bitterbartender

My week

2013-08-25T01:23:00.001-04:00

The Bombay Sapphire completion that I won last year was this week. I lost. My friend won. I thought I had a pretty kick ass drink. I was told by trusted associates that it was good. The judges just liked what some other people did better than mine. I worked last Wednesday and Thursday at Curio. I worked Friday through Monday night at Bodega. I worked Wednesday through Friday at Curio and tonight at Bodega. I closed with Adrianna last Friday. That was cool. I saw Zak and Sarai on Thursday as well as Adrianna and Sandy. I got my shift covered tomorrow so I can tour Brothers Drake Meadery with the USBG. That should be fun. I am the most boring person alive.

Books and movies and Vice Versa

2013-08-13T23:45:00.002-04:00

I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books. Sometimes they collide, sometimes they don't. They are right now with the movie "Beautiful Creatures". I've been doing that with many things lately. Peter Mayle's books and the movie "A Perfect Year". J.K. Rowling's book "A Cuckoo's Calling". I get on kicks where I have to read and watch a bunch of stuff. I have a very odd brain.

Elevator

2013-08-13T14:14:00.001-04:00

I'm going to give this brewpub another chance. I had to stop across the street at fedex office to scan and print some new insurance documents. It's between services so I should be okay. My last couple of experiences here have been just okay. Nothing great. Nothing horrible. There is a bike share station right outside it. That's a plus since I don't have a working bike right now. I only really like one of their beers.

Day off

2013-08-13T10:34:00.001-04:00

I'm going to try out the Columbus Zoo today. I can take the bus out there and get half off admission and not have to pay for parking. I love animals. If I had more time and was allowed, I would get a dog. A little one.

Food isn't as good for you as you think; or, this isn't food.

2013-08-13T10:16:00.000-04:00

I'm watching a show on the History Channel called "Food Tech". This episode is about hamburgers and french fries. It's interesting, but its also weird. I think it was sponsored by McDonalds and large agricultural conglomerates. It extols the virtues of feedlots for cattle, white flour for buns, processed cheese, and burgers made from whatever is lying around at the processing plant. He makes mention of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and how that influenced the modern, safer changes in modern food processing plants. That's not true. Have you read "Fast Food Nation" or watched "Super Size Me"? Modern food production is disgusting. It's not food. I'm not sure what it is. I'm not so much worried about what is and is not good for me, I just want to eat real food.

Drunkeness is...

2011-08-28T22:02:00.000-04:00

I work in a bar. I live down the street from where I work. The district I live in has a number of bars close to each other. I know bartenders, servers, managers and bouncers at all these bars. This can be awesome. It can also be disastrous.
Yesterday I attended a local beer festival. I had a great time. I tried a number of beer that I hadn't tries before. I spent time with people with from other bars and reps from beer companies and local distributors. After that was over I caught a ride with one of the bar owners. We stopped at a cool pizza place that carries a great list of craft beer. We then went to his bar and drank beers on his private rooftop patio. I then went down the street to watch some of my friends bands play. Hot mess at this point. I remember doing one shot of Wild Turkey. (I love bourbon!) I remember leaving. When I woke up this morning I had three texts waiting for me. They asked me where I went and that I forgot to pay my tab. I never walk on a tab. It's the first time I've done it at this bar. I've been spending time here a few days a week for over two years. I felt like an idiot this morning. Drunkeness is fun and costly. More cost to my dignity than to my wallet.

More work woes

2010-02-01T15:43:00.001-05:00

So we are going to start serving dinner next week; after 10 months of only serving lunch and Sunday brunch. The menu looks good. The wine list looks good. The FOH staff is coming together. The major problems are the BOH staff and the owners. For the most part, the cooks suck. The owners are nice, bit clueless. We have an experienced chef who is helping us plan the menu, but he is not able to work the line like he should because of his age. Today the owners decided to sit down and rework the menu. I fear that they are going to mess it up and make it something that only appeals to the lower class of customers. I don't want this to happen. I want to appeal to a higher class of paying customers so tips will be higher. It's impossable to explain this to he owners because of their lack o restaurant experience. I'm scared for the future of this place. I need to make more money and they're not helping by dumbing down the menu. Any thoughts?

