Working things out.. or avoiding them for the time being.

I've been having lots of problems with my roommate so I talked to her about it and now I've moved into my suitemate's room for a little while. I believe this is a pivotal change in the dynamic of our living situation. 

I'll miss things like this.

There is nothing more comforting when I'm tired after a long day of work than when the security guard at the gate of my apartment complex kindly says "welcome home."
It seriously makes my night.

"You're the kind of person we look for as an ideal cast member."

I had a really great day today!

I had to work at 3:00 so I got there an hour early because the bus schedule made it so that I had no choice. I talked to some coworkers for the duration of that hour and then I got an assignment after clocking in. My first assignment was a task; to clean the windows at Tony's Restaurant. A coordinator was standing there when I got it and he told me to help do parade clean up instead. So I just watched Celebrate A Dream Come True and then swept around a little and talked to guests afterwards. It was really easy.

I went back to CDS to get a new assignment and it gave me "Guest Interaction." I didn't even know this was a task, but I was glad to take it. I met so many great people while doing it. My favorite thing to do is walk up to guests who are taking pictures and offer to take a photo for them. They're always so pleasantly surprised and appreciative. Literally all I did for three hours was talk to people and sweep the streets. I loved it.

At one point I was by the castle and a couple came up to me asking how to get to the ferry and when I told them to go down Main Street, they said they didn't know where that was. A parade was going on at the time so it was hard to see the actual street from where we were standing, so I decided to just walk them over to Main Street. I asked them how their vacation was, where they were from, etc. and they were really appreciative of the fact that I took the time to walk them there rather than just giving them more detailed directions.

I continued to sweep after that when I got a call on my radio from a coordinator. He told me to come back stage and when I did, he handed me a Four Keys Fanatic Card! It's my first one and it said "Great job showing guests the exit when they did not understand where it was." That was when I was told I was an ideal cast member. Although I feel like what I did was small, it's really nice to be shown appreciation for it.

At the very end of the day I thought I would just task for a while longer before I had to clock out soon but after Celebrate the Magic, I was told that my position was dropped. When I went to get a new assignment it said I had to be Casey's Trasher because it was a rotational bump. I was okay with that assignment because I was leaving soon and I like beingTrasher. Since I only had an hour of my shift left and I had 15 minutes of walk time, I asked my manager if I could just come back and clock out if no one came to bump me out on time. She said I had to stay there no matter what because it was so busy, so I did.

I had a cute guest interaction that is worth mentioning too. I went to empty a trash can and a family was standing next to it. A little prince was playing with the opening of the lid and when I came over he just watched me do the trash. He tried to touch the trash can because he was interested and his mom said, "Don't touch that. See how miss Chelsea is wearing gloves? It's because she doesn't want to touch it." I love when people actually take the time to read my name tag. While I was changing out the trash, the prince held the door open for me and shut it too when I put the can back inside. It was the sweetest thing. So I got some Mickey stickers out of my pouch, got down on his level, and told him Mickey wanted me to give one to him. I also gave some out to the rest of his siblings, but his expression changed instantly when I showed him the sticker. He grabbed it out of my hands and stared at it in awe. It was so precious.

When 8:45 came, I was impatient because I wanted to leave but I stayed anyway because that's what I was told to do. Then at 9:00 I wasn't sure if I should say anything to my manager so I decided to wait a little longer. At 9:05 I called a manager on the radio and told her I needed to clock out and she told me to come back to CDS because someone was going to pick up my assignment. She then said that I should have come back 25 minutes ago so that I could get my walk time and I told her that another manager told me not to. She was really apologetic and said she appreciated that I didn't make a big deal out of it because apparently a lot of people do. She extended my time for me and I left soon afterwards.

I went to my locker and got on the bus where I happened to meet up with Erin. We had a nice conversation and then when we got home, I took a shower right away. While I was doing that, Erin made dinner! She made baked ziti the night before so she heated that up in the oven and we ate that with salad once Chrissy got home. It was so nice to eat some real food that I didn't have to pay for and we had such a nice time talking together too.

