I agree with the price of gas sucking big time! It’s up to $4.49 for the “cheap” stuff here…crazy!

That brunch sandwich looks gross…and I’m pregnant and will eat almost everything! I don’t mind an egg sandwich or a burger, but together? No thanks.

Can’t wait to hear about the Jdate tonight.

Also, things that rocketh…having two young boys who will play together, nicely, long enough for their extremely tired mommy to read a little and take a nap. That was my little bit of Heaven yesterday!

if you factor in the conversion from litres to gallons and the exchange rate, we are paying close to $5.50/gallon for the lowest grade self-serve gas here … blah.

You have a working air-conditioner? Oh, damn, I just started drooling on my keyboard…

Me? I’m just yaying ‘cuz my whole body is sore, but sore in that “I hiked 14 miles yesterday” kinda way.

Sucketh: This heat. In CT, it’s 94 degrees now, 101 with the humidity. Oh my God, even with AC, I’m dying. And my hair is a frizzy mess!!!!

Rocketh: That the heat wave is going to break on Wednesday, and it will be a “cool” 88. Whatever!

That brunch burger donut thing is vile. Meanwhile, I’d have a bite right now.

Made your cakeballs for a friend - definite success! If I’m being honest I’d say Id have one bite of the burger…

Are you taking the pills that have three different colors in one pack? Because I tried skipping once, and it sucked!

yay for your jdate, i’m already excited for thursday to hear the update!!

Sucketh:
Gas being $5.47 a gallon in Canada, and knowing the stuff is physically in our own backyard, yet we pay so much more then in the USA. Seriously, $4 a gallon seems like a dream to me right now. It cost me $68 to fill a VW beetle last week.

That ladies brunch thing looks so gross I almost took my pregnant but to the bathroom to hurl.

Strangely I am now craving a honey dip donut.

OK: things that Suck:

1.) Heat: 98 & 99 deg days in the first week of June! We’re going to be clobbered come Aug in the South.

2.) Clueless people (as always).

3.) People unwilling, unable or just disinterested in doing their jobs.

4.) Paying such people a handsome salary to show up for their defacto part time jobs that we pay them a full salary with good benefits for.

5.) A ‘learning curve’ for new hires that evidently extends to several years, despite incentive pay to hurry them along.

6.) Being unable to do much outside due to the extreme heat. With a heat index of over 100, (with all the humidity added in), you basically can’t move much after an hour. It limits everything you do or are thinking of doing.

Things that Rock (somewhat work):

1.) AC in a new car that works well & at home that at least keeps up with it at night.

2.) Being able to indulge yourself on a car that does not get the best mileage for the brand but does pretty well. And pay cash for it. It feels good to have your first car in 20 something(?) years slightly above 150HP, but boy you’re still paying for that small relative luxury at the pump. (This is a new Vibe, with the 2.4L instead of the 1.8L. I was sick to death of the 1.9’s & 2’s I’ve been driving since I got rid of my old Volvo right after school).

3.) Having a pool and being able to almost swim in it but for the slight (OK St. Patty’s like) Green tinge. Serious Chemical imbalance, not too much on the algae, thank goodness.

4.) Living just about debt free during a financial crisis.

5.) Several new BBQ places in town. Rolling up to one gent who owns a catering service, and being known by my first name there.

6.) Getting calls for political advice from Iowa. Being told that the only reason people show up for some events is just to see me & hear what I thought of said political events. (Yeah, I’m old but evidently somewhat entertaining).

7.) Living with someone you love who can still make you laugh at the end of hard days.

Cheers & Good Luck! ‘VJ’

Has anyone actually eaten a burger on a glazed-donut bun?

That sweet-savory combination doesn’t feel natural. But are there any reports from the field?

Boo:

1) People who file for office just to cause a primary, thus inconveniencing all kinds of volunteers. Said candidate for office does not actually campaign on any issues besides being ticked at the opponent’s supporters.

2) Three-year-old who still poops on the carpet.

3) Car maintenance expenses

4) Public transit system that is clearly not being maintained properly (despite receiving massive subsidies).

