Week Twelve: Thanking Those That Helped You

There isn't really a blog post for week twelve so I guess i'll just write that i've enjoyed my job at Buffalo's so far and i'm glad that it worked out the way that it did. When I lost my job at Steve and Berry's I was scared I wasn't going to be able to do work base learning which would have held my graduation off that much longer. But Mrs. Screedon helped find me a job at Buffalo's and I enjoy a hundred times more than I ever liked Steve and Berry's. So I guess i'll just say thank you Mrs. Screedon, and that I appreciate your help,
Todd Roberts

Week 11: Cell Phone Etiquette

One thing that has made me mad at any job that i've worked is people who have there cell phones glued to there ears. I can't stand when i'm trying to get someones order or ring someone up and having to wait for them to gt off there cell phone. Also I can't stand it when another employee is on there cell phone rather than doing there job. It just doesn't really seem fair to me I guess.

When it comes to my superisors at Buffalo's they are all pretty cool. I seem to get along with all of them and they all seem to like me. We do have a LOT of managers at Buffalo's though and I think that helps out a lot. You never have to spend to much time with just one so you never really get to tired of one of them. All the managers seem to always be open to hear your opinion to so thats nice. The responsibilty is shared at Buffalo's so I don't think there is too much pressure on any one of them.

Week 10 : Communication Skills

I think that I have fairly good communication skills. Verbally I can start a conversation with almost anyone, and I'm not the smartest guy ever, but I think i'm easily capable of having a samrt conversation with someone. I'm not that great of a writer when it comes to gramer or puntuality, so that would be my biggest weak spot in that area.

One thing that I do well in situations when i'm not really familiar with the type of person someone is, I can listen bery well. I'm not saying that I neccisarily like to learn about everything, but I do get interested in things fairly easily. For example, if someone comes in Buffalo's and I try to have a conversation with them, sometimes I'll just listen to what they have to say. I won't try and rush off, i'll just wait until they finish so I will know just about everything they wanted to say. Some people come in though, and they want to be left alone. I think one of the things that working at Buffalo's has tought me is how to tell those people apart. I can tell now if someone wants to talk, or if someone just wants to sit and eat there food in peace.

Week Nine: Attitudes

I think that on most occasions I have a pretty good attitude. When something bad happens at school or at work I try not to blow up about it and instead just figure out the best way to fix it. I think my attitude is definately better at work and at school than it is at home. I'm not saying that i'm a jerk when I am at home but I think I try a little harder to be more friendly when i'm out in public.

Other peoples attitudes have influenced me in different ways. Some people that have a bad attitude in public and treat other people like crap just don't appeal to me. It makes me wan't to be a nicer guy because I don't wan't people to look at me the way that I look at them. Then theres people like my grandmother who are nice to everyone they meet. People like that make be happy, so I wan't to be more like them.

Week Eight: Workplace Safety

After working at Buffalo's I can recall hearing about an experience that makes me think about workplace safety. The employee that trained me told me a story about one of the times she got injured on the job. What happed was she was in the kitchen checking people's food tickets and putting them on the ticket staber or whatever it is that you wan't to call it. Well at one point she reached down and slipped and the stabber went through the skin between her thumb and her pointer finger.

Of course after this she had to go to the hospital and get stitched. Now the way that they improved safety at Buffalo's was to get rid of the tickety stabber. I think that is normally how things work in that the only way something is going to get fixed or something dangerous is going to be gotten rid of, something bad has to happen. that is the same reason that most traffic lights don't go up until there has been an accident at that spot.

Week Seven Creating Your Resume

I can't really think of unique skills that I have. I do have a lot of experience working. I've done everything from a grocery store (Ingle's), to retail (Steve and Barry's), and now i'm in the food industry (Buffalo's). I think from working at all these different places i've gained some pretty good people skills and I know how to react to some bad or weird situations. I think haveing the experience that I have will help me get to where I wan't to go in the future and i'll hopefully be ably to achieve what I wan't.

Week Six: Attendance and Timeliness

I think i'm pretty well at being on time for school and work. I rarely have ever gotten a tardy and when I have there is normally a really good reason for it. When it comes to work i'm almost always on time. Since I started working at Buffalo's, even though it's only been a few months, I haven't called in sick or been late once that I can recall.

If something was to happen and I became swamped with obligations I think that I would just cancel one or lower my work load. Also I would have to consider what to events were interupting each other. If it was between work and spending time with a friend I would choose work, but if it was between work and school I would choose school.

Week 5: Career Exploration

I think my personality type is perfect for being a server. Especially at this point in my life. I'm generally friendly and I get along with almost anyone great. The one thing I think someone wants when they go to a resteraunt to eat besides a nice meal is a friendly server. One thing that I always try to is to start a conversation with my customers while they are waiting on there food. Somtimes that is hard to do when were busy, but I think a little but of friendlyness can go a long way.

