The Restore-Ant End of Week Tres

Progress!!! We've been making quite a bit of progress; this week's end saw some visible results!!! Yes, Like the sort you get when you actually mop the floor at home (ie: I'm a firm believer in the hands and knees sort as opposed to a mop in general) or... at closing time as opposed to utilizing the 'one hand swash buckle' you're scrubbing at it with both (I'm thinking of Silvia's "How to Mop" Lectures here.)

Things are coming together nicely! You wouldn't believe the lists our happy crew blows through on a daily basis... Everyone has been doing a really great job at keeping their spirits up and getting the job done!

Here a few snippets of going from flood zone to food zone:

We also have a few really great surprises in store...

What could they be?! Guesses are welcome...

I also have to say the guy(s) laying new tile have the patience of anyone willing to talk to me after 2 bottles of Bordeaux. I've probably never felt so in the way of someone doing something yet, so much like I wasn't exactly offending them. STAY OFF THE GREY SPOTS!!!

I'm starting to get antsy about putting it all back together! I can barely wait! If you know me, you know I am really a closet-neat freak (maybe borderline OCD- some of you will be happy to know I can sometimes make it 3 days without changing my sheets now...) and I am Sooo excited for how pristine and detailed the clean up and replacement is. Employees beware: the new sidework sheets are coming!

Thanks again for checking in on the blog and on us! Thank you to everyone out there who has been kind enough to bring us lunch! It's been incredibly helpful especially since leaving covered in paint or wood stain is no fun and we are starving by lunch every day. Thank you!!!

Until next time...

Scrappy is signing off.

p.s. I don't know what happened with the formatting in this blog. Blogger is a bit sluggish on the formatting end...

The Naked Restaurant with Many Lists

Here's a wee update on the restaurant with shoddy cell phone camera photos. The heat being blown into the restaurant is helping get everything dry... and keeping the restaurant warm because it would freeze to death otherwise: it's been stripping itself down faster than a 17 year old girl playing strip poker!

The Naked Walkway. The walls are getting their hair, okay, paint, done currently with massive blow dryer heat and fans to get that oh-so-wind-blown-look:

The Naked Bar. I think it's really sad without it's Grey Goose... but even more sad without the Knob Creek! The bar floor area has been drying really nicely. We finished getting everything out of the bar today... getting closer to having the surface and countertops repaired! The Earth mural has dried well! Including the Little Owners around the globe! We were all really worried about this and are happy that it has turned out so well.

Bar patrons may be familiar with a naked friend of ours at the bar: Hector! He survived the flood and is helping us out in the office:

The Naked Office. We've been working in our makeshift office, making lists, checking them twice and in some cases re-checking them twice and re-writing them 10 times per day. This (right) is my desk area at the moment which looks strikingly similar to my desk typically, although I generally keep the giant pile on my left! This giant pile is my current to-do list... well, actually it's a bunch of to-do lists that need to be combined...As you can see, we've all made ourselves at home... well... relatively speaking anyway! Ah and yes, there are phones again so we're taking calls from the outside world. Note below, the actual office is naked... All the way at the end by the window is where I normally sit. It feels huge in there right now compared to how it usually is!

I have more photos but the truth is, they didn't come out well enough to show anything. In terms of when you'll be able to get your rigatoni ala vodka fix taken care of, or join us for The Lost Hours (happy hour), our estimate was 4-6 weeks on Monday.

The time change thing is working out well for me- to some degree. I get this surge of energy at 9 pm which is funny considering I am up quite early. I've also done more work than anyone has ever done at any gym in a month in the last few days! This is partially because I think gyms are dirty and partially because well... treadmills? Really?! Running in place is so unsatisfying! Although it's not quite as strange as those things people sit on and pedal while reading magazines: that is not exercise! In any event, by the end of this I'm up for arm wrestling challenges for money again... any takers?!

Until the next time I ramble...

Jeunet's City of Lost Children @ the LDC?

