I have no excuses. However since July, (last post and I know the pins and needles hurt), I’ve changed jobs, gone to Disneyland, and got a MAC. Tomorrow I’m probably getting a new (sort of) car. AAWWW YEAYA life is good baby. OK down to business, somewhere in the past I think I wrote about loving my vespa. Well…appearently that’s the truth because I now am the GM of the local dealership. It’s hard to explain how much I love going to work each day at this point. Even when I’m not in the mood, I giggle as I’m turning off the alarm and moving the piece of s@#t chinese schwinns out to the sidewalk each morning. I would elaborate, but now I have something to write about consistantly and don’t want to screw that up. So to my fans, or should I say family members that read this on the rare occasions that I have written anything, I will keep up to date the goings ons at Chispa as it is much more interesting day to day than the previous happenings. Sorry for not playing along up to now, not that you’ve missed much. Ciao Bella

Tonight, I’ve been working on costing a menu for a restaurant that may open next winter.  It is a really weird experience for me to work in the future like this because the ideas are not my own.  I’ve probably done this a hundred times for myself, dreaming of what my menu will look like, or my dining room, the beauty and complexity of every dish, the shine of the stainless steel pans, or how I would run the business outside of the kitchen; but this time, the ideas are not my own.  In fact I have yet to have a full conversation about food with the person who is depending on me to help him realize how to attain the finances to pursue this idea.  I have never done so much work for something that I am so removed from.  One can only hope that it does not backfire and that the party in question realizes what extent I’m going to without being compensated, except of course for the beers in his backyard over the first few meetings.  I really like his concept,and, if he follows it through, this could be a revolution in this market.  As far as what’s at stake for me, I would be able to be an integral part of a local business and, therefore, potentially find a lead into this world of Bellingham long time residents ; which is like trying to break a diamond window  in the world of sales.  wish me luck!

Sometimes in a man’s life, he has to build something just to quantify his existence. I, like all fathers and husbands around this globe, have a great need to be seen as more than just a light bulb changer, trash taker outer, and bug killer. I’m convinced that even in the remote jungles of Indonesia, at this moment, in a dirt floored hut, a man is squishing a spider at his wifes request. But solving problems by using logic, building something, breaking something, or clearing brush (according to the president) is man’s work. So when we do take on these masculine projects of working with rock or wood, we get the gleeful pride of Stuart from Mad TV: The childish character who must grab attention to his acts by saying “look what I can do” before falling to the ground or spitting up on himself.

One of the disadvantages of living in the northwest is the inordinate amount of rain. Consequently, the floors of our home are often covered with mud and shoes are everywhere. As the MAN of the house, I knew that something had to be done. I needed a plan so I went………… shopping on the internet.

After six or eight exhausting minutes of trying to find a decent looking shoe rack online, I ran across a picture of a really great idea. I shamelessly stole this idea from someone named Megan who had posted it on notmartha.org.

With my trusty battery operated screwdriver by my side and a level, I have now beat the drums in the proverbial forest by building a really cool looking shoe rack. It consists of a shelf with another shelf of half the depth suspended above it, the shoes actually seem to float on the wall. It looks nice and is easy to clean under. Altogether I put up three, two by the front door and one by the back for flip flops.

I would tell more of the heroics, but I must now drink beer and kill something to eat (salads are alive, right?)

I have come to notice that as a people, Americans are really mean. I believe that we do a lot of great things for our world,  make many contributions to mankind,  but on a person to person level, we just come across as self centered, mean, and downright obnoxious. We spent the last two days in Victoria B.C., which is a very multicultural city, and I realized that the only people that were ungrateful, demanding, and inappreciative were from our side of the fence.  The Canadians were friendly, in fact, just happy to be nice in every situation.  For example, we would tell the multitudes of pedicab drivers that we were just out for a walk, and they would not only say “right on!”. but would tell us what we should walk to and what to look for, try that with a cabbie in Seattle!  On the other hand, we were watching one of the most able and entertaining street performers I’ve ever seen, when a couple from New York came up and immediately pointed out that he was “only juggling four” lit torches! Of course they had walked up to the scene about 45 minutes into the show, but who cares? They’re from New York no one else really counts anyway. I am reminded of when I lived in Monistrol and ran across an American family at the cafe 421 where I spent many afternoons. They were from Chicago (I know this because they continuously mentioned it), and were unhappy because none of the locals, at that central restaurant/bar…..on a cobblestone square…next to a 600 year old catholic church…built into the walls of a Gallic fortress…. in this village of 2000 people, spoke English. I only spoke up because Marie, the bar owner, asked me to help her make a sell, I must say, however, that I took a lot of pleasure in their discomfort. I guess I turned out to be a Yankee after all!

