ZachIsHere

Thanks for the patience and support folks. This is just a start though.

Problems with ZCPhotography site. The simple explanation is that my provider seems to think it is 1998 when it comes to how they make their backend pages.

The technical explanation is that I found out my backend picture purchasing pages are not set with permalinks. So anytime I edit them as a whole i.e. prices and options every single one of the links change so the bridge from my site to the purchasing pages is totally broken.

I have been working on this thing for 10 hours and this is the most recent roadblock I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel quite yet.

Edit: After writing this post in anger I took a few minutes to jus think about what I could do. Casey, who doesn’t know that much about this kind of thing started asking me a lot of questions that got the gears turning. Then the light bulb went off in my head. I have fixed the problem by numbering all of the pictures so that when I add a new one I will just have to make sure it is the highest number so instead of going in the middle of the group and ruining the links it will go on top and not mess anything up. That way I control the order of the photos in a manner that is absolute. Hooray.

Had a blast this weekend. The parents came down and met everyone. We hit up a few different places including dinner at Nakato’s breakfast at Aunt Martha’s and a few drinks at Romeo y Julieta’s above Bijans. During breakfast with the guys I lived with we all learned that Casey and Thomas know the exact price of a 30 pack of Keystone’s and what date spring break is but not where a single car wash is in town.

Go figure.

Went out to grab a bite Sunday evening; when I realized my favorite sushi joint Mijuri  was closed I flew to the other end of the food and spectrum and tried Logan’s Roadhouse.

Very impressed. The steak had a magnificent flavor and the service was friendly. The food exceeded my expectations.

Now it is computer time…I am not getting off until ZC Photography is finished. Wish me luck…

There is just too much on the table. Too many things going on. Too many small tasks that need to be completed…

Too many babies to kiss. Too many fires to put out.

I am pushing back release of the store by one day.

“You’re no Windows Vista,” a friend said to me when I told him this news.

“So don’t act like you are.”

The new show “Rules Of Engagment” on CBS is very good. I remember seeing the previews thinking it would be a stinker but we all watched at the house the other day and loved it. Check it out sometime.

I have worked a little less than 30 hours in the last 3 days. I just feel exhausted. Working a lot doesn’t bother me I actually enjoy it but when you work consecutively with no time to hang out for a little bit it is tough. You just feel like a robot. I came home about 4:45 this afternoon and just crashed until 9. It was a nap of epic proportions.

The parents are heading to Springtown this weekend to so that is really exciting. Going to spend a little time together, meet the room mates and all that good stuff. I am looking forward to it.

Ran across a pretty good image on Flickr. Thought this was really well put together.

One of the most (if not the most) popular days to eat out. People swarm to some of the finer dining establishments looking to capture that perfect night. The wine swirls into your glass, silverware is polished, and plates come out with delicious meals. You would never think that this amazing scene is created by a place that is so chaotic on the inside.

Noise pours out of the active kitchen. Stainless steel crashes everywhere while a cart with a squeaky wheel transports a set of dinner plates that hit each other from the bumpy ride the floor provides the cart. The industrial dishwasher releases another burst of steam from from its core.

Everyone is moving frantically to take care of their own, acting as cogs that make the whole machine run.

The front end is more controlled but it is only aesthetic. Servers rush to meet the needs of their tables. One person wants a hot tea? Get the tea pot and pull back the red lever that releases hot water from the coffee machine. Wait for that to fill up so you can get the tea bag, pull on the string and place the bag by the pot which has to be served on a doily plate. Grab a coffee mug and present everything together. Thats one out of twenty people that are counting on you at that moment to have a great Valentine’s Day dining experience. Other people at the table see the warm drink and decide they would like one as well.

There are a lot of workers cursing under their breath in the kitchen. Job titles, egos, and the task at hand are blended together to form how each person interacts with the other. Food gets sent through, and prepared by a team of five people. Three handling everything that is hot and two handling everything cold. The meals get sent from the cooks through a person that acts as a buffer between the back and front ends. Getting the food organized for the servers and making it look its best. Trying to keep all the trains running on time. The different sides remind each other of of their responsibilities as every meal is made. A checks and balances type system. When they are on top of things they resent this nagging but when things fall through the cracks they are thankful and apologetic. Two steak dinners are double checked and sent out.

A large table sits and looks over the menus. They were talking when you were explaining the specials so they ask you about them again. The group seems fairly sure they are ready to order so you look to the nearest lady to start the ordering. She is still deciding so she points you to start the other direction. Your gaze finds its way to the gentlemen to her right who tells you to get the ladies’ orders first. You must move your eyes across the table for someone (anyone) who knows what they want to eat. This dance could go on for a while.

There is a log jam in the kitchen. Cooks are yelling to get the hot line cleared to make way for more food. Servers are getting yelled at for not getting food out to the tables. Servers yell right back explaining their tables are not yet ready. Everyone has a very precise order in which things have to happen. These different processes can not always coexist without friction. Orders keep coming in.

You punch a few buttons on a computer adding drinks to a ticket before it gets printed out. A bill gets nestled into a small book with a pen. As it gets dropped on the table you could tell they were happy. Everything went as it should because they had no idea there are people fighting each other to make the place run. An invisible line shields diners from the show the back end creates. No matter how frantic a server is when they cross that line towards the diners and away from the circus they are clam and composed. It is second nature.

A rush comes and goes. In the kitchen people that were literally yelling in each other’s faces are now laughing while telling stories that is vulgar and untrue. Cogs are telling other cogs how good of a job they did throughout the night.

Everything is cleaned and put away. The lights turn off for about 6 hours when they are flipped on again to signal the start of another day.

I feel like lately I am appreciating an album where you can press play and not stop listening until the whole thing is over without getting jumpy and listening to something else. As much time as I spend listening to music (it is scary) per day over the years I don’t spend as much time on set albums as one would think. There are a few that stand out in my mind but I have always been more about that certain song, mood, or artist. This really started for me on my little journeys on foot with my iPod loaded taking pictures with the old Canon S2. I kept walking and shooting and the tunes kept rolling. Here are a few of my current “no skipping” favorites.  As a side note…I really hope when I am long gone and people are using flying cars and listening to music in some form I can’t even comprehend there will be people who looked back at these times and appreciated what Yo La Tengo has done.

 ”Another Late Night” by Zero 7

“Summer Sun” by Yo La Tengo