Badge or Boobs

  I will start off with this old regular guest who has a Thai wife, he lives in New York and comes here to Dublin from time to time as he has a business that he is looking after in here. Every time he sees me he stops in the middle of the lobby, I greet him and hope in the back of my head that the phone rings so I can pretend to be busy and not have polite conversation with him, but for some reason I am always unlucky, so Mr. Sleazeballs will come up slowly to me with cane on hand and ask me how I am and if the hotel is busy while constantly looking at my badge or boob (i really don't know, cause his eyes will constantly dart on the left hand side of my jacket where my badge is) and normally I will just blow this off and not even think of it as we are having the small talk, but it happened two days on a row and its just became a bit creepy. I am very tempted to say:

 "Sorry sir, I'm here (pointing at my face) not there(pointing at my left boob)."

 Not that my boobs are "Hooters like" to receive any of that attention, they are just the normal kind and are happy to receive just a passing nod. Anyway, I usually manage to shorten the conversation so I can shoo him away and carry on.

 Moving on... The Xmas period seems to be bringing in the "crazies" as we keep on getting one after the other. If its not the alcoholic couple we have year after year who orders their G&Ts and bottle of chardonnay together with their breki after having to order rounds of these the whole night, every night. It would be the young man who comes down to the desk in the morning a bit panicked as he was pretty sure that he was drugged the night before as he cannot remember anything and his room is a complete sick mess. Or the guy who you blocked a room for and instructed to pack bags so we can move him during the day and comes back to you at midnight telling you that his bags are unpacked and he wants to move rooms NOW!, when the room you were holding for him has been sold already, of course he gets upset with you. You try to turn it around and offer some reasonable options which he will then refuse and threat to speak with the GM.

  It kind of reminds me of the Robot Santa Claus in futurama, he spreads out this antagonism that most of the time is really easy to fall into as the energy just draws you and the people around you into it like a big snowball falling on a hill.

 "Bananas" I tell you! If you don't have any sense of humour to make some situations lighter, you'll probably end up in a banana institution! But sure,"What the hell! bring 'em on and we'll sort them out!"

Where's my Armani Jacket?!?

So, I was about to finish my shift and Mr. Dim came to the front desk telling me that I have his jacket. For a little while I thought... and try to re-call if I might have spoken to someone regarding a jacket, but as much as I racked my tiny little brain, I could not remember anything. Mr. Dim seems to be sure that someone has found his jacket, so I went through all the standard operating procedures to see if I can find it but there was no luck. So I said to myself, ill ask for more details. So...

Mr. Dim: Where is my jacket?

He does not look this good but I was definitely in the company of a wolf!!!

Owl: Sir, may I just ask for a few more details, what colour is your jacket? Where did you leave it and when?

Mr. Dim: (in a condescending tone) Its a black ARMANI jacket, I left it in the bar, YOU called me last night in my room to tell me that you found it. Its very important , my passport is there!

Owl: Sorry sir, I called you?

Mr. Dim: I don't know someone called me.

Owl: So, bear with me, cause I have to investigate further (said on a calm manner, but really fuming inside). Why don't you have breakfast while I try to find out where your jacket is (and save us both the embarrassment of whose the more stupider person here).

  We eventually found his jacket, and checked that his passport was there. I was thinking of drawing a dry wipe on his passport saying "Stop loosing your shit! you forgetful Git!" but I refrained from doing so. I really hate it when people gets this way and I want to tell them straight in their face "YOU were the one who lost your things! YOU were the one telling me that it was important, so WHY THE HELL did you not collect it when someone rang you! Now YOU have the gall to actually make me feel that this is my fault! Rot in hell bastard! Although, I'm sure he will enjoy that too!

You & I Both ♥

 So, hey, its been awhile. I had a blog written on the beginning of October, however when I was about to copy paste it from my notes, I accidentally erased it instead. Grrrr, I hated myself for that! Anyway, I have a short and sweet one here and I hope you guys enjoy it...

    Did you know: “Someday, someone will walk into your life and make you realise why it never worked out with anyone else.” It makes me feel grateful, and foolish in a way when I thought of all the sad moments of my life, and why I have put myself in so much pain, not realising that I will meet someone who will make me really happy. I tell my friends, maybe its like practise, if it was a game, you kind of try your best to be good  however bad things are going and tell yourself that you are a good person and that maybe someday, just maybe, someone good will come your way, and maybe, just maybe, you'll be lucky this time around. Well, it seems like this time around I have the good luck!

