My Fair Lady - Final Layoff part 1
My flight was rather late, so I got a full night of sleep for the first time in several days.
In the morning there was a lot going on already via text and email; it was like everyone chose this Monday to be THE Monday of getting balls rolling. I got a lot of paperwork for a job that I've taken. OH, probably didn't mention that because there hasn't been time with all the running around with family, friends, and shows!
Last year when Tootsie ended, I almost took a Digital Court Reporting job with a Florida contracting company. I ended up declining their job offer in favor of FedWriters, which had health benefits and was more in line with what I wanted to do (transcription.) And then FedWriters ghosted me, leaving me without work for the entire summer. But I kept the contact info for the court reporting firm I'd declined. And while we were in Chicago I reached out to see if they'd be willing to give me another chance. Certainly, they said, they're always needing help in the metro-Orlando area. So this time I ACTUALLY completed their employment paperwork. And this Monday morning, woke to a pile of onboarding info and paperwork. Part of the morning was spent buying equipment I'll need to do this job ($$$ but at least I can claim it as business expenses) and reviewing documents for them.
Then I got a text from the manager of Disney's Main Street Philharmonic, asking if I'm still interested in subbing. YES I am, but he doesn't have rehearsal dates lined up yet, he's just gathering info. Regardless I was very gratified that he reached out, instead of me having to come crawling and groveling for consideration, which is usually the case.
Eventually got to the airport and many MFL people were at my same gate, because layovers in DFW are a thing. We chatted together, flew out together, and I had a nice view of ABQ as we were leaving but am too lazy to embed the video this morning, sorry.
Layover in DFW where I ate random nonperishables for dinner, then a straightforward flight to Orlando. I got in around 8:30pm and Jameson picked me up. I squeezed him really hard, but he's so depressed right now from the whole Disney thing. I don't know how to make it better. At least he's not sitting on his hands; he's been making a CV and a teaching portfolio, and applying to jobs. But he was really quiet and just, down. All I can think to do right now is be here and be supportive, and try to take care of as much as I can so there's less burden on him.
At home an interesting surprise awaited me. A few weeks ago during all of those bus trips, I tried a new flavor of tuna-in-a-pouch: Bumblebee Lemon Sesame Ginger. I was so impressed with how good it was (real pieces of ginger in there!) that I wrote a little note to Bumblebee's "Contact Us" to say how much I liked it. They wrote a nice email back to say they appreciated the feedback, and I figured that was it. But among my mail was a letter from Bumblebee, and some coupons for two tuna pouches! How nice :) Now I'll have to keep an eye out for them again!
(remember that clicking on the image opens it in a new tab, where you can enlarge it further by clicking on it again.)
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Tuesday I was up at 8:30, and as usual was all-fired to get going on my layoff chores.
Breakfast and light cleaning until a tax appointment at 10:30am. I owe the government $80 and the tax preparers $250, so I'm calling that a win.
Then I scheduled training for my new job, to take place via Zoom when our tour is in Spokane next week. Then scheduled my car for a maintenance and repair drop-off tomorrow. Then chores in order of relevance: wiping down the kitchen, vacuuming, mopping the kitchen floor, and when Jameson got back from the gym I went to the grocery store. After lunch, cleaning the bathrooms and doing laundry.
Somewhere in there I popped outside to look at my plants, which I knew would be abysmal since there's been no rain. The bananas are looking weak but hanging on. My potted black sapote is pretty much dead and shedding leaves everywhere, so I dragged it around the side of the house and will figure out what to do with it later. The lemon tree is trying to flower but I doubt there will be fruit this year, it's too scraggly.
The big surprise was the vanilla orchid, which has THREE flower clusters!!
