08/09/2003
10:15 am. One and a half cups of coffee and a few cartoons later. Feeling much better... I had a pretty shitty week at the job. The later into summer it gets the slower the bar becomes. Making a decent wage is getting to be more and more difficult. Not to mention boring. My job is extremely fun, but when the bar is empty, the fun stops.
I must be patient for season, that is when I will make the real money. From what I understand, season starts around october so about a month and a half and I will be rolling in it.
I'd like to thank all my friends for the e-mails and notes. Being in a new state 3000 miles away from everyone is very difficult. You all help me stay positive and it does not go unnoticed so keep it up please.
I want to move the Journal over to Live Journal, which is an online journal that really kicks ass, but I am finding it more difficult that expected. They need a code which I can only get from an existing user or by paying. I have no problem paying I just want to try it out first. If anyone can give me this code, it would kick ass.
9:30 in the morning. Tired, stayed up late. mmm...coffee. BTW, if anyone wants to send me some decent coffee, we have none in florida. Starbucks French Roast....mmmm... I swear to christ! It is rediculous, I went into an "espresso" shop, ordered a latte and got a cap! I hate florida. SO ANGRY!!
8/01/2003
So here we are, a new month. August in Florida...hmmm… I couldn’t imagine the fiery pits of hell could be as hot as Florida in August. It is hot. F*cking hot! It was like 115 degrees today, without the heat index!
For those of you who do not know what heat index means I’ll sum it up for you. I think it is a term thought up by cooky old Floridian Rednecks. You see, it is only 94 degrees but it feels like 104(with the heat index). Does this make any kind of sense to anyone?!?! Wouldn’t stand to reason that if it feels like 104 it IS 104?!?
I tell you, the south is like it’s own planet. Take the Pacific Northwest, subtract rationale, reason and common sense and you have Florida. Well, you may want to subtract about an average of 2 teeth per resident as well.
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The job is still going very well. The social life is lacking.
Working as a bartender is almost enough social life in itself. I hang out at a bar all day and B.S. with people, but I really miss all my friends. I know, I know…boo hoo! That’s why it’s such a thrill to get emails and photos from you all. I have been without a PC for quite a while so I apologize if I have not been able to reply to your email. Each one is appreciated more than you know!
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I will probably stay in Florida for a couple of years. I think New York would be fun. Unlikely, but you never know.
Aaron
7/19.2003
Okay, those of you who know me know that I can put away a drink or two. However, you may not know that I don’t really do that anymore. I have a beer or two after work but not like I used to.
Given this, I get off work yesterday after having a fairly successful day. Tammy, one of the other bartenders whom I adore, told me to stay and have a drink. Now, I get a free drink every shift so I say sure. Anyway, to make a long and horribly painful story short, I ended up leaving my car at work and taking a taxi home and suffering all day at work today. I am a bad man. Wait no, Tammy is a bad bad girl.
Aside from the pain and suffering today, it was a good one. The bar was nice and steady, the regulars all gave me shit for being all trashed the previous night, I did pretty well for tips but what made it really special was the simple fact that I survived.
I will never drink again…………okay maybe I should be a little bit more realistic.
Aaron
7/15/2003
Today kicked Ass!!! I had the BEST day at work! I made a killing! That was nice. They weren't even ugly! ) So yeah! All you ladies that turned me down! Yeah, I mean both of you! HA! (I am such a nerd!)
I need that positive reinforcement! No, correction, I deserve that positive reinforcement!!!! Sorry about the laps in entries but I have been busy helping my mom out.
Aaron
7/10/2003
Playing video games.
7/9/2003 8:57pm
I wake up this morning at 8am for my hair appointment feeling like garbage. I cancelled. Opening and closing the bar yesterday really took it’s toll. Breathing in all that smoke all day long and god knows how many different diseases and/or bacteria we have growing in there!
So normally the smoke would not bother me all that much but I recently quit smoking(more or less). I do not smoke at all outside of work. Not at all! At work I only sneak about one or two, now that is 1 or 2 cigs 2 days a week! From the 1 to 2 packs per day I had been smoking, this is a HUGE step and I am extremely pleased with myself.
Other than the fact I feel like garbage today, I had a KICK ASS time. I love my job, have I said that yet? It’s pretty rad actually, I get to go to a bar and B.S. with all sorts of people, make an ass-load of friends, people buy me drinks, they give me money and on top of all this, I have the luxury of remembering it the next day!!!
One thing SUCKED! Some old Floridian kissed me last night! Blech! Then I cut her off and she stiffed me on the tip! Bitch!
7/9/2003 12:30am
ugh. I am exhausted. I opened the Bar today at 10oclock and closed it about 20 minutes ago. tired...sleep...
