milagros317
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Ah, the photo doesn't show the insignia on your cap, just the underside of the bill.
Did you attend any Bulls games when you lived in Chicago? 😀
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- Thread starter chicago
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Ah, the photo doesn't show the insignia on your cap, just the underside of the bill.
Did you attend any Bulls games when you lived in Chicago? 😀
Haven't been to a bbq in some time, but I am definitely no vegan. I spent my last few days off sous-vide-ing steaks and salmon.
lol nah. I get to em when I get to em. Usually late at night when I'm finally done with the day's work.
I wish! Maybe someday. I visit often enough.
milagros317
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Years ago I was going out with a woman whose father was the team dentist for the New York Knicks. I got to see several of their games in Madison Square Garden for free with her. It was wasted on me, since I don't care about basketball. 😛
Hope you do get to see the Bulls in person some day.
Are you happy that your thread "Take a picture of yourself with your screen-name" has over 100 responses? 😀
Also; can't help but notice your progress on a bunch of different goals. You're looking extremely fit, you've found an awesome career path, and things are coming into place for you, which is awesome considering how much of a struggle life was just a few years ago when we were chatting it up on the phone.
I'm kinda still in the same rut, though; making very little cash money, not staying on top of my fitness, trying to figure out just what to do to stop working crappy retail gigs. What sorta advice would you lend to find the kind of life balance you seem to have found?
I'm kinda still in the same rut, though; making very little cash money, not staying on top of my fitness, trying to figure out just what to do to stop working crappy retail gigs. What sorta advice would you lend to find the kind of life balance you seem to have found?
Good, but difficult, question. It's a combination of a ton of different things. First, I had to teach myself to enjoy working hard. I try to apply it to everything I do, but especially wherever I'm employed. I look at it like it's a game or a competition. I never want anyone to think even for a second that I'm lazy, so I strive to be the hardest working muhfucka up in there. I go home with no regrets and proud to have put in a good days work. Getting into the habit of looking at it like that, makes it feel worthwhile and fulfilling. I fell into fast food, like a lot of young people do who can't afford college, or don't have the advantage of knowing anyone that would land em a better gig. I've always loved food. Good food. I loved trying new things, different cuisines. For a poor kid, it wasn't just a reward for busting my ass, but it was kind of a way to see different parts of the world without really traveling. I didn't even start cooking until this past year out of boredom and figuring that it's probably about time I know how to cook something that doesn't come with directions on the side. Much to my surprise, after some practice, I was cooking bomb food every night. It kind of made me feel like a bad ass.
Past few months, I really started thinking about learning a trade, a skill, or getting experience in something that would at least be a solid platform to build a career on. I'm not getting any younger. I thought about my prior job experience and what I like to do. I was thinking about going into cosmetology or hair or something, but I literally have zero experience in that shit aside from what I do to myself every day to blend in with the humans.
Ultimately, I figured I like to cook, I like to eat, I've worked in fast-paced, 100 degree quick service places in some of the busiest parts of the country and I was good at it. I was planning to go to culinary school, still thinking about it as there's a place nearby with a decent program for pretty cheap (fuck the cordon bleu), but by some crazy stroke of luck I landed this job as prep cook. Get to work next to a Michelin star chef sometimes and everyone on the culinary team is, of course, graduated from culinary school or currently in culinary school. I don't do a lot of complicated cooking at work. Even the proteins like the chicken, prawns, and steak have pre-sets on the oven, so it's kind of fool-proof, but my knife skills are getting pretty good, I know what to look for when it comes to quality of food or doneness of something during cooking. I'm learning real culinary type shit like mise-en-plas and how to emulsify something and of course we're all just constantly talking about great restaurants, famous chefs, recipes we've tried recently, shit they've learned in culinary school. I recently sous-vide-ed some steaks and salmon at home and after telling Chef, he said - "butter poached." So, that's my next project, then I wanna learn how to do sushi. Long story short, I've already got a good foot-hold in the culinary world and, if I wanted to, I could skip school altogether. Charlie Trotter, Tom Colicchio, Jamie Oliver, and Brooke Williamson are all famous chefs who don't have much, or any, formal culinary training - rather, they learned by working in a kitchen. The place I'm at now, is still pretty much fast-food, just elevated, so I'm not sure I want to stick around forever, but with the experience I'm gonna get and with, hopefully, a recommendation from Chef, I could probably manage a commis position somewhere.
Basically, you look at the positive qualities you have, the shit you already know, and figure what makes the most sense for you. Yeah, dreams are nice, but sometimes they don't pay the bills. It's not always possible to get enjoyment out of what you do for a living, but you work hard, stay persistent, and try to make as much money as possible so you can spend the rest of your time doing something that you do get enjoyment out of.