5) Too d*mned much e-mail

Yay:

1) Family

2) Freedom

3) Upcoming vacation (despite the high cost of gas and hotels)

4) Being able to do some of my own car maintenance (with help from some great resources on the Internet)

5) Working with nice people and getting a bonus at work

6) Having lots of vacation days (Hilary, don’t hit me!)

About those burgers: Don’t complain. The problem of carbohydrate and cholesterol deficiency is highly underreported. OK, now try to deadpan that one!

Do you think the real good pastry entrepreneurs really went to school? What do you need, the cooking skills or the business skills?

Best of luck on your date!

The Rest of the Story.

1.) Has anyone every Tried to eat a messy, juicy & slippery Burger inside a bagel? If so, you know what happens to them. They invariably slip out the other side. Especially with greasy hot cheese to help here. It’s almost Impossible to eat as a ‘burger’, and it’s then ‘chopped steak’ and a side order of a bagel!

2.) Yeah I’m not fully enamored of that Pastry chef school idea, especially if the average pay is about $10 per hr. That already puts you behind the 8 ball with regards to any student loans. So I agree with Ron here in that sense, you probably have plenty of fine cooking & pastry skills, what you may need are a few business skills or better contacts with some ready VC cash. And that’s been getting harder to find almost everywhere in the current environment.

3.) No one asked, but the dividing line between middle class and below is about $15-$16/hr. in most places, and in LA, I strongly suspect that this underestimates the cost of housing too. (I know, don’t tell Esther!) The trouble is that restaurants can very cheaply acquire all sorts of cooks & sous chefs and train them reasonably quickly. Hence the ‘over building’ of restaurants everywhere. This is where all that immigrant labor becomes especially significant BTW. Ten dollars an hour is not a living wage, but the wages have been depressed by the arrival of so many who are perfectly willing to work very cheaply, undercutting the wages of the rest of the workforce.

4.) Ultimately you’ve got to do what you love, but you also have to make a living. Hence the central conundrum of adult life. You want to do ‘X’, but you’re doing ‘Y’ and you really can’t afford to quit. Ergo everyone starts a side business and does it from ‘home’. I can’t tell you how many businesses are being run out of our offices alone. All I know is that we’ve got some of their divided attention. At least when they’re not making other RE deals.

Just some additional thoughts here.

Cheers & Good Luck! ‘VJ’

The egg in a burger isn’t that weird. They do it a lot here in London and other places as well. They also have eggs on their pizza, which does actually weird me out! I would probably try it, just because I’m interested in the whole savoury and sweet combination (I love dipping fries in a chocolate shake), but it does look like a heart attack on a plate.

BOO:
1. Being in London when it’s overcast and cold and reading a blog where people are complaining about the heat.

2. Not being able to go to California to see my family this summer and actually experience summer weather because the cost of flights are so expensive.

Yay:
1. All jobs in the UK give a minimum of 4 weeks annual leave (if only I could afford flights)

2. My sweet boyfriend who has made me dinner every night for the last week, and put up with my winning while I was sick.

Hi. I just clicked over from betternow. I am not sure if this is even relevant to your situation but I noticed this “Learning that the average starting salary of people right out of pastry school is $10/hour.” and I just had to comment.

I have been working as a pastry chef/ artisan bread baker off and on since 1991 and I didn’t attend school. I have met many bakers who did and they are ultimately dismayed to find that they are worth way less than they had imagined when they signed on to school.

What I did was I looked for places where I could learn and get paid for it. As I built up my resume I was able to approach a well respected baker in my city and ask him if I could work as his apprentice. He hired me immediately and I learned a tremendous amount while getting paid.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck. I can tell from your other baking blog that you certainly have the passion for it so I would say you’re already half way there.
Tammy

Hilary, if you’re on a tri-phasic birth control pill, its pretty hard to skip your period. i tried ALOT when i was taking it and kept getting the same five week period results as you did. i am now on a monophasic pill, with a lower ammount of hormones and can skip my period whenever I’d like.

Stephanie, I’ve done it before with no problem. So weird!