Monday, March 23, 2009

March Madness, a new job and some politics

Another Rain Man photo. I know I've posted one before. This photo takes place late in the movie after Charlie finally is beginning to enjoy his brother's company. The movie had so many dark moments, it's nice to find a photo of one of the few upbeat ones. I did enjoy the ending. Without telling you what it is, (although if you've never seen Rain Man, your loss...) I always felt happy and sad. The music makes you feel sad I think. I don't know. Send me some thoughts. "Don't rock and moan Ray."

Last Friday I was given three hours at the Hog's Breath Cafe as a kind of try out for a possible job. It was an intense shift - for me. As far as a Friday night goes, the restaurant wasn't that packed. But this was my first night ever in the restaurant industry. My job as a "runner" was to serve meals, drinks, clear tables....basically just run for three hours.

A couple of humorous moments:

There is a mascot there, a hot pink pig...He was walking around for awhile. A bit later, I was sweating pretty good from all the running around, a customer asks me "Hey how do you like wearing that pig outfit?" He obviously thought I was wearing it due to my perspiration on my forehead.

Twice I was told I was setting the tables backwards or incorrectly. Must be the lefty in me.

Learning the table numbers, what was on the menu, etc., on the go was quite a challenge but it was a good learning experience, and at the end of the night, the manager asked me to come back as a full time employee. That was a good feeling. I am excited about this job because of the skills I am going to take home with me.

I start my first shift on Wednesday. And they will be teaching me things about the menu and how to be a better waiter.

Last night I had another inline hockey game. We hadn't won in four or five weeks, so I was hoping to come home with a victory. We won 15-10. I felt pretty good physically. We beat up on the other team pretty good, but let them hang around. I had a couple of highlight reel goals, but gave up a few weak ones too.

At one point I had a break away, but kicked the puck...sending it all the way to the goalie. So when the goalie slapped it away as I was getting close to him, I dove..... Remember back when I was playing ice hockey and I was involved in a big hit or something risky? I'm pretty positive you were thinking what I was thinking..."Ryan...that's pretty dangerous...." So I dove like I was on ice, but I was on concrete...landed on my side. I got up smiling, a bit embarrassed and played on. Afterwards, I finally felt a bit of a pain from my side. Just a nice big raspberry on my upper leg. I'm very sore today, but I think I am starting to skate harder and better.

I've been cooking more often. I know I know....stop the presses. But its true, with all the meat trays I've been winning, I've been grilling up a storm. Also have been cooking up proper breakfast's (brekkie) with eggs and everything. For those of you who know me, this should be impressive, for those of you who don't, I understand your laughter.

I am doing extremely well in the NCAA pool. I've never really been in the top 10 for those pools so this is great. It is funny that I have not watched a single game this season. I don't really even care for college sports all that much.

Daryl asked me to forward him my bank details due to the bet I placed in the previous blog. It turns out he's as into social networking as anyone else. I apologize. I should have bet something smaller...

Not really keeping track of the World Baseball Classic. National Rugby League just started here two weeks ago, so the country is buzzing about that. I read somewhere - and I agree - the WBC probably won't work in the long run. You have professionals who are just starting to get back into shape after the offseason trying to play like they are in the playoffs, resulting in injuries. Also I think for anyone living where there's snow, it is just hard to get into a baseball tournament when it is below 32 degrees outside.

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is visiting with President Obama today. Apparently going to talk about the worldwide recession. Lots to talk about... Rudd last week in an interview said the phrase "There's going to be the usual political s**t storm...". That had the country laughing a bit.
I was chatting with someone the other day about gun laws here in Australia. Here is the gist of the Australian gun laws, from wikipedia:

"State laws govern the possession and use of firearms in Australia. Anyone wishing to possess or use a firearm must have a Firearms Licence and, with some exceptions, be over the age of 18. Before someone can buy a firearm, he or she must obtain a Permit To Acquire. The first permit has a mandatory 28 day delay before it is first issued. For each firearm a "Genuine Reason" must be given, relating to pest control, hunting, target shooting, or collecting. Self-defence is not accepted as a reason for issuing a licence, though it may be legal under certain circumstances to use a legally-held firearm for self-defence."

I bold faced the sentence that stood out for me...the one about self defense. It seems that only two groups of people have guns here. The police and the gangs. While gun violence is much lower here than in the states, there are still gang related murders here pretty often. Did you read about the murder at Sydney Airport two days ago? Right in the terminal, a man was beaten (here they say bashed) to death. It was reported to be gang related.


That's all for my dark Australian history lesson for now.

I'm off to Bingo and trivia night in about 6 hours. Going for my 4th meat tray in six weeks. I just want to show you what a bingo card looks like in Australia. There are no B-I-N-G-O's....just numbers. So below are two bingo cards. This is what I will play for one game. The host just calls out numbers. She has fun rhymes with them, but again, no letters. To win a meat tray, I just have to get a full house. Like you see on the right part of the picture. So out of those six boxes, I just have to fill one. Also everytime I have won at bingo, I use a blue and a green bingo sheet....that would be the good luck Hartford Whalers colors.


That's all for now. See ya!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just in case you hadn't heard.. the World Baseball Classic is over. Japan won .. again. I didn't watch all of it since it was on late, but apparently it was a good game. Japan beat Korea in the 10th inning. 11 Days til Opening Day! Woo!