My Very Long Week

A week ago Saturday I arrived for my first full day of work at the new Grant Street restaurant. I've done a few of these before (or as we trainers say "this isn't my first rodeo") and each one is drastically different than the last. I had received a binder with timelines and checklists before I got there. Throughout the course of my first day I realized that much of my ability to stick to these lists is dependant upon too many other people (who don't work on Saturdays). So I spent most of my morning going through said checklist and making changes to it.
The day wasn't a total waste however, I still accomplished quite a bit. I went through employee files, I met my trainee, made lists of my own.

On Sunday we had our big trainer meeting. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in a while and I got a snapshot of how this is all going to roll out.

It starts with Brent, the regional, he's one of those guys you have to get to know before you really understand his humor. I've done several openings with Brent and there are still some days when I can't figure out if he's joking with me or if he's pissed off. Then you have the combo of Larry and Amy. Larry is the GM and has done multiple openings in several different roles. Amy is his roommate and also my boss and with them working together and living together Amy wonders if they won't kill each other at some point.

Joe, Adam, Dennis & Karin are the managers. They are all very different and seem to work well together. Joe has a rebellious side. Adam can be a bit of a prankster. Dennis is nice and handles the short jokes with a quick wit. Karin seems to hold the boys accountable and keeps everybody on task.

The training team is a mix of veterans and newer members. I'm pretty sure the newbies thought all of us veterans were crazy after Sunday night's meeting. We have all of these old jokes from past openings and know each others personalities. It's only a matter of time before they turn to the dark side and join us.

In addition to the regular players we have been joined by a cast of characters from our Home Office. That means two things. One, most of the things that we need to do an opening are just a quick drive away and two everyone is in your business. So it's a mixed blessing.

After the first few days I decided that I'm going to have to fight for the computer for most of the time I'm doing this. Carla, my bosses boss kept trying to figure out why I wasn't in the office. I tried to get her to understand there are 10 or so people trying to use one computer and there are just some times I'm not going to be as productive as she or I would like. Luckily I found other things to do.

By the time Thursday rolled around we had staff in the building and it's, for lack of a better phrase, balls to the wall time. Once you get 100+ employees asking questions and telling you they forgot to clock in or bring their training books you spend most of your time running around putting out fires all day. It's exhausting yet it makes time fly.

We ended the week by going out to the Atomic Cowboy and getting our drink on! I think that our group made up about 1/2 the people in the bar. It was awesome! I love getting everyone together! We were going to after party at Joe's house but some people had a little too much fun. I ended up taking people back at the hotel & hanging out with Salsa & Jeff for the rest of the night.

On Sunday I woke up much earlier than I would have liked so I could get back to my side of town and meet My mom n' Mark & my Aunt n' Uncle for brunch. I love going over to my Aunt & Uncle's house. They made some delicious food and we all sat around a caught up. After we ate, my Aunt played 8 of Brahms 16 Waltzes. It was so beautiful. I could just picture some Jane Austen-esque ballroom scene. I loved it!

All in all it was a pretty good week.