I'm running out of exciting names for posts

Today I did my first lunch shift at Ric's. The schedule said to come in at 10:30, but the restauarnt didn't open for lunch until 11:00. I'm not sure when I got there.... probably sometime around 10:20 or a little thereafter. In any case, the restaurant was locked up tighter than a drum. I tried looking inside, but the windows are frosted. So I stood out there getting colder and colder and wondering where everyone was. Eventually, Val, the manager, opened the door from the inside and let me in. She'd been wondering where I was, it seems. Turns out there's a back door. The thing is, when I was first hired, I asked Val if there was a different door I should be using, and she said, 'No, just use the front door.' Uh huh.

Anyhow... Today during lunch I shadowed Yen, a very nice lady of asian descent who is one of the few Calgary natives I have met since coming here. Possibly the only one, in fact. Yen showed me how to make mochas and cappochinos: mine had little or no foam. I am going to have to ask Rokaya to show me how to make them properly.

Val asked me to come back in the evening and help out, even though I wasn't on the schedule. So back I came at 5:00 to help out Louis: Louis' a very nice fellow who I met my very first night. He's from some middle european country--I think he said Lithuania. In any case, he's been a waiter in Calgary for 25 years. His wife, who he brought over from the old country, just got a job with Price Waterhouse Cooper, after working at McDonald's for 17 years. They have at least two sons, who they seem to spoil rotten. Louis helped me out with the menus and bar lists. He's also going to keep his eye out for a place for me to stay.

I have two shifts tomorrow, too, and then my training period is done. There's a very long test I'm supposed to write--although one of the servers told me that so long as I don't mention it, they may not make me write it... At least, that's what happened with him. I'm not going to count on that happening, though.

Tomorrow night, Kendall, one of the managers, has told me he'll go over the wine list with me. He also told me to bring money for a cab, because I'll be tasting all the wines. I may have to ask him if we can put off the wine tasting, though... My first official shift is at 10:30 on Friday, and I don't wanted to be hungover for it.