Crab Legs, Margaritas, Old Friends & New

Received a call from Elizabeth Wednesday night warning that she was on the way down to the beach and wanted to know if I had plans for dinner after work tonight. Of course, I didn't.

She then related a story that is not uncommon among bloggers; two others would be joining us, neither of whom she had ever laid eyes on, but were adamant about buying us dinner for a chance to meet (in person) someone they had admired for sharing words, insights, and love of humanity.

I made reservations for the 4 of us, and as I ordered my post-shift cocktail was informed that there were 2 men waiting to meet me, so I knew it must be the guys. Sasha pointed them out and when I got my cocktail I went over and introduced myself. They were sincerely happy to meet me and couldn't wait to meet Elizabeth in person. Within 10 minutes she joined us and the guys went crazy. Yes, in many circles of the Church she is like a rock star. In others she is reviled - but we need not go there.

Note: For those new here, Elizabeth is an Episcopal priest, rector of a church in NJ, and a fierce outspoken advocate for equal rights. Her blog posts can thrill or cause hissy fits - depending on which side of the debate you're on - and you always know where you stand with her.  No BS here!

Seated in the dining room we ordered another round of margaritas and got down to the business of getting to know one another.  It was great fun and quite a learning experience for all.

The Alaskan King Crab Legs were a hit with the new guys and another round of margaritas bookended the meal. We returned to the bar, where the guys (and me) enjoyed one more margarita while getting caught up in the usual Friday zaniness with happy (and drunk) locals.

That's where the image above comes in. (click to embiggen) The lesbian on the far left wasn't supposed to be in the pic, but managed to put her face forward to mug for the camera.  It was all good fun.

As we parted - Elizabeth to find her car, the guys to meet up with friends at a pub nearby, and I to my walk home - there were many hugs of happiness, grace, promises to keep in touch to plan getting together again in the near future.

Experiencing a pleasant buzz at the moment, I am ready to call it a day, brush my teeth, and hit the sheets. I feel blessed in so many ways, but the best is that of friendship and love.

Can I get an Amen?

And so it goes.
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UK Treasure Hunter Finds Huge Cache of Roman Coins.

I just love stories like this. When oral and written history can be verified by existing evidence.  Fascinating stuff!

AP: LONDON – A treasure hunter has found about 52,500 Roman coins, one of the largest such discoveries ever in Britain, officials said Thursday.
The hoard, which was valued at 3.3 million pounds ($5 million), includes hundreds of coins bearing the image of Marcus Aurelius Carausius, who seized power in Britain and northern France in the late third century and proclaimed himself emperor.
Dave Crisp, a treasure hunter using a metal detector, located the coins in April in a field in southwestern England, according to the Somerset County Council and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The coins were buried in a large jar about a foot (30 centimeters) deep and weighed about 160 kilograms (350 pounds) in all.
Crisp said a "funny signal" from his metal detector prompted him to start digging.
"I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little radial, a little bronze Roman coin — very, very small, about the size of my fingernail," Crisp said in an interview with the BBC.
He recovered about 20 coins before discovering that they were in a pot, and realized he needed expert help.
"Because Mr. Crisp resisted the temptation to dig up the coins it has allowed archaeologists from Somerset County Council to carefully excavate the pot and its contents, ensuring important evidence about the circumstances of its burial was preserved," said Anna Booth, of Somerset Council.
Somerset Coroner Tony Williams scheduled an inquest Thursday to formally determine whether the find is subject to the Treasure Act, a formal step toward determining a price to be paid by any institution which wishes to acquire the hoard.
The hoard is one of the largest ever found in Britain, and will reveal more about the nation's history in the third century, said Roger Bland, of the British Museum. The find includes more than 760 coins from the reign of Carausius, the Roman naval officer who seized power in 286 and ruled until he was assassinated in 293.
"The late third century A.D. was a time when Britain suffered barbarian invasions, economic crises and civil wars," Bland said.

 The rest is HERE

This made my evening...I smell olives!

And so it goes.
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A Most Unusual Day

Short list and a small cooler in hand  I hit the road (gently, ever so gently) to run those errands and get back home before my shoes melted. Groceries, Cleaners, Staples, Credit Union, Liquor Store, and a call to the friend who promised me his retired PC desk.  He didn't answer.  So with the car packed to the hilt, perishables in the cooler, I drove home and unloaded, which took a toll on my legs (multiple trips up and down the steps) and back (lifting heavy bags, what can I do?) then found a parking spot in a shaded area across the street. Nice.

Ran a load of laundry while unpacking bags and storing everything. As I was running a second load the cell phone rang and it was Bahram, again sorry for sleeping in (I didn't let the phone ring long enough, which is what he was expecting) telling me he was going to deliver and set up the little station. I guided him to my place via cell phone. The desk is small but will be useful until I can afford something a little larger. For the time being, the printer will have to remain atop a folding table, which is fine. At least, everything will be out of the living room and that's a real help.