Video:
Pictures of the three flower clusters, from nearest to farthest:
That last one is very high up, not sure if I'll be able to reach it. Two of the flowers in the second photo look like they could bloom before the end of the week, so I'm going to research how to hand-pollinate it and see if I can catch them (they only bloom for a few hours, usually early morning.) It's giving me intense FOMO to know that I'll miss a lot of these flowers because I'll be back on tour on Monday, ARGH. But I'll do what I can...and if I succeed, I could get vanilla beans! Don't get too excited though. In order to get vanilla beans, here's what has to happen:
- I will have to pollinate the flower within SIX HOURS of it blooming. If I don't make that window, pollination will not succeed.
- They MUST be hand-pollinated. There is no insect that can do it in Florida (in their native Madagascar there is an orchid bee that can do it)
- If beans grow, they will need to survive for TEN MONTHS to mature on the vine.
- If the beans survive the ten months, I will have to be around to harvest them!
- I will have to blanch the beans to stop them from growing and to kill bacteria.
- I will have to "sweat" the beans, subjecting them to very hot temps and then wrapping them in cloth at night to "sweat" out the flavors of vanilla. No I have absolutely no idea how to correctly do this.
- The beans will have to be dried until their moisture content is between 18%-35%. Again, no idea how to accomplish this or measure moisture levels in a solid object...
- This entire process can take up to FOUR YEARS.
So yeah. Don't get too excited. Even if I get beans (a year after this) I'm very likely to ruin them through my own ignorance. But now I will get several chances to pollinate a flower (each flower makes only ONE bean), so let's start with that :)
For dinner Jameson took me to an Italian restaurant in Winter Garden, it was very good! He had some sort of cheese-filled pasta, and I had saffron seafood risotto. It was very creamy and rich...did they use cream? I know you're not supposed to but it was SO decadent! It had calamari, mussels, clams, chunks of tender salmon, and big juicy Gulf shrimp. Very good indeed.
We'd wanted to check out a COBBLER dessert spot next door(!) but were too full to actually eat there, so just checked out the menu. We'll come back another time.
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Wednesday I was up early to take my car for repairs that have been needed for like a year and a half. My new job(s) will require a lot of driving and I need to ensure that I'm ready to hit the ground running when tour ends.
I Ubered back so Jameson wouldn't have to get up early, had breakfast, and got started on making a batch of caramels for my coworkers.
You've seen my process a zillion times by now, if you'd like to see the steps again THIS POST details it. They turned out fine. Tomorrow once it's set I'll cut it up, then make a second batch.
We had lunch together, some repair guys came to fix our pool heater (power surge blew out some of the parts.) While waiting for them to finish up I discovered a FOURTH flower cluster on my vanilla! This is great, so many chances to try for pollination! Then Jameson went to the gym and I dusted the house and de-boned some pork chops for dinner. I also signed up for a Papa Pal appointment in Kissimmee; it's a woman who wants help with some housework and just to have someone to talk to, I think that will be a good test to see how this app works and understand the process. Somewhere in there Amazon delivered my court reporting equipment so I unpacked that. And lazed around a bit, because I still feel tired.
My car was eventually finished and it was $$$$, ouch! But that's what I get for putting off repairs.
For dinner I made panko-breaded pork chops in the air fryer, with buttered noodles and candied carrots. It was one of the better meals I've made in a while; the pork was so tender we didn't need knives! And all of the sides turned out perfectly as well. I have to say, seeing Jameson eat the whole thing with enthusiasm, smiling and exclaiming over it, made me feel like maybe I CAN cheer him up a bit. I hope so.
(This photo is from the recipe website. I didn't take a photo of mine and I should have, but it looked just like this sans green salad.)
We watched the end of Fargo Season 5 together (we'd never finished it due to holiday busy-ness) and chilled until bedtime.
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Let's see. Tomorrow Jameson has an early morning rehearsal for an upcoming gig. While he's there I'll check on my vanilla flowers, then cut the caramels and make the second batch. Somewhere in there, hopefully a walk.
Friday is my first Papa Pal job, so we'll see how that goes. Then cutting the second batch of caramels and packaging all of them, either for shipping or my suitcase.
Not much else planned except to repack, one last time, for the final few weeks of My Fair Lady.
