Job satisfaction

January 16 2011

I know it's hard for some people to picture me cleaning toilets and mopping floors. Even Craig worries that I'm doing something I really hate.

But, actually, I'm getting real satisfaction out of it.

The days are long. At 7am I check all the toilets, showers and kitchen, just to top up the toilet paper and clean up any messes that have been made overnight. At 10am the other cleaner and I scrub all the toilets (14) and handbasins, scrub the showers (10), mop all the floors and clean the kitchen and lounge. This takes about 90 minutes. For the rest of the day I just check everything every couple of hours and then we do the whole cleaning routine again at 10pm.

Craig works from 8pm-1am most nights as night watchman. He strolls around the camp with his big torch and yellow cap and just makes sure everything is going ok. From about 10pm he starts to quiet people down - shoo the kids out of the playground, ask people to turn their music down, just generally letting them know it's time to wind things back. He has to keep an eye out for non-campers coming in - either to try and use the facilities or to get up to other mischief. He also has other work during the day - general handyman stuff, plus a couple of building projects for the boss; one of these is putting in a spa pool at the house.

So, yes, our days are long, but we have plenty of free time during the day to spend together. The weather has been fabulous so far, so we get to swim and kayak. We've had one late night attempt at floundering, without success, but will give it another go as the tides come right for us.

But one of the things we like most is how much people appreciate us. We've had thanks from clients before, but this is different. What we do here is having a direct impact on their lives. We're not just delivering a printing job on time, we're giving them a clean and secure place to stay, so they can have as much fun on their holiday as possible.