Friday, March 23, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Transparent theme on my mac
I've installed a transparent theme on my mac. In part, because even if the operating system is crap, I can't handle Microsoft Vista being in any way cooler than OSX...
For your viewing pleasure.
Monday, March 19, 2007
This broom will have to be my baby...
So I haven't done much writing lately. For no reason. It's not for lack of things to say. I guess I'd have to blame good old fashioned laziness. Or just the simple fact that I have to type to blog. If blogging could be done vocally, I'd record my day in the car on my way home... that'd be cool.
Anyway. This morning, I woke up and took care of Kiah for awhile. Let Sar get some z's. We've been able to take showers lately while he's awake. He stands at the tub and throws stuff at you. Peeks around the shower curtain, and talks alot. But other than that, he lets you get it done without being clingy or anything... so as Bill Murray once put it, "I've got that goin' for me."
After Sarah woke up, she let me go back to sleep for a few. I then downed two cups of Sumatra, and I'm ready for the day.
Adding to my energy level, I am listening to the Killers new album for the seventy-leventh time. I wasn't a fan of their first album, even though there were a few good songs on it. I really disliked the song "Mr. Brightside", which everyone else in the world loved, so that kind of soured me on them a bit more. Not to mention the rumors that they were just plain mean to fans and other bands. So when Ryan told me that I simply HAD to hear the new album, I agreed, but without enthusiasm. All of that enthusiasm has since been made up in my avid addiction to this new album. They have achieved a level of musical maturity that is simply amazing. Sam's Town is a themed album, as best I can tell, and relates a story. The first three songs are flat out amazing, and deserved to be played together as one long song. (Much like Rush's 2112 overature was on juke boxes, for those of you old enough to recall what a jukebox was...) (Or Rush for that matter... bloody canadians.)
Anyway. It's awesome. Go listen. Now.
In other news, my grandma Miller has been hospitalized as of late, and has been struggling to live it seems. Her heart has kind of given up on her, and she's been rallying this week, but we're not sure how much longer we'll have her with us. Thankfully, Sarah Kiah and I were able to visit her a few weeks ago on a trip out east.
On a personal note, I have lost a bit of weight. In part to my jobs in engineering and now, housekeeping. I'm hanging around 170 instead of 185, and I've been feeling a great deal better about my body. It's just nice to occasionally surprise yourself with a bit of discipline and accomplishment.
Like I said, I'm in housekeeping now. Also doing a stint in security on the weekends. So I'm taking care of both departments at the same time. Housekeeping has been as awesome as I hoped it would be so far. Security is boring, but a nice change from the norm. We had a Hilton inspection of the hotel last week. They come and make sure we can keep the name. Housekeeping did VERY well. 99% in every area. But the kitchens nearly killed the entire hotel with some very dirty areas of their operation, and some deplorable cleaning procedures. I will have my work cut out for me when I work the line with the chefs... but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
I am still getting credit from the management for the fantastic service scores at the front of the hotel. Apparently, I get to ride that wave of goodness until the bellmen and valets start stinking, if they do, corporate will blame the front office manager for screwing up my hard work. So that's another win-win for me. Weird how these things work, but in all actuality, that perception of the situation will be pretty accurate. At the moment, the bell stand/valet staff are still following my procedures and mind set, and because of that, they're succeeding. If they abandon those standards and thought patterns, they'll start failing, and since it is the front office manager's job to make sure that they don't do that, it will be his fault if the scores fall. So the upper management will have made a correct assertation of the situation... shocking, but pleasant.
Communicating in housekeeping has been a challenge, as I knew it would. I bought a spanish english dictionary, and it has come in handy, but for the most part, I want to force the housekeepers into becoming more comfortable with their english, so that they can better understand their coworkers, managers, and our guests. It's not like they're hidden from the front of the hotel, and only interact with eachother. They are required to be able to assist guests with anything they need, and to do that, they have to speak english. (Some folks would really haul out the soap box for that paragraph, but I simply see it as a challenge, and I'm not looking at it on a national scale, simply on a local one.)
I went to see the movie "300" yesterday at the IMax with a group of guy friends. It was very good. Aside from a fairly weak ending, it was a very solid movie. Not to mention the impressive-ness of watching it on a GIGANTIC screen. I was pleased.
