Generally I have pretty bad luck with life. This last week I realized some pretty good friends aren't as "good" as I thought, my ex decided to "be nice" to me (which also means he felt the need to give me hypocritical advice), found out a friend is just using me for their own personal agenda, and just when I thought it couldn't get worse, I get a flat tire on the way to work which means I couldn't hang out with one of my best friends tonight. What makes that worse is that she leaving the country in less than a month (my timing may be slightly off, but I'm still pretty disappointed).
This week has been pretty rough! I was expecting it to continue to be horrid, but (I am happy to say) the tides have turned. When I went to get the tire replaced, it was free! I brought new rear tires earlier this year for Hugo, (my car), so they were under warranty. I was not expecting this because as I was driving along the freeway a nail went into the tire. I am beyond happy right now! Hugo and I are happily reunited once again, and we shall stay together for quite some time... I hope so anyway!
Answer: NEVER! You would think this would be common sense, but some pervert brushed his hand against my butt, and it was not by accident! The douche had plenty of space to go past me without doing this, so why would he do it? Because he is a disgusting pervert! I feel incredibly sorry for his wife, who coincidentally had 2 glasses of chardonnay (and probably more alcoholic beverages when she got home). My entire day was ruined from this experience. So thank you, jerk!
Ever since I started working in the food service industry I have seen some pretty interesting things... the good, bad, and ugly of the food service industry. The restaurants I have worked for have actually been pretty outstanding, which is pretty outstanding considering the last couple are sushi restaurants which serve raw fish. Using my experience working in restaurants, I have come up with 5 tips for visiting American restaurants: 5) Just because you are being waited on, doesn't mean your server is your slave. I have had people talk down to me, speaking as though I wasn't even worthy of touching their dirty plates. Little do they know that their server graduated top of their class, and was offered full tuition scholarships to 4 private universities. Don't act like you are better than people!
4) If your server forgets something, don't be afraid to ask for it again. A simple "was my [insert food or drink item] coming out?" This is particularly important if it is a busy restaurant. If I forget something I feel horrible, and I would rather be told multiple times, than just before a customer leaves. When I am serving, I really do aim to provide the very best service possible, so if a customer doesn't get what they want I am not happy.
3) You are not the only / most important person in the restaurant, so wait patiently. Chances are, your server is doing the best they can to get everything you want to your table or booth. While you a waiting enjoy the conversation of your company. If food is taking a long time and you are starving, ask your server if there are any appetizers which don't take very much time to come out.
2) A simple please and thank you go a long way. When people ask for things politely and say thank you it really does make my day. Even if I have a ton of things on my mind (work related or not) it really does brighten my day to have a customer genuinely thank me.
1) Tip at least 20 percent if you received good service. Nowadays it is the norm in America to tip 20 percent. I will admit to tipping under 20 percent, but that is because I am originally from a country where people don't expect tips (it's not a social norm). If you got all your food and the server was friendly, tip them accordingly. I have had people who tipped me absolutely nothing, and I did everything correctly. One of the people actually owned a sushi restaurant herself, so you would think she would have tipped something, but she did not.
The customers I have throughout the day really do impact how I feel at the end of the night. If they were all rude I end up feeling pretty shitty. If I have at least 1 kind, polite customer I go home incredibly happy. I somewhat doubt any of my favorite customer's will read this, but if they are I want to say thank you for being amazing! You really do make my days better!
There is such a thing as bad service, and if you notice it then more likely than not the server's boss or manager will too. If you have any questions about anything else regarding my experience working in restaurants, feel free to leave a comment and I will answer it.
Yesterday I received 2 harassing emails from Australians. It was particularly awkward because I couldn't quite get past all of the spelling and grammar errors the Aussies wrote. If you actually know me, it will be no surprise to you that I was deeply troubled by the atrocious emails.
Aussie and Proud writes: "Ur just bloody jealous of australians because no one gives a s*#t about new zealanders and you know it. Your countries not even acknowledged."
