Time for the Bakery

The time to go to the bakery is almost here. I start tomorrow morning at 11 in the morning and work until 7. I believe this will be my new schedule for the next two weeks at the least. After that I was told it would be 10-6 on the weekdays and 11-7 on the weekends. I will tell you all about my fun either tomorrow when I get home or Tuesday morning before I go to work. I was talking to Heather yesterday, one of the other bakers, and I am getting really excited. Should be a fun and interesting learning experience. Cant wait. My anniversary date was yesterday, I have officially been with the company for 3 years. the longest, other than the Enchanted Forest, that I have been with one company. The Forest was for 9-10 years. But that was only in the summer and during high school. I have had just as much fun at the casino as I had at the Park, so its all good. Nothing else is new so I will let you all go. Talk to you later Joe

Watchout for domain hijackers

Your website could be hijacked without you knowing it, following a new rule from ICANN. The people that take care of the internet.

Firefox is out.

Firefox makes its appearence as a full release and challenges IE. Read the article, and maybe you will be inspired to switch. I'm going to switch over my parents this week, I hope.

iPod's

Help me get a free $250 gift certificate for Apple's iTunes. All you have to do is pick one of these offers. And you could also win one, be a very good Christmas present for someone. Thanks Joe

Idea for a website

Quick post. A website that has the history of the US from day one, day by day. If you know of one let me know. Or take it one step further, a personal website for families, so that they can record what happens to their famliy on a daily basis. Talk to you later Joe

Construction and Expansion Update

Now that the Event Center has successfully hosted two major gatherings-- the Maines Paper and Food Service show and the annual fall meeting of the United South and Eastern Tribes-- crews are preparing the facility for several large entertainment events, including Tim McGraw's Dec. 2 concert and the "Night of Knights" jousting show on New Year's Eve. Workers are finishing the two VIP booths that overlook the main floor; each two-room suite will feature a staffed reception area with a bar and a viewing room. Loge boxes around the perimeter also offer private staff for serving refreshments. Last week, crews began assembling staging for upcoming events. The stage area can be configured in a variety of ways and at heights ranging from about three-and-a-half feet to five feet. Most of the pre-function area of the Event Center is close to being finished as well. Carpet and wall coverings have been installed, and some furniture is in place to form lounge areas in the spacious hallways. The Cypress room, the new multi-purpose room overlooking The Lodge, adds about 6,000 square feet of meeting and event space. About the size of the Mohawk Room, it also can be split into five smaller rooms. A second set of escalators leading from the mezzanine level of the Event Center to the Seneca Room of the Conference Center was operational last week, offering easy access to the gaming floor, Showroom and other areas of the resort. The seven board-style meeting rooms on the second floor of the Tower were opened at the end of October for USET's fall meeting. Each of the rooms has windows facing either the Winter Garden or the grounds of the resort. A dedicated pantry area on the second floor allows for aesy food and beverage service to the rooms. With the exception of the seven VIP luxury suites, all guest rooms in the Tower are now open. Work conitnues on Two-One, the paid membership restaurant on the Twoer's top floor, and on the VIP suite floor. Outside, crews have been paving or repaving the roads and parking lots at the resort and working to finish landscaping before winter sets in. The access road from the main boulevard to the Bingo Hall entrance, the Event Center and the parking garage is now open, and crews are reconfiguring the parking lots near the Team Member entrance." Talk to you later Joe

All the info is in...and what a view

I am going to be working from 11-7 on the weekends and probably 10-6 during the week and will have Wed and Thurs as my days off. I move over there on Monday of this week, the 15th. I will also recieve a raise at some point in the very near future, seeing as the date I go over to the bakery coincides with my year review, again yeah me. Mike took all of us that were working the other day up to the top of the Tower and got to see the view. I have to say its the best view around by far. You could see Onieda Lake, almost to the other end. Im sure if I had binoculars, I would be able to pick out where Kate's parents live. We could also see from the balcony facing towards the intersection of 365 and 31, the water tower at the prison outside of Rome. Im sure if I had my glasses on I would have been able to see the tops of the churches in Rome. the view was jsut incredible. If we had seen it during the fall foliage season it would have been even more spectacular. I would love to be able to go up and see it during the summer months, with all that green around. You could look down and see what they were doing on the ground and how all the projects they have going fit together. Puts all that construction into perspective. Just gorgeous. I am envious for the people that can afford that view, lucky bastards. Nothing else is new, Katie is good, I am fine, the family is fine on both sides. Talk to you later Joe

