I'm not sure what it is about me choosing places to live and work that are in the middle of nowhere, but I've done it again! For the winter season I've chosen to work at a resort in the Teton Mountains! It is located about 50 miles away from JacksonHole, WY and between here and there its nothing but snow! The resort is specifically for snowmobiling and dog sledging.
And in case anybody is wondering, No, we do NOT live in sheds! thank goodness! AND in our rooms we all have our own Hot water heaters! (I know, talk about an upgrade! It's like they Actually care or something!!)
Did you guys know there is such a thing as a professional snowmobilier. Me either. Until I started to meet them.
Apparently I'm the only one on the mountain who didn't know that KLIM was a snowmobile clothing brand. And I ended up checking in the man who created it. Lets just say that was a somewhat embarrassing situation... but now I even Own some KLIM gear, just to make up for it :)
I get to go snowmobiling a pretty good amount, and I love it! We have some of the best guides in America out here, and they are working on teaching me all kinds of new stuff! It's a lot of fun!! I'm actually working right now, but I'll try to post again soon and tell some cool Crazy stories!!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Another little story..
One of my friends is a waiter in the Metate Room in Mesa Verde. One night he was serving a couple who may have possibly drank just a bit too much wine. The couple had been on tours all day and were discussing what they would want buried with them if they would have died here. The woman apparently Loved the salt and pepper shakers. Loved them. and told her husband and the waiter that she wanted to be buried with them and kept asking if she could please please be buried with them. We don't normally sell the salt and pepper shakers off the tables. But the woman seemed to love them So much that the server told her to just go ahead and take them, and not to worry about it he would find more, because the woman wanted to be buried with them and who is he to tell her no? So apparently a woman somewhere plans on being buried with some of our salt and pepper shakers.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Just a couple of stories...
If you think your job is hard, try explaining what Velcro is to a philipeno over the phone. Now, understand, most all the international workers in Mesa Verde speak English very well, but don't know the English words for things like Velcro and dispensers, stuff like that. So I spent about 15 min. on the phone with a woman one day trying to explain to her what velcro is so she could find the knee brace a guest left in their room a couple weeks earlier and now wanted back.
On that subject, if you haven't needed it for 2 months, why are you calling Now to get your hairbrush back? honestly... Because the chances of us actually finding whatever it is you lost 2 months after you lost it in one of our 150 rooms, is slim to none.
Unless you're like our gentleman who left his wheelchair in his room.... Yeah. I was a little surprised to get that phone call.... In which case, we found the wheelchair. but he called a couple days after leaving it.
Sometimes I worry about the future of humanity.
On that subject, if you haven't needed it for 2 months, why are you calling Now to get your hairbrush back? honestly... Because the chances of us actually finding whatever it is you lost 2 months after you lost it in one of our 150 rooms, is slim to none.
Unless you're like our gentleman who left his wheelchair in his room.... Yeah. I was a little surprised to get that phone call.... In which case, we found the wheelchair. but he called a couple days after leaving it.
Sometimes I worry about the future of humanity.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Glass Cups? Really? Of all the things...
If you’ve never been to Mesa Verde, or have been and want to come back again, I totally recommend this month and into Oct. to come! It is our rainy season, which might not sound that appealing to most people, but I think it is Also our most beautiful season. During the day it is sunny and warm, perfect for going on tours and whatnot, towards the evening it starts to really cool off, and when it gets dark out it starts raining. Most evenings when I take me break I go outside and look at the amazing view. For the past couple weeks I’ve been able to sit there and watch lightning strike out in the distance back and forth from my far left side to my far right side, and sometimes right in the middle. A lot of times I’ll see the lightning strike ground and then flames or smoke come up from that spot. It is probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Sometimes the lightning will just bounce around in the clouds for a while before actually coming down. It is breath taking. I highly recommend coming to see it!! The Lodge where I work closes for the season on the 21 of Oct. So if you get the chance, come before then!!
So the other night I was checking in 2 couples who were traveling together and had rooms right next to each other. I gave them their keys, explained to them where breakfast is served and so on, then asked if they had any questions before they went to their room. After rephrasing and repeating myself 3 times they went to go find their room. About 30 min. later I received a phone call from one of the woman.
Me- ‘Thanking you for calling the Far View Lodge, this is Hannah speaking, how may I help you?’
Woman- ‘Yes, we just checked into our rooms, and the couple we are traveling with, who is staying in the room next to us, has glass cups in their room, and we don’t.’
Me-‘ Ok…. Well all of our rooms have glass mugs in them for drinking coffee in the morning.. if your room doesn’t have any I would be more than happy to send some..
