Sam's Deli

Well, it's official! Back to work. Found a nice little gig a few miles from home, selling wine for a guy named Nick at his Italian deli, named after his father, Sam. Cool shop. Boutique wines. Great selection. About 650 labels in all, so I have my work cut out for me in describing products to the customers. The person training me is D'Arcy! She is a very unique individual that has asthma, but talks more than any individual I've ever come across. That being said, I really enjoy hearing what she has to say, and she is extremely knowledgable with wine. Looking forward to learning about all these new wines.

Cal State Fresno

Well, I've finally made it to Fresno. Bulldog country! Yes, farm country, simple living I hear, not for the farmers, but for ordinary folk. I'm enrolled in classes now, four enology courses, organic chemistry, and a food science class. I'm renting an apartment about a mile from campus, so I usually walk there, taking me between ten to fifteen minutes to get there.

I haven't really met anyone since I arrived, and am keeping unusually quiet when at school. I seemed to have been more outgoing in the past, maybe age is turning me into an introvert, or possibly it's the cave time I've been experiencing. Is there such a thing as an educated troglodyte? I dropped two resumes off yesterday. One with a local wine merchant, and another with a working winery, although it had more of a wine shop feel to it; small production in back with 6 gallon fermenters. The owner also mentioned use of small amounts of sulfite, not exactly sure why, perhaps tax benefits? The owner, Sean, informed me the company would be moving to Old Town Clovis, around end Mar-early April, and would be needing more bodies for pouring wine. I think he'll give me a call. I'll be calling him for sure.

City college of San Francisco succeeded at preparing me for CSU Fresno. My organic chemistry class is rudimentary at best compared to the ochem course taken at CCSF, but I still need to pay attention and not feel above the lectures. What else? I've done some exploring and have found local grocers, and other shops to fulfill certain needs. I found a pub down the road yesterday, Sequoia Brew Co. Folks seem friendly enough, and I ran into some wine distributors that yielded quite a bit of valuable information. Well, I need to tackle some reading for my food science class tonight. Until next time.

The Wild One!

John Daly making a move early in the Open!! St. Andrew's suits his game rather well, but he did get out in the morning when the weather was mild. Weather picked up in the afternoon, as most of the scores posted were over par. I'll be tuned in ever day watching big Daly amble around the course in those god awful pants. Gotta make some money J.D. so you can kick that sponsor. I think I would have rather stayed on as a boozer than wear those pants. Kidding, glad to see John has kicked the habits that would have most likely taken him down.

SF--->Santa Rosa

Almost done with school at Santa Rosa JC. Completed the AGBUS class. Pretty cool class. Learned a bunch about this states agricultural industry, as well as some water management issues in California. Still haven't heard back from any wineries in regards to a harvest position, so still waiting. Diana's coming back on the 22nd of this month, so moving about 80% of the furniture out to storage. I'll be staying here until I find work in Sonoma/Napa, or the 15th of August. Most likely will be moving up to Santa Rosa to live with Jeff.

If no job opportunities come through, I'll be heading back to SRJC to take another organic chemistry class, maybe biology, and possibly calculus II, just have to wait and see.

Friday....typical San Francisco weather, cold, cloudy, misty, windy, and yeah, cold. Good day to hang in a pub reading Bukowski or Miller while sipping on a hearty brew.

Diana's in town today, for about 8 hours, so looking forward to seeing here, albeit I have to hang with a bunch of other fools half that time since she wants to see as many friends as she can while back home. At any rate, Save Nowschool's moving right along. Will be over soon.

Home from school today, Tuesday, May 11. Today was the last exam before the final, organic chemistry, toughest material I've ever had to learn, but I'm up to the challenge.

Still in contact with Fresno State University, that is, waiting to hear back from them; which should be tomorrow, hoping, wishing, and waiting. The dog is well. Went for a walk in North Beach today; nice and sunny. At any rate, just starting this blog, so looking forward to more entries in the future. Much better than facebook, well, seems more creative and useful for friends and family.