October 30th, 2014

I woke up at 9 to what sounded like a neighborhood dog whining and then choking. This went on every few seconds for a while, it would stop, and then start over again. Whatever it was it did not sound pleasant. In the year that we have lived here, I have never heard a dog barking, so I have no idea what could have been making the noise.

I got dressed and headed to the bank to deposit my tips, and then I went to work to write in the shift exchange book that I picked up a shift for tomorrow morning. I happened to be wearing a Seahawks shirt so I went to say hi to the general manager who is an avid Broncos fan.

I headed to the hardware store to look for a vest in which I could place ice packs to wear under my Halloween costume to keep me from overheating. Home depot had nothing so I rode to another store and bought some ice packs and figured I’d MacGyver something at home.

I got home and watched a documentary on local hero Eddie Aikau, who was a surf legend. Rebecca came home and we went to buy her some running shoes for her birthday and then we went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. We have only eaten here once, and that was while we were vacationing on the island when I was still trying to convince Rebecca to move here. The dinner was good, Rebecca’s burger looked much tastier than mine. We got home and she watched Survivor while I studied my drinks and watched Crocodile Dundee 2.

October 29th, 2014

I woke up around 10 and started getting ready, before I knew what was fully going on, it was 12:15. I was scheduled to work at 1. I skipped the shower and headed straight to work. I got there and began my stretches while getting the back of the restaurant ready for the party of 75 that I was going to be helping with. The entire party had pre-ordered their food, we just had to go around table to table asking what people had ordered so we could bring it to the right person. This is usually a quick event, but nobody in today’s group spoke English with the exception of the tour leader. This mixed with the fact that people had forgotten what they ordered, tried to change their order, or tried to order things that were not in their predetermined menu made for a difficult lunch shift. By the time the party had left and we got the back room clean, it was nearly time for me to start my dinner shift. I skipped taking a break and just powered through.

The dinner shift was mildly busy, but I have become so used to the flow here that I found myself bored at times. When I used to have a 5-7 table section at my old restaurant, I would often find myself overwhelmed. That is not the case at this restaurant.

I was doing the deposits tonight, I spent my down time trying to memorize the portions that go in the drinks. I got home around 11:30

October 28th, 2014

I woke up at 7 to attend a liquor server’s class which is a state requirement to be a bartender. The class is for people who work in the restaurant/bar industry and it is at 8am. There is something seriously wrong with that. Most people who work in restaurants rarely go to bed before 3am. It would be like making a lawyer or stockbroker go to a class at 1am.

For the first hour and a half of the 3 hour class I just glared at the instructor until I was cognizant enough to comprehend what was going on. I took the test and passed with zero mistakes. I went home and took a nap and then studied my drinks while I did laundry.

I got to work early enough to study some more. It was dead tonight at work. I was wandering around trying to look busy. The manager had a talk with some of the bar trainers and their only concern was that on Sunday mornings, I spend too much time watching football and not enough time running food and drinks. I politely explained that it was his fault for scheduling me on Sunday mornings because I am useless when there is a football game to watch. He had a good laugh. I was serious.

I finished work and went home to study. I not only have to know what goes in the drink, but how many ounces of each ingredient goes in each drink.

October 27th, 2014

I would like to wish a very happy birthday to my amazing, beautiful, talented wife.

I woke up at 8 and got ready for my interview for EMT school. I rode up to the college and arrived 40 minutes early and then sat there until my interview was supposed to start. I was due there at 10 but wasn’t seen until 10:40. There were 3 people on the panel, one from each of the ambulance companies and one from the school. I think it went well, I won’t find out until December if I was accepted or not.

I went home and changed and then watched a few episodes of Sons of Anarchy. After a while I realized that I didn’t have a cake for Rebecca’s birthday. Everyone should have cake on their birthday. I rode to the store and bought more flowers and cake mix and then rode home so it would be ready in time. I baked the cake and it was done with plenty of time. She came home, opened her presents and then we went out to dinner. Our server remembered us form when we were there back in July. She even remembered what we had talked about. I was really impressed, mostly because I forget most of my customers before they even get up from the table.

After dinner we went home and watched the Walking Dead and then went to sleep.

October 26th, 2014

I woke up at 9 and pushed my moped to the repair shop to be there at 10 when they opened. I dropped off my favorite source of transportation and Rebecca gave me a ride to work on her way to church.

The shift was slow and boring, I was in a bad section in the back of the restaurant and I kept getting bad tables. It’s not considered profiling if your salary depends on it right? My body was at work, but all my brain was thinking about was my moped. I was having visions of us taking a slow ride along the beach, parking atop an ocean bluff and watching the waves crash upon the sandy shoreline as the sun slowly set in the background.

After my shift, I called Rebecca to pick me up. While I waited, I went shopping for her birthday. She dropped me off to pick up my newly mended moped and I met her at the supermarket where we bought groceries. Once home, we watched a movie and then ate dinner. Once she went to sleep, I rode to the store to pick up some flowers and candy to surprise her with when she woke up. I did the dishes and cleaned up the front room and then went to sleep.

October 25th, 2014

I woke up today and Rebecca and I hung out at the house, she still has an ear infection so going to the beach was out of the question. I guess we could have gone and she wouldn’t be able to go into the water, but that is a special kind of torture that nobody should have to endure.

