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Focus ≠ Productive

Starbucks had a $3 breakfast deal today, so we stopped in to grab an excellent wrap. It was surprisingly messy to eat due to the baked tortilla, but it tasted great, and their sriracha was incredible. I also took a leftover breakfast burrito from Taco John’s for brunch, and what was left of the Hawaiian Bros. for the early afternoon.

I was super focused all day, and eventually got three-deep in Autopilot devices for testing. It was a good day, but as I told Summer later, being hyper-focused did not mean that I actually accomplished anything. Much of my job has been learning things so far, whereas she goes to work and performs tasks all day.

She was still working when we got home, so I wandered through the house looking for a few things and taking inventory of others. Then we walked to my parents’ house to return Dad’s heat lamp that we no longer needed after bringing Muad’Dib inside where he draws his warmth directly from our bodies now.

I hustled back pretty well once Summer got home, and we ate some leftover corned beef. Then it was a quick cleanup and super early bedtime for some needed rest.

I have to say weird stuff or I’ll die.

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Best Mex

We narrowly grabbed some Taco John’s on the way out of town today. The app seemed confused about whether the restaurant was open and accepting orders, and based on prior experience, it seemed like the staff might be confused too. We ended up being able to order there, and hit the road in a decent amount of time.

I continued with my Intune and Autopilot learning all day, only stopping to meet Summer for lunch. We had the best food we’ve ever gotten from Ortega’s, and our server knew us well enough that he basically had our orders. It was an excellent visit.

Summer took Muad’Dib home with her since she didn’t plan to go in to the stores today. I finished up my afternoon and made it home to find her in bed wrapping up her work. Eaddie got home from her trip to the northwest to have Eli’s horn serviced, and brought me some Hawaiian Bros. Summer started eating it, so I had a few bites before we put it away.

I eventually took Muad’Dib out for a little walk before it got dark. We stopped briefly to see my parents, but I was feeling exhausted. I ended up having an anxiety attack just as we were finishing up, just a couple houses up the road. I didn’t feel great after that, but I was still really tired, and it cooled off quite a bit as well.

I cleaned up minimally and laid down with Summer for a little while. Julie called to discuss a possible family vacation, and then I wrapped up for bed.

I’m ready for my air coccoon.

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Mid-to-Late Forties

Summer decided to take the day off for her birthday, and spent the first day of spring break with Eaddie. In contrast, I went to work and spent a lot of time reading Microsoft documentation. Muad’Dib and I went to Sonic for lunch, but it was slightly cold and super windy, so it wasn’t quite as enjoyable as I had hoped.

The whole day kind of crept along, but we eventually got to go home. The car routed me off the Interstate early, so we drove by and saw that Zaxby’s was, in fact, permanently closed. I think we loved their chicken the most, so this was pretty upsetting, not to mention the fact that I still have some money left on a gift card.

The girls were gone when we got to the house, because all three kids wanted to take Summer out to dinner. I offered to go along, but Eaddie said they just wanted to go with the four of them. I rested for a bit, and then walked Muad’Dib to my parents’ house where we ate some bok choy that Mom stir fried.

We walked back home as it got dark, and Summer and the kids all met us out in the road as they were leaving. Then Summer went to bed, and I eventually trailed along.

Fewer and fewer breaks feels like living life in reverse.

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Soup’s On

Summer made us eggs again this morning so we could finish up the waffles along with a couple more pork chops. Eaddie was planning to go to church, but came back inside and said her rear passenger side tire was completely flat. Eli came to get her and she was gone for a while after that. We lounged around for a while, and then Dad said they had phở ready for lunch, so Summer and I ran Muad’Dib over there for that.

I spent a while watering my plants and eventually took a shower. I also caught a fly and actually got my jumping spider to eat, so that was a success. After a while, Summer and I sat down and watched some of the Westminster Masters Agility Championship.

