Tinkerblue

Family Jewels - From Stick Pin to Pendant

Last weekend I received a package from my in laws with a surprise birthday present. We were at their place over Easter and Barb was asking me about the storage box/ottoman thingy I mentioned for all our Wii crap. She volunteered Stew to make one for me:) Then at Ganges Market we saw rope door mats, Barb had recently bought herself one, she also offered me one as a gift. I would have been happy with either. Turns out she was just being sneaky.

Instead she sent me a pearl and diamond pendant.

Originally it was a stick pin. Not a voodoo doll type stick pin. More like a pin to wear on a tie or a lapel. It belonged to Hubby's great grandfather, Charles Robson Sr.

Barb thinks he was maybe 35 years old in this photo. He was born in 1872, making the pin at least 104 years old.

I don't have much need for a stick pin, I don't wear brooches and you should have seen the look hubby gave when asked if he'd wear it. So Barb had it converted to a pendant.

I've been wearing it for the last week, alternating with the opal necklace from my Nan. I like that they both have a little bit of history attached to them, and a whole lot of love behind the gift.

Thank you

Day 3 on Rocky Mountaineer

Tomorrow I head out on my next train shift. So I thought it was about time I finished telling you about my first trip.

Day 3 was Canmore back to Kamloops. The train left Calgary early with new guests onboard and picked us up in Canmore before heading to Banff for more guests to board.

Our team was feeling much more confident. Sure, we still have stuff to work out like timing but in general we have a much better understanding of our how trips will work.

After the guests had been served breakfast we (the 10 retail sales specialists) headed out into our coaches. We introduced the catalogue and our samples to the guests, processed the early sales and returned to our training coach for lunch.

After lunch it was back to our coaches to answer questions and process more sales. We finished early and had some time to enjoy the scenery and relax. On a normal trip this won't happen, so we had to take advantage of the down time.

We arrived into Kamloops in time for dinner, the evening show and bed.

The Gifts that Made Me Laugh

When we were home in Australia for Christmas my mum was given two sets of matryoshka/babushka/nesting doll measuring cups. She gifted one set to me. I gave her the measuring spoons as part of her Christmas present.

So when I opened my birthday gift yesterday. I laughed out loud. She sent me Store-M's. They'll work well for packing snacks for the train. (Yes, we do get fed on the train, but it would be good to take along some healthy snacks too).

Inside the boxes were 2 caramello koalas (hubby assures me that one is meant for him) and a small plaque - The Does Not Cook. My Mum knows me too well.

Hubby's gift also made me laugh... he gave me the badge holder thingy. You might think that's a weird gift. But, I have a POS card that I use at work and I'm worried about losing it. I kept saying I need a holder for it, like I had at the bank or IKEA. So this was actually something I needed and had asked for. I'm impressed that he was paying attention and remembered.

Hubby also gave me the bluetooth keyboard to use with my iPad. I know it may seem odd to want a keyboard. Since my netbook died I've been doing all my typing on the iPhone or Ipad. While the onscreen keyboard is great for texting or browsing it really drives me insane for longer typing, like blog posts. I also dislike how half the screen is taken up by the keyboard. He went to three different stores before he found one he was happy with. I like it. A lot.

They Say It's My Birthday

Well it was yesterday. The day started off great. Narelle and Justin phoned from Melbourne to say their new baby boy, Tait Owen arrived healthy on my birthday. Woohoo. At least I'll never forget Tait's birthday.

The first half of my day didn't quite go as planned. I had to work from 530am until around 930am. Or so I thought. What I didn't count on was having to stay to do a full inventory count in a shipping container for over 3 hours. It was cold and dark and tedious.

I missed breakfast in bed, because Hubby refused to wake up at 400am to cook breakfast before I went to work. I missed my birthday lunch because I was sitting in a shipping container. But...

Once I finally got home, the day started to improve. Ken and Jane treated me to hot chocolate at our local coffee shop, Stomping Grounds. I haven't seen them for a long time, so it was good to catch up. Hubby was doing his very best to talk them into buying iPads. He should be earning commission from Apple.

Hubby took me out for dinner. I really wanted Mexican, so our plan was to eat at Carlos or Charlies in Port Moody. Imagine our horror, when we pulled up and their was a big closed sign on the door and sheet of black plastic all over the windows.

