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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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And, counting down the days left at the restaurant - told, first, that we'd be open until after the Thanksgiving Long Weekend. Then, on Thursday, the owners are discussing the possibility of closing after the weekend. I'm thrilled, naturally. Friday morning it's decided - Friday is to be the last day. That's the notice. Today, beginning the deep clean of the restaurant, menial, mindless work for which I'm grateful, perhaps a weeks worth all told, then back to the mountains with my pick and shovel to gather my winters supplies...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Wake up. There's a squirrel on the painting above my head on the sofa. The cats apparently got a little overly ambitious overnight and made a big catch.
The family's got me (and the squirrel) surrounded, they're trying not to wake me and capture the squirrel to release it.
Hilarity ensues.
In the end everyone is fine, squirrel included. I need my own place to live.
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The busiest weekend of the year. This year is no exception. 1/2 the tables, + an additional 7 tables on the beach. Impossible to serve, too far, walking on sand, can't keep an eye on this and the patio, the restaurant, we're running with 2 servers, me and the owners son, the restaurant is full.
The parking lot is filled with Alberta Plates, they drove all the way from Calgary, Edmonton, wearing their masks, took them off as soon as they entered the restaurant. I'm not kidding, it's like they were saving it for us. This is how the Covid got in...
We're busy, dumb-ass busy, stupid busy, for 2 servers, wtf? We did the same numbers last year with 6 servers, half the area, this year, it's pandemic suicide. The pandemic lemmings.
We're done. Done, done, done.
It's a record-setting weekend with only half the tables, a third the waiters, heat wave, beach, foreign accents, American the worst, License plates ranging from Quebec to Alberta, it's a gong show. A ton of complaints, startlingly few, all things considered, and it's over.
It's 10 hours of non-stop trauma.
Recovering, going to town for some tacos, a smaller restaurant, waiting 10 minutes for an empty table, count 7 servers/bartenders - and I realize that our crummy service, it's not so bad, you can count us, see that there's only 2, here, really, there's no excuse other than Kootenay indifference/incompetence, and while it'd be a lot calmer here I'm not thinking this would be a healthy change...
Anyways, it's over, it's all downhill, down the other side of the mountain, and soon it will be dead enough that I'm missing the customers.
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Walking on the mountain, bear scat everywhere, you know they're everywhere but I'm noisy enough they keep out of sight. Old mining trails leading onto old mining shacks and homesteads, some good exploring, and then I come to a meadow that rather intrigues me and I catch my first sight of one:
See it? Look closer...
Making noise, the cubs have fled the picture but mom's not backing down and so that ends a fine day of near discovery...
Need to start carrying my bear banger and spray. On the way out, fresh scat piled in the tire ruts I drove over to get here - the place is infested with them...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Found this in the Dollarama, laughed at it's novelty, I've never seen a Pomegranate & Mango Disinfectant/Cleaner before.
But, really, why not? Why should we associate cleanliness with the smell of Lemon or Pine-Sol? So I overcome my prejudice and buy it, it seems to work fine. I just have to make sure I don't inadvertently drink it...