Tonight was one of the slowest nights I’ve ever experienced in the restaurant.  Sunday nights, generally speaking, are slow.  Superbowl Sunday is historically the slowest night of the year.  I worked that night this year and we had a total of 16 guests (compared to last nights 200+).

This Sunday…tonight…19 guests.

That struck me as very odd.  Sure it was Oscar Night but I didn’t think (originally at least) that it would have such a huge effect on our business.  This whole week has been slow in fact (with a couple exceptions).

And…of course…there was the usual strange happenings in the restaurant.  The one that stood out in my mind the most was table 62.  They had a reservation for 7 people (grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, 3 kids).  It was someones birthday (not sure who) so the whole family went out for dinner.  This table stood out initially because the kids had such unhappy and bored expressions on their faces.  Maybe they wanted to watch the Oscars too…

Eventually their server came up to me with a print out from our POS (Point Of Sale) machine.  He told me that the guests (mom and dad) wanted the bill split between two credit cards.  Both credit cards were declined.  This is extremely rare in the restaurant so we were both a bit surprised.  We had been processing cards all day so I doubted it was a problem with our system.  I told him to try the cards again then talk to the guests.  He did and still no go.

The dad was pretty pissed…blaming us for this, yada yada.  He stormed off to the Bank of America ATM just outside the plaza to get cash while mom called the bank.  Turns out the bank’s computer network/system was down…so the card wasn’t out of funds nor was it our computers issue.

It’s funny how people react so strongly to things like that.  I’m a bit torn myself.  Part of me thinks it is miraculous how technology allows us to be able to pay for everything with a simple swipe of plastic.  It makes life so convenient, so simple, so painfully easy to blow all your money.  I’ve grown to expect this simplicity at all times…so when it breaks down it can be frustrating.  But hey…it’s a complex miracle!  Deal with it!

So I might be getting some comments along the lines of “oh my god he wrote something!”.  Yeah…again…it’s a complex miracle.

Deal with it.

In case anyone who reads this has forgotten (or just didn’t know), I am a Restaurant Manager (Yes, caps…thank you, I’m proud). It’s not an easy job but it isn’t tremendously dificult either.

One requirement is dressing nicely. This means a dress shirt, slacks, tie, shiny shoes, belt, etc. Clean shaven too…and a “oh I’m happy to take care of you” smile.

This means doing lots of ironing. And I’ve become fairly good at it. I’m quick, efficient, and although I don’t love doing it…I don’t hate doing it either. It’s pretty mindless and I like the end product.

So yeah…ironing. Oh.

I struggled with the title for this post for a bit. I was having trouble trying to explain what it is I’ve been attempting to do here at home. And the reason for that trouble is…um…because I really don’t know what I WANT to do at home.

Obviously I want to sleep, eat, shower, fornicate, poop without anyone knocking…

I digress.

What I meant is what do I want to do with all this computer/music/TV/crap? I want to have a decent (better than average) audio setup at home. This should include quality speakers, access to a large music library and the ability to control it all with relative ease.

So I’ve been toying around with different ideas, different methods, different hardware and software solutions to how to accomplish…uh…whatever the hell it is I’m trying to accomplish.

And amazingly enough I’ve got a pretty good handle on this. That is not normal mind you…usually complicated stuff like this is a pain in the ass, frustrating, and doesn’t quite work out how I want it to.

I plan on writing up a full on page (with pictures, woo hoo!) on what I’ve created but I’m rather proud of what I’ve accomplished today.

Without getting into huge detail (’cause I don’t want to write this whole thing twice) I’ve successfully connected all the computers (2 PC’s and 1 laptop), a printer and a wireless music bridge together. I can access any file from any of the computers (as long as they are on of course!), have any of the computers access the printer, and play any of my music files through the home audio system…using any machine. Right now I’m sitting on the couch in the living room using my laptop to access my PC’s music files and play them through the stereo.

