June 29th, 2015

I woke up around 9 and had something for breakfast… oh yeah, Rebecca scrambled some eggs and I covered them with salsa and wrapped it up in a tortilla. I bummed around the apartment for a couple hours, called my doctor to ask him to refill my blood pressure and sleeping medications.

At 1:30 I headed into town on my moped to attend a CPR class which is a prerequisite for the EMT program. Most CPR classes are 4-6 hours of practice, watching videos and listening to questions from students who have defied the laws of natural selection and in spite of their lack of common sense, they are still walking around amongst us and making new generations of human door-stops. This class was advertised as being fast, and that was the biggest selling point. I had pre-registered and paid the $75 fee last night. When I had arrived for class, I was told that I needed the class today, as well as a second class which they would happily set me up with at the end of the first class. This was no fault of the company, but mostly the American Heart Association for making so many different levels of CPR cards, and the school for requiring me to have two separate cards. The first class was basic CPR and first aid, it was over in 2 hours. The second class, which was just the instructor and myself was much quicker than the 4-6 hours I was anticipating. Since I have had CPR cards in the past, and I have actually performed CPR on real people more times than I care to remember, and since I didn’t have to waste time asking stupid questions, I was home by 5. Sure I had to pay for 2 classes, but not having to sit in a classroom for 8-12 hors was defiantly worth it.

On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up tortillas, and all of the food Rebecca doesn’t let me buy when I go shopping with her. I watched a movie about two guys who crash weddings to pick up girls while we had dinner and then I started watching Top Gun. I used to love the soundtrack for that movie when I was little, I don’t think I have actually seen the movie in 15 years or so. Once the movie finished, I headed to the pharmacy to see if my doctor had sent in the refill authorizations for my prescriptions. Ha had not. This is not the first time I have had to wait for him to authorize a refill. Last time my inhaler was out, and I called 7 or 8 times within a few days to see when they were going to let me get anew inhaler. I had one of his secretaries yell at me saying they would call me when they authorized the prescription, and to stop calling. I think its time for a new doctor.

I went home after a little drive to clear my head, and then I settled in to watch a documentary on Netflix.

In the middle of Top Gun, for no apparent reason, I thought about making a cooking show. Each week I could make a different recipe of corn products. One week it would be corn on the cob, the next week it would be about popcorn, and significance of popcorn at the movies, the next week would be corn tortillas, or corn bread. Each episode would be about corn, and the title of the show would be called CORNography. The logo for the show could be a piece of corn, with the stalk coming off reveling a bikini top of some sort… I haven’t worked out all the details yet, but my hope is to make a show and sell it to one of the cooking networks, or one of those other networks who have run out of ideas, and are just buying up reality shows.

June 28th, 2015

I woke up at 9 and Rebecca and I got ready for church. I fell asleep on the way there.

After church we went home and Rebecca made lunch and I got ready for work. I was training tonight, which I didn’t mind as the trainee had obviously studied and knew the menu. We were in the back of the restaurant with what I called the “JV Squad” of servers. All of the good servers were on the lanai, and we were surrounded with new people. We had a party of 22 people who were in some sort of choir, who felt it necessary to sing during their meal. Once they were done, they wanted to sing a song to the three of us who had served them. It was just as awkward as when people sing “happy birthday” to you. I didn’t know if I should sing along or just stand there.

Once the choir was gone, we got back to waiting tables. I let my trainee take over and I stood back and helped when he needed it. He did a fine job, and I passed him on to the next stage. I ended up leaving around midnight, and went home and straight to bed.

June 27th, 2015

I got to work by 10:30, and stretched out. In the pre shift meeting we were told that anyone who has not sold a rewards card within the last month would have to attend a mandatory classroom training session with the general manager. I can not remember the last time I sold a card. The rewards card is just like every restaurant or grocery store, the more you come in, the more bonuses you earn. The difference between our card and others, is the $25 activation fee. Customers pay $25 which automatically goes to the card as $25 off on their next visit. It is basically paying ahead for the next time you come in. The only real selling point is that if they have the card, they don’t have to wait in line on a busy night, they get sat right away. The classroom training session is to teach servers how to sell them, or punish those who don’t sell them. When I found out that the managers got bonuses when we sold the cards, I stopped mentioning them to my tables.

