Service Industry Woes

Where do I start? Ever since covid, the entire service industry took an giant hit! Workers did not go back, jobs were cut, some businesses did not survive. The businesses that did survive did so on bare minimum man power and or extremely hard work by a few workers to keep their heads above water.

Every business is short staffed. Go visit a restaurant, the help wanted signs are plastered everywhere. I own a restaurant and we are short staffed! The employees we have do a great job, but were are all spread a bit thin. My father, about to turn 75, is the back bone of this business, he works circles around everyone, including me! Without him, we would struggle to keep open. I am forced to cover shits and cook on the line. Literally no days off! It is very hard to manage and keep up with my own responsibilities all while having to be another employee of the business. This however, is not the reason for this post!

Businesses are short handed and I understand that as well as the next guy! My issue is with the companies who hire people that absolutely can not do their job. For starters, the food industry, has been a nightmare. Out of stock, no stock, or inability to make deliveries has been an ongoing issue ever since the covid outbreak. The food distributors have nothing on the beer distributors though.

The delivery drivers don’t even know what product their companies carry. It’s a constant argument with what kegs are supposed to be returned or not returned, and an even bigger issue with invoices and orders being fulfilled. A $1000 invoice for product ordered, the deliver driver will bring in $600 dollars of product and still charge for the entire order. Seriously, is it that hard to pay attention to what is going on? I can not be there 24/7. Plus, I have a job and many responsibilities to tend to, I can not nor want to do another companies job as well. I get it, we’re all struggling to find employees, but the ones you have, you need to do a better job training them. As an employee, you should want to learn as much as possible about your job. Possible raise or advancement could be a goal, or maybe this new generation of lazy people is the way we all have to start getting used to.

It’s tiring constantly having to do the math, check the invoices, explain what is and isn’t their product. Don’t take the job is you don’t want to be good at it.

Just the other day I brought a large amount of fives and ones from the restaurant to the bank. The teller rolled their eyes and very curtly said, they have to count all that! Why work at a bank if you don’t want to count money? Isn’t that the entire bases of bank tellers?

My advice to anyone out there holding down a job, DO BETTER! BE BETTER! This world is struggling and we don’t need more help making it worse. Sharpen up, learn as much as you can and get the job done….. If you’re going to be anything in live, BE EFFICIENT!!

Family Tradition

Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

I come from a large Italian family. Both sides! Growing up, I remember heading out to all the grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles houses for the holidays. As a child, I never understood why I had to go. As I aged, and my parents took over the Christmas Eve party, I began to understand the family bond and need to stay together.

Holidays come and go, but the tradition never leaves! Weeks before December 24th is busy. Running around getting all the food needed for the big day. Cookies, pizzelles and biscotti are all being made, the house aroma of anisette is something you never forget.

The coolers are loaded; beer, water and soda… and don’t forget mom’s special punch!

Family and friends all begin to gather! The wine is flowing and the eating begins. Now it’s story time. The one day a year all the issues and worries are put aside. The children are now adults and parents and there’s a whole new generation of kids running around a playing.

The menu is amazing! Baccala, mussels, pasta, lobster bisque, cheeses, meats, sausage and of course chicken tender for the little ones!

This is one day, where the next 364 days we’ll continue to talk about! A tradition that has now been going on for the past 45 years, it is one I can only hope to eventually take over. Friends and family all look forward to that one day in December where Big Pete’s Christmas Eve party will bring everyone together for a great night of eating, drinking, game playing and story telling… a night no one will ever forget and everyone will patiently wait for the next year!

Me Time

What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?

My leisure time is very limited. Owning my own business doesn’t give me very much time to myself. Being closed on Sundays, I try to take advantage of some early mountain biking and later in the day consists of some relaxing and dinner with my wife.

I’ve take on too many hobbies and rarely have time to enjoy them all. The biggest issue I run into is finding balance.

If I had it my way, my leisure time would be spent tackling all the things I enjoy the most! I’d travel more, pedal often, explore new recipes and dining spots. I’d get the things around the house which need tending to accomplished and I’d be more active. I read, I’m about a 5 books a year reader, would be nice to up that number. My new found love for blogging, I guess it would be nice to be able to sit down and write more and write better.

Leisure time is as important as any other time, we all need to find a way to balance work life and family life and personal life to get a better way of living.

Be Something

I heard it on a Tv show. It stuck and has become one of my many practices to follow for all things in my life. It has also become my biggest pet peeve when observing others.

BE EFFICIENT!

Be efficient, if you gotta be something, be efficient. Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.

TEAM WORK: BE A TEAM PLAYER

Work as a team. Most jobs have several different duties. Do your job and your duties. Don’t get caught up in trying to do everyone’s job at one time. Back to being efficient. We can’t achieve maximum productivity, if we’re all tripping over each other’s responsibilities.

