Anoka Continues to be Weird (or it's Me)
Jul. 7th, 2026 09:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse In my infinite wisdom, I agreed to pick-up an extra shift at the library yesterday. I think I have previously explained the whole weird culture around holidays at Anoka County, haven't I?
In a nutshell: when I first started (and Memorial Day weekend hit as one of my scheduled weekends to work,) I was told that I MUST make up my missed shifts within the pay period or use vacation/PTO to "cover" missed days. I immediately argued that this can't possibly be a requirement since I was both willing and able to work the hours as assigned, but denied by the workplace a chance to perform them--aka you scheduled me to work, I can come, but you told me no, the building is closed, you can not. But, if "making up" was, indeed, a requirement, what happens if I can't/I don't have enough PTO to cover the lost hours? Like, am I going to get fired because you scheduled me to work when the library was closed and I only just started and don't have the time acurred yet to "pay" for my "absence," which was not even my choice???? Many emails to HR later, I was told that, actually, if I want to take unpaid time and not use vacation that was fine. Any time. I don't ever have to use my vacation to "cover" hours in the case where the library is closed and I am scheduled to work. (This, btw, big shock to my boss... who has, I believe, spent her own vacation to "cover" time for decades.)
At any rate, I like getting paid and I wanted to demonstrate that, despite coming out of the gate fighting, I am a Team Player. Since it's the culture of this workplace that people to make up for time when the library is closed, I decided to work 10:30 am - 2:30 pm on the Monday after the holiday weekend.
What can I say? The job continues to be FINE.
I have tried, unsuccessfully, to bond with a number of my coworkers. I had that one good conversation with the young person who is trying to decide what to do with her life now that her student loans are paid off, but that's it. Yesterday, I found out that one of the librarians (lesbrarian?) comes with a wife and I thought, foolishly, that this could be a thing that might bond us on some level. I, too, have a wife! But my attempts to communicate that were either awkward on my part in some way that I didn't realize or... kids these days don't see queerness as enough of a bond? Or both. I'm going with BOTH. But yeah, our conversation went something like this:
Me: Did you do anything fun over the holiday weekend?
Lesbrarian: (Answer that involves her and her wife getting to be the cool aunties.)
Me: Oh, that sounds awesome. I went to a science fiction convention (a bit of information about that), but my wife stayed home. She's not into the convention scene.
Lesbrarian: ...
Me: ...
Lesbrairian: ...
Me: Uh, there was some cool cosplay. Do you want to see pictures?
Lesbrarian: I wouldn't get the references.
Me:. Oh.
In a nutshell: when I first started (and Memorial Day weekend hit as one of my scheduled weekends to work,) I was told that I MUST make up my missed shifts within the pay period or use vacation/PTO to "cover" missed days. I immediately argued that this can't possibly be a requirement since I was both willing and able to work the hours as assigned, but denied by the workplace a chance to perform them--aka you scheduled me to work, I can come, but you told me no, the building is closed, you can not. But, if "making up" was, indeed, a requirement, what happens if I can't/I don't have enough PTO to cover the lost hours? Like, am I going to get fired because you scheduled me to work when the library was closed and I only just started and don't have the time acurred yet to "pay" for my "absence," which was not even my choice???? Many emails to HR later, I was told that, actually, if I want to take unpaid time and not use vacation that was fine. Any time. I don't ever have to use my vacation to "cover" hours in the case where the library is closed and I am scheduled to work. (This, btw, big shock to my boss... who has, I believe, spent her own vacation to "cover" time for decades.)
At any rate, I like getting paid and I wanted to demonstrate that, despite coming out of the gate fighting, I am a Team Player. Since it's the culture of this workplace that people to make up for time when the library is closed, I decided to work 10:30 am - 2:30 pm on the Monday after the holiday weekend.
What can I say? The job continues to be FINE.
