2021 week ten wrap up

Had another crazy week last week, in which I wasn’t able to post an update.

The kids are back to school (and will have been for a week when this gets posted.) I’ll leave aside any conversation about how I feel about that related to the pandemic. It’s incredible how much time this frees up. It’s similarly incredible that freeing up five hours during the day doesn’t equate to the same degree rise in productivity. When my daughter was home she was in a special online school that my wife’s work put on. I didn’t need to be actively monitor her, and wasn’t involved in the instruction. What there was, though, was a lot of context switching. Helping her find materials, do crafts, explain something she wasn’t getting. It derailed me. I fully expected my productivity to shoot up when that was gone. It has increased, but not by huge amounts.

Last year I had been given a number of classes as gifts. Those classes didn’t happen. So I used the money to buy gifts in related areas. One of the things I got is an instant pot. I rarely cook in it. I haven’t found the killer recipe. What I have found, though, is that I’m making a lot more brown rice, since it’s dead easy, and always comes out great-to-perfect. I’m also using way more dried beans, since I don’t need to soak them overnight. I can buy brown rice in huge bags, and I buy my beans bulk, so I honestly think this thing will pay for itself in a couple of years. Yes, we eat that much rice and beans. (And I bought it 40% on Prime Day.)

We continue to work our way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We are up to End Game. It’s long, so we’re going to do it in a Friday and Saturday evening. We just finished Wandavision, and it was excellent. If you’re starting it, and thinking of abandoning it at around episode two, push on. If you’re at about episode four, and you haven’t watched Captain Marvel yet, do so. Definitely, definitely do it before you finish the series.

I finished Ready, Player Two. It was fine. It felt like it was written with a mind to the movie (which is apparently happening). There were also some interesting characters and ideas that were introduced, and then barely mentioned again, if at all. The pacing is inconsistent. It’s a light read, but it is a fun one.

On the game front, still plodding away at Fallout 76. Ditched the main questline for an ally quest, which was more fun for a while. I may hang up the power armour until next month’s quality of life updates drop.

Stay safe out there as things open up, folks!