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Day off

2010-01-23T20:08:00.001-05:00

I'm bored but content. Haven't done anything work related all day. Just ate, read and watched movies. I need more of these days. One of the reasons to work in a restaurant or bar; alot of downtime.

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Working

2010-01-21T12:50:00.001-05:00

Working for someone else sucks. Especially when your not sure what the owner would want to do in a given situation or when you know what he/ she would want to do but it is the wrong thing. I just want to work for someone who is willing to spend money to see his/her business suceed and puts their employees first. Someone with money, smarts and experience. Is that to much to ask?

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Facebook keeps me busy

2010-01-13T10:37:00.002-05:00

It's amazing to me how pervasive Facebook is in my everyday life. It doesn't help that I now have push notification my iPhone. I really enjoy talking to people and Facebook doesn't require that I travel too many places. I can stay in my normal life and still keep in touch with just about everyone I know. Of the hundred or so friends I have on Facebook there are only three that I don't know in real life. (Two wine reviewers and this random hot chick from Australia.) Everyone else is someone I either know from my high school or college era or who I have worked with or around in the past/present. And I do have some actual friends on there as well. (See, I'm not that much of a loser.) My roommate makes fun of how much I admire and enjoy technology. I just think its fun and interesting.

Life...

2010-01-12T15:47:00.002-05:00

is pain. Work is work. I don't love it or hate it. It just is. Its cold. I don't want to leave the house. My roommate is back in school for the quarter. That means its just me and the dog home alone most of the day. I'm still not driving cause I can't afford to pay the reinstatement fee. My car is broken. I'm behind on bills. I do have food. I do have friends. I miss my parents and want to see my brothers and my nephew. I just need money to pay everything down and then, maybe, think about traveling. I need to not live in Ohio any more. I want to move, and meet women, and work in a kick-ass place, and have more money. It might happen someday.

hiring and firing

2010-01-12T15:31:00.002-05:00

I have been both hired and fired a few times now. Doesn't the hiring process suck great big donkey balls? I have been blown off and treated so rudely by many regional and general managers that it makes me not want to job search ever again. Regionals think they rule the world, but if you break one of their little rules or inconvenience them one bit, that's it, your outta here! If anyone ever comes into my bar looking for work I make every effort to treat them like human beings. I act politely towards them, I offer them something to drink, I answer any questions they might have and (if we are not hiring at the moment) I tell them of opportunities at other restaurants. I want them to get a job. If they are the right people I want them to work with me. Keep in mind there are a few things that I find unacceptable when looking for a job in a restaurant. Come in during a slow period. The general rule is between two and four, Monday through Friday. Dress appropriately. You don't need to be in a suit, but don't wear sweat pants and/or anything ripped or ragged. Don't dress slutty. Turn your phone off. (Really? Do you need to talk to buddy a or buddy b RIGHT NOW!!!) Bring a pen. (You knew you were coming here to try and get a job? Be prepared!) Bring a resume and all your previous job info and references. It just shows that your serious and organized. Don't apply for something for which you are completely unqualified! (I can do any job in a restaurant. Most of you can't!) If the manager is anywhere near capable and not looking just to hire some hot chick, he/she will at least give you an interview if they are currently hiring. If they are not, come back in a month and try again. I just wish that managers would be honest with prospective employees and treat them like people and not cattle. Don't blow people off just cause you don't have time or you don't think they are pretty enough! Give them information. Make them want to work for you. I have walked out of places and not called them back or answered phone calls because the manager was a dick and didn't treat me like a person. (Why would I want to work for a dick, again?) Hiring is hard. Everyone needs to do what they can to make it better.

Somebody, please, shoot me!