Now we're sitting in the living room talking and browsing the internet. I was planning on going to sleep a little earlier but its 1:30 already.so I guess that's out of the question. I have one more day of work and then it's my weekend! I already know that I'm going to sleep forever, do laundry and my nails, possibly clean since our inspection is coming up, and go to the outlets. I'm looking forward to it.

Hopefully tomorrow is as good to me as today was!!

Restrooms aren't so bad anymore.

Before work today I decided to leave a little earlier because I needed to go to costuming. The annoying thing about doing custodial work is that when I wash my costumes at Patterson's laundry, they don't really get clean because they need to be treated. Since I don't want to spend money on cleaning something that could be cleaned for free, I'd rather take the extra time to go to costuming.

The thing is, I thought today was Sunday.

I thought I was scheduled 3:00 to 9:00 so I got on a bus that came around 12:00. It wasn't until I was halfway through the bus ride that I realized I didn't have to be to work until 4:00. I decided that I would take my time at costuming but it hardly took any time at all; probably ten to fifteen minutes. So I got on the bus after I got clean costumes and went to the Utilidoors. After changing into my costume, I went upstairs and decided to call my sister while I waited for the time to pass. I actually got a little emotional when that happened because talking to my sister made me really miss my family so I started tearing up a little bit. No one noticed though because I was wearing sunglasses and I was standing away from everyone else, but it still sucked feeling this way. I felt like going back to the apartment right then, but obviously I couldn't. So we talked while I waited and then I clocked in.

My schedule said that I was doing restrooms all day and I was really hopeful that I wouldn't get City Hall because it's huge and insanely busy. As luck would have it though, the white board said "Female 1 - Chelsea" on it which meant I was getting City Hall. A manager was standing nearby so I asked if there was any way I could switch with someone else but she told me that it was based on how long everyone's shifts were. I accepted the truth and hesitantly logged into CDS to get my assignment. Much to my surprise, it didn't say that I had to go to City Hall! Instead it said I had to go to Casey's, which I was totally okay with. My manager then told me that I had to pick up some other restrooms at 6:45 because that's when the cast member in charge of them had to bump out for the parade shift. I felt so much better about how the day was going to be because those four restrooms are much easier to handle than City Hall is alone.

It gets better too! When I got to Caseys, everything looked great! Everything was stocked, the floor was clean, and the sinks were dry. There was hardly anything for me to do. The time went by quickly throughout the day and nothing was very challenging for me. I usually really dislike doing restrooms but now that I'm getting a good handle on them, I don't think I'll dislike them as much anymore.

I was originally supposed to get off at 10:15 but I was extended until 12:30, which was okay because I need the money. I seriously need to take some time to relax on my next two days off though because it seems like for the last two weeks I've been so fatigued. I always go to sleep around 4:00 AM and then I get up 10:00. It seems like I always fall asleep on the bus on the way to work.

Speaking of being tired, it's 3:00 AM now so I should probably get to sleep soon. But on an unrelated note, my sister's birthday was this week and I sent her a few things since I know how much she would have loved being here! (My sister took the second set of photos because I forgot to before I wrapped them.)

Mickey ears, Mickey treats, Mickey stickers, a Mickey tea strainer, and even a note signed by Mickey himself! Her mouse ears say "Lemur" because that's her favorite animal and she tries to incorporate the word into everyday conversation. It's really cute. Just thought I'd say a little something about that :)

But anyway, it's time for bed. Until next time!

Because no one's ever made this observation.

You're a cute little girl who loves bows and dresses but then you play your music and it's like, "fuck yo shit, get dat pussy, smokin on some weed."

-- My roommate on my life.

A magical moment was made for us yesterday!

