OK, here’s the situation.

My parents went away on a week’s vacation.
And they left the keys to the brand new Porsche!
Would they mind? Hmm… Well… Of course not!

(OK, that’s enough of that.)

Last week concluded my preliminary training at the Bike. Basically I was in the count room, getting a feel for picking up and stacking chips and counting up the denominations (they use $2 and $3 chips along with the standard amounts, which can be a bit tricky to count). Next week I’ll be starting my actual cashier training; even though I’m listed to work Swing shift (which starts anywhere from 1 to 3:30 in the afternoon and goes 8 hours, plus a 1/2 hour break), my training will be during the graveyard shift, starting at 10:00 PM and ending at 6:00 the following morning. Yikes.

This coming week will consitute I consider my “do or die” week out here in Glendale. The hourly wage is $8.50, which I’m unsure would be enough to pay the bills (I’ve got over $1200 in expenses before we even factor in food and gas). Cage cashiers are eligible for tips, but I was never really able to get a straight answer from anyone working there about how much in tips I should be expecting. If the tips average out to be enough to keep me afloat, then I’ll stick around. Otherwise, I’m not going to waste any more time swimming against the current out here – I’ll be heading back to Ventura. Even if I do manage to make ends meet at the Bike, however, it’ll also mean that I won’t be able to attend GSC5 in its entirety. (Casino employees as a rule do not get weekends off, and I won’t be able to request that weekend off because I won’t have completed my probation period yet. And in any case, the following weekend is EAT5, which I must be free for.)