What I'm Reading These Days

I love books. I wish I had more time for them, but between work, dealing with the grind of daily life, and trying to have something resembling a social life, there's not much time to read anymore. I do get some audiobooks while driving on my long trips to out of town court hearings, but it's not quite the same as curling up with the written word.

That said, here's what I've been reading (or listening to) these days:

Books I've read recently:

• The Man Who Quit Money by Mark Sundeen. I read this one a few months ago, and I found it interesting. It's a biography of a man, Daniel Suelo, who decided to stop using money entirely. He squats in a national park, scavenges for food, and occasionally barters for what he needs. He has run-ins with the law because it's fairly impossible to exist in this society without using money. Suelo is creative and dedicated to his cause. I have some sympathy for him, since I've often fantasized about leaving the rat race and getting away from it all, but I think he goes a bit too far - eschewing medical care and such.
• Broke, USA by Gary Rivlin. I read this one a few months ago as well. The central thesis of the book is that pawn shops, subprime lenders, payday lenders, check cashing places, tax prep shops (the big box ones like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt, not regular CPAs), etc. are preying on the poor and ruining society. I agree with the author about tax shops (I took the training at a big box tax shop a few years back when I was unemployed, and after a day of training, I could tell the places were skeevy and set up to prey on poor people. I didn't finish the training or get a job there.) and some of the lender abuses. However, I think the author is overreacting about the pawn shops and check cashing places. Sure, the terms at those places aren't great, but where else are some people going to go? I think it's pretty clear that the author has never actually been poor. To be honest, if you had asked me 10 years ago, I probably would have agreed with the author, but I spent some really poor years after law school (like down to my last $2 and not knowing where the next dollar will come from kind of poor), and I've changed my tune. In some places, he came across as a bit paternalistic. It was an interesting look into an industry I didn't know too much about before reading the book, though.

Books I'm reading now or will be reading shortly:

• Dragnet Nation by Julia Angwin. I read an excerpt from this book last week, and I found it so interesting that I picked it up from the library. It's about all the ways that the government and private companies and organizations monitor our online and offline activities and what kind of creepy things they learn about us in the process. I'm about a chapter in so far, and it's both fascinating and terrifying. The book combines two things I enjoy - technology and privacy.
• I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong. This book is about all the bacteria that live in and on us and how they interact with us. It's fascinating, if a bit weird. I definitely wanted to take a shower after a few chapters. I'm about halfway through.
• Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. This is a memoir of a woman who was raised by survivalists in Idaho who kept her out of school. Eventually, she decided to go to college and ended up going on to a PhD at Cambridge. I read a blurb on the book and immediately went to put it on hold at the library. I love memoirs, and I'm completely fascinated by stories of people who escape from fundamentalist subcultures. I can't wait to read it. I'm second in line in the hold queue.

Books I've tried to read but just couldn't finish:

• Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff. I wasn't really all that interested in reading the book to begin with; I figure anything in there would eventually make the news anyway. The only reason I decided to read it was because the White House tried to bully the publisher into not publishing the book, and I wanted to take a stand against censorship. I got about a chapter into the book before putting it down. I'm no fan of Trump by any means. I think he's despicable. However, the book had an air of sensationalism to it that got annoying. I'll just read the news. At least I wasn't out any money. I got it from the library.
• The Harvard Classics. I had planned on reading this 51 volume set this year as my new year's resolution. I haven't even picked it up yet. I just don't have time to basically do self-study college in my spare time right now. I've already been to college. These books will have to wait.

Macaroni and Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese. It's the ultimate comfort food - creamy, cheesy, starchy, and nourishing. There are so many different ways to make it; I personally have four recipes. There's the one that's been in my family for at least four generations - gooey cheese sauce made from scratch on the stove, mixed with the noodles and then baked - and then I also have microwave, crock pot, and stovetop versions. That's not even counting the kinds that come in a box.

I like to add things to my macaroni and cheese, and often I don't use macaroni. I'll use rotini or penne. My favorite is vegetable rotini - it's made with zucchini puree mixed into the noodles for some extra veggie goodness. I also sometimes like to add broccoli or asparagus.

