#my laptop refuses to connect to my scanner so i had to take a picture instead

[toffiendfee]

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[slapshot-to-the-heart]

Flatbush & Atlantic: part v

Here we have part v! Took me a little longer than usual, but I’m really happy with how it turned out - it’s All Star Weekend with our favorite couple, folks! I haven’t been getting as much engagement as usual with the posts, so please feel free to reblog it and pop into my inbox!

part i part ii part iii part iv

part v

January 28

Cass sat on a metal bench at JFK, legs propped up on her carry-on, eyes flitting between the departures screen and her phone. Mat walked through the sliding doors to her left, catching her eye with a quick wave and smile. If he wanted to travel incognito in Long Island, though, the suit bag and “these-are-more-expensive-than-they-look” sunglasses weren’t helping his cause. “You’ve got the tickets?” She asked. After much convincing, Cass finally agreed to let Mat buy the tickets; he said it would be easier to make sure they were seated together, and had told her to think of it as a belated Christmas present if she’d like. 

Mat nodded, gesturing towards the check-in counters. “Shall we?”

Cat grabbed his hand in her own as they walked to the counter. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that they’d be travelling anything but economy — she never had, after all — so she was more than a little surprised when he steered her and their bags towards American’s first-class check-in. He looked down at her. “What? You think I’d let you go to the All-Star Game in anything but the best? Nah, we’re travelling in style, babe.” Cass flushed, handing over her bags to be weighed and taking the boarding pass from the flight attendant with a harried thanks. 

“Qu-est-ce que c’est, chère?” Mat asked, brushing a kiss over the top of her head as they headed up the escalator. French had been her foreign language in high school and college; it had gotten rusty, but Mat and Tito had been more than happy to practice with her, though Beau’s Québécois accent sometimes proved a little difficult to understand. 

“I’m just really excited for this weekend. I know how much it means to you to be on the team and competing in the skills competition again, and I’m lucky to be able to see you do what you love.” 

After a less-than-ideal forty minutes in the security line, Cass handed her license and Mat’s passport over to the TSA agent, who gave them a cursory once-over before marking their boarding passes and letting them through the scanner. 

They boarded the Delta flight some 40 minutes later, after a much-needed pit-stop at the Starbucks. The flight attendants took their coats and showed them to their seats, and before Cass knew it she was seated in a very large, very comfortable chair that had more legroom than she thought humanly possible, a glass of champagne perched on her tray table. “Is this how you live? All the time?” She whispered to Mat, stunned. 

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “The team charters a plane for games and I usually don’t do first class to go back home, but this is a special occasion. It deserves it, you deserve it.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, pulling out his Airpods. “We’ve got just enough time to get through Pirates of the Carribean before we land. What do you say?” 

Their plane landed a few hours later, the two catching an Uber to the hotel about twenty minutes away. Apparently there had been “a car” coming for them, but Cass balked at the idea, insisting that the Toyota Corolla coming to pick them up was more than enough for her. 

“Hi, checking in for Barzal,” Mat said, smiling at the receptionist. 

“One moment,” she replied, tapping on the computer and turning around to grab two key cards. “You two will be in room 307, third floor. Elevators are that way. Enjoy your stay!” Mat took the cards, handing one to Cass as they turned towards the row of elevators. As excited as she was, Cass was also just the tiniest bit apprehensive about sharing a room with Mat for a whole weekend. She had spent the night once or twice since the Christmas party, and had officially been granted “a drawer” in his dresser, but it was still the longest (relatively) uninterrupted time she’d spend with him. 

There were a few hours before the festivities kicked off with some sort of red carpet-type thing, so Cass pulled out her laptop and got to work while Mat went off to exercise in the hotel gym. None of her professors this semester recorded lectures, so she was relying on good friends and a strong Wifi connection to get the notes from the one class she was missing. Cass wasn’t one to skip out on responsibilities and she did feel bad about not being there, but she had earned a break. 

Mat came back a little while later, and Cass took that as her cue to start getting ready. After he got out of the shower, she took over the bathroom, spreading her makeup, brushes, and precisely-3.4-ounce bottle of hairspray over the counter. This was the first big event she was going to as a WAG, and nerves were flying. Cass was already well aware that she didn’t fit into the typical mold, and hated the fact that she felt like she had to justify herself everywhere she went. And it didn’t help that Mat wasn’t just one of the best young players in the NHL in recent memory, but also a total smokeshow of a man who had hundreds of women falling at his feet. 

