Insane Night at Work
Friday, I was called into work at AmericInn for a sick employee. With the hunting season opening, a wedding, and a little girls’ birthday party, the hotel was packed for the night. Right when I arrived it was so busy that Tammy Jo, the manager, had to stay with me for two hours until things settled down. Things died down from 7-11, but as soon as Craig arrived at 11 for shift change, things got out of hand. First, a young couple arrived. The guy was really stingy, and nearly thought about coming back at 2am so he could save a couple bucks for the late night arrival. His girlfriend told him to shut up and paid for the room herself. Then they asked if Madison had a taxi service. I said no, but if they really needed a ride, I was about to leave and could drop them off somewhere. They certainly took me up on that offer and went to change. Craig and I were counting our cash drawer and trying to complete our shift change when a group of hunters from South Carolina strolled in. The ringleader spoke with such a southern drawl I could barely understand him, and he and the boys were already cranky due to being stuck in Chicago for four hours. They all claimed to have their own rooms, but upon further review, only two of them did. The ringleader was unhappy about this and told me his friend’s name was in the computer, which it clearly wasn’t. Not wanting any trouble, I made him a new reservation. Not only that, but they all wanted to stay for four nights, and their reservations said they were here for just two. They didn’t notice that, luckily, and someone else can deal with them when they figure out their rooms expired when the time comes. So I was supposed to be gone by 11, but was there until 11:45 helping Craig with the sudden rush. On top of all that, there were dozens of hyper nine-year-old girls running up and down the halls with their noisemakers. So I left the hotel and dropped off those guests at the bar. I also promised a guest I would mail some letters for him, so I dropped by the post office. The couple was so happy I drove them around town that they gave me a dollar. Later, I went up to Fat Daddy’s since Geiszler and old fourth floor pal Ryan Knerl were in town, and did a little karaoke. Who should I run into but that couple, who bought me a drink. Crazy night at work.

Glad I’m Not a Vikings Fan
It’s a bad time to be associated with the Vikings. They’re embarassing themselves off the field with the Love Boat cruise and Onterrio Smith being sued for harassing a woman. And they’re embarassing themselves on the field with a 28-3 loss at Chicago on Sunday. Daunte Culpepper is having his worst season. Mike Tice has no business coaching at any level. And the Randy Moss trade is starting to look like a terrible move. It’s just a good thing they play in the NFC North where a win next week would put them at 2-4 and in first place. 

Ryan Glanzer Big in 2005 Awards
I was very excited to start voting for the Big in 2005 Awards Friday night. With over 100 voters in 2004, I was sure that I would surpass that total this year, but so far that isn’t the case. In fact, 70 votes is looking kinda tough right now. Nevertheless, there are some intriguing races to follow. The awards for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Excellence, Rookie of the Year, Site Contributor, and Family Member are all up in the air at this point. On the other hand, the awards for Top Valleyfair Supervisor and Consumer of Alcohol are runaway blowouts. I plan on handing out a bunch of my own awards as well.

Probably a Scam 
I posted my resume online the other day, and just days later I got a call from somewhere in Sioux Falls, asking me to meet up for an interview. Several things struck me as odd right away. First off, they called from a cell phone at 7pm. There was so much static on their end that I could only hear their address, a time to meet, and that they wanted to interview me. I went to work online doing a reverse search for their address and eventually came up with Combined Insurance of America. Next, I entered their name on careerbuilder.com and monster.com, and the only job openings were for salesman training. They needed enthusiastic high school and college graduated to train for three weeks, then start selling insurance. Hmm… I don’t think so. How dare those bastards offer me a job!

Top Ten List | Today’s List: Least Favorite All-Time Classes
These are the worst ten classes I’ve ever had to sit through. Not because of the professor or teacher, necessarily, but because of the content. Although in a couple cases, the teacher is the reason.

1. Zoology, Spring 2003, Dale Droge
2. Systems Analysis and Design, Fall 2005, Josh Pauli
3. Biology, Spring 2002, Kristel Bakker
4. World Literature: Humor, Spring 2003, Deb Knutson
5. Life Science, 7th Grade, Paul Kelley
6. Visual Design, Fall 2001, Robbin Schincke
7. Ag, 7th Grade, Dan Tonak
8. Ag, 8th Grade, Dan Tonak
9. C++, Spring 2004, Ronghua Shan
10. Access, Fall 2004, Zehai Zhou

Briefly
I have finally listened to the entire new Bon Jovi album, “Have a Nice Day.” Not totally surprised, there are only a couple good songs in my opinion, including “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” and “Wildflower.”… I have now lost all 18 matches of racquetball I’ve played this semester. It’s not like I’m getting blown out most of the time. Usually it comes down to two or three points, but I’ve always lost. I think it’s partially the fact that I’m playing with a tennis racquet and partially that I have no reflexes whatsoever… I have discovered that fried eggs, English muffins, and sausage are a very easy-to-prepare and tasty breakfast. I’ve had that five times in the last week… I work at AmericInn six times in the next eleven days… The Freshman Showcase is making huge strides. My actors have their lines down, finally, and now we can move forward with blocking. Come see the show next Wednesday and Friday in the Underground… I am about to start studying for the Systems Analysis mid-term. I still have no clue what I’m doing in that class… I’m hungry for some more of that no-bake peanut butter dessert from Jello. I have prepared three boxes of it this semester… Cell phone reception absolutely sucks ass in our house. 90% of my calls get lost.

Well that’s all for this afternoon.

Ryan