Woman- ‘No. We have mugs. They have actual glass cups as well at glass mugs. And if they have glasses in their room we should have them in ours too.’
Me- Ok… I’m not sure why they have glasses in their room. We have plastic cups that should be in all the rooms but we don’t normally have glass ones in there. I’ll make a note and talk to housekeeping in the morning about it, but since I have no idea where they came from or why they are there I can’t get more..
Woman- Well they have glass cups, and we don’t. And we want some too.
Me- ok… Well I’ll talk to my manager and see if we can figure out where they came from and see what I can do about it!
Within the next 30 min the woman called 2 more times to ask about the glass cups, after I told her we did not have anymore and honestly had no idea why they were in there in the first place.
In the end we sent someone to go get the glasses from her friend’s room. If you can’t share nicely No one gets glass cups in their rooms.
Honestly people…
It was actually pretty funny. Out of all the things to complain about….
:)
Oh! And a special note to my Mother dearest
ESN DEC: 13212457528
Model NO: G’zOne Type-S
So the other night I was checking in 2 couples who were traveling together and had rooms right next to each other. I gave them their keys, explained to them where breakfast is served and so on, then asked if they had any questions before they went to their room. After rephrasing and repeating myself 3 times they went to go find their room. About 30 min. later I received a phone call from one of the woman.
Me- ‘Thanking you for calling the Far View Lodge, this is Hannah speaking, how may I help you?’
Woman- ‘Yes, we just checked into our rooms, and the couple we are traveling with, who is staying in the room next to us, has glass cups in their room, and we don’t.’
Me-‘ Ok…. Well all of our rooms have glass mugs in them for drinking coffee in the morning.. if your room doesn’t have any I would be more than happy to send some..
Woman- ‘No. We have mugs. They have actual glass cups as well at glass mugs. And if they have glasses in their room we should have them in ours too.’
Me- Ok… I’m not sure why they have glasses in their room. We have plastic cups that should be in all the rooms but we don’t normally have glass ones in there. I’ll make a note and talk to housekeeping in the morning about it, but since I have no idea where they came from or why they are there I can’t get more..
Woman- Well they have glass cups, and we don’t. And we want some too.
Me- ok… Well I’ll talk to my manager and see if we can figure out where they came from and see what I can do about it!
Within the next 30 min the woman called 2 more times to ask about the glass cups, after I told her we did not have anymore and honestly had no idea why they were in there in the first place.
In the end we sent someone to go get the glasses from her friend’s room. If you can’t share nicely No one gets glass cups in their rooms.
Honestly people…
It was actually pretty funny. Out of all the things to complain about….
:)
Oh! And a special note to my Mother dearest
ESN DEC: 13212457528
Model NO: G’zOne Type-S
Friday, August 21, 2009
1-800-full-of-crap
When most people want to stay at the lodge in Mesa Verde they call the 1-800 number posted on the website to make their reservations. This number connects you to our central reservations, where they will tell you all about the lodge, the park, different packages you can by, etc. So when you actually get to the park, you already have a pretty good idea about what you paid for and what you are going to see! Great system right?
Wrong.
The thing about central reservations is they are actually located in Phoenix and most of the people who work there have never actually stayed at the lodge, or even been to the park. They go off of what they have been told to say, sometimes adding in their own special twists to make you want to get different packages or stay longer. Now, I'm not saying central reservations is bad, and I'm not saying that they intentionally mislead people. All I'm saying is that They do not have to deal with the people in person once they arrive at the park and do not have a view of the dwellings from their window, or when they find out that we don't have a swimming pool, and there are no tvs in the rooms.
At least 3-4 times a day I apologize to guests over and over while they complain and yell about how they were told such and such, and it turns out that isn't true, and they want me to fix it. It's like they think we are lying to them when we tell them that no, there really is NO SWIMMING POOL. We are not hiding it from you. We just don't have one.
The other day there was a woman who was almost Irate because she did not have a view of the dwellings from her window. I explained to her that the dwellings are about 30 min. down the road from us in different canyons, I'm very sorry for the confusion, we will make sure the people she made her reservations with are aware of what she was told and what the truth actually is, can we offer you free breakfast, you really do have one of our best views, I'm sorry for the confusion. and on and on. But Nothing I said would calm her down. She just Wanted to be angry I guess, because she just kept calling back and complaining. Over 5 times. and every time, I apologized and began asking What would she like me to do to make her stay more enjoyable? No.. I'm really sorry. There are No rooms at all that have a view of the dwellings..... You have one of the best views that we have available here...... I'm really, very sorry.... Why don't I just transfer you to my manager?
