Black Hills State does not cancel school as easily as say a public school would cancel. But when you have three feet of snow, the Interstate closed from here to Rapid City, well then, that's the best kind of day to cancel school!
Except that our portfolios are due tomorrow and I wanted to talk to Rachel about an artifact I'm having troubles with. Hmm. Maybe I'll give her a call later today. But this makes it a two day week at school...no school on Monday, none today because of snow, and no school on Friday for the College of Education for whatever reason. I also needed to get two late artifact sheets signed by one of my teachers today...guess that's not going to happen, either.
I have a lot of stuff to work on today...I'll probably do some laundry since I don't have work or school today, and get some more homework done, start working on some of the other projects that are due the week after next.
I'd take some pictures, but it's so white and windy outside, I don't think it would show you much. But here's a link to the BHSU webcam, showing the campus green.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Furry Grass
Taken outside the living room window this evening after a freak snowstorm began last night. It was 80* outside yesterday! How did this happen?!
Anyway, I thought the grass looked cool, so there ya have it.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
computer herpes
After owning three computers and never having contracted a computer STD, it finally happened. On my brand new computer. *grumble* A friend of mine sent me a message on MSN that said, "Hey, is this you?" with a link that looked like an MSN member profile, with my email address on it. I clicked on it, and it downloaded the virus. Which got into my Norton Internet Security. I couldn't uninstall Norton to reinstall it. My auto-protect had been disabled and it wouldn't let me enable it. Aaron looked at it because he's a computery person, and he said it was the worst virus he's ever seen, in the sense that it was so deeply embedded into everything and how it locked up everything.
I ended up having to reformat the computer (again), and now I can't find the driver for the internet, so I'm back to the ol' lappy for the time being. Just have to wait for aaron to get home to fix it for me, as he knows where all the CDs for the computers are...and I don't.
Fortunately it didn't wipe out my computer and kill everything, like all of my school work I've got saved on the computer from the past FIVE YEARS. That would have been devistating. Especially with less than a week to go until portfolios are due. I would have cried.
But that's my quick update for now...
I ended up having to reformat the computer (again), and now I can't find the driver for the internet, so I'm back to the ol' lappy for the time being. Just have to wait for aaron to get home to fix it for me, as he knows where all the CDs for the computers are...and I don't.
Fortunately it didn't wipe out my computer and kill everything, like all of my school work I've got saved on the computer from the past FIVE YEARS. That would have been devistating. Especially with less than a week to go until portfolios are due. I would have cried.
But that's my quick update for now...
Friday, April 14, 2006
getting there, slowly but surely
Well, things are getting slowly under way. I only have to write three rationales and put four more artifacts in my portfolio for the College of Education. I can't believe how far I am. I actually have much less to do than most of the other girls in my block of classes, which really surprises me!
With only a month left of school, you'd think things wouldn't be too bad. Well, I've got a service learning project, a themed unit (which should try to tie in with the service learning project), a field trip assignment, and some other random small things due in the last four weeks of school. Plus one of those weeks is spent out in the field at the elementary school in Belle Fourche where I've been doing my junior field experience, so that won't be so bad; I just have to teach two more lesson plans that week, one using technology somehow (which is hard, because they're not a very technologically advanced school), and the other just a regular lesson. I also have to journal and reflect on every day I spend in the field which takes up about two hours of every evening after I get home (except Mondays because I have to leave the school early to make it to work on time, and by the time I get home at midnight, I'm too tired to journal).
Slowly slowly slowly getting things finished up. I've brainstormed a ton of ideas for my themed unit and service learning project, I just need to put them on paper and in the right sequence now, and the field trip is going to be kind of a pain in the butt, but I'll survive.
The field trip assignment has to do with Monday the 10th when our class took a trip to the Wildlife Sanctuary here in Spearfish. BEAUTIFUL animals live there. White tigers, Siberian tigers, "common tigers," a liger, lions, a lion that lives with a beagle, peacocks, cats, chinchillas, ocelots, lynx, bobcats, coyotes, panthers, cougars, camels, pigs, ponies, goats, fowl, dogs, a half dog/half wolf, bears - you name it, it probably lives there.