But galas, parties, extravagant events were nothing new to her. She had been the president of her sorority at UConn, organizing and attending more than her fair share of her own formals and semiformals or accompanying a friend or boyfriend to theirs. And law school called for dressing up more than occasionally. She was no stranger to impressing people. The dress was light blue to coordinate with Mat’s suit, heavily beaded, and absolutely gorgeous. This was the one part of the trip that she had absolutely refused to let Mat pay for, even though he offered. The league covered the room and he had gotten the flights, and her ego needed to pick up at least a marginal part of the expenses. 

She twisted her hair up into a bun, bobby pins stuck in her mouth as she pulled out a few strands of hair. Setting spray? Check. Lipstick? A deep rose shade that she’d had since her first year of law school, so, check. “You almost ready to go, chou?” She asked, leaning down to her suitcase and grabbing the strappy heels she’d picked out for the night.

“Uh, yeah,” Mat said, buttoning his suit jacket. He usually had pretty good taste even before they started dating, but the navy blue velvet suit he was wearing was really something else. “Wow, you look amazing, Cass.”

She smiled, stepping towards him. “The lipstick’s kiss-proof, you know.”

He raised one eyebrow. “You wanna try that out?”

---

It was a fifteen minute drive to the venue, the car the league had sent packed with players and their partners, or whoever else had managed to wrangle a spot. She thinks there were some cousins involved? Mat got out before her, holding the door open while he leaned down. “The reporters are usually fine, they get that most of you guys aren’t used to this,” he murmured, “but you don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to, I’ll say something if I see it getting out of line.” 

She squeezed his hand in appreciation, taking a breath to steady her nerves before following him onto the red carpet. After posing for a few photos, they moved onto the reporters, Mat getting steered towards someone who Cass was pretty sure was from SportsCenter, but she couldn’t be positive in the crowd of hundreds. Cass briefly introduced herself, stepping slightly to the side as the conversation’s topics veered towards strategy and expectations, how best to manage playing with only three players and how he was feeling about his chances for fastest skater. 

“And you’ve brought your lovely girlfriend Cassidy along, how did you two meet?” Cass heard her name mentioned, quickly snapping out of the daydream she had been lost in. Fluff pieces were nothing new and she knew it would come up, everyone loved getting to know the players outside of a strictly hockey context. 

“Yeah, so I’m in law school, and I got an internship with the counsel’s office for the Islanders,” Cas started, “and I helped Mat with some visa stuff. He kept trying to drop hints that he was into me, but—”

“They weren’t hints. I was being as obvious as possible,” Mat deadpanned. Cass giggled. 

“Well, yeah, in retrospect I was just being incredibly oblivious, but came to one day, and the rest is history.” Mat leaned down, brushing a kiss over her cheek, and Cass could see camera flashes go off in her peripherals. She’d have to track that picture down later.

The interviewer nodded, asking a few follow-ups on her exposure to hockey growing up, her dress, and one more. “So, you hardly live the typical life of a hockey girlfriend. What do you think about that?”

Cass was confused. “Pardon?”

“Law school, being a lawyer. That’s not something that you typically see WAGs pursue, especially considering the salaries NHLers make. It’s not like they have to do much.” Cass was floored. How could someone be so disrespectful, not only to her, but to every other woman in her position? She was struggling to come up with a response. As it would happen, she didn’t need to. 

“Excuse me?” Mat’s response was dripping venom. “Why would you ask something like that?”

The interviewer tried to backtrack, but ended up digging himself into an ever deeper hole. “Well, I just meant that you don’t see it often, which is true—”

“Maybe you don’t, but that shouldn’t matter,” Mat said. “Being a stay-at-home mom or running charity events is awesome if that’s something that they want to do, but it’s not for everyone. And don’t you dare ever suggest that Cass hasn’t worked hard as hell to get to where she is. She’s graduating in five months from an Ivy League law school, and she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. Don’t ever talk about her that way. Don’t ever talk about any woman that way.” He turned away, his hand on Cass’ upper back. “Don’t ever let anyone undersell you. You’ve worked too damn hard and come too damn far.”

 Jan. 29 (fri)

 Cass smoothed out her dress, taking a last-minute look in the mirror to make sure nothing was stuck in her teeth. “How do I look?” She asked, turning to Mat. 

