Care Check-In

Care Check-In

This past week (plus) i've not had any high stress with work. The Project development team is on track and on time. Major bugs are being addressed with the Product. It's allowed me to take a sick day a week ago, take some vacation time on Wednesday (unplanned, i got distracted by thinking about membership in Friends), and for me to usually leave the office feeling a sense of "done." I hope that i can practice some discipline here: i feel like i have enough reservoir that i don't need to collapse to recover. This is so amazingly novel! Instead of having the adrenaline rush of pressure withdrawn and collapsing, i feel instead that i can continue to be motivated. It's great!

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Creation

Once upon a time i was blissfully unaware of the intelligent design movement and thought that those who believed in a literal Biblical creation story simply were quaint little old men and women, like the extremely elderly emeritus physics faculty at my undergraduate institution who didn't believe in the concept of how elements were made in successive generations of stars, becoming heavier and heavier. Clearly, mortality would slowly reduce such beliefs.

It was in such blissful ignorance that i noted on my calendar, that today was once considered the anniversary of the Creation. "According to Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656), God created the universe on October 23, 4004 BC. That would make the universe 6000 years old in 1997 AD. James Ussher was an Irish Archbishop whose chronology of Biblical history was widely accepted throughout Christianity."

I'm note that the source recognized there was no year zero in it's calculation of the age, but missed the fact that, as wikipedia notes, the date was according to the "according to the proleptic Julian calendar."

For me though, i noted it because, while the event occurred at an incalculable moment* and thus there was no reason to bother with translating between Julian & Gregorian calendars, it was still nice to have a reminder to reflect on creation, cosmology.

I don't open my "observation" notes that often, though, and i realize that my awareness of folks attacking the practice of science with sophisticated rhetoric has completely changed my sense of whimsy at reading the note.



* what does time mean without space; the precision of the measurement of the cosmic infrared background gets better with our new sensors, but really; even then there are detractors from the big bang theory who do so from within the practice of astrophysics and cosmology, although that might be changed by mortality)

(no subject)

Candy corn turned to leaves
Originally uploaded by Elaine with Grey Cats

Blugh. Authentic cheap waxy candy taste.

I should have reviewed candy making basics before making these, although throwing out the vast majority of the candy was probably for the best for everyone. I fiddled around getting the cold water to test and then mistook hardball for soft ball stage (because it still deforms, you know).

The substitution of vegan spread for butter and rice flour for powdered milk no doubt contributes to the "waxy" experience. I'm glad i didn't waste the coconut flour (expensive!) on this.

There's something about the maple flavoring that is makes me less interested in eating them, too.

All and all, only a decorative win. (Don't they look cute?)

But the experience might have turned me off candy for a while, so that's an upside.