Showing posts with label embassy suites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label embassy suites. Show all posts

Aug 13, 2011

a long week

i had the weekend off and started back at embassy monday morning working until saturday morning. 6 shifts.

over the weekend, i relaxed and threw a party. i had fun and that's really all that matters in the long run. monday, tuesday, and wednesday, i was back working cutlery. thursday, i started earlier and was on toast for my second time ever. i guess the kid who's normally on toast was off that day. i can't say i enjoy doing it but it was okay for a change. friday, i stocked the cold buffet.

i asked for saturdays off from embassy as i talked to sport chek and they said if i can get saturdays off, they would try to schedule me for a shift on that day. unfortunately, i wasn't on the schedule at all for sport chek this week and i couldn't understand why. but i had told embassy i was working there on saturday. on wednesday, a manager asked if i could come in early on saturday for 3 hours. i agreed even though i really didn't want to -- but my terms were that i could be guaranteed the sunday off, which i did receive. by the time this morning rolled around, embassy forgot i was even coming in this morning and i just helped out where i could/sweep etc.

i had a bit of an awkward encounter with a dude at work but hopefully we can move on from it. it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks and where the rumour ends up by the time i leave, but perhaps it has already hit its peak for now. i also went to brock this week and picked up my thesis finally that's all nicely bound and printed, and spent my $10 gift card from the bookstore on a sweet canteen.

i got my timetable from seneca finally! but it's not that awesome. 
mondays i have 3 classes: 10:45am-11:35am, 1:30pm-3:15pm, and 4:15pm-6:55pm.
tuesdays i have 1 class: 8:00am-9:45am which is a such a long hike for just one class.
wednesdays i have 2 classes: 8:00am-9:45am and 11:40am-1:25pm.
thursdays i have off which i'm stoked about.
fridays i have 3 classes: 10:45am-12:30pm, 12:35pm-2:20pm, and 2:25pm-3:15pm, but hopefully the last one is just going to be online like it says.
i essentially have about a 45 minute commute to school everyday.. which means for my 8ams, i'll have to leave my apartment by 7am. not looking forward to that at all.

i've started to look into furniture and things we need for the apartment and so has corey; he moves in on monday and is super stoked. next week, i only work 3 shifts at embassy which is good since i'm exhausted from this week already. i have tomorrow off to play squash. hang out, and maybe check out buskerfest. i have thursday and friday off as i'm supposed to go to peterborough to see my brother but i may bail on that if i have to work at sport chek or might go to toronto or do something else cool.

Jul 24, 2011

first week

i'm alive after my first week working at embassy suites.

the mornings are difficult but somehow i managed. wednesday, i stocked the cold part of the buffet, which is a ridiculous amount of work all the time. i looked after all the muffins, pastries, cold cereal, bagels, fruit (grapefruit, watermelon, 2 types of apples, oranges, bananas), bread for toasting, and english muffins. it amazed me how much i had to constantly stock and the amount of people going through the buffet.

thursday, i was stocking cutlery and mostly working with high school kids in the bar kitchen. i knew working in a kitchen wasn't the best idea, but fuck. these high school kids are so fucking rude. not to me -- just in general. i'm pretty sure i wasn't like them when i was that age. anyway, so i had to stock the silverware (knives, forks, spoons). i'd grab all the washed ones from the dishpit, polish them off, put them in an insert, and run them out to where they belong on the buffet. this was a pretty easy job.

friday, i was on toast. i was situated at the end of one of the chef stations toasting bread for each of the 3 chef stations. all i did for the entire time i was there was toast bread and talk to the chefs cooking omelettes and eggs. this was okay but was also the day it was like 49 degrees outside and so standing in front of a toaster for 3 hours was not the greatest time in the world.

saturday, i was on cutlery again and it was insanely busy like every other tourist destination on a saturday during the summer. a few other people working had to help me out a couple of times just because the cutlery was disappearing so fast and not exiting the dishpit fast enough. i survived, though. i just think it's strange that the majority of people working in the kitchen actually do their work and don't normally shoot the shit that much. it's probably my first job i've had where quality work is being done almost all the time. that being said, i haven't met that many people and rarely if ever take a break.

there is one dude who's been helping me out since my second day. he's nice and we get along. we normally get assigned together to do cleanup duties. yesterday, 2 of the girls got me to take a break with them.. so that was nice to talk for a bit. we got along too. next week, i only work 3 shifts at embassy. i called sport chek and am not scheduled for next week at all since the trainers are on vacation. they said they would schedule me for the following week. the first week in august, holy shit.

corey and i are working on still getting the apartment. we should be able to have it soon! i'm so excited. also, my timetable for seneca should be arriving the second week in august and i'll know my schedule finally. a few weeks after that, i'll be moving to toronto!

i just want to move now.

