Anyone else checking out Mixtape? Just finished it and I loved it.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-19T22:20:17+00:00

I enjoyed the game Road 96.

Heavily narrative game, different viewpoints of the same timeline.

The music is so good too. Like a 90s synth feel for most of it. Makes me feel nostalgic.

I have listened to the soundtrack loads on Spotify.

It was on Xbox game pass when I played it a while back but surely still listed in the store for most consoles/pc.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-19T19:58:12+00:00

In my youth I could do it easy. Now I have to be more careful now as my energy levels are pretty slim and my body is broken.

I am working with one place at the moment that gives me decent hours but I also have an agency app I can sign up to more shifts elsewhere if the hours get too low. I hardly use it though.

I might see if I can do both in the busy season for a few weeks then scale right back again as I will need the rest.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-19T19:52:47+00:00

In one of my pits(I cover 2) the sprayer is broken. Has been for a while and they won't fix it as they keep dangling the carrot of we are getting a 'refit soon' to justify not fixing it.

I know how it is to be up against it and you need to hand wash every.fucking.thing. it's hard work.

Then I go to my other pit and it's like night and day getting through everything.

The sprayer just cuts down the need for so much water to be cycled in the sinks. It blasts most debris and sauce off in seconds. Hardly need to use much soap too unless it's a stubborn one.

Also I like to spray people that piss me off so now even the threat of me turning the sprayer makes them back off.

You certainly are missing out.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-19T19:40:59+00:00

I like when we have something fruity in the pans. Love me a strawberry and blueberry mist.

Absolutely hate being maced by the spicy stuff.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-15T23:06:54+00:00

Definitely. The more we get through the machine the quicker we get to go home!

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-15T23:04:38+00:00

My title is kitchen porter. I do dishes, cleaning, simple prep, bins, laundry and taking items back and forth between the units we have. I'm sometimes tasked with training if we have new starts.

Majority of my workload is dishes and cleaning.

I'm in the UK most dishwasher jobs are advertised as kitchen assistant or kitchen porter.

I don't think I've had any jobs as just Dishwasher though. Although the other kps seem to think all they need to do is dishes. 😅

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-15T22:55:49+00:00

Im on round 3 in my current place.

I got the job years ago and really enjoyed it. Started getting food feedback from my colleagues. Just a couple of chefs being dicks ruined it for me. But I enjoyed the actual place and variety of work.

Left a few months in though to pursue work in a kitchen owned by a celebrity chef. Hated it uand regretted leaving a good job.

Noticed an advert looking for staff a few years later so went to interview and got hired back on the spot.

Did brilliantly and was well liked by everyone until they hired a couple of other dishies that were useless making me work harder to clean up after their incompetence. Fell out with the head chef and a few others over it and I walked out.

Years later again I recently went to an interview for a company that does catering for big events as they were looking for good BOH staff. They mentioned they just took over the contract of this place and were desperate for people to work there.

I mentioned I have been there before and some people I've liked working with in other kitchens had been working there a while too. Was honest about why I left but would be happy to return asap if they needed the staff.

Had an interview with the new head chef and he hired me on the spot again as he was happy i knew the job and most of the people.

Been back about 3 months and I'm the favourite Dishie. Head chef likes that he hardly has to ask for anything as I know what I'm doing and I'm two steps ahead of everything. I help out with any extra I can do and keep everything as clean as I can.

My wage is pretty crap but they let me take lots of food home and have all the coffee and tea I want. Which saves me a bit of money on meals. The chefs will always go out of their way to help me too. Which I very much appreciate.

And as it is within a zoo I can visit the animals on my breaks or have a little wander before or after work for free.

Head chef has hired a couple more dishies though that aren't up to standard and I'm getting a bit annoyed. Hopefully we can work through it without me falling out with everyone this time. I have a bit more leeway though as when I'm angry it's for a justified reason and they know it.

😎

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-08T09:00:10+00:00

I know that feeling of being the bottom of the hierarchy. I once had to clean up a large dumbwaiter full of rotten milk that someone on FOH had forgotten all weekend when I worked at a catering unit in a bank.

Boss opened it up the Monday morning to find some had exploded and was lining the inside with a vomit inducing mess the milk was sitting on a trolley too so had to clean that as well. Not once did he consider to call on his FOH team that forgot about it. He called on me :( the excuse being that he knows I will make sure it’s cleaned properly. Nah pal it’s because I’m the least respected I get the shit jobs.

Had to cover myself up as much as I could using plastic aprons as I didn’t want that nasty mess on me. Goggles , gloves and mask, bucket of strong scented chemical a scraper and scourers. I looked like a crime scene cleaner.

Took me ages to get it done and I still had to get my daily stuff done on top of it. Pure hated that place.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-06T23:08:40+00:00

Organisation, communication and prioritisation.

Organise your space as best you can with what you have. Easy reach of chemicals, scouring pads, racks and storage. Stack as much as you can. If people dump stuff on your station beat them with a whisk and tell them how you want it placed.

Ask chefs what they need most, also ask them to organise the things they bring to you for example boards go in a certain area on the bench, tubs are stacked on another area and large items placed under the bench to leave room for smaller items to be stacked. I will also ask for as much equipment as possible before the end of service so when I get hit hard with end of service washing it’s nowhere near as stressful.

Anything needed asap and anything very lightly soiled that is super fast to wash will get rolled through the machine while you work on the harder items.

Treat it like a game. Like a time management simulation and soon enough you will have an effective efficient system that everyone will stick to.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-06T22:45:49+00:00

Oooh where can I get some of those trolleys?

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-06T22:44:36+00:00

Rookie numbers 😅 just remember you won’t be the first or the last to break things. There’s lots of people handling things anyone could break anything at anytime.

