With the position that I am in up here, I hear a lot of complaints. One of my tasks is to attend camp committee meetings which are several hour bitch sessions. A lot of complaints from craft also work their ways up through their foreman to their supers, to me. I am in a project controls position, particularly interface coordination. This means that any problem people have that relates to camp, busing, other contractors, I get to hear about it.
For the most part a lot of these complaints are due to an over-inflated sense of entitlement people have. Seriously some of the things that people complain about are without any thought for the greater good, or reason or perspective. An example of this is people swap shower heads to get better showers. This is a 5000 person camp that requires all it's water to be trucked in, so the reason for the low flow heads is simple resource management. More to the point I hear about everything. The bus was a minute late, the steak is crappy. Now this isn't to say that all the items that are raised aren't genuine concerns, some are.
I was thinking about this though and the things that appear to bug a lot of people, are things that I never even think about. It just never registers to me. I was thinking about why this is and the conclusion that I have come to is that I have no sense of entitlement when I am up here. I essentially think of this place as a paid prison. Don't get me wrong, I like my job, I do but my mentality is this...
If the food is shitty, happy to be eating and that I didn't have to cook it, or clean it.
If the bus is late, I am happy there is another one that comes later that gets us to camp
The bed sucks, I at least have a bed to sleep in
The shower sucks, the water was hot enough and I am clean
The laundry machines are full often, at least I can do my laundry
The gym is busy, at least there is a gym
The flight is sitting in Edmonton for a few hours, at least I am going home.
Hell I am allowed to be in a supervisor's room, but I request a craft room because I don't care if my prison room has a slightly larger bed and better walls. Some people care immensely so let them have it instead.
Anyway back to work, but that is my thought on the manner.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Peeling Pomegranates
There are few things that I enjoy as much as when it is pomegranate season. This last crop I must have enjoyed over 25 of them and like my pumpkin carving with that much practice I have become really good at peeling pomegranates. I have then decided to do a blog on how I treat each one. Every pomegranate I peel is with the goal of tapping out every single seed without slicing into any of them. My technique is to peel as much of it as possible without cutting a seed, breaking it into chunks and then stripping those chunks of the glorious fruit.
1.
Start by cutting into the top. My weapon of choice is a small curved parring knife. When you cut in, start high, go about half to three quarters and then pull up. This is the important part of the technique, you slice in some, and then pull the knife up to rip the rest.
2.
After you slice the top off, work all around the edges. Don't worry about going all the way down the sides, but try to pull it back as much to the seeds as possible.
3.
The next step is to hollow out the top. Take the point of the knife and cut a small cone out of the center to get that hard bud out.
4.
Proceed onward to stick the knife in the edges of the middle, shallowly and peel back until the top middle is all clear.
5.
The next step is to attack the bottom. Slice in and pull up. Start shallow and go deeper until you pull back to the seeds. Work the sides a but remember it doesn't have to go the whole way up the sides
6.
Next you want to make shallow cut lines, just deep enough to almost break the skin along the seperation points of each of the chunks. The chunks will have a small skin inbetween each one that run up and down the fruit. Make cut lines in there
7.
Now you can take it and delicately split it apart. Seeds will shake loose when you do this and you should have a dish or container to catch them when they fall.
8.
After it is separated you can pull smaller pieces off in the same fashion.
9.
Use your hands to peel back skin and peel to make klumps of seeds.
10.
Now you can easily use your hands to apply gentle pressure to the seeds to loosen them from the rind and roll them off and into a container
11.
Or you may notice that the chunks are in triangular clumps, making it easy to peel the seeds off with your mouth in a few bits lie eatting little pieces of corn.
Where I am from pomegranate season is over, but when they are back I hope these techniques help you enjoy pomegranates more.
1.
Start by cutting into the top. My weapon of choice is a small curved parring knife. When you cut in, start high, go about half to three quarters and then pull up. This is the important part of the technique, you slice in some, and then pull the knife up to rip the rest.
2.
After you slice the top off, work all around the edges. Don't worry about going all the way down the sides, but try to pull it back as much to the seeds as possible.
3.
The next step is to hollow out the top. Take the point of the knife and cut a small cone out of the center to get that hard bud out.
4.
Proceed onward to stick the knife in the edges of the middle, shallowly and peel back until the top middle is all clear.
5.
The next step is to attack the bottom. Slice in and pull up. Start shallow and go deeper until you pull back to the seeds. Work the sides a but remember it doesn't have to go the whole way up the sides
6.
Next you want to make shallow cut lines, just deep enough to almost break the skin along the seperation points of each of the chunks. The chunks will have a small skin inbetween each one that run up and down the fruit. Make cut lines in there
7.
Now you can take it and delicately split it apart. Seeds will shake loose when you do this and you should have a dish or container to catch them when they fall.
8.
After it is separated you can pull smaller pieces off in the same fashion.
9.
Use your hands to peel back skin and peel to make klumps of seeds.
10.
Now you can easily use your hands to apply gentle pressure to the seeds to loosen them from the rind and roll them off and into a container
11.
Or you may notice that the chunks are in triangular clumps, making it easy to peel the seeds off with your mouth in a few bits lie eatting little pieces of corn.
Where I am from pomegranate season is over, but when they are back I hope these techniques help you enjoy pomegranates more.
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