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SBDC Class

So, that class we attended last night was put on by the University of GA Small Business Development Center. Sounds great, but it was just so-so. Of course we were the only white people there, which did not surprise me. It’s odd how white people won’t use the public resources available – although we got this lead via some hipsters, so I guess it’s generational. The class was half black, one quarter Hispanic and one quarter white. I’m sure we screwed up their usual ratios! LOL

The dude that did the class was an old white man who is apparently unaware of the internet and/or social media and how you can use that to promote yourself these days. He was also kind of an apologist for the banking industry, which of course pisses me off. He droned on about how important biz plans are, the banks won’t lend to you unless you have stellar credit (but it’s not the bank’s fault!), you should use LLC, blah blah. He did give us a couple of leads for SBA loans and a microloan organization.

But when it came to marketing and research, he actually suggested that for a restaurant, you should have focus groups and go door to door polling whether they’d like your type of restaurant. ?? WTF is he on about? He owned fucking dry cleaning stores, what does he know about the food business? Precious little, apparently. He didn’t seem to think the quality of food was very relevant. Gods.

He was annoyed with me because I was giving the 3 restaurant people in the room tips as we went along and even answering questions that he could not. Too bad, old man, I happen to have more knowledge than you in certain areas. I think he is used to being the only person in the room with a clue. To be sure, there was one old lady in there that was an IDIOT. An absolute luddite who was financing her son’s (grandson, probably) business but didn’t know what the internet was. Um. ? The kid is doing clothing rental via instagram and is doing pretty well for a 17 year old! Hope he doesn’t spend all of granny’s money. But he probably will.

Anyway, it was a long powerpoint presentation with the pp slides printed out for us to make notes next to the slide image. Exciting. I guess I remembered more than I thought about the business classes I took long ago. Or maybe I just know this shit via osmosis from Rob. In any case, other than the SBA bank connection and the templates for the various documents, the class was very VERY basic.

I would recommend taking this SBDC class if you are totally new to business. The info is solid, just not very up to date as far as internet marketing goes. It’s run by old white people, so, keep that in mind.

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The Problem with Cord Cutting

I hate DirecTV’s bullshit and I hate paying those assholes $79/mo for TV that goes out every time it rains. YES I know I can cut the cord (or the SIGNAL as the case may be) but here’s the problem: we watch lots of shows and we can’t get most of them via Hulu or NetFlix. We might be able to get some via HD antenna (like SHIELD), I have to check on that.

But even if we manage to get most stuff, Nick would still spend a LOT of his time downloading the more obscure stuff – mostly from Food Network or Cooking Channel. Restaurant Impossible, Bar Rescue, Bite This and myriad other things we watch for research purposes would have to be hunted down. That equals LOTS of time.

So, we stay with DirecTV and its bullshit because it’s saving us time.

I know it’s lame, but that’s the bottom line: time. DirecTV and other providers know this, which is why they are uber douchey. Oligobble, baby.

Comcast is our internet provider because it’s our ONLY choice for true broadband and those assholes charge us $45/mo. Of course you can’t SEE any of the various speeds and prices online, oh NO that is supah secret, but I can tell you that I have 50mbs for the price of the 25mbs service. Here is my bill (that does not say anywhere on it what I’m actually paying for):

Oligobble w/ Comcast!
Oligobble w/ Comcast!

The “Blast” special is, I think, why I get the 50mbs for the price of the 25mbs. Who the fuck knows, since they are as obscure as possible on the site and on the bill. OLIGOBBLE OUR BALLS! YOU’LL TAKE WHAT WE GIVE YOU.

Anyhoo, we pay a combined $125/mo for tv and internet. It’s fucking insane. But if we want service, VE VILL PAY.

At least our cell phones are reasonable. We use Virgin Mobile and have for over a decade. GREAT service, great coverage, minimum bullshit. Nick is on the $30/mo dealie and I’m on the $40/mo. Unlimited data (there’s a cap, I’ve never reached it) and Nick gets 300mins talk; I get 1200mins talk. I have to use the phone a lot more than Nick for my job. No contract, either, just good service. The only downside of Virgin Mobile is that we have to buy our phones and they MUST be from VM. We are currently waiting for the price of the 5 series to come down, then we’ll upgrade.

The only provider I actually endorse on this post is Virgin Mobile. They rock. Interested? Please use my VM referral link and get $25 free credit! :)

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Just a short note!

I cannot believe it’s October. This part of the year always seems to fly by. And as usual, this time of year also gives me bouts of fear and loathing. It’s my birthday coming up, I’m sure. I hate being middle aged and my birthday exacerbates that. Ugh. But, as they say, it’s better than the alternative, right? Harumph.

I’m working very hard to get right with my place in life and find ways to have more fun. I got those hair pieces at con and they lifted my spirits considerably. I know it sounds weird, but sometimes it’s the small stuff that can help.

