Reading

Entry tags:

work

feelings are weird

I logged in on my work computer this afternoon long enough to apply for a promotion at my current job, becoming more of a Lead support technician. I was on the proverbial fence for several days. The money would be a few thousand more per year than I make now. Money never hurts, but it's not enough to make a huge difference. Money seems so meaningless these days, and it doesn't go far. I'm not motivated by money anyway, or prestige.

What finally tipped my decision in favor was more consideration of what my supervisor said during our biweekly 1-on-1 meetings this week. They're considering the possibility of creating an A.I. subject expert on our team to coordinate answers we give from across departments to our users. They were curious if I'd be interested, "even though that role usually goes to leads". Subtle. Very subtle. Yes, of course, I'm interested in that. LOL.

I applied to the job. I don't have strong feelings about it, though, which seems weird. I've applied to other jobs in the past that I wanted very much more than this one.

I'm also experiencing an odd emotional state about tomorrow's holiday in the USA. It's not the feelings I usually associate with the day.

Rebuilding journal search again

We're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.

Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.

Entry tags:

just how tired?

Ever since starting this job, I've commented about how exhausting it is. It's hard to quantify it. Just how tiring is it? Yesterday was unusually busy for a Saturday. No common thread to the issues, just an unusual amount of everything. I avoided yard work afterward (as usual) and just watched television until bedtime instead.

Last night, there was a Minneapolis tornado warning. I didn't know until I woke up this morning and saw the news headlines. I saw on Reddit how people reacted to the phone alert, some local electrical outages, the thunder-rattled windows, some video of the lightning (even this plane), and especially this commemorative t-shirt ("I survived the 1am tornado scare").

I slept through it. I didn't hear the tornado sirens blare. I didn't hear the phone alarm beeps. I didn't hear the thunder. I just slept through it all. That's how brain-tired I was.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Home

May and June Recap (Not Work)

I sure have fallen out of the journaling habit.... Using the same headings and order as the last time:

Car
The dealership wants me to sell them my car (2021 Totoya Avalon Hybrid). I may answer them at some point, but they won't be happy. My terms are "Give me a similar 2026-model vehicle as its replacement, for only the cost of the trade-in plus whatever I still owe on the existing loan," which as of next week is just over $6,200. There's no way in hell they'll do it, so I'm comfortable making the offer... and if by some stroke of luck they do go for it because of their desperation, I get a new car for "nothing."

It had its semiannual maintenance visit last week. Took a little longer than I wanted but still ready by the time they promised and under the initial estimate (even after adding new wiper blades).

Food
The food I'm making is in the previous entry. I did have a trip to Texas de Brazil a week or so ago, and there's commentary in the "Vacations" section below about Chicago food.

Health
My health has been generally good. Itchy eyes from allergies, being careful in the heat (especially this past couple of weeks). Had some issues with billing from the physical therapy that finally got resolved. I'm supposed to be on the hook for the co-pay, but they screwed up and tried billing three or four of the 15 visits against worker's compensation (from the 2019 broken foot which I closed out in 2020) instead of my actual insurance, so when WC declined the hospital billed me the whole cost. I, as you might well understand, objected. They eventually fixed it but I had to call about it twice because their first fix didn't catch all of the misbilling.

Home
Nothing major to report. The new tree hasn't died yet, though a lot of the ivy in the front landscaping has (thanks in no small part to my applying poison semi-regularly). The garage door cable broke and I had to get it replaced. They're supposed to be power-washing the building this summer, and they're fixing the brickwork. The major road through here (the city's responsibility) got a chip seal. I think my own road (the association's responsibility) is gonna be completely redone next summer.

Vacations
Cleveland in April (CLAW) went well. Both of my workshops were well-received, though they were more lightly-attended than I'd've liked. We were in a new venue out by the airport (who were cold to us at the start, until they realized both that we drink a lot and that we tip well; they warmed up by the end of the weekend), but we may not be there next year because rumors are they'll stop being an event space and become a data center. We had multiple hotels out towards suburbia, which was problematic in and of itself; my hotel was pretty craptastic: the building was settling such that there was a noticeable deep crack in the ceiling and floor indicating imminent structural failure, it felt dirty, and after we left they were supposed to close for a major renovation... which it desperately needed. The off-site dungeon space was too small and had no parking or signage.

Chicago in May (IML) went well too. The hotel was as expected, my one volunteer shift went without any problems (though I got to shush some of the executive board who were being noisy in the quiet-for-contestant interviews area. Had fun in my trip up to Boystown. I ate well (including my annual visits to Girl and the Goat and Giordano's). I tried a new-to-me Chinese place near the hotel; the food was passable but the service was abysmal; I might give them another chance next year but haven't decided yet. The train rides in each direction were uneventful, though I don't care for the new Amtrak Siemens cars. The Amfleet were more comfortable and their café car more convenient.

