Another Month Gone

Yet another month has passed by and the end is drawing closer.

During the month of November a few things occurred. I was allowed to go back to work after 2 weeks of being on crutches but not without restrictions so from November 10th until December 10th I am on a restriction that says I cannot stand for more than 1/3 of my work day. This meant that they could not deploy me which was amazing but what do they do right when my restrictions are up?...deploy me back to Old Key West where you are standing 2/3+ of your day. I hate that place and the people are not nice and its just a bunch of bulls**t.

About a week after I was allowed to return to work my grandma and grandpa Rute came to Florida to visit me. Unfortunately I had to work most of the days they were here but I was able to meet them for dinner after work a few days and then one day I was able to spend the day with them at Epcot which was a lot of fun. I am really glad I was able to see them when I did because my grandpa passed away a few days after they left.

Luckily I was able to go home for a week for the services and Thanksgiving. I was very grateful that I was able to be with my family because I don't think I would have been able to stay in Florida when everything was going on.

I am also officially a campus representative for the Walt Disney World College Program at Virginia Tech. So when I return in January I will be representing the program. This means that I will still be employed by Disney. I am very excited and can't wait to start.

Other than working the usual amount, going to in-services's and hanging out with friends not much else has really happened since the last update.

Crazy Past Month

Okay so it's been almost a month since I last updated. Lots of things have happened so lets recap:

~October 19th-October 21st~

Carl flew down to Florida for my 21st birthday. He arrived on the 19th and luckily I was able to get an ER from work and got to spend the whole time with him. We checked into our room at the Yacht Club and then went out to lunch with his friend Kelley who is also on the program and her friend Mary. After lunch we went back to the hotel and just hung around until people started to arrive for the festivities. We went to dinner at the Beach Club with Kelley and Mary along with my friend Alicia and Eric. After dinner we hung around the hotel room till it got close to midnight. We walked over to the Boardwalk to Jellyrolls which is a dueling pianos club and got there just as I turned 21. It was a ton of fun and my friends and Carl took every chance throughout the day to make sure they told people it was not only my birthday but my 21st birthday. On my actual birthday we went to Epcot for a few hours and then hung around the hotel. I went swimming and talked to some of the lifeguards I knew from when I was deployed over there. That night we went out to dinner at Bennihana's with Sean, Evan, Sammie, Alicia, Tyler, Carl and me. We had a blast there and they made sure to tell them it was my birthday as well to get more embarrassment in. After dinner Carl and I went back to the hotel and just chilled and then went to sleep. The next morning we packed our stuff up and checked out. I took Carl to the airport and said good-bye. After he left I spent the rest of the day hanging out in my apartment watching TV, doing laundry and relaxing.

~October 22nd~

I had to work at Contemporary this day. It was a usual day at work with nothing to exciting occurring. After work I picked my parents up from the airport, dropped them off at their hotel and then headed back home to sleep before picking John and Marcy up in the morning.

~October 23rd-October 26th~

Woke up and headed over to my parents hotel to pick them up. Then drove to the airport to pick up John and Marcy. After a quick stop at the hotel so John and Marcy could change and see if they could check in we began our Disney adventure. We went to Animal Kingdom on the first day. We went on the Safari, Dinosaur and saw the Lion King Show. I also convinced my mom to go on Expedition Everest and thought she was going to kill me afterwards. We also did a few of the walking tours where you can see the different animals wandering around in their habitats. After Animal Kingdom we went to dinner and then I dropped everyone off at the hotel. I went back to my apartment for a short time to change into my lifeguarding clothes and then headed over to the Fort for Halloween night inservice. It was pretty interesting because they scenes we a little more outlandish and they had actual GIDs versus us switching between GID and rescuer. The only really creepy part was out general manager John Raper walking around with this freaky pumpkin mask on and a light saber. He'd randomly walk up to people and hit them with the light saber and go "you're unconscious" and then turn to the other person in the scene and go "you're on your own" and then run away. It was like uber freaky. After inservice I headed home to sleep before our double day. The next day we went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours and then spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom. At Studios we went on Star Tours, Tower of Terror and saw the Indian Jones shoes. I also somehow managed to get my mom on Rock n' Roller Coaster even after the whole Everest thing the day before. Rock n' Roller goes upside down and does cork screws and is in the dark so I thought I was really going to be dead this time. So the ride ends and I was like is mom still alive and she goes "that was kind of cool...I liked it." I'm pretty sure I was in total shock because I didn't expect that one. After that we headed over to Magic Kingdom for the day. We pretty much did every ride in all of MK. We started in Tomorrowland and the just walked through each land doing the rides that we wanted to do. After all the rides we ate dinner at Cosmic Rays and then waited for the "Wishes" to start. After the fireworks we headed back to the hotels once again. The next morning I had to drop my parents off at the airport to say good-bye and then headed to John and Marcy's hotel. We ate breakfast there and then headed over to Epcot. We first did the rides in Future World like Mission: Space, Test Track, Nemo and Spaceship Earth. Then we headed over to the World Showcase and began to make our way around the world stopping at each kiosk to see what they had. Some we bought from others we just kept walking. After a fun filled day around the world we sat down to watch "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth" and then headed home. Sadly the next morning I had to say good-bye to John and Marcy and sent them on their way back to MD. I spent the rest of the day again sitting around the apartment since I didn't have to work.

