Ch-ch-changes

Things are going... better.

I've worked twice for AmGen, and the last time they decided to move me up to a cleaner environment. I don't know if you've ever spent time wrapped in Saran (say, 5.5 hours?) but it's not the most pleasant experience. You do get used to it, especially when the conversation leans toward "which Episode of Star Wars sucked the most, and why?"

And no supervisor.

Early July I'll be doing product demonstration (help me!) at the local Sam's Club. I'm not happy about it, but it pays more than that call center that wants me back. And I'm so not enthusiastic about that.

We are now incorporated. Hosana, hosana. What this apparently means is that we are now subject to new types of junkmail, because we don't accept credit/debit cards. That would be because we don't really operate a business as of yet. We'll see what we can do about that, but my wife is pessimistic about anything coming of it. Especially now that she can't work.

Some of my cohorts at school are trying to scrape up some money for me to buy/keep one of the mixers I wound up with, instead of selling it. Since I'd rather have the new "omigosh" one, that's the price I gave 'em. There was sweating, and some mention that I better pump out the bread-products for that kind of dough (insert rimshot here). Somebody coughed up a few bills, since I've tossed out doughnuts and various other goodies over the past two semesters, but there's something to the idea that I need to bake more for one of these beasts. I currently plan on making about 50 loaves of bread over the next semester, with maybe some pretzels tossed in.

Ambitious? Well, yes. But I refuse to think small. Heck, I'm not sure I can.

The in-laws forked over a check to cover the tuition we couldn't afford.

"Pride never helps. It only hurts." - Marcellus Wallace, Pulp Fiction

So, to sum up:
Some work
Mixer thing is coming together
school paid for.

total: no worries!

P.S. The AmGen thing is pretty long term, in that, once a month on a Saturday, they'll be doing roller bottling and sending us into the fray. They also hope to take some of us 2nd level goons and place as at 3rd level cleanliness. Which involves some medical procedure with a wire brush, as I understand it.

Sounds like fun.

Oy.

Into the fry!

I made scones again today. They were the glorious deep fried variety, stretched out, and I think some of them hollowed nicely. The first ones turned out kinda doughy in the middle (I didn't really stretch 'em. It was still early, and I didn't eat breakfast until I was done).

Sometime soon we should make pretzels. I'm out of buttermilk for the scones, and I'm feeling the urge to use up our salt supply. I think ours is kosher.

Or maybe cinnamon and sugar. Mmmmmmm...

Your Frigidaire, Nanook.

So, the question now becomes "how good of a salesman am I?"

Let me roll this back for you a little.

Right now I have 3 mixers.

Having burned out one mixer, I set upon getting a replacement mixer. It was a hand mixer, and such is what I sought. But those whose handmixer I destroyed felt that a more impressive stand mixer was to their liking. I adjusted course, told them that it would require some money on their part, and set upon purchasing one on ebay to their specifications (as close as I could get).

Once all the mixers (I intended on returning the handmixer shortly) arrived (as they did, on the same day, curse them) my neighbors decided that the stand mixer was not to their liking. They would prefer the hand mixer. Fortunately, I've got cash in hand before this shift occured...

but they are friends. Woe on to ye who would involve friends in financial dealings.

I hand over the handmixer, confident that we can sell the omega-mixer 2000 (refurbished 5 qt KitchenAid Professional (silver) for about $250, if anyone is interested. That's before shipping, mind (but shipping might be negotiable to the right people).) for what we paid and no loss, and such a deal.

The question is as I stated. I need to sell this thing, this seismic event of an appliance, within a week or be subject to the cruel percentages of Ebay.

I've not mentioned that the chief, true, reason that it was frowned upon was not really the cost, so much as that the color was silver, and not chrome. The husband had set his mind upon a Harley of the kitchen, and received something akin to a real motorcycle*.

*Before I get too much flak for that, allow me to explain that the image that Harley currently sells doesn't appeal to me much. Suddenly a CPA can feel like he's lived a life on the edge because he rides chrome and leather? Does that really make sense? Harleys are real in the sense that they go, but I don't think they've stayed true to their origins very well. I'd rather ride a BMW.

Whisked away

I sit, having done a good number of household chores, schoolwork (including 3 tests, and I have another one tomorrow morning), and consider my employment options.

Near as I can tell, I have none.

This is very sad, because I'm the only member of the family that can support us at this time, and I must do so while going to school full time.

We can't move to someplace where support would be more available.

I have, of course, registered with the local temp agencies. One of them, Volt, I have a good friend with, and they are trying (I believe), but I've never had good experiences with temp agencies.

I need to get something that schedules around, say, 4 o'clock to midnight (or 1, with meal break), and makes above $12.00/hr. That should be easy. I have comp skills, business skills (marginal, but present), presentation, engineering (also marginal), etc...

I am the scientific business equivalent of a swiss-army knife. Granted, one of the pocket ones that just doesn't have a very large blade, but I could upgrade! I'm soooo close to my BME cert that I can taste it (2 semesters of work, if I pushed), and my CS degree isn't far behind that.

"Life is pain, highness. Anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something."

"Life's not fair, is it? I'll never be king... and you'll never see the light of another day."

Of course, it's the challenges that shape us, that make us who we are.

"It's taken me all my life to figure out who I am, and I am tired."

Movies are talking to me... not a good sign.

