drums of spent shortening

It became autumn yesterday, so the calendar in O&T said. The weather here is taking a sudden dive from almost as warm and summery as the South to 55-degree evenings. I have dusted off my old coat and sewn a button back on.

Yesterday and tonight I worked alone in the kitchen for several hours and closed the place up by myself. Working one station during a rush is one thing, but remembering what's on the heat at every location in the entire kitchen by yourself is going to raise my blood pressure very quickly. You know when you cook dinner for your family and you have to be sure to remember what's in the oven, what's simmering on the stove, to toss a salad, etc.? Imagine having to make ten completely different meals for complete strangers--and if you take longer than 15 minutes to do so your source of income could be cut short. The word "multitasking" is inappropriate for what this entails; I would choose something more fitting, such as "apocolyptic kitchen strategy". I burnt the shit out of my thumb today strategizing whether or not to pick up a plate of chips that had been in a 450-degree oven for ten minutes, and remembered my error every time I squeezed the sprayer at the dishwashing station. What I mean is that yes, working in a kitchen is difficult, but there is certainly a hint of Pavlovian science in the learning process. I'm not going to pick up the Goddamn chips again.

This is not to say that I dislike being a cook. I merely mean that I understand why it's considered a high-tension occupation. If you're into that sort of thing, it kicks ass. I actually got the first compliment on food while working alone last night. The pork T-bone was delicious! Delicious, he said! I even made the damn sauce! And I get to swirl vinegar around in rasberry sauce and do neat stuff and use an acetylene torch. Yeah.

If my paycheck that I deposited Thursday shows up in my account when I wake up, I'm going to go out and buy a digital camera, and then I'll start posting pictures. If not, I won't get a chance to go to Best Buy again until probably Wednesday.