Over the past few weeks, I've been way too busy and exhausted to cook, and I've been massively craving mac and cheese. As a result, I've tried mac and cheese recipes from various restaurants in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Here's a review of what I've had lately:

1. Arcadia Tavern - I get together every now and then with a few friends on Tuesday nights because they have trivia night. We eat greasy food and sugary cookies and show off our knowledge. We usually do pretty well at trivia, which keeps us coming back because we win gift cards. This is the best place in Phoenix to get mac and cheese. The first time I tried it, I ordered off the kids menu, and it was only so-so - fake cheese taste. But last time, I ordered off the adult menu, and they use the good cheese, and there are options for add-ins. I did mushrooms, and it was delicious. The portions are enormous.
2. People Pizza Pub - It's been a while since I've been here, and the place is under new management now, but when I went, I was very impressed with the macaroni and cheese. There are several varieties, with various add-ins. I did mushroom, and I really enjoyed it. It's baked, so it's crispy on top. The portions are small but very filling.
3. Good Wood Tavern - The mac and cheese is basic but delicious. It's rotini, not macaroni, and the sauce has a cheddar-parmesan flavor to it. A little saltier than the other two, which is why I bumped it down to third place.
4. Red Robin - The macaroni and cheese isn't a full-on menu item. It's a side dish. I ordered a side of mac and cheese and a side of broccoli. They were both about the size of a cup of soup. The mac and cheese was pretty good, but it was of noticeably lower quality than the other options.
5. Panera Bread - The sauce is good - creamy with just the right amount of cheese, but the noodles are often a little on the mushy side. It's a good option if there's nothing else around, but it's not my first choice.
6. Wildflower Bread Company - Mac and cheese just got added to the menu, and I had high hopes because I love all the other pasta dishes I've tried. I was a bit disappointed. The sauce was bland and way too salty. (And if I think something is too salty, it's extra too salty because I love salt.) I'll stick to the other pasta dishes in the future.

There you have it - the quick review of macaroni and cheese in the desert. The results show that if you want good gooey cheesy noodles, go to a drinking establishment. The taverns/pubs had good offerings, the chain restaurant and the cafes were a bit lacking.

As far as where the family recipe fits in the list, it depends on who makes it. If I make it, it sits between Good Wood and Red Robin. If my mom makes it, it sits between Pizza People and Good Wood. Back when my dearly departed great grandmother made it, she was even ahead of Arcadia Tavern.

Books I've Read Lately

...or, rather, books I've listened to while driving to court lately.

Last year, I had a new year's resolution to read and review 12 books. I read a lot of books but never got around to reviewing them.

Now I'm so busy with work that I almost never have time to sit down and read a book. It's sad; I love reading. However, I'm spending so much time in the car driving to court hearings in far-flung locations that I've taken to listening to audiobooks. It's not quite the same, but it's still pretty good. So here's a list and mini-review of the books I've listened to lately:

1. Searching for Sunday - Rachel Held Evans

Traveling Solo

I just got back from a vacation to Northern Ireland. I went alone, which surprised many people. I never really thought traveling alone was all that remarkable, but I seem to be in the minority in that view. I didn't do it out of some desire to find myself or prove to the world that I could do it - I did it because I wanted to go somewhere and I didn't have anyone to go with.

When people found out I was going by myself, I got one of two responses:

1. Surprise
This usually came from men. Some were concerned for my safety, but many were just surprised at the notion of trekking halfway across the world by myself for no reason other than wanting to see the world. Oddly enough, I have some male friends who travel alone who acted surprised that I would do it, too. (There are legitimately countries I would like to see that I won't go to alone, but anywhere in western Europe strikes me as just as safe as the US, and I live alone, so I'm well equipped to safely and enjoyably handle the solo life.)

I got extra scrutiny at passport control because of my solo status - the immigration agent in London, while unfailingly polite, was quite skeptical that I was traveling alone and had a few extra questions for me. I think the only reason he let me in is because I'm a lawyer, so he could be assured that I have a good job waiting for me back home and was in no danger of overstaying my welcome. (I got extra scrutiny coming back to the US as well, from a very not-so-polite immigration agent, but it's not like I can be prohibited from entering the US. He was a jerk, and I suspect if I weren't a citizen, I would still be sitting in limbo at the Oakland airport.)

2. Envy
This usually came from women. It manifested in two forms. The first was "Oh! How cool! I wish I could do that!" The second was "You're really brave to be doing that; I would be so scared!"

