My monthly update

I've now been unemployed for two months. Its slowly starting to be at the point where I'm going to beat my record for the longest I've been unemployed. Not counting my first year in college. the longest I've been with about a job is about 2 and a half months in 2008. It was my first attempt at "re-introducing" myself back into the restaurant world. I ended up getting a job at a restaurant that was in the process of opening and the chef had pretty much gone the route of over-hiring and seemingly just randomly grabbing the first resume/application off the pile and hiring the person. Then without really giving much direction he kind of just threw people into the fire. My duration there lasted about a month. Looking back I totally admit I was probably in over my head and as such it was a learning experience for me.

One thing I've noticed about being unemployed is how boring it is. Everyone and their brother always seems to bitch and complain about work and how they wish they didn't have to work so much but I don't seem to be like that at all. Don't get me wrong I'm FAR from being a work-aholic but I can't do the whole note working thing. The first month or so I could still afford to go out and do stuff regularly with the girlfriend and then with my cousins when they were around (which in restrospect is probably why I'm so tight on cash now...oops) but even then I was bored without working. I need something to keep my mind more occupied than it is right now.

The bright side to the whole job searching thing is that I've had a few interviews lately (and have another one on Monday). Its gotten to the point where I'm having to apply at a few non-restaurant places. I applied for the Seafood clerk position at a grocery store and then I applied for the stocking postion at Target. I actually wouldn't be too opposed to working at Target because it means a discount for me when buying clothes, movies/cd/video games and/or cooking stuff. haha

Speaking of which I have been keeping myself busy cooking at home. Most days I seem to pull something out of my ass with what my parents have at the house but I have also been making stuff from the slew of cookbooks I have. The highlight of the "meals from cookbooks" for me was making fried chicken for my parents and the girlfriend. I LOVE fried chicken and the thought of possibly being able to eat alot of it this summer is kind of a draw to go back to LHC. Also I made a pretty good Guinness and Cheddar soup (with bacon of course). So at least I'm able to inspire myself a bit that way.

So yeah, I suppose thats life in a nutshell. Nothing else exciting to say really. haha

A Start of a New Year

So my prediction that I'd have a new job in a month was wrong. Here we are a month and 4 days later and I'm still looking. Obviously the job at the Brewery didn't happen. Since then I've sent out numerous resumes and have had an interview at a bakery/cafe owned by someone my dad knows. Beyond that I suppose following up on resumes is in order.

I shamelessly admit I haven't been working on job hunting as hard as I could be. Frankly after not having a "day off" the last semester of school, then working like crazy all summer it was nice to have a bit of a break. I had relatives in town for Christmas so it was nice getting to hang out with them without having to balance a work schedule. Also with the girlfriend being on Christmas break for school it was nice being able to hang out with her pretty frequently. I got to meet the rest of her extended family (her parents are divorced and remarried so she has four families) and I survived my first Christmas having to figure out presents and did pretty good. In return I got a pretty badass gift from her. AN ICE CREAM MAKER!! Only its not in stock yet so I still have to wait an undetermined amount of time. haha.

In return I of course have to make her ice cream once I do get it. Maybe I'll use it as a chance to try out bacon or prosciutto ice cream.....oh wait she reads this. Never mind. Beyond that I've just been trying to cook more and more just for the fun of it. I suppose the joy of cooking is what its all about. I seemed to have amassed quite a collection of cookbooks and its nice to make things here and there. And who knows it may inspire me to improve on/create recipes of my own. Job or no job I think it would be cool to do a "pop-up" or underground dinner sometime. And failing that just getting a bunch of friends together for a dinner would be pretty awesome.

So life goes on. I'm still alive and ticking. A new year has started and I think I'm going to have a hell of a time enjoying it

Back to the drawing board

My original plan for this post was about having a dilemma about whether or not to take ANOTHER full time job in Grand Rapids along with my part time one. My hours were getting cut at Salt of the Earth due to the fact that frankly no one wants to drive to Fennville in the middle of winter when its snowing for lunch unless they live in the town.

Well I don't have that dilemma anymore because it was taken one step further: I was let go. What is this, the third time its happened now? Its nothing to be negative about though. The managers and owners crunched numbers and the came to the conclusion that one of the better ways to save money (as opposed to losing money) was to get rid of doing lunch all together. Thus the lack of needing the lunch cook (aka me) especially when they're already tight on hours. So I was a casualty of that. I guess I can't be mad. The economy in Michigan sucks and as a business owner you do what you have to do so you don't go in the red.

Luckily for me, I already had the wheels in motion about a possible second job. I don't want to jinx myself though. Long story short its a place opening at some point in the next month in GR. I sent my resume in, the chef emailed me wanting to set up an interview, I set one up for the day after I got let go, and it went fine. Much like with Sote I did an excellent job answering questions and asking them too. I related with the chef quite well and I left feeling pretty good about it.

Now I just have to get past the Black Box on the 20th. I've heard of chef's doing that but never thought I'd be doing one for a while. Its nothing crazy though. He said he wasn't trying to trick us and that it wouldn't be a competition. He just wants to get an idea of how people work and how they cook and what not. So it should be interesting.