Movie front insanity

Uwe Boll (Bloodrayne, Alone In The Dark, and others) is considered one of the worst directors of our time... quite possibly history. I've commented on him before, although not enough.

See, now he's willing to settle his disputes the way any civilized human being would. With his FISTS!

So, we need to find someone who can beat the tar out of this man, weighs <190 and >150, and doesn't mind being extremely vocal about Herr Boll's career to date.

Best of all, this would be captured on film for posterity.

Mixing it up.

Recently, having destroyed a neighbor's mixer with my enthusiasm for large quantities of dough, I had to shop for mixers. These opportunities reveal my love for kitchen gadgets more than most people realize (my wife, perhaps, suspects that she knows).

I found myself in the local outlet mall, mired deep in all tools epicurean. Doughnut cutters, blenders for parties of 12, bun warmers, and the chrome rolling pins that dance in front of me, tempting me with come-hither buttons and alluring grips. Slowly I pulled myself away, and sought the mixers that I had come for.

"Mixers," I ask with the raspy throat of one parched with a thirst that no ordinary utensil could slake.

"Right this way, sir," responds the demoness behind the desk, leading me into the darkest aisles of iniquity.

She offers up some paltry hand-mixers, knowing full well that such meager offerings would only worsen my condition. They did, and I believe the word, "bah!" escaped me.

But there, on the same shelf, with untold attachments and color, lay this. If ever there were a monster, a charybdis, seeking to sink me on my journey to economic security, this beast be it. Would that I could lay hand on the credit to purchase such a device, something that I could spend years acquiring attachments for.

Granted, there are less expensive items that appeal to me, even cheap, but such things are rarely adequate to the awesome desire, perhaps lust that I feel for the perfection that is the KitchenAid mixer.

Now, if only I could find the perfect glassware.

(Before you ask, I own one of these

A little extra credit.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!

Carbonated coffee?

That is sooooo wrong.

Thursday Thirteen

I've given up entirely on being "on time" with these things. My idea for this is musicians. Name 13 of 'em.

1) Roger Miller
2) Carl Perkins
3) Hank Williams
4) Johnny Cash
5) "Weird Al" Yankovic
6) David Bowie
7) Joan Jett
8) Jimi Hendrix
9) Tori Amos
10) Thomas Dolby
11) Elvis Presley
12) Danny Elfman
13) Billy Joel

I missed a bunch of jazz and blues artists that I like, and I hope to get to them some time.

Honorable mentions go to:
George Thorogood and Nick Cave

Hoodwinked.

Recently one of the local used bookstores went out of business, and I was there to snag some goodies.

They forked over about 40 books, but the one I'm going to focus on today is called Manifold Destiny

This is a book about cooking on car engines.

If you follow the link I offered, you'll find that it fetches roughly $50 used and $90 new. On Amazon you can also find it new for about $150. This is a 113 page book, with large print, about cooking ON car engines. During travel.

Cover price is 7.95 (originally printed in Canada, although one reviewer calls it "a uniquely American book." Props to those wacky Canucks for coming up with this and for giving the world "Barenaked Ladies". I think that makes up for making us keep Bill Shatner.). It was printed in 1989. And is now worth about twenty times its original value (in some circles).

This is a book about cooking on car engines.

I will now post one of the recipes, with a caveat: You have to know your engines hot spots (such as the manifold) pretty well, and new engines are designed in a more condensed manner, so it's hard to get as many servings onto your block). Also, wrap everything in 3 layers of foil. No more... no less. Ready?


GOOD AND SIMPLE CAJUN SHRIMP/CRAYFISH
Driving down a highway like old U.S. 90, which goes east-west through Louisiana, you'll see lots of trucks in parking lots selling shrimp, crabs, and, if the season's right, crayfish. Stop and buy some, then go to the nearest vegetable stand and get some garlic, onions, and small green hot peppers.

Now get cooking.

Distance: 35 miles
6 small green hot peppers
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 pound shrimp or crayfish tails, in their shells (if using shrimp, remove legs)

At home or on the road, remove seeds from peppers (a good reason to keep rubber gloves in your car), and mince finely, along with the onion and garlic. Spread shrimp or crayfish on heavily buttered foil and cover with the vegetables. Wrap.

Cook about 40 minutes, until shellfish are nice and pink. Cooking them in their shells adds flavor and gives you something to lick afterward.

Amazing AmGen

AmGen is a pharmaceutical company that also deals with other medical technologies. Today I temped for them.

Aside from the cleanliness, it was pretty pedestrian. A team of 4 loaded bags of bottles onto a conveyor, where people cleaner than we (well, they looked cleaner) opened the first bag and placed it on another conveyor, and finally another (yet cleaner... he didn't look human any more) opened the bags and placed them on a huge conveyor that sent bottles around in a marathon until one lucky bottle was chosen to be infected with some cell they hoped would grow for future use ("e" cells, is what I was told).

Others were impressed by the security, but it seemed fairly relaxed to me. Granted, it was a Saturday. They made sure the doors were locked and patrolled the grounds at regular intervals. Really large ventalation shafts in the roof and through the warehousing (with scaffolding reaching up to the ventalation shafts, conveniently) suggested a way in. The only reason they seemed pretty secure is that I can't imagine a reason to break in. Everything I saw was of such little retail value, or so specialized, that it would be hard to find a buyer that didn't already have one.

It was pretty clean.

Oh, and don't drink ethanol. It says so on the bottle.