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The Hat Trick
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 1654
Anticlimactic, this final leaving, Friday, slow, Saturday, while by all appearances busier, equally slow. Goodbye to one of the regulars, gruff, "Good Luck", hug, he was the philanthropist who occupied the private room, the owner told him I was leaving, he knew, but the immediacy, "Tonight's the last night" surprised him.
The new waiter, he's catching on, slowly, by no means the brightest lantern, trying to teach him how to cash out for a week, he doesn't understand, and when the rudiments of understanding cross his brow he disagrees...the nephew, he takes over the cash outs, he's not so bright but he's better than this...
...funny, you can see the dissent forming, power corrupts, absolute power absolutely, and I can see the division of tips now, joking with the expediter/hostess that she'll remember these days...
The new waiter, lacking a sense of humour, takes offense where none is given, bad breath, telling me that he plans as well to move to BC, about a place called "Trout Lake" where you'll be safe from the Armageddon that surely must be coming...he's one of those...
Joking with the nephew, need a saddle for the new waiter so he can ride him about the restaurant calling himself king and introducing the new talking donkey that will be taking their order, he laughs, he gets it, he'll miss me, the old talking donkey...and threatens, himself, to be leaving soon, no later than January...the world turns.
The end of the night, early for me, hand over the keys, goodbye to the staff, most are new, there's no connection, the nephew, the chef, the owner, the salad girl, they all have plans as well, and I doubt the restaurant will be here in 3 months, a year, but I'll pop back in for a visit. A rare thing, this hat-trick of leaving, twice on good terms, but there has to be more out there than this, and I am off...
Heart Attack
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 1312
The old salad girl, skating partner, she texts me. Her boyfriend, 43, has had a heart-attack. In the hospital for a couple of days, she doesn't understand, he never smoked, drank, never lived, really...
I get it. He is, was, still is, the classic "Type A". A miser, counting every penny, she'd explain to me how they'd divide all the bills every month and split them up the middle, to the penny, this, despite the fact that he was earning double what she earned. How he'd demanded she pay for half of the new car, when he needed a new car, and she doesn't drive, but on weekends they go to malls and things. About how he wasn't poor, owned houses in Milan, South of Italy, Canada even, only, well, money was always tight with him. He took her for dinner on her birthday, using the shared credit card, they'd both be paying for that one...
It's a fucked up relationship, I don't get it, not at all, not a bit, but, hey, it works for them, he didn't want her to come to the hospital to visit him, she'd have to spend money on a cab, so the people at work were raising money to pay for her cab. I gave her a ride, wished her, him well, dropped her off.
Breathe. Get to Nelson. Quit smoking. Run, a mile, then 2, 3, 5 miles a day. Meditate. Quit drinking. Quit coffee. Meditate. Everywhere there are the signs, warnings, time is running out...
Election Day USA
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 1773
...She polled into the booth and looked at the candidates...
"Lethal Injection" vs "Slow and Painful Electrocution with a good possibility of Nuclear War".
There were a couple of others, but these were the ones she knew, knew the party, knew the logo..."incompetent strangulation" was one she didn't know, but there were always a few fringe candidates...
It wasn't really much of a choice...
Oak Desk
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: For Sale
- Hits: 1529
The Antique Oak library desk, sold, lady, driving in from Strathmore, inquisitive about every detail, I'm letting it go cheap and cheaper...
It needs a bit of TLC, a couple of hours work for a competent crafts-person, tops, she asks me "How much will it cost to get fixed?".
She's dickering hard, I had it listed at $45, she wants to offer $25, I didn't want to dicker, didn't care, really, would have let it go for free, put it back in the alley, but a small return on it's storage was nice...she'd spent that much in gas easily to come and look at it...
Funny, though, her lines, "It's in disappointing condition"...well, maybe if I was asking $200 it was, but for $45 it was in great condition, go to Ikea and see what $45 gets you..., still, her own bargaining tactics, really, I could have held out for $35, I doubt she'd have returned empty handed, I could have stood upon obtuse points of principle (many do), but now, I'm Mr. Negotiable, take it and be gone...4 days of work, 12 days of Calgary to go.
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