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Scott has a lot more overtime on the horizon. Third shift is down something like four people and needs coverage. We got lucky that they didn't need him to go in early today, but we expect it tomorrow and probably Saturday. Cordelia's got soccer games both days this weekend, so we're keeping our fingers crossed about weekend overtime. If Scott does work, I hope Cordelia and I can find a ride.

Scott's FATE game met last night. dspitzle was there for the first time since his daughter arrived in May (definitely a good (superlative) reason not to come to game sessions, but we have missed him). His character has background in the mystical which is definitely going to come in handy going forward. None of the other characters have that.

My character (who is a medical doctor) wasn't much use in last night's session. We had combat, a bit of underground exploration, and more combat. My character isn't quite a pacifist, but she is adamant that nobody's dying on her watch, so she has difficulty when the bullets start to fly. I still haven't completely filled out the character sheet-- I need one more stunt and a couple more aspects. I just don't have any ideas.

Cordelia nearly melted down this morning when it was time to go. She had nine minutes until the first bell. It takes three to walk to the school. She was yelling at me that she was going to be late and that she couldn't find this, that, or the other. She insisted on hanging a mechanical pencil off of one of her back pockets even though it kept falling off. She insisted that that was the best way to carry it. I don't even.

I opted to go to the school after Cordelia did. That gave me not quite ten minutes to myself, but I think it was a good idea. She needed time to herself on the way to school. We'd have made things worse for each other if I'd gone when she did.

There wasn't much shelving to do. I did some book check in and check out for the first class while the librarian was occupied with other things. During the second class, I was taping barcodes to paint stirrer sticks. The idea is that the kids can take these sticks and have their check out barcodes with them when they come up to the desk to check out their books. It saves the adult doing check out from having to look each child up. We were reusing sticks from last year, ones for kids who didn't return this year, so I got to spend some time picking tape and labels off of old sticks. That was a little sad because I recognized most of the names I was removing. They were mostly kids who were in Cordelia's class last year.

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I tried the chocolate chai again. It was too bitter. I need to try a shorter steeping time. I have enough left for one more cup.

I used the last of the rooibos vanilla chai, and this time it came out really bitter. I didn't like it at all. I'm not sure what the difference was between this time and the first time I made it. If the cup I made for Cordelia tasted like this (I didn't try that cup. I don't want her cold), it's no wonder she disliked it.

I have a mug of the spiced apple chai sitting next to me, cooling. I steeped it three minutes instead of the five the package calls for, but that doesn't seem to have helped the bitterness. I think I have enough of that left for one more cup.

I think there's something bitter in the Adagio chais besides the black tea. I was wondering if it was somehow related to the cinnamon, but the other chais I've got contain cinnamon, too, so it's likely not that. I just thought it might be because the bitter has that clinging to the back of the tongue that cinnamon does.

I am testing my willpower-- Scott has decided that artificial sweeteners are bad news and has bought regular coke instead of Coke Zero. That means I could drink what he's bought. I just shouldn't because I tend to gain weight when I drink sugared pop, tea sweetened with honey, or juice. I try to avoid all three except for the special occasions. It's just that sugared pop is very tempting, particularly when it's caffeinated; it's a double pick me up.

We tried Zevia (pop sweetened with stevia, monk fruit, and erythritol). Scott's parents had some and gave us a can of, I think, root beer. All three of us tasted it. None of us were dreadfully keen on it. I thought it was too sweet and had an odd aftertaste. Even if it were readily available (the only place we've seen it locally is Whole Foods) and priced similar to other pop, I don't think I'd consider it a good option for me. I'm still hoping to find some black tea that I can tolerate unsweetened. I'm hoping that the pu erh will give me that. I drank the chorange pu erh unsweetened, and it wasn't bad.