The facility has over 18 tigers alone! They have more tigers than they do dogs. It was amazing to hear each of their stories and learn why they were living at the facility. I must say, there are some crazies in Minnesota who think it's a good idea to keep tigers as pets.
So anyway, we have to write up a field trip plan - note to parents, permission slips, classroom management, a lesson plan to do involving the sanctuary somehow, everything. So we went to the sanctuary first, so we could see what the facility was like, so we could plan a field day around the sanctuary. It was really an incredible experience to see all of those animals, living less than 10 miles from my apartment...I had no idea there were that many animals living there.
But yeah, that's my update for the week. I've been staying after school in the computer lab for anywhere between 3 and 5 hours a night when possible, getting assignments done. I'm ready for a break! Thank goodness it's Easter!
Oh, and a happy 21st birthday goes out to my roomie, Jill! *smile*
With only a month left of school, you'd think things wouldn't be too bad. Well, I've got a service learning project, a themed unit (which should try to tie in with the service learning project), a field trip assignment, and some other random small things due in the last four weeks of school. Plus one of those weeks is spent out in the field at the elementary school in Belle Fourche where I've been doing my junior field experience, so that won't be so bad; I just have to teach two more lesson plans that week, one using technology somehow (which is hard, because they're not a very technologically advanced school), and the other just a regular lesson. I also have to journal and reflect on every day I spend in the field which takes up about two hours of every evening after I get home (except Mondays because I have to leave the school early to make it to work on time, and by the time I get home at midnight, I'm too tired to journal).
Slowly slowly slowly getting things finished up. I've brainstormed a ton of ideas for my themed unit and service learning project, I just need to put them on paper and in the right sequence now, and the field trip is going to be kind of a pain in the butt, but I'll survive.
The field trip assignment has to do with Monday the 10th when our class took a trip to the Wildlife Sanctuary here in Spearfish. BEAUTIFUL animals live there. White tigers, Siberian tigers, "common tigers," a liger, lions, a lion that lives with a beagle, peacocks, cats, chinchillas, ocelots, lynx, bobcats, coyotes, panthers, cougars, camels, pigs, ponies, goats, fowl, dogs, a half dog/half wolf, bears - you name it, it probably lives there.
The facility has over 18 tigers alone! They have more tigers than they do dogs. It was amazing to hear each of their stories and learn why they were living at the facility. I must say, there are some crazies in Minnesota who think it's a good idea to keep tigers as pets.
So anyway, we have to write up a field trip plan - note to parents, permission slips, classroom management, a lesson plan to do involving the sanctuary somehow, everything. So we went to the sanctuary first, so we could see what the facility was like, so we could plan a field day around the sanctuary. It was really an incredible experience to see all of those animals, living less than 10 miles from my apartment...I had no idea there were that many animals living there.
But yeah, that's my update for the week. I've been staying after school in the computer lab for anywhere between 3 and 5 hours a night when possible, getting assignments done. I'm ready for a break! Thank goodness it's Easter!
Oh, and a happy 21st birthday goes out to my roomie, Jill! *smile*
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Insurance Gripes
This is getting freaking rediculous. My car was hit March 12th. It is now April 6th, and I don't have my car fixed. I have been swapped over to a more local insurance branch in Rapid City, to a new appraiser and a new insurance guy. Well, I've had pretty good contact with the insurance guy, but every time I try to get ahold of the appraiser it's after hours, so I leave a message, letting her know I need to talk to her.
She had left me a message saying that they had gotten the estimates in and that they were disallowing the wheel alignment because there was no frame or suspension damage, and that they had adjusted the price of the labor a little bit. She then told me that the check was in the mail and that I could start repair at any time.
Well. Isn't that convenient for her? Call and leave a message. Don't verify any of this with me. No. I did not say that it was okay for that to happen. This is my car. It's going to be fixed back to new, before the guy hit me, and that's all there is to it. I don't care how much money they're trying to save, this is their problem now, and they're going to pay what it's going to take to do this. End of the line.