Chrissy, Erin, and I were at Hollywood Studios last night and we decided to ride the Tower of  Terror. Erin wasn't happy about it because that ride terrifies her but the wait was only twenty minutes so we had to. We got through the line quickly, were loaded into the elevator, and rode the ride. I love going down because your butt goes off the seat and it freaks me out!

So we got off the ride and were ready to wait for Fantasmic when the cast member who unloaded us pulled us to the side and told us to wait. He had a really serious tone so naturally we thought that maybe we did something wrong. I thought maybe something had flown out of my lap on the ride since I had a lot in my lap and he just wanted to retrieve it, but that wasn't the case. When he unloaded everyone else, he came back over and said "Did you guys do anything that maybe you shouldn't have done in there?" When we said no he said, "Come on guys, we have cameras all over in there." He stood there for a while looking at us and I could tell something was up, so I said he was bluffing. He tried to keep his menacing composure but once I had convinced Chrissy and Erin that he was lying, he said, "Who loaded you onto the ride?" I said that I thought his name was Jay and he said, "He wants you to ride again." So we went back downstairs on an elevator, skipped the line, and rode the ride again in the first row!!

We talked to Jay again while we waited for an elevator to become available and he was really nice, despite the theme of the ride. The first time we got on the ride, he leaned over to me and said "I don't mean to alarm you, but you have something in your hair." It was pixie dust. I just said, "I know! Doesn't it look pretty?" And the second time we rode the ride he said, "You still have stuff in your hair." And I said, "Ugh, I know. Will you get it out?" like I was fed up with having it there. He even tried to get some of it out!

The whole experience was a really nice unexpected surprise! I think the ride is overall kind of lame, although I'm always scared to ride it at first, but the cast members made it so much better for us!

A long but easy day.

I was scheduled to work from 6:30 PM to 2:45 AM yesterday, which I was okay with for the most part because that meant I had most of the day to do what I wanted. I decided to stay at the apartment because I've been sick for the last couple of days and I figured my body needed time to rest.

I set my alarm for 4:35, fifteen minutes before the A bus was supposed to come at 4:49, got ready, and left. I usually plan to leave an hour and a half before my shift starts just for good measure. While I was getting my stuff together I called my sister and I left five minutes before my alarm went off since I was ready.

I waited at the bus stop for about fifteen minutes and when I saw that the A bus had arrived, I got on. Then about ten minutes into the ride, I noticed that the bus wasn't going to Vista; we were closer to Downtown Disney. I then noticed the piece of paper in the window that said "F2." I was on the wrong bus. It turns out the marquee on the outside of the bus said that it was the A bus, but the marquee wasn't working and since I was talking to my sister, I hadn't seen the paper in the window or the fact that the other CP's on the bus weren't wearing Magic Kingdom costumes. I asked a cast member where the bus was going and she said to Downtown Disney, then back to Vista. That meant I would have to waste at least twenty minutes getting back to Vista in hopes that the A or B bus would be there, and then I would have to spend roughly 40 minutes on that bus too.

I called a couple people who had a car and who I knew started their shift around the same time as me to try to get a ride, but they didn't answer. When the bus got to Downtown Disney, I asked the bus driver what I should do. He told me to stay on the bus and go back to Vista, so I did and it wasn't all that bad. The driver and I had a conversation the whole way since it was just us and he was really, really nice. We got back to Vista after twenty minutes and I found out when the next A bus came, then waited for five minutes. At this point I only had an hour to get to work so I was kind of nervous because the bus stops at two resorts and then I have to take the bus from Westclock to the Utilidoors. I like to be to work thirty minutes before my shift too so I wasn't so happy about this. I swear, when you're pressed for time it seems like the bus literally crawls to work. I felt like the bus driver wasn't even trying to drive.

Surprisingly, I arrived at Westclock only thirty minutes later, got on the bus to the Utilidoors, and still had twenty minutes to spare. I went to my locker, then walked the five to ten minutes to where I needed to clock in and felt extremely lucky not to have been late.

