hi, how are you....see you later!

week and lame title today, but I am afraid not a whole lot of
time today to entertain one and all, have to go to Richmond
and then be back in time to go to work.....got to see some of
my pals last night at the restaurant, and work with the one
and only Tina again (you know, breast augmentation girl!).
I do want to make quick mention of some other regular
customers that come in, some of the lovely local cab drivers.
Yes, they are definately a motley crew, They have a bushel
of interesting stories as well, such as certain goings on in
the back of their cab, what they witnessed while waiting for
a fare, and more.....what I don't get is how one of them, no
names here, talks about women like dogs, yet is scared to
death of his wife....and this other one, has a cough and rasp
that would shock even the hardiest of hospital workers,
yet right after he stops the wracking, he reaches for yet
another cigarette. Then there is another one who does his
own version of real estate flipping...you know, how some
folks buy a house, renovate it, and sell it for alot more?!?
Well this gentleman buys run down trailers in some of the
areas finer trailer parks, "fixes them up" as he says, and
then sells or rents them for a profit.....hey, I guess that is
real estate flipping too, Jerry Springer style! Check y'all
tomorrow, take care!!!

Blast from the Past!

Well well, will wonders never cease! Last night, at the esteemed
restaurant that I manage, we witnessed a return (albeit only part-
time) of a waitress who worked for us in the past. She is someone
I would have discussed here at some point, as she had a very, um,
COLORFUL past history, but now that she has returned, why heck,
lets talk about her now! I'll call her Tina in this forum...she is in
her mid-20's, recently married, with 3 children (no, not of her
spouse, as she had her tubes tied after child #3...and yes, all 3
kids are with 3 different guys). As far as waitressing goes, more
than competant, she picked up last night right where she left
off, just a couple pricing questions, but other than that, like she
never left. And that is one reason why I agreed to re-hire Tina, as
she was indeed a good waitress. But I did have my hesitations as
well, due to her COLORFUL past history. She swears now that she
is a changed woman, a serious married housewife who justs wants
something part-time for extra spending cash. You see, when Tina
was with us before, she was quite "popular", at various times (she
worked with us for over two years), with most of the cooks, one
of the waiters, and a former assistant manager. I guess you could
call Tina a giving person....a humanitarian, as she loved people....
well, men anyway! But as mentioned above, she is a serious
married person now, a changed woman...but I will be keeping
an eye on her (and her interactions with the kitchen staff) for the
next couple weeks just to be sure. Oh, and I almost forgot, there
a couple other things different about Tina! First, her hair is
alot blonder now than before, but hey, folks change hair color
sometimes more often than they change underwear. Secondly,
Tina now is in possession of two larger chest projections...yes,
during her hiatus from the restaurant, she has breast
augmentation, going up 2 cup sizes (and apparently soon after
her surgery, one of them collapsed and had to be redone -
true story!). She says it helped her self-esteem and her
clothing options, and that her husband loves them! Well, let's
just hope that it stays that way, for her husband's eyes only!

Saturday.....in the park.....NOT

Way too hot and humid to go in the park today, actually all week
long, with these dog days of summer. Can't really complain too
much though, as when we are in the middle of a freezing winter,
we will be wishing for warmer days....guess just never happy.
And you have to figure, it could always be worse, we could be in
the Middle East, with their seemingly never ending strife. It's
been chaos since I was little, heck, since before I was even born,
and unfortunately will probably be going on for another
seemingly endless period of time. It is just a darn shame, as
this region of the world, the middle east, has so much history,
culture, beauty, and last but not least.....good eats! Now come
on, you had to know that I, as a restaurant person, had to
somehow bring that view of things to the forefront. Being of
Greek heritage, I have noticed that many Greek foods and
sweets have some similarities to mid-east cuisine. Kabobs,
rice, egg-lemon dishes, specialities with chick peas or other
legumes, dolmas, dried fruits, yogurt sauces, and all those
ridiculously sweet, nut and honey laden desserts. One thing
I have never been able to get into...that thick, heavy, strong
coffee....just can't do it! And another similarity between
Greece and the Middle East....yes, BELLYDANCING! Not
that I have ever tried it or could even pull it off, but I do see
it as a talent, even to a slight degree, some kind of art form.
Heck, just to have the nerve to get out in public with your
stomach out in the open, wearing bouncy, practically
see-through robes, wearing some kinds of bells and other
jingly things, twisting and turning rather unnaturally.....yes,
will definately leave all that to the more brave and daring!

who shall i talk about now?

