Random Steakhouses in Cumberland
It was so hard to get up this morning. Probably because it was DARK. Stupid rassnfrassn daylight savings time. Who invented that, anyway? What's the point? To just totally screw with people's internal clocks until they can't take it anymore and tote a gun up to the fifty-second floor of some urban development and start shooting people at random? Sigh.
At any rate, I did get up, with much effort, and trudged into the bathroom with great anticipation of the shower to come. Except I forgot that I colored my hair last night and a shower this morning was not in my cards. Yet another sigh. I never realized how very badly I need steaming hot water gushing over my body to wake me up in the morning. I thought I was a pretty self-sufficient starter. Guess not.
Mike didn't want to get up either, but the four 60-watt overhead light bulbs glaring him in the face after I flipped the switch convinced him otherwise. I think he actually contemplated murdering me for a minute there, but he got over it. Do you know why? Because he got to take a shower. Third sigh.
Honestly, though, I don't have a terribly hard time getting up in the morning. I enjoy the commute, mostly because I get to drive it with Mike, but also because it's just plain gorgeous. Our mountain is actually probably a foothill of the Appalachians (we're only at 876 feet elevation, as opposed to the 1600 foot whoppers we encountered today, but that's for later), but we still think of it as being up in the mountains, which provides us a gorgeous view as we drive to and from work. Also, though, I like my job, plain and simple. I work with nice people who do a minimal amount of back-stabbing, I do good work (finding jobs for people at the end of their rope), and so far it's been incredibly good for my self-confidence to just have a job.
Only today, Bob (one must say my boss's name with a gargantuan eye-roll) managed to dampen my cheerful work spirits. You see, he's been talking for a couple weeks now about interviewing and hiring a new staffing specialist at work. I'm currently a temp (meaning I get paid jack to do a WHOLE LOT), but I expressed an interest in filling the staffing position (since it's what I do anyway, but with more pay and better benefits) which Bob encouraged. I interviewed and even took some sort of personality test--and, by the way, this is after Bob posted an advertisement for the position in the paper--in order to be considered for the job.
Today, after two weeks of suggesting at every turn that I was the primary candidate for the job that he was very much looking to fill, he came up and told me he's just not sure he's ready to "bite the bullet" and hire a new staffing specialist after all. He doesn't think we're busy enough to merit the extra expense, blah blah blah. Apparently, Bob has never spent five minutes back in the staffing room.
I told the receptionist and my fellow staffers about this new decision, and two of them (Kathy the Receptionist, and Kara the Staffer) sincerely offered to quit on the spot if he didn't hire a new staffing person, let alone have me fill the position. General outrage on my behalf (which was very, very sweet by the way) ensued...but nothing really came of it. In the end, Bob's still not sure he's ready to fill that position just yet so now I'm stuck back where I started, collecting crappy temp pay with no real solid hold on my career. Quadruple sigh.
It's okay, though, I guess. I mean, it's money while I look for something better (if Bob doesn't get his ass in gear and change his mind about hiring me, quick). It's a good place with good people, and it's been a good experience no matter what. I'm really not unhappy, no matter which way this goes. It's a nice place to be, this content time in my life.
I did, by the way, have one very bright highlight in my workday. Mary Jo (another staffer) had received a young guy in to take some tests while I was up front covering the reception desk during the lunch hour. The guy was sincerely good looking, so when I finished doing the reception bit and was heading back to my own desk, I made a point to veer past Mary Jo's to talk to her.
"Hey, that guy was a little hottie!" I told her, grinning hugely.
"Which guy?" she asked, obviously baffled.
"The guy in the baseball cap. Who was he?"
By this point in the conversation, I was back at my desk and calling all this loudly across the room to Mary Jo. Who, by this same point in the conversation, was pointing over her shoulder at me. My good looking guy in the baseball cap was sitting right there. I'm not entirely sure I've ever blushed that deep red in my life. Thank goodness I have a decent sense of humor about such things, or I would have crawled under my desk and died.
After work, I picked up Mike and we popped in at the bank to try to discuss vehicle loans with them (we're hoping to be able to get one so I can trade in my poor wee Mazda--despite the fact that I'm madly in love with my car and I'm going to cry if I ever have to let him go), but it was 4:59 p.m. and they closed at five. Quintuple sigh.
Instead of sitting around all evening in a stuffy banker's office, though, that meant we got to take an impromptu road trip. Since I had the wheel, I decided to take us past home and deeper into the mountains, just to see what Cumberland is like since we're not terribly far from there ourselves. The drive was absolutely stunning. I heartily recommend to anyone--if you ever get the chance, take an early-evening drive through the Appalachians. The trees on the mountains are all red-gold and the fields are brilliant green, even in the pre-spring season. I wanted to cry, it was so pretty.
We took the scenic route up to Cumberland, which was absolutely the right decision. We ended up on this 1,697 foot mountain that overlooked the ENTIRE Cumberland Valley--probably all of Allegheny County, really. I could have stayed up there, staring down at the sun setting on all that unmolested countryside for hours, but the sun doesn't set for hours and we were getting hungry.
We ended up, quite by accident, at a place called JB's Steak Cellar and Microbrewery. We thought it was going to be this bizarre little hole in the wall (which it kind of was) since it was on an obscure exit and had a rather befuddling way to get there. It ended up being a gorgeous old moutain home, brimming with character and fantastic food. It was a wee bit pricey (which was probably the most surprising thing of all), but we decided to hell with it, we were on an impromptu roadtrip. You just have to go with it.
Mike got himself some kind of Scottish Export microbrew that JB's made right there in their own cellar (or wherever they make their beer) that he said might be one of the best beers he's ever had. At least, he can't remember ever having had a better one, which is saying quite a lot, really. I stuck with water, trying to be conservative price-wise. We both got amazing steaks (his was WAY bigger than mine), potatoes, and really, really good salads. And the bread! My god, the bread...a fresh baked, dense little Italian loaf served with fresh whipped butter and fresh roasted garlic that you could spread like cream. I thought I would die, it was so good. Anyone within a fifty mile radius, RUN, do not walk, to JB's Steak Cellar on Ali Ghan Road in Cumberland, Maryland. Now. NOW!
And for dessert...well, that's not for public consumption. Let's just say it's been a really good day.