Saturday, July 28, 2007

You make me so angry! I'm going to go home and BLOG about YOU!

Because really that's all I can do.

Parents. I have another rant about fucking parents. This is for all those stupid parents who bitch to me about how some kids cut their kid in line and I didn't see. You have a problem that the kid cut yours? FUCKING TELL THEM TO GO TO THE FUCKING BACK OF THE LINE. Don't bitch to me. If you can't identify the kids who cut yours? FUCKING GET OVER IT THEN. It's their fault for not telling those kids to go to the back of the line. I see over 600 kids a day. You expect me to remember the kids who were just here? Screw you. You try watching the line while making sure these kids over here don't decide to jump out of the ride while it's running. Kthx. Don't bitch to me about it if you're not going to try to fucking help the situation.
I so wanted to say that to one of the parents today.
"THOSE KIDS CUT MY BOY"
"Can you identify the children who cut infront of yours?"
"No. But a bunch of them did."
"I'm sorry ma'am. I can't help you, I didn't see them cut." I had been unbuckling seatbeats of the kids who just got off when they cut methinks.
"My boy has had to wait in line for so long and they just cut."
"I'm sorry ma'am. Your son will have to go next round."
"I'm not staying here. We've been here too long! You're not riding!" She then dragged her kid off by the arm. She came back three minutes later and cut kids in line. Great example. I apologized to the kid about him being cut in line. He didn't care much at all, but his mom got fucking worked up about it.

PARENT NUMBER TWO. Chill the fuck out. Her oldest daughter was helping her siblings get belted in, and some other kids took the car that girl had orginally before she got up to help her brother and sister, but I made sure there was still a car left for her.
Me-"Alright there's one car left."
Child in line-"Two!"
Me-"No.. That girl over there is going in one of the cars."
Parent-"HEY!NO! THAT WAS MY DAUGHTER'S CAR!"
Me-"There's still a car left for her."
Parent-"NO! SHE WANTED THE PURPLE ONE! SHE WAS HELPING HER SIBLINGS!"
Me-"I noticed that but I made sure there was still a car left for her."
The parent walked off in a huff. The kid didn't even care which car she sat in. Funny enough, it was the same parent I had been talking to while they were at Boats and had been joking around because the Boats had tons of water in them from the rain the night before. Apparently morning shift decided that at 10 when the park opened they had to open the ride instead of finishing cleaning the water out. Great.

Thanks parents who don't speak english. Thanks. The other day I was running Convoy. Some people put on their kid but he was wearing a leash. Sorry sir, but you have to take the leash off your child. They just stared at me, smiled and shruged. The leash. You need to take it off of him for him to ride. More smiling and shruging. You don't understand what I'm telling you do you? No. Shrug. Smile. Thankyou. ...Point to the leash, this needs to go. OH Now they get it. Thanks for wasting 10 minutes of my life.

Boys also suck. On the bus ride back to HR I took off my work shirt and had a shirt on under it. I sat next to Josh and talked to him, and he kept chuckling. I asked him what it was and he wouldn't tell me until we got to HR. The bus was overfilled and people were standing. All the guys who were standing by me had apparently been looking down my shirt the entire time. Josh thought about telling me and decided not to. Jerk. Stupid boys who like to look down my shirt.

Butttttttt. I got a FOTON.Futon? Couch thing for the basement. And mom brought home that, Little Shop of Horrors, and the shaver we suspect Cassie stole from our house. But not the Xbox. Sad day.
I'm going to WaterWorld for the first time EVER. With Bryan his family and some others.
I got three new pairs of work pants. Two new bras. New panties. Sunglasses. A laptop bag. =D
I cashed two paychecks. Put most of it in the bank and took 200 for myself.

I think I've gotten angrier with working at Elitches. But god people are stupid.

Monday, July 23, 2007

I feel like I'm going to hack up an organ soon.

Stupid coughing. Cough medicines to make things better are not going over so well.
I've come to the conclusion that running Train is worse than running Boats.
Why? :
Parents cannot ride boats because they are too tall. So I do not have to tell parents they have to ride in an open top car on the train over and over since they apparently did not hear me the first three times. Or they don't speak english. God why didn't I take spanish?
On boats the kids can atleast hear me yell that they need to keep their hands inside the ride. Most of the time on Train they can't hear me.
Children like to jump off the Train when it's half way around the track. So I have that problem of the Train coming to a stop outside a normal loading position. Boats can stop anywhere.
Boats is up a ramp, and therefore not in the middle of Kiddie Land and not seen as much.
Train holds 36 goddamn people. Only four parents, who must be in opentop cars, and one per side otherwise the Train tips over.
...The Train can tip over.
It's hard as hell to reach a seatbelts in two of the cars.
The umbrella is strategically placed to be of no help to afternoon shifts.
Parents get angry when there is not room enough for them but there are three empty cars. Those empty cars have tops on them. Haha parents. Haha.

