Birthday in the tech world

So it’s my birthday. Yes, and birthdays are the only day you can truly call your own. KEL is at the market and I got up with her. We’re babysitting the little Shit-su, so I walked him and am now too awake to sleep. But that’s okay, blogging is pretty close to sleep, right? Turn off brain, do repetitive task twitchy things, eventually you write Hamlet.

This year is a strange birthday year. On-line, that is. (The rest is great.  KEL has decorated our weeping ficus and made it the birthday tree, and there are presents.  Galore.  Crazy).  But the on-line thing is wierd.  I am getting email birthday greetings from various services, websites, etc on which I have registered for various reasons. I’m sure it’s their idea of a nice thing to do, keep the customer’s attention, but who wouldn’t see the utter cynical side of it all. “We have a program that generates a generic birthday greeting and sends it to you to make it seem like someone cares.”  Thanks, I love you too.   I dunno, it just seems like that’s the sort of thing that can make a lonely person feel even lonelier: someone might want to ignore their birthday, but yahoo or techguys.com or maybe, I dunno, classmates.com, sends them little messages “happy birthday, loser.  Thanks for being our customer.” How cruel.  “They make me feel special, but why doesn’t anyone love me?

Like I said, I’m tired, so if this makes no sense, you’ve got my excuse. But I don’t really care, because techguys.com just sent me a sweet happy birthday email. They like me, they really like me. Oh, those tech guys. Who’da thought that techies could be so loving?

Uh oh. Shit/Su is barking. I think I sense another poop. His, not mine.

So.o.o.o Co.o.o.old.

Woke up this morning at 4am to a house that was stitting around 50F.  That’s 14 degrees lower than it should be.  Furnace wouldn’t start.  It was cold.  Damn cold.  Frickin’ cold–or on Battlestar Galactica, they’d say Frackin’ cold.

So, since it was so cold, I did what any level-headed person with 4 hours broken cold sleep would do, I got up and called the furnace guys.  When they finally called me back, they told me it might take a few days to order the part they need.  Mother fracker ,Starbuck, that sucks.

This is part of an ongoing saga. You see, we had a visit from the Furnace Fairy the other day… also known as Ralph, the “home comfort specialist” from Mr.Furnace.   Ralph (whose business card, by the way, includes a URL to a “squatter” site on furnaces: mrfurnace.net) told us that their fantastic deal to get a new furnace for free when we buy a very expensive central air conditioner would cost us $8000.  apparently, the $6400 furnace for $1800 requires all sorts of other stuff.  I guess it’s still a good deal, but not what we were expecting (the problem was also that Ralph is a chachalaca…).  That was more than we expected, and really more than we could afford.   Apart from the home business, Kim isn’t working, so we’re a one income family.  Paying $8000 for the luxury of a super high-end high-efficiency furnace and central air doesn’t make sense.  I had to give my head a shake a few times this morning, reminding myself that it is a very bad idea to make decisions that will cost thousands of dollars in the desperation of a cold, sleep-deprived mental state.  A $700 part to repair a mid-efficiency, crappy furnace (which, in furnace years, is middle aged at the worst, not over the hill) versus $8000 for top of the line but more than you need right now.  The former is the better choice.  Right?

Sure, people might say, “well, you’re going to get a new furnace some day, and fixing the old one is just sending good money after bad” but when you have the $700 but not the $8000, you’re choosing between a solution now, and mortgaging your future. I already have one mortgage, I don’t need another.

Unlike some, I’m not really partial to going deep into debt just for convenience.  I do believe in buying the best you can get, and weighing all the options (ie: balance between pragmatic spending and paying more for something that will last), but we’re talking about a $7300 difference here!  Honestly, I get nervous when I have a line of credit that gets over $2000 (which is currently the case) because, contrary to what some people’s spending habits suggest, it’s better to have money in reserve than to be constantly giving the money to the bank.  People who live in deep debt baffle me.  Do you really need that 50″ flat screen TV?  Does the hockey game really look better?

While I waited for the furnace company to contact me to see if they have the part (it’s 8:30 and they haven’t called yet) I went back to the basement and kept trying to rev up the furnace.  Eventually it worked.  That is why I can type this message.  It would be too cold if it were 40F.  But it’s not.  The furnace has come through once again.  Damned pilot light.

Anyway, that was a large aside.  Here is the irony.

