finally..night shift

It happened, I have switched over to night shift as the breakfast cook. We got our new 1st cook (guy has worked with us before in another camp and has come back for more punishment) and dishwasher so I was finally switched over to nights.

The first night I had as breakfast cook was pretty simple since I worked the day leading up to it and did all the prep already so all I had to do was walk in at 2:30am and start cooking and heating stuff up. Today was a little bit more complicated as I started my 8:30pm to 8:30am full shift.

First shift was a total storm of people. First off it was fly day so everyone was getting off work early and coming in for their last big meal before getting on the plane to leave. I couldn't keep stuff on the steam line fast enough. I would put out 10 french toast and 6 pancakes then I would get orders for 5 different types of eggs and by the time I blinked and looked back at the line we were down to 1 french toast and pancake. I remember the breakfast cook I was replacing was put on full time baker and he was hanging around giving me tips and pointers on timing. He said that he would do some prep work while cooking breakfast in the slow time. It was so busy I didnt even have time to get the mushrooms out to slice for omelette prep it was so busy.

Today was the total opposite. I basically pushed the limits of my speed to get all the sandwiches made and breakfast prep done before breakfast cause I figured it would be like the day before and I would get no work done. Come 5am when I opened the line I had 18 french toasts, 10 pancakes, full pan of bacon and hash browns, 12 slices of ham, 10 bologna, 25 beef sausages and around 80 pork sausages all on the line (not counting the scrambled egg bin full, oatmeal, 30 hard boiled eggs and a full container of hot beans) and ready to take orders for eggs. By 15 minutes past, when the day before I had about 10 orders plus a quickly depleating steam line of food, I had 2 egg orders and maybe 5 people come through the line for oatmeal and boiled eggs. Problem was that I had prepped up everything so there was really nothing to do but hang around and wait for orders to come in. Nothing more frustrating than having all this free time to do prep work but not having any prep work to do since the stuff for breakfast can not be prepped too far ahead or else it goes funky.

I do really enjoy the night shift because you dont have to deal with people always stopping your work to ask stupid little questions like "do you have any rye bread?" or stuff like that. I go by the thought of camp life, if it aint on the shelf than chances are we dont have it. The kitchen staff is not so bored out in camp that we make a game out of hiding food or hoarding the good stuff in the back and not putting it out for people. Nights you go in and start work and with the exception of the night baker walking around talking to himself (eg. "I gots the carrot cake in now, comes outs at 1am then the chocolate cakes goes in but thats nots done till 1:45 buts I have the cookies to trays......" as he walks away mumbling to himself) you dont see a single soul for hours. I likes the peace and quiet just fine. Now I just have to train the baker into knowing my work habits since all day shift knows that I am not the talker when I work. It is not a sign of stress or overworking but just I dont do the small talk chatter while I work like some do. The baker must have thought I was really stressed and all cause he kept coming by and asking "are you alright? you doing fine? you behind, yous just lets me knows" (if you havent guessed the baker is a newfie through and through...he is so newfie that he will throw in a few newfie slang now and then that makes us in the kitchen shake our head and go 'try that again?').

The only problem with night shift is that I have to deal for 3 hours with the people in camp when they come to place their order. Now I don't really mind the way some of them have made up words for how they want their eggs done. Like when the french guys come up and ask for their eggs "well done", or there is one guy that says "two eggs cooked good around the outside of the yolk yet still runny in the centre"...yeah dude that would be eggs over medium, but ok, your way sounds so much more professional. I can even handle the way they give me hand signals like it is a universal language of eggs. Like when they give you two fingers (sort of like the British two finger salute) and then hold their palms upwards and flips them over so that their palms are face down. This is egg sign language for two over easy. It is quite easy to figure out though the one that threw me for a loop was when one guy held up the two fingers and then made the hawaiian 'hang loose' gesture with his knuckles facing towards me and then shook his thumb and finger up and down. Apparently that is an egg swimming so he wants two poached eggs.

All is good but the one thing that I can not stand that annoys me to no end is when they stand at the toaster to place their order. Picture the end of the steam line to be about 20 feet away from the grill. I will be at the grill cooking some eggs or something and I will look down and see someone standing there. Some guess dont know the egg sign language so he talks but because of the chatter from the dining room and exhaust fan I cant hear him so I have to start walking towards him. Depending on how loud he is talking I usually get half way before I hear what is being said then I have to turn around and go back to the grill to start his order. Once his eggs are nearly ready I then have to walk back to where he is at the toaster to get his plate to walk back to the grill to get his eggs to walk back to the toaster to give him the plate. Then what does about 90% of the people do? walk down the steam line to get bacon and sausage, which is about 10 feet tops away from the grill. I can literally turn from the grill, take 2 steps and be at the steam line to hand him his plate.

Before anyone says "why dont you just take their plate when they place their order?" I had thought of that however when there are 5 egg orders on the grill and everyone has some type of toast or fruit on their plate, it is difficult in the rush to remember whose bread/fruit goes with whose egg.

So now I am slowing training the monkeys. Instead of going cold turkey and making them all walk down the line, which would be too much for some of these guys, I am slowing getting them closer to the line. I will hold my hand to my ear like I cant hear them but go about 1/4 of the way there and make them walk a bit down the line. I am hoping, in a few rotations, to have them trained so that they will automatically come down the line to place their order.

So yeah, am on night shift and am still loving it.