I was at the end of my pseudo-career as a pizza boy. I played the balancing act of working two jobs for a little while. I kept a full-time job for over two years as an independent contractor turned employee/manager with full benefits for a company that shaped the way I see the corporate world and its tendency to create catastrophes almost intentionally. I also had another job part-time for about a year at a place where I met my other half. I was even bold enough to mix a part-time schedule of attending college into that mix.

These days are definitely different. I’m happier and more relaxed, but I’m quickly approaching 30. I work a job where I wake up early to be in an office working full-time earning a decent paycheck that makes ends meet. I’m reaching the threshold where I need to be earning more, but I can only roll with the punches with the way everything in this country and its economy is currently going. I’m fortunate to be employed, and I am very grateful for that.

Now five years have passed since “the debut” was published. I haven’t abandoned this archive, and I hope I can keep it going another five years. I may update not nearly as much as I did, but I have other projects that also demand my focus and I love working on each one of them almost more than this one. This isn’t going anywhere else but forward, and it will serve as a source where I have stored some of my thoughts, my observations, and what mattered to me when the posts were written.

I hope you will continue to visit every now and then to check if I’ve updated because I will continue to update. Even if you don’t stop by often or even stop visiting altogether, at least remember that I’m going to keep this going and I have no desire to bury it any time soon. Thanks for reading if you’re reading this, and now it’s time to talk about the tasty dinner that M&I had today since food plays a necessary part to my happiness.

Before we spent a couple hours at Thunderbird Coffee this evening, we made some scrambled eggs with sautéed red bell peppers, cheesy mashed potatoes with chives, and peppered bacon. Cutting up the bacon and mixing the pieces into the mashed potatoes made the plate that much better. The eggs provided additional flavors that kept our palates excited with every bite. Breakfast for dinner is something that we enjoy often, but we manage to 1-up ourselves this time around.

Happy 5th Anniversary, Modern Soapbox! Peace out.

Texas heat has been in the 100+ range for many days straight. We are going to San Antonio today to go to Sea World. I had a delicious barbacoa torta with onions and cilantro added on Saturday morning. I also took a nap that lasted much longer than I wanted.

I have finally caught up on Masterchef. Other TV shows with new episodes that I’m currently keeping up with are: Breaking Bad, Louie, Weeds, Entourage, Ugly Americans, and Hell’s Kitchen.

This month has been pretty redundant. I continue to work 40 hours 5 days a week like many Americans earning their living do. The weekends go by way too fast, but I am still very grateful that I get a two-day moment between the five daily doses of monotony that I consider a job. After each workday, I like to stay indoors like many Texans until the weather cools off a bit.

I have to get some rest now since I have to get up early for our day trip to San Antonio to visit Sea World. I’ve never been, and I hope we have a good time. I know it’s late, but I’m still up since I had that long nap. Until later on in August… Peace out.

June has flown by fast like the previous five months of this year so far, and I key this in during the last few hours of the last day of this month. With hope of not spending too much time updating you to be able to get the few items on today’s checklist complete before I call it a night, I will again attempt to keep this post short.

Almost effortlessly, I had three job interviews this month, none of which got me better employment with another company therefore amounting to a waste of my time. The first interview was almost successful, but something occurred on the company’s end that prevented me from getting the position. I’ll just say the person I was replacing didn’t want to be replaced after all. The company claimed to make a difference in people’s lives, and they definitely made a difference in mine.

The second interview was a subpar phone interview. I didn’t have what it took to nail the interview, and the person conducting the interview was a condescending jerk that clearly didn’t understand my email reply about not having all of the experience necessary but possessed the passion to earn it.

I nailed the third interview which was a phone interview as well but still ended up not getting the job. I’m under the impression that my status of being currently employed had a big influence on their decision, since I’m sure they needed to fill the position immediately. I am also happy to admit that I was overqualified for the position but was going for it to bring change to my day job existence.

So much for keeping this post short.

