The World of Scott Mindeaux

Ragin Cajun

Interesting day. Well I got word today about how to proceed on “the project”. Looks like we have come to an understanding about how we want to proceed. Thank god. More on this later.

I spent the morning working on the Final Cut Pro problem. Looks like we found that when Apple re-wrote FCP for version 3.0 they changed some settings and it wasn’t as apparent to find as it was in FCP 1.2.5. Steven Liu and I worked on the problem and we got the system up and running again. We successfully captured and logged video footage. We then moved to working on the Photoshop problems. I upgraded them to version 6.0 and asked the to see if they were still experiencing problems. I’ll check in with them tomorrow. In the meantime I have asked Dan to take over. They will need to develop a process that includes backup and archiving of their project files.

We had an interesting lunch today. We had two guests from our usual crowd. Today Kitaya Wongchida and Aurora Inguanzo joined us for lunch. What a fun pair they are. We had lunch at Ragin’ Cajun. Ahhh….. jambalaya and gumbo. I had the red beans and rice with gumbolaya. What a fun lunch we had. Aurora cracks me up. I learned ASL today – Aurora Sign Language. We all noticed how much Aurora uses her hands when she speaks. I wish I had a camera to capture all of her hand gestures. And then there was Kitaya… such wit and intelligence!!! I hope I get to have lunch with them again…I truly had a good time getting to know both of them. Another first (well maybe second) was that Robert joined us for lunch. But I have a feeling it was because of our new guests that he agreed to go!

After lunch, I started to work on the methodology for “the project”. I got a few ticket calls in the meantime. Just before the end of the day, I sent out an email to those I have gotten to know at Mattel that I was leaving. I sent out the email using the Press Release that I wrote last week. The gang wants to throw me a going-away party. We’re going to have it at the Purple Orchid Tiki Room in downtown El Segundo. It’s set for Thursday, August 8 at 5:30

I TA’d the last class of 4 of the Effortless Gourmet series. Carol was at the helm and I would be working with a guy named Daryelle. This was a very interesting set of people. The class went well , but it wasn’t what I expected. This was my first time TAing this series. Tonite we made a pasta salad, roasted chicken and a lemon cheesecake.

After class I headed straight home. I came home to find an empty house. Looks like Mario has been out for awhile. I watched the news, some Graham Norton then Changing Rooms. Well..its time for me to hit the sack….it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.

I hereby Resign my post

BUZZZZZZ when my alarm clock at 6:30am. I must have hit snooze like 5 times. I finally got my ass out of bed and flipped on the TV to find the Changing Rooms meets the Navy episode on. Carol and the gang redecorate a mess hall and rec room on a warship of the Royal Navy. I have to say that if I was the commander of the ship I would NOT have agreed to do this. I mean c’mon…a boatful of sailors and you walk into a rec room that looks like a pepto bismo discothèque. Yech! I didn’t like this episode.

Anyways…I got to work at 8:09 and headed straight to my keyboard to write my resignation letter. Yep..you read that right. I gave my two week’s notice at Mattel. I have accepted a job with Sur La Table as the Culinary Program Coordinator for their store at Pentagon Row in Arlington, Virginia. This wasn’t an easy decision, trust me. I’m taking a major cut in pay to do this. So don’t think that I’m leaving Mattel cuz I got a better offer. I can’t wait to start my new job. Being responsible for running a cooking school seems to be a dream to me. I get to meet local chefs, meet chefs from across the country. I get to set curriculum and I have a budget and staff. Its all quite amazing.

Back to Mattel, I sent my resignation letter to John, then he forwarded a copy to Bennie, Marvin and Kim Giordanella. Within 3 minutes, Bennie had responded to John saying that he wished me luck in whatever it was I was going to be doing. But yet, he had to do this thru John and somehow couldn’t tell me this himself. I would have sent Bennie my resignation letter directly, but John was my immediate supervisor. Marvin then called John and said he would be coming by today to talk to me and find out what the story was.

We went to lunch at CPK again today. It was me, John, Josie, Dan and Joe. We sat outside on yet another perfect Southern California day. I had the Penne and Sausage in Bolognese sauce. It was ok. Nothing special. Dan had the portabello sandwich, Josie a pepperoni pizza. I forget what John and Joe had. After lunch I proceeded to try and get a hold of tech support again at Aurora Video. I left a message. Eric Vidar from Pleasant Co called and he sounded a bit shocked about my departure from Mattel. He asked where this came from. He then wanted to know how, in my busy and stuffed day, I had the time to run scottmindeaux.com. He was jumping all over the site. He then found my baby picture with me and my mom and was mocking me! He then started to read my Facts page. Marvin was on his way so I told Eric I had to leave. I think Eric’s gonna read about a side of me he never knew about.

