work work...

14th July 09, Tuesday – This morning I went for a run around the exhibition centre and fair grounds. At 11 Doug came to bring us to do our laundry and we went to a Vietnamese shop while waiting for the laundry and found durian there! It was frozen though. After doing our laundry, we went to South Towne Mall with the Taiwan girls and China colleagues. It was quite a long walk there and one of the Taiwan girls was making a lot of noise and she really reminded me a lot of Derek. Every time she open her mouth she will get scolded and shot by everyone. When we got to the mall we had Macs for lunch and we asked for every sauce they have. When we got to the mall we were so disappointed, I guess its cos we were comparing it to the premium outlets we went last week. A walmart supercentre was across the street so we went there and found that the things there were even cheaper than the smaller walmarts around. We bought some reese chocolate, ben and jerry’s and haagen dasz ice cream and strawberries! Dinner was ice cream. We walk back to our trailers and had strawberries for supper. Work will start tomorrow at 10am. I hope it will be a good day, should be doing something different from what I was in the previous fair.

15th July 09, Wednesday – Jonathan, Chariene and I went for a short run this morning and then we started work. I was working in the grilled food stand today. It is run differently from the pizza stand and I took some time before getting used to taking orders. Peeled onions as well today, cried nonstop for about 10 minutes before I could open my eyes properly to peel the onions. It was quite a busy day and this fair is much bigger than the one at Green Bay during Independence Day. It will end only on Sunday. It was quite a good day I guess, hopefully things will get better as I work longer here.

16th July 09, Thursday – Work started at 1130 today. It was another tiring day, worked in the cheese steak stand where I learnt how to make the Philly cheese steaks and I had to be alone in the stand. It was more tiring as I had to do everything by myself. Occasionally someone would come over to ask if I am short of anything. Walked around the fair today and realized that actually there was quite a lot to see here. Business seemed quite good so far and hopefully it stays this way. Had an unpleasant encounter with a customer today, I hope this does not happen often, thankfully most of my customers were alright and some were very friendly. I want to run tomorrow, I have been eating too much unhealthy food, pizzas, hot dogs, corn dogs, cheeseburgers, nachos with cheese, meatballs sandwiches, carbonated drinks, Italian and Polish sausages.

17th July 09, Friday – it rained today and business is quite bad. The cold wind kept blowing and it felt very comfortable inside the stand behind the grill. I did cheese steak again for the whole day and it could get really boring as I am working alone while the others are working with one another and can talk while working. It isn’t a bad thing to be alone but I hope I get to do some other things in the next fair. I went to see some of the exhibits at the fair, the cakes, artwork and toy models made by the youths were quite impressive. The band that performed at the fair today was quite good and they performed a few songs that were familiar and so work wasn’t so boring during their performance. Tomorrow should be busier as it would be Saturday, another day alone in the cheese steak stand.

18th July 09, Saturday – The day did not start really well today but it got better afterwards. It was a busy and lonely day in the cheese steak stand but it was a little different because little Charlie came to help me today and he followed me around during my break and I bought mini donuts for him and the rest of the people who are working. The band which performed today was quite good and there was one particular song that I really like. Jonathan JR and I ended work earlier tonight at around 930pm and we had our turkey leg and roasted pig with barbeque sauce. It was really huge and fattening. After that we went back to our truck and went outside of the exhibition centre to use the internet in the cold before turning in for the night.

19th July 09, Sunday – Last day of the Dane County Fair, business was really good and there were a lot of Mexicans today who love the roasted corn. I started work at 1045 today and around 3 plus I got transferred to the corn stand to help out because they were getting too busy there and needed more help. Pluck the loose leaves and break off the parts of the corn which could not be eaten for a few hours before I got transferred to Miga’s stand to help them get ice and stick the skewers into the sausages for making corn dogs. We had to clean up and pack everything because we are moving out tomorrow to Seymour where the next fair would be. Wash, clean and pack till around 130am and we had to wait a while more before we could go back to our truck because they moved it to the fair grounds to connect it to one of the trailers, so only got to sleep at around 3am. It wasn’t a good day for me, I guess I just have to suck it up as some things are not within my control.

20th July 09, Monday – we moved out at around 11 plus to Seymour where the next fair is held, the Outagamie Fair, this year is their 125th anniversary. It took us about 4hours drive to reach Seymour. It is a rather small town with a population of about 3000 or so. After setting the bunk trailers in place and connecting the pipes and electricity, we went about setting up the tents, cleaning the stands and making sure they will be ready tomorrow. The fair grounds are much smaller this time and so we do not need to walk as far as we did in the Dane County Fair. Lori would be at this fair too and so her children are here as well, gave them Reese chocolate during dinner. We had subway for dinner after eating all the food from the stands for about a week and it was good to have some vegetables. At night Aaron came to our truck and we spent about 3 hours just talking.

21st July 09, Tuesday – Woke up quite late today and we went to do our laundry which took quite long because the dryer was quite screwed up. We tried the broasted chicken and it wasn’t as good as expected because Doug told us it was good. We got back and started work only at around 4 or 5 but then it started raining so waited till 530 before starting work. I am working at the grab joint this time. There wasn’t a big crowd and business was slow today even though admission is free today. Maybe the next few days would be better since there would be more events the next few days. Quite thankful for the people that I will be working with for the summer, I think we’ve got a good team following Doug and Monica. I’ve got to work harder and complain lesser and remember that I am here to learn as well. I still have no idea why summer is so cold and I hope it gets warmer soon before fall.

22nd July 09, Wednesday – today had half a day off so JR and I went to the library for the first half of the day. Business was slow again today although there were more people at the fair today. Tried doing the corn dogs today, I am going to need a lot more practice before I can make a proper one. Felt lethargic today, just didn’t feel like doing anything. After work, the crew from Asia got together and talked quite a bit.