I have tried, unsuccessfully, to bond with a number of my coworkers. I had that one good conversation with the young person who is trying to decide what to do with her life now that her student loans are paid off, but that's it. Yesterday, I found out that one of the librarians (lesbrarian?) comes with a wife and I thought, foolishly, that this could be a thing that might bond us on some level. I, too, have a wife! But my attempts to communicate that were either awkward on my part in some way that I didn't realize or... kids these days don't see queerness as enough of a bond? Or both. I'm going with BOTH. But yeah, our conversation went something like this:
Me: Did you do anything fun over the holiday weekend?
Lesbrarian: (Answer that involves her and her wife getting to be the cool aunties.)
Me: Oh, that sounds awesome. I went to a science fiction convention (a bit of information about that), but my wife stayed home. She's not into the convention scene.
Lesbrarian: ...
Me: ...
Lesbrairian: ...
Me: Uh, there was some cool cosplay. Do you want to see pictures?
Lesbrarian: I wouldn't get the references.
Me:. Oh.
CONVERSATION TERMINATION, Abort! Abort!
One other time, several weeks ago now, I also had a similar conversation with someone else at work that was an abject failure. To be fair, that one started out rough because the circ staff person in question was explaining how you find a date on the copyright page and, even at the time, but not in enough time to filter myself I realized I was a bit too snarky in pointing out that I am quite familiar with copyright pages in books and where to find them. This, I think, put her on the back foot and I felt stupid and rude and so I tried to course correct, but it ended in this disaster (paraphrasing):
Me: (awkwardly) Uh... so, how are you otherwise?
Them: Not great, actually.
Me: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. What's the issue?
Them: *stares politically* Oh, you know, children are starving in Gaza and queer rights are eroding here.
Me: ...
Them: *stares more intensely in politics*
Me: (Not knowing how to signal that I am on side, I sort of stammer out:) Yes, well, uh... that is all awful and affects my family a lot, you know, since I am married to a woman.
Them: ...
Me:...
Them: I am also queer.
Me: Okay?
Them:...
Me:...
Them:...
Me: (awkwardly turns away to continue putting books in order on cart).
CONVERSATION TERMINATION, Abort! Abort!
So, like, I don't know if the problem is that everyone is very introverted and so conversations are generally difficult and awkward or if I'm vibing as an asshole somehow? Which, I mean, I could be? (See above where I accidentally snarked too hard and knew it.) I do have a tendency to just show up at work, do my work, and go home so maybe I am the cypher that no one knows how to approach. The person who has talked to me the most is definitely one of the problem employees, so maybe people assume that we are two of a sort? (She happens to be an SFF fan--like fan-fan, goes to cons, etc.) Anoka hasn't felt the kind of place where I'm encouraged wear my pride buttons on my lanyard, but maybe I should start? Maybe everyone is on edge because they work in a suburb? I certainly have felt that way. I've actually kind of presumed that I was the only queer person, but it turns out there's a bunch of us?
I am hoping that time will solve this, but I'm not entirely hopeful.
Top posts of 6/2026 at Crazy Eddie's Motie News
Jul. 6th, 2026 10:11 pmneonvincentCrazy Eddie's Motie News earned 1,214,181 page views (second best month ever) and 28 comments, 8 visible and 20 hidden, on 30 posts during the 30 days of June 2026.
( Most read, commented on, liked, shared, and saved posts from Crazy Eddie's Motie News during June 2026 behind the cut. )
( Most read, commented on, liked, shared, and saved posts from Crazy Eddie's Motie News during June 2026 behind the cut. )
Convergence 2026
Jul. 6th, 2026 07:43 amlydamorehouse
Image: Downtown Minneapolis (from Nicollet Mall, near the convention hotel.)
This one will probably get long, so I'll try to remember to put some of it under a cut.
I did not go to Convergence on Thursday, since I had to work that night. STUPIDLY, I also agreed to work today--so, if I don't get through the whole convention, I'll pick the story up wherever I left it off tomorrow.
FRIDAY, (my) Day One.
( Transit complaints and cosplay... )
SATURDAY, (my) Day Two
( a short day... )
SUNDAY, (my) Day Three/Final Day.
