Constant state of flux

That is about it.

Now it is official.

I have the keys in my hand right now, well not right now I am typing... But the keys are within eyeshot.

I took a quick walk around the apartment, even better than I remembered. The floors are pristine, the buffet is perfect, and the bathroom is newly remodeled, a fact that I had forgotten about. Deep cast iron tub, pedestal sink, new toilet, new vanity and new plumbing. And the basement is pretty open, there is plenty of room for a little bike stand and tools without getting in anyone's way.

There is a ceiling fan in the bedroom, awesome.

Ok well so now the big work begins.

Moving my crap, something which I would have liked to start tonight, but the weather changed my plans a little. Pray to the rain gods a little for me, just so that I can start moving some of my important stuff tomorrow. I would like to have my clothes, bed and misc. bathroom goods in the apartment sooner rather than later, the quicker I can get out of this house the better. This place is just full of bad memories and sad recollections. Despite my best effort towards the contrary I cannot shake off the feeling that this was "our" place, it never felt like a place I could relax anymore. Now I have my own apartment, clean slate, fresh and new.

Also the quicker I can get the house empty, the quicker I can get people working on it in here doing the finish work, the little things that need to be done in order to rent or sell a house. Already just today the water damage on the upstairs ceiling just got finished, the texture and paint match awesome, thanks Steve.

Oh did I tell you my truck is totally awesome? Well it is...

Tonight we participated in this event Dining Out For Life at the cafe. There are a bunch of restaurants around the cities that were as well donating a percentage of their proceeds to Aids research, good cause. We were actually at the higher level, I think we are donating around 35% of our sales to the cause, really quite a bit. Somehow we were also "lucky" enough to get the key radio station sponsoring the event to park out in front of the cafe and do a live broadcast.

Needless to say we were busy.. Not just busy CRAZY busy. Not just CRAZY busy, but record breaking busy. The restaurant was really stretched to it's max, there were more people than we could efficiently serve. People were coming in faster than it was possible for us to cook the food and get it out to them, insane I tell you. I was originally going to have the day off (my only one this week) but I got called in when things got so out of control. Even when I was there working the saute and helping out everywhere I could, it still felt like we were 2 steps behind the entire night. I cannot imagine how it would have gone if I wouldn't have been there, shutter to think.

From 6 till 8 was the busiest 2 hours on record... EVER. Almost 11 years and we have not seen business comparable, that is saying something.

I was planning on doing work from home anyway, all it means is that I wasn't able to get the new menu ready as soon as I would have liked. I have a couple of ideas, but no recipes or anything written, tomorrow is going to be fun.

On a good note, I think I have someone who wants to buy the car, she is going to be talking to her bank tomorrow. That should make things a little easier to get through the period of time where I am paying both rent and mortgage. I should be ok, selling bikes has really cushioned my bank account a little. Things should be settled soon, then I can really focus and start being productive in my life again. No longer playing catch up as much as being caught up. The sun is rising on the horizon.

First the big exciting news, yes I did get myself enrolled into the university for this upcoming fall semester. As of right now I am just taking 10 credits, but I am waiting to meet with another (different) advisor in order to perhaps increase that load to the 13-16 credit range. I just want to get done as soon as possible, and if I can somehow finish in 3 semesters, that would be rocking. It is quite interesting how things tend to come full circle, when I was at the university of Montana, I was set up to be a Anthro major, and now I am going to be again. Going back into anthropology is more of a function of convieniece more than anything, I already have taken all of the pre-reqs, so heading in that direction is going to be easy.

Here is a break down of the classes I am taking so far.

First off Biogeography, fills the last of the CLA requirements which I need, both biological science, and environmental core. The class should be interesting, and I cannot imagine it to be that difficult seeing as it is a 1000 level.

The last gap in my generals which I needed was a Lit class, and I did end up signing for that Cyborg one. If nothing else the books (hope) should be easy and quick to read, and bullshitting about Sci-Fi isn't really that hard. Pop culture is so interlaced with references to cyborgs and monsters that it really has become part of our cultural lore, lots to choose from. Like I said before, I can also always just get my brother to right the papers for me, Right Jerzo?