2009-08-04T22:06:00.003-04:00

So I had a very unexciting night tonight. I made five dollars! I made two cocktails for the cocktail server (Heather) and made two drinks for people at the bar. I got coffee for Lakia's group who were cold calling for the Obama campaign on health reform, but they gave me cake! I ordered food for Mike and Tico made me a burger for dinner ( I know, realllll healthy!!). I decided to walk home because I didn't want to wait for the bus and I didn't want to spend any money at the bar. We get paid tomorrow and I need to pay some bills, but more importantly I need to make some money so I can buy some things that I need. Tomorrow will be a better day. I get to work with the new server Ronda. She is nice and very attractive and is also a bartender, so she knows what she is doing. Now I'm going to do some laundry and catch up on The New York Times for the week and probably drink a beer. I have the most exciting life ever!!

And it just keeps going.

2009-08-01T16:11:00.002-04:00

I'm having a good day today. I'm well rested. I saw alot of my friends last night. I didn't drink to much. I've been talking to my roommate most of the day about the state of our lives and our future professional goals once we move from Ohio. The new restaurant is going rather well. We have had our liquor licence for just over a week now. We have been doing a nice happy hour with drink and food specials and live music Monday through Friday afternoons. I'm finally making real money. This translates into my ability to actually pay bills on time and begin paying rent again.
As for last night, I went to a club downtown for a few minutes with two people from work. It was kind of lame. It wasn't real busy. The DJ was good, but no one was dancing because they were not crowded. The bartenders were adequate, but one of them had to have a bar back show here which bottle was the Grand Mariner! Kinda sketchy! My friend Kelley called me to see if I was on my way to the mall where we all worked together for Dawn's going away. (Dawn is moving to Texas with her baby-daddy!) I told her no, but then I got one the people I was with to give me a ride up, and I was very glad that I did. I saw just about everyone I know that works at that mall. I got to catch up with all my friends and hear all their latest stories. It was a good time. I get to work a private party later tonight and then I have tom morrow off. It should be a good weekend.

I am sooo exciting!!!

2009-07-04T13:04:00.004-04:00

So, its Saturday morning. No, its actually Saturday afternoon. I have today off because the new restaurant that I am working at is not open on Saturdays. I had yesterday off as well. The most exciting thing I did yesterday was go grocery shopping. I was able to do this because I received my vacation check from my last job. I now have some money in the bank, so I'm not going to starve. My big excitement for today is reading the New York Times and preparing Jamie Oliver's roast chicken and potatoes recipe. I would do something on the grill, but its out of propane and I don't have the money to fill it up. I also don't know where to go to fill it up and I don't think they would let me take the propane cylinder on the bus.
Work is work. Its not good or bad; it just is. I tell everyone who asks that its a job and its better than not working at all. We still don't have our liquor license so we are still not doing dinner. Coke should have been in yesterday morning to install our bar guns and ice wells, but I'll believe it when I see it. I've gone back to Bar X a few times in the past two weeks to see all my friends there. Its been very nice to see all of them. I really miss hanging out there on a daily basis. I might go there tomorrow night to see JD and some of the girls because I have Monday off so I can stay up/out late on Sunday.
I really need to work at that mall again. Its where the money and people are in this city. I enjoy working downtown. Its been very enlightening.
On the tech news front. If you don't already have an iPhone, GET ONE!!!! I love mine. The job search has been made much easier by having one. The price is right at this moment in time. They start at $99!! I know AT&T is more expensive than Verizon, but they have great coverage. I have also had very good luck with their customer service. (Both with Apple and AT&T.)
I have been able to pay most of my bills. My roommate is AWESOME! and has been letting me slide on rent as long as I keep paying the scooter insurance, wash the dishes, mow the lawn, do laundry, feed and bathe the dog and generally keep the house clean. I know that sounds like alot, but we have a small house so its not very time consuming. My parents have been helping me cover my school loans. They are the best and know that I only ask for help when I really need it. I'm going to watch something on http://www.hulu.com/ now and then hit the store for the last things I need for dinner tonight.

