Transitions for Team Smelkins

Image Credit: someecards.com

Since my last update a few exciting events have occured in the Smelkins household:

• We paid off our car loan!
• Matt left his crappy day job at a big-box retailer. Today was his last day!
• I realized that my temporary, part-time restaurant job has morphed into a year long, full-time commitment that is leaving no room for seeking full-time, meaningful career-type work. So I'm leaving Olga's and this is my last weekend waiting tables!
• Matt had an interview last Monday and a job offer by that Friday to be the newest Quality Assurance Engineer with a local company!
• Matt's starting wage will be larger than our yearly combined income!

Life is changing in a wonderfully strange way. It is awesome that we are both leaving jobs that were killing us to pursue work that we enjoy. Until I find myself an adult job like Matt did, I'm going to continue on-call work with our local DV agency.

Tomorrow Matt and I are going to take the early bus to downtown Seattle to check out the timing and bus route he will be taking to work. Since we'll already be downtown we're going to make a celebratory date-type event out of it! I'm very excited and you can look forward to a picture post detailing our date.

Image Credit: vahidbehzadi.wordpress.com

Work, work, work for the busy bee

Oh my goodness. Where to begin?

Things have been crazy hectic on my end, hence the lack of updates. Two days after Matt and I celebrated our anniversary, my mom came to stay with us for a week. We acted like tourists and took in all the sights and ate delicious food. White truffle pesto, Dungeness crab, a double chocolate cookie lavender ice cream sandwich, calamari steak, lavender lemon cookies, figs on pizza, and  the list goes on and on. It was an interesting to see my life and this city through someone else's eyes.

Immediately after my mom left town, I started working part-time on-call relief (8 – 24 hours per week on average) for the domestic violence shelter (DV) I had been volunteering with since January. New jobs are never easy, especially ones that deal with crisis work, and DV is no exception. This position has been amazingly exciting and absurdly stressful but I am incredibly happy to be with such a wonderful agency doing work that I am proud of.

My part-time serving job at Olga's has morphed into a full-time position with the change in management in May. We got a new general manager (who is wonderful) and lost half the serving staff within a few weeks (not everyone enjoys change). Olga's is in the process of hiring and training new people, but nothing happens quickly in a corporate company so until then we're all sharing the strain with fewer days off, busier work days and shorter breaks.

Between being full time at Olga's, part time with DV, keeping my volunteer hours with Planned Parenthood and commuting across the metropolis, I have been a very busy bee. It's fun to have a full planner again, but I'm ready to find a balance that leans a bit more towards the leisure side than I'm currently sporting (more hiking in my Seattle summer please!).

Matt has been wonderfully supportive and is often the only reason I survive the madness of daily life. Our kitten Ere and her adorable furry face being survival mechanism #2. When these things aren't quite curing the insanity, I take several big deep breaths and just let it go. Life moves on.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and
absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall
begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
-Emerson

How Darkness Came to Cuddle in My Lap: The Story of Erebus

One of my co-workers, who we shall call Bandanna Man, is the most abrasive person I have had the pleasure of working with.* He is fond of glaring at people through the expo window, grumbling about fixing the mistakes of grown-ass adults, and generally harassing everyone around him. Bandanna Man often claims that we (the servers at Olga's) should all be riding the short bus instead of bothering him with our petty problems.

One evening, the food for one of my guest's (a pepperoni pizza - a long ticket item) came out to the table all wrong. I stormed back to the kitchen with the offending pizza in hand, indignant that my guest should have to wait twice as long for their food because of a needless mistake, and shoved the plate back into the window and said, "Bandanna Man - I needed this pizza without cheese!".

"The ticket didn't say no cheese."

And as I distinctly remembered specifying "no chez plz" in the special instructions area of the order I responded with, "YES. IT DID." I was right. I knew I was right. I had to prove I was right.

"No."

"YES. IT SAID NO CHEESE. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? CAN YOU NOT READ? I NEED A PIZZA WITHOUT CHEESE. MY GUEST HAS A DAIRY ALLERGY. IT SAID NO CHEESE YOU JERK!!! WHY ARE YO-"

Thank goodness another co-worker dragged me away (forcibly and while I was still screeching) otherwise I would have gotten myself fired (or at least written up) because I had no kind words to utter at that moment in time.

