Smooches

The other day I was at my parent's house and we were going through the paper and found these coupons for Ellis Island Casino. They were giving away $50 in free slot play to anyone who got a new player's card. Hell yeah!!

So, we got three coupons and me, mom and dad went over to the Ellis Island. It was tiny! It's behind Bally's, just off the strip and they were having karoake night. Ouch! My ears were burning. People that do karoake crack me up. Most of them really think they are good.

Anyway, there was NO catch. You really got $50 in free slot play for nothing. I played all over the place. I tried Monopoly and had no luck. I tried 4 card keno. No luck. I tried Wheel of Fortune. No luck for me but my dad had lots of luck. I finally settled on a poker machine and I hite 4 Aces! Woo hoo! Too bad I was playing dimes instead of quarters. I was almost broke so I had went down to dimes. At any rate, I won $50. So, I played the $50, I won $50 and I walked out the door with $50. Good times! I love free slot play.

I was watching the news today and they said that people were lining up at 5 a.m. today for the job fairs here in town. Are you kidding me????? Our unemployment rate is up over 12 percent and even though the doors didn't open til 9, people were lining up at 5 - ouch! Tomorrow is the day that I'm going to Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock. Jeeez. Fingers crossed I guess. I really don't want to wait in a line - especially not outside in the 115 degree heat.

Anyway, I'm leaving Sunday for L.A. I'm sure I'll have lots of great pictures and stories to tell. My heart is set on being on The Price Is Right. I'm counting on it. hehe How cool would that be???

Have a good weekend kids. smooches!

Classy...

I had a job interview today. I think it went well. It was another restaurant job, but it's with a place that is much closer to my house and it's an already established place which is a good thing. People already know about it and such.

So, my cousin Jenn is pregnant and she's giving birth to her first baby in a few months. They are having a baby shower for her in September and I want to fly back to Maryland so bad for the shower. I haven't been to Maryland in a few years and I would just LOVE to go back and visit for a few days. I'm really missing crabcakes and crab chips and crab balls and steamed crabs. I miss my cousins and all of the friends I have reconnected with on facebook. I miss Ocean City and the waves and the water and the grass. Don't get me wrong. I still love Vegas. I just want to go back and visit.

So, my cousin said she would love to fly me out for the shower. Like, I wouldn't have to pay for it! I called my mom and I was totally psyched!!

She pulls this shit... "Well, you father and I were going to go back to Maryland for the shower and we thought you'd stay here and watch Opey". I was like "no way!! I already told you guys that I wanted to go back for the shower and anyway, your next door neighbors will watch Opey". She's like "no, we can't leave him with the neighbors he's not that kind of dog". What kind of DOG? The kind that is so spoiled that he is going to ruin a family vacation because he's too good for a kennel or for the neighbors to come over and watch?

Don't get me wrong. I love Opey to death. I love the dog with all my heart. But, what is wrong with the neighbors taking care of him for a couple of days???? Having a dog shouldn't mean that you can never ever ever go on a vacation with your family.

I guess I'm the most annoyed because I told her just a day or two about how much I miss Maryland and how I want to go back for the shower and then she just goes and makes plans to go back and assumes I'll just watch Opey and doesn't even include me.

So, I did what any mature, responsible, reliable, 36 old woman would do in this situation, I hung up on her. Classy huh?

Loved it!

So, it's no secret that work has been less than stellar. We are so slow - it's brutal. But, I went in Friday night with a great attitude and my hopes were high. I figured Friday night would be by night. I was sorely mistaken.

First, I get this table - it was two people and they had a 15 percent off coupon so that was cool. I greeted them right away and offered them cocktails or sodas and they declined. They just wanted water. I told them the specials and I gave them a few minutes to decide. I come back out and they were GONE! The hostess said that they thought the prices were too high. Okay, no big deal. Definitely not my fault.

Next, another couple comes in. I greet them, tell them the specials and give them a minute. I come back to the table to fill their water glasses, but the ladies menu was in the way of her water glass. So, instead of asking her to move the menu, or getting in her way, I just decided to fill the gentlemen's glass first. She starts screaming at the top of her lungs. She's like "what kind of restaurant is this? Haven't you ever heard of ladies first?" I was stunned. She was literally screaming. I thought she was joking. I was waiting for candid camera to come out of the woodwork. She literally yelled at me for a good long minute. I apologized. I walked away and they left. Jesus! Great night I had. I ended up walking out for the third time in a week with ZERO dollars in my pocket.

