tonight was crazy as the party of 20 turned into a party of 35 and on the fly i just started taking orders in the parking lot so they all weren’t piled at the register trying to order and then i raced to the kitchen and we slammed it all out and sent it back to the lounge and it was just brilliant how it all went down. was that a run-on sentence?

my nerves are haywire and i’ve been so anxious i can’t sleep right. i searched some ideas online and ended up with a kava kava tincture. seems to be helping some so far. i have too many things firing in my brain and while i often live like that, lately it went over the top, through the roof, out the envelope….

so, here’s some emails in my inbox tonight, really highlighting the best and worst of what comes my way:

Wow I did not contact u for free meal after last bad experience and am now writting u as I sit here at your restraunt with my next one! Waited over hour for seat which is fine but get seated to be told no deep dishes. Then we are ok with and order calz s only to have 4 tables by us empty and one get seated 10 minutes after us and they get their food same calz within 15 n we are still waiting for ours wow!!! t able by our side waiting too. You really have some problems here n need to fix them. I am so so disappointed n a lot of my co workers at uf think so highly of your place but seriously I don’t any more first time ok fluke but second time shame on me if u come back again!
Well now my husband just paid bill only to have someone in front picking up deep dish! Wow we were told you were out when we were seated and order n I have my burnt calz I ate one piece if u want to meet up and taste I will be happy too. I’m sorry but I’m soooo pissed and posting every where as enough is totally enough n I didn’t even contact u after last bad experience when I wrote n u said contact u and dinner on you. That wasn’t about the first contact or this one you have good food if u have employees that are honest n not serving friends first and if not case then u really need to look into it cause I’m not recommending it to my co workers at uf or shands and am sharing both bad experiences with them. First time bad enough with 6 month old baby in cold to now and lies. Wow really is all I can say

and this:

Satchel,
I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you making gluten free pizzas.
I’m from Ohio and visit my son and family occasionally. They just had a boy a month ago, and I had time off from work and came to see them.
In the past my son, daughter-in-law, and three year old have taken me to Satchel’s to eat their favorite pizza several times. I too agree the pizza is outstanding, and it really is the best pizza, (especially the deep-dish,) that I have eaten anywhere.
Since I’ve been here last year, I’ve found I’m gluten intolerant. It isn’t a life threatening illness, but it’s enough to make my life intolerable to where pizza was scratched off my list. Eating out is usually a very dejecting experience. Thurs, my son thought of going to Satchel’s for dinner Fri, but he didn’t want to limit my dinner selection. I told him it was ok that I’d be fine with just the salad because I remember how good your salads are, too. Yesterday, when we (and daughter-in-law’s friend originally from Gainesville-now in Wisconsin) were seated to eat, I noticed on the menu you make millet and flax crust pizza. I was elated. They ordered their deep dish pizza, and I ordered my gluten free pizza.
Oh, how I enjoyed the pizza. You really, really made my eating experience special. My diet is so limited now, and I miss many things, but I miss a deli pizza the most. Your pizza was well worth the trip from Ohio.
I just wanted to let you know how special you made me feel that you have the different crust and for all the others who can’t or don’t want the wheat crust pizza. I’m hoping we can make one more stop at Satchel’s before I leave on Thurs. I am looking forward to my next visit, either this week or in the future.
Again, thank you. You are most appreciated, not only for your regular, fantastic pizza and salad, but for making people, like me, feel special “and normal” when eating your gluten free pizza.
Thank you.

well, there you have it folks. the funny thing is i found these emails AFTER writing the last post about the different kinds of customers. good night.

there was a first tonight for me. a server came in the kitchen and said, “i was busy and there was a table that i missed. they had a bottle of wine already and i didn’t know they needed to order, and they are miffed and could you please make this right away?” of course i made it right away and also took it to the table when it was ready and explained to the table that we are in the throws of a new system of service (which i don’t plan to get into here) and we’ll be working it out over the next couple weeks and i was sorry they were missed. they seemed so appreciative at the explanation, and they genuinely seemed to understand. even though i had a terrible night, and i’ve been having a terrible month in a lot of ways as far as my job is concerned, this was really a highlight for me. it was so refreshing to just be told honestly that a mistake was made, allowing me to address it as best i could. mistakes will always happen, it’s how we deal with them that is so important. the server tonight faced up to his mistake and went so far a to tell me he had messed up. it’s so much better than finding out some other way.

in other news, i must admit i am struggling with running such a busy restaurant. lately it seems i am swimming upstream and although i believe in my vision and am determined to reach my destination, it is still too often too difficult to bring others onboard happily. “hey, i see you floating downstream on that nice tube, would you like to join me as i swim furiously the other way?” “no thanks, you should float this way with us.” i can certainly understand the perspective.

i don’t think i have ever looked forward to a vacation as much as the one i have coming up soon. thanks to the customers who come and enjoy the place, despite any problems they may encounter. there are those who go out and know how to have a good time, and there are those who go out and should have just saved their money and made mac and cheese from a box. anyone who can’t see we’re trying, who doesn’t notice we’re slammed, and who thinks feeding and serving hundreds of people is easy, should come wash dishes for one night at satchel’s. ( i’m not talking about any particular customers here, just generalizing…) i should shut up. i love everyone.

