do you know how much my group has spent?

I don't give a shit. If I really want to know, then I can look it up. I'm the auditor, I can do that. Turns out, I don't care and it doesn't make a difference. You need to shut the fuck up. Do you think there's some point where you have spent enough money that you can be allowed to do whatever you want and ruin someone else's stay in the process? Am I supposed to tell the person being deprived of a night's sleep that their complaint is irrelevant because of how much money you spent? If they or their group spent more, does that make their complaint more relevant? Just shut the fuck up, you are making yourself look more like an asshole.

Go ahead! Call the police!

OK. Start packing your bags now. Could have been avoided if you just shut the fuck up.

I'll have your job!

You really want it that badly? I'll take a night off, I need it. You can tell people to shut the fuck up. How about that? Oh? you want me fired? For doing my job? Good luck with that. My manager will be here in the morning and I'll still be here at night. Seriously, has any hotel employee that works in any security capacity been fired for addressing a noise complaint? No, they haven't. Save yourself the waste of time. Have a Coke and a smile, and shut the fuck up.

But it's a wedding!

Yes it is, and you had your reception in one of the banquet halls. Now you are in your room, now you need to shut the fuck up. Does that negate the fact that you are keeping people awake? And what are all these people doing in your room anyway? Party's over, get to fuckin and shut the fuck up.

I'm calling my lawyer! I'm suing you!

Cool. See you in court. I'll bet the judge tells you to shut the fuck up.

I know the owner!

So do I. If he were here right now, he'd tell you to shut the fuck up. (OK, I don't know that for sure, but if I were the owner, I'd tell them to shut the fuck up.) - True story, I called a guest's buff one time and told them I was the owner's son and this hotel would be mine someday. Know what they did? They shut the fuck up.

But what if.....

The only "what if' you need to be concerned with is what if you don't shut the fuck up. I'm not here to talk hypotheticals, I'm here to tell you to shut the fuck up. What part of "Shut the fuck up" don't you understand?

How about I....

How about you shut the fuck up? This isn't a negotiation, I'm telling you to shut the fuck up. It's not a topic for discussion, you need to shut the fuck up.

I feel so much better now. For the record, I have never actually said "shut the fuck up" to a guest. I may have been holding back the urge to once or several times. I really feel I have to say that. Sometimes the things I say here get back to those I work with. I wouldn't want them thinking that I get as foul with the guests as I do in my blog. And if they are reading this and not having a good laugh, they really need to just shut the fuck up.

So what have I been up to lately?

Quite a bit. Honestly, I spend most of my time exhausted when I'm not doing stuff, but it keeps me out of trouble. Here's some of the highlights:

Thanks for the overtime, could have done without the bad mouthing though.

So Tuesday morning I had to call the GSM of the hotel I work for because there it was 7:15 am, I'm all alone, she's the only one on the schedule and I just heard from one of the maintenance guys that there was an accident that may have been on her route to work. Now I thought I was nice and respectful, I even felt a bad about waking her up, but according to what I have been told, she had a bit of a different story. I'm not sure exactly what was said, but apparently I was shitty to her. I also heard she got corrected by the same maintenance guy that was present when I called her. Oddly enough, when I called her back later on because I noticed I left with the desk keys she didn't seem to have a problem with me then or when I saw her Friday when I picked up my check. Heck, she was pretty nice both times. I thought about confronting her about it, but I'll be over it once I'm done typing this.

Yeah, I'm over it.

Look Mom, I know you are trying to help me here, but I'd rather carry 100 pounds of lead than 10 pounds of feathers!

Well, my mom is out of the hospital, but not quite 100%. I've been helping her out. Kinda wish I could do more. One big thing though is doing the grocery shopping for my parents. May not seem like a big deal, but try carting a weeks worth of groceries across town taking buses and walking. Every week it's the same thing when my mother is giving me the list - she keeps worrying about the weight of the things, I'm worried about size. I'm built like an ox, I can carry a lot of weight. I'm not very big though, and my backpack can only hold so much. I try to keep it limited to a full backpack and 2 bags. I don't care if the backpack is full of canned goods, that's cool. But when I'm carrying a family size box of waffles, a bag of hoagie rolls, a big bag of chips, etc. well space gets to be at a premium. And in case anyone it wondering, my father can devour a family size box of waffles in a few days all by himself.

And speaking of my father....