Well, hello to you too! I actually didn't have anything against Australians, but thanks for making me question my views! With that said, I do have one pointer for you and your fellow countryman who decided to harrass me: learn to write correctly if you are going to attempt to insult someone! Chances are they won't take you seriously, nor will they care, if you cannot even form a correct sentence.
"Ur" is not a word, it is you're.
"australians" is supposed to be capitalized as is "New Zealanders."
"countries is the plural for country... unless I stated that I was from various countries, it is country.
Here is the correct way of writing your "insult": "You're just bloody jealous of Australians because no one gives a s*#t about New Zealanders and you know it. Your country is not even acknowledged."
Aussie Bloke writes: "Just another Kiwi who is upset with the fact that they people mistaken them for being an Aussie. No need to make yourself look really stupid mate."
The first "sentence" is a fragment, which means it is not complete.
Reconsider the use of "they."
"Mistaken" is the incorrect conjugation of the verb mistake.
The second "sentence" is also fragmented.
When addressing anyone in a sentence a coma is needed.
Here is the correct way of writing your "insult": "You're just another Kiwi who is upset with the fact that people mistake them for an Aussie. There is no need to make yourself look really stupid, mate."
I have friends from all around the world who say that they learn Oceania, not Australia (and many of these friends went to very elite schools). Additionally, the head of the honors program at my school personally apologized to me for having maps mislabeled. It was really awesome of you to send hate mail to a girl... really awesome of you! Clearly you are top notch individuals.
Now to address the real matter at hand! The internet is a public forum where people are free to express their ideas and opinions no matter what they are. If you feel so strongly about the matter at hand, write your own damn blog instead of harassing a girl. Heck, if you feel like llamas are going to take over the world, write about it -- as I stated earlier, you are more than free to do so. The internet also allows you to view what you want, when you want it... which brings up my next question: why did you even read my blog? The name clearly stated the content... it's not like I tricked you into reading it. If you don't like it, close the tab or browser!
To those who don’t already know, New Zealanders and Australians have a love hate relationship. Sure we tease each other, but when it comes down to it we don’t actually have anything against each other (with the exception of the rude males who messaged me). For example, last week I had an awesome conversation with an Aussie. We are from the same part of the world for goodness sake!!!
I am proud to be a New Zealander, and that will never change! My country is absolutely beautiful and has a rich cultural heritage. With that said, I would greatly appreciate it if the individuals who messaged me would kindly refrain from harassing me (and yes, it is harassment – look it up in the dictionary if you don’t believe me). No need to make yourself look stupid, mates!
I'm going to be completely honest with you: I love coffee! I think about coffee constantly! Not a day goes by without it being on my mind. Coffee has always been there to help me when I can barely get out of bed in the morning and it supports me whenever I need it the most. As you can tell, I have a deep and meaningful relationship with coffee, but lately I feel like I have been kind of neglectful. From this moment on, I am going to do my best to spend more quality time with a nice hot cup of heaven (aka coffee).
I realize that the picture I have posted to this particular blog may be somewhat offensive to specific groups of people. I am merely posting it because it seemed fitting to my relationship with coffee. Unlike many people, when I drink coffee I don't get all wired and unable to sit still for 2 seconds. I have consumed enough caffeinated beverages in my lifetime to be able to sleep straight after having a triple shot espresso drink (or even an energy drink... or even both). There are times for noise and others call for a more tranquil environment (such as my drinking coffee). I like men, women, and children to be like the coffee I am drinking: quiet!
Coffee is the love of my life, and I will continue to work on our relationship one cup at a time!
Some of the most painful experiences I have endured in the United States have been calling customer service for various companies. I'm not going to name names, but all of the phone companies I have dealt with have been pretty atrocious. It takes forever and a day to get through to an actual person, if you are able to do so at all. IF you get someone on the line 9 times out of 10 it is almost impossible to decipher what they are saying. I will admit that there have been a couple of times that I have had wonderful customer service, but statistically, the bad far outweigh the good. Due to some recent, frustrating interactions with customer service reps from a couple of companies (again, not naming names), I felt it was a good idea to come up with some tips to deal with this type of situation.
