I buy Yorkshire tea from British Brands. It’s $22 for 240 bags:

https://britishbrands.com/products/yorkshire-red-tea?variant=43991857529079

Ha, in the mid 2010s I looked at a job in Josephine County but wasn’t sure I could handle fire season. Joke’s on me I guess!

Summer is now Wildfire Season, and we can expect smoky air off and on for pretty much all of August.

I’m American and yesterday I realized I made a mistake on my taxes less than an hour after I filed them. Some googling told me it’s not a huge deal, just have to file an amended tax return after my initial one is accepted but I can’t ignore it because the IRS will know I did it wrong because they will have received a form from another party with the numbers I forgot to put in. It’s baffling to me why it’s a weird negotiation to pay taxes instead of them just telling me what I owe since they do know what I owe.

I just finished Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail and it was a pretty interesting read. There is a local mycologist who disappeared on a hike around here a few years ago and I still wonder what happened to her and if they’ll ever find her.

Back when I was on Twitter I used to follow a bunch of writers and Yellowface was so entertaining in its portrayal of that domain. Idk if you have heard about the recent Cait Corran scandal but it had me thinking about that book again.

My brakes started making a horrible BBBRRAAAHH sound so I had to be brave and call my mechanic today. Luckily I can bring it in to get fixed tomorrow but it’s so stressful dealing with car stuff. I’m babysitting my nephews and Wednesday and my parents are coming into town on Thursday evening so that’s fun/stressful. My quiet routines are quite disrupted this week.

been raining super hard here and when I entered my home yesterday after work I got hit with a strong mildew smell. I must have a leak somewhere and this feels expensive to fix.

I watch new eps of Castaway Diva and season two of The Gilded Age every week. Castaway Diva is a super soap operaish kdrama and sometimes the plot devices are so unbelievable I roll ny eyes but the characters are cute. The Gilded Age has beautiful sets and costumes and the plot is okay but the acting is terrible (with a few exceptions).

I’ve also been churning thru The Expanse, which was recommended by someone on Beehaw. it’s pretty good, kind of hard to connect with the characters but interesting plot.

Started it yesterday- it’s pretty good! Made it thru 3 eps without ever checking to see how much longer it was gonna be.

Okay I’ll give it a shot- thanks for the rec!

Just watched a trailer for The Expanse and it looks so good! idk if I can make it thru 6 seasons tho. I’m a serial series abandoner.

I’m feeling so burnt out at work. I work for a religious org and sometimes I really hate it. I would like a career change but starting out somewhere else looks like I’d have to take a pay cut at first and I live in a very expensive city and am barely getting by as it is. I see some other great jobs I’m qualified for but they’d require relocation and my kid is going to a special high school related to their career choice so I don’t think we should move.

Just got back from my trip to Chicago and wow I really enjoyed the vibe there. I live in the Pacific Northwest and it’s so different! The cta was so convenient (even though the ticket machines wouldn’t take any of my cards so I couldn’t buy a day pass). The architecture was really interesting and the locals were pretty friendly. I would like to return and spend more time exploring, as I only had one day proper to spend in the city.

Back home now and we’re starting a cold snap and the heat in my building still hasn’t been turned on. I feel like I’m in a Dickens novel huddling over my desk and blowing on my fingers to thaw them.

I have some online friends who have really been irritating me lately because they message me all the time about stuff I don’t want to engage with and if I don’t respond they’ll find me thru other apps and message me there. I have uninstalled a couple apps and am ghosting them for a couple days until I can stop feeling so grouchy about it but unsure of my long term plan.

Yes mine has gone all wonky just within the past few hours. It’s not every post but many of the most recent.

just turned in a month long freelance project! looking forward to having my free time back.

something really satisfying about the thought of de-googling a google phone lol. I wish I had thought to do this with my old pixel. it was giving me problems but the T-Mobile guy said google just stops supporting them after a while.

ye I know how to configure my notifs settings. my issue is wanting novel information all the time so I pick up the phone and start scrolling

oh wow that is wild about your bank. reminds me that some stuff at my work requires 2FA via app so idk how I’d get around that