I took the Shadow to work today, and it really worked out in my favor. We were tasked with visiting every campus to check for rooms with A/V equipment where we could host large classes of sensitivity training. Three of the guys went to the high school to continue imaging student devices. Greg and Josh went to the high school to scout that campus’s rooms, and I got to ride my bike all around town to visit all of the elementaries.
I stopped by Oakland first, though I already knew what equipment they had. Then I ran home to put in my contacts and sunglasses, since I would be spending so much time on the road. Crawford was a pretty quick in-and-out, and then I made my way up to Center Valley. It was nice to get a little bit of a ride in, and then I hunted around in the dark to investigate their setup. One of the custodians saw me come in but didn’t know who I was, so he chased me down to investigate.
While I was there, Gary asked me to meet him at Sequoyah to pull some cables out of the ceiling because they were somehow in the way of the maintenance guys. Gary didn’t realize we left the lines with the intent of using them for whatever goes in the room next, and had already cut them at the ceiling. We probably could have still kept come, but we ended up pulling them all out anyway. When we finished, Greg and Josh showed up for some reason, and we chatted outside for a while. Then when I left, Selvin was taking pictures of my bike, so I let him ride it around the parking lot. Maybe I can get him and Marcela to buy one, and then I’ll have a new riding buddy.
I stopped by Dwight to take care of it before lunch, and then left London for the afternoon. On the way back, I stopped by the new Ridgewood Brothers’ build site to take a picture of the framework. They were putting trusses up with a big crane, so I took a few pictures to share before heading back to the shop.
I suggested Freddy’s for lunch, and Gary seemed excited by that. Thomas took him, Greg, and Josh, and I rode the bike. The service was actually really fast for dining in, but we were also there early enough to beat the lunch rush. The burger I had was really good, especially with all the added veggies. After that and some cheese curds, I didn’t have room for any custard.
When we got back to work, I was sent to find Mary Beth to help with a printer issue. She wasn’t there, but Thomas was in the conference room waiting on her for a meeting. I waited for a bit, but then was called away when a truck load of 75″ Newline touch panels showed up. They were stacked two pallets high, so I had to get the forklift and shuffle them around quite a bit in order to unload everything. I felt like an expert though, and we got everything into the graveyard without incident.
By that time, I still needed to run out to London, so I left again. I decided to stop and see Grant and Robert on my way out of town, and showed them my pictures while they trimmed up some briskets. They were high-energy as usual, but I couldn’t stay long. It felt like a super long trip out to the final elementary campus, but it was a nice ride across the lake. I checked an extra room there, since the cafeteria didn’t actually have any equipment in it at all. The room with the stage might actually work pretty well.
The rest of the afternoon was super quiet. Some of the guys filtered back in and sat around for a while. Thomas eventually came back and let us go just a few minutes early, though he seemed to indicate that he meant to let us go even earlier. The long days feel absolutely ridiculous, and I don’t think anyone at Central Office is even working that late.
I rode home and changed, then went next door to talk to Bác Vân about her high electric bill. She said they added four pounds of refrigerant to their A/C unit at the start of the season, so I’m wondering if it’s low again. In eight days, she’s used almost as much electricity as she did all last month.
I finally made it up to Summer’s for the evening, and Autumn was already silent in her room. Summer was horizontal on the couch watching TV, so I snacked on some leftovers, and then she went to bed super early. I took the opportunity to do the same, a little uncomfortable that there was still enough light to see outside, but also fully aware of how tired I feel when I wake up that extra half hour early for work. At least we’re over the halfway point.
Hell if Fi knows.