I sit here writing this entry at the local internet cafe, as my free 3-month membership to AOL expired over the weekend. I thought it was a free 6-month membership. Alas, I was proven wrong.
Got a call from A. Agency yesterday: I'm back at C.B. on Friday for a final look-see at their project. Then I have a catering gig that same night, so I will head over to east 98th for what is supposed to be a party for 900 people, with the waitstaff dressed up in togas. That's all I know about it at the moment. But it was good to hear from C.B., because I was beginning to think that I had done something wrong. Imagine!
The Internet cafe charges a buck for 15 minutes online. Yesterday I wrote the blog at home offline, saved it on a disk, then brought it to the Internet cafe and, voila, another blog entry. then I left the disk here, but I called and they saved it for me. Exciting, hah?
Well, I'm gonna make this short because I'm writing it live, so to speak. Have to check my email again and then hit craigslist and mediabistro at least. I'll report back tomorrow. I have a lot that I want to say and some of it is not totally about me. Soon come.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
Cherishing The Moments
Well, in the catering business they say you gotta take the work when it’s there, and there it was, three events in 30 hours. First came a Latin Heritage luncheon at an Elite Private School on East 77th street, then came an alumni cocktail party at another Elite Private School on East 92nd street, followed by another early alumni lunch at, you guessed it, another Elite Private Institution Of Higher Learning. So on Friday I worked what is known as a Double in the catering biz, with no break in-between and you eat what you can on the go. And oh yeah, it was my birthday on Friday, so me and the Trixter went out for a few cocktails at a few upper east side Institutes Of Mass Imbibing, sometimes known as bars or pubs in the vernacular.
So if you can picture me scooping out bowls of corn & chicken & rice & cous-cous (don’t ask) to a line full of hungry First & Second Graders and then doling out beef pies & yellow rice & yuca something-or-others to Seventh & Eighth & Tenth & Eleventh Graders, on and on, they kept coming, you get an idea of how my birthday went. The panic attacks were severe this time, I wish I could tell you different. I am happy for the work, don’t get me wrong, but the accompanying anxiety is chronic. Chronic. The stress is unbelievable, although I have become quite adept at masking it so that you would almost mistake me for a happy-go-lucky guy. That’s just my defense mechanism at work.
Luckily the cocktail party Friday night was, to use another catering term, a relative piece of cake; we even did some setting up for the following day’s lunch, which was to be at the same school. The luncheon was a more elaborate affair, with about eight tables occupied by about 10 rich elderly dames, with a few attractive younger rich dames sprinkled in. Hey, I keed, I keed. It was a buffet, and part of what I had to do, a small part, was parceling out filet mignon with mushrooms & what are known as crispy onions in the biz along with salmon with orange-something-glaze sauce. Then when the ladies were finished eatin’ we bussed the tables, took everything to what is known as the sanit station then broke everything down, folding all the chairs up and putting them back in their sacks in groups of fours, then doing the thousand little things that are done after a party is over.
The proofreading jobs seem to have dried up again. It’s been 10 days since my last one.
Today is pouring raining again, putting a literal damper on Greek Easter. I’m heading over to my Aunt Vickie’s house in a little while, where a sacrificial lamb is literally roasting on a spit over a barbeque pit in the backyard, and where friends & family will gather over holiday food & spirits. It’s times like these of course when we most miss Mom, who’s been gone just over two years now. My Aunt is the closest thing I have left to my mom, along with my sister and the kids and my brother, so you cherish the moments that much more.
Monday, April 17, 2006
The Week That Was
Looks like every week is gonna be different. Today is Friday, last worked on Wednesday, but let’s back up to last Friday, the first of four days of work in a row, two proofreading jobs, two catering gigs. I was back at C.B. to go over their educational calendar once again, checking to make sure all the questions and answers match, the days of the week are right, all the holidays are in the right place. It’s boring but the time somehow goes quick. Saturday I had to go up to Fordham Prep in the Bronx for some kind of alumni dinner. I was dreading this job, it was pouring outside when I was set to leave, and I was having my usual panic attack. But I sucked it up. Got there by 5 and was out of there shortly before 11, took the Metro North to Grand Central, the 4 train uptown, and then waited a full half-hour for the N train to show up at 59th Street, by the time I got home it was 1 am.
