Not Giving Up

Yet again, it's been almost a week since I updated - what happens to time in this place? Am I in a time warp?

Thursday was pretty sucky morning for various reasons and I was toying with calling in personal but decided to go to work and I'm glad I did. I had a reasonably good shift, I was in 508 so it kept me busy. Friday I was an AM for once, I didn't have to work EMH for the first time in weeks! I was in section 709 which was a bit crazy because it was boiling hot, it's quite far from the kitchen so it was pretty stressy. I also screwed up because my last table were sat at about 2.40pm and I forgot to put their food into the POS until 3pm so they were waiting an extra 15 minutes as the kitchen didn't even know to cook their food... oops. Made me feel really bad because it was totally my fault. I went to my manager and managed to get a No Strings Attached for some Soarin' Fastpasses to make up for how long they had to wait for their food - it would have been fine if they'd wanted Fish & Chips or a Cottage Pie because that's really quick food but they wanted Burgers (well done as well!) and a kids pizza which takes the longest out of all the food on the lunch menu I would say! I kept them busy by chatting and apologising, eventually their food came out. I seemed to win them back over as they overtipped me and went away happy but I felt like rubbish! I cleaned my section, did my sidework and then got the hell out of there... to Hollywood Studios. I wanted to get a couple of pieces of merchandise from Star Wars Weekends so I got the boat over there from EPCOT. I spent about an hour and a half there - got a kids chicken nugget meal (never again, ew.) and then got the E bus home... so glad I don't work at DHS anymore because that bus now goes around the Boardwalk and Beach & Yacht Club Resorts so takes ages to get home.

Eventually got home and spent some time watching my favourite episodes of Glee before going to bed. Continuing in the vein of my last blog post, I was in a complete "funk" as Hayley calls it so sleep was the best place for me.

On Saturday I got up and decided to snap out of it, go to work and make the most of it. So I spent the morning in 201 which was alright and then offered to extend so worked the PM in 510 which was pretty crazy. I turned my tables like 3 times and had some great guests - all big tops though, as I had a 9-top, 12-top and an 8-top! There are quite a lot of people leaving this week, for the first time it includes some people I actually know and enjoy being with so (as well as contributing to my negative mood recently) it means that there's lots of "lasts" and on Saturday it was their "last" Cowboys. I got persuaded to go pretty much based on the fact that EVERYONE was going. So I got home and had about 30 minutes to get ready before I ran into Natalie and Linsey outside Commons so got a ride with them instead of going in the taxi. I chose not to drink though as I was exhausted from work as it was! It was really fun but of course I ended up crying (standard) as it was really sad to say goodbye to Heather in particular. I got a ride back with Daniel as he'd rented a car for a couple of weeks so we went to McDonalds for some cheeky grease at 3am. I eventually got into bed, completely crashed out at 3.30am - so tired!

On Sunday I slept in until about 10.30am before getting ready and heading over to the Premium Outlets to find myself a nice dress for the cruise! I realised I didn't really have anything to wear for the formal night so I spent about 2 hours trawling around there... almost to no avail. Well, I bought two pairs of skinny jeans and a top in American Eagle as they had a 40% off everything sale (obvs amazing)... not that I'll really get the use out of those clothes until I go home but whatever! Then I eventually found a dress in Dress Barn which was even reduced from $60 to $42 - win. I already have amazing shoes to go with it as well. I went home, had a bite for lunch (resisted falling asleep when I laid on my bed) and then went to work for my PM shift. I ended up in 201 as KD - joy. It was a busy shift where I turned my tables about 3 times which was good as they're mostly 2-tops in that section. My last guests finished at 9pm so I took them to the firework viewing area and then decided as I was KD that I was in no hurry to clean my tables and I'd stand outside with podium watching the fireworks. I ambled back in at 9.15pm to discover (to my horror) that I'd been sat last minute at 9pm and not told... with a guest who had FOUR allergies!!! I had a total panic because I didn't realise and I'd left the poor woman in there on her own for all that time. Turned out she already talked to Chef Matt about her allergies so he knew what he was going to make her... then she was joined by 5 other members of the family, 2 of whom also had some of the same allergies. It basically meant I was stressing out for an hour making sure they were okay and trying to serve them whilst the kitchen got closed down around me (e.g. the soda machine). They left just after 10pm so I could finally clean up, bank out and get checked as KD. I finally left at about 10.45pm and Nick picked me up as I hadn't seen him since we got back from Cedar Point last week. We needed to have a good chat so we went to Crossroads and went to a restaurant called Uno which was quite nice. After that, we went back to his apartment and researched  stuff for our cruise.