“You look great, babe. Stop stressing.” She had picked a floral dress and denim jacket for breakfast with Mat’s family, but couldn’t stop wringing her hands in worry. Mat crossed the room in three steps, holding her hands still and looking at her more intensely than she had ever seen. “Remember when I was losing my shit meeting your parents?” Cass gave a tearful nod. “And it all turned out okay and now I text your brother probably more than you do?” 

She laughed. “Noah worships you, and my dad loves you. Thinks you’re ‘good for me,’ whatever he means by that.”

“I think,” Mat said, tapping her temple with one finger, “that sometimes you get a little stuck up here. You’re so smart, and it’s incredible, but you overthink things sometimes, pretty girl.”

She ducked her head. “That’s probably true.” 

“But what I meant to say is that it turned out I had nothing to worry about. And neither do you, my parents will love you and Liana’ll just be excited to have another girl around to complain about me to. It’s going to go great,” he added with finality. 

“You promise?” Cass asked.

Mat kissed her, soft and sweet and slow, the kind of kiss that wasn’t born of passion and lust but of just genuine deep trust and affection. The kind of kiss that brings your feet back to the ground when your head’s stuck off in the clouds. “I promise.”

Cass flashed a small smile, squeezing Mat’s hand in hers and heading towards the door. “Then I guess we’d better get going.” She had been up late the night before, searching on Yelp for the perfect restaurant, despite Mat’s continual claims that they’d “love wherever, they just want food.” Though, she’s not sure what she expected when asking a 20-something man what he wanted to eat. There was a cute place a ten minute drive away, with four-point-seven stars and reviews that said their quiches were the “best thing on this godforsaken planet,” according to IridescentGymRat44. Cass loved quiches. 

It was a quick Uber over, Mat’s mom having texted him that they had already arrived and snagged a table in the back for privacy. It may have been a family event, but it was still All-Star Weekend and Mat was still, well, Mat. It wasn’t likely he could fly under the radar for too long. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand reassuringly as they turned the corner, and his face split into a wide grin at the sight of his family. Hugging each of them quickly, he stepped back to introduce Cass, one hand lightly resting on the small of her back. “This is Cass, my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, we figured,” Liana said pointedly, causing Cass to poorly cover up a snort of amusement, which in turn just caused everyone to laugh even more at their efforts trying not to laugh so hard. 

As it would turn out, Mat was right. She really had nothing to worry about; his parents embraced her (literally and metaphorically) as soon as she set down and his sister immediately whipped out her phone to show his worst baby pictures. “Hey,” she said, as Mat glared at her, “you deserve to know what you’re getting yourself into.” They were interested in her work and school, and Mat gladly took the liberty of explaining how they met, earning a slap on the back of his head from his mom when he got to the part with the visa slipup. They said their goodbyes sometime around eleven; Cass would have liked to stay longer, but everyone needed to get back to their hotels and ready for the skills competitions in the afternoon. 

“Excited to defend the title?” Cass said, bumping her shoulder against Mat as they walked down the hallway to their room. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Mat said, shrugging slightly. “Obviously it would be great to win, but there’s still McDavid and Eichel and a ton of other guys that have just as good of a chance to run away with this thing.” After his win last year, it was no shock that Mat had been picked for the fastest skater competition again, but the hordes of fans and reporters who were expecting him to go back-to-back weren’t helping his nerves. They reached the door, Mat shoving his hand into his pocket to dig out the key card. 

“Look at me,” Cass said softly, once they had gotten their shoes off and were propped up next to each other in bed. Mat’s head turned, his hand still absentmindedly tangled in her curls. “You’re going to do great. Win or lose. I believe it, your family believes it, the other guys on the team believe it. Now all we need is for you to believe it yourself.”

---

Cass was walking through the tunnels of the BB&T Center, phone pressed to her cheek as she tried to listen to her dad on the other end of the line. A few players and their families were milling about, some getting ready to compete in their skills competitions, others catching up with old friends. “Oh, and you booked the tickets to Hermosillo, yeah?” It was a family tradition for them to spend a few weeks every summer back in Mexico with her grandparents; they had split their time between San Antonio and their hometown ever since retirement. Cass always tried to make it, but the past summer she wasn’t able to wrangle the two weeks off from her job that she’d need for the trip, and it had crushed her. They weren’t getting any younger, and her abuelo had suffered a nasty stroke the year prior that made her all the more anxious to visit. 

“Yep, layover in Mexico City like usual, I’ll send you the ticket when the trip gets closer,” Patrick responded.

“And you’ve got everyone’s passport info?”

