the vendor client relationship

I don’t talk much about my career on this blog for a reason.  Actually, two reasons.  Reason #1 is because a handful of people I work with know about this blog and read it occasionally.  Reason #2 is because with every new company I work for comes a new confidentiality agreement I have to sign.

So for those of you who know a lot about my extra curricular activities but don’t really know what I do for a living… well, this probably won’t enlighten you much.  However, it will clue you into the absurdity I, and many others who do what I do, have to deal with.  I’m not sure if this video is even funny to people outside of “the industry” but here in Hollywood it is getting passed around like the Swine Flu in Mexico City!  I guess that is why they call ‘em viral videos.

THE VENDOR CLIENT RELATIONSHIP – IN REAL WORLD SITUATIONS

Click here for a little background/explanation, and if you happen to be a client or a vendor, then the comments are well worth the read too!

the big one is coming

aftermath of the 1994 Northridge, CA quake

I don’t know if we here in Southern California have been making the national news lately or not, but there have been two earthquakes larger than 4.0 that have hit this week.  The first was Sunday evening and the second was yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, their epicenters being within one mile of each other.  I was about 20 miles away from each, but that was still close enough to feel them, just not close enough to throw anything off the walls.  People who were closer tell a different tale, but I don’t think any deaths have been reported.

So two decent sized quakes in one week, and quite a few in the past year… people are starting to talk and we are all wondering just how close “the big one” is.  A year ago it was reported that, “California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037.  New calculations reveal there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike in the next 30 years.”  And the icing on the cake, “The odds of such an event are higher in southern California than northern California—97 percent versus 93 percent.”

Yeah, I know this gives me 28 years to get out, but like I said… with all the seismic activity we’ve been having lately, I’m no scientist but I’m saying it feels more like two years.  Speaking of scientists, why are we not better at predicting earthquakes by now, anyway?  We have been studying them for how long now?  I would think the main purpose of these studies would be to be able to predict them in order to evacuate a city in time, but we are nowhere near that capability yet.  Why haven’t the Japanese figured it out?  They’re crazy smart, especially when it comes to technology, and the people there have been rocked by these things for centuries before the United States even became the United States.

So what are we doing this Memorial Day weekend?  We’re putting together our earthquake kits.  Something my boyfriend has wanted to do for awhile now, and finally I’m on board too.

grilled cheese invitational

We randomly found out about the Grilled Cheese Invitational from, where else, the LA Group on couchsurfing.com.  Since we hadn’t seen any other advertisements for it we were stunned by the MILE LONG line that welcomed proven  us when we got there.  It seemed like just about everyone in the city was there, a point which only seemed to be by the fact that we all ran into people we knew.  (By “all” I mean me, my boyfriend, a friend, and his girlfriend.)  And a few weeks later a co-worker mentioned she had seen me there.  Who knows how many people were there that we knew but didn’t happen to see!?

The event itself was interesting.  Obviously could have been better organized, getting to actually try a sandwich generally required one to push, yell, and frantically wave your arms.  That is just not really my style, but I had to adjust because we were there to try some grilled cheese.  I think I ended up getting about three, and by three I mean three quarters, so not even a whole sandwich.  Two of them were pretty good though and it definitely makes me want to do some grilled cheese experimentation of my own.  At least Kraft was there giving out free sandwiches for those who weren’t savvy enough to get a taste of the competition, but it was amazing how boring and bland a Kraft grilled cheese tastes when compared to… well, anything else really.

It was fun and I’m glad we went, but probably not something we will be attending every year.  Unless I do invent a masterpiece grilled cheese and decide to compete.  Something to strive for.  (Not gonna happen.)

are we qualified for this?

Let’s see… how long ago was this now?  April 19th, that is over a month.  Anyway, a month ago we were asked by a fellow couchsurfer who lives in the LA area if we would come help him and his colleagues by volunteering for Chagas Disease.  Don’t worry, I’ll explain what that is since we had no idea either.  Actually, I’ll let the CSer who invited us explain (via copy and paste):

Like a hundred years ago, a disease was discovered in Brazil.  This disease is transmitted by the bite of one insect called Chinche (kissing bug) and transmits a parasite called T. Cruzi.  After time it can cause heart problems, colon problems and esophageal problems, even leading to death if not treated.  The symptoms are vague and can be detected only by EKG and blood screening.