23rd July 09, Thursday – it was busy during lunch and dinner, partly because Charlie appeared on the news channel this morning and so people want to try the food here. The fair had a popular country music singer performing here today as well which drew quite a big crowd, although I have never heard of her before, Sara Evans. Today I worked a while in the lemonade stand and so the only stand I have not been to is the one with the meatballs. I am not specialized in doing anything I guess that’s why I keep moving around the different stands. It rained for a short while this afternoon and there was a rainbow today.

24th July 09, Friday – Another busy day and another singer was here, Gary Allan. I’ve never heard of him before as well. Today I got to work in the lemonade stand for quite a while now that I know how things work over there. Jack of all trades but master of none. I should be able to work in all the different stands but I am not really good at anything. I guess Doug might need someone like that so in case any stand needs help and I would be able to go help. Spent some time playing with my little gf today. Angelina is adorable as usual, I have only the next 2 days then she will be following Miga and his crew and I would be following Doug. Angelina remembers my name now, hopefully she won’t forget me when we meet again at Elkorn during September.

25th July 09, Saturday – went for a shot run this morning before starting work, it has been quite a while since I went for a run and it felt good to sweat after being dry for most of the time. Work began at 11 for me today and it got busy pretty quick as it was lunch time and time flew past pretty quick. Got to work in the lemonade stand again today and business was much better today since it is a Saturday. I tried the homemade ice cream today because they were having a promotion, a small cup which cost only 1USD instead of the cones which would be around 3 USD and above. The sky was beautiful today during the evening time, took some photos of it and also some of Angelina eating ice cream and she had ice cream all over her face. At night Michelle and Wen helped cut my hair. At first I was quite worried but their skills were alright, it wasn’t fantastic but it wasn’t too bad as well and it is free. Tomorrow Doug’s crew which consist of the Singaporeans, Monica and Aaron would be leaving for Rochester, Minneapolis after packing up over here in Seymour and we will set up and start working at Rochester on Monday. Miga would be bringing the Taiwanese girls and Serbians with him to Union Grove and we won’t be meeting till September.

26th July 09, Sunday – This morning I attended the fair’s church service which was held right outside of my bunk truck. Charlie came knocking on our door at 9 am and told us about it and so I washed up real quick and went out. After that work began at 11 and things got pretty busy around noon as there was a competition going on at the grandstand where drivers would be crashing each other and the last car that isn’t totaled wins. I got to watch a bit of it because we took turns going inside to sell bottled water to the spectators. It was tiring walking up and down the aisles and I was sweating when I was done. The fair ended early at Seymour and we started packing up at around 5 or 6 plus. When we were done packing, we bathe and pack our stuff and got ready to move out to Rochester, Minnesota that night. While waiting we just hang around talking to people, playing with Angelina the last time before we leave. It was kinda sad that we have to part after working together for 2 fairs and definitely would be looking forward to seeing them again at Elkorn. We left at around 1 am and it was a 5 hours journey.

27th July 09, Monday – we got to sleep for a few hours before Doug woke us up and we started to set up the stands and the tents. It was exhausting trying to hammer the pegs into the ground and by the time we were done my arms were aching and I couldn’t even use the tongs properly to get the fries into the tray. It was a good workout for my arms and we started selling food around 1pm or so. Things were really slow today and there wasn’t much to do. Spent most of the time in the lemonade stand helping and accompanying Chariene as there were times when it was a little busier there. We had a deal with some of the people from the other stands, so we could go to their stands once every day to get some food and vice versa. We tried the strawberry smoothie today which was really good. The donuts were not bad as well. Now there is only 6 of us working I guess we might be able to clock in more hours and hopefully more OT.

28th July 09, Tuesday – Second day we woke up earlier today to do our laundry, went to get some groceries. I bought some grapes and we are sharing eggs and some veggie. After that we went to have our breakfast at Denny’s. The breakfast wasn’t too bad just that had to rush a bit because have to rush back for work. Things were slow in the beginning but as it got busier I moved from stand to stand depending on how busy each one is. Tried the chili fries and strawberry smoothie from the opposite stand and it was good. Doug really love the strawberry smoothie, he said he could drink it all day long and still not get sick of it. Someone stole a lemon from us today. We ended around 10 plus today and we went to Denny’s again, this time for supper and we tried the different cakes and pies that they had. It was really troublesome having to walk so far every time we want to bathe especially when it is so cold during the night.

29th July 09, Wednesday – Open the lemonade stand today and didn’t spend much time there because we have lesser people today as Aaron had half a day off and Monica had the day off. Things got really busy in the evening though and there was a point in time when she ran out of almost everything in the stand and JR, Jonathan and I were helping her to keep up with the customers’ orders. Cleaned the floor today and discussed a little about our holiday trip after the Indiana state fair before going to Denny’s for supper again and to use the internet but I can’t connect. It started to rain and it was so cold again. This time we bathed in our room since it was raining and the ground should be flooded.

30th July 09, Thursday – Spent the whole day at the lemonade stand alone today since Chariene and Jonathan were on off. It was really boring until around 5 plus 6 when people start coming and they are hungry and thirsty. Will was very cute today, he was trying to impress another girl. He asked me to help him build something out of the empty boxes so that he can get her attention. Can’t imagine what he will be like when he is already like that at only 4 years old. Ate some veggie and fruits during my lunch break, felt so much better after always eating fast and fried food. Didn’t go Denny’s this time. Jonathan and Chariene got quite a few stuff from shopping today. Tomorrow will be JR and me, hopefully will find something that I like. We had our own AAR after some unpleasant incidents and after bathing we turned in for the night