( panels and goblins... )
Postponed video for Souther
Jul. 5th, 2026 01:00 pmneonvincentRejected video for 4th of July post
Jul. 4th, 2026 12:44 pmneonvincentI found one that I liked looking at better for Drink to the Colts 'American Experiment' for a drum corps 4th of July.
Book Review: Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook, by Danielle Fahrenkrug
Jul. 3rd, 2026 08:18 amrunpunkrun posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
gluten_freeDairy-Free Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook: 75+ Delicious Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Breads & More, by Danielle Fahrenkrug:
Very much DFGF 101, complete with maternalistic classroom helper tone. The fact that Fahrenkrug's URL is DelightfulMomFood dot com should tell you everything you need to know there. I personally was turned off by her attitude about "healthy" eating and insistence that this diet is good for everyone. Also she brings up God at one point, refers to children as "little mouths," and seems to think the ideal texture for a bagel is "fluffy." Basically there's just too much Fahrenkrug in this book for me.
But what about the cookbook part? Despite being aimed at beginners, I'd be reluctant to recommend this to newbies as parts of the introduction are so simplistic as to be almost inaccurate. But it does have an entire chapter on troubleshooting, which is a big part of DFGF baking, and the index is thorough and lets you browse by main ingredients.
And the recipes? The book covers breakfast; yeast breads and rolls; pizza, flatbreads, and crackers; cookies and bars; cakes and quick breads; sweet and savory pies and fruit desserts. Most use a flour blend, either one of three that Fahrenkrug has developed as 1-to-1 substitutions for wheat flour, or there are five commercial blends she recommends for use in her recipes: Bob's Red Mill GF 1-to-1 Baking Flour, Krusteaz GF AP Flour Mix, Pamela's GF Artisan Blend Flour, King Arthur's Flour GF Measure for Measure, and Authentic Foods GF Multi-Blend Flour. Her own basic mix contains brown and white rice flour, tapioca and potato starch, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, and xanthan gum, and she offers substitutions for the potato starch (corn starch) and xanthan gum (guar gum or powdered gelatin).
The weirdest ingredients I saw in here were coconut milk powder, powdered egg whites, and powdered gelatin. Otherwise it's the usual gluten free flours, starches, and thickeners, and generic calls for dairy free milk, yogurt, and butter. The pizza dough uses psyllium husk, but none of the sandwich bread, flatbread, or cracker recipes do. The sandwich breads include instructions for bread machines.
Despite her emphasis in the introduction on the importance of weighing flours and starches in GF baking, her recipes are only in US customary volume. They have descriptive headnotes and storage advice, but the only photographs are at the beginning of each chapter.
It's so hard to find useful gluten-free dairy-free cookbooks, and I do appreciate that these recipes call for specific flour blends you can make at home, thereby reducing the number of variables you're dealing with, but not including weight measurements introduces yet another variable. Because if adding an extra tablespoon of flour can bring a recipe to perfection, accidentally adding in an extra quarter cup of it is going to lead to ruin. Plus I really struggle to get excited about a recipe if I can't see a photograph of the finished product, especially for GF breads.
If this is all you can get, take what you can get out of it, but I'll be sending it back to the library.
Very much DFGF 101, complete with maternalistic classroom helper tone. The fact that Fahrenkrug's URL is DelightfulMomFood dot com should tell you everything you need to know there. I personally was turned off by her attitude about "healthy" eating and insistence that this diet is good for everyone. Also she brings up God at one point, refers to children as "little mouths," and seems to think the ideal texture for a bagel is "fluffy." Basically there's just too much Fahrenkrug in this book for me.
But what about the cookbook part? Despite being aimed at beginners, I'd be reluctant to recommend this to newbies as parts of the introduction are so simplistic as to be almost inaccurate. But it does have an entire chapter on troubleshooting, which is a big part of DFGF baking, and the index is thorough and lets you browse by main ingredients.
