Buffa's Buffet, Vol. 106: Finding sanity at your job is the key to a good life

This week marked one year at Crescent Plumbing Supply.

The difference a year makes is still underestimated. As time hurtles forward at an unbelievable pace and we do our best to slow down the days, it’s imperative to find some form of comfort at your job. If not, there’s a good chance your life will partially suck.

Think about it. We spend 40-50 hours per week with the day job, if you’re working full-time and factoring in commute and the de-escalation of stress levels after work. Point at one person who can leave work and simply slip on a Mr. Rogers jacket, and I’ll tell you that person is as full of shit as the next person. The reality is that since school begins as a kid, our lives are structured around the fact that a good chunk of our weeks and lives will be spent at a place that isn’t on our top 5 of places to be.

My advice: find one that doesn’t drive you crazy. I’ve reached that spot again after spending years on shores that were either not giving enough or taking too much of me back with the tide. Jan. 23 was my first day at Crescent Plumbing Supply, and we raced past that date like a Ferrari would this week. One year at a job isn’t something to write home about (only on a blog), but it’s something in this day and age of job hunting and jumping.

It’s not just any industry, either. Plumbing supplies are as complex and sophisticated as anything in a warehouse that has a number code attached. Finding a package of 12 bottles of marinara sauce in a Park 370 Hazelwood Schnucks warehouse is easier than picking out a 3/4 by one inch copper coupling. And you’re reading the wrong Buffa in this Princeton Heights estate if you’re thinking that this guy can install or work with any of these supplies.

Example: My wife installed a toilet and tank one afternoon like I would compose an article, all the while dealing with a few foster pets, her own six pets, and probably an issue with our son. If I had to include “all by herself” after that top sentence, you certainly don’t know my wife well enough. She’s not just a fixer; she’s the whole damn package. She’s entered the world of Crescent like a kid entering a candy store that knows no bounds or limits.

I entered that same world immediately thinking how an action director could really stage the most incredible fight scene on this steep ramp we have in our Delmar Loop East-located warehouse. John Wick 5 was on my head; downloading toilet finishes and onyx combinations was buying real estate in her cerebellum. That’s why we go so well together.

But I’m no longer an idiot in the industry, even if a truck driver is only allowed to be so smart in the beginning. We’re the blunt objects who deliver to the public with a smile that can only be tempered by the fact that some water heaters have a mind of their own. Baby didn’t want to be put in a corner, but a cast iron tub isn’t particularly fond of being hauled over the scorched earth roads of St. Louis county.

There’s also a certain thrill, internal competitive vibe, and overall hysteria that goes into delivering to residents and plumbers. Like an Uber driver pulling up to the Griswald’s house during the holidays, you have no idea what you’re getting into… until the truck is on the street.

~Are there dogwalkers in a bad mood who also happen to love inanimate objects being harmed?

~Are the tree branches trying to send me off in marriage to doom by bending over the street so low?

~Is there a slim chance that the roundabout at the end of the street isn’t the greatest flat circle in the world?

All true, and they all scare me a little less each day and delivery. Here’s the goods: I am challenged and pushed by my job, but pleased at the end of the day when I can say that the large apartment building at Olive Crossing or Wildhorse Village carries plumbing supplies that my sweat, energy, and sometimes blood went into. There’s a pride that stays just quiet enough to keep you ambitious.

Adversity plays a recurring role in my life, though. As a kid, I liked playing sports with people who were better than me. When you stutter almost as bad as the guy in My Cousin Vinny, physicality is your best friend. I hung out with friends who were older than me, because I figured they knew more and I could soak it in easier.

When I started my short-lived radio show hosting career, I chose a co-host who was better and sharper than me in Matt Whitener. He had a better rhythm and a knack at keeping me in check. My best friend is my dad. In life, it’s useful to become a sponge and hang around folks who have more years in the game than you do.

One year into being a sponge at Crescent, this can be reported: I am happy. This is the point where the paid subscribers are in for a special treat, and the hope being that the words above have persuaded you. Ready or not, let’s dive into the rest of the buffet. A thousand free words before another thousand that go paid. Sounds fair enough.

Back in the early going of the roller coaster 2023-24 season for the St. Louis Blues, I wrote that Jordan Binnington was the only path towards a playoff spot--or seeing better hockey from the hometown team. The truth is this article could have been posted this week, and still held up after inspection.

This isn’t some wicked Chris Nolan plot that I’m spinning; just think about it. What changes did the team make in the offseason, outside of Kevin “good but never great” Hayes? Little. So, when you retain the same group minus some leadership and then take away the Stanley Cup-winning head coach, the desire for more wins has to come from inside.

While Robert Thomas has put together a great season and other contributing Blues have done the same, it’s Binnington who is truly saving the team games. He’s stealing games from the winnable grips of opponents, great teams that throw the kitchen sink at Binner and come away with a story instead of a goal.

You can’t just look at goals against average or save percentage. The story goes deeper with Binnington’s success this season. Granted, the 2.97 GAA and .907 save % doesn’t sharpen the confidence of the most pessimistic fan, but a longer look at Hockey Reference can clear things up.

