Constant state of flux

I didn't go bowling last night, BLB was just too dang busy. The night was instead spent over at the Herkimer, which isn't the most ideal place to be in my book, but whatever. It felt a little weird sitting at a table being the most senior one there, everyone else ranged in age from 21-23. I guess it doesn't matter that much, but it will take some getting used to.

The bike ride was nice, the superhighway was just a little icy, nothing crazy. Bit cold though.

I discovered something interesting about my iPod. I started the night with a full battery, which usually is more than enough to get me through at least the commute to and fro, given that the ride takes me usually 25 minutes each way. Tonight on the way back listening to The Hold Steady right at the part in "Multitude of Casualties" where he says "High as hell and shivering and smashed", my battery dies. I was only a couple of blocks away from my house at this time, so I didn't bother to figure out why, but I was a little baffled. After some searching, I learn that the Lithium Ion batteries that power those trendy little iPods just lose all their power under 32 degrees. But when those little molecules start to get moving again, the power is restored. So in order to keep this from happening again, I have to figure out where I can carry the iPod closer to my body, at least in the winter. Duck tape probably would work.

My chain is rusty, and getting worse every day. It sucks because I just put the new chain on a couple of weeks ago. There really isn't much you can do about it, winter in Minnesota tends to be harsh on components. Now I just need to decide if I should bother with constantly cleaning and lubing my chain as the season progresses, or just assume that it is a disposable item. I don't think I am in any danger of my chain strength getting compromised due to rust, and I ride enough that it should still move freely. So I might just let it get rusty and replace it come spring.

It was busy are work today, the money was as good as a normal Friday. Actually this whole week has been busier than normal, and more so than expected. The whole Christmas season comes to a head for us on Saturday, the orders are still coming in like crazy for cookies, pies, and all that crap. Sandy the baker who is on maternity leave came back for a couple of days, just to help out a little. Her shit is so fucking good, quite the talent there, you should see her Yule Logs, a thing of beauty. He sister (Sara) who also works there and who is equally talented told me something disturbing today. I guess Sara is going to take some of Sandy's breast milk and is going to make some soap from it. Breast milk soap? Sounded a little abnormal to me, but Sara spent the entire day trying to convince me that in fact it was quite normal. Deriving milk from animals she told me, is drastically more obscene. She might just have a point.

I spent my day helping the bakery make cookies and pies, that and cleaning/organizing the back room. No matter how much I try to keep things in order, if I don't keep up on it constantly, things just fall apart. Organizing all the mail and everything else in the office takes the most time, probably because I still don't know where everything goes.

Tracy bought us all sweet track jackets with the logo "B!rchwood Crew" on the back. If you saw it you too would want one, they are really that cool. Along with the new jacket I now have quite the plethora of branded merchandise Turtle Fur hat, sockguy socks, short and long sleeve t-shirts in various colors, bike hat, yoyo, ceramic mug, coffee mug, pint glass and last but not least thong.

Yes we have b!rchwood thongs, but they aren't available to the general public, I probably should not be saying anything about that though. We got a killer deal on them, like a buck a piece or something like that, how could you pass that up right? Too bad they don't have men's underwear, I still feel a little wired wearing a thong.

Just last week I was talking to Steven about Sous Vide, and here he is talking to the City Pages. Personally I think the more you sterile food becomes the further we get from what makes food great. Sure if you wanted to, you could dissect and disconstruct what we eat until it is almost impossible to discern what you started with. Hell there are people in Chicago who use their laser printer as much as their knives Moto. I can appreciated what they are doing, and it is true that there is quite the creative bug flying around in those circles. I just ask myself where is it all going? After the novelty of eating a glowing lightbulb spun from sugar or a piece of paper that tastes like veal, what is the allure? Perhaps I am just too much of a simpleton to appreciate such thing, but I just feel that at best this molecular gastronomy movement sweeping the world over right now is fleeting at best. There is no mass appeal, it only caters to the upper echelon of our society. We eat to subside and to live, I think we should be more concerned about how and where our food comes from than just how it is prepared. All this tinkering just seems like an exercise in futility, or just bored kids with little else to do, trying to prove something.

I still need to figure out what to get people for x-mas, so I should got off the computer now.