What would you do?

Have you seen this 20/20 series on ABC? Is pretty interesting and quite thought provoking at times. Was watching last night and there was a situation where young kids were on the street in obvious distress and very few people stopped to help. Pretty scary actually.

Last Saturday morning, the wife and myself were grocery shopping and close to being done when a very uncomfortable situation transformed right in front of our eyes. There was a couple shopping and the woman was becoming irritated with her mate to the point where profanity and F-bombs were flying from her mouth; all because the man wanted a package of chicken. It got to the point that we made the effort just to leave the immediate area, just in case something really started to happen. Besides being incredibly embarrassed for this couple, I really felt sorry for this man. I would never put up with something one speaking to me in this manner, married and in love or not. All he wanted was some chicken.

So we were shopping again this morning and I thought about last weekend and what had happened. It is so easy to become cynical in the society we are living. I really feel like I should of said something of comfort to the man. But then these thoughts start to creep in: "What if she has a gun, and she is already this mad over a package of chicken?" "What if I do say something to this man, and he takes offense to me saying something negative about his mate, even though she is treating him below a third class citizen?"

What would you do?

This takes me back 15 years ago. I was driving home from work very early on a Sunday morning, 2:00 am to be specific. A car is parked in the middle of the road and a man and woman are standing in the middle of the street yelling and screaming at each other, waving arms, and something just did not feel right. I kept on driving past. Never even looked back. I have always wondered, was this a set up? Or was there a real situation going on here and he or she needed help? Did some one else stop and get robbed or car jacked? This happened in Richmond in a not so nice neighborhood.

What would you do?

After some discussion about the show last night and what happened last weekend, the wife said, "maybe we should of acted last weekend and said something; we need to have faith and the understanding that everything will work out and we can not just sit by and while something is happening and do NOTHING." What would you do?

Chef Philanthropist?

Not Really! I am not trying to save the world! I do like to do good things when I can though and this has been a good week for helping out. The main event was participating in a dinner for Saint Francis Service Dogs here in Roanoke, Virginia. This organization trains service dogs which assist people with physical handicaps. These dogs change lives and make a difference for people who struggle for independence every day.

So here is the great thing: I was one of 7 featured chefs at this fundraising event at the Roanoke country Club on April 17. Each chef prepared a course served to 180 attendees, all in support of this service dog program. I was in charge of the hoers d' oeuvres (that is the most misspelled word in the English dictionary) and got to help serve guests from platters, explaining what I had put together. I did 4 different canapes: Roasted Fig stuffed with Mascarpone Cheese wrapped in Prosciutto ham with an blood orange balsamic glaze, Black and Blue Beef Tenderloin with Blue Cheese Mousse, Tuna Tartar on Endive with Wasabi Cream, and a Salmon BLT, Salmon Bacon with Heirloom Tomatoes and Micro Greens. All extremely simple but some great flavors going on in there! It was an honor to be associated with such an event and in company with some really great chefs! I was not worthy! But it was still great and very much fun!

My wife and I also helped out a little with Oprah's "Big Give" today. I have been promoting Earth Day all month on my web site as well as at my work place. I do believe we need to start taking steps to help preserve our planet and if all of us can start doing little things right now, BIG changes can happen in a short period of time!

"Highly Paid Teachers"

I have all of the respect for teachers!! I taught high school for a year and a half. I got this from a teacher board and thought it was great!!

Aren't You All Sick Of Those Highly Paid Teachers? Their hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work nine or ten months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do... baby-sit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage. That is right. I would give them $3.00 dollars an hour and only the hours they worked, not any of that silly planning time. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 AM to 4:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch). Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.

Now, how many do they teach in a day... maybe 30? So that's 19.5 X 30 =$585.00 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year! I am not going to pay them for any vacations. Let's see . . .. that's $585 x 180 = $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator must need batteries!)

What about those special teachers and the ones with master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage just to be fair, round it off to $7.00 an hour. That would be $7 times 6-1/2 hours times 30 children times 180 days =$245,700.00 per year. Wait a minute, there is something wrong here!

There sure is, duh! (Average teacher salary $50,000/180 days = $277 per day/30 students =$9.23/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student.) Very inexpensive babysitter and they even educate your kids! Crazy!

The high cost of Wind...

Global warming is going to be the doom of us all! Maybe or maybe not, I guess they are finding more and more evidence of this each and every day so I say lets go and have a beer, watch the sun set, and listen to some great music! I guess the conversation is coming about because it has been extremely windy here over the past few weeks. Power outages, trees falling down, forest fires, and my shed is gone.

About one month ago on a Sunday, the winds really picked up to the point where it was becoming scary. Gusts over 70 miles per hour, sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph. YIKES is all I can say. About 3:30 that afternoon, my wife took a peak out of the back door and said, " UT OH, UT OH, UT OH, UT OH, UT OH, we have a big mess"!

