I was up fairly early for me. I got some breakfast (Roy called in sick at the LG so they were busy), did one of my online classes, then set off to bake my chocolate cake layers for Bill's birthday celebration. Who is Bill you ask? A guest here at Bolongo. Lisa had come to me asking me if I would bake a birthday cake for him as she knows I like to bake. Lori the "Romance Director", asked me if I could make wedding cakes, small ones. I said I probably could, but I was leaving soon. Several people asked me why they didn't know sooner that I was a baker and I had to tell them I have been offering to bake whatever they needed since I got here. Janee, however, does not want people getting used to things baked on property when I was just the intern passing through and not a permanent employee. She did not want people to expect her to continue baking once I left. Understandable. I also made chocolate chip cookies while I was waiting for my cake to bake. They were also a success, lol. I will make frosting tomorrow for Bill's cake for dinner at 6pm.
While I was mixing and baking my cake, Richard came in and said hello, then hugged and kissed me (my hands were full trying to pour the batter into my pans) and apologized for whatever he had said the other day that had offended me. What a surprise! Not fifteen minutes after that, Paul came in to get something for lunch, teased me about finally getting comfortable in the kitchen (I was wearing a t-shirt and short and a long white apron) and said he had not seen me around. Then HE came over and gave me a hug and a kiss and apologized for his brother, Richard. He said Richard did not know the "deal" Paul and I had and that he wanted me to eat where ever I wanted to and to read where ever I want to read and to please enjoy my last weeks here. Then invited me to go on his boat at some future time and come for dinner. Another surprise! I have no idea if those two things will come to pass, but both men made nice gestures.
I was at work at 4pm, but Lisa was in Richard's office, so I cooled my heels by drinking a ginger ale at a table near the restaurant office and talked with Betty-just checking to see how she was. When Lisa came back, she had a meeting with Denise, the daytime LG manager, which was private, so I continued to cool my heels. At about 5pm, Lisa showed me what she does not get ready for the night by looking at the reservation book and seeing which servers she has working, then divides the restaurant into sections and makes assignments. One of the servers didn't show up at 5pm (he apparently makes money golfing, has a few drinks, then comes to work) so Lisa and I helped Ish (short for Ishmael) get the tables set up. They get sprayed down with a cleaner, wiped, then set with silverware, water glasses, napkins, salt and pepper shakers and given a small no burn candle. There are 23 tables (plus another large one used only occasionally). Then Paul was talking to Lisa, so I wondered around a bit. Raven, who sometimes plays hostess, was there tonight, so Lisa was actually a manager and I followed her. Lisa also showed me the computer programs they use to figure out how many meals they sell and how much liquor is sold. We also unpacked the liquor delivered today from the warehouse. Apparently no one had checked it and then put it away, so we did. Lisa also told me she makes her rounds of the tables after people have been there 30-45 minutes so she can make sure everything was ok and to see if there are any problems. It also gives her an idea of how close they are to being done so she can turn the table over (and get a second seating in). I played hostess a bit while Raven talked to Denise. Raven now lives on St John and has a charter boat job that pays her so much more money than the LG, that she will stop working at Bolongo except for special occasions. She loves to sail. I know the feeling! It wasn't too busy. Lots of older folks so they eat early and take longer to eat! One guest, Shivonne, who is a local, had a reservation for 6:30pm, didn't show up til 8:30 for what she said was an 8pm reservation. The reservation was for 2 people and when I went
to seat her and her husband, she told me another couple was joining them, so we had to quick make up another table. Unfortunately, the other couple didn't show up until almost 9! Janee finally asked Lisa to talk to them about ordering dinner because it was costing money to keep everyone here late. By the way, when I first saw Shivonne, she reminded me of a black Jackie Kennedy in the 1960s, lol. All she was missing was the pillbox hat! She even had the little pageboy haircut!
Lisa let me go about 9:30pm. It was a pretty good night all in all. I did find out before I was done for the evening, that Roy called in sick again so it will be just Cliff and I tomorrow. Janee did come back through and let me know Millie would be in at 8am to help get us get through the morning rush and to help make the employee noon lunch. So busy day tomorrow!
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