Seventeen. It's hard being the new kid.

I'm busy, busy at my new work at the Deli. It's been a little difficult adjusting for me seen as i was so attached to my job in Melbourne. Today was the first day that i felt more comfortable working there, i finally remembered every ones names, I'm getting more into the groove of how it's run and what my position is going to end up being.

They brought their coffee rep in to show me how they make coffee the 'Merlo Way', which was quite hard for me to take too because they makes coffee in a completely different way to every other place that i have been trained, or worked at.
I had to forget most of the things i had learnt about extraction times, the beans i am used to working with, and tamping. Basically Merlo's beans are so fresh that they require only the gentlest of tamps as opposed to the several kilo's of weight you generally place on the coffee when you tamp it. Seriously, it's so light, it is just brushing the surface of the coffee, no pressure at all. Merlo ideal extraction time is 17 - 19 seconds, which is about 8ish seconds less than what I'm (and every non-Merlo barista) is used too.

I had a really difficult time adjusting to this new way of doing thing and started to find it hard to enjoy my work, which is making it difficult to enjoy the whole working experience. I was getting frustrated at myself because i am just learning this new way of coffee making and am not generally patient with myself, i kept reverting back to my old way of making coffee resulting in an espresso that wasn't perfect tasting (read - shit), which was upsetting to me.
When made the Merlo Way, the coffees are very nice, there is no change to how i steam the milk, or present the coffee, it is just the espresso shot itself that is a huge difference. They make a good coffee, but i;m worried that after a while i will start to lose the way that i made coffee's before this job (and how most other coffee places require you to make coffee) and will find it hard again to readjust if i ever need another job or decide to move on.
Maybe I'm just stubborn and refuse to learn anything new without making it a hassle? I think I'm still a little defensive about my Melbourne job and miss my adoring regulars and compliments.



I still make with the pretty.

Other than my temporary coffee woes. Work is going good. I did my first close today so i finally know how an entire day works. It's a tiny, little place but when it gets busy, it gets hectic so it was nice to keep busy and occupied the entire day. The girls seem nice, chirpy and friendly and i even got my shifts changed this week because one of them asked specifically to work with me because i can handle myself better than the others. (I've never met these Others, so I'll be the judge of that, but also YAY! REQUEST!).
Most of them don't seem to know how old i am and the majority of them are fresh out of school/just into uni so they are babies in my book. Their current obsession seems to be a new gym that has opened up close-by which at least three of them have joined, Masterchef and drinking until they puke at those horrid, loud clubs in the city where everyone is wearing fluro and is a slight orange colour from too much fake tan. It was cute because when they found out i was 24 (old to some) and currently do not own a TV or know who the winner of Masterchef was (UGH - I WORK WITH REAL CHEFS, PEOPLE.) or i that could never join a gym or resort to any sort of strenuous excercise which would result in my being blotchy, sweaty and panting for breath and that i prefer to cook giant and delicious dinners for my friends and stay curled up on the couch at home with a book, i finally started to get treated like a grown up (read- nanna) - It did get me out of a lot of crap Junior jobs (scrubbing, dishes, bins) and having simple things explained to me in painfully slow detail ( I've known everything that has been explained to me in the last three days, even politely explaining that i know how to do it still did not help). It also leaves me free to drink as much tea as i want and bore people with my talk of cats, sewing and jam making. Bliss.

I am actually part of the sloth family in terms of lack of physical movement when not necessary and although i have my wibbly days, I'd much rather go for a nice walk and only have one slice of tea cake instead of two than pay ridiculous amounts of money to sweat in a room with other people while tiny bottomed women shout encouraging words at me.


Apart from that, nothing new has been happening in my end of town. My new house got power today, so the move is officially on. Spomey and I are doing another trip to IKEA to pick up our DVD cases and bookshelves now my big car is empty. We also need curtains and hand towels and all those things that make me swoon. This post is terribly lacking in photos, so here are a few snippets from my bust weekend.





I gave favorite Brendan his birthday present.
A set of four, pretty white espresso cups and saucers.
I love this photo, Brendan has some of the best facial expressions ever.











We all said Goodbye to our wonderful friend Helen at the Polish Club in Milton (she's off to a remote part of Australia for a few months to save the world, then she's moving to Canberra).
It was a crazy night. After wearing Amy's glasses for most of it, i so desperately want a pair.









The next day we gathered at Brendan's beautiful house and feasted on amazing food to celebrate his birthday. He made a mouth watering roast lamb, quiches and various salads, breads and dips and then treated us all to freshly ground coffee from his machine.



Spomes, looking disgustingly hung over and me with my new Creamer and Sugar pot earrings that my mum bought for me during her trip.

Much love to all.