Winter Cleaning

I got the phone call while I was eating grits and a half of a grapefruit for breakfast. The Acme wanted me to come in early. Sure, why not? I was only cleaning today. I agreed to 1 PM. I didn't think it would be much busier than yesterday, but the extra hour wouldn't hurt.

I spent the morning cleaning the kitchen. Darn it, it looks like there's another mouse loose. I need to tell Richard or Miss Willa as soon as possible. Otherwise, the kitchen wasn't too bad. The top of the refrigerator was dusty, and the top of the stove was grimy, but the sink has been worse.

I listened to Billy Joel CDs for most of the morning. I grew up listening to Billy Joel. My stepfather is from Long Island, just like Joel, and grew up with some of the same experiences. My mom actually saw him perform in clubs and in concert in the 70s. His An Innocent Man, 52nd Street, and The Bridge albums in particular were in heavy rotation in my family for years. "Uptown Girl" is still one of my favorite songs, and I think of my commercial fisherman stepfather whenever I hear "The Downeaster Alexa."

I had leftovers for lunch, then hurried to work. It was a beautiful, sunny day, cold but without the wind that had been such a problem for the last few days. They did have a reason for calling me in - lots of call-outs. We really weren't overwhelmingly busy, but it felt like it because we didn't have nearly enough help. There were long lines all evening, and not enough people to deal with them. We're getting close to the Super Bowl and the beginning of the month, too. Things should be picking up starting this weekend. Thankfully, my relief, one of the college girls, was on time.