She could imagine her dad rolling his eyes. “Yes, Cassidy. Everything’s booked, everything’s fine. Have fun in Florida, tell Mat good luck from us.”

“Okay, I will. Love you, dad.” Cass said, running a hand through her hair. 

A voice that she didn’t quite recognize called her name, and as she turned around she was more than a little surprised to see Auston Matthews waving at her. “It is Cassidy, right?”

She nodded her head. “Cassidy, Cass, I’ll answer to both.”

The confusion on her face must have still been evident, because he followed up. “I follow Barzy on Instagram, he brags about you all the time.”

“Yeah, sounds like him,” she said, tapping her fingers on her thigh. 

“Are you going to introduce me?” His mom asked from beside him. 

“Oh, yeah, ‘course,” Auston said, stumbling over his words. “Mom, this is Cassidy, obviously. Cassidy — Cass?” He questioned, looking over at her. She nodded. “Cass, this is my mom Ema.” She greeted her with a warm hug, and Cass just about melted. Moms really do give the best hugs. 

Ema spoke up. “Do you have family in Hermosillo? I heard you mention it on the phone.”

“Mhm!” Cass’s head almost bounced from how fast she was nodding. “My grandparents split time between there and San Antonio, we try to visit for a few weeks every summer.”

“That’s where I grew up,” she responded, beaming. “It’s wonderful, but the summers get so hot, don’t they?” Cass and Auston both nodded. 

“I think it got up to 110º when I was there once? Maybe 115º? I want to lock myself in a freezer sometimes, I swear.” The whole group collapses into laughs, and spent a few minutes talking before Cass had to tear herself away and find her seats with Mat’s family for the fastest skater competition. Ema had left her with no fewer than three restaurant recommendations, making her swear to try them all. “Best tacos I’ve ever had,” she had said about one. 

Cass greeted Mat’s family with a wave as they settled into their seats, one row up from the ice on the right side. The players had just come out, and it only took a few seconds to make eye contact with Mat. She was wearing his — her — jersey, and had long since abandoned trying to roll up and cuff the sleeves. It wasn’t going to happen, and she kind of liked the feeling of being buried in it. She blew him a kiss as the announcers voices echoed through the stadium, and the heat was on. 

Mat was slated to go last, which was either the best or worst thing depending on how you thought about it. Cass was always someone to sign up for the first slot for speeches and presentations, and hated having late games in tournaments during her lacrosse days. She liked being able to get it over with. Mat was the opposite. He was competitive and stubborn to a fault, needing to size up the competition and get ahead of the game. Needed to know what to expect. There first few she didn’t recognize, a few first-time faces to the All-Star competition, a rookie from Winnipeg who was a favorite for the Calder. Everyone was doing well, really well — all the times but one were under 14 seconds, but nobody had broken Mat’s time yet. 

Eichel got close, McDavid got closer, and then Mat was up to defend his championship. She blew a kiss to him as he stepped up to the line, murmured a prayer, and the whistle blew. Clean straightaways, tight turns, gaining speed on the curves, and in the blink of an eye it was over. Cass knew he had won, the roar of the crowd told her as much, but she didn’t realize his time. She didn’t realize until the announcer reported that with a time of 13.080 seconds, Mathew Barzal had just set the record. His face was stunned for a moment, looking up at the screen and then down at the ice and then back up at the screen again, while being hugged and congratulated from all sides, as if trying to process what had just happened. 

It was the last one of the night, so Cass said her goodbyes to Mat’s family, with a promise to meet up before the game the next day, and hurried down to meet Mat. There wasn’t anything formal scheduled for the rest of the night, so he came out of the locker room in just a pair of athletic shorts and an Islanders t-shirt. Cass ran up, jumping into his arms as he dropped his bag to catch her. “Woah, babe,” he said, steadying his hands on the back of her thighs, “coulda given me a warning there.”

Cass kissed him. “Wouldn’t have been nearly as fun that way, though, huh?”

“You’re right.” Mat shrugged good-naturedly, setting Cass down and grabbing his bag and her hand. 

“How does it feel having beaten the record?” Cass asked. 

Mat ran his free hand through his hair, still shower-damp. “So surreal. I wasn’t even sure I’d win, not with how stacked the lineup was, let alone get anywhere near breaking the record. It’s ridiculous, but it’s amazing.”

“You’re amazing.”

