Jan 27th, 2015

I woke up at 8:30 and went to the post office. We had a certified letter that we had to sign for. I thought it was going to be a package from home, or a big check, but it was a notice from the IRS saying we owe $1,200 from 2012. It is a long story, but I didn’t claim the money I tipped out to the bussers and bar tenders when I worked at Red Robin. The IRS says I need to pay them the money I didn’t get to keep, and Red Robin refuses to help.

I went to the bank and deposited my tips from the weekend and went home to change. I caught the bus to the mall where I transferred to a bus going to the airport. I was surrounded by a silver haired army on their way back to the cruise ship terminal. It was fun listening to them yell at the driver trying to figure out which stop to get off.

I got to the airport early and waited in the terminal. My parents decided to come visit last week and I was there to greet them.

Once they had gathered their bags, we caught a shuttle to the car rental place. My mom drove us to my house where I showed them all the furniture we have acquired since their last visit. I drove us to rent snorkel gear and then they checked into their hotel and went straight to the beach.

After about 30 minutes we made contact with my aunt and uncle who are in town to celebrate their wedding anniversary. We all sat at the beach and caught up until Rebecca came from work and joined us.

We returned the chairs and umbrellas to the hotel rooms and then walked to the Barefoot Cafe where we had dinner and watched the city lights dance over the water.

Around 8, Rebecca and I went home and went to bed.

Jan 26th, 2015

I was at work by 7:15 and spent the next 3 hours stocking the bar and cutting limes. There was a small rush before my relief came in at noon, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Not until hours later did I realize I had poured 2 drinks incorrectly. I used the wrong juice in one and forgot peach schnapps in another. The noon bartender and I had worked out previously that I would stay late for her because she was approaching overtime. While I was making a blended drink one of the lady managers came up to tell me something. She never says anything productive, she will only speak to the employees when they do something wrong or when she needs something. As soon as she started talking I hit the button on the blender completely drowning out her voice. I held up a finger to say “hold on, I can’t hear you.” Once the blender stopped she told me I had to stay late because the other bartender was approaching overtime. It wasn’t asking me, she was telling me that I had to stay. I nodded my head and kept making drinks.

The head bartender was my relief at 5, he pulled me aside and said that I was doing a really good job and to keep it up. It was the best complement I’ve had in weeks.

I left work and went to the store to buy dinner. I got Rebecca a pizza and I had a grilled chicken breast, jalapeño bacon and some sweet potato fries. The flavor combination was amazing. Rebecca and I watched Captain America and then went to bed.

Jan 25th, 2015

I woke up at 8 and headed to the mandatory bar meeting. It took 90 minutes and it was basically designed to bring up things people were doing wrong and to tell us to improve our sales. I kept quiet the entire time out of fear of exploding on a barrage of snarky comments.

I went home and took a nap. When I woke up, Rebecca and I watched a movie about two talk show hosts who are tasked with assassinating the leader of North Korea.

After the movie I went to work. It was depressingly slow. I got stiffed three separate times, all by descendants of those responsible for the Pearl Harbor attack. I guess when your country drops two atomic bombs on a country, they decide that tipping is no longer necessary. By the end of the night, I was helping the bartenders stock their cooler because I had nothing else to do.

I got home around 10 and went straight to bed.

Jan 24th, 2015

I woke up after a restless night of work related nightmares. People kept ordering drinks and I couldn’t make them fast enough.

I spent the day relaxing and stretching my legs. They don’t hurt as much as they did last week after the hike. I got to work around 3 and started the shift at 4. I was in a busy section which was great. There were a few Asian tables that left nothing, but I come to expect that now. I did have a table leave $7 on a $160 tab. Luckily that was my second table and I was quickly able to push the anger out of my head. I stayed busy for most of the night. I got home around 1 and went straight to bed because I have to go to that meeting tomorrow morning.

Jan 23rd, 2015

I woke up at 7 and headed off to conquer Koko Head again. By the time I got there I was awake enough to wish I hadn’t been.

I made it to the top in 33 minutes, 6 minutes faster than last week. I think I might try to climb the 1050 stairs of doom once a week until I can do it without having to rest. On my way down I saw a man climbing whist carrying a cinder block over his head. I stopped to ask him about it. He said he started out doing the hike once a week, which became 2-3 times a week and now he carries the block up once a week.

On the ride home the smell of fresh rain filled the air. It was a very light drizzle which I welcomed at first. 2 minutes later my nasal passages were violated by the garbage truck in front of me… and then it started pouring. I made it home and showered, did a load of laundry, swept and mopped the floors, cleaned the bathroom and did the dishes. When I finally sat down to relax I was ready for a nap. I didn’t have time to sleep as I still ad to make lunch and get ready for work.

It wasn’t very busy, and most of my tables didn’t speak English. I was told that we were having a bar meeting at 9 am on Sunday morning. I said I didn’t think I could make it to which my manager replied “If you like being a bartender, you will be at that meeting.” I guess I’m not going to church this week.

I left around midnight and went straight to bed.

Jan 22nd, 2015

I went to work at 11. As soon as I started it got busy, which was nice. I was working on the bar top and the tables while the other bar tender made drinks.

Around 2, a lady came in and ordered a glass of wine, as I was pouring it, she said she wanted the shrimp dish. The majority of our menu is shrimp. Upon further inquiry we figured out which one she was talking about. I had my back to her to put her order in to the computer and I heard “hey hey”. I turned around to find her waving a $20 bill at me, indicating she wanted to pay. I finished placing the order and then made change for her. About 4 minutes had passed and I was washing cups and talking to the guy in front of me at the bar top when she yelled out “hey, when is my meal ready?” her command of the English language was astounding. I looked her dead in the eye and with a deadpan expression I replied. “It will come out when its ready. They have to cook it first.” Two other servers were near the bar and saw this take place. One of the girls was laughing and the other server jumped in to assure the lady that I was merely joking. I wasn’t.