We’ll be gone this weekend, so I’m leaving you all with this:

There was magician on a cruise ship, and he was really good.

He was performing the highlight of his show when a parrot walked onstage and squawked, ”It’s in his sleeve!”

The magician chased the bird away.

The next day the magician was performing his highlight again (in front of a smaller audience) when the parrot walked onstage and declared, ”It’s in his pocket!”

The next day, as he was performing the highlight, he saw the parrot in the crowd. But before the parrot could ruin the magic trick, the boat crashed into a rock and sank.

The magician was lucky enough to find a board to hang on to. On the other end of the board was the parrot.

They stared at each other for three full days, neither of them saying anything, when suddenly the parrot said, ”I give up, what’d you do with the ship?’

I have a confession to make…I hate cold calling!  For those that are not in a commission based sales position, this is not a good thing.  I think my apprehension is based on how much I disliked people cold calling me as a chef, in fact I was so loyal to some of my vendors that I probably wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on their products when I could have made more in bonuses by giving the right person a try.

Now, one may wonder why this is weighing so heavy that I felt the need to write it. The reality is that I have to grow my sales territory a minimum of 10% per period  over the next  years.  That may not seem like much, but rather than being in a bustling city, I’m in a really weird little farming town on the BC border.  People here are loyal, and my competition has been here a long time.  To be honest, I’m really getting tired of the doors slamming in my face.  I’m starting to question if this is the right direction.  I have a commitment to at least 5 years with this company, but I don’t know if I’ve got the stomach for it.

No need to think too hard on this, just have to keep getting kicked until I can truly stand up.

**I will try to have a new joke every week**A kid comes home from school with a writing assignment. He asks his father for help. “Dad, can you tell me the difference between potential and reality?”

His father looks up, thoughtfully, and then says, “I’ll demonstrate. Go ask your mother if she would sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars. Then go ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars. Then come back and tell me what you’ve learned.”

The kid is puzzled, but decides to ask his mother. “Mom, if someone gave you a million dollars, would you sleep with Robert Redford?”

“Don’t tell your father, but, yes, I would.”

He then goes to his sister’s room. “Sis, if someone gave you a million dollars, would you sleep with Brad Pitt?”

She replies, “Omigod! Definitely!”

The kid goes back to his father. “Dad, I think I’ve figured it out.Potentially, we are sitting on two million bucks, but in reality, we are living with two sluts.”

Poem took this header picture of a road that was washed out during this winters floods in and around North Cascades National Park. She was hiking at Baker lake near Concrete, Wa.

I felt it was an appropriate touch to my overall theme. I may get the hang of this blog eventually.

Our explorer has been a fine auto for some time now. It is actually a great car for my job with the exception of fuel usage, which I’m sure could be worse; however, having driven 3 types of vehicles at 60 mph within the span of a day I can say that SUV’s are just too heavy. Compared to the vespa and the beetle, the explorer is like trying to run in a swimming pool. It accelerates to top speeds quickly, but I can suddenly feel it working really hard to keep up a constant speed.

By the way, I don’t mean to be writing about vehicles all the time now, I’m just really into the newness of the scooters. Poem and I dropped Chloe off with some friends today and went on a nice ride up through Birch Bay to the Semiahmoo resort and back. Truly a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that this is really going to be an awesome summer. Just can’t wait to get the modifications made to Poem’s so that it will be easier to take Chloe longer distances. Maybe eventually get mine outfitted to do that too.

I realize that this is the 3rd entry within a day, but I can’t ignore this one. I shipped the first order to a new restaurant today called the loft. Actually the name and space are the same, but the restaurant is a completely different concept all together. The owners are a young Korean couple with a Japanese cousin who is in charge of the kitchen. They have built a sushi bar and have incorporated some beautiful decor into the existing restaurant. This is all fine and good except……that I am really excited for them. I have given them a lot of time and help without really being in a position to make very much money off of them. It is hard to make that decision as I work as a commisioned employee, therefore, time is money (a wrong decision can mean a lot in this instance). But some things are more important, and I have really come to admire what they are trying to build here, not to mention that they have some of the best food knowledge I’ve come across in some time.   It certainly takes a lot of guts to do something this bold in Lynden, but more so, they are probably the nicest, least jaded people I’ve ever met in this business. So hopeful, they have literally put themselves out for the world to step on. I am definitely giving them a lot of my time for free. If it works out, then we will have both won; if not, I’ll have met some wonderful people and will have learned some of their culture in the process.