Can I See Your ID, Please? And Then Can I See Another?

Not sure I mentioned in my last bartending post that I worked last Friday at a full bar, only the oh, second time in my entire life, and the first time since graduating from bartending school. The whole night I had "steam coming out my ears" in concentration, as my boss told me - mostly because he was figuratively looking over my shoulder the entire night. And by figuratively I mean he stood about two feet away. Watching me. Correcting me. So I was pleasantly surprised (well, sort of surprised - I'm not that dense) when my other boss, who also works for the one who supervised my "first" foray into real bartending, told me that I'd done well enough on Friday to please Boss #1, and there'll be more shifts coming my way in future.

But I digress.

Last night I worked at the concession stand bar again, which has some of your basic rail drinks and about six cordials and liqueurs. So this little man comes up to me, about my height and just about as wide as he is tall, with a young'un who looks like his son. Orders a Heineken Light for himself, turns to his son, asks what he wants. The young man orders the same thing, and because his cheeks are smooth and he's still pretty, like he hasn't grown into his bones yet, I card him. He hands me a godforsaken Alabama ID. If you've never seen one, they don't look as fake as those from New York, but they're not as ... fake-proof as the new Virginia licenses. I can't remember why, maybe the picture didn't look like him, but I ask for a second one, or a credit card, to check his name. He hands me another (old?) ID - that has a different birthdate!! Understandably confused, I point it out to him. Also confused, he hands me his scuba diving card (scuba diving?) ... after looking at all three (three) IDs he's graciously given me, I finally hand him the beer. At some point during this exchange, his dad looks at me and says, "I'm buying" and I had to point out that he asked his son what the latter wanted to drink, as in, his son was clearly going to drink that Heineken Light.

Green Furniture Update

Success! Just proved the old adage that begins "If at first you don't succeed..."

On a whim, and because I was in "furniture-buying" mode, I decided to go to the local antiques store, just on the off-chance I might find a table/sofa/chairs that I liked. Well, I did! I found a 19th century primitive country table - made to last 200 years, I suppose. Though scratched and beat up, it's still in excellent shape. At any rate, I can't afford it. What I could afford, however, were two 50s diner-style chairs from Royal Manufacturing Co. They're teal green with light yellow upholstered seats, metal frame with vertical slats in the back - and surprisingly comfy! Definitely an impulse buy - they're not going to "go" with any of my (admittedly few pieces of) other furniture.

I can't find any images online that even remotely resemble the chairs I bought today, but the next time someone comes over with a digital camera I'll have them take photos to put up.

Green Furniture

I haven't written about anything "green" in a very long while. I suppose that goal of mine got shoved to the back burner while I was going through some stressful challenges over the past three months. It looks as though I'm on the climb back up to good days however (knock on wood), so I'll devote just a second here to get back to my "green" choices.

Unfortunately I consider my plans for today to have resulted in an epic fail. I meant to go to Upscale Resale, a consignment furniture store in the area, and actually purchase something. I need furniture with seats for butts, tables for drinks and coasters, and possibly a TV stand. Basically, I have no furniture.

It's lucky for me that my two interests related to furnishings align. I love historical ... well, anything, really, including furniture ... so you'd think this would work out great, because most secondhand furniture is usually from some sort of historical period (whether it be the art deco of the '20s or more traditional Colonial style). Sadly, no dice. Not today.

Flirting on the Job

Last month, I decided to invest in my future career. I signed up for bartending class. Five weeks and much hesitation later, I received my bartending certification (still awaiting TAM certification). This required a test on Techniques of Alcohol Management, a written test on how to make tdrinks, different brands of liquor, etc, and a speed test. I passed all with flying colors, of course!

Three weeks after completing the course, I still haven't really started looking for a bartending job - because I already have one (sort of). Well, I work with other bartenders and have been falling far behind in accumulation of tips. Which, as everyone knows, is the reason to bartend. If one doesn't do the work for the flexible hours, the contact with people, or the opportunity to flirt, etc.

Which brings me to the point of this post. I sagely asked one of the more experienced (read 10 years +) bartenders for some advice on increasing the amount of tips I make in an evening.

Boiled down, the short answer is: Flirt.

Well. That's easy for some, I suppose. I, however, was not born with a gift for flirtation. Don't get me wrong, I can, and do, and I enjoy it ... it just doesn't always naturally occur to me to do so. Especially if I'm trying to remember how to make a drink, or putting an order on the computer at the same time. My "concentration" face does not include a smile. So you can bet I'll be practicing tonight at my second shift as a real bartender with a full bar. I have a couple new tips up my sleeve, and we'll see how they work out.