Gee, looking back the whole not being angry thing sounded much better when I was walking to my car on Monday. I understand the reasoning and agree with it but can't help being slightly miffed. I mean its not like I still have Christmas shopping to do, and oil change to get, and I have to afford life in general. Best cast scenario I'll have a new job in a month. But yeah, it just sucks.


On a brighter note, I get my new computer tomorrow (or Monday). Woo hoo!

Baby Steps

Back in August, roughly around the time I started sending out the batch of resumes that got me the job at Salt of the Earth I jokingly suggested that I wait till the end of October to look for a job.

The reasoning behind that was just wanting a break from life. At the time I was in at the tail end of working 9-10 hour days for 6 days a week for almost 3 months straight. Prior to that I unofficially didn't have ANY days off (the last semester of school I either worked, went to school or worked at my internship every day of the week). Likewise there were also numerous things I wanted to do. The first week or so back was the girlfriends birthday AND I got to meet her family, I wanted to hang out with friends I havn't seen in ages (and with the exception of my former roomate, our mutual friend Rob, my friends Lindsay and Patrick I STILL haven't seen a bunch of friends), and just for once I actually wanted to go to visit my sister in Colorado.

Obviously that didn't happen because I have a job and am busy with that. Ironically though quite a few places in Chicago that I was thinking about applying at (in other words I had resumes and cover letters printed out) have posted in various places that they're hiring. Go figure.

Would it be cool to possibily get jobs at those places?: Of course

Do I regret not sending resumes out?: No, as the saying goes a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush

Am I still going to try in the future?: Of course

But for now, I really am happy where I am. I cannot tell a lie though, a part of me would've loved to be back in GR, and there are a bunch of things I still need to work on getting better at at work; but I like the people I work with and I really am learning things.

And to be honest, I'd much rather stay in the area until I'm sure I'm cut out for restaurant cooking. In the past when I've talked to Chef Dunn (one of my teachers) he pointed out that some people just aren't up for being line cooks. And theres nothing wrong with that. In fact I don't really want to be a line cook my whole life. As much as it would rock to own my own restaurant, I'd be just as content having another food related job and just cooking for fun.

Once upon a time there was this girl I kinda sorta had a thing for. I never did grasp if she had a thing for me, but somehow we got to talking about the physical aspects of relationships. She pointed out that sometimes you have to take baby steps. And its something that even beyond the physical aspects of relationships applies to everything in life. Despite wanting to move away, I think figuring out my path in life is a bit more of a relevent goal.

At this point my baby steps could take me anywhere, and I'm ready so see where they go!

Life in a nutshell

I'm alive. On that note other than the girlfriend I'm not sure how many people read this....oh well.

Anyway, a few updates on how things are going.

- The new job is going great. I am working at a nice little restaurant called "Salt of the Earth" in Fennvile. I work the lunch shift, which pretty much entails setting up for lunch. Mostly working the pantry station (salads, cold sandwiches), and then cleaning up after lunch is done. Also I help here and there with prep and then help shape bread dough at the end of the shift. The people I work with are all pretty nice, The Executive chef and sous chef kick ass, and the food is pretty damn good. I'm planning on staying as long as they'll have me

- Much like other jobs there are some growing pains in terms of speed and organization, but unlike other places (*cough* Graydon's and Wildfire *cough*) I have a feeling that they will be patient with me to an extent. I just gotta start busting my butt some more and asking for help when needed

- Life living with the parents is good. Pretty much I have the basement to myself and took over the family room. I had what I jokingly refer to as a nest going. I watch TV on the couch (or on the floor) wrapped in a blanket, then have my computer on the coffee table and whatever books I'm reading on the floor. Currently my grandma is visiting but its all cleaned up. But I have a feeling it will be back soon. haha

- Things with the girlfriend are going good. For her birthday I took her to a restaurant called CityVu Bistro on top of CityFlats Hotel in Holland. Nice food there. Beyond that we've been trying to hang out once or twice a week and have been succeeding for the most part. It kinda sucks living 45 min drive apart, but thats life.

- I've been cooking more and more at home. I have about 25 or so cookbooks and finally have the money to affor groceries (or my parents money) to make stuff. I've been pumping out some pretty good food. One of these days I'll post pictures.

Thats the past month in a nutshell. I'm hoping to write more. I like writing and in light of the fact that I would like to write professionally (or at least semi-regularly), I want to get in the habit of writing more. So at the very least I'll write to stay in practice. If things up on here then hooray.

The Waiting game

I hate waiting. Don't get me wrong, I can be pretty patient when needs be (like waiting for an appointment, or for someone to pick me up); but I hate waiting when it comes to waiting in lines or waiting for something to happen.

The last couple of weeks of working at the club was horrible for the fact that I couldn't wait for it to end. I liked the work, and I liked the people I worked and lived with and for the most part I liked the area but the fact that I knew it was ending and just wanted it to get there so it would be over was annoying at hell.