7/7/03 7:20pm You know what time it is in Washington? (tee hee hee)
Today sucked! I was woken up at 10:00am by my boss who told me I do not work today due to a scheduling error.
Now, my shift started at 5pm, why in gods name would she call me at 10:00 in the morn?!? UNBELIEVABLE! Anyway, I got another day off. I do work tomorrow though!
Some good things did happen to me today! I heard from 3 more friends from "The Ham." That put a smile on my face. I put a couple more photos up.
That's about all I got right now.
Florida is hot.
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7/6/2003 late, more like 7/7/2003
I slept in this morning until 11 am. At noon, interrupting my 2nd cup of coffee, the phone rings. It is my boss asking me if I could come in to work. Now my job kicks ass and I can definitely use the money so I say yeah. I just need to finish my laundry and take a shower. She says can you be here by 12:30? No. I busted ass though and got there at 12:45.
When I arrive she asks me to close the bar that night. Even on a sunday we make last call at 1:30 so I would not get out of there until 2 or 3. ACK! I say yes of course.(like I said, my job kicks ass)
As it turns out the night girl did show up and I was able to leave by 5 o clock. It was nice and busy though so I made a decent wage for 4 hours of work!
There is this complete redneck that works at the hotel as "maintenance" When I say Complete redneck I mean missing teeth and all!(that describes about 90 percent of the florida population) Anyway I had to cut him off today. This guy was HAMMERED off bad red wine and sprite! You read right. Red wine and sprite. Things almost got heated, that was my excitement for the weekend.
I gotta tell you, it is nice being a big guy! People automatically think your tough! I don't even need to back it up. Just tell someone to shut the "F" up or your going to throw them out.
I hope no one finds out I am a huge puss.
It is about 2:52 in the morning and I am tired. Profound, no?
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7/5/2003 10:50am
Yesterday was Independence day. Had a ball. Late last night I set off some fireworks and had a beer or two. Was a pretty good time. I also got some crude photo sites up. Very time consuming for a novice like me. They will get better with time no doubt.
We had the best storm ever yesterday! The wind had the palm trees bent over, our entire street was under 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet of water! And the lightening! One hit something in our neighborhood so I had to call the fire department. When it striked that close it is LOUD! I wish I had taken some video. Oh well, hindsight. What's interesting about florida storms is, they are gone as quick as they come. The thing lasted for about an hour and then it was gone, the water went down and within the next hour dried.
You know what really sucks about Florida? No fucking beer! I have been stuck drinking Piss Water domestics for the last 4 months! Now from your journal, I get the idea you do not drink anymore, cool, but you were always one to appreciate a quality brew! So last night I was in the local wal-mart(why? because that is what we do down here in the south, we go to the wal-mart and hit our women!) and I found some "Brewed in Seattle, Red Hook ESB!" I was ecstatic! They had two six packs left and I got them. I know it is not the best beer in the world but it tasted like home and that made my 4th.
SICK! I just had to take a pill so I got a small amount of water from the tap. It tasted like someone took a dump in my mouth! In Washington you can drink the water from just about anywhere! In Florida this is just not the case! This state has more water than I have ever seen! Anywhere! There are canals, rivers and swamps every thirty feet in this god forsaken place. Not to mention the water in the air is so thick you just about drown everytime you go outside. I have drawn a diagram illustrating Floridas High Tech Water Filtration system. I am not an artist but you will get the idea.
I received an email from a dear friend of mine from back in the day this morning. It really made my day!
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7/3/2003 10:52pm
I'll try not to make this to boring. I will begin by letting you all know what I have been up to for the last few weeks.
A nice Indian couple hired me to tend the bar in the hotel they own, their management technique is different to say the least but I thoroughly enjoy working for them. Now this was huge for me because finding a Job in southwestern FL in the off season is EXTREMELY difficult. There simply aren't any. This part of the state really flourishes during the winter months. Now I could not wait for "Season" to start earning money, so needless to say I really lucked out!
Let me tell you a bit about my bar! It is more of a neighborhood bar than anything else. It does pretty well for business. Being that I work the day shift right now, I mainly have a set of regulars who are in every day. This is good though, it gives it a real sense of community and I also have come to really appreciate them as well, they are a lot of fun.
Now this bar is not exactly the cleanest place in the state of Florida. It is quite disgusting really. When I say disgusting I mean gross. I have to bleach the place when I get there just to keep down on the fruit flies. Bellinghammers could compare it to The Ranch Room on Holly St(thought it is not quite that bad). I think it gives it a lot of character though!
That is basically it for now, I have stayed pretty busy trying to be a good bartender and helping my Mother move(I'll get into that later).
