Tonight was one of the slowest nights I’ve ever experienced in the restaurant.  Sunday nights, generally speaking, are slow.  Superbowl Sunday is historically the slowest night of the year.  I worked that night this year and we had a total of 16 guests (compared to last nights 200+).

This Sunday…tonight…19 guests.

That struck me as very odd.  Sure it was Oscar Night but I didn’t think (originally at least) that it would have such a huge effect on our business.  This whole week has been slow in fact (with a couple exceptions).

And…of course…there was the usual strange happenings in the restaurant.  The one that stood out in my mind the most was table 62.  They had a reservation for 7 people (grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, 3 kids).  It was someones birthday (not sure who) so the whole family went out for dinner.  This table stood out initially because the kids had such unhappy and bored expressions on their faces.  Maybe they wanted to watch the Oscars too…

Eventually their server came up to me with a print out from our POS (Point Of Sale) machine.  He told me that the guests (mom and dad) wanted the bill split between two credit cards.  Both credit cards were declined.  This is extremely rare in the restaurant so we were both a bit surprised.  We had been processing cards all day so I doubted it was a problem with our system.  I told him to try the cards again then talk to the guests.  He did and still no go.

The dad was pretty pissed…blaming us for this, yada yada.  He stormed off to the Bank of America ATM just outside the plaza to get cash while mom called the bank.  Turns out the bank’s computer network/system was down…so the card wasn’t out of funds nor was it our computers issue.

It’s funny how people react so strongly to things like that.  I’m a bit torn myself.  Part of me thinks it is miraculous how technology allows us to be able to pay for everything with a simple swipe of plastic.  It makes life so convenient, so simple, so painfully easy to blow all your money.  I’ve grown to expect this simplicity at all times…so when it breaks down it can be frustrating.  But hey…it’s a complex miracle!  Deal with it!

So I might be getting some comments along the lines of “oh my god he wrote something!”.  Yeah…again…it’s a complex miracle.

Deal with it.

This past Sunday was a Taste of Diablo…a fundraiser that Diablo Valley College (where I went to culinary school) puts on to raise money for their culinary program. It’s a decently cool event…several restaurants and wine companys put together booths, the school sells baked goods, there is a band, a raffle, yada.

Not terribly exciting but since it is my school I help out when I can.

And since many of our employees came from that school, our restaurant always participates.

The Chef bought a 160 lb leg of Kobe beef to cook. He stuffed it with garlic, rubbed it down with peppercorns and oil, and let it sit for 4 days. He then laid down a 3 in layer of rock salt, mire poix, and encased the whole leg in a 2-3 in layer of rock salt.

12 hours in the oven and it was very very happy.

We loaded it into the bed of my truck…and I could smell it the whole drive over there…absolutely amazing.

When we got there we loaded it onto a table…and a pretty big crowd gathered. Everyone wanted to see what this giant mound of salt was.

He pulled out a hammer…cracked that baby open…and dear GOD was it amazing. So tender and juicy, so delicious. It was nearly a work of art.

Someone else took pictures…so I don’t have any to show right now…but trust me, it looks unreal.

Cow is soooo good. I could eat cow every day.

It’s funny how quickly things can change in life. Sometimes you just can’t be quite sure what will happen next…in the next 15 minutes or the next year.

Ever since this whole decision to go to Switzerland took place I’ve had a lot of change in life. I found someone, and lost them. I traveled to another part of the world and came back. I started a new job and had a new one offered to me. Hell, I even have facial hair now. It’s all about variety I suppose.

I could really go off on all of those things…pick any one and I’d have quite the story behind it. The Europe deal…well you can read all about that in my archieves. The losing someone…well, I’m not quite sure if that story is ready to be told yet. The facial hair is pretty boring. The job situation is not.

I’ve posted a little about this…and of course things have changed. A couple weeks back I finally got a chance to sit down with the Director of the restaurant to talk serious. In other words, he wanted to know how much I wanted to make. I told him…and he didn’t react positively or negatively. He said he’d be in touch in a couple days.

It’s been weeks.

I left 2-3 voicemails…I’m thinking 2…and still nothing.

And today, at the other restaurant…we had another employee leave for this new place.

The employee that left was a great employee…she was a tremendous server and did a lot of the bookeeping for the restaurant. She was, without a doubt, a great asset and will be sorely missed. My manager was crying over this…she took it really hard. She is starting to hate this new place, which has sucked away so much life from the other restaurant.

And I am starting to feel the same way.

They say all is far in love and war…or business…whatever. And sure the original restaurant is a bit…dull…these days. They are going through a hell of a lot of transition and are struggling with it. Employees are leaving, things are being pushed aside. It doesn’t feel good.

And my life…Neil’s life…is NOTHING but change. It seems like the only constant I can count on is my shoes. That’s about it. Everything else is variable.

And I’m sick of it.

I desire stability. I crave it. I want to know my place in this world again. Have I ever? I don’t know…but damnit I want to. All this other crap is just building up inside me and is slowly driving me to an edge of something.

So I am going to stay with Restaurant A. I’m not going to change. I am going to stick with it and help them. They need it more than the other place does. Plus…I’m such a woman about these things (which is both good and bad…but it’s me)…I like to help those in need. And they need it.

