Much Overdue

So here is an update for you all (since I appear to be getting things all sorted out finally)...

First things first, since many of you have asked...

I quit my job at Joey's... Here's how it went down (it's quite a lovely story)...

I had been working two jobs... For the first month it was great... Extra money and no time to spend it... I was wel on my way to a savings spree unlike any I had ever seen... I had been hired at the restaurant with the knowledge of my first job made well and clear to the manager of Joey's... I would be working full time during the week at hours opposite of joeys, and as such would be unavailable to work anything but weekends. This was fine, and both parties agreed (both parties being me and the manager).

I moderately enjoyed working in the kitchen. It was far from being the worst job I had ever had, and even though it got a little stressful if more than 10 orders came in at a time, I would like to think I handled it well for a person of my training...

As we approached the end of July, I was becommming more aware of the impending wedding of two of the staff members (one of which being the manager)...

Most of the time, I am not a horrible person (occasionally having glimpses of helpfullness) and as such I offered (in writing) to work a few additional shifts if it made schedueling easier on the manager.

Now keeping in mind that these were shifts that I was not hired to work, I did have a few requests which were in the letter I submitted:

1) Because the golf course was still my primary job, I could not work closing shifts (the chance that I could potentially be at the restaurant until 11-1130 when I have to be leaving for work at 5 is not one I wanted to take)

2) Because days I would be taking on extra shifts would be days I will not be sleeping large amounts, I could not work 2 extra days in a row

3) My offer only ran from Aug 1st to August 12th (covering the weeks of the wedding and honeymoon respectively) (I had booked the 13th and 18th off due to a camp I was working at, but because I would not normally be working weekdays at the restaurant, I was not booked off for the 14th-17th...)

For my next shift I check the schedual and I have a few extra shifts... mostly thursdays ( busy day due to all you can eat shrimp)... All of them were closing shifts (meaning I would be there till at least 1030... possibly later... while still working at the golf course the next mornings and back to the restaurant again friday nights for my regular shifts...) including a shift for the 17th of August...

It was all in writing (my requests) so I didn't really know what had happened... maybe my chicken scratch was hard to read...

I approached my manager (keeping in mind this is still more than 6 days away from my first thursday shift)...

He feeds me some crap about "Oh... that's what you meant by that..." ("I cannot close..." pretty complex statement I suppose... open for interperutation)

I remind him that I do work another job, one that pays better and that i had already made very clear was my primary responsability BEFORE I was hired...

"But it's my wedding... My WEDDING" he says to me...

"I realise that" I says to him "but my other job comes first..." In my head I'm thinking "what was your plan before I offered"

"okay, I'll change your shifts around"

"and I can't be here the week of the 14th..."

"I'll see what i can do"

I come in for my next shift, only to find that the "changes" to my shift are the dropping of one thursday evening... (which I was asked by a fellow kitchen staff member to work anyways)...

Speaking of which... I was phoned in on one of my days off, promised I would be the first kitchen to be relieved in the evening (as I was filling in last minute and they knew it was going to be an inconvenience for me) only to have two kitchen staff members sign out and run off as soon as it slowed down ever so slightly... Leaving me behind, and at the fryer....

Yes... not that I'm bitter...

Anyways...

I check, only to find that the 17th shift is still down for me working...

I mention to one of the "sort of in charge while the bosss is away" employees, saying that I am not able to come in...

"oh... okay... we'll trade your shift around with someone else..."

I left it as that...

That friday was the shift from hell... Again some staff members decided to ditch out early because it was slow... It wasn't really slow, but the mind can play some amazing tricks when it doesnt want to be somewhere... I mean, look at how many people love Las Vegas... It's just their minds fabricating things...

It ended up getting so busy, and me and the only other chef were faling so far brhind...

The other chef does NOT handle stress very well... And he decided to take it out on me in the form of yelling...

I don;t take yelling very well... so I became stubbern and defiant... It eventually became "fine... you do it"...

