Day 310! Today was another very long work day, but another great work day! I originally was supposed to work through the day without my usual 1-2 hour break between shifts. But plans changed with the busyness of the bar, so I ended up working till close after a couple hour break! I also got some additional shifts… so it’ll be a nice payout this week.

I woke up this morning at 8:30am to my alarm. I’ve been having some really vivid dreams this week… I’m not really sure why, maybe it’s because it hasn’t been the best quality sleep, but it’s definitely an interesting feeling waking up after feeling like I was living a dream.

But weird dreams aside, I finished up my blog post from the night before, rolled out of bed, and got ready for my day.

I started my morning with my usual avocado toast and oats. But I guess I forgot to take a picture of it! So you’ll just have to take my word for it. I’m really loving the addition of kiwi to my breakfasts and will definitely be keeping this up as I continue my stay in Yamba!

I had a bit more time to kill before heading to work, so I cracked open my book and dove deep into it.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit down this morning due to the election. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on YouTube of catching up on post election news and stories. But I had to remind myself that moping wouldn’t do anything, so I flipped my attitude and lost myself in my book.

I also knew that today was going to be a lot of talking with customers about the election… and I wasn’t wrong about that.

My shift today was supposed to be from 11am to 7pm with a 30 minute break. But because of the pace of the restaurant today, that was going to change.

The morning was pretty slow, with a bit of a rush during the lunch hour. There were a lot of kind people that I was serving drinks to, and plenty of them shared my sentiments about being disappointed with the election. But we also chatted about plenty of other things, like my travels, where I was from, that I looked like Frank Zappa… the usual banter!

There were even a couple of people that were from the US living full time in Australia or knew people in the US. One guy even had been to my hometown in Illinois! I forget why but that was fun to hear, when I said I wasn’t from Chicago, he specifically asked if I was from Peoria. Pretty wild!

For my 30 minute break, I had a penne bolognese. It was very good, but wouldn’t have been something I’d actually ordered. But given the circumstances… I had to. I wasn’t really aware of when my break was going to be and when one of my coworkers told me the kitchen had been closed for 15 minutes. I was a bit frustrated (mainly because I was hungry) and ran over to the kitchen to see if they would be able to make me something still.

Thankfully the workers are awesome and were able to whip me up some pasta still. So that’s why I had it for lunch. Luckily it was very cheap and tasty, so I wasn’t upset at all. I was very happy that I able to eat during my break.

After I ate, I snuck upstairs to enjoy 15 minutes to myself, enjoying the view of the beach.

I went back down to finish out my shift. But this came way sooner than expected. Originally I was working till 7pm, but because the bar and bistro were quiet, my manager asked, at 4pm, if I’d want to head home for a couple hours and then come back for close. I thought this sounded like a good idea, so I said of course and then headed home for a break!

While I was home, had a snack of hummus and a clementine, I read more, took a power nap, and then headed back up the hill at 6pm.

There was supposed to be a big wedding party group coming in tonight and they wanted my help with closing out the bar… but that group never ended up showing up! But what did happen, was when I got up the hill and started working again, I quickly realized I forgot my wristband that lets me sell drinks… so I had to clock out, head back down the hill, grab it, and come back up the hill. I think I did it in record time too… I was a little exhausted!

The shift was fun though, minus the fact it was rather slow. But I worked from 6pm all the way till 10pm. We had a solo live musician that was using a loop pedal and an acoustic guitar, which was fun to listen to!

I ended up taking another break for dinner and had a fish burger. This was a really tasty meal and I got to chatting with one of the managers sons about music. He said they had a storage shed that’s set up for jam sessions and that we should jam out sometime! So hopefully we’ll find the time to!

Also out of nowhere, my friend Will showed up with a couple of his friends for some drinks! That was a fun surprise and we made plans to go to the beach in the morning before our shifts (but that was going to change too unfortunately).

My manager put me on for the morning tomorrow too. He said they were going to need extra help, so of course I wasn’t going to say no! I’m very game for the extra shifts. Will and I are going to have to find another day for a beach day.

I finished off my shift at 10pm and grabbed a beer. I sat down with Will and his friend and chatted for a bit! The one of my coworkers showed me something we had been talking about over the last couple of days.

One of the hotel sheds has some of the owners kid’s surfboards that they never use anymore… and one of them is a longboard that would be perfect to learn on! So at some point I’m going to try and find a way (and a person to ask) to see if I can borrow it for the time being! It would be a perfect scenario

We finished our drinks and Will and I walked home and chatted more in the way. As I walked up the stairs to my place, I saw a shadow of a big critter. I took a picture and found myself staring at a very large green frog!

Thankfully not a ginormous spider.

Tomorrow I’ll be working from 10am-2pm and 4pm to 9pm… but I could easily see it going till close again! Only time will tell, but now it’s time for some much needed sleep!

– Elie