June 24...
So, putting in the new schedule at CB didn't go over well. At all. First was the bummer that I was only open for 5 hours a night on weeknights.. then when I was asked what my new job was and I answered "cook"- the shit hit the fan. They are desperately looking for grill line. Offered me a full weeks hours- at barely above minimum wage, under all the same policies I'm currently working. I told them I would think about it, but really, I'm not too sure I want to get in deeper with the company, getting seriously short pay for the work involved, and still being on an unpredictable schedule. We shall see how it goes next week when my actual boss comes in from vacation.
On the bright side, my first day of training went great! It was pretty quiet, which was perfect for starting to learn the lingo, how stuff is done.. and geez, re-learning how to cook eggs. Yes, that's right, culinary 101 newbie cooking. But sheesh, we don't do eggs fried up over easy, medium, poached, and so on to order very often around here. And just learning how to handle a grill again is a bit of a challenge- gotta get in the wrist flips for eggs, pancakes, taters... though burgers are way easier. Eggs are the hardest to get perfect.
And super cool.. they said I would be in charge of Monday special.. and they meant it. And right now there isn't much spectacular going on with Friday special, which is the other day of the week "open" to the cook. The Friday cook told me that flat out this morning. And no one there knows how to make mac and cheese, chili, stuffed peppers.. they were very intrigued by my mention of enchilada casserole. I can also get really lazy and to a tomato soup and grilled cheese day, or a salad day, lol. So I get the security of a steady and small menu, along with the endless open options of expression with a lunch special.
Extra cool.. today was a short training day, so my work day was over at 10 AM. I came home and mowed the back yard. I mowed open a keyhole around Moons Grave- it was seriously getting swallowed up by the sanctuary. Mowed open a keyhole around the gooseberries. Mowed down the back 40 truck trail. And opened up a bit more of the alley. It was a great mowing day.
Then a smidge of shopping. Off to the Red & White for some straw bales- I want to set up a smother bed to move some irises and lillies to later in the season. Then to Menards, where I got a 2 gallon pump sprayer for 12 bucks, and three 6 packs of strawberries for 1.75 a pop. I already sprayed an intital section of the fence side of the easement drive with white vinegar. Tomorrow, depending on the weather, I will spray a section with ammonia. And probably mix up a batch of borax solution to spray all around the house to help with insects.
And can you believe it? It's already time to take an "end of season" seed tally. Sheesh.
June 30... been busy as hell with the new job, old job, and dealing with the yard... pulled all the garlic, got beets, radishes, and carrots planted in. Unfortunately, the garlic showed basal root rot, so no more using those beds for garlic for a few years. I think garlic might end up in the kennel garden this fall instead. I've been heavily growing tomatoes, peppers, squash, and beans there for a few years now, it's time to give that bed a rest.
Welcome to Growbox Hill
Welcome to Growbox HIll!
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Got another job!
Ok, so short post yesterday.. another post today. Geez, can't call me the consistency Queen, now can we?
Or maybe we can, and rather soon. I just picked up a second job. Lead cook at a very small cafe locally. Off the bat it looks perfect. Sunday and Monday with every other Saturday, 7 AM to 2 PM. Potentially plus a couple days of working dish. This is a breakfast and lunch place only, a family kind of joint. About a dozen four tops, four booths, and a half dozen seats at the counter. The back of the house is equally tiny. Two basket fryer, two burner stove, nice sized griddle. Freezers, fridges, and a standard compartment sink.
Super local, ultra hometown. Locals have their own mugs on a rack for their daily dose of caffeine. Family runs the place, and has for decades.
Kind of exciting and scary- I would be in charge of what the Monday lunch special is since I'm going to be the Monday cook. They only run lunch specials on weekdays. And check it- they do crock-pots!! So potentially I could set up a few crocks of Monday special- or do sammies, or skillits, or whatever. They also do all their own soups. So I could end up adding to that action too.
But delirious.. It's a set schedule. After months of being early dawn to possibly home at midnight, and everywhere between, with no two weeks alike, and the hazard of being called off shift at any given day or sent home early, potentially losing 18-25% of my paycheck each week.. this is a standard set of hours. All the time, every time. Never thought an early AM set schedule would look so good, lol.
And extra joy.. I can go pee when I need to. There is a terrible thing about having to make up excuses and get floor coverage on the spot because of a full bladder. I can eat or drink as needed without having to plan on it and get someone else to specially write up my food and cover and if it conforms to scheduling procedures and if a customer might or might not see me chewing or having to hide in the far back room to eat- or have to hide quick snarfs of an ounce of protein to keep up calories to make it through the day. I get a free meal for me each shift, not a percent off meal if I work X amount of hours that day and eating within X amount of time on that shift. I get to behave like a human in this place, and not just a sale robot.
