The Syndicate

Me too Golden.

Got a nice little love note on our chalk wall this morning from 1 of the 2 that quit. It said "Fuck you Jen!"

and to think friday, I was trying to defend their continued employment to my boss.

Today was the weirdest day off ever. My entire managment staff (who's jobs I was there to help save) up and quit on me today. Thank goodness my supervisor went in and covered the store as i needed to help diggz with xmas lights pr he wpuld have had a fit.

I mean, it will be tight for a few but, I guess all the trash took itself out in one swoop. I got a csr to piss off by holding her accountable yet and lots of issues should start to go away.

This store is so broken. I think getting it running right again is one of the most challening things ever.

Socky - My facebook feed tells me all sorts of peeps back in T-County have the worst crud ever. I'm guessing you just caught the bug that's plaguing like most of Ohio. Poor thing, I have friends too that missed all of Christmas because they were bed bound! While the drinking may have lowered your immune system (or more likely made you think you could be more exposed in the cold etc) I don't think 4 drinks would have made that much of an impact. More likely, you just got unlucky. Glad you had a good batcholor party though even if you did get sick after that.

Epi - 12 IPA's? 12 PBR's? Shot of bourbon? two fingers? three fingers? Half a tumbler? Ice? Neat? THESE QUESTIONS MATTER!!!!!!!

Vompi - I had blood work done for my health insurance open enrollment. I totes expected to see some worries in my liver area, but shockingly - it's trucking along just fine! I guess when it gets pickled in utero. In any event, MORE BEER PLEASE!!!

S~V~S wrote:Bea <3

Driving to and from my parents house yesterday (my brother Jesse got out of hospital on Christmas Eve, and was well enough to want to see people, so we had a last minute "potluck what was in our freezers" kinda meal, but we had it together~ our big "family Christmas" won't be till January. My other brother & I were gonna have "whatever" for Christmas) about half the restaurants were open.

When I was a kid in NY, I recall NOTHING restaurant wise being open for Thanksgiving, but lots of people got take out, and some ate in restaurants (my husbands family had dinner out on Christmas, it was part of his Moms Christmas gift) on Christmas. Not just the Jewish folks. So maybe it is a cultural thing based on location?

But yeah, our society has become about money (and people would not eat take out pizza if the pizza place was not open, and it is open to make money), that's the long and short of it. I am pretty nauseated by stores opening on Thanksgiving still. That is a *national* holiday, not a religious one like Christmas. We've lost our way, and this is just one more symptom, like homeless veterans and starving children.

Maybe it is cutural? Our whole town but for one gas station shut down at Christmas. But it did during Thanksgiving too. Back home, at least at Thanksgiving, when I was working, I was spending time with people I usually only got to see again once a year/or being the place the elderly couple who's family was all out of state spent the holiday with. I felt like I was doing good and providing something meaningful to people.

And I get Mom's Christmas present too. The ONLY Mother's Day I got to spend with *my* mom was the Mother's Day we worked together. She was so very proud she got to share her day at work with one of her kids. But still - if it's Mom's gift to not have to cook, I'd think they'd want to feed mom with something at least as good as she could make. I KNOW if it came to BGH giving me the day off in the kitchen vs getting pizza - I'd kick his ass. And not because I have the job I have. Even if I had another one, I'd be offended he supplemented my good cooking with something so sub-par. I would rather cook. It's why I'm making ham dinner on my day off this week....

but yes - like homeless vets and starving children -I do feel like this holiday season, I've seen so very visually - how we are as a culture - loosing our culture. We're loosing the traditions and the things that bind us together. And that worries me.

I can't post this sort of thing on facebook. Too many of my bosses and co-workers have found me there. So I'm dropping this here. Because I need to get it out and IDK where else to put it.

Chirstmas just turned into another fucking day that sucks.

And I hate that.