And I stood back, for a good 10 minutes while he tried frantically to manage as the only chef in an exceptionally busy restaurant... Eventually he understood I was doing the best i could... ane stepped back to let me do my own thing (as well as I could)...

I was an inch away from walking right off the job that night... just screaming "fuck it, I don;t need this" and walking out the back door...

The next week, I come in... Still the same...

"I am not able to work... someone is going to have to cover for me" I say

"okay, we'll try to find someone" is the response I get...

By this time, I'm getting kinda fed up... And I resolve to not work a shift which I shouldnt have been schedualed for (twice over) and I had repeatidly requested be changed...

I may have mentioned that to a fellow employee... and he called in on my behalf to make sure things got done...

Then comes the weekend...

By this time I have been spening almost every waking moment at the golf course or with a large group of teenagers for the better part of a week (5am-11pm)... neither of these tasks I regret (infact I still love the golf course, even after all this time... and kids camp was awsome!)... But I was tired...

Now, I've never done this before, and will most likely never do it again... But I quit my job... Well.. I phoned in and told the manager that I would not be comming in... ever... and let him fire me...

But the only part i regret is putting it off until only a few hours before my shift... But the lack of sleep and the frustration of feeling dicked around (combined with the fact that I was super nervous because I knew a lot of people weren't going to be happy with me) had me putting off the phone call far longer than I would have liked...

yes...

So...

Kids camp was AWSOME! I guess I shouldn't call it kids camp... they we're youth... and there for a purpose... But I suppose referring it to it's real name could get me in a little bit of trouble...

It was kinda like dorm, minus the classes and the people who don;t listen to authority... Well... a few had trouble listening... but that is bound to happen...

Highlights of the week...

Watching So you think you can Dance with the boys in camp... Youd think it was a sorority, what with the squeeling et al.

Playing capture the flag... but being the only leader with the energy (or stupidity) to run around with all the kids... So I created secret plans and rally cries for both teams... single handidly... It was a sight to behold... It was like the russians telling the germans how to effectively bomb their cities... But it worked out...

I also got to be a moose... and the kids were told I had all the answers... they were delighted, because as a moose I was hard to find... the were dissapointed because as a moose I refused to give any answers in english... Are you confused yet? I know I am...

I also got an hour each night off... I hung out with fatty fat cakes... I mean D to the B... He can be quite boring... but at least he is a bit more mellow than the kiddies...

Lows for the week... Having to wake up every morning to go to work at the golf course after running around with kids all the day before... but becaue I have the BEST ROOMMATE EVER!!!! Amber made me coffee each and every day... to give me the pep I needed to... mow grass...

Yup... best roommate ever...

Then the week ended... Mattyk was back... and exposing his genetalia through his provactively tight pants... again...

D to the B removed all traces of me having ever lived in dorm... well... the smell was still there... I was cute in grade 11... Ask mattyk... I hope he still has the pic...

Then came the great commission... We were to try something new...

I tried many things...

I wanted to try hot air ballooning (I had looked into it before... but I decided to try again)... way to expensive... Bungee jumping? meh... not worth it for the time you actually experience the enjoyment... Go to a concert? the people I thought would appreciate it were either not willing or not able to go...

Then I had an idea!

I will make my new thing surprising a few of my friends...

I used a bit of the money I have accumulated by being a slave to "the man" to purchase three concert tickets... Now this is not a band I would have considered going to under normal circumstances, but I most certainly appreciate their music, ahve heard nothing but rave reviews for their showmanship, and have heard rumours that this will be their last tour...

I created a devious ploy...

"wanna come over to play boardgames?" I said to one

"I have a clever plan, I'll invite them over to play boardgames and then surpise them with the ticket I bought for them... but I need your help so they don;t suspect" I said to the other...

Like dominoes they fell, one by one... until both had succum to my devious ploy... I suppose two dominoes would make for the most boring dominoes show ever... but I digress...