There's some program he's on now. It's like a day care for geezers. As opposed to putting them in a nursing home. I'm thinking it's not very good. He goes on the days my mom is at dialysis. So my mom has to get him ready before dialysis and usually take care of him when he gets home. He's come home a few times with a Depends full of shit and piss. Also, I don't know what they are feeding him there, but his blood sugar has been higher than ever a few times afterwards. The program he's on is called PACE. I don't know all the details, but if things don't straighten out, expect a rather big long rant from me after we get him out of the program.

And all that being said....

It's getting up on the end of my shift here at work, which means my computer time will be significantly limited until I come back to work. I still need to buy a new laptop. I still can't afford it. Well I could afford it just fine if I was not going to DragonCon.

BTW, you can help me in a small way be clicking on the Google ads, or in a slightly bigger way by clicking on the "tip jar" in the corner.

Mom is home from the hospital, job search continues

She's not back to herself, but she's trying to make as little work for me as possible. I really wish my father would do the same. He wants to be lazy, have everyone do everything for him but won't go into a nursing home. Like he would rather make life hell for me and my mother. It's like he's trying to make himself weaker too. He can get around using a walker, but insists on using a wheelchair instead. He'd make a bed-ridden invalid of himself if he could get away with it.

In other news, remember that job interview I had?

Well, it didn't happen. I had to call and rescheduled due to my relief coming in 10 minutes late. Which caused me to miss my bus. And the next one was late. Yeah, got fucked over by both my job and public transportation. Not cool. And when I called and rescheduled I only got to talk to a voicemail. They never returned my call. I called again Tuesday, still no returned call. Really not cool. I don't think I would have gotten the job anyway. Too corporate. I doubt my current haircut and colour would have flown. And the last time I changed my look for a job I regretted it. I'd rather not do that again. Though I did meet some cool people so it wasn't all bad. Still when your boss seems to be more concerned about your grooming that how you do your job, something is seriously fucked up.

I'm still on the hunt for something else. Been thinking maybe it's time to do something that is not hospitality. Not sure what though. I've been a Help desk person, network admin, college teacher, substitute school teacher, mechanic, hotel desk guy, night auditor. I've done a lot. I'm not even sure where to go from here. I want to be a high school math teacher, but I need to finish my degree first.

I'm sick of dealing with stupid bull shit like what I had to deal with tonight. Why can't people just shut the fuck up when I tell them other hotel guests are complaining about their noise? And why do they have to tell me how much money they are spending? I don't give a shit. What makes people think that the amount of money they spend invalidates someone else's complaint? What am I supposed to do? Tell them, "I'm really sorry, the people that are keeping you awake spent more money than you so you are just going to have to put up with it." Yeah, I'm sure that will go over really well.

Knew it couldn't last

Yeah, I knew it.

Though I am a little surprised, I hope nothing is wrong.

Just saying.

*waving to my co-worker that is reading this*

So I'm trying to watch Nid Week on Beasts of War

And I'm being bothered by drunk people.

Oh wait, I'm at work and I don't get paid to watch Beasts of War. I don't get paid to bitch about it in my blog either. And I don't think people I work with get paid to read about my bitching in my blog, well that is if they are reading this at work.

Any who.

Even if I were doing things I get paid for at the moment (I'm as done as I can get at this point), getting bothered by people who are already pretty loaded and want to get more loaded is pretty annoying.

Well it's about that time of the night for me to do more stuff. Once all that's done, it's back to Beasts of War.


And probly getting bothered by more drunk people.

Grumble. Grumble.

Grumble. Grumble.

They make an effort to give me more counterspace.

Grumble. Grumble.

Then it gets all cluttered up.

Grumble. Grumble.

Then I have to clean it before I start.

Grumble. Grumble.

At least things have straightened out here.

Grumble. Grumble.

I'm finding fewer things to bitch about.

Grumble. Grumble.

I guess I shouldn't be bitching.

Grumble. Grumble.

But I am.

Grumble. Grumble.

It's just in my nature, deal with it.

Grumble. Grumble.

Grumble. Grumble.

Grumble. Grumble.

A few things going on

I'm just the talk of work when I'm not there.

Well maybe not, but I was informed that someone at the hotel is looking for my blog to see if I said anything about them in it. Well this particular post I'm not going to say anything bad about anyone. There's a guest that said he's going to do that. He also said he was going to say something good about me.