Tip 1) Remember, the person on the phone usually has little to no control over your product or service. There is no reason for you to yell at the poor soul on the line. They are not the one in control of everything, so please keep this in mind.
Tip 2) Keep Calm and Carry on. This kinda ties into number one, but try to stay calm. If you feel the urge to yell or use explicit language which would not be appropriate for a small child, take a deep breath and carry on, without being too crazy. If it gets to the point where you are not able to be calm, ask the customer service rep if you are able to quickly grab a pen or something else which would be reasonable in the situation, put the phone on mute, and yell for a few minutes. Once you have it all out of your system, you may continue.
Tip 3) Take notes. In situations which are incredibly frustrating, it is pretty easy to forget what has been said. By taking notes, you can remember exactly what was said, and/or agreed upon, which will help you in the long run. If you need to do anything, and the customer service rep gives you info about how to do it, you are going to find it much easier to remember if you have it all written down.
Tip 4) You need some alone time. If your call is important, I recommend that you try to be away from people. Perhaps go into another room and make the call. If there are people around, sometimes it is not very easy to concentrate.
Tip 5) Don't forget that you can scream and yell all you want when you are off the phone. Hold in your rage until you are off the phone. If you want to punch a kitten while you are on the phone, refrain from doing so during the call... and after the call. I'd say that a punching bag or pillow is an excellent substitute for a kitten, which are way too adorable to punch. *Don't punch kittens!!!*
Hopefully these tips will help you out. Try not to take things personally and remember, customer service reps are people too - don't be mean.
For me to say "yes" to a marriage proposal, it is definitely going take a special man! So, I have complied a list of the top ten men I would marry. Some of these a pretty superficial, and in real life I wouldn't base my marriage decision on looks alone, I figured since this is just for fun I would throw in some eye candy for the ladies. Enjoy!
10) Alex Pettyfer - I'm going to be completely honest, before I made this blog I had absolutely no idea this guy even existed. He is a beautiful man, but aside from being an actor / model, I don't know too much about him... sorry...
9) Ryan Reynolds - To me a sense of humor is an important quality, and Ryan Reynolds definitely has one, and he is very easy on the eyes.
8) Channing Tatum - I can't say that I have watched many of his movies, but Channing is definitely a beautiful specimen of a man!
7) Sonny Bill Williams - New Zealand rugby union player, heavyweight boxer, and former rugby league player (I promise rugby league and union are different), Sonny Bill Williams is possibly the best looking guy I've ever seen participate in any sport.
6) The The Old Spice Guy - Isaiah Mustafa is the most magnificent men in the entire existence of the world. I don't really think this needs an explanation - if you have seen any of the old spice advertisements I'm sure you agree.
5) Brett from Flight of the Conchords - In the words of Jermaine: "Brett you got it going on (you've got it going on).That's the conclusion that I've come to."
4) Te Awanui Reeder - New Zealand singer Te Awanui not only has a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Management and Marketing, he is an awesome guy in general.
3) Cave Johnson - I could listen to the voice of Portal 2, Cave Johnson. The founder and CEO of Aperture Science is essentially the most amazing, eccentric man to exist in the virtual world. Sadly, he is not alive, due to a moon-rock poisoning. You may have noticed that I have quoted Cave in my previous blogs I'm Going to Burn Down Life's House!
2) Ron Burgundy - San Diego's finest anchorman, Ron Burgundy is smoother than scotch, and he even plays the jazz flute. What more could a girl ask for???
1) Optimus Prime - Lets face it, there is no such thing as the perfect man (unless you're Jesus Christ... but then again he is also God... so... it doesn't really count). Optimus Prime is probably the closest thing which comes close.
