Sunday, August 4, 2024
By:
(Written on my phone’s notepad while stuck at the stupid airport)
Lightning crashes, my flight is delayed:
Let me start by airing my grievances. Things that require you to upload money to a balance should let you have full control over the money you add. I’ve been robbed 8 bucks from laundry and transit due to this. Oh, I forgot prices increased in July. I just need to add a dollar. Nope, the minimum amount to add is $4. I have a balance of 90 cents, I’d love to add $10.10, but noooooo. The only way I can end with an even amount is by adding $19.10.
The adults are yapping:
I have developed the ability to just do something. Jump 20 feet into the water? Mind off, just jump. Something that claims to be hyper-spicy? Mind off, consume. Giving a public speech. Mind off, I know what I’m saying. Now, this probably isn’t the most healthy mechanism, and one consequence is that I went through an entire eight-minute presentation without actually making eye contact. Yeah my eyes were looking at eye level, and yeah, my vision swept side to side (I was presenting), but I did not connect with anyone’s eyes.
It was adorable how optimistic the symposium schedule was. We had 8 minutes for our spiel, 2 minutes for questions, andthen the next person was scheduled. So those two minutes had to hold the time we went over, questions, and transitions. So yeah, we finished 30 minutes late.
All these things that I have baked:
Lots of baking. Almost exclusively, only bread products could hold their shape. I thought of making English muffins or brownies, but I would need more cooking infrastructure to handle these batter-based substances. I have made bread, cookies, sweet bread, biscuits, bagels, and scones. These covered three different types of dough whose real names I won’t bother looking up.
Bread dough: mix everything to get her what andneed. Cookie dough: mix sugar into butter, and some egg, then flour, minimal need. Biscuit dough: incorporate frozen butter into flour, andadd milk.
I sorta like it right here, but I cannot stay:
I probably could have gone outside more, but I definitely hit the highlights. Museums, zoos, chili dogs. DC is a nice little town.
However, I can’t stand these stupid prices for everything. Why is everything twice as expensive on the coast? Why is 20 bucks for a single person’s meal commonplace? I swear it’s probably cheaper to buy seafood from Illinois than anywhere on the coast.
This is my life on holiday:
I have one month at home after this internship (assuming I ever get out of this flipping airport). Not much travel for me. Just toured some abandoned railroad tracks and a concert. Bagels will be baked. Cookies will be cooked. After that, I will officially become a pirate.
P.S. On the flight, I look out at the sea of stars. Points of light speckle the dark ground below, interlaced with threads of gold.
That’s all folks.
Evan Erickson