Jul 20, 2011

2 jobs... again

i landed the job with embassy suites and today was my first shift.

i went in for an interview yesterday and was hired on the spot for a food runner position in the breakfast buffet. i was surprised they would even consider me for that with no kitchen experience, but i didn't care. i have to wear a chef uniform with the jacket, pants, hat, and apron that i swim in. it's pretty hilarious to see.

the shifts vary from either start time of 6am, 7am, or 8am and finishing about 12pm, 1pm, or 2pm. the buffet goes from 7am-11am then cleanup which could take awhile. getting up this morning was brutal to be in for 7am. i got a quick tour of the kitchen and was shown where stuff was. i stock the buffet when things run low and so on. it shocked me to see all these people constantly running through all this food even though i had just stocked it, went in the kitchen, came back out and the food i had just stocked was all gone already. people are crazy. also, the amount of food thrown out in the kitchen makes me nervous.. being an environmentalist and all. trashing that much food all the time is so unsustainable.

i worked and worked and worked, constantly running around. when the buffet was over, i started to clean and was not given a break. the girl i was cleaning with was hard to understand and wasn't giving me very good instructions on how to do things properly. of course, my body was tired and i had a terrible headache since i had barely drank any drinks during the shift because nobody had shown me where/how to get drinks. eventually, we had finished most of the cleanup and were told we could go on break. but instead, the supervisor said if i wanted to that i could go home. i was sold on the idea and left.

i began my search for the lockers and got lost. i ended up in a restricted area with a ton of cameras and somehow found my way out of the building. i still don't know where the lockers are. i work again tomorrow at 7am, then friday and saturday at 8am. i'm just going to let them know from now on that i can only work till noon or 1pm since i have my other job. they'll understand and at least i'll get out of there faster.

i called sport chek tonight and told them my availability -- pretty much 3pm to close everyday. makes it easier on embassy and myself so i'll have a couple of hours to regroup/shower/change/eat/sleep etc between days with shifts at both jobs.. which i'm sure will happen. i start next week at sport chek sometime when the schedule comes out. i'll rock embassy till then with one job i can sort of handle.

in the meantime, corey and i have finalized the apartment (i think) and began the process of moving in! i still don't know final costs and whatnot but at least we officially have a place. i'm so stoked. also, in a few weeks, i'm throwing my party and i can't wait for that too. i've already booked it off. woo.

okay. for the last time. there are 7 weeks of summer remaining. if i could please just keep these 2 jobs (or at least 1 if it comes down to that) i would be a happy amber.

Jul 18, 2011

the luckiest break yet

sport chek called today and hired me on as a sales associate.

my last shift at margaritaville was thursday night till about 11:30pm. i came home and immediately began applying for various jobs through email -- one being a front desk position at the howard johnson closest to my house. i had talked to someone at margaritaville who's mom worked at embassy suites in the breakfast buffet. she told me to go see her mom on saturday and i had plans to do so.

friday afternoon, i get a call from howard johnson and set up and interview later that afternoon. i did the interview even though i didn't want front desk (but, let's face it -- it's middle of the summer and i'm desperate) and i'm told that she would get back to me sometime next week. she asked me about my education, what the responsibilities of a front desk person are, about my last summer position and so on. i didn't feel as though i had nailed the interview but honestly, i didn't care. i had lost all my will to work after being let go.

saturday morning, i went to the embassy breakfast buffet and met with the manager. the buffet was insanely busy and i had to wait over an hour to speak with her. i thought for sure that she had forgotten about me so i had a hostess go find her. i gave a copy of my resume, talked about my experience and possible working over christmas/on weekends and left. the shifts are only 3-4 hours in length but include tips. i was told i would hear back in a few days if there were any openings.

this afternoon, embassy called and i set up an interview for tomorrow. about an hour later, i get another call from sport chek, who if you recall from this blog post here, they were supposed to call me by june 30th if i was hired. i talked to the girl and she offered me a sales associate/cashier position and for me to come in tomorrow morning to get it all sorted out.

perhaps i'll have 2 jobs again for the remaining of the summer?