Quick trip to Vic

So this week I was mainly poolbar, and since the weather has not been great I had a few extra days off. I decieded to go and visit my sister in Vancouver and go to Victoria to see my mom and ride my horse. I drove back yesterday and than I worked the night shift at the liqour store training Lauren and Jenna. It was pretty fun. Wasn't too busy so after stocking and all that fun stuff we played some card games and lurked the internet trying to find some ideas of where to apply for second co-op. I didn't really come to any conclusions though, I am still undecided. So many choices!

So next week is my last week of work. Our supervisor is letting us end on the 20th so that we have a couple of days to pack and say goodbye to all of our friends here in Kelowna. I am in the liqour store for every shift! I do like working in the liqour store because there is a computer and I am able to get some school stuff done, however making no tips, well very minimal, is a bit hurting. Oh well. My goals are going great. I saved some money, just started to start working on getting healthy after a good summer, meeting alot of people with good hotel connections, as well as expanding my knowledge and learning tons in alot of different departments!! Well I better get going, I'm in the liqour store again right now with Jenna and we have some stocking to get done. Until next time... xoxo

Last busy weekend :(

Summer is coming to an end, and so is the craziness at the Delta Grand. This past weekend was our last busy weekend we are suppostue have until summer next year. This weekend I worked the evening shift at the liqour store with another co-worker. We were antisipating it be quite busy so there was two of us on. However it was not really busy at all. I thought everyone would be going out and partying since it is the last weekend before everyone has to go back to school but it was quite quiet. It got a little bit busy for short periods of time, but there was really no need for there to be two of us on. Its nice though because when there is no one in the store and all the jobs that need to get done are done, you have someone to talk to and play crazy 8's with. I am the master at that cardgame just so you know.

Today I am working in the liqour store again. I was suppostue be on pooldeck but it is calling for rain, and it has just started to get quite cloudy so it was a good thing that they decided not to open. One of the gals that works in the liqour store got in a car accident so the f and b manager would have had to work liqour store today, so she is quite happy that I am in here instead. She is a very busy lady.

Only 24 days left in this beautiful city, and boy am I going to miss it. Don't get me wrong there is no place like home, but the people that I have met here are going to be very hard to leave behind. I am very excited about school! Might sound a bit nerdy but I actually miss school. Not really the homework, but deffinately the hmgt family, and dunlop house. It will be nice to see everyone so soon!

This week my scheduale mainly consists of liqour store and poolbar. Oh, and I am shadowing my manager on thursday, wait maybe wednesday....anyways, one of those days. Should be interesting to see what they have to deal with in a day.

Well that is all for now. Hope everyones co-op's are going great, and I cannot wait to see you all!!

I love boats!

If you live in Kelowna you must make friends with someone that has a boat. Luckilly I have made a few so these past few days i've been out on the lake, which by the way is so incredibly warm its not even fair that the ocean is so cold. Work has been going good. Wednesday was probably the hottest day in kelowna. I worked poolbar and let me tell you, lifting booze up and down stairs, setting up speakers, walking around serving in hot weather is probably the best workout I have done all summer. Just try it, you will see. I could run for an hour straight and not get even close to that sweaty/sticky/tired. So as you could imagine I looked just fantastic. I'm surprised guests still ordered from me. But in that heat I don't think anyone cares. I drank at least 8 bottles of water.....every 2 hours!

So since this whole disney stir up i've been thinking alot about second co-op. Florida would be amazing i'm sure, but that opportunity will be there for me in the future so I think for right now I am going to stay in canada for second co-op. I'm torn between victoria and whistler. Carl, I know you are reading this and shaking your head at me about the whole victoria thing, but I do really miss my family/friends/horses. Maybe 10 weeks will be enough of them, but we shall see. Whistler would of course be an amazing experiance. Snowboard all day, work all night, save some money. One of my closest friends that I have made here in Kelowna wants to move there with me and lauren, which would be sooooo fun! All food for thought. Time to go work now, till next time...

Florida anyone?

So after august long the hotel seemed to die down for a couple days but now business is booming. Pool bar has never been busier and it has been great! We have a fantastic team out there so even when it is super busy we still have time to laugh and joke around. This week a girl working in the liqour store got a visible peircing which Delta does not allow. She was told to take it out and she didn't want to so she quit on the spot. This means more liqour store shifts for Taylor and two other poolbar staff because we are the only other ones trained in here. Its kinda cool being able to work in every department, gives me lots of hours and swithes it up a bit so I don't get bored. I love working in the liqour store so I was kinda excited that I have two shifts in here this week. Poolbar is deffinately more fun and you make more money because of tips but when it is 37 degrees out sometimes it is nice to be in an airconditioned workplace. Luckally I have days shifts and poolbar boys have the night shifts. People who buy liqour at night are kinda sketchy. I've only worked one night shift in here alone and since then they either have two people on or I work days because its a bit scary. Creppy drunk guys trying to make a pass at you....not fun!

