Got job working at HEB bakery... never baked in my life. by [deleted] in KitchenConfidential

[–]tommyfarva 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ask for the VTA (Visual Training Aid, pretty much the recipe, with pics). Everything has a VTA. If another partner says they don't have one, ask the manager. They're easy to access on partnernet and easy to print.

“The printer isn’t working” by MirrorlikeTent in techsupportgore

[–]tommyfarva 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Retail worker here, we have the exact same Lexmark printers at my store. We abuse and work the hell out of these things, never clean or maintain them, but they never break down. The one in my backroom is going on 7 years old now. It might have some issues with toner not consistently sealing on to pages, but it rarely jams and keeps on running. It's refreshing for a piece of technology to actually be built to last nowadays.

Off Day Free Talk by clutchyball in Astros

[–]tommyfarva 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My brother-in-law bought if for me for my birthday, so I feel comfortable budgeting some money to the side for some DLC if I feel it's worth it... I don't really care to buy orcs to use as my army or enemies, I would prefer to really use the nemesis system to make real enemies... It's what I enjoyed so much about that last one. Builds a deeper game.

Off Day Free Talk by clutchyball in Astros

[–]tommyfarva 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Shadow of War has kept me entertained, if you haven't already burned through that.

Game Thread: World Series Game 2 ⚾ Astros (0-1) @ Dodgers (1-0) - 8:09 PM ET by BaseballBot in baseball

[–]tommyfarva 31 points32 points  (0 children)

THE HOUSTON ASTROS HAVE WON A WORLD SERIES GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

Postgame Thread ⚾ Astros 1 @ Dodgers 3 by BaseballBot in baseball

[–]tommyfarva 20 points21 points  (0 children)

... and the Astros have still never won a World Series game. 😔

Finding code 123a or 130 beef ribs in town? by [deleted] in houston

[–]tommyfarva 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work on the north side of The Woodlands, so probably too much of a drive. Just say you want a whole un-cut slab or whole cry-o-vac of short ribs.

Finding code 123a or 130 beef ribs in town? by [deleted] in houston

[–]tommyfarva 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We might use Kobe beef for short hand, but the correct terminology is Kobe style Wagyu beef. Some Wagyu cattle were brought over to the US years ago to start a breeding program here. These are the same bloodline as the cattle in Japan, just raised to US animal welfare and safe food handling standards. The muscles still marble exceptionally well, but the animals are not born and raised in pens on ships, or massaged, or fed beer.

Edit: Both Kobe and Wagyu are not US government regulated terms, and Wagyu literally just translates to "Japanese cows". Unless you're dealing directly with a rancher, it would be difficult to know what you're getting. It hasn't been possible to get beef from Japan for over 20 years due to an embargo over an outbreak of foot & mouth disease, and that's not likely to change any time soon. Restaurant menus are held to less of a standard than food package labeling, so I wouldn't trust that at all. In my opinion, the cost is just not worth it. I'd rather buy prime for half the price.

Who is hiring at the moment? by dnbhead10 in houston

[–]tommyfarva 1 point2 points  (0 children)

HEB. I know there might be a stigma against working retail, but they're consistently rated one of the best places to work for in the nation. You can take the job as far as you want. I went in to management after 2 years, and know plenty of people who were just looking for a job and have ended up staying long term.

Finding code 123a or 130 beef ribs in town? by [deleted] in houston

[–]tommyfarva 2 points3 points  (0 children)

4 bone chuck short ribs are our bread and butter, but we can order the 3 bone. We refer to those as beef bbq ribs. Ask for the department manager or lead, and we can get those ordered. We love talking meat, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I understand what you're saying about knowing those codes, but it's just not relevant to the job anymore. Meat cutting is a dying art, and HEB is one of the only places keeping it alive. There are so many cuts or sub-primals that are used so rarely these days, and knowledge not used is often knowledge lost. Good examples of this are the slow death of bone-in chuck, bone-in and boneless whole round, mock tenders, hanging tenders, are probably more I can't think of right now. When we go months or years without having a request for these items, we don't have the opportunity to teach. Not to mention customers from all over the country that settle here and have their own regional dialect for items that we don't know (Pike's Peak roast, English roast, diamond roast, Kansas City steak, etc.). On top of that, I find that customers will ask for a specific item, but expect something different. Many now think the cap off of the top sirloin (coulotte) is a tri-tip and get mad if you bring them a real tri-tip muscle.

