29 - 12-20-2010

Initial Impressions

Christopher Setterlund

29 – 12/20/2010

1.  First real snow of the season today.  End result?  Slowest day at work that I ever remember, and I started there in 1993.

2.  The only day that came close was in 2002 when it snowed so badly that a couple cross-country skied into the parking lot.  I hooked them up big time.  We did 6 for breakfast that day, today we did 7 for lunch.

3.  I thought I had smelled some bad stuff in my life with rotten fish and shrimp, but nothing prepared me for the smell in between our hot boxes.  No lie it can only be described as stale vomit, like if you puked on a shirt then threw it in a pile and went back to it a week later.  Roll that around in your minds for a bit.

4.  It was so slow that all I could do was ruin things in the kitchen, including putting a hot box in the dishwasher upside down.  That meant that it filled with water and was impossible to remove until I spilled water everywhere.  Jean the dishwasher was not happy.

5.  Who is Jean?  He is two 8-year olds in a man costume who has come here from Haiti to work as a dishwasher.  He squeals like a little girl half the day and likes to sing the bass lines of songs like they are words.  Anybody want to take this guy out?  He needs it.

6.  Today must have been epically slow to warrant its own blog posting, and it was.

7.  It is not easy to shovel a brick walkway with a warped metal shovel.  I can’t tell you how many times I caught the edge of a brick which resulted with the handle jamming me in the stomach.

8.  Oh and I also used almost 3 boxes of regular salt on the walkway before Tim let me know there was rock salt.  Food cost?  Sky high!

9.  The day also began with a pair of strange guys emerging from the dining area as I came in.  My first thought was I am about to get jacked up and robbed.  The truth was that they were there to take photos of the restaurant for the website.  Good thing I didn’t grab a mallet.

10.  Classic move by me as a car pulled into the lot and I didn’t want to talk to them so I turned to run inside and proceeded to slip into a split, really smooth.

11.  Oh and another one was after shoveling snow and salting with no gloves on I was so excited for some peanut butter, don't ask.  Anyway I bring it and and proceed to slam the bucket down on the counter wedging my right pinky between the 5 lb. bucket and the counter.  After that I didn't want that damn peanut butter anymore!

12.  Reminded me today of a classic Marsh moment.  Back in the day we used to whistle across the parking lot for a guy named Bento, looks like Drew Carey if he was Brazilian.  When he came out we would whip snowballs at him.  Eventually he got wise to it and would not come outside.  So I went into the old prep room with a snowball and yelled at him.  He jumped up against the wall yelling “No! No!”  I laughed so hard that I misfired and the snowball hit a clock which went flying off the wall.  Ahh, the best times.

13.  I am thinking of getting a dumbwaiter for my room to sit in since that is how I spend a lot of my time recently at work.  Although I am not complaining since summer means no time to even breathe.

14.  Expecting 4 to 8 inches of snow tonight, possibly more tomorrow and Wednesday.  Could we have a few more epic days before Christmas?  We’ll see.

Quote of the Day:  “Oh, my ass, my ass.”  Jean the dishwasher describing the terrible smell of the sludge on top of the hot boxes as he washed them.

Song of the Day:  Heading for the Light – Traveling Wilburys (buy mp3 here)

Photo of the Day:  

Welcome to the show, and yes that's Jean over there.