Phone Call, New Years Eve, and The Sister

3:30 am - phone rings.
Hello?
Is Audrey there?
No, there is no one here by that name.
Well, where is she?
I have no idea.
Why did you answer the phone?
Because this is my phone number and I usually answer my phone when it rings.
Why isn't Audrey there?
Look pal, I don't know where 'there' is, because phone numbers are portable and move from address to address, and I've had this number since last May, so you haven't tried to reach your friend in a very long time.
You mean you don't know Audrey?
That's right, and if I did, right now she'd wish I didn't. Good night.

Thankfully, he didn't call back. This guy couldn't hit water if he fell off a ship.  You can't make this stuff up.

Sun and temps warmed things up but there is still 8" of snow on the ground in town. That said, we served over 300 meals at lunch today, while the boss fine-tuned his reservation time-line for tonight, which I found more and more fascinating. Of course, he was a piece of work all day as he jumped from chore to chore not allowing us to do what we do so he could get his work done.  Can you say 'micro-manager' class? I know you can.

The front-loader drunks began to arrive as I finished my shift, so I had a Margarita and quickly headed for home (I still love to type that word) while there was little danger of getting run over.

I have tried to reach the sister in NOLA every day since Christmas, but she was never home. Today I finally reached her - because she was cooking a traditional Southern New Years Day dinner for herself and 3 other women who will be alone tomorrow. Cajuns! 
Her news:
She needs a knee replacement, having fallen a month ago.
She was warned not to bend the knee and has a brace, but does she wear it?  No!
She is now a Communion Server at Mass and gets to drink the leftover wine.  She isn't a drinker. I'd love a picture.
She was never a football fan, but the Saints have stolen her heart. (Well, Drew Brees already has mine.)
She plans to smuggle a thermos of iced coffee laced with Bailey's Irish Cream into the Common Room tonight to watch the ball drop in Times Square.  I'd love that picture, too.

Bottom line; there is no set date for surgery.  NOLA remains without a full service hospital 5 years after the floods. She will know more about where, when, and how, sometime in February. It boggles the mind to think that those people have no real hospital, only emergency triage where the worst get what is available. Everyone else is pretty much on their own. Welcome to America: A New Third World Country.

Tomorrow is shaping up to be another busy one at work, with about 12 reservations already taken today before I left.  The forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies and a high around 55' F.  If that holds true the Boardwalk will be mobbed and we will be happy campers, indeed.

No bubbles tonight.  Just a few olives, a light supper, and maybe a film.

Happy New Year everyone!

And so it goes.
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