Finally I am taking an anthro class, Material Culture. Basically how we attach ourselves to the objects in our lives. I know I could write novels about what I am going through right now, the slow laborious process of pairing down my (our) belongings from a house full to an apartment. The amount of worthless shit I am noticing that we have built up in the basement and pretty much everywhere is really staggering. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, knowing that I will soon have a more manageable amount of personal goods to deal with.

So there you have it, I am going back to school (Go Felipe!)...

I eventually want to get my Master's in something, but I am taking it one step at a time. Hell I wouldn't even be surprised if I somehow brought myself to take the LSAT, now again I am getting ahead of mysef. Like Bill Murray said "Baby Steps, Baby Steps, Baby Steps." Although that movie was annoying, I still managed to carry a little something out of it.

We had a management meeting today, a BIG management meeting, 8 hours. This was the meeting that was supposed to be a retreat up north, those plans had to be changed. The meeting was instead held at the Calh0un Be@ch Club, which from my working in clubs wasn't nearly as nice as many I have seen. I must admit I approached the entire ordeal with a certain amount of trepidation, not really convinced that we even should waste the time away from the cafe. It was in fact really productive, shows what I know.

Now as I was leaving I met a Serbian guy who lived in Missoula for the last 7 years...

Small fucking world, I broke the rust off of my Serbian language skills, he was surprised....

Alright more packing, hopefully I will get my keys here in the next couple of days.

So I just got back from the Riverview, it is Minneapolis International Film Festival Week at all the theaters around the area, including my personal favorite. The down side is that instead of the normal 3 dollar admission to see the movie, it was nine, expensive but worth supporting the arts right people? Tonight I saw this movie called "A world without thieves", Chinese I think. All about a naive kid carrying crap loads of money on a train jam packed with thieves, and two of them sort of take this kid (dumbo) under their wings and try their best to protect him. Full of martyrdom and plot twist, coupled with crazy action. It was well worth the admission.



Work was smooth and easy, like it should be. I had everything ready well before we were set to open. On new menu day that is really a big deal, or at least a lot of work. The days that I have everything done far ahead of schedule I really revel in that fact. Was there anything that stood out on this weeks menu? Well not really, though we did make this fun "grown up PBJ" which is surprisingly good. We make our own apricot mango jam with lots of (also homemade) spicy peanut butter spread, add some sprouts, a slice of cucumber or two and you got yourself a tasty sandwich. Though it still doesn't even come close to touching the numbers of the infamous Veggie Lucy, which we can hardly prep enough of.

Tomorrow is my day in queue to register for classes... I don't have a clear idea what I am going to take yet, but the "Monsters, Robots, and Cyborgs" literature class does seem if nothing else interesting. If I lack a thesis I could just drag Jerzo down to the Triple Rock and buy him a beer to spout off StarGate stories. Hell I might just have him write my papers, that is not beneath me.

So I did go ahead and get myself a pickup truck... So far awesome more than awesome. The craziest thing about it is that I swear my genitalia grew by at least 4 inches right after the title was signed over to me, crazy.

I just got back from an hour long rollerblade around the city excursion, nothing too exciting. Took the lake down to Nokomis and looped around back to the house. It was nice getting out and enjoying the weather, especially after being regaled to wearing multiple layers throughout the entire winter everytime I even thought about doing something outside. Today I was clad in only a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, again awesome.

Word of the day=awesome.

So my older bro might just be moving back to Montana here soon, unexpected. It sounds like a really good company he would be working for, so best of luck, we will miss you out here in the land of 10000 lakes. Just remember not to ride the Bianchi up those mountain passes, quicker probably to walk.

I am going to a "Support Your Troops" party tonight, we all get to dress up in our favorite patriotic gear. I got myself an I (heart) USA T and a American flag bandana, should go great with my wranglers, shit kickers and leather cowboy hat. Now all I need are a couple of American flag mudflaps on my truck and all will be good.

So I posted my Trek 720 on ebay last night...

Less that 7 hours later someone had bought it and the money was safely tucked away in my paypal account.

Crazy..

That at least will pay my first month's rent at the apartment.. Good thing.