About twenty minutes later, my guest had gotten their cheese-less pizza and my ability to think rationally had returned so I walked back to the kitchen and apologized, "Hey Bandanna Man...I'm really sorry for yelling earlier. It was kind of stupid and uncalled for."

"It's okay. I messed up your pizza on purpose." **

That was not a response I had anticipated. In fact, his response was so absurd that I couldn't do anything but laugh hysterically. Bandanna Man was so rude to me that I decided I wasn't going to talk to him anymore.

So a few nights later, when I was getting off work well past dark and Bandanna Man asked if I need someone to walk me to my car, I was too surprised to say no. I typically deny chivalrous attentions from men, especially my co-workers, because I hate the idea of being some fair maiden who needs rescuing. But Bandanna Man's ninja move got the best of me.

On our way out of the restaurant, I began some idle chit-chat and Bandanna Man began complaining about the bitter cold of early morning dog walking here. Our conversation turned to cats and whether I wanted one and how Bandanna Man's wife had saved a kitty that was abandoned behind Olga's and that they were hoping to find a good home for it.

And all I could think was please give me a kitty! I need the unconditional love and amusement of a pet in this lonely, rainy state. I called Matt to confirm that "yes" was the only answer we were capable of in this situation. Within minutes, I was driving to Bandanna Man's place to take home a half-starved, fur-matted, impossibly adorable stray cat.

Our first cat-venture, was to the vet for a check up. The kitty hadn't previously been microchipped so there was no way to track down any possible owners if she was a runaway. Weighing in at a pathetic 5 lbs, the kitty was assessed to be about 10 months old with good teeth, no incurable health issues, and a sweet tempermant. This meant she could be ours forever!

Good thing too because we had already named her for her potentially beautiful coat. Erebus - a primordial diety in Greek mythology, one that has been around since the beginning of the universe, representing the personification of darkness.

I cannot wait until Erebus has a few more weeks of TLC, because she is going to be beautiful instead of skin and bones. Her coat is going to be long, full, and shiny instead of matted and patchy. At present, Ere (pronounced "airy") spends 60% of her time sleeping, 30% eating, and 10% engaging in sweet kitten-like behavior. She gives us more cuddles and attention then most kitties I've met and I am happy to accept them while her benevolence lasts. She's been through so much and I am pleased that we'll be able to love her back to health and aristocracy.

So thank you Bandanna Man, for your abrasiveness because without it I never would have accepted your kindness and thus never gained the pleasure of cuddling with all that is darkness and shadows and night.

* Just to clarify: This anecdote including Bandanna Man, while being true, in no way fully encompasses our interactions at work or his personality. Bandanna Man is a generally good guy and sometimes a shitty customer service job can make you grumpy and crazy in ways that are very unlike you. I like all of the people I work with, Bandanna Man included. Also, I wouldn't say ugly things about my co-workers on the internet even if I did have ugly things to say.

** Bandanna Man went on to explain that when I went back to the kitchen earlier in the shift to clarify with him that the pizza needed pepperoni but no cheese, that we had miscommunicated. He thought I wanted the pizza to have both pepperoni and cheese and that's what I came back to the kitchen to clarify.

Larry & Olga's

On this beautiful and sunny (!!!) afternoon, Larry came to pay us a visit. Who is Larry you say? I am glad you asked! He is our new little bird friend. 

About a month ago, Matt and I were both wishing we had a more interactive pet. We had just returned from our family visit and there were dogs, cats, children, horses and fish to play with! Chuck Testa the fish is very pretty but he doesn't fetch or snuggle in your lap or anything that cool (although I've heard that you can teach betta fish tricks, that just seemed a little too nerdy for us). So instead of paying our $500 pet deposit to get a typical sort of pet, we spent $20 on a bird feeder and seed. 

And for the first few weeks, we didn't see or hear anything coming from our back porch. We would open the blinds every morning and forlornly stare at our bird feeder. I know sometimes it can take a few week for birds to catch on so I decided to give them some help! I scattered bird seed all over our back porch and sidewalk. And the next day, we had birdie visitors. The birds come to see us whenever the sun is shining (the birds never seem to visit when it is cloudy out and I want their cheerful chirping the most) and we kept receiving visitors until all the seed on the sidewalk was gone. 