I suspect some of the surprise or declaration of bravery probably stems from my chosen destination. Northern Ireland suffers from a marketing problem. So many people I talked to before I left still had the view that it was a dangerous place full of people blowing each other up all the time. Sure, 20 years ago it was, but it's not like that anymore. I walked around Belfast by myself at all hours of the day and felt completely safe. I only found myself in the wrong neighborhood once, and I very quickly found my way right back out before anything happened - but that's something that's happened to me right here in Phoenix, too.

There are pros and cons to traveling alone.

Pro:

• I can go anywhere I want without having to compromise with anyone else.
• It's easier to meet locals while not distracted by a traveling companion.

Con:

• There's nobody to share the experience with. I posted pictures and my friends commented on them, but it's not the same as having someone right there.
• It's a little more expensive because there's nobody to split costs with.
• There are some parts of the world where it's safer to go with someone.

Traveling is kind of like life, though. Sure, I would like to have someone to share the experience with, but in the mean time, I'm not going to let my lack of a partner stop me from enjoying myself. A traveling companion is not a prerequisite for having a great vacation or a great life.

And just because, here are some pictures of my trip:

 A castle in County Antrim

 Derry/Londonderry as seen from the train

"Hands Across the Divide" - a statue in Derry/Londonderry depicting a Catholic and a Protestant reaching out to one another in a spirit of peace

Reconceptualizing student loans as utility payments

A lot of ink has been spilled about the student loan crisis we have going on these days. And I don't think calling it a crisis is an exaggeration. Take me, for example. Due to the generosity and resources of my parents, I graduated with my BS debt-free. This already puts me ahead of many people.

However, I made the stupid decision to go to law school. I didn't know at the time that it was a stupid decision. Conventional wisdom was that lawyers have it made financially and that law school is a great investment. It isn't. I worked all through law school, sometimes two jobs, lived very frugally (sometimes with up to 4 roommates at a time) and I still graduated with six figures of student loan debt. My debt load is crushing, but it's smaller than a lot of my peers'.

It took me a long time to find a job as a lawyer, and I'm now making less practicing law than I made as a receptionist before law school. And I can't get a non-lawyer job because people assume that law is still a fantastic and lucrative profession, so they think that I must not be a good employee if I'm looking outside my field. (Yes, I've had interviewers say that to my face. Joke's on them. I'm actually highly sought after in the legal field.)

My monthly payment, had I stayed on the standard repayment plan, was significantly more than my rent. I got on an income-based plan, where I have a manageable payment amount, and in theory, assuming there are no legislative changes in the future, the remaining balance will be forgiven in 25 years. Because my payment doesn't even cover interest, the amount forgiven will be in excess of what I borrowed. And that amount is considered taxable income, so I'm going to get to write a giant check to the IRS that year.

This whole situation demoralized me. I'm used to thinking of debt as something that has an end date. It eventually goes away. When I make my car payment every month, I know that after a certain number of payments, I'll be done. Even with credit cards, if I can't pay the balance off entirely one month, I know I can keep paying on it, and eventually I'll pay it off.

My student loans aren't like that. They're never going away. I keep paying them every month, and I keep seeing my balance stay the same or grow. I've been paying for 5 years, and I owe more now than I borrowed. (To those who are inevitably thinking right now "just make extra payments", well, yeah, if I could, I would. Money doesn't grow on trees.)

Some have conceptualized student loans as modern-day indentured servitude. As a historical and sociological thought exercise, I think there's some merit to the comparison. But thinking that way doesn't help me in my day to day life. It's a good warning for people considering borrowing money for school, but it's terrible advice for people who are already stuck in the student loan trap.

So, I've decided that I'm going to think of my student loan payment like a utility bill. It comes every month whether I like it or not, and I have to keep paying it ad infinitum. Just like I have to pay the electric bill and the water bill, I have to pay the brain bill.

The libertarian social security lawyer

When people find out what I do for a living, they either end up with mistaken views of my politics, or if they do know my politics, they get confused as to why I would do the work I do. I'm a social security disability lawyer. I represent people who have applied for disability benefits and have had their claim denied. I gather and interpret medical records and make a legal argument as to why they should receive disability benefits. I'm also a libertarian.

