I have decided to, after all these years of being a barista, to get a certification. It turns out that I know all the things that are pertinent in the study handbook, and it would be a sad day if I failed the test. However, brushing up on the little details never hurts, and I found it to be a good training tool for me in the future when I need to hire a new body to man the bar. My goal is to take this test during Coffee Fest this year, and then work on greater certifications in the next year to enhance my work, and deepen my knowledge of coffee and espresso, specifically.

A related bit of news: I had my weekly meeting with my bosses yesterday, and they were warning me of the lean times we as a college town are about to experience. (I don't quite believe it, as this morning when I stopped in to get my coffee, we were jammin...but) They put in front of me an incentive to watch hours as much as possible, and eliminate waste everywhere I can. This translates to a staff meeting for me, to explain a few things to everyone. My incentive I get to pick, and I have chosen for them to send me to CoffeeFest and put me up in a hotel for the duration. Not extravagant, but it would be deserved, as long as I was able to make headway in these two areas of keeping costs down in these lean times. In all, though, it would be good to work on eliminating waste anytime of the year, as this saves money all the time. This is not to say that I don't direct employees to reduce waste across the board, but a focused staff meeting on such topics would a good way to address these issues.
What's funny is that now half my staff is on bX, so they just got the head's up!

ART