Homemade white sauce gloop is superior to condensed cream of mushroom soup.

I don't know who believes this, but they are wrong. I once tried a fancied-up tuna casserole with fresh vegetables and a from-scratch bechamel and some kind of fancy breadcrumb topping and it was just a giant bowl of disappointment. Canned soup + canned tuna + frozen mixed veggies all the way.

(It's probably fair to say most recipes do benefit from upgrading ingredients from canned/frozen to fresh/homemade. But comfort food from the 1950s just wants to be what it is.)

t /soapbox

That's great for Tom. Congrats!

It looks the savings in benefits will be like 6k over a year which is pretty dang compelling and it looks like a really nice plan too.

I'm really glad I decided to take a vacation day today. It would be hard to concentrate on work with all this going on.

That's great, Nora! Congrats to Tom!

That does sound persuasive, Gud. As annoying as it is that benefits are part of work compensation, that is our reality, so if you can get good ones that's a big deal.

Another satisfying Drive Up Target order. They were waiting for me with my stuff when I pulled into the parking space! And now I have the hot dogs I have been sort of craving and decided would be appropriate for Labor Day, among other things.

A woman I went to high school with has been losing her goddamn mind on Facebook for at least 2 weeks, ranting about how Cincinnati Public Schools have chosen to not participate in fall sports because of Covid-19. She is calling for petitions, meetings, and investigations into the "backroom deals that were made to cheat our children out of sports."

Am I wrong, or hasn't Covid-19 been burning through sports teams like wildfire? Is this woman operating on her own plane of reality? I'm boggled by how this is her hill to die on (or, I suppose, for her son to die on).

Someone commented to her "[Other school district] has had so many cases of Covid-19 among the football team that football is suspended for 14 days," and she replied "Fine! Cincinnati Public should do that, too -- suspend for 14 days and then get right back on the field like normal!"

Nothing makes me quite as angry as parents whose poor decisions harm their children. I am boggled that she's so outraged that her son's exposure to Covid-19 will be decreased because he can't play football. (Although, as I'm typing this, I wonder if she was counting on him getting a football scholarship to college? That would make a little more sense than just being so pro-sports that she's willing to risk her son's life. Not that her son's life is worth getting a scholarship: can't go to college if Covid-19 kills you.)

Teppy, yesterday there was a rally at the capital here organized by student athletes begging to be allowed to play. And everyone is hella sympathetic!

But: risk management groups informed the schools that there were insurance concerns if they didn't follow the state health guidelines, all the way down to slow-pitch softball and cross country. As much as we want to see them play, it's not worth killing someone.

Am I wrong, or hasn't Covid-19 been burning through sports teams like wildfire?

I do feel bad for kids who depend on sports for their friends/fun, because this school year is already going to SUCK, but honestly, any activity where you mostly run into people while breathing heavily is NOT SAFE RIGHT NOW.

I do like peas in my M&C. Also tuna, or sometimes ham. But I've found bits of roasted chicken to be especially delightful. Emmett and I once sampled some at TJ's (back in the Before Times when they handed out free food) that was mixed with salsa and that shit was yummy.

I think lobster Mac is probably Emmett's favorite though.

I've done some super fancy M&C made with an IPA and all that and...it's really gratifying to make a perfect cheese sauce from scratch and watch it roll over your elbow noodles in gorgeous, thick, smooth waves.

I do feel bad for kids who depend on sports for their friends/fun, because this school year is already going to SUCK,

I mean, I do totally agree with this. Plus it does mess with some students' chances of getting scholarships. It's a lousy choice, but it's the better of 2 lousy choices.

but honestly, any activity where you mostly run into people while breathing heavily is NOT SAFE RIGHT NOW.

This really supercedes everything, in my mind. Keeping your kids safe is paramount. And humans are notoriously bad at estimating risk.

I think lobster Mac is probably Emmett's favorite though.

I've made smoked gouda mac & cheese (no peas), and I really want to make it again with lobster and/or crab meat.