Changes brewing

Aug 31, 2010 16:07

I've been pretty busy with the list from my last entry, along with not calling my mother, which I should really do, but I'm a pretty bad son, and I've been really busy, like I said, especially with this run-on sentence.

The job interview was short and sweet. There was a torrential downpour right when I got to the restaurant, so my resume got a little wet. I was greeted by Matt, the executive chef of Funky Monkey's restaurants. We talked about what kind of hours/pay I was looking for. I asked for $12/hour, and he said that he would get me there after 90 days.

The next day, I went to get my paycheck at the Rosen Centre. I ran into Tony and asked him about the idea of splitting time between the two jobs. While he understood my situation for needing a second job due to this job gouging my hours, he explained that he could not fully guarantee what I wanted (three days off in a week, like Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, to work at Funky Monkey) because of the shifting business of the hotel, and because they think Raul will leave them, leaving them stuck with no one to back up Yoshi. This is pretty typical of them to use me like this again, trying to hold on to me when they need it. I know that once business is slow again, I'll just be left on the curb to fend for myself. Tony said we could try to work out something when I would return to work, which was a week and a half from then (9/8).

I emailed Matt back about the hours situation and waited anxiously for a response. John Stevens and I went to a free Tears for Fears concert downtown Saturday night. We met up with Susan, who I spoke to a couple of days before that. When we spoke, it was like almost nothing had changed. I really wanted to say something like "I missed speaking/seeing you," but it really wasn't all that bad. She mostly talked about her trip to NC for a wedding, and that she cut her hair and colored it brown. When I had to meet her at the concert, it was hard to track her down because of her new look, and that it was so goddamn crowded. I guess you put the word "free" in front of anything and everyone shows up. The three of us were quite far away from the main stage. After some awkward pauses in conversation, we left before the show ended to go to BBQ Bar for some drinks. With some alcohol in us, the conversation loosened a bit and it seemed a bit better. Susan left at some point to meet up with her friend at this ridiculous line-dancing bar called Cowboys. She didn't want to leave, and I didn't either. If I hadn't driven John, I would have probably went with her. One awkward hug later, and she was gone. John and I sat in the bar and watched part of Hackers before leaving around midnight because Dave, who had planned to meet us way sooner, never really showed up.

Sunday rolled around and Matt emailed me back, asking me to work at the downtown Orlando location Monday night. I was pretty excited to be getting back to work, because I'm tremendously poor right now. I sold a bunch of Magic cards, one batch for around $85, and another to buy a whole new deck. I have some sort of problem. Anyways, I really needed to get back into the groove of things, because I hadn't worked in about three weeks. Plus, I'd be going into a situation where I'd be judged on my skills. My knife had to be super clean and sharp. I scrambled around to find my old sushi chef jacket, only to find that it was stained. I ended up using my coat from the Centre, even though I really didn't want to. At the restaurant, I met Ashley (the downtown location's sous chef, and daughter of the owners) and Rahul (the enthusiastic dishwasher-turned-chef). Immediately when I stepped foot into the kitchen, I knew this was going to be completely different. The kitchen was quite small, unlike the vast area of the back-of-house kitchen of the hotel. There was music blaring from the stereo, and Rahul and Ashley were both near my age (Ashley is actually younger than me). After introductions and a small tour, we got right to work, where everyone stared at me as I cut fish. Rahul has less experience than myself, though he is pretty decent at that. He ended up asking me a ton of questions about how to do certain things. I was amazed at this, because I didn't think I actually knew so much more than him. I suppose every place is different. His methods for everything were completely different from what I knew, from making rice to cutting fish. I mostly worked with Rahul, while Ashley manned the small hot kitchen, which was the size of a cubicle. The work night itself was quite busy, as it was half-off sushi night. I had to keep looking at the menu to see what was on everything, so things came out a bit slower. I only made one mistake, where I forgot to omit cream cheese from something, but quickly fixed it within a minute. All in all, it was great getting back into the grind, especially when it was busy. After we cleaned up, Rahul said I could go to the front of the house and they would offer me a free beer. I jumped on that immediately, because it was the perfect end to a busy shift. All the employees unwound with a drink, and then a couple of us went to a bar near the restaurant, where they furiously played ping-pong. I hadn't had an enjoyable work shift like this in so long.

Going into that shift, I had made the decision that if the place was cool, and there was a full-time position was available, I would leave the Rosen Centre and come over to Funky Monkey. I had a lot of self debate over this, but I know that the Centre just can't keep me there five days a week like I need. I will not get a raise for at least another year, and Funky Monkey is boasting me $2 more after three months. I have to check out their Pointe Orlando location, where I'll probably work the most, then make my decision. I think this is the right decision. Yoshi and everyone else at the Centre are great, but in the end, it is about money. I need to make more of it, so I can move on with some things I need to do.

The next week will determine my future.

movie, work, women, nerd, drunk

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