The Good, the Bad, and the P-Touch Labeler

So after working a total of six shifts I now have a new manager. I'm not sure how much I talked about this in the last post but the place where I'm working now is really poorly managed. At first I didn't like it but once I figured out that everyone does things their own way and nobody really cares means that since I already know how to work in a restaurant I'm just gonna do things the way I was taught and so far that's been going great.
Super Bowl Sunday was my old manager Matt's last night and today I got to meet Ken for the first time. Matt was this really chill dude from Chicago that really didn't give a fuck as long as it didn't make his job harder. Favorite liquor is Sailor Jerry, which he had us do shots of when the Steelers scored. Ken on the other hand is the exact opposite. He's worked in the the restaurant business for 20 years including six years of setting up new Applebee's. While today was the first day that I met him he actually spent the last couple of days watching us on the camera upstairs. The first thing that he's doing is creating handbooks for all of the jobs followed by busting out his own personal P-Touch Labeler.
Should be interesting, I'll keep you guys posted.

 www.freebiesms.co.uk

Time to Work

So I finally got a job which means that I have something to write about again. It seemed like I applied for every possible job in the Bay Area and for a while I really thought I wasn't going to find anything but I had an interview last Friday and got hired by the Cable Car City Pub and Cafe. I actually applied as a Busser/Server (shows how desperate I was) but they like my resume and started me out as a Bartender filling in as a Server when needed.
I showed up on Sunday not sure what to expect, the only thing I knew was that I had to wear all black, so I'm still wearing the same uniform that I wore while working up in Gillette. The place is located in downtown San Francisco so a lot of the business depends on tourists and Jan/Feb really aren't traveling much so the three shifts that I've worked have been pretty dead. I think it's good though because I didn't get overwhelmed and felt like I was able to ease into the new job a bit easier. The other thing is that minimum wage in San Francisco is $9.88 (even for servers) so even when it's dead I feel like I'm making decent money. The other thing is that they are understaffed right now so I was able to start earning money right away instead of training for a few weeks. On Monday everyone else actually ended up getting cut so I was the only person in the whole restaurant for a couple of hours, except for one chef, so I served and bartended at the same time and prayed that I didn't make a mistake because there wasn't a manager around if I messed up. I think it's crazy that they would just leave someone who just started alone in the restaurant but it worked out alright so I'm not complaining. The only thing I really don't like about the place is that it opens at 8:00 am for breakfast so every now and then I need to work a morning shift which means I need to be there by 7:30. I had to do that today and I didn't get my first customer for a couple of hours but there really isn't any sidework so I just chilled and watched TV so it wasn't too bad. Other than that the only other thing is that I wish I worked with more people because I'm trying to meet more people in the area but I figure now that I have a job I can also go out more and meet people.
Since hearing back from this company on Friday I've already had three places call me asking me to come in for an interview or a job offer which I feel like happens to everybody when they're looking for a job. Every time I'm just like where were you three weeks ago when I was desperate enough to consider getting a real job.
I'll end this post with a picture I took the other day when I was walking around San Francisco. I wasn't able to get a good picture of how steep it really is there but to get an idea realize that instead of sidewalks they have steps in a lot of areas. I guess they're lucky that the roads don't ice over, otherwise cars would be slipping all over the place. In the picture the island in the middle of the bay is Alcatraz which I still haven't had a chance to check out so when you guys come and visit we'll have to go.

View of the North Bay

That's all I got right now. Peace

Oh I tried finding an image online to show you guys where I work but the Street View picture was taken before this place opened up. Street View has this creepy feature though where it searches through everyone's pictures and finds similar ones and while I wasn't able to find a picture of the restaurant what I did find was a picture taken from the 2007 Gay Pride Parade. I'm pretty sure it's two chicks on the bike, enjoy.

New Year New Resolve

So I'm finally back in Berkeley, gotta admit it feels good to sleep in my own bed again, even though I didn't have a bed for 6 months before that. Now it's time to start looking for a job so I can get back to ballin out. I basically just went restaurant to restaurant today to see if anyone was hiring, it always seems like it's better to show up in person but most places just told me to go online. I'll keep an eye out for an engineering job too but not really trying to do the whole 9-5 thing right now but if it's something I'm really interested in I could see myself joining the rat race.