I don't know why I'm still working at this place. I guess I just keep hoping that business will pick up. I worked Saturday night and I made a whopping thirty dollars. Better than nothing, but not enough to survive on.

So, today I went shopping with my mom, she bought me two really pretty shirts. That was fun! We also went out to eat Italian food and then we saw "The Hangover". Holy shit! I laughed my ass off. What a great movie. It was just what I needed to lift my spirits. I loved it!!! I would recommend it to anyone. My mom and dad loved it too.

Go see it!

Yay Me!

I played in the Mookie for the first time in months last night. I was surprised how small the field was. At any rate, my new Full Tilt name is Carmen623 instead of Carmensincity, so some of you might not have recognized me. At one point, BuddyDank cracked my pocket aces and I was annoyed. I had a nice stack and he knocked me down to like 800 chips. I went all in a couple of times on tilt and somehow managed to double up and then double up. The next thing I knew, I was sitting at the final table and somehow I got all of my chips back because I knocked BuddyDank out. Thanks for keeping those chips warm guy.

So, imagine how frustrated I was when we got down to four people, I had been playing for more than 3 hours and then I made a stupid, reckless move and got knocked out - ON THE BUBBLE!!!!! UGH. Isn't that the worst feeling in the world? It was brutal. I know it's happened to all of us, but it sucked.

I'm heading to work in about an hour and a half. I'm sure it'll be equally brutal. My prediction is that I'll stand around for two hours, maybe get one table if I'm really lucky and then I'll come back home. Part of me wants to pick up the phone so bad and tell boss man that I'm not coming in. He won't care. But, I won't do that. I'm too responsible. My ass will go in and hangout, gossip, talk shit, complain and then come home. 60 miles added to my odometer. Brutal.

I filled out an application yesterday. It was a restaurant/bar/gaming establishment really close to my house. We'll see what happens. Nobody was there for me to interview with on the spot. I do best when I have an on the spot interview. My delightful charm doesn't quite come across on an application :)

So, that's it for me today. Tomorrow is Friday. Happy Weekend to my readers. I'm actually working tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. Yay me.

Any Ideas?

So, Monday night was a bust at work. I got there at 5 p.m. Hung out and talked to my co-workers til about 7 p.m. Not one person walked through the door. Boss man sent two of us home. I was more than happy to volunteer because after standing around for 2 hours with my thumb stuck up my ass, I decided I couldn't take another minute. Honestly, after two hours, I would have been annoyed if someone came in. My energy was zapped and I had no desire to wait on anyone. Not a good attitude to have, but oh well.

So, me and the food runner are both determined to blow this popsickle stand. We are both out there looking for new jobs. He turned me into an ad on craigslist for a new sushi restaurant opening at the Monte Carlo. They are interviewing people next week and I plan to be there bright and early Monday morning. They start interviwing at 10 a.m. and that's when I'll be there.

The Hard Rock position is still looming too. I'm trying to find out in writing when they are having the job fair. I heard something through the grapevine, but I'd like to know for sure when they are hiring.

Today I met the parental units over at the Venetian so that we could watch the Wheel of Fortune. It was fun. We waited in line but it wasn't for very long. We had floor seats - 11 back from the stage and I have no idea if we'll be on T.V., but you never know. They were actually showing 5 shows, but we only stayed for the 1st one. Pat and Vanna were both looking fabulous. They haven't aged a bit.

Does anyone remember back in the day when the contestant won a puzzle and then he/she spent the money they won on prizes. They would show them a room full of stuff for the house and trips and then the person would buy their prizes instead of taking home cash. It was kinda neat. My mom thought I was high when I told her about it. She didn't remember that at all. My dad remembered though, so he backed me up and proved that I wasn't crazy. She's the one that's going senile I think. ha ha Kidding!

And, that's about it. Final L.A. preparations are taking place. We are all set for our trip except we haven't picked a hotel yet. We are thinking that Burbank is the place for us to stay. Now, I'm just trying to find one that's nice and not too expensive. Any ideas??