I think my personality should also work out pretty well for my future career. I've alreasy stated in these post that I eventually want to own my own business. I think being friendly and being able to have conversations with people will allow me to make it into a decent company after business school, and eventually when I do have my own business it will help to get a loan and some regular customers.

WEEK 4: WHAT IS YOUR LEARNING STYLE?

What i've learned about running a resteraunt by working at buffalo's, is that it must be stressful. The owner of our Buffalo's is a man named Rick Roberts, and as nice of a guy that he is, he almost always seems stressed. Don't get me wrong I can understand how owning your own business would get to you sometimes, I just always thought, that if you owned it yourself it would be less stressful.

My plan for when I get older has always been owning my own outdoor store, but if it's going that stressful thenmaybe not. Maybe it's just owning a resteraunt that makes you stress out. I geuss i'm just hoping that when I get older I will be happy with owning my own store. I guess only time will tell.

Week 3 - Study Skills

The two skills that I need to improve the most upon are taking better notes and be prepared. I always start off writing good notes but after a while they will get shorter and shorter. Also I tend to not be all that prepared sometimes. I'll forget a pen or paper, or to get something signed that I needed to get signed. Those are my two biggest weaknesses.

A: 5 Things I Can Do To Take Better Notes
1. Have several pens and pencils as well as your notebook.
2. Write quickly so that you can include all the important information in your notes.
3. Listen for “signal statements” that tell you that what your teacher is about to say is important to write in your notes.
4. Place a ? next to information you write in your notes, but about whose meaning you are not sure.
5. Check with other students to be sure you did not leave out important information.

B: 5 Things To Do About Procrastination
1. Prioritize my task
2. Work in study groups
3. Work on worst task first
4. Take breaks during task
5. Find a good place to work on task.

I've learned from working at Buffalo's that most resteraunts don't raise there price on food that much. What I mean is that retail stores charge three too four times the value that they pay for the product. In the food industry its harded to do that, especially in a resteraunt setting. Also I think I am a very quick learned and i've learned how to be a pretty decent server fairly fast. Thats about all thats new for me this week at work.

Week Two: Planning For Immediate and Long Term Success

Task 3: Where do I want to be in ten years?

1. Have a bachelors degree in Business

2. Have enough money to start looking into owning and creating my own business

3. Have a nice house

4. Have a couple of nice cars

5. Feel Sucessful

6. Have a job that I enjoy

7. Have enough free time

8. Be respected at my job

9. Still staying in touch with friends

10. Still staying in touch with family

What can I do to get there?

1. Work hard

2. Stay Focussed

3. Pay Attention

4. Study Hard

5. Make good grades

6. Get as much done as I possibly can

7. Start looking at possible colleges

8. Don't give up

9. Spend time around people that can help me get where I wanna go

10. Start saving up money

Task 4: So far my experiences at Buffalo's have been mostly great so far. i get along great with everyone that works there. All the amnagers seem to really like me, and I think i'm doing really good with the customers. I've found out that here isn't nearly as much money in selling food as there is in selling something like clothes. I've learned that being a water is not as easy as it looks and some people just aren't cut out for it.

Most of my experiences have been really good since I started working there. The only bad experiences i've had are some rude customers but your going to find that at any resteraunt that you work at. The only thing that is going to kind of suck is that this summer a lot of college students will be out of town and we won't be nearly as busy as usual.

WEEK ONE -- 7 Habits of Successful PLC Students

Task 1: The thing I need to make the most improvement on is learning to write and spell better. I have terrible hand writing and I can't spell very well at all. If i'm typing its not to bad because I can just use Microsoft Word to correct my spellin and I also don't have to worry about my handwriting.

Task 2: One thing that should be added to the list is getting enough sleep at night. Thats one thing that helps me out a lot. If I don't get much sleep at night its very hard for me to focus during the, but if I do get a good bit of sleep i'm more aware of whats going on and I can concentrate more. Another thing you should always do is study. I don't care how smart you are, if you don't ever study you're going to have a hard time making good grades.

WBL: Week 18 ?

The biggest skill that I have gained while working at Buffalo's is people skills. I think i've always been good at talking to people, but working at a place where you have to constantly interact with people helps you in that way. Now in the future I will be able to interact with people better when I try to get into Business managment and eventually own my own business. I think i've gained several references from magagers that I get along with but I have even gotten the numbers of some custemamers that would like me to call them once i'm done with college.

WBL: Week 16 ?

I really enjoy my job now compared to other jobs that I have had. One thing I will always try to avoid is retail. I hated working retail. Maybe it was just the place that I worked at but I never want to have to fold a shirt, except my own, ever again. One thing I might try in the future while paying my way through school would be a fancier resteraunt. I've had other employee's at work tell me that they have made more money by doing less work at other resteraunts so that might be something i'll look into.

