4 September 2014

Happy Thursday!

I laced up the shoes this morning and went for my inaugural run in the new New Balances. They did alright. Me—not so much. I kept the pace at about the level I had been doing earlier this summer, but taking two weeks off has not helped me mentally. It’ll be a little bit before I’m back in running shape.

Work ended up being very busy today. Not like mid-August busy, but it was still surprisingly steady. The waitlist almost broke the 60-minute mark. A lot of that has to do with the significantly fewer number of servers. I think we only about 2/3 of the total number of tables are in use now.

We had two really funny info booth visitors today.

The first was a young family getting on the waitlist. The dad said the party size was four. The mom cut in and corrected him with a count of three. Sarah, Jamie, the dad, and I were all confused as to what she meant. She was grasping the handle of a stroller filled with an infant while a pre-schooler clung to the back of her shirt. Then she said, “Oh, yeah. I forgot I have two children now.” We then all had a good laugh, but I imagine that will become one of those stories the dad will tell over and over again.

The second funny visitor was a lady with a British accent. She wanted the time in order to figure out when to make her reservation. She spotted a round object on the wall with numbers on it. From looking at it, she determined it was 3:00 and she should make a 4:30 reservation after she finishes hiking around the pond. The funny thing: we don’t have a clock on the wall. We have a thermometer.

This evening was the big Packer viewing party. Two of the kitchen workers hosted it at the company apartments on the northern end of the island. I met up with Luke in Bar Harbor, and then he and I drove up to the party together. Along the way we grabbed the Packer party essentials of Cheez-its and Miller Lite.

I was one of two Wisconsinites at the party. Most everyone else seemed to be a full-blown or lukewarm football fan. Unfortunately, we had one Minnesota Vikings fan who had commentary for almost everything. It turned out alright, though; he was pretty funny and seemed to become emotionally involved with the Packers toward the end of the game. Even Vikings have a heart.

Overall the party was fantastic. Having restaurant kitchen staff host and attend it meant that we ate well. The loss was a tough pill to swallow, but the pork roast smoked for about 3 hours was easy to eat.