#296 - Tariff This!

I felt well rested this morning.

I was able to sleep through the loud thunderstorms that apparently happened around five AM. I rose from my bed around nine and headed straight to my desk ready to start the day.

I logged into my system and there wasn’t much going on as far as messages and emails were concerned. I think everyone was easing into their day throughout the company.

There were plenty of approvals to get through, and some required a bit more revision than others. I decided to do the revisions myself so the painter could keep their forward momentum.

I’d asked a question to another department yesterday, and all I got back was crickets. So, this morning I sent a message saying I was just going to randomly pick one of the choices and call it a day.

The response was immediate!

The best way to get people to make a decision is to make it for them.

Outside, the rain came down in buckets. Thunder cracked so loud it shook my bones, and both Robyn and I oohed and ahhed. I reminded me of the storms I experienced as a youngster. It feels like it’s been some time since we had those massive summer thunderstorms.

Usually, I have to wait until we go up north on vacation to get a storm like that.

With the constant downpour, we skipped our lunch hour walk. I spent a few minutes tidying up my office space, which was getting out of control. It felt like a good use of my time, and I felt better about being in that space all day long afterwards.

It’s by no means complete, but a little tidy-up like this every day for a week would do it wonders. I need to apply the same logic to my bedside table and the top of my dresser. All these areas can get out of hand really quickly if you don’t keep on it.

I know I enjoy being in an organized space better than a mess. A little while ago I did a storage upgrade to our bathroom cupboards and drawers, and it really affects your quality of life in a good way.

The problem with my office is a storage issue. Or too much stuff issue. I should spend a little bit more time going through things, putting things back into their places and looking for things that could be moved or even better removed entirely from the house.

Later in the day, I finished doing approvals and found myself in the unusual position of having nothing to do. I messaged my supervisor, and she assigned  me two paintings. It’s nice to work on a fresh painting, and any work I get done is a less burden on the rest of the team.

I worked until about five forty-five and then called it a day.

The rain had stopped for now, and I took the opportunity to fetch the mail from the postbox. Little did I know it would be the most walking I would get in today.

From the fridge, I grabbed some salmon fillets that defrosted over night. I felt like having some fish for tonight’s supper. These filets had the skin still intact, so I chose to cook them in the frying pan to get a nice crispy finish. The trick is to pat the skin dry and salt it then let it sit for a minute. The salt brings out more moisture. Pat it dry again, and it’s ready to go into the pan.

You need enough oil in the pan to coat the bottom evenly for this method, and the heat needs to initially be set to medium-high. You want that sizzle of this skin when you lay it into the pan.

And then you need to leave it there to sear. You can lower the heat to medium after a few minutes . Then flip it and reduce the heat to cook the fleshy side to whatever doneness you like. And there you have some delicious and nutritious crispy-skinned salmon.

I made a side of asparagus with bacon lardons and then just reheated some of the roasted vegetables from last night’s dinner. The salmon and asparagus turned out great, and the reheated veg hit the spot.

Robyn headed out to her second job, and I retreated to our room for some well- deserved rest. I put on the Apple TV and watched the rest of this season of For All Mankind. I enjoyed this season and hope they might get another season greenlit.

They did get a new spinoff series called Star City, which is the telling of the Russian’s space program in this television universe. I started watching the first episode, then Robyn returned and I shut it off so we could watch a show together.

She was feeling a bit rundown as well, so I put on The Daily Show for a little humour and world news. We followed that with Seth Meyers. Both shows were making fun of Trump at the World Cup and his complete failure to deliver on his campaign promises. Of course, the on and off again war with Iran was another failure of his they made fun of.

And it was only today or yesterday that Trump added a new 50% tariff on most Canadian goods because Canadians aren’t buying American whiskey and wine as much. And some provinces have pulled it all off the shelves entirely. He had the audacity to say Canada could survive without the US. Is he right? Maybe. I think both countries worked better when we were allies and not adversarial.

I’m not sure this new ploy of his is going to have much effect either. Canada has been busy making all kinds of infrastructure improvements to move goods through the north ports and has signed numerous trade deals with various countries to sell its goods.

Trump’s new tariff is just likely to increase the decoupling of the Canadians from the American market and create a new world market. I wonder sometimes, how many decades will it take for America and the world to recover from all the damage Trump as inflicted on the planet?

I guess only time will tell.

It’s just coming up on midnight, and I feel like I need another good sleep.

Going to call it a day.

Until tomorrow.