May 1st, 2017

After work last night I drove into town and met up with Jeremy the lead bartender, and Sean, one of our regulars. I got to the restaurant right as Jeremy was finishing up and we went to his house for cigars. I got home around 4 and fell asleep on the couch.

I woke up at 11 and started getting ready for my bar shift. I realized I have only worked behind the bar 6 times since the beginning of the year. 

The shift went well, but I’m glad I only have to work there when I want to. I spent the night entertaining tourists and showing ultrasound pictures of the baby to anyone who would look at them.

I am excited and terrified to become a father. Someone is going to depend on me to survive. I realize as an EMT, most of my patients depend on me to keep them alive, but having a baby seems like so much more than transporting sick or injured people.

We finished around 02:00 and I drove home and spent a few hours pacing around the condo. My feet, legs, knees, and back are killing me  from running around for 9 hours, but I’m still not tired. 

Sept 20th, 2015

On my way to school, the accelerator on my moped was stuck in the on position, which meant the moped was constantly trying to propel itself forward. I took it in after class and walked home to read up on toxicology. Just as Rebecca was about to take me to work, they called and said the moped was fixed. I got a ride to the shop and rode to work. I was bartending again. It’s nice to be able to do something where I can just turn off my brain and go on autopilot.

I got home around midnight and went to bed.

August 30th, 2015

I was at Waikiki at 7:30 this morning to set up for our clinical class. We set up chairs and took blood pressures of people walking by. We didn’t chase people around with stethoscopes, but rather we asked if they would like their vitals checked. It was a good opportunity for me to practice a skill I have all but forgotten. We were there until noon and I had sweat through my uniform hours earlier. 

I went home, made lunch and went to work. I was behind the bar tonight. It was dreadfully slow, which was good for me because my brain isn’t really focused on work right now. 

I got home around 1 and went to bed after showering. 

Aug 24th, 2015

I woke up at 7:30 and got ready for my shift. It started raining around 11 last night and it hadn’t stopped. At 8:15 I was outside in the rain trying in vain to start my moped. After 20 minutes I had killed the battery. I ran inside to call work an let them know what was going on and that I was going to take the bus. I missed the next bus by seconds. I arrived to work 15 minutes late and soaking wet. 

There were two of us scheduled to open the restaurant at 9. The other guy forgot he was working and finally showed up at 11 after the manager called. 

I left around 5:30 and took the bus home with water still sloshing around in my boots.  
I made dinner and then went to the store for breakfast foods I could make and eat quickly. At 8:30 my restaurant called. I didn’t get to the phone quick enough to answer so I waited for the voicemail. The manager was asking me to come in and bartend  because both of the bartenders were gone. I didn’t know what happened, but later found out that they both cut their hands open on broken glass at separate times and they both had to get stitches. 

I have my first day of class at 7:30, and didn’t want to be working until past midnight. I didn’t call back and went to bed around 9:30. 

August 22nd, 2015

I was scheduled to work behind the bar from 11-5, but one of the night bartenders had something happen so they asked me to double. I had a 4 minute break where I inhaled a burger patty and some broccoli to the amazement of everyone watching. 

When the 6 o’clock bartender showed up, she was wearing white socks so the manager sent her to buy some black socks before she was allowed to start. 

It was 118 behind the bar where the smoothie machine exhaust vent blows right in to the person making the drinks. We have an 8 inch fan, but it doesn’t do much. 

I finished around 11 and went home to shower. When I got home I noticed I had a heat rash going up both arms and all over my chest, neck and back. There was absolutely no wind today and 100% humidity. 

I went to bed at 11:30 but kept waking up to flip the pillow over because it was soaked with sweat. 

August 20th, 2015

I was at work right before my shift at noon. I picked up a night shift which started about a half hour before my morning shift ended. I had 4 minutes to eat my tuna and jalapeño “salad” and went right back to the bar. 

I was pouring drinks during the night shift, and I got worked. I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of tickets that kept printing out. I was too proud to ask the other bartender to jump in for me. 

After the first hour my back started to hurt. When I had a moment I bent over to stretch the muscles and I came up too fast and nearly passed out. I had to hold on to the counter to keep from falling over. It was over 100 degrees where I was standing. I realized later that I had only consumed around 800 calories all day, which is not nearly enough for a man of my size to sustain for a 13 hour shift. I had been drinking a ton of water, which I found out was doing more harm than good because I was flushing out electrolytes. 

We left just after 1:30 and I went straight to bed. I was worried I might pass out on the ride home because I was dizzy. I made it home safely and slept like a tranquelized baby seal. 

August 15th, 2015

I woke up around 9 and had breakfast. Once I had eaten, Rebecca and I went to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium where I got a backpack for school, and we got new Seahawks stickers for our Hydroflasks. On our way home, we drove through the tunnels so I could take a picture of the mountains and the sea for Rebecca. The theme of the school’s yearbook this year is “Mountains to the Sea”.

We got home, made lunch and then relaxed before work called me in an hour early. I was working in the bar tonight. It didn’t really get busy until 9. There was a big concert at the bar next door so we picked up the overflow. At one point, I had 7 tables, and the bar top was full of people. My brain turned off and I went into autopilot. People kept asking is I needed help, but I couldn’t answer as I was too busy running around taking orders, pouring beer and running drinks.

We left around 1:45 and I was wide awake until almost 5.

August 14th, 2015

I got to work 10 minutes before my shift. While in the pre-shift meeting the manager was talking about selling souvenir glasses. When she said “We aren’t just giving them a souvenir glass, we are also giving them a memory” I held in my laughter. I still had a smirk upon my face which she noticed. She plumed me aside and asked me not to mock the pre-shift meetings because I am a trainer, and like it or not people look up to me. I apologized for the disrespect and went to work my shift behind the bar.

It was slow and hot, the best part of the day was when I got to go into the beer cooler to stock up on bottles. When I was doing my register drawer at the end of the shift, the manager and I were joking about the incident earlier, she says that she gets my humor, but there are a lot of new people who look to me as an example, and then gave me an application to be a corporate trainer at new restaurant openings.

I went home, showered and then had dinner and Rebecca and I watched a movie and she went to bed while I filled out the corporate trainer application and watched The A-Team.

August 8th, 2015

I woke up at 9 and made breakfast. Rebecca came home from the chiropractor and we cleaned the house and made lunch. We sat down to watch a movie and I relaxed before going to work.

I was bartending tonight, and there was a party of 72 people with an open bar. There were 3 bartenders and it was the busiest shift I have had since I started bartending. The pedometer on my phone clocked me as having walked 8 miles, all while confined in a 30 square foot area.

There was a slight lull in activity and then we had a rush for happy hour. I got home around 2, took a shower and watched TV to relax my brain.

Aug 6th, 2015

I woke up and made breakfast, and while I was eating breakfast, I was making lunch. I had it all planned to pick up my shirts from the embroider, get a coffee and spend two hours studying before my shift.

On the way to the embroider, I hit a wall of traffic. Once I finally picked up my shirts, I realized that I had left my hat at home so I had to fight traffic to go back. I ended up studying for 45 minutes at home before going to work.

I was scheduled to serve, but they needed a bartender so I volunteered. It was a busy night which kept me on my toes for the entire evening. We left around 11:45 and I took a shower and went to bed.