well. i realized that since i live outside the city limits, down at the end of a dirt road, i wouldn’t be getting that 100x faster internet service even if gainesville DID somehow get it. they wouldn’t be bringing those wires to my neck-o-da-woods… but no matter, i was trying to think of the video i could make for the effort, mostly because i thought the videos out there were on the boring side… and i was thinking how i could say i needed faster internet so i could keep up better with what’s going on in sandra bullock’s life, and thinking about chalk drawings of words like GIGANTIC and a bunch of other G words…. and i’m too busy for all that… THEN – i get a note from a customer tonight who wants me to do a stop action style video of me drawing the gig4GNV logo…. well, let me at it. sounds like a plan. here it is, 2 hours from start to finish.

Gig4GNV from satchel on Vimeo.

we finally got our store started. one day maybe we’ll have lots and lots of items from our gift shop. for now just a few things to see how it goes. prices are high because i’ve tried to include shipping in the price. check it out, CLICK HERE.

today was full-on spring. so nice. the restaurant is busy and my azaleas are explosive. but the highlight if my day was finally hanging the new mobile. it’s not one of the seven wonders of the world or anything, but it was fun to see a super size mobile going up over the fountain. well, see for yourself:

mobile-o-junk from satchel on Vimeo.

i got this email the other day. it was saying we should send a request to google to make our city one of the test cities for one hundred times faster internet. 100x faster? that would be amazing, i thought. sure, i’d like to have that here. so i went on the site and sent in my request of why i thought we’d be a good candidate city… and then i saw that someone was giving away an HD camcorder, so i was checking up on that contest. it looked easy. just start a facebook group with Gig4GNV in the title and whoever gets the most people to join their group wins the HD camera. so i started my group, get it in gainesvelle Gig4GNV.

i thought, yeah, it’s the freakin’ internet, a few people will join and their friends and their friends and then BAM! i’ve got about a million people joined my group and i win the HD camera. cool.
well, later i realized, i don’t have many FB friends. i don’t “do” facebook. in order to get people to join your group you have to put up a picture and invite everybody and then remind people, and if you aren’t really into all that, then you’ve got a group with 6 members, and one of them is myself.

it’s ok. i don’t really care that much about the hundred times faster internet. i don’t have time to friend everyone and try and get people in my group so i can win an HD camera. i don’t even like HD cameras. i don’t even have time to make movies… except tomorrow i do plan to make one about my new mobile.

anyway, it was dumb of me to think i could create a FB group. i didn’t know what i was doing really. please don’t tell anyone i tried to win the camera. please don’t think i’m an idiot.

this painting is bigger than the ones i’ve done in the past years, 3×3 feet instead of 2×2.

just a very quick look. i’ll hang it soon at Lightnin’ Salvage somewhere, hopefully over the fountain-o-junk.

new mobile in the works from satchel on Vimeo.

i pine for those days when life was simple and easy. nowadays i’m trying to run a huge business and i just want to crawl in a hole for a week and shut down. at least i still make some pies and that keeps me going. if only i had someone to tend to all the hard parts… manager meetings, staff training, protocols for just about everything, memos, newsletters, emails, and trouble shooting… it’s enough to make me crazy.

well. how could i let two birthdays pass without a video for you. Lightnin’ Salvage turned 4 years old this week and tomorrow, or in 15 minutes from now, Satchel’s Pizza will be 7! it is a coincidence that the 2 anniversaries are in the same week. LSE is March 3rd and Satchel’s March 7. so, i guess i’ll post even though it’s not sufficiently warmed up enough for this…
happy birthday satchel’s and LSE. some people wonder, “what’s the E stand for?”

i saw the light-nin from satchel on Vimeo.

i got nothin’ for ya. i’ve been working like crazy but leaving my cameras behind. i’ve been walking the line of burnout and i plan to lay low for a spell. i’ll be at work of course, where else would i be? but i plan to lay low on the blog scene. i really want to check out of cyberspace completely for a couple weeks, maybe just check the email machine now and then…
this has been the coldest winter i can remember. i know that we’re in florida and it’s just not a big deal, but it has me depressed. it’s cold every day all the time. it’s march, it’s not supposed to freeze anymore. anyway, i don’t want to complain, i really don’t. i love florida mostly for it’s long hot summers and this winter finally has broken my spirit. you may not hear from me again until the daytime temperatures are consistently in the 80′s. that’s when my spirit may thaw out enough to come back online.
our mascot at satchel’s/ LSE, is lightnin’ sally the peahen. i plan to somehow build her a perch in our big oak tree. she’s been brave lately, strutting around the parking lot…
i threw her some lettuce today but i don’t think she liked it. word on the street is someone on staff has bought a huge bag of seed for her. i guess she’ll become spoiled now. hope she’s smart enough to avoid all the traffic. maybe i’ll use my downtime to draw up a lightnin’ sally t-shirt for you folks.