the_rck

Last night, I discovered that the Spartan brand frozen sweet cherries are vile. I ended up throwing most of the bag out. I’ve got another bag in the freezer. I will sample it to see if it’s different, but I’m not optimistic. There’s something very wrong when the best of the cherries in the bag taste like sweetened sawdust.

Usually, we buy Private Selections brand, but I got the two bags of the Spartan brand when we did that grocery order for pick up at Busch’s the week after Scott’s kidney stone because they didn’t have the Private Selections brand available (it’s a Kroger house brand, so no surprise there).

I tried Bigelow’s ginger snappish tea this morning. I liked it. The ginger wasn’t as strong as I’m up for, but it was noticeably present. I did not sweeten this one, and I didn’t miss that.

I think I’m going to end up napping a lot tomorrow. I’m really dragging today, even with extra coffee. I don’t think I’ve got anything I have to do tomorrow, so that should be possible.

Somewhere or another, I seemed to have picked up an Ingress portal key that someone dropped that’s for a portal a long way away, more than 1300 km. I can’t tell exactly where it is because I haven’t figured out how to get the entire address to display (it gets cut off in the middle in all the displays I’ve tried). Since I don’t get out much, most of what I do with Ingress is remote recharging of portals, so I am prone to picking up portal keys if I see them lying around.

I tried Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s coconut chai for a second time today. I steeped it three and a half minutes rather than the recommended five to seven minutes because I wanted to avoid having it get too bitter. I think, for me, that’s a good choice. I got enough flavor from the spices that I could tell it was chai without getting overwhelming bitterness. I’m pretty sure I can taste the coconut. At any rate, there’s something there that’s sweeter/mellower than I expect from black tea and chai.

I tried another new to me poet this week— Langston Hughes. I was wary because I haven’t really been thrilled with any of the poets I’ve tried so far, but I found I liked Hughes’ work quite a lot. It reminds me, in a way I can’t put my finger on, of what I like about the two Spoon River Anthology books. Maybe it’s a feeling of having people at the center? I really don’t know. I probably won’t finish the book I got from the library because it’s huge and because my best times for reading tend to be other people’s best times for podcasts/Netflix streaming/YouTube stuff. Scott generally does that while he’s moving around from one part of the house to another, cleaning, making his lunch, getting ready for bed, things like that, so it’s not like I can ask him to use earbuds.

It’s almost 3:00. The cleaning lady got here promptly at 2:00, but Cordelia’s friend has not yet arrived. I may need to email her mother and ask what’s up with that. Her being late is not terrible since the logistics of two kids in the house with the cleaning lady are challenging, but we were expecting her an hour ago and haven’t had any word. Now, I’m worried that there was some sort of email I was supposed to send her mother and haven’t and that that means she’s not coming.

One of the teas that kyrielle sent me was Bigelow’s Eggnogg’n. I was a little dubious about an eggnog flavored tea, but I was also very curious. The ingredients say that it’s a black tea/green tea blend with 'natural eggnog flavor and other natural flavors' and cinnamon. I actually quite liked this one. It went well with the stevia I sweetened it with. I’m not sure how much it tastes like eggnog because I haven’t had any in years (I have to have the kind with no actual eggs because eggs are a huge migraine trigger for me, and Scott doesn’t care for it).

A few months ago, retsuko sent me a sampler of teas— Zhena’s Gypsy Tea. I’m pretty sure I’ve tried all four of them, but I don’t remember what I thought of them, partly because I didn’t write it down at the time and partly because that was while I was taking a lot of hydrocodone. I just tried the Gypsy Rose kind again. It smells very rose like. I added stevia. It tastes very floral, but I’m not sure it tastes like the rose petals I ate as a kid (my mother assured me they were edible, so I wasn’t just eating stuff at random). I think I like this one.

Oh, I forgot in my earlier post-- I'm a little irritated with Scott. While I've been unable to get into the kitchen, he's been using up my Stash black tea samples, the ones that are single bags of each kind. There were ten, and there were only four left when I went looking for them yesterday. Scott has apologized. He apparently assumed that they were an extra I'd gotten with my order and didn't want. I have no idea why he'd think that. I have a habit of seeking out sample packs of tea so that I can try a cup or two of a lot of different things. It's not a new thing.

