RED ALERT: aka my bout with late nights and the infamous norwalk virus

As of right now, it is after 2am.
I clocked out of work around 130am after what could have been one of the most deepest cleansings of a workplace I have ever survived.
In fact, the cooks/chefs are STILL cleaning as I type, and probably won't get out intil 3am earliest.

Why is this happening?
Two reasons:
1) health inspector is coming tomorrow. wuh woh.
2) theres a massively contagious virus that reared its ugly head at our resort.
THE NORWALK VIRUS.

Norwalk virus? Whats that, you ask? Well it is one of the biggest, contagious diseases that spreads in...you guessed it, outbreaks. This virus is often associated with cruises, because so many people are kept in such close quarters and it spreads like wildfire. Well, guess what happened...some people ended up getting it on a cruise that takes guests to my resort. When the news hits us, we are immediately put under CODE RED which now has officially made my shit list. CODE RED means we have to wipe everything on each table (salt, pepper, flowers, fronts and backs of seats) with Virox, an agent that in large doses gives you a nice dry red peeling burning sensation. It's supposedly an accelerated hydrogen peroxide, but I swear there has to be some flesh-eating agent added to it. Also, we cant serve the breakfast buffet which makes all the guests super-pissed. Sorry folks, you got sick...all we can do is make sure you dont infect us or each other. No buffet? Deal with it. Overall it just makes for at least 1-3 hours of extra preparation and cleaning a night which is a waste of time. Oh yeah, and we cant serve ourselves in our employee dining room...we have to wait for the chefs to serve us which is a burden for everyone. Overall, Norwalk virus needs to take a hike. So does CODE RED.

Well we have hit our 2nd CODE RED of the season this past week and it just ended this afternoon. Thank God. But not before good old Norwalky took a pot-shot at me. I actually handled questionable materials which may be linked to the most recent virus scare. A guy and his family came to eat, then promptly left after 4-5 minutes. I had to clean his table and my buddy Kirk comes up to me and says, "Dude. Wash your hands and use the most caution you can for this table. Sanitize everything. Dont even blink without washing your hands." So of course the father of the family leaves his bulky wallet under a napkin so i tempted fate, grabbed it and ran after him. Caught up with him and my general manager saw me and said, "Ryan...go wash your hands NOW. They are all sick and its almost determined they're our cause for CODE RED." Terrific. But then my co-worker goes home with Norwalk instead of me. Go figure. But hey, wahooooo it wasnt me. Poor Bonnie though.

Side little fact: guess what the virus is named after?
Its birthplace.
NORWALK, OHIO.
way to go Ohio, next time someone at school calls my home state "Pennsyltucky" I have some ammunition :-p At least we dont produce a virus that causes (i'm going to be graphic) explosive diarrhea and explosive vomiting, often simultaneously. Ha ha ha.

Ok it is officially one of my days off, I need a good old night of 7-8 hours of sleep. Mmmmm sleep.

But seriously, don't get me wrong. THIS JOB ROCKS. CODE RED is just a slight issue that I have to deal with like last summer and, oh, say...being constantly poor. As in, poor poor. But this time around, I'm walking out of here with almost $2000 (hopefully).

Does anyone read this?

taking it day by day,
-yohe

workin like a husky, sight-seeing like a puffin

The title about sums up what I've been up to.

To get some of the boring stuff out of the way, yes I have been working some pretty hectic hours since I've started. Hell, the last three days I put in about 33 hours and I need a nap. I don't have room to complain, though...because the co-workers are great and the job itself is probably one of the best I've ever had. My schedule is just about set for the rest of the summer, and I'll be generally working 35-45hr with a guaranteed 2 days off (generally Thursdays and Fridays) each week. With the decent pay and sweet tips (3 weeks and I've made 600 in tips alone), I will definitely be reaching my goal and have my textbooks all year paid for by the 5th-6th week, at this rate. Then the rest will be for general school needs, maybe a splurge item or two, but mostly to make up for my lack of money making this coming school year. The RA job pays...ehh so-so. So I will need all the money I can get. One last little fact about work before I talk more about my travels: generally the shifts I have worked are either 7am-close (breakfast/lunch..ends about 230), 5pm-close (dinner shift: the TIPS MONEYMAKER which ends about 11pm-1130pm), and the infamous split shift: 7am-11am and 5pm-close.

