The Day from Hell!!!

That's what today is for us...when I arrived at work today, there was poor Sara running her legs off with the continental breakfast (It's hard to believe we thought this was a good idea)...trying to keep the muffin tray filled, coffee made, juices filled, and I breeze by her and notice a sign on the door regarding one of our primary housekeepers...the housekeeper who can't get along with the foreign students so we made her take the entire building on herself (well, we never made anyone do anything...we gave her a choice to move from her building to the main building and take fewer units and she didn't want to)...anyway, apparently she called in because she had sprained a finger or some such thing which means a building with 9 units and a couple of them huge...has no housekeeper coming in. So, of course Poor ole Sara has gone over to do the housekeeping followed by Mary and I think Vernon has trudged over as well. The heat and humidity are going to take their toll today....it's going to be a regular "sweatfest". What is my part in this you ask...I'm taking on the idiot at the front desk.....yes that will be my challenge for the day...I have to work with her and of course tonight I work with the other idiot. Yes, I have a fun day to look forward to...but we must all do our part. I just wish the tenants would try to do theirs. While we have some wonderful families here with us this week...which makes it a little easier...we also have some of them showing up at 7:30 a.m. for their apartments and as usual checking about ever 20 minutes to see if they are ready. No matter how many times we say, "we're running behind...they won't be ready until 3:00 p.m." it just doesn't seem to matter. They just keep on rolling up to the desk to "just checking to see if it's ready yet?" Honestly, today is not the day people to "just check to see if it's ready." I've got a stun gun and frankly I'm in the mood to use it and I'm not certain if I care if it's an employee or a tenant. Well, Vernon came over at 12:15 to renegotiate his contract (he says he never signed up to clean a toilet)...and Sara and Mary were right behind him. They cleaned the empty units and were lucky because when they showed up to do a remake, and the old tenant saw who was doing it told them they really didn't need housekeeping today so that meant one less apartment. But they were done at 12:17, much faster than usual, but to give ourselves a treat Vernon made frozen drinks, we got Thrashers french fries and Alaska Stand sandwiches...yes, it's a good day after all. Just got back from the shop where I had a nice chat with a customer who has become a friend, and as she was leaving town today I asked her how her vacation went. She was on vacation with her family, and their families. She hesitated and said it was alright....which is a red flag for the vacation with problems. I cannot tell you how many times I see this...there is always someone in a group who, while not meaning to perhaps, dampens the vacation for everyone. I don't mean they ruin it, although many times they do, but they have everyone walking on egg shells around them which means no one else can relax, and that's what happened here. Now, I have to say, been there and done that...and having done that I don't do it anymore. When I took everyone to Disneyworld...I got my own room and they stayed out of it. I also said no one had to go with me I could do my own thing, so Mary and her family took me at my word and basically only saw me on the first day and the day we all left...(I do think Mary and C.J. spent 2 days in the park with us)...Sara however, hung in with me every day. I try not to be intrusive, however, I am sure that on some nights Sara was ready to blow from my interaction with Michael, since I do buy him just about anything he wants (sometimes it's just easier than listening to him whine...I will change my mind on this when he's 16 and asking for a Hummer). We have another family staying here who use to come with his parents. However, as the children got older the 4 children wanted to stay on the beach longer in the afternoon, while the grandparents wanted to eat at 5:30 p.m. (as you get older your dinner time seems to get earlier)...and they had a set routine which made it not so nice for the family with the children. Finally the mother of the children said, "No more...we're staying on the beach until the kids want to come in, we're eating when we want to and not at 5:30, and we're doing what the kids want to do as opposed to sitting on the porch every night watching the boardwalk." Their 2 weeks here has now become 1 and they no longer speak with the grandparents who apparently took the news very hard. And...they are all in counseling...all that stems from each group having different expectations from their vacation and no one getting what they wanted. What I'm trying to say folks is...don't take your relatives with you. If they want to come at the same time, fine, but get them their own place and make sure everyone knows up front that no one gets to become the dictator. It's a vacation which means the rules are loose and everyone gets to have fun! WEATHER REPORT: hot and sticky, humid and yucky! Sun is shining but it's way too bright for me to look at the ocean, which I couldn't see anyway because there is a surfing contest today and they have their bleachers up among other things obscuring my view. (and that's O.K. because we love our surfer dudes). Well, the night is over without too many problems...and then I get over here to the office and Sara informs me we have another housekeeper (regular) who needs tomorrow off to go to the doctors...oh, Lord, Sara is back to housekeeping...hang on people tomorrow is going to be a bumpy ride. See you then!