~October 27th-present~

On October 27th I worked at the lodge...it was uneventful. On the 28th I worked at the lodge but had to leave halfway through my shift because the pain in my left foot was so bad I was barely able to walk. I left work and headed straight to the doctors to get it checked out. There I found out I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot. So I have been out of work since the 29th and the first day I'm allowed to go back is the 11th of November. This being said I have been pretty much bored out of my mind just sitting at home watching TV since I was on crutches until just a few days ago. It really sucks I must say. I don't like not working because all my friends are working so I'm just plain bored .

Well thats all...you are now all caught up

Have a Magical Day

Oops...a month later

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry...it has been a very long time since I last updated this because I have been very busy. Here's a recap of everything that has happened...

My friend Rachel got married back in September. I was home for a couple of days for her wedding and went to dinner with some family that came into D.C. before I left to fly back to Florida the next morning.

Right when I got back from Virginia I was deployed over to the Grand Floridian on Seven Seas Lagoon. I spent a week at the Floridian before I was deployed to yet another pool.

I have spent the last 2 1/2 weeks over at Old Key West and will be there for the next couple of days before they finally let me go back to Bay Lake.

Two days ago I participated in something called "mass casualty." This is a practice not only for lake patrol but also for Reedy Creek and Orange County. A bunch of the lifeguards were GIDs and were just floating in the lake with different injuries that had to be treated. Although they tried to save me I didn't make it and I was black tagged the second we got to the dock.

Next week is going to be filled with stuff going on. On Monday Carl flies in and will be staying until Wednesday with my 21st birthday being on Tuesday. Then my parents fly in Thursday night and will be here through Sunday with John and Marcy flying in on Friday morning and staying until Monday. So hopefully it will be a good week as long as the couple of issues occurring currently can be resolved.

Thats all for now...sorry its short but I have to get ready for work and nothing exciting really happened...just been bounced all over

Back and Forth

So this week has gone by very fast. Here is a recap of the week.

Sunday: I had sunday off and after the cleaning team came in to clean our apartment for the new roommate I went to Hollywood Studios with my friend K.K. where we just wandered around. It was so much fun and a great day just to hang out without having any set plans. We just did everything randomly. 

Monday: I worked at the Lodge this day. It was a pretty basic guarding day until 2 hours before the end of my shift. I ended up having to jump in and rescue a little girl who got scared and wasn't able to stand so she began to freak out which caused her to begin to drown. 

Tuesday: I had inservice in the morning and we went around to all the pool both on Bay Lake as well as Seven Seas Lagoon and just talked about the EAP's at all the pools and did a few practice drills at each. There were not many guards present and a lot of them were newer so the older guards were GIDs and they were the guards so they could learn. After inservice I headed over to the BLT and guarded over there for the day. 

Wednesday: I worked at the Lodge but not as a guard. All of our guards showed up and our kids activities person had called in. I was the only guard that day that was not a new guard and the only one that knew how to run kids activities so I spent the day playing games in the pool, running the pool party and playing bingo. 

