Here is where we find out that "small business" is not synonymous with "restaurant"

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-one/

The authors of this blog are a variety of small business types. They claim to be able to give advice to other small business types. This column, by Bruce Buschel, claims to be his advice to the staff of his restaurant.
( Herewith the rant of someone who's worked a little bit in the business and who likes to eat out )

Buschel says that "veteran waiters [...] will no doubt protest some or most of what follows". There's a good reason for that, and he should listen to them rather than pretending he can give veteran waiters advice.

If anyone knows what restaurant he's opening and can find info I'd love to find out.

Here is where we find out that "small business" is not synonymous with "restaurant"

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-one/

The authors of this blog are a variety of small business types. They claim to be able to give advice to other small business types. This column, by Bruce Buschel, claims to be his advice to the staff of his restaurant.
( Herewith the rant of someone who's worked a little bit in the business and who likes to eat out )

Buschel says that "veteran waiters [...] will no doubt protest some or most of what follows". There's a good reason for that, and he should listen to them rather than pretending he can give veteran waiters advice.

If anyone knows what restaurant he's opening and can find info I'd love to find out.

Extracted from a comment elsewhere - cat names/story teaser

I don't own a cat now. I'm allergic and always have been. Once upon a time my then-wife convinced me that we ought to get a cat. A friend of hers was trying to place a litter from a pregnant stray cat he'd taken in. He came into the house with the last two kittens, one of which was the tiny runt of the litter. He put her down and she immediately ran and hid under the couch.

While under there she made piteous "MEEP!" noises until her sister came back into sight. Her sister was a normal kitty, exploring everywhere but every time she got out of sight of the little runt we'd hear "Meep! MEEP!" in a more and more frantic tone until the explorer would come trotting back to the little one.

Since the two of them were clearly inseparable it became imperative that we take both. So we ended up with two kittens. My then-wife decided to take the normal one and left me the little runty thing. Within a week of having them in the house I came down with allergy-induced asthmatic bronchitis. I got better, but apparently the fact that a human was also making piteous noises made my cat so curious that she came out from under the couch and sat with me.

I called her "Meep" because even out from under the couch she made that sort of noise for most of her kitten-hood. I forget what my then-wife called hers as a kitten. When they became adult cats, they got new - more appropriate - names.

My wife's cat was "Sushi," which was short for "My cat has sushi for brains" (because there was already a cat in the social circle named "Dorkbutt").

And I called mine "Cat" as her public name. Her actual name was "FUGGYOU", said very fast. She only responded to that name when I called her that, though, and she gave me the hairy eyeball for using it. When other people tried to use the name she just pretended she didn't hear them.

There are lots of Sushi-cat stories; ask me some time and I'll tell them. Also, I'm feeling like I might want to tell The Roach story, but it's long.

Extracted from a comment elsewhere - cat names/story teaser

I don't own a cat now. I'm allergic and always have been. Once upon a time my then-wife convinced me that we ought to get a cat. A friend of hers was trying to place a litter from a pregnant stray cat he'd taken in. He came into the house with the last two kittens, one of which was the tiny runt of the litter. He put her down and she immediately ran and hid under the couch.

While under there she made piteous "MEEP!" noises until her sister came back into sight. Her sister was a normal kitty, exploring everywhere but every time she got out of sight of the little runt we'd hear "Meep! MEEP!" in a more and more frantic tone until the explorer would come trotting back to the little one.

Since the two of them were clearly inseparable it became imperative that we take both. So we ended up with two kittens. My then-wife decided to take the normal one and left me the little runty thing. Within a week of having them in the house I came down with allergy-induced asthmatic bronchitis. I got better, but apparently the fact that a human was also making piteous noises made my cat so curious that she came out from under the couch and sat with me.

I called her "Meep" because even out from under the couch she made that sort of noise for most of her kitten-hood. I forget what my then-wife called hers as a kitten. When they became adult cats, they got new - more appropriate - names.

My wife's cat was "Sushi," which was short for "My cat has sushi for brains" (because there was already a cat in the social circle named "Dorkbutt").

And I called mine "Cat" as her public name. Her actual name was "FUGGYOU", said very fast. She only responded to that name when I called her that, though, and she gave me the hairy eyeball for using it. When other people tried to use the name she just pretended she didn't hear them.

There are lots of Sushi-cat stories; ask me some time and I'll tell them. Also, I'm feeling like I might want to tell The Roach story, but it's long.

The first rule of consulting (and other things)

Shamelessly stolen from a friend who's a lifelong consultant, runs his own company, etc:

This is the First Law of Consulting:

You can't stop people from sticking beans up their noses.

If someone is intent in sticking a bean up their nose, no amount of discussion or argument will convince them to do otherwise. The bean will go up the nose and the best you can do, as a consultant, is wait until it's over and ask, "So, how is that working for you?"

I'm thinking this rule also applies to certain aspects of friendships and relationships, not to mention parenting.

The first rule of consulting (and other things)

Shamelessly stolen from a friend who's a lifelong consultant, runs his own company, etc:

This is the First Law of Consulting:

You can't stop people from sticking beans up their noses.

If someone is intent in sticking a bean up their nose, no amount of discussion or argument will convince them to do otherwise. The bean will go up the nose and the best you can do, as a consultant, is wait until it's over and ask, "So, how is that working for you?"

I'm thinking this rule also applies to certain aspects of friendships and relationships, not to mention parenting.