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Christmas Madness
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 1934
And it's begun, already, the abundant parties that will keep us busy all the way to Christmas. Lawyers, Oil companies, the occasional family will try to sneak in (we screen them, in if we know them, otherwise no), the calls - separate cheques (nope, early warning sign of a bad table), children (not on weekends, too busy, children don't drink or consume), people who want to make a reservation at a dozen restaurants and then check with their friends which one they want to attend - they even tell you this on the phone - no, call us when you want to come to our restaurant, otherwise we'll be turning people away on the slight possibility you'll choose us...
It's a circus.
And, ironically, for all the extra hours and work, there's very little extra money. None, in fact, merely an abundance of useless extra staff hiding wherever they're sure not to be needed. And so it goes.
Days off, only Sunday, otherwise 5 long 12 hour days a week, and a mere 9 hour shift on Saturdays (the short day). It's just hold your breath until it's over....
Christmas in the restaurant industry.
People are strange ...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 1667
"People are strange when you're a stranger..." - The Doors
And I've noticed this more and more as of late, that when you're in some altered states, when you're fucked up on whatever your choice of drug is, be it alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy or heroin, there comes a point where people start making sense.
This is when you know you're fucked up.
And you find yourself understanding them, looking about a bar and seeing deeper inside people than any of them would be comfortable with, that when you start talking to them you know their situation well before they spell it out to you. And maybe even, if you're really fucked up, you empathize with them.
You can spot them, the fellow tweaks and junkies, drunkards, potheads, across the bar, you're recognizing yourself in their mannerisms, their exaggerated and failed attempts to hide their addictions, you understand, you're somehow or another just that much more intuitive than you'd be normally, and you marvel that you never noticed it before, it was sooooo obvious....
But the realization of it depended somewhat greatly on your being in the same state of mind.
And now that you are you know that you're fucked up. Some of the fucked up, they just lurk in corners and laugh, it's all just too funny, they're recognizing, understanding, everything that they've missed all the time they've been sober, and now, just now, it's all making sense. You understand them as well.
And this is how you know that you are really fucked up.
Deerfoot Outlet Mall
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Dreams
- Hits: 1580
There's a new mall opening somewhere at the junction of 14st and deerfoot trail. Everyone's talking about it.
I don't pay any attention, I'm not much into malls....
But go outside and there's this big laser show in the sky, a meteorite flying, then crashing, then a giant mushroom cloud and fire on the horizon, I walk closer to see...
It looks fake, it's not real, cartoons & cgi, I'm with someone who's afraid but I tell them it's just a publicity stunt for the mall...
We watch more, giants and other animated characters appearing as if just in front of us, talking about the bargains at the new deerfoot outlet mall, I'm impressed with all the animation & work that must have went into it...we return home.
N drops by, haven't seen her for a long time, she's there to (???), she's on her way to the new mall, don't know why she'd dropped by, to see someone other than myself, I'm surprised....
We find out that there's a contest at the mall, they've hidden thousands of dollars in gift vouchers there, tens of thousands of dollars remain, that settles it, a couple of male friends haul me off and away we go...
The mall, it's still under construction, everywhere there are lockers in the walls and the trick to finding these gift vouchers is to empty the lockers of their contents, they'll be hidden on the bottom. I find quite a few, separate from my companions, fill my pockets not bothering to check the denomination or value or read the terms and conditions, it's almost too easy. And as I'm calling for John (?? One of my companions) my sister's there, in tears almost, having found nothing, and I promise to help her find the coupons, we go to check some lockers but they're all empty, this area of the mall's under construction...
...so we go outside and there's a big semi trailer blocking the sidewalk down the side of the mall, I go to crawl quickly under it, get stuck...and as I'm stuck I notice the truck is idling, next thing the truck is pulling away from the mall and I'm pressing myself as flat as I can to the earth in the hopes of not being dragged or run over...
Zombies of London
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Dreams
- Hits: 1629
We (a girl and I) are walking through a darkened street in London.
The streetlights are out, it's dark, there are metal grills scattered throughout the street but someone or something has ripped through the steel leaving gaping holes, she almost steps in one and I tell her we should turn around, go another way, it's too dark, too easy to step in one and fall...
We find another way, ending in an apartment, there's a skylight, passage, older apartment with curious cupboards inset into the walls, the darkness spills in through the windows and overpowers the lights...
Somehow or another we've talked to someone and found out about the Zombie apocalypse, it was them who ripped through the grills on the street to find victims hiding in basement, the streets are deserted. A bare 60 watt bulb on the ceiling.
She goes for a walk down the hall, outside, and when she opens the door to outside I realize she's just made a big mistake...we return to the apartment, I find a cupboard with a crack to hide in, she's too slow, surrounded by 4 dead women, zombies, reaching for her, and I'm wondering if there isn't a vaccination for this...
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