The next day I was on a PM so I slept in until about 11am before we went out for lunch at Pei Wei (our favourite Chinese food!) at The Loop. We've been feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Beryl which has been centered at the border of Florida/Georgia so we had some great thunder and lightening including torrential rain whilst driving back from Pei Wei. It was at this point that I weighed up the fact that I was exhausted from work, had a headache, really wanted to chill out and not go to work... it was also pouring so they will have closed half the restaurant and it wouldn't really matter if I was not there. So whilst driving in this pouring rain, I called Deployment and called in Personal to my shift....!

Almost 7 months into my program without ANY points (not even for clocking violations) and I called in because I felt like it. And it felt so liberating!! So instead, we went back to Commons where I changed into a warmer outfit and then went to Downtown Disney to watch a low-budget horror film based on Chernobyl which was entertaining and then got an Earl of Sandwich before stopping at Publix for wine on the way back to Nick's apartment. Ultimately there are so many people who phone in sick/personal to work for hangovers or because they can't be arsed - I've never done that so it was my turn. I do not regret it.

Especially considering it meant I was much more ready and energetic for my shift today which was the best AM I've ever had. Again, it was pouring with rain so they ER'd 4 people at pre-meal... I got section 401 but then a party of 9 checked in with a special request that the server didn't want to deal with on 5071 so I picked it up... a marriage proposal!!! When the sister of the proposee checked in for the reservation she said something about wanting the "cake as an appetiser" so I was a bit confused. Upon investigating it turned out she was helping her (future) brother-in-law with his proposal to her sister... I greeted the table and took their drinks out. Then got their order in and put it into the computer before going back to the kitchen for the cake which said "Will you marry me?" on it! I gathered some servers together and we went out... I held the cake up too high for her to see it and told her that Mickey had sent her a special present. She was totally confused until I put the cake down on the table in front of her and she read it!!! TOTAL SHOCK!!! Then her fiance got down on one knee and did the proposal - obviously she said yes and then everyone cheered and clapped!! It was so magical :D I loved being a Cast Member at that precise point!! And it was exactly what I needed to bring me back to a good mood with work so everyone was happy!

The rest of the shift passed in a blur because it was boiling hot (the plastic windows were down and it was like a greenhouse) and crazy busy. I got another 8-top after the proposal table who were a riot as well so it was great. I was also done by 4pm - nice! Thanks to everything that happened and the very generous 8-top it meant that I made what I would make on a good PM in just 4 hours! It makes me think that it was fate I called in yesterday and it was what I needed because I pretty much made back what I lost when I combine it with my good PM on Sunday. I walked through the rain to get home and have since not left my apartment as I made some food from the freezer, uploaded a million photos to Facebook, FINALLY worked out how to put ringtones on my iPhone and also updated this blog. Now for my weekend....!!

Inspiration and Desperation

It's been a weird few days. Sunday my PM was pretty normal, I got out at about 10pm which was good going. Raced home on the bus, got changed and then went to a gay club (randomly and not my choice!) called Parliament with a load of podium cast members (and a few servers)... it was a bit of a sketchy place and I'm pretty sure there was nothing in the drinks except alcohol. Needless to say, it turned a little bit messy - I managed to lose my apartment key somewhere which was a bit stressful so I eventually got back about 3.30am and then had to wait to be let into my apartment by security. Fun times. The next day I had a headache (unsurprisingly) and didn't get up until 1.30pm. Lucky for me, a couple of days previously my food running shift for this day got changed to a PM server shift! I almost called in sick to work but didn't want to ruin my perfect record (almost 7 months and still no points!)... I'm glad I didn't because the shift turned out to be very entertaining. I was in 307 which I haven't been in since my training... I had a good mixture of guests but my last table were deluxe dining plan and had two bottles of wine between 3 of them! At the end of the meal, one of the guests cornered me and insisted they pay for the wine with their card, not letting the other woman know... in the meantime, this woman has cornered Amelia and offering her cash to pay for the wine without the man knowing... AWKWARD! I offered to split it in half but long story short, the woman ended up paying the cash and then the man found out which was actually okay... really quite funny in the end! Whilst all this commotion is going on, I forgot to finalize a cash transaction for one of my other tables and chased them down to the firework viewing area because I thought they hadn't paid me - ooooopppsss!! That was awkward moment #2 for the day!