She called the manager over 5 times that night as well. I understand why she was angry, but at the same time there was Nothing else we could do. I feel sorry for that lady. Instead of just accepting that we had done our best to make her stay more comfortable and enjoying her vacation, she decided to stay angry over something no one could fix and let in ruin her night. :(
But anyway, if you decide to visit Mesa Verde (which you really should, because not only am I here, but it is a great place to learn about and see) and you make reservations through the 1-800 number, don't be angry if something they told you isn't 100% accurate. Oh, and September is a great month to come! It's warm in the day and really cools off at night, and it really isn't too busy because most families with kids have already gone back to school. :)
Wrong.
The thing about central reservations is they are actually located in Phoenix and most of the people who work there have never actually stayed at the lodge, or even been to the park. They go off of what they have been told to say, sometimes adding in their own special twists to make you want to get different packages or stay longer. Now, I'm not saying central reservations is bad, and I'm not saying that they intentionally mislead people. All I'm saying is that They do not have to deal with the people in person once they arrive at the park and do not have a view of the dwellings from their window, or when they find out that we don't have a swimming pool, and there are no tvs in the rooms.
At least 3-4 times a day I apologize to guests over and over while they complain and yell about how they were told such and such, and it turns out that isn't true, and they want me to fix it. It's like they think we are lying to them when we tell them that no, there really is NO SWIMMING POOL. We are not hiding it from you. We just don't have one.
The other day there was a woman who was almost Irate because she did not have a view of the dwellings from her window. I explained to her that the dwellings are about 30 min. down the road from us in different canyons, I'm very sorry for the confusion, we will make sure the people she made her reservations with are aware of what she was told and what the truth actually is, can we offer you free breakfast, you really do have one of our best views, I'm sorry for the confusion. and on and on. But Nothing I said would calm her down. She just Wanted to be angry I guess, because she just kept calling back and complaining. Over 5 times. and every time, I apologized and began asking What would she like me to do to make her stay more enjoyable? No.. I'm really sorry. There are No rooms at all that have a view of the dwellings..... You have one of the best views that we have available here...... I'm really, very sorry.... Why don't I just transfer you to my manager?
She called the manager over 5 times that night as well. I understand why she was angry, but at the same time there was Nothing else we could do. I feel sorry for that lady. Instead of just accepting that we had done our best to make her stay more comfortable and enjoying her vacation, she decided to stay angry over something no one could fix and let in ruin her night. :(
But anyway, if you decide to visit Mesa Verde (which you really should, because not only am I here, but it is a great place to learn about and see) and you make reservations through the 1-800 number, don't be angry if something they told you isn't 100% accurate. Oh, and September is a great month to come! It's warm in the day and really cools off at night, and it really isn't too busy because most families with kids have already gone back to school. :)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Week 4- Goat head soup and kiva rooms
Sorry its been SO long since I've written. I've been working a LOT. We are starting our most busy time of the season. I guess August is the month in France when most people have time off, so we have been getting a LOT of French tours. It has been SO much fun learning about all the different people and cultures!! There are a couple things I've been learning and noticing about people. Some people are actually Really excited to be here and to be able to go and see all the dwellings. Other people really.. aren't. And it shows. I love it when people come in and are excited and smiling and happy.
I checked in a mom and her kids a couple nights ago. They were all Really Excited and happy to be there, asking questions about the dwellings and what is the best way to get to see as many of them as possible, if I liked working there, commenting on how much they enjoyed the scenery of the drive up into the park, stuff like that. I gave them the best room I could find, talked to them about the park and sent them on their merry way. The next day as we were going through all the check-ins and check-outs, we found a problem with over booking in a specific kind of room and decided that we would simply just upgrade someone. I remember the mom and kids that checked in the night before and asked if we could just upgrade them instead and give the overbooked people their old room, because it was the correct type of room. The mom was Ecstatic! I love doing that kind of thing for people who are actually happy and friendly and really appreciate it. The nicer you are, and the happier you are, the more we remember you, and try to make your trip as enjoyable as possible. Some people come in, are in a bad mood, complain about the drive up, complain about their room, and just really seem like they don't want to be there. We help those people as much as possible, but honestly, we try a little bit harder to help the people who are happy. So just a mental note.. The nicer and happier you are, the more people will remember you, and try to help you as much as possible :)
I finally got to go on a couple tours and see more of the park! It was AMAZING! It is SO interesting to see where these people lived and how they fixed problems they would run into. They built rooms underground called kivas. These rooms were warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Their were ventilation holes in the rooms to let smoke from fires rise out the top and let fresh air be sucked in through the sides. I was surprised at how smart these people were to find all these little solutions to there problems!!
