06.10.06

Alarum went off at 04:00. Of course, trying to fall asleep at 19:00 is almost impossible for me--so I zonked out at 21:30-ish. Luckily, thanks to Morpheus in the form of Nyquil (all hail), I actually got a decent night's sleep.

After a quick cup of light roast coffee (the caffeine-iest) and an egg, I left WahferThin Manor at 05:00 on the nose. Didn't know what parking would be like. Figured earlier rather than later would be a good idea. Got parked and was walking to the store by 05:06. Guess I didn't have to worry. D'oh.

Let the games begin. Customers started coming in at 06:00 and it didn't stop until 11:30 when the Rose Parade came by.

True to my word, I steamed milk all morning. I think we went through nine gallons of whole milk within two hours. I don't know how much skim milk, soy milk, and chai we went through. We also used up four quarts of whipping cream. There was so much syrup, cream, milk, and chai flying around that I feared sticking to the floor. Just kept moving.

It was insane. But amusing.

Much to my chagrin, no parade floats broke free from their moorings. :( Lots of horses with trappings--particularly liked the cheesy "historical" horseback riders.

I did run across the parade route to rescue one of our afternoon employees. He was stuck on a corner and lacked the crowd skills to bully his way through. Not a problem for this ballsy bitch. Just pitch your voice low and loud, be very clear about what you're doing and go.

Here's some pictures:

One of the "court" floats. Heaven knows which rose-related group this is.

This one caused some concern. It got a wee bit stuck going around the corner. This is also when I was across the street looking for our lost employee.

And finally, the Chinese fan-waving girls. I couldn't get a shot of the Busby Berkeley-esque mini-dragon troupe. Damn.

All in all, not bad.

Back one. ||||| Forward one.