Happy Hump Day!!

Posted on August 26, 2020 by A Dreamer

Today we’re gonna focus on frivolous shit – food and shopping!

First, I discovered this weekend that my beloved Rye Triscuits have been discontinued. They were so great with cheese, cause they had good flavor, but not overwhelming. All their other flavors are a little too much. But then last night, I remembered – Wasa Rye Crispbread still exists! And my market has it!!

Flavor that won’t compete with the cheese and spreads!

So, bring on MORE CHEESE AND CRACKERS!! And as I was popping around this weekend looking for the Rye Triscuits before realizing they don’t exist anymore, I also found one of my other favorite cheese accompaniments – spicy plum chutney. (Though I will say, it is spiced rather than actually spicy.) It’s hit or miss when I can find it. Highly recommend. I also picked up a jar of their “cranfiggy” chutney – could be great or atrocious – will report back when I try it.

Great on cheese

And then, totally by accident – I found proper jerk seasoning! Yeah, there is gonna be some jerk pork in our future. (I’ve gotten the Penzey’s seasoning and it’s good, but really, the wet rubs are the best, and my usual market doesn’t carry them for reasons I cannot fathom, because it’s so good.)

Made by a Jamaican company – only way to go

So yeah, good snacking going on around here, and some gooooood pork tenderloin here soon.

On the shopping front – REI’s Labor Day sale is starting on Friday and I am actually planning and thinking ahead for once and I am going to see about replacing my winter jacket with a new 3-in-1. My last one has been a workhorse, but it’s also 15 years old and starting to fall apart.

I had taken a look at some at the outlet mall…well, it was at some point pre-pandemic, so I guess last fall, and I was horrified at the pricing, so hopefully I can get a better deal. I’ve already got my eye on this one from Marmot – same manufacturer as my old one, which has been so great.

It’s already on sale, but I can at least wait until Friday to see if the price drops further – if not, still getting it, as the price now is still better than anything I saw last fall, and I know it will last a very long time.

The challenge will be not getting other things I don’t need, LOL. I have an REI problem… I’ve set a reminder on my calendar so I won’t forget. Mom would be proud of me for thinking as far away as the next season.

So, eat some good snacks this week and think about any winter gear you’ve been thinking you might need – it may be on sale this weekend.

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Seriously, this stuff:

Posted on August 25, 2020 by A Dreamer
Stonewall Kitchen Spicy Bacon Jam

This is what I bought on a whim this weekend and I’ve just been slathering it all over cheese and crackers for the last 4 days straight and it’s SO GOOD. Not sure I’d put it up there right next to their Bacon Onion Jam, but it’s a very, very close second.

It’s spicy in that there is a bit of bite/heat from the chilis in it, but it’s not burn your face off spicy.  Would probably be great on a ham & swiss sandwich.

Can we all agree that “burn your face off spicy” is not enjoyable?

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Oh, so it will be one of those weeks

Posted on August 25, 2020 by A Dreamer

Where I am not terribly sure what day it is. Had to double check my phone when I got up. It’s Tuesday, just so you know.

Yet again, this administration is really testing my commitment to abolitionist principles. What the fuck do you do when you’re dealing with “don’t wanna, can’t make me” as a guiding principle? Big takeaway from the DeJoy hearings is that he’s an unmitigated ass, but we knew that already.

I don’t even know what restorative justice looks like when you’ve killed 177,000 people, fucked up the mail, worked very hard to destroy the environment, and done it all with an eye to profiting off it.

I heard on the radio this morning that the RNC convention was intended to be more upbeat and optimistic than the DNC convention. HAHAHAHAHAHA. All I saw coming across Twitter was what looked like hostage videos and messages that the world is going to end. Very upbeat.

In some good news – Virginia will be sending postage paid envelopes for all absentee ballots this fall. This is an excellent use of my tax dollars. Mind you – still voting early in person, but this is good, and I’m very glad to see it.

On the work front, the schedule that was going to make this week very tight got shifted to next week (that apparently happened last Thursday and I saw the email, read the email, and it just did not register.) And thanks to the stupid pandemic and all my baseball plans getting chucked out the window – I am in the weird position of “shit, I’m going to lose leave at the end of the year if I don’t take some more days off” – can’t remember the last time *that* happened. I emailed my boss with my new leave plans with the caveat that if he saw any issues to let me know and the response was just “Thanks for letting me know when you’ll be off!” So – extended Labor Day weekend on tap for this gal!

Time to go do the thing. Lily is passed out in a morning sunbeam, so convincing her to get to work may be a challenge this morning.

Go get ’em.

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Gooooood morning!

Posted on August 24, 2020 by A Dreamer

Yet another Monday morning, and while Mondays do suck – you made it to yet another one in the middle of a pandemic, so well done.

