Two Weeks…

two weeks from today i go under the knife for the first time in my life for hernia surgery. you might say that i have had a charmed life to be 30 before i had surgery for the first time, and you might be right. some have surgeries as soon as they are born, some never have surgery. either way i am pretty nervous.

i am the kind of guy that freaks out at the dentist. i hate being in a bed, or chair being the center of attention, with tubes hanging out of me, or work being done to me of any kind. add to that the idea of being unconscious, naked, and having someone digging around in my guts. No Thanks!!!

then there is the recovery part. think about how many things that you do with your stomach muscles. fart, cough, sneeze, poop, walk, stand up, roll over in bed. all of these require ab muscles. so for a few weeks i am going to be hurting every time i move. yay again!!!

i know in the greater scheme of things hernia surgery is pretty tame. i also know that the doctors do so many of these that they know what they are doing and could probably do it blind folded… still doesn’t help too much.

today i went to the pre-op doctor’s appointment for my surgery where they gave me books about the possible complications with infection, recovery, reoccurrence of injury, and anesthesia. thanks doc but not helping.

then if you add that i am on a really strict diet, and the fact that nine days afterward i am supposed to attempt to drive aprox. 1200 miles to my older brother’s wedding in mass., and financial woes that arise because of all this fun!

a bit stressed out.

however i do get some time off of work. that is nice.

hopefully the time off of work, the road trip, and the atlantic ocean will be enough to relive my stress and relax my weary mind.

what was your first surgery?

what was it  like before and after?

does anyone have any tips about how to relieve stress?

thanks for reading

JPEG

long pause…

i am waiting to say something until i have something worth saying.

Finally…

In 2003 my cousin handed me a book on tape. it was called “the Gunslinger” by Stephen king. it was pretty awesome! i got hooked in immediately. it is a story of a gunslinger slash knight-errant from a different where and when, on a quest to the dark tower to save all worlds in all whens, including ours. it is a huge epic with seven books and lots of twists, turns, ups, downs, connections, and mind-boggling interwoven threads.

For the last seven years i have been listening to and/or reading this series. picking them up and putting them down. always coming back to them. i listened to them on CD as i drove my big orange Van across the united states when i moved to Tennessee. The dark tower series has come to be a very constant and important part of my life. The series for me may have replaced the lord of the rings for me as favorite epic series…

And now i am done!

last night at about 10:30pm after shooting fireworks i came home and finished. it was a decent ending. i don’t know what i expected to happen, but in the end it happened. as Stephen king says the joy of these books is the journey. i agree. awesome characters and story telling. thanks to Mr. king for the awesome journey!

now on to other things. i will miss Roland, jake, Susanna, Eddie, and especially OY, but i am glad it is finished.

any suggestions for more good epic reads?

thanks for reading,

JPEG

Sample Etiquette 2

I am writing another instalment of my sample etiquette, as promised, to address some things I may have over looked in my original post. I hope that in reading this it will make you a more complete sampler and a better customer.

Sample Domes

sometimes in the super market business we use a little tool called the sample dome. this is used for samples that do no necessarily need to be kept hot or babysat. this means that these lovely little buggers are unattended. I have witnessed many atrocities in the sample dome world. heres to hoping this helps…

at the risk of sounding like a broken record I would like to reiterate something from my last post. SAMPLES ARE NOT THERE TO FEED YOU AND/OR YOUR CHILDREN LUNCH, OR DINNER, OR ANY OTHER MEAL!!!! this means that even though a sample dome remains unattended it is still WRONG to take more than one sample just because no one is looking. just as with a “manned” sample we are trying to sell a product not feed your face for the sake of feeding your face. here is something to think about. someone (namely me), has to refill that sample dome when it gets empty. If I have to stop whatever else I am doing to fill it up every 5 minutes because a woman with 5 kids thought they just found a cheap lunch, not only will I get nothing else done all day, but I will become very irate.

if you have ever had a super market employee be rude and short with you right off of the bat when you talk to them, it is usually from dealing with customers who are rude, inconsiderate, or mean. I would like to suggest that emptying a sample dome by yourself or with the aid of your children is RUDE, INCONSIDERATE, AND MEAN. so in the future in the interest of having happy employees and a more joyful shopping trip, JUST TAKE ONE DAMN SAMPLE!!!