So tonight was the second night in a row that they kicked me from JumpingJack shortly after the sun had set behind the stageroof and out of my eyes to Train where I have to wait for the sun to set behind MindEraser and Swings. Both times to train people on JumpingJack. I want to get trained on another ride. All the ones I know I'm getting tired of or don't like to begin with. Which I kinda feel like writting some lists on the rides I know.. Skip if you want.

MINITEACUPS:
"Welcome to the Mini-teacups, please keep your arms and legs inside your own teacup at all times. Do not stand until the ride has come to a complete and final stop."
-First one I learned.
-Secluded, so a nice ride when you don't much feel like dealing with people.
-Takes about two minutes to fully stop. By this time kids feel the need to book it for the exit.
-Only seats 18.
-Operating station outside of the fence.
-Run until it starts to slow. Then press e-stop.
-Over 36 inches, under 54.

BUMPERCARS:
"Welcome to the Bumpercars, please keep your arms and legs inside your own car at all times. Do not stand until the ride has come to a complete and final stop. If you ever get stuck just hit the gas and turn the wheel."
-Pretty simple. Only eight cars most of the time.
-Mostly you don't have to pay too much attention except for the kids who are riding with someone else. Whoever doesn't have their hands occupied with the wheel feel the need to hit other cars as they go by.
-Constantly have to remind kids to push the pedal at the bottom and turn the wheel as far as it can go to get unstuck.
-Operating station inside the fence.
-Kids cry a lot.
-Over 36, under 54.

CONVOY:
"Welcome to Convoy, please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times. Do not stand until the ride has come to a complete and final stop.
-Parents can ride. I'm pretty sure it seats 24. But it's apparent that parents have to sit in the back, I don't think any have even attempted to get inside.
-Not very busy most of the time.
-Horrible on hot days, and the sun can get annoying if you watch the Trucks go around the entire track.
-Not much to get in trouble with except hands and arms inside.
-Blindspot when it goes behind the trees. Some kids I'm sure take advatage of this time.
-Operating station inside fence.
-Over 36, under 54. Over 54 must be accompanied by someone under 54, no infants.

BOATS:
"Welcome to the boats. Please keep your arms and legs inside your boat at all times. Do not stand until the ride has come to a complete and final stop. And please do not play with the water."
-You've all heard me rant about this. Parents can't ride.
-Water. Keep their goddamnfuckinghands out of the water. It's icky and will be even more gross by the end of the season.
-Lot of bending down and getting up, makes for a dizzy Angie.
-They sink if too much weight is in them.
-After the rain, someone must stand on the front of the boat to sink it down and someone else must take a cup and get out the water. Awful process.
-Seats 24.
-Operating station outside of fence.
-Under 54, as long as they can sit up on their own. No infants.

TRAIN:
"Welcome to the Train, please keep your arms and legs inside the Train at all times. Do not stand until the ride has come to a complete and final stop."
-Parents can ride in opentop cars, one per side and four per ride.
-Eight people per car, except the engine which holds four children.
-Middle of KiddieLand so oodles of people.
-The ride is only about 2 minutes long. But somehow I can only get about four to six rides done each hour.
-Operating station outsie of fence.
-I have yet to find a goo place to put the height stick while running the ride.
-36 people can ride in a full load.
-Over 36, under 54, over 54 must be accompanied by someone under 54. No infants.

JUMPING JACK:
"Welcome to the Jumping Jack. Please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times, as if they could go anywhere else. Please stay seated until the ride comes to a complete and final stop and the engine shuts itself off. Enjoy your fall."
-Seats 6 total.
-Beware falling shoes from excited kids.
-Breaks down frequently.
-Used to be called the "Bounce and Pounce"
-No parents. Although they often are needed to help chilren in because I am not allowed to lift children.
-Operating station inside fence.
-Umbrella does almost no good for night shift if you want to watch the ride to the top.
-Around 6:30ish the sun sets behind the Stage roof.
-Gets busy after the Hiphopcicles show ends because you can see it from the seats.
-Not allowed to hit e-stop anymore.
-Over 36, under 54.

All exit spiels are "Welcome back, hope you enjoyed your ride and enjoy the rest of your stay here at Elitches." And in the last hour I count down until Elitches closes. Which normally sparks conversations with guests about Carnival De Faugo.

Tabby likes Pat.
Jon and Liz are dating.
Shannon and Akeem fight over sticks.
Ashley's dating Drew who is not from KiddieLand.
Gossip about who is doing what and who has what sexual orientation.
That kid who makes friends with everyone and talks to everyone. (Libby.) Kid who sits in corner and you wonder if they have a voice. (Donovan.) People who talk to you at work but would not think about hanging out with you outside of Elitches.
Dropouts. (Amanda, Jesse, and others.)
Being addressed as "The Little Shanklin" "The Little Shanklin Girl" "Shannon's Sister" (Those would have been a highschool thing if I had gone to Lakewood.)
Someone having mental breakdowns (Tabby. I'm going to comfort her with gifts or something soon.)
See? Highschool.

