Flying Solo

Another tough day in paradise. All my openers were late (overslept,
didn't know BART didn't run until 8...), but had a volunteer from
Union Square open the cafe.

Supervisor called out sick so I ran the store by myself until 2:30,
which meant I was keeping busy... No breaks all day and there until 7
pm. Coffee and candy fueled.

I gave one employee whose name I wasn't even sure of, all the cash I
had to go buy more half and half for the cafe. Interesting how fast
I've come to trust the staff.

Around 3 the power went out in the Centre. First it went to about
half power for two seconds, then complete darkness (women gasping)
for a few seconds. Alarms started buzzing, but everyone kept their
cool (except for whoever was working the paperchase register and left
the drawer open!). We were having a musical event at the time but he
cooly switched to acoustic guitar... And probably made a lot of new
fans.

We had to shut down the registers and not let anyone into the store,
but I was slow to kick everyone out. It was actually kind of nice in
the store with half lighting and the acoustic guitar music...

After dozens of emergency test alarms and messages we've had to
endure during the weeks before the centre opened, they were very slow
to let us know what was going on. They did finally make an
announcement that the power was out (duh) and would be back up soon
(not true).

I called tech support and shut down our servers, but then our phones
went out, too. Not very happy that we didn't have a single phone to
use in the store. I had to borrow a cel phone to make some calls
(most of our cel phones don't work in that location).

Although some staff used the time to take a break (which many of them
deserved) and I had others take their lunch while we waited for the
power to come on, most of them kept working, shelving, price changes,
cleaning the cafe... This kind of business seems to attract the kind
of people who want to help, who show grace under pressure. I can
hardly believe that no one in our cafe has quit yet.

Of course, I've been pouring on the charm, telling everyone how proud
I am of them, telling them it IS hard work, more than we anticipated,
and that I am so grateful for all their help, which is all true true
true. In fact I have to make sure that they are taking their breaks
and lunches!

Today must have been family day as two employees came in on their day
off with their kids (or grand kids). I spent some time praising one
of my employees to her spouse (see the book Get Them to Give a Damn)
before she told me he didn't speak English. Doesn't matter, she heard
me. Cute kids (and grandkids).

Got to sleep in today. I feel so much better (although sore). The
other night I bought a small pizza at Blondies for Robin and was
telling Ken how sitting on MUNI with a warm pizza in my lap I was
lucky I didn't fall asleep and wake up at the beach with a cold pizza
in my lap.
Ken said, "Or an empty pizza box."
"And my pockets turned inside out."

There is no way I would be able to work these hours and commute to/
from Sunnyvale. I am rather amazed how long I can work, but as soon
as I get home, have something warm to eat, I am out. Today was the
first 8 hours of sleep I've had in at least a week. Work and sleep
and eat a little is all I've been doing. But today is my day off! I'm
still going in to work on the schedule, but with a clear head. Maybe
I'll get a chance to sightsee...