You know what the best part is?

I’m leaching internet access from Restaurant B as I sit in the bar drinking a beer.

Life IS funny sometimes.

I don’t know if it is the weather, the time of year, the restaurant…the anything…but it’s been DEAD for many days now. Occasionally we’ll have a busy day but for the most part we are struggling.

The staff is unhappy, the kitchen is unhappy…I doubt corporate is all that pleased either.

I’m trying very hard to keep myself busy with projects but it isn’t easy.

Bleah.

Right now I am going through a phase in my career that I’ve never fully experienced before. I shall refer to this phase as “Choices”.

The Choices are rather simple at this point. Well…on paper (or Word, or monitor…yeah) it is simple but in reality it isn’t. Here are my two choices.

1- Continue working at the Blackhawk Grille
2- Work at Forbes Mill

Seems simple, doesn’t it? A choice…Choice…between two restaurants. But here is the catch(es).

Blackhawk Grille is in a pretty wild state of flux. When I was re-hired by them after returning from Switzerland I was offered a position of “Supervisor” with the duties of getting the hosting staff into shape, providing the restaurant with some new and fresh ideas, and eventually working as a morning shift manager to help take the load off the regular managers. Sounds good to me! I said yes.

Then they started having me do banquet stuff…which was cool and different, but not exactly something I was all that excited about. They soon hired an Event Sales Manager and I was moved straight into the lunch manager (by work load definition, not by pay nor status in the company). Then 2 managers left…Laurie the GM and Jeff the Floor/Beverage manager.

So this put me into a mildly odd position. Right now I open the restaurant Monday-Friday. That’s my entire job. Sure they “seem” to want me to do other things but the ball is fully in my court. I take on a couple things…and…well…there is no recognition. That bothers me. I admit the current manager, Meghan, is being swamped with stuff but I’m here folks…let me help! Instead I’m just sorta pushed to the side and told to do what I can. It kinda sucks…because at this point in my life I’d like some real role, some definition, some clarity and sense of purpose.

So…I was contacted by the Director of Forbes Mill (who is an ex-GM of Blackhawk). We sit down a couple times, I meet with several people, and they really want me to be part of their team. To summarize…they want me to be their lunch manager (full time) as well as their IT/computer guy (mainly Excel/Word type stuff) and being a training guru. I’m STOKED by this. It sounds perfect. So last week, Thursday the 9th, I meet with the Director and we talk money. We banter a little bit, talk more about my nicely defined roles…and he asks me how much I want to make. I tell him. We talk a little longer. He asks if I have any questions…I do…he answers…he asks if I have any more questions…I say no…he says he’ll be in touch in a couple days.

UGH! It’s been a couple days now…and I’m on the edge of my seat here! I really want to work for these people but…did I ask for too much? I had dinner there last night (another posting) and it went well…I think. Crap.

This is the big question…the important one. We’ve sat and talked about it a couple times but no real “trigger” has been pulled. Pull it damnit! PULL!

This is it folks…perhaps my last blog post in Switzerland.

I did my check out stuff, paid my fines (damages to our building, thanks Magnus), got my refunds (the stupid books they never gave us), yada yada.

My bags are all packed and waiting. Now, it’s just sit around. My flight out isn’t until tomorrow at 10:35 AM (arriving at SFO at 4:25 pm)…so it’s just a waiting game at this point.

I’m just going to hang out here for a while…take the funi down at some point, take the train to the airport at some point and camp out there overnight. I could get a hotel room there but…meh…what’s the point? I doubt I will sleep, that would mean unpacking some stuff…besides the Geneva airport is comfortable and quiet.

The graduation was pretty cool…I got a shiny medal and great grades. Granted I was a touch disapointed with a couple of ‘em…2 freaking C’s (70% in marketing and 78% in Facilites…or was it rooms?)…but all the rest were A’s and B’s…and I did amazing compared to the rest of my students. 10 of ‘em failed…which is really sad. Some passed by less than 1% and some failed by more than 10%. Ow.

But all in all it’s been…well…amazing. It’s snowing (still), quiet and rather sad. There has been lots of hugs, handshakes and face kissing….some tears…and some joy.

It’s funny to think it’s all pretty much over now. It hasn’t fully settled in, and probably won’t for a little bit. What a long strange trip it’s been.

On a bit of a sad note…Magnus is in deep shit. Last night he got extremely wasted and broke into someones room and unpacked all their stuff…just threw it all over the place. We found him this morning sleeping on the couch, still wearing his school clothes. Security was called in and I don’t know what is going to happen to him. He’s not coming back, that’s for sure. It was pretty pathetic watching him just crumble over the semester. He needs help…and honestly he isn’t going to get it here. I’m not sure if I told the story about the guys breaking into his room to beat him up…maybe I will later.

So, once I return to the states…to good old California…that may be the end of my Around the world in unkown days. I mean coming back would be the full circle. So that would be the end I guess.

We shall see. I’ve still got some adventures under my sleeve. This old man has a couple tricks left…and I’ve got some plans for more…interesting…things.

So wish me luck on my flight home, get ready to have a beer with me and see a hell of a lot of pictures.

I love you all…and thanks for sticking with me in all this. It’s been awesome.