Five Things Friday: just five things I’m thinking about or things that made my week, or things that I otherwise feel like sharing.
I confess that I did an insane amount of mindless scrolling in the evenings this week (tell me it’s not just me!) and I didn’t like how it made me feel. I am behind on ATGIB and the other book that I am reading, and I haven’t kept up with blog reading this week either. It’s kind of comical, as I try to be so efficient with my time in the morning, fitting in my workouts before work and all, but I just felt a little “tired and lazy” in the evenings and that’s when I just waste time on my phone.
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Do you know how expensive jam has gotten? I almost fell over backward a couple of weeks ago when Bon Maman (my go-to jam) was up to $7.99 a jar at the local grocery store. Is that insanity, or what? For a jar of jam!
So imagine my elation when I was organizing my pantry after my latest grocery haul and found (loose use of the word here) some plum butter in the pantry that I must have made two summers ago. I had it on a slice of bread for breakfast this week and it was delicious. Moral of the story: there’s something to be said about doing your own canning. Maybe I should buy some fruit that is “cheap” right now and make more of my own jam?
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I really don’t want to jinx anything (cross your fingers), but for about a week or so, my blog posts have been showing up in Feedly more frequently and I’ve gotten feedback from some of you that they’ve seen my blog posts pop up in a reasonable time frame as well. Did Feedly finally fix itself??
Just FYI, I did not “change” anything recently that might have triggered this change in Feedly’s behavior. I’d really like to know what’s been going on in the dark corners of the Internet for it to work again, but hey, I’LL TAKE IT. Nobody “move”, lest we disturb the universe again. (Edit: I think I jinxed it, nothing again for three days. Sigh. Let’s see if this post will show up.)
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This week has been another excellent (read: terrible) example of bad communication. Remember that I said that a colleague had asked me about project work from 5 years ago? Three other people got involved asking me things but without explicitly refering to the files that they were asking about. People also don’t know how to check the file properties for the original author. Turns out, some of the data was not even produced by me (but might or might not have been based on some of my work?) and the four people were working on two different products (a data release and a report).
This is truly the bane of my existence. Why is it so damn hard to communicate effectively for so many people?
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Tile update! I hinted at it in my Currently post, the work in our kitchen is now scheduled for the week of August, 7th. (Yes, that’s 10 days away!) I don’t know the “details” yet and instead of communicating directly with the handyman, all communication is going through the landlords and it’s a lot of back and forth (what else is new?). But I do hope we get some more information about how it’s going to impact us (especially since I work from home and my desk is right next to the kitchen) and an estimated work completion time. At least, things seem to be finally moving.
What’s been going on in your world this week?
Suzanne
July 28, 2023 at 11:04 amSo glad the kitchen work is finally scheduled! Hooray! And yay for finding jam in the cupboard. It really is SO expensive.
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:26 pmThank you, Suzanne. I am ready to get this fixed!
Lindsay
July 28, 2023 at 12:25 pmOh, yay for the kitchen being scheduled AND for hidden homemade jam! It’s like past you sent you a gift!
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:26 pmI love how you put that: the past sending me a gift! Yes!
Catrina
July 29, 2023 at 2:59 amI try to avoid all social media in the evenings, but it’s hard!
I’m not on IG or FB, but I do enjoy scrolling through TikTok, especially the calistenics stuff that pops up in my feed. So addictive!
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:26 pmOh, I am so happy to say that I have not been sucked in by TikTok yet. Haha.
Elisabeth
July 29, 2023 at 12:27 pmIt was working…but then this post didn’t show up in Feedly. Sigh!
Homemade jam is so yummy!! My mom makes the BEST raspberry jam.
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:27 pmSigh. I know. Thanks for the Feedly feedback ,Elisabeth. I think I jinxed it.
Oh, and raspberry jam sounds like a great idea!
Tierney
July 29, 2023 at 10:54 pmYes, sticker shock is real! That is a lot for jam.
Also, I am rather inefficient in the evenings. Not that I need to be “busy,” but I would rather make progress in a book than waste time on the phone and yet…
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:27 pmI am so glad someone can relate to the scrolling… argh!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
July 30, 2023 at 12:08 amOh my gosh, the amount of scrolling happening here right now. I. thought I was alone I that rabbit hole. For the past two weeks I have no idea why and wit what I am spending my time. I haven’t finished any book sind the first week of July… But I’ve watched so many reels that I actually. start to see them multiple times. Seriously. How. do we get out of it?