Another joy.. dressing how I like. So long as I have closed shoe and hair up, it's all good. That means I can roll out of bed in the wee hours and slap on pants and tshirt, pull up hair and away I go. I can dress to be cooler when it's hot as fuck out, or bundle up. Have wet hair pulled back and curling left not done.
And I get to know people. Seriously know people, not just that glossy overview needed to pitch sales to the regulars. I might even learn about the area in ways I haven't before.
And having a problem is directly confronted and dealt with. None of this third party mediating service crap. No back biting shit.
I already made the boss aware of the weird hours of CB that I will be scheduling CB around this place and must have off at the end of July/beginning of August for Gencon. And shit, might be able to have a Saturday off for wandering around faire this year after all. Or at least some Saturdays off to get things done around here.
Damn, a second job and scheduling will make the full time job of here tighter. So two part time jobs and one full time of here isn't too big of a deal as long as I get the shit done, right? I can sleep when I'm dead. Or at least I'm trying to make sure I schedule to get some decent sleep on a regular basis.
On from new job actions.. I pickled two pints of brussels sprouts today. Hardings had a bag on clearance for 99 cents, so hey.
Or maybe we can, and rather soon. I just picked up a second job. Lead cook at a very small cafe locally. Off the bat it looks perfect. Sunday and Monday with every other Saturday, 7 AM to 2 PM. Potentially plus a couple days of working dish. This is a breakfast and lunch place only, a family kind of joint. About a dozen four tops, four booths, and a half dozen seats at the counter. The back of the house is equally tiny. Two basket fryer, two burner stove, nice sized griddle. Freezers, fridges, and a standard compartment sink.
Super local, ultra hometown. Locals have their own mugs on a rack for their daily dose of caffeine. Family runs the place, and has for decades.
Kind of exciting and scary- I would be in charge of what the Monday lunch special is since I'm going to be the Monday cook. They only run lunch specials on weekdays. And check it- they do crock-pots!! So potentially I could set up a few crocks of Monday special- or do sammies, or skillits, or whatever. They also do all their own soups. So I could end up adding to that action too.
But delirious.. It's a set schedule. After months of being early dawn to possibly home at midnight, and everywhere between, with no two weeks alike, and the hazard of being called off shift at any given day or sent home early, potentially losing 18-25% of my paycheck each week.. this is a standard set of hours. All the time, every time. Never thought an early AM set schedule would look so good, lol.
And extra joy.. I can go pee when I need to. There is a terrible thing about having to make up excuses and get floor coverage on the spot because of a full bladder. I can eat or drink as needed without having to plan on it and get someone else to specially write up my food and cover and if it conforms to scheduling procedures and if a customer might or might not see me chewing or having to hide in the far back room to eat- or have to hide quick snarfs of an ounce of protein to keep up calories to make it through the day. I get a free meal for me each shift, not a percent off meal if I work X amount of hours that day and eating within X amount of time on that shift. I get to behave like a human in this place, and not just a sale robot.
Another joy.. dressing how I like. So long as I have closed shoe and hair up, it's all good. That means I can roll out of bed in the wee hours and slap on pants and tshirt, pull up hair and away I go. I can dress to be cooler when it's hot as fuck out, or bundle up. Have wet hair pulled back and curling left not done.
And I get to know people. Seriously know people, not just that glossy overview needed to pitch sales to the regulars. I might even learn about the area in ways I haven't before.
And having a problem is directly confronted and dealt with. None of this third party mediating service crap. No back biting shit.
I already made the boss aware of the weird hours of CB that I will be scheduling CB around this place and must have off at the end of July/beginning of August for Gencon. And shit, might be able to have a Saturday off for wandering around faire this year after all. Or at least some Saturdays off to get things done around here.
Damn, a second job and scheduling will make the full time job of here tighter. So two part time jobs and one full time of here isn't too big of a deal as long as I get the shit done, right? I can sleep when I'm dead. Or at least I'm trying to make sure I schedule to get some decent sleep on a regular basis.
On from new job actions.. I pickled two pints of brussels sprouts today. Hardings had a bag on clearance for 99 cents, so hey.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
How time slips away...
I try to be good about posting regularly.. but sometimes time just slips away.
We have been having an usually wet June so far. More days of overcast and/or rain than days of clear skies and sun. Temps have been pretty good though, nice and warm during the day, and a bit cooler at night makes for great plant weather.
