Monday 24th August 2003, 9:20pm

Week 26, Day 152

I know, I know. It's been too long again since I last wrote. Life has really hit the fast lane though. Work does take up quite a bit of my time and I only realise that when I have a quiet moment to myself to reflect back on the week gone by. Mostly, work doesn't feel like work. I can seriously say I'm having fun. Management training is proving to be more than I expected, for the good. Of course, there are drawbacks like late nights, tiredness and sore legs, but the rewards are also there.

The past two weeks has seen me learning more about the day to day running of the restaurant. It's very bizarre organising the staff that you worked alongside for a few weeks as one of them. I think the few days I just needed to get used to that, because I have to admit, I felt like a big fat meanie making others do jobs that aren't necessarily the nicest ever. But it's all part of my job to make sure those jobs are done and I think I get that now.

As part of the training, I did three closings in a row which I found hard as I'm an early riser no matter what time I go to bed, and by the third night I was shattered. But I coped. Did manage to stuff up the inventory list though and somehow listed that we were 269 bottles of red wine short. All part of the learning curve I guess.

I also went to Birmingham with Les and Phil, to do two more courses - Basic Food Hygiene and Food Hygiene Workshop. We had this mental teacher called David but his deliberateness in making himself so daggy and annoying had the effect of making us pay attention, so I feel I learned a lot. I also learned a lot that night (well, was reminded of more like it) about '80s music when the three of us headed to the local retro club, Reflex. Has anyone noticed just how gay both Elton John's 'I'm Still Standing' and all the Wham! video clips were? How did we not realise it at the time?

I drove Dave to Manchester Airport on Friday to see him off on his caving trip to the Pyrenees. It's weird being in Leeds on my own but I've been so hectic that I really don't have that much time to think about it. That evening I stayed over at his mother's place and she, her flatmate, Pam and I went to a local Indian restaurant for dinner. It was one of the best Indian meals I've had so far and the company made it more enjoyable. We watched an Eddy Izzard video back home (preparing for his tour in December which we're all going to see) and then the end of A Touch Of Frost. How English!

The next day I met up with Les and Andy at the Liverpool Nando's store. It being bank holiday weekend in the UK, Paul, the Manager for Liverpool, thought it would be busy and asked for our help. Instead, it was dead. We were somewhat bored throughout the day, and I did try to liven things up by doing my daggy dance moves around the place, but I only made myself look like a dickhead, rather than build some morale. Still, I enjoyed seeing and working in a different restaurant. I took a few pics with Dave's digital camera, so will upload them soon (probably on Thursday which is my day off).

Yesterday I worked and ran most of the shift on my own, which I got a big buzz out of. I knew it was going to be a big day since I had insisted we all go out after to say farewell to one of the best team players at the Leeds Restaurant, Nayra. She's from Tenerife and is heading back to finish her studies over the next year. She promises she'll be back, and as she's leaving her beloved Blessing (who also works with us) in the UK, I'm sure she will be.

We - Nayra, Blessing, Shawn, Beto, Jackie and I - met up at the restaurant for a drink, before heading to North Bar. From there we moved to the Angel Inn and back to the restaurant to try and round up the guys who were finishing work. We ended up in Baja Beach Bar - it's so cheesy and cheap it's good. I can't imagine going there all the time, but once in a while could be fun. They play chart and classic retro pop. It's all set up like a beachside bar (funnily enough) and I believe the majority of people were in their late teens. But hey, I had a great time taking happy snaps and boogying to songs by Wham! (again), Queen, Justin Timberlake (yay!), The Jacksons, Beyonce (how sexy is she in the video for 'Crazy In Love'??!!), the B-52s, and many more that now slip my mind. The was the token stage area which eventually I got dragged up onto by Jess. Photos will be posted soon.

And that leaves me with today. After only three hours sleep I am feeling somewhat knackered. I have to get up at 5:30am tomorrow to go to Birmingham for more courses so I should really leave it here. I am going to be changing some more things on the web site over the next week so stay tuned!!

My top 10 for this week...

1. Castleford Restaurant - still at the top, still exciting and kicking in even more so now. Got our first staff member last week - Katie, who used to work with Les. She came for a trial shift with me and aced it. She's just as excited as we are about the new store.
2. Engagements & Weddings - There have been so many engagements announced over the past month. New to the list is ex-workmates Alison and Joe, who's wedding I will miss in September. I'm so happy for you two!
3. English banks - Ok, after my ordeal with getting a bank account (three months it took me), I thought I would avoid asking for a credit card right now, in case it left me even more frustrated. Instead, I receive one in the post! How does that work?
4. Being in charge - Perhaps power is getting to my head just a little.
5. Driving long distance - I always forget how relaxing I find driving. The trip to Manchester, then Wigan, then Liverpool and back did me a world of good.
6. Fried Pitta Bread - the best thing on the menu at Nando's this week.
7. Damn good pop songs - Can't believe I ever denied being a pop junkie in my teens! The shame!
8. Money - I officially have pounds in my account. Sure beats living off the Aussie dollar over here!
9. Friends who remember you - Can't remember if I mentioned a thank you to Damian on here for sending me a signed copy of the Bluetone's 'Homefires Burning' single which he found in NZ. Funnily enough, it's my fave track by one of my favourite bands! Another big thanks goes to the belated present from Jules and Mel - a lovely pendant that I wore out last night and made me feel special :)
10. My Daddy - he went into hospital two weeks ago to replace his hip-replacement and despite my stress, he is doing fine now.

x
Vanessa

PS: Can anyone tell me the lyric to a song with the word 'anger' in it besides Oasis' 'Don't Look Back In Anger'? I know there's a Metallica song that has it, but I was hoping there was a song I have actually heard that bears that word in its lyrics.