Past News Archive: October 2007
October 30, 2007
I was thinking that I would have the normal work schedule again, but I was wrong. The GM made an interesting schedule for this week. My days off is off by one day & I find my other co-worker getting an interesting schedule as well. Discovered that GM will be training him. He'll be learning the same stuff that I'm doing plus more. Stuff includes posting direct bill entries & storage cleaning of files. I haven't done these before. Also, he'll get first shot in what I think is training for the front desk certificate & the TripRewards program. After he's done, I'm next. This lead me to think on some possibilities:
The last possibility is what I think it correct. Aside from learning more advance stuff that I've never done before (did direct bill posting before, but that's only one time & it was a demonstration), I think my ties with the GM is weak now. Judging from the previous evaluation that he did on me on how I wasn't meeting expectations, my position should be up for grabs. Plus, recently I think our communication between us is low. I'm not up to date with most things in the hotel such as what has happened now. But that raise is questionable. My prediction is that he wants me to stay. If I leave, it would serious create internal problems for the front desk. This co-worker that he's training will most likely be taking my spot. I'm probably going overboard on this situation, but I'm leaving that window open. My GM told me this directly the day before my day off this week. I don't really care anyways.
Finally got my W600i LCD replacement part. But I can't use it as the screw heads on my phone are worn out. Can't find a proper screwdriver for it to remove them. My father gave me a screwdriver that didn't work as I couldn't turn the screws a millimeter. As a result, he chipped them all even though he got two out of four out. Because my old V220 was driving me crazy, I got the W580i from Rogers using my hardware upgrade for $149.99 (less $50 rebate) plus taxes. I was taking a whole day deciding whether to get this or not. I was debating with myself over this one or W910i. Since money blowing isn't something I want, I went with the gray W580i. After getting it, I wasn't too happy about it. Mainly because I'm too spoiled about the W600i & it being unlocked. The W580i is locked & branded, which I hate really. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice phone but I can't seem to get into it when I was aiming for the S500i at the time. Nevertheless, it's mine's now as it's a done deal. I'll get use to it eventually like how I was with my W600i. However, I found it was pain to lot mp3s into the phone as ringtones. I know the procedure in doing it & I kept thinking there was either something wrong with the phone. It was actually the phone being slow in processing the data. There was lag for some reason between the computer & the phone. Stupid Rogers & their crippling methods.
My Trinity Blood Abel Nightroad came very fast. The day after my LCD screen replacement came. I used the free shipping option from YesAsia, but they used express for it. Kind of weird, but I'm happy about it. The packaging of the box is a bit different & BIG! Abel's top tip of his weapon touches the top of the box. Worse is that I can't pull him out of the box. He's stuck there good. I plan to pull Abel out next time once I figure out how to take him out properly.
This week's updates are small. Mainly because I spent too much time screwing with the phone. I plan to debrand & unlock it once I figure out how. I got complete reviews of Shakugan no SHANA movie & Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica up.
October 23, 2007
Whew! Last week at work was a bit of hell. There was a convention across the street from us for the teachers in BC. Although it was for a day, hotels were pretty packed. I'm not too sure why for the other days though. Heard there was another convention in Vancouver that was before the BC teachers one. It was something about the government. May explain why the other days were packed. Plus, I managed to get some relief this week as my co-worker was willing to work six days this week instead of me. Basically because I did six days last week & he thinks it's fair if he took it for this week. Saved me a bit at least.
If you have seen that incident in Richmond, BC where that small plane crashed right into the condo, that was pretty insane & scary. Had some guest tell me that they witnessed it & saw the aftermath. Because of this incident, you would suspect that the residents there would move out temporary & stay at a hotel.
I received a call from an emergency social worker wanting all the rooms in the hotel the day after the crash incident. He was looking for rooms for 70 people. Because of the massive amount, it had to be a mixture of different room types. Also, a discounted rate would have been asked for in this case. Because of the size & my past experience with my GM about massive group bookings, I told the worker that I only have a small number of rooms. Apparently, my co-worker told him a couple of hours before about how many rooms we still have left in the hotel. Because of the difference in room numbers he was told, I got in a bit of scuffle with him. After talking to him, I had a talk with some of the staff members. We thought it may be linked to that crash incident. However, it doesn't add up much. The worker called me on a Saturday & he need the rooms on Monday. Plus, he wanted three nights. Technically, this didn't make sense if it's linked to the incident. The condo residents were indeed told to leave the building as they couldn't stay there; even if their unit wasn't affected. It doesn't make sense to have 70 people living in one condo building. Plus, I've heard from a guest that he saw in the news that most of them are staying at another hotel, which is more high end than where I'm working. Also, the time where they would stay with us doesn't make sense. Why the two day gap? Plus, why only three days? It doesn't make sense. It should be longer if they want to repair the condo. At least a week. Also, who was going to pay for the rooms? This would be a major issue with my GM. Government agencies tend to play very late; around four to six months later. With that many rooms & nights, my GM is going to make me chase them. Plus, I don't know what kind of people will be staying. I already had my share with rehab people & they really make trouble. The word "emergency" makes me worry more. If not rehab, possibly very ill people which can be very troublesome since there is usually one people managing the hotel. That many sick people can spell disaster. Kind of cruel, this is for their own sake; especially with my GM not breathing down on them.
