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Pork Choppin’

I surprisingly woke up pretty early today and didn’t feel groggy, but I just wasn’t ready to get up before the sun, so I slept for a couple more hours until Summer got up. I had a leftover waffle, but nobody else wanted to eat with me. Eaddie left and was gone for most of the day, but Summer we planned to cook a nice dinner in the evening.

Summer eventually went to the gym, then we cleaned up the kitchen a bit in the afternoon. We eventually got out of the house to go to the Neighborhood Market for groceries, and just as we got inside, it started pouring rain. Muad’Dib didn’t seem terribly bothered in the car, so we continued shopping, and it had stopped raining by the time we were done.

I had voiced frustration trying to continually plan around Eaddie when she has become less and less reliable over time. She loses my stuff as well as her own stuff, and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m just ready for her to move along with her own life, but she doesn’t have any source of income yet. I think we’ve agreed that we just need to do what we’re going to do in spite of her, because we’re always going to cook more than just the two of us can eat anyway, and then Eaddie can join us or not without any expectations.

Summer made mashed sweet potato and broccoli, and I grilled pork chops, zucchini, and squash, and it all turned out really good. We’ll have plenty for the coming week, with opportunities to amend our meals with other sides. Dinner was great, and I finished up some laundry before we started winding down for an early bedtime.

Pork paper!

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Flower Farm

We got up early today and basically had to drag Eaddie out of the house so we could make it up to Fayetteville in time to get everything done. Eli showed up at the house early, and I don’t know why she took so long, but we eventually made it out. I let Muad’Dib run to my parents’ house, and we tied him up to spend the day with Dad.

We made it to Alma for a short charge while we snacked on some cold chicken from Harp’s. Then we headed straight to the Rivercrest Orchard tulip festival. There were a ton of cars and people there, and it was even more “official” looking than I expected. It looked like they didn’t allow pets because they had food crops like strawberries growing as well.

You could pay per stem if you wanted to pick flowers, or they had several activities that were mostly free all around the property. We walked through the fields that smelled great, rode a little tractor train, and then a train on rails. I picked us up a couple loaded pretzels that were okay, but dressed more like pizza, so that was weird. I probably wouldn’t do it again.

They all seemed to really enjoyed it, but I think next time we’ll try another location. Getting out was tough, because presumably somebody gridlocked the place trying to get in and out. Cars were stuck in a complete standstill, unable to come in or out. Finally some employees showed up to try and clear the mess, and we were able to leave.

We went to charge in Rogers, and roamed a PetCo for a bit until that was done. Then we went to Viet Buffet for a late lunch. They were super slow and ran really lean on the food, but everything was still really good. They didn’t have any of the sausage I liked anywhere, but they had a few new things to try.

From there, we had two more stops for food to take home. Eli’s dad wanted some Pollo Campero, which was in the nearby Walmart. They must have taken a page out of Popeye’s playbook, because they were completely out of chicken and said it would take an hour for them to make a 20-piece order, so we left without. Next up was Hawaiian Bros. after griping at Eaddie for eating mine twice in a row. I don’t even know that it was worth it the last two times, but I’ve just been so upset that I haven’t gotten to eat my own food that I keep going back for more.

Finally we headed home, with a quick stop in Ozark to finish the trip. We picked up Muad’Dib after his day with Dad, and then the kids had to leave for their band thing. Summer didn’t feel great, so she was pretty lame the rest of the night. Eli spotted a jumping spider on my car right as we got back, so I captured it and tried to figure out how to raise it in captivity, but didn’t make much real progress with it. Hopefully tomorrow I can come up with something a little better for it.

let’s put a smile on that face

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ESOP’s Fables

I felt overdue for a casual Friday, so I went with jeans and a work polo today. I did pretty well in the morning, and then we had a pizza party for our ESOP update. It was neat to hear a little bit more about Garland’s operations even if it was a super high-level overview of some numbers. Business seems good, and we hope to keep it that way.

Immediately following that, I had to hop on our weekly call with Aptean to hear about some more “AI” stuff. Still not much we can use, and everything is in development anyway. The afternoon dragged a bit after that, particularly because it was such a beautiful day outside, and we didn’t even go out for our usual lunch break to enjoy it.