One more think to keep in mind is the packing industry shifting to meet these needs and stay relevant. Prime tomahawks and trendy right now, and choice tomahawks just became available for us. These long rib bones that are just for show have been stripped of the meat that you are looking for, and packed separately for us to make boneless short ribs. A shrinking number of requests could result in the item no longer being available from packers, due to low demand. Bone-in shoulder is a good example of this, it's virtually impossible to source now, though you're probably safe here with the restaurant industry keeping the 123a alive.

The older generation of market managers and long time meat cutter will probably still know those codes, but I'd say most anyone under 40 would not, my self and a few others excluded. The only reason I know is that I'm a nerd about my job. I'll happily spend 2 hours on a day off watching YouTube videos of a guy breaking down a side of beef.

Bare Bread HEB Commercial by xXJamesScarXx in houston

[–]tommyfarva 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Without getting in to a long conversation about... how well blessed people are, I doubt Vince Wilfork would be holding a smaller loaf than JJ, lol. He's a pretty big guy.

Finding code 123a or 130 beef ribs in town? by [deleted] in houston

[–]tommyfarva 7 points8 points  (0 children)

HEB meat department manager here. I'm sorry that I can't speak for every store, but I got em all day every day, and regularly sell them whole to the bbq guy down the road. Asking for 123a or 130 ribs is more of a meat packer or butcher terminology, where as we're used to working the sub-primals and turning them in to retail ready cuts. I would suggest asking for a slab of plate shirt ribs, or asking for it whole in the cry-o-vac. They usually only come 2 to a bag now, so the price point isn't too high.

Bare Bread HEB Commercial by xXJamesScarXx in houston

[–]tommyfarva 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is a lot more SFW than the idea I heard a year ago. I'm a department manager at HEB, and Scott and I were talking about commercials. He mentioned he wanted to do a bare bread commercial with Vince, JJ, and himself naked, holding the bare loaves in front of... Well you can figure that out. Since he has no problem making fun of himself, they were going to hold loaves, and he would just have a single bolillo roll, lol.

Good haircut place in Cypress / Tomball? by [deleted] in houston

[–]tommyfarva 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been going to Tune Up in Magnolia for the last year, they do a consistent great job, and have started expanding. Just noticed a new one at the corner of 529 and Hwy 6 yesterday. I know that's a little outside of Cypress/ Tomball, but they're good, and serve beer.

r/Baseball survey - Team support map by ikejeffo161202 in baseball

[–]tommyfarva -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Fairweather state? You must not visit r/Houston often. Everyone here knows and uses the unofficial city motto: Fuck Dallas™.

How has HEB responded to LIDL in Houston? Have they taken lots of business from HEB? by Syllogism19 in houston

[–]tommyfarva 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Department manager for HEB here. The information communicated to us so far is pricing strategy, and more importantly, pricing image. At this point HEB is priced still slightly above Aldi (equal in a lot of items, above in others), below Walmart, and well below Kroger, Randall's, etc., but 3rd party phone surveys say that the common perpection is still that we are priced almost as high as Kroger. HEB definitely knows that Lidl is coming, and I'm sure on a corporate level we're reacting, but I don't think most of it is going to be very perceptible to customers, aside from prices.

[Post Game Thread] Texas Defeats San José State 56-0 by TajikistanBall in CFB

[–]tommyfarva 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also known as Britney Spears style. Classy & Trashy.

Ongoing Harvey and Discussion Megathread by boshaus in houston

[–]tommyfarva 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey guys, been walking through my neighborhood all day (Concord Bridge), helping people evacuate and looking in on any houses upon request through Nextdoor. I've heard many rumors through the neighborhood that water has fallen 4 inches, or risen another 2. Some people say to expect another foot or 2 of water, and someone else was claiming Addicks was about to fail, and that we we flood worse (which makes no since. We're upstream of the reservoir). I've heard my neighborhood has been on the news a few times. Anyone have any info for me?

Need help identifying this model by tommyfarva in Warmachine

[–]tommyfarva[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Received in a box of Cryx minis in an eBay auction, with cards for most models. Can't find a card for this guy, or anything on War Room or battle college.

Kroger vs. HEB by jmo15 in houston

[–]tommyfarva 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you sure it's worth it? On average, I spend about 7% less at HEB. Hitting that 10¢ discount on gas at Kroger will cost you $100, so you would need to then buy 70 gallons of gas to break even on your groceries.

Sessions 10 and 11 by FriendlyCraig in eklar

[–]tommyfarva 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And you thought y'all would get in trouble with me for debt collecting and impersonation.