I ran down to the levee,

But the devil caught me there.
He took my twenty dollar bill
And he vanished in the air!

"Friend of the Devil" The Grateful Dead

So in leaving one job and heading to the other, I have been slowly saying goodbye to all the friends who have made that old place bearable. That means (especially in the restaurant business) many beers. In having these many beers I have managed to piss off Alli quite a bit, for which I am sorry. The old place was OK, but since they often hired with only a marginal amount of experience, the caliber of employee has usually been lacking. Often times very young, often their first time in a restaurant job (going from hostess/busser into the server jobs after a few months.) In the new place, the servers and bartenders ALL have at LEAST 3 years experience, usually MUCH more, and with much of that experience at a fine or upscale level. I was there today stocking the bar with some of the bar staff, and we were noticably all pros. It will be fun to work in a place with a cast of characters like this. That wasn't to say that in my last job there weren't some really great people, there were many, in fact. Just more of the crappy type than I like to deal with. I will miss lots of the old crew, and I hope to see them all out there on the town somewhere or else even dining in each others restauarants. Now if only I can find a way to go hang out without making Alli so mad!!
I try and explain that it is just like Happy Hour for her, but all she sees is the hour at which I arrive home! Getting home at 1am is like getting home at 6pm in her 8-4 world! That of course is followed by the usual questions of "who was there?" and "how much did you sepnd?" Anyone female I guess would have to represent the devil, especially any single females. My twenty dollar bill just vanished in the air! Well I guess that 1am does not mean stumbling in at 4am after playing cards all night. It also probably doesn't mean going with all the gang to "The Block" (a night club, not a notorious portion of the area.) where all those sordid types go (even if it was for only an hour.) Sorry, Alli!

The new place looks to be very swank. Really quite beautiful so far. It isn't near finished, and already we are a week behind. Since we have no work for a week, and I (along with most others) have quit my old job, the new place is going to pay us all $500 for this delay. To vacation, basically. Nice, I guess, but I should really be working making a lot more than that.