WBL: Week 15 ?

If I was my own superviser, one change I think I would make would be to increase food prices. I understand that Buffalo's isn't exactly Outback or Olive Garden, but the foods generally just as good and the servers or just as nice. The thing that lowers the check average the most at Buffalo's is the cheap wing nights and specials. Then again Buffalo's would probably fail if they raised prices at this point because people wouldn't be happy to pay more than they already have to.

WBL: Week 14 ?

I've already talked about one diificult sitation i've had since I started working at Buffalo's and i'm finding it hard to think of another one. One way I think i've avoided conflict for the most part those is i've tried to be as friendly and out going to all the customers that i've had. Also I get along really well with all the other employee's and i've not been involved in any conflicts with them.

WBL: Week 13 ?

I don't really know if I have a greatest accomplishment at work. One thing that really made me feel pretty good was one night this couple came in and were sat in my section. Then I went through the motions and talked to them a little bit. After they were done they asked me to get my manager. I was worried I did something wrong, but they left and my manager came up to me and told me that they had said I was one of the best servers that they had ever had. That was one moment when I felt really good about my work.

WBL: Week 12 ?

I would have to say that the toughest thing I have to face at work is rude customers. Some people, no matter how nice you are, just aren't going to return the favor. For instance a couple of weeks ago I had a table of two. An older couple, that just wouldn't be nice for anything. I did everything I could to help them. There food was out fast, I refilled there drinks reguraly, I pre bussed there table. I literally did everything right. Yet, once they left, they had only left me a dollar tip, on a $30 check. So people like that are my biggest problem.

WBL: Weel 11 ?

My main goal career wise is to get my MDA from "Terry Business" at UGA. I want to join a good company and make money and save enough money to open up my own business (Probably a sporting goods store) and then just live off that for the rest of my life. I wont have to have a boss or answer to anyone.

WBL: Week 10 ?

This benifits me as both a student and an employee by me now only making money, but I am also getting credit to make money. Plus I amsure that this program will look pretty good on a college transcript which is one of the bigger and main reasons I decided to do this program.

WBL: Week 9 ?

I don't really think being a server will effect my future career. The only thing it might help is that you have to be really interactive with people and be polite. It is going o help pay for college though so I guess that is one way it is helping my future. I do also think me having a lot of previous work experience has helped me get this job and helped me do good at this job.

WBL Week 8 ?

I think I definately act differently at work. I try hard to be nice and sometimes have to hold of an attitude when somewhen makes me mad because my salary is basically tips. I also have have to dress a little differently because I have to wear black skid resistant shoes.

WBL: Week 7 ?

Nothing to interesting or unusual at work. One thing I guess thats kind of strange or funny happened the other night. on Wed Nights we have "Bash Night". Bassically this is where you can pay $11.99 for sixteen wings, then get unlimited refills of eight wings. Well three young guys came in and they all ordered the "bash". Over the course of about an hour and a half to two hours they ate Forty-Eaight wings a piece. Maybe its just me but thats a lot of wings and if I ate that many I would most definately be sick.

WBL: Week Six ?

I approach both school and work very rigurously. I'm more into working hard at school and school is definately more important. I work hard at my job and do my best to earn my paycheck and my tips. School though effects my future and I can hopefully get a good job and make more money and be sucessful. I think I do a good jpb of putting a 100 percent into both school and work and i'm pleased with the way I approach that.

WBL: Week Five ?

I honestly don't see too many differences now that I have a job. I'm sort of in a better mood and less stressed out now that I actually have money to spend. I think my mood will continue to improve the more money that I make. Though sometimes if I close and it is late when I leave i'll be a little more high tempered Mostly though I've not changed.

WBL: Week Three ?

The best day i've had so far at Buffalos would probably be my first solo shift. Mostly because I actually got tips. It always feels good to be able to walk out of work with money in your pocket. Also its cool to interact with customers and see how they react to you. I've learned that older couples tend to tip more than college students do. Unless the College students are drunk then they normally leave a pretty nice tip.

WBL: Week Two ?

Since this is my third job I already know how to spend my money pretty responsively. I only buy mostly what I need, then I normally buy something I would enjoy about once every paycheck determining on how much money is on the check. I have goten more responsible recently by opening a checking acount, and i'm thinking about opening a savings acount soon. In a broader sense though think making your own money does make you more hesitant to spend it on something you don't need since you put your sweat into making that money.

WBL: Week One ?

My first week on the job at Buffalo's Cafe was pretty cool. I'm training with an employee named shelby. She's a good instructer and very helpful. There are about a dozen test I have to take which kind of sucks but its cool. I'll have 5 training shifts before I get my apron and have solo shifts. All the managers seem really cool and I think I will like this job.