Mom made mango soup for dinner, so I called Eaddie and her her and Eli meet us over there for dinner. Then it was back home to get ready for bed.

The days sure don’t feel like they’re getting any longer.

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Nearly Ninety

Summer made us some eggs to go with leftover pork chops and waffles for breakfast this morning. Afterward, we enjoyed some coffee on the couch and I played on the Steam Deck for just a few minutes. When she finally went to the gym, I cleaned myself up and got ready for the day. She was going to mow the lawn when she got back, but Mom texted that she made bánh cuốn, so we walked Muad’Dib over there for a late lunch first.

Flip flops were a bad idea for me, and my feet were super sore from the friction by the time we got back home. Summer mowed while I gave Muad’Dib a good and long-overdue bath. Then after she got cleaned up from that, we laid on the couch and watched some YouTube for a little while until she was ready for bed.

Eaddie went out late, but when she got back home, she told me she found the other Pathfinder keys in her room. Now I just need to find the Grom key, my waist fan she borrowed, and most recently the high powered USB charging brick that disappeared from the living room.

Black hole son’s got nothing on her.

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Scrolls of Doom

I felt out of mind for most of the day. I had trouble picking a project at work, and it probably didn’t help that we never stepped out. I brought the last of my Hawaiian Bros. for lunch, and just happened to notice I had a call to join right after that. The afternoon dragged just as the morning did, and I got to the house where Summer had been for several hours, vegetating in front of the TV.

I wanted to take her out for dinner, but she would barely move or say anything. I sat with her for a while until I finally got fed up and left with Muad’Dib. We walked to my parents’ house to see them, then continued around his route. We got back and Summer hadn’t moved, so I just cleaned up some other leftovers.

Like the birds in the backyard

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The Difference is Staggering!

We had our staff meeting first thing this morning, and I didn’t have a whole lot of exciting news. The whole day kind of dragged on a bit, possibly because it seemed like it was going to be such a nice day out. We went to Taco Bell for lunch and had an okay time, but I think the salt got to me later in the afternoon.

I let Muad’Dib out for a run on the way back to the office, and we finished out the day quietly upstairs. I had another quick anxiety attack that snuck up on me. Summer wanted to go to the yoga Sip + Stretch at Point Remove shortly after I got home, but I felt my blood pressure was high and had to relax a moment at home first.

Summer went to her thing for an hour, and Muad’Dib and I walked all the way downtown to meet her. It worked out perfectly, because we arrived just minutes before she finished her hour, and we didn’t have to sit around entertaining ourselves the whole time. We had some wings and a few drinks, then drove back home for the night. She passed right out, and I finished up my stuff fairly early. I would have gone to bed early too, but Eaddie got home early and came to my office and chat for a while. She’s got spring break coming up, and is excited for all the new, fun stuff that comes with independence.

It’s a five minute walk from my house to the bar, but an hour walk from the bar to my house.

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Walk and Roll

I didn’t sleep great last night, but I think it was mostly the dog’s fault. We made it to work, but I had trouble focusing as well as I have the past few days, so I switched gears and looked at some other company portal stuff. Between that and a couple phone calls, I managed to stay fairly busy. I was put in Vine jail for my lack of reviews, so that’s finally caught up with me. Between that and taxes, I’ve got my work cut out for me.

I went back and forth several times with Clifford from Future Motion, and they insist it’s completely my fault for my footing that is causing the motor to cut out on my board. I feel like I’ve tested every possibility of that, but it doesn’t sound like they’re going to do anything else for me, and at this point the board has been out of my possession for over 100 days since I bought the damn thing.

I brought my pastrami sandwich from Ridgewood for lunch, along with a little bowl of some Hawaiian Bros since the sandwich looked pretty small. The sandwich was great, but I could have done with some more of it. Afterward, I walked Muad’Dib outside and found a roll of material out next to the dumpster, and had the idea to take a closeup photo of it for a background image to use in the company portal.