Scott did say that he's completely not interested in any of the teas that I bought in full boxes. That's a pity because, at least one kind, I bought entirely because I thought he'd like it, because it was like something else he enjoyed before. Admittedly, that's an herbal tea, and Scott's drinking a lot of black tea these days. (He's substituting unsweetened black tea for artificially sweetened Coca-cola.)

I guess I'm going to have to order that sampler again. It wasn't very expensive, but shipping was higher than I'd like, so I don't want to order it until I'm ready to order a good bit more tea, and I don't expect that to happen for a very long time (probably at least a year, maybe two or three years. I bought a lot of tea).

I did try one of the remaining samples yesterday-- Stash's double spice chai black tea. I drank it unsweetened and quite enjoyed it. I steeped it just shy of three minutes, and that was quite enough for good flavor. I think this is one to buy again. That makes two winning black teas out of those I bought (the other is the white chocolate mocha black tea).

I wonder if the culture around St Patrick's Day will have changed at Cordelia school now that there are so many new students? The school is, sadly, much, much whiter than it used to be. In years past, nobody paid any attention to St Patrick's Day at the school-- Nobody got pinched for failing to wear green (tradition when I was in school). I assumed, at the time, that that was at least partly because of the sheer number of foreign students at the school. Now the school is nearly three times the size it was, and most of those students are middle class white kids. I definitely wouldn't mind if the pinching stayed gone, but who knows? I suppose Cordelia can tell me when she gets home this afternoon.

I slept for about an hour after Cordelia left this morning. Normally, I don't go back to sleep, but I did today. I dreamed fairly intensely, too, nothing particularly interesting but it's sticking in my memory in bits and pieces.

I wrote about 700 words yesterday. I think this section goes before the introspective stuff that I wrote earlier. This section switches to a point of view character I haven't used much. It will require considerable tweaking-- At the very least, I need some description of the space where the scene occurs. Right now, it could be happening in empty space.

Yesterday, I tried Stash's ginger peach green tea. I goofed in preparing it and poured boiling water over the tea bag instead of waiting a bit for the water to cool, so I don't know how the tea should have tasted. It wasn't bad as it was, though. Still, I had higher hopes for its flavor based on how the tea bag smelled when I opened the packet, so I don't know. I do like both ginger and peach in my tea in general.

I've got to figure out some place to put the clean silverware until Cordelia can put it away after school today. I told her to do it last night before she went to bed, but she was watching The Voice and forgot (and I forgot to remind her). Right now, I've got enough dirty dishes to fill the dishwasher, and I'd like to run it while it's just me at home. Doing it once Cordelia comes home runs into trouble with her and Scott needing to shower, and I do have a load of laundry (towels) that I'd like to wash. At any rate, right now, the clean silverware is in the dishwasher's silverware rack, sitting on the kitchen counter. If I'm going to wash the dirty silverware, I need that rack.

I don't know what's going to happen with metanews. We're down to two people trying to keep everything going, and we need at least three (preferably four or five. Having three means dropping a bunch of things). Right now, we don't have anyone to cover half of the blogs we follow or to cover AO3 or LJ. Both of us who are still on the team spend a couple of hours a week link finding, and I don't think either of us has the time to spare to take on another two or three hours a week every week. Well, I technically do have time. I just don't think I have the energy. The other person simply doesn't have the time. They have suggested that we might go to posting biweekly instead of weekly, but I don't think that would solve the basic problem because there'd still be every bit as much work needing to be done.

The school has changed how they're doing grades. I don't think I understand the new system at all. Cordelia should be bringing home grades today, so I guess I'll see if I can figure it all out. The email from the school said they're trying to use "standard based mastery reporting of the common core state standards", whatever that means. I don't think it will have a big impact on Cordelia as she does quite well on her school work, but I'd like to understand the criteria better. I should really be better about checking Cordelia's progress on the district's website for that purpose. Sometimes, she misses assignments, forgetting to turn them in, and one of her two teachers has a tendency to make errors, either not entering grades for assignments people have turned in or entering the wrong numbers. Both can have a major impact.