I ended up stopping in Atkins for a couple slushies on the way home. Summer was in the bath and didn’t want to go out, so she sent me out on my own. I couldn’t decide on dinner until she suggested I go to Taco Villa, so that’s where Muad’Dib and I headed. I stopped at Casey’s here for another free slush first, and then let him wait for me outside while I ordered food.

They were super busy, but then died off just as we finished our food. Muad’Dib did great through all of that, but then we went down the block to wash my car. A cat came along and prompted him to climb up onto the center console, and when I opened the door to scold him, he jumped all the way into the front seat. I let him out and he stayed nearby, so I finished the job and then we headed home.

My parents were just getting back from Little Rock, so I eventually took Muad’Dib over to see them and visit for a little while before coming home for bed.

Everyone loves Hypnotoad

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Damned Scavengers

We managed to get out of the house early today, so I made a last-second decision to grab Hardee’s on the way out of town. Dexter was at work today, so Muad’Dib ran around with him just a little bit in the morning before we went back upstairs to continue reading through Intune policies.

It was chilly out by lunch time, so I just went to McDonald’s for another Big Arch. There was already a line of disgruntled people there, so I shouldn’t have been so surprised when I saw they didn’t make my burger to order. I went to have them remake it, and of course my somehow-perfect fries were cold by the time I got back to them.

The afternoon dragged a little bit as I went through security baselines, and then we headed home. Summer was just getting into a bath, so we didn’t get to go walking right away. I waited for her to get out, and then still had to talk her into going out again.

We walked to my parents’ house to see them, then came right back. Dad gave me some more rat poison because the stuff I had already put out was already gone, and we still had rats. They also ate all of the bait I put on the bucket trap, but didn’t actually get trapped. I hate to use a glue trap, but I’m running out of options.

Eaddie ate my leftover Hawaiian Bros. again, so I went to bed pretty angry, but at least this time it was my fault for not having finished it by now.

Kindly fuck off.

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Intune with Nature

I had another good day in Intune policies all day today. It was really quiet and a bit rainy otherwise. If I had realized it wasn’t raining at lunch time, we would have gone to Sonic, but instead I had already ordered Subway for pickup. We got that and I ate in the office.

The afternoon was more of the same, if not a little distracted. Summer got home early and made dinner, so we rushed back for that. Then I started some more laundry while we took Muad’Dib for a walk to my parents’ house. We visited briefly and then let him lead the rest of the way home, which was a surprising twist from his usual route.

I cleaned up a bit more when we got back. Summer went to bed, I updated WordPress, and then it was off to bed a minute or two early.

Shoutout to Updraft for keeping backups dead simple!

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I’ll Tost’a My Own Guac

I slept hard through the first few seconds of my alarm this morning, then dragged out of bed. I didn’t go to sleep super late, but I must have been in a deep slumber. We made it to work in spite of the asshole guarding the left lane by speeding and slowing down around me for no apparent reason. I wasn’t driving inconsiderately to begin with, but he couldn’t keep up when I decided to pass him for good.

I was proud of how busy I stayed all day, and I felt like I got some good stuff done, even if they were all short-term tasks. I was rewarded with Ortega’s for lunch, but was told I couldn’t have a tostaguac, so I just ordered a tostada and chalupa, then sandwiched them together to accomplish the exact same thing.

The afternoon was busy as well, and we ended up leaving just a few minutes late, which landed me in some slightly heavier traffic for a bit, but it wasn’t too bad. We found Summer at home finishing up her schedule, so I started some laundry and cleaned up a little bit. We saw Eaddie for just a moment, and then she was gone again. Brandie texted and I caught up with her for a while, and eventually made it to bed.

No cheese for you.

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Full on Monday

It finally rained a bit today after threatening for a while. We got to work early, and then out of nowhere I started to feel gross inside. I managed to keep myself busy enough helping the girls with something downstairs, and we made it to lunch time. We left without a plan other than to grab cheese sticks from Sonic, and ended up at Wendy’s for a break and a cup of chili.

I felt much better after that, and tinkered with Intune some more in the afternoon until quitting time. Summer had call-ins and had to close the lube, so we stopped by AT&T to see Kevin for a moment, then by Superfast to see Summer. They were dead, so we went to Walgreens to pick up my prescriptions. They had lines inside and out, so I just had to stand there and wait.