The classroom training session is scheduled for Thursday, July 2nd, at 3 pm. My niece flies in at noon, and I will not be attending any such “mandatory” meeting. At first I was annoyed, and then enraged. I will not tell my 11 year old niece to take a cab from the airport because I have to be scolded for 3 hours at work.

I got behind the bar and then when it was slow, I checked my email to see my schedule for the week. I am scheduled a shift on Sunday July 5th, and a training class on July 3rd. I had requested that time off because my niece would be here, and having me train new people in a classroom setting for 6 hours is a bad idea even if I don’t have family on the island. I spent the rest of the shift wanting to quit. After listening to all the other servers talk about how the general manager is nit-picking and focusing on the very small details, I thought about quitting on the spot. Almost everybody working today was talking about interviews they had lined up at other restaurants.

I finished my shift at 5:30 and picked up Thai food on the way home. I was still annoyed, but once I ate, I calmed down. Rebecca and I watched the latest Sherlock Holmes movie and then I ended up going to bed around 9.

June 26th, 2015

I woke up around 9 and tended to my garden and did all my usual morning routines before going to work.

I was in a busy section, which was fine by me. I prefer being busy as it makes the night go by faster. I don’t remember any details about any of my tables, which means they were neither very good or very bad, it was an average night I recon.

I got home at midnight and went to bed, for I had to be up early and back to work by 11.

June 25th, 2015

I woke up promptly at 10:30 and ate leftover pizza for breakfast. I got an electronic mail last night telling me which book I need to buy for the EMT class, as well as letting me know where to but the uniform I will need for school. I used to own 6 pair of EMT pants, but they have vanished over the years and now I need to spend a bunch of money to buy more.

I watched Gangland and slowly got ready for work. I left earlier than usual and got into an imaginary argument with the general manager in my head before I got to work, which really helped me be in a good mood for my shift.

I was in an ok section, but had really bad tipping tables. I had a few leave 5% or less. I spent a majority of the time helping the bartenders because most of my tables didn’t speak English, and there isn’t much I could do to improve their experience, or get to know them.

I left around 11:30 and went home and watched Man Vs. Wild before going to bed.

June 24th, 2015

We left the house around noon where it was sunny, and headed to find a beach on the windward side. We were met with rain for most of the drive. The beaches were completely empty and I kept trying to get Rebecca to stop at one so I could go splashing in the waves. I don’t see the problem of getting rained on while in the ocean, its not like I’m going to get wetter. She was looking to sit on the beach and read a book, so anything involving rain was out of the question. We headed up to the north shore and stopped to ask about buying a used surfboard. Anything of descent quality was going for around $400.

We drove to Haleiwa where we got Hula Dogs and then I got an iced coffee before I bought a bottle of coconut volcano lotion and a bar of coconut soap with a mesh thing inside for to scrubbing. I think girls call it a loofa, or loopa. I’m not sure what they call it, but it smells good. Our next stop was the new North Shore Goodies store. I bought a 50 ounce jar and they gave us a jar of strawberry jam and a goodie bag filled with magnets, and a pen, and a bottle opener/flashlight/measuring tape.

We drove up to Ka’ena point, which is the very end of the road. We got out and inspected the tide pools, crawled over the sharp lava rocks, watched the waves, and basically had a good time at the beach without getting wet. I tried to convince Rebecca to stay and watch the sunset, but it was still 3 hours away and she was tired so we drove home. I dropped off my bag and headed to the store for frozen pizza and we ate while watching a movie about a robot who receives artificial intelligence and learns how to be sentient.

June 23rd, 2015

I woke up around 10 and made quesadillas for breakfast. I watched an episode or two of Gangland on the Netflix and went to water my lawn. One of the neighbor ladies whose two kids are always running around screaming seemed upset that I was making mud along the back side of our unit. If she is so worried about her kids getting muddy, she should teach them to not go behind our apartment.