 Jan. 30 (sat)

 Mat was busy doing media and catching up with some of the guys before the game later that day, and Cass had elected to stay in the room. Mat had offered for her to come along, “you might think it’s interesting?” he had noted, but she’d be damned if she let herself fall behind in her last semester, she was just too close. It had already been a bit of a stretch for her to take a day off and come for the whole weekend, so her afternoon was instead filled with some utterly thrilling reading on advanced contract theory and a thick-as-all-hell review book for the New York state bar. She leaned back in her chair, taking the last remaining sip of the mediocre Lipton tea she had snagged from the basket by the room’s coffee maker. She could finish it later.

Cass picked up her phone, pressing play on a voicemail from Fiona that had been left earlier in the afternoon. 

Uh, hey, it’s me. Cass, I don’t know if this is what you want to hear, but I don’t think I’d be a very good friend if I didn’t say it. Uh-oh. Conversations that started like that never ended well. I’m happy about you and Mat, I know you like him a lot, but I’m worried that he’s distracting you. I know you told us you’d be gone, but we missed you at the study group, and I know you skipped your law review meeting today. The rest of the message was more of the same, but one sentence stuck out to her. Think about where your priorities are. Think about where you want them to be. 

Fiona Chan had a one-track mind. And Cass loved her for it — she was one of the most dedicated people she knew and an incredible friend. But she sometimes found it hard to understand when people had priorities that extended beyond the bounds of law school, when their sole focus wasn’t on their Contracts final or clinic or clerkship they were doing for some top-tier appellate judge. 

She flopped back on the bed. Think about where your priorities are. She had been spending a lot of time with Mat lately, but no more than anyone would spend with their significant other — right? And it wasn’t a sin for her to have a life outside of law school. She was still more than competent at her job, got most of the reading done, was prepared when professors would cold-call on her. She still showed up to meetings. 

But even she would admit that her head wasn’t in the game all the time, if she could hazard another High School Musical reference. She’d sneak texts, meet him for lunch instead of going to office hours, and now, take weekends off to be with him. But that wasn’t a bad thing. Or was it? Her grades weren’t really suffering, and nobody else had mentioned anything. Friends notice things, though, Cass thought. And Fiona was one of the most perceptive people she knew. She groaned. Why wasn’t there ever an easy way to figure these things out? She really liked Mat — she might even love him — but Cass couldn’t help but feel like she was gambling on something that wasn’t a sure thing. And her future wasn’t something to play games with. 

[aklsupporter]

The Evolving Future of the Office

The Evolving Future of the Office

A growing number of companies have either announced plans to move out of California to a more “friendly” state or have already done so.

However, in this environment where people don’t need to go physically into the office, it is unclear if any California-based workforce must or will move with these companies that are fleeing the Golden State.

I participated in a group analyst event several weeks ago about companies converting their offices into collections of meeting rooms. We couldn’t picture people who have been meeting remotely for so many months suddenly concluding that the long commute to and from the office was worth meeting in person; given they are now okay with using solutions like Webex or Microsoft Teams.

Let’s talk about what the future of the office should be, and we’ll conclude with my product of the week, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7.

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The Pandemic

We can’t start this discussion without talking about where we are with the pandemic, which significantly changes where and how we work.

Right now, many of us are anticipating a post-Superbowl pandemic surge here in the United States; and the inability to reach crowd immunity before year’s end, due to a combination of vaccine supply and logistics issues, and some folks refusing to take the immunization. Eighty percent of us must either be vaccinated or have had the virus to get to a level of immunity that would allow us to go back to the old normal.

Also, the virus is mutating at a high rate and may metamorphose around the antiviral products we currently have; potentially lengthening further the need to mitigate the problem. This set of circumstances makes it unlikely that those of us over age 60 will ever be able to go back to the old normal.

More and more companies are altering policy so that increasing numbers of employees never have to come back to the office. Firms that have done work from home well are reporting increases in productivity and an improved ability to attract top talent by getting around the need to relocate (people don’t like to move).

These trends all suggest that most of us will continue to work from home and that company offices will need to be redesigned; not with huddle rooms that still put folks in close physical proximity, but with systems that can better protect employees from viruses.

What we need to prevent most aggressively is the chance that even one infected person can innocently get into the office and, once in, infect a vast number of employees all at once.

The Home Office

Home offices then rise from being a “nice to have” to a critical feature. Where more than one person works from home, the configuration must conform to how the family works.

If the family has kids, there needs to be a provision for oversight to ensure the kids are studying and not screwing around when they are supposed to be doing schoolwork.

