Transitions

After much deliberation and waiting, I have finally had the change I've been hoping for- a JOB change!! On August 30th, I was able to transfer from the Galley to Reception.

I was in such need of a job change. It wasn't that I totally hated my job, or didn't like the people- I adore everyone that I worked with- we were such a solid team there at the end. It was just honestly getting boring. My main jobs that I was asked to do were wash and prepare rice(6-8 6inch hotel pans full), peeling onions, garlic, or ginger, and baking. I LOVED the baking parts, and the rest were fine the forst 5 times I did them for 2 hours, but after a while, peeling things for a few hours just gets to be a bit boring and annoying... my mind was crying for some attention.

It's also not that I thought Reception would be the best job in the world for me- it's certainly not my dream job, but it's Different. You might wonder what a receptionist does on a ship. Well- for those of you from UMBC- it's much like working at the Harbor desk, but also, for those who know my job record- it also reminds me a lot of working at the pet hotel I worked at. It's like Harbor Desk because I'm in charge of keys and the desk has to be manned 24/7, but it's also like the pet hotel, because I have to put together packets for arrivals and departures as well as answer any questions to new people.

The likeness ends there. I work one of 3 shifts- the 7am-2pm(I have yet to do), the 2pm-9pm, and the 9pm- 7am(or 8am on the weekends). During the day time, my responsibilities mainly include answering phones, giving keys when needed, fufilling basic requests, as well as disembarking crew, and manning the fire panel and 911 phone. In the evening, I'm responsible for embarking crew as well as all of the above. During nights, I man the phones and such, but the main reason I'm at the desk is to man the fire panel and 911 phones.

The fire panel is the system which reads when detectors notice an abnormality. We have a prewarning(a small beep) when a less important detector reads an abnormality, and a FOB(Fire on board) warning when a high-value detector goes off. My job is to disarm the alarm and alert the officer on duty, who then checks it out. If I don't answer the alarm within 2 minutes, the alarm on the entire ship goes off, waking everyone up, which I DO NOT want to happen unless 100% necessary. Once the officer reports back, I act accordingly. Also, I'm in charge of responding to 911 calls. We get false alarms often, but we do get the occasional emergency, for which I either have to pull the alarm, call the duty officer, or call the Emergency Medical Team(the most frequently used).

So, on nights, once I've done my duties(laminating, embarking crew, being sure embarkations and disembarkations are in order for the next day, checking the car boards, answering phones, updating phone lists, etc etc etc) I'm allowed to kind of hang out. I can watch movies, play games, talk on the phone.. write my blog(like I'm doing right now)- all as lonnng as I can hear the fire panel and 911 phone.

It's been a great transition for me. I notice a smile on my face much more often. Though the sleep schedule is a little tricky, I havent missed a night's sleep yet(or a day's sleep as is the case when I work nights), and I LOVE seeing people during the day:) It's just nice.

I'm interested to see how I like the job in a few weeks. I'll only be working at Reception until December, but who knows. :)

Ps- for thsoe keeping track... T minus 15 weeks until I come home for vacation!!! Hooray!!!

-M