A quandary
Yesterday I went in for an interview at The Perennial, a fancy restaurant in Lincoln Park.

I had been there before for an open call, and hadn't heard back. The manager immediately recognized me, and it was the shortest interview ever.

"Oh, I remember you. Still trying to escape Dave & Buster's?"
"Yeah."
"Anything else new?"
"Not really."

He told me I had been ruled out last time because I was deemed too inexperienced for a fine dining environment. But he said with patio season about to start there would be some more shifts to go around. He said I could come in Saturday and follow along for a brunch shift, starting at 9 AM.

Great, right? You'd think so. Except that on my way out of my last day at Dave & Buster's, I backpedaled a little and offered to stick around Fridays and Saturdays. And I volunteered to work a party on Friday night. I don't know the details, but it starts at 8 PM and it's for 400 people. Could last awhile.

The general consensus is that The Perennial is giving me a shot largely because of my persistence, so if I cancel for Saturday then I probably won't get another chance. And it's going to be difficult to get the party covered- I've got plenty of allies at Dave & Buster's who would volunteer, but pretty much everyone is going to be scheduled already. I could tell Dave & Buster's I can't do the party, but I want to keep my doors open there too. Just in case.

I've worked early shifts on little or no sleep before. I can easily phone it in. But Saturday will be a day to impress, so I'm going to need to be as alert and aware as possible, and bags under my eyes will be a turnoff.

So, anyone got any sleep advice? I'm making a concerted effort to go to bed earlier this week, so that by the time Saturday comes, getting up at 7 won't be much of a stretch. Or should I just sleep until 5 PM on Friday, so that I will have only been awake 16 hours when the brunch shift comes?

Keep in mind caffeine is not an option here; as far as I know I've been heart-condition-free for over a year now, but since it did come back after the first surgery it's best not to push my luck.