I wrote about 500 words yesterday, but I think I'm going to have to delete most, if not all, of it. It's a meandering inner monologue, and that's a bad way to start a chapter. Maybe I can save it and use it later. The character in question has far too much time to think and no immediate prospect of his situation changing. He's better off than he was before the story started, but things still aren't particularly good.

I do have to decide, for this story, how I want to resolve one of the plot threads. It needs to be resolved, at least in part, magically, and I have a choice between a ritual//spell and some sort of mystical object. I'm not really satisfied with either option. They seem both too easy and too inconvenient-- Too easy because either would resolve the problem quickly and without the effort I think the problem merits. Too inconvenient because both of my main point of view characters are currently very limited in mobility. One's confined to a cell, and the other has been ill and can't walk. I'm trying to come up with a third option. Maybe a quest? But I'm not sure that the character who has the problem realizes that it is a problem; I don't think he'd be motivated enough to go on a quest. He has a lot of other things to do that he would consider much more important.

I've been playing a lot of solitaire as a way of procrastinating writing. It's difficult because solitaire can also help me clarify my thoughts in preparation for writing. I just have to get myself to stop playing it at some point and start writing.

I managed to do Sit and Be Fit four times this last week. That's generally my goal. (I can't do it on Thursdays because it's right in the middle of the time while the cleaning lady is here and I'd be in her way.) I can tell I'm out of shape because Sit and Be Fit tires me out. It didn't used to. I want to get to where Sit and Be Fit is easy again and then add Body Electric back in. I suspect Body Electric is better for me. I just don't think I can manage it right now.

Scott worked 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. today. He went to bed later than he ought to have done, given that. I think he was really hoping they wouldn't need him. He did the grocery shopping on the way home. His arrival at home woke me, but I stayed in bed for a while. I got up right about the time he climbed into bed to nap.

Drat! That's what I forgot to put on the grocery list-- jello and claritin. I might have enough claritin to get through the week, but I also might have to send Scott back to the store mid-week. The jello is easier to do without, but it does make a nice dessert that Cordelia enjoys. We've got some orange jello, but Cordelia has stated firmly that she will not eat a single bite of that because she doesn't like orange. Scott is a little put out that she didn't tell him that before he bought the orange jello.

I've started trying some of the teas in the Stash samplers I bought a couple of months ago. I opened the green tea sampler first, so those are what I've been having. I tried the pomegranate raspberry green tea and liked it quite a bit. I also tried the goji berry green tea (I know I've had some form of goji berry tea from Stash in the past; I just can't remember if it was this one). That was okay. I'd drink it again, but it didn't knock my socks off, so I probably won't buy more. I'd consider buying more of the pomegranate raspberry green tea. Today, I tried the white tea green tea blend. I wasn't particularly impressed. It wasn't awful, but I think, for how it tasted, I'd want more caffeine as a reward.

Scott and I have another Netflix DVD to watch. It took longer to arrive than I expected. We sent the previous DVD back on Monday and didn't get this one until Friday. Usually the turn around it a day or so faster. This is another DVD of Leverage, the last of season four. I don't think we're going to get through the show in time to keep up with Mark Watches, but we'll get there eventually.

Scott didn't really sleep after getting home from work this morning. He's probably going to regret that later today, but it's really up to him to do it or not.

I've sorted out another box full of books that Cordelia no longer wants. I have no idea if the school library will want them, but it's worth offering them. There are almost certainly other books she doesn't want, but she's not willing to dig through the rows of books under her desk. I may go in there when she's at school on Tuesday (no school Monday for MLK Day) and shift some of those books to her bookshelves which are about half empty. They'll be more accessible there, I think.

We have found one argument against buying movies on blu-ray-- Cordelia can't take those into her room and watch them on her laptop. She really likes doing that with movies, so she's frustrated by the things we only have on blu-ray. I wonder if they make small blu-ray drives that can connect to a laptop? I'm thinking of something like the CD/DVD drive Scott has for his laptop, something that connects by USB. I suppose it's something to look into for Cordelia's birthday in May.

