Cheryl Beckham

When my favorite grocery store puts Sobe bottled drinks on sale, I buy a huge batch of them. They are made out of glass and are difficult to tote in those little plastic bags, but it is not unusual for me to buy 10-12 of them bottles at a time.

The Sobe drinks are wonderfully different from carbonated sodas and not as sweet as colas. I like the green tea flavor the best, but I like all the different ones.

The regular price is $1.69 per bottle. This week the grocery put them on sale at 10 for $10.00 so I bought 6 green teas and 4 assorted other flavors. I love to find a bargain!

It’s not that I don’t like what I am doing right now, but I don’t think I can see myself still behind this bar when I’m in my 50′s ya know? I’m hearing more and more people that are going back to school, and not the traditional school setting mind you but using their computers and on their own time and scheduling, which is pretty cool. I’ve heard  that WaldenU.edu is a great place to attend via the Internet. So I think that I will take a look at the Walden University’s online degree programs and see what all they may have to offer me at this point of my life.

The thing is, I’m not sure what I’d be good at or smart enough to do, don’t get me wrong, I’m no dummy, but it has been so long since I had to really learn anything, except how to mix drinks that come about every now and then depending on what new “fad” drink is being consumed out there. Oh well, like I said I’ll take some time over the next few weeks and do what I can to just learn about Walden and see if I can find something that I think I can handle getting into as well as afford.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Diamond Jacks, which is one of the best clubs around these parts. So when I was asked if I wanted to come along next weekend with several of my “regulars” from work I jumped at the chance, especially since I won’t have to pay a dime for anything all night long, all I have to do is make sure I am not put on the schedule that night. It will be nice to be on the other side of a bar for a night. This place is always jam packed on the weekends so they have to use crowd control techniques which would be useless at a bar such as the one that I’ve been bar keeping at for the past 4 years. It is always interesting to see the differences at other places and compare with what I am used to at work.

Some times I find something that gives me an idea that I can bring back to my manager with and some times he even takes the time to listen to me and once or twice he let me run with. Not that we would ever have the need for barricades as they need to use at larger clubs or the nice looking stanchions that are strategically placed around with the expensive looking velvet ropes that are used as well. Although it would be nice to have the need for something like that if we could ever fill the place up the way it used to in years gone by. I’ve been told that this place used to be quite a “Hot Spot” back in the 80′s, they still have the disco ball up in the ceiling. I don’t think it works anymore though, although every now some one will threaten to go up there and see what it takes to get it running again, but it never happens.

Wow, did I get off track here folks. Anyway, it sounds like it will be a fun evening. My cell phone takes pictures, I’ll make sure to take some pics through out the night. If any come out good I’ll even consider posting one or two here, something I don’t normally do, but then I normally don’t get all dolled up to go out on the town either!

I stopped and went through the drive through at Burger King on the way home today and saw that they have a new mini burger on their menu, $2.99 for 4 of them, which sounded like a good deal so I ordered four of them. I got myself back on the road and in the rush hour traffic when I finally pulled them out of the bag to munch on during my drive home. Boy oh boy was I disappointed. Besides that the rolls were hard as rock and burned, the burgers were so very tiny and were basically tasteless, bummer. I didn’t want to have to turn around and go back, so when I got home I dug out the receipt and found the phone number and tried to call as to speak with the manager about my nasty food, but I kept getting a busy signal (something that we don’t hear very often these days, especially on business phone) and when it wasn’t beeping that irritating busy signal beep I would get the even more irritating sound of a fax machine. So I gave up and will try and call tomorrow. If I still can’t get through I’ll keep the receipt in my wallet and stop by the next time I’m in that part of town.

I work hard for my money and I don’t like getting ripped off. In the past when I have issues with fast food items I give them a quick call, using my best manners mind you, and they have no problem replacing the food that I haven’t been happy with. Some times they have even replaced the entire order, for my time and trouble. I never start out by being nasty and rude, that will get you no where quick, you do get more bees with honey, but if that doesn’t work then it is time to break out the vinegar!

Not only will I let them know about the old and burned buns on the tasteless meat patty but I’ll let them know about the phone issues as well, what a pain…….

It seems that most people I know are trying to find ways to bring in more money. The number of people going back to school is growing and growing in record numbers, but that isn’t always an option for various reasons, so the need to be creative and find something to help deal with this horrible financial issue that our lovely government has place upon us these past couple of years, is growing as well.

One of the gals that I work with at the bar is tossing around the idea of starting her own “Personal Chef” business which sounds like something that she would be good at but I am concerned that people are not going to be willing to part with any of their hard earned money for something like this in our town. Our town has been hit hard by this Depression, much like most of the other cities and towns all across the country. Bars and restaurants have really felt the crunch, but she is determined and I really hope that it works for her and I’m willing to help in any way that I can.

I have a good amount of restaurant supplies that I am willing to turn her onto. I have offered to give her what she wants and needs in exchange for some of her services when she gets the business up and running. I love the batering system and I really think that this would be a win-win situation for the both of us if it all works out the way she is planning.

She has been talking it up at work and getting a lot of good reactions from folks about it, so that is a plus. She has even found a few people that used to be in the catering business that are willing to help her with numerous tips and free advice as well as some catering supplies that aren’t being used and need a home that she is willing to take off of her hands. Hey every penny counts these days, right? No reason she can’t start out with used equipment until she gets things off of the ground and starts showing a profit that will allow her to enjoy a shopping spree at a place like Tiger Chef, which is well known for all of their wonderful restaurant and bar supplies, as we are all aware of since we work at a bar/restaurant and we know all about Tiger Chef’s reputation and quality products at discounted prices, it’s all good.