Another thing that you may not realise is that SAMPLE DOMES ARE NOT TRASH CANS!!!

I can not tell you how many times a day I go to check a dome and find that people have decided to throw the Empty sample cup back into the sample dome after licking the contents out. THAT IS DISGUSTING PEOPLE. but guess what. that is not the worst. I have seen people throw Cheerios that their kid dropped on the floor in them, receipts, used kleenex, half-eaten samples, partially eaten cookies from the bakery, and on an on. when you do this everything inside of the sample dome becomes garbage . I will not in good conscience ever feed people food that has been next to garbage! therefore I have to then dump, (ie waste) everything inside the dome. wash it out and start completely from scratch. THIS IS ANNOYING!!!! in pretty much every grocery store I have ever been in they have supplied trash cans throughout the store. how about you put your crap in there instead of where people are grabbing food, K? thanks.

SIGNS

There is one thing about “manned” samples that I forgot to mention in my last post. this actually applies to both “manned” and “domed” samples. the SIGN. Every manned sample station should have a sign that has been lovingly and artfully crafted by someone. it is there to impart some information to you.

• What the sample is
• where you can find it to buy it
• how much it costs
• whether it is fresh, frozen, farmed, wild, made in store, etc.

these signs were not created to fool or trick you. they actually say exactly what you are about to sample. that means when you read the sign, that is what I have. there is no need to read the sign and then ask “what is this?” or “what do you have?”. I have exactly what is on the sign dummy! you can read because I saw you mouth the words. did you think the sign came with the table and I couldn’t change it?

Also read the whole sign. I was sampling fried chicken sandwiches all week. my sign read as follows:

Fried Chicken

Sandwiches

2 for $3.00

almost everyone that came to the table for the last 5 days said “oh fried chicken?” OK read the next word please. again the sign is there to tell you what the sample is. not only the first line of the sign, the whole sign. it is ok to go ahead and read the whole thing and make an informed decision as to whether or not you would like to try it. when you only read a word or two and then ask what that means you look like a dumbass. READ THE WHOLE THING!

signs are also a good indicator of whether or not the sample giver is ready for you to approach the table. if you walk up and see the sampler cutting, cooking, or not there and the sign is down so that you can’t read it, THEY ARE NOT READY TO FEED YOU! GIVE THEM A MINUTE! nothing is more frustrating than not being ready and having folks lining up at the table for food. it is even worse when you tell them, “it will be a little while” and they decide to wait and stare at you while you are trying to finish. give them space and wait for the sign to come up. I hope this saying will help you know when to approach.

” Sign is up, take a cup.  Sign is down, don’t be arround!”

if there is a sample station that looks like there is supposed to be someone there nad they are not there LEAVE IT ALONE! first of all they are not there for a reason. either there are no samples ready, or they had to go help a customer etc. if the sample is in an electric skillet or other warming device it is hot. you don’t need to be touching it. We don’t want you to burn yourself. also a Sample giver’s job is to have clean hands, wear gloves etc. you hands are not clean enough to be touching the equipment. i don’t need someone touching my stuff who was just digging in their nose or ass, (and i have seen people do it). if no one is there the sign is down and it looks like someone is supposed to be there. LEAVE IT ALONE! HAVE A LITTLE TACT AND PATIENCE AND WAIT FOR THE PERSON TO RETURN!

I hope I was able to shed some further light on the sampling experience. here’s hoping it helps both of us have a more pleasant experience.

thanks for reading

JPEG

George Dickle

Due to My increased interest in Whiskey, and the fun that was had at the Jack daniel’s distillery last week, Andi and i decided to go take a tour of the only other Whiskey Distillery in Tennessee… George Dickle.  this was a very fun trip! We got up early and drove to Tullahoma, TN to try to catch the first (9:00am) tour, so as to beat the heat. George Dickle is a much smaller production whisky than Jack daniel’s, (about one tenth of the production size).

