One place was just a bar, but it was doing great business at 1pm ... it looked like a neighborhood bar but in a "business" neighborhood. They indicated that they weren't actually hiring but they were taking resumes (they would have been taking applications but they were out of them). The next place was an old-style restaurant up by Carson's ... I filled out their application and talked to their manager, who seemed to like me, but said that they'd already hired somebody, but would keep me in the file in case that person didn't work out.
I then hopped the El and ran up to a hotel that I had a lead on. I had "conflicting" data, saying to call this HR gal pretty much any time of the day, but the sign on the back door indiacted that they were only taking applications on Wednesdays and Fridays. I ended up calling her from the bus stop across the street and she explained the situation and had me go back over and fill out the application. It turns out that they're looking to hire a bartender for the "free bar" they do for the guests in their lobby every evening. It doesn't pay much, and company policy says no tip jar, so the tips are likely to be minimal. However, it would give me some fast-paced experience ("free" equates to a non-stop line for 2 hours!), and a decent corporate name to have on my resume. Plus, since they're a hotel, some of the possible upward mobility factors would be in play. She indicated that I was the first person that she's talked to about the job, but an ad is coming out in the Reader on Thursday, so there will be a lot of other folks applying. We spent a lot of time discussing "issues" like why I'm looking at bartending, and some of the legal stuff (this was the first time anybody's brought up the details of the B.A.S.S.E.T. certification), and I'm not sure where I stand with her.
I had gotten fairly "wind blown" on my way over there and had a hell of a time trying to whip my hair into "interview" condition before she came down to talk to me, so I figured it was time for another haircut. As I've noted previously, I've had one barber for the past 30 years ... except for the past several months when I've not been able to FIND him (he'd moved between salons in quick succession and I lost track). A month or so back I'd had my hair cut by the gal who does The Wife's, and I was not happy with it. There's a Fantastic Sam's right across the street here and I figured "how bad can they be?" and popped in there as soon as I got back from downtown. I liked the cut just fine until the gal went for the pomade ... I'm not used to having goopy stuff in my hair! ... but it looks like it will "grow out" OK and not look unkempt in 2-3 weeks.
Yeah, like you needed to hear the details of my haircut!