“La Parrilla” Business Review

La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant

Newman, GA

We recently visited this restaurant for dinner on a Saturday. It was very busy, and like most place nowadays, slightly short staffed. Even being short staffed we only had a 45 minute wait. It was 45 minutes almost to the minute too.

The staff was very friendly. There was one hiccup, but it was addressed and fixed right away without any issues. The food was magnificent. Everything looked and smelled delicious. The portions were pretty big as well. Normally I can finish off a taco salad or bowl. Not the case here. I only got about half done. Everyone had Togo boxes.

There’s not much space to wait inside for your table. So you’ll more and likely be waiting outside or in your car. You’ll receive a text when your table is ready.

The only other complaint I would have is the size of the table in the booth. With 5 people we barely had room for the food. If 2 of us wouldn’t have gotten bowls we probably wouldn’t have had space.

Official Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We Need More Creativity

I’m an avid reader and I read all types of genres and authors. I love to read and always set reading goals every year. I try to do some reviews of the books I read, especially some of my local authors. I don’t know about everyone else, but there are certain things that is required. Even more so if you want me to read a series of books. I don’t claim to know it all when it comes to writing a novel. What I am is a reader who loved English class and now I pay attention to detail. I don’t do edits all the time, but my attention to details have had some authors ask. You can also ask my book club members. If the grammar isn’t right, I won’t read it. If I have to keep stopping because the details don’t match up, I’ll also stop reading. If I can’t see the book playing out like a movie while I read it, I stop reading. Normally I don’t list authors unless it’s an actual review. Nonetheless, as tempted as I am, I still won’t this time either. I don’t want anyone to think I’m just bashing the author, instead use it create better books if you’re a writer.

Recently I’ve started reading Motorcycle Club (MC) books. The series that got me started was AWESOME! A long series. I want to say it was 20 books. I love that the ones I’ve read so far are not Outlaws or 1%ers. Yes, I’ve done research as I started reading to understand. I do love the alpha males in the books and how deep they love their women. That makes it all worth it.

The author I’m currently reading is fairly talented. Much better than I can do right now. Now, I must say I read the current series first (6 books) and now reading the first series of this group (17 books). First let me start off with what I do like about her books. Of course the alpha males. I think that’s the more the normal across all the MC books I’ve read. I do enjoy the strong women in her books. Yes, there is an however, but we’ll get to that in a moment. I enjoy how the other clubs play a part in the books. You’ll always have an appearance from the other club at some point, if not multiple points in the book. The story lines itself are pretty good and catchy. If you enjoy “Happy Ever After” (HEA) endings, then her books are great for those too. She also gives some vivid details. When I tell you I see it all as I’m reading, it’s just like watching a movie on TV. I appreciate that the most about her books. Almost nothing is worse than poor descriptions.

Now this where I think her creativity could be a lot better. I’ve read all six of most recent and finishing up book four of the other series. Again, use this constructive criticism. As stated above I love the strong women and I love the alpha males. What I don’t like is the fact that their stories are almost the same. Okay, let me put it this way, the story lines are repeative down to the erotic scenes. This is how each book unfolds, the first 20-30% (except for the first books) are a rewind of what happened in the pervious book almost word for word from the new guys point of view. This in itself reminds me of the movie “Vantage Point”. It’s great information if you’re reading it as a standalone, but not a series. Percent 30-60 typically deal with the first issue the couple encounter with her questioning his love and how he could want someone as inexperienced as her and her running away. Then we get a little calmness that includes wedding planning and/or pregnancy for 60-80%. Finally when we get to the 75/80% mark the climax really rises again. Again, not a problem if you’re reading it as a standalone.

The other big issue I have is the erotic scenes. I know some amazing erotic authors that strictly write erotica and others that add it to the novels like her. Both are awesome forms, when the creativity is there. Again, I can tell you exactly how it will play out in all 10 books I’ve read. The woman has had little to no sex before him. They go slow, she love it, but still insecure. He proposes toys, and anal sex. She’s afraid but willing to try. He starts off with a finger, a plug, a dildo then himself. Now she loves it. *insert yawn* There’s no way in the world 10 men and women like the EXACT same thing sexual and have the exact same hang-ups and have not tried the exact same things. I understand that writers have preferences, but, we have to step outside of our comfort zone. I thought for sure with the two men it would be different. No. Again as a standalone, or even a few books it would have been okay. However ten books in a no difference, there’s a problem.

