So this morning I was awakened by my neighbor ringing my doorbell. I missed her but I quickly noticed why she came over. There was a trash can on fire across the parking lot. I put some flip flops on and moved the can away from the building to the middle of the parking lot. It's not often I leave the house in only my underwear but I really figured my landlords didn't want their art store on fire this morning. It seems strange that a trash can filled with newspapers would just spontaneously combust. I have to wonder if somebody did it on purpose or if a lit cigarette was to blame. Oh well the fire department didn't really seem all that interested in investigating. In fact when they finally showed up one of them decided to warm himself by the fire.


It looks sort of unimpressive after the melted bin collapsed upon itself. I tried to put it out with my fire extinguisher but it kept starting back on fire.

Yesterday was somewhat interesting. I stopped into work to get my schedule and one of the waitresses was telling me Sidney Crosby was eating there. naturally I didn't believe her so I went to look for myself. crazy enough Sidney Crosby was eating in my restaurant. I didn't bother him but one of the girls asked for his autograph and he was really cool about it.

Ugh, I'm going to have to start budgeting for monthly parking tickets. I have never had more than one parking ticket in the last 10 years. Since moving to Buffalo I am working on my third. It really irritates me that both times they have gotten me its within 15 minutes of the alternate side of the street going into effect. It's not like my car was really hurting anything. On the flip side the last storm we had there was a car completely blocking my neighbors driveway for a day and a half before they actually ticketed it. I guess they are more concerned with the Elmwood strip area than Allentown.

I have tried to give you guys my business on so many occasions. You certainly make it next to impossible with your crappy hours and broken espresso machine. When I went in for a delicious mocha in November and was directed to the "espresso machine broken" sign I was disappointed. But I figured today I would give you another shot at being my local cafe. When I walked in to see the exact same "espresso machine broken" sign I have walked out of your establishment never to walk in again. I can't fathom how you can run a cafe without an espresso machine for 3 months. Amazingly most people drink coffee in the morning. Opening at 9am is probably a tad too late to catch any of the people walking to the train station on their way to work. Seriously how do you stay in business? I love to support local businesses, but I guess I will stick to going to Starbucks on campus for when I want a mocha in the morning. Such a shame I thought you had potential.

Not that I talk about politics much. I am really curious to see who is going to end up running with who. With the top two democrats being so cordial last night and Giuliani kissing Mccains's ass are we going to see a Clinton/Obama vs McCain/Giuliani election?

Today I was called off of work. This is the second time in two weeks. So I decided to make good use of my time off to apply for a new job. I dropped off my resume at 4 of the 6 sushi bars that I know of in the area. I have no idea if any of them are even looking for waitstaff, but I need to get a new job. I avoided O because I didn't really like it all that much, and Kibirashi because they have had problems with the tax man. I have never been to some of these places to eat, but I figure its all pretty much the same minus the strange specialty maki that places prepare. Obviously some places are busier and serve fresher fish. I really hope I hear something back soon.

As a reward for not killing anyone when I was called in I checked out the new beer store VBM on elmwood. I think it opened this week. The shelves are partially stocked with some delicious brews. The guy working there told me they intend on stocking over 1000 kinds of beer. They have about 8 taps to fill growlers. I was shocked to see that they have Delirium Tremens on tap, but at $24.95 a hit I opted for a sixer of Dogfishhead Raison d'etre instead. They certainly aren't winning any awards for being the cheapest beer store in Buffalo, but they will still get a good majority of my business. Besides beer they also have a small deli, some expensive looking prepared foods, a small selection of cheese, hot sauces and some foo foo crackers. I'm guessing the markup on the beer isn't good enough to sustain the business? Despite the prices I am really excited that this store opened. This means I can walk to get good beer!!!