However, the emergency social workers pour the evacuees in to the hotel without warning. I was told before the start of my shift from the night auditor about how the social workers confirmed 12 rooms with us. He told them that he knows nothing & have them call us. However, they didn't & started bring them in. The payment part is ok after reading the voucher forms, but the room situation wasn't. Although I thought them 13 rooms is what we can give the day before (which was in the morning), but it wasn't confirmed with us yet. After the mad rush of giving six rooms in one go, I phoned the government office & asked them to stop since we don't have anymore rooms. We did have more, but it was tight as I didn't know how many they were sending. The city phoned me & asked me to send them back when the evacuees walked in so they can assign them to a different hotel. I turned down about five of them after giving a leeway to one. Although I didn't count correctly due to the busy environment, I felt it was more than the so called 12 rooms that they wanted to send to us. Of course I don't want to turn them down, but this should have been prepared better beforehand. I discovered these were done the night before, which I think it was the same time that the night auditor got the call. However, they shouldn't have done it if he asked them to call us first in the morning. Plus, he didn't set aside the rooms which was more problematic. Nevertheless, I got I think seven rooms for these people.
Updates? I wish! Work is really holding me down. Plus, I haven't gone to do the things I wanted to do with my webstore. But, I put up anime reviews of Inukami! THE MOVIE & Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora up for the time being.
October 16, 2007
If it's not anime figurines, it's jewelry. If it's not jewelry, it's DVDs. If it's not DVDs, it's something computer related such as fandisks. And that's what I got this week. My Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Observatory Diary CD-ROM arrived. I actually didn't know what that item is. I just pre-ordered it when I saw "CD-ROM" on the label as I was thinking it was a fandisc. As it was being shipped to me, I managed to research it & found out that it's got some stuff that I didn't think I would like. But it's too late now. I plan to get some stuff from the disc for the Downloads section & possible a review of the product since this is an actual disc that I'm owning.
At work, we are now short of one front desk agent since she's taking a two week vacation. As a result, a troublesome schedule for two weeks until she comes back. For me, I've got only one day off. Originally, it was two days until I opened my big mouth. My GM was suppose to work tomorrow's evening shift & he starts talking to me about how he's got a lot of things to do & couldn't find someone to cover. I had a feeling that he wanted me to do it as I felt a fairly slight long pause in the end before I said something. It was like he was waiting for me to ask him if I should do it, which I did. As a result, no day off for tomorrow. Note to self: Shut the hell up!
Making things worse, I'm been getting too many pushy guests wanting this & that. I'm getting too tired & sick of this stuff about "guarantee it or I'm not staying" crap. Technically, I don't really care since the rates they get is low or the attitude isn't too good at the start. Of course, you can't say that to guests unless they really push it. Really about to blow a fuse from that workplace. Didn't think that kind of problem would come up again that often. That I get this one situation at work. Long story.
We get this guest that's a bit out of there. He refuses to answer his phone when we call him & doesn't answer the door when we knock on it. One time, he suppose to change rooms. I call him at check out time at noon & he doesn't answer the phone. I decided to call him back later thinking he's not in the room. Half hour later, he still doesn't pick up. So, I decided to check his room to see if he's in there. Knock on the door; no answer. When I try to open the door, I find out it's locked inside. Thus, he's inside. Got housekeepers & our maintenance to open the door, but failed. Our GM tells us to leave him as he's properly asleep from being drugged out. The guy finally comes out around 4:30pm. During my day off, I find out the same thing happened again when he was suppose to check out. Same procedure of door knocking, but my GM took part as well with some door kicking action.
Days later after the fruity guest is gone, he phones to make a reservation. Personally, I didn't want to give it to him after that incident. Didn't know who he was until he gave his name after I told him we had rooms. What surprised me more is the GM allowed him to have an extension for his stay. My co-worker was iffy about this & decided to ask the GM. Not a good choice my GM part I believe. This result me trying to get the guest out of the room when I find out he was owing us a night's stay & he didn't have money. Tried to get the evening shift to check him out, but it ended up with him staying another night with another night owing us. Got me more fired up in getting him out. I wasn't the only one until his mother called as she wanted him out too. Costing her over a thousand dollars & she wants him out ASAP. Finally tells me what this guy's problem is. She tells me that her son is disabled & got this disease with a complex name. If I was to summarize it after hearing the details, it's a mental illness. In simple terms, the guy is paranoid. She tells me that guy locks himself up & doesn't answer the phone in fear of the cops. He does this when he's got no money & stays locked up to prevent the cops from entering. His mother tells me that she doesn't us to call the cops where they would take him away & send him into a mental institution. She asks me not to make his departure, with his father coming to pick him up, a fuss like it was some scandal or something with the media involved. I'm thinking this guy is probably going to be kicking & screaming on his way out. Makes my image of the guy more of a druggie. Told her I can't promise that since this is a hotel & guest go in & out. Can't be held responsible for his own actions if he goes nuts. But I somehow broke the agreement. Scandal away! =Þ Personally, don't have your son going around like that. If he's got no money on him & is scared, don't make him stay at a hotel; especially if you are in the other side of the country where you can't monitor him. Puts too much trouble to the hotel staff. But watch out, Toronto! The bastard is heading your way now as his mother is taking him there.
