Hoy's Question

Hoyazo had a good question and I'm sure you've all been wondering the same thing, so I'll go ahead and post the answer...


Question:

Carmen,

Why do you think they would take away all these shifts from you? Last I recall you were selling those all-access cards and were getting right up near the top 25% of the weekly list. What happened between then and now to drop you down their go-to list of servers? Could it be related to you presumably missing some time with your hospital stuff last week maybe?

Answer:

Okay, so, I'm still pretty happy with my performance at work. I am constantly in the top 30 or 40. There are about 95 servers, so as long as I'm in the top half of the chart, I'm happy.

I was doing really good with the all access cards and the glassware. I don't always sell that stuff, but I try, and even if I don't sell any cards, I'm always selling high ticket price items and I push appetizers and desserts.

So, I don't think it's my sales.

December is the slowest time on the strip in Vegas. I remember a few years ago when I was working at the MGM and it was Brutal in the restaurants. Not a lot of tourists come out here around the holidays. People are with their families and doing christmas shopping. They aren't spending money on over prices burgers and glassware at the Hard Rock. hehe

I was kind of offended and paranoid about the whole thing and I was thinking they just don't like me, but I noticed that MOST of the servers are in the same boat as me. I'm not the only one getting called off and 90 percent of us only got 2 shifts this week.

However - this is the thing that pisses me off...

There is this girl that works there, Amy and she's a real kiss ass - she is sich a brown noser. She was in my class during training, so I had to hear her day in and day out for three weeks. For instance, on the day the restaurant finally opened, Am brought in little presents for the managers. I mean - come on! Who does that shit?? Well, my sales are consistently higher than hers, but she got to work a private wedding party by herself last week and she was given four shifts when I was only given 2.

So, they definitely do show some favoritism and that pisses me off. I hate that bullshit.

I'm fairly certain the hospital thing wasn't an issue. I had a doctor' note, they saw my swollen arm and knew I wasn't lying and I only missed like one scheduled shift, so that didn't appear to be a problem.

I'm just crossing my fingers that things will pick up after the holidays. IN the meantime, if I can find another part-time job, then maybe I will have a better chance of making some money. Working two part-time jobs wouldn't be a big deal to me.

Saturday Team Side Bet

Last night we played the second place team on the bowling league and they were obviously very good. They killed us. I mean, we actually didn't lose by a ton of points, but we lost every game anyway. They were cool guys though. I had fun playing against them.

I am totally out of the loop because I've been offline for a while. But, I hear there's a side bet / team thing for the poker tournament on Saturday. Is anyone still looking for a team member? I'd like to throw my hat in the ring.

Hit me up!!

Dress warm this weekend guys. Vegas is NOT warm in December.

Unbelievable

So, this is pathetic. The new schedule came out for this week and I was given two shifts. One of them is a patio at night shift which means they will tell me not to come in because it's too cold outside. I was on my way to work last night and I was scheduled for the atio and they waited til I was halfway there to call me and tell me they were closing the patio.

So, basically, that means I got one shift next week. I posted my phone number on our message board and said that I'd be willing to pick up any shift at all and this girl called me to ask me if I wanted her Sunday on-call shift. I was like "hell yeah". But that just means I call Sunday morning and if they need me, I'll come in, but most likely they won't need me.

My only other hope is to just show up before each shift and see if anyone called out or if anyone wants to go home. It works, but it's a pain in the ass, because you have to drive all the way down there and you might not get to work and then you wasted a bunch of gas and time.

So, anyway, poker tourney this weekend! I am psyched! I haven't played in a live tourney in forever. I'm due for a big win - so watch out!!

Annoying

Hi guys,

Give me a few more days. Computer will be up and running I promise.

Work SUCKS! They only gave me two shifts next week.

This week that just passed, I had four shifts, but they called me two days in a row and told me not to come in because they were slow.

Bullshit. I'm so annoyed. How am I supposed to survive on this bullshit??

I'm going to apply for some jobs tomorrow. I'll keep you guys updated.

I Promise I'm Coming Back

Hi guys! Sorry for the disappearing act. I hate it when people disappear from their blogs without explanation and here I am doing the same thing. I am just on a tiny little hiatus though. I will definitely be blogging on a daily basis again in a week or two. I am having some computer issues and right now I'm typing this up from my parent's house. So, don't despair kids. hehe I'll be back for sure!

Just a quick synopsis...

I had to work on Thanksgiving. It was just okay. I didn't make tons of money, but I made enough that it was worth the drive I guess. Unfortunately, I missed out on dinner with my parents and their friends because they went out to eat at 3 p.m. and I didn't get out the Hard Rock til about 5:20. There is a HUGE story for me to tell about work on Thanksgiving, but I'll tell it next week when I have more time to write.

I'm looking forward to Vegas Blogger Weekend in 3 weeks. This invite is for everyone...

We are having our annual blogger No Limit Texas Holdem Tourney at Caesar's Palace on December 12th - let me know if you are interested or just show up to the poker room at noon. The tourney starts at 1. I'm playing, so are my parents, and my roommate too.

