First Day on the Job
I was hired on at the Hotel Vintage Plaza, a Kimpton Hotel, in downtown Portland off of Broadway. It's a fancy-pants 4 diamond hotel and it shows. The hotel is wine themed, well decorated and, obviously, pricey. I will have to dress up every day in black dress pants, black shirt, and black blazer. Ugh. I've never been a fan of dressing up. Today was my first day at a real job since early December.
I thought about that today. I was laid off in December due to the holiday. I never did collect unemployment from it although I know I should have. I wonder if I still can. I went through all the forms online but nothing ever came of it. Oh well. Not the point. I technically did go back to work on the reset crew for one week in January but then Roofus broke down again and I never went back. Then I moved. Then I've been job searching.
It feels weird to work. I like it, in a way. It makes time go by quickly. Gives me something else to focus on and think about. Fills up my day with something to do. I need stuff to do. It doesn't hurt that there are alot of adorable men working there as well. Yay for eye candy.
My boss, Brian, bought me a pizza for lunch. How sweet. It was delicious but a little heavy on the garlic. I didn't have to actually do anything at all today. Just stand around and look pretty and pretend to pay attention to what others are doing. I guess tomorrow I will be anwering phones. Oh joy. Just being behind a front desk is bringing back all the old memories of my haydays at AmericInn. Everything that I did there had become a little hazy but I'm remembering it all. All the formalities, the routines, the lingo. I should be able to pick this up quite easily.
Their reservation system is more complicated but not difficult. I have to train during the swing shift all week, do some morning shifts next week and then I'll finally start being trained on the Audit shift, which is what I was hired for. I'll only be doing Audit part time but I'll also work part time swing as well. It doesn't pay enough but after 90 days I'll have benefits for the first time since I was 19. It would be nice to be able to go to the dentist. I worry about my teeth. I'm thinking, though, that if I don't get enrolled in a school up here soon, once I figure out my schedule with these people, I'll pick up a second part-time job because I'll desperately need the money in order to pay teh bills every month. I'm so far behind that I wince when I think about it. I try not to think about it but the more I let it go, the worse it gets and the more it makes me want to cry. I will find a way to catch up sooner or later.
I'm also doing a better job of trying to network and make friends. Besides Matt (and that's a whole situation unto itself) I've been emailing some potential friend people. I also hung out with this guy named Jordan this weekend. He was... different. He's in the railroad and I'm thinking that I should get into a job like that because it sounds interesting and bizarre and it pays just BUCKETLOADS of money and all you need is a pulse to do the stupid job. Even though Jordan is a weirdo who has an "open relationship" with his girlfriend and wants to have me as a "playmate," I think I'll keep this loser around a bit as a contact to eventually see if I can get into a better job.
Think about it. Wouldn't it just be GRAND if I could say, "Yeah, and then there was my stint with the railroad..." It would be awesome. I love doing weird, random, bizarre jobs. I have a collection of them so far:
Blackjack Dealer
Brain Injury Care Taker
Night Auditor
Resetter
They're weird jobs that you don't see every day (well, you do but everyone always wonders how I get into them. It's not that difficult, people) and I want more of them. I took this hotel job because it was something I was automatically qualified for and I'm desperate. What I'd REALLY hope pans out is the application I put in at my apartment complex. I'm going to try to talk to my apt. manager about it this week. I'd love to get into property management because then I could live here rent free!! SQUEE! All my problems would be solved! That, and I've always thought it would be an interesting job, renting apartments and property management.
I collect stories. Be they about people, odd jobs, happenstance occurances, or whathaveyou, I collect them all and I plan on making as many as I can here in Portland. Now that I'm working I know something will break open and things will start fitting into place again. That's comforting.
I thought about that today. I was laid off in December due to the holiday. I never did collect unemployment from it although I know I should have. I wonder if I still can. I went through all the forms online but nothing ever came of it. Oh well. Not the point. I technically did go back to work on the reset crew for one week in January but then Roofus broke down again and I never went back. Then I moved. Then I've been job searching.
It feels weird to work. I like it, in a way. It makes time go by quickly. Gives me something else to focus on and think about. Fills up my day with something to do. I need stuff to do. It doesn't hurt that there are alot of adorable men working there as well. Yay for eye candy.
My boss, Brian, bought me a pizza for lunch. How sweet. It was delicious but a little heavy on the garlic. I didn't have to actually do anything at all today. Just stand around and look pretty and pretend to pay attention to what others are doing. I guess tomorrow I will be anwering phones. Oh joy. Just being behind a front desk is bringing back all the old memories of my haydays at AmericInn. Everything that I did there had become a little hazy but I'm remembering it all. All the formalities, the routines, the lingo. I should be able to pick this up quite easily.
Their reservation system is more complicated but not difficult. I have to train during the swing shift all week, do some morning shifts next week and then I'll finally start being trained on the Audit shift, which is what I was hired for. I'll only be doing Audit part time but I'll also work part time swing as well. It doesn't pay enough but after 90 days I'll have benefits for the first time since I was 19. It would be nice to be able to go to the dentist. I worry about my teeth. I'm thinking, though, that if I don't get enrolled in a school up here soon, once I figure out my schedule with these people, I'll pick up a second part-time job because I'll desperately need the money in order to pay teh bills every month. I'm so far behind that I wince when I think about it. I try not to think about it but the more I let it go, the worse it gets and the more it makes me want to cry. I will find a way to catch up sooner or later.
I'm also doing a better job of trying to network and make friends. Besides Matt (and that's a whole situation unto itself) I've been emailing some potential friend people. I also hung out with this guy named Jordan this weekend. He was... different. He's in the railroad and I'm thinking that I should get into a job like that because it sounds interesting and bizarre and it pays just BUCKETLOADS of money and all you need is a pulse to do the stupid job. Even though Jordan is a weirdo who has an "open relationship" with his girlfriend and wants to have me as a "playmate," I think I'll keep this loser around a bit as a contact to eventually see if I can get into a better job.
Think about it. Wouldn't it just be GRAND if I could say, "Yeah, and then there was my stint with the railroad..." It would be awesome. I love doing weird, random, bizarre jobs. I have a collection of them so far:
Blackjack Dealer
Brain Injury Care Taker
Night Auditor
Resetter
They're weird jobs that you don't see every day (well, you do but everyone always wonders how I get into them. It's not that difficult, people) and I want more of them. I took this hotel job because it was something I was automatically qualified for and I'm desperate. What I'd REALLY hope pans out is the application I put in at my apartment complex. I'm going to try to talk to my apt. manager about it this week. I'd love to get into property management because then I could live here rent free!! SQUEE! All my problems would be solved! That, and I've always thought it would be an interesting job, renting apartments and property management.
I collect stories. Be they about people, odd jobs, happenstance occurances, or whathaveyou, I collect them all and I plan on making as many as I can here in Portland. Now that I'm working I know something will break open and things will start fitting into place again. That's comforting.