Once Monday was finally over, I went home and went straight to bed. Tuesday was my day off because I had switched my Thursday with someone. Originally I was going to see Nick and his brother Alex but then this got rearranged (and again, and again... but that's another story) so I ended up going to make the epic trek to the Florida Mall to buy me an iPhone!! Oooooh! I thought that there was a bus stop just up the road from Vista Way where I could get the Lynx 111 straight to the Mall rather than getting the 8 from the Outlets and changing to the 42 somewhere in Downtown Espanol... so I start walking in the 28 degree heat up the SR535 and keep walking, and walking... I walked 1.2miles under the I-4 and practically to Downtown Disney before I found the bus stop! FAIL!! I could have got the F bus to DTD and got the 111 from there in that time! Anyways, I finally boarded the bus and it only took about 25 minutes to get to the Mall. I got my iPhone, went to T-Mobile to get them to cut down my sim card to fit the iPhone, then went back to the Apple Store for them to put the sim card in... and then wondered around a few other shops, got chinese food and then headed back to the bus stop. This time I got the 8 and the 42 and eventually (an hour later) got to Publix where I bought some much needed groceries. Then I limped back to my apartment as my feet were covered in blisters from all the walking (and the aforementioned trip to Parliament at the weekend)... I eventually got home about 6 hours after I'd left. Had about an hour at home, changed my shoes and then got the C bus to EPCOT where I met Tyler after work.

We got a cider in the UK (standard), then ended up going to the new 'Wine Cellar' in Italy which is attached to Tutto Italia - one of the full-service restaurants there. It's awesome! I had a glass of white wine and a 'pick 3' thing which I chose two cheeses (I forget one, but the other was Bufalo mozzerella) and also Prosciutto ham (nom). It was the perfect (if expensive) snack. Then we got a glass of Banfi Rosa Regale (standard) and wondered through the rest of the world showcase before going to Mouse Gear to buy me a Disney iPhone cover. We got the monorail to Magic Kingdom just in time to go to Casey's for another snack and get a good spot for the MM&Y show and Wishes - loved it as always.

We ran into some other Canadians who I didn't really know... but this is where the 'desperation' part of this blog title comes into play. I'm getting seriously worried about how I'm going to cope when I go home after this program... for some of these Canadians, it was their last 'Wishes' and there were a few tears going around. But everytime I even think about having to go home, it sets me into crying and basically... fear. I won't have a job, I won't have many friends, I probably won't have much money and there are several other things. At least the last two times I went back, I had more structure in my life. This time I will have almost nothing... and it's very, very scary.

I don't want this post to turn into a depressive one (especially considering I still have around 5 months left, a cruise in 12 days, my parents here in 6 weeks, a trip to Marco Island in 3 weeks and one of my best friends coming to visit in about 3 months) but it's something that's likely to crop up more and more in my blog posts I fear.

On a brighter note - after MK, we walked to the Contemporary and waited for the A bus to take us home which took forever (of course), met some crazies on the bus and then I eventually got to my bed. This morning I had to be up bright and early at 7.30am to get ready in professional attire (read: Traditions clothing) for a talk by the President of Parks & Resorts US and France - Meg Crofton. She gave a special talk to 55 of the Disney Programs and Internships Cast Members including Tyler and I... we managed to sign up on the Hub but it sold out in literally a day so we were very lucky. Her talk was very good - she's such an interesting speaker and told us so many stories and lessons she'd learnt throughout her life and career with the Company. I even plucked up the courage to ask her a question... the American CPs much outweighed the ICPs at this talk so this is what I said:

"As you said, when you temporarily left the Company and then returned - that you'd left your heart at Disney - it made me want to ask... as an International College Program Cast Member, once we finish our program that is pretty much it and we have to leave our hearts at Disney, and it's painful! What's your advice to ICPs to make the most of their program and what should we take from it into our future jobs outside of Disney?"