  It feels good to know that you belong to someone and that this someone belongs to you too! I suppose the challenge then lies on how long you can keep it up, and that, my friends, will be the interesting part of the journey and as Jason Mraz sang, " if you could see me now, well then I'm almost finally out of, finally out of, finally dedeedeeedeee, well then I'm almost finally out of words."

Jumping Into the Scary Pool

This bit, I admittedly find challenging and I am not going to lie about it! Its not so easy for most people  to admit that they are lonely and in need of a "special someone" in their life to fill in the void. But I am getting a little sick of waiting for things to happen. So I have started slowly by downloading this dating app on my phone. This is, in hoping that this is the beginning of trying to shift my gears from dipping a toe in to jumping in feet first.

 Its amazing to see how many people put their self out there on this things and what you can actually learn from them by just reading their profiles. Some of them will admittedly say that they just want fuck buddies and some will give you, what I think, to be an honest to goodness thought out profile. Some can just deceive you and after chatting with them for a little while and making you think 'hmmm, there might be something here', will ruin it and send you a picture of their wiener, complete with a video! Well, I suppose its part of the experience, I just hope that there are still good fishes swimming out there and its not so hard to identify them from the sharks & piranhas....

Sucker for Flyby Boys!

 I was walking to get my bus one day and I had to laugh at myself cause I realised how much of a sucker I am for people who leaves. I'm really not sure what it is, it seems that when people who are close to me plans to change their life and move somewhere, I am right smack in the middle of their life getting more involved, as if its a mission for me to actually be there to assist with their every need and make sure that everything is in place or everything is sorted. This energy seems to draw me in the centre and leaves me drained and exhausted afterwards. It makes me think if this is a pattern and if this is the reason why I am not with anyone...

Its like a cartoon, put someone there who has a a travelling bag or am planning to leave for the betterment of their lives and "Wham!" "Owl in Dublin at your service!" Oh, you're feeling insecure about your decision? " I'm here to tell you that its OK to feel that way and it will pass and you're going to be OK. You don't feel comfortable about this or that, DO NOT FEAR, cause I am here and I will try my best to ease your discomfort. You are feeling horny and you need some loving, COME TO ME and I will give you some intimacy. If I have a super power, it would probably be a long the lines of being a little geeky, cause I love reading and making people come to terms with their inner peace.
  Funny cause not a lot of people can actually make me feel at peace with myself....

Haughty Bitch You're in the Wrong Hotel!

 It was just half an hour before I finish my shift and this haughty lady came up with a lot of attitude to me and was telling me that they are checking in. So I politely asked for her last name, trying my best not to get on her nerves as she seems properly wound up. Her name was not on our system so I was asking her if she has any confirmation number which she said was with her husband. When her husband came she asked if we were "such & such" hotel and I said "oh Madam no, we are the "Wouldn't really want Bitches like you Hotel" and as Concierge was hauling the trolley laden with their luggage, I motioned that they have got the wrong hotel and to take those bags out.
  As we were talking about them at the back office, we were laughing cause, this lady came in seeming to be high and mighty when they got off from their taxi apparently this was how it went:

Haughty Lady: Hello bellman!! can you bring down our luggage. Oh my God its raining! My husband, do you have any umbrellas? (not even bothering to listen to the bellman, goes inside the hotel).
Owl: Good morning madame! Checking in?
Haughty Lady: (looking stressed and wound up) Yes, check in, last name Stuck-upbitch...(repeats this constantly).
Owl: Uhmm, let me see.... I cannot find your name on our system... do you have any confirmation number?
Haughty Lady: My husband has it...(repeats her last name again, as if I did not hear it the first time... husband comes in) do you have the confirmation number dear? We were booked from American Express...
Owl: Oh, ok, (looks in the system again)...
Haughty Lady: is this the "Such & Such" hotel?
Owl: Oh no. Sorry you're in the wrong hotel...(good riddance! motions to the Concierge to take the bags out of the hotel immediately).
 
   Why do people put themselves into such a state for no reason? They end up stupidly getting agitated with things and just wind up embarrassing themselves and people around them. For some reason they let the stressful things take control of them rather than them taking control of the stressful situation. If they just take one deep breath and say to themselves: "I'm glad we arrived in Dublin safely, I feel a bit tired, but only a few more minutes and I will be in the hotel where I can rest." and put their minds at ease, cause  they are on a holiday, then maybe they can enjoy themselves more.

Whine-a-holics Anonymous

 Just one of those regular days at work where you are expecting to just have a normal shift, so you come up to the desk and ask your colleague in a mildly cheerful manner how the day has gone and you can immediately see on her face "Oh, here goes...

Whiner1: Oh, I'm so tired...

Owl: Oh right, was it busy?

