How Things Are Going…..

It’s been almost two months since my last post and for this I apologize….. I apologize to the people who have supported me through this whole life changing experience. I apologize to my friends and family who have always supported me, I apologize to all the others who have been reading along and following my progress.

First things first….. In my last post I mentioned that I was in the process of applying for an unemployment program called “Second Career”. Well I did complete the application and was informed a day or two before Christmas that I was accepted into the program. This is an amazing opportunity for me where basically my tuition and the equipment needed for my program were all covered by the government. This was just the type of break I needed. (I will get into more detail about my program and how things are going in it in my next post which will come out next week)

Second thing I mentioned in my last post was my oral surgery which was delayed due to an issue with my heart. Like I previously stated all the issues with that were cleared up and now I am just patiently waiting for a date that will not interfere with my schooling. We may have to put this off till August as this is when my program at school comes to an end. Just yesterday actually I was offered a date (April 16th) but this date won’t work for me because basically that is in the middle of first term exam week.

During my first week of school (January 15th) I went to a meeting with a man who I believe will greatly influence my future and who I believe will be a great mentor to me. His name is Jeff O’Reilly and he is the general manager of Darcy McGee’s Spark Street location. We sat and spoke for about an hour. He listened while I went on about bad experiences with bad employers and about how I never wanted to work for anyone else again. He said something to me that I will never forget “Never burn a bridge that you haven’t even crossed yet”. What I got from that was never turn down a great opportunity because of prior bad experiences. Great Words. Great Advice. We continued talking and then he told me that at the moment he didn’t have a head chef so he would be unable to hire me but he had something else in mind….. We went for a walk down Sparks street and ended up at what I would consider a really fancy bar and restaurant called The Bier Markt. I got to sit down with the head chef (Mr. Steven Summers) and we had a bit of an informal interview. He said that it was his slow time of year but he would be giving me a call when things pick up. What is really great about that opportunity is the Bier Markt cooks everything from scratch which is really quite hard to find these days. If this opportunity does come about it would be a great learning experience for my future endeavors as a food truck owner.

Meeting Jeff and Steven were great and I look forward to meeting/hearing from them in the future. I’d like to thank Andrea Stevens for basically setting up this meeting and also to Jeff and Steven for taking the time to sit down and speak with me.

As I said earlier in this post I am going to make it a priority to update this blog weekly and again I apologize for leaving it for so long….. Next entry will be coming soon.

Be sure to check some of the people who helped me so far in my journey…..

Dr. Andrea Stevens:

Dr.Stevens Website: http://www.kanatacosmeticdentist.com/

The Ottawa Makeover Project Website: http://ottawamakeoverproject.com/

The Ottawa Makeover Project Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OttawaMakeoverProject

Grace In The Kitchen:

Website: http://www.graceinthekitchen.ca/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-in-the-Kitchen/158320327550224?fref=nf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/graceinkanata

Jeff O’Reilly / Darcy McGee’s:

Darcy McGee’s/Prime Pubs Website: http://www.primepubs.com/wp/

Darcy McGee’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sparks.darcymcgees

Darcy McGee’s and Jeff’s Twitter accounts: https://twitter.com/DArcyMcGeesOtta / https://twitter.com/PintInHand

The Bier Markt:

Website: http://www.thebiermarkt.com/

The Bier Markt Ottawa Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BierMarktOtt

The Bier Markt Ottawa Twitter: https://twitter.com/biermarktott