This was written
April 2nd, 2011! SO here it is...
My last day of work was awful. I learned a lot though, mainly how to not manage a business. I learned that *when you have incredible employees for years, you should give them a little incentive to stay - maybe more than a 25 cent raise in 4 years.
*Don't pit them against each other and try to force them to keep secrets from each other.
*Don't be slack sometimes and strict other times, consistency in leadership is key, and your staff will know what to expect
*Always lead by example, don't tell your staff to stop watching something and clean up when you yourself are standing there watching. And don't stand right beside a rack, tell your staff it has to be moved 2 feet, and then walk away.
*Don't make false promises and offers you can't keep. Period.
*Don't ask for your staffs opinions and act like there is an open door policy and then shut them down
*Don't take your staff for granted and don't let them constantly leave upset
*Don't constantly make your better staff start earlier and work longer and harder while the weaker staff stroll in later and leave earlier.
*Don't have weak staff.
*If you do have weak staff, train them! Put in the effort. Don't just keep giving them medial jobs and rolling your eyes.
*Keep inventory!!
Honestly I probably should have left my job when my excitement turned to frustration and strong work ethic turned to complacency. I stopped caring because no one else did. This isn't who I am, or how I operate and I'm embarrassed. I did everything I had to, and more (they couldn't totally beat the Disney out of me) but where as I use to leave work daily crying from frustration due to poor management, working environment and standards, I started walking out the door and clearing it from my mind. When I started I had grand ideas of helping create an even better work space, and a better experience for guests - too bad they 'had it all under control.' Now I can take a huge sign of relief, of calmness, of happiness and walk away with a few life lessons learned. I had always left jobs I hated, and from now on I will again. I'm not saying that I will give up when things get tough, but eight months of constant frustration, anger, sadness and nothingness were not worth it, not professionally. I also learned that I have to be more concise with what I want, what I'm willing to compromise and what I won't do. I also need to work on saying 'no.' This is the key to not being used and abused in the work place and being forced to do things you aren't comfortable with. Set out perimeters with yourself and trust them, believe in them and don't let anyone push you around.
On to more fun things… I’ve been thinking about my favourite hero and I kind of think Robin Hood maybe now instead? He’s totally cool, good looking (dare I say..foxy ;) ) and does many great things for the poor. Lets chalk it up to a tie…unless Robin Hood can be used for todays…
Disney Challenge Day 6: Favourite Disney Animal
I feel as though this means ‘side kick’ animal Apu and Meeko style. I would say Mushu from Mulan is pretty stellar and it’s hard to argue with Pascal - the cute little chameleon from Tangled. Meeko is a thrifty litte fello and I have a Flik stuffie
(as in this pic). The forest creatures are so helpful in Snow White and the quirrel in Enchanted works so hard to save Giselle. I dreamed for a long time of having a pet tiger, like Raja but think I have to give this one to the monkeys..Apu, you’re the man! Err…monkey. He has the original ‘puss-in-boots’ eyes, is such a geat friend and is super cute.
Every time I make these decisions I get ‘buyer’s remorse’ it’s so hard to choose a favourite. I’m going to be bold and switch – to all the Cinderella country home creatures. The helpful mice, the cute old dog, the horsey – love them all! However if I can go into the parks, my favourite Disney animal there is the donkey in Pirates of the Caribbean right before the burning village half behind a hald closed barn door. I don’t exactly know, what it is, but I love him!!!
Look at that little guy...so happy :)
I guess my answer to today’s Challenge is a bit of a cope out, but I don’t care – I love all of Disney’s Animals!
I love this animal ... my Lily Pug!!
I love my luggage tags as well...Thanks Bahamas and Stephie for these beauties!
Now for this morning… my sister has not had her baby yet. Yes this makes me sad. Obviously I feel like a huge jerk flying a way right when he/she is suppose to pop out, but I also made a commitment to Ashley. She couldn't drive down alone. I also am sad because it means I’m moving out of my sister’s apartment. Although it hasn’t’ always been easy I feel so lucky to have been able to share this time with Kim, Gareth, Lily and Munchkin. I never throught I would be so knowledgeable about babies and it feels weird to think of not watching ‘bringing home baby’ all the time. My sister has erased many of my fears about pregnancy and I almost feel a maternal instinct somewhere deep down. I’ve been so incredibly lucky to get to be among the first to feel the baby kick, dance and move about, and words cannot describe the perienced of hearing the babies heartbeat. As a not-s-religious person I can’t really think of a way of saying it, besides I feel so blessed to be a part of this time in their lives. My sister is a strong, courageous, thoughtful, beautiful, hilarious, honest, strong-willed unbelievable person and I am in awe of her. I also cannot describe how lucky I feel; to have gotten to jknow Gareth better. He went from my sister’s super amazing fiancé to the brother I never had and am so happy to get! (thank you Kimmy!) He’s caring, honest, hilarious gets way too mmuch glee out of scaring my and wont’ let me be a jerk – to myself or anyone else.
Yah I'm emotional...It was sad leaving my sister!
Kim and Gar have had to show me a bit of tough love these past 8 months (mainly the first half!) but they also helped me gain a self-conciousness, and an understanding of who I am, and how I deserve to be treated. They are such an encouraging, loving, helpful pair and I love them both so much. I hope I’ve been able to give something back to them as well. A little crash course in raising a quasi-teenager (alright, fine, I’m an adult. Blek!)
I learned to love running (thanks to Kimmy “Just make it to the Fish Katie”) love cooking (even cooked meat for that little Munchkin) and learned to love myself. Yes I cried when they dropped me off at the airport. Yes I will be them in 10 days. But I will be a guest, not a room-mate. Thank you guys, from the bottom of my heart – thank you! I love you!.
Tears Free!
I probably took the longest time imaginable to meander to my gate for my first flight to Saskatoon enroute to Winnipeg! I ‘ve seen many small airports, but Saskatoon didn’t even have digital displays for the flight times, numbers and locations – wow! Now I’ve been to of the 10 provinces! Yay!
Winnipeg to border: Once I got off the plane Ashley was waiting!
Road Trip Buddy! You may remember her from this!
We got my luggage headed for the car, and were off! We drove to the border where we had to pull over for 45 minutes. The man had never seen Ashley’s visa before so it took a bit of time. Then we were free again! We drove through Grand Forks, then had Jimmy John’s in Fargo, drove through Minniapolis/St.Paul before crossing into Wisconsin to Eau Claire wehere we stopped for the night around 130am at the Days Inn! It was a good 9 hours of driving, we were soooo ready for bed! Following are some random first day pictures:
Manitoba Stampede
Soo many wind turbines in Lower Manitoba
Ashley's Mum made super yummy Chex mix
North Dakota
Minnesota
Days Inn: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
