augie's part 2:

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I posted this sometime ago but i finally added the missing faces to the pile so i thought i would repost it:)
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'sand 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 
gentry. gentry is one of the sweetest gals in town. i have to say that i quite enjoy opening with her. she is really great at keeping a smile on her face throughout the day and there is just something really positive about that. there are not too many people who can keep happy throughout a whole day but i think gentry is someone who is able...how neat is that? speaking of neat, what about that name: gentry. she is the one and only gentry i know and i don't know if i will ever run into another gentry. besides being a super sweet lady, she is going to school to be a masseuse. a couple weeks ago, i slept really wrong on my neck, i mean really wrong, because it hurt me for a couple days:( anywho, one day gentry was at work and when she got off her shift, she was kind enough to help my neck. it felt better within just a few hours and that my friends, was kind of her. and last but not least, gentry is a musician. i really respect that about her, what a cool cat. and she makes one crazy cinnamon honey latte.
from gentry we will move on to brian. brian is really great at steaming milk. and erika told me that he can be pretty creative with his latte art, something i have yet to master. it is almost as if it just comes naturally for him...that is not the case with me but i am better...at steaming milk that is:) so anyway, brian is not only good with coffee, he too is a very gifted musician. my friend james told me about him and some time later i heard him do music and it was just as james had said, he was good. he leads the music at this hip little place in redlands, it is called restoration. he and his crew do a pretty terrific job. he is going to school to become... educated. i don't think i know what he wants to be when he grows up but i am sure whatever it is, he will be good at it. i worked a shift with brian for the first time on saturday and it was truly enjoyable. we made coffee, cleaned, and even had time for conversation. after brian
meet 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 second 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 first photo is tom. tom comes in every day for a cup of coffee and for 
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.