It's been a wild, fun ride.
In the morning there was a lot going on already via text and email; it was like everyone chose this Monday to be THE Monday of getting balls rolling. I got a lot of paperwork for a job that I've taken. OH, probably didn't mention that because there hasn't been time with all the running around with family, friends, and shows!
Last year when Tootsie ended, I almost took a Digital Court Reporting job with a Florida contracting company. I ended up declining their job offer in favor of FedWriters, which had health benefits and was more in line with what I wanted to do (transcription.) And then FedWriters ghosted me, leaving me without work for the entire summer. But I kept the contact info for the court reporting firm I'd declined. And while we were in Chicago I reached out to see if they'd be willing to give me another chance. Certainly, they said, they're always needing help in the metro-Orlando area. So this time I ACTUALLY completed their employment paperwork. And this Monday morning, woke to a pile of onboarding info and paperwork. Part of the morning was spent buying equipment I'll need to do this job ($$$ but at least I can claim it as business expenses) and reviewing documents for them.
Then I got a text from the manager of Disney's Main Street Philharmonic, asking if I'm still interested in subbing. YES I am, but he doesn't have rehearsal dates lined up yet, he's just gathering info. Regardless I was very gratified that he reached out, instead of me having to come crawling and groveling for consideration, which is usually the case.
Eventually got to the airport and many MFL people were at my same gate, because layovers in DFW are a thing. We chatted together, flew out together, and I had a nice view of ABQ as we were leaving but am too lazy to embed the video this morning, sorry.
Layover in DFW where I ate random nonperishables for dinner, then a straightforward flight to Orlando. I got in around 8:30pm and Jameson picked me up. I squeezed him really hard, but he's so depressed right now from the whole Disney thing. I don't know how to make it better. At least he's not sitting on his hands; he's been making a CV and a teaching portfolio, and applying to jobs. But he was really quiet and just, down. All I can think to do right now is be here and be supportive, and try to take care of as much as I can so there's less burden on him.
At home an interesting surprise awaited me. A few weeks ago during all of those bus trips, I tried a new flavor of tuna-in-a-pouch: Bumblebee Lemon Sesame Ginger. I was so impressed with how good it was (real pieces of ginger in there!) that I wrote a little note to Bumblebee's "Contact Us" to say how much I liked it. They wrote a nice email back to say they appreciated the feedback, and I figured that was it. But among my mail was a letter from Bumblebee, and some coupons for two tuna pouches! How nice :) Now I'll have to keep an eye out for them again!
(remember that clicking on the image opens it in a new tab, where you can enlarge it further by clicking on it again.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday I was up at 8:30, and as usual was all-fired to get going on my layoff chores.
Breakfast and light cleaning until a tax appointment at 10:30am. I owe the government $80 and the tax preparers $250, so I'm calling that a win.
Then I scheduled training for my new job, to take place via Zoom when our tour is in Spokane next week. Then scheduled my car for a maintenance and repair drop-off tomorrow. Then chores in order of relevance: wiping down the kitchen, vacuuming, mopping the kitchen floor, and when Jameson got back from the gym I went to the grocery store. After lunch, cleaning the bathrooms and doing laundry.
Somewhere in there I popped outside to look at my plants, which I knew would be abysmal since there's been no rain. The bananas are looking weak but hanging on. My potted black sapote is pretty much dead and shedding leaves everywhere, so I dragged it around the side of the house and will figure out what to do with it later. The lemon tree is trying to flower but I doubt there will be fruit this year, it's too scraggly.
The big surprise was the vanilla orchid, which has THREE flower clusters!!
Video:
Click to viewPictures of the three flower clusters, from nearest to farthest:
That last one is very high up, not sure if I'll be able to reach it. Two of the flowers in the second photo look like they could bloom before the end of the week, so I'm going to research how to hand-pollinate it and see if I can catch them (they only bloom for a few hours, usually early morning.) It's giving me intense FOMO to know that I'll miss a lot of these flowers because I'll be back on tour on Monday, ARGH. But I'll do what I can...and if I succeed, I could get vanilla beans! Don't get too excited though. In order to get vanilla beans, here's what has to happen:
- I will have to pollinate the flower within SIX HOURS of it blooming. If I don't make that window, pollination will not succeed.