Today Kim is at the market.  I know, it’s Tuesday, and usually we don’t do the Tuesday market.  But Kim was told about the Toque Tuesday event that goes on today.  We thought we’d get in on some of the action of 500 people gorging themselves on pancakes.  But since this event is a fund raiser for charities that help the homeless, we thought it would be less predatory and more generous to do a charity-oriented sale.  Today Kim is selling “toque” cookies with the “Raise the Roof” logo on them.  For every 1/2 dozen sold at $5, $1 goes to the charity.  From early reports, it’s a good thing.  She might even get some promo on the radio today, and if nothing else, we’ll be able to support a good cause.

Why is that ironic?  Because after all the talk about spending money on a furnace and rampant buying in general, a true middle class conceit, today is a charity to help the homeless.  they may not have the problem of their furnace not working, but I bet they’d rather have that problem than having the problem of no furnace, and no home in which to put it…

Kim will also be taking orders for these cookies and Valentine’s Day cookies.  It could result in a lot of baking over the next week.  And it will then also result in a lot of arm and shoulder rubs from your’s truly, because all that mixing, kneading and piping is very straining on her muscles.

I have to say that it is quite satisfying to be involved in this business, if only as hero support.  You see, most of my day-to-day work is very cerebral.  My output takes time, and it is measured in pages written and essays and exams graded.  So to help out in stamping boxes, or making a new flyer, or helping spread the icing on the cookies (or, as happened over Christmas, even mixing some dough) is really quite a good feeling.  Seeing the immediate results of your labour.

I just hope that those results, for Kim, include making a bit of money.  She is a very creative person, and too often we expect the creative types to sacrifice material wellbeing for the sake of their art.

Ah, the furnace just kicked on again…

The mean season

I think the weather and the slowness of the market is really getting to us.  It’s hard for Kim to do all this work and then see little immediate results.  And I am just heartbroken when I throw out cupcakes!  We just have to keep our eyes on the ultimate goal.  By having a presence there, Kim will boost her presence in the minds of people who want a little Sweet Release.  I also think we have to remember that it’s all about constantly reevaluating the customers’ needs and wants. Let’s face it, cookies aren’t about “needs”–they’re about “wants”!

Anyway, if you are in St. Catharines or the area and reading this blog, get out to the market and have a cookie. They’re very good… and getting better all the time.  She’s been coating cream cheese sugar cookies with chocolate and then writing clever words on them.  The worst part is that they sit on our counter and I know I can’t eat them.  She had a bit of a chocolate equipment malfunction yesterday, which resulted in even better looking cookies… her piping bag broke as she was coating the cookies, and the result was some cookies completely encased in chocolate.  Mmmm.  Of course, she ended up with hot liquid chocolate on her hands, which couldn’t be all that pleasant.

It’s very snowy here today, so I wonder if anyone will go to the market.  Fingers are crossed.

off to the marche

I feel guilty not standing with Kim at the market, but I know that she feels bad when I get up with her. I have work to do and I’m doing it (although slowly) but really I want to go and hang out at the market. Is it to feel less guilty, or is it to help out? I mean, when she’s teaching I’m not going to go to help, and when I’m at work I don’t expect her to come by to do some grading. But still, the market is to me much more of a collective thing. I guess to make sure that I get my work done, I have to let go of that guilt. Because Kim feels guilty when she perceives that I’m not getting work done, and thinks it’s because of her. I feel guilty not helping out, and feel like a jerk for not getting up at 5:30 and helping her get to the market, set up, etc.  Is this what psychobabblers call a shame spiral?

Boy, you’d think we were both raised Catholic.

In any case, I know Kim will feel guilty that I didn’t go back to bed but instead got up about 6:50 and began to work. Don’t worry, Kim, I did this for me, so I could feel good about the accomplishments of the day. Unfortunately, I’m trying to plow through a journal and it is slow because one of the articles is really hard to read. I write abstracts for a US based library publisher (they publish “Historical Abstracts” which lists articles in different journals and gives a brief summary of what the article is about. When the journal doesn’t provide an abstract, they send copies to the abstracters like me who read the article and abstract it. Unfortunately, some authors are such poor writers that it takes a long time and a few reads to understand what their article is all about.)  Since I’m about 3-4 months behind in my assignment, I have to get it done. Today was the day, but this article is simply a huge barrier to completion.

So what am I doing? Blogging. (aka procrastination.)

