Multiply 365 - Day 2 The most important meal of the day.

Wow, day 2 and already I am at a loss for words.  Can't say this bodes well for the next 363 entries.  But venture on I shall, after all if I don't do this, who will?  

I did get the New Year off to a good start, though it almost didn't happen.  Sammy and I had a plan to once again go to breakfast at DeLuca's.  We had been taking turns buying breakfast during my stint of training him to fill in during my vacation.  Every Saturday for a few weeks we would start by going to breakfast, then we would head into work and I would walk him through the how to's of placing an order.  It all went well enough that the place didn't fall apart during my vacation.  It wasn't perfect, I ended up placing a sizable order yesterday to make up for some gaps that were missed, but we really didn't seem to run out of too many things.  Anyway, as a capper to things we were going to do one more breakfast together before I resumed my duties of doing all of the ordering, a breakfast where we had planned on having breakfast sundaes to celebrate.  

The thing is, for us to make it to breakfast and not be standing in line, we usually have to arrive pretty early, so we would meet up around 6:30am downtown and then walk over to DeLuca's, about a 15-20 minute walk or so from town.  The walk serves the purpose of building up an appetite, which one needs to have in order to make it through a DeLuca's breakfast, and the walk back helps burn off the large offering of food consumed.  So anyway I wake up saturday morning, but when I do I look at my clock and it is 6:20am.  Way late.  I have 10 minutes to get dressed, get to the bus stop and make it downtown, a series of events that will most definitely not happen.  I made good time, especially since the buses were running on their Sunday/Holiday schedule for New Year's Day and was in town within 30 minutes, but when I got there I didn't see Sammy.  I poked my head into McDonald's, where he sometimes waits if he beats me downtown and in the T station because it was raining out and it was possible he sought shelter from the elements.  But no luck, he was nowhere to be found.  

So I waited, I figure maybe he too was running late because of the bus schedule being different.  I don't know how frequently they run in his neighborhood, being in Oakland makes it less of an issue for me than it does for some in other communities.  So I stand around and watch as Pepsi Max starts building a display in the T station, Pepsi was kind enough to pay for all bus rides in Pittsburgh yesterday because of the holiday and the upcoming Winter Classic that night, which I am sure helped some people, especially those from out of town knowing they weren't reaching in their pockets trying to find exact change when using public transportation in the city.  Of course if they were to stick around an extra day, they would have the honor of paying the increased bus fares that the Port Authority was enacting to start the New Year.

After waiting for about 30 minutes I figured one of two things had happened, either I missed him and he went home, or since it was his turn to buy breakfast maybe he didn't have enough money and just backed out, which I would have understood, just getting out of the holidays and all I am sure some people are strapped for cash.  And I always take enough money with me for breakfast should such a thing occur.  I never assume that I will be eating for free, but if it happens all the better.  But now I am stuck with a choice, I am standing downtown at 7:30am and I could just go into work and get my ordering done, or I could go to DeLuca's solo and have breakfast anyway.  I opted for the latter, I had been looking forward to this breakfast sundae for far too long to let the rain or the possibility of eating solo ruin the occasion.

So I trudge over to Deluca's and when I get there the first surprise was that their wasn't a line.  I guess many people were sleeping off their New Year's Eve festivities, because usually by that time I can expect a line out the door, yet with everything closed for the holiday the Strip District was almost a ghost town, with only a couple places open, luckily DeLuca's was one of them.  The second surprise was that Sammy was sitting inside waiting on me.  He was running late, but not as late as me, so when he got into town and didn't see me he immediately went to DeLuca's in hopes of catching me.  In all, we probably missed each other downtown by less than 5 minutes, but those 5 minutes proved crucial and led to a 45-60 minute delay in us actually having breakfast.

Of course after talking about it for almost two weeks, when it came time to actually order Sammy went for an omelet instead of the breakfast sundae, but I was not to be denied.  If you can't start a new year with ice cream, why start it at all?  So I went ahead and opted for the banana split sundae, which is blueberry pancakes topped with bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, hot fudge and hot caramel and topped with a cherry.  Yes, it is as good as it sounds.  

Sadly this will probably be our last breakfast for a while, because Sammy will not be coming into work on Saturdays anymore, at least until we need him to be filling in on ordering again, and I am not sure when that will be.  I tend to shoulder as much of that burden as I possibly can at work, just because I have a better grasp than most as to what management is looking for when it comes to what we should and shouldn't have.  Right now with Ed in Florida nd Brian running the ship everything is run as lean as possible, the less back stock the better.  Later when Ed comes back, we can worry about have more stuff in stock.

While this will be the last breakfast for Sammy and I for a while, I mentioned on my Facebook page about breakfast and already my aunt has chimed in saying she wants to go again, so next Sunday will be another DeLuca's trip, I just have to figure out what I am getting.  So many choices, so little time.  

Okay I have wasted enough time here, it is almost noon and I still have a fantasy football consolation game to get ready for, so time for me to do a quick proof read, post and check my lineup.  Ta ta for now.