Getting Competitive

Getting Competitive

11^th August 2011

These past few days have been a bit of a blur. I’ve not been out much as normal and sleeping in quite a lot. 

My schedule has changed a bit due to my sprained wrist which is on the mend but still a little sore and weak. Rather than getting up early and shooting gangway and then going out until the evening I’ve been sleeping in and starting work much earlier in the day. For example, rather than four hours of gangway until 11.00 and then going from 20.30 to midnight I’ve been working 16.00pm to midnight. 

One good thing is that I’ve finally caught up on my sleep and in a strange way it’s nice to have a break from taking hundreds to thousands of photos a day.

Getting up relatively late (11am) Sandra and I headed down to do the laundry. We were both working at 13.00 in the gallery. For once there wasn’t a single problem with the washing machines or dryers. Sometimes it can take four hours to do one laundry load, mainly because the washing machines stop draining and spinning. At 12.50 I grabbed my clothes from the dryer and legged it upstairs to the gallery. Just in time.

I had the longest afternoon stint finishing at 18.30. To be fair the day was steady and therefore passed relatively quickly. The worst thing is when you’re in the gallery for hours on end and the place is dead. The time drags and you fight to stay awake. 

Meeting Sandra after work we headed up to the staff mess. We only had an hour to eat before going back to the gallery for another stint. Paco called me over and said I’d be finishing at 11 instead of 12 because I was on morning sale the next day.

During the evening Zoran checked the sale stats and both of us had sold the most. It wasn’t long until it became a bit of a competition. We were pushing packages, retail… everything. I was a couple of hundred dollars behind Zoran so I had some catching up to do. 

Checking back a little while later Zoran was in the lead by 80 cents. I’d caught up and it wasn’t long until I’d passed him. We were neck and neck for a while, constantly leap frogging each other into the lead. A family soon came over with several photos for the folio deal which put me in the lead by about $200.

Taking a quick break from the gallery while it was quiet, I popped down to Back Deck for a drink. A couple of guys from Laundry were there having a few beers. Unfortunately I didn’t have long before I had to run back to work. I told the lads from Laundry I’d be finishing work in an hour so maybe, if they were still around I’d join them.

Getting back into the gallery and it was still quiet. Zoran and I were becoming more and more competitive. I’d taken a break so he was obviously in the lead, but not by much. I was quite surprised. People were trickling in and out the gallery and Zoran and I were racing to get the guest over to our till.

Come 23.00 I was due to leave. Even though I wanted to beat Zoran and sell more I also wanted some time away from the photographers, have a drink and relax. It’d been a while since I’d been at Back Deck for a drink after work. 

Charging back to the cabin I changed as quickly as possible and headed back up to Back Deck. I wasn’t sure if the lads from Laundry would still be there but I didn’t care. I just wanted to sit and unwind.

The guys from Laundry were all there and Clint (Culinary) came out to join us on one of his many breaks. I swear he spends more time on breaks than he does working. It wasn’t long until the beers were cracked open. We were just sitting around chatting and having a laugh. Some of the Spa girls popped over for a bit and it wasn’t long until the other Photogs were at Back Deck. Time flew by and before I knew it, it was 3am. I was due in the gallery at 06.45 for morning sale! 

Before retreating to my cabin I went with the laundry guys. One of them had some sort of a cream for my wrist which they all swore worked wonders. Putting some on, the stuff smelt disgusting but after a while it actually started to ease up a bit. I have no idea what it was though. 

Just before leaving, one of the lads, Edi, called me and said he had a present for me… a Stitch (Lilo and Stitch) teddy he’d bought from L.A. I wasn’t too sure what to say or do so with a quick thanks and goodnight I made a hasty retreat back to my cabin. Sandra was still out partying on Back Deck. 

It was now 03.30. Waking up in the morning was going to be one hell of a task… and one I wasn’t looking forward to.