See what happens when you do your job right?

That was kind of a dig, wasn't it? Oh well. Moving on.

And the first thing I want to accomplish for the new year...

I want to get my bike back on the road. I miss riding my bike. And it makes me less dependent on the bus. More exercise and less bus riding makes me happy.

My AngelSpit 40K Army is coming along nicely.

Really nicely. Seriously, have a look. I've also completely changed my list. Big thanks to Fritz for helping me with that. BTW, if you like 40k you should seriously check out Fritz's vids on youtube. Seriously.

40K, serious business, seriously.

One bit of annoyance.

In a previous blog I asked for comments if any one read it, no one dropped a comment. I'm just trying to figure out how many people are reading this thing. I don't get any comments, so I can't tell if it's being read.

I feel like a prom night dumpster baby.



That's all for now.

The thing about a blog is....

...People read it.

Sometimes those people are the same ones you work with.

I've been told I've made a lot of enemies. *shrugs*

I also noticed something got changed or rather enforced because of something I bitched about. Cool. Maybe I should bitch more. Maybe some other things will get addressed. Maybe I shouldn't press my luck.

Maybe I should just watch myself.

That being said, if you are reading this, drop me a damn comment. I'm feeling lonelier than Kunta Kinte at a Merle Haggard concert.

I'm even more annoyed

My boss just called.

She slept through her alarm.

Yeah she's going to be late.

And to think I was going to bitch at her about my co-workers coming in late everyday.

So I get this call at 7:00 am

It's my co-worker. Calling off because she's sick.

I'm finding this rather annoying. Calling in sick when you are supposed to be at work is bullshit. Seriously. Total fucking bullshit. There had to have been some point before where she knew she was not going to be in and could have called in sooner. Total fucking bull shit. Right before she called in she called the co-worker that was supposed to be in at 8:00am. She was coming to work from her other job. Which is why she was scheduled to be in a 8 in the first place.

Yeah, so because someone didn't have the sense to call earlier, 2 people, at least, were terribly inconvenienced. I didn't leave work until 7:40 causing me to take a later bus and delayed my getting home by an hour. Not cool.

More annoying is that my having to stay late is almost a daily occurrence. As much as I love the overtime, I'm sick of having to stay late. Seems like nearly every job I have ever held, except for teaching, there has been at least a few people that come in late on a daily basis and at least one that regularly calls off. Seldom have I seen a boss do anything about it. I don't get it. Save for missing some of pay, what incentive does anyone have to be on time if no one does anything about it? And when did this start? I thought most employers took some sort of disciplinary action when it came to being late for work. Well, I used to think that.

Sorry, we don't rent by the hour

Actual phone call -

Him: What are your rates tonight?
Me: Tonight we are starting at 109.
Him: But it's 2 am!

I wonder just who this guy thinks he is

I've had 4 calls in the last hour from a guest in one room complaining about noise in the next room. The people he is complaining about are not being loud at all. Yes, there is a party in the room, but they are being very respectful of those around them. It's all adults, no teens or children. Both myself and my coworker have been in and around the room. You can't tell there's a party from the outside. I've had no complaints from the room on the opposite side or the directly adjoining room all of which are occupied.

I think I'm being bullshitted here. Also, the guy calling and complaining has referred to the people next to him as scum and pigs and has flat out said they are not good enough to be here and should be staying at the Days Inn. He has also said that it is not fair to him that they are next to him. He's using the fact that he's a frequent stay member (has a card) member and that he "spends a lot of money here" as part of his argument.

This is where I feel the need to laugh at him. He's a base level card person. More amusingly, the room he's complaining about is paying twice as much for tonight. The guest in the room he's complaining about also has a card and stays here quite often as well, and pays more per night. None of this really means anything when dealing with a complaint, but it's still amusing. I'm tempted to tell this asshat that keeps calling me about this. Especially after him telling me they are not good enough to stay here.

As far as I can see, the only thing the party being complained about is doing wrong is being of Latino descent. The guy complaining is an elitist snob and a racist to boot. I don't know who he is to dictate who can and can't stay here, but he did say that is we don't do somethiong about it, he's going to call the police. I hope he does.

Business has been slow at the hotel lately.

So I really don't have any stories to tell. This weekend might pick up. Weekends are usually the busiest days. More potential for human stupidity.