I headed to work and as I was turning the corner to the parking garage, my moped started to slip out from under me. I quickly corrected the problem and stopped to investigate. I had blown out my front tire. I assumed it had been the wicked pot-hole that I didn’t see until it was too late. I parked and locked my moped and went upstairs. The shift was slow and dull. Word has begun to spread around the restaurant about my pending bar training, no one seemed either excited or upset.

I finished at 11 and had the pleasure of a slow, boring walk home as I pushed my moped. I really wanted to hop on and ride home as it would have taken me no more than 8 minutes, with traffic and stop lights. Instead I was treated with a 50 minute walk pushing a 250lb moped. I got home around midnight and watched a movie to relieve some stress.

October 24th, 2014

Rebecca has had an ear infection for the last few days and the pain has been almost unbearable. I have never had an ear infection that I can remember so I have no reference of pain. She said that it is the second most pain she has ever had, second only to the time she tore her meniscus. Around 2:30 she woke up in agony. All I could d for her was pray for her and hold her as she tried to go back to sleep. I felt so bad knowing there was nothing I could do to take her pain away. I felt so small and helpless.

She left for work and I went back to sleep. I woke up again at 9 to pictures from both of my parents showing me the malasada cart that was near their work. I decided to go to Leonard’s to show them what a real malasada looked like. I snapped a quick picture to send to them before eating most of the evidence. I went home and got ready for the day.

I got to work ridiculously early and as soon as I started my shift the manager asked to speak with me. I immediately asked if I needed my shop steward present. (when you work as part of a union, management can’t discipline you unless you have a shop steward present to act as your representative/lawyer). The bar manager and head bar tender were also in the meeting. They offered me a position as a bar tender. I take my liquor serving class on Tuesday and I will start training next week. I have been asking and begging for them to let me work behind the bar for months, and my wishes have finally been granted. Now I just have to learn what goes in the drinks, which is something I was supposed to learn when I started.

The rest of the shift went well, I only had two tables for most of the night as it was unusually slow for a Friday night. Towards the end of the shift, another manager wanted to have a sit down meeting with me, I was sure I was in trouble for something, I just couldn’t figure out what. It turns out that I was offered the position of trainer as well. I applied back in August, but wasn’t sure if they were going to pick me or not. I received two promotions in one day.

I left around midnight, it was a mad scramble to get home. I got home and remembered that I didn’t clean my last table. I quickly rode back to work and cleaned the table before anyone knew what was going on. I ended up back home at 12:30

October 23rd, 2014

I woke up and started breakfast and then did a load of laundry. While I was waiting for my clothes to get done, I did the dishes, and swept and mopped the floors.

I spent the rest of the early afternoon tending to my garden, most of which has long since died.

I got to work early and realized I forgot to adjust my line up for my fantasy football team. I ended up loosing out on 42 points. Woke was about the same, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

October 22nd, 2014

I woke up at 9 and immediately started working on the spreadsheet for the tax man. I finished at 1:30 and noticed it had been pouring done rain all afternoon. There was a small lake in our courtyard. I rushed to get ready, I took a shower though looking back, I didn’t need to. I was soaked just from unchaining my moped. I got to work in 20 minutes and by the time I got there I was dripping. I went to park and noticed I had left my chain on the railing at the apartment. I ran upstairs to the drug store and bought a new padlock and used my back up chain to lock up my moped. I spent the next 30 minutes trying to dry off my pants, socks and shoes using the hand drier in the Men’s room. I was smart enough to bring an extra shirt, but forgot about socks, shoes, pants and unmentionables. I spent the rest of my shift squishing around in my shoes.

My pants were wet until about 8, it was a very uncomfortable shift. I was closing tonight, which meant I was in a good section and I stayed busy. I got home just before midnight and watched a conspiracy theory documentary on JFK.

October 21st, 2014

I woke up at 9 and started making breakfast. I was in the middle of eating and watching a movie when the power went off. A contractor was doing some repairs and so he shut off the electricity for the entire building. I decided to head out a little earlier.

My first stop was the driving range. I was planning on taking Rebecca there later and I wanted to see where it was and if the rented clubs. Since I was there already I decided to hit a bucket of balls. Most of my shots were way off target, but I blame that on the lack of a tee. I was all sweaty from the workout so I headed to Waikiki to go for a dip in the ocean. I splashed around for a couple hours and then headed home to wash off and wander around town.

I rode to the costume store in search of the perfect Halloween costume. I found some great ones, but I was not willing to pay $40 for something I might only wear once a year. I rode to Walmart where I found the perfect costume for $20. I rode home and had enough time to put it on before Rebecca came home. I was standing there in my costume when she walked in. I was hoping for an excited shriek, but I was met with laughter. It wasn’t even the good kind, it was the laughter you give to a special needs 12 year old who figures out how to write his name. I changed and we headed out for our date night.

We grabbed a burger at our favorite spot and then I took her to the driving range to take out her aggression. She had a slow start, but once she got the hang of it, she was more accurate then me. After the driving range we got ice cream and then we went home where I spent the next 5 hours working on a spread sheet to send to the IRS. They weren’t content with just the numbers, I have to write down the first and last name of every person I tipped out. Luckily I wrote all of that down each night after my shifts. I find it funny that the IRS is targeting me, when they have been in hot water recently about some missing documents.