slidergirl

I did HAL last early May. The most dressed it seemed in the dining rooms was "Business Friday casual." Otherwise, the Alaska cruises are pretty casual. I wore jeans most of the time, but when I went to the one specialty restaurant I wore my trusty black Tshirt dress that I always travel with.

Yes, I'm still at work. Just me and some guests. Lois - Happy, Happy Birthday!! Condolences of the loss of your BIL. My owners want me back. They've been telling me that. Unfortunately, the BK is the one responsible for rehiring or not. I may try to work a side deal with the HOA Board to hire me on as the "Social Coordinator" and just work the Friday, Saturday and Sunday activities. That would be my ideal situation. I think the BK, if he stays, wants someone like my current co-worker - will do more moving things around and schmoozing to him, than doing what the job description says. Yesterday, he texted her to tell her to wear clothes to get dirty. Didn't text me. He had her getting in the storage closet and getting rid of stuff and moving things around our storage cages. Me? I just sat and looked pretty and then made cookies at 3pm. Easy, but boring way to earn my money. I don't think the HOA would mind if another Operations Manager came around next year. OOTD: my new jeans and a white & blue wide stripe long sleeve heavy Tshirt. And my white high-tops. Too warm for my booties...

Busy again over the weekend. Being the only one on at work from 3-7 is getting wearing on me. And, on Friday and Saturday nights I am the "host" for our wine & cheese hour from 4:30-5:30. Friday and Sunday I bake cookies for après ski starting at 3pm. And Saturday I am the "host" for the beer and Saturday S'mores at the firepit from 3-4pm. AND, I have to keep an eye out for any guests coming to check in (our check in time is 4pm). I've whined about it for a couple of years but it's worse this year. But, I could have said I wanted the morning shift... The ski resort announced they are extending the season by a week, only the 2nd time in history. So, now it closes on the 21st. Boss kid doesn't bother to do any checking and schedules all of us for an extra week. Nope, sorry, I'm flying out on the 21st in the AM. Plus, he should have checked with upper management - last year they decided to not keep us for the extra week. I'm pretty sure they want to do the same thing this year. Sigh. Only a few more weeks... Melody - Mother Nature must have added extra moisture to the storm after it passed by us. My friends who live in Aurora posted pics, too. OOTD: I wore my new jeans (I had to get a smaller size again, I have to STOP this weight loss!! Same as my other ones, just a 28), a white tank and my cammo green jacket. Closest thing I'll do to St. Patrick's green.

I stopped the hamster wheel, for now... I'm desperate to get out of town as soon as the season ends, Apr. 14. The stars aligned and I'm going to Las Vegas for 4 days. The airfare was $200+taxes - cheaper than if I drove with gas and wear on the car. Marriott had good rates at the Cosmopolitan. Had to have a place with good pools. And, I've splurged for a bucket-list dinner at "é", the private dining room by José Andrés. It's a 2-hour tasting menu, not told in advance. Only 9 people for dinner. I did one of his tasting menus back in 2018 at The Bazaar in Los Angeles and was thoroughly mesmorized. Chef is one of my heroes, so I've always wanted to go big and go to é. Combination birthday and probable retirement seemed like a good reason to do it. OOTD: day off, so joggers & sweatshirt. Didn't feel like slogging through the snow to do anything.

Wow, Busy at work and haven't had a chance to check in. Melody - so, so sorry about Les. Detached retina - how did he catch it? All these issues are coming so fast and close together. I hope it stops and the two of you have a chance to get all repaired and just relax.

One of the benefits of living near an Olympic Training Center. I'm lucky to live where I have access to orthos for the US Ski and Snowboard Team. And one of my owners is the ortho for all the Chicago pro sports teams. Nice for a consult... I made a $200 tip today. One of the kids of a family that departed left his backpack with his computer and schoolbooks behind. Their flight home was delayed 3 hours. So, I drove the pack to the airport right after work. Not supposed to do this, but I did it after I clocked out and out of my own want to get the kid his pack. It was a HEAVY pack and it would have cost quite a bit of money to get it FedEx'd to him. It was a nice night, no traffic and I had nothing going on. I call it my Good Deed for the week. OOTD: my new Free People baggy pants (The Mesmorize Me in olive & cherry blossoms) - I had to get casual pants that fit (my ones from last summer are way loose), a white button henley and my tan hoodie sweater. After a night from He!! last night at work (alone for 5 nights with 4 checkins and s'mores and then wine & cheese night!!!) I just wanted to be lazy and comfy. I did get a lot of compliments on the pants so I guess I chose wisely.