Even though it's not Thanksgiving yet, they have already started decorating the hotel. It's a little early for that, that's not what annoys me about this time of year at the hotel. What annoys me is the motion activated singing and dancing Santa Claus. I know that doesn't sound like a subject of annoyance, but something that starts singing and dancing every time someone walks in or walks out can get on your nerves. More so when drunk people, usually women, start singing and dancing with him. It's funny the first time, but after that it really starts to lose it's amusement.

Hotel stories - You are an idiot and so is your kid edition

I just had a feeling it was going to be a bad night, and that was before I left my apartment.

I hate it when I'm right.

The first thing I was greeted with tonight was a note for the management and an incident report. A guest's 12 year old child was in the hotel's fitness center, unsupervised, and hurt them self on the treadmill. Somehow this is the hotel's fault because we don't have any warning signs in the fitness center.

Then I had to deal with a room that was being a noise problem. Sure enough, party room. Sure enough, they have a pretty girl answer the door. Doesn't make any difference, she still gets told the diplomatic version of shut the fuck up or get the fuck out. I've not had any complaints yet. Bummer, I wouldn't mind an eviction.

And most recently I had a lady at the desk looking for a room. We don't have much left tonight. what few rooms we do have are smoking rooms and despite that they seem to be going quick. While she was at the desk, my co-worker was selling 2 rooms to another guest. I quoted her the lowest rate I had for the types of rooms I had. She tried to get me to cut her a deal. Can't do it. I think anyone that's taken a basic course in economic can understand why. That and I really can't change the rates anyway. She asked me about other hotels. I told her which ones had availability and where they were. She left.

Then about 15 minutes later she comes back with her boyfriend. In the mean time I had sold another room. At this point I have 2 left, gave him the rates for each. Both were smoking rooms. He proceeded to ask me if I was sure. Yes. Then if I was serious. Yes. Then if I could cut him a break because it's midnight. No. Then if I could cut him a break because they are smoking rooms. No, non-smoking is the same price. He asks me if there's anything I can do about the rate. No, lowest rate I have, it's actually less than the AAA rate. He again asks me if I'm sure. Yes. And if I'm serious. Yes. Then he decides he doesn't want to talk to me anymore and wants a manager. I am a manager. So he wants my business card and tells me that he's never been treated so poorly. I don't have one of my own, but I did give him a plain hotel business card and wrote my first name only on it. He wants my last name too because according to him I don't know who I just messed with. Not getting it. I don't give it out, ever. Especially to someone who just made that remark at me. He keeps thrown a fit about how badly he thinks he's being treated. I guess I should have been kissing his ass or something. He leaves telling me that he will be calling to complain.

But wait! There's more! He comes back in like a few seconds later all pissed off and asking me if I gave "his girl"attitude like I gave him. I didn't give either of them attitude. He goes on to tell me that I don't know who I messed with, again. Even my co-worker stepped in and said I didn't give either of them attitude. Again he said he was going to call and complain. And that I really don't know who I messed with. I wished him a good night.

Whateva.

All nice and quiet now. And those 2 rooms I had left? Sold!

Moral of tonight's stories - Don't be an idiot, keep an eye on your kid, don't be a cheapskate.

So they keep telling me I'll be missed...

...And that they are sorry to seem me go.

I've even heard that they appreciate my hard work.

Too little, too late.

Hey boss, YOU'RE FIRED!

I really out did myself on my letter of resignation, have a look -

To Whom it May Concern

This current economy has been hard on everyone and has greatly affected me as of late. In recent months the fare for the buses that take me to work have increased and my bicycle has become increasingly more expensive to maintain with the number of miles that are being put on it. The daily commute also consumes a great deal of my time. Time that can be better spent on more productive endeavours. My transportation concerns coupled with an increased cost of living have forced me to make a few adjustments and some very harsh decisions. A reduction in supporting staff, related limitations in the service level that I can offer, and a “be thankful that you still have a job” attitude from the management have all forced me to make this hard decision. I have taken steps to reduce the cost in dollars and time. These steps include securing employment that better meets these needs.

As of two weeks from the date of my writing this, the morning of 02/02/09, I will be terminating Embassy Suites – Downtown Tampa Convention Center as my employer. I do wish the hotel and it's staff luck and prosperity in the future.

Best regards

It's official

I'm putting in my 2 weeks notice tonight.

I'm going back to the Holiday Inn.