And the recipes? The book covers breakfast; yeast breads and rolls; pizza, flatbreads, and crackers; cookies and bars; cakes and quick breads; sweet and savory pies and fruit desserts. Most use a flour blend, either one of three that Fahrenkrug has developed as 1-to-1 substitutions for wheat flour, or there are five commercial blends she recommends for use in her recipes: Bob's Red Mill GF 1-to-1 Baking Flour, Krusteaz GF AP Flour Mix, Pamela's GF Artisan Blend Flour, King Arthur's Flour GF Measure for Measure, and Authentic Foods GF Multi-Blend Flour. Her own basic mix contains brown and white rice flour, tapioca and potato starch, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, and xanthan gum, and she offers substitutions for the potato starch (corn starch) and xanthan gum (guar gum or powdered gelatin).
The weirdest ingredients I saw in here were coconut milk powder, powdered egg whites, and powdered gelatin. Otherwise it's the usual gluten free flours, starches, and thickeners, and generic calls for dairy free milk, yogurt, and butter. The pizza dough uses psyllium husk, but none of the sandwich bread, flatbread, or cracker recipes do. The sandwich breads include instructions for bread machines.
Despite her emphasis in the introduction on the importance of weighing flours and starches in GF baking, her recipes are only in US customary volume. They have descriptive headnotes and storage advice, but the only photographs are at the beginning of each chapter.
It's so hard to find useful gluten-free dairy-free cookbooks, and I do appreciate that these recipes call for specific flour blends you can make at home, thereby reducing the number of variables you're dealing with, but not including weight measurements introduces yet another variable. Because if adding an extra tablespoon of flour can bring a recipe to perfection, accidentally adding in an extra quarter cup of it is going to lead to ruin. Plus I really struggle to get excited about a recipe if I can't see a photograph of the finished product, especially for GF breads.
If this is all you can get, take what you can get out of it, but I'll be sending it back to the library.
July 2026 Book: Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan
Jul. 2nd, 2026 06:53 pmstonepicnicking_okapi posting in bookclub_dwJuly's book is Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan.
The discussion post will go up on July 31th, 2026. If you think of any questions while you're reading, leave a comment on this post and I'll include it in the discussion post.
The discussion post will go up on July 31th, 2026. If you think of any questions while you're reading, leave a comment on this post and I'll include it in the discussion post.
Most read entries at Crazy Eddie's Motie News during Spring 2026 (3/21 to 6/20/2026)
Jul. 2nd, 2026 04:50 pm
Chippy the Capybara?
Jul. 2nd, 2026 08:23 amlydamorehouse
Image: A chipmuck with cheeks so stuffed with sunflower seeds that she looks like a capybara.
So, yeah, I had this new bird in my bird feeder the other day. I will admit? Shawn and I have always secretly WANTED chipmunks in our yard. Yes, we know they are destructive little so-and-sos, but LOOK AT HER! So cute!! Also? I was this many years old when I learned chipmunks can climb trees. I guess I just never lived around enough of them to know this? I sort of assume they were ground only being "ground squirrels."
I had a day of animal sightings the day I took this picture. This was taken on Tuesday and I know this because I went to the Roseville farmer's market this very same morning and, on my way there, saw a COYOTE! Yep! She was crossing the road with what I presume was maybe this little fellow's cousin in her mouth, headed into the several acres of farmland that the University of Minnesota has to the north of its Saint Paul campus for its ag students. I suspect she was bringing breakfast home to pups, as it was just after 8 am. Same night, on the way to work, I saw egrets in the little swampy pond that I pass on my way to work. A red letter day! (or its pagan equivalent.)
Otherwise, I have mostly been hunkering down, trying to survive this heat. Today, so far, it's not bad. It's 74 F / 23 C, but, unfortunately, it's also only about 8:30 in the morning. I am hoping it doesn't get too much hotter. We are, at least, expecting thunderstorms this afternoon. It's been a good year for rain. Our currant bushes in the backyard fruited for the first time since Mason was in Elementary School, and I suspect that's largely due to the amount of sky water we've been getting.
Oh, and Convergence starts today? It being Thursday, I work today, soI won't be going until Friday afternoon. I should probably give you all my schedule (also this means my family can find it easily too.)