Basically, this was an opportunity for me to make the point that leaving SUCKS! That's all really! But yes, she was great and it was an inspirational 2 hour talk - she gave us some great quotes to live by. I'm very glad I got this great opportunity during my program to meet her.

After the talk, Tyler and I went to Panera Bread for a bit then went home and chilled for a couple of hours before getting the (longest bus ride ever) to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for a cheeky bit of voluntEARing that he roped me into! I haven't voluntEARed since I was at Disney Store and it was a lot of fun. There is a weekly event called the Cast Walking League which is part of the Disney Wellness campaign for Cast Members and basically people turn up to walk round and round a course for an hour to get fit. It was our job to use holepunchers to mark how many trips round the walkers had made in the hour. Random but quite fun actually. And in yet another small world incidence - one of the Cast Members there was a girl I worked with at the Emporium in 2008 called Jen... odd!

Since getting back from ESPN, I've been updating my new iPhone with spiffy apps and music, watched the penultimate episodes of Glee and trying to brace myself for another week at work...

Cedar Point!

Okay, so Sunday was a very tiring and painful day! Firstly, it hurt to walk from my bruises all over my left knee and secondly, I'd only had about 4 hours sleep as I was a 10.45am AM shift. So I wondered around my AM in a bit of a daze in section 401. I could tell I was tired because I kept forgetting things and I also managed to drop my cup of lemonade in pre-meal and then a cup of chocolate milk in the kitchen - all before 12.30pm. Haha. After my shift finished, I went home and went to bed for a couple of hours! I got up at about 8.30pm and packed my stuff for Cedar Point as I needed to take it to Nick's apartment as I was a Mid the next day and I didn't want to have to pack late the following night. He was at his new house setting up the TV and speakers so once he'd finished that at about 11pm he picked me up and we went to get a snack at McDonalds before just chilling out.

The next day, as I said, I was a Mid. Not ideal but it was the way the shift swap worked out so that I could get 3 days off for Cedar Point. For the AM I was in section 505 which is okay-ish - not my favourite but not the worst. I had quite a lot of gratuity as I had big tops and then I went on lunch and had about an hour on lunch. I was still exhausted! In the afternoon I was section 401 (which is in the same area as 505) and it started pouring with rain at about 4pm so it was a nightmare as I just had guests hanging around my section waiting to be sat. They'd closed lower deck because of the rain so at about 6pm, they looked at the ERs (I'd put one in at 11.15am which I didn't think I'd get...) and they made the PM servers who had originally been given lower deck pick up the servers who had put in ERs - Me!!! So I got to finish at 7.30pm! YAY! Amazing way of starting my mini-vacation! Tom took over my section and then it stopped raining too so it all worked out...

So, Tuesday was Cedar Point day!! We got up and Nick 'packed' (i.e. threw clothes into a backpack) and we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast - NOM. Then we drove to the airport... Nick made me stress because I wanted to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare but we got there only about an hour before the flight took off! I know he's a lot more used to domestic flights so I put my faith in him but it stressed me out! The flight was with US Airways and we went via Philadelphia... it was pretty standard flight really. We got food at Philly airport and then got the second flight to Cleveland, Ohio. Throughout this day, I developed a stinking cold - at first I thought it was allergies but it got worse and worse so as soon as we got to Cleveland and picked up the rental car, I let him drive it to Sandusky and we found a pharmacy. Turns out they don't have Walgreens up there so we found a similar place and I stocked up on cold medicine and tissues! We checked into the hotel and got a room right next to the lobby so that was good. We headed out to this Thai place called Jo Wok which I'd read reviews on Trip Advisor about and it was SOOO good. It was essentially a take-away but it had tables so we sat and ate in... I had the Pad Thai with chicken and even though I couldn't taste very well it was really good. Nick had a green Thai curry which was super spicy but also was really nice! After this, we went back to the hotel and just watched TV and crashed out.