Here are the pictures from the last three weeks:
So Cal:

Santa Monica Pier

Jägerschnitzel

Santa Monica Beach

Rufus

So these first four pics are from the time I spent in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. I gotta say that I don't really like So. Cal that much, everyone there just seemed really fake and the smog was pretty disgusting and can't be healthy. It seemed like everyone was talking about saving the environment and then driving around in a Porsche. I think both of those things are cool but not necessarily mutually exclusive. The reason I spent a couple of days down here was because my mom was giving a presentation at a conference and Julia and Jenelle came into town also. I need to admit that seeing the sunset over the ocean was pretty odd but it is a lot easier than staying up for the sunrise at the Jersey shore. Rufus was kind enough to let us stay with him in Santa Monica at my mother's friend's house. Before getting dropped off at the airport I had the Jägerschnitzel for a pre-birthday dinner with my mom because I wouldn't be able to spend my birthday with her.

So Fla

Oh Herro

Photo Shoot!

I left So Cal on the Dec 9 and flew the red eye to Boca Raton to celebrate Megan's 21st birthday. That's the only picture I have from when we went paddle boarding, which btw is awesome, but after that I kinda checked out for the rest of the weekend. There must be some kind of strange interaction between my body and 4 Lokos or Patron that sometimes causes me to forget things. We rented a hotel room on Saturday night and after free happy hour the two birthday kids decided to take a nap and before we knew it everyone was coming back from the club, so Cassey, Megan and I decided to go out on our own and at some point we made some friends from New Jersey. After a bit of confusion and about 20 minutes of getting in position (which happened to be in the middle of the road) this lady with her dress tucked into her underwear took this picture of us. I think it turned out pretty well.

Home:

"Well played little child"

Holiday Sweater Party

After South Florida there was a short layover back in New Jersey. It was great to see some people but I wish I had more time, felt like I was just saying Hi to everyone before I had to pack my bags again. Also it was during finals so Dom and everyone else still in school was pretty busy so it wasn't really the best week to come back, I guess that just means I'll have to do it again soon. Ian however was able to plan his Ugly Christmas Sweater Party perfectly and Megan and I knew we had to blow all other sweaters out of the water. While shopping we found this onesie which I really can only interpret in one way. The party itself was great, felt good to know I still had it as Megan and I went undefeated in beer pong. There were some hostilities at night but it's hard to take any argument seriously if the person yelling at you is wearing an ugly Christmas sweater.

Western Washington:

Dolla Dolla Bill Ya'll...Literally

Fish Throwing

Christmas Tree

Emerald City

After too short of time in Jersey it was on to Seattle to visit Julia and celebrate Christmas. I got there a day earlier than mom and Dominik so my sister took me to this bar down the street from her called Vito's. This place was great because it reminded me of home and the overabundance of Italian restaurants that someone nowhere else can replicate, except for Vito's that is. Later on in the week Dom and I went shopping for some Christmas gifts and walked through Pike's Place Market where we got to see them throwing the fish, which really is something else. We then spent four days over the holiday in this town called Mossyrock which is located in the Cascade Mountains. It rained a lot while we were there (not really surprised) but it was still really nice, and we were actually able to find a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Also those are real candles on the tree, it's really not that dangerous and makes it so much more beautiful. When we got back to Seattle Julia took us sight seeing and I was able to snap a pretty nice shot of the skyline.

Back in Berkeley:

Golden Gate Bridge

NYE Supplies

I didn't get back to Berkeley until the 31st so I was pretty jet lagged for New Years and with everyone else celebrating at 9 my time I didn't make it that late into the night. Also it seemed like a half bottle of Patron wasn't enough so we got an extra one just in case, which then also got finished. There's still a couple of other bottles left over though so we might have to throw another party. I'll keep you guys updated on the job search or if anything else happens.

Play Outro

Post Haste

So I know it's been a while since I updated this blog, I've been pretty busy working on these graduate school applications and trying to start a new life here. Anyway I finally got a laptop so maybe it'll make these posts a bit easier and more frequent, also I sent out my first application today and hopefully I'll have the rest of them wrapped up before I'm back in Jersey so I can just relax and chill with everyone.

The weather out here has been pretty nice, some of the leaves are just changing color now so it's almost like fall out here again. It can be anywhere from the high 60s to the high 30s and because of the fog rolling in off the bay it can get pretty cold at night. I haven't really been out that much but Berkeley seems to be somewhat like New Brunswick in that it is a city in it's own right but the university plays a large role in town. The one thing I don't like is that everything seems to close earlier, I guess since most of the events on TV are three hours earlier people just go to bed earlier too. I have yet to find a 24 hour store in Berkeley and most of the bars close around 12. Luckily the public transportation is pretty good and it's really not a hassle to go to San Francisco where there's more action. One thing I have learned out here is that you aren't supposed to call it San Fran or Frisco, the only acceptable names are The City or San Francisco. Also, people in the Bay Area love saying hella and I have to stop myself from punching them every time.

