Christmas

Have Consideration for Bar Staff this Festive Period

December 21, 2016

With only a few more days until the big day, party season truly is in full flow. With many schools and universities already broken up, it won't be long until many working people have a few days or even a week's rest for the festivities. However, for us hospitality and retail workers, Christmas is the busiest time of the year for us so a few days off work is not in the question for us poor souls.

This is my first time working over Christmas and I drew the lucky straw of working Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day which as a full timer at a bar is probably inevitable. So when you're out drinking over the next couple of weeks, take time to consider the fact that we are working at the busiest time of the year which we should be spending eating, drinking and going out with friends and family just like you but we are instead at the other side of the bar. I have already had two customers accusing me of short-changing them and under-pouring them which they then apologised for as I was in the right and they were in the wrong.


 After being a bartender for a year and a half, these are my personal absolute hates, and probably every other bartender that has ever existed, from a customer.

Shouting. Us bartenders hate being shouted at and especially clicked at. If anything, a customer doing this makes me ignore serving them for even longer. We try and clock the order of people coming to the bar and serve them in that order so be patient, you will get served and probably even more quickly if you don't shout or click! We don't have 6 pairs of hands!


End of the night. Continuing drinking at the end of the night when the lights are bright, the music is off and the bouncers have told you we are closing. Don't just hang around, please leave as we have probably had a hell of a shift and want to go home, especially at 1 in the morning! We might even be back for another shift in the morning so please leave as soon as you notice we are officially closed.

Know your order. There is nothing more annoying than a customer who has been waiting for a few minutes and then when they finally get served they can't decide what to drink. Don't come to the bar if you don't know what you're drinking! And no, don't say you'll drink anything to your bartender as we will probably end up picking something you don't like and then we'll get even more agro.

Pushing. Don't push at the bar, you will all get served! And if someone was there at the bar before you, do the decent thing and tell your bartender to serve them before yourself. 

Creeping. Don't be creepy! Most of us bartenders, me in particular, hate customers who try to flirt to get free drink or something even more! It makes us feel uncomfortable which we shouldn't have to feel when we are at work.

Smiling. I get customers telling me to smile quite often. No. I don't want to smile. I have to run around a busy bar getting shouted at and flirted with whilst cleaning up sick and dealing with people who may have had too much to drink whilst putting on a brave face and getting on with my job to provide an efficient service. Plus, of course you have more fun when you have had alcohol as us bartenders are stone-cold sober. Smiling is the last thing on my mind. So no. We don't always want to smile on shift.

The customer is always right. I have learnt that more often than not in this industry, the customer is usually the person in the wrong. Especially when you've had a few bevvies and we haven't had a single drop of alcohol.

Music. No we don't have the power to change the music or turn it up. Ask a manager but they will probably say no anyway. 

So follow these rules and make not only your Christmas night out enjoyable but also enjoyable for us bartenders! 

What is your pet peeve about working at Christmas? Let me know in the comments below.

Best of wishes.

Feedly

How to Keep On Track of Your Interests and Events of the World with a Busy Schedule

December 15, 2016

The world is so fast-paced and sometimes 24 hours a day is just not enough to fit everything in. That includes watching the news, who even watches the 6pm news anymore? With social media everywhere and every sort of news source available as an app, the news has never been more easily available and with access to all of this information just at our fingertips, there isn't an excuse for not being regularly updated on the news no matter how busy you are.


But phones and tablets only have a limited memory which sometimes isn't enough to house all our social media apps, music, photos and numerous news apps so what if there was a way of combining all of our news information into one place? There is!

I first heard about an RSS feed when I was in my final year of University when I was recommended it in order to keep on top of the latest medical journals and articles whilst researching and writing my dissertation. What is an RSS feed you may ask? RSS stands for Rich Site Summary and is a way of subscribing and summarising all your interests into just one place using an RSS reader which will check for regular updates on what you are subscribed to and download them for you ready to read. It is honestly such a time saver!

The RSS feed reader I use is Feedly which is so simple to use and is customisable. To subscribe to an RSS feed, go to a website which you have an interest in such as The Economist, click the RSS feed button and then copy the browser address into your RSS reader and it will collate all their latest publishings and will continue to do so as and when more stories are published.


You can not only subscribe to just news websites but also newspapers, journals and articles, blogs, podcasts and videos. Almost everything!

I personally subscribe to medical journals, politics, business, economics and history news sources as well as general news sources. So next time you're on the move and want to catch up on the news or your interests, make sure you have Feedly on your phone!

Have you ever used RSS feeds before? Let me know in the comments below!

Best of wishes.

December

What's in my Handbag?

December 13, 2016

I cannot leave the house without my trusty handbag - it's a place where I can store everything I need for the day ahead. Apart from the obvious items of my phone, keys and purse, what else do I have in my handbag? 


Hand cream
I find there is nothing worse than dry, cracked and rough hands throughout these hard winter months. I slather it on every morning and every night and top it up throughout the day if and when I need it.

Vaseline
Vaseline is essential to me. I again hate cracked, dry and chapped lips which I tend to get in winter. I have also found that my workplace tends to dry my lips out because it can sometimes be so humid. I use it as a base for my lipstick to keep my lips moisturised and nourished - I also think that my lipstick looks a lot better when I use Vaseline as a base. I do top up my Vaseline quite often throughout the day but at least dry lips are a thing of the past for me.

Compact powder and brush
A definite need when I have a long day ahead as it helps to get rid of any shine on my face that the day may bring.