Blah

I just ironed my shirt and pants and am about to head into work. What a sham of a job! I don't even know why I'm wasting my time. I haven't made more than $15 a night at this stupid place. I hate coming in and standing around twiddling my thumbs. It's such bullshit. They need to do some serious advertising or else this restaurant is definitely going under.

I was off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I went to Mt. Charleston one day and it was gorgeous. The next day we took a ride through Red Rock Canyon which was also very nice. It actually rained while we were driving through and that was crazy! We never get any rain here.

So, anyway, I have nothing new to report. Fingers crossed that maybe I'll make a few dollars tonight, but I definitely won't hold my breath.

Typical

So, mom and I are definitely going to L.A. in August. I already told my boss not to schedule me for a few days, I printed the tickets from the Price is Right website - we are hoping to make it on the show. It's not easy. You have to get there really early and wait in line. Then, I think they interview you and you of course wait some more and more. Finally, they let some people in - not everyone. Apparently they are kind of selective and they actually interview everyone in the audience. Crazy.

We are also going to do one of those L.A. City tours. They take you to the stars homes and up to the Hollywood sign for pictures and to Rodeo Drive and The Hollywood Stars Walk etc. All that fun Touristy stuff. And then, we are definitely doing Universal Studios. I'm excited about everything we are doing. I might even enjoy this trip more than San Francisco. I dunno. It's hard to say!

I think it's going to be 110 degrees here today. Brutal. This is honestly the worst time of the year. It's too hot for me to leave the house. I don't enjoy laying out at the pool because it's too hot to sit on the chair for 5 minutes. I have to get in the water every two minutes. And then, the sun is beating down so hot that the chair burns my skin, even my flip flops get too hot. I have a black car and that thing draws some heat. The steering wheel gets so hot that I have to wait a good ten minutes before I can drive it. I even have one of those windshield shades.

Anyway, another two months and it will start cooling off. So, that'll be nice.

I saw the craziest thing on the news last night.

First off - a little background...

My roommate and I went to see Terry Fator live at the Mirage and we loved him. He's basically a one man show, but he has a beautiful assistant that helps him once in a while and she is HOT. I mean, gorgeous! Roommate and I were blown away by her and it got me wondering about his wife. Apparently he's married and he has been married to the same woman for many years. I was thinking that his wife must be awful secure with herself and the relationship because her husband is traveling from city to city and state to state with this much younger and sexier girl while she sits at home eating bon bons. ha ha Roommate has actually seen wife before and he said she's pretty over weight.

So, fast forward to the news last night and the headline is "local entertainer is caught up in love triangle as he goes through messy divorce" and they flash a picture of Terry Fator. I start laughing and say to roommate "wouldn't it be funny if he was dating his assistant?". I'll be damned! When the news comes back from the commercial they inform us that he is in fact dating his assistant - her name is Taylor Makakoa. Typical huh?

The guy is married for 16 years or whatever and this woman stands by him when he's poor and struggling and then he finally makes it big, gets his own show and signs a contract for $100 million dollars and he drops wifey like a hot cake and hooks up with this 22 year old hottie. I hate to say that he's a "typical man" but honestly, that's the term that comes to mind.

This isn't the best picture, but you get a good idea - she's got those long lean legs and beautiful brown hair...




Here's some more pictures I found of Taylor...




And a video for my male readers - you guys can thank me later...






Oh well, wifey will defintely walk away with a NICE chunk of change for herself. Maybe she'll head over to "thunder down under" and find herself a hottie to settle down with.

Lovely

Okay, the past two nights at work (monday and tuesday) were so brutal. I had NO tables on Monday, but I had to be there til close. So, I made zero dollars. And then tonight I had one table and again I was the closer so I had to be there til the end. I'm getting frustrated. I walk in the door with a great attitude, I'm positive and I'm ready to make some money and as the night goes on my energy and positive attitude go down the tubes. It's so brutal.

However, there was one little thing tonight that happened and it made me feel like working at this restaurant might not be a complete and total waste....

