November 11
Back to normal last night. No brushes with destiny, no knocking on History’s door, just a satisfying, honest night’s work in the hotel. We were moderately busy, fairly busy actually, and the Foot on the Desk percentage checked in at just over 40 percent.
Lee and I rolled on the usual, some noise complaints and a couple of welfare checks and more people than normal seemed to have lost their keys and it was clear from the start this would be a routine night.
Lee, X-Ray and I have become such a team we don’t even need radios anymore. Early on Lee had a noise complaint on a lower floor. For some reason, dispatch no longer sends two officers to routine noise complaints even though official MCSD policy dictates two officers respond in these situations, even if someone isn’t smacking someone else around.
Both X-Ray and I, unannounced, provided backup on Lee’s call. Later, Lee showed up unannounced at one of my noise complaints.
He didn’t radio that he was coming because he didn’t need to. I knew it, he knew it, everyone on the goddamned Strip knew it because that’s the way we do it in the hotel: we’ve got each other’s back. You don’t even have to think about it.
Here is your Henry lineup for tonight:
Henry 1 – OMP
Henry 2 – moi
Henry 3 – Jose
Henry 4 – X-Ray
November 12
Had the rare dog in the room complaint last night. Dogs are not allowed at Monte Carlo – unless you’re blind – and it is rare when people try to sneak them in because they are hard to hide without stuffing them in the bottom of a suitcase.
It was the very first call of the night and Jose and I caught the squeal. We get there and knock and there is no human in the room so we make entry and cutest little puppy is there to welcome us. We walk in, verify that its master isn’t lying dead somewhere, and start playing with it. I don’t own dogs, nor, honestly, do I particularly like them, but even I found this one completely adorable and before long Jose and I were having a great time. The puppy was grateful for the company and we spent a few minutes playing before shooting it.
While Jose continued to rub the puppy’s tummy, I called the front desk and had a desk clerk come to the room with another set of keys. You do this because when you use the new keys in the lock the old keys, which are in possession of the guest, aren’t any good anymore, forcing the guest to call the front desk, which is how we know they are back and then we are sent to deal with the matter.
Leaving was tough. As Jose and I made our way to the door the puppy knew we were leaving and stood resolutely at the door trying to make us stay, which really tugged at the old heartstrings, but I kicked it out of the way and we were able to leave.
The guests returned about 0200 and I was sent to deal with them. Sometimes guests caught breaking the rules can get snitty, but this couple was very cooperative. They saw my point about barking dogs bothering their neighbors and agreed to take the dog to the car and get a list of doggy hotels from the front desk.
For my efforts, I was favored with an $8 gratuity. He gave it to me right after I radioed dispatch we were getting a high level of cooperation, so maybe he was happy I wasn’t going to cause real problems for him. The tip came in the form of four $2 bills, too, which you don’t see every day.
After the initial dog call I head 10-19 because my radio is a piece of crap and I need a new one. I stop by the supervisor’s office to say hi to 88TonyB and he invites me in, motioning me to sit down.
He asked what my plans are at Monte Carlo. He knows this is my first real job in several years and I tell him I am trying to make it as a writer, and am overall pleased with my job as a Monte Carlo security officer. I didn’t tell him it was primarily because of the obscenely high Foot on the Desk percentages I am able to rack up.
He said there could be some (unspecified) changes coming at Monte Carlo and that if a supervisor position should somehow open up, he would like to see me show some interest in it. He said he thought I’d make a good supervisor and I mentioned that I had been thinking I might like the supervisorial life and we had a rather nice chat for about a half-hour. Which was funny because dispatch kept trying to send me on calls:
– Control, Henry 2.
– 10-6 with Eight-eight.
Well, there really isn’t much they can say to that. When you’re talking with the boss you’re talking with the boss, and it really adds an air of mystery to you, too, because others hear what is going on and are wondering “Hey”. To lend to that air, I didn’t tell the couple of people who asked anything about the meeting, though I implied it was pretty important.
The big story of the night came around 0530 when there was a pretty nice fight out front involving a couple of Marines, a civilian or two, and a bottle.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I know, because at 0530 I was on 10-10 and sitting in PBX (the hotel operators office) visiting with two of the prettiest, most charming young ladies on the planet, Silvia and D-Dawg’s ex, Maria, and was paying only tangential attention while MCSD and Las Vegas’ finest tried to restore order.
At 0600 debriefing in the 12th-floor maid’s room Jose, X-Ray and I talked about D-Dawg leaving and the new casino in general. They both said casinos over hire as a matter of course when they open and there could well be layoffs after a while, which I hadn’t heard before.
Here is your Henry lineup for tonight:
Henry 1 – OMP
Henry 2 – moi
Henry 3 – D-Dawg
Henry 4 – X-Ray
I am trying not to dwell on the fact that time in the hotel with D-Dawg is winding down. X-Ray, as always, is a source of strength.