Parents with different types of jobs will probably drive each other crazy if forced to work too close together in the home office. Ensuring the home can accommodate the work needs of both parents without driving each other nuts will help with marriage longevity.

The home office solution needs to be presentable, so the room doesn’t detract from the employee’s image. The green screen stuff may eventually evolve so it doesn’t look so artificial. But until it does, having an office space that is neither too flashy (so you never get a raise again) or too ratty (so people lower their impression of you) is critical. You want folks focused on what you are saying, not how you spend money.

You’ll need a strong Internet connection and adequate power. If you’re in an area that is prone to power outages, a backup system so an outage doesn’t put you out of work.

There are tax advantages to fully separating the home-office space that should also be considered. Since we’re entering tax season, consult with your tax adviser.

The Company Office

Office buildings need to be rethought entirely.

Cafeterias need to be redesigned to deliver packaged meals that can be delivered to employees to minimize unnecessary interaction. Sensors at all office entry points should be enhanced with scanners that will alert if a staff member is running a fever. Cubicle farms should be eliminated in favor of rooms that separate people completely or into working groups. Air conditioning systems need to be modified to mitigate contagion, and mask policies need to be implemented.

Open-plan offices also need to be reconsidered but could still work as long as social distancing between workers and mask policies are enforced. Space planners need to take into account the changing OSHA rules concerning the pandemic and advances in technology that can mitigate the transfer of pathogens, such as built-in sneeze guards. But the place still needs to be attractive and welcoming; otherwise, productivity will take a hit and there will likely be issues getting people to come into the place consistently.

Ingress and egress routes need to be thought through to minimize contact and spread. Should someone become symptomatic while at work, there must be a path for their safe and rapid removal from the environment without forcing an evacuation.

In short, rather than focusing on the old goals of employee density and productivity, the new objective is to limit or eliminate pathogen transfer without destroying the collaborative reasons people are likely coming into the office in the first place. Creating the right balance will be anything but easy.

Wrapping Up: Employee Care

I’ve focused on the physical design of offices both at home and at work that will need to change to embrace what is likely to be an extended pandemic response in the office. But HR will also need to step up to the increased need for employee care, as those working from home or in the company’s office will be under a great deal of additional stress.

Those working at home already have work-life balance issues, and those issues could cause adverse job performance and/or behavioral problems. HR will need to instrument employees so that these emerging problems can be mitigated in a timely manner before they escalate to become major issues.

In the end, there is little likelihood we’ll ever go back to the world as it was before the pandemic. So, anticipating and building for a sustaining new standard will have a great deal to do with the long-term performance and viability of your organization. This virus has already killed so many companies. Don’t let it kill yours.

The Surface Pro 7

The Surface Pro, like the Xbox, was created for a problem that never really emerged. For the Xbox, the problem that Microsoft was anticipating was Sony turning the PlayStation into a PC replacement. Microsoft wanted a hedge, but Sony never really made that pivot, and that could have been because it was forced to instead focus on a pure gaming play to better compete with the Xbox.

The initial Surface and Surface Pro were created to prevent the replacement of the PC by the iPad. That never really happened either, but that failure could have arguably been because with the Surface and Surface Pro in the market, the opportunity for a business-oriented iPad was significantly reduced.

These results remind me a bit of Y2K, where we argued that a disaster was coming, worked our butts off to prevent it, and then rather than surmising that we did a good job, instead concluded that the threat wasn’t real. That seems stupid to me, but that’s what happened.

I’m not a huge fan of the Surface Pro 7 design, primarily because although I use tablets for reading and browsing the Web, for me, a 12" screen is just too big for this use. The 15" Surface laptop is my favorite design with a decent-sized screen, the coolest product in the Surface Book line, and makes no attempt even to pretend it is a tablet.

However, what frankly annoyed me about the Surface Pro design was its tendency to fall off airplane tables in coach, causing iPad users to laugh at me. It happened on almost every trip, but I’m not flying anymore and generally work off a table friendly monitor like the Dell U4021QW.

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I’ve also found I can fold the screen up, put the kickstand down, and use it like a little desktop computer that takes up less space than a non-tented laptop (and tented laptops, where you invert the product while partially open look stupid).

The Surface Pro 7 is a surprisingly elegant alternative to a small form factor desktop PC that you can grab and go. In a year or so, when/if I start traveling again, I may change my mind. But for now, for how I work, this design is an excellent alternative to a small desktop computer because I can take it with me and work outside.