Overview of libertarian thought:
There are multiple strains of libertarianism, but the one belief that is common across all strains is the non-aggression principle. This principle states that it is immoral to initiate the use of force against anyone. Using force against someone who has initiated (or in some strains of thought credibly threatened) force is acceptable, but it's not acceptable to be the one to start it. Force can come in many forms - the usual way, such as with violence, but also by using the might of law or government to take something that belongs to someone else. It is for this reason that many libertarians, myself included, view taxation as immoral. It is using force to take property from individuals. [1]

How my job is compatible with libertarianism:
Libertarians, in general, are suspicious of taxation and believe that most social services are better and more efficiently provided by the private sector. However, I have a pragmatic streak as well. I don't like the idea of people being taxed, but if they are, I want to make sure they get every dime of their money's worth. The government initiated force against my clients by taking FICA taxes out of their paychecks. The way the social security system is set up, those taxes are really more like insurance premiums, albeit involuntary ones. We're all insuring ourselves against long-term disability, whether we like it or not. (The program even calls itself Social Security Disability Insurance.)

If your car was damaged in a car accident and your insurance company refused to pay, you might need a lawyer to help you sue the insurance company to get what you were contractually owed. When it boils down to it, I'm an insurance lawyer. Instead of suing State Farm or Geico, I sue Uncle Sam on behalf of people who paid their insurance premiums, suffered the loss they were insured against, and aren't getting the payments that their insurance is supposed to provide. If I were in charge of the universe, I might prefer disability insurance to be voluntary and private, but that's not the world we live in. So until then, the government taketh, and I help my clients take back.

----
[1] In my first draft, I included a lengthy discussion about the different strains of libertarian thought, comparing and contrasting them. But I decided to leave a footnote instead. Three major varieties are classical liberalism, miniarchism, and anarcho-capitalism. They differ in how much government they find acceptable. Classical liberals want a small government that protects individual liberties but also provides a small level of social services and infrastructure, though the exact nature of these services is up for debate. Miniarchists want an even smaller government that is dedicated only to protecting individual rights with some minimal infrastructure like roads. Anarcho-capitalists want no government. I'm somewhere between miniarchist and classical liberal. Philosophically, I'm more on the miniarchist side, but pragmatically, I think classical liberalism is more palatable to more people, so I think it's a good start toward increasing liberty because even a classical liberal state would be more libertarian than what we have now.

Literary check-in

I set a New Year's resolution to write 12 book reviews this year. It's the end of July, so to be on schedule, I should have 7 book reviews. I don't. I've been reading books but not writing about them. Over the next few weeks, I'll write the book reviews I've been neglecting.

Books I've read this year but not reviewed:

• The Startup of You
• Lean In
• Outliers
• Evolving in Monkey Town
• The 4-Hour Work Week

Books I'm in the process of reading and will review when I'm finished:

• Blink
• Introverts in the Church

Books I'm planning on reading and reviewing before the year is through:

• The God Who Weeps
• Hacking Work
• The Single Woman's Guide to Retirement
• Go Set a Watchman

Books I've already reviewed:

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

I've linked to Amazon for the books even though I either got them from the public library or already had them sitting on my shelf. I can't exactly link to my bookcase! :-)

The list is subject to change if I stumble across a particularly interesting book. But now that I have it out there in the blogosphere, maybe I'll be more likely to follow through.

Poor Woman's Hot Cocoa

June was pretty awful. Disastrous, really.

My car got totaled on June 1, and that kind of set the stage for the entire month. By the end of June, I had wiped out my entire savings, maxed out all of my credit cards, borrowed money from my parents to keep me afloat (and fix the lemon of a car that some unscrupulous used car dealer sold me to replace the aforementioned totaled car), and my hours at work got cut.

Suffice it to say, I entered the month of July completely flat out broke. No money to spend on even the smallest of treats. Yesterday, I had a craving for a Starbuck's hot chocolate. Never mind that it was 110 degrees out. I really wanted my hot chocolate.

I did what I do best, and I googled a solution to the problem. I found a copycat recipe here and gave it a try. It was thick, syrupy, and kind of gross. It had potential, but the serving size was way too large, and it was way, way too concentrated.

Today, I decided to try again, so I tweaked the recipe, cutting down the syrup. What follows is a pretty good approximation of Starbucks hot chocolate, made entirely from items found in the pantry. It makes about 12 fl. oz. - the equivalent of a tall size.

