{"id":2795,"date":"2022-07-04T13:16:48","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T20:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=2795"},"modified":"2022-07-04T13:16:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T20:16:48","slug":"a-week-in-the-life-july-4-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=2795","title":{"rendered":"A Week in the Life: July 4, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s Independence Day here in the U.S. and I can’t say I’m feeling very animated about it. I’m far from the first<\/a> to criticize the hypocrisy of this country for celebrating a day of “freedom” when we’re intent on stripping rights away. And we’ve already had a mass shooting at a parade<\/a> today (one of many<\/a> this year so far), so there’s that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It feels particularly sick this year to celebrate. But then, I’ve never been a big Fourth of July fan. When I was 17, I started the first day of my first real job on July 4. I was working as a caterer for events and was glad for the excuse to not have to pass a sweltering evening at a family gathering and sitting in the local university stadium all afternoon being bored and waiting for fireworks. While I do enjoy a good fireworks show as much as the next person, I am presently fed up with people spending at least a week before and a week after the holiday blowing shit up in the streets. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Huey<\/a>
Huey enjoying some cool air<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It’s been a few weeks since I wrote about my actual life. Two weeks ago, we got a new HVAC system installed\u2014a brand-new air conditioning and a heat pump. We’d been planning to do it since the beginning of the year but, given the state of the supply chain, we unfortunately had it done on a week when the heat hit 107 degrees. The contractor set up a portable air conditioning unit in our bedroom, which Huey enjoyed but Fritz was terrified of, and which kept us from dying of heat exhaustion. It was really hot in our house but the good news is the new AC is much more efficient and our house is cooling more evenly thanks to new vents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consuming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some things I’ve recently read, watched, or bought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books and Other Words<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Recently I read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n