And I don't even really hate that for *me* or for BDH, though his day was so bad, that he sent me 3 "I love you so much" texts while we were working (meaning he was trying to focus on the good) Or that his last text was "I know we don't get to spend Christmas together or any other day really, but I love you." And it made me tear up while I was trying to ballance the money and fake my inventory counts because I was too busy all night to actually count things.

My cranky STILL isn't about us.

It's about what our culture has turned into.

I wasn't making pizzas for people who don't celebrae Chirstmas. I wasn't the Chinese resteraunt. I wasn't soley selling pizzas to people who weren't with loved ones this season. If THAT was what I was doing, I could have taken pride in my work. I could have felt like I was offering a service. I was providing for people who would have gone without if it weren't for me. It would have given actual meaning to the fact that I had to ignore my family today.

That is not what I did today. Our company made SO much money today because we were the only pizza place open. We made that money from families, they poured in thankful for the long waits - kids - parents- grandarents- ordering SO MANY at a time. We made their Christmas dinner. And I have to ask - what happened??

I mean - my very strict upbringing says "one eats ham at christmas and easter and turkey at thanksgiving and that's the way life works." my brain says "people celebrate holidays differently and don't be judgmental about how people break bread - but is breaking bread the same when it's someone goes and orders 15 pizzas?

It seems to me, that the holidays are about doing things for your friends and familiy and part of that is food realated. Is our modern culture really so used to instant gratification that pizza christmas dinner is preffered to a home cooked meal? I mourn that so many people loose the joy - the ture and real joy of making food for people they love.

I think of myself as the "parent's" age and I'm shocked by the people I think of as the "grandparets" who were ok with this. It hurts me because I know there are traditions along so many cultural lines being lost. We've got tamalies waiting for us at BDH's bff's house. His mom makes them every year and gives them to him. Some of them are specificly labled as bdh and mine.

I almost hit my hubby because he had pizzelles without me.

Whatever faith you have - the holidays are about family - and tradtion. You loose your culture and you loose your heratiage when the holidays become about feeding your family fast food chain pizza.

That is why my Christmas spirit is broken this year.

Because I saw 4500 of traditon and heratatage take a back seat to convience tonight.

I'd love to make a more pominate post about that, but I don't know how to do that w/o outing where I work or flagging my bosses who look at the numbers (and also conviently didn't work today)

lol - fair enough - nothing like a research paper to take your mind off things....

cam... I'm so sorry. I know this hurts so much...

Mongoose wrote:I'm 8 days out of recovery and I have 5 gnarly scars on my stomach. I'm also still relegated to a liquid diet for 9 more days so that's intense.

I'm sorry so many of us are going through such hard times. We need a group hug.

we do. Here's hoping I can steal one....

BoatsBoatsBoats wrote:gf problems. Looks like things have a good chance of ending soon. sadz

I'm so sorry you have to go through this.

timmer wrote:My sister-n-law is an alcoholic. My wife and I have the great joy of talking to her about it tomorrow. Joy.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry it's progressed so far as that you both feel you have to have "the talk." I hope she is open and receptive. But also - she probably won't be.

If she lives with you - you can at least kick her out or keep her on terms of her recovery. Both of those options are painful for everyone. If there is anything I can do to help - even if it's just a shoulder to vent on. Timmer - just pm me.

I know how hard this is on any family. I've seen it happen to mine more than once.



for everything you are dealing with.

Elohcin wrote:Y'all are hilarious. And Bea you are sweet to keep encouraging Epi to get me a DW. I only wish it were possible :/

Being a newly wed wifey - I consider it my civic duty to give as many husbands as much shit as possible. Especially since I know their wives love them too much to go full force on them.

Ahhh....the estrogen network. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.









also - it made for some good jokes.

thellama73 wrote:

bea wrote:

Epignosis wrote:I just burned the hell out of my hand. I use my pans in the oven sometimes and I grabbed the handle of this one while stirring.

Owwie.

you know what would make things better?


A FUCKING DISHWASHER.

I think they prefer to be called "Mexicans."

Epignosis wrote:I just burned the hell out of my hand. I use my pans in the oven sometimes and I grabbed the handle of this one while stirring.