Oh No!!! 🙀 That's what I thought I was going to end up getting, I'm really sorry 'bout the shoulder. You have the recliner ready to go, right?

Melody - nothing left in my size 😞 Lois - you will enjoy this trip! I love going up to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs. Jackson is a fun cowboy town. It's more touristy than is used to be, but so is my town. It's what happens when you get popular. There is so much to see in both NPs. I may try to get up there camping for a few days this Summer. OOTD: a day off! So, it's joggers and a long-sleeve Tshirt for home.

Yes, I did. We didn't get that much. But, the winds were howling and snow was blowing all over. Roads were a mess. 2nd gear and locked FWD down my 2-mile 10% grade on the way home. My PAX at the Lodge stayed in - fortunately none were dumb enough to try to drive!

My problem is no cheap flights to a cheap cruise. 😿 I'm not paying $1500+ for a booze cruise in an inside room!!! $1200 for a 4 day, 0 stops, cruise on Princess from Los Angeles up to Vancouver in a balcony. Been on Princess that same trip, but with a stop in Astoria, same time of year and it was cloudy and dreary. Didn't like Princess, anyway. Nope. I'll keep saving up, I guess. Yes, I'm doing this at work. No one else here but some guests. Bored out of my brain. More of the same coming tomorrow. But at least that's my Friday! OOTD: Jeans and one of my big tiedye sweaters. I usually wear leggings with it but I felt like jeans and didn't feel like any other top. Yes, it's getting to the time of year where I just don't care what I wear to work...

When I had my company insurance, I'd still buy a primary medical travel insurance plan so I didn't have to dicker with my company first then then have the travel insurance pick up the rest. When I had my accident in Italy that put me in the hospital for 4 nights before I was cleared to leave, I fortunately didn't have to show ability to pay. The bill (10,000EU) came later and my primary insurance handled it all. I won't travel any other way, especially now that I only have Medicare.

I work at a SKI lodge. For the money people paid to buy in the lodge, they definitely SKI'd 😸 I'm bored to tears tonight at the Lodge. Thank goodness I found this thread!!

I am documenting. Trust me. I've had managers terminated before, and I've also had it blow up in my face before. Unfortunate part of the "game." Man, the wind is howling today! Trees that I haven't seen move before are swaying. It's supposed to start snowing sometime around 11am. Possibly 6" in the first few hours. Nothing like the Sierras in California, but it'll really mess up travel going home. I think my Saturday S'mores are not going to happen with the wind and snow. But, I'll put out the beer and wine & charcuterie tonight. OOTD: my Woolx pants (not the leggings), a hoodie. The kind of day you want to cozy up!

I didn't hold my tongue but I did hold my hand from hauling off and slapping my boss. I was writing a email to my old boss, now the big GM, about something that happened to an owner. I was just stating my opinion on the thing. Not a big deal, I write to her all the time. Well, I guess he was looking over my shoulder when I did it. He said to not email her anymore because it undercuts him. BUT, then he went too far. He said "I know it is hard to work for a younger manager." I went off. I said "don't ever pull that age card on me." He didn't say anything back but he left the building for about an hour. One thing that really gets me mad is when a boss pulls the age card. It's not the first time. But it's the first time I gave it back. It kind of sealed the deal, though, that I won't come back and work for him. Apparently he missed management class the day they did the DEI training that included ageism... The Trader Joe's run ended up a minor one. Some crackers, some cheese, some salad, some soup. The one new thing was the Black Cherry Vanilla sparkling water in cans. Tastes really good, almost like Dr. Pepper. OOTD: jeans, my Athleta blue-ish green hoodie.

Purple - I don't speak a lick of French other than "hello" and "thank you". I didn't have any problem in Bordeaux. And, besides that wine & croissant, be sure to get a canale!!! A wonderful dessert. I also had mussels and oysters for 2 meals there - sucker for them. Heading off to my dental appointment down the mountain. Then, since I'm down there, a trip to Trader Joe's. I haven't been there in awhile. OOTD: jeans and my white flowered hoodie.