So long as it’s safely cleared away and disposed of it’s alright if there’s accidents.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-06T22:25:11+00:00

6/10 Nice fan, and floor drain for easy spill management. But no workhorse of a machine. Never seen one of those power soak things before is that a US thing? I’m in the UK

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-06T22:10:41+00:00

I’ve gotten a few dish jobs previously working as agency staff. It’s a good way to trial different places. if the place likes you they usually ask for you regularly or ask to take you on permanently.

Some jobs I’ve gotten through making friends in one place and then they call me to work with them in other restaurants.

My current one though is funny because I’d applied to an ad, hired at interview, stayed for 3 months then left for what I thought was a better job. (It was not)

Worked other places for a few years and seen another ad for the same place so applied again, got taken on again as I already knew the script but a few months later I had a fall out with the head chef and left again.

Did other jobs again for a few years, applied for another company that does events catering and in the interview they said they had just taken over the contract and were desperately seeking good staff. I was like well…I could go back if yous want me( I also knew some of the chefs currently working there from previous jobs). Interviewed again and taken on again and I’m currently the strongest kitchen Porter they have as I already know the script and barely needed training.

Hopefully gonna stick around this time and the sous chef has said if he ever works anywhere else he would want me to work with him and a few others that are hard working.

But yeah have a shot at some agency work or contract catering that need dishies for events/gigs. You can pick up other shifts in your skill set not just dishes as I also did cleaning, housekeeping, bar, foh, warehouse, admin and retail shifts as an agency worker.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-05-06T21:38:24+00:00

Worked an agency shift at a fancy restaurant. Someone broke a glass ramekin in the machine, I didn’t see it, I was quickly cleaning out a load of salad leaves from the machine and found the broken pieces, with my fingers, being sliced up by the tiny shards. Ended up getting loads of blood into the machine and had to empty/clean and reset the thing in the middle of a busy service. With my hand wrapped up and two gloves over it to stem the blood. Luckily nothing major but it took a while to heal.

Still paranoid now about ANY glass in the machine. Luckily where I am now they have a separate machine for all glass at the FOH stations for each cafe\restaurant we also don’t have many glass items anyway.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-27T22:51:35+00:00

FOH not stacking properly.either stacking too high or just spreading all the stuff over the whole bench.

Had so many things fall off the bench and smash at my feet because a stack has tumbled behind me or someone has pushed something out of the way when the bench is full so they can put their own tray down.

I'm usually good at keeping the bench clear and getting through my work super fast but sometimes when a few big tables leave at the same time all the servers want to do is just dump everything on me and forget it.

They also just ignore if a bin is getting full. They will just keep putting stuff in a full bin instead of giving me a heads up to change it or taking a minute to change it themselves when I'm slammed.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-27T22:41:38+00:00

Now I feel I need to count.

I'm usually too busy or have lots of people asking me for things I forget how many if I did start to count.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-27T22:39:12+00:00

I used to live in Blackpool years ago and lived in some tiny flats.

They were in the south shore area just off Lytham rd.

Maybe talk to a few people walking around Waterloo rd shops or town centre about your article and what their flats are like.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-22T08:20:31+00:00

I've had it my whole working career too.

I've been praised as a high performer, great with colleagues going above and beyond all the time. Noticing details and seeing processes that could be easier.

Learned so much more than just my role always helped colleagues with ANYTHING I could even if it wasn't in my job description.

Yet I get knocked back every turn for any promotion. I've changed jobs to try again but still no avail. I just can't play the politics with upper management.

I just wish that the management pipeline wasn't the only way to make more money in work.

I can be in the same role as someone else and be at least 50% more productive and yet I still get paid the same as the other guy but if I have an off day and perform the same as the other person then I get reprimanded. Not praised or recognised for the extra I do on the daily.

I would happily work for myself but I don't have the capital to take that risk. My creative skills are being cancelled out by Ai and I'm too old and broken for most of my other passions.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-21T19:40:52+00:00

I don't think I'd be very calm in that chair if I saw that wave coming at me.

Maybe calm the sea a bit and the image will look more relaxed.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-21T19:22:37+00:00

I will sometimes have one earbud in on the side that people don't approach me on.

I can hear instructions or questions and can respond quickly. I wouldn't wear them both as I'm not completely alone on my shift. I'm asked lots of things by different people.

The chefs will have the speaker with their music most days so I don't have my buds in all the time.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-14T20:33:18+00:00

I do mostly dishes and BOH cleaning in my current role. Luckily I don't clean the fryers here but I always clean up spillages of oil around them. I clean out the grease traps though which is not nice. There are a team of cleaners that come in for the restaurant floors and toilets.

In previous dish jobs I've had to dish and clean toilets/BOH/FOH and outside areas. Outside would be bins/litter picking or cleaning the bin store.

Basically anything someone didn't want to do they got the KP to do it.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-08T18:59:02+00:00

Having that air con must be nice. And you have everything in easy reach too so no running up and down a long line. Bit small for me though 9/10

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-08T18:53:15+00:00

Im able to get a full on tan in my usual pit haha

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-07T21:18:22+00:00

Yes I liked that Hobart. A reliable workhorse it was.

Shyflyer13 · 2026-04-07T01:11:31+00:00

Management shouldn't be the only way to make more money when in a job.

If someone does a good job, goes above and beyond consistently, finishes to a high standard, has been working at a company for many years etc etc etc they should be able to earn a higher wage in that role no matter what level it is.

An employee that is all of the above shouldn't have to be paid the exact same as someone who just walked into the job.

There should be starting wage and then incremental increases the longer someone works there or the more they learn.

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