I have left her three messages, all to no avail. I have called the other insurance guy out of Rapid City and let him know that I hadn't been able to get ahold of her. He said he'd try to get ahold of her and have her call me. Nothing. So I left another annoyed message on her voicemail, letting her know that I needed to talk to her now and that it was not okay that she sent the check with a different amount than the esimtate without my approval, or my dad's approval, for that matter, as he is the one they keep calling and sending things to.
Grr. I'm really freakin' sick and tired of this. On Wednesday it will have been a month since I haven't been able to unlock my car from the outside. A little rediculous, no?
She had left me a message saying that they had gotten the estimates in and that they were disallowing the wheel alignment because there was no frame or suspension damage, and that they had adjusted the price of the labor a little bit. She then told me that the check was in the mail and that I could start repair at any time.
Well. Isn't that convenient for her? Call and leave a message. Don't verify any of this with me. No. I did not say that it was okay for that to happen. This is my car. It's going to be fixed back to new, before the guy hit me, and that's all there is to it. I don't care how much money they're trying to save, this is their problem now, and they're going to pay what it's going to take to do this. End of the line.
I have left her three messages, all to no avail. I have called the other insurance guy out of Rapid City and let him know that I hadn't been able to get ahold of her. He said he'd try to get ahold of her and have her call me. Nothing. So I left another annoyed message on her voicemail, letting her know that I needed to talk to her now and that it was not okay that she sent the check with a different amount than the esimtate without my approval, or my dad's approval, for that matter, as he is the one they keep calling and sending things to.
Grr. I'm really freakin' sick and tired of this. On Wednesday it will have been a month since I haven't been able to unlock my car from the outside. A little rediculous, no?
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Casino Mike
So a week ago, these two guys come to the cage where I work and end up getting my phone number from me because I'm a big dummy and haven't been hit on in a long time (except by Aaron, of course), and don't know what to do. He'd given me his phone number first, which was fine by me, because I had no intentions of calling him in the first place. Well, he'd called me the very next night, but did not leave a message. I kept his phone number with me so I would know when he called and know not to answer the phone (tee hee). A couple of days went by, and he called again Thursday night just as Aaron and I were coming in from getting some groceries. I recognized the phone number as his, so I asked Aaron if he wanted to answer the phone, but he declined, so I just let it ring. Still didn't leave a message.
Then he called two times yesterday, while I was at work, finally leaving a message. It went something like this:
Hey Andrea this is Mike, I dont' know if you remember me or not, um, you gave me your number at your work a week or so ago and I've tried calling a couple times but I always get your voicemail, so you probably have been wondering whose number this is showing up on you caller ID. Well it's me, Mike, and I'd really like to talk to you and maybe hang out, get some coffee sometime, get to know eachother, my phone number is *****, hope to hear from you, bye.
Well, the reason you have been getting my voicemail is because I am not answering the phone! Then, I'm taking a nap today after I get off work 'cause I'm pooped (stayed 'til 12:30am, got home at 1am, up by 6am to go to work by 7:30am), and I have my phone set as my alarm. It starts ringing, but it's not the alarm's ringtone, but I'm zombied out, so I don't know, I just open the phone and close it to activate the snooze. Then it starts ringing again, and I look at the screen, sure enough...it's Casino Mike (which is how I have labeled him in my phone book, even though he's the only Mike in my phone book). No voicemail again, but I'm sure the reason he'd called was because I'd picked up the phone, then hung it back up. Whoops. So once I get up from my nap, I look to see how many times he called. THREE times between 4pm and 6pm.
Now...you think he'd get the hint...wouldn't you? I don't know. I'm just going to keep ignoring the phone calls and hope he does get the hint and not come back to the casino and seek me out again. I've been trying to think of a good reason why I've never answered the phone or called back aside from, "Well, like I told you when you saw me at the casino, I'm really busy this semester and don't have a lot of time to go out and do anything." Because I can't just say that my phone broke conveniently after he got my number, because it always rings before going to voicemail, instead of going directly to voicemail, which would indicate that my phone is on. Not off and broken.