hhmmm, not that I lack folks to write about in this forum, it's just a
matter choosing which one! Anyway, I would like to further
introduce someone who I have mentioned before, my "concerned
observer" Mrs. Reagan. She is older, a retired nurse, with a son
who lives in another state. She originally came to the restaurant
due to the good food and prices, and for the proximity to her
home. She still may be coming for those same reasons, but now I
tend to think she also comes for the stories and the adventures!
She doesn't have a TV at home, and claims that with what she
sees at choice of dining establishment, she doesn't need one!
She is constantly befuddled with, as she puts it, the "younger
generation", and bedevilled by some of our waitstaff, such as the
lovely Kathy mentioned here before (she of the state provided
vacations), or some of our other girls. And of course, she is
just as easily amused by some of the restaurant groupies (yes,
believe it or not, we have them, those who come on a regular
basis and just hang out) and other regular faces. Mrs. Reagan
has taken a liking to Lola, who I spoke about yesterday, and does
her best to avoid those "different" kind of folk, such as Lisa
and Peter, that fun but nutty couple I mentioned last week.
Oh, by the way, Lisa bought for the both of them these light up
personal alarms that are worn on the arm of the person....press
one button, and the light flashes, press another and this alarm
starts going off. As they are both older and have health issues,
Lisa figures it is a good way to alert one another if they are in
distress....of course, Peter's answer to that is ' fat lot of good
these are going to do if we have fallen on our heads and
knocked ourselves out and can't push any button'! hhmmm,
you know, he has a point.....but anyway, they are ready! Mrs.
Reagan's reaction to that...a rolling of the eyes and shaking
of her head. I guess that is all you can do sometimes. Well,
gotta head to work soon, weekend is here, more fun and
games providing me more fodder for here...take care y'all!

unique friend

Well, different strokes for different folks is one of those sort of cliche
sayings...but sometimes very true. At the restaurant, through a
mutual friend a few years ago, I met an interesting character who
I will call Lola here. She is most definately not your run of the mill
college student. An on and off vegetarian and fag hag from the
sticks, she is in her mid 20's, finishing up just now as she
took some time off and pursued other interests. Her major? Art of
course. Her favorite past-times? Drinking, walking her dog, reading,
drinking, driving buses and trucks, grilling and making soups in her
crockpot, drinking, lusting after cute hunks and rich oil barons,
and drinking. Her hero? No, not a political figure, artist, writer, or
other contributor to society, but the one and only Anna Nicole
Smith....yes, the ex-stripper and dancer who married the very old
and very rich oil baron and made multiple millions when he died,
and keeps fighting (and winning) in the courts to keep those
millions. A worthy role model indeed, and entertaining to boot!
Well, what are Lola's plans once she graduates? Move to Alaska of
course! In the past year, her post graduation plans went from
New York to Colorado, to some warm arid place like Las Vegas or
Phoenix, and now to the great white and remote North! I, of
course, wish her all the best and will miss her terribly when she
does go, will miss her riding up in her red Vespa with her helmet
and fly goggles and coming in with her goofy smile and crazy
hair and outfits. I hope for 3 things, that she stays in touch,
finds that elusive happiness and security that she seems to be
longing for, and quits or at least slows down on the booze to
protect what is left of her liver. She should be as good to
herself as she is to other people; underneath that devil may
care exterior is a heart of gold and I am glad that I had, and
have,the chance to call Lola a fellow witch with a B and a pal.

back in the swing!

well, back in ye ole restaurant 2day, and nothing particularly
earthshattering descended upon us. I did get to work with
one of the old-timers of the restaurant, called Brandy in this
forum. Brandy has been with the place going on almost 10
years, and is reliability and dependability plus. She is a great
asset when the restaurant is busy, and can be counted on
when we are shorthanded to help out. She will have the next
2 days off, as her birthday is coming up, and she is very
excited...not so much for her birthday, but for the fact that
the man in her life right now will be released from jail just
in time to help her celebrate! He was only in for about 2
weeks, minor league compared to our Kathy, who I brought
up in a previous post, so lets give him the benefit of the
doubt why don't we!?!? Kathy, by the way, came in today
to get her last paycheck, as she won't be working anymore
prior to her "extended vacation" as she is living it up for the
last time for a while, she has a great tan, perfect hair, nails,
and, as she puts it, is "just downright pretty" .....at least she
will be turning heads when she waves goodbye next month!

end of my "weekend"

oh well, back to work tomorrow, but at got some stuff done around
the house that needed to be done. anyway, back to the restaurant
tomorrow, the only bad thing is the next 2 days are day shift, and
as we serve breakfast, I have to get up WAY too early, and I am not
a morning person. oh well, such is life. The good thing is that I get
to see folks who normally don't come in at night, so all the more
stories and adventures, albeit a bit tamer! One of the day shift
waitresses, I will call her Tiffany here, has been at the restaurant
for almost 3 years. She keeps changing her mind about what
career she really wants to do, takes classes on something, then
hanges her mind, takes another class, changes her mind, and the
cycle continues. She is just sure she doesn't want to stay in the
food service biz....but as I see it, it is an improvement over her
last career if the rumors are true...rumor has it she was an
'exotic dancer', and that many of her ex-boyfriends are in jail.
But hey, like I said, just rumors now! Well, off to get some
shuteye, will be back for more scintillating tales tomorrow!