Now I get to wait again to start my new job. I haven't decided if I'm going to disclose the name on the blog yet and I have yet to decide on a little "code name" for it. So for now its just "new job." I went down for an interview for it about 3 weeks before I finished at the club, I got offered the job about a week and a half later and I was supposed to start tomorrow. Only that didn't happen.

While napping today I got a phone call. I answered without really thinking about it and it was the "new job." For some reason or another the chef had me down for starting Friday and when I mentioned that it was supposed to be tomorrow he chalked it down to miscommunication or something. After getting that out of the way, he then pushed back my starting day to the 24th. So now I get to wait another 5 days. Which brings us back to the waiting game. Fun times

Other random thoughts that come to my mind:

The bright side of this all is that I'm taking the girlfriend (who is actually slightly amused that I keep referring to her as "the girlfriend") out for her birthday tomorrow so it actually gives me more time to take her out and do stuff with her. I still haven't decided where we're going. I was originally thinking about going someplace in Holland but since we have more time, I'm now contemplating maybe going to Grand Rapids. I guess I'll have to sleep on it.

Also I now have more time to work on some cooking projects. I decided about half way through the summer that I want to cook some things from the Momofuku cookbook (as well as other cookbooks). And it would be a sin NOT to start with the noodles. Only the broth for the noodles takes 7 hrs to make and that in itself is going to be a project. It will keep me busy, and assuming I do it right it will taste good. So its a win-win situation.

Finally I've had a hankering to resurrect (or I guess carry over from my myspace blog) one of my infamous picture blogs with some pictures from this summer. I probably won't post any pictures of people, but some of the food and sights and what not from this summer. Hmm...we'll see.

My interesting story (or where Timmy turns down a chance to go on a trail at one of his favorite restaurants...er bakery)

So its getting to be the end of the summer. The time where I should probably be sending out cover letters and resumes and what not. Which I actually havn't been doing. Don't get me wrong I probably will next week at some point but I've been trying to prioritize things in my head which became evident with the resume I DID send out.

Those of you who may or may not have been following my ramblings for while know that I've kind of had a hankering for moving. Why...I don't really know. I think I'm just ready for a change of scenery. I think I've kind of always resented Michigan and the Holland/GR area ever since I was pretty much forced to move here. To me my childhood memories are rooted in Blue Springs, MO a city I probably wouldn't recognize today therefore making me having a childhood connection to anything moot and void.

But yeah I've had a hankering for moving. Late last year I think I unofficially narrowed it down to one of 3 places: Chicago, NYC, or Cleveland. The first two should be self explanatory. Both are fun towns, both are big food towns. Cleveland is kind of a WTF choice. To be frank, it actually does have a good culinary scene. For better or for worse, having Michael Symon there has helped it alot. I don't care if its Detroit's little brother, I don't care about Lebron James or the Cavilers, I don't care that the Indians aren't doint well, I just care that it does have an inspiring food scene (and the Rock and roll Hall of fame.)

Since going to stage at my friend Steve's restaurant last fall I've really had a thing for NYC which leads us to where my story begins: I sent a resume into the Momofuku Milk Bar. I was browsing through the NYC Craigslist and saw a posting for a "Etc position." Pretty much it consisted of doing random baking and delivering stuff to the other Momofuku locations. I sent the resume in, and then I followed up and I heard back from Helen, one of the sous chef's. We talked a little and she said she'd be happy to have me in for a trail, but that if I were to get a job I'd probably start off as an extern due to my lack of pastry experience.

So I told the usual suspects (my parents, my sister, Steve, the girlfriend, and two teachers who never did get back to me) about it. And they all had varrying responses.

My parents pretty much gave a "non-answer." They were happy that I was able to find something and follow up on it. But also they pointed out the money issue and that it would be something that I would have to think about and work on.

My sister pretty much implied I was crazy to think about it. And the she wanted to know why I felt I needed to move. She also thought I was crazy for thinking about Cleveland. And despite not really having to defend myself, I did.

The girlfriend (who for some reason I keep refering to as "The girlfriend"). Seemed excited that I got contacted by someplace that inspired me. But after talking a bit more we realized we were both sick of the long distance relationship. I think she's happy I ultimately ended up turning it down (more on that in a second). Also I think if I were to end up going someplace not with in an hours drive of GR that I'd have to visit way more (which is understandable).

Steve did what Steve does best and gave me the insight from someone in the industry.

And so yeah, I liked getting peoples insight on it.

Unfortunately I ended up turning it down. After talking to Helen some and realizing I wouldn't make enough to comfortably live (or probably even visit home). I said thanks but no thanks. She understood my reasoning and we were both amicable about it and she even said it was cool to stay in touch. So who knows Momofuku may be an option down the road.

So yeah, I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do now.

Actually I do, I have a list of places in the GR/Holland area, and Chicago and Cleveland to send my resume to. I just have to figure out if I really do want to go someplace out of town.

Also this whole Momofuku thing has kind of opened me up to the option of pastries, which I have zero experience with (I kinda never took PAstries in school. heh)

Thats about where I stand right now. I still don't freaking know.