There is a couple that comes in a few times a week because they live right across the street and they love the place. They don't eat a table. They usually sit at the bar, order a few glasses of wine and nosh on some appetizers. Anyway, I was talking to them for quite a while tonight and found out that the husband is actually a big wig over at Hard Rock Casino. He informed me that the new Hard Rock Cafe is opening on the strip in September and they are hiring 400 people this month. He thought I'd be a great fit for the place. He gave me his card and told me where to be for the interviewing and hiring. I'm psyched! I just might get myself another job on the strip! And, if I work on the strip you guys will not have to hear me whine anymore about the lack of business. Yay! Wouldn't that be amazing? I hate having to whine just as much as you guys hate to read it.

I swear!

Did anyone watch Entourage Sunday night? How happy are we that Entourage is BACK?! I love that show. It's pretty awesome!

My dad has a friend coming into town this weekend from Maryland. I'm totally taking them on a little day trip to Mt. Charleston on Friday during the day. It'll be 107 degrees here in Sin City and we will drive a mere 20 minutes up a hill right and we will be in the land of 75 degrees. AHHHHHHHH How lovely. I'm super psyched.

Europoker.com

Poker Players check it out!!

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This is a great feature for beginners and advanced players alike. Just click on the link and you are treated to Poker Strategy tips.

Of course, I'm all about money and one of the things that drew me in, was the deposit bonus. Europoker will double your initial deposit up to $50.00. Not to mention, they have a $5,000 daily freeroll and a friend referral program. The benefits just keep coming and coming.





So, join the ranks and Play Poker today!

back to work

This weekend was pretty good. I had off Friday night because they told me not to come in since it was so dead. Saturday night I literally stood around from 6 - 9 and didn't get one table until 9:30 p.m. when three tables walked in thankfully. I got to wait on two of them and I didn't make a lot, but at least it was better than nothing. This place is brutal. Something has to give.

Today I went to the Cannery with my dad and spent too much money. I was losing my ass off. I switched machines like 5 times. I couldn't win on poker, keno, nothing!! I should have taken the ten free dollars they gave me and went home.

I had lunch earlier with my friend Erin. We met for Thai food. It was so yummy. Erin and I used to work together and we still hangout once in a while. She's awesome.

So, my mom and I are planning a trip in late July or early August to go to Los Angeles. I'm psyched. One thing I definitely want to do is go on the Price Is Right. I also want to tour Hollywood and go on some star's homes tours and check out Rodeo Drive etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm looking for a great place to stay that's reasonably priced and is in a central location - close to all of the fun touristy stuff. Any L.A. suggestions from where to eat or what to tour would be greatly appreciated.


Let's see, this week I'm only working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I'm hoping to pick up and extra shift or two.

Happy Monday kids!

It's the Weekend!

So, I forgot to tell you guys this funny little story...

I am such a clutz. Or as ex roomie used to say I have terrible "space management". I am constantly running into walls and tables etc. About once every few months I'll open the car door too fast and catch my nose on it or sometimes and eye. It doesn't feel good. The last time I did it, my nose bled.


So, last Sunday I stopped by a friend's house and he opened the garage door. I didn't know he was going to stop it half way up. I thought he was going to open it all the say, but he stopped it half way up and I walked right into the door. I was wearing my sunglasses and that didn't help. The sunglasses dug right into my nose and within a matter of seconds, but nose started swelling up and up and up...

So, a few people think the nose is broken, I'm not really that concerned about it. My left eye started turning black a day or two later and now it's been like 5 days and I still look like a victim of spousal abuse. hehe

My boss saw it on Monday and he was understandably concerned. It's not exactly "Professional" to be walking around a fine dining establishment waiting tables with a black eye and a busted nose.

By Wednesday of this week I was looking REALLY rough, so I called him and he told me to take the night off - we were dead anyway.

So, I worked Monday, I had off Tuesday, I took off Wednesday and then I had off Thursday and today is Friday. I was supposed to work. But, last night my boss called and he said we literally had 2 tables last night and there are 6 servers supposed to be working tonight. He asked if I wanted another night off since I drive 60 miles round trip and I might not even get a table.

So, I tokd him I'd take tonight off work, but I definitely want to work on Saturday and he said that's not a problem. He'll call around and have everyone take turns not coming in.

I don't know what I was thinking. I really thought this restaurant was going to be busy and we were going to make tons of money. I was mistaken. So far we have staretd off really slow.