Muad’Dib got rowdy and wouldn’t listen when we came back in, so he got a spanking. Then the afternoon dragged on for a bit since we never actually left. I had just been thinking about how I hadn’t had an anxiety attack in a little while, and then one snuck up on me out of nowhere. That put me in a little bit of a daze for a while. I ended up losing track of time by a lot, so we left late and got home nearly half an hour later than usual.

Summer was home and just out of the shower, so we walked to my parents’ house for spring rolls. Julie and kevin showed up just after us, and we all sat down to eat. The kids were invited, but couldn’t make it. It started to get a little darker by the time we left, so we walked straight home and got ready for bed.

Believe it or not, straight to jail.

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Spur of Thought

I really planned to have a Soylent this morning, but then I got super hungry just as I was getting into Morrilton again, so we stopped at Wendy’s for a small breakfast. Muad’Dib was super distracted and didn’t want to come inside, which left me shivering in the wind. We finally got inside and I continued tinkering with Intune.

Summer finished with her meeting early and wanted to meet for lunch, but I didn’t want to eat too early, so I had her meet me at the office. She came in to see Maple, but she was being shy all day and wouldn’t even come to me for a treat. We went to Ortega’s and had a really good lunch, and then I had her go by Ridgewood on the way home so I could try their pastrami special.

Earlier in the morning, I finally emailed Future Motion for an update on my Onewheel. It took them all day to respond that after thorough testing, they found nothing seriously wrong with it. That was exactly what I knew they would say, and I probably should have just disputed the charge with Discover Card first instead of talking to them again. They’re such an incredibly shitty company.

I finished the slow afternoon, completely forgetting about therapy until right at 4:30, so we raced out the door and made it just in time to wait another five minutes. I felt like our session was really good this time, but I didn’t realize how depressed Summer was really feeling. All I can really do is try to keep communicating with her, but doing happy little things is never going to be enough to turn this around for good.

When we got home, she put the cabbage in the slow cooker with the corned beef she started in the morning, and then we waited to eat. Once we did, dinner was great. Then her birthday present arrived and we set up our pair of BedJets for some temperature controlled air in the beds. Hopefully this keeps us comfortable and try, since she has a habit of feeling cold and then sweating all over the place.

What do you call a cow who tells dad jokes? Corney beef!

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No Review; No Wheel

I got up half an hour early so I could get to work before 7:30, expecting a quarterly review with Shane and Joel. That seemed odd, but I wasn’t going to question it. We grabbed a burrito at Hardee’s and made our way in. Joel seemed confused, and then explained the true purpose of the call, which was for Shane’s guys, and for me to be on standby. I hopped on a call with both of them just to catch up with Shain, and then did my own thing the rest of the day.

It was blistering cold when we stepped out for a late lunch. The wind was howling and it felt like an incredibly sunny winter day. We grabbed our Monday cheese sticks, then went to Wendy’s for an ironic cup of chili and a frosty. I let Muad’Dib run up the road on the way back, and then the afternoon didn’t drag by terribly on account of our late lunch.

When we got back to the house, Summer had been there a little while not feeling well. I made rice and ate dinner alone, and got upset with her for refusing to eat anything more than her biscuit breakfast and a small cup of plain steamed rice. I emphasized that she consistently feels bad because she doesn’t take care of herself, and then distanced myself for the rest of the evening.

I had also been sitting around waiting to hear back from Future Motion long enough that I decided it was time to post my support timeline on Reddit. I got a ton of feedback – much more than I expected for such a wall of text. I had some good input, and a ton of bashing the company. I ended the night with a conversation with Discover Card to see if I could dispute the charges and get my money back that way. Surprisingly, it sounds like they may be able to help. I suppose I’ll reach back out to Future Motion, but it’s at the point now that it may just be best to cut my $900 loss and try to get a refund for the original purchase.

Don’t press your luck.