Syrup:

• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (I used dark chocolate because it's what was in my pantry, but I think regular chocolate would taste more authentic.)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (I used turbinado sugar because it's what was in my pantry, but white or brown should work, too.)
• 1 cup water

Mix and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until hot. (My water cooler has a hot water dispenser, so I only needed 30 seconds. If you start out with cold water, you'll need longer.)

• Add 1/3 cup powdered milk. Mix well. Enjoy.
• Optional - add 1/4 tsp vanilla extract.

There's no such thing as work/life balance

I started my own law firm back in October, not by choice, but when I was trying to see the bright side of things, I figured at least being my own boss would give me better work/life balance.

There's this view that our time is divided into two neat categories: "work" and "life" (where "life" consists of family, friends, hobbies, spirituality, wellness, etc.), and the two categories are in tension with one another.

Since starting my firm, I've struggled mightily with that elusive work/life balance. At first, I had no clients, and while I tried to find them, there was only so much work to be done, so I spent way more time than I should have binge watching Netflix. You could say that the "life" portion was overtaking the "work" portion, throwing things out of balance.

Then a few months ago, I contracted with a firm in another state to handle local matters. That took up part of my time, but I still wasn't earning enough money to support myself, so I had to contract with a second firm to take on some work from them. Now I'm working 65-70 hours per week with little free time for anything else. The "work" portion has overtaken the "life" portion, keeping things still out of balance.

I was lamenting this situation to my cats last week. (My cats are great listeners, even if they're not such great conversationalists.) It suddenly dawned on me that the source of my misery was trying to separate the two. I was suffering from unrealistic expectations. There isn't "work" and "life". There's just life, and work is a part of it.

There will be times when different aspects of life will need to take priority for a while - like now with my busy time, I have to focus more on the work side of things. But in a few months when I can cut loose one of the firms I'm working with, then I can bring hobbies and personal relationships to the forefront.

It's still a balancing act, but it's not the same balancing act I had been taught to expect. We no longer live in a world where we clock in at 9, spend all day thinking solely about work, and clock out at 5 to have the rest of the day to ourselves. Sometimes personal stuff crops up at 10 in the morning, and occasionally a work matter will bother us at 7 at night. Instead of viewing the ebb and flow as an intrusion, it's really just a part of life itself.

That's not to say that it's good or healthy to always value one part over another - if we don't work, then the rest of our life is going to be pretty bad - after all, money doesn't grow on trees. And if we only focus on work, we might have all the money in the world but no time to enjoy it or people to enjoy it with. But instead of work/life, just focus on it all being life, and make the trade-offs necessary to make it a good one - holistically.

Reading List

I'm looking for some book recommendations to help me meet my goal of writing 12 book reviews this year. I prefer nonfiction, but a good thought-provoking fiction book is nice, too. (No fluffy beach novels. If I want fluffy literature, I'll get it in movie format.)

I've already reviewed The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

I'm in the middle of reading The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, and once I finish it, I plan to review it here.


I'm halfway through Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, so it might get a review, too.

I read some of Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard a few years back, and I really need to pick it up and finish it.

Books I plan to read and review:

• The God Who Weeps by Terryl and Fiona Givens - I heard an interview with Fiona Givens last year, and I was so impressed with her that I knew I had to read her book.
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg - This book seems to be a must-read for any woman with a professional career, and I really should have read it a long time ago.

So far, the list is heavy on business and social science with a dash of theology thrown in for good measure. What's missing are the books about physical science and psychology. Any recommendations?

Book Review - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

One of my new year's resolutions was to write 12 book reviews this year. The plan was to average one review per month, but as you can see, it's the end of March, and this is my first book review. I've been reading lots of books; I just haven't been writing about them. (I guess I'm still like my elementary and middle school self - the bookworm who didn't like writing book reports.)

My first review of the year is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. This book has taken the world by storm with its simple method of de-cluttering. Called the Kon-Mari method, the book advocates sorting belongings by category, holding each one individually, and deciding whether or not it "sparks joy". Readers are instructed to keep the joy inspiring items. Everything else should be thanked for its service and then bid goodbye.

