Out & About #829 | Weekly Roundup: The Reluctance Against Optimization Feat. Hulk Krispies

Life is miserable - despicable. It has been for a while. Truthfully, I cannot deduce the cause of such misery, as the chaos swells when least expected.

I've never been excited to adopt a potentially uneven tan without the lure of fieldwork - it is the backbone of knowledge acquisition, as this industry knows it. 2.5 weeks in, I commenced a new week feeling extremely haggard, yet more confident in my abilities to handle on-site situations.

This newly acquired sense of accomplishment sharply plummeted after being scolded for "inappropriate" behaviour, which as simple as attempting to multi-task due to a last-minute assignment (never mentioned on Day 1 and only inadvertently learned late the previous week). It came as a shock to me, for not one member of intermediate hierarchy staff had pointed out this area for misconception personally, and instead relayed it directly to the next order of command.

Would my position be in jeopardy? Would I only acquire 13 days of experience in spite of the treacherous commuting conditions?

​For the first time since commencing the project, I wanted to forfeit, to be relieved of my misery just as the former inspector had. My personal best was simply insufficient. In conjunction with unclear objectives, unclear expectations, and a plethora of missing information, this was a game in which a perfect score would never be attained.

I felt defeated, needless to say, for the various sources of incoming information were inconsistent. Yet, the one breaking their back to make it work was me.

I despise playing the victim, for I strongly believe that the world holds as many alternate solutions as the population that inhabit it. But my due diligence had been completed; one cannot ponder answers to issues in an absence of information.

Similar stressful situations have arisen in the past, primarily from those that lack foresight, those incapable of managing multiple tasks simultaneously, those failing to comprehend the scale of individual project tasks, or, the worst of them all, those that fall within all the above.

​Many tears were shed, frustrations voiced repeatedly, and deep contemplation undertaken. It pains me to declare that my deductions were inconclusive.

Appending to these woes was the revolting weather forecast (no rain and constant humidity!!) and daily collisions on the QEW or Burlington Skyway, resulting in delays up to and exceeding 90 minutes. The worst part of all: I'd be redoing it all over the following day without fail.

​On the first day back, I fought fatigue with music and the promise of a Real Fruit Peach Slush from CoCo. The Fruit Aliens line had just been launched, and the sleepy polar bear was willing to emerge on my doorstep with one of four specialty beverages in an attempt to appease the situation.
It worked, but its impacts were short-lived.

The Real Peach Slush was exception with fleshy chunks of the stone fruit, but too sweet at 30% sugar (though this could vary by location). Added to the franchise's lineup was a topping by the name of Crystal Pearl, which adopt the shape and size of tapioca yet yields a toothsome bite between coconut jelly and agar agar.

​The next day, I found myself seeking A/C once again. Precipitation had occurred overnight at long last, however dissipated had the heat not.

​At Indigo, I chanced across Baking Science, an educational read harnessing both recipes (in grams, no less!) and explanations on the chemistry behind it. Long had I longed for such a compilation, for recipes are too often thought as rigid and ought be fluid enough for customization.

The book was $29.99, which was neither pricey nor economic as current inflation rates stand. I halted acquisition of it, for I am even less a reader of books than I am a player of games. I would later resort to obtaining the text online, an endeavour in which I ultimately proved success.

My week proceeded with building tensions and even greater sleep loss than the previous week. Restlessness was expected at this point, as were drooping lids and wraths of fury throughout the commute.

The sleepy polar bear's efforts to resolve my rants were in vain, for lack of organized thoughts and constraints for time do not pair well. For items beyond my control, the suggestion was "acceptance" and "release". I heard it as a milder variation of escaping current circumstances than confronting them - a form of crippling discouragement rather than empowerment.

"You can't do it." A hushed whisper reverberated from within.
I braced for combat, perceiving the threat as negative energy.
In reality, it was a recommendation to leave certain things imperfect, for my own standards can be far higher than those of standard citizens, that "thinking less" would be advantageous to thinking more about meeting standards that didn't exist. However, the true intentions were not learned of until much later, when the need for urgent care has passed.

Retail therapy is oddly less attractive to me in person.

Rounds were made at Best Buy and Michaels, where Halloween and fall décor lined the entire front section of the store.

​The sleepy polar bear was given the cold shoulder towards the latter half of the week, when I could tolerate no further anxieties, no further spikes in blood pressure, and thus no longer substantiate any further correspondence.

