June 29, 2009

Today, I got up at 7 to go to work at 8. I opened the restaurant this morning. I hadn't worked by myself since before I went on my big trip. Last time I opened the restaurant, I tried setting the alarm off from memory, only to have the cops show up. I didn't want that to happen again. I had the code written down this time, and this time I got it right. No problems.

The problems showed up later when the phones were mysteriously dead, my busser, and my chef were late. We did a fair amount of business in the morning and then got really busy in the afternoon for lunch. A party of 15 came in and sat down at one of our big community tables. But it actually turned out to be more manageable than I initially feared.

My shift ended at four, though I didn't finish until five. I left work with the money I had made and went to the grocery store. I bought only the essentials and spent less than twenty dollars. One of the things I made sure to buy was a frozen pizza, which I was craving and thrust into the oven as soon as I got home.

As I watched one of my favorite TV programs, PTI on ESPN, I was checking my email and my roommate Adam informed me there was a fire in the neighborhood of our apartment. Ironic, seeing as I was in the neighborhood at the time, and didn't notice anything until he told me about it, from outside the neighborhood, outside the borough even.

I had been wondering what that smoky smell was, and it turns out, it was the local hamburger place, which had just opened last year, mind you, going up in flames. I went on the roof, to see if I could scope out anything. While up there, I met my neighbor, Roy, who I had never met before and I was surprised to see.

In all the other times I've been up there, I'd never seen anybody from any of the adjoining buildings up there at the same time. It just goes to show you. Roy was an interesting man, and I wished that I'd have the opportunity to get to know him further, but he informed me he was moving to the Catskills next week, and had had enough of Brooklyn.

I empathized, but didn't go into details. I had planned on getting out of Brooklyn myself, and heading into Manhattan to Central Park, which I had been pining for recently. I knew that I would get inspired to write if I just went there. There was a place that I went to when I had my previous laptop that I wrote sketches at. Since that laptop broke, there had been no need for me to go back. But now that I had a new laptop, there was a need, and I intended to make it my destination.

On the way there, I started reading the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. I've wanted to read this book for a while, and brought it with me from home when I came back.

I'm too tired to go on in great detail, but when I got to Central Park, my computer was out of battery, so I started writing by hand. I was inspired to write, just as I had thought. And I saw a dog running around leaping over fences like an equestrian-trained horse. I literally sat there and watched it as my mouth gaped open in awe.

On my way out, I explored a little more, and walked down Columbus Avenue from about 81st Street to 72nd street, an area of town I had never explored. I see now why people live there.

I read more Tom Sawyer on the way back. I came home, I watched the news, ate some popcorn. My roommate Mike was watching the Simpsons in the living room. I couldn't resist so I joined him and ate a brownie that he had made earlier.

I started blogging the theme that I had begun writing in the Park but was nowhere near completion when I decided I would go to bed. While I was brushing my teeth, I thought I should have a separate blog that acts more like a daily journal, that I can write in recounting the days' events. This would be separate from the real blog because this one would clearly have a lot more mundane material. I would write this one merely to keep track of my daily activity, which I often forget. It would keep me writing regularly, even when I don't have something deeply humorous or philosophical to spout off in the real blog.

So that's what I think I'm going to do. I may edit this first post later.

But for now I'm going to bed. I have to open again tomorrow.