New Job

2009-06-03T17:11:00.004-04:00

I got a job at a new independent restaurant in the downtown area. We don't have a liquor license yet so we are just serving breakfast and lunch. The owners are nice and the GM is very cool. He appreciates me and all the knowledge I have to offer. He likes the fact that I work hard and he makes me want to contribute to the success of this restaurant. I pretty much took over the Togo part of lunch (I'm just not making much money off of it) and run it out of the bar. It's a crap shoot as to whether or not I'm going to be busy with Togo on any given day. I have slowly started to get some gentleman who sit at the bar for lunch. I get tipped on every other Togo, so I am starting to make a little bit of money, but I'm waiting for my paycheck on Friday so I can get my checking account out of the negative. The girls from The Seafood Restaurant keep calling and checking on me. That's nice. Some of them want to come to Sunday Brunch at the new restaurant to see me and to have some of the wonderful homemade food that we are serving. After having opened six corporate restaurants, I knew opening an independent restaurant was going to be a different experience, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be when the owners of this new restaurant have no experience in the industry! They are doing OK for right now, but just OK. The kitchen needs some serious work! We have no experienced line cooks! I've run kitchen shifts and I've expedited quite a bit. This new kitchen falls down every day. Part of that has been the computer system. The computers were set up specifically for this store so we have quite a few bugs to work out. We have the system running pretty smooth. I have had the opportunity to work with the computer guy. He is way cool. He is 75 and has been doing this type of things for years, both in the military and for NCR. He started out training people how to use cash registers. The front-of-house is good. We have some good servers and the place looks great! We definitely need to purchase many more place settings. The bar needs a major amount of work. We need to purchase pretty much everything that you would need for a new bar. Plus, we need to put together a wine list, decide which beers and liquors to carry, and need to formalize happy hour and hire some bartenders. There is potential for this place to be great...as long as they hire the right people and make the right decisions. I just want us to open for dinner so I can make some money. The bills don't stop when your unemployed for three weeks and they just get worse when your making less than twenty dollars a day in tips. The only thing that has saved me financially has been my roommate. He has been supporting me for almost two months now. He has taken care of the rent, utilities and the Internet bill. I would be living at my parents house right now if not for him and the dog. I'll write more when we open for dinner or if I find another job. There is a new wine bar opening next month...I will apply there and, if I'm hired, might work both jobs. I'm not sure. I'll keep you posted.

A blessing in disguise?

2009-04-26T21:18:00.002-04:00

I got fired a little over a week ago. It was for a very silly reason. I got into an argument with a server on the floor. It was because he was talking shit about Dawn to her face. I asked him to leave, he refused and it escalated from there. It sucks not having a job right now. I really need money to pay bills and eat real food, but I am happy to be away from the evil management of The Seafood Restaurant! I'm in the midst of the job hunt right now and will (hopefully!) know more by the end of the day tomorrow. I'm not looking for my dream job (whatever that is). I just need something that pays me enough that I can pay my bills and I don't have to spend every waking hour there! One good thing is that I have time to read the paper every day, I'm getting caught up on all the TV I've missed and the dog is very happy to have me at home with him! I even gave the dog a bath today! He finally doesn't smell terrible! I'm bored and lonely and trying not to be a burden on my roommate (who is awesome!). I'm more relaxed than I've been in years. I want to be like this all the time! I haven't told my parents that I got fired, yet. My mom called me today and I didn't answer. I'm more embarrassed than anything. Tomorrow is another day!

Being a grownup sucks

2009-04-07T11:21:00.003-04:00

I'm alive! I say this because I haven't posted anything in a long time. Nothing new and exciting is happening. Work is still work and it still sucks. My co-workers are great and my managers still suck-great-big-donkey-balls! I would like to find a new job, but it is almost impossible in this economy to do that. I still have a good schedule and make great money, but I get weary of putting up with all the corporate policies and the whimsical nature of my managers thought process. Today is a day off and I need to do some day off things, i.e., errands, laundry, catch up on reading, see a movie, stop and talk to some people at other restaurants. I already have spoken with my parents this week. My roommate is very busy with school, work and his gf. As of today, I am five months into my one year suspension on my driver's license. That makes life harder, especially with spotty public transportation, but I am getting through it well. Not being able to drive is another reason for not quitting my current job. I'm trying to get hired on at one of the other bars in the mall where I work, but it is taking a long time. I know the regional manager very well, so its just a matter of waiting for something to open up. Oh well, back to reading. I'll post more later.