Dickle has a good tour. the distillery is built near another limestone purified, iron free, spring, called Cascade Hollow springs. A lot more questions are answered about the process in Cascade Hollow than at that other Lynchberg distillery.  They take you through the grain grinding, fermenting, distilling, charcoal mellowing, and barrel aging of the whisky. it is a very informative tour, albeit a very short tour. The facilities are pretty small however being that they make a fairly small production and only have 29 employees… that’s right 29 employees!

George Dickle has a few different “brands” or bottles of whisky. The red label is a “mixing whisky” that is not as aged as long as the others. the Black label is aged 8 to 10 years. the white label is 10 to 12 years. the barrel select is aged 12 years or more, but is only mingled from 10 barrels max.

As far as differences from the other brand of “Tennessee whiskey”, (as there are only two), there are many.

Dickle uses a lot more corn than Jack Daniels. This obviously makes a stronger corn taste in the whisky.

Dickle cools the whisky after each process to simulate winter conditions, as George Dickle  said that whisky distilled in the winter made for better final product.

Dickle only builds their barrel houses one story high as opposed to Jack’s 3 stories. At GD they believe that this is better because heat rises therefore causing a greater swell and contraction of the wood in the barrels, and if there were more than one story they would have to rotate their barrels. Jack does NOT rotate their barrels. this and Dickle’s more corn i believe to be the biggest difference in taste between these two whiskeys. Jack picks up more Oak and Vanillin from the barrel because of the top two stories. It seems a small thing, but it is a HUGE difference in the final product.

Dickle does not bottle their whisky at the distillery. Jack does.

The other major Difference is the spelling of the word Whiskey on the label. GD spells it WHISKY, (yes i was doing that on purpose,) as the Scots do with their Scotch WHISKY. this is done because George Dickle believed that his product was smoother than american whiskey and closer to scotch. (Jack was rumored to say the same thing but whatever, it doesn’t appear on jack’s label.)

After the tour we went to a restaurant called Emil’s in Tullahoma TN. Andi had discovered it online. It was awesome! A Good french chef making good comforting food with chefy twists. ie a fried chicken sandwich with blackberry ketchup, and goat cheese. awesome!!! if you ever find yourself in Tullahoma, me, trapper John MD, and George Jefferson agree, Emil’s is GREAT! (they have signed menus displayed)

Overall a fun trip. when i arrived home i proceeded to sample GD’s Product. It is good, and smooth. Very different from Jack for sure. more goodness to add to my whiskey collection.

sorry for the Long post!

Thanks for reading

JPEG

P.S. If you are wondering which tour I liked better, I would say Jack Daniel’s. only because I thought that it was more picturesque. if you are wondering which whiskey I like better… no comment.

Jack Daniel’s

Jack daniel's

This last saturday marked my fourth anniversary with my girlfriend Andi. for part of my gift she set up a trip to the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg Tennessee. i have been all about the jack lately and this made it worse.

we drove out the scenic route and went on a walking tour of the distillery. it was very fun and super informative.

They showed all the ins and outs of making the whiskey. from the making of the sugar maple charcoal to the fermenting of the mash.

the cave spring that they still get the pure iron free water from. The charcoal mellowing, bottling and barrel aging. it was awesome.

There are a few different “brands” of jack daniel’s whiskey.

Old No.7. They make the new whiskey and “mellow” it through charcoal. then they age it in white oak barrels until it is mature and then they mix all of the whiskey together for consistency and bottle it.

If they were to take it before they bottled it after it was mixed and re-mellow it through the charcoal, that is gentleman jack, sweeter and mellower than the old No.7.

Jack Daniel’s also has a single barrel select. this is where you work with the master distiller to select the barrel that suits your tastes and then they bottle it and ship it to you with the empty barrel. this is ONLY $9,000 – $12,000! anyone wanna go in halfsees?