I asked what are you talking about and she said the shed is gone. And it was gone! The wind had lifted it off of the foundation, blown it to the neighbors fence, and crumpled it up like a beer can at a kegger on a Saturday night! I will attest to the fact that it was heavy! I had to take it apart and get ride of it my self! What a pain in the hind parts!

Granted, this old shed was well past her prime, being made of Aluminum with some steel support, but I was hoping to get one more year out of her. A similar replacement will cost about $300 and I will have to put it together my self. All I can think of is the next big wind storm! The one I really want is around the $1,500 mark (double yikes) and that is about the same amount of cash I am lacking right now. So I go on with no shed for the time being, hoping for the mother of all shed sales to happen very soon!!

In addition to all of this, I got a wonderful case of laryngitis. With the power out at the house for 4 days, and all of the right elements coming together, it has been a struggle to talk over the past month, but my co-workers have loved the break from my talking! It is almost 100% back.

HA!!

You know you have arrived when...

A co-worker came to me the other day and told me an interesting little story. She had gone to her daughters house where there was a new fish with the name, "Chef Jeff". She asked how this came about and was told this: We had purchased a fish from the local pet shop and could not decide on a name for the little one. We happened to be watching a segment on a local television station and saw Chef Jeff doing a cooking segment. So we decided to name the fish, "Chef Jeff".
I have finally made it to the big time!

Am dealing with laryngitis for the fist time in my life. I mean I really can barely even whisper. This really is a hard thing when you lively hood depends on verbal communication! I guess this came about from a fierce wind storm that whipped through here 2 weeks ago. We had forest fires, electricity was out for 4 days, and our shed literally blew away. Many others had it worse off than we did so can not really complain very much. It does stink not being able to talk!
I think my coworkers are enjoying this a little too much!

So that is about it for now. Try and have some fun and do not work so hard. Take a load off and enjoy an adult beverage or a soda if you wish. Go and cook something great!

Why would anyone want to be a chef?

Yes, I am trying to live up to my commitment to blog more for 2008! I will try to keep this going if at all possible. Eating has been ok for the week but not great. I guess the best thing is no fast food at all! Incorporating more vegetables and fruits is the biggest thing. We cleaned out the fridge and there is no more butter, cream, sugary and salty stuff. All of the best things. My wife asks why can't the things which are good for you taste like chocolate?? I have not exercised as much as I should. But have done some. Wednesday was a pretty good night. Will do a little something over the weekend.

I have come to the conclusion that I am just not a very interesting person with little valuable to actually offer or say. This does sound self defeating and a put down but that is the truth. I am not an articulate person. My aunt said she thought I would of been a world famous chef by now. These people are few and far between. The life of a chef is hard: The long hours and physical abuse we put our bodies through result in pain. The mental stress placed on a chef is just brutal and staggering. The tendency to lean on drugs and alcohol is tremendous most of the time. Divorce is rampant in the restaurant industry. Why would anyone want to be a chef?

It does get into your bones and blood and never escapes. Once bitten by this animal, you are destined to a life filled with so many of the for mentioned things. One chef I have really gained an appreciation for over the past few years is Anthony Bourdain. He is just like any other chef I have met; conceded, vain, outspoken, and a brat. I hate the fact that he smokes and is such a butt head but that is who he is. I actually have no idea if the man can actually cook, or I should say cook great or well.

But he is humorous to the core and have really enjoyed watching him on Top Chef and his travel show on the Travel Channel. If I had a better speaking voice, maybe I could of had more fame and fortune? I really think he is a good guy and is one person I would like to sit down with and have a chat some time. Even if he does come off as kind of a jerk.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to All!!

I tend not to make resolutions but this year, I am going to make a few, but instead of calling them resolutions, I will call them commitments. I will strive to commit to:
1. Blogging more often.
2. Eating healthier.
3. Exercising more often.
4. Making better use of my time, work and play.
5. Being a better husband to my wife! (This really is #1 on the list!)
I realize that most of that is cliche but this is what I am doing.

I started the year off today by sticking to my calorie count, exercising for 45 minutes, and had a great work day!

I may have never mentioned this here but Pink Floyd is my all time favorite band and musical act. Have a great appreciation for the musical and lyrical skills of David Gilmour! Do not get me wrong, Rodger Waters rocks also!! I first learned the joy of Pink Floyd at the age of 14 when I went to the "Midnight Movies" back in Richmond and saw The Wall for the first time. How many times I have seen this movie, there is no way to count. I did have the pleasure of seeing the group in 1987 in Providence, Rhode Island and would just about give my right nut to see them again! Probably not going to happen.

So my very first girlfriend wrote me a particular letter on a particular day, many years ago and concluded the letter with what I thought was the most clever quote. " Long you'll live and high you'll fly. Smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry. All you touch and all you see is all that life will ever be." I thought it was just the most wonderful thing I had ever heard and she did say she wrote it just for me. And not too long after, was listening to Dark Side of the Moon, and what did I hear??

I was devastated! But life goes on.