Wednesday, we were up bright and early because we could access the park an hour before everyone else as we were staying in one of the Cedar Point hotels (Breakers Express). Sadly, it was raining so we drove over the road to get a cheeky McDonalds breakfast and ate it in the car. By the time we drove over to the park (about 5 minutes away) it was about 9.30am and the rain was easing... we got into the park and it was dead because it was only resort guests and it was still spitting with rain. It was also really COLD!! After being in Florida for the last 6 months where the temperature has mostly been between 20-30 degrees C in the last few weeks to drop down to like 13C was amazing! We put my bag into a locker and got into the line for Millennium Force as it hadn't opened yet. After waiting for about 5 minutes they opened it up so we were on about the 3rd ride of the day!! It was amazing and we were in the back row which was cool too! Then we headed over to Top Thrill Dragster which is the biggest ride in the park and literally opened as we walked over so it was only about a 10 minute wait for the FRONT ROW! This ride goes at 120mph in 4 seconds and up to a top height of 420ft in the air... incredible. As Nick said afterwards "I think I ingested a bird!" and I couldn't feel my face LOL. We worked our way around lots of the other big rides - some were good, some were average and some were AWESOME - my favourites included Max Air, Corkscrew, Millennium Force and of course, Top Thrill Dragster. We got some Pizza Hut in the park for lunch (super expensive) and bought Nick a hoodie because it was really cold. We got pretty tired by about 4pm and so we left the park for the day and went back to the hotel for a nap! We ended up getting the same Thai food again for dinner because it was so good, easy and most of all - cheap. A massive plate of Thai food for like $10 you can't really say no! It was so fresh as well, not greasy at all. I had a Basil Chicken thing with fried rice this time which was a little spicy... really good. We went back to the hotel and pretty much spent the evening playing 'Draw Something' and watching a reality show called 'South Beach Tow' which was quite hilarious.

On Thursday, we decided as it was going to be a super-long day, we wouldn't go in for the extra hour entry in the morning. So we got to the park at about 11am (after another McDonalds breakfast... so unhealthy!) and did Millennium Force for the 3rd time, Top Thrill Dragster again (a 45 minute queue this time, not so good!) and then some of the older rides including a painful wooden coaster... there were loads of school groups around and it was perfect weather - a cloudless blue sky so the queues were much longer. Rather than walk-ons as it was the day before it was more like 30-60 minute lines for most stuff. We got food at the same place as the day before but the service was super slow this time. I had a sub with fries - Nick had pizza (again). We sadly said goodbye to Cedar Point at about 3.30pm and drove to the airport - I drove this time and managed to get lost (of course) so we ended up taking the scenic route through a nature reserve and eventually got there just before 5pm. We dropped off the rental car and checked in... we were flying back with Delta this time. We sat around waiting to get the first flight to Atlanta which was fine and then there was a delay at ATL so we had to wait about 90 minutes in the airport. The flight between ATL and MCO was the shortest thing ever - about an hour! They didn't even have time to get drinks out... I guess the winds were in our favour. We eventually got back to MCO at about 1am so we got out, picked up the car and got home at about 1.30am absolutely exhausted!

It was a fantastic trip though and I enjoyed it... I think that now I've skydived it was almost impossible to feel nervous about the rides so I just found them exciting! It was worth the money but it WAS an expensive trip - the food in Cedar Point is extortionate and all very unhealthy... but staying in their own hotel gave you benefits like $32 park tickets and the early entry. Overall, it was just nice to get out of Florida and see a place I've never been to before really.

The next day was Friday and I had to go to a Safety meeting at 1.30pm and then worked a PM shift in 508. Typically when I was so tired, I got the busiest section in the restaurant! It turned into a good shift though and I earnt lots (just as well as I'd spent so much recently!) plus it was EMH and then I took on KD from someone as I got sat a 7-top at 9.45pm so I didn't get out until about 11.45pm. Went home and crashed straight out!