When it comes to life in general, I try to do good things for other people. My sisters struggling? I'll send em a few bucks. Someone at work needs a day off, I'll come in. Little shit like that, on a regular, even daily basis boosts my overall self confidence and happiness because I feel like genuinely a good person. I'm not always doing it for just anyone, but even if I do a good deed for an asshole, it shouldn't change how I feel about it. I do my best to have integrity, be honest, and in most cases do the right thing even if it's difficult. I put a huge effort into trying to stay mentally and emotionally balanced and as stress-free as possible. A little is good for you.
As far as physical fitness goes, I hate to work out and I love to eat. Last week, I threw down 2 whoppers with cheese (no onions) and two large fries and I didn't feel bad at all because my job is pretty intense - labor wise. I did the metabolism calculator and I burn around 3000 calories a day. I'm still the same weight I've been (about 10 pounds lighter than I was a few months ago after doing nothing but watching tv, eating, and laying around for a while), just I lost some fat and gained a ton of muscle. If I didn't have this job, I'd definitely be a lot softer and probably a little more grumpy cuz I wouldn't be able to eat whatever I wanted. Also, it helps I work at a healthy-food place. Not to mention, eating a lot of garbage food starts to make me feel really sluggish and gross. Throwing a few pieces of fruit, veggies, fresh herbs into your system really can make a difference sometimes.
A great smoothie that I make at work and is fuckin delicious:
Take 1/4 cup of cut up pineapples, 1/4 cup of strawberries, 3 slices of peaches, 2 basil leaves, and some lemongrass paste (if you can find it, or else you can make it at home pretty easy if you can find lemongrass). Blend that shit up with a few ice cubes and some apple juice and I swear it god, it will wake your ass up like a double-espresso and put some pep in your step.
At the end of the day, I figure the whole point of life is to try to be happy. You may not always have money or fancy shit, bad things are gonna happen, and you're gonna get down, but you adapt and overcome and sometimes you have to change the way you look at people, life, situations, and yourself. Don't underestimate the power of inaction. What's difficult today will be nothing in a matter of time if you keep at it. What you start today could lead you to amazing things in 2, 5, even 10 years. But you'll surely accomplish nothing if you don't try. Ya dig? Your life in years up until now, you will live probably two or three times over, so know that whatever shit that might be bothering you at any time, is probably temporary.
Once you look at things a bit more simply, there comes a sort of inner calm that seems to help other aspects of life fall into place and become easier.
That's the best I could come up with.
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Pete the Griphead
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Well said, Chicago...and good for you!! And it sucks you're not going to NEST this year...i'm finally overcoming my chicken-shitedness, and going...would have liked meeting you, you seem like a really awesome person.
Cheers, -Pete
Cheers, -Pete
Pete the Griphead
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OK, so your thoughts on the best invention in the past decade...& conversely, your pick for the worst.
Cheers, -Pete
Cheers, -Pete
The best? Probably GPS. The worst has to be the Flowbee.
milagros317
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Is the food in Mexican restaurants in Arizona better than in Mexican restaurants in Chicago?
It seems the ingredients are fresher here. Also fish tacos are more popular in az.
luvgirlsfeet
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What would your ultimate dream job be?
Rich.
Pete the Griphead
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Salinger's 'Nine Stories' or Vonnegut's 'Welcome to the Monkey House'? And since I'm being self absorbed, and narrowing to a few of my fav's, feel free to make your answer reflect your fav shorts collection instead.
Cheers, -P
Cheers, -P
Pete the Griphead
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sidebar question (and my fingers are crossed the answer is "NO"!)…is your angst over the Flowbee one derived from a first hand (or, rather, first 'hair') experience gone horribly awry?
I'd probably go with Vonnegut's 'Welcome to the Monkey House'. I've only read one short story by Vonnegut years ago in like middle school about some weird big brother type society where for every advantage a person was born with, they were handicapped in some way. If you were really physically attractive, you'd have to wear a mask or a disguise, for instance. If you could run fast, you'd have to wear weights around your ankles. At any rate, I much prefer that one short story of Vonnegut's to Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" so yeah.
No, I remember they used it to cut the hair of the weatherman on the local news though. He has kept his head shaved since, to my knowledge lol.
General Zod
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Any era or decade of comedy you really enjoy? 😀
I like a lot of different things and I don't always know what era or decade they fall into. I love I Love Lucy. Kat Williams is also hilarious. Eddie Murphy back in the day. Bill Cosby. Louis Black, Robin Williams. George Carlin. I love a lot of the first seasons of SNL. Anything with Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, and or John Candy. Yeah... oh and that show crank yankers was pretty funny too at times.
General Zod
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Do you miss Chicago winters? 😀
Ha, sorta. The snow and cold sucked, but you can go outside any day of the year in Chicago and you will survive provided you're of reasonable health. Arizona summers are nothing to fuck with though lol.
General Zod
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I know how AZ summers are. When the wind picks up some,and the temp is in the triple digits,it feels like when you open an oven that's been on for awhile. 😀
Did you ever listen to 97.1 The Drive when you were still in Chicago?