Guess which shift I have had in the last 3 days??
Hint: 10-11hours a day makes for lots of napping and weird times for food cravings.

Ok, fun stuff now. The last two weeks I have used at least one of my days off for just relaxing (or working when I subbed for my friend Bonnie while she had to go to CA for a week) and the other for travelling outside the little community of Cooper Landing. No kayaking or guided tours YET (and i stress yet), but awesome trips nonetheless. For example, 2 weeks ago I went with Brittany (from PA also! but lived in Alaska for multiple years too), Jermaine (also from PA! yeah east coast), and Chris (Michigan native...ugh) to a port town/tourist area known as Seward, AK. Chris had an agenda (haircut and Rx stuff) and the rest of us just wanted to roadtrip, so about 45 minutes later we arrive in Seward. Chris sets off to do his thing and the rest of us end up at the Alaska Sealife Center for Rescue and Resurrection. It was amazing. One of my favorite sights had to be the bird aviary (is that what its called?). There, I saw some of the cutest birds ever. No penguins though :-/ But! There was a bird that looked like a cross between a penguin and pigeon and is called a meurre (sp.?). One walked right up to a tourist, got real close for a picture opp, promptly bit his finger afterward and flew off. It was classic. And I saw my first puffin!!! It's a cousin of the penguin with a crazy head of hair. Other than that, I did get to see otters and sealions playing in their tanks. One otter kept coming to the top, hopping around the land and then flipping back into the pool. I probably squealed like an 8 year old...or even worse than one. It was that cute. Anyways, we had a great time and then I bought grocceries at Safeway. $25 for like 6 items...LAME. Afterwards we ventured back. Great great trip and good company.

This past week, however, I went to Soldotna (another touristy area) with friends/co-workers Ryan (girl Ryan), Kyla, Peter, Barb and her husband Robert (they drove). Kyla needed to get a new drivers license so she could prove she was 21 (hers expired) and Peter needed a license in general, both Ryans needed grocceries, and Robert had a dr appt. Anyways, it was a 35min trip and while at the DMV Ryan and I had a crazy idea. We wanted to get Alaskan IDs too. So we definitely filled out a form for Alaskan state IDs, making us residents of Alaska...well technically. $15, 2 questions, and a photograph later, Ryan and I had our state IDs: the ultimate souvenir. PS: I will now use my Alaskan ID for all identification purposes because the picture is about 359135 times better than my PA driver's license. Plus it makes for a cool story. Oh yeah, and Kyla passed her test. Peter did not. It's quite an interesting feeling to be technically considered a resident of Alaska after that simple process. To become a resident of Ohio (which I probably never will be at this rate) and get in-state tuition, you have to show documentation of 1-2yr of groccery bills (receipts), prove you pay for your own tuition NO HELP OR ASSISTANCE ALLOWED, and blah blah blah. Meanwhile they WANT you to be a resident of Alaska and actively encourage you to come up and work and establish residency. I know, I know...Alaska is completely different than Ohio but seriously, I wish more states were like Alaska in that way. Not very realistic, but hey I can dream right?

The rest of the trip was great, got all of our necessities and more, and headed back for a nap. Oh yeah, I finally found a McDonald's in alaska!!!!! It was pricey but hey, gotta try it out just to say you did. Then splurged on a real dinner at the restaurant I work at with Ryan and Kyla. 30% discounts are sweet and made our meals less than $10 each (an entree and dessert each). God bless the almightly discount.

That sums up what I've been doing lately. I'm not a morning person in any stretch of the mind, but I've made it to work on time (or early) everytime so far. Must be the gorgeous sunshine and weather when I get up. I wish I could capture the essence of this place and save it for a rainy, dreary day back in Ohio which are sure to occur throughout the year. Ahh well, my pictures will have to do the job for now. WHICH i plan on being able to update on my webshots page in the coming weeks...stay tuned.

taking it day by day,
-yohe

PS: ask me about my internship project if you'd like to know more about it...especially if you know ANYTHING about maps, I need all the help i can get. More details later.