Once we got home, I changed and then went to pick up Nova at Tech so we could have dinner with my parents. Mom made noodles for pork chops, shrimp, and egg rolls. Summer met us there, and we finished eating just as Julie and Kevin showed up.

Summer headed home to clean up and go to bed, I took Nova back, and then wrapped things up quickly so I could try and get some better sleep than last night.

Bonus pill!

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Short Sunday

The time shift didn’t do much for us today. I tried not to sleep in too much so I could go to sleep in the evening. Summer got up to some coffee and I ate my leftover chicken strip, and then the brisket with the beans and chips from our trip. With the refrigerator mostly empty, I wanted to go shopping and cook a nice dinner.

Summer went to the gym with Eaddie and I got ready for a late start to the day. When they got back, Eaddie showered and left, and then Summer decided she wanted Chinese. All planning out the window, we eventually went to New China where they appeared to still have a steady stream of Hispanics coming in from church services throughout the day. The food was hot and fresh, and I managed to fill up on a few different kinds of broccoli.

After that, we wanted to take Muad’Dib for a walk around Bona Dea. Summer immediately had to stop at the trailhead, so I walked around the short ring with Muad’Dib, and then Summer just wanted to go on home. With her not feeling well, Muad’Dib and I just laid in bed to rest for a bit. I felt like I could take a nap, but didn’t actually fall asleep.

Dad wanted us to bring the Model Y over so their neighbor could check it out. He seemed to have done enough research that I don’t know why they didn’t just go test drive one at the factory, but I talked to him for a little while about it, then gave him a quick test ride. Muad’Dib had run over ahead of me, so I let him run back home as well. Then he and Summer went to bed pretty early. Eaddie was home for a moment, but left. I tried to pay our toll fees from our trip, but failed, so I’ll try again during the week.

Fine, I’ll do it myself.

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Long Distance Pool Party

We lost power briefly last night, and I woke up gasping because my battery backup just doesn’t have any life left in it. I got back to sleep after a reset, and eventually got up to eat a leftover waffle. Summer did her nails and watched TV, and I got ready for my trip to the Springdale Pool Lounge.

I couldn’t find anyone to ride with me, so I made the trip alone. I stopped in Alma to charge, and went into Harp’s for some food since the pool hall wouldn’t have any. I got some pretty good chicken strips and a hilariously small serving of potato wedges, but it was all more than enough.

I got to Springdale about half an hour late after all of that, but it looked like they were just getting settled in anyway. There weren’t a bunch of people, but we had a good time and played a few rounds of some pretty bad pool. We were only there for about three hours before we had to give up the reserved tables, and then we parted ways.

I stopped by the Hawaiian Bros just up the road and had a little bit of food, but brought most of it back home. I had to stop in Alma again to charge for a little bit, and then wound down for bed.

Don’t get distracted by all the pretty lights.

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Still Walking

I woke up feeling okay and took my smoothie and matcha to work for breakfast. I didn’t drink my Soylent just because I didn’t really feel hungry, but then we went to Subway to pick up lunch before a call with Aptean in the early afternoon. That ended up being pretty boring with just Tammy and me on the call, and I didn’t love feeling like we’d just have to report back to others. They’re definitely expecting more from us, but we’re also expecting more from them for how much we pay.

The afternoon went by fairly quickly and I started to lose a bit of focus as my tab count grew larger and the tabs themselves became unmanageably small. We nearly made it home when I noticed Summer was still at work, so we turned around and went to Ridgewood instead.

Grant and Kyler were out back talking, so we popped in to chat for a while. I got to try their upcoming shepherd’s pie special, and hopefully they’ll have some of everything left by the time I can get there on St. Patrick’s Day. As Summer started to head home, I went in and got some meat to put on our leftover baked potatoes at home.

We ate, and then had to run downtown for her glow run. We took Muad’Dib, dropped her off to pick up her packet, and then I ended up parking way over behind Papa John’s. There were a couple gas burners parked in front of the new EV chargers that were installed, but I’d later learn that they weren’t powered up anyway.

It was pretty noisy and Muad’Dib didn’t love it, so we mostly stood back and waited for Summer to finish her race. She placed, so we waited for her medal pin and then headed back to the house for the night. Eaddie went to a concert of Eli’s, so I didn’t see her again all night.

It’s just indigestion… maybe.