okay, let's do this

Wow, it;s been a really long time since I last updated this thing, I'm still hoping to update it more frequently, but for some reason when I get home, I just don't want to sit down and write about my day for 1/2 an hour. Maybe it has something to do with me getting home at 12 almost every night. Anyway, I'm going to try to update this thing at least 2 times a week, if not more. Well, here's some things that I can remember about the last 3 weeks.

A couple weeks ago I got to work one on one with chef in the kitchen, which means that it was just him and me working the line. This isn't unusual for H5O, since it's usually just me and Amber, or me and Robyn, or Amber and Robyn working the line. But this made me feel good, it kinda made me feel like chef was testing me to see if I was up to his standards as a chef. Monday was dead, I think we did 5-6 heads, but Tuesday was insane, doing about 60-85 heads, and when each person orders 2-3 plates, it really adds up. Long story short, we were busy nonstop on Tuesday days, but it was a good kind of busy. When service was done and chef was getting ready to leave for the night, he turned to me and said "That was a great service Brendan, I can't wait to tell Amber and Robyn about it", I felt so good about myself. After that was all said and done, chef left me to break down the line by myself. He showed me how to clean the flat top and the french top on Monday, so I had no problem with this. I got out at around 11:20ish, which is pretty good considering it was just me.

I went in to work last week to go over some paper work with chef about how well I'm doing as an extern. It has basic questions on it like "does he follow standard recipes"(which we don't have), and "can he properly identify food", just basic things that every chef should know. Now, I got to fill one of these out for myself, and I gave myself some pretty bad scores, I gave myself a couple 2's even, cause I just felt like I should be able to do things a lot faster than I was doing them, and this made me nervous about what Nick was going to say about me. It went a lot better than I hoped it could. I don't think he gave me anything under a 4 during the 20ish question sheet. He even told me that I can do somethings better than everyone else in the kitchen, and that he's probably going to get me hired in the next couple of weeks. That really made my day, and even though I got up at 7 am to do this, I was full of energy and just plain happy.

The next day I had to go back in to work cause I forgot my hours sheet at home. This was okay with me thought because it gave me an excuse to hang out with one of my bestest friends from WCI. Alex was my friend from day 1, and it took me a while to realize that we were even in the same orientation group a month before we started school. Anyways, she works at Cafe Bleu, which is a small cafe that sells things made by students, mainly brownies, sandwiches, bagels, and cookies, along with drinks. I turned in my paperwork and immediately ran down to go hangout with her. We talked about how well our externships are going, comparing different injuries, basic things like that. I think I was there for a couple of hours, because she had to close down for the night. We made plans to try to get a group of us who are still in Oregon to go to the Zoo someday and hangout, than I left thinking that I wouldn't see her again for a while. Well, wouldn't you know it, a max cart broke down somewhere before my stop, so not only was the max late, but when it stopped and opened it's doors, it resembled a bus from India. Crowded, not enough room to stand, and hot from body heat. I decided to take the next one, since it usually isn't as bad. Well, I was wrong, it was worse. But during the wait Alex caught up to me and we got to talk some more.

The Max rolled around again and opened it's doors reviling all the people trapped inside. We made our way up the stairs, only to be pushed in further by a couple of stragglers. The people that got in behind us were pretty cool though, I talked with them for a bit before they got of, like, 2 stops later. After that, nothing really happened, that is, until someone on the Max said something rather scary. I don't remember the whole thing, but it was along the lines of how he curb stomped a "sandniggers" head in when he was in Iraq. The max went silent after this. I mean, dead silent. Non one wanted to upset this angry angry man. Alex, who was standing close to him, turned and looked at me with a worried face, while I was holding back laughter at the absurdity of the conversation. It's nothing to laugh about for sure, I had never once in my life heard someone say something like that with a serious tone in real life. I've heard stuff like that in movies, but it never occurred to me that people actually said things like that in this day and age, and it kinda worried me. The worst part was this guy got off the max at the zoo with a couple of small children. I just wondered what he was teaching them as the max rolled away.

My schedule changed, so now I'm working Friday-Tuesday. It's not so bad, it's just a couple extra hours a week. Friday an Saturday are our busiest night's, and we stay opened till midnight. Like I said, not that bad. I get to go into work later on Friday, which is a plus, I guess. Mainly I'm just hoping that one of these days matches up with Ela's off days so that we can hang with Alex somewhere downtown, maybe go out and get something to eat together.

