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So we got hit with a nice wind storm the other day, and a lot of people lost power. The weather service was asking people who didn't need to travel to stay off the roads and stay home. I lost power at home, in a neighborhood that never loses power. When I got to work...the Resort had lost power, too.
And we had a wedding booked we needed to pull off.
We had emergency generators at work to run emergency lighting and systems, but the guestrooms and restaurants had no power. So there was not much food. We had some muffins and stuff in the gift shop and the restaurants were doing chips & salsa and PB&J sort of fare.
Plain foods are too plain, and wind shouldn't be trouble.
SC comes to the desk.
SC: "Why is there no power?"
Me: "Most of the county is out of power right now. The power crews are working on it and we hope to have it back by this evening."
SC: "What about your restaurants? My husband is ill and he needs to eat something, anything! Just something plain!"
Me: "Well, over here we have some muffins and..."
SC: "No, I looked through that already! He can't eat any of that!"
Me: "Well the restaurant has some PB&J and other limited options."
SC: "He can't have that! He needs something plain, like a turkey sandwich or some soup!"
*how can you get more plain than PB&J?!?!*
Manager was nearby and came over.
M: "I'm sorry, ma'am, I can see if the restaurant has anything else."
SC: "This is ridiculous! You should be better prepared!"
M: "I understand. This storm caused a lot of damages and widespread power outages."
SC: "Damages, what damages? It's just wind!"
M: "Well, we lost one of our trees as you can see... " *gestures to right outside the lobby where a fallen tree is being chainsawwed apart by maintenance* "...and our large banquet tent also blew down."
SC: "This is horrible! My husband is ill and we didn't even want to stay today and now there's no food and no power! I just want some plain food and you don't have any!"
She eventually stormed off. The restaurant did manage to find some sort of "plain food" to deliver to her room; probably just air and water.
Why the restaurants are closed
I was constantly fielding calls asking if our restaurants were open. They weren't (except for the limited PB&J menu for in-house guests). Most people were understanding. One of them...
SC: "Yeah, do you guys have power?"
Me: "Unfortunately we do not."
SC: "So is the restaurant going to be open?"
Me: "No, they are not. They don't have power."
SC: "They don't have any food at all?"
Me: "No, they can't prepare any food without power."
SC: "Are they going to be showing the game at least?"
Me: "No...they have no power."
SC: "Oh, so everyone is sent home?"
Me: "....yes, everyone was sent home, that's why they're closed."
SC: "I see...but wait, you're still there! So you guys must be open?"
Me: *facepalming*
How to pull off a wedding with no power
The wedding wasn't sucky, but it did take up a lot of attention.
Our wedding coordinator had to run around to find an extra generator to hook up to our ballroom circuit to power the reception. Even with the generator, we were told halogen lights would blow the circuit so she had to track down LED lamps.
We had emergency power, which meant no guestrooms had electricity but stairwells and the back office had some power. The bridesmaids had a mirror set up in one of the stairwells to do make-up and prep. We let them in the back office to do their hair since we had some outlets working there. We had them in every west-facing room we could to let in the natural light to help them get ready. I felt so bad for them because it seriously sucked.
Five minutes before the ceremony began, the power came back on and OMG it was a wedding-day miracle!
The ceremony and reception managed to go off without a hitch, and everyone seemed in good spirits. I mean, this is something they can look back at and laugh about, right? Right? Bartender, serve them all the booze please...
Man, you're lucky we even have food...
An hour and a half after the power came on, the wedding reception was blasting music, the hot tub was up and running, the kitchens were up, and the restaurant was serving. It was good news. Except...
SC: "This is ridiculous. They have a 45 minute wait for food in the restaurant! Does any place deliver?"
I called the only place that delivers out to our little corner of the county and no, they had no power. But lady, even if they were open, it would be 90 minutes at least to get delivery since they have to first cook the food and then drive it all the way around the harbor to get out to us (we're out in middle-of-nowhere).
45 minutes? Really? On a day when we don't have a major power outage for a weekend dinner, that still ain't bad. All things considered, I'd be pretty damn happy at a 45 minute wait after a big power outage like that.