Thank God for Urban Spoon. They hadn't closed permanently, just moved over the road. Now called Charlie's Cafe. The staff are friendly, service is quick and the food is very tasty. I had tostadas with shredded chicken, Hubby had flautas, and we both had blended lime margaritas. It was so good. Just what I needed.

Instead of a birthday cake, Hubby and I split a serve of deep fried ice-cream. I especially liked the candles that Hubby produced at the last minute. Very clever of him. we've had deep fried ice-cream at other Mexican restaurants, but it never lives up to our memory of Charlie's. So we were a bit concerned that it wouldn't be as good as we remembered. But it was. Way better than a birthday cake.

Thanks to everyone who phoned, sent birthday cards, emailed or posted on Facebook with birthday wishes. I love celebrating birthdays. I don't care how old I get.

Day 2 Aboard the Train

Day 2 was another early morning start. I set 4 alarms to make sure I woke up on time. I was paranoid about sleeping in an being left behind.

Onboard the train we ate breakfast, counted inventory, reviewed Day 1 and went over the game plan for Day 2. Basically guests place their order for gifts and mementos on Day 1, they are filled overnight and placed on their seats on the morning of Day 2. Our job is to ensure everyone is happy with their order and process any exchanges. We have a very small supply of inventory onboard for exchanges and for those guests who forgot to buy the day before.

We are also responsible for destination sales like the Jasper Tramway, a day trip to the Columbia Icefields, and the Hop On Hop On Trolley in Vancouver. I really enjoy talking to the guests and hearing their travel plans. This does slow me down some, so I need to watch that.

We're all getting a little more comfortable with our responsibilities, and we'll only get better with practice. Well one would hope so.

Today we headed into the Rocky Mountains and into Alberta, traveling through some spectacular scenery. We were lucky enough to see black bears, elk, and eagles.

We started the day in Kamloops with beautiful blue sky and ended in Canmore with snow.

The majority of guests disembark from the train in Banff, a few go onto Calgary. On this particular trip our training group stated the night in Canmore. We had a quick dinner and then I retired to my room. I had a spa tub in my room, which was great for soaking my weary and cold bones. Then I turned on the fireplace, cracked the curtains a little so I could watch the snow fall and drifted off to sleep.

My First Day on the Train

Tuesday was my first day working on the train after two weeks of "land" based training.

Getting up at 400am was a bit of a shock to the system. I didn't allow enough time to eat breakfast or drive through anywhere. Must remember to set alarm for 15 mins earlier next trip.

I packed my bags the night before including my Canucks jersey. Packing was easy - after throwing in 3 work shirts, 3 pairs of black socks, 3 days of underwear, sponge bag, and Cree manual there wasn't much room for anything else. A pair of jeans, a jumper and a change of shoes. Next trip, I'll pack even lighter.

Our first duty was to set up the kiosk in the station. It took a little longer than we would have liked to set it up and that was with 10 of us. It was the first time we'd set it up. But we'll need to work on that when there's only a pair of us working the kiosk. It was a good morning. A great start to the season.

After we were given the all clear to board the train we headed to our training coach. For this trip all 10 retail sales specialists were onboard and we had our own designated coach. Normally there will only be 2-5 of us on a trip and we'll be in the crew car. So this was a bit of a treat to have our own coach.

Because we were still training, this trip was a little bit different than what will be our normal work routine. We had breakfast, practiced our announcements, familiarised ourselves with the train layout and mileposts and then set to work. We were each assigned 1 or 2 coaches and made our first visit to introduce the retail catalogue to the guests and answer any questions. We carry a bag of samples with us, actually a couple of bags, so guests can get an idea of the quality of goods, sizing etc. I felt like my bags were always in the way. The aisle is not very wide so I need to organize myself better.

We met back in our training car to provide feedback to the team on what was working and what wasn't for each of us. I need to chat less and move through the coach quicker. Surprise, surprise.

After lunch, we made our way back to our coaches to collect the order forms from the guests and process the orders through the POS system (point of sale).

On a non-training trip we'll have other behind the scenes tasks to do, that'll keep us busy. Also there won't be 10 of us to cover all the carriages, so our days will be a little more hectic.

We arrived in Kamloops around 800pm, I think - it seems like it was forever ago. The crew call for day 2 is early, so we grabbed a bite to eat at A&W (closet food to our hotel) and retired to our rooms. I really wanted to go to crash early, but the Canucks game went into overtime.