I tied my last cravat yesterday.
Classes at the Giant Corporate Cooking School are over. People I have seen and worked with at obscene hours of the morning on a daily basis for the better part of a year are going to stop being a part of my life. Or at least I won't be seeing them every weekday and commiserating about whatever the task du jour was. There are a few people I will keep up with, but it won't be the same.
I've been so frazzled lately (witness the half a dozen blog posts that never made it), I hadn't even given it much thought. It wasn't until we were scrubbing down the kitchen for the final time that it hit me: I won't be cooking in here anymore. And that was the tipping point, that was when I began to look around and realize, this is it.
I didn't cry, but I thought I was going to. Everyone lingered a bit longer than usual. There was hugging. We did the hokey pokey (I kid you not). And then...
Well, I had to go to work. Life rolls on, even when you want to stop for a moment.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
No one rides for free
I just went to get my oil changed because I had a coupon for a $17.99 oil change with complimentary fluid check, tire rotation, and the like. Do you know how much I paid?
$282.67
It turns out that the rubber protecting my right front drive axle was gone, vanished, simply not there and eventually it would mean that I would go to make a turn and the car would go no further. At least this is what I was told. Sadly, cars and car parts are relegated to the realms of unreal for me; I would just as soon believe I had gnomes living in the engine emitting a magical juice that makes the car run. Actually, I 'd prefer that - then I could attempt to bribe the gnomes with food.
Because I have no way to confirm or refute what I'm told about my car, and because I desperately need it to get around, I panicked and agreed to replace it immediately. I, of course, was in no way prepared to shell out nearly $300 today.
Cars break down, I know. And I should be better financially prepared to deal with emergencies.
What I would rather do is just say "to hell with it" and drive the car into the ground and on that fateful day when it does make the terrible crunching noise and stops - I wish I could be the kind of person who would just leave it there, title and keys on the drivers seat and hitchhike out of town. I wish I was the type of person who could let every material possession I have slide through my fingers like sand, never holding tight, always running free. I wish I wasn't nostalgic, I wish I didn't look back, I wish I didn't let myself become stuck between this endless adolescence and the trappings of adulthood without the paycheck. I wish, I wish, I wish.
But here I am. It hardly fixes what's wrong with the car either. Twelve years and almost 110,000 miles means things wear out and need to be replaced. Like the breaks ($250) which are getting thin. And the tires (no quote given) which don't have much tread left. And the pinion is leaking oil ($400+).
All of this leaves me with a longing for public transportation that borders on religious ferventness.
$282.67
It turns out that the rubber protecting my right front drive axle was gone, vanished, simply not there and eventually it would mean that I would go to make a turn and the car would go no further. At least this is what I was told. Sadly, cars and car parts are relegated to the realms of unreal for me; I would just as soon believe I had gnomes living in the engine emitting a magical juice that makes the car run. Actually, I 'd prefer that - then I could attempt to bribe the gnomes with food.
Because I have no way to confirm or refute what I'm told about my car, and because I desperately need it to get around, I panicked and agreed to replace it immediately. I, of course, was in no way prepared to shell out nearly $300 today.
Cars break down, I know. And I should be better financially prepared to deal with emergencies.
What I would rather do is just say "to hell with it" and drive the car into the ground and on that fateful day when it does make the terrible crunching noise and stops - I wish I could be the kind of person who would just leave it there, title and keys on the drivers seat and hitchhike out of town. I wish I was the type of person who could let every material possession I have slide through my fingers like sand, never holding tight, always running free. I wish I wasn't nostalgic, I wish I didn't look back, I wish I didn't let myself become stuck between this endless adolescence and the trappings of adulthood without the paycheck. I wish, I wish, I wish.
But here I am. It hardly fixes what's wrong with the car either. Twelve years and almost 110,000 miles means things wear out and need to be replaced. Like the breaks ($250) which are getting thin. And the tires (no quote given) which don't have much tread left. And the pinion is leaking oil ($400+).
All of this leaves me with a longing for public transportation that borders on religious ferventness.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
How sweet it is (for now)
I am halfway through my very last class at Giant Corporate Cooking School. There are only two projects left to realize before I walk out those doors for the last time ever and just keep going. The reality is beginning to set in and I know I'm going to miss it. But I'm also chomping at the bit to move onward to other things.
But here's what I've been doing:
My super girly princess torte: yellow sponge cake with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam covered in marzipan and topped with a giant marzipan rose. Not my thing, both on the cake and color palette front, but it is what it was supposed to be.
Croquembouche: a traditional French wedding cake made up of cream puffs dipped in caramel and stacked on top of each other. Legend has it that famed pastry chef Antoine Carame came up with the idea to torment future pastry students. Or maybe it was when he witnessed marrying couples kissing over mounds of sweetened buns, the idea being if they could do it without knocking any over they would have a prosperous future.
And hey, does that rose at the bottom look familiar?
Reduce, reuse, recycle people! Besides, who eats the marzipan decorations?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)