How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

Oh for Pete's sake, Irma just left and here comes Maria. It's supposed to be affecting us by Tuesday.

                                                   

                                                    Bitch...please.


I thought we were prepared for Irma. Seems we really weren't. Hindsight is always 20/20.

The day before Irma was to hit they cautioned everyone to be hunkered down by six PM. Of course I came across a really good recipe on Facebook at five thirty so headed out to purchase the two missing ingredients. Went to five or six stores...all were closed. I was heading back to the house when I saw a little market still open on a corner in a small shopping strip mall.

It's called Lucky's Market. I bet I'd driven by it a hundred times. I always assumed it was an oriental market run by Hop Sing and his wife, who he loved long time. Well Hop Sing was my hero now with that open sign glaring and I swung into the parking lot.

Holy Shitake Mushrooms!

It was like Whole Foods for half the price. All organic and a lot of house made items. The had their own butcher shop, made their own sausages, baked goods, deli items, enormous selection of bulk nuts, trail mix, candies and dried fruits. In the front section was a pseudo Starbucks which also serves beer and wine. You gotta love a shopping buggy with a cup holder for your alcoholic beverage while you shop.

They were closing in ten minutes to had to hurry but after Irma, Massey and I went back shopping and took all these photos. The day we went they even had a three piece band playing. It's the most fun I've ever had grocery shopping. Huge beer and wine selection, you can even create your own six pack. We even found Atlanta's own SweetWater 420.

Anyhoo...back to Irma.

Just when I thought it would be okay, it wasn't. I've never heard such wind and rain, for hours and hours and hours. We could hear pieces of the house flapping and tearing and clanging...all in the middle of the night, with no power and only battery operated visor lights. It was a long night and the storm went well into the morning hours.

We made it. We were all alive and had a roof over our heads. No back yard fence or many roof shingles left and lots of huge branches down, but felt pretty lucky.

The first day after wasn't too bad, it was still extremely breezy and we opened all the windows and sliding glass door.

The second day was like living in a crock pot set on high...a long slow simmering twenty four hours. All the ice melted and so did our frozen food. The refrigerator smelled like a three day old crime scene.

Lesson number one learned about surviving a hurricane...don't stock up a refrigerator or freezer. The ice always runs out and you'll never have enough.

I did come up with a good idea. I sent a text to our sous chef at work and asked if he was planning on going to check on the restaurant? He said he was and I asked if we could meet him there to fill up our cooler with ice?

Bingo! At least we had cold drinks. Our food was already all spoiled but a cold Co Cola sures tastes good, not to mention a cold beer.

By the third day I thought about walking across the intersection to the old folks home with their annoyingly loud generators humming away and committing myself. It was ninety degrees before noon, was only going to get hotter and knew I couldn't last much longer. Tim took a cold shower, I couldn't muster the strength to even sit up. Massey had bought a small spray water bottle with a tiny battery operated fan on the top. I went through four sets of batteries and kept it a foot away from me at all times.

Since I hogged the only fan in the house, Tim and Massey ventured out in search of food. They had been gone about two hours, probably just enjoying riding in an air conditioned vehicle (and couldn't blame them).

Not to mention, through all of this, our three dogs never complained once (not that they could have) but knew it couldn't be too much fun to sit around in an eighty five degree house wearing a fur coat you couldn't take off. With no fence we had to walk three dogs, three or four times a day and steer the blind one away from all the debris he couldn't see.

So I was trying to read a book, with sweat dripping into my eyes like I was outside cutting grass when suddenly I saw the lamp beside me come on. Then the TV came on as the ceiling fan slowly started to spin. I crossed my fingers and waited for it to go out again. It didn't.

I gave the A/C a fifteen minute head start, then started shutting all the windows and closing all the blinds.

The house (it's tiny) cooled off to seventy nine degrees in about an hour. It was like living in an igloo!