Marvin came by and he was genuinely inquisitive about where and what I was going to be doing. I told him about the cooking school and he seemed happy for me. He then asked me if my decision was final. Was this my final answer. I told him that I was probably beyond the point of no return and that Bennie did have my letter of resignation. I pondered for about 3.5 seconds why he asked me that. He then wanted to know what I never cooked for him. He said he has heard about all the other food events I have hosted and was a bit miffed that he never got to taste my cooking. I told him we’d have to arrange something soon. I also found out that Marvin likes to cook and that his wife is Guamanian. He knows what Chicken Adobo is. Marvin’s kewl in my book.

After that I went back to my desk and got hit with a couple of tech calls in Games and PUzzles. A mac died and had to get it back up, while another person’s machine was having that bullet problem in Outlook. I didn’t have a fix for the bullet problem. When I looked up it was 5:20. TIme to go home. I got home to find Mario sitting at the computer. I watched some TV, ran a couple of errands that came home. I “cleaned” up that pile of crap on my bed from yesterday. NOw I have a place to sleep. You see, last nite I slept in fetal position on the lower left corner of the bed. Well..I”m off to bed. Have a good nite everyone.

Cakes, Nephews, Nieces and more!

Rush rush rush! I got up at 9am and flipped the TV on while I tried to wake up. The Sunday paper plopped hard out front and that’s what woke me up. What to do today. I started cleaning out my bedroom closet today. Sorting out clothes trying to figure out what I’m keeping and what was going to be sold at the garage sale or given away at Goodwill. Today is also my niece, Sade and my nephew, Jason’s birthday party. Sade’s actual bday was on Friday and Jason’s is next week. I’ll head over after class.

So I went out to get some breakfast and came home to read the paper. Then I got ready for class. I was assisting the Pro Baking class today. We’re making wedding cakes. When I got there I found many of my old classmates who were lingering around from the Pro II class. Kevin, Amy, Laura and Turie were there. We were just missing Marc and Melissa and we would have been complete. It was kewl to see Kevin again. Kevin is now married. Turie was actually assisting the class. She looked great. Class got out late so we were rushed to get things ready for Pro Baking. Garee showed up. He sure looked relaxed. You see…he just spent a week in Belize. Nice, huh!

Everyone showed up and Carol made an announcement to the class that I had gotten my job at Sur La Table. Everyone in class congratulated me. I’m going to miss the school. But I’ll soon have my own school to run. It was white cakes today – similar recipe for a wedding cake. So were making a White Almond Cake with a butter cream frosting. It was a long, hot, class. I got out of class at 7pm.

I then rushed out to Target to buy some birthday gift bags. After that I showed up at my sister Lynn’s house. A childhood friend, Henry was just leaving with his mom, my aunt Gloria. We talked for a bit and my mom and dad walked out. I told them I was moving to DC and Henry said he frequently goes to NY. I told him to come down and visit. With gifts in hand, I walked into the house. Shiva was firmly planted in front of a new Casio keyboard my dad bought for Jason. She was hooked to the “follow the light” learning feature of the keyboard. Toni-Lynn saw me and ran for me! I’m going to miss her very much when I move. Jason and Sade came running up too. Excitedly, Jason wanted to know what I got him. I then said…what size shoe do you wear? He said? “What?!? You got me shoes??” I then looked at his mom and said “I hope I got the right size, he wears a size 2 right??” My sister then smiled and agreed. Jason took the bag from me and started to rip the tissue paper. Out fell a Gameboy Advance and a carry bag. He was like “no way!!” and ran off to show his brother and cousins. I then tried the same trick with Sade. She looked sad. She then opened her bag to find a Gameboy Color and a Powerpuffs game. She was happy. I then headed out to see the rest of the guests. John and Charles were in the pool, while Ronnie, my sister Beth, and Leslie were in the back around the pit fire. My sister Lynn told me to get something to eat.

After a little bit, I got ready to leave. I needed to go to my mom’s house and look for my Mattel badge. I got to my mom’s house, found the badge and said good nite to my mom. I got home and found the room in the state I left it. The bed was filled with crap and there was no where to walk on the floor. I was so pissed that I left the room like this. I had no place to sleep. Ugh! I went online to look at my Roommate ads to find that no one has replied. I checked a few Sunday papers online for room for rent listings. Before I knew it, it was like 2am. I have to get to bed. I’ll talk with y’all tomorrow. NITE!

Catching Up

What a last few days this has been! Let’s see..where to start. Let’s get caught up. Thursday was a blur for me. Most of the day was working on Steven Liu’s Final Cut Pro station from the Design Center. He’s still having crashing problems running Adobe 5.5 and we’re still working on the FCP 3.0 issues. For now, he is up and running on FCP 1.2.1.

Thursday is also John Green and Janel’s wedding anniversary. For Janel’s wedding present, John got his wedding albums from the wedding photographer. John showed me the albums and they were very well done. The photography was excellent and the layout and placement were done with care. Ashley, John’s daughter from his first marriage, was so beautiful as was Janel. John was also quite the looker!

