jenh526

I ride a train to and from work everyday, so have been reading quite a bit to pass the time. I love Maureen Corrigan’s taste in books so will typically try to seek out books she recommends. So in the past few months I’ve read: Educated by Tara Westover. She’s a very talented writer and I found the story compelling. Some parts were difficult to read but I thought she related her story in a fair and gracious manner, while still conveying the conflicted feelings of having love for someone who has hurt you. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. I’m not much of a history buff and someone had given me this book, so it sat on the shelf for a while. But oh my gosh was this an interesting and devastating story. I couldn’t wait to get on the train everyday to read it. A quick read, and definitely something I never learned about in school history class. Was more like a true crime novel I thought, which is maybe why it captivated my attention. The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott. This was a Maureen Corrigan recommended book. I was partly interested in this novel because I grew up Catholic and my mom had been a nun. I didn’t think it was great. For some reason I couldn’t really get into it, and it was a bit of a slog for me to get through. But I did enjoy learning a bit more about convent life. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss. Short novel, but I really enjoyed it. A good, creepy story fleshed out by well-researched history of the Ancient Britons. Hunger by Roxane Gay. There were parts of this memoir that I identified with. I also felt at times like she was going too far down the self-pity path. Writing seemed kind of uneven to me, but I wasn’t bored by it. A review I read described her prose as “lethargic” and I think I agree with that assessment. Currently reading The Body in Question by Jill Ciment. Another Maureen Corrigan recommendation. This is one of those rare novels that I wish would go on forever. Spare writing style. Two stories are interwoven and both of them are intriguing. The characters are well-developed and the story keeps a good pace. It’s like a good indie movie. My favorite so far, although I think it’s going to end in heartbreak. We’ll see.

I got into a discussion with a coworker about ways to dry your hands in a restroom. I mentioned this contraption that isn’t seen much anymore, a continuous roll towel. We both agreed it was gross, wiping your hands where other people have wiped theirs. Then I went online and found a study someone had done that found that the continuous roll towel was actually the MOST hygienic method, certainly far more than a hot air blower.

I work in the public sector which allows me to see salaries online. This past quarter many people got raises. I was one of the ones who didn’t. They don’t give raises based on merit, and I was told that the raise was for people who had been there at least x number of years without a raise. So I went online, did a comparison, and found 2 people who had fewer than x years who got the raise. I went to my manager and presented this (she doesn’t like me since I’m not part of the clique, and also I’m way more educated than anyone there and probably the most productive employee). She claimed not to know anything about the criteria, so I went to her manager who said she’d look into it. I’ve also talked to HR. I kinda feel like I’m getting the runaround, and the HR lady especially seemed pretty wary. I’m wondering if they’re concerned at all about a possible lawsuit since I’m over 50 and female. I’m actually really torn up about this. I do work hard and try to do everything they ask of me even though they are much more critical of me than anyone else. I know I should get out and I’ve been trying but it is very difficult.

Same here. Sometimes I can’t get back to sleep and then have to drag myself into work on 4 hours sleep (like today). I try to go to bed early but sometimes I just lie there awake. And still wake up too early. I read somewhere that this cycle is not that unusual. In the Victorian era they called it first and second sleep. Here’s something about it: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180325/Sleep-like-a-Victorian-to-help-insomnia.aspx

The night my mom passed, I had woken up around 3 am, and felt a warm sensation of peace and contentedness wash over me. My dad called several minutes later to give me the news. She’d been living in pain for two years with undiagnosed (until much too late) pancreatic cancer. I like to think that was her way of saying goodbye to me. Also, the sailor’s clock next to her chair in the living room stopped that night. As an aside, I can’t stand when random strangers wish me a Happy Mother’s Day. I get that they mean well, but it’s just painful.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but here it is. I live at about 5000 ft elevation, so when I bake Tollhouse cookies I have to use the high altitude recipe. The recipe says to “add 2 tsp water with flour”. The first time I tried this I added the 2 tsp water to the flour mixture. Later I convinced myself this was not correct. So now when I add the flour to the wet ingredients I add 2 tsp water with the first addition of flour. Now I’m thinking this isn’t right either, and I should add 2 tsp with each addition of flour (I don’t have a mixer, doing all this by hand). The last batch of cookies I did turned out well with just the 2 tsp water added with the first addition of flour, if a tad dry. The batter was very hard to mix though. Anyone familiar with high altitude baking that has a suggestion?

Pumpkin pie pop tarts. Yummy! A coworker used to make Trader Joe’s pumpkin tarts at work because they smelled so good as they were toasting. He liked making the rest of us jealous. I like the pumpkin pie pop tarts better than TJ’s version.

Ok, so Brendan only made a house. It was very cute though. I kinda love that he had marshmallow bits all over his face during the technical.

The Atlantic sure seems to love this show: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/sharp-objects-review-hbo/564524/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/sharp-objects-music/565544/ I did love the use of Led Zeppelin's In The Evening intro in the second episode... impending doom indeed. Gave me chills.

The only words I caught were on Camille when Alice(?) told her not to talk to her. Camille pulled her jeans down a little to reveal what I think was F*** You etched on her skin. When did we learn Alice’s name? Must’ve missed that part.

Maybe Camille's editor had the best of intentions sending her back to Wind Gap, but Adora and Amma strike me as the kind of people you want to stay well away from if you have an interest in self-preservation. Poor Camille.

Crows practice necrophilia. Ducks gang rape.

I made the flan. Big cracks across the top and pockmarked on the sides. However, my caramel was a nice dark color. So I may not have come in last, but definitely down near the bottom. :) Good choice for a technical bake.

I think the caramel custard is the same thing as what we call flan here in the southwest US. Quite a common menu item in the restaurants around here. Never made one myself but am tempted to try now.