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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Miscellany

Published: 10 July 2011

Hits: 1848

The owner, he's gotten into his head that he's going to fire the manager, she's not meeting his expectations. And he tells all the staff as a warning, there will be no days off until vacation, then maybe he'll look for another one.

She - the manager - has tried to quit a few times, the owner wouldn't let her. And he's talked of firing her before, but hasn't, this time he seems determined...

And when she comes in to work at 3:00 it's done. 

***

Now the bosses nephew marches about the restaurant declaring himself to be the new manager, telling everyone what to do, it's in jest but he's doing the village idiot impression just a little too well, it's remarkable, really, and if you told him what a fine village idiot he was portraying he would be proud, wouldn't understand the that the quality of his idiocy was not just limited to his impersonations....

***

The next day, over dinner the owner inquires after C - the last waitress he fired - is she still in Calgary? Does she have a job yet? and he's feeling about not too subtly for the manageresses replacement...

***

Evenings, during the Calgary Stampede, aren't so busy, and if ever we could spare someone it's now. The part-timers are brought in and it's business as usual, except that there are some problems accessing his website, coincidentally it was the manageresses boyfriend who redid the site and now the passwords have been changed, he's locked out and he's finding it hard to believe they've done this, what has he done? and his confusion at this moment appears genuine, he has - to quote Somerset Maughm - that ability to "do someone a bad turn and not hold a grudge" 

***

Mid shift another blowout, one of the part-timers has taken out the wrong side dish, the owner's screaming, throwing pots, audible in the dining room but nobody there cares, this part timer, she'd attempted to quit as a result of his rants before but he had hastened to assure her they were not directed at her, now there's no such argument, his abuse has been too direct. I meet her at the bar changing, she's off as well.

***

The owner, he's curiously quiet about the dismissal of the manageress and the missing waitress, the staff buzz over to my side of the restaurant and take over as if nothing has happened, these mid-shift departures are commonplace and everyone works around them. And so the circus continues... 

at work in a falling skyscraper

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Dreams

Published: 10 July 2011

Hits: 1652

I'm at work (??) in a skyscraper downtown. I know I'm at work because of all the people from work I recognize there. But there's a problem, the roof has sprung a leak, huge sprays of water rain from the ceiling, intermittent, sometimes dripping, sometimes pouring, but it's clear we all have to get out, the building is in danger of collapse.

The owner, he's brought in a couple of people to repair things but they're cowboys, they're going to try and replace just a few jousts, meanwhile staff has all disappeared in their several directions, I'm back inside, looking up through a glass ceiling off to the side of the main building, wondering if it crashes down, when it crashes down, if I'll be trapped, squashed under the main bulk, ...

Casanova in London and Other Essays - Peter Quennell

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Books

Published: 08 July 2011

Hits: 1733

A series of thoughtful essays on a variety of subjects from Falstaff to The Secret Commonwealth, and his firsthand meetings with Evelyn Waugh and Robert Graves.

Interesting, perhaps it chief redeeming feature is that it recommends and refers one on to read other authors one hasn't heard of. Good.