So, whatever it is you do in life, you don’t have to be the best, you just have to be efficient.

New Year’s Resolution

I hope the title doesn’t confuse you. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not make resolutions. I simply live my life constantly doing what is best for me. I don’t need some end of the year jibber jabber to create accountability so I can make a lifestyle change.

As I sit around the local pub, my own business and a quick browse of social media, all I see and hear are people making comments and posts about, “new year new me” “I’m about to live the life I’ve always wanted to live” “2024 no more bad eating or drinking”

Have you heard them also? It’s quite ridiculous if you ask me. So many people of all ages, are quick to blurt out how they’ll be making changes to how they live, eat, drink, and workout.

How about, instead of creating something for others to hear and read, which means nothing to them, you instead of a publicly broadcasting an announcement to help you feel better, you go out and actually live a better life or just live the life you are living. See, in my eyes and ears, I feel like most people create a post or make a comment so that others will respond to help make you feel like you’ve accomplished a goal.

How about this year, you all hold yourselves accountable with things that actually mean something, Everyone should make a resolution to make a full work week without calling off. Be accountable for your actions. Put your phones down while at work. Spend some more time with loved ones. Learn other tasks at your job, so you can help out more. Don’t waste your time or others with worthless comments and posts about bettering yourself for the new year. Seriously, how many years have you been “bettering” yourself and still make the same resolution year after year?

New Year’s Resolutions clearly don’t work, especially if you don’t hold yourself accountable. When you wake up on January 1st, 2024 get out and enjoy life. Get back to work and do your job. Don’t just go through the motions and stop making silly comments and posts to see how many clicks and shares you can get. Clicks and shares don’t change your life! The general public doesn’t care if you success or fail, so you need to care for yourself.

Enjoy the new year and be better if that’s what you want, but be you and stop being what you believe others want you to be.

Happy reading, and until next time, cheers!

Embracing Change: Turning Over A New Leaf

As far back as I can remember I’ve always lived my life in the very fast lane. I played rough, I partied rough and I never took in to accountability my health. Older friends and family members used to comment to me how life changes as you get older. For me, I never took their words too serious.

Teens, to my twenties, into my thirties and onward to the forties, life kept moving at a fast pace. Still played hard, still partied harder, never giving much thought as to what was happened to my body. Right before my fiftieth birthday, I took some consideration into my health. I took a long look at the lifestyle I was enjoying so very much over the years and said to myself, enough is enough!

The days of chasing a bottle of Captain Morgan with a case of miller lite have to stop. Even more so, the faster pace and harder drug use has to stop first! I have a sixteen year old son for Christ sakes! Should I even have to ask myself the question? The answer is yes! I want to be a part of his life, I want to see him graduate high school and then college. I want to be a part of his future not just a part of his past.

Where to start? For me, I started by deleting all the contacts in my phone that lead to bad decisions. I created a drinking schedule, that greatly slowed down my consumption. I only have drinks on occasions where my wife and I travel somewhere. This equals out be around a dozen or so drinks per year. Locally, if we head to dinner somewhere, I’ll just have water and coffee.

Next, I removed myself from the friends that only party and only drink. This was the hardest. Not sure if anyone has been hear or has tried, but making new friends at 50 years old is not the easiest! Until, I got myself back into mountain biking. I have found a new group of friends that align with my values and my habits.

See turning 50 last year wasn’t the eye opener most experience. For me, I still contradicted everyone else’s thoughts on aging. At fifty, I felt great, I was in pretty good shape and my diet and my alcohol consumption changed drastically, for the better! Now, as I write this, ten days until my 51st birthday, I find it even more important to begin the next fifty years of my life on a different path the first fifty took.

My values must include my family, my health, my addiction to good habits and staying the course. Some require rehab and support groups, and trust me I’ve considered both options. I have always prided myself on the ability to quit something no matter how addicting and to be able to do so cold turkey.

The next hardest part of turning a new leaf, is to get the important people around you to get on board. I am my own person and I ultimately am the one making the decisions for myself, but it sure as hell helps when you’re not surrounded by people constantly trying to get you to have a drink, or call the local drug dealer. So, back to What Do You Value Most!

The friends and family I choose to have around me these days are part of who and what I value most. No questions asked, no advice given, just 100% support when needed and presence when wanted. These are the people who understand why I’ll just have a water while everyone else is banging shots or chugging pints. Zero pressure and all in support is all anyone ever needs in quitting bad habits.

So hear’s to embracing change and starting the next chapter. Hear’s to good habits that are aligned with my values. Hear’s to good choices and healthier choices and being a part of my family’s and my communities lives. Change is possible, but it is near impossible if you don’t want it or don’t have the support around you that is ok with it.

