We the Thirsty

We the Spoiled of the United States, in Order to form a less parched Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Liquidity, provide for the common refreshment, promote the general Thirst Quenching, and secure the Blessings of Libations to ourselves and our Potation, do ordain and establish this Callibogus for the Spoiled of the United States of America.

This is, apparently, the new preamble.... I was returning to the Haunted Coffee Shop, coming back from lunch, and happened upon a young lady talking on her cell phone... Well, talking is isn't quite severe enough a description. "Shouting into" would be more apt. I took a deep breath, walked into the shop, looked at my employee and said, "Spill it."

Seems she came in, didn't buy a thing, sat down at the computer for over half an hour, and then asked for a cup of hot water, to make tea that she brought with her.... So, he rung her up for the price of the cup. She got irate. She came into a business, used their facilities and equipment without paying for such, and then wanted a free cup full of hot water to make her own beverage. She shouted at him and walked out. That's where I came in.

Hmmmmph. I went outside to talk to her, confirm the store policy, and pretty much insist that she leave...., but she'd already gone. Damn. I wanted the chance to knock her down a peg or two...

The worst part is that she saw absolutely nothing wrong with her actions, and got angry when called out on it.

Then, I am at Sam's today, getting supplies for the shops. I'm at the dairy case, when I hear the young man with a flat bed tell a nice old lady, quite seriously, that if she walked in front of him, he'd run her ass over. I turned around, looked at him, and in my "quite serious, quite angry" voice, asked him, "What did you just say to my mom??!!" His eyes got very large, and he was suddenly all kinds of apologetic as he quickly shuffled away. "Mom" was very thankful.

What the hell is wrong with people???

Oh, well. On the plus side, one more day and it's vacation time. I'm off to Ohio, with Sheeps, to spend X-mas with her parents. Long drive, somewhat stressful situation, but still, a vacation. I, for one, intend to enjoy myself and relax.

Weekend of Blah

So, the outlook for the weekend was bad before it ever began. Sheeps had Caroling gigs all day long on Sunday, and I had an employee who was, potentially, not going to show up for his shifts, which I would have to cover... (That would have been his "non-verbal resignation", btw...) There was just no way I could make it to Tampa, so it was to be a lonely weekend. At least we'll be able to spend a lot of time together next week, as we're driving to Ohio to spend the holidays with her parents.

Business at the bar should have been brisk, considering it was a graduation weekend, and the last big hurrah in town for a lot of the students before making the trek home to the 'rents. No such luck. It sucked. Hugely. It was just busy enough to make the manager think that no one should be cut, but not nearly enough to "pay" all three of us, sufficiently. Luckily, I had a few of my regulars, who left decent tips, as did Mr. D, so it wasn't a total waste.

Knowing that I wasn't driving to Tampa after work, and didn't have to get up 'til noonish, I stayed and had a beer after cleanup, instead of heading out immediately. We sat and chatted for a while, and it was nice. Not like "the old days" with "the old crew", but it was still nice to just hang out for while. That was my big mistake.

My phone started ringing just after 7am. I'd been asleep less than 2 hours, so was not altogether all together, but caught the gist of the conversation. After Michael's appendectomy, we'd covered all his shifts, but one. The one between 7am-noon on Saturday. Tag. I was it. It was out of bed, shower and off to work in a hurry. I somehow managed to stay awake through the shift, and "J" showed up for his shift, thus saving his job and allowing me to go home and back to bed.

Sheeps called shortly after I lay down, but that's okay, as I was missing her. She'd almost fallen down the stairs, due to a strategically misplaced cat, jammed her fingers catching her balance and destroying a favorite ring. I felt bad that I was not there to comfort her, I could have driven down, but would have arrived after she left for another gig, so I'd miss her anyway. Drat.

Sunday was going to be a mostly "me" day. I'd sleep in, get some things done around the house, and generally relax. Two out of three ain't bad, right? I slept in, and relaxed..., but didn't manage to get anything constructive done... Oh, well. Don't get too many days like that, so might as well enjoy, right?

Went over to Little T's for dinner, and hung out for a while.