First things first, the other day I burned my left foot. I admit it seems a little peculiar to be burning ones foot, but it happens. During the transfer of some vegetable stock from the pot to a cambro some of the boiling hot liquid just followed down the side and dripped onto my shoe. Luckily I was wearing my dansko clogs (which is what I wear most everyday) so most of my foot was saved from scalding. The just around the upper rim of the shoe is where some of the liquid found it's way in. So now I have a nice inch in diameter blister on my left foot, fun.

I got rid of about 60% of my crappy bicycle parts. I just posted a CL ad offering them free to the first person to come and take them, less than 15 minutes later this guy from Iowa drove up in his truck and we did our best to fill that sucker. Now I was pretty sure not that many people would care to take just a bunch of random bicycle parts, so I threw in a carbon fiber fork to sweeten the deal. It was an older Time fork which would work with a threaded headset, not something that would fit any bike I would ever have.

I really should be packing or something... That and I do not have any coffee... GRrr.

Oh I might buy a truck tomorrow... Kick Ass....

I am just here, quick back from the Riverview...

I got new wheels for my rollerblades today, followed by a quick 8 mile river rounder.

Going to a party tonight, nothing crazy.

Working etc.

I really am a little too busy to blog right now, but just thought I would toss this out there for anyone who might be interested.

See my House

If anyone wants better pictures or to see the place just kick me a message.

(Not that anyone who reads my blog actually is looking for a place, but you never know.)

Fat more fat and even more fat was my breakfast today.

Fried eggs, at least those were in olive oil, big hunks of brie, half an avocado, all with pumpernickle bread.

It was good, but ugh.

My buddy in Seattle pretty much offered me a job....

Getting ahead of myself again, one step at a time.

It is official, I am going to start renting the kick ass apartment I just told you about here the first of May. Admittedly if feels like a little bit of a daunting task getting things ready and packed up around my house. Paring down from an entire house to a one bedroom apartment should be fun. Lucky for me I think the majority of the books and stuff around here isn't actually mine but La.Bex, though I do come with far too many bike/computer parts. Really I should start some donations of all the little piddly crap taking up space in my basement, how much of that will I actually need again? Like a burnt out motherboard from my brothers computer, sure that will come in handy. Three 10/100 networking cards, again very useful considering all of my computers right now come with gigabit Ethernet which I don't even use, once I went wireless there was no going back.

Now that I have a nap under my belt and nothing to do until next Thursday afternoon, I think projects like that are just aching to be started.

Enough computer, time to get bizzeee.

I just got back from rollerblading 13 miles. I was going to only go about 6 but then they energizer bunny within just took hold and I could not stop. Checking the weather it is 78 right now.... No joke 78.... The best thing about this weather is that it can be expodentially measured the relative amount of clothing in relation to the temperature. As the temps go up, the clothes come off, again something you appreciate more give that everyone has been bundled up in parkas for the last 5 months.

Today was another full day, not just with business but just in general. I find that my time is stretched further away from actual cooking and more focused on managerial duties. I guess I am a manager so that does come with the territory right? I have said it before I often miss the days when my biggest concern was if a dish tasted good. Enough with the lamenting Felipe, onto blogging.

We have been having a little difficulty with our hood system lately, something is causing it to trigger off and on for no apparent reason. When the stove top is full of crap and the ovens are cooking up a storm, the last thing you want is for your air to suddenly crap out on you. We at the cafe are lucky in the regard to that we do not have a fryer or grill to worry about, that really makes it so that a restaurant cannot open, probably a health code violation to have inoperable air flow. I remember one time that happened at a restaurant I worked at a couple of years back, the whole place filled up with black smoke, we had to open the doors and get fans in there just to make it breathable. No good. Anyway so my system has been going off and on with no rhyme or reason for the last couple of weeks. Today marks the third time I have called the service company to check things out, and luckily this time he actually found something. There is a little wire that is shorting somewhere in the system, a little wire that required the hvac tech to crawl into the hoods into the service compartment and look for a junction box or some crap. Basically it would be like replacing the fuel pump on my old subaru, the engine would have to be taken near all the way apart just to access the part that needs repair. C'est la vie I guess, now what is the french for Fucking Expensive? Even if it doesn't affect me personally, I still get pissed off having to spend money on repairs, gets my goat.

