Meet Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Monday, April 30
Crap, crap, crap.
Crap.
I thought I got off without damage in Sunday’s Great Pen Washing Episode but I didn’t…I took some clothes out of the dryer today and the khaki work pants I’d washed the ballpoint in looked like a Rorschach Test…Most of the damage was in the area of the right front pocket they were left in but no matter, it’s enough to ensure they are unwearable, even to the loser places I go to, like our small town diner or the Mexican joint in the next county…I wore these pants to work a lot, and I have others, but these were my faves…I more or less carefully checked the other clothes in the dryer and they appear to be damage-free.
The pens, also, made it through unscathed…I set them out to dry yesterday and today I inspected them and tested the ink refills with satisfactory results, so I reassembled them and they are back in service.
I noted recently that we’ve taken to using the front door to leave the house instead of the side door so we don’t bother the family of robins that are nesting nearby…This is not necessary when we come home, though, because the robins fly away as soon we pull into the driveway…I want to tell them it’s not necessary, that we’ll use the front door, but they’re never around to chat with but maybe they’ll pick up on that the next few weeks.
I worked until 10:30pm at the retailer today…I have some zero clue why…Usually, I work till 10, giving me an hour to kill before reporting for hotel duty, but tonight I only had 30 minutes to make the two-minute drive…I still made it in time…I really didn’t know what to do for the extra half-hour…Sir Thomas was running around closing registers but since we close at 10pm there weren’t any customers to help…One thing I’ve learned, tho, is not to ask your boss what to do in these circumstances because Sir Thomas is unlikely to say stand around with your thumb up your ass…He is liable to find something for me to do…As it was, I did some go-backs and the time passed harmlessly enough and I even knocked out a few minutes early because I could.
As noted, both hotels I work at are under the same owner and they provide an OK place to earn a living but one consistent complaint is the utter lack of training…I recall having all of a half-nights training at Hotel B when I started last year, which was a half-night’s more than I had at Hotel A…Ideally you have a whole week of training because while the basics ain’t all that difficult, a full week gives you a chance to see how non-routine matters are handled…A good example is the alarm that went off a couple of weeks ago…I had no idea what to do except stand there with my hands on my hips and stare at it crossly, which you may – or you may not – recall wasn’t much help.
Adam, the new GM at Hotel B, stopped by the front desk while he was doing his laundry in the maid’s room and echoed the same complaint…He’s doing the online training, which is great if you’re training to be a front desk clerk, but not too useful if you are going to run the joint…He said he asked to be sent to another hotel in the chain to shadow the GM – a fairly common industry practice – but they said no, just continue to drink from the fire hydrant we’re opening…To the owner’s credit, they don’t hold it against you when you screw something up or don’t know what to do in the first place.
Sparrow’s Sleep Log: 8am-ish Monday morning to 3pm Monday afternoon…Offered without comment.
The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence.
The Diary of a Nobody was inspired by the 19th century British novel of the same name.
