I work in a wonderful albeit tiny restaurant in my remote mountain town. I work part-time, five days/week. Three of those days I’m a secondary worker and someone else is lead worker. But on Saturday and Sunday, I’m the lead worker and another person takes the secondary job.
Today, Sunday, I was working with a young woman, about age 23… let’s call her Chelsea (NOT her real name). On weekends I have to chop all the vegetables and cook the sausage, and whatever else needs to be done along that line. This keeps me very busy and the other person is supposed to come in and put the ice in the salad bar, prepare the salad bar, fill the soda machine with ice, and do whatever else needs to be done to get the restaurant ready to open.
Well today Chelsea came in an hour early. Then she did everything she possibly could, including things that didn’t need to be done that early in the day, except she wouldn’t touch the dishes or the ice and salad bar. I waited for well over an hour before finally telling her that I needed her to do the ice and salad bar because I was too busy to do them.
Okay, she did that, then said, “That’s it - I’m finished.” As if there was nothing else to do. She went and folded boxes, filled sauce cups, and other things that didn’t need to be done. Finally I said, “You know, if you don’t have anything else to do, you could do those dishes.”
She did something else, then finally relented and did a few dishes, enough to barely cover the bottom of the dish drain. There were more dishes left over in the sink than were in the dish drain when she quit to go start fixing food for the day. I was still chopping vegetables at this time. So I finally got fed up and asked her if she had a problem with doing the dishes. In return she told me how “busy” she had been all morning since she got there.
I informed her that she shouldn’t always leave the dishes for the other person. She didn’t take this well and reacted in anger, professing her total innocence, but I informed her I’ve seen her avoid these jobs on many other occasions, and let her know I don’t appreciate it.
Yikes.
Well, here’s what I do. I always try to do the dishes for other people. Why? Because I know they’ll appreciate it. But when I see someone shirking responsibility and letting less-loved jobs go undone so others will have to do them, I get upset. I don’t like being dumped on any more than anyone else.
And who did 90% of the dishes for the rest of the day? - Me.
So here’s why I’m mentioning it here in my home and hearth journal. I’d just like to say - if you work with someone and there are certain tasks that nobody really likes to do, why not do those things? It will make your co-workers have warm, happy feelings toward you, plus will increase your sense of happiness as you help out others by making their loads lighter.
Here’s more sad news from the economic crisis. People are selling their prized possessions and heirlooms to get enough money to pay for their basic living necessities. I haven’t gotten that desperate, but perhaps it is because I’m already living in affordable circumstances and haven’t lost my job. In fact, I’m starting a new business to supplement the money I make working in a local restaurant, so I’m hoping for better times and not worrying about how to pay the electric bill.
But many Americans are apparently that desperate already. This article, Americans unload prized belongings to make ends meet by Anne D’Innocenzio, an AP business writer, was published in the Sacramento Bee on April 29, 2008. The writer states that people are selling their belongings to pay utility bills, buy gasoline, buy food…
This is tragic… and I wonder what percentage of the population is having to sell things now. I haven’t noticed anything like that here in the mountains where I live.
Yesterday I was at the laundromat when an acquaintance came in and started talking about her frustrating day at work. We talked for maybe an hour, ending on the crisis in the world’s economy, poor choice of presidential candidates, and things like that. It seems that most people are aware now that something is dreadfully wrong in America, that someone is controlling us, forcing us into poverty, making America into a nation of slaves.
Have you ever considered that? America IS a nation of slaves. We are forced to work five days a week to be able to afford to live in this civilization. If we wanted to live off the land, that’s not allowed. We can’t camp full time in the National Forests. We have to buy land, so that means working, for most of us. Yes, I know some people own their land outright and have the cash reserves to live without working, but most of us work day after day, year after year, just to be solvent.
For those that can’t work, the crisis has shown its sharpest edge… that precipice between having something to hold onto and the fall into homelessness and despair. For those of us who are not at that point yet, it is unkind to pretend there’s no disaster looming, or to say we shouldn’t try to prepare for the worst, in case our homes are visited with the dreadful disease of poverty next.
My main theme here is “Wake up! Wake up! Things are changing.” Thanks for reading this far.
I’ve been having pain in my left thumb for a few years. I thought it was from an injury, but since I started working at the pizza place it spread to my right thumb and right ankle. I went to the doctor and found out it is arthritis. Some days at work, the pain was acute. Of course the doctor’s office didn’t offer anything but motrin to cover up the pain.
I’ve been doing some research, and discovered that wheat contributes to the problem, so I’ve been working on cutting wheat out of my diet, for the most part. And since I’ve been avoiding wheat, the arthritis pain has 90% disappeared. That’s the good news.
Because of my switch from using wheat, I’ve been experimenting with making things from rice flour, using no yeast. I made some great tortillas. Flour tortillas are easy to make - they are simply flour, salt, oil, and water. Here’s my recipe:
Flour Tortillas
A couple cups of flour, more or less.
Mix the flour with about a teaspoon of salt, more or less.
Into the flour/salt mixture, pour some olive oil. I probably use about 1 tablespoon or 2. Sorry I don’t have exact amounts, but this is how I cook.
Stir that up, as well as possible, then add warm water until you have a nice paste that sticks together a bit.
Take the flour mixture out of the bowl and knead it on a flour-covered board. I just use the drain board next to my kitchen sink.