As for goals they have been progressing slowly. I've managed to save some money which has been nice so I don't think I will have to work for the ten weeks that I am back. Living a healthy lifestyle has been progressing as well. Currently I am on a cleanse called Isagenix. Basically my first two days I have one meal and 2 shakes that replace my other two meals. Then the next two days I drink 4 oz of this sick nasty stuff every four hours plus tons of water. Then for the next 5 days I go back to 2 shakes and a meal, than the last two days I go back to drinking that gross stuff every four hours. Its a total of 11 days and right now I am on day 7 and it has been going great. I have way more energy, and I don't feel all groggy when I wake up. I've also been hiking knox mountain alot with lauren, which by the way in 30 degree plus weather is not easy, as well as running at our gym.

So Florida hey! Sounds like such an amazing experiance!! Little pricey, but I'm sure it would be worth it. I am deffinately considering going. It is a bit far away from home, well alot far away from home, but I think since I moved away for my first work term it would be alot easier than if I had just stayed in Victoria. Whistler is of course still on my mind as well. I will most likey apply for both just to keep my options open. My dad is all for it, he actually took a few courses there as well and said it was amazing. Well will see, alot of things can happen from now till then so keeping all options open I think is the best desicion for me. If anyone has any suggestions or is also thinking about going send me a facebook message or something, I would love to talk about it!! Well that is all for now, xoxo Taylor

August Long

Hello all!

So I havn't blogged in a while because nothing too exciting has happend. But I thought I should blog a little bit about the august lond weekend, seeing as it is the busiest time of year for our hotel. So every august long weekend in Kelowna they have a festival called Center of Gravity. What it is basically is is a huge party. There are a bunch of artists that come up, such as Karl Wolf, Steve aoki, Naughty by Nature and so on, as well as a bunch of watersport competitions as well as land competitions like vollyball. So basically everyone who like to party comes to kelowna for this weeked, which mean ths Grand was PACKED! Not only were we all booked up, but every day of the long weeked people would be calling trying to get a room. So you can imagine how bust our hotel was. Poolbar was a gongshow. We had a security guard act as a bouncer at the enterance of the pool checking to see if the guest was infact a guest and if they were on the rooming lise (list that says all the names of the people staying in that room). So of course we kicked alot of people out because the Grand pool is the place to be, and everyone was trying to get in. I mean, what other hotel has a pool bar that serves drinks and food to you by the pool without you even having to move? Answer: no hotel, just the Grand.

Friday was the start of the long weeked so everyone by the pool was just down to get rowdy. Tequilla shots and all. We had a quick meeting at 9am before we started to set up the pool bar at 10am just to go over whats allowed in the pool area, whats not allowed, being careful not to over serve and so on and so forth. It was a very busy day for sure but I finished up and settled up with all of my customers just before 5pm. Another worker then took over my section while I did my cashout then lucky me, I got to go over and work at the liqour store. It was smokin' busy but only one guy was scheduled to work, so I offered because I was one of the only poolbar servers that knew how. I worked until 9:30pm and left the other worker to close up at 11pm. Apparently after I left though he got rocked which ment sunday I would have to stay until 11pm. So after working a 12.5 hr day I was glad for it to be over.

So saturday comes nice and early at 5:35am because I was working the coffee shop at 6:15am. Not the best time to start work but at least I am done by 1:30pm so I get to enjoy the Kelowna sun. I was training a girl from banquets in the coffee shop that day so it was nice having the extra help. She used to work at starbucks so I didn't have to teach all the drinks, only how to work the till and do room charges and folio charges and such. Saturday was pretty relaxed.

Sunday was the worst day of life. I started at 10am and had the biggest and rowdiest section yet. I didn't have a sip of water util 3:30pm because it was just non stop. There was never a break, someone always wanted another drink.....or 5. After cashing out around 5pm I went over to the liqour store yet again....after a nice omg I hate my life cry. Yes cry, that is how bad it was. Anyways the liqour store is pretty easy so I had time to take a breather and have a quick bite to eat. I worked untill 11pm and we had to have a security guard stand outside the liqour store ad only let in a certain number of people at a time. Since Center of Gravity ended at 10pm and we were the closest liqour store, between 10pm and 11pm we were crazy busy. We sold out of almost every 2"6, 40, and 60 pounder we had in the store. It was nuts!!

So thank goodness this week has been relaxing. Monday I was called off because it was too cloudy to open poolbar, and tuesday we didn't open poolbar until 1pm because the weather channel was threatening with thunder showers. I had yesterday and today off so I cleaned my room, went on a hike, and had a nice girls night with the girls from the grand. Not too sure how busy this weekend will be but I will keep you in the know. That is all for now. Xo

Goals progress

As the summer is getting into full swing I have really been working on my goals.  I have been showing initiative at work simply by offering my availability to work whenever and do whichever job they may need me to do.  By doing this I have been able to work in every f and b position the hotel has to offer, minus vines lounge because I am underage.  Here is a list of them to give you an idea: in room dining, coffee shop, pool bar, liquor store, banquets, restaurant, and the wine tasting table.  This has come in handy because the other night I was working in the restaurant and no one showed up for the liquor store pm shift and I was the only one working that night that knew how to do the final cash out and closing procedure, as well as complete all the duties required during the duration of the shift.  My supervisor was very happy that I was there and luckily everything worked out great.  

