I took the R1 to work this morning and immediately realized that I was low on gas. I had plenty to get around for the day, though. Gary asked me to take care of an issue upstairs, which I was able to resolve remotely. Then after a while, he wanted some help throwing out a few pallets worth of Chromebook boxes. We hired a group of guys from Louisiana to wire our certified pre-owned carts, and they were just churning through, loading them all up with the new devices.
Gary and I walked over to the warehouse to get someone to help us with a forklift so we didn’t have to load several truck beds full. Justin came out, and I immediately started asking if he would let me drive it. I’m not sure he thought I was serious at first, but eventually he agreed to let me drive it to the dock once he got it out into the road.
I had the absolute time of my life.
It took me four trips for four pallets, while Gary basically spent the entire time just throwing armfuls of boxes into the recycle dumpster. I got pretty fast once I was confident with the controls, and made quick work of it all. My only regret was that I forgot to beep the horn, but I’m betting I’ll get to do the same tomorrow with the last of the pallets.
On the way to put the forklift back in the warehouse, I accidentally got it stuck on the curb, but managed to wiggle it off after Gary threatened to use our work truck to bump me off. That got us a few minutes into lunch, so I just drank a Soylent while Zach and Gary ate their food in the kitchen.
The afternoon was relatively quiet, except for another conference call outside my door. I kept pretty busy checking in on Brody’s tickets since he was out at an auction all day. A bit before school let out, Autumn texted and said she had to get her paycheck, and wanted to know if I would get Eaddie home. Me, being an alpha parent, told her that there was no rush to get her paycheck, and that it was her responsibility to get Eaddie home and to karate.
About an hour and a half later, I got a call from Eaddie that Autumn was being a “b-word” about picking her up. Just as I was about to hang up and call her, Autumn rang beeped in and I level-set her expectations. She seemed to be receptive, and at least calmed herself down while I was talking to her. Eaddie beeped back in, and I told her to take the ride home, and that we would all talk about it when we got home.
I got gas after work, then waited at home for Summer to get back into town. Then I met her at Lowe’s to look at the LG refrigerator we were considering. They had my returned fridge marked down again to $850, which was an incredible deal that made me consider re-purchasing it. If they had told me they would just give me that much of a refund to keep it, I would have gladly done so, and been perfectly satisfied with my backlit food and slow water dispenser.
Summer was tired of my indecisiveness, so we left and went to Walmart so she could pick up ingredients for banana pudding. Then she went home while I checked out clearance before meeting her at the house. We ate leftover pasta until Autumn got home from hanging out at Denny’s, and then we had a chat to try and set some more family expectations. Eaddie has been making an effort to communicate better, but Autumn is continuing her rebellious tendencies.
No matter what we say or do now, she’s going to pursue some kind of relationship with this older kid she works with. She’s also encouraged that someone told her she could be a salaried manager in a few years if she keeps up the good work, but she conveniently forgets that she still works at a goddamn Denny’s. I’ll take Unsuccess Stories for 1000, Alex. I’ve been exactly there.
I eventually made it home to find my charger had errored out on the Grom battery, but it started successfully and strongly. I got a little air in the tires, and it’ll be three for three on getting all of the bikes out this spring. Maintenance needs to happen early this year though, on account of how far behind I’ve gotten.
Slummers gonna slum.