Bartending
I’m moving up the food chain. Several months ago, I turned down an offer at work to begin management training to continue waiting tables. In the short term, I make more money serving than ‘shift leading’ and have more flexibility with my hours. With only a year ahead of me to live in Columbia, serving seemed like the best option. Since then, I have continued to look for different jobs throughout the city but met little success.
Knowing that I would likely be with Ruby Tuesday for at least the near future, I asked to begin bartending training-I received a crash course. After a newly highered bartender was…er…reemployed somewhere other than Ruby Tuesday, her Sunday shift needed opened up. After a brief (two hour) drink mixing session on Thursday night, I stepped behind the bar on Sunday for the most stressful, exciting, enjoyable and lucrative days at work in a long time. I survived the gauntlet and cannot wait to bartend more frequently as fall gets underway.
Blueberry Picking
In contrast to the highly masculine and sub-culturally praised position of bartending, I went blueberry picking with Kaytlin on Saturday morning. The hippy/earth-lover in me, and the company of my girlfriend legitimize my feelings of enjoyment from an early berry gathering. We met some friends, and their friends, and their friends (4 couples in all) and drove out to Chapin at an hour when most of my coworkers were still recovering from the night before. Ha. Between Kaytlin and me, we picked almost 8 lbs of blueberries. She kept them, but treated me to blueberry pancakes that night.
Cell Phone
To the chagrin of my brother and father, Friday marks the beginning of my life without a cell-phone. I set up my landline on Thursday night and cancelled my cell phone service. The adjustment has been smooth thus far (at least from my end). Not having text-messaging proves the most inconvenient aspect of the cell phone-free life; sorry Kyle. However, without texting, I find myself forced to call people when I want to connect with them and these conversations benefit us greater than a quick text ever could. I hope that I will continue calling those who are close to me while the transition to landline becomes increasingly normal.
I still have the same phone number. Please call me
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
When in Rome
The River
When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when in Columbia, go to the river. The high temperatures and oppressive humidity drives South Carolinians to bodies of water. Without the ocean lapping at our doorstep, the river claims the title of liquid attraction We are discovering the pleasure of the river and in doing so realize that the locals do know best. In an attempt to bolster social activity while battling dusty wallets, we have begun to frequent the river and made two trips this past week. The first evening was spent eating, hanging out doing some diving from the larger rocks. Two days later we found ourselves farther upstream amidst light rapids (think Greenhorn creek vs the Colorado River), exploring the woodland beyond the opposite bank, and floating down the river.
Dance, Dance
Always having enjoyed dance, yet plagued with the Anglo-Saxon rhythm, I limited my solo dancing to venues filled with enough people to hide my awkwardness. Late one night (in part likely due to the ‘late’ aspect) I ventured in to new dancing territory: Dance Dance Revolution. I joined millions of Asian teenagers by stepping to pre-set patterns of foot placement to techno remixes of America’s favorite pop songs. Musical hits naturally included Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson but harkened back to classics (??) such as Captain Jack (“In the Navy” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNgMVx_NJOM ) and Papaya (“Pink Dinosaur” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FzLxIW0eTA). Oh man. None-the-less, the Dance Dance party was a highlight of my week. I offer my future dancing as a tribute to Michael Jackson-the king of dance.
4th of July
I picked up a shift on the 4th and had a wonderful time at work. After a terribly slow start and management sent half of the servers home for the day, I waited on about 4 tables (which added to the two from the previous few hours). I hardly made any money but had a wonderful time with my coworkers. We stood around and talked and laughed and told stories and, in hindsight, I would work the shift again.
After work we went to a house for a cookout. We grilled hot dogs and everyone brought something to share. I greatly enjoyed the company and had a wonderful time with the people who came. We saw some fireworks from the baseball field a few blocks away, but focused on the company and the cuisine. The evening topped off a wonderful week.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when in Columbia, go to the river. The high temperatures and oppressive humidity drives South Carolinians to bodies of water. Without the ocean lapping at our doorstep, the river claims the title of liquid attraction We are discovering the pleasure of the river and in doing so realize that the locals do know best. In an attempt to bolster social activity while battling dusty wallets, we have begun to frequent the river and made two trips this past week. The first evening was spent eating, hanging out doing some diving from the larger rocks. Two days later we found ourselves farther upstream amidst light rapids (think Greenhorn creek vs the Colorado River), exploring the woodland beyond the opposite bank, and floating down the river.
Dance, Dance
Always having enjoyed dance, yet plagued with the Anglo-Saxon rhythm, I limited my solo dancing to venues filled with enough people to hide my awkwardness. Late one night (in part likely due to the ‘late’ aspect) I ventured in to new dancing territory: Dance Dance Revolution. I joined millions of Asian teenagers by stepping to pre-set patterns of foot placement to techno remixes of America’s favorite pop songs. Musical hits naturally included Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson but harkened back to classics (??) such as Captain Jack (“In the Navy” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNgMVx_NJOM ) and Papaya (“Pink Dinosaur” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FzLxIW0eTA). Oh man. None-the-less, the Dance Dance party was a highlight of my week. I offer my future dancing as a tribute to Michael Jackson-the king of dance.
4th of July
I picked up a shift on the 4th and had a wonderful time at work. After a terribly slow start and management sent half of the servers home for the day, I waited on about 4 tables (which added to the two from the previous few hours). I hardly made any money but had a wonderful time with my coworkers. We stood around and talked and laughed and told stories and, in hindsight, I would work the shift again.
After work we went to a house for a cookout. We grilled hot dogs and everyone brought something to share. I greatly enjoyed the company and had a wonderful time with the people who came. We saw some fireworks from the baseball field a few blocks away, but focused on the company and the cuisine. The evening topped off a wonderful week.
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