Arctic Boulangerie--Odder Occupations

Arctic Boulangerie:

Mick Jones had emptied out his attic and was displaying the contents of it down at the RCA. It was my birthday. Richard and crew, we headed down there. Fuzzyhead had concealer on his face that he hadn't smeared in enough for it to be effective. Pradaman had a fresh supply of boutique paper bags-his trademark. Afterwards, to Soho--somewhere sweaty upstairs that felt like a basement and later in the bistro where I had worked twenty years ago when it was Fatso's Pasta Joint. I had a drink with a French baker/painter who had an odd job baking croissants for scientists in the arctic. He was on six months/off six months. I find that one of the most obscure jobs I have ever heard of. He said that there is not much out there in the arctic and so, a good chef is important.

Kari's friend was a doctor on an oil rig. She was the only woman on the rig. She was on one month and off one month. A helicopter came to pick her up. She wasn't even back to shore when the whole rig blew up and everyone died.

Steve tested bombs in the Mohave desert. He said there are no mistakes. They can hit their targets within millimeters.

I was told to look for the tallest man at the port. That would be him, a former rugby player for Italy. He wanted his children to have experiential English instead of lessons and needed someone to hang out with them on the Island of Capri one summer. I did not mind hanging out. We experienced English in the pool that was carved into the rock. We went through the alphabet naming cities beginning with a,b,c etc. "London-we have a house there. Maui-we love the waves. Naples-crazy." We looked down on the yachts anchored in the sea. There was a cook, a gardener, a head housekeeper, a man who served the dinner, and me. The servants outnumbered the family. The dinners were fine. They enjoyed my travel stories. I felt like a modern day bard dining al fresco under the grape vines. The mansion belonged to a friend of theirs. They were just using it for the summer and after, sailing to the Island of Ponza.