I went inside and took a shower and got ready for work. I had a trainee tonight who showed up early and had actually studied the menu. The shift started out slow, but we were in a busy section. She knew what she was doing so I just stood in the background making sure nothing went wrong.

I left around 11:30 and went home to work on my novel about a young boy who is released from prison for embezzling money from his junior high’s bake sale, and spends his days at diners hoping to woo a waitress with his juggling skills. The only problem is that he was born with feet for hands and can’t juggle. I still need to work out the finer points of the plot.

June 22nd, 2015

My phone rang at the wee hours of the morning, at 9 am. It was the pharmacy letting me know that my inhalers were ready for pick up. I made nachos for breakfast and then Rebecca and I headed to Costco to stock up on supplies. I found an 8′ long board for $125. I was tempted to buy it so I could begin to learn how to surf. I can’t live in Hawaii and not surf, it’s like living in France and not drinking wine and smelling like you have bathed. Rebecca and I considered buying the surf board, but we had no way to bring it home, and a surfboard rack for my moped costs $150. I would have to spend more to buy a way to carry the surfboard than I would spend on the actual board. We ended up not buying the surf board, and we got fruit and vegetables instead.

We got home and I washed the 3 months worth of bird feces off of Rebecca’s car and got ready for work. I got to work early and had chicken strips and garlic bread for lunch. The shift started out slow, and didn’t get much busier. I spent the majority of the night helping out the bartenders. Most of my tables were non English speaking, so I had a lot of free time.

I got home around 11:30 and watched documentaries on gangs on Netflix before going to bed.

June 21st, 2015

I was up at 9:30 and at work by 11. I left my phone on top of the fridge charging, so I used my buddy’s phone to text Rebecca and ask her to bring it to me. I was in the bar, and the general manager was not there today, which mad for a relaxing shift. I was able to keep the shelves stocked with beer cutting down on the amount of time I had to spend at the end of the shift stocking.

I had a 10 minute break between shifts, in which I inhaled food and called my dad to wish him a happy Father’s Day. I was supposed to be training someone tonight, but she showed up late and they sent her home. I was in the very back of the restaurant but managed to be fairly busy.

It turned out to be a 12 1/2 hour day, and I was exhausted by the time I got home, but my brain was buzzing like a swarm of angry bees. I stayed up for a while watching one of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and then I went to bed.

June 20th, 2015

I was up at 6:30 and out the door by 7. I had to get gas for my moped and I got a Danish for breakfast. I stopped at Starbucks and they had my drink ready before I even reached the register. I started prepping the bar but was still too tired to be thinking clearly. After last week, where the general manager told me I needed to keep the second drink well stocked with ice, even though we never ever use it, I put a bucket of ice inside, even though it holds 6 buckets. When he showed up today at noon, he walked back, looked in the nearly empty drink well, patted me on the back, which I despise, (I don’t like being touched) and said “this is strike two.” I pointed out that the we don’t use that drink well, and the nozzle is missing so we can’t use it even if we needed to. “When I decide to change the spec’s on bar opening I’ll let you know. Until then, do what you are told” was his response. As he walked away my hands started shaking because I was so angry. How can someone who has never waited tables, or been a bartender know what actually needs to be done behind the bar.

Later during the shift, I was headed to the bathroom. When he is working I am not allowed to leave the bar to stock beers or fruit, other bartenders can, but he will always stop me and ask why I’m not where I am supposed to be. He saw me out of the bar, turned to ask why I was “out of my cage” and was just about to say something when I turned to go to the bathroom. For the rest of the shift, I had another bartender stocking supplies, to which he said nothing.

Both of the other bartenders were scheduled double shifts, so they both got to go home before me, even though I had started earlier. I was there for 10 1/2 hours without a break and I was mentally done by the time I got home. Rebecca made dinner and I watched Netflix until going to bed around 12.