You'll soon know what I mean if you don't already:

(pilfered from google)
Now gaze yonder below!
So... the clean up process is continuing. The good news is it looks like science fiction which seems to be working some what well with the incredible shock we all feel as we try to decide what to do next. The floor is not alive... even if you don't believe me. No, those are not tubes feeding the fake kids I made up in the basement. They are pretty successful little tubes for cleaning up water.I have to say I'm really grateful to work for such wonderful people. Although everyone is a bit overwhelmed thinking of things that need to be done and compiling excessive lists of what to do when, everyone is in a pretty good mood and is working together to laugh whenever possible. I have to hand it to them, I'd either be crying or poking someone's eye out right now if this were my restaurant. I really, really love these people! They are truly wonderful human beings and I am so very grateful to know them. I have been here for years and I have to admit I get a little teary eyed myself when I think of how destructive water can be. No lemons with this but if you're feeling nostalgic you can pretend the giant yellow tubes are lemon rinds floating above what was a huge indoor pool last Thursday! It works out well because the clear tubes look like straws...
I'm still getting a lot of humorous messages and calls regarding the children I don't have. I keep wondering if the press has corrected that error but I have enough to do and no, I haven't called them. I also never read the local paper because it doesn't carry the NY Times crossword and there are too many supermarket ads.

Thanks again for all of the calls and concern everyone has expressed. We've been working on getting our calls forwarded (the lines are down) so... soon, you should be able to reach us at our normal number. Also, forgive us if we can't get back to you right away- there have been a lot of calls and there are many we are making regularly. As I am sure you can imagine, we've been really busting our bums to talk to everyone and actively respond but also have our hands tied with many other things. We look forward to reopening and celebrating with the community. Thanks so much!

One last thing is the total time change for me. I'm used to working at 4pm and therefore waking up any time between 10am and 1pm so this day thing is really... interesting. I did get up early for class but it has been a month since that was necessary and aside from that, this last semester didn't require me to be there before 10:50 so... I think I'm slowly going to turn into a morning person! Just kidding... I love the night.

Take Care!

Scrappy

when it rains it pours... and a bucket don't do sh%$

So... I hereby recant anything I have said about food prostitution and wanting a day off because it looks like I'll be having several days to weeks off... That's right folks... the restaurant has been flooded.

This picture is was taken as the water started to slow in flow. If you look at the upper right you can see some of it still falling down. They had tried to catch the water in 60 gallon garbage cans which filled up in minutes...

Shall I tell the story? Too bad, I'm going to anyway. At approximately 1 o'clock yesterday I arrived at my place of employment, the Lost Dog Cafe to say hello as I was heading next door to the Hair Company to have this mop of a lion's mane soothed. I was in mid-snippage when one of the other managers came rushing over to ask me for a key to a room on the fourth floor of the building as there was a water leak and they thought it was coming from the top floor all the way down... I explained that I didn't have the key but there was a spare in a key box we have in our office. A few minutes later in rushes, Ms. McKenna, one of the owners yelling, "Megan, Megan you have to see this, it's insane, it's raining in the restaurant, there's so much water!" Thinking that there was a leak I shrugged and thought, 'why don't they just get a bucket?' Then a patron came through the Hair Salon and said it was absolutely insane in there and that water was just gushing all over. Then the fire department ordered the building evacuated. Mind you, my hair was still being cut and still needs some work but was nicely evened out and yes, looks awesome! I walk over and stood there in utter disbelief. There was water falling from the ceiling the length of the place (and it is not small...) It looked as if Katrina was happening again but only inside this building. The wrath of god poured down... take that how you will. Some helpful interpretations: the building is crying because X (employee) is moving, the building was angry, like a cranky old lady with a runny nose, or as a cook stated to facebook: the building was pissing on us... the real reason: the landlord does not heat the empty 4th floor and a water main/part of the sprinkler system exploded.

Right now it is difficult to assess total damages- everything is not dry yet. Today management met and we tried to start compiling lists of things that are wrong and may need to be replaced, and start organizing what to do when, who to call... It's all very overwhelming. Most of the refrigeration units/freezers, compressors for all the coolers, computer systems, printers, bar equipment, etc... It's early to say for certain but the hardwood floors look like they are starting to buckle in spots (which may settle by next week once all the water is out, which is good news), the leopard print wall is peeling ever so slightly, the white tile walk ways are buckling, the new counters behind the bar are bubbling... the Earth mural the LDC has had in every restaurant since it's inception in 1994 is looking a little rough... The restaurant had 4+ inches of water covering the floor, there was water flowing down the 4 flights of stairs like a waterfall, water was pouring out of windows on the higher floors, and the basement had over a foot of water in some spots. Having worked for the LDC since 1996, it was sad and painful to see the labor of love that is most of our second homes sink like Atlantis.

