I was once interviewing someone for a book. I emailed them a question and they emailed back their answer in a voice note. They prefaced the voice note by explaining they always gave answers in voice notes because it was (1) slightly faster than typing and (2) much faster than all the pleasantries and extra questions that go into a phone call.

It’s sort of brilliant–especially timewise. It makes it harder to find information in the future (I just needed to open every audio email he sent me in order to find one fact) but in the moment, I could hear tone of voice, the way he paused as he thought about the answer, and a dozen of other tiny cues that let me know more than words on a screen. I’m someone who likes things in writing, but I realized that I also like things spoken as long as they’re recorded so I can listen again and again.

Apparently the youth are courting over voice notes. I really love this because it’s slow–slower than a phone conversation, at least. And you can think before you start speaking. And you can listen to the other person’s words over and over again. Plus sometimes meaning is lost in an email. This way, you can hear the other person’s tone and sighs and pauses.

I never ever want to date again, but I agree with the article that you can get a better sense of a person over time in a low-key way by exchanging audio files.

What do you think?

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I just learned the term EDC–everyday carry. It’s the stuff you always have with you when you leave the house. Though I realized that I have a core EDC and then an extended EDC. Like if I’m just running to the library, I have my core stuff with me, and if I’m going to a restaurant, I have my core and extended with me. But I think of it as something deeper than “what’s in your purse?” Because some items in my purse change, depending on the day. My EDC is always the same.

So my EDC is a book (almost always a paper book, but for small outings, I may only have an e-book on my phone), lip balm, tweezers (useful it so many different situations), wallet, phone, Tylenol/Tums (again, so useful), band-aid, extra tampon (am I the only person who constantly encounters women in public restrooms asking if you have an extra tampon?), bullet journal, library card.

I also have my library card memorized in case I’m ever in an emergency library situation where they can’t scan my card but I can check out a book if I know my number.

Priorities, people.

What is your EDC?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

We are a tad obsessed with Downton Abbey. (We already have our tickets to see the movie in September.) Our favourite part is being able to see life in the house from all sides: the upstairs and the downstairs. We’re not just following Lord and Lady Grantham, we intimately know Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Patmore, and Mr. Carson.

Sometimes when we’re watching the show, I’m wondering what the staff is thinking as they’re serving the family. Most clearly enjoy their job and wouldn’t necessarily want another position in life. Whenever someone is thinking about leaving Downton, there are always people who defensively weigh in with how much they enjoy a life of service and how they would never leave.

As someone who loves her work, I totally get it. If you gave me the option to stop working, I wouldn’t want to take it. I enjoy what I do too much, and I take great pride in a job well done and the level of attention I give to detail. So I’m not sure why I’m surprised whenever the Downton staff verbalizes that same sentiment: they’re happy with a life of service.

The Atlantic had an article this month about the new servant class; the jobs that support the wealthy. The personal chefs and the personal trainers and the dog walkers and the massage therapists. The article loops in people who work for establishments or businesses, such as people who work in a salon or drive for Uber, which is different from Downton.

What drives the staff at Downton is the personal connection. Their work is reflected in the success of a single family. If the Crawleys are doing well, they’re doing well because of Daisy’s cooking, Anna’s dressing, or Barrow’s shoe shines. Whereas in our current service industry, you have no clue what happens to the person after they leave the salon or car unless they’re a repeat customer. Even then, a person has dozens or even hundreds of repeat customers. It’s hard to see your cog’s place in the larger machine.

The article and rewatching Downton Abbey provides food for thought as you move through your day. How many people out there are supporting your life? How many lives does your work support?

I tried the Impossible Whopper, and it was awesome. I’m pretty sure that Burger King has had a veggie burger for a while, but I’ve never felt moved to try it. But this was incredible. I got mine without the sauce and a side order of onion rings.

I’ve had the Impossible Burger before, and this wasn’t quite as good as the version at Founding Farmers. BUT the fact that I can pick it up while on the road from any Burger King in America? Priceless.

I felt like such an American having a “hamburger” for dinner to the point where I couldn’t stop saying, “Look at us. A typical American family having hamburgers, just like everyone else.” (By which I mean that I couldn’t stop until everyone around the table said, “Please. Stop.”)

Have you had it yet?

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Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Stages of My Survival” (Infertile Phoenix)
• “Maximum Responsibility” (Torthúil)
• “How Can You Be Happy?” (My Path to Mommyhood)

Okay, now my choices this week.

I bookmarked “How Can You Be Happy” by My Path to Mommyhood for this week, too. The words she has been waiting to hear from someone — what a difference it makes when you feel the other person is listening and not judging. And I love this: “Because, NO ONE HAS ‘BEEN THERE.’ Just you. People may have been in general proximity to your ‘there,’ but your situation has its very own GPS coordinate.” This is a post that every single person who speaks to other people (um… all of us?) needs to read.

It’s Inconceivable has a post about being alone without being lonely. She write: “I’ve also come to realise that not having a family of my own has given me the gift of being responsible for my own wellbeing and content in situations of enforced isolation whereas others with families (whom have never had to consider this option) have struggled with these same things. Who knew that being childless not by choice would have prepared me for these things?” I love this thought of being your own anchor.

Lastly, Inconceivable! has a very funny post about the unwritten rules of calling the RE. I laughed so hard because one of my “Public Places Corollary” moments involved having to discuss my uterus while crouched on a staircase at the college where I was teaching while students walked around me.

The roundup to the Roundup: I tried the Impossible Whopper. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between August 16th and August 23rd) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.

So I always thought the argument for the four-day work week was to make people more productive during the hours they’re actually at work. Shorten the work week and people will move unnecessary things… cough… Facebook… to home hours and use their time in the office to plow through their to-do list.

But the Guardian had an article about how environmental change rests on the four-day work week.

We also consume less in the process of getting our job done. Less work means less carbon-intensive commuting, less energy-sucking office space, and less time on power-hungry computer systems. In addition, working less would help to break down the work-spend cycle. Fewer hours at work mean we have more time to do other things such as travelling, preparing food or fixing broken household items. We are also less likely to rely on environmentally costly timesavers such as high-speed travel or takeaway food delivered in plastic containers by someone riding a motorbike.

So if we’re home more, we can find the time to do the things that we often say we don’t have time to do––such as cook a meal from scratch vs. use more energy having someone else cook and deliver a meal in disposable containers. Or take the time to repair something broken vs. dump it in a landfill and order a new item.

It sounds a little like the ideal version of what would happen if we had a four-day work week, but as someone who telecommutes full-time (no need for a work wardrobe or commuting time/costs/fuel!), I really love the fact that technology has made it possible to work with a team without leaving the house. I am productive because few people bother me during the day. I mean, except for Linus wheeking for alfalfa cookies.

Slack and Zoom make me feel like everyone on the team is close by. It took a little time to get disciplined and make work time actually work time, but now that I’ve worked from home for over a decade, I couldn’t imagine moving back into an office.

What do you think of the four-day work week?