I had to go back to work that night, and thankfully could take a warm shower and wash a uniform. We were balls to the wall busy. People had cabin fever. The kitchen ran with a skeleton crew, some people were flooded in, some were out of power for over five days. Lots of orders got doubled in all the confusion and we ended up with a buffet of food coming back to the expo window.

One of my favorite servers was working with me that night. His power was still out. He and I met in the dish room every spare second we had, sharing and scarfing down Cape Canaveral shrimp with a chipoltle aioli and crab spring rolls with a ponzu reduction. Neither one of us had eaten warm food in days and it was wonderful to eat even luke warm leftover food.

The one good thing about Irma is she hit while we were still renting. The landlord sent a crew out yesterday, they put up a new fence and nailed tarp over the entire roof.

Work has been a double blessing. I'm eating good and the tipping gods have smiled on me. I'm making pretty good money and getting closer to 'airport' money each and every week.

And now...

We got Maria coming?

At least I'll be smarter this time. Nothing but canned fruit, peanut butter, chips and crackers. The only thing I'm icing down is drinks.


Once the power came back on and I saw the devastaion others went through, and continue to go through, know once again we are truly blessed and lucky people.

I was out back reading with the pups yesterday before work. It's a Richard Russo book, "Nobody's Fool". It's about a lot of things but also about a down and out guy (Sully)who was a football star in high school but a failure in his later life.

"Sully, it seemed, scarcely got interested in the contest until someone on the other team landed a good shot or offered an insult, after which something changed in Sully's eyes. If Sully couldn't win the game, he'd start a fight and win that. If he couldn't win the fight he'd started, he'd continue to hurl himself at whatever he couldn't beat with increased fury, as if the knowledge that the battle was unwinable heightened its importance. What Sully did better than anybody else was pick himself up off the ground, and when he returned to the huddle, bruised, nose bloodied, limping, he'd still be hurling insults over his shoulder at whoever had put him on the ground."

Sometimes you have to take off your skirt and get in the game. Ironically enough, I haven't worn a skirt in years.

We're stepping out here in Orlando, and stepping into our future. You gotta keep stepping.

 Til next time...COTTON

Home From My "Marketing" Job

Just blew in the door after a WONDERFUL night at work (Seriously).

With the economy, I have taken a big hit in the paycheck. People just don't eat out like they used to and even when they do, they tip a LOT less these days. I think some people don't realize that I make $2.13 and hour and I NEVER see one penny of that because they take taxes out on what I claim for tips. I claim EVERY penny I make mainly because when you go to buy a house or even a car...would you rather show that you make $20K or $40K ? Also we were audited a couple of years back. The IRS said I had two kids when I have three.

It took three months of faxing records and documents to the IRS to prove that I was right and they were wrong.

Did they reimburse me for all the faxing and overnight mailings? I don't think so!

It was more like an "OH YEAH...YOU DO HAVE THREE KIDS...OUR BAD".

ANY HOO... tonight was a banner night. I got my butt kicked from the time I walked in the door until I clocked out.

I had one table that stayed for almost four hours. A birthday dinner for a guy in his thirties. They ordered Jagermeister shooters, lots of beer and had a good ole "Throw down". They closed out one tab (tipped me GREAT) and thirty minutes later started another tab. When I brought their round of drinks (they had a designated driver) the birthday boy said "Gracias" to which I replied "Da Nada...mi amigo". He said "Habla Espanol"?? I quickly came back with "Hell yeah...who do you think is back there cooking your food"?? I told him I had learned more Spanish working in the restaurant industry than I did in all of my schooling (which included Spanish lessons from grade 4 through 12).

They LOVED me...and thankfully showed me their love on their charge slip!

Moving on to the next good table!

My wonderful sis came in with two of her good friends..sat and had delicious salmon salads with our awesome "house" dressing...lemon , oil, mustard with crushed green olives, diced tomatoes and a hint of garlic (just to brag a bit).

They were seated really near the kitchen (anyone else would have complained).

When they went to leave, my sister's friend...facing our dish pit as she gave me a hug said "Be careful over there, the floor looks really wet".

