A little pain, a little pasta, and a whole lot of tea.

I love my new job, but I definitely forgot how messy restaurant work can be, especially when it's high volume. I've been spoiled up at the Hob Knob with just one seating and then leaving by 9pm at the latest. It's more like the GMI, long hours, more tables, a way more eclectic group of staff, but instead of Jamaicans we have have Mexicans. I need to get a couple more white shirts this week, hopefully Kohls restocked their boys department.

I have almost awesome news: Lance says that I can get the Wii when I come home this summer. Samantha will be in Florida for most of the summer so I won't have to fight her for it. I just have to reason with my mom. Mom if you give me the Wii, you'll have more of a reason to come visit PA and stock me with food. So it's a win-win for both of us.

I also have bad news for me: my throat simply will not feel better. I have done everything that I can think of to soothe the icky pain. And it's been a tough week with work and school and the crazy weather (which I think is aggravating it even more). I've dissolved more than my fair share of cough drops, gargled an unhealthy amount of peroxide, drank my body weight in herbal medicinal teas, and neti potted to the point where my sinuses resemble the Jersey Shore more than a human sinus cavity and there has been no relief. I want to rip my throat out and then punch someone it's irritating me that bad. I'm also a little worried that it's doesn't mess up my tonsils or travel up my Eustachian tube to my ear and give me an ear infection. The thought of any of those make me almost want to cry and if it does turn into tonsillitis or an ear infection I will be crying and very very unhappy.

On another note in the life of Sidney: I got extremely schwasted this weekend. I completely intended to get inebriated when I went out on Friday which is why I had a friend give me a ride to the bar, but I didn't intend to let it get as far as it did. I have had to be a responsible grownup lately and I just wanted a night where I didn't have to worry about driving anywhere or having to worry about any of my friends doing something silly. I wanted to have a selfish night, it's just been a while since I've had a selfish night and I ended up pre-gaming the pre-game. I broke the Cardinal Rule of field hockey and I paid the price, but I also have one of the most amazing friends in the entire world who took it upon himself to take me home and take care of me. He didn't have to do any of it, but he took it upon himself to help me out because that's the type of person he is: an incredibly selfless and caring friend. He took me home and got me cleaned up and into bed. He made sure that I was safe and then I think he told me a story about a bunny rabbit (or maybe it was a squirrel). He probably would have even stayed the night if I had really needed him too, he's just that awesome. I need to do something in return for going above and beyond, but I know he won't accept anything. So I'm letting him know: If you every need anything, anything at all in the whole wide world you can call me and I will be like the mailman. I will fight rain, snow, sleet, hail, or death of night to help you out. I love you, man (that last part would have sounded way cooler if I were Jason Segel).  He wrote an incredibly beautiful post about the selflessness of friendship. Good friends hep each other out no matter what. I would do anything for my friends because I love them.

Day Six: 1983

Today my mother took me around the island to all of the places that she and her friends lived and worked. We spent the day mostly down on the southern end of the island by Sombrero Beach and the marina. My mother came to the Keys after a brief stint in Virginia Beach and stayed for almost two years until she and Lance decided to get married in 1984. It took her a little while to find everything, with age comes memory loss, but eventually we got there and no stone was left untouched.

Where she worked when she first arrived. 

Pancho's, the place to be after work. 

The duplex apartment she shared with her roommate. 

Annette, my mother's roommate. 

What used to be the Captain's Galley where Lance worked. 

Lance's apartment on 11th Street. 

Tip of the day.

When you come to America and want to go out to eat, please know and respect our customs and leave an appropriate tip for the server, or at least read the tip calculator conveniently printed at the bottom of your receipt and neatly circled in red! Very few of us chose to be your server by choice. We are broke college students or people working a second job to make ends meet. We are relying on your tips to pay the bills. If you can't pony up the 20% on a bill that is already over a hundred dollars, DO NOT GO OUT! We DO NOT need your business. I am perfectly fine waiting for the gentleman with the Centurion Card to come in, and believe me, in this town I see a lot of them. If it is so hard for you pay the full tip, go to McDonald's or better yet stay home! And if you're a guest at the Stowe Mountain Lodge, stay on the mountain, you're assholes anyways.

For the rest of you that know how to dine appropriately, thank you and please come again!