In good Monday news – got my refund for my baseball tickets! We’ll give it another go next season. (Of course, will the Padres be having the insane home run/grand slam/winning games season next year? No, no they will not.)

Gonna be a fun(?) week at work this week – we’ve got some tight schedules and while I did as much prep work for what I need to do as I possibly could last week, it’s gonna be a challenge to get everything done by our Thursday deadline. It will all get done, but oof, it’s gonna be a race against the clock.

And on that note – I should get myself upstairs and go test my little heart out.

Have an excellent Monday.

UPDATE: Seems that deadline got pushed back a week, so next week will be crazy instead.

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I’m turning into my Dad.

Posted on August 23, 2020 by A Dreamer

Not a bad thing, he was pretty nifty. But again, up early, got coffee and donuts, and I’m having my coffee on the porch and enjoying the morning before it gets blazing hot.

Remember how I said yesterday that summer was on the way out? Not so fast – 90° with a heat index of 100° on tap today.

Trees and blue sky with some clouds

The view from the porch this morning

Yesterday the House passed the Post Office bill, and now it will go die in the Senate. My Senators are both Democrats, so not much I can do there, as they would like all the dead bills to come to a vote. I’m sorely tempted to write to Majority Leader McConnell and every Republican Senator out there and remind them that their responsibility is to their constituents and not the party or President. I realize it would likely be a waste of time and energy and just get binned on arrival, but what is life without some really futile actions every now and again?

My time would probably be better spent cleaning the house, but who wants to do that??

I know the R’s want to keep power, but it’s not like they’re going to be broke or homeless if they get voted out of office. They’ll be up to their eyeballs in cushy job offers and will not suffer. Why can’t they just do the right fucking thing? I just can’t wrap my head around how they simply do not care about what is happening to people.

Shit, I’ve been lucky and come through this administration relatively unscathed – my taxes have gone up, but that’s pretty much it. But it’s killing me to see how the administration and party keeps hurting people over and over again. How does that not bother them?

I mean, I’m sitting here on the porch and I just moved a caterpillar over by the garden and now it’s playing dead, and I’m really hoping it’s just playing dead and I didn’t kill it. I don’t expect them to have *that* much compassion, but a little would go a long way these days. (Caterpillar is OK.)

I’m trying not to feel totally helpless and hopeless about things, but some days are harder than others.

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OK, that was fun

Posted on August 22, 2020 by A Dreamer

Other than the grocery/drug store, I’ve legit not been in any other kind of retail shop since mid-March. So, the 13 minutes* I spent in the Hallmark store was…kinda awesome.

And I may have greatly lacked in impulse control. Hats off to whoever does the buying/staging in Hallmark shops, because those places are just one giant endorphin hit when you walk in.

The plan really was just to maybe get a candle or a notebook or something.

I got 3 candles. Two notebooks. Some pens. A little box of fancy sea salt chocolates. A little bag of double chocolate dipped peanuts. A guinea pig beanie baby for Lily.

And I discovered they carry Stonewall Kitchen products and had my favorite Bacon Onion Jam! (Very hit or miss finding it in the grocery store.) And I decided to try the Spicy Chili Bacon Jam, too, and I’m having it on some cheese right now and it is really tasty.

I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed being able to see stuff right in front of me before I buy it – internet shopping has been a godsend to be sure over the past 5 months, but this was really nice and weirdly fun, even if it was a very quick trip.

And I think my excitement at a Hallmark store trip is also very peak middle-aged white lady, LOL.

*I double checked the timestamps on the receipts from the shop & the grocery store I had to run into immediately before – probably actually closer to 11 minutes given that I went to my car between the grocery store and the shop. Longer than my preference of <=10 minutes in a place that is not home, but under that magical 15 minute mark.

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It’s not even 9:30

Posted on August 22, 2020 by A Dreamer

And I am up, snagged Starbucks and been to the market. Go me, who is apparently actually 68 years old.

At the market, I saw a little girl with a great purple mask with little stars on it, and I made a point of telling her it was pretty.  Little kids aren’t dumb, and they do seem to love their safety protocols – but I know masks are a little much, so I’m gonna encourage the fuck out of wearing them.  

Speaking of masks, if you are still collecting them and would like to support the Squirrelwood Equine Sanctuary – you can get masks with their critters on them!  I may or may not have a couple coming featuring Crouton the celebrity steer and Mojo the donkey.

Also – if you’re not following them on Twitter, you really should.  It’s a lovely account with great photos and videos and it’s just…nice.  They recently took in two pigs who have had a really rough go of things, and it’s just been so great to watch these little critters really start to thrive in their new home.

Another nice thing – WE HAVE A BABY PANDA!!