Thursday nite I was working a private party at the New School of Cooking. From time to time the school hosts team building exercises. We hosted a law firm and their summer interns. The menu was simple, yet elegant. They made seared tuna steaks, a summer Orzo salad and Peach Cobbler for dessert.

After the party I went home to try and relax and get some sleep. My sister left me a message that she was having a garage sale on Saturday. Her entire housing tract was having garage sales. I decided that I wanted to liquidate my entire Hot Wheels collection.

Friday went my so fast. We had our weekly DC IT staff meeting at breakfast. The gang talked about how different things would be without me around. I was a bit touched. It is a bit sad that just as I am integrating with the “gang” I’m packing up and movin back to DC. I will miss all of you. All the good and bad times we have been thru will be the source of many anecdotal stories for my DC friends! I answered a couple of tickets after breakfast and then proceeded to pack my personal belongings in preparation for Monday’s resignation from Mattel.

Friday evening we hosted the 2nd half of the law firm and their summer interns. This group was a bit more together when it came to kitchen skills. They wizzed thru the recipes and were in the kitchen in a flash. It was quite a handsome group too! While working side by side with Carol tonite, I realized how much I’m going to miss her. There was also a moment where I had a big smile on my face. Why you ask? I really enjoy doing the cooking school thing. That’s why my new job in Washington DC is gonna ROCK!

Now this brings us to today, Saturday. I got up around 9:30. I WAS supposed to wake up at 4:30am and get my ass down to Lake Forest for the garage sale at my sister’s. Suffice it to say…I was WAY tired. After prying my eyelids open I flipped thru the TV looking for Trading Spaces. Today was a Trading Spaces Marathon. I needed my daily dose of Laurie and Ty. I got dressed for class. It was Basics III today. Meat day. I got to school around 1:30 and Jet Tila’s class was just wrapping up. It was Vietnamese cooking . He had all kinds of great finger foods! He had this ground shrimp ball with sugar cane and imperial egg rolls as well as chicken on bamboo skewers. I told Eileen and Jet about my new gig and they were very supportive of my change. Jet said he wanted to keep in touch. I told him that if he ever made it out East that I wanted to book him.

Class started and we had a great time. This is a good group of people. Rick and Ken made the meatloaf, Michael the Roasted Chicken, Teri did the stir fry and Monica did the Vietnamese Chicken Salad. After class I got home and took a nap. Then I headed out real fast to pickup a Gameboy Color for my niece. It was Sade’s birthday yesterday, but her party is tomorrow. I already picked up Jason’s Gameboy. His birthday is next week, but we’re celebrating it tomorrow.

Well its late and I’m headed to bed. I started to pack and sort today and my bed is full of stuff. Should I sleep on the floor or just slide the stuff off the bed and sleep. I think you know the answer!

Y E S

Many things happened today…but all pale in comparison to my recent news. All I have to say is:
Y E S !!!!!!!

Tickets, tickets!

Lots of stuff today. I got to work and started right off on tickets. I have been waiting for a tech support call from Aurora Video Systems to help diagnose some problems with a video editing system that is having problems. At 9am we had our weekly Mac meeting. We had a lot of tickets this week. The meeting lasted about an hour and we assigned all the tickets out. After our meeting I answer a ticket or two, still waiting for Aurora.

Today for lunch we went to CPK in Manhattan Beach. God, it was such a nice day today. You see, a High Pressure system is setting up over Nevada and it pushed the Marine Layer out to see. The sky was crystal clear and blue and the temperature was in the mid 70′s with a slight breeze coming from the NE. We sat outside to get some sun. It was John, Josie, Dan and me. Our waiter was Matt! Cute guy. Josie had a pizza, I had pasta and John and Dan had the chopped salad. We talked about a great many things including our love for home improvement shows! On our way back to the office, John pulled a few “Chris’s” out the window.

After lunch it was back to ticket world. After work I headed over to school. Tonite is my last make-up class for Pro I. I officially graduated tonite. I was so happy. I had to make up Poultry I. We made fried chicken, turkey cutlets wrapped in prosciutto, poussin with calvados cream sauce, split stuffed chicken, bbq chicken and duck breast with roast root vegetables. All the dishes were great. It was the first time I got to eat duck. It wasn’t what I thought but it was delicious! I also had poussin (like cornish hens) for the first time. The Pro class I was in had 12 people and they all got along and had a good time. Rob, the cute guy who was in my Pro Baking class a few months back, was assisting Pro I. How lucky was I?? At the end of the class, Carol presented me with my Certificate of Completion for Pro I. I was so happy.

When I got home I found Mario on his computer. He had a mid-afternoon date today with a person he met over the internet. I told him Analyn said hello from the office. Mario was online doing his daily job hunts.

As I sit here, I’m watching the So Graham Norton show on BBCAmerica. This show is hilarious! They had these talking phone teddy bear things. When the person on the phone would talk, the mouth would move on the bear. Then he pulled out another bear and called someone and both bears were talking to each other! it was so funny.

Well…off to bed I go. Still no word on Sur La Table.