Just finished a stretch of 10 straight days and something like 15 of 17 at my new Dollar Tree gig. (Welcome back to retail!) So far, so good. I don't know if you have been in a Dollar tree lately, but they are interesting places. Busy all the time. A lot of repeat business. Some decent bargains to be had too. The merchandise mix is much deeper than I think many people realize. If you have a chance, stop in and check one out. (Just bear in mind that you are not in Saks on 5th)
I have decided that retail is like riding a bike. I have been out of the game for ~3 yrs but the basics came back just like that. Some things are the same no matter where you are working. I mean a Z read is a Z read right? Another thing that never changes is the fact that you never have enough payroll hours. 400+ Customers (399 of the being unattended screaming children I swear) can trash a Dollar Tree in no time. It is a real challenge picking up the pieces at night. One thing that is new to me is the single price point. I think that will necessitate a greater emphasis on merchandising (especially impulse items). We'll see. I have only been there 2 full weeks. It is not like I have all the answers.
I am closing tonight so I need to think about some lunch and then head for work. I guess the one thing I am not thrilled with is the 48 mile round trip commute, but what the Hell, gas is only $4.00/gal ( Okay its $3.99/9.......). Until next time
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
It Worked For Rachel Ray.......
And I would have to say, it worked for me too! I was watching Rachel on the Food Network the other day. She was making fried spaghetti. It looked good so I decided to give it a shot. Her recipe was pretty simple. She sauteed some scallions in a garlic infused olive oil- butter concoction and then fried some spaghetti on top of it.
Fantastic in its simplicity, but to me a recipe like that is kind of like playing the basic rules to a war game. Naturally, I had to screw with it. I decided to add mushrooms, a little spice, and then top things off with a little six- cheese Italian blend. Turned out great.
(My apartment smells like olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, and sauteed scallions right now. Glade should make an air freshener that smells like this.)
On a completely unrelated note, I have been unemployed since March 2nd. That is no longer the case. I accepted a management position with the Dollar Tree corporation this afternoon. More about that later..............
Friday, May 9, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Caught My Spatula On Fire Yesterday........
It is officially Summer. I fired up the smoker yesterday afternoon. It was sunny and 72 here in Boise and I figured that would keep me out of any other sort of mischief for a few hours. For the most part, it did.
The guest of honor yesterday was a 4 1/2 pound pork butt done up "Carolina Style". His day got started around 10 A.M. with a nice dry rub massage of brown sugar, paprika, ground mustard, garlic, onion, salt, and of course, cayenne. My mortar and pestle contributed a healthy dash of pepper and some cumin (lightly toasted before grinding). He went into the refrigerator and just sat there for about 7 hours. I watched a baseball game, had a late lunch, and screwed around on the computer while he was in the refrigerator.
My smoker is not real fancy or anything. It is an "inexpensive" little offset firebox model.
When I first started cooking on this thing my results were wildly inconsistent. I finally figured out that the thermometer it shipped with was about 60 degrees off. (That makes a difference.) I went to Home Depot and upgraded it to a $10 model. That was better, it was only about 30 degrees off. I finally got smart and bought a dual probe digital thermometer. One probe monitors the chamber temperature while the other one monitors the internal temperature of the meat. Good investment.
Since I had a late lunch, I figured I might as well have a late dinner so I fired this guy up about 20 after 4, got my temperature stabilized and threw mister pork butt in for what I guessed would be a leisurely 5-6 hours of smoking. This is the first time I have smoked anything that was going to take that long. I encountered a new quirk in the design of this smoker. The grate in the firebox sits to low. As the ash started to build up, it was restricting airflow to the fire. This is where I caught the spatula on fire. It was the only thing I had handy that I could reach into the firebox with and rearrange some of the ash. Yes, it was a wooden handled spatula. Yes, I should have known better. It wasn't going to be in the fire that long.........
To sum it all up, after 5 1/2 hours the pork butt emerged beautifully smoked. I served it with a homemade Carolina vinegar sauce, coleslaw, and some tater tots. Finished it off with a cold beer and called it a day. (The first of many this summer I'm sure!)
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