Oh hey, did I ever report back on last weekend's baking? The chocolate cake was a big hit, and they were OBSESSED with the bread! I mean, it was fine, but they really loved it. (It was this [link] including some buckwheat, so the color was cool.)

Oh good! I don't know if I've had buckwheat flour. I probably have some time or other, but all I can actually remember is the groats I have pretty often.

The bread sounds good—fresh bread is almost always worthy of awe in my book!

My boss has finally replied about the job with the mysteriously high salary range. Claims it’s not applicable exactly (bs) and that she has been told she can share the salary range but not in writing (more bs), we have a meeting Friday.

The bread sounds good—fresh bread is almost always worthy of awe in my book!

Yeah, it's easy to lose track of that. I haven't bought bread in a couple of years now! So my mother says, "ooh, it's so soft and delicious," and I'm like, "but it was supposed to be crackly!!" Still delicious, and honestly, soft is easier.

Yeah, the only bad thing about fresh bread is how easy it is to eat the whole loaf immediately and then you don't have any bread.

Timelies all!

I've never made bread. Had some at a con where the con suite had a bread maker. I have recipes for banana bread and pumpkin bread, but haven't made either in a very long time.

There's nothing quite like freshly baked bread. And your house smells wonderful. Against the standard advice, I tend to hack off one end of a loaf and eat it still warm. With butter. Yum. And I've found bread dough is pretty forgiving; the worst you end up with is non-optimum bread. Unless, like someone I know, you put it to rise in a plastic container and put it into a warm oven to rise; then you end up with plastic and dough becoming one ... and possibly merging with the oven as well.

He needs to stay close to the surgery center until Wednesday for follow-up, so he rented an AirBnB. It’s at a farm, so he’s recuperating with goats and ponies wandering around outside his AirBnB.

That sounds fantastic!

-t, isn't a 2% raise basically a pay cut with inflation the way it is these days??

It might turn into a pay cut if it bumps you into a higher tax bracket and your take-home is reduced. Happened to me once.

Pretty much, Jess. Several years ago they did salary adjustments to bring our pay level with everyone in the region - they don’t call it cost of living, I forget the term they used - and it was much more significant than any merit increase they’d ever offered. So I’m impatiently waiting for that to come around again.

And I hadn’t thought of that, Todd. Something to watch for next paycheck! When I talked to my boss he emphasized all the other perqs that are part of our compensation package and urged me to be sure I’m taking advantage of whatever I can which I find kind of funny.

At least I know my company is not making record breaking profits meanwhile. That would be enraging.