The writing the author did was not bad. I just lacks creativity once you’re a few books in. Once thing I have learned from many authors is, don’t force it. If you don’t have the material, don’t force it. End it. No one wants to read extra unimportant words. No one wants to read the same thing over and over again. This is why I don’t write novels and stick to poetry. Yep, I’ve tried, but it would be forcing it and I won’t do it with that or my poetry. I also don’t want to read the EXACT same 10 chapters or so from the last book. Maybe there is a group of people that do like to read it, and maybe it was so people will remember what happened if you are reading them as they are released. So, if that’s the reason, I guess I can understand it, but I might rethink how much I add. Give them a reason to read the previous books if they haven’t. I’ve never read a Eric Jerome Dickey or Nora Roberts book and had to go back and reread something. Again, that’s just me. This author specifically has the potential to do so much more. Yet she sticks to the same script, different cast.

Authors, I said all this to say, change it up. Don’t be predictable in your writings. You can stick to your genre, but 20 books shouldn’t have the same thing happening. Don’t force it if it’s not there. Spread your wings and creativity. Your readers will thank you. 😊

Weeks 7 & 8

Well here we are at the finally two weeks of training. This includes taking some live calls as well. Just the thought of it made me nervous. I was so nervous it made my stomach hurt. I know it shouldn’t be like that, but it is. I’ve been like that with every new job and/or position I’ve had since I’ve started working. You maybe wondering why did I take a customer service job when I don’t like or feel comfortable talking to people. It’s simple, I want to step out of my comfort zone, no matter how hard or uncomfortable it may be at times.

Week 7 was interesting. It wasn’t bad or great. We took in A LOT of information. We had 1 hour of live calls. I had one call in that hour. It wasn’t as bad, but hey, it was just ONE call in the hour. I still feel like it’s a lot of information to sort through and way too many windows to open. Again, I hate having a lot of windows/tabs open. I like to have as few as possible, but, I’m trying to not let that OCD part of me take over. We ended the week even more confused because we practically went back to our week three stuff. No, not the exact same stuff but close. Now we have 1 more day before they throw more calls at us on Wednesday. Because of the holiday, we worked four 10 hour days.

Week 8 arrived with more nerves. This was our final week of training. It seemed like they kept adding more and more information. To say I had brain overload just isn’t suffice at this point. However, I did make it through. How much I retained begs to differ. We didn’t take calls until Friday towards the end of the day. Most of us didn’t get a call. It was still nerve wrecking.

Our original trainer did a little graduation thing for us. It was sweet. Now Monday, today starts the real test, 100% live calls on the production floor. Am I ready? Not at all. Will I try? Yes, for the moment.

This was my eight weeks of work from home training. As you see, there were some good, bad and ugly during this time. Do I prefer in person or work from home training? I’d have to go with work from home. The pros still rest in favor of that. Thank you for taking that journey with me.

Love Languages

There are five love languages. What does that mean and what are they? Our love language is what makes us feel loved. Most people have a love language that is stronger than the others. If a perfect world, all five would be balanced. Since we are not perfect or living in a perfect world, we have to know what makes us feel loved and how to deal with other love languages.

What are the five love languages?

• Acts of service: For them, actions speak louder than words. So show them through your actions how you feel. You’ll want to do things that would make things easier.
• Physical Touch: For this person, nothing speaks more deeply than appropriate physical touch. They value the warmth that is felt from touches, hugs and kisses.
• Gifts: For these people they appreciate receiving a heartfelt gift. This will make them feel most loved. Give them from the heart. This would be visual symbols of your love for them.
• Quality Time: For this person you will need to give them your undivided attention. Yes undivided, this means no TV, phone or anything that may pull your attention away. Do not do this grungily, but with excitement.
• Words Of affirmation: You will need to use your words to affirm the love for them. Don’t say things you don’t mean though. They need to hear these words and/or phases pretty often. So don’t shy away from using them.

Any of these may take you out of your comfort zone. There’s nothing wrong with that. You can rest assured that if it something you don’t normally do and you put forth true effort then they will notice and appreciate it just that much more. Don’t be afraid to ask them. Have a conversation with them. You will need to know your love language in order to tell them what you need. If the person doesn’t really know their love language then pay a bit more attention to them to learn. Try different things. This should be in progress or already done if you’ve been with them a while. If you are going through some things, take a a look at this. You may not be expressing yourself the way they need you to. What you need may not be the same thing they need. So, if you need words of affirmation, they may need physical touch. Act accordingly.

This is just a brief rundown of the 5 love languages. What is your love language? Mine is acts of service with words of affirmation followed behind it pretty close.

Work From Home Training Weeks 5 & 6

I don’t even know where to start. I don’t want to make this a vent blog or even a how to blog. I’ll save that for later. I will say this, those 2 weeks were very eventful.

