nickparks.orgpersonal blog of Nick Parks

I just checked on the site and wanted to let you all know that Hank gave me a recommendation of a local Bed and Breakfast that is hiring a few days ago. I will be checking it out as soon as possible as I just received my car back from the shop after spending over $1,000 in repairs. Let me tell you, I was very thrilled to see the bill. Anyway, I will be checking it out and am very glad that Hank is trying to find positions for his students. I’ll keep you posted and thus far I am somewhat satisfied with going to bartending school as I have more experience now than I would have without it and I believe Hank knows the owner of the Bed and Breakfast.

This weekend my car decided to blow up the transmission. A good reason never to buy an aftermarket clutch again. So in order to be a bartender I need proper transportation and I obviously cannot ride my bicycle 30 miles to bartending class daily (not very efficiently anyway), so I am stuck here waiting for my car to be fixed. Until then I will keep you posted on me searching for a job locally here in Palm Coast (which is damn near impossible).

So I’ve been looking around for places to work. I went to restaurant down the street and spoke to a manager and it almost seems as if they are going under and will not be hiring and if anything they are getting rid of staff. Anyway, I didn’t exactly follow the rules that Hank made in his handbook about getting hired, but I did apply at a few more local restaurants for server positions as there aren’t many bars around here other than at restaurants. I plan on working my way up from server, or at least being a server here until I move to the city. At least I will have some experience with serving in general, which is what bartending is based off of anyway.

I didn’t get a chance to go to bartending school today, but I am in the process of completing the take home exam that Hank gave us. Hopefully I won’t have to go to the school for too much longer, as it is getting costly and time consuming.

So I went to a restaurant here and applied for a serving position, as I know for right now that is the closest position I can get to bartending around here. I ordered a mahi sandwich and filled out an application and spoke to the manager who said they will be hiring soon once the restaurant picks up. Class today was spent making drinks that I all ready know how. I want to get real experience behind a bar, but I haven’t figured out where I can go for it locally. The only bars I know of serve mostly beer. Oh and a little tip to save money, once a waitress asks if you’d like a side item say no. My $8 sandwich turned into a $12 meal just with one simple question (upselling? I believe so). I guess that could be a tip for waitresses too, to suggest an extra item to make the check price go up. All though the amount of the tip that I gave was the same as it would be if it were $8. Anyway, that’s my story for today.

It’s the weekend! Well, actually it’s almost over as it’s Sunday. I didn’t get a chance to barhop, but I did eat at a few restaurants with bars. I got a chance to speak to a manager of a local restaurant here and I was told to come back Monday for an interview for a serving position. I mean, I might as well get my foot in the door while the opportunity is there. I was also told by a friend who was bartending at The Lodge at Hammock Beach that most of the drinks I am learning are worthless and ordered rarely, if ever there. Anyway, I’ll post again tomorrow.

I’m not even going to say “Twelfth class”, haha. Anyway, today was spent memorizing drinks and mixing again. Hank gave us all the take home “exam” to fill out also. I and some other students went to the Daytona Ale House today to check out the bar and see if it’s anything that we are interested in. All of us agreed that being a bartender there would be lame, considering you have to fill out food orders also. The bartender there didn’t seem very attentive either. I believe that we are all going to Orlando to check out some new establishment that is looking for a lot of bartenders.

The third week is almost over. I’m not quite sure when exactly I will be getting a certificate or learning anything new about bartending other than drink recipes. I’m pretty sure what I’m doing in class is no different than what I could be doing at home. I’ve mastered pretty much every drink Hank told us to learn, therefore I don’t see a reason to attend the class anymore. All though it’d be nice to learn popular drinks relative to where I plan on working, instead of what is just on his final exam. I and some students at the school are going to go bar hopping tomorrow to check out some bars, grab some drinks, and maybe get an idea of how the bartenders work and such. I’ll keep you posted.

Hey again! So I was not able to make it to class today due to personal reasons. I’ve been looking around for where I want to work and there is a pretty awesome upscale restaurant looking for bartenders less than 2 miles away from my house. I think I will check it out as soon as I have the time and money to go there and eat or hang out at the bar, as I was told that it’s nearly impossible to get a bartending job by asking for the position. Hopefully I can make friends and see what happens from there. Today I am spending reviewing the drink ingredients Hank told us to study, and memorizing all of them.

Today I reluctantly went to class, as I am not feeling very well. The worst part is that we did not learn anything new today, we just practiced making drinks. I guess that is okay as repetition is the best way of learning for me. I’ve pretty much perfected the Singapore Sling, Banshee, Sloe Comfortable Screw, Long Island Iced Tea, and Margarita.

Today was the last class… Or so I thought. I guess since we had a new student start this week she had to learn all of the information we learned the first week, so we will complete the second part of the class next week. Anyway, aside from the fact that I have to wake up early for another 4 days and spend more money on gas, I guess I’ll gain a little more experience mixing drinks. Today we learned about BeerClean beer glasses and how washing a glass is one of the most important steps in successfully selling high quantities of beer. The rest of class I spent learning more drinks. Some drinks I learned today were the Pink Squirrel, Daiquiri, Kamikaze, Margarita, and a Melonball. I’m planning on finding a bar that I want to work at locally. Hank says next class we will learn how to successfully obtain a bartending job even when a place is not hiring.