Work news has finally arrived

i have finally been given my release date to go to the bakery. That date is the 15th of November. Which interestingly enough is my anniversary date for when i started at the casino 3 years ago. I am going to talk to Jen hopefully, today and see what my schedule is going to be like and just to make sure that this really is going ot be my release date. there will be final confirmation tomorrow. Brian, the other guy in the Forrest that is having a baby, has finally been given a date for when they are going to have the baby. Again, interestingly enough it is supposed to be the 15th of November. how eerie. We will be getting another sonogram in January so that we can definitely, hopefully confirm that the baby is a girl. and if its not then i think we will be very disappointed, we are all looking forward to a girl. but either way it does not matter to me. Well, i guess that is all. Talk to you later. Joe

Construction and Expansion Update

"The drape concealing the half of the Winter Garden from the twin waterfalls back to the Smokin' wing of the resort have been removed, allowing employees and guests to get a peek at the progress of work on that protion of the expansion. Workers are waiting for the massive revolving door for the Winter Garden's main entrance and for the tempered glass flooring that will cover a small 'river' leading to a sculpture and water feature between the waterfalls, in a small rotunda area. There will be glass water walls and retail shops on either side of the rotunda. One side will feature a high-end jewelry shop, and the other will offer seasonal gifts. A new Opals pastry and coffee shop will be located at the Smokin' end of the Winter Garden, with sidewalk-café-style seating under one of the massive pyramid-shaped skylights. Near Opals will be a new elevator bank leading to the existing hotel wing and to a new VIP players lounge, with an indoor patio overlooking the Winter Garden. Workers are converting five hotel rooms to create the lounge, which will offer concierge, massage, entertainment and other luxury services. WOrk is progressing ont he new Brazilian steakhouse on the mezzanine level of the Winter Garden. A football shaped bar has been installed near the entrance, and crews have been laying floor tiles in the bar and kitchen areas. The steakhouse will have gold-toned walls , wood-clad columns matching those on the Witner Garden's main floor, and views of the palm trees and tropical plants throughout the Winter Garden. The restaurant is scheduled to open in the next few weeks. The new expanded buffet area alos is coming together. Hoods have been installed for the 'action stations,' where guests will be able to select a variety of entrees and watch them being prepared. There are three large seating areas in the buffet, including a garden-like terrace area near the main Winter Garden entrance. The hostess station has been installed, and floor tile has been laid on the terrace and in the massive entry area. Like the Brazilian steakhouse, the new buffet is slated to open around the end of November. When the buffet opens, the Team Member cafeteria will move into part of the current Garden Buffet while crews work to expand the existing cafeteria. Eventually, the Garden Buffet space will be split; part of it will be taken up with the enlarged Team Member cafeteria, and part will become the location of a new quick-food service area for guests. All guest rooms in the Tower are now ipen except for the suites. The luxury suites are being fiotted with marble-clad Jacuzzi tubs and steamrooms, among other amenitites. Those suites also will have access to a marble staricase leading to Two-One, the private paid-membership restaurant on the Tower's top floor. Elsewhere around the resort proper, crews are landscaping and resurfacing the parkinglots and roads around Turning Stone. Site work also has begun on the new golf dome, an indoor facility newar the co-generation plant designed to help golfers stay on top of their games year-round. Atunyote Golf Club was scheduled to finish its inagural season Sunday, but work continues on the sumptuous clubhouse at the course. Hardwood floors have been laid in the foyer and lounges, and crews were painting trim and interior doors last week. Trim work has been finished in the restaurant, and light fixtures have been installed. Kitchen fixtures and appliances also are largely in place." Brought to you by: "The Insider Employee News and Information." This is a weekly newsletter for the employees so that they can keep up on all the new things, that are going on and what is being offered by the Resort.

Voting day

Only one thing today. Go VOTE. Enjoy the fun talk to you later Joe