Spring Training Recap

I am so incredibly tired. Fourteen hour days are just tough on the body and the mind - there's no way around that. Of course, I did the math and realized just how much extra money I grossed this week, and it did ease the pain a little. So here's some random things about Spring Training:

* Of the 9 stations the employees rotated through, only one was the actual hotel side of The Hotel. Front Desk/housekeeping/bell services all shared one space. And their only hand-outs were the chocolates you get on your pillow at turn-down! The other stations were run by the restaurants, the bakery, recreation/spa, conventions and merchandise.

* The Restaurant this year was serving poulet rouge (red feather chicken, originally from France, but now raised in North Carolina) with lentils and a chicken cream sauce. Sadly, The Chef never did figure out a way to keep the little chicken roulades from drying out in the chafing dish. The result: more sauce later in the day! The other restaurants were handing out chocolate gelato, seafood bisque, and one-bite prime rib sandwiches.

* I think I convinced The Chef to go back to short ribs & potato puree next year. Let that other restaurant serving the prime rib go back to serving strawberry soup!

* They fed us pretty well between sessions. Cuban sandwiches for lunch yesterday, steak sandwiches the day before, plus chips, salad, and fresh fruit.

* Over the course of the two days, I had 4 cans of coke and probably 10 cups of fruit punch/lemonade. Yes, I'm weak. And I have no doubt that if I worked a day job and always had to work at 6 am, I would be a coffee drinker. Mornings are tough!

* I really enjoyed seeing all the managers let their hair down between sessions. Our station became the congregation point for the food & beverage people (including our operations manager) to hang out, and I overheard some things I wasn't supposed to, and witnessed some merciless teasing.

* I worked my butt off down there. On day one, I passed out food/forks/napkins and replenished our supplies when they were low. On day two, we drafted our operations manager to our team, and he helped us plate and serve and I took over part of the presentation. I got all of the "fun" details like the dress code, the child policy, and the reason we ask 20 questions when you call to book a reservation. I also got to mention the employee discount... when The Boss didn't steal my thunder!

* The bosses are already talking about how much better that worked out, and are planning on a 3-man team next year as well.

* Had Scott not come to see me at work yesterday, I would probably have gone 3 or more straight days without seeing him awake.