Owwie.

you know what would make things better?


A FUCKING DISHWASHER.

Elohcin wrote:I WANT A DISHWASHER!!!

Epi!!! Get this lovely woman a dishwasher ASAP. Otherwise, you'd better grab a dish cloth and get to washin' buddy.

I hate mean customers. I hate customers who can't decide what they want. I hate customers who call every 10 seconds to change their order then get mad because it didn't get to their house by the time that was quoted before said changes to their order were made. I hate that we as a culture have been trained to know that if you just yell loud enough and use enough curse words, you can get what you want for free. I think businesses have messed up a bit there. It's a system that rewards problems. I have no issue at all with wanting to make things you dislike right with you. I'm a pleaser, I'm Italian, and I take feeding people VERY seriously. You do not have to yell at me to get me to give you free food. All you have to do is stay calm and talk to me. Let me know how I can make it right and I'll do it.

I do however wish we could move as a business practice to, rather than reward people who yell the loudest. Reward people who are always steady and regular customers. Those are the guys I *really* want to take care of.

ok - I'm done ranting now.

Busy Friday was busy.

Epignosis wrote:My tests are open book and open note. There is no extra credit. You have to be a loser to fail me.

I once failed 95 percent of a class. Got in trouble with the principal over it too. I refused to change grades. I let them make up work from the beginning of the year all the way up to the end of the year. No body took me up on the offer. I refused to change 0's into passing marks.

hahahah - no problems - I felt better by monday - still the weirdest thing ever though...

I have to work tomorrow. LIke all day.

So yesterday afternoon, I woke up and I had some pretty severe lower abdominal cramps. It felt like it does when you wake up in the morning and have to go to the restroom except once I did that, the cramps never went away. It hurt to stand, it hurt to walk, it hurt to lay down. I was in pain pretty much if I was in any position but a curled up ball.

I try to take some aspirin - an hour later no help.

After 5 hours of this, I break down and go to the ER because it could be something simple, but it could also be something to worry about and there's really just no way for me to know which it is right?

While at the ER, they give me a norco for the pain and it's the first bit of comfort I've had in 6 hours. I still hurt mind you, but I can at least lay down and move and stuff without feeling like I've got a sword sticking in my gut. They take a urine sample, they do an ultrasound, they do a more extensive (and kinda evasive) ultrasound. An hour or so later, they know nothing. Urine didn't show anything, my overies look fine. (So, no ovarian cysts - this the good news I suppose) In the end, 3 hours and a 700 dollar bill (which somehow because I have a 750 deductible that's not met yet my insurance isn't picking up a penny of) all they can tell me is "We don't know what's causing it, even though you had a BM, you could still be backed up in there. If you're still in pain on Monday, call a family doctor and schedule an appointment with them. Here's a script for some pain meds."

So I fill the script and there's only 15 of them. I work again tomorrow so I've been trying to be hecka conservative with them because a) there's only 15 of them and they have to last till Monday if this pain doesn't go away. As of right now, it still hurts, but I can't tell if relief is coming because I'm getting better or if it's just the meds actually helping some or if it's a waxing and waning pain or if I'm just getting used to hurting and b)

If they think that my pain is due to needing to make another BM, why did they prescribe me pain meds that are known to cause constipation?

Also - srrsly. I hope I feel better before Monday because this has never happened to me before and I'm a little freeked out by it.

S~V~S wrote:
I am out of tonic water

That is the most tragic thing I have read in ages.

yuck! feel better daisy!

that totes quallifies.

I'm just going to post this now - and say - I'll post it again.

I've been more than 20 years in the restaurant business. I've seen some things. And like a pro -ball player - it makes me a bit superstitious. I've never been failed by it.

This weekend? Full moon + first of the month. Got help my sanity!

Vent your frustrations here. We feel your pain. We hate those jerks too!

My vent? Same vent as always....Customers. They can so make or break your heart. Some of them are so great and so wonderful, they make my job a joy! Others, yea....not so much.