I Officially Hate Google.

Why, you ask?

They won't let me keep my password.

This seems to me a bit awkward, seeming as I have had to reset my password to Blogger about 5 times thus far, plus two JUST TODAY. This is simply getting insane. I'm cranky enough without their resetting my password every two seconds-- can't I have Facebook for that???

Anyway.

Otherwise, life here has been all right. I'm still moving along in school (though in some subjects, the moving is slower than I would like it to be; blame Missouri higher math requirements for that). A few of my subjects, though I really enjoy, AP Lit/Comp being one of them. The teacher gives me smiley faces on my work, and I find that highly amusing! I mean, I haven't had smiley faces on ANYTHING since kindergarten. This is a BIG THING. But yeah, I think the school will work out, especially since I received some literature on how to actually use my graphing calculator. (We spent big money on that thing... but have I become technologically literate enough to use it properly? NO! Even with the user's manual!) So now I have TI-89 Graphing Calculator for Dummies. How special!

My social life has increased a lot these past couple of weeks. Extreme (the high school choir) has started up again, which has me all a-flitter. I love Extreme. It's not very large, and we really do need more guys to join (seeing as we only have about two when Nick decides to show up to practice), but the friends I have in there are great. The music is really good this year. We're already working on the stuff we'll be using for our concert in the spring. It'll sound great, I know it. Now if we could magically recruit more guys, life would be amazing there. I've already tried roping in a couple of my guy buds, but one of them has been throwing excuse after excuse (Psssh, who needs his health?), while another's parents are being a tad unreasonable (in my opinion) and are not letting him do anything outside of their church-- even though quite a few of his friends are already attending Extreme. Wacky.

Well, the Tour of Missouri is passing my subdivision any minute now. This is going to foul up traffic bigtime, I'm certain: there are only two ways out of here, and they both lie on the same main road, which the cyclists are supposed to be riding down about this time. Darn you, Team Discovery!! (Though not really. I'm sad you're disbanding after this. Godspeed. Truly.) But hey, I've got to be getting to taekwondo class somehow... Anyone have a helicopter I could rent for a few? Just to get over the nastiness that is sure to be Upper Bottom Road?

Man, I didn't have a Mountain Dew this morning and I'm already twitchy. Though I'm pretty sure it's because of the death-defying stunts I'm sure to be pulling this weekend. How? The Missouri Taekwondo Invitational is Saturday, and I'm competing. My parents weren't thrilled when I announced that I would be sparring in this tournament, as they've seen what happens in the very rare event in which someone catches a hard kick to the head. (Which isn't very pleasant, by the way. The victim of that kick was on some pretty hefty painkillers afterward.) But my division will be made up of the short stocky people that are not yet black belts. This means they won't be attempting a lot of headshots, but since I'm short (only about 5' 2"), it's always a concern for me. My major advantage, though, is that I'm pretty aggressive in the ring. I simply do not want to back down, even after I get knocked pretty hard. (I've taken more than one kick to the face, and last month I was fighting on a foot injured so that I needed crutches immediately afterward. Ouchy.) But I'm still really nervous. This is the first time I've ever competed in a sanctioned tournament, either in sparring or forms (not fighting, but routines of power display). That reminds me, I should make sure I've got all my sparring gear in my bag before I head out...

Yikes! I should get back to my homework-- writing this served as a break enough. I've got another lit essay to draft. (Oh, and hi, Charlie!)

Current Mood: Jittery

Random Useless Fact of the Day: An actual warning label on the hair ointment "Rogaine for Men": "Do not use if you are a woman." (*insert "DUH" here*)

Therapy

Now, these aren't directed to anyone in particular, just to those that ever go to order something from a deli/bakery thing. I'm sure that some of my friends in foodservice can sympathize.

POINT #1: Get yourself organized enough to think ahead.

Okay, so you want to take lunch to a meeting you're going to. Great. We love orders. I'm glad to make 'em. I'm even good at it. Just please... Call us at LEAST an hour beforehand if the order is more than just a couple of sandwiches? Because if you're going to order a bunch of cookies and scones with five sandwich box lunches, then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure we actually have what you want! We don't appreciate having to call you back again and again to see if you have no problem with our being out of scones or veggie sticks. This is especially true on the first day of our week after being closed Sunday and Monday. People tend to come in and clean us out of everything...

POINT #2: Look over the menu and see if there's anything you've missed.