Nice floury mess. I like that.
Then put it back into the bowl. You can let it sit for an hour or so, then knead again.
This time make little balls out of the flour. The balls should be about two or three inches across. Let them sit a while, then get ready to roll them out.
Heat up a large skillet or other flat surface. I use a flat griddle sort of thing. Prepare it with cooking oil to coat the surface.
Now the rolling pin thing is a matter of choice. I used to use a regular rolling pin, but the Mexican cook who taught me to make tortillas used a simple round piece of wood about the thickness of the bar you put your clothing on in the bedroom closet. Recently I saw such a piece of wood in a hardware store, bought it, and asked my boyfriend to cut a 12″ length for me. This is perfect for rolling out tortillas. I just push it back and forth rather than using handles.
Anyhow, roll out the tortillas. They have to be super thin. You may have to experiment with this for a time until you find the thickness that works best, according to your tastes. And as soon as that puppy is rolled out, toss it onto the hot griddle.
As that tortilla browns, start rolling out another one. Turn the tortilla over once to do the other side. If there are air pockets rising while it cooks, you know you did the right thing. Those are the best.
When cooked, the tortillas can rest in a warm bed made from a bathroom towel. Yes, cover them completely to keep them warm for dinner.
Filling: The fillings I’ve been making lately have started with cooked lentils. I love lentils. This week I combined the lentils with rice and dried green peas. I put them in olive oil, smash them together with a fork, and simply warm them. I cooked the lentils with garlic and onion and salt, but at this point I like to add more garlic powder. I love that garlic taste.
Toppings for the tortillas - use whatever you have that you like:
My kids have been drinking SoBe beverages for years, but I rarely did - until lately. Since I started working again, I’ve gotten into the habit of drinking SoBe Green Tea.
This comes after a year when I pretty much abstained from all caffeine containing products, and all herb teas. I drank mainly water - either spring water or distilled.
Being at work, I needed an occasional pick-me-up kind of drink, and I shy away from the soda machine and am not much of a fan of the iced tea, which we make with Lipton tea bags. The SoBe Green Tea is practically the only drink in the place that I really like.
I usually take a bottle of water with me to work, then I see the green tea, and put my water bottle in the fridge. The herbs in the tea are exactly what I need. It contains ginseng, guarana, ginko biloba, and echinacea.
Let’s take a look at what each of these herbs do:
Ginseng is known for stimulating brain activity and energizing the entire body.
Guarana grows in Brazil and Venezuela. The seeds are crushed and dried, then used to make a stimulating drink containing three times as much caffeine as coffee. Besides all the usual and well-known effects of caffeine, the herb reduces the appetite. It has been used for hangovers and for menstrual headaches.
Ginko Biloba promotes a healthy memory and mental functioning.
Echinacea is a blood purifier and aids digestion. It is also good for skin conditions and for chasing away the common cold.
Even the green tea itself is beneficial for its disease preventing antioxidants.
I believe this drink is just about perfect for staying awake, alert, and useful at work. Lately I’ve noticed my supervisor is also drinking it, and getting as much from it as I am.
One problem: our supply is running low and there are no more deliveries scheduled in the near future!
[Note: As always, I am not being paid for this recommendation. I don’t do pay-per-post postings.]
On Sundays I take time to give thanks. Today I’m thankful for my financial independence. After almost 18 years of being a SAHM (stay at home mom) I’m now working outside my home again. I’m working part-time in a pizza restaurant, and am very grateful for this opportunity. It doesn’t matter to me that there’s other things I trained for in the past that I could be making much more money at. I’m excited to be cleaning off tables, rolling pizza dough, and waiting on customers. It is a thrill to be able to get a paycheck, rather than what I was doing before.
Well, what I was doing before included work-at-home businesses that weren’t working very well for me. I own a web design business, and got very frustrated by constantly working on ‘other peoples sites’ rather than my own. It took all the fun and excitement and creative freedom out of my web design work, and I totally wasn’t happy doing it. Now that I’m working outside my home again, I’ve transformed my web design business into something I’m doing for me - by building up some blogs and improving sites that I started long ago.
I also had a profitable small town news website which I’m in the process of selling. I am so excited to be able to get out from under this small business. It had become like a ball and chain to me. What started as a community service project years before became unmanageable and frustrating. Too many people in my community wanted to diss the news editor (me!) and even though others here were positive and enthusiastic about the project, it wasn’t enough to make it worthwhile to me anymore. So part of my personal declaration of independence this year is to unload the site. The good news is that my best friend here, an experienced news writer, is buying the site. I’m training her to maintain it, and she’s looking into getting a grant for it so that she doesn’t have to constantly sell ads. Good for her! Good for me!
So my ongoing financial worries are for the time, defeated. I’m feeling great about working for someone else, and grateful that my youngest child is now 17, so I can do this.
Hi, my name is Linda. This is my personal home and hearth journal.
I am a self-trained herbal practitioner. I became a vegetarian when I was a teenager in the 1960s. I was a San Francisco Bay Area hippie in the 60s and early 70s. Then I became a mom - the most important job I've ever had.
Now I live in a very small mountain community. The nearest fast food restaurant is more than forty miles during summer, and more than seventy miles in winter when the pass is snowed under. I've never owned a cell phone, but I talked on one once. I work in one of the two local restaurants.
