Somebody, please, shoot me!

So I had a very unexciting night tonight. I made five dollars! I made two cocktails for the cocktail server (Heather) and made two drinks for people at the bar. I got coffee for Lakia's group who were cold calling for the Obama campaign on health reform, but they gave me cake! I ordered food for Mike and Tico made me a burger for dinner ( I know, realllll healthy!!). I decided to walk home because I didn't want to wait for the bus and I didn't want to spend any money at the bar. We get paid tomorrow and I need to pay some bills, but more importantly I need to make some money so I can buy some things that I need. Tomorrow will be a better day. I get to work with the new server Ronda. She is nice and very attractive and is also a bartender, so she knows what she is doing. Now I'm going to do some laundry and catch up on The New York Times for the week and probably drink a beer. I have the most exciting life ever!!

And it just keeps going.

I'm having a good day today. I'm well rested. I saw alot of my friends last night. I didn't drink to much. I've been talking to my roommate most of the day about the state of our lives and our future professional goals once we move from Ohio. The new restaurant is going rather well. We have had our liquor licence for just over a week now. We have been doing a nice happy hour with drink and food specials and live music Monday through Friday afternoons. I'm finally making real money. This translates into my ability to actually pay bills on time and begin paying rent again.
As for last night, I went to a club downtown for a few minutes with two people from work. It was kind of lame. It wasn't real busy. The DJ was good, but no one was dancing because they were not crowded. The bartenders were adequate, but one of them had to have a bar back show here which bottle was the Grand Mariner! Kinda sketchy! My friend Kelley called me to see if I was on my way to the mall where we all worked together for Dawn's going away. (Dawn is moving to Texas with her baby-daddy!) I told her no, but then I got one the people I was with to give me a ride up, and I was very glad that I did. I saw just about everyone I know that works at that mall. I got to catch up with all my friends and hear all their latest stories. It was a good time. I get to work a private party later tonight and then I have tom morrow off. It should be a good weekend.

I am sooo exciting!!!

So, its Saturday morning. No, its actually Saturday afternoon. I have today off because the new restaurant that I am working at is not open on Saturdays. I had yesterday off as well. The most exciting thing I did yesterday was go grocery shopping. I was able to do this because I received my vacation check from my last job. I now have some money in the bank, so I'm not going to starve. My big excitement for today is reading the New York Times and preparing Jamie Oliver's roast chicken and potatoes recipe. I would do something on the grill, but its out of propane and I don't have the money to fill it up. I also don't know where to go to fill it up and I don't think they would let me take the propane cylinder on the bus.
Work is work. Its not good or bad; it just is. I tell everyone who asks that its a job and its better than not working at all. We still don't have our liquor license so we are still not doing dinner. Coke should have been in yesterday morning to install our bar guns and ice wells, but I'll believe it when I see it. I've gone back to Bar X a few times in the past two weeks to see all my friends there. Its been very nice to see all of them. I really miss hanging out there on a daily basis. I might go there tomorrow night to see JD and some of the girls because I have Monday off so I can stay up/out late on Sunday.
I really need to work at that mall again. Its where the money and people are in this city. I enjoy working downtown. Its been very enlightening.
On the tech news front. If you don't already have an iPhone, GET ONE!!!! I love mine. The job search has been made much easier by having one. The price is right at this moment in time. They start at $99!! I know AT&T is more expensive than Verizon, but they have great coverage. I have also had very good luck with their customer service. (Both with Apple and AT&T.)
I have been able to pay most of my bills. My roommate is AWESOME! and has been letting me slide on rent as long as I keep paying the scooter insurance, wash the dishes, mow the lawn, do laundry, feed and bathe the dog and generally keep the house clean. I know that sounds like alot, but we have a small house so its not very time consuming. My parents have been helping me cover my school loans. They are the best and know that I only ask for help when I really need it. I'm going to watch something on http://www.hulu.com/ now and then hit the store for the last things I need for dinner tonight.