Pretty scary stuff, right?  They do these free screenings in areas that have mostly Mexican populations, so the fact that neither my boyfriend nor I speak Spanish limited the ways we could help out.  What they decided to have us do was record the height, weight, waist measurement, and BMI (automatically done by the scale they had) of each patient.  Body language was all I needed to get people to stand where I wanted them to do so it ended up being fine.  It was awesome to see how many people were taking advantage of this opportunity, at least 100 people showed up to get tested.

After the last of ‘em, the doctors let my boyfriend and I get EKGs.  Something that probably is good to get done, but neither of us ever had before.  Not that I have ever worried that anything was abnomal with my heart, but having a piece of paper in my file proving as much is a nice comfort.

kitchen catch-up

I am breaking the “one meal per post” protocol I’ve followed thus far for the sake of finally, maybe, possibly getting caught up here.  I haven’t been cooking all that much recently, but here is what I’ve turned out this past month.

CASHEW CRUSTED CHICKEN and HONEY GINGER CARROTS

I am not the biggest fan of carrots, but I would make this recipe again.  After trying them my boyfriend said, “You actually managed to make carrots that don’t taste like carrots!”  I’m not so sure I agree, but I did at least make them more tolerable.  The chicken was good and looked fancy, but definitely needed to be marinated so that the flavor would be throughout the chicken, not just outer quarter inch.  Since my local grocery store didn’t have chopped cashews I had to smash them myself, which I gotta admit was pretty fun.

SLOW COOKER PEPPER STEAK and BROCCOLI WITH LEMON ALMOND BUTTER

This pepper steak is one of the best things to come out of my slow cooker thus far.  The flavor was excellent!  The broccoli side dish was definitely way too lemon-y.  If I decide it deserves a second chance later in life, the lemon juice will have to be cut in half.

SUGAR COATED PECANS

We had a friend over for the last UFC event which gave me an excuse to try out some munchies.  This recipe made the apartment smell wonderful, and the boys couldn’t stop eating them.  I could only handle a few at a time, so maybe it is a guy thing.  All I know is that if they aren’t at every event we host from now on, people are going to be upset.  I also made two types of hummus and my own pita chips, but didn’t get a chance to take pictures before the display had been dipped into.

CHICKEN BISCUIT PIE

My boyfriend’s one complaint about this was that he couldn’t decide which meal to categorize it in.  We had it for dinner, but he said it could maybe make a good breakfast.  I told him he was silly but now that the idea was in my head I ended up eating leftovers for breakfast the next morning… and he was right.  It kinda did make a better breakfast that it did a dinner.  Oh, and I went the easier route of making refrigerated biscuits separately as other reviewers suggested so that the crust didn’t get soggy.  I love me some refrigerated biscuits so to me the best part of this recipe was having a few of those left over!

LAMB CHOPS WITH BALSAMIC REDUCTION and OVEN ROASTED RED POTATOES AND ASPARAGUS

This meal was awesome!  Because of what other reviewers had said, I knew I had to splurge on an expensive balsamic vinegar so I bought a $20 bottle.  I don’t know for sure this is what made it so good, but I enjoyed the flavor so much I’ll never risk making this recipe with something different.  Unfortunately, what I did skimp on was the cuts of meat.  Next time I’ll splurge on that too and this could be restaurant quality.  I’ll also leave out the asparagus next time and just make the roasted potatoes.  I think I cut the amounts of rosemary and thyme in half due to what other reviewers had said and they were right.  These potatoes… seriously, you’ve just got to try them.

CHICKEN PICATTA II and FAST AND EASY SPINACH WITH SHALLOTS

I chose this spinach recipe because I wanted to use up the shallots I had left over from the previous meal.  I’ve decided I really enjoy shallots.  Other than it being too salty this spinach was really good, but I can’t exactly blame the recipe for that since it says “salt to taste.”  I hate when they do that, just tell me how much!  The chicken had a great flavor, but again I just really think chicken should always be marinated because otherwise you only get that flavor along the edges.  Can’t wait until I have a full size fridge and can keep a few different things marinating in there!

Alrighty, that is everything I have made (and taken photos of) to date.  Just a few more activities to post about and I’ll be all caught up!