Week 5 started with mostly practice to wrap up the first part of our training. I know they say practice helps the muscle memory. Nah, I beg to differ. Then again, it could have just been me. I’m always nervous.

The second part of the week we took live calls. Not all day, just a few hours. It sucked. I had so many tech issues it drove me crazy. It made the nervousness worse. Then one of the ‘helpers’ was working my nerves with her nitpicking. She was one step away from me reporting her. I pushed through the calls and was glad they were over. Whew.

Week 6 bought in a whole new set of drama. We started our second part of training and with a new trainer. When I tell you this information got my mind all twisted like I’m in geometry class all over again, that’s how much material we went over. My mind is still boggled right now with all the information we received. I’m like the little raise they gave need to be higher with everything we’re required to take in an digest.

All the information we received, plus the drama made for a looonnnggg week. When I get a new trainer I always try to give them the benefit of doubt. I won’t get into too many details, BUT she was not it. Her lack of professionalism, threats as well as just being a poor trainer had EVERYONE on edge. You know it’s bad the know it all is so frustrated she’s in tears. If you asked me to describe the trainer I’d say she’s unknowledgeable and a bully. I understand if she’s new and still learning maybe it was her first class. What doesn’t work is being a bully and not knowing the material. No, I’m not talking about the random questions thrown at you. Those can be parking lot until you got the answer. Needless to say everyone I personally spoke with was lost and angry. On Thursday we went on our last break as normal. We come back and she’s gone. The new one cleared up so much in 2 hours compared to the 3 days and 6 hours prior.

The week definitely ended a lot better than it was going. Do I feel better about the material? Not so much. Do I understand a little more than at the start, I would have to say yes definitely. Will I continue to push though? Yes, of course. You never know, I just might like it. We will see.

Bully

I was recently watching a movie and the teenager was a bully and swore he was the one being wronged.  There’s nothing worse than a bully. Unfortunately most of us have been the receiving end  of a bully or the one doing the bullying at some point. Yes, I’m talking about a child, teenager and as an adult.

There may be times when you’re being a bully and don’t realize it. Other times, it’s pretty obvious.  As an adult, bullies comes in some many forms.  It can from your boss/supervisor at work or even a lazy co-worker who want to take the credit but not do the work. It can also be a spouse or someone you thought was a friend.  You would think we would outgrow this behavior as we reach adulthood, but we all know that’s not always the case. If the behavior isn’t corrected as a young teen or adult it can be hard to change without the proper dedication. 

As stated before, we’ve all been a victim of a bully at some point.  If not, where do you live?  In school I was typically quiet, but never bullied.  In the eighth grade I was challenged by a bully.  This was the one of two times I remembered.  She was tripping because she was scratched while we played volleyball.  Well, her threat didn’t work out for her.  The second time was ninth grade while playing hockey.  Yea, him and his bruised calf learned that lesson and left me alone.  Other than that I didn’t have any issues through school.

The work place is an entirely different story. Most of my adult working life has been in the retail work. The biggest bully I worked with at Wal-Mart was in Virginia. That man drove me crazy. Not only was he a bully, but a prejudice bully. Then at Burlington, that was more humorous than anything, but still a bully. Those girls was were like the mean girls from high school. They met their match with me though. It didn’t exactly work in their favor. Even working from home you encounter bullies. You just have deal with those a bit differently.

So when I say bullies are everywhere. I don’t know if they feel unloved growing up or at home, or maybe too loved and entitled, or just plain mean, they are there. How you deal with it totally depends on you and what you can do. Don’t forget, some don’t even realize they are being a bully. So this maybe a simple matter of a conversation. Others, may require a bit more to prove your point. Stand your ground. You can stand your ground without be violent too.

10 Self Care Tips

Self care is one of the most important things for a person. This includes taking care of your emotional and physical needs. There are many ways to that a person can take care of their self care needs. In order to know which ones will work best you need to know who you are. Some things maybe trial and error. Also you want to keep an open mind to new ideas that you have never done. Sometimes stepping outside of our comfort zone is a huge as well. So today I want to share with you a few self care tips that I’ve learned either through experience or shared from people I know.

1. Self care is not selfish. Regardless of what some may say, your personal self care is not you being selfish. It is you taking care of yourself.
2. Lift weights while you watch TV. They recommend 3-8 lbs. I haven’t personally tried this one yet, but it is on the top of my to buy list.
3. Start a Gratitude journal. This helps remind you of all the positive things in your life.
4. Don’t compare yourself to others. You should only strive to be better than the you from yesterday.
5. Sit on the side of the bed (or other quiet place) and take a few deep breaths. A lot of Fitbits have a relax feature for you breathe with.
6. Dance like crazy. You don’t have to know how to dance, just dance. Relax and enjoy the moment.
7. Take a walk. It can be as little as 5 minutes.
8. Unplug from social media. Sometimes you just need to step away.
9. Don’t be afraid to treat yourself for your accomplishes. Even small ones.
10. Ask for help when you need it. Don’t be afraid.