The community has been very kind. People have called offering a hand from a number of places including customers, friends of the LDC, bands, distributors. Thank you! The Kilmer Brasserie brought us over lunch today which was both delicious and very helpful. I'm very grateful to live in a place where the community can pull together in times of need and we are all very ecstatic to have the support. The plus side to this whole debacle was seeing staff members that weren't even working come down to offer a hand and try to salvage anything we could, it really reminds you how much we are all part of something and how important the place is not just in terms of being part of the community and a local business as opposed to a chain but also how everyone there really treats the establishment like home and when the family needs help we get it out there. We have a great staff. In terms of reopening-- we don't know as I said, how long it will be. I can say we've had estimates from 10 days to over a month. We are a small local restaurant but we do employ 40 people... Right now everything is a blur as everyone is slightly nervous and anxious to figure out what we can do to get us up and running again. I'll keep you posted.

Ah and a little humor: The Press and Sun Bulletin- the world's easiest to read newspaper- reported that I stated I had 2 children, ages 10 and 17. They meant to have quoted a co-worker who actually has children. I do not have children! I am 27- a 17 year old kid?! A lot of people have gotten a kick out of this and even congratulated me and said,"Wow we never knew you had kids!" That's because I don't!!! To read the article and humor yourself while trying to imagine me with kids, click this link: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100114/NEWS01/1140400/Broken+water+pipe+closes+Binghamton+restaurant

I'll keep you updated... until then... this is Scrappy Signing off.

annoying things in email and a top hat

I hate it when I open my email and see something titled "Job Offer" and it is some probably non-existent company, trying to get me to take surveys and participate in focus groups. FOCUS?! I can't even focus on my life for more than 25 minutes let alone a product... I doubt I'd be trying any products I'd deem worth evaluating... I wonder how many little kids in China that make that shit get to participate in surveys and focus groups about these products? I think they should get the job offers first seeing as how you can make up to $550/week (supposedly), then maybe they wouldn't have to work in factories.

Another annoying thing is of course the general spam. I don't know what I have done to receive so many ads for viagra. I assure you dear scammers, I do not need viagra.

I have also apparently won the UK lottery about 200 times (no joke) and have several unknown relatives from Hong Kong and Cape Town that have kicked it and left me fortunes. Uhm? I am not saying it's impossible that I have relatives in these places but I am fairly certain it is not so... Not only that but why the hell would they leave me any money? What I feel bad about is people that actually respond to that crap and get their credit card or social security numbers stolen and utilized. I know this happens only because someone I know (and no, I wasn't friends with this person) actually did this and received a check which was of course, fake... This is America people, money never just gets handed to you! I can't believe people actually fall for that nonsense.

I was telling a friend yesterday that I am interested in re-vamping my style by constantly donning a top hat. Her response was that then people would expect me to talk fancy all the time because I'd look fancy. I tried to argue at first that I did in fact "say fancy shit all the time." Cursing is apparently not fancy. Then I tried to argue that I could defy convention and curse like a truck driver while wearing a top hat. To which she stated, "abort" but mainly because if I should have to start talking fancy she might and she doesn't want to. I'm still considering the top hat though... fancy talk or not. I mean I think she just likes to use the word "abort" because I once asked her and my fellow charming co-workers to write down one sentence each re: a really hectic night at work. Since for whatever reason, there were a lot of children that particular day, many of which were also poorly behaved and ended up sitting in her section (which then looked like hippie jamboree), she wrote,"ABORTION!!!"

Stolen From Google:

Note I am not naming her because well, she's since "moved up" in the world (read: she has to get up 'stupid- early' BOO!) as many slingers o' food and charm do... after having precisely that thought about 5 million times, and not always re: children.

Yeah and I've lost you...

It's a New Year!(?) (But I keep writing the date wrong.)

Lately i've been less than compelled to do much of anything. I'm not depressed or in a sullen state of sorts if that's what you're wondering- I don't get the winter blues. I LIKE THE WINTER!!! I think I had school-is-over crash and as a result, have been compelled to rebel against anything that says I have to do anything. Another dilemma being I've (some what) reverted to being 14 and thinking being a rock star was a better career choice after all. I can't even try to talk myself out of that one, because spending days anti-social and holed up with my piano and guitar (and Rogue) are satisfying even if I spend 8 hours perfecting one particular part of a song and don't really accomplish much at all. Hey, it's cheaper than seeing a movie.

