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Continuing on my stories about the jobs that I held. After graduating from HS, I needed a higher paying job. PicWay wouldn’t suffice. A new job was not to pay for obsessions like baseball cards or 8-tracks but to pay for college.
I received some financial aid from Allegheny. As described in the past), this aid went away once I stopped playing football…right, no sports scholarships in D3, my culo (see below)!.
That aid was not enough aid to cover all my expenses. My father (Grandpa Tony) worked multiple jobs. Despite the aid and dad’s help, a large financial gap needed to be filled. I had to cover it with personal loans and anything that I could make.
“Hard” Labor!?
Once again, I enlisted the help of my mother (Grandma Joanne). She was working as a secretary at the Teamsters Local office for Dooney (see post of May 19, 2022). Dooney found a job for me as a laborer at the Pinny Dock.
The next Monday I excitedly arrived early at the dock gate. I informed the guard that I was there to work. My boss introduced his small crew of laborers consisting of young men. I was the youngest at 17 years old. We were handed a pair of gloves, goggles, and a sledgehammer…hmm…and led to the rail yard within the dock area.
Our job that day was hard labor! We were to lay next to the hopper of a rail car like the below:
While lying there, we were to pound the hopper with the sledgehammer. This would release the car’s ingredients to a conveyor belt. The belt would then lead to the ship’s hull. The hopper car’s ingredient was the industrial fertilizer potash (Potash – Wikipedia). It had somehow gotten wet and packed tight within the car. It wouldn’t flow out the hopper. As we hammered, the potash would break into smaller pieces and fall.
THIS WAS TERRIBLE!
As we broke the potash, much would break back into its original powder form. It covered the entire crew and got into our nostrils and lungs. After 8 hours of that CRAP, I was back at home telling Grandma Joanne that I wasn’t going back.
Grandpa Tony was livid. His father (Grandpa Raffaele, aka Grandpa Rocco) had lung issues and ended up in a sanatorium for tuberculosis. Grandpa Ralph convinced Grandpa Tony to leave his job as a factory machinist to stay away from breathing factory chemicals (which I ended up doing at Kodak a few years later!). Needless to say, Grandpa Tony fully supported, and I didn’t return.
I wish that I had a funny anecdote to go along with this job. Unfortunately, there is nothing funny about it. The next morning, Grandma Joanne told Dooney, and he was livid too! By Wednesday, I was at another Teamster job!
Nebaletan Word of the Day – Culo!?
Today’s word is CULO (pronounced Coo-Low). This word was typically used by my mother Grandma Joanne in this sentence “Bessamay CULO (pronounced bess-a-may coo-low).
Typically, Grandma Joanne would combine the above with English when exasperated she’d bellow, “You can bessamay culo!”
In true Italian, that would be “Baciami il CULO! (pronounced ba-chee-a-mee eel coo-low).
- Baciami = kiss my
- Il CULO = the donkey (aka ass)
Little else needs to be said!
Pizza Review – Casa di Pizza, Bradenton,FL
162th pizza reviewed, 42th this year (see full list => click here)
I needed to take a quick trip to FL. I wanted to see if we had any damage from Hurricane Debby. Luckily, there was none! While there Capo Chuck suggested that we try Casa di Pizza. Chuck and his wife rave about the “Buffalo Style” pizza at Casa di Pizza. It serves as a friendly reminder of their Buffalo roots. So, since Chuck and I were close by, we stopped in!
| Date | 8/21/24 |
| Pizzeria | Casa di Pizza |
| City/Neighborhood | Bradenton, FL / Lakewood |
| Website | Home Page (casadipizza.com) – Buffalo Site Casa Di Pizza | Pizza Restaurant in Bradenton, FL (casadipizzafl.com) – Bradenton Site Casa di Pizza, Bradenton – Facebook Page |
| About Us | About | Casa Di Pizza in Bradenton, FL (casadipizzafl.com) Nicely done! If you look at the Buffalo and Bradenton “About Us” pages, they are similar. The Bradenton site pays tribute to its Buffalo roots. It includes details about their growth in Bradenton. |
| Style | They call it Buffalo style. I would call it a Round Sicilian (aka Sicilian-ish) which is a ticker crust with a pan fried bottom. |
| Ambiance | Sports Bar in a strip mall. I really dislike the fact that Florida has so few historic buildings. Had the fortune to meet with the owner. He’s originally from B-flo. Nice guy! |
| Beverage Pairing | Michelob NA (from the tap, surprisingly good) |
| Shape | Round |
| Dough/Crust | Tickness – Medium to Tick Cook – Soft and chewy, with a little bit of crunch, Had tip droop akin to New York style, but much thicker and heavier Flavor – Buttery, oily, but just slightly, sweet and yeasty somewhere to what you get on the same day Dough |
| Cornicione | Very similar to the main body. It had a little more air likely because there was no cheese to weigh it down. Very tasty. |
| Toppings | Cheese and mushroom on all and half Pepperoni Fresh – no, since much is sourced from Buffalo or using the same ingredients as Buffalo but so locally |
| Sauce | Tasty. On the thicker and sweet side. Very much a cooked tomato taste. Like the sauce was cooked down a little bit to make it thicker and richer. I’m not sure if that’s the case Had to do some hunting to find it unfortunately, wish there was more since it was good |
| Cheese | Cheese Type – Moozedell Cheese Distribution – All over Very greasy stringy and smoky a little hint of salt. This is what I would call a classic old-school distribution of cheese. |
| Cheese to Sauce Ratio | Sauce – A little to medium Cheese – Medium to a lot Balance – although not overly out of balance, the sauce was good. I wish there was more. |
| Value | Particularly good! $25 for a large (which was about 15 inches). This works out to a reasonable $16 for a 12″ equivalent pie. |
| Overall Rating | Good |
| Would I Go Back? | Yes |
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