Sigh. I can never seem to get a break this month. So, no updates this week. Just my emo rant again. But, I've put up a complete review of Lovely Complex ~ Lovecom for the sake of it.
October 10, 2007
What to say this week.... Got the usually hotel stress, busy personal life, cleaning up, etc. Seems like the same usually life I've been having for some time now. But I hope you fellow Canadians had a nice Thanksgiving weekend (Columbus Day for you Americans). But my cell phone is now broken & I'm not sure what I'm feeling about it. Probably being emo is the proper description.
I got my SE W600i's screen cracked pretty good. I originally lost my phone in the streets near my house when I was dropping off some letters from work into a mailbox. I got out of my car to do this & I think my phone was dropped from my belt during my actions going in & out of my car. It was in a pouch. I managed to find it cracked in the area that I lost it. Can't really tell if the phone still works since it's a major crack that covers pretty much the whole screen. It can call out, but it can't receive calls. It goes to my voicemail right away. I'm not sure if the antenna is affected as well, but my father says it's just the screen pushing onto something. Although I was planning to get the SE S500i for a long time (but my mind changed to W580i since it's mainly a Walkman version of the phone with some added stuff), I was debating if I should try to fix my phone. Currently, I'm using my old Moto V220 for the time being. If I can't get my W600i fixed, I'll get the W580i or something else if a better phone comes out by then. I may hold out with the V220 since the battery problem that it had isn't happening now for some reason.
Since I'm out of it, updates this week is kind of small. Complete reviews of Byousoku 5 cm, Kaibutsu Oujo (Monster Princess), & Nagasarete Airantou. Over time, expect some breaks in links as a lot of sorting will be done for the Anime section. Need to clean up the place.
October 3, 2007
Last week, spent a day with family relatives & old college friends. Family relatives don't seem be anything new. My retired uncle who was a principal is going back to work soon. Don't know what profession though & I think my aunt as well. From a web cam session that I wasn't part of, I learned that I'm an uncle now as my cousin in Chicago gave birth to a baby girl this month. My father is still being a jerk towards my mother's side of the family. Learning all this I realized that I'm not really up to date with my family matters since I've been distancing myself from them due to my work life. Worse is that I'm under the same roof with my family.
With my friends, I realized that I haven't been out to date with them. Since I last saw them, most of them haven't changed for the past three years. Same job, same lifestyle, & same personality. I thought I was out of their reach until I heard all of this. Only things that I don't know is details. Also, it seems that I'm not the worse person at the dinner as most of my friends lost contact with one another as well. Here I was thinking that my life sucked as it didn't make much progress. One of my friends tells me that I haven't changed. Personally, I think otherwise since I usually kept a low profile about myself to others during my school years. Makes me wonder if I should send a massive email to get back in touch with them. That is if they remember who I am.
The hotel is slowing down a bit, which is kind of a good thing for me. Problematic guests are still around. This past weekend, I get annoying guest couple wanting a smoking room. The original booking is a non-smoking one. If we had it for the number of nights, I won't mind the change. But I don't have any rooms. Then they do go nuts. The tour guide from the tour company that they booked with was annoyed with the guests attitude as he told them to call his company & not complain to him. Makes sense really since he has nothing to do it with. When I gone from my shaft, I heard some outsider travel agent makes a fuss about this smoking situation. Got to the point where they called my GM on the phone & the agent gives off death threats. My GM doesn't care & tells her to leave the hotel as she threatens to call 911. Personally, it won't work for her. It would be against her since she created public disturbance as there were other guest around & making death threats to my GM. Somehow, the agreement was made for them to be in the smoking room for one night & go back to the non-smoking room in the last night. For me, that's a stupid idea. In the end, the guest breaks their agreement & we had to talk it over to the travel agent. We moved their stuff from the smoking room to the non-smoking room since they can't do it as they were in a different city. Moral of the story: If it's not possible to move to a different room & stay there for the entire stay, don't be an ass about getting something that's not possible!
In anime news, I forgot to mention that ADV Films got Kanon. It's the 2006 version & I wasn't too surprised about it since they managed to get all of AIR. May consider getting the DVDs for those.
While improving this site, I noticed some collectable reviews not put up.
I thought that I had them up, but they were actually sitting on my computer
idle. So, I've decided to put some up bit by bit as I improve this site.
This week, I've got complete reviews of Claymore &
Happiness! OVA. For collectables, brief
reviews of CM's Moetan Methodology of English, The Academic Necessity Gashapon Set
&
Bandai Metamo Figure Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Haruhi
Suzumiya Bunny Version. Also, September news are now in the
Past News Archives
Next week, I hope to have a review of Estel Blanche up. Trying to speed this place as some sort of up-to-the-trend place. But, I'm gonna focus on cleaning my room since it's starting to pile up with boxes & papers.