Category: everyday life

First Day Of Spring, And Looking Forward To Summer

In yesterday’s email from our Park District, they mentioned that they are hiring lifeguards and swimming instructors, which means… yes! which means that pools will be open! Yes, most likely, I won’t be there by the time they open but still :). I am happy for Palatine right now.

I am not a sports fan in any sports and any capacity, so I can’t appreciate that they started to sell tickets for some games. But Ravinia… that’s something which makes me smile and anticipate!

I hope, hope, hope one million times that a good portion of the summer things will be back for summer. My mom is keeping asking, “when will we be able to go around without masks,” but as for me, I won’t mind wearing masks for several more months as long as places are open and we can do things.

Move Update

Not precisely the “move,” but I have my mortgage preapproved, so now we are starting to look at the houses for real. this time around, it is way more difficult than it was twenty three years ago when I was looking for my first house. At least, I didn’t need to travel 🙂

We’ll see. It will be interesting.

Metra Return To Work Summit

Linking Igor’s article.

Earl Grey Tea And Orange Cake With Dark Chocolate

It was an amazing cake 🙂

Hettie D.'s avatarHealthy Cooking - Hettie's Way

Absolutely amazing recipe from the NYT Cooking. I am not sure whether it’s me or my oven, but it took me 45 min until the cake was ready. Otherwise, it turned out being not as complex as it looks from the first glance:

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE FROSTING:

  • ¾cup/180 milliliters heavy cream
  • 2teaspoons loose Earl Grey tea
  • ¼cup/30 grams confectioners’ sugar
  • ½cup/115 grams mascarpone or softened cream cheese (see Tip)

FOR THE CAKE:

  • ½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1 ½cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1tablespoon loose Earl Grey tea
  • 1teaspoon baking powder
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
  • 2teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (from 1 large orange)
  • 2large eggs, at room temperature
  • ½cup/120 milliliters whole milk, at room temperature
  • ¼cup/45 grams chopped dark chocolate

Add to Your…

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Chicago River Goes Green, At Least Partially

I was escorting in the clinic this morning, when one of my fellow escorts mentioned that the River indeed went green this morning. I decided, I need to check on that, because Igor didn’t mention anything like that yesterday.

Turned out that Mayor Lory quietly sanctioned the dyeing of the river:

The Chicago River glowed Kelly green downtown this St. Patrick’s Day weekend after all, but the usual cheering throngs crowding the banks during the annual dumping of the dye were much thinner.

In a remarkable attempt to give Chicagoans a bit of mid-March normalcy, while also trying to avoid the kind of large public gathering she’s still discouraging during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot sanctioned the famous river dyeing to proceed Saturday without confirming the exact time, marveling passing revelers, dog walkers and joggers alike.

Chicago Tribune, read the whole story here

And here is what I saw at noon (click the arrows to see all the pictures)

Starting A Big Move

Looks like this is the best way to let my friends know: the decision is made. I (or rather the whole family) initiated the project “Hettie’s Big Move.”

I am moving to the city, and moving mom to the city, and there are hundreds of moving parts in this process. The only thing i know for sure is that the move has to be completed by July, which is if you think about it, coming very soon. So, as I’ve said earlier today – this spring is going to be really exciting!

No More Flashlight

The days are getting longer, and now that the dark season is almost over, I realized that my night vision improved dramatically after the cataract surgery. I had a flashlight ready for several years when I was walking to the gym in the mornings. And not just any flashlight, but I was making sure it is bright enough. And this year, there was no need. I remember taking it with me several times, thinking I will turn it on when I need it, and the need never come! Then I stopped taking it with me. A couple of weeks ago, I put away the bright headlight I had on the table by the coat closet. I only left one small flashlight out to use in case of some crazy power outage. It’s a really small thing, but it makes me happy 🙂

Done With Mom’s Vaccination

Just returned from her second boost. And unsubscribed her from other three places where I originally put her on wating lists. Now I feel like I want to lay down and sleep :). Mission accomplished.

Mojo Coffee

I am so glad they stayed open when so many places in the city didn’t survive. I love everything about then, but especially their Mocha. Whenever I order anything, large mocha in included by default:)

Trying To Make Work Work

For over a week now, I am working on a slightly modified schedule when I start working between 7 and 7 -30 AM and sign off at 4 PM. Such a schedule gives me about 1.5 hours of uninterrupted problem-solving in the morning. It can be some complicated coding or thinking about some global questions, like how to modify the access groups or what should be done to enhance the system scalability.

I am not saying that I am not working in the evenings. Unfortunately, it happens most of the nights, but I have time in between, and also, late in the evening, it is somewhat quiet as well.

Unfortunately, this week was very frustrating. There were unplanned emergencies; also, I was trying to do one thing the right way, and it didn’t work, and I had to back up after spending almost twelve hours unproductively.

Finally, we are hiring one person for my team. Unfortunately, it means that I will need to spend time on candidates screening and interviewing, and most likely not finding anybody:(. The job posting was published today, and I had a storm of recruiters calls and no organic traffic… If it weren’t for happy things happening in my life, I would be miserable…