(no subject)

I'm wearing out. I told my team leader that I might take a mental health day because I'm starting to burn out.

Intentional or not, my podcast list is full of criticism of this current administration for some reason: A Cracked podcast about Trump's compulsive lies (with Seanbaby of all people!), a This American Life episode about Trump's push to bring judges to the border and how it helped no one, along with the DNC having no idea what they're doing and reminding me how much I NO I WILL NOT GO INTO THIS CONVO ON HERE SHUTTING MY MOUTH NOW, etc.

Sigh. I'm tired.

Weekend!
This weekend, I did... stuff.

Saturday, we left early because we heard stories about a snow warning. So, off to Burlington! Got comics (we were three months behind, judging the Walking Deads in the box), then off to a health store for bread flour and corn kernels for the Valentine's Day thing.

Then it was off to Lake Champlain chocolates factory store to get some chocolates for glazes/projects/etc. Free bag of chocolate nibs! Saw a coworker there which threw both of us off!

Okay, anyway off we go! Trader Joe's for freeze dried fruit (blueberries and raspberries). Then the old North End to a sushi place that sold Japanese gummies. Then we felt hungry, so off to Five Guys, but I got some Chipotle.

Then we went to look around at a nearby mall at random stuff. Okay, looking over, back home!

We got home, Michelle made a basic white bread "The butter melted wrong!" she exclaimed at one point when she nuked some butter in a paper towel (sigh, god bless her).

I critique, but it was worth it anyway. One extra tablespoon of butter and into the machine it went and out came a beautiful loaf of bread, hearty, thick, and tasty.

I adjusted some of the guest room curtains to better accommodate the soundproofing elements we installed. Then I gamed.

On Sunday, we spent the entire day indoors. Relaxing, right? Nah, I dismantled a Keurig.

I then dismantled another.

The first one was an old one that Michelle was worried was full of bugs. I checked the inside and found it clean, mostly with old coffee debris, if anything. Opened the tubing, cleaned the heating elements of calcium deposits (Michelle really did a great job maintaining this machine).

Then I was getting ready to clean out Michelle's new Keurig which was having problems giving out water. I started by removing the cup holder and cleaning it out, then scraping off the buildup of coffee, then cleaned the filter, tested it and-

And that's it. It was a clogged filter. Michelle was hoping I would "break" one so she could decide to use one machine over another. The old machine is smaller which works with our lifestyle, but the new one is a better system overall and the reservoir is convenient to a degree.

So now we have two Keurigs. I cleaned out both decently enough, so if she ever decides to donate one, then it'll be well-received, I guess. I do want to put some of the newer parts of the Keurig in the dishwasher to free up all the debris, but I was tired. The Keurigs took a bit of a learning lesson.

I installed some new curtain rods for the patio door. Much easier in comparison.

Before I knew it, it got dark. Okay, I needed to make popcorn. I made three gallons, popping then adding salt and sugar as the popcorn slowly cooled.

All right, as it cooled, I put the popcorn in a cooler and stuck it out into the patio. The freezing weather should help. I think. If not, then I'm making three more gallons of popcorn. Otherwise, I'll check the quality, start working on making chocolate drizzle.

I spent the rest of the night gaming... and then went to bed early because I was tired. I still am tired.

Monday was a decent amount of work.

Today I'm all caught up. I think. I can't even anymore.

I think Michelle's period is going better than she expected as she seems fine. I hope?

OH OH OH OH OH OH

THE GAME FINALLY ARRIVED

And I got Presidentiapocalypse as well!


I'm going to look forward to breaking into it so much!

Photos
The weather as it currently is:



Here's the only place around that has any political signs up and, you guessed it, it's a Trump sign that has been put up on both sides of the road so traffic in either direction can admire two signs that were put up way too high for people to do anything about them, as if people really will.

I looked at the property of the area and it's pretty decent: 10 acres, view of Camel's Hump. You just need to set up a house, which the owner is doing.

It's been a year since that sign has been up and-like most politicos-he's doubled down on reminding us how awesome he is.

I found it worth mentioning because at this point all the Trump signs and everything else is long gone now that it's been a year. There's even a guy who hangs out in the center of one of our towns who silently protests Trump with a sign.

Maybe in another three years he'll keep it up. I'll enjoy the laugh as the years pass.*

*people like this amuse me, that's why

Finally, I got some images of some of the curtain installation up.

I got the pegs installed. As you may note on the right image, I used a De Walt, a chair, and sometimes two mattressed on a bed frame that made installation way more dangerous than it should have been.

Afterwards, some paneling...


...and then the curtains. Much better!

Plus, the double layering helps block out more sound. The curtains also an "opening up" effect on the room while also acting as a great sound muffler. I just did the podcast and found my reverb has reduced tremendously as a result.

Okay, that's it for now, I'm too busy and I really wanted to post this earlier but I spent two days prepping for the chocolate festival at work and talking about the verdict. That's for another entry.

(no subject)

I wrote something about the current state of politics and then promptly deleted it. Sometimes I need to shout into the void because I hate how things are going, but then I remember how much I wanted to avoid talking about this here because it's not worth it. Chances are I'd be preaching to the choir and there's already enough of that elsewhere.

Cooking
So... chocolate popcorn.

Making popcorn is easy. Oil in a pot, add kernels, high heat, sizzle until popping, then turn off the heat.

Once all the kernels are popped, empty into a pot, add salt, sugar as it cools. Then I bagged it and put it in a cooler outside (it's 5-20F over here). The freezing weather makes for a great dehydration guarantee, I found out.

Then I made chocolate glaze with half a block of butter, some chocolate chips (55%), and a double boiler I made with a pot, a bowl, and another bowl to hold the bowl in.

Works great for dark chocolate! Not so great for white chocolate.

Regardless, threw in some blueberries and raspberries too.

It was a hit! I left it here and I'm happy to say I don't have to bring any home.

Podcast
My sound quality is much better now. My router is also crapping out because the 5GHz is not working and the 2.8 is not giving enough bandwidth.

I'm going to set up the old router. But at least my sound fidelity improved by leaps and bounds. The padding in the room even killed any reverb.

Miscellaneous
I'm exhausted. My internet speed is ridiculously slow. It's taking half an hour to update my antivirus alone.

I'm trying to think up a decent fridaypoll.

That's all. I'll catch up with the rest of you, god I hate politics these days.

Oh, one more thing:

Enjoy this image of the Charles River from the Sheridan in the Prudential Center.

Still learning a few more things on how to really take advantage of Capture One. Learned a few neat tricks along the way, still got a lot more to learn


Personally? I prefer the color treatment.