Un Post du Rien

It is not that I havn't been cooking...I really have set about a little. But what I've been able to scrape out of the oven has not been post worthy. Whole wheat maple scones tasted like...whole wheat. And the gluten free cranberry banana bread emerged like a sunken soufle. Gluten free baking is more difficult than one would imagine. All of this, and i'm reformating my laptop. Alas, my pictures are trapped on the camera. I had imagined that not having class would provide me all the time in the world to tinker in la cuisine, but no. There is the job. The blasted job that sucks not only the 6-7 hours it requires of me daily, but the rest of the day as well. The few free hours before noon are stained by the looming hours ahead. I have no evenings. Period. Let the countdown begin: two weeks to this day and I leave the confines of the immaculate yet sticky ice cream parlor with its youthful staff of minors. Babysitting will soon be over. Well, to be fair there are exceptions (my buddies J, H, and E). I admit to sounding comme un Scrouge; an old man in the corner with walking stick and brandy grumbling about the lack of musical taste of "kids theses days." Alors, I do beleive that is how they percieve me. I have a nasty habbit of acting as la mere, I do it to them as well as my younger sister K. Oftentimes I beleive they are afraid of me; the warden. But they are my new little siblings. So I will miss them.

On the subject of ice cream, I must say I am at the cash register a lot spouting to the customers the eybrow raising total of their outrageously expensive ice cream they have just purchased. Though the prices are clearly posted behind my head, the shocked look of dissaproval at such a scandal is not only universal, but expected. There are 4 sums that stand out, as our prices are set and there really can only be so many combinations. The 4 most popular combination: 3 small waffle cones come to a total of 15.96, 3 sugar cones and a small waffle amount to 14.92, 2 sugars and a small waffle require 11.72, and 2 small waffles come to 10.64. Alors, the point is that if you look at these numbers as dates, then the mundane ping of the cash box begins to sound like a history lesson. 1492 is a bit tiresome, however. Every customer (well, not every) chimes back at me "...Columbus sailed the ocean blue!" How charmant.

How clever those primary school teachers are in instilling knowledge in the minds of the nation's youth with their rhymes. I smile and say very good, and then also non chalantly bring up other events in said year; such as the Reconquista of Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella with the Edict of Expulsion that outlawed the region's 200,000 Jews. I am flooded with memories of History 112. Most just meekly smile, but those that are interested keep me going...oh and then it is their folly, for shutting me up is a challenge. However no one gives a damn about 1596. So I spend my minutes inbetween ice cream patrons solving the issue. Mais j'ai trouve rien. 1596 was one of those years that boasted little; a few arctic voyages, some Dutch port bombings, and a ferryboat trajically crashes in Paris. Though the Austrian occupation of Calais does spark some memory as well as interest, the year was quite a pastille. Merde. 1064, I assure myself, has to have been a year for the books, full of politics and power. Not quite. While the year did mark the beginning of Turkish interest and excursions into Anatolia, nothing of striking prominance occured. My magical dates are drawing me blanks, Columbus I will have you yet! My last hope: (not a jedi) 1172, a year, to my dismay, that is catalogued in the Annals of the Worcester Priory as a "year in which nothing memorable happened." Alas! Mon dieu I am defeated, je n'ai pas du chance. Oh well Columbus you win this round. I will just take the money and count out the change.

Euh, there are recipes in the future though. These duds will be attempted again, suffering defeat at the hands of a muffin--unspeakable! I will continue to convert dollar amounts into dates, hoping to stumble apon a good year, until my final hours. My summer job is here aqcuiring mythic description; it really isn't that bad, I have a flair for the dramatics, though I am sure you have garnered as much. But these years now I am stuck with, their trivial events won't seem to leave me. As such I am expectant that their legacies will be found somewhere instilled in the decor and ambiance of the Salty Cod. Keep with me on the countdown.

A Bientot