The Whining Continues....

Just another entry…

What can I say; it has been awhile since my last post. I had to deal with my taxes (I owe money:( ). Both Federal and State.

If you are looking for a career, where you can make money, hotel worker is not the one to choose. I currently feel stuck. I owe up the wazu. My expenses (rent, food, transportation, utilities) far exceed my income. I pray that my roommate will earn a living and contribute. This was my reason for having her stay with me. I cannot kick her out because of her kid. I could not put that kind of stress on the child.

The Hotel hired a new part time auditor. I do not know why he took this job. He does not seem interested. Personally, I wish the manager would fire him and find another person willing to learn the job. This guy is going to be on his own next week and this is his last night training in the audit role. I do not feel he will be ready. Other staff members have been complaining about his laziness.

The phones ring and he stares at them waiting to pick them out. He does not take notes unless forced and them forgets them at home the next day.

I worry there will be an emergency, or he wont be showing up to work and I will have to compensate for his lack of work ethic. We have finished the night audit, and I am waiting for checkouts, but he is sleeping in the manager’s room. I hope he does not do this when he on his own.

He has been whining to everybody how his ankle hurts for having to stand 6 hours at a time while training with the day shift.
Oh well, time will tell

More Gripes

So, it’s been a few days since I last posted. If anybody has read this, I would appreciate any comments you might have.

We have a new employee starting, and I will be training him as a part time Night Auditor. The current part time night auditor is moving to day shift. He has not been doing it very long but I guess he is already going out of his mind in the position.

I don’t like training new people. I have gotten to used to working on my own.

Tonight I checked in my first mobster. I was warned about his connections. I feel like I was placed in a difficult position. Usually we need a guest’s credit card or a prepayment of some type to hold a reservation.

This guy had none of these. An exception was given to him.

I also found out that the room he was assigned was accidentally not cleaned by the maids and the Assistant Manager went up there to clean before he left. I do not know how good a job he did since this is not something he usually does.

I wound up canceling the reservation before my audit at 3am because he never showed up. Of course he comes in @ 3:25am just at the tail end of my audit. He has his nephew with him and needs another room. We are unfortunately sold out.

The guy was tired but surprisingly nice. I booked the nephew a reservation at a nearby hotel and I gave the mobster guest an extra discount on the room. (I did not want him angry, and I was not sure on the condition of the room).

He gave me a $20 tip for being helpful. I now need to warn the day shift he will probably come in later and settle up for an extra day.

I like the tip, but I do not want this guy makes me nervous and I do not want him given a hard time and then find out my whole family has been wiped out:)

Other than that, things have been quiet. Our parking lot is regularly full and I am forced to ask guests to park on the street. I do not like doing this.

So many of the guests have these large SUV’s that take up 2 spaces, or people from neighboring buildings park in our lot. I have to spend at least 20 minutes checking permits to see if I can tow anyone. It is tricky because I do not want to tow a guest. Our front desk staff sometimes does not get enough details of a vehicle. A vehicle that may belong to a guest may not be properly identified in our system and I do not know if they are one of ours or not. An example would be the description Blue Ford. That could be 20 percent of the cars in the lot. I need a license plate and model at the very least.

Oh well. I guess I complain too much. I did like the tip tonight though. It was much needed.

The Job Continues

3:49 am.
I had to come into work last night on my day off. My relief auditor had an early appointment at the courthouse. OYYY! I am tired.

Well on the bonus side, the last couple of nights have been quiet and uneventful and I am getting Saturday night off instead. I hate Saturdays. These are the nights when all the drunks come in asking for a room and asking why we are sold out.

Well not much else to report. I had a nice Passover meal with my roommate and her daughter, watched American Idol (I am not sure why I watched it considering I consider the show gay).

Took a shower and shaved using my 1954 Gillette adjustable razor, Merkur blade, Dovo badger brush and “Kiss My Face” Shaving cream. (I think I mentioned earlier that I have a weird hobby of collecting old razors and shaving.)

Hope all is well Happy Passover and may my night continue to be uneventful.

The Day That Will Not End

Where to begin…….

My shift turned into hell. The morning (shift A) person never showed up. I wound up calling them @ 9am only to find out he was still sick. I wish he had called me in instead of letting me hang. How sick can one be not to pick up a phone? I don’t mind overtime, but let me know what the hell is going on! (I know I’m whining.)