I’m getting back into walking every day – I even got us LifeTrak watches to help with that. Mine is not very reliable, but it’s ok for $40. If I can keep my knee from going out, I’ll be good.

All in all, I like my job, I have a wonderful partner and things are good. I really have no business whining. So I’ll stop. :)

Thanks for reading (all 5 of you) and happy autumn!

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Roasted Cauliflower with Spicy Yogurt

Someone posted a roasted cauliflower recipe to FB, but the recipe was flawed. It took much longer to cook than stated (unless you like raw cauliflower), 400 will burn (use 375) and the end product was dry (I added butter). Here is the photo linked to the original recipe:

photo: Erin McDowell
photo: Erin McDowell

Here is my version that cooks in half the time, has all the flavour and is not dry! Not as photogenic, but tastier!

Roasted Cauliflower with Spicy Yogurt

.75 cup greek yogurt (I use full fat; nonfat may brown faster!)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ancho powder
.5 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cumin
.5 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
.5 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar (to help browning)
zest and juice of one lime
1 tsp garlic paste (or paste one clove fresh)
1 tsp olive oil
1 head cauliflower, sliced into thick 1.5″ steaks (or chunks if it refuses to slice!)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk together first 12 ingredients. Prepare a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper. Slather yogurt sauce on cauliflower steaks and place on sheet pan in single layer. Bake for about 15 mins then pull from oven (if sauce is not dark enough for you, leave in a bit longer), add 2 tbl water to the sheet pan and tent foil over it tightly. Pop back into oven for another 5-10 mins. I like my cauliflower fairly soft; if you like it a bit al dente, stick with 5 mins or skip water step all together.

Serve with steaks!

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And just like that…

it’s September. I’ve seen others mention the creep of summer far into the months that used to be fall and I agree. It doesn’t cool down here until mid-October. Bleh.

So another DragonCon down. I had a lot of fun this year! That is mostly because we avoided being run ragged by the artists we wrangle. We didn’t stay late, we did what we wanted and even managed to catch 2 good panels and the Miss Trek Universe Pageant. We’d missed this the last coupla years for some reason, but never again! It was a BLAST! I have to say, Garrett Wang is such a great asset to this track. We got to speak to him about it and I’m going to write the Powers That Be at Dragoncon to let them know that we love him and they should pony up and pay ALL his expenses. He does this for FREE! They could at least pay for his plane fare as well as the room.

I did not catch Jeri Ryan at her table, sadly. She was an excellent guest. I did say HI to Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh the Borg), tho, and he is a sweetie. I also briefly met Peter Williams (Apophis, SG-1) and I got him to say Sho’va! and Insolence! Made my day!! I missed Chris Judge (Teal’c) very much. He and Peter would have made a great panel!

The artists were disorganised, as usual and panicked, as usual, so I just ignored all of that. I did not do any load in or load out this year, and I’m grateful for that. As usual, DragonCon simply canNOT manage getting the vendors in and out in a timely fashion. I’m sure it’s partly the venue’s fault for insisting that the dock be kept free for the (closed on the weekend/holiday) in house businesses to use (they aren’t even THERE), but it’s mostly the con. They need to hire a company to manage the load in/out procedures so the vendors don’t have to waste a whole day on simply loading in/out. They waited 5 hours to load in and 5-6 hours to load out. Nick got back here at almost 11pm last night – the show closed at 5, with people loading out starting at 4. Do the math. It’s ridiculous that DragonCon treats its vendors this way.

Sunday was our big day this year. We brought donuts for all around 11am then did panels and cruised around the rest of the day. I drank lots of wine and we spent WAY too much at dinner with Ted at Ray’s In The City. Pricey, but totally worth it. I got a small print done by Jasmine Becket-Griffith (Strangeling.com) and Michael Banks (Sugar Fueled). SO CUTE!
jasmine_sugar

I also got a couple of clip in hair falls for $10 each! W00t! They are actually good quality and can be heat styled!
clipin hair falls

Sunday night after we got back from carousing with Ted, I had some nasty edema (swelling) in my ankles. I noticed they felt kind of stiff and I looked down to find HUGE cankles at the ends of my legs! GAH! I collapsed into bed and did not feel well when I got up yesterday, which is why I didn’t participate in load out. I’m glad I didn’t! I put my feet up and rested all day and started to feel a bit better by mid afternoon. The Star Trek movie marathon helped, as did plenty of fluids.

All in all, I’d say this was one of the most pleasant DragonCons we’ve had in several years. I think we’re getting the hang of this old age thing. ;)

I hope everyone got back to their homes safely! Shout out to our new E TN buds Cristy and Lindsey (sp?)!

Now it’s back to reality. Time to get the bills!