Tear Down quarterback

The last week has simply flown by. I suppose Tear Down week usually does, but this time I lifted my head up from my work, looked at my watch, and realized it was Friday evening at 5:16PM. With Saturday being Tear Down day, it meant that there were only hours to go until all the fun began.

Ack!

I was quarterbacking Tear Down myself this time -- first time ever, after having been the Show Call/Assistant person for my first three Tear Downs. It was good for me to do, and gave me an opportunity to actually prepare some documentation to satisfy one of my key objectives of writing a manual for my position. In fact, this is something that I've been working on a fair bit lately: every time I'm writing something that could and should be part of a procedural manual, I take a whole heckuva lot bit more time and turn it into useable documentation. Unlike some other people -- who shall mercifully remain nameless -- I'm working to make sure that, if I'm swept off my feet by a rich, handsome, clever, insanely funny, sporty, bon vivant with a six-pack hit by a bus, someone else could literally step in and do my job adequately. And I think I'm doing a fine job on the documentation front, thank you very much.

To gloss over the agony of Tear Down, it went well. The last guest left our lounge at 9:30PM, and we had hoped to be done by 2:00AM. As if on cue, I looked at my watch when I thought we were pretty close to being finished, and it was 5 minutes to 2:00. All told, we took 4-1/2 hours, which is pretty good. Not the fastest we've ever done, but certainly not the slowest, either. We helped out another department for another hour-plus, and then had a couple of post-Tear Down drinks on-site. I made it to bed by 4:30AM and just looked forward to doing pretty much nothing on Sunday. And thankfully, that's what I got up to, cuz I had the usual post-Tear Down day aches and pains. More so than normal, in fact, which reminds me that I'm pushing 39 and I ain't as nimble as I used to be.

So, ya, Sunday was pretty relaxed (lots of napping) except that Sunday night, my temp staff took me and Nurse Girl out to dinner. It was so nice of them to organize an evening out with the whole team, and Nurse Girl and I were very flattered to be welcomed by them into their Singapore. They took us to a seafood restaurant that's quite well-known, and where I would have never gone if left to my own devices. That's what's so nice about meeting local people -- they can show you the real heart and soul of their city.

So I ventured out of my safety zone a little bit as well. For the first time ever, I ate:

• fish that still had the head on it
• shark's fin soup
• prawns with the heads still on them (although I just couldn't eat the actual heads, which was just fine, I was assured)
• the same prawns complete with their shells -- I've never eaten the actual shells before
• crab in its shell
• crab eggs

Some of the above dishes were good; some didn't exactly make me jump for joy. Eeither way, however, it was good for me to be a bit more adventurous and show my staff that I appreciated their efforts in introducing me to new experiences. I have to admit, though, that I held a fully-intact prawn (head, shell, and all) in my hand and really had to psyche myself up before taking that first bite. And I sure as hell washed it down with a big swig of Tiger Beer!!

But the part that touched Nurse Girl and I the most was that they paid for the entire meal themselves. It wasn't cheap, and I'm well aware of the hourly rate that they earned as part-time circus staff, so we were very overwhelmed with their generosity. We both know enough not to argue with them too vehemently, thereby insulting them. As a result, we tried to show our appreciation with a few presents that (thankfully) we had planned in advance to bring with us.

I love those guys. They're smart, mature, fun, smily, anticipatory, friendly, and really tried to understand the concept behind what we were doing in our lounge. They did a great job, and I wish all my temp staff could be like them. Sadly, however, that won't be the case. The quality of temp staff varies trememdously from market to market, and I think we've seen the last of really great staff. Maybe I'll be surprised, however...

So Tear Down is finished and it's time to leave the Singapore sauna. I'm off to Thailand in a few hours, and am looking forward to it. I'm doing something I've only ever done once in my life: heading to a destination without having any accommodation booked. I've been assured that Koh Samui has a billion places to stay -- from basic to resort -- and the fact that it's low season means that we can find something when we get off the plane. I don't want Christmas Carol and I to be walking around the place at midnight looking for accomodation, but I'm sure it will all be fine.

Wish me luck!