I got the book because I had too much stuff. I had been carrying around boxes from move to move to move that somehow never got unpacked. I would often dream of my apartment catching on fire and burning to the ground to give myself a fresh start (while I and the cats were safely away and the blanket my late grandfather made for me somehow in the trunk of my car). When my apartment got flooded last year and half my belongings were destroyed, I was, very temporarily, annoyed that the flood didn't get the other half as well. Clearly, I had a problem, and it needed a solution.

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time again where we all resolve to do the same few things, do them diligently for the month of January, and then backslide only to repeat the process all over again the next year.

Before getting to 2016's resolutions, I'm going to report on how I did for 2015.

My 2015 resolutions were as follows:

• Exercise 20 minutes per day 3 days per week.
• Get a permanent job that makes at least $X per year. (where X was a number I privately chose but didn't disclose on the blog)
• Reduce my debt by $Y. (where Y was a number I privately chose but didn't disclose on the blog)

I failed at every single one of them. I don't really have any excuse for failure to exercise. I used to be really athletic until I got sick, but I've had my thyroid under control for a few years now, and I haven't gotten my exercising mojo back.

As far as the job goes, there just aren't jobs for lawyers anymore. So I started my own law practice in October. My income from my practice is measured in negative numbers. This led to a failure of goal three as well. At least I didn't go any further into debt, so that's something.

Now, on to 2016.

1. Exercise 20 minutes per day 3 days per week.
I'm feeling pretty good about this. I signed up for a free martial arts class at church that meets every Saturday, so that's one day covered. There's also a local pickup basketball league that plays 3 mornings per week. I also have several exercise videos saved to my Amazon video queue. If I fail at this one, it will be out of laziness, not out of lack of opportunity.

2. Make a profit of $X at my law firm.
X is slightly larger than last year's X because self-employed people pay more in taxes for the same amount of income, so I'll need to increase my income to offset the higher tax burden.

3. Write at least twelve book reviews.
I read a lot, and I like to think about all the big ideas in the books I read. I don't really have many people to talk to about the books I read, though, because I don't often read book club type books. I figure at least some of the stuff I read might be interesting to other people, and even if it isn't, writing book reviews will keep my mind sharp and active. I envision one per month, but I phrased it as 12 per year instead to give myself more flexibility.

4. Organize my apartment by the KonMari method.
The book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has taken the country by storm this year. I have way too much stuff, and it's just sitting in bins in my closet. It's time to get rid of all the stuff I don't need. I've read the book, and now I want to put it in practice. I'm in a Facebook group of other people also doing it, so I'm going to have some moral support. It's also going to end up being one of my book reviews, and I figure I can give a better review of the book after I've used the method.

Here's to a productive 2016 full of personal growth!

Homemade Herbal Cough Drops

I've been wanting to try making my own cough drops for a while because I don't like the flavor of commercial cough drops. They end up tasting like really nasty candy. Usually when I get a bad cough, a butterscotch candy works just as well as a Hall's and tastes a lot better.

I set out to find a recipe, and I ran across this one here. I modified it to make it simpler. Instead of fussing with a bunch of fresh herbs, I realized that the "herb infused water" that the recipe calls for is just a complicated way of saying herbal tea. So here's my recipe:

1 cup extra-strong herbal tea
1 1/2 cups honey

Mix together over medium-high heat in a 2 quart saucepan. Stirring frequently, heat until the mixture reaches 150 degrees Celsius (302 degrees Fahrenheit), measured by a candy thermometer. Pour into greased lozenge sized candy molds. Allow to harden.

I used locally produced honey from H&H Honey. For the mold, I used a Jello Bean Mold because a friend gave it to me a few years ago after she found it at a thrift store. (I wouldn't have paid full price for it, but it's just the right size for cough drops.)

For the herbal tea, I used three tea bags and allowed it to steep for about 15 minutes. I used two bags of Peet's Lemon Rose and one bag of Peet's Hibiscus C. I figure that honey lemon is a good flavor for cough drops and that some extra vitamin C is a good thing during a cold.

The two quart saucepan is important. I started out in a one quart pan, but the mixture gets really bubbly as it boils, so I had to transfer pans halfway through. Even the two quart pan started to look a bit iffy on size at the end. It took about 35 minutes for the mixture to reach the desired temperature.

One word to the wise that should go without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway: Don't poke it while it's in the mold to see how hard it is. It takes a long time to cool, and I'm now the proud owner of a beautiful blister on my left index finger.

