Bartending

I have a new admiration for bartending. I thought it was an easy job until I started taking the course. I had no idea how much work was involved. Not back breaking work, but a head full knowledge. You have to know the recipes to hundreds of drinks by memory, know what glass they go in, what garnish to use, etc. And do it all with a smile on your face while making it look effortless. With that being said Iam glad I am taking the course. It will make my next couple of months bearable. I can create drinks (and trust me I'll need lots of drinks) and I can say that it is practice for work. Sometimes time and distance can lull you into a false sense of security. All it takes is an email to remind you why you moved to Southern California. So, I am glad I chose bartending. Turns out it's great timing. I think I'll be doing lots of experimenting in the near future with new drinks...and of course tasting my concoctions. Hopefully it will make the time pass quickly. Maybe I'll have some great new recipes I can take to Celebration...

Luh Up

Why is it that children learn the words first that you don't want them to learn at all? It is said that children are sponges, and I can see that. They copy everything you do and say. Just yesterday my two year old responded to me and had me speechless. It's amazing to hear yourself in a two year old. She had taken out all the movies that I had so painstakingly organized alphabetically and piled them up on the floor. I told her to pick them back up and put them away. The response I got was "Okay woman, sheesh." She takes words that she hears at various times and puts them together in random order that has you hysterical. She loves to tell everyone around her to "Be Quiet" or "Luh Up". Now we don't use that phrase in our house. I could not figure out where it came from and so we blamed Gordon Ramsey. If she starts calling people "Donuts" we'll all be in trouble. He has other interesting adjectives and adverbs but that's a whole other blog. But she was watching Racing Strips and then started singing "Luh Up" over and over again. Then it triggered in my head. A horse just said that. Then today I heard it again. Now why would they say that in a children's movie. It is difficult to tell her not to say that when she hears it (talk about hearing it from the horse's mouth). Anyway, out of the mouth of babes.... but I don't think that's what was meant by that expression.

Schooling

Well, I have to acknowledge my son's accomplishments for school. Not only did he put in the time so we have finished the year early, he tested well. As much as I'd love to take the credit, I absolutely can't. He is smart on his own. Although the school officially has him at 5th grade, we finished the 6th grade year. To get the school to promote him "officially" to 7th grade in the fall, they are running a battery of tests. For 5th grade math he scored in the 95th percentile. Today he took Language Arts, but that hasn't come back. Because the STAR tests will come too late for them to use in the board's decision making process he had to take a Baby STAR testing. For Language Arts he is at the end of the 6th grade, which is just where he should be (unless you deal with any school system). For Math, he scored so high his teacher's jaw dropped. His level is 12th grade, 9th month. I looked at the questions that came up and I could not have answered them. He came out of the room and said his head hurt, that math was so hard. He thought he did worse than the Language Arts test. When that level came up we were all floored. I am so happy for him. To know that all those hours of work he had put in finally paid off in a way he could see. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you. You are so smart and I am so proud that you are who you are. Not only are you "book smart" you are also very adaptable. We broke some news that major changes are coming our way and he was very accepting of it. Thanks for being you.

Comedy

I like things that are funny. Comedies, jokes, anecdotes, etc. I love romantic comedies as movies and television comedies. Having said that I do have a complaint. Why do comedians feel the need to use four letter words to embellish their stand up. Comedy Central was advertising a new George Lopez live performance. I saw his first one on television. What I saw was the edited version, and he was hilarious. His "Why You Crying" stand up was right on. Now, I am married to a Mexican and we both were rolling on the floor because his show was right on the money. He made his points, and hit them straight up. His new stand up show was America's Mexican. We were so excited, especially after his first one. Holy cow!! Talk about tons of "bleeps". If you have to rely on four letter words to prop up your set, it's not funny. We were so disappointed. What was sad was his need to fall back on those words. Now, he followed Gabriel Iglesias. No relation that I know of to the other famous Iglesias family. This Iglesias is Mexican and is "Hot and Fluffy." He probably had a half dozen bleeps through his entire set. He is hysterical. He was able to stand in front of a large audience for an hour, make them laugh, and not need to use those words as a crutch. If you are funny, be funny. Adding four letter words does not in itself make things funny. I hope Gabriel makes another special because I would watch him any time. George, clean up your act. Especially when kids know you from the family show on tv. Why mess up a good thing? Live up to your publicity promos. It would be worth it.

Change

It's been said that change is good. What if, faced with a major change, your comfort level alters? I hope that I can adapt to whatever changes come my way. The potential is there, I just hope I can face the change head on and embrace it. Sometimes the theory is better than the reality. Let's hope that is not the case. Change may allow a person to grow and become a different, and hopefully, better person. Here's to changes...

Bait and Switch

If a homeowner contracts with you to do a job, can you please do the job. The owner hired you because of your qualifications, abilities, etc. It is not fair to an owner if you substitute other people in your place. Especially those who do not have any skills needed to do the job. A homeowner works darn hard for their money and have allocated a certain amount to do needed repairs, upgrades, etc to their home. Please have the decency to show up to do the job YOU signed on for. Don't disrespect the owner by doing a bait and switch. You charge high because of your skills, then substitute a worker with no skills. Do you then lower the price along with that? Of course not. It is so not fair to hardworking people. We are all getting gouged at the gas station, grocery stores, etc but we know what we are getting for our money and we make that choice ourselves. The poor homeowner thinks he's getting one thing, but is soooo not. If they only knew what goes on while they are away working to earn that elusive dollar. My husband is a contractor, and he feels very bad for these unsuspecting people. Please, in an industry based on customer service and relations, value your clients and show them some respect. And if possible, try to take a few minutes out of your schedule one day, and drop in when they are not suspecting. You'd be amazed at what you find.

Easy Money

There's no such thing as easy money. Now, as a disclaimer I will freely admit that I am not an expert on the construction area, but I have been married to a contractor for over 16 years, so I know a little something about the industry. But, speaking as a consumer, I would have to beg you, as a professional, please treat my money with respect. I know that everybody needs to make money, but please, can you do something to earn it? My husband came home, again, frustrated with the other contractor on the job. Now this contractor negotiated with the owner directly. My husband and him walked the job and my husband gave him his professional opinion about what he would charge. The contractor then added quite a few more thousand to that price and bizarrely enough got the job (that's another blog). My husband has been on this job doing the work every day (except for the one day he took off, for my son's field trip), the other one has yet to show up. Now, at the end of the project is it fair that each make the same amount of money? I don't think so. The other contractor has been sending laborers (as in they don't have the specific skills needed for the job) in his place. He wants their pay to come partially out of my husband's share and not as a price to be paid for not showing up on the job himself. That was the choice you made, to now show up. The secondary problem with sending other people to the job is that my husband has to take the time to show them what needs to be done. When he gets to the job and finds people standing around just talking, spending working hours continually on the phone, leaving work early, etc. that is a problem. There's a deadline people!!! The job has to be completed within a certain time frame for them to get paid. 1) sending unqualified people that need to be babysat takes time away from the job; 2) wanting to get paid for just showing up is not cool either. A body means nothing, at least pretend to be working. Your casual attitude towards your customers, towards work, etc. is impacting my family's income. That affects my children and that makes me angry. Whatever happened to an honest wage for an honest day's work?