Any ideas? Besides just answering the phone and saying, "Hey, I should have told you that I am in a serious relationship when you first talked to me, and I'm really not comfortable hanging out with you right now. Sorry."
Ugh. I'm so dumb. Aaron knows about all this, and thinks is was pretty dumb, and I'm just going to have to deal with it, which is true, and I know that...but blah. It all started when the guy noticed that I wasn't wearing a ring on my left finger. "Oh, no ring, that's a good sign." So I have started wearing the opal ring my mom got me for my 16th birthday on that finger. It's not a diamond, but I'm not traditional, so it works. Ha.
And there's my blonde moment of the month.
In other words, Mom and Dad stopped in after I got off work and brightened up my otherwise crappy day (no sleep, being asked if I think this job is boring because I've been making silly mistakes at work, being $200 short at the end of my shift, and just being crabby in general). Oh, and seeing the baby cows tromping around in the field on the way home helped a little, too. *smile*
Then he called two times yesterday, while I was at work, finally leaving a message. It went something like this:
Hey Andrea this is Mike, I dont' know if you remember me or not, um, you gave me your number at your work a week or so ago and I've tried calling a couple times but I always get your voicemail, so you probably have been wondering whose number this is showing up on you caller ID. Well it's me, Mike, and I'd really like to talk to you and maybe hang out, get some coffee sometime, get to know eachother, my phone number is *****, hope to hear from you, bye.
Well, the reason you have been getting my voicemail is because I am not answering the phone! Then, I'm taking a nap today after I get off work 'cause I'm pooped (stayed 'til 12:30am, got home at 1am, up by 6am to go to work by 7:30am), and I have my phone set as my alarm. It starts ringing, but it's not the alarm's ringtone, but I'm zombied out, so I don't know, I just open the phone and close it to activate the snooze. Then it starts ringing again, and I look at the screen, sure enough...it's Casino Mike (which is how I have labeled him in my phone book, even though he's the only Mike in my phone book). No voicemail again, but I'm sure the reason he'd called was because I'd picked up the phone, then hung it back up. Whoops. So once I get up from my nap, I look to see how many times he called. THREE times between 4pm and 6pm.
Now...you think he'd get the hint...wouldn't you? I don't know. I'm just going to keep ignoring the phone calls and hope he does get the hint and not come back to the casino and seek me out again. I've been trying to think of a good reason why I've never answered the phone or called back aside from, "Well, like I told you when you saw me at the casino, I'm really busy this semester and don't have a lot of time to go out and do anything." Because I can't just say that my phone broke conveniently after he got my number, because it always rings before going to voicemail, instead of going directly to voicemail, which would indicate that my phone is on. Not off and broken.
Any ideas? Besides just answering the phone and saying, "Hey, I should have told you that I am in a serious relationship when you first talked to me, and I'm really not comfortable hanging out with you right now. Sorry."
Ugh. I'm so dumb. Aaron knows about all this, and thinks is was pretty dumb, and I'm just going to have to deal with it, which is true, and I know that...but blah. It all started when the guy noticed that I wasn't wearing a ring on my left finger. "Oh, no ring, that's a good sign." So I have started wearing the opal ring my mom got me for my 16th birthday on that finger. It's not a diamond, but I'm not traditional, so it works. Ha.
And there's my blonde moment of the month.
In other words, Mom and Dad stopped in after I got off work and brightened up my otherwise crappy day (no sleep, being asked if I think this job is boring because I've been making silly mistakes at work, being $200 short at the end of my shift, and just being crabby in general). Oh, and seeing the baby cows tromping around in the field on the way home helped a little, too. *smile*
Sunday, March 26, 2006
blatherings
Well, last night was probably some of the better times I've had recently, what with all the crap going on at school and work, it was nice to get out of the apartment for an evening. Mom came to Deadwood after she and I got off work and we went out on the town and gambled. Now, normally, I am a blackjack player, but I wanted to hang out with Mom more, and she doesn't play cards too much, she prefers the slots. With good reason, she's won quite a bit of money on some of them, and even last night, she did pretty well for herself. She even hit about $300 on a quarter machine, and I "borrowed" her buckets of quarters and sorted through all of them to find bicentennials. Tee hee. I found about eight of them, though!
