[Sca-cooks] Working for Adamantius....

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Stefan li Rous wrote:


 > Is there a particular reason not to sit in the kitchen? I can see why
 >  you wouldn't want to while at the stove. I tell folks not to cast
 > pewter while sitting for instance. If that pewter spills or the pot
 >  gets knocked over, it is much better to be able to quickly move
 > out of the way, rather than having it flow into your lap. But a
 > fair amount of time in the kitchen seems to be done in a single spot
 >  prepping the food. Is it the kitchen congestion? This kitchen was
 > fairly well equiped but it was rather small with some rather tight
 > areas.


Hmmm. Reasons not to sit in the kitchen:

1. Safety, as per your pewter reference, and a general need to be able
to move on a microsecond's notice.

2. The POV of a seated person makes it difficult to see what is going on
relatively nearby.

3. (And this is probably the biggest reason) -- in some situations
involving chopping, rolling, and various other impact-or-force-related
tasks, having access to full arm extension is helpful. Also, a related
aspect is where you are exerting force in relation to your center of
gravity. It's more efficient, I think, to be able to add your body
weight, or at least some of it, to the work at hand, and if you're
sitting this becomes less practical.

 > I might also have expected that doing this leaning over the table bit
 >  would build up the necessary muscles after a while. But if Adamantius
 >  is saying he has trouble with this, then I guess that doesn't
 > happen.

Actually, it does, but for several reasons I'm currently an exception:
at the moment, I'm not as healthy as I was when I worked in kitchens
every day. Some of these muscles have atrophied somewhat, as well as
various joint alignment issues. Suffice it to say that I have a number
of inter-related health problems, most or all of which I expect to
improve shortly.

 > I suspect I was probably leaning over closer to twenty
 > degrees from vertical, perhaps due to my eyesight restrictions.

I noticed that. But I won't quibble over ten degrees... ;-)


Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98