Seffy
Tin Member
Posts: 116
|
Post by Seffy on Dec 8, 2020 13:25:13 GMT
I can most definitely relate.
Attempting a "sugar-free" pumpkin pie today for Mr. Seffy. It takes Splenda instead of sugar; hoping I have converted it properly! I haven't baked a pumpkin pie in years, so this should be interesting.
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Dec 9, 2020 3:10:13 GMT
I hope it came out great 🤞
|
|
Seffy
Tin Member
Posts: 116
|
Post by Seffy on Dec 9, 2020 3:12:58 GMT
Not bad! The tricky part was getting the whole thing into the oven without sloshing it everywhere.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Dec 9, 2020 7:46:45 GMT
Glad it turned out nicely! I've not used splenda before - do you have to adapt the recipe to make sure the texture of a bake isn't affected when you swap sugar for splenda, or is it just a straight switch?
|
|
Seffy
Tin Member
Posts: 116
|
Post by Seffy on Dec 9, 2020 12:11:42 GMT
Well, it has a conversion on the box, but I added a tad more than suggested. It really does bake surprisingly well. I use it to make fruit pies, and the consistency and flavor are quite good!
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Dec 9, 2020 12:23:57 GMT
Ooh, great result I have it, but haven't used it since I stopped baking anything for hubby and me. We changed our eating habits in Sept. 2019, as I HAD to lose some weight, a lot, actually, for health reasons. I'm going to start my Christmas baking soon, so might try using the Splenda. Hadn't thought of that
|
|
Seffy
Tin Member
Posts: 116
|
Post by Seffy on Dec 9, 2020 14:04:58 GMT
Let me know what you think of it! The pies aren't low-cal, of course, but at least it's cutting back a bit on the sugars (husband was Diabetic until spine surgery landed him in the hospital for months and he lost over 100 lbs; with Covid and lack of activity, the weight is creeping back up).
I haven't tried it with a cookie recipe...would be interested to hear if it works okay with that, too.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Dec 10, 2020 8:39:19 GMT
I think most of the Western world got a little softer around the middle this year!
I hope your husband can get his health back on track.
|
|
Seffy
Tin Member
Posts: 116
|
Post by Seffy on Dec 10, 2020 13:34:05 GMT
I would agree!
Feeling some anxiety around my job right now. I have been working from home since late March, and was told last week that the "expectation" is that I will return to the office on January 4. I didn't say anything, but I don't see how I can do that. The Covid positivity rate is out of control in our community, and I have an at-risk husband here at home (he is disabled; I discontinued caregiver services when Covid hit and was relieved that I was able to WFH so that I could be here to help tend to him).
Are any of you temporarily working from home, and have you heard anything from your employer on plans for you to return to the workplace?
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Dec 10, 2020 21:26:25 GMT
I don't know when work told you to return in January, but I think there are laws in place(there are here in NH), preventing employers from firing employees who don't want to work in the office for reasons just like yours. The reasons include having a child doing remote schooling from home, and needing to supervise, or having an autoimmune disease that makes you or someone close to you more at risk of getting the virus. Check online for Indiana's COVID protection laws. I used to use Splenda, when Hubby was first diagnosed as borderline diabetic, but he also lost weight, and I try to control his blood sugar with a high fiber diet, and lots of foods low on the GL. Seems to be working. We started walking, when the swimming pool closed, and have kept walking even though we're swimming again. So exercise and diet have been doing the job. I'll let you know how Splenda works in cookies 🤗 Took some photos of the sunset. The first uses the regular setting on my phone. The second uses the Pro setting. The actual light was in between the two photos.
|
|
|
Post by bazookagoof on Dec 11, 2020 1:05:33 GMT
Are any of you temporarily working from home, and have you heard anything from your employer on plans for you to return to the workplace? My story is quite involved, but I'll try to simplify it: My wife was to begin a new job just as the pandemic hit, and was forced to work at home with the old job- she couldn't start the new job until later- but eventually the old job went under (she used to work for Sears) and she was on unemployment for a few months until she found another new job (the old one kept pushing her start date back month after month) so now she's fully employed but still working from home. I managed to stay employed while working from home for awhile, but that company also went under in August, so I had to work for UPS loading their trailers. Working from home is not an option for me anymore.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Dec 11, 2020 8:38:55 GMT
I work from home anyway, and my husband works in education and as schools reopening in September has been the government's main priority, that was the end of working from home for him.
A few months ago our infection rates were dropping significantly, and the government did briefly advise people to go back into work rather than working from home. But alongside universities starting back (so tens of thousands of people moving around the country), and school reopening, our rates spiked again so they again advised people to work from home where possible, and that advice has remained the same since. It seems to be the norm.