I've also been doing the quitting smoking thing which is trying at times. Some days I don't smoke at all, others I have one or two. Much better than the 30 or so I was convinced I had to have to be alive two weeks ago. Oh and since I never followed up: I don't really drink much at all these days. I am not certain I made it 30 days without a drop of wine but I think I did a pretty good job of training myself to not drink a magnum at a time. I still like a nice bottle of bordeaux with a meal... and I do mean a bottle.

I've had a few ideas lately for artistic projects and have been slowly working on fulfilling those. It's been a long time since I've had the time or tenacity to focus on detail and it is reassuring in a good way to cut, paste, glue, scribble, color, sketch, mold, manipulate and wire some resemblance of life together in a quaint (read: strange) creation of sorts. It's liberating. It makes me wonder why we bother living any sort of fast paced life where we don't have time to focus on just... thinking? I have to be careful with such things because I have a tendency to over-indulge in the fantasy realm (see above aspirations to be a rock star as opposed to going to grad school.) It's almost like I get a twinge of freedom and have to avoid any responsibility for that time period. Maybe my 7th grade therapist was right and I am actually a tea pot that takes quite a bit of time and then boils over with unstoppable force...

Created By Eugenie and I- A diorama of what we imagine our friend's "dungeon" looks like... We are calling it RackPack since 3 bras were utilized in the making of this very functional diorama/backpack.

overview: the whole thing as we were working on it. note you can hang it or put it on your back very similarly to how you would wear this bra/corset combo in real life...

from a distance, as it was coming along

up close of final scene/imagery... it was interactive as you could twist the computer and whipping wire man from the top! very Sassy...

I'll try to get some of the photos of us trying it on as a backpack and then you'll see the utility. It's the perfect gift for a teenage boy, a porn lovin' girl or I don't know that weird kid in biology class... includes sex toy, alcohol, computers and a fine lace interior: priceless.

Music that I've been listening to all the time of late:

- Uncle Earl's She Waits for Night. It's my bluegrass love shining through. I love anyone willing to use a fiddle or mandolin to belt out their existence. I also love anyone with riverdance sounding toe tapping in the background. I've been seriously contemplating taking up the fiddle to show some respect for my Irish roots. I also secretly like torturing my neighbors by learning a new instrument every few months. By learning I mean I play by ear and screw up a lot and play the same riff over and over and over until even I am annoyed with me. At any rate, I like some of the old-time sounding bluegrass on this album a lot. I've always been a pretty huge fan of folk music- again, the old kind and old style saloon music because my Great Grandfather liked that stuff. Comforting to a degree maybe...

-The White Stripes' Get Behind Me Satan. I have loved this album from day one but it has come back to me lately. I don't know if it's my need to hear what I consider old school electric guitar or my sheer state of rebellion... Great album, Rita Hayworth included.

-Anything Amanda Palmer. Maybe this goes with the bra diorama? I've loved the Dresden Dolls for years but have suddenly had a reoccurring need to hear them and her solo work all the time. There's something comforting about someone willing to talk about life in an ordinary way. Okay so 'ordinary' by my terms may not go over well with everyone else's lunch-- a bit sarcastic, cynical, humorous, honest, trashy yet classy and completely topsy turvy all at once- or on a fluctuating basis... Oh and the cabaret shows... I mean who couldn't love AFP? I am making it a goal to see her live this year. Buy the albums kids, any of them from the self titled first one from the Dresden Dolls to Yes, Virginia and No, Virginia to her solo record, Who Killed Amanda Palmer?... and buy them from her/the dresden dolls directly because there's some sort of record company war (what a surprise): http://www.amandapalmer.net/afp/

- Carla Bruni's "Il Vecchio e il Bambino" on Comme si de rien. That's a beautiful song (I have no idea what it means really, I don't speak Italian and just enjoy singing along to the song.) From what I've read, a very famous Italian folk song from what we'd call in America, the Dust Bowl-type-era. I just made that up but I imagine the dust bowl and this song would have had tea.

That's all for now.

Happy New Year!

xo