Updates!

UPDATE!!! YEAH!!!

SO...the newest update to the blog is pretty awesome. Have hard times becoming a "Google + Member" or tired of having to check back on a daily basis to view the blog to see "Whats new"? Fear no more! I have installed the "follow me by email" option which is very simply and pleasing to many. All you have to do is type in your email address to the box which I described or better yet, the one in the upper right hand corner and an email will be sent every time I update this page.

In something totally not related to above but more about the blog is this: Life is good. I currently sit in the top bunk bed and have watched TV for a few days now. Meals have consisted of Stir Fry Noodles, Top Ramen, French Onion Sour Cream Burgers and more. I am still sadly smoking cigarettes, but when I tend to do so, I have a lovely view of the Yellowstone River and the Northern landscape of Yellowstone National Park.

I currently reside with two fellow roommates. One who is Malcom and the other Denise. We are residing in the Yellowstone Cabins in Gardiner Montana. I'll be here for 8 more days and then back to work! I will only be in Mammoth this contract for five days before I head to Canyon and work as an Employee Dining Room cook or server for about 2 months and then I head over to Grant Village as an Assistant Dining Room Manager from May to late September. I hope, in the time there, I won't just meet friends and coworkers, but people who join me the right of exploration. As I have entered the world of Management in the park, I have sadly found that my extra time is at the park or spent sleeping. By the time I wake up, I enter a world of "ONE DAY OFF". Sure, we get two days off a week if were lucky, but during a week that we have turn overs I try and fight my way to stay up and loose that day so I can enjoy the next three.

When I get off work at midnight or perhaps any time...I need time to wind down. I need at least two hours away from work before I can fall asleep. That's just me...The restaurant stops seating at 10:05P.M. The last server will get out between 11-11:59pm. That's just how it goes pending how long the last table stays. So, perhaps this is my TURNOVER NIGHT, "CLOPEN", meaning I have to open the next morning which has a typical start time of 5:30AM.  Even if the closing people got out by 10:05pm, the manager that has a, "CLOPEN", works at 5:30AM can ultimately get 7.5 hours of sleep. That doesn't include the shower, getting dressed or transit.

Well....You would think I get free coffee in the morning, right? Nope. I get a 20% discount on that. If you do the math and I open two times a week and my contract is for six months, and I purchase a coffee every day I open with unlimited refills...You did your math right. I spend over 48 dollars a season on coffee that I think should be offered free to a manager. There is coffee that I can get for free but the taste and side effects are just not worth it being free.

So that's the way the coffee grinds on a weekly basis. During my off time for the 12 days I'm unemployed, I'm trying to catch up on sleep and it's working out pretty well for myself if I may say so. Tomorrow is pay day and that just can't happen soon enough. I will end up getting an oil change and hopefully be working my way into the park as early as Thursday if I'm lucky.

Lastly, I do have a NPB Facebook Page for easier following as well:
    https://www.facebook.com/nationalparkbum?success=1

And, http://www.riversidecottages.com/, where I'm staying during my time off.

Until next time,

MacKeag

P.s. Just a small shout out to a very nice couple I sat in the dining room this past season.
"Hey, we know you!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, your the National Park Bum guy!"

That made me feel really good. I hope you get to read this soon.