The final incarnation of Jack is the Gentleman Jack SILVER SELECT. this is a bit of a mystery. they were bottling this while we were there so it made me do a little research. Gent jack SS is, for some reason, not sold in the US. The general school of thought on Gent Jack SS is that it is a single barrel select that has been aged a little longer and then re-mellowed through the charcoal again. Gentleman Jack Silver Select is only sold in airport duty-free stores, {if anyone who reads this is going out of the country soon, let me know }

afterwards we went out to Ms. Mary Bobo’s boarding house for lunch.
It was good food with a bunch of strangers at the table. complete with likes to hear himself talk guy, spoiled brat girl, and angry old busy body lady. The food was worth the discomfort though.

overall i enjoyed myself a ton. I hope to go back in the fall if anyone wants to plan a trip.

thanks for reading

JPeg

Sample Etiquette

for the last little bit of my career as a chef i have found myself giving free samples and doing demos for a major supermarket chain. As the Demo chef i have picked up on a few eccentricities, and maybe you would say “assumed protocol” for receiving samples in a grocery store. I am here to help. i am here to dispel the myths, and explain the proper sample etiquette.

WHY BEG?

when we are in the store, set up, and it is obvious why we are there, why make us ask you, or beg you? if you want a sample, come get one. there is no need for coy little games of hide and seek. you don’t have to keep walking by multiple times until we notice you and respond. i find that is i say nothing to people unless they come up and ask for a sample, i only interact with probably 5% of the shoppers. why is that? JUST ASK!

WHY WE ARE THERE

As sample givers we are there for a reason. We exist to sell a product or products. We are not there to give away free food because we like to throw money away. we are not there to feed you OR YOUR CHILDREN lunch!!! when we give you a sample there is usually an explanation that goes along with it. If you have no intention on learning why the sample is given, and do not want to hear the explanation from the sample giver then you should not take that sample.

if you can’t be bothered to make a short walk to the sample station with your children to learn about it then you should not be surprised if your children come back empty-handed. small children usually don’t do a lot of purchasing in stores and therefore have no understanding or interest in what a product is or how much it costs. therefore giving an unsupervised child a sample with no explanation DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF US BEING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! and since we are not there to feed your children a lunch or a snack, don’t send them unsupervised to get food.

HOW TO RECEIVE YOUR SAMPLE

When asked if you would like a sample there is a proper and improper way to respond. when asked the question ” would you like a sample”

• i do not care if you just ate lunch.
• i do not care to hear a brief history of your life.
• i do not care to see you scrunch your face and tell me in-depth (or in brief for that matter) why you don’t like it or why you THINK you won’t like it.
• i do not appreciate being ignored. if i shout at you i can pretty well assume that you hear me, and to not respond at all is rude. to pretend that the person addressing you doesn’t exist is just not nice. being a supermarket employee does not make you “the help” or less of a human being.ignoring us is still RUDE!
• i do not know your personal preferences. to assume that i do and get upset for asking if you would like to try that particular item that you may not care for is ludicrous

when asked the question: “would you like a sample?” the proper responses are:

• “no thank you”
• “sure”
• “yes please”
• “ok”
• “not today thanks”

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU RECEIVE YOUR SAMPLE

After you have the sample in your hand the proper thing to do is EAT IT! if you don’t care for it, i am sorry, but i do not require an in-depth critique. I also do not require you to scrunch up you face, spit it out, and cause a scene.

you must understand. most of the items samplers give they did not create or season therefore if it suck we are generally not at fault. there is no need to tell us that it isn’t seasoned correctly etc because there is usually not much that we can do about it! you must also understand AGAIN that we are also people. if you were eating at someone’s house and they gave you food that you did not care for, would you spit it out in front of them with a dirty look and really let them have it???? no? why not? OH… BECAUSE IT IS RUDE?

If you wouldn’t treat people that way in other instances because it is rude, then you shouldn’t do it to a sample giver!!!

also upon receiving said sample, just eat and chill. there is no need for a million hastily asked questions.

• where this is sold?
• how much is it?
• where is this made?
• how big is the package?
• is this frozen?
• is this fresh?
• where do i get it?

just eat and chill, (ie SHUT UP). odds are if you were given a sample by an actual human being then they have something to tell you. their job is to answer all of those questions for you. LET THEM!!!  don’t try to talk over them. just eat and chill.

Conclusion

a simple response, followed by a simple taste, and a little listening is all we ask. it is not hard. it will not hurt you to be calm and just keep the interaction quick.

i hope this helps you and your sample giver have a more enjoyable shopping experience. And please never forget this;

SAMPLES ARE A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT!

Hope this blog was useful and helpful.

Thanks for reading

JPEG