Yesterday I was a Mid which is always fun on a Saturday :P In the AM I was in 303 which was nice because it was inside. Then for the PM I was in 508... again!! Needless to say, I did well money-wise but I was SO tired! I didn't get out til almost 11pm again. I am a PM today so I managed to sleep in til about 10.30am and then Skyped with my family for an hour or so. Now I'm off to meet Tyler at Vista Way as we're picking up tickets for an educational 'talk' with Mrs Plastic Lego Hair herself - Meg Crofton (she's the president of Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris...woooo!) on Wednesday.

Bruises!

Wow it's been ages since I updated - life got crazy!

I had two very different shifts on the 7th and 8th which was just after my last post - on the 7th I was in 508 which is the crazy section and I made lots of money then the following day I was in 311 which is the dead 3-table section so I only made what I would have made on an AM. I don't really remember too much about those shifts which were out of the ordinary!

Then I had two days off... on the Wednesday I went to Magic Kingdom with Tyler after we'd gone to MK Costuming to get new work shoes. We did some rides and ate Casey's Corner. We saw a little bit of the MiSiCi Parade which got a bit rained off so they did a fly-by... we also watched the afternoon parade which I loved of course. We saw most of the castle show but again, it got rained off like 2 minutes before the end which was a bit annoying! At about 5pm, Tyler went off to meet some of his friends from Canada who had been doing traditions that day and I met Tina and Tony! They were regular guests at the Disney Store I worked at in the UK and they were over here on vacation... so that was super fun! We played Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom which is basically a game involving a lot of walking all over the park to pick up 'clues' which take you to the next place. You collect 'spell cards' and basically it's just a very sociable and different thing to do at MK. I was pretty tired by the end of the day, they took me home at about 9pm and I had a shower before meeting Nick for some food. I walked over to his apartment but he wasn't feeling very well so we just had some pasta and planned our trip to Cedar Point.

The next day, I went to the Florida Mall with Tyler. We spent a fortune in American Eagle which was great and then I failed to find any clothes in Charlotte Russe or Forever 21 which was really annoying. We took the Lynx bus back which was a bit of an adventure (ghetto downtown Orlando comes to mind where everyone only habla Espanol...) and then I bought some stuff online from Charlotte Russe!

Friday I was a Mid for EMH... standard! I was in 704 for the AM part and then 106 for the PM part. I ended up with a 15-top for most of my evening!! It was actually pretty easy because once you've got the drinks onto the table and the order in for the kitchen then you can chill a bit more and just keep an eye on refills needed and when the food is ready to come out. They did all have deluxe dining plan so it involved appetisers, entrees and desserts as well as alcohol... so you can imagine what that bill came to! The biggest I've ever seen.... I think it was around $600. The joy of dining plan means obviously they didn't have to pay that though... it was a little complicated as I had to split the check 5 ways and then use the dining plans plus charging them for the extra charges so that was all good fun. I went home after that and crashed out!

Saturday I was an AM and I was in 201 which is the AM KD. This doesn't really mean much because the PM KDs come in at 4pm anyway. I don't like 201 as a section because it's one 6-top and then three 2-top tables so if there are no 2-people parties waiting then you don't get sat and the same for the 6-top so it can be very slow. I had an okay morning. After my shift I went home and got changed.. went to Walmart which was a 2 1/2 hour round trip UGH! When I got back, I bummed around until 11.20pm when I went out to the front of Commons and was picked up by Gavin as 25 of us were going Paintballing! I've never been before so it was something new. There were chefs and a manager there too which was good for the old team work. We didn't wear suits which is something I thought was standard but we did get a mask. We had enough money to pay for an extra 2000 paintballs which were split between us. We did various "challenges" in the fields like one team against the other to retrieve a flag in the middle. As soon as you were shot, you were out and  you left the field. Well obviously I was pretty rubbish at these games so I got out really quickly every time. When the paintballs hit you it really hurts (like a giant elastic band being snapped against you) and I ended up with bruises all over me! Mostly on my knees and legs, but a couple on my stomach, couple on my chest and some on each arm... ouch! As we didn't start playing until midnight it meant it was 4am by the time we got back so I was in pain and exhausted by the end. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be going paintballing again!

I have to run to work now so I shall endevour to finish this blog post as soon as I can! In the next post will be my adventures to Cedar Point, Ohio!