My birthday went well. We had some friends over the other night, and enjoyed a night of games and talk. It was cool.
Well, we're off to do some shopping this morning. So I'll let you go. Thanks for checking in, and I'll talk to you later.
-me.
Anyway. This morning, I woke up and took care of Kiah for awhile. Let Sar get some z's. We've been able to take showers lately while he's awake. He stands at the tub and throws stuff at you. Peeks around the shower curtain, and talks alot. But other than that, he lets you get it done without being clingy or anything... so as Bill Murray once put it, "I've got that goin' for me."
After Sarah woke up, she let me go back to sleep for a few. I then downed two cups of Sumatra, and I'm ready for the day.
Adding to my energy level, I am listening to the Killers new album for the seventy-leventh time. I wasn't a fan of their first album, even though there were a few good songs on it. I really disliked the song "Mr. Brightside", which everyone else in the world loved, so that kind of soured me on them a bit more. Not to mention the rumors that they were just plain mean to fans and other bands. So when Ryan told me that I simply HAD to hear the new album, I agreed, but without enthusiasm. All of that enthusiasm has since been made up in my avid addiction to this new album. They have achieved a level of musical maturity that is simply amazing. Sam's Town is a themed album, as best I can tell, and relates a story. The first three songs are flat out amazing, and deserved to be played together as one long song. (Much like Rush's 2112 overature was on juke boxes, for those of you old enough to recall what a jukebox was...) (Or Rush for that matter... bloody canadians.)
Anyway. It's awesome. Go listen. Now.
In other news, my grandma Miller has been hospitalized as of late, and has been struggling to live it seems. Her heart has kind of given up on her, and she's been rallying this week, but we're not sure how much longer we'll have her with us. Thankfully, Sarah Kiah and I were able to visit her a few weeks ago on a trip out east.
On a personal note, I have lost a bit of weight. In part to my jobs in engineering and now, housekeeping. I'm hanging around 170 instead of 185, and I've been feeling a great deal better about my body. It's just nice to occasionally surprise yourself with a bit of discipline and accomplishment.
Like I said, I'm in housekeeping now. Also doing a stint in security on the weekends. So I'm taking care of both departments at the same time. Housekeeping has been as awesome as I hoped it would be so far. Security is boring, but a nice change from the norm. We had a Hilton inspection of the hotel last week. They come and make sure we can keep the name. Housekeeping did VERY well. 99% in every area. But the kitchens nearly killed the entire hotel with some very dirty areas of their operation, and some deplorable cleaning procedures. I will have my work cut out for me when I work the line with the chefs... but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
I am still getting credit from the management for the fantastic service scores at the front of the hotel. Apparently, I get to ride that wave of goodness until the bellmen and valets start stinking, if they do, corporate will blame the front office manager for screwing up my hard work. So that's another win-win for me. Weird how these things work, but in all actuality, that perception of the situation will be pretty accurate. At the moment, the bell stand/valet staff are still following my procedures and mind set, and because of that, they're succeeding. If they abandon those standards and thought patterns, they'll start failing, and since it is the front office manager's job to make sure that they don't do that, it will be his fault if the scores fall. So the upper management will have made a correct assertation of the situation... shocking, but pleasant.
Communicating in housekeeping has been a challenge, as I knew it would. I bought a spanish english dictionary, and it has come in handy, but for the most part, I want to force the housekeepers into becoming more comfortable with their english, so that they can better understand their coworkers, managers, and our guests. It's not like they're hidden from the front of the hotel, and only interact with eachother. They are required to be able to assist guests with anything they need, and to do that, they have to speak english. (Some folks would really haul out the soap box for that paragraph, but I simply see it as a challenge, and I'm not looking at it on a national scale, simply on a local one.)
I went to see the movie "300" yesterday at the IMax with a group of guy friends. It was very good. Aside from a fairly weak ending, it was a very solid movie. Not to mention the impressive-ness of watching it on a GIGANTIC screen. I was pleased.
My birthday went well. We had some friends over the other night, and enjoyed a night of games and talk. It was cool.
Well, we're off to do some shopping this morning. So I'll let you go. Thanks for checking in, and I'll talk to you later.
-me.
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