A couple days ago we had Jamaican day! I got to try all kinds of interesting food they made! One of which was Goat head soup. They boiled parts of the goat head, strained it, and then mixed in veggies and stuff like that. it tasted like vegetable soup! but with a little more of a kick to it.
I'm also learning to speak Portuguese! A couple of the girls I work with are from Brazil and they are having SO much fun teaching me, and I am having SO much fun learning! I can't write very much yet, but I'm learning! I am Very excited about it!!
*saidinabritishaccent*
I checked in a mom and her kids a couple nights ago. They were all Really Excited and happy to be there, asking questions about the dwellings and what is the best way to get to see as many of them as possible, if I liked working there, commenting on how much they enjoyed the scenery of the drive up into the park, stuff like that. I gave them the best room I could find, talked to them about the park and sent them on their merry way. The next day as we were going through all the check-ins and check-outs, we found a problem with over booking in a specific kind of room and decided that we would simply just upgrade someone. I remember the mom and kids that checked in the night before and asked if we could just upgrade them instead and give the overbooked people their old room, because it was the correct type of room. The mom was Ecstatic! I love doing that kind of thing for people who are actually happy and friendly and really appreciate it. The nicer you are, and the happier you are, the more we remember you, and try to make your trip as enjoyable as possible. Some people come in, are in a bad mood, complain about the drive up, complain about their room, and just really seem like they don't want to be there. We help those people as much as possible, but honestly, we try a little bit harder to help the people who are happy. So just a mental note.. The nicer and happier you are, the more people will remember you, and try to help you as much as possible :)
I finally got to go on a couple tours and see more of the park! It was AMAZING! It is SO interesting to see where these people lived and how they fixed problems they would run into. They built rooms underground called kivas. These rooms were warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Their were ventilation holes in the rooms to let smoke from fires rise out the top and let fresh air be sucked in through the sides. I was surprised at how smart these people were to find all these little solutions to there problems!!
A couple days ago we had Jamaican day! I got to try all kinds of interesting food they made! One of which was Goat head soup. They boiled parts of the goat head, strained it, and then mixed in veggies and stuff like that. it tasted like vegetable soup! but with a little more of a kick to it.
I'm also learning to speak Portuguese! A couple of the girls I work with are from Brazil and they are having SO much fun teaching me, and I am having SO much fun learning! I can't write very much yet, but I'm learning! I am Very excited about it!!
*saidinabritishaccent*
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
3 rules
If you are an employee in a national park and your job involves driving a vehicle in the park there are 3 rules you Cannot break.
1. You Must wear your seat belt at all times.
2. You must keep your headlights turned on.
3. When stopping or parking the vehicle you MUST pull the emergency break.
If you have ever been the Mesa Verde, you know that the road into the park is narrow, twisty, and steep. Last night there was a man from maintenance mowing some grass on the side of the road. As he is mowing, he looks up just in time to see his truck flying off the edge of a Thousand foot cliff, one of the highest points in the park, and suddenly remembers. He forgot to pull the E Break.
Since he wasn't actually In the truck, they waited until today to figure out how to pull the completely totaled truck with 100 gallons of gasoline on the back of it (which by some miracle did Not catch of fire when it hit the bottom) back up onto the road without it catching on fire. They brought up tow trucks, they flew helicopters in to see what would be needed, and had 3-4 fire trucks on the road to prevent catching the forest on fire. All of this on the one road used to get in and out of the park. They decided to start at 12. so from noon on they would close the road for 30 min, then open one lane for 30 min, then close the entire thing again.
I got off work at 3 today, and normally there is a shuttle leaving the park at 3, so it would have worked out pretty well. except for the fact that the shuttle got stuck in stop and go traffic on its way down and then stuck on its way back up. One of the restaurants here opens at 5, so all the servers take the 3:45 shuttle up to work. At 4:30 we got a phone call from one of the servers on the shuttle saying they were stuck about 25 min away from work and the road would be closed for 20 min. At this point, I've been waiting for the shuttle for an hour and a half, people were starting to get a little frustrated, and now the servers couldn't make it up to work.... Awesome.
Thankfully the cooks come to work before 3:45, so they were there to prepare the food and feed all of us :)
I don't think I've even been more happy to see those servers than I was when they walked through the door and announced that the shuttle was there. I got home at around 6. Looking back on it, its actually pretty funny. One guy forgets to pull the E break One time, and it throws off the system of an entire national park.
