We were very passive aggressive and just grumbled about it while we were within earshot of the two (very) young women running the escape room.

It was. We had the second fastest time of all the escape room attempts for the month. Without the order of operations fail, we would have had the fastest time for the month. And yes, we are obnoxiously competitive.

I did an escape room with a group of friends last summer - four PhD students, one medical resident, and one psychologist. All of the clues led to a math problem (a + b x c - d) that would reveal the combination to the final lock. We tried and tried, and it wouldn’t work. We absolutely had the math right, but the lock…

I’ve had norovirus twice in the past 10 years. Round one was from contaminated fruit on a breakfast buffet at a work function. I warmed for a university student health service at the time, and 2/3 of the people in my department got sick. We had a full scale health department investigation, which is how I know the…

Barley and finely chopped mushrooms are make good meat subs/extenders for chili.

Ellen coming out and Murphy Brown having a baby are my biggest/most profound TV memories. The Murphy Brown/Dan Quayle dust up was one of my first true political moments. I was 9 and the child of a single mother. Quayle’s bullshit really pissed me off.

I’m a white lady who commutes via public transit in Baltimore. His account of public transit in Atlanta read as 100% bullshit to me. Other than teenagers being teenagers, people are pretty much silent on the metro here, regardless of race.

a/s/l?

Lately, my comfort shows are Great British Baking Show, Jane the Virgin, Archer, Parks and Rec, and Call the Midwife.

This is really timely! I’ve always been pretty good with money (no late payment or overdrafts in 15 years of financial independence, despite a couple of years where I hovered just above the poverty line), but have relaxed a bit in recent years. I’m getting ready to move to a far more expensive city for a post-doc - My…

Only slightly related, but my library prints a receipt with a list of books and due dates when patrons check out (and people have to show the receipt to a security guard on the way out). I just use that as my book mark.

The family is not all on the same page. One side settled with Johns Hopkins several years ago, and is reasonably happy with the continued use of HeLa cells in research as long as Henrietta Lacks gets due credit for her contributions. The other side feels like they were shut out of the conversation when the fmaily…

Oh, I already cook for almost all of my meals, and I like chopping vegetables... I just haven’t paid as much attention to grocery sales, and what little meat I do consume is local/organic/pasture raised. The big change will be swapping $15/lb beef with $1/pound lentils.

I love this series. I’m getting ready to start a postdoc in Boston. I will make more than I currently do as a student, but the cost of living is so much higher compared to Baltimore, it feels like a pay cut. I’m going to have to be more mindfulness of food costs, and meat will be the first thing to go.

Delta is (re)introducing complementary meals in coach on longer domestic routes. American and United will probably follow ifDelta sticks with it.

I love little escargot plates, but don’t have the cash or space. Instead, I just use tiny ramekins - six snails in a 4 oz ramekin works well.

I made a batch of Easter ham fried rice today, and completely forgot about the furikake in my cabinet. I just set the jar on the counter, so I will remember when I pack my lunch tomorrow morning.

The jar in my cabinet has sesame seeds, salt, sugar, and seaweed. No MSG added, but some naturally occurring in the seaweed. If you’re OK consuming nori, then you should be OK with furikake.

Furikake. That is all.

My dad died when I was seven. He was a pretty prominent in our small town, so his illness and death were well known. It sucked to have everyone know my business and watch my every move. My mom felt the same, to the point that we moved to a different town as soon as the school year ended (bonus that it put us closer to…