And, just to re-cap about the hospital...

- I was in the hospital for 2 nights and 3 days. I've never been admitted to the hospital and I was kind of scared. I was being silly though. The place was great. It's a new hospital and it's like total luxury (for a hospital). Seriously, I had my own room, my own T.V. with cable and lots of channels, we got to order whatever we wanted for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm talking cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, salads, pancakes, eggs, bacon, brownies, cookies etc.

Too bad I have no health insurance and I'll be paying for this 2 night stay for about ten years. I begged them not to admit me, but they said the infection was bad enough that I needed to be on the IV antibiotics. Pills wouldn't work. UGH! Still not sure where I got the infection from. I can finally say I am pain free now though, so that's a huge plus.

Today is my dad's birthday. The three of us are going out for dinner. I'm still craving turkey since I didn't get any yesterday. Hopefully I can find a place with a yummy turkey dinner.

Thought for the day... Video keno is evil. Remind me to never play again. Right!

Ouch

So, I have a lot to tell u gus but I need a couple more days to heal. It's a long story that ended with me being admitted to the hospital for the past few days with antibiotics and morphine running through my system day and night. And here I thought I just had a sprain or something. Thank god I went to the emergency room when I did.

So, gotta stop typing - it's hurting...

Episode and Stuff

So, being the lazy procastinator that I am, when I received two moving violations a couple of weeks ago (following too closely and speeding), I sort of buried my head in the sand and decided that I would take care of them "later". Well, later came and went, I never took care of it and then I received a blue index card in the mail telling me that there was a warrant out for my arrest. CRAP!!!!!

Here in Nevada, we are lucky enough to have a lawyer that used to take our speeding tickets, knock them down to a parking ticket for free and then we just had to pay the speeding ticket fine. Usually those fines were even decreased. All I had to do is drive my happy butt downtown and drop off the tickets. Now, he charges 50 bucks for the service. So, I needed fifty dollars.

So, I let it go and I didn't take care of it. So stupid.

Finally, after driving around for 3 weeks in a state of paranoia praying that I wouldn't get pulled over and go to jail - I went down there yesterday and took care of it. Of course, the fee was $300 instead of 50 dollars since there was a warrant. He had the warrant squashed by 5 p.m. yesterday and now I'm legal again.

Today I went to the DMV to ensure I was good to go and I was. I also had to renew my tags, but I failed the smog test. So, I got a ten day permit that allows me to drive while I take my car in for repairs. Good times.

Life is so much easier when you take care of things in a timely fashion instead of letting them go and go and go. You think I would take my own advice after all these years, but I still don't.

We had a bye week last night, so there was no bowling. My dad and I spent three hours at the Cannery playing video keno instead.

Heading to work in a few hours. Hopefully it'll be a good night. I'm out on the patio, so it could go either way.

So, check out this episode of Price is Right that aired last week. My mom and I are in the audience - it was really fun for us!!

Thanks for the link baby...

Price Is Right




At 36:58 there is a great shot of my mom and I. We are in the audience, right behind contestant row. My mom is wearing a purple shirt and she has very short bleach blonde hair. I am to her left with a grey guess sweatsuit on. We are actually on there tons of times, but that's the first good shot of us.




Price Is Right

Still here!

Sorry I haven't blogged in like forever. I don't know what my problem is, I just wasn't feeling it.

I'm back now though.

This is going to be quick because I'm leaving for work in ten minutes. Work is pretty much the same. I've been hanging around in the top 30 for sales. So, they've been giving me 4 dinner shifts every week which is fine. I mean, it would be nice to get five shifts, but whatever.

Anyway, Sunday night I went into work and I just didn't want to be there. So, my friend Ed was there and he wanted to pick up a shift, so I told him he could have mine and I went home.

So, the way it works as a server is that you carry around all of the money that people pay you with until the end of your shift. So, if you have a table that pays cash and there bill is 500 dollars, you are carrying around that cash until the end of your shift. When you are cut, you do a printout on the computer and you turn in the cash you owe and whatever you have left (after tipping out), you keep. Last night for instance, I had to turn in $700 before I left. If for some reason I decided to skip out, I'm sure I'd be prosecuted or whatever.

Sunday night, this guy turns in his $424 dollars and somehow it gets stolen. I don't know if it was stolen before the accountants saw it or what. I don't know all of the details, but this is like the third theft we've had. A few purses have been stolen out of lockers that didn't have locks on them and now this. It's crazy. I'm thinking that everyone that worked Sunday night is under suspicion and I'm just really glad I gave up my shift.

Oh, and Monday night at bowling, these were my scores. First game I bowled a 103. That's average for me. My average is actually like 105. Second game I totally sucked and I bowled an 85. Third game - I bowled my highest game ever - 174! I had 5 strikes in that game, plus a few spares. I think I might actually get an award for high game/high handicap. Isn't that hysterical?! Talk about inconsistent!

Gotta run!

Oh yeah, my mom and I were on Price is Right yesterday, November 3rd. We were in the audience and we saw ourselves a ton! I don't know if we can find the episode online, but if you are bored, check it out.