Retail Meats and Fish

Esquire has this article on the Best Steaks in America. I’m sure it’s far from accurate, but I’m proud to say that I’ve had six of the steaks on the list. The beef Wellington at One if By Land, Two if By Sea is still one of my favorite dishes of all time. It’s just a brilliant blend of foodstuffs. I do miss the excellent steakhouses in NY, such as Smith & Wollensky’s, Palm, and (especially) Peter Luger’s.

Today, Kenny, Noot, and I went to MC Skewer. It used to be Todai and it’s pretty much the old food at Todai (sushi and assorted Asian food) combined with a churrascaria (Brazillian BBQ). The meats are quite tasty. I particular enjoyed the two different types of sirloin and the bacon-wrapped chicken. The hostess that greeted us pronounced the new named as em-see skyoo-wer. I don’t buy it. It’s McSkewer…as in McLovin

McSkewer totally wiped me out for the day. I was content to drink (coffee and wine) and not eat a thing until Sunday. Unfortunately, Noot got hungry and Kenny ordered Chinese food in the evening. I ate a little bit and felt like The Revolting Blob again.

Now, for some cool Swedes I watched yesterday.

Somewhat Productive

This was the most productive week I’ve had since I’ve been back from Thailand. July was just a wash — helping Noot acclimate to a new country and preparing to go to NY took up most of my time. I had a bit of work, but it was tough looking for more with so much to worry about. After the NY trip, I had to help Noot find an English school and accompany her there. This made early August kind of tough.

Thankfully, she can get to school on her own now. I’ve been able to scrounge up some work (thanks to two dear friends) and spend more time (unsuccessfully) looking for a full-time job. It’s still very much a struggle, but I’m trying hard to stay positive. Of course I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without the support of a few excellent friends. For that, I’m thankful.

New Schedules

Noot started her ESL classes last week. I brought her to class to help her get to know the bus/BART route. While she was in class, I ran some errands and stayed online at various free hotspots. The last bit was kind of a pain. Finding the good, consistent connections was a minor ordeal. I settled on the Metreon, since it’s close to school and the connection was pretty good. Still, it was hard to get a lot done. Noot’s class is only two hours, so fiddling with fickle connections and trying to get into a rhythm for work was a bit challenging. The good news is that I have the process all sorted now. The better news is that Noot knows how to get to school by herself, but I’ll probably continue to accompany her most of this week so I don’t worry too much.

Saturday, our household had a nice wine-and-cheese gathering. It was a pretty fun time. We went through 12 bottles of wine — 7 purchased for the party, 2 brought by guests, and 3 from my wine rack. We had a ton of malbec, but I really enjoyed Kenny’s cabernet and the pinot noir from my collection. Noot made some pad thai that I didn’t get to try, but other people said was good. Karen brough this excellent fig spread that I kept calling fig scrotum (becuse that’s what I thought Ted said when he first mentioned it). All in all it was an excellent drunken time with good wine, good eats, and good friends.

Ouch

I received a rejection email for the job I really wanted. It contained this lovely bit:

Your information has been carefully reviewed, and it has been determined that there are others who better fit this job. Should the requirements for this job change or we identify other jobs that are a potential fit, we will follow up with you.

That’s a real shame and very disheartening. I know I could have made the site better, both in terms of content and (especially) how efficiently the staff is managed. I know there are some really good people applying for this job, but I would have loved an interview opportunity. *sigh* Damn…I really wanted this one.

Two Nudges

Nudge #1 — This is for a job that I’m mildly interested in, based in an area that I’m mildly interested in living. On the plus side, I imagine the salary would be good and I know the weather would be lovely. The person I nudged seemed quite enthused about the prospect of having me in the company. On the plus side for Noot, the weather and lifestyle would be more to her liking. The downers would be less interesting work and less socializing (this are lower priorities at this stage of my life). Noot would also have to start her English classes over.

Nudge #2 — This is for the job I really, really want and it wouldn’t require moving. The commute would be easy, the people are super cool, and the creative opportunities are exciting. Unfortunately, the person I nudged didn’t seem too interested (hopefully I’m wrong). A lot of things would be easier if this job came through. Plus, I really want it.

Oh well. Let’s see.

Immigration Nightmares

I’m preparing Noot’s next round of paperwork. It’s such a pain, but it helps us get to where we want to be. Although there have been delays, things have gone pretty well. In that respect I feel fortunate. She’s here and I’m thrilled about that! I came across this nightmare of an immigration story. It was a shocking reminder that I should be thankful that things aren’t worse.

More Pics!!!

Tito Inayet snapped a ton of photos. Here are some of my favorites.

Volcanic Onions

Randomosity

- United is using Archos hard-drive players for its PS service (business class). They’re stocked with movies, TV shows, music, and games. They were pretty fun to play around with and much, much better than the DVD players UA used to offer.

- Had a fun weekend with Kenny and Tony. We had a delicious lunch at The Slanted Door. We ordered a bunch of dishes and two bottles of white wine. P Tony was nice enough (and rich enough!) to pay for most of it. The only downer was that Noot got upset when I tried to tell her that it was inappropriate to listen to her MP3s at a nice restaurant. Ah, these lovely, little cultural differences.

- Lunch was followed by another bottle of white and a tasty malbec at The Wine Bar. I really liked the atmosphere, service, and pricing of this joint. I’m sure it’s irritating and full of crap people during the week, but it was lazy and laid back on Saturday.

- Oh yeah. I have a bunch of pictures up. Here’s a random NY set and a nuptial NY set. I’ll post some of the better ones after the break.