Author: Aynaria

Another promotion at work

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I’ve been in my new position (at work) for the second week, and I must say that I’m enjoying it immensely. I’ve been with the company for one year and 10 months, and this is my second promotion. There’s much to learn, as is typically the case when doing something new and I’m fine with that. I’m reminding myself that I won’t know everything. There are new policies/procedures to add to my skill set, and it goes a lot faster since I’ve never had problems asking questions. It’s just my nature; I like to know how everything works when it comes to anything I do, even if it’s not “relevant” to what I do.

Although I work in an office setting, I’ve been back at work since June. No complaints about that. I must say, that I’m seeing more commuters going back to work. How do I know? Highway 695 is starting to be the royal pain in the rear in the early commute/leaving office. It’s not back to its mind-numbing traffic. There’s always a bright side. I have a beautiful daughter/loving family, employed, my health is great, and I’m enjoying life immensely.

Monday: Returned to work

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Yesterday was my first day back at work since March. While I enjoyed my time at home, it’s nice to be back. Currently, my job is planning to bring all employees back to work by the end of next month. With the new guidelines in place, because of the COVID pandemic, offices are still required to practice ‘safe distancing’ within the workplace. Additionally, temperatures are checked shortly after arrival. Anyone who has a high temperature will be sent home. Currently, I’m in a temporary location at a safe distance away from my other officemates.

Do you know what I noticed upon my return to work? A lot of people had gained weight. Not surprising there since many of us were at home and some most likely didn’t do too much while there. I was one of those that had to find ways to stay active. Yard work was definitely helpful and I also invested in an exercise bike since the gym, where I have a membership, was closed.

While going to work, I have noticed that I’m not running into any traffic. Before, I ran into traffic 99% of the time. While I appreciate that the roads aren’t congested, I must say that I’ll be happy when more people return to work since it means the majority of employees are back at work. A few months ago, I told my daughter and parents that I would not be surprised if some businesses allow their employees to continue to work from home.

I purchased a Playstation 4 Pro: It was hard to find locally

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It’s here! My daughter now has the Playstation 4 Pro! For years, she’s been following Youtube play through of various video games. The games she watches are adventure-based, and over the past year,  the one that she’s talked about the most is Detroit Become Human. This game mainly focuses on androids and whether they should be recognized as sentient beings because their artificial intelligence is so detailed.

For years, I’ve asked her if she wanted a gaming console, and she’s always told me no. But, I know my daughter, I didn’t believe her. When she was a toddler, she would play games on my Xbox 360. Fast forward to today, and she still plays a few games: Minecraft and World of Warcraft. Nope, I wasn’t buying that she didn’t want the console. I figured she felt terrible about me spending the money to purchase one for her. That’s my daughter; her wants are minimal, and she rarely asks for anything. Last week, I told her I was getting her a gaming console, and so last Wednesday we went out looking for a Play Station 4 at Target. According to my online research, that was seemingly the only place that had them in stock locally. Best Buy, Wal Mart, GameStop were all sold out! Wow! I guess it makes sense, quarantine has people inside, and certain items (like the exercise bike that I finally received) are hard to find. We hit two Target stores that were about 40 minutes one way from our home, and even though they showed, there were a few available online. When we arrived at the store, they were gone. No complaints, though, although I didn’t leave with a gaming console for her. We enjoyed our car ride.

After that experience, I realized that the only way I’d be able to snag a gaming console was to snap it up as soon as they hit the stores. Thursday morning, I awoke at my standard time (3:30 AM). After my devotions, I logged onto Target, and I saw they had PlayStation 4’s available, including the PlayStation Pro! I quickly purchased the Pro for my daughter, and later that morning, it was processed, shipped, and she received her own PS 4 this past Sunday. Since purchasing the gaming system was leading us to a dead-end, last Thursday morning, around 3:30 AM, I went online and saw that Target just received some in stock. I immediately purchased the PlayStation 4 Pro. Perfect! Later that morning, it processed, and I received an update that stated it would arrive on Saturday. Even better! When my daughter awoke, I told her daughter that I’d purchased the gaming console for her. She confided that she was looking forward to receiving the gaming console. And now that it’s here? She’s enjoying it immensely. She plays in the evenings for a few hours.

Updates on my Brydge wireless bluetooth keyboard and can I use my iPad 10.2 as a laptop?

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I never thought that I’d be using my iPad as a laptop, however, when I think back over the years, that’s how I used it (sort of) did with my old iPad. I just didn’t purchase a keyboard. However, now that I’m typing this post on my Brydge Wireless Bluetooth keyboard, I’m left wondering why did I take so long to make the switch? I blame it on stubbornness. These days, I’ve been using my iPad for everything, and the Bridge wireless keyboard stays attached to my iPad. A few people have mistaken for a small laptop. It’s not. However, I used it exactly like my MacBook Pro laptop that I have. The only reason I have been logging onto my desktop computer is to rename pictures that my daughter or I take. However, I’m sure there’s an app available that will allow me to change the names of the images stored on my device. I just haven’t taken the time to look, but I will.