Binnington’s Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) is 3.4, a solid mark for a guy who can only affect one end of the ice and can’t venture out to collect points. It’s the NHL goaltender’s equivalent of baseball’s Wins Above Replacement, something that the catcher position needs in MLB. His GSAA the last two seasons was -19.2 and -6.4. His quality saves percentage is the highest (.563) that it’s been since the year after the Cup run.

Most, if not all, of his advanced statistics this year are reminiscent of that 2018-19 campaign, the year where Binnington went from being a a nobody to the Baba-fucking-yaga of the NHL. While his play has drifted and slumped at times since, he is once again back on that confidence mountain that is hard to stay on. Instead of directing attention with his emotion or temper, he’s pushing that into his net play.

Without him, this is a team fishing in a small pond. With him, they’re capable of claiming a playoff spot. Give Drew Bannister some credit for sparking a new jolt in this team, but it’s Binnington who has pushed this chaotic ship back towards dry land.

The current four-game winning streak is the longest of the season for the Blues. They are 25-20-2. We trust in Binner. The less nervous he is, the better this team plays. That’s the thing. I don’t think he’s ever nervous; his team’s play around him can be.

Netflix losing their chief of content in Scott Stuber does spell questionable odds for the future of the streaming giant’s original content factory. There are reports that their original film/show budget will go down, and their desire to see theatrical releases will also decrease. While it does disappoint me and cause me to wonder if they’re moving far away from the place that changed the game with an Oscar win, the writing has been on the wall for some time.

According to Variety, Netflix spends $17 billion per year on content, and that does include the most English-language releases (36) planned for this year than any other streamer. But look at what they’ve spent the dollars on. They just completed a WWE wrestling deal that will play weekly. Their top ten most viewed products are usually acquired shows and flicks, with a true crime docuseries mixed in.

Netflix was the one who told David Fincher that Mindhunter was too expensive, yet continued to hand out big budget cash like a soccer mom hands out Halloween candy. Fincher’s The Killer proves they are in the game, but perhaps moving to St. Louis Cardinals status when it comes to how much of a contender they’d like to be at future awards shows. Mary J. Blige won the Oscar for Mudbound and there have been plenty of nominations since, but very few wins as a result.

Their wrestling deal and acquisition of Suits paints their future colors. They are a pricey used goods store that likes to carve out their own cache at times, but is safely settling into a trend that sees them bidding at other production company’s auctions.

Speaking of the Redbird crew that twists and thrills sports minds down at 7th and Clark, they’re less than three weeks from spring training and fans aren’t feeling any better about the chances this summer. To paraphrase a gangster, they’re half worried and that’s the good half.

Signing former MLB flamethrowers to minor league deals doesn’t put out much of the fire and smoke in Cardinal Nation’s needy heart. They’re the product of three million seats sold per season, so their neediness shouldn’t go unchecked.

Sure, Fangraphs could predict the team to win 85 games and contend in the National League, but fans are so used to Pecota’s cynical outlook on the Birds that they roll their eyes at FG for some reason. They can stare at Sonny Gray, and wish there were two of him. They’ll look over at Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, and wish there was only one. The elevator could go up another few levels with the acquisition of *STLL OUT THERE* starting pitcher, Jordan Montgomery… but we know that’s not going to happen.

Montgomery would put them over the top in the Central, even with the Brewers signing potent bat, Rhys Hoskins. He’s either waiting for the right team to step forward, the most money to fall into his lap, or something to tie him to a city and their team. The Rangers, Cardinals, and Yankees are options, but it’s the Red Sox who may have the extra attacker in the race.

As they stand, St. Louis is a contender. Any team that has Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Sonny Gray, and a healthy roster of young guns can reach for a spot in the Central division. The way they spend and the current roster always gives them a chance to poke their head in. It’s that next fight, or advancement in postseason play, that fans want to know when the team is going to return to.

If John Mozeliak and Bill DeWitt Jr. are one thing with this fanbase, they should be honest and clear at all times. Instead of saying “more moves could be made,” just say the bank vault is closed and this is the thoroughbred that rides this summer. JUST SAY IT! But they won’t, because at the end of the day it’s not a fine business tactic.

Clearing the table:

~My favorite animated film of all time is… Finding Nemo. A wise Willem Dafoe, a cynical Albert Brooks, a bewildered Ellen DeGeneres, and a soulful Thomas Newman score help this Pixar gem hit nothing but net.

~If you’re ever thinking about driving north on Skinker/Kienlen past Page Avenue in St. Louis, rethink it. When Billy the Butcher mentioned “scorched earth” to Homelander in that episode of The Boys, he was talking about Jennings Station Road.

~Worship your women, friends. My wife packed me an Emilio-sized lunch yesterday for work, one that could have fed Reacher. Another night this week, she made salmon and mashed potatoes. Another night, she made a lazy lasagna, which is still like culinary trigonometry to most cooks. Once again, the best choice I ever made was kneeling down at a Dave Matthews Band concert in August of 2022, four months after taking her out on a date following this message left on my draw erase board at Mizzou:

“Are you ever going to ask me out?”

Read the signs out there, and be patient with each other. Goodnight.