Showing posts with label summertime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summertime. Show all posts

and so it begins... 

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - Posted by Amanda Bast
...another application process. Now that all teacher's college application stuff is done with (including an interview with Laurier!) I get to think about summer jobs. Because of the intense wedding season (!!!), I've decided not to seek employment up at the lake this summer.

Here begins the hunt to find a reasonable job during a time when many companies are on hiring freezes because of the economy. Hoorah. I've decided to cover all of my bases - from insurance companies to libraries to scrapbooking stores to daycares - I will apply for them all.

The only things I refuse to do: work at a food establishment where I cannot eat any of the items offered (i.e. Dairy Queen or Glutenway) and anything involving extensive amounts of vacuuming (i.e. cleaning at a hotel).

The vacuuming thing seems trite, but I would rather do most things than vacuum. Like pick up dog poop. I'd much rather do that then vacuum.

Yet again, a mildly serious post turns to poop.

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soggy 

Sunday, August 10, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Working at a campground in the rain is probably the worst ever, because people are paying to sleep on the ground and get wet during the only week or two they have off all year. It's totally a kick in the pants for them, and I imagine it must suck. I get this impression because the soggy campers tend to take their miserable misfortune out on us.

I've heard that there has been a ton of rain in the city and that the weather has broken records this season. I think Miller Lake must be in a bubble, because yesterday was the first day all summer that it rained during the day. We've had a few storms overnight, and some showers as well, but yesterday was the first day of constant near torrential rain. It hadn't rained for about 3 weeks before that. Neener neener boo boo.

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A full campground, or, why planning ahead is a good life choice 

Friday, August 1, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Today is the start of the long weekend, our busiest weekend of the summer. We're always booked up right to the brim on this weekend, and since I've never worked in the office before this year, I haven't realized how nutty it gets.

Loads of people are checking in and out, and seasonals are in and out with all sorts of silly questions. I think if anyone unreasonable and grumpy decides to raise a fuss, they do it on days like today. Kids are in and out renting or returning equipment. Emails are pouring into our inbox (most of them extremely dirty junk mail) and the phone is ringing off the hook. It is LOUD in the office, and the phones are quiet, so you spend half of your time asking people to repeat what they just said. 95% of my phone calls today were people looking for campsites for this weekend. We have been booked solid for about two weeks now, so I feel like a parrot telling them to look elsewhere for accommodations.

This is what I don't understand. The long weekend happens the same time every year, it's no secret, so WHY must people leave it until the DAY BEFORE and then act surprised when you have nothing for them? It boggles my mind. There are real living people north of Waterloo, believe it or not, and they go camping! Also, if I tell you I don't have anything available, asking fifteen more times in the same phone call will not change anything. NO, we don't have any campsites, NO we don't have any cottages, and NO we don't have any camping cabins! Seriously, NO MEANS NO!!!! BAH!!!

Ahem.

I am very much looking forward to school.

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making friends, that's what I do 

Thursday, July 17, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
This past week has been nothing short of nutty. Tuesday night, I was scheduled to close the office by myself, which I'm okay with, other than it is extremely boring. I had no one left to check in, and it was raining, which meant there wouldn't be any firewood sales or equipment rentals. Joy.

At about 6:30, I picked up the phone, and this extremely friendly man wanted to make reservations for the long weekend. Long story short, I explained one of our policies that he didn't like, and he flipped out. He talked to the manager, still mighty angry and rude, so she hung up on him. He then proceeded to call every thirty seconds...it was like clockwork. We would answer, hear him say his name, then hang up. This happened at least...AT LEAST! 25 times. He only stopped after we put on the answering machine. The next morning when he was called back, he completely denied calling at all. Nut...bar.

The same night I talked with a man from Waterloo. As it turns out, he lives in my neighbourhood, his kids go to my old elementary school, he's in the heating and cooling business, but he used to fix appliances, and he's been IN MY HOUSE fixing stuff before. If that doesn't prove we live in a small world, then I don't know what does.



And now, for a little bingo funny:

me: "What did the hamburger name his daughter?"
Barb (the rec hall is DEAD quiet at this point): "RELISH."
the rest of us: laughter, uncontrollable laughter, accompanied by tears
me: "Patty."

I'm naming my first daughter Relish.

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My Personal Winter or How Sometimes I Wish I Was Going Through Menopause 

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
The previous four summers, I worked in the store and the restaurant. The dining room was air conditioned and usually a lovely temperature. The store has no windows that open, and the a/c was on the other side of the room, so you couldn't feel it at all, unless you had it cranked up so cold that it was freezing the giftware. Basically, whatever temperature the place was that day, was what it stayed for the whole day.

Now the office is a completely different story. There are windows, so you can get a nice cross breeze. There is heat and there is air conditioning. This sounds like the perfect temperature situation, except for one minor obstacle:

middle aged women.

Jen (early 30s), Andrea (late 20s) and I are all little and cold all of the time. We freeze even when the windows are all shut. The rest of the women (all 45+) walk in and say, "Holy **** it's HOT in here!" and then fling open a window and turn on the a/c. The other problem is that some of these women work upstairs in the office, where it is warmer to begin with. I sit and shiver, and the older women ask why we don't turn on the heat. Our answer is usually a shrug, and we zip up our coats a little higher. We're slightly nervous for what their raging hormones might provoke them to do if we turned on the heat in the summertime.

While I love the office, and the women I work with, I regret the fact that I didn't pack more sweaters or hats. Well...time to start knitting!

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blog, the cottage edition 

Saturday, June 21, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
I'm writing this from the lovely basement of the cottage! We arrived yesterday, and I don't start work until tomorrow, so today has been a wonderful day of relaxing, seadooing, biking...all the good stuff!

It always takes a lot of preparation weeks in advance to be able to spend the whole summer up here. You can always tell it's close to summer when Mom starts doing odd things around the house. The other week I found a pint of blueberries in the Tupperware drawer. Mom claims they "fell in" and she forgot to take them out. A few days before we left she loaded the dirty laundry into the dryer. When we arrived here yesterday, we found her tea mug in the garden. It would have been sitting there for two weeks. No tea left though...just some dirty rain water.

Now that we're here we can finally breath and relax...hopefully I won't find...bowls of salsa in my bed, or anything. I feel so spoiled being able to walk downstairs to check my email. I'm used to biking down to the camp and using the little crummy computer in the corner of the office. Internet...is my friend. It's time to start a new knitting project (Dawn, I found a wonderful knitting store on the way up here!!) and watch whatever is on CTV. It's not especially clear, so CBC is fuzzy. Ah cottage living. So fantastic...

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Checklist 

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Lake: check!

New wakeboarding life jacket: check!

Board shorts: check!

Friendly neighbour boys: check!

Friendly neighbour boys that let me borrow their wakeboard: check!

Friendly neighbour boys with a brand new wakeboard edition Seadoo: check!

Friendly neighbour boys who will take me out on their new wakeboard edition Seadoo: check!

Athletic ability: oh crap.

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news! 

Monday, May 5, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
I'll be leaving for my 17th annual (plus or minus one) entire summer spent at the cottage trip on June 20th. We're leaving about a week earlier than normal and I don't have to waitress or scoop ice cream this summer...exciting! Also, for the first summer in 17 years, we will have internet!!!! At the cottage!!!! I will no longer have to sit in the corner of the office and have grumpy old lady who checks her email three times a day breathing down my neck...this is marvelous! This means consistent blogging from yours truly, and I can almost guarantee amusing stories! And pictures! Maybe videos! Hoorah!

Be excited, folks. I am.

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