Whiner1:Yeah, it just got really busy right now and I'm not sure what I'm doing anymore. I feel so tired cause my baby was crying the whole night last night and I didn't get any sleep at all. I was working nights for the last few nights and it was just a killer.... blah,blah,blah...

Owl: Oh, OK, is there anything I can do to help you there.

Whiner1: Oh yeah, can you please look after this one thing, cause I did not get to do it from my task list and blah,blah,blah....

Owl: Oh, yeah sure, you go ahead and go inside and finish up there, so you don't get interrupted.

Enter Whiner2

Owl: Hi, how are you?

Whiner2: I'm good, except for the fact that one of the girls I was working with left me to do more work than I had to, so I really do not want to help anybody anymore cause I just end up getting used.

Owl: Oh, I'm sorry that's how you feel. Silence.....

  What is the deal with people! Why the hell do they think I care about the choices that they made with their lives. I have decided not to have children at this stage so I can have a quiet life so I really do not give a rats ass if your baby kept you up all night and its not my problem if you don't have the balls to tell your colleague that what she has done to you is not nice and to please not do it again! I am NOT your damned shrink man!

 It may seem a bit cruel and UN-emphatic but Hey! I have worries too and it may not be deemed serious or stressful to anybody but for me it is, and I do not go out whining it for everybody to vouch for freaking sympathy, just because someone seems to be listening, it does not mean to say that they are in an emphatic mood.

  Anybody want to open a Whine-a-holics Anonymous?!? I can recommend it to a few people I know...

Eskimo Dream

 My workmate was looking for the meaning of her dream and I remembered one of the last dreams I had. I was travelling with a group of people and we were Eskimos, it feels like the group of people I was travelling with is my family and I was a kid in the dream. We were walking to go from one point to the other  and we know that we are in danger of being caught by some bad people, so we were walking in one big group, knowing that if one gets separated, one will be in danger. We have developed a means to hide from the bad people and this is by covering ourselves in snow, which will look like we got frozen while on journey. We suddenly felt like bad is coming and we got ourselves covered in snow in time, we have to put a hole at one end of our snow covering for us to be able to breathe. I have to make sure that the hole is open. The bad people came and one of them looks in the hole and I can see his face so I closed my eyes and pretended to be dead so he could not harm us. He blew on my face and waited for a reaction and when he did not get any he shoved some snow on the hole just to make sure we're dead. I got worried cause we will not be able to breath, but there was another hole on top of the snow covering us so we were ok.

I woke up and felt relief...

Another One Bites the Dust...

Why is it that when you meet someone good and someone you think you can get along with really well and not pretend that you are somebody else, Murphy’s law kicks you in the butt and makes you realise that, “ girl! Whatever it is that you’re hoping to happen here, is not going to happen, not to you and not this time. It sucks!

  Sorry , I suppose I have not been visited by feelings of  sadness for awhile and unfortunately for me, this emotion is often accompanied by its miserable friends, bitter and selfish. It just seems like I have become very fond of , lets just say, a nice pair of pants, and now that I have been really comfortable wearing it and having it with me every time I travel , life has decided to take it away from me and I’m not ready to let go of my favourite pants, not just yet. If the choice is solely mine, I will keep it with me for a really long time, cause my other favourite pairs were taken from me as well and for some reason I know that it will probably take awhile before I can find another pair that fits perfectly. Its not fair!

  Its almost the same feeling I have whenever my Dad has to go to work and leave us for almost 9 to 10 months at a time, you just feel, helpless, cause you know he has to go and you cant do anything about it…You’re just left to deal with this feeling until I suppose just like everything else, time makes it a bit better…

  Thank God for good friends, they will always pick you up and let you know that, you are a good person and that this will pass and something good or maybe even better will come along. It sounds like a cliche but it does make you feel a little stronger and helps you move along.

May I Have a Room, Room please, Room please....

 Let me begin by saying that our hotel was all booked out for the week of Paddy's Day due to some groups in house, and naturally when we're fully booked for the week all of our other regulars who did not book ahead of time requests to be on the waiting list.
  Now, I am a very patient person and there's a period of time that you can ask me the same questions every time and at a specific period of time and I'll probably answer you with the same answers but after 3 days and you're still asking me the same question, I really get annoyed! I know that I should really be proud and flattered that people love the place a lot not to give up on any chance that there may be a cancellation and they can be booked in on that note, but after awhile of listening to the same tune, it really gets old and tiring. Why is it so hard for people to just stop for a minute and think that maybe if they stop for a awhile, they can extend their energies into something more productive, like maybe getting over the fact that the hotel is sold out and looking for another place to stay rather than trying in futility, again and again and again, knowing that they will only get the same result.