Meanwhile, my cell phone rang again. This time is was my bosses, asking if I was at home and wondering if they could stop by...they had something to deliver!?!?!  So, I guided them to the building as Bahram finished putting the PC station back together. They presented me with a gift and a card, and announcing that they had to get back to the restaurant they took off.

Bahram and I stared at one another and the card envelope for a few minutes, then he gave me a hug and he split, too.

Note: Bahram is straight, in his mid-twenties, from Turkmenistan, a good man with a huge heart, a bright man, great sense of humour, and great fun to work with. He loves high energy house music station on XM, which can sometimes drive me to distraction - playing the same 20 mixes all day long. The image above is of him on his first day tending bar at Dos Locos in April. He's a natural BS artist and perfect behind the bar.  He doesn't think so, but he has been gathering a following on his shift-days at the bar, and I think he's finally beginning to notice. (As usual, click the image to embiggen.)

But I digress...

The gift is a new Microwave Oven. Stunned doesn't cover it, but it will have to do. The card reads; 

"Thanks! For all the little extras you do, You do help make our lives much easier and efficient."

OK, now I'll admit that I do a few things that can be a real pain for the servers and the bosses, but I do them because it is such a pain for them. They are not in my job description, but doing them makes things more comfortable and efficient. I never gave them a second thought. Always being early allows for time to handle these things so I have time to get my regular chores done before the wait-staff arrive.

I just did them, didn't think anyone would notice and didn't care - as long as the tasks were completed/accomplished with as little stress as possible before we open the doors. You know, since my world fell apart 4 years ago I have learned to expect nothing, take nothing for granted. It is a better way to look at life.

 Did I ever mention how much I love my job, the people I work for, and with?  Oh, I have? Never mind.

I will now attempt to extricate the new appliance from its packaging without doing further damage to my hands and spine. Wish me luck!

And so it goes.
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What Have We Done to Our World?

Images collected from all over the Internet come together in this amazing and moving video/slideshow about the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, it's impact and it's legacy. Soundtrack is Michael Jackson's "Earth Song." (If the entire film image is not viewable, click on the image to go directly to YouTube for full screen.

How do we counter this raping of our oceans? Why is BP still calling the shots and threatening arrests and law suits against news outlets? When will responsible leaders take the lead and make rational decisions, instead of financial ones?
Just rhetorical, is all.
So horrible.

More later.
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July 4th - Lunch Crew

From left to right:

Ireland, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Russia, El Salvador, and me. The quiet before the storm. They are pretty wonderful people and it's a joy working with them - most of the time...

And so it goes.
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July 4th and Then Some...

Sorry for not writing anything personal over this weekend, the restaurant was packed all day Saturday, Sunday, and even today. Folks were pulling on the locked doors at 9:30 am today, and when I finally opened them at 11:20 (10 minutes early)  the starving/thirsty masses swarmed like a plague of locusts. 

By 11:45 am 62 people were seated - meaning each of my 5 servers had to cope with multiple tables all at once - and there were already 8 sitting at the bar.  Not a good thing for the restaurant, or the customer.  We can't provide the level of service that we want to and that customers have come to expect.  But all got better than we hoped when the owners jumped in to help out by tending bar, clearing and setting up tables, and delivering meals. That was a huge help since I was up to my eyeballs with folks still streaming through the doors.

The bar area was full by 12:30 pm and the margaritas were flowing all afternoon. Fortunately for everyone only one crazy-ass woman caused a bit of a stir which, with the support of the boss was snuffed out before it became a real fire.

As the dust began to settle in late afternoon, in walks a family of 11 (6 adults, 4 kids and a todler) and the most obnoxious group we've experienced since last season. They were not satisfied with any of my seating suggestions (we don't have tables to seat 10 people comfortably, plus they needed a hi-chair, which further limits their seating options) until I finally laid down the law; they would be seated at two ajoining tables - - - final - - - or, leave. Done!

To amuse the toddler in the hi-chair at the adult table, several of the adults began to make jingly noises by dropping their flatware on the table to get the little slug to giggle, or scream, or whatever. Unfortunately for me, their table was the closest to my station and I was serenaded with the clinky clangy sounds of forks and knives crashing onto the tabletop...What fun. The little darling will be deaf before reaching puberty, and maybe that's a good thing.

The cavalry arrived to save the day, and none too soon. Servers jumped in to take new tables and a busboy (G*d Bless him) rushed to clean and reset tables.  What a relief that was. It was all good from then on.

I think we served over 400 meals during the lunch shift only and the place is booked to bursting for dinner tonight. 

So, now take what is written about today, multiply by 3 and you will have an idea of what things were like over the weekend.

Enjoyed a 'tropical cosmo' for my after shift cocktail and, as G*d said, "it was good!"

