John and I went to Olive Garden for dinner. We used our gift certificate and I feel sick, bloated. I can really tell the differnce between fresh and processed food now, since I have been eating healthy for over a year. Their dinner rolls tasted like flour water and yeast, zero flavor. I'm happy we didn't pay for that meal. John's happy I chose not to interrogate our server about GMOs.

My new job has caused me to reflect about who I am and where I am in life... mainly it has helped me realize some things I might not have thought about... like I am definitely not as young as I used to be. Who is really? We get older with each minute. I think of myself as still 20 something at times... ok... most of the time. I like to dress like the 20 year olds but then so does
Gloria Steinem... have you seen her in a mini skirt? That girl can still rock it in her late 60s! But so can Tina Turner and loads of other women.
For me though, I feel it most in the mornings. I stretch 99% of the time before I go to bed and 50% of the time in the mornings. I watch these young servers carry these very heavy trays of food all day... well 5 to 6 hours a day. But even so they still have lots of energy. My GM who is probably somewhere in his 40s requires only 4 hours of sleep a night and he is back in the game. I am sick and have been for a few days now... nothing earth shattering but a bad cold just the same. I can't keep up... There I said it and I hate to admit it. Those 10 hour days are taking its toll on me and I have only been doing this for a little over 3 months.
Let me back track a minute. I have a new GM. I was transferred a couple of weeks ago to another restaurant located inside a mall. This is my 4th store in 3 months and it's like starting a new job all over again. Each one operates differently even though they are part of the same restaurant chain. This also is an hour commute from home each way so I am gone 12 hours a day. Three days a week I work the closing shift and 2 days I open which means I have to be there 6 am... have I mentioned I am NOT a morning person. My GM tried to schedule me to work a closing shift ( 2pm - 11pm) and come back the next day at 6 am... who can do that ???? I cannot get maybe 4 hours sleep and be expected to be alert and run like mad for 10 hours. I just can't. I do know some people that can. Goddess bless them but I can't. We compromised and I will work the mid shift and leave at 8 pm... that still is not enough time for me to be rested and did I mention we are inside a mall? You know it's the holiday season and we are busier than hell. Hungry holiday shoppers... you can only imagine the type of mood these people are in! The movies they show on t.v. this time of year are quite accurate as far as how crazy and impatient people can get.
I am trying to hang on through the end of the year... it's only a few more weeks and then I have to look for another job. It really sucks because I had such high hopes for this job. Management... it sounds good and the pay is more than I ever got but the job really is about baby sitting, refereeing and lots of ass kissing to customers who really don't deserve it because they are only looking to get free stuff... have you heard of people complaining their food was terrible after they ate the whole thing and demanded to get the meal for free? It happens all the time at the restaurant and I have to give them the meal for free and sometimes throw in a free whole pie for them to take home because they threaten to contact the corporate office... that sounds a little like extortion to me. Oh well,like my hubby reminds me... they aren't taking money out of our checking account.

I'm off the next 2 days and plan to rest up. Hope your week and holiday experience is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud.

xoxo Inge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v20R8GytQSg

It's 1 am and I have been home 30 minutes. John is asleep and so are most of the critters, except for Jinx my long hair kitty. He is laying next to me purring and hoping I will pet him while I blog and surf the net. I found an interesting blog you might be interested in
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/heart-of-a-cowgirl. The author or is the correct term blogger? has a lifestyle that I would enjoy... she lives on a ranch with an assortment of critters and she makes beautiful western style jewelry. She has a shop on etsy too. I sure do miss making stuff and having that small booth in the antique mall last year. Running around that restaurant for 10 1/2 hours a day is not my dream job. It does pay the bills for now but I want to have my own business... I have trouble which route I want to go though... will it have something to do with critters? antiques? shabbly decor? handmade jewelry? a shop that features local artists? I think my indecision has to do with me being a libra... actually virgo/libra - depending on what is going on at the time... sometimes I am so grounded and other times I am a complete airhead. I do know that this restaurant thing ain't for me in the long term. I need to get to bed but I think I will surf the web a few more minutes.
Hope your weekend is fun and don't forget to laugh our loud!
xoxo Inge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKBIHcy9s7M

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. For me it is no big deal. I really do not understand the huge importance of this holiday except for grocery stores, gas stations and airlines. For them it is huge for the bottom line. As for me I have to work probably a 12 hour shift. Our restaurant is open and offering a Thanksgiving dinner. Really it is ok. I worked last year at the other restaurant in Chico. If someone works in restaurants or hotels working holidays are pretty much mandatory. What am I thankful for? Having the restraint not to stab anyone with a fork that pisses me off with their whining about having to work Thanksgiving!

Hope your day is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud!

xoxo Inge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a61m0bIqyv0

Maybe I'm not as "emapthetic" as I thought. I found out today that I got 2 complaints from my staff the other day. One was from my cashier... she brought her mother in yesterday to tell my GM that I made her feel bad because I told her she needed to learn how to count back change the old fashioned way - using her head and not to rely on the computer cash register to tell her how much change she should give. Someone else was upset that I actually expect them to work.
These kids today have been coddled way too much!
Hope your workday is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud!
xoxo Inge

Yesterday one of my servers brought me a platter that was stacked with the clean platters. Right in the middle of it was a... dissected fly... not a smashed fly... a dissected one... there was one leg, a wing, part of the torso... do flies have torsos?... and one eye... I know it was an eye because it had a shiny green tint. What kind of place is this????

Hope your day is fun and check out the plates before you eat at a restaurant ... the rest of the fly body is out there somewhere! And don't forget to laugh out loud!

xoxo Inge

The word is out... complain about our food, bring back a half eaten pie and say it sucks and we will give you lots of free stuff (food) ... really! This company has given the phrase "the customer is always right" a whole new meaning! Oh well, my husband reminds almost daily, it isn't my money...
Hope your day is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud!
xoxo Inge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RNb3tt0LM

Now I want to start this post by saying I am grateful to have a job and a well paying job at that... but having said that I really miss being able to blog, go to the gym, spend more time with my critters and hubby, snoop in thrift shops, make stuff... the 10 hour days really take it out of me. I am no spring chicken and it takes me longer to recover from the long work day and my days off are not together, they are split. Life is too short to work for the sake of working to make money. My goal is to remain at this job until John gets settled into a job that he likes and then I plan to go part time so I can work on doing something that excites me... discussing food costs, labor costs and managing waiters that remind me of cats (have you ever tried to get cats to do something they don't want to do? Then you have a taste of managing waiters in a restaurant) And don't get me started with the customers. xoxo Inge