Wednesday I slept in, did some dishes, read some Infinite Jest*, and then went off to Burlington for a wine tasting with my boss from the Local Health Food Store.
We were meeting with a rep from a particular distribution company. Their office is located on the lakefront, which made me incredibly jealous. So we went into the tasting room, and there were about twenty or so wines laid out on the table. This was a few more than I was expecting. Luckily I had eaten before I left the house.
I took some notes, fell in love a few times (with the wines, of course), and then about halfway through another salesman came into the room, carrying a cooler bag and followed by a two-year-old, 100 pound Great Dane puppy. He had more wine in the bag. Italians. They were fantastic. I have never been a big fan of Italian wine, but mostly out of lack of experience. After we tried all the stuff in the bag he went in the back and got out a '99 Barolo that was absolutely divine. So what I had thought would be an hour or so turned into four, and I was surprised to find it was still light out by the time we left.
I had been very careful to spit most of the wine and so did not feel at all drunk, but still thought it was a better idea to get a bite to eat before making the 40 mile drive home. At the suggestion of my boss and our rep, I joined them at a hot new restaurant called The Bluebird Tavern. When I agreed to do this, I had no idea just how hot and how new this place was. The wait was long and the kitchen overwhelmed, but the atmosphere is really pleasant so I didn't mind that much. I got to meet the owner, and the more my boss and the salesguy talked to the people around us, the more I realized just how small Burlington really is. It seems like a great place. The food was great, though the menu really made me wish that I were a meat eater. Again, it was four hours later when we came outside, and this time it was not light.
Thursday morning came very early, and I worked for nine and a half hours again- still training, so again with no tips. That's getting really tiresome. Friday I didn't have to be there until five, so the b.h. and I took the boys and went down to the river and goofed off for awhile.
I got to work early, trained again, had an insanely chaotic night that lasted an hour and a half longer than it should have, and learned that when people here use the term "fucking Canadians" they are not being racist (a note on this link- Northern racist assholes use this term too). They really mean Canadian. Apparently Canadians are notoriously bad tippers, and also have a reputation (at least in this restaurant) for making you run a lot. I'm sure that I will have an opinion on this at some point, but right now I'm just happy to have a job and eager to get to making some real money. Even with several crappy tips, the girl who trained me walked with more than twenty bucks an hour. I think I'd be okay with that.
Anyway, today was boring and I left the NFS early. The weather looks ominous again so I am likely relegated to reading this evening, which is kind of disappointing.

*This is not as far as I have ever gotten in the book, but it is the farthest I have gotten in such a short time. I took this picture just for encouragement. In a week I'm hoping that those bookmarks will have moved a lot. I started way behind the people that are reading the book together online, so i am still trying to catch up.