Then I had to go to the bar for an employee meeting. K yelled at us for a while, about all the things we're doing wrong. None of them really applied to me, so it was "sit around and wait for something pertinent"... Then he started going over the holiday schedule. Basically, he went night by night, for the next three weeks, and filled in the staff on a volunteer basis. "Monday, I need a bartender..." "Me!" First one to cry out got the job. Some of us have lives, and need to think these things through... I figured it would just be easiest to shut up and let the "kids" have all the shifts. Not like it's going to be busy anyway, so why bother. I don't work again until the 5th of Jan, so it's like a vacation. An unpaid vacation.... That part sucks. I could really use the money, especially this time of year... Oh, well, I can use the break. Then there's the Championship game. I'll have to work. That' s good and bad. Good, in that I should make a nice little bit of money, but bad in that I'll miss out watching the game...

C'est la vie.

The Week in Suckville

Well, I already knew, going in, that it was going to be a bad week. Last Friday, a mere 15 minutes after I'd left the building, the espresso machine at the Haunted Coffee Shoppe blew up. Okay, it didn't so much blow up as it did lay down and die, but you get the point. Acrid burning smell, over pressurized, and green, milky water. Yay! Normally this portion of the evening is prereserved for nappage, but was instead spent on a backup plan.

The espresso machine accounts for a rather sizable portion of our business, so it is not something that can slip by. Luckily, we had a spare, though far less efficient machine available. That was acquired from its storage niche, and set up, and we were good to go. For now.

The repair shop is out of Tallahassee, and only comes to Gainesville every other Wednesday, so it was wait 'til Wednesday to get it fixed. Yes, they'll come out sooner, but at a $150 mileage fee, added onto the otherwise already overinflated pricing for service so rare... Wait until Wednesday it shall be.

In the meantime, we find out Sunday night that "S" fell down over the weekend and broke her arm. She was scheduled to open the shop first thing Monday, but obviously that was right out. I had to leave Tampa, and my weekend snugglefest with Sheeps ended early. Dammit. This is the third time she's blown a weekend for me; the third time "S" has had some emergency or other, which forced me to have to open. My day now begins at 5am.... Understaffed... With a slower machine....

It wasn't tooooo bad, all things considered, but I was still ready to kill something, anything by the time my backup help arrived at 7:30. We were still understaffed, but managed, somehow to get through the morning shift. I then received a phone call from "S", telling me the she had a note from a doctor, informing us that she'd be unable to work for the next two weeks. (No real surprise there.) This takes us through the time when she leaves for her holiday time off, but I still need her shifts covered until then. And we've just lost 3 other employees, two due to graduation, and one due to getting his worthless arse fired. Holiday vacations are coming up. It's scramble time. Luckily, I managed to get most of them covered, all but one, actually. I'll just have to pony up and work shorthanded that one shift...

Wednesday arrives, as does the long distance repairman. To make a very long story short, after two hours, he determined that the problem is bigger than originally thought, and that he'd have to cart the machine up to Tallahassee for repair, which will most likely run to the tune of $2K. That's a pretty big bite out of the budget. Huge. So much for any hope of a Christmas bonus. Dammit!

To all my friends and loved ones, you shall be receiving a large package of express holiday wishes of good tidings and joy. Sorry, that's all I can afford. :( Well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Wednesday night is also "bar night" so I worked late. This is probably the last week I'll work for the next few weeks, as school will be out and it will be dead in there. Well, it is sort of like a vacation... Of course, we were packed chock full of butthead fratboys blowing off steam from studying for finals. Much arseholiness ensued.

That brings us to bright and early this morning, when I arrive to the shop and find out that Michael is having pains in his side. The stubborn idiot went in and opened the Hunter's shop anyway, but is feeling worse and worse. We manage to find someone to cover (he would not close the shop down, regardless of his emergency status) and get him taken to the emergency room. He is, as I type, being wheeled into surgery. Appendicitis. Yay. Take another employee out of the equation, this one being a manager... This week is getting suckier and suckier...

Well, they say bad news travels in threes, and I've had my fill for the week. Did I say week? I think I'm good for the rest of the year, thankyouverymuch.

So, how was y0ur week?