I put clementines on the grocery list when I made it up yesterday, but Scott bought navel oranges instead. I'll eat them because somebody has to, but I'd really rather not. Clementines are a lot easier to peel and a lot more reliable about being juicy and flavorful. In my recent experience, oranges are about 50-50 in terms of being edible, and they're a lot of work.

I've spent a lot more so far this month than I like to do in January. I've bought some socks and some pants (I really need the pants). I've placed two or three Amazon orders, mostly things for Scott's birthday in February. Then, last night, I ordered some tea from the Stash website.

That last, I probably shouldn't have done, but I really wanted to have some more tea options-- Right now, I've got Tazo's ginger green tea (far too much of it), Bigelow's vanilla chai, and Republic of Tea's vanilla coconut white tea. The vanilla chai is the only one of those three that I drink with any enthusiasm. The only stuff we've got that I can drink that isn't caffeinated is Republic of Tea's chocolate mint, and I'm really not supposed to have mint (I do, sometimes, but it's on the list of things I should avoid for the GERD).

Scott's parents gave us more Tazo ginger green tea. It's going to take forever to get through it. I like it well enough, but I don't love it enough to want to drink as much of it as we've got. Maybe I can talk Scott into drinking some.

I've tried the bagged chais that I have again. The Bigelow vanilla chai is pretty good if I only steep it three minutes. I may actually buy more of it. The Allegro chai is also better if I only steep it three minutes. I would consider getting more of it, but I think I found it at Whole Foods. I'm unlikely to be back there any time soon. The Private Selection chai has too much cloves for my taste. I don't even want to drink what's left of the first box of it, so I don't think I'll buy a second.

I still have enough of the various Adagio chais to try them again, but I don't feel very strongly motivated to. I don't think I'm going to discover that I love any of them on the third go round. The main reason to make more of any of them is to use up the packet so I can get rid of it. I'd like my counter space back.

anderyn gave me a bunch of tea samples that aren't labeled as far as I can tell. I tried one and quite liked it. I'm not sure if it was floral or fruity but there was something nice in the scent and flavor. It wasn't bitter at all in the way I associate with black teas; I was able to drink it without sweetening it. I don't think it was a green tea, either; though goodness knows my palate is not very discriminating. I'm not entirely sure I can taste the difference between black, oolong, white, and green teas. I mean, there's definitely a difference; I'm just not sure I'm experienced enough to know one from the others by taste.

I tried two green teas from the samples anderyn gave me.

The first was Stash's ginger peach green tea. I liked that fairly well. I think I could taste the ginger. I tasted something that wasn't green tea, at any rate. That goes on the list of things to try again.

The second was Allegro's organic northwest minty green tea. That tasted very minty, very much like a pure peppermint tea. I liked it, but I probably won't buy any as mint is one of the things I'm supposed to be wary of for reflux reasons (it relaxes the sphincter at the bottom of the esophagus). I miss mint tea.

anderyn gave me a bunch of tea samples, so I'll be trying those out over the next little while. She generously gave me two packets of all the bagged teas she had at work, and it's going to take me a while to work my way through them. I'm going to use a regular size mug instead of my usual double size mug because I want to be able to experiment with steeping time to see how that affects the flavor.

First, I tried a packet of powdered mix-- lavender milk tea (the brand was either Gino or Giavo. I couldn't tell which). I was wary because lavender scents have been known to make me sneeze, but this didn't. It had a definite floral odor that I liked and a distinctive flavor that I also liked. I probably won't go in for this one, however, as it's pre-sweetened (I'm assuming with sugar, but very little on the package was in English, so I don't know). I think I'll see if Cordelia wants to try the second packet. It tasted to me like something she'd enjoy.

Second, I tried Numi's breakfast blend. I steeped that three minutes instead of the recommended four to five, and it was still more bitter than I like. I shall have to try a still shorter steep for my second bag. I didn't try sweetening it because I didn't want to mess around with trying to get more or less half a packet of stevia poured out. I always do way too much or too little when I try for half a packet.