They had me at "hello"

Mountains Gorillas, that's who.



I must admit, I've always thought they were scary because of their size and partly because of the movie, KingKong. (yes, you can laugh now). Also, I remember being a kid, we would visit the Cebu Zoo and people would say not to get too close because the gorilla might grab me and swallow me whole. That thought NEVER left my mind. Yet at the same time, I remember feeling sad for the big hairy ape sitting in the cage staring back at us and must be thinking, "You freaks are lucky you're on the other side of the situation".

Then a documentary show I saw at PBS opened my eyes to a new perception. I suddenly find the gorillas very fascinating. How they live, how they survive, how they protect their young, how they behave, how extinct they are and how they survived what happened in Rwanda.

Gorillas are not really out there to hurt anybody. Like us, they are just trying to survive. Living their lives. I could not believe that there are poachers who'd kill them either for meat (yuck!) or to sell the baby gorillas for pets (which would sometimes end up killing 5 adult gorillas, in the process).

How sad and cruel is that?

And just a few minutes ago, I saw Cynthia McFadden of ABC's Nightline, she went to Rwanda and have seen the gorillas up close. I'm jealous.

Ecotourism in Rwada is a win-win situation for the people who live near the volcano where the Gorillas live, because preserving the Silverback Gorillas not only protect them from poachers and extinction, it also helps keep up the economy.

Personally, I'd save up my pennies to chase a new dream, I'd want to go there and experience it myself. It may not be as "glamorous" as going to the Bahamas, but it'd be worth the experience.

Like Cynthia said, "It was worth one muddy footstep at a time". I'm sure it was.

Patience is virtue

But that doesn't apply to my customer this afternoon.

He's a pizza delivery guy who wanted a latte with sugar. Simple, right? Well, I realize it wasn't as simple as it seemed when I told him his total and he replied, "Sh*t".

The thing is he was in a hurry and after I rung up his drink, I also had to entertain the guy next in line, when I told him that, he got irritated saying, "Geez! I've been waiting here for 10 minutes!".

I replied, "Sir I'll take his order and after that, I'll start making your drink".

Luckily, the guy after him just wanted a brewed coffee. Easy.

It was just me and one other barista (and she's doing drive thru) so Pizza delivery guy had to wait, not to mention there were two customers' drinks ahead of his. We were doing the best we can.

He was watching our every move at the counter saying he's on a hurry, great-stressful hurry and made a point to tell us, "I'm in a hurry. I'm pretty sure the customers won't be happy waiting for their pizza delivery."

What amazes me is how people cause stress for themselves. He was making deliveries so there is time pressure. Now, why the heck would he stop to get a cup of coffee for himself when he has work to do?

It could have been a lot easier if he came AFTER making the deliveries.

Real quick...

How do you like my new layout? :) It's actually a scrapbook kit and I just played with it and voila! :)
Work is fine. I'm starting to get a hang of things. Universe, don't jinx me.

Now, I really have to go to sleep.
More updates later. :)

Scrap Bug & Thank You's

I know, I know, it's been around since forever... but I just recently caught the Digital Scrapbooking bug. There have been a few sites that have been really helpful and even some free templates. Good stuff for beginners like me. :)

Here's my first attempt:


The text is quite pathetic. Didn't really have the patience to make it more fancy. My computer has been acting up and is just reallyyyyyy slow. I hate it when this happens.

But, I'll try to get into this Scrapbooking thingy even more.

***

I would like to give out lots of hugs and kisses and some rock and roll, for those who greeted, messaged, commented, emailed, and texted me on my birthday.

I appreciate the thought, I really do.

Somebody is...

Under the weather

Ger has the flu bug and doesn't have his voice (which sometimes works to my advantage *lol*).
I have a stomach ache and I have a 7-hour shift tomorrow.

I need to feel a lot better than I am right now, otherwise, tomorrow's going to be hard for me. And I'm hoping I won't get what Ger has.

Wishful thinking

It's only a couple of days before my birthday and I'm pretty sure every birthday girl had their own wishlist, right? Well, here's (or are) mine.

1. A duffle bag. Medium one. I'd like to use it for carry on's. I've pretty much graduated from the whole back pack thing.
   
2. Uggs. I want one. Real bad. I know it's not Winter anymore, but hey, who says it's only good for one Winter, right?
3. A fleece jacket/sweater. Something not so heavy but will keep me warm.
4. A really colorful and fabulous wallet.
5. This or this. A great addition to my Pooh Lenox collection.
   
6. Sumptuous dinner at the Outback.
7. Good company.
8. Moment of peace. :)
9. Hopefully, I don't work the day my birthday falls.
10. A really good full body massage. Nuat Thai, I stinkin' miss you so bad.
11. Oh, and yes, World Peace. ;-)

Hey, a girl's gotta wish, right?

Trial by fire

I've been to hell and back. It all happened right about 9:30 until 11:00 this morning.

I walked in the store for my shift and after changing the carafes, I was told to be on drive thru. My head went "WHAT?!". I wasn't trained on that and wasn't aware that the training was to actually put you on the drive thru and take orders, right there. No orientation, no shadowing. Just listen first on how the older partner did it and then I take the next order.

I used to work at a call center and I'm used to headsets. I have no problems with opening spiels, I'm confident with that. My issue was, I am not yet familiar with the cash register which buttons to press and throw that with the noise disturbance in the drive thru (car engine, music, the blenders) and getting their order right, familiarizing myself with the orders and I'm a BIG MESS!!!

I am not complaining, I am venting. I just think it was so unfair for me to be put on that spot. I wasn't expecting to be trained on drive thru smack in the middle of the rush and I felt like I was dragging everybody really slow.