If You Play In Mud, You're Going to Get Dirty...

... So how dirty do you want to get?

Well, I've been back from Utah for a whole sad week now. And by "sad", you may infer I had an excellent time camping on the river with sand, mosquitos, scorpions, snakes and strange creatures called "sand bears". Is there a wikipedia entry for that last one yet, I wonder?"

14 people, seven canoes, and no serious injuries! Even I only had bruises and mosquito bites to contend with - I, who have apparently become accident-prone in the past two years. Not only that, there weren't any public tiffs or unpleasantness between parties. That I noticed. I can't speak for everyone, but I for one had a marvelous time.

Highlights would include the death-defying leap off a cliff into the river thirty feet below. Okay, not death-defying but certainly pee-in-your-pants frightening! Not that I did, just for clarification. As afraid of heights as I am, it took a looooot of thinking before I leapt off that cliff. I was okay standing on the edge until my cousin got to "three!" when it became clear I would actually have to move from the edge to the empty air... I will admit it was the most exciting part of the entire trip.

The other major highlight is the view from the top of the middle canyon over the river to both sides and canyons occupying all four corners of horizon. Even the scramble down was fun, requiring as it did careful thought to the placement of one's feet (avoid the pebbles, test this large rock for wobblies, put a hand out to steady a small jump down, okay we're good).

Ah yes, and that one point where most of us were treading water almost on top of each other and laughing for, well, I never knew what was going on, just heard the yelps and shrieks and giggles.

Steering a canoe = challenging and fun, but not my favorite part. Maybe when I get all the tricks down. I especially liked the part of not steering, where my brother told me to put down my paddle and let him do all the work ;). With pleasure! I replied.

The lowlights probably include trying to jump in the river from a steep bank and climb over three canoes, where the feet sink into four inches of mud and the water immediately rises up to the hips - all just to pee! And the mosquitos. Did I mention the mosquitos? My legs still itch. Never saw the scorpions, though we did run into some menacing bees, wasps and spider webs.

Oh! And I forgot the episode of the runaway canoes! last minute decision to eat lunch on an island created havoc when the rafted-together boats couldn't be untied in time, and some boats sped past while another two (I won't mention that one of them was the one I was in), still joined together bow to stern careened and jacknifed ashore with help from our Fearless Leader. Were there not two other Heroes along on the trip, we might have had a smaller table for lunch. I'll leave those stories to them, however.

Most of the trip involved lazy rafting and floating punctuated by frantic attempts to move away from either bank the "raft" had started drifting towards, excellent meals and good companionship. Some beer-drinking on the river, some evenings spent in the company of a box or two of red wine... one of which included a lengthy discussion about, oh, satelites, black holes, constellations and programming languages! I suppose I should have expected it, more than half of the group being either a computer scientist or an aerospace engineer of some kind or another.

It all ended with a hose-off shower in the back yard of the outfitters and a comfortable 6-hour drive with fantastic music ;), pizza and a too-large brunch the next day, the purchase of my first graphic novels ever, and a mortally dead phone.

Now I can say I've been to the Utah desert. And what a trip it was.

Wherein the Author Gets Back on the Proverbial Horse After A Month of Unexcused Absence

So it's been about a month since my last entry. Not that I've really done anything noteworthy in that time, but there's always something to write about, right?

In a few quick sentences, the skinny on the past month of my life:

1. I moved out of my shared apartment into my very own place. Still haven't unpacked most of the boxes, but at least I've got organized closets!!

2. I've been skipping Krav Maga lately so my triceps and quads have lost much of their muscle-tone (though there wasn't much there to begin with...). This is disappointing, especially as I'm about to spend a week virtually living in a swimsuit of one kind or another (more on that later).

3. The reason my boxes are still unpacked: for the last five weeks I've been studying and taking classes all day every Saturday to be a bartender. Last Saturday, on the Fourth of July, I passed the written test and the speed test, and am now officially a certified bartender! Next step, real bartending job.

4. I've been (sort of) getting ready for a badly-needed week's vacation in Utah. Will be canoeing and camping on a river there. Hence the aforementioned swimsuits. Backwoods-type camping, so no showers, no toilets ... it will definitely be an interesting, adventurous trip. Oh, and it's the desert, so we'll have to watch out for scorpions - YIKES. Aside from those ugly little details, I'm looking forward to a week of sun, water, and fun.

Well, that's about it! I'm sure I'll have tons of fun stories to tell when I return... check in in a week or so.

P.S. the fingers have more or less healed... more on one finger, less on the other... I'm not actively worrying about the extra swelling around the latter... well, I'm sure I can spare you the gritty details.