All in all, great fun.

Note: The image in this post was taken as I was walking to work. (click to embiggen) She is a neighbor heading off the a charity cook out decked out as (what else?) the statue of Liberty.  Funny part is that her kids were too embarrassed to be seen in the van with her, so she just had a grand time driving around, honking at friends and neighbors and wishing everyone a Happy Independence Day! Loved it.

And so it goes.
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Declaration of Corporate Independence

By Horatio Algernon (with help from the Founding Fathers)  who gives us this:

When in the course of oil drilling (especially blowouts), it becomes necessary for one Corporation (BP) to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with The Small People, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and fundamentally un-equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of The Small People requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Persons (and that includes corporations, according to the US Supreme Court) are not created equal (and certainly not equal with pelicans and dolphins), that some are endowed by their Creator (corporate charter) with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life (Yachting), Liberty (to censor photographers, reporters, scientists and others at will) and the pursuit of Happiness ($$$). That to secure these rights, Corporations are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the Board of Directors, That whenever any Form of Government (eg, Plaquemines Parish of Louisiana ) becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of The Big People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government (headquartered offshore), laying its foundation on such principles (maximizing profits and minimizing losses) and organizing its powers in such form (new coastguard rules prohibiting photographers or others from coming within 65 feet of boom, beaches or response vessels under threat of fines of $40,000 and class D felony charges), as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety (minimize future court settlements) and Happiness ($$$). Prudence (The Small People and the Pentagon buy our gas), indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that Corporations are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses (from the likes of Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, Louisiana coast resident Kindra Arnesen, Andersen Cooper and even Jimmy Buffett) and usurpations (Georgianne Nienaber and other photographers trying to get photos of oiled pelicans), pursuing invariably the same Object (information that might help mitigate the oil impacts and/or act as evidence in future liability cases) evinces a design to reduce them (The Big People) under absolute Despotism (enforcement of legal regulations that have been on the books but heretofore ignored by MMS**), it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future (financial) security.

No people have more advanced survival  skills and the sense of humor that goes with them than the people of the low country on the Gulf of Mexico. Even as their way of life and entire culture is being destroyed hour by hour, they keep their integrity, history, and humanity in mind. No easy task, to be sure. Could you or me do it? I wonder.

Read the rest here.

h/t to Editilla

1776 - An Ongoing Struggle

To put this holiday into some perspective I found this bit written about one of my fave films, "1776" having seen it on Broadway, I couldn't wait to see the film.  Which I own, adore and try to view around this time of year. Anyway, this comes from Public Affairs Television. M. Winship writes:

In some ways, this sparkly paean to patriotism is a subversive little hand grenade, its liberal politics woven into the plot at a time when Richard Nixon was still in the White House. In an exchange that stings now even more than it did then, John Hancock tells John Dickinson, "Fortunately there are not enough men of property in America to dictate policy," and Dickinson replies, "Perhaps not. But don't forget that most men without property would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich, than face the reality of being poor."
When the movie version was released its producer, Jack Warner -- allegedly at the behest of Nixon -- removed a song, "Cool, Cool Considerate Men," sung by loyalist, conservative delegates who smugly shout, "We have land, cash in hand, self-command, future planned!" According to "1776" writer Peter Stone, "The opponents of independence were very much involved in commerce and profits, so they were very much allied to modern conservatives. Nixon didn't want Americans to be reminded of this as he faced re-election in 1972, and the country was preparing to celebrate it's bicentennial. I think that's why he hated the song, and why Jack Warner took it out."
Luckily, the missing footage was found and has been restored to the version we see today on TV and DVD.
"1776" is a reminder that the embrace of the status quo in the face of revolutionary ideas is nothing new. Nor is bloody legislative compromise or our ongoing frustration over a Congress mired in petty squabbling, unable to take action.
At the beginning of the story, John Adams sings, "A second flood, a simple famine, plagues of locusts everywhere, or a cataclysmic earthquake, I'd accept with some despair. But no, You sent us Congress! Good God, Sir, was that fair?" Later he laments, "I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress!"
But the Tea Partiers and Glenn Becks of America who scorn government and who have tried turning the Founding Fathers into libertarian deities will find little comfort in "1776." As Franklin says in the film, "We're men, no more no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed." Rather than fall hopelessly into endless name-calling and mudslinging like today, ultimately these men engaged in forthright debate and overcame ideological differences that threatened to stop their revolution before it began. They managed to produce a nation, an experiment outlined in a Declaration of Independence that is, as the movie version's John Adams says, “a masterful expression of the American mind."
And they did so realizing, as a character in the film says -- quoting the words of conservative icon Edmund Burke, member of the British Parliament -- that a representative owes the people not only his industry, but his judgment, and he betrays them if he sacrifices it to their opinion.