I wasn't doing too well on the slots, and I lost about half the money I brought with me (which I don't bring much with me, anyway, so that's not too much money lost), so I decided it was time to get it back. Despite the bad luck I've had lately on the blackjack tables, I decided that was my only salvation, and we found a casino with some tables, and more importantly, with some open seats. The reason they were open? It was a $5 minimum table, and I guess that scares people off when the rest of the tables have a $2 minimum. But I was able to win back all of my money, and maybe and extra five or ten dollars, too. Even though it's nice to come out ahead, it's almost just as nice to come out even.
It's been raining all afternoon and evening today, which means that it's finally spring! Although we're supposed to get a bit of snow tonight, which always happens when I go out into the field for my observation of the first grade classroom in Belle. Well, that's what happened last time. Which was the first time. I'm rambling and you don't care.
I hate it when people call me and don't leave messages, especially if I don't have their phone number in my phone, because I don't know who it is, and don't feel like calling them back to find out. Especially when it's a work phone number, because I don't know if it's Aaron trying to get ahold of me because he left his cell phone at home, or if it's someone from the cage telling me they found the money I was missing at the end of my shift. Oh well.
I faxed the insurance guy my estimates for the car repair last week, so hopefully I will hear from him tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. Also, hopefully the Ford dealership/repair shop will find out what's going on with my car when it won't stay in gear (even though it hasn't done it since), and hopefully it will have been caused by the accident and I won't have to pay for it. Yuck.
I don't know if I have too much more to talk about...so I'm gonna go! I'll be with the first graders this week instead of classes, so no homework! No projects! Well, none that are due this week, at least...They're just all due NEXT week! Blah. I need a vacation. Thank goodness for Easter break (which I have to work...blech).
I wasn't doing too well on the slots, and I lost about half the money I brought with me (which I don't bring much with me, anyway, so that's not too much money lost), so I decided it was time to get it back. Despite the bad luck I've had lately on the blackjack tables, I decided that was my only salvation, and we found a casino with some tables, and more importantly, with some open seats. The reason they were open? It was a $5 minimum table, and I guess that scares people off when the rest of the tables have a $2 minimum. But I was able to win back all of my money, and maybe and extra five or ten dollars, too. Even though it's nice to come out ahead, it's almost just as nice to come out even.
It's been raining all afternoon and evening today, which means that it's finally spring! Although we're supposed to get a bit of snow tonight, which always happens when I go out into the field for my observation of the first grade classroom in Belle. Well, that's what happened last time. Which was the first time. I'm rambling and you don't care.
I hate it when people call me and don't leave messages, especially if I don't have their phone number in my phone, because I don't know who it is, and don't feel like calling them back to find out. Especially when it's a work phone number, because I don't know if it's Aaron trying to get ahold of me because he left his cell phone at home, or if it's someone from the cage telling me they found the money I was missing at the end of my shift. Oh well.
I faxed the insurance guy my estimates for the car repair last week, so hopefully I will hear from him tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. Also, hopefully the Ford dealership/repair shop will find out what's going on with my car when it won't stay in gear (even though it hasn't done it since), and hopefully it will have been caused by the accident and I won't have to pay for it. Yuck.
I don't know if I have too much more to talk about...so I'm gonna go! I'll be with the first graders this week instead of classes, so no homework! No projects! Well, none that are due this week, at least...They're just all due NEXT week! Blah. I need a vacation. Thank goodness for Easter break (which I have to work...blech).
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Done with midterms!
I had my last midterm today! Out of the four, I know grades for three - 93%, 84%, and 88%. I'm sure I'll get around the same grade for this last midterm, but who knows, I could have totally bombed the two essays, worth 10 points each.
My car is doing something weird, yet again, since the accident. When parked on an incline, I put it in Drive and tried to go forward. Instead, I started going backwards, as if I were in neutral. Pushed on the gas, just revved the engine, like I was in neutral. So I put it in Park, then back in gear, and it worked. It did that twice to me yesterday, but didn't seem to affect my car today (even though I had to back out of my parking spot this time, instead of drive through it like the two times it wouldn't catch in gear). It's an automatic car, so it's not like I missed a gear or something...I've got an appointment at the Ford dealership to get it looked at on Thursday the 6th. Bah. That's over a week from now.