I told her not to worry, the floors were treated with a non slip coating. She said "REALLY"??

I shot back "Oh yeah, I could go do a cart wheel in the dish pit".

As another server walked by, I handed him the coffee pot I had in my hand and said "Hey Rob...hold this for me while I go do a cart wheel in the dish pit".

As all the young people that I work with do...he obligingly obeyed me and took the pot from my hand and carried on (although glancing over his shoulder to see if I would really do it).

The dish pit is the worst place in the house (for obvious reasons) but I have often told my co workers...if you DO fall in the dish pit, I don't care if you break a vertebrae...between the grime on the floor and the humiliation of falling, you are up in a flash stating "YEAH, I'm okay".

Tonight was a glorious night...everything ran smooth, the peeps loved me and showered me with their monetary praise.

Tomorrow could be a completely different story.

That is the only downfall of being a server...YOU CAN'T COUNT ON BANKING EVERY SINGLE SHIFT!!

I truly believe in my heart that I excel at my job and it will all even out in the end run if I give every shift my best effort...and I genuinely try to do just that.

It "IS" sales and marketing... and I enjoy it almost too much.

I make people enjoy having me as their server and in return...they come in and specifically ask for my table.

It's like I have my own comedy club that I don't have to pay overhead on!!

Of course I know WHO to joke with and WHO to kow tow to...and I can kiss butt when I have to...It is part of the job.

But the good ALWAYS outweighs the bad (so far) and I enjoy what I do for a living ALMOST too much.

It is just in my personality and persona...I think I was meant to be on stage SOMEWHERE...I am just not sure where........YET!!!!

My Big Left Wing Mouth

As I have said in many posts... I AM A DEMOCRAT !!! I stand by my politics like I stand by my faith.

We have a family website that includes cousins, aunts, uncles...no grandparents left on this earth. Just us "UPSTARTS" with a distant cousin thrown into the mix (she is currently our Matriarch).

I came home from work last night ...checked my email...checked my blog... and began to type. I shot off my big mouth..and was sorry that I inflicted my political views on the website.

I guess that I should monitor myself when not typing on my blog. I am a person that will tell every part of her being , thought and soul to anyone that will listen.

Many (most of) my friends at work are Republicans.

They will be disappointed in this post. Or maybe if they can be open minded they will listen to my rant.

The United States is in the toilet. Every One hates us. Our dollar couldn't buy you half of a "happy meal" in another country...except maybe Mexico, where almost half of their country is already here sending their pittance back home to relatives hoping to join us with a fake social security number and a job washing dishes.

In my opinion....(I get to have this on my blog)... Dick Cheney is a crook and a cheat...and has been running the country.

We need to have a "Change"...not to steal Obama's thunder..but to enhance and stand behind it.

Our men and women are dying overseas...we are increasingly "Pissing" off not only the Muslim community, but the entire world with our "WE'LL TAKE OVER" attitude.

We need DESPERATELY to make a "CHANGE" and make it pretty quick.

We need to have someone that realizes the needs of this country, the needs for change, and the need for action.

Thank the Lord, my husband does not read my blog. He is a staunch Republican. In other words...he is in denial.

This country needs a swift kick in the ass...a realization that we have invaded a country, torn them apart, albeit...they are screwed up anyway.

We need to focus on US...GET IT? "U" "S" . UNITED STATES.

We need to get our own economy, gas prices, grocery prices and insurance premiums under control...before we set out to change the world.

Let's start with our own back yard.

You know what? They may try to bomb us again, but if money was kept here in the states, focused on homeland security...maybe we could do more good at protecting ourselves than at protecting people that are half way around the world, and are already ticked off at us being in their country anyway.

In my opinion (which is small and probably disregarded)

Let's TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN...Let's bring our men and women home...let's focus on "US" for a while. Let's let someone new, fresh and excited try to give it a shot at making us a country that I can feel comfortable about and a country that I will not only feel more secure in...but a country that I will have FAITH in and one that I can be proud of. Till next time...COTTON (sorry Lisa)