Anyway, enough about that. It's Friday and I have another night off work. Yay!

Last night I hung out with my parents at their clubhouse and we played poker. They play crazy games like Omaha Hi Low with wildcards and a game called Killer and a game called Slider. I loved Slider! I managed to win that game a few times and both times I got the High and the Low. They were nice sized pots. I ended up winning about $5.00 which is good considering we are playing with dimes and quarters and the occasional dollar.

My mom's clubhouse had a doggy day with contests for the neighborhood dogs and a parade and food and stuff. Opey won the award for best coat. He does have a beautiful coat of hair.

But, since it's summer and the contest is over, we decided to get him a haircut!

We had his fur cut really short so that he looks like a little teddy bar. It's pretty adorable. I tried to take some pictures, but he's a wiggle worm and didn't want to stay still - here's a few...






Happy Friday Kids!!

Wednesday blues

Work is still slow as hell. I went in Monday night and I made $7.00 after tipping out. I only had one table. It was so boring. I'm seriously spending more than I'm making in gas. Something has to give.

On top of not making any money, I guess I messed up on unemployment this week. I didn't get the money on Tuesday, so I called them and they said that I entered $700 instead of $70 as my earnings for last week. They fixed it for me, but I still haven't gotten the money. They said I'd get it within 48 hours. So far it's been 24 hours. One more day to go. I'll get my first paycheck from the restaurant on Friday. It won't be much, but hey, at this point I'll take anything.

So, that's my situation. I work tonight at 6. I'm going to my parent's house for the day. I'll probably lay at the pool, eat their food and watch T.V. Fingers crossed that I'll make some money tonight.

I've been thinking. There's some nice restaurants right down the street from where I live. There's a cheesecake factory, a P.F. Changs, a Claim Jumper and a few others. They are so close and they are established. They already have a busy clientele coming in. I'm gonna go over there and apply for jobs at all of those places. I don't know if they are hiring, but it can't hurt to try. I'm just spending too much money in gas to drive to a restaurant every night where I'm not making any money.

Sorry to be such a downer. I guess I still have the porn thing if I get really desperate. haha

Lame

Well, work started off great last week, but now that friends and family is over and we are just open to the public, things are SLOW! I had two tables Friday night and I made $15.00 after tipping out and Saturday night I had 1 table and I made $15.00 after tipping out. I'm probably spending more money than I make in gas. It's really pathetic. It's a new restaurant and I'm trying to be patient as the word gets out. I just hope it picks up. The good thing is that since I'm making such a tiny amount of money, I'm still able to collect partial unemployment. So, it's good because I'm not sitting on my ass. I actually have someplace to go everyday, but I don't have to freak out about money because I know that I'll at least get a little bit at the beginning of every week from unemployment.

It's just boring as hell standing around watching the front door wishing someone would walk in. I stayed until we closed on Friday night and then Saturday night (4th of July) they cut me around 8:30 p.m. I was cool with that cause I knew that nobody else was coming in on 4th of July. Typically, Independence Day is a slow day in any restaurant because people are shooting off fireworks and cooking out on the grill.

Oh well, I'm crossing my fingers that business will pick up.

I have a weird schedule this week. I'm off today (Sunday). I work Monday, I'm off Tuesday, I work Wednesday, I'm off Thursday and I work Friday and Saturday.

Well, I'm heading over to my parent's house today. See ya!

Loves it!

Okay, my job is officially AWESOME!

I feel lame cause all I've been talking about is work, but you guys know that work is the biggest and most exciting thing going on in my life.

So, we had our friends and family night last night and then again tonight. I wasn't sure how much money I'd really be clearing considering that each server only had a 2 table station. For those of you that have never waited tables, you might not realize that a 2 table station is very tiny. I'm used to having like 4, 5 or 6 tables to myself. The more tables, the busier you are and the more money you make. There's a fine line though because you don't want to be TOO TOO busy. If you have too many tables and especially if they are sat at the same time, you are possibly going in the weeds and you do'nt want that. I hate being in the weeds. It's

At any rate, the food runners are great, the kitchen staff is excellent, the food was awesome, the presentation was beautiful, and I didn't hear any complaints from any of my tables.

