The event was a big success!  We estimate attendance at 550 people.  There was just enough cake: there were two pieces left when I left.  Overall, people seemed happy with the mix of cake.  Carrot seemed to appeal to older folks and those of us who don't have much of a sweet tooth.  Chocolate was popular with the little kids.  White cakes were a happy medium for everybody.  All of the cakes looked very appealing, very fresh and moist.

We have only heard the positive comments so far.  We'll probably see any negative ones once the electronic surveys come back.

All in all, an event of this scale really did need all the volunteers we got.  We had an assembly line of sorts cutting and serving cake, maybe 10 people in all.  I am also glad we spent a few extra bucks to get the disposable table covers (paper tablecloths) as those made cleanup a breeze.  It is nearly impossible to cut and serve 13 cakes without making a mess.

If we had to do this again (hopefully not for at least a year or two), I'd arrange the tables differently.  There was only one entrance to the reception area and that's where people lined up.  Therefore there could only be one unidirectional line.  We should setup one table for water instead of two.  The second water table becomes a cut cake table.  The other two tables should be reserved for actual cake cutting.  Volunteers should put a fork with each little plate of cake.  We should also make sure to have equal numbers of plates and cake servings, although napkins work well in a pinch.

Coding the cake decorations worked very well.  It was a snap to get a good mix of different cake types and correctly identify the fillings without having to sample any.

The carrot and white cakes were tasty.  White with chocolate filling and cream cheese icing works well.  I heard the chocolate cake was also good, but didnt' get a chance to sample it.

Now all we have to do is find a different venue for the next event.  Whenever that is.

I purchased a dress this weekend.  The good thing about it is it's long enough that I can wear sandals with it, so I don't need to purchase shoes.  The bad thing about it is it requires that I figure out how to use sunless tanner, since there's no way the farmers tan is disappearing before K's wedding.  This dress would look nice with a nicely shaped straw hat, but the odds of finding one are very slim and decreasing with every store I visit.  I hope K appreciates all this effort.
 
I have also thought about whether this Thursday's event (the one requiring cake and water for 600 people) will be a success.  Our original intent was to foster cross-company networking among 100 or so people.  Now that the attendee list has ballooned to 600, we've abandoned all hope of having an ice-breaker and have split the evening up into two rotating sessions just so we can actually give everybody a chance to listen to the keynote.  Which will be given twice.  There will be 300 people touring the visitors center at a time, which makes me wonder how much everyone will actually get out of it.
 
This reminds me.  I still need to go get the cake knives, garbage bags, and paper towels I was supposed to get last weekend.  Let's hope I remember to purchase these items before Thursday.

Are you red or blue?
Well, I am apparently in the middle, neither red nor blue (or else extremely ignorant), which may explain why I don't like any of this year's presidential candidates.

I think this algorithm is giving too much weight to the html tags. Html tags wouldn't constitute actual thought, would they? Even though they are content.

Wait a minute. I distinctly remember checking yesterday and finding this blog was a full 41% evil. I'm slipping! But it's higher than before (see earlier post).

Oh drat, I came up with some lovely things to riff about yesterday evening and today. But now I am drawing a blank and I don't remember them at all. Today was truly a Monday. In addition to forgetting a perfectly good post, while eating an apricot today, I managed to dribble juice on a clean pair of pants. How many juicy apricots have you had?

Yesterday I visited the farmers market, a very nice experience. This year it seems apricots are out in full force. Last year, I remember complaining about how I couldn't find fresh apricots anymore. This year, I guess I'll complain about not finding either Rainier or Royal Anne cherries in good condition at a decent price.

"I love the 90's" is playing on VH1. The television is on in the first place because there is a load of laundry still going. There is something strangely addictive about these series; somehow the cynical remarks, fast pace, and pop culture references make me cringe at how silly these fads were and how seriously people took them at the time. But this formula only works for cultural references you either remember or vaguely remember. The 80's series worked because the comedians remembered the decade and many of the references. So far the 90's is working because again the comedians remember all those fads, but it's not working as well because the 90's isn't far enough removed to be kitschy. The 70's series (or what little I have seen of all of these shows) didn't seem as compelling because I couldn't connect with those fads. This is why a 60's or 50's series might not work as well. Anything earlier probably isn't kitschy enough.

This is pathetic. I should just go to bed, since I kind of promised myself I'd go to work early tomorrow.

