It continues. The forecast didn't include these - rather predictable - setbacks. Weather - hotter than hell, but - "Cooling Down" as they say, only a mere 39 degrees.
Now there are the windstorms - that tear up the beach and patio, lift off the umbrellas, pagodas, tear them down the beach. A sprinkling of rain - just enough to increase the humidity, make it unbearable. And in the East, Heat lightening fills the sky.
Climate disaster. Already 119 Fires and counting and I make a mental note to prepare a "Go Bag" - keep it in the jeep, one day after work there's going to be no returning home, it'll have burned up.
The garden, generally thriving although a few of the blueberry bushes have succumbed to the heat.
And the restaurant - the restaurant - I've become - as every year before - the donkey that carries it on his back. Start, scheduled at 12:30 - the midshift, and I'm always early and forever late. The shit hits the fan before the door even opens.
The owner's son - and his wife - are job splitting, she opens the restaurant, he closes it - each working about 6 hours to my 10. And while he somewhat knows what he's doing she's not so swift. Start - and no matter how slow or busy it's been - it's as if a bomb has gone off. Unbussed tables, unwashed glassware, dishes piled on the bar, "BOOM" - it's chaos, and my job is doubled in having to pick up after her. It doubles my work - they have the pleasure of "babysitting" their children half the day, whereas I have the misery of babysitting them all the live-long day.
Yesterday, windstorm, rolling power outages, the computer fails, can only take cash, no - credit cards, we'll write the numbers down - no -
Half an hour later the power is back, but the computer still won't process credit cards, and the customers, they're pouring in, the busiest day off the year so far, it's pandemonium...
Everything that can go wrong does, we're short staffed - like everywhere else out here, and the onslaught of customers is unending - pulling up on the beach in boats, walking up to sit, it's like the Zombie Apocalypse, they never stop coming...
It's the forced pretense of normality - "Back to Normal" - everyone's out celebrating the end of the Pandemic, a trifle premature I suspect.
The assholes as well, Assholes that come in half an hour after close and you order them a pizza to go but they cancel because they find me curt.
No doubt, 10 hours in this heat, half an hour after close and a mountain of clean up to attend to, I'm curt.
Personally, though, I've never walked into a restaurant after close and found the staff other than curt. Let alone get food - so -fuck-em. The entitlement is strong.
And the people that happily sit at dirty, uncleared tables, rush the already harried staff into cleaning them up, wiping the crumbs onto their lap, their oblivious entitlement and lack of manners begs comment and I'm biting my tongue, bite it harder, 2 months of this, 9 or 10 weeks to go. Complain about the food "I said SLICED TOMATOES" begins an entitled elderly biker, all the wrong patches, before snorting his disgust at the service and complaining for 10 minutes to management.
You have to think of the good people, 90% of whom are decent and grateful. But that other 10% - well, that's why everywhere is looking for staff.
And now to go - once more into the abyss....