New Job

I got a job at a new independent restaurant in the downtown area. We don't have a liquor license yet so we are just serving breakfast and lunch. The owners are nice and the GM is very cool. He appreciates me and all the knowledge I have to offer. He likes the fact that I work hard and he makes me want to contribute to the success of this restaurant. I pretty much took over the Togo part of lunch (I'm just not making much money off of it) and run it out of the bar. It's a crap shoot as to whether or not I'm going to be busy with Togo on any given day. I have slowly started to get some gentleman who sit at the bar for lunch. I get tipped on every other Togo, so I am starting to make a little bit of money, but I'm waiting for my paycheck on Friday so I can get my checking account out of the negative. The girls from The Seafood Restaurant keep calling and checking on me. That's nice. Some of them want to come to Sunday Brunch at the new restaurant to see me and to have some of the wonderful homemade food that we are serving. After having opened six corporate restaurants, I knew opening an independent restaurant was going to be a different experience, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be when the owners of this new restaurant have no experience in the industry! They are doing OK for right now, but just OK. The kitchen needs some serious work! We have no experienced line cooks! I've run kitchen shifts and I've expedited quite a bit. This new kitchen falls down every day. Part of that has been the computer system. The computers were set up specifically for this store so we have quite a few bugs to work out. We have the system running pretty smooth. I have had the opportunity to work with the computer guy. He is way cool. He is 75 and has been doing this type of things for years, both in the military and for NCR. He started out training people how to use cash registers. The front-of-house is good. We have some good servers and the place looks great! We definitely need to purchase many more place settings. The bar needs a major amount of work. We need to purchase pretty much everything that you would need for a new bar. Plus, we need to put together a wine list, decide which beers and liquors to carry, and need to formalize happy hour and hire some bartenders. There is potential for this place to be great...as long as they hire the right people and make the right decisions. I just want us to open for dinner so I can make some money. The bills don't stop when your unemployed for three weeks and they just get worse when your making less than twenty dollars a day in tips. The only thing that has saved me financially has been my roommate. He has been supporting me for almost two months now. He has taken care of the rent, utilities and the Internet bill. I would be living at my parents house right now if not for him and the dog. I'll write more when we open for dinner or if I find another job. There is a new wine bar opening next month...I will apply there and, if I'm hired, might work both jobs. I'm not sure. I'll keep you posted.

A blessing in disguise?

I got fired a little over a week ago. It was for a very silly reason. I got into an argument with a server on the floor. It was because he was talking shit about Dawn to her face. I asked him to leave, he refused and it escalated from there. It sucks not having a job right now. I really need money to pay bills and eat real food, but I am happy to be away from the evil management of The Seafood Restaurant! I'm in the midst of the job hunt right now and will (hopefully!) know more by the end of the day tomorrow. I'm not looking for my dream job (whatever that is). I just need something that pays me enough that I can pay my bills and I don't have to spend every waking hour there! One good thing is that I have time to read the paper every day, I'm getting caught up on all the TV I've missed and the dog is very happy to have me at home with him! I even gave the dog a bath today! He finally doesn't smell terrible! I'm bored and lonely and trying not to be a burden on my roommate (who is awesome!). I'm more relaxed than I've been in years. I want to be like this all the time! I haven't told my parents that I got fired, yet. My mom called me today and I didn't answer. I'm more embarrassed than anything. Tomorrow is another day!

Being a grownup sucks

I'm alive! I say this because I haven't posted anything in a long time. Nothing new and exciting is happening. Work is still work and it still sucks. My co-workers are great and my managers still suck-great-big-donkey-balls! I would like to find a new job, but it is almost impossible in this economy to do that. I still have a good schedule and make great money, but I get weary of putting up with all the corporate policies and the whimsical nature of my managers thought process. Today is a day off and I need to do some day off things, i.e., errands, laundry, catch up on reading, see a movie, stop and talk to some people at other restaurants. I already have spoken with my parents this week. My roommate is very busy with school, work and his gf. As of today, I am five months into my one year suspension on my driver's license. That makes life harder, especially with spotty public transportation, but I am getting through it well. Not being able to drive is another reason for not quitting my current job. I'm trying to get hired on at one of the other bars in the mall where I work, but it is taking a long time. I know the regional manager very well, so its just a matter of waiting for something to open up. Oh well, back to reading. I'll post more later.

I really need to write more

So, last weekend was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The videos were all very boring. The medical lecture was really good. I learned alot from Mindy about how alcohol affects the body and the brain. The brain part was way cool! The group sessions were helpful and my counselor was awesome! Charles is a former alcoholic and has been counseling for twenty-five years. He cared about getting us to see what we had done wrong, help us not do it again, and get us done with the weekend.

My roommate has started dating a new female. She is way cool. We all went to dinner with one of her friends and some peeps from Starbucks on Friday. That was a night! Alot of fun was had by all, especially me...and her friend!

Work was slow last night. I still made good money. My managers still suck. I had my annual review. It went great. I don't have anything to work on, and they only had good things to say about me. My managers are such idiots.

My roommate is on his way to meet the female's parents. It should go well. He is very good with parents of all kinds.