=====
Friday (July 3) - 12:30 pm (in the Space Louge) : Performance of "Sincerely Yours" with Cole Sarar with musical accompaniment by Caly McMorrow.
Saturday (July 4) - 9:30 am : "Life Lessons Anime Taught Me."
Sunday (July 5) - 11:00 am : "Exploring Fandom Alternate Universes" (which I am moderating, sort of, as the person who requested this panel is on the panel so I will likely largly cede the floor to her.)
Sunday (July 5) - 2:00 pm : "The Art of Resisitance"
=========
I will try to give you all another of my typical con reports, but I failed to do that for Quantum Con, so I probably shouldn't promise anything.
Oh, and I should probably report on Shawn's LATEST trip to Urgent Care. I do not know how Shawn gets this unlucky? But, she has some kind of contact dermatitis that seems to have become a staph infection. Of course, she's taking so many drugs for her various other conditions that she has to be on an antibotic that's kind of INTENSE (and not the doc's first choice). This is the first time, she's been INSTRUCTED to take a probiotic with her antibotic. So, that's not fun.
We have no idea what happened. It's on her calf and she's pretty sure she brushed up against a plant? But, we don't have poison ivy in our yard! Maybe somewhere there's a hidden stinging nettle, but whatever it was, it produced a single blister from which all of this is spreading out from.
Sheesh. This poor woman has the worst luck.
Otherwise, life continues apace. How's by you?
Prompt: Raw Foods
Jul. 1st, 2026 07:43 amrunpunkrun posting in gluten_freeJust in time for summer up top, our prompt for July is Raw Foods!
To fill this prompt, you can:
- Slide into the comments of this post and share a link to a recipe, product, or resource and why you like it.
- Write up a favorite recipe and post it to the comm.
- Post a review of a related product or cookbook to the comm.
- Try someone's recipe and reply to their post (or comment) with any changes you made and how it turned out.
And, a reminder, you can now tag your own posts.
Here's what's going on in the comments:
"The Anomaly" Discussion Post
Jun. 30th, 2026 09:46 pmaflaminghalo posting in bookclub_dwQ1 How did you find Rutgers writing style? Do you think he built the atmosphere effectively?
Q2Did you have any favourite scenes?Or where there any scenes that made you roll your eyes?
Q3Did you have a favourite character? Do you think the supporting cast were handled well?
Q4The book is heavily inspired by mysteries and legends, do you have any favourites?
Q2Did you have any favourite scenes?Or where there any scenes that made you roll your eyes?
Q3Did you have a favourite character? Do you think the supporting cast were handled well?
Q4The book is heavily inspired by mysteries and legends, do you have any favourites?
Links from and about partners shared at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page during June 2026
Jun. 30th, 2026 10:12 am
Postponed video for Paul Bunyan Day post: Muffler Men
Jun. 28th, 2026 01:00 pmneonvincentCame across this video while composing Paul Bunyan and Blue Ox Babe statues in Bemidji, Minnesota. Fox 9 Minneapolis logo. Paul Bunyan Legacy. I might use it next year.
No Cats, Alas
Jun. 28th, 2026 07:39 amlydamorehouse I 100% FORGOT to go to the Cat Tour.
This is the problem with a thing that happens on a Wednesday, when I work Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was telling a friend that it's not working, per se, that's screwing me up. But the fact that, when I work, I start in the middle of the middle of the day. I am in fact the sort of person who is best suited to 9 to 5, not 3 to 7 pm.
ANYWAY, enough of that.
On Saturday, I ran a one-shot for only two of my players. I'd hoped to have at least three, and had thought we had nearly a full compliment of the troupe (we are a troupe because we have two bards, and most the of characters met because they performed in a band together.) But, things happens, especially with adults. We considered not playing, but decided to, anyway. I'm not sure this was such a good idea? It did mean that the two players who don't particually get along well in real life, did have to figure out a minor mystery together. That was either really good for their dynamic, or torture. I am feeling like a slightly bad GM/DM, because I don't tend to plan a lot of combat-heavy campaigns, not even my one shots, and one of the players who showed up really does kind of want to kill things and take their stuff (a valid way to play the game!) I have mentally vowed to have more adventures where there are more opportunities for violence for those who might like a little pretend murder. To be fair to me, this particular troupe does not tend to choose violence, generally. If they are met by a literal army of orcs, they will attempt to go around or negotiate safe passage.That fits my personal style pretty well, but I mean D&D character building does reward a certain kind of game play and for those that like it, I should let them do it a bit more often.