I called and woke up my GM. I asked if I could call the 2nd shift people (Shift “B”) to come in a little early. He told me to have them come in ASAP.

I called and left voice messages with both the Shift B guys. I know one of them is still sick, but hey, I am getting over time and the owners have been complaining about it.

I don’t mind OT, but I like to know what my status is, where I stand, how to plan my sleep schedule:)

It turns out I was destined for a double shift. I must admit; I have a whole new respect for the morning shift. It was crazy. I think it’s the different pace that through me off.

It’s 10:15am,and while checking out a line of guests, a cab comes in with a couple of arrivals with none other than a dog. First off, our check-in time is 1pm. We have no rooms available; these 2 guests have at least 10 large bags with nowhere to put them. The 2nd big problem is that they had brought a dog with them.

We have a very strict No Pet policy. The arrivals starts begging and offer paying a deposit. I said I couldn’t make an exception to the rule. “It is not about the money, or how sweet your dog is, we have a strict no pet rule and there are no exceptions. The only thing I can do is call and see if there are any local hotels that allow pets.”

The arrivals said that they did not know about our “No Pet” policy. I said we advertise no pets clearly online and post it in our publicity information. Not to mention, they should have asked when the reservation was being booked.

The Arrivals continued to beg while my checkout line continued to lengthen and the phones were ringing non-stop. (A little side note. If you call a place of business, and the phone is not being answered right away, there usually is a good reason, please be patient, the people you are calling are not just sitting around twiddling their thumbs.) The arrivals then insisted to speak to my GM.

I called and woke him up again. He sounded annoyed. (I’m working a double shift, the Shift B folks have not returned my calls yet, and he’s annoyed?) He told me to tell her that we cannot make exceptions due to legal reasons. We advertise “No Pets”. If the dog causes any problems or something happens with another guest involving the dog, we are liable.

The Arrivals continued to beg and offer a deposit. I said “NO!” They insisted to speak to the GM, so I handed over the phone. He told them “NO!”

I proceeded to cancel their reservation and offered to contact other hotels nearby. They were annoyed and booked somewhere else on their own. I called a cab for them.

It continued to stay busy, with small incidents occurring (e.g. a homeless person was trying to rip off one of the maid’s carts by taking towels, shampoo, toothbrushes etc. Our maintenance man got into a confrontation with the guy.)

I finally received a return call from one of the Shift “B” guys @ about 12:30pm. He apologizing for not call earlier but he partied hard and got wasted the night before and had just checked his messages. He was going to jump in the shower and then head on over here. I said thank you because by then I was starting to feel tired.

Later while checking in guests, I get a call from an idiot. A person calling from Arizona asking if I had the phone number for the local DMV. I said I don’t. She asked if I could look it up. (What am I, information?). I said I could not. I currently have guests waiting in front of me wanting to checked in and do not have the time to look up phone numbers for her and that she needs to call information, or look it up on the WEB. She said all I need to do is check a phone book. Once again, I said I have guests waiting to be checked in and that I could not help her. She hung up on me annoyed. Some people are lazy idiots. I am at work very busy (doing hotel work and not 411) and she is casually sitting at home on the phone. She could find our phone number, but not the DMV’s? WTF?

The shift B guy arrived at about 2:15pm and at the same time, the other shift B guy called apologizing for not calling in earlier. He slept in because he was still sick and just checked his messages and would come in ASAP. I said thank you and clocked out.

I went home had dinner and watched TV with my roommate's daughter. I finally fell asleep at 5pm.


11:15pm. I over slept my alarm clock, my roommate woke me up and asked if I needed to be at work?

I ignored hygiene, got dressed and headed back to work and clocked in at 11:38pm. (Thank God I live close.)

I apologized for being late; my 2nd shift guy said understandable considering the time I had put in earlier.

Of course, the complaints continue. A guest who had just checked in, called from their room and complained they had reserved a room with a King sized bed and we gave them a room with 2 queen-sized beds. I checked the reservation and it was booked through an agency electronically. I informed them that the room she is in is what the agency booked with us. The guest insisted on a room with a King sized bed. Annoyed, because once again I had guests waiting to check in and phones ringing, I told her that we have no other rooms. We are sold out, and she needs to check back in the morning to see if something opens up for us to move her to. She said, “I want a room with a King sized bed and that is what was booked and that her husband had a print out of the reservation.” I told her “The hotel is sold out. I have nothing else to give and that if she would like she can check out with out charge, or she can wait till morning to see if a room with a King sized bed opens up.” I also mention that I am currently checking in guests and cannot assist her further. She hung up.