I will bundle up and trundle to the market now to see how things are going. After that, I will return and hopefully th is article will make more sense. I have a list of things I need to do today, and this journal is but one of them…

BTW, the berry banana muffins that Kim’s added to the roster are pretty fine. They were my breakfast… mmmm

…blogbegatblogbegatblogbegatblogbegatblog…

Well, I see that Kim has linked to this blog.  How incredibly geeky we are *pushes glasses up his nose*.  Please don’t judge Sweet Release by the contents of this here blog; these are my dorky ramblings.  Her ramblings are much more clever because, while a highly educated woman, she hasn’t had her creativity wrung out of her by repeated exposure to academic writing.

The kitchen is moderately tidy today, ready for the onslaught tomorrow.  The problem with doing the market on Saturday is that Friday-night socializing is pretty much gone for us.  We might have a beer, but at times Kim needs to stay sharp, and won’t partake.  A few weeks ago, when K was taking stuff to the market that she had made earlier in the week, we actually had a really nice, early  night.  But most of the time it’s up until 1am, and then we get up again at about 6:30 (unless, like me, you quickly become poor hero support).

Today, being a self-confessed academic, I am trying to figure out how to incorporate blogging into my teaching.  I do have students doing reflection journals in some kind of hard copy–maybe I’ll give them  a blogging option.  How would that work?

Enough about me; back to the purpose of this blog.  We are trying to get a sense of what sells at the market.  Kim, the fountain of creativity, and I, a fountain of mundanity, if that’s a word, come up with random ideas on the fly.  Yesterday she made ginger bread men in boxer shorts with hearts on them, and a big sleazy grin on their face (K called it the Leisure Suit Larry smile).  Previous to that, I, when we were at our favourite bulk food store, saw little tiny heart shaped candy sprinkles and immediately thought of heart-covered boxer-short-shaped cookies.  Those are coming (I hope) so stay tuned.  Until then, if someone wants to chew on boxer shorts (get that image out of your head) they’ll have to eat a lecherous ginger bread man….

(Okay, I just found out that this blog thing has a spell checker.   That’s good, because kids these days can’t spell.)

I should be reading for work tomorrow.  It’s the big Friday afternoon fourth-year course.  It’s a good course, but it requires considerable amounts of prep.

Today after the market we went to the Merchant Ale House and sat with the brewmaster John and had a nice long yammer, which was a nice change.  Often when I see John he’s either running around like crazy, or pounding them down like crazy.  Either way it’s tough to have a good conversation with him.  Today we just sat and talked about all sorts of stuff, including, I have to confess, I told him about our dastardly plan of stealing some of his beer, turning it into yummy desserts, and then feeding them to him so that he’ll serve them at the pub.  He was actually pretty open to that idea.  We also talked about the reason the Merchant is so successful.  Really, the secret is in the management.  That leads to good staff, feeling comfortable and in turn being genuine and making the customer feel comfortable, too.

Okay, random yammering is over.  I have to do some work.

Poor hero support

I slept this morning while Kim loaded (the car) and locked (the house) and went to the market.  I feel sort of bad, but I have to go to work now and have to function, so the extra 45 minutes of broken slumber won’t be wasted.

In fact, I’d say I was almost completely useless in the preparations for the market yesterday.  I worked while she baked.  I did help with some icing, but mostly it was all Kim’s doing.  And she did a good job.  There are some nice looking cookies there today, and some tasty muffins.  And of course her wonderfully chocolate mint cupcakes.  There is a small touch of something I suggested: she took a heart-shaped cookie, made a cut in it that looks like bites, and called those the “love bites” cookies.  That sort of dark humour is a hold over from my bitter and single days, but let’s face it, neither Kim nor I is a big Valentine’s Day fan.  As she says, the only thing she likes about it is the chance to put red and pink together… the design opportunities!

How’s my work, you might ask?  Coming along well.  Yesterday I hooked up headphones to my computer so i could work while Kim worked (we have an open concept house so I can’t close the door to my office–there is no door.   Then I got through more files, and began to formulate the paper I’m working on, as well as to collect material for other projects that are coming up soon.  I have about 5 papers to write this year, and I want to do some chapters on the book.  So that will take some time; it’s nice to see I can work with a blender grinding away downstairs.

Off to the market to bring Kim some coffee before I head to work.

So I’m hero support, am I?

Saw “Sky High” the other night with KL and now she’s calling me hero support, in my capacity as her helper in the business. That’s okay. Though I always thought “hero support” was a reference to Superman’s jock.

Sometimes I subtlely remind her that I am in fact the chief financial backer of the company. But really, I enjoy my (honourary) title as president of R&D. (Honourary because I think at best I’m vice president).