Because I was being helpful and throwing seed on the ground, only 1 bird ever found the actual bird feeder. He was smart and chirpy and Matt named him Larry. When Larry is eating at the bird feeder, I've tried to get closer to the window to see his markings or take a picture to show you all. Larry does not like this and promptly flies away. He is a very private and skittish bird, but I am happy to have him anyway! Maybe Larry will help the other birds figure out the bird feeder situation...

From Squidoo

In other news, I have been very busy at work. Olga's was a madhouse around Valentine's day and I've worked way more than I usually do. Good for our bank account, bad for the lonely library books stacked by the couch. Working more has gone pretty well, except for the angry guest I had the other day that made me cry. The man said that he was insulted by the awful service I gave him and that I completely ruined his birthday. 

I can admit that I may have been a tad neglectful of his table (he didn't get more bread without asking and his water glass was mostly empty) but I was running around like a mad woman about 5 feet away trying to take care of my other guests (the birthday celebration of an 8 year old and her entire family and a very needy 5 top with two little kids). But it wasn't like I wasn't available if he had really needed something (he could have stopped me and asked - being a waiter does not make me a mind reader) and it wasn't as if I was messing around on my cell phone and ignoring him (I was legitimately busy as he could see! The whiney jerk).

Usually when guests are rude to me, I can just blow it off and understand that life makes everyone ugly sometimes. But the fact that this man personally insulted me and said that I ruined his birthday was just too much. How absurd! Why is it that if you work in the food service industry, people feel they are allowed to treat you like dog poop AND get a free meal for it?

On the bright side, my manager didn't ream me for the guest complaint like I thought he was going to and my coworkers spent the rest of the shift being really nice and trying to make me smile again. Some days I hate my job, but for now it pays the bills and I am content. Anyway, I am off to enjoy the sunshine while it's here and I have some free time. Have a great day!

Wednesday Wise Up - Work & Weather

With no real topic in mind to write about this week, I have only to update y'all on the basic going-ons of life here. The Halloween holiday came and went without making much of a blip on our radar. We went out the weekend prior to a Halloween party where we dressed up as ninjas and attempted chainsaw pumpkin carving (forgot to take pictures, sorry!). On Halloween, we were planning to attend a showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show but I ended up being too sick this entire weekend to go anywhere. Instead Matt stole treats for us from the bowl of untouched candy the neighbors put outside their door and we watched movies.

What we're into this week:

• Matt is playing Dungeon Defenders on his pc and reading Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien in his spare time.
• I'm reading two books
•  The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman in an attempt to keep my career-type knowledge and skills from rusting.
• Seductress: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love by Betsy Prioleau which is mostly an anthology of mini-biographies of interesting women such as Mae West, Veronica Franco, Wallis Simpson and Catherine the Great. Very fun read!

This week I started my first of six days of training to become a server at a nearby restaurant called Olga's. Olga's isn't the establishments true name but that is how I want to refer to my place of employment on this blog in the interest of not getting fired for writing unseemly things about the patrons, my fellow team members, or the company (not that I anticipate doing so). 

Olga's is a full service restaurant (not just a bar or buffet) so tipping is the normal 15% - 18% of which I am expected to tip out 3% - 5% to bussers and bartenders. This is all very typical and similar to working in a restaurant in Texas except for the fact that even with the tips I take home, I am paid $8.67 per hour (WA minimum wage) instead of $2.15 per hour (TX minimum wage for servers). I am very pleased by this change in server minimum wage though it comes at the higher cost of living here in WA.

At present, my search for a meaningful job opportunity has halted. I have decided to take a few weeks to adjust and become excellent at the job I do have before I begin searching for a second job. This will also give Matt and I the opportunity to enjoy the downtown Seattle scene more without worrying about our dwindling savings account or the school loans I am obligated to begin repaying in December. 

As for Matt, I believe he is enjoying working full time as a geek. He has risen to an unofficial second in command role in his division which increases the stress level of his job, but will hopefully lead to advancement opportunities in the future! Matt and three of his co-workers were selected to attend a series of "Pre-Leadership" meetings with the management team that he has been enjoying and will hopefully give him an extra boost.

In other news, the weather has turned interesting here. Yesterday morning our car windows were covered in a layer of ice and today there was so much fog Matt could hardly see the road. The mornings are chilly (in the 30's) and the afternoons warm up a bit (to the 50's). This morning, we turned on our apartment heater for the first time to warm our Texan fingers and toes. My mother will be so pleased!

That's life!