At 1:30am, the problems continue. A person gets off a shuttle van from the airport to check in on a reservation we do not have a record of. She had flown in from Panama and had stayed with us once before. I asked if the reservation was under another name. She said that she was going to share the room and that maybe the other person already checked in. I checked for the name of the other person. There were no reservations indicated for either of these people. I asked if she had a reservation number. She did not.

I called a hotel a couple of blocks away and checked for vacancies. I sent her over. Meanwhile I reserved a room for her on Tuesday, our earliest available room. I gave her a heavy discount because I believe she was telling the truth. (Who flies 7 hours from Panama thinking they have a reservation only to find out they don’t.) I still wondered if she might have accidentally called another hotel. Not to mention that she did not have her reservation number. I informed her to always write it down. I know we offer it every time we make a reservation.

It is 3:58am. I have finished my audit and I am about to make coffee on my trustee Mr. Coffee pod machine and then go for my walk. I pray nothing else goes wrong tonight. Monday and Tuesday are my days off and I plan to get drunk on beer and then fall asleep.

No such luck, old guy comes in and asks me to photocopy 30 something odd store receipts for him. We do photo copy stuff on occasion for guests but god these things were all crumpled up and disorganized. I had to sort them and photo copy them 2 at time. (I had no idea I worked for Kinkos). I charged him for the copies. I guess I shouldn’t complain. He was appreciative of my efforts.

Some guys checked out and I called a cab for them to the airport. I’m glad I had not yet completed my last walk around the hotel. They left their room door wedged open. We have had incidents of this happening and then finding homeless people squatting in the room scaring the maids. This is a problem for an open court type hotel in a small city that caters to the homeless.

It’s 6:12. If nothing else happens, I will be happy:)

2nd Entry

Howdy!

O.K.

This is my second entry to my new BLOG. Well things started off well. I clocked in and conferred with the 2nd shift night auditor. Poor guy is still sick. He said he felt awful. He did not know why our drawer was short $9.54. He thinks maybe, some of the staff may have borrowed $10.00 to by him a cake yesterday since it was his birthday. Oh well, I am sure we will figure it out. I did the usual of checking vacancies and arrivals. Answer= Sold Out and just one arrival to go. I counted our drawer and changed the tape. My arrival showed up a little after 1pm. She flew in from NJ. Poor woman looked tired. Apparently Hertz gave her a hard time, she ordered a particular vehicle, and they brought out another trying to up sell her. (Not cool!). Of course the system froze on me while checking her in and delayed me getting her into her room because I needed to print up her registration for a signature. Considering having a long flight with delays, traveling with kids and the hard time Hertz gave her, she was unusually patient. After 15 minutes of delay I finally got her key and signature and directed her to parking and the location of her room, but the night had not ended for her. As she exited the door of our front office, a drunken passerby started propositioning her asking where she is going and gave her a hard time, I told him to back off. He laughed and continued to walk on. I should have clubbed him with Maggie. Oh well. I had all my paperwork completed and finished my audit before 1pm. I then went for a walk around the hotel, Came back and kicked back to some coffee and music on the radio. I carry a razor kit with me since I don't always get to shave during the day and proceeded to clean off my whiskers in the bathroom. Sorry, I'm weird but I actually like shaving not to mention I am capable of anything to pass the time. I happen to be a collector of antique razors and actually use them. My skin can't handle the new multibladed razors that are currently on the market. The old time single blade razors seem to treat my skin better (e.g. no ingrown hairs or redness). 2:30 I proceeded to do anther walk around the hotel. All is quiet again. Nothing unusual, just the way I like it. My only annoyance it the continual walking in of people looking for rooms. I have a sign posted on our doors stating "NO VACANCY!" Yet people cannot read. They walk in and ask,

Illiterate stupid person: "Do you have a room?"

Me: "Sorry, but we're sold out."

Illiterate stupid person: " So you have no rooms?"

Me: "We are sold out, sorry."

Illiterate stupid person: "Not one room? I only need one."

Me: "Sorry, we are sold out."

Illiterate stupid person: "I'll pay extra."