Tissues
You never know when your nose is going to need a blow or you go to a public toilet to find that there is no toilet roll.

Sunglasses
To help protect my eyes especially when the sun is low in the sky in winter. It prevents wrinkles as it stops me from constantly frowning and squinting when the sun is shining.

Kindle and a Sudoku book
For when my bus journey to work is dragging or I have some waiting around to do whilst I'm in town.

Reusable bag
I refuse to pay 5p for a carrier bag when a reusable bag is an option. It not only saves money but also the environment.

Body Spray
Just in case I need a quick top up of scent. I never take my actual perfume in my bag just because it is in a glass bottle and if it smashes I would be devastated so a body spray in a plastic bottle is the perfect option.

Pair of Gloves
One minute you can feel toastie warm in winter; the next you might not be able to feel your fingers.

Umbrella
Again, British weather is unpredictable so if it does rain, I am covered (quite literally).

What do you keep in your handbag? Let me know in the comments below!

Best of wishes.

Big Ben

London Trip

December 09, 2016

Last Sunday I turned the ripe old age of 22. Old I know. I can't stop singing Taylor Swift's '22' in my head. For my birthday, my boyfriend took me on a two day trip to London. I was so excited as I had only been to London once to look around art galleries whilst I was studying my A levels. I've never had the chance to be one of those annoying tourists who wants to do anything and everything whilst in London. 

We got the train from Newcastle at midday. Our train was of course cancelled (no surprise there), so we had to hop on another one but luckily trains to King's Cross are pretty often although it did mean standing up for an hour on the train due to the lack of seats. What a great start to the journey but things could only go up from here!

We got into London just before 4pm and somehow managed to figure out the tube to get to our hotel which was in Kensington (posh I know, perhaps too posh for me). Our hotel was just a standard hotel, all we wanted was a shower to wash in and a bed to sleep in and this hotel was in the perfect location at just a 5 minute walk to Earl's Court tube station. I wish the tube existed up here in Newcastle, I could not believe how fast you could travel from one location to another. 

After settling in, we got the tube to Oxford Circus which literally took 10 minutes. It was around 6pm at this time which of course is rush hour and wow both the tube and Oxford Street were packed! After figuring out our way onto Oxford Street, we met my boyfriend's brother who took us for food and mojitos at a burrito bar situated on a side street just off Oxford Street. Damn they were some good mojitos!

After catching up on a long 9 months of not seeing his brother, we decided to head off to Hyde Park where Winter Wonderland was. I had heard about it but I didn't know too much about it and I am so glad we went. It was spectacular. It was full of people of all ages and had something for everyone to do. We grabbed ourselves a hot chocolate which was one of the best hot chocolates I have ever had.

There was too much to take in and it was closing in an hour so we just had a slow wander around to take in the whole atmosphere including the smells and sights. It really was the scent of Christmas. We immediately made the decision to come back tomorrow at an earlier time so we had more time to browse. We then stumbled across a bratwurst stall where my boyfriend and his brother grabbed themselves one. How they were hungry after those burritos I do not know! But they did look and smell amazing!

10pm came and we decided to head back to the hotel and depart ways with his brother as we were so tired from travelling. In addition, we had a busy day planned for the next day so an early night was definitely on the cards. 

The next day we were up, checked out of the hotel and at Waterloo tube station for quarter past 10. That is early for us. My boyfriend had organised tickets for us to go on the London Eye, visit Sea Life and take a trip to Madame Tussaud's. Whilst collecting the tickets, we had a glimpse of Big Ben, Westminster and the London Eye in daylight knowing that we were going to come back later once it was dark to go on the London Eye.



We first visited Sea Life where we saw an array of fish, sharks and jellyfish. I always get amazed at what can actually be found in the ocean and how magical and totally different ocean life is compared to life on land. 

We then got the tube to Madame Tussaud's which was fantastic. Some of the models were unbelievably lifelike, some not so much. I'll let you decide on that! Johnny Depp was the most realistic look-a-like in my eyes.






We then headed to the London Eye which we had timed perfectly to get on just as it started to go dark. The views of surrounding London were unbelievable and I would go on it again in a heartbeat. Big Ben, The Shard and Westminster were all lit up and it was so mesmerising. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.





We then had a walk past Big Ben and Westminster to Hyde Park where we again visited Winter Wonderland. We had a couple of hours here before having to get the train back to Newcastle. This time me and my boyfriend both had a bratwurst from the Bavarian village which was unreal. Yummy food along with the whole atmosphere and live entertainment was such a fun experience. I then had a mulled wine and my boyfriend had a hot apple cider. Both were scrummy. And to finish it off, we had some churros which were dripping in melted chocolate. They were divine and I wished there were more! After looking around, we noticed an ice skating rink which we were far too full to do so ended up looking at all the theme park attractions and the Christmas stalls. 





Unfortunately, 8pm came and it was time to get the tube back to King's Cross. Winter Wonderland truly is wonderful and I would urge anyone to go if you get the chance, I will certainly be going back next year!

9pm and the train arrived to take us home which took 3 and a half hours. This time the train wasn't cancelled which meant we sat down for the whole journey which was a good job! we had been on our feet for 11 hours with heavy rucksacks and boy we were tired. We slept the whole train ride home!

London at Christmas time was unreal and I would recommend you visit there. I think it might turn into a yearly thing with me and my boyfriend because we both loved it so much. It was the perfect birthday treat.

Have you been to London at Christmas time? If so, what would you recommend to do in London at Christmas if I visit again next year? Let me know in the comments below.

Best of wishes.