Happy Paddy's Day 

Regular Guest: Are you still kicking me off the hotel? Where there any cancellations today?

Owl: Oh sir, I'm afraid were still all booked. But, let me think for awhile...

Regular Guest: turns to me with an expectant look in his eyes...

Owl: hmmm...maybe I can ask my colleague from housekeeping to bring you some blankets and sheets and you can camp out here in the lobby, just by the fireplace. Or do you prefer  for me to go to the engineering office and build you a room somewhere that is attached to the hotel, may take a awhile thou... or did you want me to tell the highest paying guest to pack his bags so you can move cozily to his room... Let me know which option you'd like and I'll gladly fucking attend to it immediately!

  Oh if only... if only i knew how...

  Happy Paddy's Day to everyone, sorry i'm a little sour, I am on a two week break after Paddy's weekend so I feel relieved in a way, had a wonderful and quiet weekend with people that I like and even though I am not travelling anywhere nice I am OK....

Mirror Looking Workouts

 Just had a busy day at work and my equilibrium has been shattered because of the unexpected busyness of the day. It all ended with me going home an hour and a half later with no extra pay and some much wanted sleep, which did not come easily and was interrupted after a few hours by a scrawny dude who was offering a discount if we switch electric companies. Uggghhh.... I managed, not to be rude and was actually proud of myself for keeping my conversation in line with this dude while we were discussing the switch.

I look so good babeyhh!

  The only thing that made me laugh this day was a story from one of my colleagues about his workout in the gym. He said that he went in for a swim, then went for the stationary bikes for a awhile and he was freaked out of all the people working out and looking at themselves in the mirror while doing so. I'm not sure if it was funny cause I'm guilty of doing it myself or cause I'm imagining people doing this and imagining them thinking "maybe, if I stare at myself more, I'll loose a couple of more pounds!" Cracked me up and actually made feel a bit better, knowing that there are small funny things that makes life easier to live by.

  That's all for now folks, my energies does not seem to be giving me a lot of funny things to write about this days, not to worry, I'm sure there's plenty more to come....

Aquachic

So, I went out for a swim with a friend and for some reason, the pool on a Friday morning was busy and I generally enjoy observing people so after two laps I just sat down by the edge of the pool to watch people from all walks of life. There was this guy who I thought I knew and who kept on smiling at me so I just smiled back politely, after a while when he smiled at me and my friend, it just kind became a bit creepy. We went to the dry sauna for awhile and were chatting a bit, oblivious that we're the only two girls there and are surrounded by tattooed men with their thick Dub accents, reminds me of the guy who collects our bins, and whoever works with me on nights will know it when I say "thorntons recycling."

 Anyway, back to the pool and the lady who caught my attention most is Aquachic, cause she had all this gears with her, like flippers for the feet, and something similar for the hands as well. And she can do this flip under water after a lap that I have been dreaming to learn all my life. When I see it being done, it always kinds of amazes me, so cool! So I just want to say, for Aquachic, who I kept staring at while she glides on and overtakes the dude who really should be on the medium lane, kudos to you for splashing some water on my face while I'm trying to finish one of my laps.

Troll In the Lobby

You will hear from me in the morning!!!

  I wish I can write a romantic story where I had a secret admirer who gave me a bouquet of red roses on Valentines Day so I can at least occupy my thoughts on silly imaginings and be happy for at least a moment or maybe awhile, seeing as it does not take much to make me happy. What I got, instead, is an obnoxious guest returning in the hotel early in the morning, drunk, shouting obscenities because he was not able to get past the locked doors  after giving out the wrong room number when asked, at past one in the morning...

Mr. Troll: "You did not let me in! Me! I will talk to someone in the morning about this!" (in an incredulous tone, pointing his finger at me and repeating the same sentence, as if I did not hear it loud and clear.) Blah blah blah...

Owl: Sir, this is being done for your own security as well as all the residents in house.

Mr. Troll: (Angrily) I will talk to someone in the morning! (storms off)

   God must have misheard me when I prayed for a tall nice guy, He probably just heard the tall bit and dropped off a troll by mistake cause a more urgent prayer needed to be heard. Well, what can I say... some people probably have the troll genes on them and however human like they seem, their "inner troll" still comes out naturally. This dude has been flagged already from hand overs as one of the idiotically demanding ones and he is not even a loyal member. I suppose I was one of the "lucky" ones to actually have the pleasure of meeting him. What a charming guy! 

Fish Cyclops

Hey! Can you tell me where my friend Nemo is?