Me: "I'm sorry there are no rooms available, if I had a room, I would sell you one. We are in the business of selling rooms and making a profit, but I have no rooms to sell."

Illiterate Stupid Person: "So, you have know rooms:("

Me: "That is right, I have know rooms. (ARRRRGH!)

Any way, it's 3:40; nothing else is going on, if something happens, I will post it..

Well...., it's 7:32am. I am still waiting for my relief to show up. Since Sunday's usual relief front desk person quit a couple of weeks ago and the person who might be coming called in sick yesterday, I am not to hopeful getting out of here soon. My shift should end at 7:30am, but often continues a little longer. I am currently sitting with my fingers crossed. I am tired and an want to go home.

First Time

Hello.

Please excuse how incomplete this Blog looks. This is my first post, and the first time starting a Blog. I still need to enter a profile, maybe some photos and etc.

It’s 6:30am, the Sun is rising and guests will be checking out soon. What can I tell you about the job? Well, last night was a typical Friday night. I check-in at 11:30pm. I check with the previous shift front desk person who is back after being sick for about a week (He still does not look and sound well. He was coughing and hacking like there was no tomorrow. Not to mention he looks like he has lost weight.) If there is anything I should know.

We are sold out, have 4 arrivals and the night has been quiet. He then leaves needing to go home and get some rest. I proceed to count cash and find the cash drawer short by $9.45. This is the first time I have been faced with a cash low drawer. We should have around $200.00 usually it’s over by a few cents.

I try to call the mobile phone of the 2nd shift front desk guy hoping his phone is on, to find out if he had maybe issued any guest refunds and forgot to enter them in the system. Unfortunately the phone is off and I have to enter the discrepancy in our incident Log Book.

I then proceed to change our security tape, sort the transaction receipts, confirm they reconcile with our system and then do a Bucket Check.

The Bucket is a file drawer with hard-signed copies of all our checked in guests, the rooms they are in and has imprints of their credit cards. It is our backup incase the computer system goes down. Bucket Checking is basically making sure all the paper work is there.

I received a phone call at about 12:30 from the GM (General Manager) just checking to make sure I am ok and to see if there are any problems. None except the cash drawer discrepancy. He says “OK”. On my shift I am the only employee here and don’t get to interact much with my coworkers. He likes to touch bases with me a couple of times a month just to make sure everything is OK. He is a good guy.

In fact all my coworkers are great. This is really the first place I have worked all my years where everybody seems to get along and there is no drama. Of course, it could be working alone most the time keeps me isolated from it. Everybody does their job in a way to make their co-workers easier. The only thing I have noticed, as a problem is that there has been a lot of illness going around and people calling in sick. I find myself getting over time due to itJ. Knock on wood; I have not missed a day yet.

At 1am, I grab Maggie (a 2-foot long MAG flashlight with 4 D Cell batteries to add to a skull cracking weight) and do a walk around the hotel. Everything is quiet. I then kick back and surf the web and listen to music. I check in 3 of my 4 remaining arrivals and tell 4 walk-ins that we are sold out. The usual question I get is “Why are you sold out?” What is going on? My response. It’s a Friday night.

2:30am I walk once again around the hotel. All is quite.

When I get back from my walk, I proceed to check in the arrival that has not shown up yet and run my reports. I sort the paper work and fax every thing to the different owners and create a large pack of reports for the controller. The procedure takes about 20 minutes.

I then make coffee in my Mr. Coffee pod machine and kick back till 4am.

4am I once again walk around the hotel. Walking around the hotel takes between 10-15 minutes. I always take the stairs since it is the only form of exercise it get. The hotel is small and we have only three floors. All is open courtyard.

I get a call at 6:53am. The morning front desk calls in to inform me he is sick and will not be able to make it in. This means more overtime for me. I will have to wait an extra hour till the morning assistant manager comes in and then let him know he is on his own today.

At 7am I check-in my remaining arrival as a no show. They get charged for a 1nights stay even though they did not come in. Guests have up till 6pm until the date of arrival to cancel otherwise they will be charged for the night. I know of some hotels that will charge for the entire length of stay. Hey I could have sold that room.

Now I chill and direct guests to the breakfast room even though they were informed at check-in where it is and are handed a slip of paper with the information.
So far I have only checked out 2 guests. We have 38 to go. Checkout is at 12pm.