"...we were....inverted." [top gun]

so, three days in a row of working 11am to a little past 2pm, training at NoFo.

monday i was put on the patio area as a host. i read over the menus and tried to get a feel for the food there. i only had one table to seat: two older ladies; my first customers. i brought them waters, took their wine orders, and fetched christi to get their food orders. i also brought three glasses of tea to a large group of anciently old ladies upstairs. that was very comical to me. "excuse me, ladies. did anyone order a sweet tea?" [the old, hard-of-hearing ladies continue talking amongst themselves, not even noticing i was there]. "excuse me, did anyone order a sweet tea?" it took about five minutes to find the owners of the three teas. very funny indeed. that scene would've fit right into some old cary grant movie.

on tuesday i was trained in being a host. that was a lot of fun, actually. with my experience at starbucks--where time to lean = time to clean--i felt weird standing around so much, with not much to do. but the lunch rush was like playing a game of tetris. the groups of people have to be fit into tables just right so you don't waste a big table on a small group, but sometimes there's nothing you can do, so you hope a big group doesn't come in too soon. then there's the rolling of the silverware, and the clearing of the tables. it really is a fun game to play.

today i was trained on food running. this is a kitchen-based position, and requires a knowledge of the restaurant's table numbers. when the cooks plate up the food, the food runners prep the condiments (ramicans of ketchup, etc.) to the plate, and take it out to the tables. to stay ahead of the orders, you have to read the tickets and prep the condiments early, so everything's ready to go once the order is plated.

i've left some things out, but that's the jist of things. i don't feel like such a newbie anymore, and i feel comfortable there. people have been quick to try to get to know me and open about their own lives. they all say it's like a big family there, and i can see that. which i'm really glad about. good co-workers make a job great during the good times, and bearable during the bad. so i think i really lucked out on this one :)

in biking news, charlie almost puked his guts out yesterday. we were going to go ride at umstead, but we decided to just ride the greenway instead. to make things interesting, we took a path we hadn't taken before, and it lead us all over. that path split at one point. at first, we took the easy path, but when that dead-ended into a ritzy neighborhood, we doubled back and took the harder path.

at the fork, it started out into a pretty decent hill. once we got to the top of that, it went into a series of seriously steep switch-backs that climbed almost straight up the hill. i have to say the inclination of the hill was close to 60 or 70 degrees. seriously. halfway through the switch-backs, i realized i was in the wrong gear for that and had to stop. i couldn't start out again on such a steep hill, so i just ran my bike the rest of the way to the top.

charlie, however, somehow and for some reason peddled almost all the way up the hill. and he paid the price. he jumped off his bike, sat down on the ground, and said, "i'm gonna throw up." i thought he was joking, until he leaned to the side and started making gagging noises.

he didn't puke, but it was close!

so we sat there a while and consoled ourselves by saying things like, "dang, that was a steep hill." "yeah, man. that was like straight up." "i think we were up-side-down at one point."

we followed the path a little further and ended up at north hills park, where we found a water fountain and regained our composure.

just two kids, riding around.

the new kid in town

today was my first day working at NoFo @ the Pig. i didn't even know that "@ the Pig" was part of the restaurant's name until Aly put it on my tax form.

i didn't know what to expect today, except that i wasn't really going to know how to do anything but the simplest of tasks. which is an awkward spot to be in. whenever a new person comes to work at starbucks, it's the same thing. you hope to goodness that they've got some lights on upstairs and that they pick things up fast.

i'm in new territory. i've never worked at a restaurant before (not counting starbucks). so i'm the one who will have the "what's that mean, where do you keep your Xs, what kind of dressing goes on Ys" look for a little while. i feel sorry for my new co-workers. i know what they're thinking and feeling. "i hope this new guy catches on quick."

so, with this job, i'm saying an early goodbye to my unemployment benefits. this job came up a little earlier than i thought it would, but i had to take it when it opened. i've heard rumors that UE benefits are going to be extended another 6 months, but what's the point of delaying the inevitable? besides, with tips and working 50-70 hours a week total (at sbux and nofo), i just might be making more money than on unemployment.

i'm just glad to have LOTS to do now. i'll be working at sbux about 30 hours a week, then at nofo....who knows how much...maybe about the same. working like a madman! let the slavery begin!

i'm hoping this busy schedule will help me shed a few laziness pounds that i've put on over the past year.

and i'm riding my bike more. mike and i rode at umstead park. we did about 14 miles on a really nice woodsy, sand-trail loop. i'm going to do that at least once a week. it only takes an hour and fifteen minutes.

last night, i finished reading william s. burroughs' junky. i picked it up in the airport in boston last month, and have been working my way through it sporadically. in short, it's burroughs' descent into the underground drug world, including his exile into mexico and decision to continue south in search of the ultimate aztec fix, yage. it's not a complete autobiography, but it gives a good picture of the life of a drug addict, which is pretty repulsive, to be honest. apperently, he is infidedigno in his authorship, bending medical facts to justify his habits.

but it was a good read. interesting. shocking in some parts. funny in others. straight-forward and honest. overall, a stern warning about a pointless, vicious circle.

and i just talked to some employees at the Lake Boone sbux. they're in need of 3 baristas. ....it would be much closer to where i live. it would save me gas and time.

but mgr. justin would hate me for leaving. ahhh, i don't know what to do. i guess i need to do what i need to do, though...what is best for my survival. gonna have to follow up on this one. oh, but i don't want to be there when i have to tell justin i want to transfer. haha, he'll be so mad :/ eek.

i just heard of an artist: langhorne slim. maybe my new favorite artist. acoustic. rootsy. passionate. real. not the best voice ever, but at least he's not over-produced.

todd texts me out of the blue, not in response to any question of mine:

i've been trying to think, tom, and the best i can come up with, persons and love excluded: philosophy, baseball, and food. that pretty well sums it up....and maybe philosophy is better, just ideas. Prolepsis! propositions and words articulated just so. am i wrong?

i reply:

i'm sure you are correct, though i'm not sure what you're talking about.

to which todd replies:

just talking about what i like

i love having friends across the country.

www.icanhascheezburger.com

sorry, but i still love this web site.