Die Buchwalds

My business trip to ALCAN in West Virginia was exhausting. In the three weeks I was there, I worked up enough overtime to be the equivalent of three weeks of work… in three weeks time. That’s a lot of time.

Highlights included breakfast at Bob Evans. Almost every day (except for the three days I ate hotel breakfast, which sucked, and the one day I was called in at 3am), I ate French Toast with Strawberries on top and a side of crispy bacon. The cooks there really know how to make crispy bacon. I believe they teach their own discipline, crispabacon-fu. One waitress always immediately brought be a large glass of OJ and a small glass of water, that’s how regular I became. On the last day she waited on me she even made my breakfast entirely, since the cook had to step out for a bit. That earned her the largest breakfast tip I’ve ever given, at over 35%.

We also invented songs. Our favorites were, “How the Quench Stole 4th of July” (You’re a mean one… mister quench…) and “The Plate Expansion Opera,” with one song based on the Oompa Loompa song from the original Willy Wonka movie.

Two days ago, we found a new Mexican restaurant that had opened just outside Ravenswood. The food is awesome. I recommend the Echilada Poblano (whose adjective seems to not agree with the noun, until you realise it isn’t really an adjective, but a type of sauce, and hence another noun). However, they have the worst service ever. They act like they don’t know how to run a restaurant, and are in bad need of a greeter/seater/cashier, since the waitors and waitresses don’t have the time to multitask without forgetting about their customers. I’m sure in a month or so, they’ll have it all figured out since they won’t be rookies anymore, and it’ll be great. I just won’t be there anymore to eat the food, since I won’t be down there. But still, great food. Horrible service.

The project went well. STill some bugs left, but they are relatively minor, and it’s a lot of watching and making sure it stays working. My other two cohorts have next week covered, so now it’s time for the beach!

I was very happy this morning when I came in and saw things were working without me.

Bliss!

Posted in Jobs,Travels | By Matt at 8:34 pm | Comments(0)