MARCH MINUTES: Taking care of March Inn guests

  • Published
  • By Jacqueline MacGowan
  • 452nd Force Support Squadron
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. --  Originally from Bossier City-Shreveport, La., federal Air Force employee Jacqueline MacGowan is the guest services manager at the March Inn.  Here, she shares a day in her life at work (the date she tracked was Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011).

0600 Start of my day. Workout for 30 minutes (exercise arms, legs, and waist) and enjoy warm water shower.

0700 Wake up grandchildren and breakfast time. Granddaughter going to Headstart program and grandson departing with Mom. I'm back to my routine.

0730 Make my bed, feed my dogs and leave for work. Sam (dog) loves to stop me on my way out, she needs a hug.

0800 Arrive at work and greet staff. I listen to a brief about the previous day's work. Read the pass-along book. I hope today goes well.

0830 I am standing with a smile to say "goodbye" and "thanks for staying" to our departing guests.

0900 Pete and I have time and attendance discussions to insure the staff gets paid correctly.

1000 Now I'm faced with a challenge: reading my emails. It will take my entire 9-hour shift to read them.

1030 Calling a guest to discuss the no pet policy and working out the details to satisfy the guest.

1200  Lunch time: what is that?

1300 Telephone calls concerning the Automatic Lodging Reservation System. The process is 85% successful, but for those who have trouble, we always make the reservation immediately.

1330 What a treat! A military band will be here and we are going to have fun checking them in.

1400 Getting ready to inspect our rooms in Bldg. 400. Preventative maintenance is always fun!

1500 More emails and now they must be answered in a timely manner. Several are marked "high importance."

1530 More emails concerning ALRS. I'm sad now.

1600 Almost time to depart, but I must take care of the last guest by making sure everything is set for arrival.

1630 Almost the end of the day. My father and brother served in the Army and my husband is in the Air Force, so I take a lot of pride working for the federal government and I enjoy serving the troops on a daily basis through quality customer care.

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