I got home around 6 and spent the rest of the evening on the couch watching a documentary about the beginning of the United States.

Jan 21st, 2015

I woke up and notched Rebecca was stilt sleeping. I thought about waking her up to remind her that she had school today, but realized that she had probably called out sick. Once I had eaten, I went to work to trade shifts with another bartender for tomorrow night. He was taking my morning shift and I was working his night shift. The managers said we couldn’t switch because another new bartender was already working and they didn’t want two new people behind the bar bumping in to each other.

I rode into Waikiki and spent the next three hours going from hotel bar to hotel bar, and even some of the weird back-alley bars looking for a place to watch the Super Bowl next week. I didn’t find anything that looked suitable. The only one that looked ok was at Round Table Pizza, and that was simply a sad looking bar with 5 TVs and a required $25 reservation fee.

I went home, took Rebecca’s car and drove to Costco where I spent the next 90 minutes wandering the aisles looking for fords that I could eat during my diet. Of course the time I go there on a diet that doesn’t allow dairy is the same time they are giving out samples of various cheeses.

I drove home, dropped off the groceries and then headed to Safeway to buy the rest of the things I needed for the week. On the way home I got Rebecca’s prescription, filled her gas tank, washed the windows and checked the oil. Once I penned the hood I saw a shopping bag’s worth of dead leaves and random bird feathers in the air intake vent. I cleared those out and then went back home.

I spent the rest of the evening on the couch watching a documentary about the Vietnam war.

Jan 20th, 2015

Happy Birthday to my mom. You are such a caring and loving person, thank you for teaching me patience and understanding.

Rebecca went to school and I slept until 9. I was planning to take the bus up to the north shore to hang out with Brandon and Di, but Rebecca said she was coming home early. I decided to wait for her to get home and then take her car. As she was leaving her class a bee stung her on the eyelid. A BEE STUNG HER ON THE EYELID!!! I don’t know how that happens. She went to the school nurse where they removed the stinger and gave her an icepack. She came home at noon and I commandeered the vehicle and headed to Haleiwa for an appointment.

I came home around 5 and took a shower, and continued watching the documentary on humanity.

Jan 19th, 2015

I woke up at 6 and got ready for work. Most of the produce I needed to prepare was gone, so I did what I could and over stocked the rest. It started to get busy right as we opened. I was mixing a drink and noticed the gun which we use to pour juices and soda was leaking pineapple juice all over my ice and garnishes. A repair man was called to fix it, and he came right in the middle of the lunch rush. There were tickets printed out full of drinks that I needed to make, and people kept coming to sit at the bar but the repair guy was standing right where I needed to be in order to make the drinks. It was like my nightmares where people keep showing up and ordering but I can’t get to them fast enough. The other bartender noticed my panic and walked over and politely yet firmly made the guy move. She busted out the drinks with the rapid speed I have yet to acquire. Once she finished all the drinks from the tickets she calmly walked back to take care of the tables.

The rest of the shift was busy, but I was able to handle it. I got home around 6 and was looking forward to siding down and relaxing, but Rebecca needed some things from the store so I went for her. I was gone for about an hour. I have found that I am most comfortable in crowds where I don’t have to interact with people. I’m not good in small groups or alone. I need constant noise and to be silent. I came home and laid on the couch watching a documentary about humanity through the ages and went to bed around 11.

Jan 18th, 2015

Rebecca woke up this morning with a cold. She was not feeling well at all, but she still went with me to Turtle Bay to watch the Seahawks game with Brandon and Di. We arrived 10 minutes before kickoff and got seats right in front of the giant screen.

The first 58 minutes of the game were depressing and soul crushing. I assumed the Seahawks would continue their tradition of loosing. Most fans today know nothing about the media blackouts when the Seahawks played in the Kingdome. The stadium would not sell out, so the NFL punished everyone in the area by not showing the game on TV. There were the mid 90’s when Seattle almost lost the Seahawks to Los Angeles, and let’s not forget the season they went 6-9 and still miraculously made it to the playoffs. My heart had sunk in to my stomach, I was bummed and angry, and then it happened. Seattle scored their second touchdown. I was still skeptical, and then we recovered the kickoff. My emotions were running wild, they could pull this off. At the 2 minute warning I sprinted to the bathroom because I had been sipping water throughout the game. A third touchdown and a 2 point conversion sent the room in to mayhem. I jumped out of my seat in joy, it was a good thing I had just gone to the bathroom because I probably would have peed my pants. Green Bay scored a field goal and the room became quiet with anticipation. The TV showed the coin toss from the 2004 playoff game where Matt Hasselbeck boasted that they were going to score, they did not, and they lost the game. Like lightning, Seattle marched down the field and scored the game winning touchdown. All the Seahawk fans were jumping up and down, giving out high-fives like they were some sort of candy. I sat in my seat in disbelief. Before he started a well deserved celebration, the quarterback Russell Wilson knelt on the sidelines with some of his teammates and prayed. I began to cry. To see something so amazing, and then to see the leader of the team kneel down and give glory to God was unbelievable. I have heard rumors that Tom Brady does not even fly on the same plane as his teammates.

We left and I was still in shock, but Rebecca was sick so I decided to drive her home. I had the windows down and the music cranked all the way up until we got to Ted’s Bakery for lunch.

Once we go home I took a nap. Once I woke up I spent the next 4 hours watching replays.