My next big purchase is a pair of Dr. Scholl’s insoles. I just got home from my second day on the job. I would of written this post yesterday after my first day but I was dead tired and could hardly type. Man are there a lot of things to learn about this business! I’m like someone who’s never even seen snow trying to snowboard down a double black diamond. But I have some good people training me. I’m giving myself a month before I’m totally comfortable working at the restaurant. I’m getting to know the back of the house guys as well. They start breaking out beers about 15 minutes before closing. I thought I’d make a good first impression today and brought two six-packs of some Lagunitas IPA that Augi had given me. It’s probably the first IPA they’ve ever drank in their lives. A few guys couldn’t stand them but the others thought they were great. That’s usually the type of reaction most people have of IPA’s, you either love or hate them. But hey it’s free beer right?
After I’d finished setting up the tables for tomorrow I stuck around to talk with the server who I’ll be replacing. According to him the boss seems to like me. He’s been around for eight years so he knows the owner pretty well. It was great news to hear.
I’m finally (kinda) settled in. It’s weird how dependent we become to the internet. I really felt disconnected from the world for the two days I was without internet service. I’ve spent the past few days, rearranging my room, fixing my computer and organizing a kitchen that has no stove or oven. But I do have a great, big backyard with a deck. Once I get some propane burners, I’ll be able to brew outside which is a hell of a lot easier than brewing in my kitchen. I start work on Wednesday and I found out today there’s a homebrew store located two streets down from the restaurant. Perfect!
I’ve never mentioned it on this blog but I’ve been dreaming of opening my own brewpub for some time now. I used to daydream about opening a restaurant, then after becoming a homebrewer, the restaurant became a brewpub. So after the most hectic and turbulent month in my life, I’d like to announce that I’ll be pursuing my dream of opening a brewpub.
Like I said before it’s been a crazy month. It started off with me almost moving to Texas to take a new job starting a company. That fell through so I said what the hell and I quit my job anyways. A week later I drove up to San Francisco for my sister’s graduation, hung out with the family, tried some new beers and ate at some delicious restaurants. I stayed a few days afterwards to look for work and an apartment. On the second day of my search I found a job at one of the best restaurants in San Francisco and then a room in house two blocks from the beach. Someone was definitely looking out for me.
On Friday, I woke up at 5:30 in the morning and drove straight up to L.A., managing to get a speeding ticket on the way home. Took a nap for an hour then bought food/supplies for the retreat I was organizing for the junior high school kids. Got everything loaded up and drove up to Running Springs and spent the weekend there with the students while fighting a chest cold I’d picked up in S.F. I finally got home at 7:30 last night and crashed out.
In this past month, through all of this, I have learned and also been reaffirmed of many things. How much I love my family and how proud I am of my sisters and my mom. What great friends I have and how dedicated and giving they can be. The importance of giving back to your community, to teach and reach out to those who are currently walking the same footsteps you did as a child. Taking chances and being bold.
But it isn’t over yet. After today it gets busy again. I’ll be moving out of my apartment, dropping off things at my mom’s house then moving into my apartment by Saturday. I’ll be back once I get settled in.
Never have I drank so much beer over the course of a weekend. I drove up early Friday afternoon, the campsite at Lake Casitas was great, the weather was perfect and continued to be that way for the rest of the weekend. Our club, The F.E.R.M., shared a campsite with our sister-club, Crown of the Valley, from Pasadena. It was my first time meeting them, they were a great bunch of guys and incredible brewers as well. After a huge potluck dinner (with beer of course), we headed over to the actual festival grounds to set up shop. The Fest opens unofficially Friday night so we served a few beers as a test run for the big day on Saturday. We finished the night drinking Belgians, sitting around a campfire.
Woke up the next morning and headed back to the festival grounds to finish setting up before they officially opened at 11am. My pale ale and lychee fruit blonde were on tap. The lychee blonde was a big hit. I had a great time serving our beers and thought it might be fun to pick up bartending as a second job. When I wasn’t serving beer at our booth, I was walking around sampling the other great beers from different clubs and watching the live bands play.
Later that night after the fest was over we headed back to camp, ate and hung out in one of the guy’s campers. Three of the Crown of the Valley guys were in there jamming with a harmonica, guitar and banjo. We ended the night drinking more beer and singing Radiohead and Beatles songs.
Driving home the next day I thought a lot about my future. I’ve been sensing for some time now that there’s going to be a lot of changes in my life soon.