One minute they're there, the next minute they've gone!

I didn't get to go to the Florida Mall in the end :( Well, actually, that's not true. I did go to the Mall but I had Nick in tow with me because we'd just been to pick up his (vaguely) fixed car and he wanted chinese food from the Food Court. So we did that, and then wondered into the Apple store where I eyed up the iPhones (see what I did there) and then went into Charlotte Russe before I abandoned the idea of shopping because Nick hates it. So, instead we got a Starbucks and then headed back to his apartment via Publix where I spent a  small fortune on ingredients to make pasta... It was very yummy pasta though and I accompanied it with a few episodes of Restaurant Impossible (the American version of Kitchen Nightmares basically) and Todders & Tiaras on TLC (trash telly, wooo!).

The next day, Nick wanted to go to Seaworld. Well, I didn't have a Seaworld pass so I ended up buying one which is joined with Busch Gardens so that when my sister comes here in July, we'll be able to visit. So, we got to Seaworld at like 2pm and we were only there for about 3 hours in the end because it was so quiet that there were no lines for anything - we went on Manta twice and then Kraken (the two big roller coasters) and then we went on the log flume ride Journey to Atlantis which was pretty good too and then finally we went to watch a new 3D show called Turtle Trek which was cool because it was like being inside a dome (like a planetarium) but with 3D glasses so it really felt 3D. Then we were kinda hot and tired so we headed home via PeiWei for chinese food and Coldstone Creamery for ice cream (it was a very unhealthy day :P).

The next day it was back to work... I was supposed to be an AM but I wanted to extend so I could get some extra dollar dollar. Lucky for me, there was a need for a couple of people to be Mids so I ended up doing the old 1045am start through til Extra Magic Hours in the evening. I was in section 514 for the AM and then 311 for the evening. Considering that 311 is a 3-table section (not 4) it was still a good monetary day and I had some good guests. I went home and crashed out as far as I remember.

Saturday I was an AM again. I woke up feeling really tired and that theme went through the day really. It was pretty busy and the weather is getting really warm now. I was in section 303 though which was lucky for me because that's an inside section. I had a weird shift with lots of guests needing unusual things... I had a set of guests that were very angry because their preference for inside seating had not been noted and therefore we tried to sit them outside which they didn't want and then because there was 7 of them it meant that it was difficult to fit them inside. I managed to get them on 2 of my tables because it was really the only option so I spent 2 hours trying to win them back over... they were quite demanding as well but I feel with the help of a glowing tinker bell and some fast passes in addition to a nice meal they went away happy. I was well and truly ready to get home after that AM though so I left at about 5.30pm and got home with a banging headache. Took some painkillers and decided I really needed to make a trip to Walgreens to get some stuff for my apartment including loo paper! So I got the C bus to go back to Vista Way and ran into Rob and Kirsty who were going to the Dollar Store...  I joined them just to see what it was all about and then we went to Walgreens. Rob wanted pizza for dinner and so did I so it was actually cheaper to get a Pizza Hut delivery than buy pizza in Walgreens as they've got a special $10 thing going on at the moment. So we got back to the Commons and then ordered in pizza which was nom. Rob headed off after that to get ready to go out for the night but I was exhausted so I went to bed.

Yesterday was another AM and I was fully ready and prepared to extend to a Mid. But when it came to it, I was never asked and I just had a day of 'fed up with Disney' (doesn't happen often) so I didn't say anything and I ended up finishing at like 5.15pm. I was in 303 again and the guests were pretty standard to be honest... the only notable thing that did happen was that I got sat a table of 3. I went over and met them and the woman said she had a gluten allergy - well it wasn't noted on the seating card so I just said that if she went to any other Disney restaurants that she could note it on the reservation if she wished. I said I'd get the drinks and tell the chef to come out and we could discuss her options. So, I go to get the drinks and I told Chef Matt - he said he'd be there in a couple of minutes... when I go back out to give them the drinks - they'd GONE. Literally upped and left. I was kinda embarrassed and shocked because it's never happened to me before... the guest on the table next to them told me that she didn't know why they left. I was just a bit bummed out because I couldn't help but think I'd done something wrong... who knows. Ultimately, I rarely get scuzzed and most guests seem to like me as their server so I don't know what could have gone wrong - maybe they were having an argument or something, there was definitely something weird going on!

