Author: gallopingcow

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How to Tell if You’re in a Cult

A bunch of water had collected in the trunk of my car this morning, and sloshed around on my way to work. Fortunately it didn’t damage my headliner, or seemingly get on it at all. I couldn’t tell where it was actually coming in though, so I guess I’ll have to pour water on it with a hose.

Jacob and I continued with inventory today, which made the day go by quickly, if nothing else. He didn’t want to reset iPads, and I didn’t want to do inventory, so we just split up this time, and I slowly went room to room with earbuds in. We made it back to the shop just a bit before lunch, and Tammy started talking about everyone having to clean out their work spaces to create more separation between our work life and home life. I was absolutely triggered at the thought of having to take all of my shit home, so I was riled up the rest of the day.

Nobody had any idea what to eat, so I suggested Chick O’Fish, since it was something new. When we got there, the menu TVs weren’t quite working right. I hate that places are starting to use more animated menus that flip to a different screen while I’m reading them. The next thing I noticed was that they appeared to have the same menu as Sam’s Southern Eatery, down to Sam’s Special. That’s when one of the girls behind the counter piped up and said that they were identical, with the same owners and everything. What made even less sense was that they were also trying to have table service in that tiny building, rather than let people order from the counter. That would have made it much easier.

After lunch, Jacob and I finished at Oakland. We got done about an hour before quitting time and made it back to the shop, but then Thomas cut us loose. I went home and tried to investigate my leaky car, but got nowhere. I fought sleep for a while, and cleaned up a couple aquarium hoods before Summer told me we no longer had a buyer for the 55 gallon tank.

Eventually I headed up to their house for the evening. I stopped at McDonald’s to spend some expiring rewards points on some fries, got gas, and then made it up in time for everyone to already be in their bedrooms. I was concerned about the water in the succulent pots, so I repotted everything and then wound down for bed.

Somebody drank all of the Kool-Aid…

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Incident ID-10T

We had a brief meeting this morning, in which Thomas told us that the entire district was going to be implementing weird new management strategies, and that our department was going to start by putting Greg in charge for the day. I immediately asked who was fired first, and what we had to do to go home early. Unfortunately neither of those things happened.

The task I was given was actually completed yesterday, so I went with Jacob to look at the junior high scoreboard instead. The main problem was a breaker that was shut off, but then we needed the lift to get up to one of the scoreboards, so we had to come back in the afternoon. They had stripped most of the floors, so we wandered around the building to find our way into the office, where I helped Janie with some stuff before we headed back to the shop.

Thomas also asked us to clean up some Chromebooks to donate to the Russ Bus, so we did that until lunch time. Then we made Brody make good on his promise to buy us CiCi’s for lunch after winning at Cornhole. Only Greg, Thomas, and I were in for that, and it cost more than he expected, but it was still a good time. When we got back to the shop, I went with Jacob back to the junior high to get up on the lift. We were able to restore power to the other scoreboard, but then both controllers quit working.

We spent the last part of the day working on inventory at Oakland. I got super frustrated with Incident IQ and its insistence on clicking absolutely everywhere. It is not shortcut friendly at all, and is basically made for dummies to touch things, and I absolutely hate it. I’ve not been this frustrated with software in a very long time.

Gary called me near the end of the day and asked me to be his DD to Domino’s so we could get some pizzas for Kelsea. I wasn’t made aware until late, but apparently her father-in-law passed away earlier in the week, and he wanted to make sure the family was eating. I picked him up after work, we went to see Neal at Domino’s, and then made it out to Pottsville to deliver the food.

Nobody was home at first, so we waited out in the yard for her to show up. Then we chatted for a while before making it back to town. I dropped Gary off and went home to change before noticing that Mom had texted about dinner. They were frying sweet potato and shrimp fritters, so the girls met me over there for dinner.

The back yard was deafeningly loud with tree frogs, and I even spotted several of them huddled together near the roof on the side of the house. I helped fry the last of the stuff before finishing up and heading home for the evening. There’s been a toad stuck in the garage somewhere, and I put some water and a light out for him, but I fear he’ll perish soon because Summer didn’t shoo him out when she saw him a couple days ago. Hopefully I’ll find him tomorrow.

You are the true Lord of the Dance, no matter what those idiots at work say.

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Exhail

I had a pulmonary function test this morning at Millard Henry, so I made it home early to get ready. A huge storm blew through pretty quickly, and I could hear hail pinging the rooftop. It had died down to a light rain by the time I had to drive across town. I was in and out of the clinic relatively quickly. I didn’t have the greatest confidence in the nurse that helped me, due to the way she kept making excuses for the apparatus. I did three puffs, and then another three after a couple shots of albuterol, and she said the results looked normal.