Thursday: First I woke up bright and early this morning to take Sean to the airport. Then I was over at the BLT again today. So as soon as I walk into the office Sarah (the am CT coord) tells me that i am working in the Hall today and to head right over with the Rec 6 radio to give to Luis (the BLT am coord) and help him out. Today the girl that was to run Community Hall called in sick. So once again I was the only guard trained to on Community Hall and able to use the cash system so I spent the day in there working with the kids. 

Tomorrow Alicia and I plan on hanging out by the pool for the day relaxing. Hopefully I can fix my crazy tan lines so they aren't to bad when I head home in a week for a friend's wedding. 

The Hustle and Bustle Continues...

So work is crazy as usual. We have now switched over to 10 hour shifts so if the pool has 2 guards there are only 3 on duty the entire day, if it has 3 then there are 4 guards. These days are pretty grueling when the sun just beats down on you and there is no storms to cool you off. For the most part they are pretty calm because there is not many people staying in the hotels at this time.

It is also now September and Virginia Tech is back in full swing. Luckily I have the next 5 months free of school work before I return in January. The only thing I have to do is complete a few pieces of paper work for my Co-Op program so that I stay enrolled in the university for when I come back. I am also planning on rushing when I return to school so there may be some things to do for that while I am down here.

Not much has really been happening at work recently expect for some pretty crazy storms. Until yesterday that is...right as we were going through a bump I had to jump in to rescue a little boy that was no older than 3 but I'm guessing closer to 2. His family was there but they hadn't communicated efficiently with one another and so there was no one there to get the boy when he came down the slide.

I now have the next 3 days off so I've got to figure out what I am going to do. I think I might hang out by the pool today and try to fix the crazy tan lines I have gained due to being a lifeguard.

Deployment!

This week I was deployed to Yacht & Beach Club. So instead of working in Bay Lake I have been working there all week. Tomorrow is my last day there and it will actually be sad because they have a lot of cool guards over there and it is just fun.

One of the really entertaining things they do there is the changing of the guards. The AM guards work 8:00 till 16:30 and the PM guards work 15:30 till 23:30. At 16:00 all of the AM guards go off stand and the PM guards go on stand. Then at 16:15 the AM guards all line up and perform the "Cupid Shuffle" and sometimes "Cotton Eye Joe" depending on how the guards feel and if we want to do another one. Yacht & Beach is also a HUGE pool compared to mine.

The Contemporary stands are:
~Bottom
~Lap
~Rove

The Lodge stands are:
~Slide
~Point
~Cove

The Bay Lake Tower stands are:
~BLT Slide
~Gatekeeper

The Yacht & Beach stands are:
~Top Ship
~Ship
~Bubbles
~Quiet
~Deep
~Shallow
~Windmill
~Bottom
~Rising
~Active

Needless to say when I saw my first rotation there I looked a little shocked and everyone noticed but it is actually a lot of fun there. I really like working there and will not mind being sent back even though I love Bay Lake and the people there. The Y & B people are just as cool and so much fun to be around.

Off the topic of work friends are awesome. My friends and I had dinner together the other night and I cooked since I was the first one off work. I can't wait for my birthday to come around because it should be a blast. New CP's have arrived with one more batch arriving on Monday so there are a ton of baby CP's running around now and its very funny to think that was us months ago.

Back on the topic of work...I got to save a baby ducky today at work!!!!

I Realize It Has Been Forever

...and I am sorry. Everything has been very busy these past weeks. As my summer class drew to a close I spent most of my time not at work either doing homework, taking tests and doing projects or sleeping. Work has been great. The Bay Lake Towers officially opened their doors to guests on August 4th. On August 8th I guarded there for the first time. I have been guarding there all week and I love it! Working at that pool is a blast. The guests there are amazing and it is a beautiful pool. I also went home for a few day right before the opening of the BLT and went camping with my family which was lots of fun.

Now that summer classes have ended I will finally be able to have fun...or not. We are now on 6 days a week and for those staying at Bay Lake next week they will be on 11 to 13 hour lines 4 to 5 days a week. For me I'm on 6 days a week with 8 hour lines still because I am deployed to the Yacht and Beach Club from August 17th till August 22nd so I'll get to find out about yet another pool. Hopefully I will be able to find time to hang out with friends. New CP's have begun to arrive and in about a week there will be a few other Hokie's joining me.

I'll try and update with at least a sentence or two whenever I have days off.