If you have not seen this film (it is quite long with the restored scenes and songs) do yourself a favor and rent it. Then let me know whether I am right, or just full of it.

h/t C&L

And so it goes.
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July 4th Traditions and Stan Freberg

There are two annual July 4th traditions that I thoroughly enjoy year after year. They are 1.) a viewing of the film version of "1776" and 2.) listening to Stan Freberg's "The United States of America" on CD (which contains a few scenes cut from the original vinyl). An in-studio concept album spotlighting some of the best voice actors in the business, and some are still with us today. If you don't know their names you'll surely remember their voices.

Here's a small snippet from the album which is full of puns, gags, and over the top comparisons.  This one covers the sale of Manhattan Island and the Boston Tea Party.  Enjoy.  And please, no throwing of tomatoes.

More can be found at YouTube, if you're interested.

I'll have more on this holiday tomorrow, but for now, just laugh and enjoy your your evening.

And so it goes.
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Hardly Working Caturday

More later.
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Happy Fourth, Already?

I can't seem to get my head around the fact that this Fourth of July holiday weekend signals that summer is already half over. Where did it go?  Seems like only yesterday we were celebrating Cinco de Mayo and Memorial Day.

In any event, the weather this weekend is gloriously flawless (how's that for a description?) and the town is jumping with longtime visitors as well as people visiting for the first time, trying to find out what all the talk about this tiny place is all about.

Thanks to this wonderful weather we had the glass front doors open and the breeze off the ocean was rejuvenating and relaxing, making the work day fly by. The beach was mobbed with families and all their beach gear (I've never understood the need for beach accessories, like coolers, food, beverages, and a wagon to lug it all to and from wherever) skim boards, huge umbrellas, and kids with their various flotation devices.

By late afternoon (and the end of my shift) the exodus from the beach was well underway and some family groups stopped by for a late lunch, cocktails, or early dinner. They were lobster red for the most part and will likely be frightfully uncomfortable tonight, but for now all is right with their world.  They were happy to be here and that made my day.

After enjoying an after-shift margarita I walked home and my quiet street was welcoming, indeed. Residents and their guests sat on lawn chairs or porches sipping cocktails, waving a greeting, or saying "good evening" as I passed by.  Nice.

Had a festive martini then dinner, and cleaned up the kitchen so it's all good for the evening.

Tomorrow is shaping up to be the roughest day of the weekend. The restaurant is booked solid - even for midday lunch reservations - and the evening will be far worse. Or better, depending on your perspective. It's the big parties of 12 or more that really slow things down and these folks tend to stay longer than the smaller ones. We do not rush people at this restaurant and diners can enjoy their meal and time together without being pressured to leave. That said, it could be a very late night for the whole staff on Saturday. I will see the aftermath when I arrive on Sunday morning as I get ready to do it all over again.

The bosses are being playful and having fun, too. The fun is in the challenge of getting everything right.  I must admit that I am having a ball.

And so it goes.
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"I Hugged a Man in his Underwear!"

 No, not me...I should be so lucky.

A post-Pride post.  This brought tears and hope to this old soul. I know nothing about the Marin Foundation, but to me, it seems they are on the right path.

I hugged a man in his underwear. I think Jesus would have too.

I spent the day at Chicago’s Pride Parade. Some friends and I, with The Marin Foundation, wore shirts with “I’m Sorry” written on it. We had signs that said, “I’m sorry that Christians judge you,” “I’m sorry the way churches have treated you,” “I used to be a bible-banging homophobe, sorry.” We wanted to be an alternative Christian voice from the protesters that were there speaking hate into megaphones.

What I loved most about the day is when people “got it.” I loved watching people’s faces as they saw our shirts, read the signs, and looked back at us. Responses were incredible. Some people blew us kisses, some hugged us, some screamed thank you. A couple ladies walked up and said we were the best thing they had seen all day. I wish I had counted how many people hugged me. One guy in particular softly said, “Well, I forgive you.”

Watching people recognize our apology brought me to tears many times. It was reconciliation personified.

My favorite though was a gentleman who was dancing on a float. He was dressed solely in white underwear and had a pack of abs like no one else. As he was dancing on the float, he noticed us and jokingly yelled, “What are you sorry for? It’s pride!” I pointed to our signs and watched him read them.

Then it clicked.

Then he got it.

He stopped dancing. He looked at all of us standing there. A look of utter seriousness came across his face. And as the float passed us he jumped off of it and ran towards us. In all his sweaty beautiful abs of steal, he hugged me and whispered, “thank you.”

Before I had even let go, another guy ran up to me, kissed me on the cheek, and gave me the biggest bear hug ever. I almost had the wind knocked out of me; it was one of those hugs.

This is why I do what I do. This is why I will continue to do what I do. Reconciliation was personified. 

Read the whole piece. You will not be disappointed. The rest is HERE.

And so it goes.
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