Fridays after Thursday holidays always feel like the most pointless work day.

I had to work but had no meetings. To go extra easy on myself, I decided not to put any major items on my to-do list. That was a smart move because our internal work chat showed how scattered we all were. I was sending typos all over the place and our train of conversation was mostly non-sequiturs. (One of my coworkers kept accidentally scanning barcodes into the chat which only added to the hilarity.) On top of that, I literally waited 15-minutes for a meeting to start that is actually scheduled for this coming Friday. It was like my brain decided to take the day off without me.

It makes me question the judgment of the American work schedule (again).

How productive can these days really be? Many people take these days off already. Those that are in the office are, often, mentally checked out. Can't we just collectively decide that hustle culture can take a break for one day? Turning that pointless workday into a four day weekend may actually increase productivity once people come back to the office refreshed.

What do you think?

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My summer reading sale ends on Friday! I’m offering 20% off all paid subscriptions.

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My library hold for Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros came in this week. Squee! I’ve been eagerly anticipating this second book in the Empyrean series. Admittedly, some of the plot details from the first book have already left my brain, but I don’t care. I’ll catch up eventually. I just love the whole world Yarros created… and the chemistry between the two main characters.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

• Methods for reheating pasta. [WaPo - gift link]

• And yet my city has argued about adding bike lanes to ONE road for over four years... and counting. [NBC News]

• What it takes to fuel for the Tour de France. [BBC - reader submission]

• Having a dog connects you to the neighborhood. [enJOY]

• The serious science and study of ice cream. [CNN]

• The soundscape of a coral reef. [Nautilus - may be paywalled]

• An economics battle looking at the impact of immigration on labor. [Planet Money]

• A shrinking labor force is not good. [Good on Paper]

• Game theory may lead to nuclear war. [Planet Money]

• The problems of gravity. [Short Wave]

• What alcohol does to your health and life expectancy. [The Daily]

• Unthinkable is a Samuel L. Jackson vehicle with a decent supporting cast. The movie follows the interrogation of a terrorist to help locate three nuclear bombs. This could have been a straight up action flick but it was more of a "man versus man" story.  That gave it some depth over other dramas of this nature. Also, the ending is not what you'd expect. [Netflix]

• We did watch a more traditional action flick when we put on the remake of Total Recall. It's a textbook sci-fi cop/spy story. High on the action, low on the plot, abundant with the explosions and lens flare. I do think the ending is a bit more up in the air than the husband. [Netflix]

• The husband put on Hidden Strike almost as background noise. It was a way over the top action flick with bad CGI and clear stunt choreography starring Jackie Chan and John Cena. It's impressive how many stunts Chan can do in his late 60s. Overall, I didn't care for this but it was interesting to see a movie by a Chinese production company. There was a slightly different take on things. [Netflix]

• I have watched more stages of the Tour de France this year than ever before. I have completely bought in to watching Mark Cavendish make cycling history. [NBC/Peacock]

• We got a head of cabbage in our farm share. I planned to made slow cooker Asian short ribs to use half of it. But then our grocery store didn't have any short ribs. We subbed in chuck roast (cause that's what the Internet recommended) and the result was pretty good. The meat didn't break down quite as well but the flavor was solid. Since I am a fan of tossing extra things in slow cookers, we added celery and peas on top of the veggies already called for in the recipe. [Real Simple]

• To use up the other half of the cabbage, I made beef and cabbage stir fry for my lunch meal prep. The hardest part of this dish is shredding the cabbage. Otherwise, everything comes together quickly in one pan. This would have been even better with a few wonton strips on top. [Budget Bytes]

I just love the beautiful rainbow of colors in this picture. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]

I found One Million Checkboxes after reading a WaPo story. It’s a silly little site but, also, weirdly community oriented.

I have a dentist appointment this week. It’s just a cleaning this time but I really don’t want to go.