Funny story.... for me anyway. One of my workmates was telling me a story about her pet fish and how one of them died. Her housemate apparently scooped up one of this goldfish (described as the one with the bulging eyes) because it seemed sick, so the housemate apparently blew some air on to the fish's mouth and one of the eyes popped out of the socket! This, for some reason cracked me up 'cause I was imagining this happen in a cartoonish way in my minds eye, even though it was described in a very solemnly endearing manner. The fish obviously died and was apparently flushed down the toilet.  To comfort her I just said, "Don't worry, your housemate is probably going to be haunted by Cyclops Fish," and this made her smile a bit. I'm not into fish, I'm more of a dog person, that's probably why I find this a little funny.
  A lot of turnover on people work wise, I used to view this in a sad way before, kind of makes me think how people are changing their lives and somehow I am not. But now I, for some reason have a different point of view about it, It seems refreshing in a way that now that some people are gone, there's an opportunity to meet new people, and hopefully get to know and learn from them...

Annual Christmas Party!

 Just had our annual Christmas Party and it was good fun!(despite the horrible rainy day) I must say, from thinking of what I'm going to wear, to getting to the venue and actually getting that first glass of prosecco. It must have been a long time since I did any kind of socializing, to actually look forward to this one. The food was a bit disappointing and almost everyone found it tasteless however the band and the dancing was good. Made even better by observing all your tipsy colleagues who had enough drinks and feels uninhibited enough to actually not realise that they're making Muppet's out of themselves, yours truly included of course! Going to a night club afterwards is reminiscent of the good old days when the horrid smell of alcohol and sweat mixed together in a basement did not seem to faze me. Throw in all the young lads who keeps eyeing or otherwise chatting you up and "Happy Days" it actually feels like I'm in my twenties again for a short period of time. The sleeplessness and the alcohol sweats because you knew you had too much, instantly brings you back to earth and makes you realise that "yes, my dear, sadly you are not in your twenties no more!"

 So, I just finished most of my tasks and its nice and quiet in the lobby. Just thinking about the last couple of days and how people just kept on moaning about stuff. You know, stuff that did not happen, stuff that happened because of someone, boss stuff, stuff that's getting on the way of other stuff. It just feels like everything is spiralling into this big snowball of unhappy stuff! Anyway, when energy like this goes around its usually contagious and once people start on a roll, you might as well roll with them cause there really is no way of getting around it. The good news is that it has a beginning and an end and I have a feeling that its ending soon. So, we look forward to when the good stuff starts rolling!

New Year 2012

Happy New Year all!!!

  Sorry I have not been writing ever since Xmas, I just decided to work as I am for some reason not feeling the joy the year 2011, I decided to ask for the New Year off to celebrate the coming year. I planned on having party which did not happen in the end 'cause the peeps I invited all had plans of their own.  It  turned out ok cause I was not feeling my 100% on that day so it just ended up with me and my housemate  popping a bottle of Prosecco at midnight.
  So I have been procrastinating on writing for the last few weeks and now I'm feeling bad, cause I know that there were a few occasions that I had good material to write but did not take the opportunity to do something creative about the ideas and they just ended up in what i hope is the recycle bin of my brain.
  Anyhow! Here I am at your service again and hopefully can bring up some entertainment for people who wants to read especially those working in the hotel industry. So I checked in one of our platinum guest and he was a bit short and unfriendly while I was checking him in.

Owl in Dublin: Good evening sir, you're very welcomed! Let me check you in.

Mr. Crank: Good evening! (practically throws his platinum card in front of me) Can you tell me if my stay has been extended for one night?

Owl : Uhhhmmmm, let me check for you sir. (seeing the Alert) We will have to let you know in the morning if your stay can be extended sir.

Mr. Crank: (points at his platinum card) Well, I'm on that level so I should not really be asking. Anyway, I  have 2 questions for you. Has my room been upgraded? And where is the Four Seasons Hotel?

Owl : (with a very fake half smile) We will let you know in the morning about the extension sir. Your room has been upgraded into a deluxe category, however it has 2 beds. Would you prefer a double bed?

Mr. Crank: (with a frown and some kind of look of unbelief) Yes, i prefer a room with a queen sized bed.

Owl : Certainly sir, let me change your room to a queen sized room. Here are your keys, have a goodnight.

  Early in the morning Mr. Crank came to desk with his now becomingly familiar frown and asked one of my colleagues if he can speak to one of the sales guys. He was upset as his headboard fell (ha!ha!), he does not seem to be hurt and I thought "JUSTICE!," again what goes around comes around, and swift for some than the others!

 More to come....