Unfortunately, the bussers are brand new and they were confused. They didn't know the table numbers, they were slow, I had to bus my own tables and even found myself re-setting them becaues again, time is money and I needed CLEAN, SET tables so that I could make more money. You would think that they would understand that the more money I make, the more money THEY make.

Anyway, it was frustrating. So my first table, my parents and their next door neighbors left me a great tip. I was VERY pleasantly surprised. My next table was a girl that was hired with us and they gave her the night off, so they left me an EVEN BETTER tip then my parents did. So, that was awesome. I literally made like $100 on my first two tables.

My third table SUCKED ass. They ate for free - all of the food was free and they had like one glass of wine each that they had to pay for. And, they on ly left me $7.00. That's a shitty tip. I only had one more table after that and they left me a so so tip. So, anyway, I was pretty happy, it was the first night, everything went off without a hitch and I had fun. My feet were THROBBING at the end of the night though. I couldn't wait to get home.

Tonight, was EVEN BETTER. I had more fun because I was given 3 VIP passes. So, my mom came in again and this time she was with 3 of her girlfriends, then my main girl, Sari came in with another friend of ours and then, after that my friend Lisa, and her finncee' came in . It was great. Everyone left me good tips. I didn't have one complaint, the food was awesome again and I made good money.

HOWEVER, of course a night in the industry would't be complete if there wasn't some drama and well, I was the lucky one to be involved.

Okay, this is the situation. My section has a table that is set for 4 people, but it's a special table and it has a leaf that can be added to seat 5 or 6 people. So, after we open, this stupid biatch, comes over to me and asks me to switch with her. I was supposed to give her my table that seats 4 for her table that seats 4. So, just a few minutes later, the table she is giving me is sat. So, she tells me that she is taking that table because the hostesses sat them in my "new" section by accident and that was supposed to be her table.

Then, the crappy two top in her section is sat and she wants to give that to me. UM, no, that's not what we agreed on. We were switching a 4 for a 4, not a 5 for a 2. So, I said "no". So, she takes the two top and the 4 top and my 4/5 top is still empty. Next thing I know, she puts the leaf in and starts setting my table up for 5. Now, she has three tables and I have one. I'm fucking pissed. I went marching over to the manager and told him that we agreed on a fair trade and now it's like 7 p.m. and I've had one table, that I just re-set for another party, so that puts me at two.

Anyway, he says, "don't worry, I'm going to hook you up in a few minutes". So, that's cool. I'm good with that. I luv to be "hooked up". hehe

So, THEN, her 4 top leaves and now she informs me that I can set it up for me. So, I do, and all's well.

Now, a while later, the 4 top leaves and I set up the table again for another 4 top because she's still using my 5 top for her party.

THEN, it gets sat. I greet the customers, put in a drink order, and she comes over to me and informs me that she wants her table back now because we were only switching for that one hour or whatever. BULL SHIT!

If we are switching, it should be all night. Not for one hour. She's such a money hungry greedy sneaky bitch. I went off on her. I told her not to ever ask me to do any favors for her again and that I would never be helping her out.

As it turns out, I made tons of money tonight and it all worked out. This is the same girl, by the way, that helped herself to all of the food during training and by the time the plates got to our end of the table, there was never anything left.

If this girl is this greedy during the 1st week of work, I'm scared to see how she's going to be a few months in.

So, that was my drama for the night. Most of you probably think I'm being petty and maybe I am, but there's just a code of conduct in the industry and it's important that we all follow them. It's just pure common courtesy.

Today I got my new cell phone finally. I'm loving it. Metro PCS is good stuff. I'm getting unlimited text messaging and unlimited minutes for like $40 a month.

Tomorrow I'm going to get my Sheriff's card. Yes, I've still been putting it off but tomorrow is really the day. Really! I promise. I'm lucky I've been allowed to work these past two nights without having it. I'm lucky he never mentioned it.

I'm also attempting to find some shirts that fit me instead of those big ass shirts my roommate gave me.

And last but not least, the cute guy that I've had my eye on since training, asked me to hangout after work on 4th of July. So, yay! It was a good night!

And thanks to Lilleth for the award - I'll be doing a post tomorrow sometime to accept my award! woo hoo!