May 15

Just a quickie here... I went "live" yesterday!! It was so nerve wracking. We also experienced closing the ride for 3 hours due to a thunderstorm.

For the first 2 hours of my shift, I rode boats and listened to other skippers spieling. Then the storm rolled in, and we had to close the ride. We still run the ride if its only rain.. But if there is lightning and thunder, we must close. We then all went to the break room and hung around eating. It was an awesome "break". Haha. We went down at like 5, opened at 7 and the lightning had stopped (but not the heavy rain!).. and were fully up and running like normal by 8. Since this is Florida, we should have a storm every day!) After our "break" we took turns driving the boat and spieling to each other (my trainer and the other trainee) without any guests (called a dead boat).

At about 9, I was brave enough to say to my trainer that I could try a live run. He was impressed since the other trainee is.. well.. incredibly lazy. She hates Jungle Cruise and isn't trying at all, so she whined that she'd go live tomorrow (today, HAH!). I stumbled and stuttered a few times, but something that almost never happens on first live runs, I actually had some guests laughing. That was pretty cool. At the end of the ride, I said to everyone, thanks for being such a great crew, this was my first time. And they all applauded. I also got a couple people that came up to me and told me I was great. It was very cool.

Today I'll be doing more live runs. Laughing at the other trainee as she fails hers (sorry to be mean). Doing an evaluation of my trainer and my knowledge about the attraction.. etc.... I also have a dumb class today about how to lift things properly, and obvious safety concerns to be aware of. Overall, I'm kinda sliding in: I'm having fun, I'm enjoying the various jobs, and people are starting to accept me. It'll be a good summer I think. :)