I could say they were surprised... but that wouldnt do the expression on their faces justice... They were both super stoked at the thought of attending a free concert, even if neither seemed particularly up to date with the band...

The concert was everything I could ahve hoped for... The stage design was awsome, the musicians were engaging and entertaining (How do you get a dog to stop humping your leg?.. I cookie to the person who can tell me the right answer), and the stereotypical drunk native guy sitting next to us was a pleasant surprise.. yes pleasant... thats the word I was looking for...

Fringe festival was also on this past week...

Me and the Morg saw two shows.. Why I can't get laid (a one man cabaret (featuring a defiling of a Disney classic and a conversation with an anus)) and the purity test ( dead pornstars, ice storms, and french accents)... I was sufficiently entertained by both...

I'm sure there is more to write about...

Like my new phone...

I have a new number -> ask me for it... It's not a secret but I'm not about to post it in an internet forum...

It's an amazing piece of machinary...

yes... bed now...

Sorry about ther lack of updates...

I'm quite busy (and have been for the last week)...

Stories and updates will begin again next week...

ANd I did quit one of my jobs... It's exciting (apparently I beat the rush of people who are planning the same)

I suppose it is true what they say...

Parents are a lot easier to live with when you don;t live with them..

The 'rents were down for the weekends... which was special (as I think I said before, this is the first time they've visited me since they dropped me off 3 years, 11 months, and 11 days ago... not that I'm counting)

We went to heritage days... Which was interesting... I thought I could eat way more food...

Somewhere between the eritrean himbasha, and the nicaraguan nacatamales, I filled right up...

Well... It could have been the heat and the 2 hours of sleep...

regardless...

We also checked out the Royal Alberta Museum... Their specialty exibits right now are foreign prostitutes and mail order catalogues...

Coincidence? I think not...

gah... I'm suddenly quite tired...

More stories to come... including the famous "how I almost quit my job" and the ever popular "look, is blinks, beeps, and makes me happy"... as told by neal

So a Bird walks into a bar...

wait... no... I think it was a shovel...

No... crap..

I'm so bad at this...

Okay, I think I remember how this joke goes...

So a bird and a shovel get into this huge fight...

no... that's not how it goes...

Okay, lets start at the very beginning... If this offends you, please remember it is fictional, and occurred at an imaginary land of recreation... one that i do not work at...

So this bird maims itself, and luckily finds it's way into the loving caring arms of some old lady, who nurses it back to health, and sends it on a downhill spiral of human dependancy (both for attention and food)...

Somehow she gets the wicked cool idea to release the bird out into the wild after she's taught it not to be afraid of humans... and the wild she decides to release it at, happens to be a golf course...

Not being afraid to approach humans (thinking they're a source of food and entertainment), he sets off amusing some, and annoying others...

Some are severely amused, some are severely annoyed...

Like in every other situation in life, the five annoyed people make twice as much noise as the hundred amused people... and they complain... do people ever stop complaining (bwahahaha... hypocracy, I know)

So the bosses at the golf course discuss (jokingly) the cruel ways to remove the pest, in order to stop the bitching...

One person decides that (for the following reasons:

1) The bird is obviously malnurished
2) He, himself, is somewhat responsible for the behavior of the bird (through feeding it on many occasions)
3) That the risk of the bird being maimed by an angry golfer and dying a long drawn out death is sufficiently high)

he is going to play god, and remove the bird from our existence...

And he does so... with a swift blow to the head with a shovel...

I am, by no means, a truely cruel person... Sure I act it up a lot... And sure I am quite "hardened" from life on the farm, but that doesn't make me cruel...

But when he called it by name (Stevie), and it landed beside him and cocked its head towards him as if to say

"HEY BEST BUDDY GUY! GOT ANYTHING TO EAT!!!!

=-D

Wait a second... whats the shovel for?"

Only to be dead a fraction of a second later... I laughed...

In order to justify his actions, he referenced "of mice and men"... given the circumstances, I suppose that's a decent comparison...

please insert animal cruelty whining here \/