On Holiday

Beginning Saturday I and the family will be on holiday and I will not be blogging at all during this time. Probably the second week with all the stuff I gotta do like paint etc.. I do not plan on posting anything till mid-July at the earliest.

Take care

Half Year Earnings

So June is over and my wife and I have brought $30,000 home. July and August are slower so don't double that to get our yearly income. It all depends on teaching as well on how it is looking for the Fall but we are pleased so far.

We have a lot to be thankful for on this Canada Day!

The Answers

Okay here are the answers to this morning's mind twisting five questions.

1. If it is not Champagne then it is called Cremant and when you see it would be for example Cremant d'Alsace which would be a sparkling wine from the Alsace region of France and as a note these Cremants found everywhere in France usually are using a grape good for making Cremants within their region. Not necessarily the same grapes that go into making Champagne.

2. Cahors is the region I am thinking of when I talk of the Black Wine of Cahors.

3. Amontillado would be your medium dry sherry.

4. That dish I was talking of was called , Toad In the Hole.

5. To cut lettuce or any other leafy vegetable for that matter en chiffonade is to shred it.

Hope you had fun!

This Week's Quiz

Here we go right into it. Hope everyone is having a great week out there!

1. We know that the Champagne region in France has exclusive rights to the word champagne for it's sparkling wine but they do make sparkling wines elsewhere in France that cannot use the word champagne. Instead this word is used to denote a sparkling wine made elsewhere outside of the Champagne area in France. What is that word?

2. What appelation area in France was known for making what was called the Black Wine because of the heavy pigment in it? The area runs along the Lot River and the grape that made the Black Wine popular was the Malbec grape which is now popular in Argentina today.

3. Is an Amontillado sherry a dry , sweet sherry , or a medium dry sherry?


4. What is the name of the popular British dish that was originally baked in the oven consisting of pieces of cooked meat mixed with smoked bacon and covered with batter? Nowadays pork sausages arranged in a dish and covered with pancake batter and served very hot is becoming the norm. You would be really good if you got this one.

5. When we cut lettuce en chiffonade what are we actually doing to the lettuce? In other words how is it being cut? Or just tell me what the verb chiffoner is in English.

Waiting on Tables Is What I Do

At the beginning of the month I was wondering if all the restaurant goers decided to go on holiday at the same time. The first two weeks were brutal.

Now heading into the last few days of the month it looks like we are on track to beat our earnings from last June which is real good. Last night I even chalked up more sales than I did Saturday night which is rare.

I am not sure what was going on last night but everyone was ordering the nice bottles of wine and ordering the full meal , from appetizers and the entree , to the dessert.

Had an interesting table of five which were heading back to England. When I mentioned have a nice flight back she says oh no we are heading to the States first then taking the Queen Mary back home. That would sure be nice , wouldn't it! Then another table was trying to prospect me into a network marketing business. Quite the weekend!

Over the last 3 days in particular my tip percentages have been quite high at least for these parts. Last night my sales were $1380 and my tip out was a whopping $46 but I still walked out of there with a $185 for a 16.7% average tip.

To add onto that my wife came home with $100 in the morning. It doesn't always work out so well but with holidays coming fast , beginning on Saturday when we head out for a week , we will take it.

The one thing I have to say that I really like about waiting on tables is the immediate gratification you get when someone leaves you a nice tip for your service. There is no better feeling than driving home thinking that you helped someone have a great night out with their family and friends.

For as long as I can I will wait on tables whether it be full time or part time although the hours I am working now it may as well be part time. Not only does it give me a bit of exercise throughout the day but it gives me a sense that I am serving the public good by serving others.

Also the money is not half bad either!

Do You Prefer To Open or Close?

Most of the time I am the pre-closer or closer where I work and a lot of the time other waiters ask me whether I ask to be this. Everyday they see me doing the closing.

Well first of all I do not ask to be a closer unless it is a Tuesday when that afternoon my son has piano lessons that finish at 5PM. Then I start at 6:15 or 6:30. This allows me to come home and grab a quick bite and change then head off to work.

But lately I have noticed that the most money to be made comes after the first cuts have occurred sending the early starters home for the night. The last few nights especially I have had some really late decent tables.

I have opened as well and although it is nice to be home by 9 in the evening the income in most cases has been a trade-off.

So actually what I am getting at is I prefer being the closer or near the bottom of the list nearly all the time.

What about you? Is your place where you work have a strong opening where you make most of your money or does it build up so that at the end is when you make the most?

It Is Going to Be a Great Summer!

Well it has been a pretty good week for this household. First of all the boys finished school yesterday and my grade 2 guy is once again in the excellence club with even his classmates telling me that he is the smartest in the class. Our younger guy is going into Senior Kindergarten next year but he is far ahead for his age. They gave him a reading test which is unusual for JK and they stopped him at Grade 1 level. The last day he read Chicka Chicka 123... to the class.

My 7 year old got a 74 on his Level 1 piano exam where he has to know by heart 3 songs , and 2 more from the book , as well as a bunch of majors and minors , etc.. Considering he only takes a 1/2 hour lesson a week and he does that well with practicing on his own with hardly any help from anyone in the house says a lot.

We refinanced our mortage and threw in the van so we are saving $600 a month on that and the house will be paid off when I am just around 65 so I will be able to sail into the sunset rather than have a big chunk left to pay.

Our fridge is going kaput so we thought maybe we would need to borrow a bit of money but with this refinance the bank person said we should get up to $2000 when the transfer from the old lender to the new one next week is complete. That is really good. So a loan may not be necessary.

My wife asked to be given full time status so now in 3 months she will get the medical benefits that help out a lot when it comes to the dentist for the kids and prescription , so that is a savings there. She threatened to leave otherwise.

We are taking care of a neighbour's boy beginning in August which will bring in $400 more a month. It is not a big deal and it will continue throughout the school year. Our little one and him play well together.

I have 2 week's vacation coming up from July 4th to the 16th inclusive and one of those weeks at a sandy beach resort we go to every year.

Then during the summer there will be a trip to Lion Safari and Marineland with the kids , soccer twice a week. One week in July of Science camp and Play camp for the kids. Plus the piano lessons.

The wife and I are going to see Bryan Adams in August. We have a night stay with breakfast and dinner included to use up at a neighbouring inn. A lunch my wife won plus a night accomodation another night at the inn where she works. We have two free movie passes too to use up.

Throw in the usual visits and Canada Day celebrations and some work to keep it all going then before you know it we are back to September.

But it sure is going to be a fun , hectic summer!