The lozenges are still cooling, so I haven't tasted them yet. Now that I'm working from home, I catch colds much less often, so it may be a while before I can comment on their medicinal effectiveness. It was a fun project for science, though.

Basketball

I used to be in really good shape. I was a gymnast, figure skater, and springboard diver as a teenager. I played basketball on the ROTC team in college. I did ballet and ballroom dance as hobbies. I spent a year and a half riding a bicycle everywhere I went through the hills of North Carolina and Virginia.

Then I came home and went to law school. Between studying, going to classes, and holding down a full-time job, exercise kind of fell by the wayside. Then my adrenals and thyroid went on strike and I was too sick to do much more than get out of bed.

I'm better now, but I'm still out of shape. It turns out Isaac Newton was right. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. I keep meaning to start up a workout plan. I downloaded Couch to 5K running tracks years ago, and every now and then, I tell myself that I should go for a run.

When I tell myself that, it's because I forgot one very important fact. I absolutely loathe running! The only way you're going to get me to run is if I'm being chased by a sabre tooth tiger on the savannah. Since the sabre tooth tiger is extinct and I live in the middle of the desert, I don't foresee myself running anytime soon.

A lot of runners seem to exude an almost religious fervor about their chosen athletic activity. Running is apparently the most virtuous form of exercise there is, and all that stuff. But it's definitely not for me. I've decided that running isn't morally superior to other forms of exercise, and the best workout routine is one that I'll actually do.

Some acquaintances of mine play pickup basketball three mornings a week before work. So, early Monday morning, I'm going to go shoot some hoops. And I have a whole bunch of pilates workouts saved in my Amazon streaming video queue for off days. I also dusted off my goggles and swim cap so that I can swim laps in the apartment pool when the mood strikes me.

I'm looking forward to seeing the look on people's faces when the 5'3" nerd wipes the court with the competition! :-)

SMART new year's resolutions

Every year, I make the same resolutions (eat right, exercise more, etc.), and every year, I faithfully follow them for about 2 weeks. Then real life sets in, and the best laid plans go awry. This year, I’m applying some of my professional skills toward better resolutions.

The hip new(ish) buzzword in performance evaluations is the setting of SMART goals as a way of assessing workplace success. A SMART goal is something that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, “eat healthier food” doesn’t count because it’s not specific or time-bound, and it's a bit hard to measure. A better goal would be “eat at least one serving of fresh green vegetables every day”. Someone who leads a sedentary lifestyle shouldn’t set a goal to run a marathon next month because that’s not attainable, but setting a goal to run a 5K by the end of the year probably is.

With that in mind, in order of hardest to easiest, here’s my SMART 2015:

1. Exercise 20 minutes per day, 3 days per week.

Ideally, I would like to exercise more than that, but it’s a start. I used to be in really good shape until my thyroid decided to go haywire when I was in law school. There was a time when just getting out of bed was a massive achievement, so I need to start out small here when rebuilding. I’ll try to work up to more, but I want the initial goal to be modest.

2. Get a permanent job that makes at least $X per year.

X is a number that I have in mind personally that I’m not going to post here. Ever since I left my cushy (but ethically uncomfortable) job at a defense contractor, I’ve been freelancing/consulting/temping or whatever you want to call it. I kind of prefer “consulting” because I’m still doing professional level work, just on a contract basis instead of a long-term basis. I’ve had gigs lasting up to a year, and I know nothing is certain in this economy, but I still want the stability of a standard job.

This one has some sub-steps. I’ll have to keep up on my networking, and I’ll have to keep applying to jobs. I’m casting a wide net at this point. Ideally, I would like something as a faculty member at a college or university. I’m also considering attorney and HR jobs. In the meantime, I’ll continue with the contract work.

3. Reduce my overall debt by $Y.

Once again, Y is a number I have chosen but will not post here. This goal is a sub-goal to my more long-term goal of buying a house. That goal will take a few years, but I need to start somewhere. I’m already really good at sticking to a budget and living within my means. (The debt is from school and my bout with unemployment this past year.) Basically, if I keep getting good contracts or if I land a good job, this goal will be the easiest of the three to meet.

I guess this means I’ll need to give myself a performance review at the end of the year!