I was scheduled to work streets so I was excited about it because I love having that job. But naturally, as soon as a coordinator saw me, he told me I was doing restrooms until 9:00. I wasn't thrilled about this because A.) I hate restrooms, B.) I had done restrooms for my entire shift the day before at TTC, and C.) I was scheduled to do restrooms all day the next day. The nice thing was that it was only for three hours and I had to do Crystal Palace, First Aid, and Baby Care, which aren't busy. It seemed like the time flew by and I was able to be a little more thorough than usual with everything since it wasn't busy. Before that, I was called to go clean up a Code U at Crystal Palace. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a Code U means urine. This was my first Code anything so I went over there and cleaned it up quickly.

Fifteen minutes before my restroom assignment was supposed to end, I took a fifteen minute self-break, then I went to CDS to get a new assignment. It told me I needed to take a 45 minute break and I won't argue with that. But I noticed when I logged in that I had been extended until 3:45 AM, so I wasn't excited about that. It was freezing outside and that meant I wouldn't get home until 4:30 in the morning. After my break I went to get an assignment, which said that I needed to break someone. I got on the radio and told them it was time for their break and they said they would meet me at CDS. The thing is, Wishes had just started and it took the person I was breaking an hour and a half to get back stage because the park was so crowded. I called him on the radio a couple more times throughout the course of that time, but he insisted that he was on his way. I told a coordinator that I had been waiting for a long time and he told me to get a new assignment. When I did, it said I had to break someone else but when he told me where to meet him, I couldn't hear him because his location was so loud and his accent was thick. I asked other cast members around me what they heard him say but after I had him repeat himself a few times, they weren't sure either. I told him to come back to CDS and he told me to come to wherever he was. I decided to go out and look for him but as soon as I got on stage, the parade started and the lights went out, making it too dark to find him. I went back to CDS and told him I was unable to find him, and he came back ten minutes later. I think he was angry with me but I wasn't sure because of his accent again. I'm usually good at deciphering accents but he spoke really fast too, so it was difficult. He told me to pan and broom in his area for the five minutes that were left of his break, so I did.

When I came back, I got an assignment for the Monorail zone, so I went to the AVAC by BDO to get a three liner and I began to do my trash run. After doing only three cans, I got a call for my fifteen minute break, so I went back to CDS and took it. I then went back to Monorail and did my trash run, which was really easy. After that, I went back to my zone to sweep up a little, then called a coordinator to tell him I had closed my zone. By this time it was around 1:00 and the park was dead because of the cold temperature. My coordinator told me to assist another cast member at BDO but when I called him on the radio, he told me he didn't need my help anymore. I went back to CDS and talked to my co-workers while I waited for an early release.(ER) My manager gave mostly everyone an ER at 2:45 and I managed to get a ride home with a co-worker, which I was so grateful for because it was freezing and I didn't want to wait for the bus. We clocked out and got on the bus to Westclock, then walked to the parking lot, where we saw this.

That's frost. I hadn't anticipated this kind of weather when I came down here.

We left the parking lot at around 3:00, went home, and I promptly took a shower to warm up. After I finished my shower at 3:45, which I was very hesitant to get out of, I called my sister and made some food since I was starving. I got into bed at 4:45 and I had the hardest time falling asleep because I was still really cold and my mind was restless. For about a week and a half now, almost all of my dreams have been about work. I'll dream that I'm at work doing a trash run or cleaning the restrooms for the duration of the night and when I wake up, mostly still asleep and fatigued, I'll think that I have to get back to work but then I realize that I was just dreaming. My nights haven't been very restful.

It's 10:00 now and I've been up for an hour, which means that I got around five hours of sleep. I was supposed to work 3:45 to 12:30 tonight but I just looked at my schedule on the HUB and I've been extended an hour and a half. I also have to go to costuming to get new costumes today so I have to leave in a couple hours. It's going to be a long day. It's supposed to be cold again tonight and I feel sicker. There's a silver lining though; I have two days off after today. Knowing me, though, I'll be in the parks for those two days.