If your rates are still high and you can do your job from home, it would be common sense that you would be encouraged to work from home if possible. Do you think your change of leadership will change the way this pandemic is handled and the advice that's given? I hope you can have a conversation with your employers about your own circumstances and that they will be reasonable.
Great photos, but quite different lighting. The sky looks so different. It's interesting!
|
|
Seffy
Tin Member
Posts: 116
|
Post by Seffy on Dec 11, 2020 19:24:19 GMT
That bottom photo has the little lantern lit up nicely. I hope we get a little snow over the holidays. The problem is that my employer has allowed me to work from home longer than just about anyone else so far (because of my husband), and I think there is now push-back from other employees who resent that they weren't afforded the same opportunity. At one time, almost 40% of our staff was either furloughed or working from home but they have had to return over the past few months, despite soaring cases; now I think it might be down to me and perhaps two others. I can see if they will extend my WFH status, but I'm going to doubt it. Even with our positivity rate through the roof, our senior management team largely sees Covid as over-blown and "just like the flu" (our CEO himself had it and recovered in less than a week---just like his fearless leader, Trump).
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Dec 11, 2020 21:33:31 GMT
I'm so sorry you're working for someone without empathy. It does sound as if any of the employees who worked from home actually need to be in the office. Do any of the employees who have returned to work have an immune compromised family member at home? If not, you are in a singular situation, which might work in your favor.
I do like the lighted lamp in the bottom picture, and the dark background makes it really stand out. I've been trying the different photo settings on my phone, so the pictures are hit or miss.
SCOTUS dismissed the lawsuit by Texas to overturn the election results of several states branded by tRump as having given his votes to Biden.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Dec 12, 2020 9:53:50 GMT
Oh that does sound difficult, and of course while you're going to put your husband's health first, you don't want it to cause issues with your co-workers.
I really hope you can have a conversation about it where you're pleasantly surprised by how they handle it, but I know it doesn't always work out that way...
Oh yes, I missed the lamp but it does look great in the second photo. I was too focused on the molten sky burning through the clouds!
|
|
Seffy
Tin Member
Posts: 116
|
Post by Seffy on Dec 12, 2020 13:44:52 GMT
"SCOTUS dismissed the lawsuit by Texas to overturn the election results of several states branded by tRump as having given his votes to Biden."
Thankfully. Now they're talking about Texas petitioning to secede from the US. This whole thing is so utterly absurd.
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Dec 12, 2020 21:52:49 GMT
I have no problem with that. I think the economic tradeoff would be in our favor. Texas has always tried to be its own country, flaunting federal law, but happy to take federal handouts.
Apparently two "new" states, I think it's New Nebraska and New California, basically groups within those states declaring themselves to be in a new state, tried to join that lawsuit. Sadly, the Republican party is looking more and more crazy by the day. No logic. No ration. No decency. What happened to them?
Our Republican Speaker of the house(local version of Mitch McConnell) died of COVID-19 a few days after being sworn in. Now his temporary replacement has tested positive for the virus. The lack of mask wearing and social distancing is catching up with them 😢
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Dec 13, 2020 8:25:41 GMT
I hadn't heard that about Texas. Have any other states have similar ideas in recent years?
We'll officially be leaving the EU at the end of the month (quite likely with no trade deal in place). They've made such a balls up of it, but with covid dominating the news, they're not getting as much grief about it as they should.
|
|
|
Post by 3piggles on Dec 13, 2020 21:16:11 GMT
Latest BBC report was the EU extended the Brexit period, but it seems the sides are at loggerheads over some major issues, free trade, and the border with Northern Ireland being two major ones. EU doesn't have to give an inch.
Not everyone in Texas ever thought it should be a state, and as a state, it's threatened cessation before. Texas was a slave state, so after the civil war, a lot of Confederate slave owners fled to Texas to keep their slaves. It took years for the federal government to enforce the antislavery laws in the states west of the Mississippi River. Texans have long claimed they're state is practically as big as the rest of the country, so they should have representation in the federal government that recognizes their size, not their population. It goes on and on, but imtol now, it's all been talk, not ludicrous lawsuits files on SCOTUS.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Dec 14, 2020 9:18:32 GMT
Interesting. I guess with so many states with such different histories, there's bound to be strong feelings of identity that don't always come together. We can't even manage to keep the UK together, Scotland will be off as soon as the can.
Fishing is another big one with the EU - we want to keep all our waters to ourselves, and then be able to sell our fish to all the countries we've kicked out without any tariffs. (We currently export most of the fish we catch, while most of the fish we actually eat is imported...) Fishing is a small part of our economy but some coastal areas rely heavily on it.
I think preventing overfishing should be one of the main considerations. Things like that are much easier to sort out when countries work together rather than competing...
|
|