Saturday, October 29, 2005

Hallowe'en

Well it's that time of year, and all staff at my casino are encouraged to dress up and be eligible for prizes. Last year I got first place with my Austin Powers outfit. This year I was deciding among three: Michael Jackson, Elvis and....Marilyn Monroe. Then Vandy dared me (in fact, she double-dared me) to go as a Playboy bunny. So today I bought some cheap ears, bowtie and cuffs. Now if I get enough guts to get a top, fishnets, and shoes (and wig?) I'm set. This is worse than Fear Factor. I still might "chicken out" and stick with your basic Marilyn Monroe, but we'll see. The things I do.

The Legend of Zorro

With nothing to do on a Friday night (except have a quick dinner with Kity and her son Derek), I decided to go see The Legend of Zorro, starring the utterly divine Catherine Zeta-Jones (and that Antonio Banderas fellow too). The movie was quite predictable and pretty corny, but who cares. Catherine Zeta-Jones was in it and that's good enough for me.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Back to Work Blues

After my six-day mini-vacation, I returned to work and was faced with total mayhem. Because of the Coquitlam overstaffing, over half of the dealers on the tables were new, and I must say, poorly trained. As a result, most of the night was spent correcting dealers' mistakes (hopefully I didn't miss any). It was total stress. Vandy was yelling at me (and she had every reason to). I truly hope the Coquitlam expansion is finished on schedule (and even that's 3 weeks away) because I don't know how much more I can take of this. Oh, and somewhere in there I have to prepare for my impending interview.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Third Time Lucky?

It seems that there is a posting for promotions to Relief Floor Managers once again. So now the weeks of uncertainty and nervousness will begin again. First I must decide if I want to apply, knowing full well that I may be turned down again. It's a foolish reason not to apply, but being passed over is a really shitty feeling. However, not applying means I have NO chance of getting promoted. So we shall see.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Back from my Trip!??

The two days of seminars are over at the River Rock Hotel, and as a result, so are my two nights at the hotel. The hotel itself was beautiful (reminds me of a Whistler lodge) and my suite was huge. It was a one-bedroom suite with two TV's (!) and overall a nice layout. I took some pictures with an instant camera but I still have pictures left to take so you'll have to wait.

The seminars were quite informative and I enjoyed them. I guess my reservations are if the staff will "buy into" the whole program. Let's hope so.

OK, I still have 4 days off so we shall all talk again. Hello to my buddy Johnny and anybody else reading.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Business Trip?

Only one more day until I sort of have 6 days off!??! On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I will be attending a customer service training seminar at the River Rock Hotel. Being that they are VERY early in the morning (8am and 9am) I've decided to stay at the hotel Monday and Tuesday nights. Is it a waste of money ($99/night)? Perhaps, but I also consider it a mini-holiday so I can relax. Syama is also going and will be staying with me the first night. And no to whatever you're asking. Don't even bother asking.

After that I will have my regular days off on Thursday and Friday, followed by two "leave of absence" days. We are severely overstaffed as a result of the delay in the Boulevard Casino (Coquitlam) expansion. So in essence I have 6 days off from work. Considering the large amount of rookies we have, I'll be quite happy to be away from "the office".

Monday, October 10, 2005

The Crimson Room

This was a cool game that had me addicted for a while (until I solved it). Yes, the solution is all over the Internet if you want but what's the point of that? Good luck.

Crimson Room

Mamma Mia! Forever

What a show! I don't care if I've seen it twice already, and I don't care if it's the same stuff, it's still my favorite show. And this time I got to see it with two really cool people. I even managed to shed a few tears during some of the tender moments (something about "The Winner Takes it All" that does it to me every time). It was a great time and I miss it already.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Sleep is Overrated

After my great outing at the casino, I got to bed at around 4am, prepared for a long and peaceful sleep before working again at 7pm. All that changed at 10am when I was awakened by the phone. It was work. They wanted me to work at 11am. Wow. If anything, it was cool because that means I'll be off at 7pm (the time when I'm supposed to start work!???!). Anyways, I was pretty tired and dazed at work and managed to get through it.

And now I await the hours before seeing Mamma Mia! for the 3rd time. I can't wait.

29 Black Baby!

I had dinner with two ex-classmates from the Legal course. Then they wanted to go to the casino afterwards and as much as I hate gambling these days (especially at Edgewater), I decided to tag along. As expected, I began to lose, first $20, then $40, and before I knew it I had lost $200. My friends had already left. I was down to my last $85 (before the walk to the ATM) when I decided to go for it on roulette. Then the incredible happened. In a span of 10 spins, I hit my section (29 and the neighbors) 7 times. The other two times I missed but I somehow still got chips back because I was betting everywhere. Suffice to say that at one point I had $85 in my pocket and when I finally left the table, I had $800, for a profit of $540. Life is good.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Mamma Mia! in 72 hours

I am waiting with anticipation, and can't stop thinking about listening to my favorite songs in the world, then dancing the night away. I KNOW I'll have a good time, and it's especially good because I'm going with Syama and her Mom.

Meanwhile, I'm just relaxing at home after going to a hockey pool with some old friends. I still can't believe hockey's finally back after all this time. And Montreal's won their first two games!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

2 Days Off

My two days off await me after tonight's shift. It's been an interesting week, and not really because of work itself, but more about what the future holds for work (did that make sense?). Our casino is going through a lot of changes in the coming month in preparation for the expansion of the Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam. There will probably be a number of staff members transferring there, and as a result we will be getting new staff here. It will be interesting to say the least to see what happens.

Here's a fun little game I came across. So far my best score is 480.7 but a friend of mine got over 600. Have fun!

http://badger.ing.me.uk/~ahmulh/pingu.htm

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Be a Man

I went with a couple of coworkers to see Russell Peters, one of the best (THE BEST?) Canadian comics in existence. Even though he is Indian, he has the best Chinese accent (when he's making fun of the Chinese) around. His jokes are racist but in good fun. He was hilarious. Alas, now my days off are over and it's back to the grind.