Monday, July 12, 2004
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All Before Lunch
Today is a great day. I awoke to the chime of my MSN messenger telling me that there was someone who wanted a word. I climbed out of bed and it was Jonathan telling me that we would not be able to meet tomorrow but that he would like to see me today. It was a little abrupt seeing as how I had just rolled out of bed and he had a scant 1hr window in which he wanted to meet me in. Still, I hadn't seen him in ages and I wasn't going to pass this opportunity up. I had just gotten myself into a funk last night because I was thinking about how much I missed my brothers. This seemed the perfect solution.
The apartment as usual is devastated. I wasn't going to let the mess get in the way though, so I had Jonathan come over. He was going to watch Farenheit 9/11 at Silvercity at 1:10pm, which means that he had to catch the bus from 70th and Granville, which was just 10 minutes from my place. He hiked over. This kid is huge. He's at least a head taller than me, although I didn't really get a good look before he sat down and he's built. Man, it had been a long time since I had last seen him. He has a really low voice too. So we just hung out for about half an hour in my living room shooting the breeze. Felt good to be talking to him, he's a good kid. Got a cool skateboard too.
Halfway between Jonathan telling me that he was coming over and my frenzy to make this place at least look somewhat decent (i.e. provide floor that isn't covered in trash/dirty laundry/groceries that have to be put away/cat toys/stuff that the cats are treating as toys etc.) MSN chimed again. This time it was an email chime. The people who interviewed me on Thursday for the position of
Card Dealer at
Great Canadian Casinos did say that they would be contacting a large number of the candidates via email. So I dropped whatever I was doing (I think I was trying to pick up all the cotton buds that the cats were playing with on the ground. This was made more difficult by the fact that the cats are more attracted to cotton buds than they are to the fanciest cat toy so they thought that I was playing with them) and checked my email. It was from Gabrielle Smith and it was not asking whether I would like to increase the size of anything.
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From : Gabrielle Smith
Sent : July 12, 2004 5:15:37 PM
To :
Subject : Dealer -- Offer of Employment
Congratulations Johanna! We are pleased to offer you employment in the position of Card Dealer (In Training), at Great Canadian Casinos, Inc. Your rate of pay is $8.00 per hour, to be effective on your first day of employment, which begins with your orientation.
Please note that you are scheduled for the Canadian Gaming Institute’s DAY training course scheduled July 19 to August 19, Monday to Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Written terms and conditions of employment will be provided to you at orientation.
The orientation will be on Wednesday, July 14, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm our Head Office at 13775 Commerce Parkway, Suite 280, Richmond. (lunch provided)
Please email Jenny Kim, HR Administrator, at jkim@gcgaming.com to confirm your acceptance with “Dealer – Offer of Employment” in the Subject line. Also provide us with the following information to set-up your payroll file
- Your full legal name
- Date of Birth
- Social Insurance Number
- Marital Status
Please bring the following items with you to orientation on your first day:
- Medical Services Plan of BC Personal Health Care Card
- Social Insurance Card
- Picture Identification (e.g. Driver's licence)
- Proof of Citizenship if not born in Canada
- Voided Personal Cheque for direct deposit payroll purposes
If you have any questions please direct them to me, ideally via email.
Gabrielle Smith, CHRP
Human Resources Manager
Great Canadian Casinos Inc.
#350-13775 Commerce Parkway
Richmond, B.C. V6V 2V4
Tel: 604.303.8421
Cell: 604.374.6383
Fax: 604.279.8505
gsmith@gcgaming.com
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Oh yeah. I have a job just a week after I quit my last one. In this job market, I think I'm doing a-okay. Especially because the training for this job involves a five-week intensive course with the Canadian Gaming Institute which I will be paid to attend. The Casino will also pay for my tuition fee while I'm there. This course usually costs $2000. Prior to the opening of their Richmond Casino anyone who wanted a job at the Casino would have to pay for their own tuition and then go out and apply to various places. Not only are they giving this to me for free, they're paying me to park my butt in the seat. I'm really excited. What an opportunity! Not to mention that the Casino is open 24/7 which means shifts flexible enough for me to return to school in the fall and continue at this position. The wages are not great, minimum wage, really. Once I'm on the casino floor though, I do have the opportunity to earn tips and gratuities from the customers. I'm really, really psyched.
All this before lunchtime. I get to see Jonathan and I have a new job with an industry that cannot go bankrupt. Shaping up to be an awesome awesome day!
On a completely different note, thanks to Lisa I have gotten into the habit of listening to one song over and over again. There are a finite number of songs that I can do this with and I have actually found a new song. Well, to call it a song is a bit of a stretch, but it's catchy and it's naturally on a loop so I don't have to fiddle with any players. Big shout out to William for tuning me into this site, but I really don't think he intended for it to be used like I do. There are several variations on this ditty that are linked on his blog in this post but the one I'm addicted to is here. Really go and have a gander and then let me know what you think.
posted by Joie! at
1:56 p.m.
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