Saturday, May 25, 2013

The first time

I was going through some screengrabs from the first two episodes of Sherlock and the amount of eyesex between Sherlock and John is just… wow. We all know Martin ships Johnlock like a fucking maniac. (Maybe even more than the Sherlockians?) This image is from the unaired pilot (“Study in Pink”, 60 min version), and I love Ben’s face in it. The grin. The fringe. It’s all utterly perfect. Anyhoo - this is John’s first trip to Baker St., before they decide to be flatmates.

Actually, let me correct that. Sherlock KNOWS they’re going to be flatmates. John is not sure at this point. I’m not really sure he actually ever makes the decision.. I think it’s more like he goes along for the ride because Sherlock gives him everything he didn’t know he was missing.

That got me thinking about first times. (Not necessarily THAT first time. Get your head out of the gutter.) I mean these kind of first times:

The first interview for your first job.

The first time you lay eyes on the guy you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.

The first time you watch a TV show that changes your life.

The first time you set foot in a city that - impossibly - feels like home in a matter of seconds.

The first time your father tells you he’s proud of the person you’ve become.

The first time a short story of yours makes someone cry.

The first time you dump your feelings into a silly little html document.

The first time you realize that some people don’t deserve your loyalty.

The first time someone breaks your heart.

The first time you fall in love with a child. (Not like that, peanut gallery.)

The first time that thing that’s bothered you your entire life gets a name.

The first time you realize it’s all going to be OK…

And the first time you realize that life is nothing but a series of first times. Every day a new beginning. A fresh start.

I like that about living. It gives me something to look forward to…

HAPPY TOWEL DAY!

Do you know where your towel is?

HIM: That means I have to carry a towel with me all day. Do you think Martin Freeman’s carrying a towel today?

ME: Martin Freeman is such a BAMF, the towel carries HIM.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Holy shit. It’s one of THOSE nights.

Let me set the scene: I’m in the middle of discussing - again - my fascination with how gay sex is written in fan fiction…

HIM: What was that term you had to look up?

ME: I don’t know. I’ve looked up lots of them.

HIM: Rogering?

ME (really loudly): OH! GOD! YES!

Fifteen years, folks. Fifteen years…

I am two kinds of people

ME: What? You’ve never seen me give a popsicle a blow job before?

HIM: So…you’re telling me I need a grape flavored penis?

ME: (laughing hysterically, literally crying) You bastard! Now my hand’s going to get all sticky!

Tough choices

Having met Misha several times, I can tell you that this is really who he is. And I fucking love him for it.

——

Anyhoo… I keep getting these offers for ‘start tomorrow’ temp jobs which are around the right money, for the right job, and they sound GREAT. Except that the recruiters are contracted to supply someone for a certain period of time. Those temps aren’t really granted the freedom to look for new work. Yeah, they can’t stop you, but I’m of the opinion that it’s unprofessional to leave in the middle of the contract. What can I say? I have some screwed up morals.

That job I took at the end of March was temp to perm, with the decision to be made in 30 days. The first two weeks - the getting to know you period - were awesome and I was pretty sure I was going to be there for the long haul. During those first two weeks, I missed out on second interviews (and a first) with companies I would have really loved to work for. For what? To decide to leave/be kicked to the curb in the next two weeks. When it was too late to go to those companies and be all “Hey, I made a mistake. Still interested?” (Not that I would do that. Again, unprofessional.)

I’ve gotten several calls on resumes I’ve sent out on my own and I have recruiters submitting my resume to other companies.

I’m doing well on the job search front - I’m submitting to companies I want to work for, and I’m working with recruiters who can get me to the right positions at possibly the right companies - it’s just taking forever.

——

Speaking of employment:

One of my ‘brothers’ has a very strong restaurant background. VERY STRONG. So when he comments on people who own restaurants who don’t know what they’re doing, I have to agree. To use his example, running a successful tree service for twenty years doesn’t mean you can open a successful restaurant. Shit, I’ve worked for TWO successful restauranteurs who have taken their success and opened a second restaurant. I can tell you that, in both cases, restaurant # 2 isn’t doing nearly as well as restaurant # 1.

I’m addicted to the “rescue” shows (Bar Rescue, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, and Restaurant Impossible), and nine times out of ten, the owners say “I’ve always wanted to own my own place.” or “Well, I’ve been a server for a long time and I thought I should buy the place I worked at since I know it.”

The problem with that - and again, I’ve SEEN this with my own two eyes - is that restaurants are different from any business out there. Even the way the books are kept is different. It’s not enough to be able to understand a profit and loss statement. (In a restaurant, they actually use a template that focuses on ‘prime costs’ instead of the familiar P&L most businesses use.) Not only that, but there’s health and safety issues with the food and kitchen tools. There’s the matter of training your staff so that they know the menu inside and out. There’s the issue as to whether or not your food is actually edible. Then there’s the issues of food costs, menu pricing, and even menu engineering.

Running a restaurant is not as easy as grab saw, chop down tree, drop off invoice, go home.

I’ve done the books for two start-up restaurants. I know the amount of crazy there is, even once they become established. Would I open my own? Maybe… BUT. I’d make sure I interviewed the hell out of my staff before hiring them. I don’t want to be hands on. I’d prefer to treat it as an investment because I know I don’t know enough about how to actually RUN a restaurant. I can manage the books and costs, but the rest of it? Oh, hell no.

I know what I don’t know… and that’s pretty damn good.