working at augies:)

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today is wednesday and it is september so make it a good day. fall is so very near. anywho, this post is a special one because it is about work and it will have photos:) i have been working at a cool coffee house for just about a month now and it has been terrific. the name of this place is augie's and it was named after the owner's granddad, sweet right? it is the only red building in town so it stands out a tad but i mean that in the best way. every tuesday night (perhaps it is still monday... we are not certain:) a jazz band comes and plays in the alley right next to the shop. dim lights, coffee/tea, music, and the alley are an almost perfect combination. there isn't anything missing but i always hear that there is not such thing as perfect so i thought the "almost" would fit:) the photo to the left is a photo of augie. people, myself being one, sometimes think there is no real augie but i actually saw him once... he is not myth:) anywho, moving along, this place is run by a young married couple. 


to the right is a photo of the owners, chad and erika. i think it is important to tell you a little about chad's shirt because it is great. it belonged to his granddad and it has a brown patch on the right elbow. i noticed it a while back and i just think it is brilliant. erika is his other half and augie belongs to her family:) she just got a perm last week to add some volume to her already lovely hair... it looks very nice. they have been happily married for four years which makes them still newlyweds in my opinion. anywho, they make coffee. they are good at what they do. i have really enjoyed watching them work together because they do it so well and well, i don't know of many married couples that would be good at working together. i don't know that i like that very much because i think it would be nice for married couples to enjoy doing things together. there are some out there and this couple fits in to the some. erika has been a huge help in my learning of milk steaming. Moving on to 

mike. this guy to the left is mike aka big mike aka miguel. he is married to the cutest lady every and they have two lovely kids. mike is amazing at latte art... really. perhaps you still don't believe me. well, this thursday night he is leaving for the land of coffee up north where he will be competing in a latte art competition. there are two hundred people competing and he is one of those two hundred. he cuts his own hair too and it looks terrific. anywho, i have had the opportunity to work with mike more often these past couple weeks and i have greatly enjoyed his guidance and milk steaming help. and there is 

zack attack! yes, believe it or not, my good friend zack and i landed the same job at augies! when we first started we worked together all the time because both of us had no idea what we were doing. now that we are a bit more competent, we can work alongside others:) sometimes when i am working and he isn't he comes in with his computer and sits at a table and says he is doing homework. i don't know if the homework part is true:) anywho, zack is working and also going to school to be an english teacher. that is one thing i am a bit envious of, the whole going to school thing that is. anywho, he really loves his class and the people in the class and what he is learning so that is really great. he is also into photography and he does it very well. he shots weddings and stuff for magazines and so on. he is going to be moving to downtown redlands this week to be closer to work and to school. he is gaining one super cool place and even better, one super cool roommate. from zack we will move on to 
terry... terry if you are reading this, i fixed my misspelling of your name:) anywho, this is terry and he does not work at augies. he actually works at this really neat place up the street and around the corner called the pantry. terry would not smile for the phone so in the photo he looks a tad miserable but he is really not:) terry and his wife esther are just wonderful people. they are kind and thoughtful and in my book, that goes a long way. i like seeing terry every time i come in to work because he lets me make drinks for him... my choice:) if you are ever in the area the pantry is a place you want to check out! on to the
customers. one of the greatest things about working at augie's besides working with an amazing group of people, is the people you get to meet. the first photo is my friend james... sometimes i want to call him jams, i don't know why. anywho, james is a brilliant artist. i have known him since jh and it has truly been so neat knowing him all these years. all of the art hanging on the walls in the photos belong to him. the second photo is tom. tom comes in every day for a cup of coffee and for wonderful conversation. i just can't begin to explain how much i enjoy his company. and his suspenders, he wears different ones every day:) the last two guys are regulars as well. they are brothers and they are just so funny. the one on the bottom  just got into ucla's art program and he has been painting for a very short time but i hear he is a natural. i have not seen his work yet but if he made it to ucla it must be decent:) the one in the brown shirt is in high school and he plays the drums. they are both really neat fellows. all of our customers are really terrific. it is the place to be. there are so many great things i could say about my current place of employment but it would take a sit down conversation, i think. so i will just leave it at, it is a really neat place to work:)
enjoy today.


ps: if you know the place, you know that i am missing two of my coworkers. that would be gentry and brian. i don't have photos or blurbs about them because i have not had the privilege of working with either. but when i get the photos i will add them on and that will be very soon!