Onto the meeting(s).

The only meeting that I engaged in of any consequence was with the reps of a rival warehouse company. I don't know if any of you know this, but I hate god damn sysco with a passion that is unabating, worsened by the fact that I am pretty much regaled to order some stuff from them just pisses me off even worse. Today I started the ball rolling with a different company, which provides me with such great pleasure you really would not believe it. It does all come down to price and quality though, so I am still approaching things under the guise that we may in fact not end up being able to buy anything from this company. Never hurts to check things out though right?

Aside from that what is happening?

Well the weather is freaking awesome here right now, a little windy but so warm that after I shower I will break out my shorts from deep within my closet. I think it is getting close to about 70 degrees, hard to believe. The good thing about living out here where it gets to bitch ass cold that you cannot leave the house without every extremity double wrapped is that you really appreciate the nice weather once it finally arrives. Perhaps however that is what we tell ourselves to provide some solace throughout the winter, when I was in Cali it seemed like those residents were doing a pretty good job of "appreciating" the warm weather.

Last and FOR SURE not least is this...

I checked out a new apartment yesterday, one that I got a line on from my buddy Liz. One bedroom, hardwood floors and woodwork throughout, built in buffet, decent kitchen, deep clawfoot tub, (bike) storage in the basement, dining room, living room, free laundry, off street parking, etc. Want to know the best three things about this place? First off it is 4 blocks away from work, yes just 4 blocks which equals a five minute walk. Second there is no security deposit or lease to sign, big plus. Third is that the rent is just 5 benjamins a month, cheaper than I am paying now and cheaper than pretty much anyone I know is paying for a similar place. Getting the apartment is going to really get me focus on moving on with my life, even though I feel like I am going a pretty good job of that right now, considering the circumstances. I just called and left a message for my new landlords so that I can accept the place, hopefully they will call me back.

Pretty cool eh?

I am going to make this quick as I have email upon email which needs responding.

First off work was well, I snagged myself a free 1/2 case of bananas by picking up the order from co-op partners. Do not scoff at free produce.

Got home, showered, and set up the Miyata with a under the seat bag and bottle cage. This way I can hope on and ride without having to worry about a bag being all heavy on my back. Rode around the town at a medium pace, I fought the wind yesterday so I felt I deserved a little respite today. I don't really know how far I went, but I was in the saddle for about an hour and a half. It felt good, perfect weather and feeling in relatively good shape, still a ways to go but I will get there. What really pisses me off is that I have in essence become a fair weather biker, something I had promised myself I would never become. Easy to slack on moral fortitude when given the option between driving and biking in a foot of snow, call me week.

I got back home, and for some reason had the weird inclination to go out and rollerblade around a little. Now I have not been on my skates for about 2 years, perhaps even longer. I can guess what the motivation was, and she lives in Brooklyn. So after wiping the cobwebs off (literally) I headed out on the streets down to the Mississippi. Little side note, I noticed that my blades are made with some carbon fiber, albeit more crude than they are using today. I was only skating around for about 30-45 minutes, but I can feel the burn building in my legs. Rollerblading is such a different workout than biking or running, I can tell my legs aren't used to it.

Now I am thinking about taking a little walk around the neighborhood and enjoying the sunset here in the next hour or so. Perfect way to cap off an otherwise full day.

I just found an apple on my bookcase, I have no freaking idea where it came from. Granted I just had people over, one of them may have left the apple, not sure though.

Glad I found it now instead of a couple of weeks down the road, rotting, festering and making my house smell like rancid apple cider.

I went to be really early last night, I was asleep by 10, this is after I woke up around 12:30. I spent the majority of the night looking for a bread slicer for work, that is the biggest complaint that we are getting right now is that our bread is sliced too thick. We have to slice it by hand right now, and the consistency isn't great. The problem I am having is that there really aren't any companies here in the cities that are selling bread slicers for cheaper than 4k, too f'n expensive. I found one on ebay for 1200, so that is a good possibility, especially since that price is shipped. Either way I am going to need a bread slicer in the next couple of weeks, no getting around it.