My Alaska peas finally and really produced. I've gotten a goodly couple cups of peas so far. The plants are finally starting to die off- I think a lot of the more overcast and not as warm days extended the season. I'm kind of getting to chomping for it now since the tomatoes are starting to get big and I need the space to walk between them! The Peitit Provedence peas are now going to seed- I picked the first few ready pods yesterday. I should have enough for a nice spring planting next year. I'm not too sure just how much I want to grow shelling peas in the future though. They taste better than anything else but.. it's a PITA shelling all those pods! I think I might give sugar snaps a shot in the fall to see how those work.
Most of the tomatoes are starting to show early blooms. Means I will need to think about bagging some branches soon. And heh, those Patio tomatoes I started indoors are finally starting to have fruit turning red. I'm not too sure I'll be repeating that experiment. Or at least not with patio tomatoes.
Rest of the crops are doing pretty well. Seriously lost the Musquee de Provence squash, planted in a bushel gourd there instead. Ended up with about 100 tomato and pepper plants in the yard! Got no clue what all I'm going to be doing with all that harvest, but I'll figure it out.
On super sucktacular news... my dehydrator died. Right in the middle of a batch of something. I wish I could afford to get an Excalibur.. but as it is, I will have to try to scrape together the penny jar and hit Dunham sports for a cheaper one- they are the only ones locally that have dehydrators, and I know I seriously seriously must have a dehydrator for later on this year once harvest starts coming in. Already bad enough that we are down a burner on the stove still- I might have to try to figure out how to use the outdoor propane burner set up just so I can get tomatoes done this year. I still haven't been able to figure out how to fix the kitchen sink.. and now I've discovered the spigot out front in the house is no longer working either, and I have no idea why.
Other sucktacular. We got a big ole coon in the yard, and he loves to pull down the humingbird feeders. So I have had to stop feeding them for now till I figure out how to set up the feeders and make them coon proof. Ah well. I'll figure something out.
In cool news, I'm awaiting a callback on an interview to get a second job. I need all the hours I can get, especially since my first job is so erratic with hours, and cuts hours without notice.
So, this is a short post.. but short is better than none I guess. I've just been so busy keeping up with everything, and trying to get as much as I can done around here, plus work, plus trying to find another job that I'm having a hard time coming up with a little bit of me time regularly to make posts. But I'll keep trying :)
We have been having an usually wet June so far. More days of overcast and/or rain than days of clear skies and sun. Temps have been pretty good though, nice and warm during the day, and a bit cooler at night makes for great plant weather.
My Alaska peas finally and really produced. I've gotten a goodly couple cups of peas so far. The plants are finally starting to die off- I think a lot of the more overcast and not as warm days extended the season. I'm kind of getting to chomping for it now since the tomatoes are starting to get big and I need the space to walk between them! The Peitit Provedence peas are now going to seed- I picked the first few ready pods yesterday. I should have enough for a nice spring planting next year. I'm not too sure just how much I want to grow shelling peas in the future though. They taste better than anything else but.. it's a PITA shelling all those pods! I think I might give sugar snaps a shot in the fall to see how those work.
Most of the tomatoes are starting to show early blooms. Means I will need to think about bagging some branches soon. And heh, those Patio tomatoes I started indoors are finally starting to have fruit turning red. I'm not too sure I'll be repeating that experiment. Or at least not with patio tomatoes.
Rest of the crops are doing pretty well. Seriously lost the Musquee de Provence squash, planted in a bushel gourd there instead. Ended up with about 100 tomato and pepper plants in the yard! Got no clue what all I'm going to be doing with all that harvest, but I'll figure it out.
On super sucktacular news... my dehydrator died. Right in the middle of a batch of something. I wish I could afford to get an Excalibur.. but as it is, I will have to try to scrape together the penny jar and hit Dunham sports for a cheaper one- they are the only ones locally that have dehydrators, and I know I seriously seriously must have a dehydrator for later on this year once harvest starts coming in. Already bad enough that we are down a burner on the stove still- I might have to try to figure out how to use the outdoor propane burner set up just so I can get tomatoes done this year. I still haven't been able to figure out how to fix the kitchen sink.. and now I've discovered the spigot out front in the house is no longer working either, and I have no idea why.
Other sucktacular. We got a big ole coon in the yard, and he loves to pull down the humingbird feeders. So I have had to stop feeding them for now till I figure out how to set up the feeders and make them coon proof. Ah well. I'll figure something out.
In cool news, I'm awaiting a callback on an interview to get a second job. I need all the hours I can get, especially since my first job is so erratic with hours, and cuts hours without notice.
So, this is a short post.. but short is better than none I guess. I've just been so busy keeping up with everything, and trying to get as much as I can done around here, plus work, plus trying to find another job that I'm having a hard time coming up with a little bit of me time regularly to make posts. But I'll keep trying :)
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