Housesitting and Friends Coming to Visit!

I'm currently housesitting for a couple from the church while they are on vacation. I'd forgotten how much I love my quiet time, and relaxing after a long day at work. My friends are gone until Sunday afternoon, and I have been given the opportunity to take care of their cat (who needs absolutely nothing!) and water their plants (all the ones outside are taken care of by the rain we had today). Nice and easy, and on top of that, I get a comfy bed and was able to sleep last night! Another advantage is that because it is in the village, I am much closer to work and can sleep in an extra 10 minutes in the morning. Yay!!!
On a side note, my good friend Heather is coming to visit me soon! I'm super excited, and can't wait till the dates are finalized and the countdown can begin. Another good friend is coming in October, and those dates are finalized and I'm just as excited for her to see NY. Carmel wanted to come for my birthday, so she'll be here at the end of October. It will be so much fun to celebrate with her able to join my family for the week. I'll get to be a tourist again with her. Heather and I had a blast when she was here for the first time a couple years ago. Fun times!

Car Shopping

I absolutely hate car salesmen! With a passion! I don't think they should be allowed in business. They are awful, and they try their level best to take advantage of me. I actually had one guy chew me out royally for asking a friend's opinion and then not buying the car. He informed me that I was letting others rule my life and I should have just bought the car as is, without asking anyone else about it, because asking showed my weakness and proved that I was unable to handle decisions or choices myself. Wow. I tried to explain that I don't know cars, and he does, but the salesman told me that I must not like the car, since if I liked the car, I would have bought it at his price, and since I checked blue book (it was over $1000 less than he was trying to sell it for) and talked to others, he knew he wouldn't be able to help me anymore and I had better get his car back to him ASAP (I was using a different car while they cleaned the one I had been looking at). So after work I took it back, had a friend give me a ride to Bennington, and drop me off. My plan was to walk to various car dealerships and buy a car that night, since I had no vehicle and no way home, etc. Unfortunately, the places were all closed by the time I got there, so I stopped at the Rescue Squad (not knowing what I was going to do, stranded in Bennington). One of the guys was about to get off, and he said he'd give me a ride home. 5 min before he got off, a call came in and he had to leave. The other guys headed to dinner, so I was out walking, this time in the rain (a major thunderstorm had just begun). Within a minute I was soaked clear through, crying, without a destination or a friend. I walked over to the police department, and sat in the lobby as I called everyone I could think of to come pick me up. I finally reached Jason, and he drove over from West Hoosick to pick me up. I called another guy out there to take me to work in the morning, and then used the other employee's car to do deliveries. Our mechanic came to pick me up in a '65 split window corvette, and took me over to pick up our truck (he had been working on it that week). So after that, I was out of the desperate stage, although I still did, and am, looking for a car. I think I may have found one. Too soon to know, but hopefully in the next couple days. No more car salesmen!

A few changes at the coffee shop

I was about to head home from my trip to the Big Apple when I found out that we had an employee quit (for a better job) and two more were hired (kind of spur of the moment, I think). So when I returned, I jumped right into training the two new gals. The part of my job I like the least is training. Nothing against any of the trainees, it's just hard to train someone to do something when even I am not sure what I do to make it work just so. Such is the case with the espresso shot, and steaming the milk. Two things that seem easy until you try them. As each employee then finds out, there is a lot more to this job then handing out regular coffee, with cream and sugar. So many different aspects can make a shot of espresso bitter, too strong, too weak, and even give it an aftertaste. Only doing it 'just so' will make it work. So hours upon hours go into practicing it. My dad has been gone since the beginning of July, only returning last night, so in addition to my normal hours, I've been filling in for him. We are down to one remaining employee who knows the routine, and even she is heading to college soon. So I also had to be there during the new employees' shifts, to continue training. I'm about ready to be done with the whole 7 days/wk 10-15 hrs/day, and all the stress that goes with it. :) The 'new' gals are doing well, and one is already doing some shifts on her own, calling me with questions. I do believe things are going to be pretty much back to 'normal' soon. Or at least I hope.

More of NYC - part 2

Ok, so I have had an insane few weeks. No time to even get on, much less write anything. So, to summarize the rest of the NYC trip, we had an awesome time, did a ton of stuff, including the aquarium, Coney Island, the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and a trip out to the Hamptons to visit Steve and his wife Sharis (I love that name!). It was really nice to have Mike and Scott there. Relaxing with friends is something I haven't had much of here. Steve and Sharis have an amazing house, and Steve took us on a tour to see some of the mansions the rich and famous people build. To me, Steve's house was a mansion! He has done so much to it, and it is still homey, with lots of room, and the hosts were wonderful. We had a barbecue (the famous Nathan's hot dogs) out on the porch, and I spent some time relaxing in the hammock by the in-ground pool and hot tub. Let's see, the aquarium was interesting, and I enjoyed seeing all the varieties and colors of the fish. There was a turtle that instantly brought back memories of home group - Dude!!! I managed to get some pretty good pictures, too. Coney Island was fun, walking on the beach after eating chili and cheese fries (REALLY good) and corn dogs (NOT great). The day we headed to see the Statue of Liberty was cool, but not bad. It was a good day for some pictures, and we weren't miserable because of heat and humidity (one of the days was REALLY muggy and I don't handle muggy very well). But this one was not, and while we spent some time on Liberty Island, the majority of it was spent on Ellis Island in the museum. Vic and Marco were the tour guides. Another day Marco took us to the Museum of Natural History, and then we headed downtown Manhattan (I think) to watch 'UP' at a theater - 3D even! Oh, it was wonderful to walk down the street, take the subway (though Marco always seemed to get mixed up at that point) and just have fun, being myself, without the stress of work or any particular schedule. Another day we went to a Mets game. I like baseball, though I'm not as into sports as those guys were. Walking around the stadium, seeing it from all angles, was cool. I even had my picture taken with the Reese's guy. :) Vic and Marco are both Italian, and one night we went to their friend's house (also an Italian) for a home-cooked italian meal. Mmm. Joey did a really good job, complete with wine and salad for starters, and then a goulash type dish with a different wine for the main course. Justin and Vinny are brothers who brought back memories of Mano. Though I didn't have a chance to talk to Justin much, Vinny came with us on the ferry to the islands, and then was also there at Steve's for the bbq, so I chatted with him a little more. Mary, Vic's sister, played the Wii and came downstairs in the evenings (I stayed at their house), and she was able to get off work for the bbq as well. One of my most enjoyable memories from the trip was my morning chats with Vic's mom, Peggy. The others slept in, so I went upstairs when I got up, and talked with her each morning. I don't think she minded, and I was so blessed to be treated as a part of the family. I wish they had been able to join us more often, but even so, they went to great effort to make sure we had anything we needed or wanted. Oh yeah, I can't forget the empanadas (is that right, guys?). Before the Mets game we went to this small place that made them, and just got a few to have during the game. They were sooo good! After the game, we went back and got a bunch more (30-40) and ate them all within a couple days. We did save a few to take to Steve's. Apparently Sharis loves them (I can see why!).
All those things are in random order, but the basic thing is we had a lot of fun. We came back from Steve's just in time to grab my things from the house, say goodbye to Tony and Peggy, and head out for Penn Station where I took the train home. What a trip!