- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 1395
At a garage sale in the Valley, there for the rocks, and - by coincidence - this garage sale is selling them. All sorts, everything, lots of crystals, Quartz, Tourmaline, gems, specimens, minerals...This is great. The prices - so-so, better than Shop Prices but not as cheap as finding them yourself...
...Probably cheaper if you factor in the expenses, but I don't think that way...
...Anyways, the "host", or proprietor, he's talking about his gems, he's worked as a geologist in 66 countries, knows his stuff, some great pieces...
He introduces himself, at a guess I say "Rod?", another Rod I met, prospector, out in the field, who found some of the more famous local claims, older, white haired like him, but not him - "No, but I know him..." he says. His familiarity with him drips of contempt so I don't pursue it further.
"Anything Local?" I ask, he's a couple of pieces, nothing of great interest, I leave him and browse around on my own. I recognize him from the laundromat in town, eavesdrop on his conversations with other customers...
...he knows the story of every rock, found every one himself, and he's got thousands, ..."I picked this up beside the road, spotted it from my car..."...and "at the turnoff to the I90, spotted it glistening a mile away in the desert...".
I place him, from the laundromat, a bit of a blowhard, boaster, braggart, American, has a house in North Carolina, etc, etc, it comes back to me...
A new age hippie has cornered him, is loving his crystals, is asking him if he's a member of the local rockhounding club, "OF COURSE NOT!" he replies, "That would be like a PROFESSOR in A KINDERGARTEN CLASS!" and then struggles to find a more apt metaphor, this one wasn't extreme enough, no, it would be like GOD trying to talk to ANTS, or ...
"I guess so..." the hippie meekly replies, rounds up her purchases, he mollifies a bit, she's buying something, and he's explaining the different crystal properties to her..."This one ... under Kirlean Photography...displays an interesting aura..."...
He notices my laughing, time to get out of here...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 1320
Found it in a Thrift Shop, couldn't just leave it there, thought, thought, and thoughtfully re-purposed it and re-gifted...
"Aussie Cologne" I tell him..."The Saleslady recommended it...their number one seller..."
He gratefully accepts it and sticks it in the bathroom...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 1225
He carries his instant coffee around with him in his "swag", which means all swaddled up like a newborn baby. He loves his instant coffee. And he sort of doesn't like that Canadian stuff that's made with real beans and grounds, lacks something in the flavour department he finds.
Which inspired me to transcribe some notes and recipes from an Australian Barista, so you can enjoy Australia's finest coffee experience without the threat of Kangaroos and Dingoes.
- Black Coffee: 1 Teaspoon (from hear on in abbreviated to tsp) of instant coffee crystals. Mix in 1 cup hot water. Wait to cool, drink.
- Milky Coffee: 1 tsp instant coffee crystals. Most of a cup of hot water. Milk and sugar to taste.
- Espresso: 1 tsp instant coffee crystals. 2 oz of hot water. Stir vigorously.
- Americano: 1 tsp instant coffee crystals. 2 Oz hot water. Wait 1 minute, add 10 oz more hot water.
- Canadiano: Use 1 tsp of instant coffee crystals to make 16 oz cup of instant coffee. Hold in reserve. Use 1 tsp of instant coffee crystals to make 2 oz of espresso, then top up with the cup of instant coffee.
- Cappucino: Make an Aussie style espresso (see #3). Boil milk, taking care not to burn it. Froth milk by blowing into it with a straw. !! NOTE: Take care, boiling milk will scald your face if you're not careful !! THIS IS WHY AUSTRALIAN BARISTAS ALL HAVE BEARDS!! Add frothy boiled milk to Aussie espresso. Add instant coffee crystals to top of foam to make a happy bearded face.
- Cafe Latte: Add boiling milk to Aussie Espresso. Don't worry about foam. Swirl some instant coffee crystals into top to make a pretty picture.
These recipes would probably be better done in a series of instructional YouTube videos. I'm gonna talk to him and see if he's ready for the kind of internet celebrity that will bring...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 1347
And, fully staffed now with the weekly turnover of transients, there's a party on the loading dock, all the new hires and the survivors from last year, precious few survivors, but the new hires don't know that, some, just here for a couple of weeks to get a check before moving on to the coast, others trying to lay down longer term plans, think that this might be their dream job, that they can stick it out here, the old-timers don't think to tell them, warn them, we need them here to lighten our own load but we all know, come fall, that 90% of us will be unemployed, and we're all hoping it's them that stay and not us...meanwhile, it's a beautiful summer night and they're all drunk on the loading dock, another 6 weeks left to the party...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 1244
More of the idiot son...
The week past, plans to go to Calgary to visit the kids, last chance this summer, I'm scheduled Thursday and Friday off. And I've spoken with the owners, advised them of my intent, I'm going to make the last ferry on Wednesday night, the other waiter will have to close up on his own.
It comes up we've a new waitress, the other waitress suggests as she's hungry for shifts that maybe the new waitress will work my Saturday, give me an extra day with the kids, I run it past the owner's son: he tells me in no uncertain terms that he needs me to work my scheduled shifts, he's going away to a class reunion in Cranbrook, and I can't help but think him attending a class reunion with his wife is a little like a black person wanting to bring his bride to a lynching, but I say nothing. I'll be back Saturday.
Only on my way out the door Wednesday evening, on my way to the last ferry, the waitress points out that the schedule has mysteriously changed...
I should check it...
And my 2 days off have mysteriously vanished, I'm now scheduled in on Friday at 4:00, one day off, and the owner's son has adjusted the schedule to show that he's worked doubles the past 2 days - the 2 doubles I worked - and he was off, WTF? And I'm enraged and accost the owners, they have nothing to say, he knew my plans, his own were far more important, and lacking the courage to advise or ask me to postpone my own simply changed the schedule to reflect his imaginary work...
He's a sneak and an asshole, the last week he's worked 1 shift, and plans on taking the rest of the summer off once his wife gives birth to his 2nd son, and instead of negotiating with staff, or advising them of plans, simply sneaks in revised schedules, and I'm livid, I've seen how they treat the staff - "We'll just use him/her until....", their bemoaning the staff's "selfishness" when it is in fact their own, I know I can expect no better treatment, but they top themselves with their asshole behaviors, they lament the lack of good employees when in fact they should lament the lack of competent employers, and I'm plotting, hopeful, that when his next spawn arrives I can as suddenly revise the schedule with my absence...