Went out to dinner at a restaurant with a nice patio last night and as soon as we walked up I felt that feeling of looking forward to a glass of wine and remembered that was a no for me. My husband sat there looking at the wine list so I told him he could help me by not ordering wine. I watched a mom get a little drunk at the next table and thought- glad that's not me! Nothing wrong with enjoying a drink but watching someone have a little too much when you're sober is an interesting experience. Also I wish restaurants put a little more thought into mocktails. I ordered a Shirley Temple and it was crap. It's not a hard one! I've been making virgin mojitos at home that are really good!

I discovered a new Tibetan vegan organic restaurant in my area. I am in love!! Food was incredibly tasty and very reasonable for the quality. I truly feel their food was made with lots of love. And, the owner used to be a former Buddhist monk with an incredible backstory. I sincerely hope this restaurant succeeds in our land of fast food.

I'm tired of my elderly parents (one with cancer, the other with diabetes) traipsing around with their friends at dinner, traveling the world, country hopping. Then they come to visit their grandkids and get their knickers in a knot because I tell them that no they can't stay at our house, and no we can't go eat at a restaurant with them. DH and I have agreed from the beginning: masks everywhere and no more restaurant dining (even though restaurant dining was one of my great joys in life). I'm not judging their choices (well maybe just a little) but my big problem is when they get huffy about the choices we've made to protect ourselves and our kids (their grandkids!!). Guess what Mom and Dad? We have not caught covid once and intend to keep it that way! P.S. I'm not here to debate people's covid choices. And no, I'm not keeping their grandkids from them. They just can't come in here unmasked, and they can hang out with the grandkids all they want, either outdoors, or masked indoors.

A Small Happy Thing- My favorite restaurant has been closed since Covid. It's remote and very special, with a farm to table menu, family-style American fare & pre-Prohibition cocktails served in circa-1897 digs with period decor. I didn't think they would survive the pandemic. I checked their website on a whim and they are taking reservations. I booked a table for New Year's Eve. I know it's different in other parts of the country but we have been so locked down here. I'm so grateful this place still exists. I'm happy.

About seeing my doc about a bone marrow biopsy…I think someone replied to the OP who was ‘upset’ with restaurant owners. I had the appointment and the doc said she’d refer for a biopsy. Of course, Christmas is coming up and nobody wants patients needing tests or hospitalization during the holidays. So, Jan. 25th I have an appointment with a surgeon.

Responding to my own post. This guy. I swear to christ. This month he has six new employees that he didn't get a W4 for. Another restaurant owner has eight. No info on any of them. I guess everybody just gets withheld at single & zero! And nobody gets a W2! And my shit-heel clients just get to pocket these people's withholding. Cool cool. Oh and if they go to collect unemployment? Yeah, no. That's not happening. I don't know what else to do, they don't listen to me at all it's like talking to a brick wall. I had one guy rip me a new one and drop SEVERAL f-bombs on me because I suggested that he not write a check to any new employee without the proper paperwork. This whole job is just fucking futile. I should have gone to trade school. Learned to make stuff, use my hands.

I work in payroll in a really small town. One of my restaurant clients is notorious for NOT getting W4's from new employees. So I can't finish his tax work because I'm missing info on a new employee, so I set it aside and move on to the next client, another restaurant. And lo and behold, there's an actual W4 from the same girl. This is really pretty common that someone would work for more than one of my clients but what sucks ass is that I can't take that W4 and use the info to create her employee file for the other client. It's frustrating. That is all.

I was on a work trip the other day in a nice beach location. My coworkers and I wanted to go out to dinner at a place one of them had been to before. It was about a mile away, and we decided to walk along the beach to get there instead of walking down the road. As soon as we walked up into the unique boardwalk center where the restaurant was, I froze and looked around. Beach in front, parking lot in the back, three-story wooden structure with a lot of shops and restaurants - I dreamed of this place two years ago!!! I even saw the store where in my dream I was trying on swimsuits! The only sad part was that Betty White was in that dream for whatever reason, and I didn't see her LOL

Don't get me wrong- I think that retail, restaurant, and package delivery people should have been vaccinated before teachers. We called them Essential Workers and then voted down a $15 minimum wage. Teachers are not the only people stressed out and tired, as I said in my original post. But if teaching is such a cake walk, why is there such a drastic shortage of qualified candidates? How many times have you been bitten at work? Zero? COME GET SOME OF THIS LUXURY!

I had a blind date with someone several years ago. We'd talked on the phone, I knew him from civic club contact. He seemed to be a model citizen and owned a business. We met for dinner at a restaurant. I didn't like him due to his snarkiness and afterward blocked him from phone, email, and social media. Recently he was arrested for voyeurism and another crime. He'd installed a fake smoke detector in his neighbor's house. It had a video camera in it! It would have been easy to fall into a relationship with him if I hadn't followed my instinct. Be careful, you never know.