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.

Right now I'm reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I enjoy the author's irreverence and like The Martian it's a pretty fun, compelling read.

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.

Very true and I should at least appreciate the fact it made a bunch of people excited about reading :)

I love this take- I think you're onto something

I wouldn't say I disliked it but Harry Potter just seemed like an ordinary story with nothing special about it in terms of writing or plot to me. Made me wonder if I was missing something since it seems to have had a huge an impact on popular culture.

I just finished Matrix by Lauren Groff. This is only the 2nd book of hers I have read, but something about her writing I like so much I just devour it- I read this in two days. The Matrix is set during the 1100s in England. An illegitimate daughter of the king is sent to be prioress of a failing abbey and she turns it into a sort of women's utopia. Now I'm working on The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Goggins. It's been marketed as a suspenseful climate change thriller but so far it hasn't been very fast paced. Perhaps it's because I'm visiting family and they keep distracting me. I am enjoying it tho!

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.

I'm reading Beyond The Story: 10 Year Record of BTS. It's a memoir of all the members of the Korean group BTS ghostwritten by Myeonsoek Kang. It's super interesting to me who has been a fan of BTS since 2017 because there is a lot of lore about their beginnings that has been passed down and then passed down again so I'm enjoying reading the first-hand accounts of what actually went down.

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.

Well I was right in the middle of a book when 2 library holds became available at once so now I just started The Fraud by Zadie Smith. I'm also listening to Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig.

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.