Sous-Chef

Sous (pronounced like Sioux or Sue) means under.  Most commonly Sous-Chef.  The shortened version of Sous-Chef de Cuisine.

The second in command.
The direct assistant.

A very important job.

The kitchen is not the only place that has Sous-Chef.  Remodeling has a Sous-Chef. So does wood chopping.  So does tree trimming.

I am the Sous-Chef.

It's a very important job.  Although it often includes a lot of holding things, it's more than just a "hold this and stand on this" job. 

The most important role of the Sous-Chef, or assistant, is paying attention.  Not just paying attention to details, but also paying attention to the task at hand.  You can't get bored, even if the task is boring.  You can't let your mind wander to what is for dinner or the grocery list.  You can't get distracted by other people in the room or the television or the telephone or the cat.  You must pay attention to the play-by-play and be prepared for the next request.

A knowledge of equipment is very important, but the terminology is learned over the course of the career.  Crescent wrench, pipe wrench, Philips, vice grip, channel locks, impact driver. 

You also have to have a good memory for unusual things.  Most important is the last place an item was located. 
"Do you know where the basin wrench is?" 
"The last time I saw the basin wrench, it was in the bottom drawer of the toolbox in the game room."

An understanding of the language is helpful. 
"I need the thing for the thing." 
"This thing?" 
"Yes, that thing."

A good Sous-Chef has the next tool ready for action, not unlike a surgeon asks for an instrument. 
"Hand me a crescent wrench."
"Crescent wrench."
"Hand me the pipe wrench."
"Pipe wrench."

Lighting provider is also a key role of a Sous-Chef.  A good case of rigor-mortis is helpful at times, too.
"Hold this flashlight right here."
"Right here?"
"No lower.  Right there. Don't move."

A Sous-Chef not only assists they can think on their feet. 
"That's a good idea.  It won't work in the kitchen, but it's a good idea for the hallway."

A Sous-Chef is also good at clean up. 
"Quick grab a towel!"  
"How about a bucket?"

I am an excellent Sous-Chef.  I still have a lot to learn from the Executive Chef Walt Kowalski.  

Saturday Successes

Saturday was an great, productive day (and looking back we're glad we didn't put it off until Sunday, otherwise we would have been working in the rain.)

 

So here is the check list of everything we accomplished on Saturday:

• all of the clean laundry put away
• house trash emptied
• dishwasher unloaded and reloaded
• washed the windows in the kitchen
• several loads of laundry washed (where do all of these dirty clothes come from?!?)
• Walt Kowalski split and organized all of the wood in the woodpile
• old wood from House #1 burned
• leaves blown and raked and raked and raked and raked
• log rack moved and reloaded
• sensitive papers burned
• litter boxes emptied, scrubbed, and refilled

 

Here's Walt doing the splitting.

 

It's cherry and it smelled so good as he was splitting it.  The fire inside smells just as good.

 

My pile-o-leaves.  It doesn't look like much in this photo but by the end I had 2 piles that were shoulder deep. With piles this big, the leaf blower was useless at this point.

It was a beautiful day.  There was very little wind, so it was perfect for a fire and the evening was cool, but not cold.  It's not often you get to outside until 9:00pm in the middle of November.

It's good I got so much done on Saturday, because the only thing I did on Sunday was take down a chimney. :)

Chim Chimeny

 

Here are the chimney pictures, as promised.  My camera was right where I left it.  *sigh*  Thank goodness no aliens landed nearby today that needed photographed.

 

Walt Kowalski was on the second floor knocking down bricks and creating dust.  Everything we do at this point creates dust.

 

 

 

 It looks like ghostly dust. 

 

Chimney before

 
Chimney after (during)

Lost

My students go nowhere, nowhere, without their phones.  On a regular basis, I find a phone someone left in the ladies room.
 
I have a 100% return rate.  Once I even called the number listed as "mom" to find the owner of the phone.  Telephone karma. 

The last phone I found was a professor's phone, so it's not just students.

I don't have this phone addiction.  I do however, have this addiction with my camera and I take it with me everywhere. 

I forgot it at House #1. :(  I remembered it when we got home, but I was cold and hungry and didn't want to go back.  Walt Kowalski was so kind and even offered to go get it for me.  It wasn't necessary.  We'll be at House #1 tonight.  Let's just hope aliens don't land before then.

I have pictures of the removal of the second chimney.  We are almost down to the ceiling of the basement. 

Last night we did some online research about laminated support beams.  We are going to use a laminated beam for support on the first floor instead of a wall to the living room.  We're also going to use one in the basement to correct the sag in the house. 

Walt Kowalski has done this before so he has excellent ideas.  I, however, only had a general idea of what he's talking about, but needed to see more pictures.  We didn't just find pictures, we found videos, instructions, and a whole lot of what not to do when removing a wall. 

Ahhhhhh it makes so much more sense now. 

I'll have lots of pictures.

When I remember my camera. 

P.S. Don't call me from the ladies room and use some sanitizer on that phone every now and then.

11/12/13

 
Today is November 12, 2013.

11-12-13

I'm first in the office in the morning.  I have to turn the alarm off on the main lab, two classrooms, and our office.  I always know the date (until I need to know the date and then I've forgotten.) 

I never noticed the word Gemini until this morning. 


Also fitting on 11/12/13 is the first snow.  A harsh contrast of the first snow is a lovely bloom on the hibiscus in my office. 

Leaves schmeaves

I love leaves.

These kind of leaves:

 

Or these kind of leaves:

 

 
Ohhhhh.  Ahhhhhh. Pretty.

Not these leaves.

 
Or these leaves:

Blah rakey rakey.
I'm going to be here a while, even with my leaf blower.  *sigh*

Last tree standing

 

Last Saturday was too windy.  This Saturday was the day. 

This Saturday HAD to be the day.  We are all tired of looking at the last tree.  The maple needs to stand alone.

 

At first we had concerns about the wind, but as the afternoon progressed, the wind calmed.

 

 

 
 
Chain Saw Johnny and Walt Kowalski put the ladder as high as they could.
 

 

 



 

32 feet of extension ladder in the air is high.  Walt Kowalski is always so fearless.  If he is fearful, he never lets on.  (You can see the Mayor and Mrs./Girlfriend Mayor in the background.  She's not often seen outside in the yard.)

 

 
Walt putting the straps on the tree. 

 

We exchanged the ropes for wires. 1,200 pound pull capacity wires.  We also have a backup plan, a Hobbit rope. 

The Hobbit rope was just a rope, but it was shiny and soft and strong.  Walt Kowalski said it looked like Hobbits made it.  Hobbits are a good backup, thus the name.
 
The truck will provide tension and motion on the wire through the wire guide pulley. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
It wouldn't be a day on the Cat Ranch if something didn't go wrong.  In retrospect, we should have put the wire guide pulley behind the tree, then we wouldn't have needed the strap.  As a backup we chained the wire guide pulley to the tree.  We are all thankful we did.  Every time we get out the saw we learn a better, safer way.   
 

 
The last tree on the front hill is down! 
 
Here is the before and after comparison. The cherry tree was twice as tall as the maple.  The wood was beautiful. The house is going to smell so good when that burns.  No evidence of ants and Walt Kowalski is going to make sure the English Ivy doesn't attack the last maple standing.








Now the maple tree will have room to grow.  It is a lovely tree, even with half of the leaves on the ground.

(If you look close in that last photo you can see part of the brick rip rap by Chain Saw Johnny.)