My next goal, making new connections, has been slow in progress.  We have mainly been having a lot of families on vacation so networking has been a bit tough. I still continue to tell people about my work term while making small talk while either making their coffee or bringing them to their seat in the restaurant, and I have got amazing feedback as well as good advise too that has been helpful.

Fitness has defiantly been lacking.  I was going to the gym alot when the weather was bad, but with the sun out it has sort of come to a halt.  Right now I am visiting in victoria but when I get back that is defiantly something that I need to pick up on.  

Budgeting has been going great.  When we go grocery shopping we buy everything on sale and only buy what we need.  Since shopping in Kelowna is not so great I have saved money in that area as well.  My goal is to be able to return back from co-op and not have to work while I am back.  By the way things are going I have no reason to see why this would not happen.

Work has been great!  I have been working pool bar as well as coffee shop and it has been great.  Lugging everything for pool bar all the way from banquets down a bunch of stairs however is not my favorite thing do do in the heat of the day, but it is defiantly worth it.  Right now I am in Victoria, I arrived yesterday and I go back saturday morning.  It is soooo nice to be back home.  Dorothy was right, there is no place like home.  I miss my friends and family a ton so seeing them has been great.  Also seeing my horse, I miss riding more than ever.  Well thats all for now, but I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather and doing great with their co-ops.  Bye for now.. 

Goals

Now that I have received feedback on my goals I thought that I should share them. When I first picked my goals I wanted to have a balance between goals in my work place as well as outside of work. My first goal that I chose was to receive "with distinction" on my first co-op work term. To achieve this not only do I have to show initiative and put in my time at work, but also into my blog and any assignments we may have. Getting to know more industry professionals was my second goal. This goal will help me to make usefull connections and hopefully help me find my second co-op job. Improve my eating and fitness levels was my third. I think a healthy lifestyle is very important when it comes to succeeding. If you are eating unhealthy foods and not excercising you are more likey to feel not so great which will deffinately not help you at work. My last goal is to budget myself so that I am able to save some money this summer. I want to be able to come back from co-op and not have to have a part time job so that I am able to better focus on my studies.

This weekend my dad came to visit me. It was really nice to see him since I have not seen him in two months. He surprised me at work on saturday when I was working in the coffee shop. I looked up and it took me a few seconds to realize what was happening haha. When I was off work we went to the beach because it was 29 degrees outside. No big deal. Then we went to my favorite sushi spot, Momos. If any of you come to Kelowna this summer I will take you there. It is probably the best sushi I have ever had. No joke. Then on sunday we went out for breakfast than I had to work at 2pm.

Work was pretty busy on sunday because every sunday we have a sunday brunch and it is always packed. So when I come in at 2pm to host there is usually alot of duties to complete. Mainly just making sure the dining room is all set and there are no dirty tables. At about 3pm I had a very mysterious customer come in. She was wearing sunglasses and asked for a table outside on the patio. The patio was not open but she insisted to sit outside so we opened it up just for her. As soon as I brought her to her table she ordered a glass of Jackson Trigg's icewine and a glass of Cipes brut. I asked her if anyone would be joining her and she said yes but the two wines were for her. She said she liked to mix them together. Anyways, I told her server what she had ordered so when she went outside she had the two wines for her to mix. She kept walking up and down the lagoon and talking to random guys with boats. To be honest I thought she was a prostetute. She also kept coming in and making phone calls from our phone, it was very unusual. Finally she said that the two gentlemen that were suppostue meet her were no longer coming. She kept ordering more icewine and champagne and then finally dinner as well. Her bill was racking up, and when it was at $121 my supervisor "blank" suggested we get some information from her because she looked very suspicious. Her server, "blank", went outside with a name card (something we usually do for guests to make them feel more welcome. It is simply a peice of paper that says the table number, the name of the customer, and the room number) and asked her for that information so that she could serve her better. The woman said that she was in room 911 and her name was "blank". When we looked up room 911 there was no one by the name of "blank" staying there so my supervisor called security and they went outside and asked for a room card. She could not provide this, or any identification at all. So my supervisor called the RCMP and they came onto the patio and asked her how she was expecting to pay for her bill. She told the RCMP that her "agent" comes and pays for everything, she "apparently" doesn't pay for anything. Anyways, the number she gave us we called and the guy did not seem interested and was not coming so she was arrested. She was taken out of the restaurant in handcuffs and was put in the back of a police car. The duty manager looked further into what else she had bought at the hotel and it turns out she charged $800 worth of procedures and products at the spa to room 911. Apparently the spa didn't catch her bluff but we sure did. She is apparently quite well known in Westbank for doing this and she is going to jail and being charged for fraud. Very exciting day at work!