Jordan was right. Ever want to have your kid never want kids? Make them work in KiddieLand.
Liz was talking about some rumors that some guy who works in NorthPark or SouthPark was working in KiddieLand and letting kids into the safetyzone on Bumpercars and letting them run the ride. One of those things I want to believe is a fabrication, but I'm skeptical on whether it is or not..
Oh. And the other day I SCREWED up royally. I went in on my day off and took a day off I wasn't suppose to. No one said anything about it so Jon thinks I'm going to be okay. But they changed the schedual on me. *Cries*
But I got Tuesday and Sunday off this week. Boo. I work both days we stay open til 10. And Bryan has been wanting to steal me away to WaterWorld for weeks. His family is going on Saturday. I couldn't find anyone to switch with me. Cassie also wanted to steal me away to WaterWorld but I don't have Thursday off.
And Man. I've never been to WaterWorld. -.-

I MISS MY FRIENDS.

I need sunglasses and new work pants. NEED. I also need to cash my last paycheck before I get ANOTHER.
Who else thinks summers moving too fast?
...3am. I guess I should sleep.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Wow I suck.

Just alittle though. Not really any of my other friends have been updating anyways. But I did say I'd talk about my Fourth o' July and I didn't. Ah well. The important people were there. Ben, Krystal, Joe, Ellie, Mitch, Haley, Trevor, Jared and Bryan. And Jared and I played Bayblades. I love Jared.
Other than that. Nothing much has been going on. I've been just hanging out enjoying my summer along with the mass amounts of work I have. Which is only going to get worse because we are always understaffed, and we might have to pull people back from promoting them to North and South park because we don't have enough people and some more are still quitting. Which makes me sad consitering I have not known these people long but they've been pretty damn fun.
But things are kinda weird at work. It reminds me of school constantly which just freaks me out. Having a school away from school during the summer. Ehhhh.. I have no time for art which makes me sad.
AND Sarah didn't answer her phone when I called her to wish her happy birthday. Failure.

Ohyea. And Heart.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Who loves short shorts?

Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

I'll totally try to post about my day yesterday sometime... Today.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Contridictory Victory!

Worky work work.
Saturday I worked Jumping Jack.
Sunday I worked Boats. BUT MAN DO I HATE BOATS. The kids NEVER listen to you when you tell them to keep they're goddamnfuckinghands out of the water. I hate repeating myself so many times.
"Please keep your hands inside the boat"
"Please do not play with the water"
It's for their fucking safety.
Hatehatehatehatehateboats.
That and one girl decided "Hey. I'm going to go out the other side of he boat and go swimming." I had to run around and get her out. I got my pants soaked.
Monday I worked Jumping Jack. It was either that or boats again. I chose the better option even though I've been doing Jumping Jack a lot lately. Some kids cried. One small child hit on me. It was pretty uneventful except Liz almost got written up for kissing Jon. Not even a makeouttoungeineachothersmouthkiss. Just a peck. They think it's Des (Jon's ex girlfriend. Who dumped him after prom. But still hates him.) who reported it. Also I got re-trained on the Jumping Jack that day because apparently none of the trainers were training people right. We're not allowed to hit e-stop anymore. And I got to teach Jon the new ways of the Jumping Jack, which I found ironic because he is one of the trainers.
Today. I worked BumperCars. YAY. I like BumperCars best. Lovelovelovelove. Anyways. Pretty normal. Except several kids cried for being too short, or too tall, or not being able to figure out how to move, or getting stuck, or not being able to figure out how to not spin in continual circles. One kid though.. He cried for no reason at all. No one hit him, he didn't hit anyone, he didn't get stuck. Just out of no where he started crying.
Parents are mean. Not even just to me. But to their own kids. One girl didn't really want to ride. Her mom forced her on with peer pressure, and I tried to help her saying that if she ever wanted to get off she could just call out and I'd stop the ride for her. That comforted her and she agreed to get on. Well she was fine until her mom was trying to belt her in. Then she didn't want to ride anymore. The mom took her out and said "Fine. Go sit in your stroller like a big cry baby, Baby!" This shocked me. That's so... Mean. I hope the kid turns out okay with having a mother like that. Sadly it was not the first time I had seen this. The same thing happened the day before on Jumping Jack with a different kid and different parent.
I had my own collection of lost and found. Two headbands. Two sunglasses. And a shirt. Most I've ever had left at my ride.
Two kids. They got really angry with me and started yelling at me for them being too tall. I thought they were going to hit me. Is it sa when ten year olds scare me?
After work I hung out for a bit and Jon and I froliced over to internal guest relations with my lost stuff and another pair of sunglasses and a hat from other lost things from other rides. Some how we got into something like I was fighting myself, and I said it was a contridictory victory, and we were both amazed at my random ability to rhyme without meaning to. I helped Kathy with carrying stuff back to dispatch... disbatch... Ah hell.
Anyways. I put notebooks away then Jon and I waited for the bus. Rode back to HR, hugged and I went home.
Tomorrow is my day off. Thank goodness because it's the 4th and the park will be open til ten.