Perks of my Brydge Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard for the iPad

Pairing is a non-issue

You pair the Brydge to the iPad by Bluetooth. I must say, the pairing is seamless. It’s only disconnected a few times, in the months that I’ve had it and it was simply a matter of reconnecting.

Battery life is amazing

I use my device often throughout each day and I only have to charge the keyboard every two weeks.

Ipad + Brydge – I’m using it as a laptop

Initially, when I wrote this post (several months ago) I wasn’t planning on keeping my iPad for that much longer. I had every intention of giving it to my daughter and purchasing the iPad pro for myself, buying the Brydge keyboard and using that as my “laptop.” However, I’ve had more time to think about it and have decided to gift her with the iPad Pro. She has much more use for it than I do since she could use it for drawing. I do have a desktop computer, however, I still will purchase a laptop at some point for myself.

Dislikes with the Brydge Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard

There is no trackpad with the Brydge for the iPad. It’s there for the iPad Pro. I’ve been actively using it for a few weeks, and I’m getting accustomed to still swipe the iPad screen (for certain functions) instead of using a trackpad. Since I was using a keyboard, I was treating it like one, so initially, I was still going through the motions of using the trackpad. However, when I swiped, the only thing I was touching was keys! Fast forward until now? Gone are the days when I was catching myself “swiping,” the nonexistent trackpad. As mentioned the iPad Pro’s keyboard (step up from my iPad) made by Brydge does have that function. However,  other than that, thus far, I’m happy that I finally decided to purchase a keyboard for my iPad.

 

Birthday Baking: Homemade strawberry cake

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It’s my daughter’s birthday. She’s 17! Wow, the time has gone by so quickly. I’ve been writing online longer than she’s been alive/ I’ve had this particular website since she was seven years old. At times, it seems like just the other day when I started this website. I have many things to be thankful for, and my daughter is definitely at the top of the list. I can’t imagine life without her. I’m blessed. I usually have to coax her to choose the things she might want.

For her birthday, I purchased a few items for her. However, her main “gift” was an American Express gift card. That way, she could buy whatever she likes.

What did she want to eat? Last week, after much coaxing, she told me that she would like me to make her a strawberry cake. She sent me a link for a cake recipe, and I spent last week (and part of this week) researching strawberry cakes, and I made it for her today.

My research was helpful, and I learned that cake flour is usually the best choice for baking ‘light and tender cakes’ because the flour is lower in protein than many other flours. The low protein enhances the crumbs delicate nature, and it also increases the softness of the baked cake.

Fresh strawberries were a must, and so those were picked from the garden. The frosting had homemade strawberry preserves whipped up into the frosting, and yes, I used my Ankarsrum 6230 mixer. It’s an excellent machine.

I had purchased the candles in March and had placed then in plain sight, my daughter never saw them, and her tradition is to keep her birthday candles. This evening, after the cake was put away, she took her candles.

It was a wonderful day. Because of the quarantine, she didn’t have any friends over. However, there will be time for that, and my daughter still enjoyed her day, which is all that matters.

I pray that my daughter continues to have excellent health, and I pray that she continues to show wisdom and know that I’m always here for her.

Happy Birthday Pretty Princess. I love you.

 

Treat yourself: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

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Earlier today I made cinnamon swirl bread. With the leftover dough, I rolled the remaining dough into a log and made cinnamon rolls.


Just look at them? This is how the rolls looked before I placed them aside to rise? They plumped up a lot after they’ve proofed. I am torn?

Should I add frosting or not? We’ll see! As of this writing, the bread and rolls have been out of the oven for about an hour. I still haven’t made my decision to add frosting.

Homemade Veggie Pizza

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We love homemade pizza!

Last week, I made a veggie pizza. I typically make my pizza dough in advance and let rise for at least 24 hours before making the pizza, however, that day was an exception.

I prepared the pizza the same day that I made the dough. I did make enough dough for two pizzas. I still haven’t made the other dough, so by the time I make it this week, the yeast from the dough will make an extremely flavorful pizza crust.

The total time it took to prepare the pizza was about 2.5 hours. The majority of the time was spent waiting for the pizza dough to rise. The pizzas I prefer don’t have sauce. Instead, I slice fresh tomatoes and add them directly to the pizza dough. I then add additional toppings.

With this pizza, I kept it simple and only added mushrooms, bell peppers, a small amount of cheese, and a tiny amount of Himalayan sea salt. The pizza was placed in the oven on baking steel and was baked at 550 F oven for 12 minutes. The baking steel combined with the hottest temperature that our stove can crank out guarantees a crispy pizza every single time. The results? My daughter loved it a lot.

Keeping the ingredients fresh (and simple) also means the pizzas we create will be flavorful and won’t last long. Take out pizza? No, I don’t think so. We much prefer homemade pizza.