Seth Meyers just said on television talk show that all his stress dreams are still about his time waiting in a Mexican restaurant in the 1990s. I can totally relate. My stress dreams are still about the time I worked in a Chili's restaurant in the 1990s. At least Seth has that good SNL money now.

I've gotten to the point that if I find myself back in the restaurant, even if I'm not aware I'm dreaming (and sometimes I am), I'll know things are going to go badly. To be sure there were some good times, but the memory of those pale in comparison to the the twenty-top of deaf people who could not make up their minds. That drove me into the walk-in freezer where I screamed at the top of my lungs until the shift manager told me I had to leave because I was raising the temperature.

Then there was the time a kid tripped me while I was carrying four sizzling fajitas, and I had to throw them into a wall to avoid the diners. None of them were particularly pleased that I saved them from burns; turns out they were more angry about the shattered glass at their feet. No great tips that night.

Have I ever mentioned the story of the time I quit that job? I was never a great waiter; I don't have the temperament for taking orders. (It's a family trait.) I knew I was burnt out when I started asking the hostesses not to seat people in my section. As a waiter, you cannot make money without diners. So I quit. But my manager talked me into staying one more month because the restaurant was really shorthanded. Then she quit to chase her dream of becoming a pilot, and her replacement, a former policeman, promptly fired me on his first shift because I was "a cancer to the team." Fuck that guy. (He was right, though. I'd've fired me, too.)

The point of all this being that waiting is stressful work, so be kind to your servers. Even the bad ones.

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Well. I did not see that election result coming.

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Today is election day! Completely unrelated, it's also time for annual health care insurance enrollment. News reports warned year-over-year premium increases of up to 29% were coming, and mine will indeed be 28.3%. I'm sure that in no way influences who I'm likely to vote for.*

*Actually, I already voted several weeks ago, long before I knew the exact prices in the Georgia Access health insurance marketplace, which Georgia intentionally hid until this past Sunday. Why did they do that? I'm sure it wasn't to prevent us from being influenced who to vote for.**

**I recognize that most people aren't buying subsidized health insurance from the marketplace. Only about 8% of Georgia citizens do, in fact. That translates to about 900,000 people, which isn't the biggest number but is still three times the margin of victory in the last gubernatorial election.***

***Plenty of marketplace users must not vote. There are somewhat more than 7 million voters in Georgia, and only about 60% participated in 2022, which helps explain how the guy who refused to do anything about fixing our state's broken health insurance system kept his job. Of course, back then we were paying about half as much for premiums. Maybe there's a reason the current guy isn't running again.****

****That reason is term limits. Recent polls say 70% of Georgians would vote for him again if they could. Sigh. I guess they all get insurance through their jobs. I wonder if Home Depot is hiring?

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I don't have any rhythm (I even have to get Google to help me spell the word), so maybe that's why I like strong percussion that can tell me what I'm missing.

Maps

(I can't hold a tune, either. But that's a song for a different day.)

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114/2684. The Yellow Canary (1963)
Pat Boone plays an asshole performer who mistreats everyone in his life, including his wife, and is then surprised when someone close to him kidnaps the baby he never really cared for. I'm sure this has nothing to do with Boone's real life.

115/2685. Jeopardy (1953)
This is a slow boil full of people behaving stupidly until it gets to its point: Barbara Stanwyck agreeing to sleep with a murderer to save her husband. Stanwyck is great, of course (as is Ralph Meeker as the murderer). Wish I could say the same about the script.

116/2686. Garage Sale Mysteries: Murder Takes the Stage (2026)
Mom said she hadn't watched one of these in a while, and after about fifteen minutes, she remembered why. So far as these Hallmark cozy mysteries go, it's fine, just keep expectations low.

117/2687. Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000)
Though the title of this documentary on Chaney makes it seem that the focus would be on his legendary stage makeup skills (and they are covered), the takeaway is that the makeup wouldn't have meant much without his acting skills. I agree; Chaney is usually worth a watch.

More to come.

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