The part that absolutely blows me away was the extreme ease of doing this. I had sorta half assed the whole setup for a while now…but with the installition of one simple bit of software it all came together at once.

Technology is AWESOME.

I think I deleted all the crappy faker comments. I had over 600 of ‘em. That took a while.

Let’s see…the last time I update this was May. It’s early October. We’ll call it roughly 5 months since I posted last.

A couple things have happened since then. One or two.

And I haven’t mentioned any of them. Rats!

I’m not quite sure why I wasn’t doing this. For a while I just didn’t want to. Then sometimes I did, but just didn’t do it. Then I really did want to, and tried to, but I couldn’t remember my password. I had loaned out my laptop (which remembers the password) and when I tried to do it on my PC…nada. I dug around a bit to try and re-discover my password but…

Apathy. Ya know. Like…who cares?

But now I have my laptop again. I can find out my password. There is a lot of crapola to go off about and I know there are some people who really want to see some things or hear about some things or whatever.

So…this is my promise.

I promise nothing.

Yep…absolutely nothing. I promise, right here and now, that I may or may not keep this thing updated. I promise that I may or may not have lots of neat and idiotic things to day. I promise I may or may not share all kinds of pictures and shit with you are. I totally promise to maybe do more.

Hell…even the title of this post is wrong now. Woo hoo! I’m on a ROLL BABY!

But this is a start of something. The something could be nothing, or it could be everything.

And one final note for now…the Month Long Experiment was a bust. Sorry folks, I don’t have the willpower. Or do I…

This is a strange-ish schedule for me this week. Sunday = Work. Monday = Off. Tuesday = Work. Wednesday = Off. Thursday = Work. Friday = Off (with a Managers Meeting at 2 PM). Saturday = Work. Sunday = Work. Monday = Unknown at this point but probably Off.

Working every other day (or having every other day off…your choice) is a bit…strange. It’s nice to have this much freedom but at the same time really fucks with the flow of life. I’d much perfer to have a couple days on and a couple days off…in a row please.

With this new “me” of sorts I’ve found myself with a hell of a lot of energy and desire to…well…do stuff. So I’ve been going rather crazy with doing stuff. Hell, I spent nearly the whole morning/early afternoon on Wednesday power washing the front driveway. Why? Because I thought it would look cool. It does look nicer…but that was a rather crazy thing to do.

We got paid yesterday so this morning I deposited my check and headed off to Fry’s for a little present for myself. I had a couple things in mind…a subwoofer for the home theatre setup, maybe a new computer game (or video card), perhaps some other cool electronic gadget that I could play with. I’ve got the money to toss around a bit…so let’s see what I can find…

I found lots of cool things…but bought nothing. Everything I found that looked cool and neat just didn’t do it for me. I held whatever it was…checked out the specs…and found myself eventually wondering why the hell am I going to buy this for? I haven’t turned on my “big” PC for…oh, 2 weeks or so now. I have the stereo playing in the living room all the time but it sounds fine to me…no real need for better/fancier equipment. I’ve got the PS2 hooked up all clever and fancy now…and the games I have are fine, why get another? There was nothing I really “needed”…and as it turned out…nothing I really “wanted” either.

I suppose this comes back to the huge amount of mental projects I’ve got going on (Lego Star Destroyer that is sitting in the box in my room, the Subaru GL-10 that is sitting in the barn up at the farm, the giant box of computer bits and pieces sitting in the garage as my PC gets dustier, etc etc). Why buy some cool new toy when I’ve got all these other things I could play with?

What it all comes down to is that I don’t want to spend money on anything new/cool right now. I’ve got all kinds of cool stuff around here to fiddle with. Sure a new TV, speakers, video card, shoes, dress pants, whatever would be nice…I don’t need any of those things (maybe some clothes…but I’m waiting to see if my sizes change at all due to my experiment). I don’t need anything…and for (perhaps) the first time in my life…I went to one of the greatest toy stores of all…and bought nothing.

But WOW am I hungry now. So I’ll go eat.