The Saturday job was at St. Bernard’s School on 98th and Madison, 2:30. I didn’t know anything about this gig, but I was hoping for an easy gig this time. It was not to be. It was a fancy sit down dinner with 10 tables, so all the tables had to be rolled out and set up, all the chairs taken out of their little sacks, then all the plates & glasses & silverware & saucers & cups & napkins put out, the water glasses have to be iced and then filled with water, there’s a lot of stuff to do before the “guests” arrive. Then you’re busy busing & filling & cleaning, and then you break it all down. There’s a lot of stuff to do. After two straight days you’re exhausted. We got out of there at a little after 9, home by around 10:30, and I had to be at College Board again by 9:30 the next day, but I was glad to be working.
I was also the beneficiary of what’s called the 24-hour rule in catering. I was set to work Tuesday, but because the party wasn’t canceled more than 24 hours ahead of time, we still got paid. So when I walked out last Sunday night, I had a check in my hand for three parties, a total of 18 hours at 20 bucks per. Not bad, although there are times when I’m working when I really can’t stand it. I’m constantly making mistakes, well, maybe not constantly, but at least two or three times per party I screw something up. I’ve never dropped a dish or broken a plate or glass, but there’s a lot to learn that I don’t know. I don’t even know what I don’t know.
At C.B. I went over the same calendar again, the same questions. It’s good money, even more than catering. C. said she may have me back later in the week. However, on Wednesday morning, I got a call from the agency saying S. Communications needs someone later that day. So I jumped at the chance and worked on about five catalogs from 2 to 6 in the afternoon. They also said there may be more work for me soon. What I need to do is find at least one more agency that can get me work in proofreading or copy editing. I looked yesterday online but couldn’t find any. I need about 3 days worth of work, and then about an average of one catering gig per week. That would do it; anything else would be a bonus.
The Saturday job was at St. Bernard’s School on 98th and Madison, 2:30. I didn’t know anything about this gig, but I was hoping for an easy gig this time. It was not to be. It was a fancy sit down dinner with 10 tables, so all the tables had to be rolled out and set up, all the chairs taken out of their little sacks, then all the plates & glasses & silverware & saucers & cups & napkins put out, the water glasses have to be iced and then filled with water, there’s a lot of stuff to do before the “guests” arrive. Then you’re busy busing & filling & cleaning, and then you break it all down. There’s a lot of stuff to do. After two straight days you’re exhausted. We got out of there at a little after 9, home by around 10:30, and I had to be at College Board again by 9:30 the next day, but I was glad to be working.
I was also the beneficiary of what’s called the 24-hour rule in catering. I was set to work Tuesday, but because the party wasn’t canceled more than 24 hours ahead of time, we still got paid. So when I walked out last Sunday night, I had a check in my hand for three parties, a total of 18 hours at 20 bucks per. Not bad, although there are times when I’m working when I really can’t stand it. I’m constantly making mistakes, well, maybe not constantly, but at least two or three times per party I screw something up. I’ve never dropped a dish or broken a plate or glass, but there’s a lot to learn that I don’t know. I don’t even know what I don’t know.
At C.B. I went over the same calendar again, the same questions. It’s good money, even more than catering. C. said she may have me back later in the week. However, on Wednesday morning, I got a call from the agency saying S. Communications needs someone later that day. So I jumped at the chance and worked on about five catalogs from 2 to 6 in the afternoon. They also said there may be more work for me soon. What I need to do is find at least one more agency that can get me work in proofreading or copy editing. I looked yesterday online but couldn’t find any. I need about 3 days worth of work, and then about an average of one catering gig per week. That would do it; anything else would be a bonus.
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