50 thoughts on “April 19, 2020: Boundaries”

  2. On weekends I don't have to work, so there's that. Without all the driving around I'm not doing and with fewer drive by interruptions I'm more able to get my work done during the week. Harder to supervise people though, especially our new staff

  4. We didn't end up on Barn Bluffs Trail yesterday. Super crowded. Did a local trail along a creek instead.

    Really liked the Carleton campus. I've been pushing the junior to think about that one because I think it would match her personality. She decided 2,000 students is too small. But St Olaf is still in the running since it has 3,000 students.

    1. Meanwhile my criteria for a campus when I was 19 was cheap and the ability to rent my own place so I could avoid people as much as possible. $400 a month for a two bedroom apartment with no roommate. It was glorious

  5. Weekends mean no battles over school and only minimal actual work. Lots of cooking and cleaning. And hopefully some time outdoors.

    This might be weird, but I also try to dress differently--slightly less casual during the week. It feels helpful to make a distinction. Which reminds me . . . I've been wondering how many of y'all have been wearing cargo pants/shorts every day of the week. 😂

    1. Heh. For work I'm on camera a lot, but even I wasn't I'd still wear slacks. I've not been wearing dress shirts but still something not scrubby; I'm an introvert and it's easier for me to advocate for my clients and be an effective supervisor if I feel more professional. Though sometimes I forgo socks!

    3. I dress exactly the same as before: jeans and a shirt. I'll often add in a long-sleeve shirt on cooler days so I don't have to turn on the heat in the office.

    4. When I teach in-person, I wear jeans and a long-sleeve, button-down shirt. I've been in either jeans or shorts and a t-shirt every day since we went remote, with a sweatshirt added on colder days. Even on camera for big meetings, I'm going full-on casual all the time. If I end up recording any physics demos where I need to be on camera I may go for something a bit more dressy, so I can use them for future semester, too.

    5. At work I typically wear jeans with a light henley, v-neck sweater, or a polo, depending on weather. I have shifted to some casual chambray drawstring pants from Uniqlo or some hemp, drawstring pants from prAna - why wear a belt at home? If I have a meeting, I’m wear a Reyn Spooner aloha shirt to help boost morale. Otherwise, I have a couple of nice cotton V-neck hoodies, since it’s about ten degrees colder in the basement.

    6. I was under the impression cargo-based leg coverings were not to be worn, pandemic or otherwise. I'm still holding onto my cargo shorts for when they are fashionably acceptable again or for when I no longer care that they are fashionably unacceptable.

      Edit - just realized that was probably the joke. Oops!

        1. I really don’t understand what people have against cargo shorts. I can’t think of many situations where shorts are perfectly acceptable, but cargo shorts would cross a line. If people want to shift the general line of acceptability for shorts to (belatedly) welcome them into the workplace, then maybe we can talk.

          1. I only have cargo shorts. I find all others impractical, except the one pair I use for working out

    2. My wife overslept the other day and only had 10 minutes to get ready for work so she spent all day working in her pajamas and robe. That was a first for her.

  7. This is part of the beauty of having a 2nd location. During the week we all go up to the office, where Philosofette and the kids hang out in the room we've set up for school stuff, and I work in my office. Weekends, we stay home. Same as ever.

  8. I mentioned the other day I ordered alcohol for the first time on-line. Spent eighty bucks and picked it up curbside. I keep getting e-mails from the store asking me to come pick up my order. I e-mailed them back once to say I already did. Now I got an e-mail stating if I don't pick it up today my order will be canceled.

    Checked my credit card; I have not been charged for the eighty dollars.

  9. About the only difference between weekday and weekend for me is what the kids are doing. Weekends mean they don't need to work on their school assignments, and can do more screen time than during weekdays.

    For my work, I'm teaching my classes asynchronously, so no more class meeting times. Weekends mean no other meetings, and no set office hours, but everything else is all about the same. Even when teaching face-to-face classes, I still end up doing lots of work on the weekends (grading, prepping for the next class, etc.), so that hasn't really been a change, either. For me, it's more that my weekdays now have become what my weekends were before: there is teaching and administrative work to be done, but no in-person classes to work around.

  10. My mother-in-law remarked yesterday that this will be the first Easter of her life that she hasn’t had leg of lamb. I picked up some thick, beautiful lamb loin chops yesterday that were butchered the day before, and distributed them among the three households here. I’ve got ours in the sous vide bath right now, with just over half and hour left before they meet a ripping hot carbon steel skillet. Roasted Greek potatoes, carrots braised in butter & sumac, a side salad, and fresh homemade bread. To drink, probably a Metaxa-gin-honey-lemon cocktail I’ve developed.

      1. Sumac was my answer to the question of how to bring some high notes to the carrots and keep the dish in the eastern Mediterranean/Black Sea without using any of the last remaining lemons. I started by braising the carrots in a little olive oil augmented by several tablespoons of unsalted butter. Not enough to completely cover them, but enough to go most of the way up the side of the .25” planks of carrots I cut once laid in the pan. (I used a Le Creuset 4.25 quart frying pan). The sumac we get from Penzeys is unsalted, so I added salt right away, and then the sumac once I was confident the heat of the fat wasn’t too high. (Electric stoves are a crime against gastronomy.) Gently turn the carrots to ensure an even braise and modest caramelization.

          2. Made the sumac-braised carrots. I wasn't sure how much sumac, so I probably erred on the low side (maybe a scant half-tsp for four large carrots). I will up the sumac next time.

            I also needed something to sop up the braising butter/oil/carrot sweat. I ended up throwing in some garlic toast croutons, since I had no bread.

            Tasty.

            The Mrs made me cry by scooping hers onto a paper towel to blot off almost all of the butter. Damn near killed me.

            1. I didn’t measure, but I’d guess I used a half tablespoon for six large carrots.

              Not that it helps with the blotting, but I think I’m going to try using ghee next time.

        2. One of the deal breakers in buying a house was the plumbing for gas range. I’m Texas we had one of those awful glass top electric ranges. Never again.

          1. Ugh. The house we recently bought (last fall) had an induction top. I hated it.

            Back to cooking with gas, baby!

            1. We really like our induction range. It heats up faster than gas but don't have the lingering heat problem a smoothtop surface has.

              1. Well, true, it is very efficient and fast.

                But (a) most of my cookware is aluminum, so it didn't work at all on it and (b), damnit, I like my Wolf.

        3. The thing that I think of with Turkish food is 1) eggplant and 2) spiced meat with onion, ideally lamb or lamb+pork w/ cinnnamon, nutmeg, sugar. Lemon for Greek, not for the Turk. Lotsa olive oil to fry the eggplant. Add chopped tomatoes and parsley, and top with parmesan cheese that gets browned under the broiler. Imam bayildi.

      1. Yah. It's sunday. The link for the meeting on the bookface just sat there, spinning, waiting. Isn't it 6:45 your time? I thought 6:30??

        1. Rhu: "7:30, you dolt."

          Me: "Well, poop. Now I will have to open a SECOND beer at 7:30. 😐 "

            1. It was great to see you, the Emeritus, and CH. Sorry I had to scat to make dinner. Who joined late by phone?

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