Day Off!

Well, today is monday, the start of my weekend, as I have mondays and
tuesdays off! Now that doesn't mean there isn't stuff to write about, as
I am blessed with boatloads of fodder from the place of work! I do want
to introduce y'all to another member of the waitstaff there, she will be
called Kathy here. Kathy is probably one of the best waitresses, as well
as hostesses, that I have ever seen in the biz, and I have grown up in it.
She is fast, a hard worker, has a fun, bubbly personality, loved by
co-workers and customers alike. So why am I wasting good space here
about Kathy? Well, let's just say she makes some...um, uh.... questionable
decisions in her personal life?!?! You see, Kathy has been given "extended
vacations" by local authorities several times in the last few years, and will
need to take another one in mid-August for probably about a year. She
has a propensity of driving under the influence while having NO license,
NO registration or insurance, NO nothing.....and this time the judge was
not particularly impressed. Plus she will probably not be able to get work
release, as she has a previous felony on her record...assault and battery...,
in that case, she beat up a rival over a certain man with the rival's own
shoe, in the middle of the local shopping mall. So before she has to go away,
she is juggling time between her 2 kids, ex-husband, and 2 boyfriends. Yes,
the life of Kathy is a full one! But we will miss her when she is gone, but I
am sure we will take her back upon her release...I mean, return, as we have
the previous 2 times. It really is a shame, because deep down, well, pretty
DEEP, she is a good person and has potential, she justs needs to channel
it in the right direction, not the directions she has been going. Well, enough
for today, be back for more fun and games tomorrow, bye y'all!

Madness and Drama!

Well, yesterday was one of those nights, not crazy busy, but stuff going on!
It all begins soon after I get to the restaurant, when one of the lovely wait staff
members, we will call her Roxanne (Lord, does that sound like a fake name or
what?!?!) proceeds to tell me she almost got evicted for NO reason (yeah right)
but she managed to work it out, but had to sign some papers or something. Not
even an hour later, after she had finished her shift, Roxanne proceeds to call me to report her very untimely and unfortunate car problems and to announce she was stranded at 7-11, and could I check the caller ID for someone's number
who had called her earlier so that person could come to the rescue?!?! Bizarre
is not the word.....and what is sad that with Roxanne, it is always something,
some drama every week, usually involving a member of the male species. Anyway, more happened as the night went on, my concerned observed Mrs. Reagan made a visit, as did these older couples I like alot, the "Browns" and the "Thompsons", as well as a close friend of mine, who I will be calling Michelle here, and a couple of her pals (so to speak). Michelle is having male problems herself, and it is painful witnessing this, but not too much I can do to help other than offer advice and support. There is also another older couple who come in
alot, as well as last night, who I am sure will be getting alot of press here, as
they are....hhmmm, how can I put this gently.......DIFFERENT??!!? They will be
Lisa and Peter here, and let me tell you, they keep me busy! More on them in
the very near future, let me just quickly say that one of them claims to have
supernatural powers, and the other randomly admits that maybe they should
be "put away" after all! But in my opinion, no matter how nutty I think they are,
I will say that they mean well, not at all bad folks, perhaps just lonely and
looking for friends. Anyway, enough for today, check it later!

more musings

So, I was thinking about this last night at work, about how I am going to tell crazy restaurant stories and more.....I HAVE to change the names to protect the innocent, the guilty, and the insane! So every name that you will see mentioned
here is an alias. I will also be assisted in my rants and musings by, as she calls
herself, "a concerned observer", and I will be calling her Mrs. Reagan (as I said
above, NOT her true name). My concerned observer is witness to many of the
Villa goings on.....and is often very entertained by them! Well, off to think of
more aliases, have to find just the right name for some of these characters!

ok, figured out how to put a photo on the site, and no, did NOT put mine, but a picture of my car....ok, not actually my car, since mine is red! But this is the same make and model in another color I like. It's in the profile section, looking good!

Hello and Welcome to Whatever this is!!

Hey there, just want to say a quick hi as I try to figure out how exactly this works
and what I really want to do here. I'm an ex-history teacher, current restaurant manager, married with no kids, hopefully about to get a dog, and a coin collector to boot. Stuff I will write about and hope you'll read? Well, yet to be fully determined, but definately the mundane madness of the restaurant biz; friends, aquaintances, and guests have all told me I need to write a book about restaurant goings ons....well, let me start this blog first, and we can go from there! Plus other adventures- amusing, boring, unreal, normal, and of course the not so normal! Who know's what will be on these pages!?!? (heck, I don't even know!). I will also be ranting occasionally, or gushing about my hubby, or our 2 modes of transportation, my lovely Mazda Red Progege 5, or his big Merc Mountaineer. And if we do get a dog, well, stories about him or her too! C y'all soon, and take care!