But whatever. I'm sure the crackers you begrudgingly purchased from the gift shop will be enough dinner for your kids. That's clearly better than waiting for food from the restaurant. You sure showed us!
And we had a wedding booked we needed to pull off.
We had emergency generators at work to run emergency lighting and systems, but the guestrooms and restaurants had no power. So there was not much food. We had some muffins and stuff in the gift shop and the restaurants were doing chips & salsa and PB&J sort of fare.
Plain foods are too plain, and wind shouldn't be trouble.
SC comes to the desk.
SC: "Why is there no power?"
Me: "Most of the county is out of power right now. The power crews are working on it and we hope to have it back by this evening."
SC: "What about your restaurants? My husband is ill and he needs to eat something, anything! Just something plain!"
Me: "Well, over here we have some muffins and..."
SC: "No, I looked through that already! He can't eat any of that!"
Me: "Well the restaurant has some PB&J and other limited options."
SC: "He can't have that! He needs something plain, like a turkey sandwich or some soup!"
*how can you get more plain than PB&J?!?!*
Manager was nearby and came over.
M: "I'm sorry, ma'am, I can see if the restaurant has anything else."
SC: "This is ridiculous! You should be better prepared!"
M: "I understand. This storm caused a lot of damages and widespread power outages."
SC: "Damages, what damages? It's just wind!"
M: "Well, we lost one of our trees as you can see... " *gestures to right outside the lobby where a fallen tree is being chainsawwed apart by maintenance* "...and our large banquet tent also blew down."
SC: "This is horrible! My husband is ill and we didn't even want to stay today and now there's no food and no power! I just want some plain food and you don't have any!"
She eventually stormed off. The restaurant did manage to find some sort of "plain food" to deliver to her room; probably just air and water.
Why the restaurants are closed
I was constantly fielding calls asking if our restaurants were open. They weren't (except for the limited PB&J menu for in-house guests). Most people were understanding. One of them...
SC: "Yeah, do you guys have power?"
Me: "Unfortunately we do not."
SC: "So is the restaurant going to be open?"
Me: "No, they are not. They don't have power."
SC: "They don't have any food at all?"
Me: "No, they can't prepare any food without power."
SC: "Are they going to be showing the game at least?"
Me: "No...they have no power."
SC: "Oh, so everyone is sent home?"
Me: "....yes, everyone was sent home, that's why they're closed."
SC: "I see...but wait, you're still there! So you guys must be open?"
Me: *facepalming*
How to pull off a wedding with no power
The wedding wasn't sucky, but it did take up a lot of attention.
Our wedding coordinator had to run around to find an extra generator to hook up to our ballroom circuit to power the reception. Even with the generator, we were told halogen lights would blow the circuit so she had to track down LED lamps.
We had emergency power, which meant no guestrooms had electricity but stairwells and the back office had some power. The bridesmaids had a mirror set up in one of the stairwells to do make-up and prep. We let them in the back office to do their hair since we had some outlets working there. We had them in every west-facing room we could to let in the natural light to help them get ready. I felt so bad for them because it seriously sucked.
Five minutes before the ceremony began, the power came back on and OMG it was a wedding-day miracle!
The ceremony and reception managed to go off without a hitch, and everyone seemed in good spirits. I mean, this is something they can look back at and laugh about, right? Right? Bartender, serve them all the booze please...
Man, you're lucky we even have food...
An hour and a half after the power came on, the wedding reception was blasting music, the hot tub was up and running, the kitchens were up, and the restaurant was serving. It was good news. Except...
SC: "This is ridiculous. They have a 45 minute wait for food in the restaurant! Does any place deliver?"
I called the only place that delivers out to our little corner of the county and no, they had no power. But lady, even if they were open, it would be 90 minutes at least to get delivery since they have to first cook the food and then drive it all the way around the harbor to get out to us (we're out in middle-of-nowhere).
45 minutes? Really? On a day when we don't have a major power outage for a weekend dinner, that still ain't bad. All things considered, I'd be pretty damn happy at a 45 minute wait after a big power outage like that.
But whatever. I'm sure the crackers you begrudgingly purchased from the gift shop will be enough dinner for your kids. That's clearly better than waiting for food from the restaurant. You sure showed us!
I can't have one till tomorrow.
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