These are just 10 self care tips. Don’t be afraid or ashamed for taking time to take of your emotional and physically care. If you don’t do it, nobody can do it for you.

Work From Home Training Week 3 & 4

These two weeks of training was off the charts! When I tell you the hilarious and questionable things that happened was a sight to see and hear. As per the course I will not use names. If any names are used, please beware, they are fake names.

This first one happened later in week 3, but had the highest shock value. Most jobs, especially offices frown on using profanity. However things happen. Mistakes are a part of life. The guy was making sure we were in some of our systems. Right in the middle of talking to us he screams “Shut the f@%#& up!” Honey, when I feel you, everyone was shocked. If y’all could have seen everyone’s face you world have been cracking up. Granted nobody said anything. The thing was he did reach out to our trainer after and apologized. Him and the trainer both said that if someone needed to speak to them one on one to let him know. I thought that was professional of him. Now, dude said he was yelling at his CAT!?!?!?! Yes, his cat. I don’t have a cat, but was your cat really making that much noise? We let it go for the most part except for the random joke here and there. If, someone was offended, they didn’t say anything. While I don’t do the whole cursing in the work place, but we all understand that we are imperfect and things happen.

That’s how week three ended. It wasn’t a bad week. A lot of things to go over and a lot of practice exercises. Here we experiences storms almost everyday. Lost my internet one day from like 6pm-230am. So, yea, I missed some work time, but not too bad. Seems to be a lot of tech issues that week for most of the class. That’s to be expected with the tech we use now days. It’s a lot of programs and stuff to use. I will say this though. I’m glad I have a tower and now an All In One. Those AIOs seem to stay having trouble and running out of RAM. I personally thing the company to do a better job in investing in those if that’s what they want to use. Cheaper isn’t always better.

Week 4 started with us having new assistants for the trainers. This is a prime example of a company that need to re evaluate their leadership. Not the only example, but defiantly one of the top. Now, we’ve had a number of REAL leadership visit the class over the three weeks. These two come trying to show they have power. Baby, Don’t test my gangsta. I had to let them both know, don’t try my. My supervisor skill and petty level is better than yours. I’ve been fairly peaceable so far. I’m pretty good at ignoring know it alls and the just don’t want to listen because I’m entitled. When you approach someone, it’s a way to do everything. I’m not your child, I’m here working just like you. I promise it won’t make me like or respect you even more when you start talking nonsense. It’s what Walmart calls “Respect For The Individual”. You’re little bit of power means NOTHING if you don’t know how to treat people.

I do know that everyone will not like everyone or get along with everyone. That is understandable because we are all built different. I will always stand up for myself and what’s right. So, if you want me to listen to you, come at me right. This goes for anyone you approach. You want to create the best work environment for your agents. This is even more critical when you work from home. You want not just an amazing team, but a happy one too. That in it self can take your team to knew heights. This is not saying that their won’t be bad days, but the atmosphere should help balance it out, not make it that much more worse.

Other than battling the want to be bosses, the week wasn’t a hard week. Almost everyday was spent with hours of practice exercises. This marks the half way point of our training. Week 5 will be 2 days of practicing and 3 days of live experiences. Am I ready? Nah, not really. I’ll never be truly ready. Just have to do it.

Work From Home Training Week 2

This week was not too crammed with information. Not a hard week at all. However, I did have to look down at my paper a little more often so everyone wouldn’t see me rolling my eyes. The petty in me pretty stayed at bay.

I find that by this week most people are getting more comfortable with those in class, some maybe too comfortable. You also realize the ones who didn’t really use video conference tools like zoom all that much during the pandemic. How do I know? The lack of video conference etiquette. While they don’t mind you snacking during class, but make sure you’re muted. If you have the sniffles, stay muted unless you need to speak.

While all that is just etiquette. I understand working from home offers some freedoms you wouldn’t get from in person training. Still you can’t take it for granted. This behavior typically makes it bad for everyone. You just start your shift or back from break and ALWAYS have to go to the restroom less than 10 minutes of getting back is just plain disrespectful. I know we all have bodily needs and sometimes came be helped, BUT every day?

Respect the instructor and your class. No one wants to be treated as a child, but you have to do your part in this too. I’ve been in classes where you had to ask permission before you could go to the restroom. That made everyone kind of testy and on edge. With six weeks left, anything could happen.

Week three supposed to be more information. So here we go!!!