Oh! And they finally managed to pull the mangled truck up onto the side of the road. It took a couple really big special tow trucks, but they got it :)
1. You Must wear your seat belt at all times.
2. You must keep your headlights turned on.
3. When stopping or parking the vehicle you MUST pull the emergency break.
If you have ever been the Mesa Verde, you know that the road into the park is narrow, twisty, and steep. Last night there was a man from maintenance mowing some grass on the side of the road. As he is mowing, he looks up just in time to see his truck flying off the edge of a Thousand foot cliff, one of the highest points in the park, and suddenly remembers. He forgot to pull the E Break.
Since he wasn't actually In the truck, they waited until today to figure out how to pull the completely totaled truck with 100 gallons of gasoline on the back of it (which by some miracle did Not catch of fire when it hit the bottom) back up onto the road without it catching on fire. They brought up tow trucks, they flew helicopters in to see what would be needed, and had 3-4 fire trucks on the road to prevent catching the forest on fire. All of this on the one road used to get in and out of the park. They decided to start at 12. so from noon on they would close the road for 30 min, then open one lane for 30 min, then close the entire thing again.
I got off work at 3 today, and normally there is a shuttle leaving the park at 3, so it would have worked out pretty well. except for the fact that the shuttle got stuck in stop and go traffic on its way down and then stuck on its way back up. One of the restaurants here opens at 5, so all the servers take the 3:45 shuttle up to work. At 4:30 we got a phone call from one of the servers on the shuttle saying they were stuck about 25 min away from work and the road would be closed for 20 min. At this point, I've been waiting for the shuttle for an hour and a half, people were starting to get a little frustrated, and now the servers couldn't make it up to work.... Awesome.
Thankfully the cooks come to work before 3:45, so they were there to prepare the food and feed all of us :)
I don't think I've even been more happy to see those servers than I was when they walked through the door and announced that the shuttle was there. I got home at around 6. Looking back on it, its actually pretty funny. One guy forgets to pull the E break One time, and it throws off the system of an entire national park.
Oh! And they finally managed to pull the mangled truck up onto the side of the road. It took a couple really big special tow trucks, but they got it :)
Monday, July 27, 2009
week 1
To get to work each day I have to take the shuttle. It takes between 30-45 min to get all the way up the twisting bumpy road to the lodge. I work at the front desk, checking people in and out of their rooms and booking tours of the park for our guests. Right next to the front desk is one of the 2 places to get food in the evenings. The metate room. Each night the chiefs make a special meal for the employees to eat, and then get to work of preparing food for the rest of the night. I work with 2 girls from Brazil and one from Jamaica. They are all very sweet and helpful! I love my job. After work I normally come home, change clothes, and head over to the boys house to see what they are up to. Most nights they have dinner all ready and are just finishing setting the table. So far I've tried sushi, frog legs, and cow tongue. They love making things I've never tried before. and I love eating it, because, talk about your cultural experiences!! But speaking of dinner, I have to go eat and then off to bed! There's a shuttle with my name on it at 6 tomorrow morning!! I'll try to write more tomorrow on the way to work!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Unexpected Beginning...
Picture a town. Population just over 1000 people. There are 2 gas stations. There is no other town for miles.
8 miles outside this town is a little cluster of 'Wobs' (Sheds that are big enough for 2 twin beds with about 3 feet of space between them where 2 people live) and a couple of ‘Mods’ (little houses that up to 6 people can live in). This is my new home.
When I accepted a job at Mesa Verde I wasn’t sure what to expect. I expected it to be hot. I expected there to be a lot of people. But I had no idea what was actually waiting for me.
One of the first people I met was a man named Claudio. He is from Romania. Then Lane, from the Philippians, Frank is native American, the list goes on and on. Every day I meet new people from different places, of different nationalities. At first I thought it might be hard to connect with many of them and become friends, so I was somewhat hesitant. I didn’t know how much we would actually have in common, or if they even wanted to be my friend.. Last night I went over to a mod where a couple of guys live and tried different kinds of sushi. It was So much fun!! I was shocked at how comfortable I felt around these people who I had thought would be SO different from me, and would be hard to connect with. Claudio made dinner for everyone and we sat down together to eat. An Ipod was playing music in the backround, a mixture of music from all the different cultures. Towards the end of the night I was starting to recognize words out of songs and could remember what they ment. So far, everyone I’ve met has been concerned about me being comfortable and me having everything that I need. J
Today will be my first day of work at the lodge. I’m Very excited to meet more people I work with and I hope to learn more about their cultures throughout the rest of my summer!!
I also have family home evening tonight with the singles group from the wards in towns nearby. I’m very excited!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)