I got back out into the field this week to the first grade classroom from last month. I have three more lesson plans I have to teach, and 8 days in the field to do so, so I think I can handle it, I just have to figure out what the teacher is doing and replicate the idea, basically.
Anywho, I started this entry about 4 hours ago, and got distracted, so I guess I'll wrap it up for lack of anything better to say :).
My car is doing something weird, yet again, since the accident. When parked on an incline, I put it in Drive and tried to go forward. Instead, I started going backwards, as if I were in neutral. Pushed on the gas, just revved the engine, like I was in neutral. So I put it in Park, then back in gear, and it worked. It did that twice to me yesterday, but didn't seem to affect my car today (even though I had to back out of my parking spot this time, instead of drive through it like the two times it wouldn't catch in gear). It's an automatic car, so it's not like I missed a gear or something...I've got an appointment at the Ford dealership to get it looked at on Thursday the 6th. Bah. That's over a week from now.
I got back out into the field this week to the first grade classroom from last month. I have three more lesson plans I have to teach, and 8 days in the field to do so, so I think I can handle it, I just have to figure out what the teacher is doing and replicate the idea, basically.
Anywho, I started this entry about 4 hours ago, and got distracted, so I guess I'll wrap it up for lack of anything better to say :).
Sunday, March 19, 2006
who pissed in your Cheerios?
Forecast: Stormy
Drove to work, parked my car, walked the two blocks in the 20* weather, clocked in, stopped at the soda fountain to get my dose of caffiene, headed towards the cage. My usual routine. I walk over to the cage, and there's Steve, the supervisor, hanging out by some slots near the cage. I smile and say good morning.
"You know, when you're late for shift change, I have to call Gaming and tell them about it," are the first words out of his mouth. Now, I figure he's giving me a hard time about being late last weekend when my alarm clock went all wonky on me. I say, "Yes, I know, but I'm not late."
"You're five minutes late," he says, and follows me to the cage. "It's okay, though, because you can't start shift change BEFORE 7:30, but you can start it after. That's why there's the half hour when Ed and I are both in the cage for shift change."
"No, you can't start shift change late. Otherwise I have to call Gaming." Steve lets me in the cage, and I continue to counter his point, saying that we can't start shift change until AFTER 7:30, but that it doesn't have to start exactly at 7:30. I look at the clock, and sure enough, it's 7:35. I clocked in before 7:30, and I didn't diddle around getting to the cage.
"Why were you late, anyway?" he asks, rather rudely. "I dont' know!" I almost yell at him. At this point, I'm so upset with him that he's making a big deal out of NOTHING, in front of another co-worker. This is the second time Steve has done this to me, and I'm still pissed at him for the first time he did it, so this only fuels my fire a little more. "The roads were icy," I reply lamely, after actually stopping to think about why I was late. He has no reply to this, but instead goes to South Dakota State Gaming binder that has all the rules and regulations about gaming. He of course can't find anything in there about shift change that contradicts what I have been telling him, and what I have been told by other floor supervisors, so he says, "Well, I know that you can't start shift change before 7:30, and you can't start it after, either."
So does that mean if the clock ticks over to 7:31 we're screwed and can't do shift change? And that Steve would have to call Gaming to let them know that it didn't start precisely on time? According to him, that's what it means.
So I'm thoroughly pissed off by this, and start slamming drawers, dropping things on counters, and ignoring anything he might have to say to me, and staying on the opposite side of the cage as him. Dickwad.
Once Lane comes on and Steve leaves, I tell Lane what happened. He says that's about the 3rd complaint he's gotten in the last week about Steve, and that he was thinking of writing a note to Richard, head of all floor supervisors, telling him about it. Because it's basically against the law to reprimand people in front of others - employees or customers. I'm also going to talk to Marvin, who is the floor supervisor in charge of the cage, and see what the actual rules about shift change time are, because I think Steve is full of shit and has no idea what is going on.