PS: I saw that last night (and this morning) I got a couple people diving deep into my site. They read pages, downloaded videos, and generally spent a ton of time looking around. How cool…I wonder who they were? Actually, I know who one of them was. Isn’t technology cool? I thought about playing a little joke on them…posting some funny made up story to see how they’d react…but I changed my mind. I’d rather make ‘em sweat a little by posting this (if they read it). In summary…I know who is reading my site…and I think it’s hilarious…woot!

First of all…I’m not a perfect man. Obviously. I’ve had a couple drags from people (more than a couple) and I had some Rockstar today. But overall I’ve been doing a damn good job.

First…the smoking issue. The craving is pretty damn wicked. But…it’s not totally overpowering. Yes I have lapsed a little but it wasn’t because I was totally freaking out or in pain. It was simple weakness. The opportunity was there and I took it. And it “felt” damn good. But within minutes my allergies went NUTS, my mouth tasted awful and personally (emotionally and spiritually) I felt like shit. The urge is still there…and I won’t say it is getting weaker. It’s still just as strong…but I think as long as I stay focused and strong I won’t have a problem.

Second…Rockstar. This wasn’t as much a moment of weakness as it was an experiment within an experiment. I used to drink a LOT of Coke…and hadn’t had any in a couple days. Yesterday I bought an iced tea (all natural of course), drank it, and was literally bouncing off the walls. That caffine rush was something I hadn’t experienced in quite a while…since I would drink so much soda caffine didn’t have much of an effect anymore. So today I wondered what a Rockstar, a super energy drink, would do to me. Well…it tasted like crap. Well…sorta. It actually tasted “good”…good flavor, sweet and delicious. But it also tasted so…processed. It tasted so extremely fake. In essence…it was gross…but good. I’m sure you understand what I mean here. I had a couple mouthfuls and dumped the rest out. With regards to the energy nature…again, I’m full of energy…with a slight headache. I feel good but un-naturally good. I wouldn’t quite compare it with drugs because it lacks the europhoric sensation…but it is very similar.

I feel “bad” about the smoking lapse. But I don’t feel discouraged. I am fully aware of how hard it is to give up a serious chemical addiction. I know it isn’t something to be taken too lightly. I know it’ll be a struggle…a challenge…a mental/emotional/physical workout. And…I CAN do it. I am doing it.

I’m not a perfect man…but who the hell is? At least I’m doing something.

Final thoughts: I can’t believe how well I sleep these days! I wake up early with tons of energy. I feel like I’m more “aware” of the world these days…like my senses are functioning better…more receptive. My mind is much clearer too. I do tend to crash out a bit more early in the evenings…but I’m sure that is a result from the lack of serious caffine intake. My allergies are easier to manage. My body just feels…better. I like this, a lot.

So far…so good. I don’t particularily feel any different than I normally do. I woke up this morning and had a “breakfast shake” I concocted of various things I picked up at the local “good food” supermarket.

I didn’t smoke, and didn’t get a Rockstar (my energy drink/soda weapon of choice).

The day was fine…I drank a tremendous amount of water and fought off a bit of a headache. There were several times where I wanted to smoke but attempted to keep myself busy. I admit I got pretty ansy towards the end of the day and bailed out of work early…and by the time I got home I was tired and a bit out of it…so I took a nap.

I woke up when my dad came home, ran some errands for him and am getting ready to cook some dinner. I’m going with “house” made pasta (known normal ingredients), seared sea scallops (wild caught)…an “organic” sauce (butter, flour, milk, parm cheese and sprinkling of chives and lemon juice)…and a simple baby green salad. Thank god for Andronico’s…they are making this much easier.
I feel good…pretty much. I’ve got this building up conversation going on inside my body currently. Here is a small transcript…

Body: “Boy, I’d sure like a cig right now”

Brain: “Sorry but no…we aren’t doing that for a while”

Body: “That’s cool. Hey, let’s grab a soda”

Brain: “Well…that’s off the list too…”

Body: “No worries. How about a cig instead?”