We recently developed heart-shaped white chocolate bark with chopped up cinnamon hearts in it. I developed an innovative way to mold them into hearts. It’s a company secret, so I won’t tell, but I got a gold star from the teacher for my idea.

I am not at work today, at least not on campus. Instead, I am working from home, going over old files and reading about all the transgressions of beverage room operators in the Niagara region. I know, I know, far from the world of hero support for the pastry chef, but it’s a living. Research, that is.

Most of this blog is based on inside jokes and, really, allusions, so I suspect you won’tunderstand it, or find it in any way interesting. I won’t apologize. I write this blog more to give KL the occasional thrill of reading my blog and seeing that her old man boyfriend is actually blogging. How odd. I remember using the internet when Netscape was Mosaic and we searched on a system called “gopher.” Now Netscape is Firefox, and we use a system called the internet. But blogging, well, that’s a whole different thing entirely.

As if I really need another form of procrastination.

I read recently that studies show email is a primary form of procrastination. So I’ve begun to minimize my email checking, and in its place I’m blogging. It reminds me of when I selfrighteously woudl note how little time I spent watching TV, but then one day realized all that time was spent playing “Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds” on my computer. Letting one inane cathode ray tube replace another.

As the sign on my office door says: Hard work pays off in the long run, but procrastination pays off now.

Hello world!

I may well be too old for this. I find myself blogging when I should be working, and my work is important. I actually enjoy it. But I figured, well, it’s Sunday evening, I’m pouring very potent imperial stout’s down my throat, and with my lovely girlfriend upstairs doing her own blog action, I figured it was time for me to do this.

Funny that I mention my lovely GF. She is the reason I’m blogging. To be honest, I’m doing this to offer a counterpoint to her lovely blog, “sweetrelease.wordpress.com.” this is a blog created to highlight her business, “Sweet Release custom dessert designs.”

I am sort of enjoying this blog being an add-on to her’s. Kim is a tremendously creative and energetic individual but at times I think she needs a little positive reinforcement. Don’t we all? I mean, she conceptualizes and creates these lovely and tasty desserts, but doesn’t like to watch people consume them. She sells them at St. Catharine’s market, but doesn’t want to see people scarf them down. Well, I scarf them down, and I love them. So go to Sweetrelease.wordpress.com and tell her that she’s fantastic. I know she is.

So I guess the idea here is to talk about me. It’s something I’ve been rehearsing for well into 38 years. But remember, I am here as an appendage of Kim, so I will subsume my identity under hers. I am her boyfriend, try to support her business, financially back her endeavours at times, and spoon with her in the mornings. We go out for runs in the morning but don’t “run together” because I have a longer gait and faster pace than her. But we support each other–I have been running for years so I try to give tips without seeming bossy. We brainstorm good baking ideas. I came up with some good ideas she may implement for Valentines Day.

What’s it like to live with a stunning pastry chef? Well, it takes some self-discipline. The house is often laden with baked goods. Christmas was a challenge–few flat surfaces were without something baked and sweet. I built a portable shelving unit so she could stack her stuff (and so I could have my dining table back). We have just recently tossed out 2 1/2 of those green organic bags full of cookies that did not sell at the market over the holidays. But it was a pretty good Christmas. Considering that we were only at the market for 2 days, we/she did pretty well.

Today we are sitting around relaxing. A good run in the morning, then a walk up to the Fairview Mall to pick up some groceries. We’re having a good time keeping an eye on our steps on my pedometer. 12000 today, which includes my run in the morning.

Now we’re downing a series of very good Imperial Stouts, blogging and anticipating the lovely chili that she has concocted. Made with vegetarian ground beef (I’m a veggie) which will give me the nasty farts. but at least we can turn down the heat tonight and be warmed by our own expulsions.

Again, what is it like being the boyfriend of a lovely pastry chef? pretty cool. She’s creative, and loves to bake. We share time in our nice kitchen, and I get to help decorate. Sometimes my ideas actually end up on the sales table…

Hmmm….. this blogging is totally self indulgent. Let’s see what happens.

Now I have to go back to my research. In my other life, I’m a university professor, and I study liquor control in Ontario. Pretty good gig, and I can research and write with a beer in my hand. I’m not talking about crappy big-brewer beers, but lovely and lovingly made craft endeavours. Living near the border, too, means that I can hop across to Buffalo for something tastier than we can get here. Don’t be mistaken. Canadian craft beer has nothing on the micro breweries of the U S of A…