I instead headed to CoCo for another of their Real Fruit Slushes. Opting to share the Mango variation on a later date, I took to the Dragonfruit version.

It was ridiculously vibrant, as the chain had advertised, but absolutely horrid with the inclusion of orange. The fixed sugar level was too sweet, and the beverage was one-dimensional, lacking depth while extending a bland palate brimming with the essence of compost and fruit discard.

Not even lemon juice, ice, or Ribena could salvage the monstrosity. The Yogurt variation had been much, much better.

By Friday, I had anticipated the bulk of the calamities to have subsided.

Instead, a different set of problems were encountered. This time, though, the tasks were job-related. They were challenging, demanded immediate adaptation, but resulted in the sense of accomplishment and educational nourishment that I had desired.

​As Tablo had once said, "Most people quit their jobs not because of their jobs, but because of their managers." The statement has never once failed me in all my years of serving society from the public and private sectors.

Creations of the week included:

1) Hulk Krispies with Almonds

Pandan Rice Krispies to be exact, the formula was adapted from SK's formula using salted butter and elevated (though the accuracy of this vocabulary choice is debatable) with vanilla and pandan extracts. A handful of toasted sesame seeds were incorporated, as per previous attempts with ube extract, along with roughly chopped, unsalted almonds for added crunch.

​Opting for a blend of mini and jumbo marshmallows, sticky strands of gooeyness were easier to achieve between the squares. That said, the difference in dissolution times meant constant stirring was needed for homogeneity. The ingredient swap was forgotten, and the marshmallows failed to be incorporated entirely into the melted butter. A slight dampness - stickiness - resided at the bottom of each square, concentrated at the centre.

Pandan flavours were, regrettably, as subtle as the ube. ​In spite of saturating the specimen only in terms of hue, the snack was still an undisputed success. Toasted sesame seeds beckoned with nutty aromas, while soft, pillow Rice Krispies were offset with the crunchiness of almonds.

2) Blueberry Crumble Muffins

Two boxes of shriveling blueberries stared me squarely in the with every crack of the refrigerator door. It wasn't until the arrival of the weekend that I set out to construct the muffins with an almond crumble topping à la Sunday Baking.

A good portion of these blueberries had fallen victim to moulding, mind you. Thankfully, an adequate amount remained even after extracting the not-so-plump ones.

SK's recipe utilized cake flour and plenty of blueberries, making for a thick batter but tender crumb. Frankly, the muffins were far too crumbly for my liking, and I'll likely be switching to all-purpose next time around. The turbinado sugar surface was replaced by the almond crumble from Sunday Baking's Cherry Crumble Cake, delivering the same degree of satisfaction as before.

An utter user error, I had swapped the baking soda and baking powder amounts. One was thrice the amount of the other, which would endanger the final product to reek of staleness. Alas, I had diverged from lemon zest to more shelf-stable additions such as orange extract and bottled lemon juice. These components contributed acidity to the batter, which assisted in offsetting the accidental inclusions slightly. Remnants of baking soda's unmistakable essence lingered, but the batch was still very much edible (thank goodness).
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​As a final note, it is advisable to use sweet, ripe blueberries, for these muffins rely heavily on the quality of fruit.

3) Coffee Japanese Cheesecake (Soufflé Cheesecake?)

My fourth time revisiting this recipe takes the form of a Coffee Japanese Cheesecake. Frankly, I'd love to call it "Soufflé Cheesecake", but its denseness steers away from this declaration.
Utilizing the remainder of a partially mouldy, forgotten block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, I set out to craft the mini cake while incorporating the richness of roasted coffee. I didn't succeed in our household's LMS favourite, though it was delicious nonetheless, despite offering little to no structure on the first two days.

Towards the end of the week, I proposed Hiroi Sushi for lunch. A Sashimi & Big California set and unexpectedly scrumptious (but pricey) Chicken Katsu Donburi served to sustain our appetites for three meals.

​The sashimi was, unfortunately, less fresh than phone and walk-in orders. The Chicken Katsu Donburi, on the other hand, was of a generous portion and tasty enough to replace my former go-to of Katsuya. Sweet potato fries and non-ponzu-based salad dressing were swell bonuses.

​Braised Eggplant and Ground Pork over rice served as a hearty supper that would later ease into my weekday lunches.