Summer is definitely starting to wane a bit here, it’s cool and grey this morning and you can just feel it in the air.  That and my beloved summer shandy is no longer in the market…  On to the Oktoberfest beers at the Front Porch Lounge.  (And what is probably the last case of Sam Adams Summer Ale for the season.)

I still miss going to my bar on the weekends, not just for the people, but it was nice to walk in and they just…had all the beers.  Now I have to actually go out and acquire them myself!  What a fucking pain in the ass, LOL.

In my wild and crazy plans for the weekend, I am going to the local Hallmark store.  They have pretty stationary, and Yankee Candles, and Vera Bradley stuff and I just…I just want out of the house for a bit and to get something nice for myself.  Basically – retail therapy.  Something a bit shiny to focus on rather than the unmitigated shitshow that is the world right now.  Maybe not the *healthiest* coping mechanism, but I mean, it’s not heroin, so…     

Keep your chin up and enjoy the weekend as best you can. 

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Early bird gets the Clorox wipes!!!

Posted on August 21, 2020 by A Dreamer

Popped into the market this morning for beer & paper towels and you can imagine my surprise and delight when I popped down the cleaning aisle and found Clorox wipes!! They only had about 3 dozen, but they had them. You can bet your sweet ass I got my 2 containers.

So, they are getting them in – just in seriously tiny quantities. The spot where they are is usually about 6’x6′ with Clorox, Lysol, house brand, multiple scents and multipacks – now, 3 dozen containers and that’s it. The clerk who clued me into Monday & Friday mornings being the restock day was very right, and I will always appreciate that she told me that.

I’m seriously considering shifting back to shopping in person before work – I’d almost rather go a couple times a week for a quick trip when there is no one there and handle my own substitutions, and there’s no surprises at pickup. (This week – summer shandy is gone, cause summer is over, and for reasons I don’t understand, they did not sub paper towels.) And we’ve gotten back to the point where no one is there at 7AM, which is nice.

Oh, yesterday when I said “it’s officially Joe” – I thought the convention was over. Imagine my confusion when there was yet another night of it last night. Why does this need 4 nights? (I mean, even 3 seems a lot to me, LOL.)

And let’s not overlook – IT’S FUCK IT FRIDAY!!!!!! We made it through another week, despite everything trying to kill us.

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Forgive me if I’m not super excited

Posted on August 20, 2020 by A Dreamer

Don’t get me wrong, Kamala Harris’ nomination *is* historic and it *is* exciting.

But I remember what happened last time. Americans loooooove their racism and sexism, even to their own detriment.

Congress has shown it can’t do shit and now I’m supposed to save the damn free world? Hell, I’m just trying to get through the fucking day.

I vote consistently, I have gotten *non-voters* to vote, I *do* financially support candidates, I bombard my friends with voting information. And yet, every time I turn around I’m getting a panicked email from some candidate I’ve never heard of needing money – fuckers, go find some deep pockets, be transparent about it, and recuse yourself from votes involving them and leave me the fuck alone. (Also, whoever sold my info can go fuck themselves – I’m looking at you, DNC.)

Grassroots funding is great in theory, but you’re counting on the very people who can’t afford to financially participate in campaigns. And don’t get me started on the whole “adopt a Senate race” – the race in whatever cousin fuck state that needs to flip should be a DNC problem. (My god we need campaign finance reform on top of everything else.)

I realize I sound very defeatist. I’ve not given up on getting 45 out of office and getting non-monsters running the Senate. I’m just really fucking tired and frustrated – I’m one person, and nothing I’ve done so far has made a damn bit of difference so far.

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Welp, it’s officially Joe.

Posted on August 19, 2020 by A Dreamer

Remember when we pondered the possibility of a brokered convention? I’ll admit, I’ve not watched a bit of the convention – I’m not the target audience, my vote is solid already, and I am not going to learn anything new. Also, I’m really fucking sick of political campaigns, and this year has been mild to say the least, given the pandemic.

And I get to make another round of calls to my reps today – not only do I want them to drag DeJoy over the coals, I want them to force him to provide a timeline and proof of fixing all the shit he’s broken so far. Just suspending the breaking of shit is not enough.

The best part of the last 36 hours has been being really fired up about baseball and Fernando Tatis Jr’s grand slam on a 3-0 count. Fuck the “unwritten rules” – if you’re down 10-3 and you let the bases get loaded and then someone hits a grand slam off you? Your bullpen is having a terrible day and you shouldn’t expect the other team to go easy on you. And hells bells, we’re in the middle of the suck – let us have the joy of a grand slam. (Also, so fun to be fired up about something that isn’t connected to coronavirus or this shit administration.)

Get out there and swing for the fences.

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