§ That cold that popped up at the end of last week? It got bad enough by Saturday that I canceled a scheduled haircut and booked a visit with a doctor instead. I was prescribed an assortment of cough suppressants and expectorants that either worked or were placebo enough that I was feeling noticeably better Sunday. Although by Sunday evening I was still coughing and sneezing and generally germy to an extent I didn’t want to expose my coworkers to so I took Monday off.
§ I was happy to go back to work on Tuesday. Sometime over the holidays a giant sinkhole broke through the earth and attempted to swallow downtown Cleveland. Needless to say this has put a bit of a strain on my commute. Otherwise, I’ve been excited to get back into the swing of things.
§ James Reeves believes “a snowstorm might be the last benign unifying event” which really captures a quality that I’ve come to appreciate about the winter:
There was a low-level thrum of anticipation as Winter Storm Blair approached, a subtle magnetic force that pulled us a little closer. Strangers smiled at one another.
The first half of the week felt like an endless silent accumulation of giant fragile snowflakes. The perfect type of snow that makes me want to try snowboarding again.
By midweek the quails seemed to realize that we aren’t through with winter yet and stopped laying eggs.
§ The tile puzzle of workplace office shuffling meant that I moved offices on Thursday. It is a bit disorienting but also, as changes of scenery often are, unexpectedly invigorating.
§ I make two plumbing-adjacent strides in pursuit of my tiny everyday improvements project: I replaced my bathtub’s trip lever and installed a built-in soap dispenser for my kitchen sink.
§ A multi-year quest was finally solved this week! Back in 2021 I got a single, super cool, all metal office chair that an old employer was throwing away. Ever since, I’ve been trying to identify it so that I could find more of them. Finally, I resorted to sending a photo of the chair to Claude which correctly identified it as a Jorge Pensi Toledo Chair”. My excitement at this discovery was definitely tempered when I realized that if I wanted to get any matching chairs I would have to shell out $1,500(!!) a piece.
§ Caroline and I watched the entirety of The Office over the past few weeks.
The density of memorable episodes in the first season is wild. Later seasons are plagued by the same problems all long-running shows have, like needing to pivot when actors suddenly become unavailable. Cough cough having a lead character unceremoniously disappear on a three-month long boat trip cough cough.
I think this may have been my first time watching the finale. I thought it was well done and sufficiently sentimental.
§ Before my Peacock subscription expires I took the opportunity to watch the Speak No Evil remake.
James McAvoy did an excellent job playing a charismatic asshole psychopath. Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy both played deeply annoying people but did so masterfully.
I have a hard time understanding why a remake was made just two years after the original was released but I have to say that it was much better than I thought it would be.
§ I made bagels for the first time last night. Apple cinnamon. They were particularly good and really not notably harder to make than any other bread recipe.