I really need to write more

2009-02-22T17:39:00.003-05:00

So, last weekend was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The videos were all very boring. The medical lecture was really good. I learned alot from Mindy about how alcohol affects the body and the brain. The brain part was way cool! The group sessions were helpful and my counselor was awesome! Charles is a former alcoholic and has been counseling for twenty-five years. He cared about getting us to see what we had done wrong, help us not do it again, and get us done with the weekend.

My roommate has started dating a new female. She is way cool. We all went to dinner with one of her friends and some peeps from Starbucks on Friday. That was a night! Alot of fun was had by all, especially me...and her friend!

Work was slow last night. I still made good money. My managers still suck. I had my annual review. It went great. I don't have anything to work on, and they only had good things to say about me. My managers are such idiots.

My roommate is on his way to meet the female's parents. It should go well. He is very good with parents of all kinds.

I'm trying to catch up on bills right now so I can get my school loans paid off and BUY AN iPHONE! I think I can do it very soon! It won't make my life complete, but it will give me something to play with for awhile and keep my brain occupied.

Yep, I'm boring

2009-02-11T23:54:00.002-05:00

Another day over; another week almost over. I get to do my weekend at AA this weekend, so from Friday at four until Sunday at three-thirty I get to go to meetings and watch anti-alcohol videos. Yea, me! I've had a good few days, made some money, had some laughs, went to the movies with a lot of my female co-workers and got pissed off at my managers (again!). I love the mall where I work and I love everyone at Bar X because they treat me well and not like another annoying customer. As the days and weeks go by, I'm beginning to feel more and more alone. I don't know what to do about it. Any advise?

Snow Day!

2009-01-29T01:54:00.002-05:00

We got about ten inches of snow last night and today. It made it very hard to get to work, but it didn't stop me. I caught the bus this morning (it was a half-hour late) and made it to work on time. Weird, I know! We didn't open until Noon, so I had plenty of time to open. I opened wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and construction boots (because of the massive amount of snow). My manager wanted me to take the first table that walked in at eleven-forty which is well after we normally open but not today. I looked at him and didn't know what to say. I just said I would take it and proceeded to get dressed. While I was dressing, a server walked in (thank God!). So, I didn't have to take a table outside the bar, which I absolutely hate doing! It was a good day. Some of my regulars came in so I made some decent money. Happy hour was good. I worked with Dawn and stayed till close with her so she could give me a ride home. (We closed way early at seven-thirty. We still didn't get done in the bar till nine-thirty even though we had every thing broken down at eight!) It was a good day. A snow day! (Get it? Ha-ha!)

Another day in paradise

2009-01-18T18:21:00.002-05:00

Another weekend down the tubes. Manged on Thursday and Saturday mornings. Closed the bar Friday night and worked it with Christi and Dawn on Saturday night. The best story of the weeks; The Bar Manager came back on Wednesday night with his girlfriend and proceeded to get drunk(er) at the bar. Dawn was closing. At one point he asks Dawn across the bar in full ear-shot of his stupid girlfriend, "What do I have to do to be the cool manager?" Dawn's initial response was to laugh hysterically, but she kept that down and instead told him, "Stop being a dick." He just doesn't get it.

