Workworkworkwork pt 2

After Monday's holiday crush, most of the day at the restaurant was quiet and relaxed, interupted by the need to look after a few newbie staffers. The 100+ degree heat outside made the restaurant extra pleasant to be in (chillers on full blast at 70) and in the evening, all those not wanting to cook in the heat came out, and ordered delivery.

In the past month, I've been having issues getting to sleep after work. After the buzz of getting into the final homestretch, rushing to close up while still being accurate on a handful of things (accounting for the money, supervising the front of house, supervising the back of house, monitoring the last customers, etc etc) and getting home, the last thing my body wants to do is sleep. It wants to jump up and down and holler.

When I was kitchen manager, before Edie came into our lives, I remember with fondness going for bike rides with fellow employees after work. You start out around 11pm, do a loop around Manhattan, catch dinner at Veselka at 4:30am, go home and collapse. All is right. But with a baby (and a wifey who is crabby if she feels she is not getting the support she deserves with said baby), it's not really an option on a regular basis anymore. My lack of sleep and wired-ness has been really messing with the rest of the week. By the time my sleep is back to normal, it's time to do the two-a-week again. And this coming week it'll now be 3-a-week. Though I intended only to go back to work part time, this is now going to be 40 hours a week smooshed into 3 days.

The NY Times dining section ran an interesting article on the influence of chef culture on some of the more out-there casual food offering a few months ago. It got me thinking. Alcohol messes with my sleep. I've taken sleeping-drugs, usually when I'm sick, and while they work, usually the next night I'm sleepless. Now "herb", there is something. Weed has never made me fall asleep, but what if I was already tired?

Before 35, I was able to count the number of times I had been under the influence of "the other tobacco" on three fingers. I don't smoke anything, and the whole hippy culture is a huge turn off. In recent years, experiments in the kitchen have yielded some interesting results. Because I rarely indulge, I have a bit of a collection of 'special' baked goods in the freezer. As with anyone wary of "drugs", I had only indulged with people, pre-planned, to help make fun things more fun. Basically, the same way alcohol is treated.

But this is different than alcohol, as any legalization advocate will tell you. I decided to eat a piece of special shortbread (very mild) at the end of my shift and try to get to bed before 4am. Ate it at 11, got home around 12, helped B with a minor Edie poop-emergency involving changing sheets, ate a little dinner and was in bed asleep by 12:15.

I was woken around 7:30 by the ladies of the house up and about, and I felt...fine. Not under the influence. Clearheaded, well slept, ready. I was not going to even mention it on these pages if it didn't go well, but I think this experiment is worth replicating. It has the potential to greatly improve the quality of my life while working these hours.

BREAKFAST: 7am, toasted wholewheat bagel with creamcheese and sable, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, spinach salad, meatballs, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 5pm, seafood pizza, soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, special shortbread


EVENING MEAL: 12 midnight, 2 hamburgers, fries, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
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