It comes in platinum or black (I favor black), and it has the 10th generation Intel Core processor (i3, i5, or i7) in it. The i5 provides a nice balance of price and performance. It also has Wi-Fi 6, which requires a Wi-Fi 6 router if you want the extra performance, but it should work fine on older Wi-Fi 5 routers.

You shouldn’t have battery issues with 10 hours of expected battery life, mainly when working from home. It should outperform a similarly configured Surface Pro 6 by about 40 percent, which is significant.

With the keyboard and the i5 processor, the resulting price is around $1,330 before sales tax (which the state in which I live doesn’t have).

In the end, the Surface Pro 7 may be a better design for many than a traditional laptop, and it is looking better to me all the time, so it is my product of the week. 

[sneezerodent-blog]

Hey guys! I've decided to start posting regularly on Fridays, so get used to that. I've also decided to do ten chapters of People in the Void, so halfway there! People in the Void Chapter five Warnings: none (still) Word count: 1.6k “Now how do you feel?” Jillian asked Haley. She thought for a moment. “I feel like I just had a headache, and it went away.” Haley replied. “Do you feel angry at all?” “Not really. It's gonna take me a little to get over that painting though.” “Sorry. It was the only thing I could do to get you to listen.” “I'm sorry I didn't listen.” “Do you want to keep going, to see if we can find something else?” Jillian looked up into Haley's eyes, and saw how tired they were. “No, I need to get home.” “Alright.” Jillian wanted to hug her, comfort her, do something. But she just walked stiffly, silently, beside Haley as they walked. What was going on? Haley walked faster when they got to the shortened dash. She exited as soon as she can, but Jillian stayed in the quiet of empty Tumblr. Now that they had left that room Jillian could only think of one thing. “Haley… oh, this is so cliche.” Jillian slumped against one of the walls as she mumbled to herself. “Now you're my friend, and I'm in love with you.” Jillian chuckled, remembering all the times she had done the same things in her stories. “But I don't know how to tell you, because I don't know if you love me back. I can't stop thinking about it.” Jillian put her face in her knees, wanting the world to go away. “Why is life so cliche?” --------------- Haley stepped out of her laptop onto the floor of her room. She flicked the light on and moved to her desk. She had her own scanner and printer she could connect to her laptop for when she drew. She always drew the first draft on paper. Haley sat down, and put her head in her hands for a moment. Her cheeks were burning, and she felt so embarrassed. She had been painting a scene from one of Jillian's stories. They were just so interesting, and she got so much inspiration from them. Honestly, she was kinda glad Jillian ruined it. She just hoped Jillian hadn't recognized it. The papers rustled as she shifted them around, looking for her pencils. Maybe she would draw a scene from Jillian's stories, and post it on Tumblr. She had yet to post a drawing on Tumblr, before she had just talked to people. Haley finished the sketch rather quickly. It was only the first scene though, there were two more. When they were all done, she scanned them onto her computer. She followed them inside. The pictures were hanging against the wall, inside a folder pinned to it. Haley grabbed them and took them into her drawing program. --------------- “Hey mom?” Jillian called through her apparently empty house. She trudged up the stairs, feeling as exhausted as Haley looked. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she glanced at it. /There's something going on between you and Haley. I want to know what it is./ - Anon. /Yeah!!! Tell us!!!”/ - ~Red. Jillian set get phone down on the bedside table and sat on the edge of her bed. Vance slowly walked up to her, setting his head on her knees. How could she tell her friends? She didn't even know herself. Jillian thought she liked Haley, more than just a friend. But she wasn't sure if Haley liked her back. Cliche friend crush, wondering if it was going to ruin their relationship. She couldn't deny how she felt, but she wasn't sure what it was! /It's complicated, I don't even know./ -Jillian. /Mhm. Sure./ - Anon. /I think you do know, you just don't wanna say!