So it finally happened.

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Tivia
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So it finally happened.

Post by Tivia »

After years of what felt like slamming my face into a wall trying to get a normal job again, I feel like I am on the cusp. Basically I have been a 1099 contractor doing IT freelance for the past couple of years. Simply put, I hate being a contractor. The lack of benefits and stability for someone with 2 kids just isn't a stress level I can maintain for a long period of time. After spending the better part of a year constantly applying to one particular company (not the only one, but certainly my main focus) I received a phone call . This phone call turned into several phone calls and now suddenly a plane ticket to chicago to interview with the regional managers next friday. Based on information I know as I have a brother in law who works for them, the flight interview is really nothing more than a "warm and fuzzy" do we like you sort of interview. If this turns out to be true, then years of frustration and stress are about to come to an end.

Wish me luck, I interview at 9am cst in Chicago on Friday 2-24. After which I will be tooling around the city hunting down something good to eat before I have to jump on a plane at 2.
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Alya Mizar (Tsybil)
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Alya Mizar (Tsybil) »

Best of luck.

All I know about Chicago eateries can probably be written on a matchbook. I had some Chicago native friends who used to bring pizzas back whenever they visited, but I can't remember the name of the place.

Karu, someone NEEDS you.....
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Shirai
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Shirai »

Good luck cat!
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Tivia
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Re: So it finally happened.

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So...how did it go you wonder?

I will dispense with the evil that was the flight up there due to cancellations, delays and general asshattery that resulted in me missing dinner and not getting there until 11pm instead of my expected 6pm...

So I arrived and The interview happened first thing friday morning. I feel like it couldn't of gone better to be honest. It was an excellent interview and I should find out sometime this week if I get the job. If so I will be flying to Washington state for a week for orientation and such.

As for my time spent in Chicago, even though it was snowing it was a good trip. I did not get the chance to try a true chicago deep dish like I had hoped thanks to previous days asshattery, but I did get the chance to visit Hot Dougs. Oh..My..God...that was amazing. I naturally ate myself sick and enjoyed every second of it.

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That right there ladies and gents for a encased meat lover is a meal of beauty. Now those fries aren't ordinary fries..they are a special only sold on Fridays and Saturdays. They are potatoes fried in duck fat...yes thats right..duck fat and they were Freaking amazing. Now I typically dip my fries in mayo/mustard as I am not a big ketchup fan, but I decided that dipping these would be considered a cardinal sin against the pope. So I ate them just as they came.

Anyhow, I will post if I get the job or not when I hear. I expect to hear something wed/thurs at the latest.
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Alya Mizar (Tsybil)
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Alya Mizar (Tsybil) »

Damn.

Potatoes fried in DUCK FAT!!??!!!!

Must taste.

And congrrrats BTW.
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Sugami
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Sugami »

You know, I never thought the different type of fat would change the taste by that much :lol:
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Alya Mizar (Tsybil)
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Alya Mizar (Tsybil) »

Oh, big time.

I used to do eggs slowly fried and sauteed in lamb fat.
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Shirai
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Shirai »

There is a reason I bake most of my stuff in Olive oil.
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Tivia
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Tivia »

*nod* I do A TON of cooking and the type of oil, fat etc you cook in has a very large impact on flavor. For example, if you want the flavors of vegetables to stand out when cooking them in a pan, you use something neutral like grape seed oil. I cook with quite a bit of olive oil, but that isn't the only thing as that flavor does not work in all dishes. One of the biggest and yet easiest to avoid mistakes people make cooking is using the wrong kind of oil. They go with the oh I only use vegetable oil, or olive oil or canola oil. The problem is these oils all add different properties to the food you are cooking. I easily have 10 different kinds of cooking oil in my pantry alone.

The minimum oil types anyone who likes to cook should have on hand are Good olive oil, Grape seed oil and vegetable oil. This gives you 1 flavored oil, 1 neutral taste oil and one common ingredient oil for things like breads or recipes that call for it.

An example of how one would use a neutral oil like Grape seed oil. Do you think that when you get sauteed veggies such as "Asparagus" in a nice establishment that they cooked it the entire time in butter? Of course not, because even clarified butter (something you absolutely must learn to make if you cook as it is crazy easy) will start to burn if held at temperature too long. Butter to cook with is for extremely short cooking time things like eggs. If you need to cook much longer than a few minutes (excludes baking of course), then you want to use a neutral oil and then use the butter after the dish is done to add the flavor. This results in a much cleaner tasting dish that allows the flavors of the vegetable and butter to come through without any chance of burning and ruining it.
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Shirai
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Shirai »

I think I should cook from a book more often.
I have two pretty damn good cookbooks llaying around and sad to say I haven't cooked anything from them yet.
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Tivia »

I rarely use recipes myself, I mostly use books as a guide for idea's. Though if I am trying something completely different, I will usually follow the recipe the first time and then if I like it, I will modify it from there. That said, a book that everyone should have. http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everythi ... 263&sr=8-1 This is an amazing guide on how to prepare vegetables and it doesn't get all preachy about the whole vegetarian thing. Let me be clear, I am NOT vegetarian or anything even close. However I realized some years back that while I could do anything with meat..my vegetable cooking skills mostly consisted of...butter..salt..lemon and the odd stirfry with soy sauce. If that sounds something like your treatment of vegetables, you owe it to yourself to buy that book. Ignoring the recipes in it, there is a ton of amazing advise on the hows and whys to prepare certain vegs in specific ways and tons of ideas that you can build on.
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Alya Mizar (Tsybil)
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Alya Mizar (Tsybil) »

Three words:

Joy. Of. Cooking.

Invaluable reference work.

90% of the oils I use are olive oil and butter. The other 10% is peanut. I dislike canola and just don't use grape or the aromatics like walnut. OK, some chicken fat too, I admit.

I used to keep things like goose grease and lamb fat around. Then I couldn't afford goose or lamb. Or their fats either.
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Tivia
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Tivia »

So..circling around...

Just got off the phone a bit ago. I got the job. They will be sending me the written offer in a week or less once the class details are finalized. I will start 6 months of training around the 26th of march. Somewhere near the end of training, I will find out where I am going. Most likely I will end up in either Fla or SC. I overwhelmingly prefer Fla mostly because SC is full of ultra conservative idiots.
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Shirai »

Good to read, congratulations!
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Asphe »

Ultra-conservatives pay the best though ^-^. Especially if they aren't american.

Still drooling over the hot dougs... nothing remote like that over here.
Tivia
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Tivia »

So we spent a week in Seattle for welcoming and company introduction. Here are a couple of pictures of the types of dinner the managers took us out for.

Yep, that is piles of seafood there. Unfortunately I only had my cell phone and the pictures hardly do it justice. Suffice to say there was more seafood there than anyone could even possibly eat. And it was Amazing..it was a place called The crab Pot. Featured on Man vs food.
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Re: So it finally happened.

Post by Shirai »

If there was a like button, I would push it.
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