Easter Weekend

Easter has come and gone. Leslie, Kaleb, Scott and Sara all came to visit. It was nice having family around for the holiday. We did all kinds of things. The dog got lost, power went out for the better part of a night, we went skating twice, hunted Easter eggs, found the dog, hit some golf balls....All together is was a fun time.I worked the floor at Cracker Barrel by myself for the first time Easter night. I did fine - I actually enjoy the service aspect. All the side stuff takes some getting used to. Once I learn where everything is and how everything is done I should do fine. I had two tables and made 30 bucks. That is not bad. I'm sure I could have done much better if I had one more table plus I had a couple of groups stay for quite a while. Next shift I will work on getting my guests out faster. I'm shooting for 50 dollars a shift on weekdays and 100 on weekends. My co workers say this should take about a month. If I can get there then I will be making almost the same as N.Y.

Whatcha gon do, when they come for you

Over the past few weeks I have had and interesting series of events involving me, Ches, my dad, and various vehicles (mostly untagged, uninsured, or using improper plates). Had this just been one incounter I would not have thought anything about it and moved on. If I had only had two encounters maybe I would have thought it was a strange coincidence. I had my third run in with the law last night that was pretty much the breaking point. The back story is. My dad has several cars some run correctly others do not. The combined list of problems include: No reverse, driver side door will not open from the inside, driver side door will not open from the outside, no insurance, no tag, incorrect tag, busted headlight, no power steering, seat beat does not work, gas cap will not open, trunk will not open, fork needed to operate headlights, exhaust leak, window does not roll down all the way...and the list goes on. Needless to say not one of the cars is without its problems. So we have to choose between 1) a legal car that does not work correctly or 2) a simi legal car that works better. One day we were in Pegion Forge Tennessee when a motorcycle cop pulls up next to us at a stop light. I tell Ches to pull away slowly so he does not get a look at our tags. Well the cop pulls away so slowly that we have to go ahead of him. He runs our tags and pulls us over. We were lucky to just get a ticket for impropwer tag considering the circumstances. The next incident came when Ches and I was driving another car with improper tag to Chattanoga. I was slightly speeding (about 73 in a 65). Lucky for me there was a red Honda civic in the lane next to me with a bike on the roof. The cop got behind me but did not run my plates and then went after the Honda. Last night was the worst of all. I was driving from the house to the skating rink to watch Kaleb. The car had no power steering and the transmission did not work very well. As I was pulling into the turning lane the car died. We were close enough to the skating rink that we could walk over and get my dad. By the time we got there and back there was a cop car was already behind the car. He started asking questions about the tag, who owned the car, who was driving... I told him the truth: I don't know who owns the car. About this time my dad comes walking up and Rachel pulls up (her car is illegal also). She jumps out of the car and shuts the dog inside. The dog manages to lock the doors from the inside. So now the current situation is: We have one broke and improperly tagged car, the other is also improperly tagged and we are locked out. Long story short. The cop was nice to let us go. Ches found a stick and unlocked Rachel's car. 5 minutes after the cop left the car that broke started working good enough to get home. I'm getting to old for this.

I know my floods!

Last night everyone was passing the time having a good time. Ches and Daddy were talking about old times when someone mentioned the "Big flood" in Macon. Right night Macon is receiving a lot of rain and some place are flooding. Some years back, when I was in elementary school, there was also a flood in Macon. There was no water, bridges broke, power was out - quite an ordeal at the time. Well Ches and Daddy got to disagreeing about the actual date of the flood one says 1992 the other 1994. They go back and forth for awhile until Ches decides to ask the person on the phone. Well she (who was also in Macon at the time) said it was in 1994 and the reason she knew this was b/c her daughter has a shirt that says "I survived the flood of 1994" . Daddy was not convinced and begin to offer evidence in the form of personal testimony of how he was living in Tallahassee FL. in 1994 and the reason he moved there was because of the flood in 1992. So he asks: how could I experience the flood in Macon in 1994 if I were living in Tallahassee? After much joking at daddy's expense Ches and I begin to come up with possible scenarios as to why there was a two year discrepancy between when Daddy remembers the flood and when it "actually" happened. I would like to share those with everyone:Daddy is referring to another flood which he called "the big one" and everyone else only remembers the most recent minor floodThe flood of 92 was so bad that it has been wiped from collective memory All the towns historical records (and t shirt making operations) are incorrect - daddy has resolved to remedy this problemThere is a break in the Space time continuum (a la Back to the future) and we are actually living in an alternate future based on the same event in time.Daddy's memory is so accurate that is actually referring to the start of the flood in geological time. Because as he said "I know my floods!" All of these theories are possibilities and daddy is looking into correcting the situation right away. If anyone has any input of the flood in Macon in approx. 1992~1994 please let me know. :) We must have laughed at Daddy for an hour at his refusal to accept that the flood was in 1994. I'm still not sure he is convinced.

Welcome to Cracker Barrel

I got a new job at Cracker Barrel. I have never been so happy to work in a restaurant. Growing up in and around a restaurant I would have NEVER pictured myself working in one as a "Grown up." When it all comes down to it I feel comfortable in a restaurant and I was thankful when I got hired. Right now I'm am just about to finish up the training phase. Most of my days so far have been doing paper/computer work. I got my uniform and smock. Most workers in Cracker Barrel have smocks that say their name and have between 1 and 4 stars depending on there level of experience. Well my smock has a patch that says "Rising Star." Basically every where I go in the store for the next month people will know right away that I am the new hire. Actually this practice of placing the stars on the uniform is based on very strong psychological principles. The stars are reinforces. Cracker Barrels entire HR approach is based on behavioral observation and reinforcement. I can't wait for my first day of serving. I'm sure I will have so many blogs to post about what happens with me and my co workers. Come visit :)