Jenobi's World

After work, as I'm heading down to my local, are the friends there really what they say they are? You only know them from the bar...  Community. We all search for it. Acceptance, understanding, similarities, affirmations, friendship. When you sit down next to another person and the conversation is like one with the mirror - similar feelings, ideas, paths - you realize you aren't the only person in this huge world that finds the hurdles endless. Are we all searching for something unattainable? Are we all expecting too much from humanity? This community I see regularly is, of course, sauced up with an alcoholic glaze, so this always makes me put my guard up. I have consistently watched what some drinks can do to people, me included, and how 'the truth' comes out, as the alcohol slips armour from everyone.  I have met many people, including my partner, and have made numerous friends at our watering hole. It's amazing how, as you get older, your eyes weaken but what the...

During this time of closures in the Hospitality Industry due to the world pandemic, I have been lucky to still be working. I am employed in a union which gives me seniority because I am full-time, although where I work is different than my usual 6-3 job. Different in that it isn't feeding 60-80 hungry pro athletes, coaching staff, and auxiliary staff, but rather back to my beginnings, flipping burgers as a line cook. I am currently placed in the kitchen at one of the university pubs and the work is ingrown into my blood. I spent most of my career leading the kitchen in sports bars and pubs, creating similar menus and flipping my share of burgers on the grill. I feel like I have gone back in time, and obviously the "higher-ups" know this as they trust me to close the kitchen every shift I'm scheduled. This puts a wrench in my day a bit considering the business is so slow that I am planning on bringing a book to read during the day. I am so used to working early, wher...

It has arrived and it is glorious. Well, is it? I woke up later than normal with the sun in my eyes blinding me, and it was so warm in bed I needed to get up. I remember my mom saying it was so hot on the day I was born .  I think it won't hit a record today but it might be close. As I write this quick snippet of my day, names keep flashing by the top of my screen in the notification column and am surprised at the history I have had. I have obviously affected people in a positive way to have them wish me happiness on my birthday. Most of these names have been from my previous jobs, and as a kitchen manager, I have trained so many people, at my age, I am known to forget a face or two. Happily, they haven't and I feel blessed to know they remember me. Do I feel old? Well, my body does, osteoarthritis picking off joint after joint, but I persevere and keep getting up every day. I try to make everyone laugh and as you can see from my choice of picture above, I will never stop....

It's funny how we all have been reacting to this self-isolation as if we are caged animals, abducted from the wild, pacing in our surroundings, wanting out. We all are stuck in this situation due to a little thing called Covid 19. This novel coronavirus has spread around the world, passing through our breath - well, droplets from our saliva through coughing, sneezing and even breathing. Every country has it currently and Covid 19 has killed thousands of people world wide. In combat of this deadly flu bug, we have been separated from our friends, family and even work-mates in many cases, to avoid passing on the bug. Symptoms don't present at the beginning of the contagion, which is why we could pass it on without even knowing we are infected. Since early March, we have been told by the Chief Medical Officer, to stay inside, self-isolate, stay away from large gatherings and to wash wash wash our hands. Being cooped up in our own personal spaces due to a deadly pandemic o...