Hey hey everybody. It's been a minute or two since my last post, so here's hoping this is a good one. I've sure as hell have been keeping busy. Lets start from the beginning.
First off let me mention the end of John's last 3.5e DnD campaign. It was a doozy. My character, an existentialist punching machine, only manage to join the group for the last 3 sessions. In that time however we successfully saved the world, grappled dragons, and won DnD. Yeah, all of it. Gotta love critical failures, when the DM's a rollin.
With that came the first 4e campaign being run by Emory. One session in and things are looking good. The powers are a plentiful. As are the enemies. Im still unsure of how I feel about the mechanics of the party roles, but it's working out well so far. More sure to come on this.
Now, when I last left off, I was working dutifully as a dishwasher at Anthony's. Through sheer force of will and effort this is no longer the case. I made myself useful, baking bread and maintaining the chowder, when suddenly, the Garde Manger, got fed up and quit. I stepped in, rocked the house, and am now officially a line cook. w00t! The timing couldn't have been worse (sorry Chris) but it seems all has worked out for the best at Anthony's.
Now in addition to these antics, I went and got myself a 2nd job. Crazy right? Yet again, bustin my balls in a dish pit. This time at the Washington Mutual Leadership Center. I was lucky enough to to get in on this action in the AM. So now my average days starts with a 30 minute busride at 6:15 am and ends at around midnight the next when I stumble home from Anthony's.
There's about 2 hours in the middle somewhere where I ride the bus again, grab some lunch and sometimes a nap, but all in all I'm working about 75 hours a week. I have yet to come to a conclusion about whether this is good for the mind or soul yet. I figure I'll come out of this a better man. A better man, or batshit crazy, like Taxi Driver. Time will tell.
On an slightly related note, I read a great book about 2 weeks ago called Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain. Now a television show host, traveling the world to bring you the best of the world's street food, he was formerly a crack head, heroin junky, cook. I dunno if I can say I relate to his down and out past, but there were some parts of the book that definitely hit home.
"We probably got into the business in the first place because interacting with normal people in a normal workspace was impossible or unattractive to us. Many of us don't know how to behave in public - and don't care to find out"
"'Get your shit together with your fucking meez, or I come back there and fuck your culo' means 'Pardon me comrade, but I am concerned with your state of rediness for the coming rush. Is your mise-en-place properly restocked, my brother?'"
"A good line cook is a beautiful thing to watch. It's a highspeed collaboration resembling, at its best, ballet or modern dance. A properly organized line cook, one who works clean, and has 'moves' - economy of movement, technique, and speed, can preform his duties with Nijinsky like grace. Chances are he's worked his way up from the bottom rung; he remembers well what it was like to empty out grease traps, scrape plates, haul leaking garbage out to the curb at 3 am. A guy's whos come up through the ranks, knows every station, recipe, corner of the restaurant. A good line cook has loyalty, and endurance. He NEVER shows up late, NEVER calls in sick, and works, HARD, through pain and injury."
Lets just say, though not without sacrifice, I still think I'm headed in the right direction. Plus my hands a gnarled. Burns, cuts, callus's and all. I wouldn't have it any other way.