I saw a dentist for the first time in years. I bet it’s been over five years, closer to six or seven. I had a toothache for a whole week that rendered me almost useless for a few days. I would just work my eight hours then rush home to suffer the excruciating pain. The dentist referred me to an oral surgeon that extracted the tooth, my first adult tooth I’ve had to lose. I still have all of my wisdom teeth, but those will hopefully be pulled some time next year before they cause me any serious problems.

My eight-hour workdays have recently turned into ten-hour workdays. Purgatory has extended my shift, because they need my mad skills. Ha. I can’t really complain about getting a fatter check and the boost in income that I was seeking with those interviews that fell into my lap.

M&I went to San Antonio this past weekend to visit one of my best friends and his wife. We ate at Timbo’s for lunch then checked out the zoo. For dinner, we went to Big Lou’s Pizza to feast on their 42″ pie. Our party of seven was unfortunately unable to finish it, but I was able to consume my share. The pizza is delicious, and I would go back but maybe not get such a big pie unless we promise to dominate it.

I did have the dream of conquering the Four Horsemen burger at Chunky’s but decided against it after reading reviews on Yelp, hearing about the horror stories involving vomit, the questionable cleanliness of the restaurant itself, and the fact you get a barf bucket, the option of wearing gloves, have to sign a waiver, and have to pay 17 bucks if you don’t finish it. Maybe I’ll have the courage one day but maybe not.

I attempted my fifth victory of the Pluckers Fire In The Hole challenge earlier in the month. The wings were enormous on our visit, and the 50-piece we split actually had 56 pieces. The drummies were almost the size of regular drumsticks. Our defeat was a result of the amount of food and not the heat. This was my first failure for the challenge, but I will get on the South Lamar Wall of Flame one of these days.

We also tried a new wing bar called Wingzup that has a Ghost pepper wing sauce. Unfortunately, it’s made with Ghost chili powder, not fresh peppers. It was decently fiery, but no Fire In The Hole. The service was excellent. The food quality and presentation was stellar. They have a neat gimmick of serving beer in plastic towers with a tap at the bottom. We may return if we’re in the area. They gave us discount coupons, so that makes it even more desirable to return.

I am so relieved that my toothache has been eliminated as you can tell with all of the food talk you just read. The experience of suffering a toothache diminished my spirit, but that is behind me now.

Summer television programming is slowly making its way back into our lives. I’ll be hanging on to my current job that isn’t so bad for a while longer. Life is treating me well, and I will update this again some time next month. Peace out.

We’re currently watching Zapped! right now. Prior to the movie, we ran errands for about five hours stopping at a few places. Then, I started on single player mode on Portal 2.

We ate a pizza topped with mushrooms, spinach, and garlic. We’ve had it before, and it was also tasty then. The deal was buy the frozen pizza and get a box of ice cream Drumsticks free with a coupon. Sold. Now I think it’s time to hit Publish and enjoy one. Peace out.

Unwrapping the foil to reveal a carefully sliced roll filled with bliss continues to be part of our Saturday morning routine. The tortas from Taqueria Montenegro remain the best tortas on this side of the universe.

The magical combination of marinated fajita beef, sliced onions, lettuce, guacamole, the trademark green sauce, and a twist of fresh lime juice inside a lightly-toasted sandwich roll will turn any average Saturday morning into an itis-filled average Saturday m0rning. If you are seeing one of these sandwiches sent from heaven for the first time, then you have discovered one of Austin’s best kept secrets.

On March 13th after a Sunday morning stroll around Lady Bird Lake, M&I decided to make a quick stop to the donut shop. An idea popped into our heads to take our glazed donuts and fill them up with everyday breakfast items to create the Breakfast Luther. Scrambled eggs, thick-cut bacon, and mozzarella cheese stack on top of each other between a sliced donut. The contrast of salty and sweet found in traditional Luther burgers is remixed in this breakfast reincarnation.

The pork loin chops turned out great. The boneless chops were sprinkled with Kick’n Chicken seasoning, wrapped in bacon, and seasoned again with fresh ground black pepper. The cutlets were fried in a pan for about about 10 minutes then roasted in the oven at 375°F for 15 minutes. They were plated with mashed potatoes flavored with garlic, black pepper, and chives. Delicious!