- They MUST be hand-pollinated. There is no insect that can do it in Florida (in their native Madagascar there is an orchid bee that can do it)
- If beans grow, they will need to survive for TEN MONTHS to mature on the vine.
- If the beans survive the ten months, I will have to be around to harvest them!
- I will have to blanch the beans to stop them from growing and to kill bacteria.
- I will have to "sweat" the beans, subjecting them to very hot temps and then wrapping them in cloth at night to "sweat" out the flavors of vanilla. No I have absolutely no idea how to correctly do this.
- The beans will have to be dried until their moisture content is between 18%-35%. Again, no idea how to accomplish this or measure moisture levels in a solid object...
- This entire process can take up to FOUR YEARS.
So yeah. Don't get too excited. Even if I get beans (a year after this) I'm very likely to ruin them through my own ignorance. But now I will get several chances to pollinate a flower (each flower makes only ONE bean), so let's start with that :)
For dinner Jameson took me to an Italian restaurant in Winter Garden, it was very good! He had some sort of cheese-filled pasta, and I had saffron seafood risotto. It was very creamy and rich...did they use cream? I know you're not supposed to but it was SO decadent! It had calamari, mussels, clams, chunks of tender salmon, and big juicy Gulf shrimp. Very good indeed.
We'd wanted to check out a COBBLER dessert spot next door(!) but were too full to actually eat there, so just checked out the menu. We'll come back another time.
------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday I was up early to take my car for repairs that have been needed for like a year and a half. My new job(s) will require a lot of driving and I need to ensure that I'm ready to hit the ground running when tour ends.
I Ubered back so Jameson wouldn't have to get up early, had breakfast, and got started on making a batch of caramels for my coworkers.
You've seen my process a zillion times by now, if you'd like to see the steps again THIS POST details it. They turned out fine. Tomorrow once it's set I'll cut it up, then make a second batch.
We had lunch together, some repair guys came to fix our pool heater (power surge blew out some of the parts.) While waiting for them to finish up I discovered a FOURTH flower cluster on my vanilla! This is great, so many chances to try for pollination! Then Jameson went to the gym and I dusted the house and de-boned some pork chops for dinner. I also signed up for a Papa Pal appointment in Kissimmee; it's a woman who wants help with some housework and just to have someone to talk to, I think that will be a good test to see how this app works and understand the process. Somewhere in there Amazon delivered my court reporting equipment so I unpacked that. And lazed around a bit, because I still feel tired.
My car was eventually finished and it was $$$$, ouch! But that's what I get for putting off repairs.
For dinner I made panko-breaded pork chops in the air fryer, with buttered noodles and candied carrots. It was one of the better meals I've made in a while; the pork was so tender we didn't need knives! And all of the sides turned out perfectly as well. I have to say, seeing Jameson eat the whole thing with enthusiasm, smiling and exclaiming over it, made me feel like maybe I CAN cheer him up a bit. I hope so.
(This photo is from the recipe website. I didn't take a photo of mine and I should have, but it looked just like this sans green salad.)
We watched the end of Fargo Season 5 together (we'd never finished it due to holiday busy-ness) and chilled until bedtime.
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Let's see. Tomorrow Jameson has an early morning rehearsal for an upcoming gig. While he's there I'll check on my vanilla flowers, then cut the caramels and make the second batch. Somewhere in there, hopefully a walk.
Friday is my first Papa Pal job, so we'll see how that goes. Then cutting the second batch of caramels and packaging all of them, either for shipping or my suitcase.
Not much else planned except to repack, one last time, for the final few weeks of My Fair Lady.
It's been a wild, fun ride.