The reason he has no idea going on? He's not the one in charge of the cage. When he's in the cage, he bumbles around and messes things up. He leaves peoples' credit cards in the credit card imprinter. Nothing is "easy" for him. He over paid a customer $200 for poker chips, and didn't find out about it 'til the next day. He just messes things up and takes forever to do things. He used to be in charge of the bartenders' schedules, but isn't doing that anymore, I'm not sure why. He used to be in charge of the custodial schedules, but couldn't handle doing that, and is now no longer in charge of anything. A floor supervisor who is only a few years older than me, and by far the youngest floor supervisor at the casino, who just started supervising a few months ago, is already in charge of the floor supervisors' schedule, and Steve isn't, because he can't handle it.
He's a former police officer, and has to assert that "power" he has over people every once in a while, and it always happens to be asserted over me, a cocktail waitress, and a hostess in the diner. We are the three girls who have complained the most about Steve, and I want something done about it. I'm sick of him doing that, and then acting like nothing happened an hour later. I'd rather have him still be crabby towards me than pretend to be nice after reaming me.
After I get done steaming about that all morning, I get to handle my absolute favorite customer. Note the eye rolling and gagging motions I'm making. This gentleman is about 60 years old, fat, and married, and not attractive. Ever since I have started working at the casino in August, he has taken a liking to me (as he does every woman in the casino, so I don't feel so picked on), and calls me "darling" and tells me what a beautiful smile I have, and how nice my hair looks today, and that I'm the prettiest cashier in Deadwood, or how he wished he was 40 years younger. Puke.
So today, he comes up to the cage, "Well how's my favorite cashier??" I make small talk with him, and he says "Can I tell you something personal?" *mental eyeroll* "Okay."
"Now," he says, "most people wouldn't say this, but I'm going to, and I'm a little hesitant to say this, but..."
Wait for it.
Keep waiting.
Ugh...
"...you have the most beautiful lips!"
PUKE!
So, being the nice person I am, I smile and thank him, and hope he leaves. I have learned that the less eye contact I make with this individual, the less he will talk to me, or give me googly eyes, or bother me. Ugh. Sick. It was all I could do to not shudder and make vomiting gestures.
So there is my day. Wonderful. Fantastic. Oh, and I woke up with a headache that didn't go away 'til after Steve left 'cause I finally took some ibuprophen when I got to work.
Drove to work, parked my car, walked the two blocks in the 20* weather, clocked in, stopped at the soda fountain to get my dose of caffiene, headed towards the cage. My usual routine. I walk over to the cage, and there's Steve, the supervisor, hanging out by some slots near the cage. I smile and say good morning.
"You know, when you're late for shift change, I have to call Gaming and tell them about it," are the first words out of his mouth. Now, I figure he's giving me a hard time about being late last weekend when my alarm clock went all wonky on me. I say, "Yes, I know, but I'm not late."
"You're five minutes late," he says, and follows me to the cage. "It's okay, though, because you can't start shift change BEFORE 7:30, but you can start it after. That's why there's the half hour when Ed and I are both in the cage for shift change."
"No, you can't start shift change late. Otherwise I have to call Gaming." Steve lets me in the cage, and I continue to counter his point, saying that we can't start shift change until AFTER 7:30, but that it doesn't have to start exactly at 7:30. I look at the clock, and sure enough, it's 7:35. I clocked in before 7:30, and I didn't diddle around getting to the cage.
"Why were you late, anyway?" he asks, rather rudely. "I dont' know!" I almost yell at him. At this point, I'm so upset with him that he's making a big deal out of NOTHING, in front of another co-worker. This is the second time Steve has done this to me, and I'm still pissed at him for the first time he did it, so this only fuels my fire a little more. "The roads were icy," I reply lamely, after actually stopping to think about why I was late. He has no reply to this, but instead goes to South Dakota State Gaming binder that has all the rules and regulations about gaming. He of course can't find anything in there about shift change that contradicts what I have been telling him, and what I have been told by other floor supervisors, so he says, "Well, I know that you can't start shift change before 7:30, and you can't start it after, either."