I stopped by to kill some time with Dad before having to go to work, but forgot he was heading out with his friend Dave to an old classmate’s celebration of life event. I started to go home, but then decided to go up to Summer’s to pick up my medication that I forgot to take with me in the morning.

When I got there, Eaddie was painting while Autumn slept on the couch. The power had gone out a few hours earlier, so I thought I might take them to my house for the day. They thought they might ride bikes, but I told them it was going to rain the entire day. After a little while, the power came back on, so I left them there to go to work.

I met up with the guys at Arby’s because I wanted to try their wagyu burger. It was pretty good, but I don’t think I’d ever actually go to Arby’s to order it again. I like too much of their regular menu to be bothered by ordering something they’re not known for. I still prefer a hot, fresh, Wendy’s burger to just about any other in town.

When I got to the shop, Gary had me image a couple laptops, and then walk across to Transportation to install Adobe on a couple computers. The laptops were done by the time I made it back, so I delivered them to Oakland before coming back to the shop for a group showing of how we were expected to take inventory the rest of the week. When we finished there, Gary wanted to take everyone to a building to show us live, so we went to the Oakland library where several things weren’t actually in the inventory system.

We filtered out a little early, and I headed home for the evening and started some laundry. A couple kids that had been by a few days ago showed back up and rang my doorbell again. I assumed they wanted to mow my lawn, but instead they asked about my Pontiac. The oldest one didn’t look like he was even close to driving age, but he said he would get his permit next year and wanted to buy it. I couldn’t help but laugh, and told him it would be a very poor choice for a first car for a multitude of reasons.

I poked around the rest of the evening, and tried not to go to bed too late. One of the things I poked around with was the succulent in the bathroom window. I cut it pretty low to the base with the hope that it would branch out, and then pulled a couple leaves off to see if they would sprout. It was just getting too tall and boring with its singular trunk.

What the hell do June showers bring?

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Facebook Medical Supplies

I slept in a little bit today since I took the morning off for my wellness exam. The girls stayed home since Summer was working in town. I went in for my visit, forgetting that I had filled out my medical form with my preferred first name of Captain Michael of HMSV Manatee. Keely came in wanting to know the story behind it, and we shared a few laughs. We decided to schedule a pulmonary test to make sure my lungs are back up to snuff after COVID, and then I got stuck in both arms looking for enough fluids to get my required bloodwork.

I was pretty hungry when I left, so I went by Superfast to see if Summer wanted to get lunch. She needed to run some errands anyway, so she took me to Harbor Freight, Walmart, and then Western Sizzlin to eat. When I made it to the shop, Gary was the only one there, and he was on his way out. They were shorthanded, so I was the only one in the shop all afternoon.

After a little bit of tinkering, Gary asked me to run over to the new maintenance building with a hotspot, since those guys already started moving computers before we even had internet run to the building. When I got there, they still didn’t even have all of the power run either. I ended up having to bring Chris’s computer back to the shop. I got it going, and then Gary showed up after letting everyone else leave a bit early. We worked out the day, and then I headed home.

Summer said we had an interview with someone from the state police right after work, so I ran home to change and then headed up. There was a wreck holding up traffic along the way, so I was a bit late, but I didn’t really miss anything. The girls were hanging out in the living room, and it was clear with the way Summer was talking that she was just closing things up. We shared some more stories, and then she left, saying the case should be completely closed within a couple days.

Summer left for the gym, and the girls wanted to hang out for a girl’s night, but I never left. They were watching Stranger Things and had Summer come back with some pizza, along with my blood pressure medication. Summer and Autumn went to bed first. Eaddie stayed up doing her paint-by-number, and I tried not to stay up too late.

Teenage girl drama

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The Boot

Today was super quiet in the office. Zach sent a group to run some cable at the junior high, but they were stripped out in front of the cafeteria. I was left to figure out the duplicate boot image issue in SCCM, which I was already sort of onto anyway. I just put on some music and knocked it out super fast. Then I went to Oakland to take care of an old ticket there.

I didn’t even realize it was lunch time, and I missed the text from Brody that they were at Brick Oven. He ordered a pizza for me, and I met them there. Then it was a super chill afternoon with some more tinkering with the boot image to try and trim it down and make it faster.

I actually ended up staying a bit late before heading home to Eaddie, who was dropped off earlier in the day so she could go ride her bike. We ate some leftover pizza and watched the first two episodes of Stranger Things, which were way more horror than the previous seasons.

We headed up to their house once Summer and Autumn were home from Conway, and it was a pretty quick evening to bed for everyone. Evidently Eaddie and Zane had a mutual breakup, and she seemed completely unphased by it. I tried talking with Autumn on her way to bed, and then I wrapped up my own chores before going to sleep.