Melody - I was hoping for the best with your shoulder - a bone bruise at worst. Sorry it ends up with the rotator cuff 😿 My good luck to you and Les!! Purple - I loved Bordeaux. The museum "Cite du Vin" was interesting to me with the exhibits on all things wine, from the ground to the product and all the history. The walk along the riverfront is also very relaxing. Bored to tears yesterday and today at work. My co-worker left as soon as I arrived yesterday so she could get her broken car to the shop. That was 11am. From then until I left a 7pm there was NOTHING but refiling the coffee machine! Today, we were both here so it was double the boredom. No departures, no arrivals. Just watching the wind whip the snow outside my front desk window. We were supposed to get a good 6"+ of snow today - it's maybe 2 or 3". After 4pm, I'm the only one here. I'm playing musing on my little speaker with my iPhone. I may have to start playing online game for the next 2.5 hours!!! At least today is my "Friday" so it's OK. OOTD: Jeans (my co-worker asked if I'm still losing weight - they do look a tad loose), my white hoodie with the pink bear logo on it from the Fortress of the Bear in Sitka. Normally we aren't allowed to wear clothing with logos on them from other than the Lodge or Deer Valley. But, today, I didn't care 😸

As far as eyeliner, I've used Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Waterproof eyeliner pencil for years and years. Tons of colors, but it's not liquid. I use the Whiskey color as my everyday brown liner if I don't want to something different (I probably have 12 of their colors). It's a nice dark matte brown. They do make a liquid eyeliner, but I never had much luck putting on any liquid eyeliner. I don't use much mascara at all - only when I'm spiffing up for something really special. But, when I do, it's Thrive Liquid Lash Extensions mascara. It's water-resistant. It does tubes around your lashes and to get it off you wet your fingers and "pull" the tubes off. It's pretty easy to do and I don't pull out any lashes in the process. I've used tubing mascara since I first had Blinc mascara years ago. I hope this one helps.

Good pics, Melody! Fun time had by all despite the "oopsies". I did a "Melody" this afternoon at work - my one toe dragged at the top of the stairs and I went down. Of course, it was my "bad" shoulder. Why can't I fall in the opposite direction???? It has bothered me all day but I couldn't take any more Tylenol - the Arthritis formula is every 8 hours. So, I'm just toughing it out for the rest of the day. I did a little job for my Tuscan owner. She had a new slipcover for one of her dining room chairs delivered. I said I'd put it on the chair in my spare time. It was really tight and striped! I got it as straight as I could, but I'll let it loosen a little and go back in a few days and do some more. I sent her 2 photos of the chair to see how it came out. She sent me 3 photos back: one from the Piazza del Populo, one from a random walking street and one of a plate of tortellini al ragu alla Bolognese. I sent back "I'm so jealous" and she replied with the snarky devil meme!!! She always does a couple days in Rome before driving to her villa. Some of my owners are trying to convince me that I have to come back next year. It's going to be a really hard choice come November... OOTD: jeans, multi-plaid shirt, Olu Kai chukka boots. A beautiful day up here! But, tomorrow night comes the next storm 🙀

I've got a portable stand for my ENOS camping hammock. It's 13’9” x 4’2” x 4’8” and pretty lightweight. Would be nice (and fun) if that fit!!! Those hammocks on Virgin had me wishing I could do a trip to "nowhere" for a few days in one of those balcony cabins! I can hang in a hammock all day long - nice at night, too 😸

Sorry about the fall. I did the "catch the toe" on the carpet thing the other week, on my bad shoulder. that was the impetus to visit my ortho. Hope it is just a big bruise and nothing else! Lois - I'm so jealous of your numbers!!! Good job!

Melody - what ship/itinerary were you on? I think my hamster is racing toward something cheap as soon as my season ends and plan something else for Fall/early Winter...

I saw that one. The European ports didn't spark for me. I may try to come up with something in the Fall and just do "home work" over the summer. I have some owners coming in for month-long stays in the Summer and we've discussed maybe me doing some things for them as an "independent", not with the Lodge. It would be on an as-needed basis. Maybe yes, maybe no. OOTD: sweatshirt and joggers. Not going anywhere today. Tomorrow is hair stylist, meds and food pickup.

The hotel I stayed at was The Market Urban hotel. I loved it and will stay there again the next time I'm in Florence. A quick and easy walk from the SNM train station. A couple of blocks from Mercato Centrale and maybe a 10 minute walk to the Duomo. I walked everywhere from there, day and night.

I just run up to the buffet and get it and run back down. I'm OK with self serve 😸 If it's in the afternoon, my bottle of wine will do nicely...

Nice to see I'm not the only one with the vacation "hamster wheel" spinning!! Since I was told I didn't need surgery yet, the wheels started turning. I'll have maybe $2000 in tip money by the end of the season. I was saving it for MD bills, but... I saw some cool Transatlantics but they are 2 weeks too early for me - don't want to quit early and lose out on my "stayed the season" bonus. It's been totally cray-cray since Friday here at the Lodge. A bunch leave tomorrow and we can go back to normal. OOTD: my Lion sweatshirt, my blue jeans, and a cute little scarf to keep my neck from getting drafty. My hair is in a pony because I not supposed to put my left arm above my shoulder for a few more days and it's no fun trying to wash hair one-handed!!