So does that mean if the clock ticks over to 7:31 we're screwed and can't do shift change? And that Steve would have to call Gaming to let them know that it didn't start precisely on time? According to him, that's what it means.
So I'm thoroughly pissed off by this, and start slamming drawers, dropping things on counters, and ignoring anything he might have to say to me, and staying on the opposite side of the cage as him. Dickwad.
Once Lane comes on and Steve leaves, I tell Lane what happened. He says that's about the 3rd complaint he's gotten in the last week about Steve, and that he was thinking of writing a note to Richard, head of all floor supervisors, telling him about it. Because it's basically against the law to reprimand people in front of others - employees or customers. I'm also going to talk to Marvin, who is the floor supervisor in charge of the cage, and see what the actual rules about shift change time are, because I think Steve is full of shit and has no idea what is going on.
The reason he has no idea going on? He's not the one in charge of the cage. When he's in the cage, he bumbles around and messes things up. He leaves peoples' credit cards in the credit card imprinter. Nothing is "easy" for him. He over paid a customer $200 for poker chips, and didn't find out about it 'til the next day. He just messes things up and takes forever to do things. He used to be in charge of the bartenders' schedules, but isn't doing that anymore, I'm not sure why. He used to be in charge of the custodial schedules, but couldn't handle doing that, and is now no longer in charge of anything. A floor supervisor who is only a few years older than me, and by far the youngest floor supervisor at the casino, who just started supervising a few months ago, is already in charge of the floor supervisors' schedule, and Steve isn't, because he can't handle it.
He's a former police officer, and has to assert that "power" he has over people every once in a while, and it always happens to be asserted over me, a cocktail waitress, and a hostess in the diner. We are the three girls who have complained the most about Steve, and I want something done about it. I'm sick of him doing that, and then acting like nothing happened an hour later. I'd rather have him still be crabby towards me than pretend to be nice after reaming me.
After I get done steaming about that all morning, I get to handle my absolute favorite customer. Note the eye rolling and gagging motions I'm making. This gentleman is about 60 years old, fat, and married, and not attractive. Ever since I have started working at the casino in August, he has taken a liking to me (as he does every woman in the casino, so I don't feel so picked on), and calls me "darling" and tells me what a beautiful smile I have, and how nice my hair looks today, and that I'm the prettiest cashier in Deadwood, or how he wished he was 40 years younger. Puke.
So today, he comes up to the cage, "Well how's my favorite cashier??" I make small talk with him, and he says "Can I tell you something personal?" *mental eyeroll* "Okay."
"Now," he says, "most people wouldn't say this, but I'm going to, and I'm a little hesitant to say this, but..."
Wait for it.
Keep waiting.
Ugh...
"...you have the most beautiful lips!"
PUKE!
So, being the nice person I am, I smile and thank him, and hope he leaves. I have learned that the less eye contact I make with this individual, the less he will talk to me, or give me googly eyes, or bother me. Ugh. Sick. It was all I could do to not shudder and make vomiting gestures.
So there is my day. Wonderful. Fantastic. Oh, and I woke up with a headache that didn't go away 'til after Steve left 'cause I finally took some ibuprophen when I got to work.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
the damage
And there you have it, folks. Aaron was kind enough to run out and get some estimates for me today, fax the police report to my insurance company in Gillette, talked to my parents about what was going on, AND got ahold of the other guys' insurance company to get the claim filed. Dad thinks I will need to get a new door...that sucks. I can't unlock the door from the outside...I have to go to the passenger side, unlock it, set my crap in the car, crawl across the seats, unlock the driver's door, get back out, and go around. Sucks. I keep forgetting I have to do that, too.Oh well. Soon enough, it will be fixed. It just happened at like, the worst time possible: right before midterms. I'm busy as hell and don't have time to go do anything, which is why Aaron did all that for me today, otherwise, it wouldn't get done this week, I'm sure.
So there ya have it...my poor dimpled car, scarred by some guy in a Subaru from Montana who thought just because he had all-wheel drive he could just do whatever the hell he wanted.
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