Current Mood: hungry
Current Location: Home

Food pr0n: Mastaccioli

Of late I haven't gotten too far out of my food rut. I've been making the maple-dijon chicken with rosemary a lot, the lemon-artichoke chicken less frequently, and the occasional precooked BBQ ribs or from-frozen chicken cordon bleu. I had a lot of fresh corn on the cob in late spring. Lunches have mostly been sandwiches of some sort at home, usually one of corned beef, ham, pastrami, or turkey with Swiss cheese, though sometimes it'll be PB&J or an open-faced tuna melt. Also, every week or two, including lunch yesterday, I'll grab takeout sushi from the nearby place who have a lunch special (three 8-piece rolls — California, spicy salmon, and spicy tuna — for $20 with tax and tip).

For dinner tonight I made mastaccioli again. I was in the mood for Italian, I had a jar of marinara open, and it wasn't too much trouble to add an onion, the penne rigate, bulk sausage, and ground beef to my grocery order. It's simmering on the stove as I type.

Ingredients

1 lb. bulk Italian hot sausage
1 lb. bulk Italian sweet sausage
1 lb. ground beef
¾ lb. white or Vidalia onion, chopped fine
8–10 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. dried basil
½ tbsp. dried marjoram
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3¾ lb. marinara sauce
29 oz. diced fire roasted tomatoes (with their juice)
6 oz. tomato paste
¼ cup molasses
1 lb. penne rigate

Mise en place

Dice the onion and put it in a bowl.
Mince the garlic and add to the bowl with the onion.
Measure out all the herbs and spices and put them in another bowl.

Directions

In a 10- or 12-qt. stockpot, brown the sausage and ground beef.
Add the herbs and spices. Mix to combine.
Once the spices have started to toast a little, add the onion and garlic. Mix to combine.
Once the onions have started to soften, add the marinara sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste, and molasses. Mix to combine.
Bring to a simmer.
Add the pasta. Mix to combine. Make sure all of the pasta is submerged in the sauce.
Reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour until the pasta is tender. Check every 15–20 minutes and thin the sauce out with more tomato sauce or beef stock if it's too thick or starting to char.

Serve once the pasta is al dente. I usually top mine with grated Parmesan and Romano cheeses.

Entry tags:

how would you write the Constitutional law?

A serious problem that I saw in Trump's first term was the significant delay (even when he was no longer President) in filing prosecution for illegal acts seen committed over the 4 previous years. Delay almost 4 more years while Biden was President, then finally send things to court shortly before the next election. What? Why wait? Even the Mueller report about Trump obstruction of justice during the first presidency was basically just a document saying, "Somebody should do something about this, but it won't be me."

Trial is supposed to be speedy, which means two things need to happen.

Click to read my thoughts and the example of my kin...

1) Charges must be filed, and 2) Defense must be given opportunity to collect their own evidence. Delays in either process can harm the potential for actual justice to happen. With each delay, evidence is lost to simple entropy or willful destruction, and witnesses forget details... or worse, construct inaccurate history. For #1, we have the statute of limitations. I don't always agree with the numbers, but at least they are clear and impartial. For #2, however, things are murky, and I desire clarity.

I think about it now because of this particular case:

A relative of mine is held in county jail, accused of murdering another relative of mine. (search jail records with Booking # "57369-2024" here, and news story here).
The deceased was killed on 2023 December 27.
Jail records show the defendant was booked on 2024 Feb 06.
It is now almost 1.5 years later, but the defendant is still in county jail.

I wonder, because my own short 1.5 days in county jail brought me zero knowledge of how I was even supposed to contact a lawyer while I was there, and my cat needed water and food back home. What is the justification for delay of trial? Not justification in the sense of reasonable explanation of logistics, I mean justification as in ethical cause for incarcerating an innocent-until-proven-guilty citizen? Even for murder, even for murder of my own distant kin, I tend to think that the government should just drop charges if they cannot make their case within a year. Yes, a whole lot of criminals would go free and crimes go unpunished. On the whole, though, isn't that better than some innocent people losing portions of their short lifespans to government process? There are innocent-until-proven-guilty people awaiting trial from jail because they cannot afford bond, and some people eventually are judged innocent of the accusation against them. In addition (unrelated to pre-trial in discussion here) some people were wrongfully convicted and sitting in prison, and they number more than a few. All of them are held behind bars, and we should have a good reason for it. That's a product of our authority, government acting on our behalf.

I've tried to read about it. This legal case, for example, is eye-opening. That murder case took 7 years to bring to trial. I understand that the Sixth Amendment grants right to speedy trial in federal cases, and I understand that the Fourteenth Amendment extends that right to state prosecutions as part of "due process". That Sixth Amendment, though, is short. What does "speedy" mean in practice?

The devil is in the details, as they say. I don't know how I would write the code that determines justice in the courts. Do you have any thoughts?