When you're ordering a sandwich using one of the fill-in menus, please have mercy and take the time to make sure that you've filled everything in. This is especially problematic with the bread selection; it's hard to make a sandwich (which, remember, I kind of enjoy) when you don't have any idea as to what to put said sandwich on. Also, please make sure that you've checked whether it's for here or to go... It's a pain in the rumpus to have to run back and forth and ask these things, especially at the lunch rush hours. Oh, and before you order, please make sure it's what you actually want. Having to stop and start over just because you decided you DIDN'T want mayo or something just makes time go slower and the sandwich people want to shut our heads in the coldtop.

POINT #3: We are not, I repeat, NOT a fast food establishment.

So you're in a hurry. I understand that. Really, I do. I'm going to try to make you as happy as I can with our service, meaning I will try to get your order up as soon as I possibly can. But let's think about this: It's noon, and there is a very long line of people standing around and not looking at bread. The safest thing to assume is that these folks are waiting on sandwiches. When you see us scurrying around at the coldtop making sandwich after sandwich, pounding them out at a pretty good clip, and looking at a stack of yellow papers, it's also safe to assume that your order JUST MIGHT TAKE MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES. As I said, my co-workers and I are going to be moving our fastest, but it's not easy trying to coordinate many sandwiches on the board at once. Things happen, and we might have to take even longer (this is especially true when we've received a ginormous call-in or fax order). Trust me, this is hard, and all I ask is some patience.

POINT #4: We are CLOSED Sundays and Mondays!

I know you love us. Many people do. But the owners need a weekend, so they close down the shop on Sunday and Monday. This means we bake NOTHING on these days. (Go back and read that again, if you don't mind. I'll wait.) So everything we sell when we open Tuesday morning is going to be two, maybe three days old (which is why sell it at 40% off). One batch of bread is going to take FIVE HOURS from start to finish. We take pride in our work. We make everything from SCRATCH. Using the normal timetable, this means we don't even START getting the fresh bread out of the oven until 10, maybe 10:30 on Tuesday morning. Even then, we can't slice anything for you for at least another 25 minutes, because if we try then the loaf will collapse. Not pretty at all. If you want good-quality, fresh Tuesday bread, then you might consider coming in the early afternoon; we usually have everything out by then.

POINT #5: There is a good reason we print out that calendar every month.

You see those large pieces of paper sitting by the cash register? The one that lists whatever breads we're making on whatever day? As I said, we have that for you to take and study so that you can find whatever bread you would like. Mind you, we're a SMALL TEENY TINY ITSY BITSY little bakery, so we can't make everything all the time. It's just not physically possible. So if there are any specialty breads you want, please don't hesitate to call in, or ask any of us working there. We'll be happy to take down your name and number and call you when whatever bread is being baked. Heck, we can even set some aside just for you! It's not that hard! Just arrange a time you want it! But if it's not on the calendar, then it's once again safe to assume that we're not baking it. You can put in a request, if you like, for the bread to be baked next month. I'm not promising anything, but we actually DO listen to our customers.

POINT #6: There are customers in the world other than you.

I don't mind serving customers. Really, I don't. I even like it, when the customers are friendly and polite. There are some that I've come to consider almost as friends. I know them by name. But when you barge into my shop and demand that I stick to you like glue? Yeah, that makes me unproductive. I despise being unproductive; that's not what I get paid for. Contrary to your apparent belief, when I'm getting some cookies for you, then it IS indeed possible for me to answer another customer's question and still give you the same kind of service I was already giving you. I mean, hey, I'm probably going to like the questioning customer better because they actually check to see what we have before they order their sandwich (see Point 5). But BY NO MEANS do you have the right to chew out my other customers. I don't CARE how picky you are or how much of a hurry you are in. Stop it. Right now. Take your food and go, because I don't enjoy people chewing out my customers because you think they're cutting in on your service.


Rawr. I needed that. I feel MUCH better now. I guess my main point is that the people at your local bakery/sandwich place are people too. We have lives. We have other responsibilities. We get stressed out, sometimes almost to the breaking point. You'd be amazed how much a smile or a "thank you!" or even a "Wow, that was really good!" can reduce that stress. It's great when you know that your work is appreciated and that you might've made someone else's life a bit easier by doing it. It's a good place to be in. All that we ask in return is that you come back with your business and goodwill. Thanks.