/ ~Red. /Seriously guys, I don't know./ - Jillian. Jillian sets her phone down on her bedside table, turning it on silent. She didn't want to deal with that anymore. She didn't know, she didn't know, /she didn't know./ But Jillian wished she did. “Jillian? I'm home!” her mom yelled from somewhere else in the house. “Hey mom!” Jillian yelled back. “I brought you some food.” “Okay, I'll be right down!” Jillian plugged her phone in before walking to the kitchen. She could imagine that ~Red and Anon were spamming her, but she would deal with that later. Her mom was waiting in the kitchen, a box of pizza on their island counter. LC rubbed her face against Jillian's leg, making Jillian pick her up. “You okay kid? You don't look the best.” Jillian's mom asked. “Yeah, I'm fine.” Jillian lied. She rubbed her face into LC’s fur to avoid looking at her mom. “If you say so. I have some stuff to do, but help yourself to the pizza. Leave me at least two pieces.” her mom walked out after that. Jillian sat down, LC leaping onto the floor. Vance took her spot on Jillian's lap with his face, his eyes begging for a piece of her pizza. Jillian absent mindedly scratched his ears as she ate. ---------------- Haley stretched, standing up from her desk. Her mom had called her phone while she drew, telling her that Haley needed to come downstairs. They were gonna eat together before Alexis left again. “We're going to an art museum too, right after dinner. Just you and me.” Alexis said, pointing her fork at Haley. Haley groaned. She had been planning to post that picture she had just finished drawing to Tumblr, and see if she could find Jillian. “But I had planned stuff for tonight!” Haley said. “Not anymore. C'mon, I'm leaving! Do it for me!” Alexis said. Their mom didn't bother joining in the conversation. Alexis looked at Haley, with the same begging eyes as she had when they were younger. Haley looked away, rolling her own. “I'll buy us some ice cream as we come home.” Alexis bribed. “Try harder.” Haley replied. “Cookies?” “Harder.” “I dunno, what do you want?” “I dunno either. We can see later.” “Deal.” Alexis reached over the table, and the two shook hands. Alexis was always so professional, Haley thought. Once they had finished eating, the two walked out to Alexis's car. “So. Tell me about you.” Alexis said, when they got on the road. “Uhh…what about me?” Haley replied. “Who do you like?” Alexis asked. Haley blushed, immediately thinking of Jillian before pushing the thought from her mind. The two were just friends, even though she was pretty cute. “I dunno….” Haley mumbled, trying to escape the question. “I think you do.” Haley stayed quiet until they got to the museum, and Alexis didn't pester her more. Haley wandered through the museum, mumbling to Alexis and feeling inspired at all the different styles. Alexis listened, nodding and adding her own opinion, but Haley knew she still wanted to know what was up. Haley also knew she absolutely refused to tell. “Alright, have you decided where you want to go?” Alexis asks as they walk back out to her car. It had gotten a bit cold, Haley was glad she brought her hoodie. She wrapped her arms around herself. “I'm kinda feeling up for some cheesecake. Can we get cheesecake?” Haley asks. “Um… we can find some at a grocery store or something.” Alexis replies, gently backing out if the parking lot. The two talked about their favorite pictures as they drove to the store, the awkwardness of their previous conversation hanging over them. “Maybe here?” Haley says, pointing out of the window at a store to their left. “Yeah, I think I saw some in here.” Alexis replies. ------------- Jillian paced around her room, biting her nails and thinking. How did people in her stories tell their friends they loved them? It slipped out when they didn't mean it, mostly. Jillian wanted to tell Haley, though, face to face. Maybe she would talk to Anon and ~Red first. They were understanding when she finally told them about Tumblr, and about Haley and all the other doors. Then maybe she could find a time to talk to Haley and tell her how she felt. But how would Haley feel? Did she like Jillian too? That's how it worked in stories, but this was real life, not a story. Jillian could possibly wait, watching for the perfect time to tell. That wouldn't work either because she might lose her chance to tell Haley. Jillian decided that she would talk it out with Haley, and hope for the best. It was nerve-wracking, even before it even happened. Just thinking about it made streaks of panic run through Jillian's blood. She took deep breath. Everything would be fine. If Haley didn't like her back, it wasn't the end of the world. /It'll sure feel like it though/, her mind pops in. Jillian shakes the thought away, chewing at her nails again. ---------------- Haley went straight up to her room when she got home. It was getting kind of late, but she wanted to post her picture before she went to bed. She had worked so hard on it and she wanted Jillian to be able to see it. She walked into her laptop, the picture still in the folder on a wall. She picked it up and walked into Tumblr. An option floated before her, asking her if she wanted to share the file she brought. Haley reached out and pressed the /yes/ button on it. A drawer similar to that of a filing cabinet opened from it, and she placed the folder inside. /Do you wish to add a message?/ Haley thought for a moment, before writing out a description. She also added a link to Jillian's account, since it was based on her writing. In a moment, the floating option was gone, and her drawing scrolled out beneath her feet.