I got home and chilled out! There was a bit of a rain and thunderstorm after I got home so that was cool - I  watched Casualty and ate custard creams and Doritos for dinner (can you tell I have no food in my house?!)

Today is a PM, and tomorrow as well and then I'm off, yay!

Time for a day off

Today is my first day off for 8 days, yay! Picking up where I left off - on Sunday I was a Mid and it did go well... it was busy and I had pretty good sections. I was 709 for the morning - I've never been outside for the AM of a Mid before, I prefer to be outside for the evening because you get guests wanting the firework views. It was okay, the weather was nice because there was quite a breeze which meant it didn't feel as hot. In the PM I was going to be in 311 which is a section I don't like because it's only 3 tables and its squished into the corner but someone wanted to swap because they had a headache and didn't want to be outside, so I ended up in section 401 which I have frequented often. It went okay... there was a point when my section turned from 4 tables into 2 tables - one a party of 9 and one a party of 7! Moneywise, I actually earned what you *should* earn on a Mid so that was nice. After I finished work, a load of us went to TGI Fridays. I got these cheese nachos which made me feel sick from the overload of cheese... and the fact it took 45 minutes for our food to arrive didn't go down well either.

On Monday, I was a PM. Nick wanted to get lunch so we went to Red Lobster at Crossroads which was the first time I'd been there. I had popcorn shrimp and popcorn scallops (by which I mean they have been cut into little pieces and fried!) - very unhealthy. Nick had salmon which looked nice if you were a fishy fan! He dropped me off at Cast Services and I went to work. About 30 minutes later, just before pre-meal, I got a text from him to say he'd had to call in for his shift which was due to be at 4.30pm because his car had overheated and almost broken down so he'd had to drive it to the garage. My section was 704 and the weather was super windy so I didn't get sat until 5.30pm!! I spent my first 90 minutes of my shift literally doing nothing - hanging around at podium and beer cart mostly... it was very slow and I only had a full section from about 7.30pm until the fireworks so it wasn't a great shift. After work, I got the bus home and was just planning to have a shower and go to bed but when I plugged my phone back in, I got a super-stressed out Nick wanting to go and get food after his awful day... so we went to Chilis but it had just closed and then we ended up at TGI Fridays for my second night running. The service was marginally better than the night before but actually the food was great - I had mediterranean chicken skewers with jasmine rice and pitta bread, it was soooo good! I also had a couple of long island iced teas, nom nom.

Tuesday was my Friday!! Finally!! I was a PM again and in section 505 which is quite a good one to have on a closing shift because the sidework is easy peasy. The assignor filled my section constantly even though the restaurant was quite quiet so that was good but a weird thing happened.... my tables had all left by 8.30pm. It was so odd to have no guests just before the fireworks! So I checked with the manager and he cut me which meant I didn't get sat again - I just cleaned my tables, swept and did  my sidework which was to restock the fridge with juices and milk, put use first stickers on them and wipe down the fridge. Then I banked out and clocked out by  9.45pm! Amazing. It was also our 6 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!! So, after I'd banked out, I got changed and walked over to the Boardwalk where I met Tyler and Clare for a slice of pizza and then we headed to Jellyrolls at about 11pm. Dan and Sophie came shortly after, then Paul and Sam arrived at about midnight... we had almost our whole arrival group there - sadly Steffie couldn't make it so there was only 7 out of the 8 of us! Only at Jellyrolls would you be sitting there with your 24oz red Solo cup of $11 cocktail, singing along to a bit of Bohemian Rhapsody when a full-on bride came in, complete with BEAUTIFUL dress and the rest of her wedding party! So random.... literally can't explain how amazing this girl looked, her dress wouldn't have suited me but it was so princess-y and everyone just turned to look at her as soon as she walked in. They obviously got her and the groom up on stage at one point for a bit of Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes :P Tyler and I left at about 1am and got the bus home from the Boardwalk, I got home about 2am and crashed out.

Today is my first day off... I am planning to try and get to the Florida Mall as I haven't been in forever!