I'm trying to catch up on bills right now so I can get my school loans paid off and BUY AN iPHONE! I think I can do it very soon! It won't make my life complete, but it will give me something to play with for awhile and keep my brain occupied.

Yep, I'm boring

Another day over; another week almost over. I get to do my weekend at AA this weekend, so from Friday at four until Sunday at three-thirty I get to go to meetings and watch anti-alcohol videos. Yea, me! I've had a good few days, made some money, had some laughs, went to the movies with a lot of my female co-workers and got pissed off at my managers (again!). I love the mall where I work and I love everyone at Bar X because they treat me well and not like another annoying customer. As the days and weeks go by, I'm beginning to feel more and more alone. I don't know what to do about it. Any advise?

Snow Day!

We got about ten inches of snow last night and today. It made it very hard to get to work, but it didn't stop me. I caught the bus this morning (it was a half-hour late) and made it to work on time. Weird, I know! We didn't open until Noon, so I had plenty of time to open. I opened wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and construction boots (because of the massive amount of snow). My manager wanted me to take the first table that walked in at eleven-forty which is well after we normally open but not today. I looked at him and didn't know what to say. I just said I would take it and proceeded to get dressed. While I was dressing, a server walked in (thank God!). So, I didn't have to take a table outside the bar, which I absolutely hate doing! It was a good day. Some of my regulars came in so I made some decent money. Happy hour was good. I worked with Dawn and stayed till close with her so she could give me a ride home. (We closed way early at seven-thirty. We still didn't get done in the bar till nine-thirty even though we had every thing broken down at eight!) It was a good day. A snow day! (Get it? Ha-ha!)

Another day in paradise

Another weekend down the tubes. Manged on Thursday and Saturday mornings. Closed the bar Friday night and worked it with Christi and Dawn on Saturday night. The best story of the weeks; The Bar Manager came back on Wednesday night with his girlfriend and proceeded to get drunk(er) at the bar. Dawn was closing. At one point he asks Dawn across the bar in full ear-shot of his stupid girlfriend, "What do I have to do to be the cool manager?" Dawn's initial response was to laugh hysterically, but she kept that down and instead told him, "Stop being a dick." He just doesn't get it.

I try and then get shot down...again

So it is the post-holiday season. In restaurant life this means fewer people out spending money, because they have to save it all to pay off their credit card bills from Christmas and such. (In the Midwest they also need the money to pay their heating bills. Its 20degrees right now. The low tonight is -5degrees! I love Ohio!) Because of the downturn in sales all restaurants come up with some ideas to save money by cutting back on labor hours, cutting food cost, and utilizing promotions to increase foot traffic. As a bartender that means that there are fewer shifts to go around. It helped that Jana quit two weeks ago by no-call, no-showing two days in a row. That leaves four and one-half bartenders. (The one-half is Ashlie, who the management would not let us train and refuses to listen to any of us when we try to explain anything to her. Don't you just love people!) So, I decided to try to make everyone's life easier and try to put together a kind of permanent schedule for this quarter so we would always know when we would be working and to make sure that we all were making good money. I let Dawn, Lauren, and Christi see it and got their approval. I wanted to present it to The GM and The Bar Manager at the same time so I would not have to explain myself twice, but that was not to be. The Bar Manager saw it and shot me down because he is irrational. He will not accept any idea that is not his or The GM's. I have been in his situation before and the only way to get him to act like a real human being is for him to be fired. That is what it took for me. There is no way to tell him this. We just have to wait for it.

The long weekend becomes dull

We had a good weekend at The Seafood Restaurant. I closed the bar on Saturday night and The GM did the bar inventory so I didn't have to put up with The Bar Manager in such close proximity to me all night. I opened as a manager on Sunday morning and left at four because we were so slow. The Service Manager said that we had a good night on Sunday Night. We did more that our usual sales and the servers made money. My roommate dropped me off at work early yesterday on his way to school. I had the bar setup and stocked by the time we opened at eleven. That was good because I ended up getting a lot of tables. Everyone wanted to sit in the bar yesterday! The servers didn't get half the tables I did! I setup in anticipation of a busy happy hour, but to no avail. I left as soon as happy hour was over at six and was informed by the closer, Lauren, that the two people who sat at the bar for happy hour were the only two people who sat at the bar all night. We had our worst night for tips that I have ever seen! Five dollars an hour was our average! I have the day off today, but I might stop by work to pick up my meager tips from last night. I know, I know, I need to stay away from that place at least once a week, but Dawn and Christi work tonight and I haven't seen them in a few days. I need to get a life!