I am 1/2 of the way through my French press right now, just a few more cups and off to work I go.

Well first off the BBQ was a blast, far more turn out than I would have expected. I had barely planned things out that much but still about 25+ people showed up. Though now I have a huge pile of beer and wine bottles to be taken out with the recycling tomorrow morning. That and I perhaps overplanned a little on the pork chops, so I will probably be eating chilled chop sandwiches for the next few days. I thought I would be able to save a little cash by just buying the big ass pork loin and cutting the chops myself, and per pound I did. Really though 10 pounds of pork is a little too much considering 1/2 of the guests were veggie's.

It was nice to have a party that was just my friends, not "our" friends, different vibe. Afterward most of the people left, there were about 6 of us who just sat around and listened to records until about 2 in the morning, fun times.

I woke up around 7 am and was pretty disgusted with the place, it was just gross. Hung over and stumbling around that house I couldn't really function until everything was nice and tidy again.

Aside from that I talked to the counselor at the U, things are on track for me to return to school in the fall. The best part about it is that I should be able to finish up in just 3 semesters, if I focus and somehow can figure out how to go to school and work at the same time. I may just have to drop down to part time, in which case I might have to find myself a cheaper apartment and rent out the house. I still have yet to get my award notice from the financial aid people, so we shall see.

It is raining right now and I have lots of menu shit to get done, enough blogging for now.

Well I went for a little bike ride tonight. I wasn't planning on it, things just sort of happened. I was taking the Trek out for a spin, remember this is just the second time I have ever ridden the bike but I stopped by the cafe to drop off a flyer for my BBQ. As I was leaving I noticed about 25 spandex clad ladies on bikes waiting to go for a ride... It took me a moment to recognize some of them, but I knew a few. I was invited (by Tracy) to join the ladies for this weeks ride, how could I really say no right?

I had not really planned for going on a ride aside from just around the neighborhood to get used to my new bike, so I wasn't quite prepared. Listen to me making excuses already.

The ride wasn't bad, just over to St Paul up summit and down grand to the high bridge (Robert?). This is where I noticed that I just plain suck.. The peleton of women totally kicked my ass going up the hill, while I was left to wallow in my own self-pity knowing that I am 1/2 the bike rider I once was. A winter full of 1.5 mile commutes has broken me. After we got to the top of the hill (which was a bitch BTW) we turned down Delaware and it looked like things were going to be easier and I was starting to feel some stamina regaining and growing. Turning onto Delaware, having fun in the saddle again, shifting to a harder gear, I drop the chain inbetween the freewheel and the dropout. Now my bike is stopped, and since I was at the end of the Peleton (talking to Tracy) no one seemed to notice my mechanical difficulties. It took me about 5 minutes to fix the problem, by which time they were long gone. So I was subjected to riding back home all by my lonesome...

So sad.

I have to say some of those girls can really ride, too bad I don't think I will be allowed on another ride, they said every guy gets just one a year. Next year, I will do better, I swear.

Alright people,

Tomorrow night BBQ at my Casa...

Bring something to help out and we all shall have a grand old time.

Email me

pwerst (at) mn.rr.com

If you need more details.

Oh and I sold the Kona today... Some kid on campus who was looking for a bike.

Now I just have a basement full of more bikes I have to get rid of, too bad I forgot about the Mac college bike donation last weekend, next time right?

Just a little suggestion here people, if you want a job at least show up to the interview on time. Months down the line if you want to get unreliable to the point where I have to fire you, so be it, but at least portray the illusion of dependability. Don't walk in 15 minutes late and pretend to not be there for an interview once you see the pissed off look on my face, why bother?

Also, if you want to stop working here, give me the pleasure of at least little notice, don't just forget to show. Nothing is more annoying than expecting someone to work and having them not present themselves. All the pieces of the machine have to work or else the works gets bogged down, that is how it is. It is easy to plan in advance if I had known you didn't want to show, but waiting and waiting is no fun.

So you, aren't going to work here, and you over there are going to get fired. So there.