Time to start cramming for my wellness test.

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It’s a Tarp!

Autumn was up early this morning and scrambled herself an egg, so I fried a couple up for myself to eat with a leftover Popeye’s biscuit. I ate it with some old smoked cheese as well, which was dry and dissatisfying. Summer was in a cleaning mood and went through the whole house. When the cleaned off the windowsill in the kitchen, I took the opportunity to repot the kalanchoe that hasn’t been doing so well there. Hopefully the cuttings take off and I can get them to branch out again.

Dad texted and said they were about to start cleaning the pool cover, so we rushed the girls to get up and out to help. I took Eaddie first, and then Summer and Autumn followed after a couple minutes. The girls did a great job of scrubbing the pool cover, and then I stayed behind to help put it away. Summer dropped Eaddie off at my house to ride her bike, and then took Autumn to the gym.

By the time I got home, Eaddie was still hanging out in her room. She went out for just a couple minutes and then came back, but then went out again just before I got into the shower. Summer planned to have a nice dinner for us when we got home, so Eaddie and I headed on up as soon as she got back.

Summer made a Mexican chicken casserole that everyone really liked, and then Autumn cleaned up the dishes afterward. Summer finished up some laundry while Eaddie painted by numbers and letters in front of the TV. I lounged around until everyone was finally ready for bed.

Propagation Station

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Lipstick, Plastic, and Paint

I slept in a little later than I wanted this morning, but I needed the rest for what the day would bring. I ate some leftover carrots, cabbage, and potatoes from the corned beef we made weeks ago, along with a fried chicken breast from last night. Then we started going through Autumn’s room to clean everything out. We loaded the Murano as full as we could get it, and took it to storage.

Eric said they would be on their land later in the day if we wanted to bring Apollo by to release him into the pond. I grabbed the old turtle just as we were heading out the door, but we ended up having to hold onto him until the evening anyway, because they didn’t get out to the land as early as he originally anticipated.

Summer rented a storage unit, and we started loading it up with Autumn’s things. We got the smallest one they had, and then just stacked boxes as high as we could. It was actually a surprisingly small amount of stuff we had to move, but it would ultimately take us two trips. Summer went to the gym while I cleaned up at home, and then we went out for some CiCi’s for dinner.

After we ate, we went back to my house to grab the turtle bucket, and headed to Pottsville to find their land. I thought they were already living out there, but apparently they were only just starting the build. It was a beautiful plot, but a bit close to the interstate for me. The pond looked like it was going to be a great home for little Apollo to live out his days, stocked with all kinds of fish. Carley’s dad was out there fishing, and constantly reeled little bass in the entire time we were standing out there talking.

From there, we headed on back to Summer’s to finish packing Autumn’s room. She did a great job of cleaning everything out, and we ended up with an empty closet and room, aside for the bed and some band and JROTC stuff. Just as we loaded the last trip into the car, Summer got a text from Eaddie that they were coming home tonight. We rushed to put everything into storage, and made it home just in time to greet the girls as they got home.

Autumn hopped out of the car and bypassed us both to walk straight up to the house, but I had locked the door on our way out. Eaddie wasn’t very talkative either, and had apparently spent the entire trip quietly to herself in the trunk of the car. Nick said he knew things were going to blow up as soon as we got inside because we knew they had snuck a laptop along the trip, so he was quick to leave after pointing out that Eaddie had a hand in sneaking the laptop out as well.

Things inside probably went about as well as they could have. Autumn got it into her head that she was just going to leave and not talk to us at all. We cornered her in her empty room for a bit, and she mouthed us for a while, but then she ran out the back door and took off down the road. Summer called 911 and had the cops chase her down at the top of the bridge over the interstate, which was a lot farther than I thought she would make it. We had to fetch her, but they couldn’t keep her overnight or anything since running away isn’t a crime. Fortunately one of the half-dozen or so officers that showed up was one that came to the house the day that I had slapped her. As soon as Autumn said something about us beating her, he made a comment about how she had slapped herself to get out of mowing, and then got kicked out of the Explorer’s program. I wasn’t going to correct him on the side of the highway, but it was clear that nobody was going to believe her, and they convinced her to take the ride home.

Once we got into the house and let her chill out, she actually came out to the dining room and talked to us a bit. Things were basically back to normal, and she was smiling and laughing at things again. She eventually pulled her shirt off to show her gnarly sunburn, and Summer took care of that the best she could. We called Eaddie back out of her room, and I swatted her for bullying Autumn too, but it was clear to everyone that they were both guilty. We tucked Autumn into bed, and Eaddie took a late shower before following suit. For some reason, it still took me forever to get to bed myself.

