Mood Reading

I often don't think I'm too much of a mood reader, but in November I had enough job stuff going on that I hit the wall on several books I had out from the library. Some had holds after me so they got yanked and I had to re-request. I just got one back and got about fifty percent through it yesterday. 

It's always a little bit of a relief because when my reading takes a hit I am often a cranky and/or exhausted human. So really, it's good for us all for me to be reading. 

I was talking to someone about how I found commuting by public transit made me a nicer happier human because driving made me cranky. (Well, driving with other humans on the road makes me cranky.) And while the traffic remains the same, it is someone else's problem.

Outsourcing driving turned out to be the right move for me. Though certainly it didn't solve all my problems. 

But as we head towards a new calendar flip, may you find the rest and relaxation you need and figure out how to keep on reading. 

Holidays and Work

One of the weirdest kinds of privilege to explain to people is holiday privilege. It comes up a lot with things like election day. When you start going through examples with people they start to get it. Like, are restaurants and retail stores still open on holidays? So those employees are still working. What about hospitals? Nursing homes? First responders? 

Even as an office worker who has generally not been any of these things, my last three years have been an exercise in the differences. Two years ago, Christmas was one of two days of the year the office was closed. (No, that's not a typo. Two holidays a year.) Last year I worked somewhere that took a week off. And this year, I am somewhere we get more than two days a year, and Christmas is one of the days off we get. 

So, I'm looking forward to a week with a break in the middle. Time to connect with family and other loved ones. To indulge in delicious food. 

These things are great ideas any week, but it helps to have official time off work to facilitate it. 

Whatever shape your week ahead takes, may it be filled with love and deliciousness. And maybe some reading time too. 

Three Interesting Things

1. Trying not to think too hard about what it means that the FBI knows that folks in China are trying to spy on our texts because they are just hacking the system the FBI uses.  Sure, this is fine.  Anyway, encrypted texts are great.  Pass it on. 

2. Propublica has an article detailing many of the pregnancy related procedures and the things you may need to know as we continue to criminalize pregnant people having medical procedures. 

3. What if we encouraged teens to read by having romance books clubs for teens?  Sign me up! (For reading about this.  Not trying to cosplay as a teen.)

Bay Leafs and Beliefs

I popped a few Bay leaves into a pot of beans I was making this weekend and thought about how I have become a person who has Bay leaves, and puts them in things. I've seen people spout off about how they are useless and make no difference. How it's just a scam perpetuated by Big Spice to make you believe your thing tastes better because you used a bay leaf. 

I honestly can't tell you for sure if things taste better with a bay leaf than without. I am not the person who shows up at the table and goes, oh, you used corn starch, unless you serve me something that's almost entirely corn starch. So my palette may not be super discerning. 

But I drink tea, so certainly know that boiled leaves can do quite a lot. And I have easy access to bay leaves. So I add them into things that simmer, and while I cannot point to an incredible increase in flavor definition, they definitely aren't making anything worse. So I'll keep using them. Because it sure seems like believing I am enhancing the flavor is better than believing it does nothing. 

Three Interesting Things

1. I had relatives who were in the news business in Oregon, so this story about what happened to the shell of a former paper there was both fascinating and sad. 

2. There is some evidence that micro-grids might provide important assistance during extreme weather events. 

3. This story about designer handbags is just fascinating and of course makes my bag collection look positively frugal.