Brain: “Uh, can’t do”

Body: “Hey…I can deal with that. I’d love some McDonald fries…something along those lines”

Brain: “Sorry but no”

Body: “It’s cool it’s cool. But I’d love a soda”

Brain: “Sigh…no can do…”

And on and on. It’s not like I’m freaking out, or that Body is rebelling…throwing a temper tantrum…threatening or crying…it’s just sort of…politely insisting at this point. It’s managable but mildly aggrevating. I’m worried about that aggrevation growing.

But for now…hey, it’s cool.

Lately…I’ve been feeling crappy. Physically crappy that is. I’m not sure if it has been some increased stress from work (things are a bit complex there…but not really bad per say), this annoying Spring (I do love warm weather…but the heavy rains before created nasty allergies), some personal stuff (stupid women…75% over that crap) or whatever…or a combo…etc.

And I’ve been reading this book (I mentioned that before). And today I watched “Super Size Me”. Considering my career choice it’s probably something I should have watched/read a long time ago.

So this is my 30 day experiment.

-No food of questionable origins. This is rather tough to nail down specifically…what is “questionable origins” anyway? With my food educational background I am defining it as “any food that I am completely clueless about what the ingredients are”. For 30 days I want to know exactly what it is I am putting into my body. This means absolutely nothing that I cannot (and have not) see the ingredients list for. This will make eating out a bit dificult. Going to a burrito place and asking (what, exactly, are all the ingredients in your quacamole? your sauce? where does your cheese come from and may I see the food label?). This is going to force me to A) cook at home much more and B) eat at places where the ingredients are easy to figure out. Thank god I work at a restaurant! But this means goodby McDonalds…that’s for sure…and Rockstar…sigh!
-No ingredients that I cannot define myself. Sure…I can pick up a can of Sierra Mist and read the label…but hell if I know what calcium disodium EDTA is. Of course I could look it up fairly easily but I want this experiment to be based soley off current knowledge. Again this will cause some dificulty I’m sure as there are lots of things which I don’t know…but I think I can handle it. This INCLUDES high fructose corn syrup…which will be EXTREMELY dificult to avoid. Trust me on this…I’ve been looking at labels.
-No smoking. Ah…now this is the kicker. Smoking is something I am definitively addicted to. With this current awful allergy season it is absolutely killing me…congested + smoke = hard time breathing, very stuffed up, feeling very crappy. I “feel” I am “ready” to quit smoking but I don’t know if I can do it right now. So I am going to give it 30 days…test out the waters so to speak. I’m not promising to “quit”…I’m just promising to “take a break”. Ow…

-Have at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. Again…a bit more dificult to define. But since this is my experiment I can make all the rules. So I am defining 30 minutes of exercise as “30 consecutive minutes of elevated heart rate due to physical activity”. This could mean taking a walk for half an hour, 30 minutes of yard work (not watering the lawn mind you…but seriously moving about getting that heart rate up), or (of course) 30 minutes of “working out” (traditional stuff…sit-ups, push-ups, weights, yada).

I could be all ultra scientific about this…take pictures, measure and quantitate, use scales and graphs and all that jazz…but I’m going to keep it very simple. I’m going to go use the old scale sitting in the garage and…well…look at myself in the mirror. Gimmie a minute…

I weigh in at 176 lbs on our (probably innacurate) scale. Physically I look skinny up top, hairy as fuck, and my stomach is getting fat. Physically I feel mildly tired, my mouth and noes are itchy (stupid allergies).

When I wake up tomorrow I’ll start this new plan. I’m rather curious how it’ll turn out. Wish me luck!

I’ll try to update my observations daily…but I make no promises.

Here are some searches that have found my site recently….

-women fucking donkeys

-donkeys fucking women

-sexy donkeys

-stories of women and donkeys

-normal sized donkeys eat

-when tractor racing began

-creepy phrases

And then there has been a whole bunch about the Dakota stereo install and the ss8c automatic timer.

Funky!