Career Change?

Oh, the difference a month makes.

Last month was pretty bleak. Sure, I made a few fun videos. But those don’t exactly (or remotely) pay the bills. On the upside, I have to say the CERB application process was stunningly easy. Although, I guess applying for such support could be deemed a downside. But, back to the upside, a month later I’ve found myself with more than a few video projects in the works. And a few more on the horizon. If that keeps up, my CERB experience will only be a one time affair. And I’m more than okay with that. Side note: If nothing else, I think the current state of things does show there is merit to a Universal Basic Income. I don’t expect it to happen anytime soon. But it has merits. Of course, it wouldn’t be a perfect system. But, clearly, neither is our current one.

One downside to being busy with work is that, once again, my blog has lagged behind again. And I was doing so well there for a while. Why was that? Oh, right. Work was slow. My apologies to my loyal nine followers. But here I am, trying to get caught up again. Although, to be clear, falling behind on my blog is a pretty minor downside in the grand (and even not-so-grand) scheme of things. Regardless, I had intended to mention this the day (or night, actually) it happened but … well, that clearly didn’t happen. But better late than never.

Flashback to one week ago.

It was Saturday. About 10:00 PM. There was nothing of note on TV. Netflix and Amazon Prime weren’t offering up any options that struck my fancy. And, sadly, it was FAR too early to go to bed. The solution? I embarked on a task I had previously never attempted. One that could not be taken lightly as it was a very results-oriented task. Failure at any step along the way could lead to a less-than-favourable outcome. But I decided the time had come to try. And that’s how I found myself in the kitchen at 10:29 PM baking. Banana bread, to be precise. That’s right. Banana bread. By me!

Truth be told, it was a task I had been pondering for a little while – you know, with all that free time I had last month. My pondering led to me slowly (i.e, over the course of a week) acquiring the necessary ingredients. One ingredient here. Another there. As you might imagine, I don’t typically have vanilla extract (whatever that is), flour, or even an appropriate bread pan on hand. Or chocolate chips, for that matter. Regarding that last one, the recipe I aimed to follow actually called for chopped walnuts but I didn’t have any of those. Granted, before heading to the grocery store I didn’t have the chocolate chips either but when given a choice between the two, chocolate chips are going to win. Always. And that’s what I bought. I was officially ready to bake. (I can’t believe I just typed that.)

I have no doubt my technique was not exactly professional but I pressed on. I measured. I re-measured. I scooped. I poured. I mixed. I mashed. Scooped some more. Measured some more. Spilled some flour … EVERYWHERE. Scooped. Mixed. Poured. Cracked. Cracked again. Mixed. Measured. Measured. Measured. Mixed. And mixed some more. And then, with the last of the chocolate chips mixed in, the preparation stage was complete. A greased pan was introduced to my new creation and together they were introduced to a pre-heated oven. The next hour was out of my control.

I have to say the whole process went extremely (and surprisingly) well – I mean, not as well as the recipe would lead one to believe … in this case, the recipe said that the prep time for said banana bread was 10 minutes. I don’t know what sort of performance enhancing drugs the recipe maker was on but clearly they were very effective. It took me closer to 30 minutes for preparation. But I figured that was to be expected given my limited (i.e, non-existent) baking experience (and/or performance enhancing drugs). Nothing in the recipe mentioned how long clean up would be – for me, doing the dishes afterwards took almost as long. However, with practice I can actually see how it would only take 10 minutes to prep. Actually, I say that but I think the 10 minute prep time could only be achieved if the butter melting stage was done by microwave. Personally, I try to avoid using a microwave whenever possible.

Fast-forward to 12:01 AM. Armed with some heavy duty oven mitts, I opened the oven door to gain my first glimpse of my first ever banana bad. The view was promising. Very promising. Moments later I was pulling said banana bread from the oven. And dare I say, it looked more than a little good. And smelled heavenly – actually, banana-y (no, not a word … but it SHOULD be – even though it may be hard to pronounce). The banana bread was even kind enough to come out of the pan with no effort whatsoever. Side note: One upside to baking at midnight was heading off to bed afterwards to allow said baking to cool. Otherwise, watching the cooling down process would likely have been less than enjoyable. Fast-forward (again) to the following morning when I was greeted to a completely cooled loaf of banana bread. The verdict? It was an entirely delicious loaf of banana bread. Seriously. Oh, and just to be clear, I don’t mean I ate the entire thing for breakfast. Although, I wanted to.

That was a week ago. And that loaf is long since gone. For the record, I did manage to ration it long enough to last three days. Well, two and half. Technically, two and third. Well … at least two, anyway.

So, based on that overwhelmingly successful experience, I figured I would definitely try it again. And last night was the encore performance. When morning came, I was greeted to another completely cooled and equally delicious loaf of banana bread. I’m not going to lie, I might be onto something here. And, dare I say, it’s kind of fun. And at 10:30 PM at night, it definitely fits in with the night owl in me. The only real problem (or perhaps concern) is that I’m pretty sure there are limited health benefits to banana bread … I mean, there ARE bananas in it so it has to be a LITTLE bit healthy, right? Don’t answer that. Ignorance is bliss.

Seriously though, I will have to either limit my consumption or limit my production. The night owl in me might have to find something else to do. Wait … maybe I could sell them! Anybody want a loaf of banana bread? Did I mention the chocolate chips? I could deliver it by bike – to the K-W area, anyway. Banana Bread – Brought By Bike. Brilliant! Admit it, you’re a least a little bit curious. Of course, the lack of economies of scale means I’d have to charge about $10 loaf. Then again, that’s probably what a slice goes for at Starbuck’s.

The funny thing is, the more I type about this, the more I don’t know if I’m kidding or not? What if this is actually a good idea? What if I get inundated with orders? How will I keep up? How would deliveries work? What if … uh, never mind … considering how much traffic this blog gets (or doesn’t get), I don’t think I’ll have to worry about it. Perhaps my career change will have to wait a bit.

… but it really is good banana bread. REALLY.