I never wanted to be the villain, but all the hero suits itch.

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Middle Expectation

We were down a couple people this morning, so Thomas ended up coming to the middle school along with everyone that was there, and we pulled out three computer labs worth of cable, and two labs worth of computers that hadn’t already been taken. It was an easier job in the ceiling without insulation, but the tiles themselves were made of insulation and got me feeling itchy for the rest of the day.

Brody and I went to Cunningham to get paid for the scrap, and then we all took a late lunch at Wendy’s, where Zach’s kids were evidently already eating with their grandfather. We didn’t stay long, and made it back to the shop where we split up to work on different things. I was left to myself for the afternoon, so my biggest accomplishment was imaging a computer for Amy, and then walking it over to her at central office at the end of the day.

When I left work, I went by Superfast to see Summer because she had to close up there since the usual keyholders weren’t there. I went on home for a little while, and then picked up some Popeye’s on the way up to her house once she was home. We were eating when I got a call from Eric, inviting me to his land tomorrow to release Autumn’s neglected turtle.

It was a quiet night from then on, as Summer wound down in front of the TV. I laid down with her on the couch for a while until we made it to bed for the night.

Cramping my style…

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Idiot Wrangler

I made myself an iced coffee this morning, and then I was sent with Kyle and Brody to strip out the computer lab at Sequoyah. It was a short run to the closet, so pulling the cable out was a relative piece of cake. They were both working with earbuds in, so I went along with it and listened to Weird Al all morning. By the time we finished up, it had sprinkled a bit on the stuff in the truck bed, but it was likely all going to scrap anyway.

We finished unloading the truck in time for lunch, so Kyle drove me over to central office to see what the guys there wanted to eat. Someone suggested Stoby’s, and then we all volunteered Kyle to drive us. Somehow we made it to and from the restaurant without incident. I went light with tuna on a toasted croissant, and then took my chips for later.

We spent the afternoon finishing up termination at central office. It felt at times that we were underprepared, but Zach was happy to make trips back for parts we needed. It certainly could have been done more efficiently, but it wasn’t too embarrassing with all of the admins out at their retreat. As we finished up, I learned that one of the girls over there was married to Jackson, our old family friend from years ago.

I was the last one out of the admin building, and as I was walking into the shop, Kyle was walking back from the truck pen with a shit-eating grin, and said he may or may not have wrecked the truck trying to back it into the pen. I never made it over to look at the damage, but evidently it ran the length of the truck and left a pretty good dent. That frustrated basically everyone there with any goddamn sense. Zach let us go home early, but I think all but two of us actually stayed until Thomas showed back up from the retreat, and then they went to inspect the truck and damaged fence post.

I left and went to my parents’ house to clean up some leftovers for dinner. Mom wasn’t home from work yet, so Dad and I chatted until she showed up. Then we ate and I sat around for a bit before heading home. Summer hit the gym before going home, so I took her some Taco Bell, and we called it an early night.

“At least nobody died,” is not as comforting to hear as you may think.

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Basic White Mexican

Gary had Jacob and me go upstairs to swap out some lab computers this morning. We knocked that out pretty quickly, but then Gary had to leave the two of us to install the Pearson VUE software The instructions were both Dale-level documentation, and printed. I could have probably deciphered them well enough, except that some of the instructions were out of order, or completely wrong. It took us the entire day to get everything running.

We had to give up at lunch time, and Gary and I met Zach, Greg, and his wife at the new La Chiqita, or as the menu said, “L C I L A C H I Q U I T A” in all capital, equally-spaced letters. The restaurant itself was a small, open dining area with relatively tightly-placed tables. The décor could be perfectly described as “basic white bitch,” down to the grassy wall and cursive name in the entryway. Just when it feels like we’ve reached peak Mexican restaurant saturation, another one pops up with the exact same menu. It was novel 20 years ago. Now I’m just annoyed that no other ethnicity appears to even be trying.

I finished up the lab in the afternoon, and then tried to trace down a dead line with Gary at the end of the day. Things got pretty quiet around the office, and I appeared to be the last one out the door right at quitting time. I went home until Mom called me over to finish up some rice soup.

We ate and chatted for a little bit, and then I went back home to meet Summer after she got in from work. She ate my leftover lunch in the floor, then got ready for bed. Eaddie called, citing boredom, but seemed to have a lot going on in the background. As I suspected, Autumn has been terrible, and has continued to steal technology to circumvent her punishment. The lack of action against her is beyond frustrating, and I’m ready to lash out.

Beat it, just beat it.