This big old rambling building.....

This building I work in is really a cool old place. The original part of the building was an old farmhouse that was built about 125 years ago, and has been added on to numerous times over the years. It rambles all over the place, and it’s built on the side of a hill. If you enter through the east side, you’re on the main level. If you enter through the west side or south side, you’re on the lower level. The north side (which has a larger expanse of windows) faces the wooded area directly across the street, where we watch for the deer.

There are 3 sets of stairs to get from the main level to the lower level, two are used by customers to get to the banquet rooms downstairs, and the third one is off the kitchen, which leads to a hallway between the 2 banquet rooms. There is a fourth set of stairs which leads to the 3 small banquet rooms on the upper level.  (I kept getting lost my first week)

It's not economically feasible to keep every room heated when they’re not in use……so as you travel throughout the building, you can feel noticeable temperature differences. Six of the rooms have a fireplace, but common sense dictates that we only turn these on when the room is in use.

When I started my bar shift last night….the lounge, which is rarely used during the day, was a lot on the cool side. I went to turn up the thermostat, and realized I didn’t know how. I’m used to the one’s where you just turn the dial, and presto! You have heat. This one has a bunch of buttons on it, I guess you can program it, but I couldn’t figure it out. About 30 minutes after I thought I had turned the heat up, I realized nothing was happening…..so I had to go in search of someone who knew what they were doing.

In the meantime, to keep myself warm, I decided to do the stairs. The wine and liquor room is at the bottom of the kitchen staircase, so instead of filling up a plastic crate with a dozen bottles, I carried them up 5 or 6 at a time, thus necessitating more trips up and down. I rationalized that I was also multi-tasking, in that I was doing the equivalent the stairmaster while holding dumbbells.

Working 4 double shifts a week along with a couple of singles, during the holiday season, doesn’t give me any time to get to the gym….so thank God for big old rambling buildings…I can still get a workout in.