Happy Halloween 2018!

Feels like I've been waiting all my life the write the sentence 'I went to work dressed as a cowboy', and now I can say that with gusto. They let us dress up at work today and many of our regulars where chuffed that we made the effort. I got a few choice looks when I was walking home, but otherwise it was a pretty cool day at the shop.

This is one if the first years where I didn't have any real plans for Halloween. Rebecca went out in the evening for a work dinner so I just stayed at home. That's not to say I didn't observe some tradition!s Instead of apple bopping and eating doughnuts on elastic, I was drinking sticky toffee ale and eating an candy apple with a few spooky video games. I even carved a pumpkin, because its not Halloween until I fill my nostrils with the smell of pumpkin guts.

I took it easy this year, but I hope everyone else did something spooky or at the very least, ate a little more sugar today than they ought too.

Remembering Grim Fandango

Got up early so I could put my next video into the editing phase. I finished the script, recorded the voice over and cut the footage over the span of 12 hours, I crunched hard to push this one out on my day off and I'm proud to put it out into the world. Here is 'Remembering Grim Fandango'.

I wanted to take a slightly different and more personal approach with this video. I try to rationalise the impact the game has had on my life and explain why I think it should be remembered as one of the greats - hope you like the video.

Babyccinos are Worthless

Got into working forgetting that half term had started for some schools in Bristol, we were swept off our feet with customers as a result. Many of them naturally bought their kids along, and kids means your gonna back make a lot of babyccinos. AKA, the worst drink known to man. Kids just don't want to drink hot frothy milk, 90% of the time when I clear tables I collect babyccino cups that have barely been touched and I just shake my head thinking of the effort we go into making them for people. Stick to juice for your children next time people, I guarantee they'll enjoy it more.

About 80% done writing the script for my next video and I'm really happy with how its shaping up. I'm going to start editing tomorrow and with any luck, I'll be posting the video here within 24 hours.

Whole Lotta Lattes

Got swept off my feet with customers at work today. Between 10am and 11:30 I don't think we actually stopped serving people, I was making skinny cappuccinos, soya lattes and toasting teacakes solidly for the masses. It was a total relief once quitting time appeared on the horizon, I got out before I had to steam one more jug of milk.

I picked up Rebecca from the train station and cooked her a mini roast dinner. She got caught up in a lot of train delays and the like so she was eager to get back and chill out. Bless her, she's so tuckered out that she's fallen right asleep while I'm writing this. I'll be joining her soon enough though since I'm opening the coffee shop first thing tomorrow - setting my alarm for 4:55!

Having a Hoot in Bath

Got up a little earlier again so I could get cracking on writing the script for my next video. I've found an interesting and faintly personal angle of approach for this one and I think it'll really pay off. In between writing though I took a trip down to Bath with Louis to meet up with Mum, Dad and Austin, a Chinese student who is staying with my parents for a spell. We took him to do all the touristy bits around Bath including the Crescent, the Circus and of course, the Roman baths. We were initially planning to take him to a bespoke English pub for lunch, but the weekend crowd meant we couldn't secure a table so a nearby sports bar filled the void. Hopefully he had a good time though, Louis and I certainly did, and I think you can see just how much fun Louis was having based on this picture. Makes me chuckle everytime.

Day of Excellence

Today was one of those rare days where I keep remembering just how good my day was. I'm currently working on my next video which will be centered around Grim Fandango, so I got up early to play it and capture a lot of game footage, I also iced the remaining cakes for my team meeting later on in the evening. Already my morning was packed, but I had to cram in a whole bunch of interview preparation whenever I could. I was extremely nervous before going in to meet them and I kept going over all the things I wanted to say to them over and over again in my head. When I finally got in to shake some hands I felt relaxed and ended up having one of the best interviews I think I've ever given. It helped that they really liked the showreel tape I made for them (they continuously and earnestly mentioned just how much they liked it) and once the formal part of the interview concluded, we all just had a nice chat for a few minutes about what we were watching on TV and the like. I walked out with a spring in my step because I knew in that interview I showed off the best possible version of myself and I think they really liked what they saw.

Once I got back home I finished Grim Fandango and got that warm fuzzy feeling that only Grim Fandango could provide, then I got ready to go out for the team meeting at Coffee #1. We had a super brief meeting about the new tea we were serving (China Breakfast in case you were wondering) and our new manager told us about some upcoming changes. Then he announced which team member managed to sell the most seasonal coffees this month, there was a table slapping drum roll, a bag of goodies was produced and placed in front of me. Turns out I upsold the most this month and for my sins I got a collection of local ales! After I was done being humbled we hung up the Halloween decorations and I carved a pumpkin in the shape of a coffee cup... which I am only just now regretting not taking a picture of.We headed to the pub afterwards for a very quick beer before I came home for a well deserved rest.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I found myself repeatedly thinking back to how good my day has been so far, and now that I've put it in writing here I can sit back and nod approvingly at my day one last time before I head to bed and hope tomorrow is just as good.

Bustling, Busy, Baking Evening

Finished up at work, launched straight into cooking dinner, followed by sending off another job application, followed by baking some cakes. Busy evening for me basically. By the time I started baking it was about half 9, in the periphery of my vision I started to notice the pots and pans beginning to stack up and that made me feel really claustrophobic. Rebecca is down in London over the weekend now too so while I could slightly relax my living standards, it was still very messy so I dove in a tidied that all up too. I'm ready for a bit of a lie in on my day off tomorrow now, I have a job interview going on at 12 tomorrow afternoon too so I'll probably spend the morning prepping for that. Afterwards though, I've got time for a little bit of relaxing.