Everything is really really expensive right now. I dont know about jam though. The only kind I buy is blueberry and that is always more on the expensive side. Every once in a while raspberry. All other jams are homemade. By me, my mom or my aunt so there is always a supply. Lucky me. But I agree, do you own. It is simple and probably cheaper if you can get some good fruits.
Sorry about your comms troubles. Very annoying.
And yeah on the scheduled kitchen tile project. Can’t wait to hear when it is done.
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:28 pmOh man, I am glad I am not alone … but yeah, I do want to rein in the scrolling.
That is awesome that you have your mom and aunts provide an unlimited jam supply, how can I get in on that? LOL
Daria
July 30, 2023 at 4:04 amDefinitely not alone on scrolling! I feel like by the time the evening rolls around, I need a distraction and my willpower has been worn thin. I also feel like I just have to lock my phone somewhere and pick up a paper book or a journal. Otherwise I have no self control…
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:29 pmGosh, yes, the scrolling is definitely a distraction that I crave in the evenings… but I wish I could just limit it a little bit. Glad I am not alone in this.
Nicole MacPherson
July 30, 2023 at 7:41 amOooh San, I have a tip as a Canadian girl who doesn’t always have access to cheap fruit: FROZEN FRUIT. I have used frozen fruit to make jam forever. Raspberry and peach work really well. I mean, the fruit gets cooked down anyway, so why not? I do this all the time and it’s so inexpensive.
I did some mindless scrolling yesterday and I discovered what I ALWAYS DISCOVER, and that is once I start doing that, my attention span disappears. It’s really remarkable, how I will just flit from one thing to another, but if I can keep myself away from that, I feel much more grounded and healthy. So I know what you mean!
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:30 pmThank you my friend, frozen fruit is a great idea (duh!)…
And you’re so right about the attention span, I couldn’t have put it better: it flits from one thing to the next and it makes me feel unsettled. I have to work on that!
Melissa
July 30, 2023 at 7:14 pmI’m with you on the frustration of scrolling instead of reading my books. Grrr.
I’m so glad you finally have a date for the kitchen floor fix. Hopefully, it is not too disruptive.
I had a good weekend, some running and running related socialising and the rest pretty cruisy.
San
July 30, 2023 at 7:31 pmOh, I am kinda relieved to learn that others struggle with the scrolling as well… I need to rein that in.
Happy to hear you had a great relaxing weekend!
Engie
July 31, 2023 at 9:01 amI do NOT scroll. I don’t even understand WHAT people are looking at on their phones. If I have time, I read! (Sometimes people are amazed at how much I read, but honestly it’s because I don’t watch tv or scroll on my phone!)
You know what’s super expensive now? Butter. I’m regularly paying $6-$7/pound for butter! That is a problem for our household. I don’t know how to rein in our butter consumption, but I think we’re going to need to do so. Maybe start subbing oil in for butter? *sigh* Butter tastes better.
Kristen | kristenwoolsey.com
August 2, 2023 at 6:23 amYou are right, everything has gotten so expensive! I’m glad you did yourself a favor in the past by making that jam, haha.
And I saw your post on Feedly, right time! Fingers crossed that all got worked out. Such a pain.
Kim
August 2, 2023 at 11:02 amI can’t remember what it’s called but I know there is a “rebellion” of staying up later to have time to yourself when you are so busy all day so I wonder if the scrolling is kind of related – you just want to let your brain take a break!
LOL re: Feedly. I wrote that on my last comment it showed up on time but this one was late. Dumb internets.
Good question re: why communication is so hard. It truly, truly is. :(
I am so excited about the tile for you. Yay!
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
August 4, 2023 at 6:46 amYour most recent post showed up in Feedly on time for me. So hopefully the stupid feedly issues are behind you. How frustrating!
Communication is so hard it seems. This week there have been several examples of people just plain not reading the email and responding in a way that made it clear they did not read it. So annoying.
San
August 6, 2023 at 7:42 pmI am so sorry to hear you’ve also had to deal with people that clearly didn’t read your email. I find this so … disconcerting!
Anne
August 15, 2023 at 10:19 amClearly, past you knew that future you would appreciate the plum butter. I am just in awe that you can make your own jam. Things I have never done, and likely will never do.
Also – I contributed to the Feedly jinx. So sorry about that. They’re showing up sporadically, again. Sigh. I swear, the internet can be so arbitrary sometimes (lots of times?).
San
August 18, 2023 at 2:13 pmI am still holding out hope that the Feedly issue will be sorted out. Someone needs to be able to fix this.