And finally, Yesterday I stabbed myself in the hand with an oyster shucker. Thank god thee tip was broken, so it didn't go very deep, but still, it hurt. The wound is tiny and unimpressive, but it's on a sensitive part of my hand, so anytime I grab something, it hurts a little. Robyn also told me the I was getting better everyday, and that I was already better than some of the people that they had hired in the last couple of months. I could tell that she meant it too, which made me feel really good.

Okay, that's all I can really remember about those weeks. Hopefully I get the urge to update my blog more often, cause I know that some people actually read it, and I didn't really wanna let them down.

When I get angry, I cut myself

Well, tonight was the first night that I got to work on the line with Chef Nick. I'm going to admit that when I woke up this morning, I was more than a little nervous. I didn't want to mess up in front of chef, especially since he is the one who decides whether or not I get the job there. I got to work 20 minutes early, put on my apron, and got to work. We didn't expect many people to show since it was labor day, which turned out to be correct. Most of my day was spent cleaning or making Caesar rolls. Chef was out of the kitchen for most of the day working on the Fall menu that we're going to switch too soon, which left me alone for most of the day. I played my music while doing odd jobs around the kitchen, singing along with Starfucker and Asleep in the Sea while straining beef stock.

around 8:30-9:00 we got busy fora while, but not enough to really stop us from cleaning. Near the end of the day chef was talking about a show he watched over the weekend called "Lock up" or something, he told us that it's a show about prisons, and how one of his favorite quotes from the show was "When I get out of prison in 20 years, how am I going to tell my kids that I cut myself when I get angry?!" Chef's response was "Maybe you would tell them why you were in prison for 20 years, and not why you cut yourself, you dumb motherfucker." We all had a jolly guffaw at this remark.

Cleaning went by super fast today, chef showed me how to clean the flat top and the french top, which was useful. I basically did all the cleanup today though. I swept and mopped the floors, I wiped down all the counters, I broke down the line, I took out the trash/recycling/linens and I cleaned the fryer. I finished all the cleanup by myself before we were technically closed for the day. At 10:00pm I left the kitchen, walked into the park across the street, called my sister, and waited for her to pick me up. While I waited in the cool night's air, listening to Danger Doom, and looking out into the water, a strange looking man with a flour in his hair asked me for a cigarette. I told him sorry, and that I didn't smoke, wherein he replied "Dammit" and walked away. This isn't the first time I have been asked for a cigarette, and it got me thinking that maybe I should carry around a pack of Marlboro's, just in case someone asked me for a smoke. I always feel bad when I don't have any cigarettes to give out to people when they ask me for one.

Well, tomorrow I am working with Chef again, but this time I won't be so nervous. Chef told me that we might talk Wednesday about me getting a job there, so we'll see how that goes.

nighty-night.

and the pace quickens

Well, today and yesterday were noticeably busier. Both days had slow starts, but eventually they got quicker, giving us more stuff to do and less time to do it.

Today was the first day since beginning my externship where I just didn't want to go in to work. Maybe it has something to do with paintball over the weekend, and how because of it I had yet to just lay down for a whole day and do nothing. I only have two days left till my weekend, but I feel like it's not getting here fast enough. I really just wanna sit down and do nothing but watch t.v. or play video games, maybe work on my bike, but that's it. I don't even want to get out of my pajamas.. Maybe I'll just stay in bed all day Friday.

Nothing much happened yesterday, and nothing really happened today. At least we got out at a reasonable time yesterday. Today, at around 8:30, a 4 top sat down. This is all fine and dandy though since they only had one thing each, but than the new owner and his friends decided to hop on down at 9, and keep ordering food till we closed at 10. I know the new owner wants to eat a free meal, and that we can't tell him to leave, but come on buddy, we just wanted to clean up so we could leave. We didn't end up getting out of the kitchen till around 11:30, and luckily my dad decided to pick me up today, or I wouldn't have gotten home till after midnight.

I ran into Jacine the other day on the max while going to work. I thought it was kind of funny, cause the night before I ran into her boyfriend on the max after work. I wasn't sure if she'd recognize me since I cut my hair so short, so I didn't end up saying "Hi" to her till she stood up to get off. Even then neither of us said anything, we just smiled and waved at each other. Later on she told me that she felt like a dork for not talking to me, but I told her it was all right.

Man... I'm really hoping tomorrow and Thursday go by quickly, cause I really wanna relax.

well, that's really it, two days, and nearly 16 hours of work, in less than 5 paragraphs.

Seacrest out

Dammit Ela, why did you get that stuck in my head. Speaking of which, I have a wicked awful headache.