There's No Sweeter Sound Than When Your Boss Says..."Time To Go Home!"

Especiallly at 5pm! Oh my goodness. We did a 9 hour shift today...just 8-5, and it felt like we were there about 30 minutes. After getting off, H and I went downtown, threw our laundry in (long overdue, seeing as we've been working too late to get our clothes washed) and then went downtown to cook some hot dogs by the marina. We stopped at the grocery store first to pick up some chips, salsa and charcoal that you "supposedly" do not need lighter fluid for. Now, I don't know if it's because we're both women and not seasond barbecuers, or because the charcoal company lied, but we could not get this charcoal lit. After about 25 minutes, a few matchbooks, and all of H's paystubs later (used for paper to try and catch the charcoal...) she finally went back to Doud's to get lighter fluid. 10 minutes later we had hot dogs! lol

So, unfortunately, shortly into our little impromptu cookout, I got a text from the family I've been babysitting for that they needed me again tonight, so my night of freedom was short lived. It's been a fun night though! I got here, changed the kids into their pj's and we went for a walk around the hotel - what dress code? It's not like the owner of the place is going to walk through and see me in my leggings and t-shirt and the kids in their footie pajamas running around in the lobby before bed.
Oh wait...
Yes, that really happened. I said hi to him and told him how excited I am for our boat cruise tomorrow. We chatted for a bit and he told me I look like a natural with the kids. Which is great since I'm hoping for at least another ten years to hone the craft before venturing into that nightmare myself...anyway then he bends down and starts talking to the kids like he's known them and their family for years. People like that truly amaze me! Part of what makes him so successful is his way with people- he's not at all the kind of guy who you'd think of as intimidating or rude or ever too busy to stop and say hello to. I love it, and will remember it as I start moving up and taking on more responsibilities...that even the man who owns this resort has time to get down on his knees and chat with a two year old about her stuffed pony and pink crocs.
Another thing tonight made me realize is that taking on these extra hours has led to a lot of really good opportunities. Networking, and otherwise. While I was extremely tempted tonight to just tell the mom, you know what? I've been working my ass off. I'd much rather hang out downtown, you guys can find someone else to watch the kids tonight. I didn't, and I learned a valuable lesson tonight - and this isn't the first.
A few weeks ago, during my late night filing, I got the chance to see what upper management has to do on a night that they are over-booked. My manager - who I must say has really grown on me these last few weeks - has some extremely creative and innovative ways of figuring out whether or not people are coming on any given night. You see, a lot of times if we don't attempt to contact people, we will have no-shows. So, late at night when we're over-booked, we have to find ways to contact people who have out of service phone numbers, last minute name changes with absolutely no contact information, and other various cases where we are left clueless and waiting. So, this one night that we were over booked, we had an out of service phone number. So, I had the idea to go on white pages.com and see if we could find another phone number. In doing so, we saw that his area code was a digit off from the one listed online. We tried it with that area code and voila he gets a room that night.
This was actually a lucky night for us...we had a wedding party that had put a random person's name on a room last minute to try and keep the room in the block, but they didn't actually need it for anyone, so we sold out and everyone had a room! This among many other things are instances that I've figured out that by staying late I can learn a lot more than at most other times of the day.

When the office is busy, the front desk is busy, and my manager is busy, it doesn't allow a lot of time for listening or observing. It also pushes some issues out of the way, because sometimes an upset guest will see that we have thirty people waiting to check-in and will save their complaint for after hours...this happens a lot. Once the phone go off and everyone is checked in, and the place has quieted down, I've figured out that I can do a lot of listening. I can hear how the managers handle angry guests, how assistant managers handle late night "crises" and what to do if you have the air conditioner break in an elderly couple's room on a night that it's 80 degrees out and the maintenance man has left for the day. It's fun! I'm really trying to take advantage of my time here as much as possible, and I think I'm doing a good job of it. As long as I don't get to the point where my boss comes in and asks me how long I've been there and how much overtime I'm costing him, I think I'll be fine.
Anyway, boat cruise tomorrow. Just learned how to put pictures on here (three months delayed...) so maybe I'll post a few! Have a good night, everyone!