I've often mentioned a term and brief (to me) description of a concept in all cooking called "Mise en place". Generally translated from French means "putting in place" or "gathering". I'm making this post to check myself with the "curse of knowledge" that some people are just starting out with cooking. This principle goes beyond the kitchen, to just about anything you do; hobbies/jobs requiring multiple parts and processes, getting materials together, even preparing your clothes for the next day or preparing your shave. It's a way to get yourself organized. Why? Well, being organized means you keep better track of your inventory, you have a tried-and-true process by which you do things (by muscle memory and habit, rather than having to think about it), you know the order you do the things in, and generally make the process more efficient/less chaotic. This saves on time, resources, and in some cases, even money. It also frees your mind to prepare things ahead of time so all you have to think about is the actual doing of the task. I won't go too deep into this, but if you're interested from a culinary perspective, you can read an article on this site about it. All else I'll add are some pictures of my own examples from this morning when preparing steak, eggs, and salad (if you're interested in the actual post, just look it up searching posts under "Cooking"). As you'll see, I set up: - A prep station on the right for the steaks (pat dry, then season on both sides, keep one steak out to cook and put the rest away to form a pellicle from the seasoning to cook the next day), - Seasonings I'll use right there ready to grab - Cooking range ready to go with skillet (with olive oil, butter, and some light seasoning, all I have to do is turn the heat on) along with spatula and tongs, and a plate with paper towel to lay the steaks on and drip excess juice - And plating station to the left; where I have the plate I'll eat off of, the final garnish (parsley), the eggs I'll crack and put into the pan after cooking the steaks, and a pre-made salad kit bag I can quickly add to the plate after the steak and eggs.

Greetings, gents. I haven't seen this topic covered by James/GentZ videos, and feel this is a necessary carry-over post I made in the Lobby. Sure, us gents can appreciate a nice car and have our own holistic approaches to maintaining them... but what of actually DRIVING them, and how we do so around others, let alone with a lady companion? I've mentioned this before, but apart from my time in Florida and Texas, I've never encountered drivers as bad as here in California (Texas/Houston had the most aggressive, by far). Sure, it doesn't help that a population the size of Canada is crammed into one state (around 40 million), and while some natives may argue that drivers in certain areas are "better" because of unique geography like San Francisco, or the tight-squeeze roads around Los Angeles, I've never elsewhere witnessed drivers so oblivious, self-centered, brainless, and generally rude. The issues I witness on a regular basis here: - Inappropriate/total lack of turn signal use. - Cutting across multiple lanes to make a turn. - Tailgating. - Tailgating and zooming around you, only to go slow themselves. - Not fully stopping or just blowing through stop signs. - Stopping "multiple times" at the same stop sign, even when no other cars or pedestrians are present. - Either too fast or too slow (10mph under or over, rather than the allotted 5 over). - Lazily riding between lanes or slowly moving into one. - Fast in the slow lane and slow in the fast lane. - Literally blocking traffic on a busy highway just to do stupid risky stunts (and getting arrested). - Generally not paying attention (at stop lights, distracted with their phones, kids, or literally using impairing substances - I literally saw someone snorting lines off their steering wheel once, or the "genius" who was playing with a Rubik's cube while driving). - Wannabe Vin Diesel/Fast and Furious reckless driving and aggressive posturing/risky driving. - Practically running over pedestrians. - Not understanding basic things like "right of way" at a 4-way intersection with no stop signs (CLEARLY, the driver going straight has right-of-way over the driver making a turn, but so many here are stubborn, which gets annoying fast when the chance is missed, and a ton of cars come by, only to face the same stubborn issue at the next break). - Getting all huffy and offended overhearing me any time I tell my daughter "Careful, sweety, these are the worst drivers in the country, please hold my hand while we cross.". - Yes, statistically, CA has the worst drivers based on several factors (accidents, ticketed violations, traffic-based fatalities, insurance rates, and frequency of traffic violations).