For me, the writing was on the wall, and I chose better! My story, isn’t over yet!!!

It’s Tough Being In Charge

Start your own company, be your own boss. It all sounds fantastic and the money you’ll make is great, however, you’ll never have time to spend it or enjoy life the way the picture is painted.

I want what you all have! I want to sleep in, forget to go to work. I want to leave early, not contribute to a shift. I want a raise, but won’t do anything extra to prove myself. I want the freedom to not give a shit, but still collect a pay check. I want all the money with none of the responsibility.

Over the years, I’ve had to cancel and or miss appointments due to my work. I’ve missed out on my kids activities and I’ve put my wife on the back burner because the business has always come first.

Some may say, just go and enjoy life, see your kids, take your wife out. I wish it were that easy. From the simple tasks to the major projects, if I’m not at work, it doesn’t get done. Why have employees? Some are great others are just there. We are going in terms of a restaurant business, just at ten years, I assume we still need to hit some growing pains and figure it out.

I’ve never wanted to be the tough boss, the prick boss, the boss who micromanages everything, however, I’m starting to learn, of if I want my business to survive and grow, then I need to be the tough, micromanaging prick I’ve always tried to avoid.

It’s the unpopular choice, mainly because so many people in the work world now have over sensitive hurt feelings at any given moment. I’ve never asked for much, just that you be present, do the job and don’t waste anyone’s time.

Here’s to another ten years of trying to figure it out! Or maybe here’s to a career change, because unlike others, I can figure it out for my self…

Good Day, Bad Day, Worse Day

What is it about people who just can’t enjoy life. I understand liking what you like and wanting what you want, but come on, you have to have some leeway! Today is Wednesday, it feels like a Monday and should be a Friday kind of day….

How do you take your tea or coffee? While at home, have it your way, but when visiting a restaurant slow down your pickiness! You ever wonder what it’s like in the shoes of a waiter or waitress mailing enough money to barely get by and support their family? All while your six figure salary and prick-ish attitude treats the general public like a peasant!

I don’t begrudge your education or hard work to get where you are, unless you got there by kissing ass and fucking over the next guy to better yourself. Then you can just fuck off! But if you earned your way to the top, stop and reflect on how you got there and how you once couldn’t afford a coffee or tank of gas!

We need more “pay it forward” people and less assholes who think everyone else is below them.

Treat the servers in your life better! After all we do control what you consume!

PSA: be better, do better…

Pets and Ownership

What is good about having a pet?

What’s good about having a pet? Everything! Pets bring joy and happiness to our lives. Pets need attention and care and help teach us responsibility. Having a pet is one of the best things people can bring into their lives.

Pets are there no matter what. Having a bad day, your pet is there. Having a great day, your pet is there. Coming home from work, your pet is there. Pets bring unconditional love no matter what and that bond we have with our pets is something that can’t be broken or replicated by anything or anyone else.

After a fantastic 15 years of life with my dog, that time came when he passed over the rainbow bridge. A very difficult time, but like human loss, we remember all the great times and don’t times our pet brought us. I spent one year without a pet before realizing I needed another dog to fill an emptiness that is left after they’re gone.

Now, waiting on our new pups arrival, we plan and prepare for the adventure of new puppy ownership. Putting me back in the saddle so to say, I will again learn what it is like to have the one thing in life that is never disappointed, unhappy or too tired to be there for you.

Back In Time, Or Stay Put

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

What a great question. At 50, I feel like I’ve lived an amazing life. Travel, adventure, and fun were never not an option. I did everything I wanted to do exactly when I decided to do it. I’ve said before, I wouldn’t mind doing my 20’s over again, just to see if I would do anything differently.

Knowing what I know now, would I do things better worse or the same? Like I said, life was always fun. However, life wasn’t always fulfilled. In my 30’s my son was born. Unplanned, but 100% the best part of my life at that time. He was and still is a number one priority in my life.

Still, would I want to go back to my days in my 30’s? Probably not. That 10 years of my life was more chaotic than any other years.

On to my 40’s. This was a time I decided to make a major career change. I wouldn’t do anything different about that. Also, in my 40’s I re-met my now wife. We knew each other from childhood, and nearly 30 some years later found each other. This part of my life, I would say has completed me.

My better half, my grounding factor and my best friend. I guess, when asked the question, would I relive any year or age on my life, I’d say no. If I did anything different I probably wouldn’t be where I am today and I’m not sure I would be doing anything good if I wasn’t with my wife. She changed me for the better and showed me it was ok to be me and be open and vulnerable.

Together, we are living our best lives and continuing to travel, be adventurous, and always having fun! So I’ll salary out and enjoy the road ahead with my number one!