Then, on Saturday night, the game that I usually get to PLAY cancelled. The GM offered to let me run a one-shot in that world and I have something that I'm half ready to run, but it was only half ready. I was putting finishing touches on my D&D one-shot, so I ended up saying I wasn't quite ready. I'm going to try to get that scenario slightly more fleshed out and then it will be ready next time that people feel up to it. I am, however, less comfortable running the Star Trek game. I very much feel like the amateur GM that I am whenever I do, and I'm not convinced that my "eh, let's wing it!" vibe goes as well in that universe. I mean, maybe if we were playing the Lower Decks version?
Today, we are roasting a turkey. Shawn has a very humorous tendency to want to hoarde turkeys when they come on sale around Thanksgiving and we were getting a fairly ridiculous stockpile in our freezer. So, I told her last year that I would let her buy a second turkey, if she promised to pick a day in the middle of the year for us to make one of the others. Today is that day. In fact, I am about to put some socks on and head out to the grocery store to pick up our sides and other fixings. The bread is already rising on the counter.
Oh, and our mulberry trees have been going to town, so I made a mulberry pie to tonight's desert.
This is the problem with a thing that happens on a Wednesday, when I work Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was telling a friend that it's not working, per se, that's screwing me up. But the fact that, when I work, I start in the middle of the middle of the day. I am in fact the sort of person who is best suited to 9 to 5, not 3 to 7 pm.
ANYWAY, enough of that.
On Saturday, I ran a one-shot for only two of my players. I'd hoped to have at least three, and had thought we had nearly a full compliment of the troupe (we are a troupe because we have two bards, and most the of characters met because they performed in a band together.) But, things happens, especially with adults. We considered not playing, but decided to, anyway. I'm not sure this was such a good idea? It did mean that the two players who don't particually get along well in real life, did have to figure out a minor mystery together. That was either really good for their dynamic, or torture. I am feeling like a slightly bad GM/DM, because I don't tend to plan a lot of combat-heavy campaigns, not even my one shots, and one of the players who showed up really does kind of want to kill things and take their stuff (a valid way to play the game!) I have mentally vowed to have more adventures where there are more opportunities for violence for those who might like a little pretend murder. To be fair to me, this particular troupe does not tend to choose violence, generally. If they are met by a literal army of orcs, they will attempt to go around or negotiate safe passage.That fits my personal style pretty well, but I mean D&D character building does reward a certain kind of game play and for those that like it, I should let them do it a bit more often.
Then, on Saturday night, the game that I usually get to PLAY cancelled. The GM offered to let me run a one-shot in that world and I have something that I'm half ready to run, but it was only half ready. I was putting finishing touches on my D&D one-shot, so I ended up saying I wasn't quite ready. I'm going to try to get that scenario slightly more fleshed out and then it will be ready next time that people feel up to it. I am, however, less comfortable running the Star Trek game. I very much feel like the amateur GM that I am whenever I do, and I'm not convinced that my "eh, let's wing it!" vibe goes as well in that universe. I mean, maybe if we were playing the Lower Decks version?
Today, we are roasting a turkey. Shawn has a very humorous tendency to want to hoarde turkeys when they come on sale around Thanksgiving and we were getting a fairly ridiculous stockpile in our freezer. So, I told her last year that I would let her buy a second turkey, if she promised to pick a day in the middle of the year for us to make one of the others. Today is that day. In fact, I am about to put some socks on and head out to the grocery store to pick up our sides and other fixings. The bread is already rising on the counter.
Oh, and our mulberry trees have been going to town, so I made a mulberry pie to tonight's desert.
