6:07 p.m. - 9 September 2002
Future plans
Well I'll be hornswaggled. The Panthers actually managed to win their game
yesterday. And they won it, too, rather than the Ravens losing it. Will
wonders never cease?
The hospital sponsors an event every year called Women's Day: seminars, lectures, and vendors take over the mallette in town and hawk their wares. I went on Saturday and it was the only time I've ever had to actively look for a parking space over there. I wandered around a little bit, but I spent most of the afternoon hiding in the book/music/software store waiting for the real reason I was there: the cooking demonstration.
It was pretty interesting, actually. The chef used a bunch of prepackaged ingredients to show that you can make a variety of dishes quickly that are tasty and not horrible for you. I just sat back and watched; I didn't even try anything, though it smelled really good. The ulterior motive in going was that this chef does quite a bit of catering that actually falls more under the rubric of personal chef, and I wanted to get a chance to talk to him about what I'm getting myself into. I waited until he was mostly packed up before approaching him; I didn't want to disturb him in the middle of something and get him hacked off right away.
It went well; it turns out he's getting ready to start teaching at the school I would be attending. He and his wife are both graduates of the same school, too, so he can give me some advice on their program and what they really expect and all that. He's in the process of building a restaurant, but it's been slow going, although that might benefit me in the long run. I told him that I was interested in becoming a personal chef, since I didn't really want to work restaurant hours, and that if it was okay, possibly joining his business once I get done with school. Heck, since I don't plan to start going right away, I might be able to get some experience as a kitchen assistant. I'd even wash dishes if it might help me out.
Actually, that might not be a bad idea to work for him for a little while; if I decided that I really want to do this right, I could use the experience working for him to get accepted into the Culinary Institute of America, which requires at least six months of industry experience. Not that J&W is an inferior school, not at all; but everyone's heard of the CIA, but not everyone has heard of J&W. Well, everyone in the food industry has, but not necessarily the campus I'd attend. But who knows? There are a lot of things that have to fall into place before I can worry about things like that. Including under which cushion I'm going to find the $17k for tuition and expenses.