I try and then get shot down...again

2009-01-14T11:56:00.003-05:00

So it is the post-holiday season. In restaurant life this means fewer people out spending money, because they have to save it all to pay off their credit card bills from Christmas and such. (In the Midwest they also need the money to pay their heating bills. Its 20degrees right now. The low tonight is -5degrees! I love Ohio!) Because of the downturn in sales all restaurants come up with some ideas to save money by cutting back on labor hours, cutting food cost, and utilizing promotions to increase foot traffic. As a bartender that means that there are fewer shifts to go around. It helped that Jana quit two weeks ago by no-call, no-showing two days in a row. That leaves four and one-half bartenders. (The one-half is Ashlie, who the management would not let us train and refuses to listen to any of us when we try to explain anything to her. Don't you just love people!) So, I decided to try to make everyone's life easier and try to put together a kind of permanent schedule for this quarter so we would always know when we would be working and to make sure that we all were making good money. I let Dawn, Lauren, and Christi see it and got their approval. I wanted to present it to The GM and The Bar Manager at the same time so I would not have to explain myself twice, but that was not to be. The Bar Manager saw it and shot me down because he is irrational. He will not accept any idea that is not his or The GM's. I have been in his situation before and the only way to get him to act like a real human being is for him to be fired. That is what it took for me. There is no way to tell him this. We just have to wait for it.

The long weekend becomes dull

2009-01-06T11:33:00.002-05:00

We had a good weekend at The Seafood Restaurant. I closed the bar on Saturday night and The GM did the bar inventory so I didn't have to put up with The Bar Manager in such close proximity to me all night. I opened as a manager on Sunday morning and left at four because we were so slow. The Service Manager said that we had a good night on Sunday Night. We did more that our usual sales and the servers made money. My roommate dropped me off at work early yesterday on his way to school. I had the bar setup and stocked by the time we opened at eleven. That was good because I ended up getting a lot of tables. Everyone wanted to sit in the bar yesterday! The servers didn't get half the tables I did! I setup in anticipation of a busy happy hour, but to no avail. I left as soon as happy hour was over at six and was informed by the closer, Lauren, that the two people who sat at the bar for happy hour were the only two people who sat at the bar all night. We had our worst night for tips that I have ever seen! Five dollars an hour was our average! I have the day off today, but I might stop by work to pick up my meager tips from last night. I know, I know, I need to stay away from that place at least once a week, but Dawn and Christi work tonight and I haven't seen them in a few days. I need to get a life!

Talk about getting your ass kicked!

2008-12-29T12:44:00.002-05:00

So, last night ended up being a very bad and very good night for me. I usually open on Sundays as a manager and stay until sometime between five and seven. The closing manager shift usually rotates between the dreaded Bar Manager and The Service Manager. Because of the Christmas and New Year's holidays things were different this week. I had originally requested off a few days between Christmas and New Year's so I could go to Tennessee and see my parents and brothers and my newborn nephew. Because of my legal troubles in November and the fact that my license is suspended for a year, I was not able to make the trip. So, The GM worked yesterday with The Bar Manager. I closed the bar because Christi is on a ski trip right now with her friends. Boy did she miss out on a night! Sunday nights are usually pretty slow, but steady. We do about one hundred to one hundred fifty covers and about three to four thousand in sales. Not last night though. We did almost three hundred covers and almost seven thousand in sales! There is usually a cocktail server scheduled, but because we are starting to go into the slow season, this was the first week that they didn't schedule one. The cocktail will get one or two tables and just eat up time on the clock for four hours or so. We had six servers in the dining room, which is plenty. We went through about four hours of hell. The Bar Manager ran service well for most of the night. I helped some people on the wood, but mainly waited on cocktail tables. Some of my regulars came in and I felt bad because I know they did not get the best service, but they understood and still tipped well. Needless to say, we went on a wait so people came into the bar to wait for their tables and get a drink, which would have been fine if I didn't have the bar and the bar tables. So I had people waiting at the bar and at tables and people eating at the bar and at tables and the service printer going crazy. It sucked, but I made a ton of money. One of the managers of The Tavern, Cory, came over right when we were closing to have a drink in between doing inventory. When I got done I went over there to see her and all the bartenders there and have a drink while they were closing. I met up with some of my people from work at Bar X and had another drink then caught the bus home and watched some TV with my roommate. I have had a crazy few days and made so much money, which I need to pay all the bills that seem to accumulate even more quickly right now. Until tomorrow.