We ordered the cakes this morning. We tried asking the nice lady at the bakery counter for a phone number so we could call the night before the event to check if the cakes were ready. Her eyes only bugged out slightly when we said we'd just ordered 13 cakes. (The bakery lady's at Safeway bugged out a lot when I mentioned 200 guests. This was back in the old days when we were planning for just over 100 people.) Slight problem with the water: we couldn't find the ones we wanted, so we'll have to settle for the ones that come 35 bottles to a case. Now we'll need 18 cases of water instead of 13. Fortunately, there are now even more volunteers (something like 20 cars).

It would be nice if your car stereo could increase the volume in response to noisier road conditions, such as driving on the highway. Several years ago on an interview trip I rented a car (Chevy Impala) that had this technology, but it didn't work very well. I couldn't tell if the volume would increase if, say, you were stopped at a railroad crossing and a communter train blew by, because that never happened. It correctly increased volume to compensate for noise from highway driving. However, it overcompensated. I'm not sure if the trigger is based on ambient noise or is directly tied to the speedometer.

My opinion is there ought to be a way for the driver to specify the correct volume levels for different driving conditions. Compensating for the freeway doesn't always translate into a constant increase. It depends on the highway conditions, the CD or radio station, and so forth. Ideally, the audio system remembers different settings for different radio stations and CDs. For a new CD or station, it would pick a fixed constant, and the driver can adjust accordingly. It should recognize that you might want, say NPR to be louder than the Top 40 station since in the former, you might actually want to hear what they're saying. The increase should be tied to ambient noise. The system should distinguish persistent traffic noise from, say, a big truck.

Finally, the stereo digitizes volume control. This is fine, but the quanta should be smaller. It always seems to be too loud or too soft.

Great news! Our RSVP list for the event (the one requiring cake and beverages for 600, just to be clear) seems to have a number of nice people who have agreed to help transport food and beverage. We now have 7 volunteer cars plus mine. That means 6 cars can take two flats of water and a cake each, one car takes one flat of water and a cake, and my car takes 6 cakes, which will probably just fit.

While I'd like to think the spirit of volunteerism is running strong, I suspect the proportion is the same. I just got more cars because we had a pool of 500+ to work from.

Today I saw my first brush fire. I realize this is a common occurrence, but is new to someone who lives in a city nowhere near substantial vegetation. It was on 101, in the opposite direction. Well, I admit I didn't see the fire. Just smoke. It smelled like a campfire, then the fire truck came into view. I wonder if it got started by a tossed cigarrette.

There are 3 cakes, 4 fillings, and 4 icings, making for a total of 48 possible cake configurations. More realistically, since carrot cake is difficult to pair up (carrot cake, strawberry filling, and chocolate icing?), there are 1 + 2*4*4 = 33 different combinations. Furthermore, I think chocolate cake with apricot filling sounds weird (the cake would overwhelm the filling), this means 4 less, or 29 total.

Each cake yields 48 small portions, so we will get 13 cakes as we are now expecting 600 people, or very nearly so. And yes, excluding the carrot cakes, each one is different. I have coded the decorations: scored icing for the carrot and chocolate cakes, and writing for the white ones. Carrot will have little carrots in each box, and chocolate with have little roses. White cake shall have colored roses on the fringe and writing in the middle. The color of the roses will indicate the filling: yellow = white cheesecake, orange = apricot mousse, brown/chocolate/dark = chocolate mousse.

Each cake has 2 pounds of filling, so the cake itself should weigh 3-5 pounds. Going on the high side, that's 65 pounds of cake.

We haven't discussed beverages yet. 13 cases of bottled water, each one probably weighing more than each cake.

Most disturbing, we are allocating a significant portion of the budget (just under 1/3 of the food/beverage/plate cost) toward renting a van or SUV so we can transport the 100+ pounds of comestibles.

If/when I get married, there will be fewer than 600 guests. The cake will definitely be neither carrot nor white nor chocolate, which unfortunately doesn't leave too many options. (J doesn't like coconut, and I don't like strawberry in the cake itself. Ube anyone?) Of course, I would also promise dinner to all my guests at a wedding.

Thank goodness we only promised "light refreshments" for this event.

My network went down last night, so I was unable to share this tidbit of wisdom.

I have a new rule. If you want me to plan food for your event, I shall require:
* $2 per head if serving beverages only
* $3 per head if serving light snacks only
* $10 per head for lunch
* heaven help you if you are serving dinner

If you are not willing to pony up for delivery, then I shall require that you volunteer your time and your car to help transport the goods. And no one in the party will be allowed to complain about the fact that the food is from Costco.

I am currently trying to provide beverages and light refreshments for 400 people while spending a dollar a head. Food costs more than this, folks. We planned for 100 people, I think, and it has rapidly ballooned. I am so sick and tired of making one loaf of bread feed forty, turning water into wine, and so forth.