It didn't help when I was already very apologetic to one of my co-worker, I said, "Hey, I'm really sorry I'm too slow, I'm getting my bearings and I'm nervous". She was like, "Yeah, you really need to keep up the pace". I was trying to get some frappuccinos ready and she'd just grab my pitcher and do it for me without saying a freakin' word. Gee, thanks for the support.

Anyway, I was already to overwhelmed and too upset that I was ready to just walk out the door and call it quits. Trust me, I'm not a quitter and I've never been that overwhelmed before.

Thank God for some of my co-workers and my shift supervisor who saw that I was really getting overwhelmed and pulled me out of the drive thru to give me a break. It all mellowed down for me after that. I'm still getting used to taking orders from the customers INSIDE the store and so far, so good.

I'd say that I'm a fast learner but I am so systematic. I don't do well with being thrown in the pit and a little advance notice would help too. Maybe learning under pressure works for some people, but not for me.

Surprisingly, I made it through my shift in one piece and I'm willing to give it a couple more tries.

Lessons on being a Barista

1. When you are brewing coffee, remember to press the BREW button in the coffee machine. Duh.
2. Do NOT drop the whipped cream container. It's bound to make a mess and your pants and apron are just going to be disgusting.
   
3. When washing the dishes, try not to look like you've just taken a shower.
   

Why I might decide not to have babies...

Most of the time, I spent hours reading people's blogs. Not that I'm nosy, but I'm intrigued somehow.

I'm pretty sure in our various fields of work and even in our daily lives, we all have stories to tell. I, for sure, have a lot of barista stories to tell, but being a nurse in the Labor and Delivery sure had a LOT of interesting tales.

As a matter of fact, Tales from Labor and Delivery had me laughing out loud for almost 3 hours now. I read her ENTIRE blog.

Do read it, it's hilarious.
I guarantee you'll be amazed and entertained.

Thursday 13

Thirteen Things about APRiL 1. This is my very first Thursday 13 post. 2. I am INSANELY addicted to Law and Order (Special Victims Unit & Criminal Intent) 3. Ever since childhood, I've always wondered what it's like to be a cop and secretly wanted to be one. (Most of my uncles are cops/in the military and lately, my cousin too.) 4. I never liked coffee, I only drink coffee during rare circumstance such as when I need to avoid getting fired from work (i.e. sleeping while on the job *lol*) 5. I never thought I'd be "coffee tasting" in my entire lifetime. 6. Insanely, I am now working for a coffee shop as a barista. 7. Barista makes coffee and frapps while Bartenders do the "whole juggling the bottle while make an alcoholic drink" thing. 8. I love chocolates but lately, every time I take my first bite, I always end up sneezing. 9. I don't want to entertain the slightest idea that I may be allergic to chocolate. 10. Or I may be in denial. 11. It's 5am and I'm still blogging. 12. Well, I was really watching Law and Order. 13. Then I realized it's Thursday and I wanted to jump in to the Thursday 13 bandwagon, so here it is. :)

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A post intended for April 9, 2008 Philippine Time

Insanity.

It never ends and I'm at MY wits end.
There is no sense to waking up with a bunch of "clouds" hanging over my head even before I get out of bed.

This whole circus is driving me nuts and I can only take soooooooo much.

I'd do anything to be ALONE for a minute or two or even a week.

THIS is Love.

What are dreams made of?

I'm pretty sure they're not made up of shots of Espresso and pumps of Vanilla Syrup. My dreams are defying norm. Lately, it's been about coffee and pumps and shots.

Is it just because my Barista certification is coming up? I hope so.

ramblings...

I am really tired. I just realized that I've been working for 6 days straight with different shifts, opening or closing and sometimes, midshift. My sleep pattern is a mess and I'm getting tired easily now.
I hit the sack by 10:00 the latest, which is quite abnormal considering how much of a night owl I am.
Maybe I'm just getting used to being a part time bum and part time barista.

***

I freakin' broke a nail and it effin' hurts like hell!!!

***

I need a neck rub and I'm going to bed afterwards.

***

I haven't been chatting for more than a week now. I miss my friends in Cebu. Please lang, paramdam pud gamay...

***

One of the perks of my job is a free pound of coffee every week and getting free drinks (30 minutes before, during and 30 minutes after the shift). My job rocks.

can I just say "eeeeeewwwww"?

There's this guy who always wipes his boogers on the men's bathroom walls and seems to be somebody who works with us because it happens almost everyday.

Gross.

April Fools!!!!

Today started REALLY early. I had to be at the store at 5:00 am. Anybody who knows me real well would give me a standing ovation for that. So, today was all about Iced brewed coffee and making Frappuccinos. And making them from scratch, not just mixing the ingredients all in the blender.

Anyway, Angela, Courtney and Joe were talking about it's Tuesday, 1st of April and it's April Fools day. In that sense, we should play a prank to our store manager.

Angela and Courtney have to move their cars to the next parking lot. You can see three girls running across parking lots before our manager arrives. That three girls would be me, Angela and Courtney. Oh and did I mention we were running with our green aprons on?!

The plan was for the three of us to hide in the walk-in refrigerator and that Joe would tell Richard that the three of us quit because we've had enough. My God, it was freezing in the fridge and we were trying to stiffle our giggles. Angela had her headset on so we pretty much knew what was going on.

It was like the longest 10 or 20 minutes of my life. It was freezing in there!!!

Then Richard opened the door saying "April Fools!!!" and the three of us just ended up laughing. He said he knew better and he's smarter than an average bear. Lol.

I guess, the joke was on us. We had to freeze and Joe had to serve the customers all by himself for a prank that didn't even work. Hahaha.