Arial view of our apartment

Kitchen

Living Room

Jon's Room

My Room

The View

So that's our new place. I know there's not much there right now but we're working on it, I've been keeping an eye out on Craiglist and trying to scoop up good stuff but it takes time. You can see from the arial view that there is a patio area on the roof, but when we first moved in the landlord said we were only allowed up there for special occasions like New Years and 4th of July because of the noise. The thing is our apartment is the corner one right above the patio so we can't really bother anyone but ourselves so we've gone up there a couple of times. The view from the roof is pretty sick because you can see the Golden Gate Bridge across the bay. Unfortunately the top of a tree is blocking the view from my window but maybe I'll just get drunk one night and decide to take it down. Also in case you were wondering the address is:

2033 Haste Street

Apartment 313

Berkeley, CA 94704

Chris Thai Cuisine

This is where Jon and I had our Thanksgiving dinner. It seems like instead of Chinese places Berkeley is full of Thai places instead. I know it's not the traditional Thanksgiving feast but we didn't really have any cookware yet because we had just moved into our new place that Monday. After dinner we decided to head over to Target and wait in line for the Black Friday deals, we didn't even have chairs at our place at that point so waiting wasn't that bad except that it got dropped down to the mid 30s and was probably the coldest it's been here in the past month.

Jon catching some ZZZs 

Our Haul

The following Saturday we decided to check out San Francisco to see if the nightlife was a bit better than what Berkeley had to offer. We decided to check out Union Square which I guess is their version of Rockefeller Center, they even had a skating rink and Christmas tree.

Union Square

We hit up a couple bars in the area and the scene was pretty good, there were definitely some misses but for just walking around and hitting up places randomly I think we did pretty well. We ended up spending a solid chunk of the night at this bar called Lefty O'Doul's and even though it was an Irish pub their rum selection is what blew me away by having not only Sailor Jerry's but also the Kraken.


Jon and I were sitting at the bar and this girl sat down next to us and I actually got her to take a shot of this stuff with us.

Last weekend Jon took me to a house party that one of his Chili's coworkers was having in San Francisco. It was good to see that people party pretty much the same way we do, with the added benefit that everyone smokes. It seemed like there was always a blunt and a bong going around and everyone seemed to have a rolled blunt chilling behind their ear like a pencil. I was a bit rusty but we were actually able to win a game of beer pong, the rules are a bit different but nothing too crazy.

They even had a half chihuahua half terrier dog but Kobe definitely came out a lot better than this one.

Anyway I'm about to land in LA so I gotta get off my laptop. Big ups to Google for providing free wifi for the holidays and I gotta say that Virigin is a pretty sick airline.

Jacked Up

So how about that ride in? I guess that's why they call it Sin City...


Actually the ride in was real boring again, I never realized how much nothingness is still left in the United States, and we were on a major highway so I don't even want to know what it's like off the beaten path. One thing I did see was this:


Looks like the Lokos are starting to get some competition. Anyway, we got to Vegas around 7 last night and the first thing we did was go to the bank so we wouldn't carry around any plastic, that shit can get dangerous. The guy standing behind me in line was all decked out in Yankees gear so we started talking and turns out he was from Cherry Hill which I though was pretty cool. He was a bartender at the Bellagio and said he pulls in over 6 figures a year. Now that's living the life.
Before checking into the Stratosphere we picked up some supplies:



Two guys, one bottle of Patron, and Vegas at our fingertips, what could possibly go wrong? After pregaming in the room for a bit we went up to the top of the hotel, which is actually the largest freestanding tower in America and is the tallest building west of the Mississippi. The view was amazing.


The strip has 19 of the top 25 largest hotels in the world, and being able to witness all of these engineering marvels up close was mind blowing.
After the tower we went back to the hotel room and then took the monorail to the bottom of the strip and started working our way back up. It seemed like every time I went to cash out my chips I was basically breaking even, which was fine by me and then we decided to play some poker at Caesar's. For the first hour or so every one of my hands had a Jack in it but not anything I wanted to play so my chip stack started to dwindle. Then I got Ace Jack three times in a row and each time the Jack hit and I finally started making some money. By the time Jon was ready to go it was almost 4 in the morning, and I was still up.
We continued our walk up the strip but everything was pretty beat at that time so we just continued walking towards our hotel. This drunk guy brushed shoulders with me at one point on our walk and started yelling at me and wanted to fight. Luckily most of the Patron had worn off at that time so I was able to keep my cool and just ignore him.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was 5 and we decided to order some food and take it back to our room. While we were waiting for our food I decided to play the slots to keep me entertained and I actually ended up winning another $60, which meant breakfast was on me haha. Definitely needed more than one night to see everything in Vegas so if anyone is trying to put a trip together let me know.
We hit the road again this morning for our final leg of the trip. Once we made it out of the Mojave we finally saw mountains again!


Then when we stopped to get gas Jon pointed out this:


Glad to know that the RU is repping out here, sucks they lost today though.
It's gonna be great not sitting in the car for 8 hours tomorrow, but it also means the vacation is over and the real work needs to start, like making sure we wake up at 10 to catch the first round of games. That's all for now.

Location:Las Vegas, NV

I'll Be Quirky

So we're back on the road again. They're not lying when they say everything is bigger in Texas. Near Houston we were literally the only car on the road, everyone drove either a pickup truck or an SUV. After spending the night in Round Rock, TX it was a 12 hour drive to Albuquerque. This was easily the longest and most boring part of the trip. Just open road and a dinky little town every once in a while.


I can't imagine what it must be like to grow up in one of these towns. There's only so long I can go without service and being bombarded by religious propaganda billboards. The only cool thing was seeing the cotton being harvested, so that gives you an idea about the ride.



We made it to Albuquerque in time to catch the second half of the Falcons versus Ravens game. We decided to go to Chili's to watch the game and Jon was able to hook it up and get a solid discount. Of course everything inside looked the same as back home and there was someone rocking an Eli Manning jersey, so it felt a little like home for a minute.
When we got to our motel it said that they had only reserved one bed for the two of us. After calling up Hotwire and being told that nothing could be done, the lady at the front desk had a change of heart and hooked us up with a double bed free of charge. It was our first night staying on our own. I loved staying with people so far but it was nice not feeling like I was stepping on people's toes.
It's about a 9 hour drive to Vegas tonight. I have to say that the bright lights of Vegas are gonna be a change of pace from the darkness of Texas and New Mexico. I'm excited for Vegas but I'll try to be on my best behavior, no promises though. If anyone can recommend a must see let me know. That's all for now, I got s feeling my next post will be a little more interesting.

Location:Albuquerque, NM

Bigger and Easier

So we're back on the road again today. Once again it's beautiful outside, not a cloud in the sky. We stopped by D&D and I'd have to see it was the nicest one I've ever seen:


Also those books on the mantel above the fireplace! are stash boxes. Crazy what things catch you by surprise.
So we've been listening to to a lot of music in the car and I really think someone needs to come up with an app that let's you create playlists from both YouTube and your iPod so that you can switch songs seamlessly. I've seen web app before that takes the audio from YouTube videos to make power hour mixes, so I think it's def possible. So yeah if you're good with that kind of thing get on it haha.
Also just saw that Wale is heading to ATL right as we're leaving, guess we'll have to meet up some other time. Just crossed out first time zone btw! That's all for now.

Sorry about not posting last night, partied pretty hard and then I drove the morning shift. So anyway New Orleans was pretty sick. We stayed at Anne's house, who is friends with my mom. It was the first night we didn't have greens waiting for us when we arrived which kinda sucked but whatever. It's hard to see in the picture but there was some sketch white powder chilling on the mirrored table. So maybe Anne and her partner Dan get down like that instead haha.


So anyway we went out to dinner at Crazy Johnnies, which was pretty good. Got to experience southern hospitality first hand when the people sitting next to us gave us their bottle of wine just because they didn't like it. Everything is just a little slower down there it seems. After dinner Anne called Jon and me a cab and we hit the French Quarter.



For a random Tuesday in November it was pretty wild I can only imagine how crazy it gets for Mardi Gras. This was our first night "sightseeing" so we were ready to ball out, and then I saw this:


It's all tequila and top center they had Patron Gran Anejo. It was the only time I had ever seen it and was ready to drop some money but $90 a shot was just a bit too steep, so we took a shot of this other stuff which was still pretty damn good. After that we decided to sample some local specialties. The hand grenade was definitely better than the hurricane but both of them were just so sweet, which is why I think I'm hurting today.



There's also no open container law there so we were able to just walk up and down Bourbon St. After getting all these drinks in our system we started to act a little stupid. Ended up buying a mixtape from this guy, he was from Hollygrove and had some chill stories, haven't had a chance to listen to it though. Anne had warned us only to take a certain type of taxi, but before I knew it we were in this shady taxi and were splitting it with this girl. After the girl got dropped off the cabbie tried to hustle us but I was able to negotiate a price and have him turn the meter off. So yeah if you're from Jersey don't be too worried when traveling, those instincts let you see right through the bullshit. We got back around 3 and I was out before my head hit the pillow.
That's all for now, staying in Texas tonight.

Location:New Orleans, LA