Author: gallopingcow

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Somewhere in Between Guilt and Guillotine

We woke up to some enlightenment, and had to make quick decisions for the day. I ate a couple donuts, and Summer made a couple egg and cheese biscuits from the leftovers. Eventually she left with Autumn for the gym, but ended up at her parents’ house first, to let them in on what the meddling teenager had conspired.

Eaddie and I made it to my house so I could shower, and then met Summer at the arts center for The Addams Family. It was neat to see the orchestra pit in use, though we couldn’t actually see any of the band. The play seemed to be done really well, though it was hard for me to hear most of the dialog. I didn’t realize there was an intermission, and thought they ended the play in a very odd way.

Afterward, the girls weren’t up for dinner, so I went to my parents’ house on my own. I thought about going back to the girls for the night, but ended up staying home to better prepare for another day that will almost inevitably go sideways.

Idiot.

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Slow Learners

I didn’t sleep great last night, in spite of how exhausted I was from the trials of the day. I woke up a little after eight and laid around in bed until Eaddie called to see if I would pick her up later in the day to take her out on the Grom. I took my time getting around, and eventually got a shower before stopping by McDonald’s to burn up some rewards points before they expired. Somehow, I think the Spicy McChicken ends up being the best value per point.

Summer had to work a bit today, and took Autumn with her. Eaddie was watching TV when I got to the house, so I ate my sandwich with some leftover fries from Popeye’s. Then we went back to my house to get the Grom. We rode to the high school, and even after it was her idea to ride, I still had to endure lots of griping from Eaddie for being out in the “heat” with an aching butt and hands. I pressed her on, though, and we made it to second gear along with a ride around the building out of my line of sight. As kids started showing up for the play at the arts center, Eaddie and I decided to pack it up and head home. She wanted to ride her bicycle to her father’s restaurant, so I just hung out at home until she got back.

Mom and Dad were grilling pork chops and shrimp, but Eaddie was tired and full from eating with her father, and wanted to nap after she got back to my house. I went outside to pick some mint, then ran to the Neighborhood Market for some lettuce before meeting Summer and Autumn at my parents’ house for dinner. Autumn seemed on good behavior, though she surprised us by giving Dad some selective information about our visit from DHS yesterday. After the girls left, I expanded upon what really happened.

Evidently Autumn talked Summer into letting her go to church with my dad in the morning. I thought she said she was going with her own father, so I didn’t think anything of it. Upon further reflection and learning more details myself, we decided not to let her go, and had a talk about consequences when I got to their house. She spent all evening in her room, watching shows and talking on Facebook Messenger on her school laptop. Summer still hasn’t learned how important thoroughness is when following through with punishments, but I let her sleep through her headache. We’ll talk about it in the morning.

Everything means everything.

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WOLF!

I hardly slept at all last night from the dread of impending doom looming over me. I made it in to work, but drove rather than rode so that I would have better options in case something came up. We had a relatively short meeting, and then went to the graveyard to hunt for old devices that would have to be returned at the end of their lease this summer. On the subject of an entirely different Summer: she was having a very rough morning as well, so I invited her to come spend the morning with me. She spent some time in the graveyard with us as we continued enrolling devices. Then we went down and she spent some time in my office on her own.

She left around the time we were thinking about lunch. I suggested Sam’s, and commented that it was a little messed up that Zach overrode me for Morellos for my “last meal” before going to the bad jail. I did enjoy my fajitas, but I ate too much, especially for how I was feeling all day.

The afternoon went by quickly as well, as my 3:30 meeting with someone from child services at Summer’s house drew near. Summer texted to let me know she was running behind due to an actual case, but she did eventually show up. I talked to Melinda on the drive over, and then we dove right in.

Autumn had dropped Eaddie off at home, and she was in the living room talking to the case worker for a bit with Summer. Shortly after I arrived, Eaddie went to her room and Licia continued to talk to us about the multiple accusations that had been made. Summer and I were of course furious, but fortunately Licia could tell from her interview with Autumn that this was utter nonsense.

Eventually Autumn was summoned home, but before our visitor left. We confirmed that we could continue with punishment without fear of backlash or repercussions from Autumn. She stuck around as we talked to Autumn to try and produce any evidence of neglect or abuse, and ultimately revoked her technology, automobile, and employment permissions. We were also advised that it would be fine to remove the door from her room as long as she had privacy by way of the bathroom for changing clothes and the like. I haven’t spent as many evenings over there lately anyway, so none of this was of any real concern. Autumn did get slightly aggressive as Summer collected her things, but quickly broke down as she felt her life being ripped away from her. We explained that accusing others of crimes, especially felonies, had real life consequences for everyone involved. Nobody believed anything about any of her stories, though we would still have to meet again with someone from the state police regarding a criminal investigation as a formality.

After the investigator gave us plenty of advice and applauded our swift movement to get Autumn some help with her mental health, she left us and pleaded for Autumn not to wreck anything in the house. It wasn’t a real concern of mine, but I was glad she solidified the fact that Autumn had undeniably lost. Summer removed her door from its hinges, and Autumn either opened up honestly or continued to play us by the way that she broke down. From now on, we are both fully aware of our need to tread cautiously. There’s no going back for her though. If she’s not compliant, we’ll get the state involved for help with holding her accountable.

Eaddie came out of her room groaning of hunger pains, so I took her to Popeye’s for dinner. We just got a box of tenders and came back to the house to eat. Autumn had brought some chicken strips from Denny’s when she came home, so I assume they tasted about as good as her failure to ruin my life. Things calmed down quite a bit for the rest of the evening though. She changed her tune about me a bit, and then watched TV with Summer until I got ready to leave. Summer went to bed and I headed home for the night.

Fun isn’t something one considers when balancing the universe, but this … does put a smile on my face.

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Parenting 301: Intermediate-Advanced Teenage Childhood Development

I rode the Shadow to work this morning since it was still nice out, and I figured it would be good for a ride out to Center Valley. I ended up being commandeered in the afternoon and never made it out that far, though. The morning was actually pretty quiet in the shop because the big three were out walking the new maintenance building on North South Oswego. I don’t know why so many people keep getting that address wrong, but at this point it’s just pure comedy.

I spent the morning doing some laptop repairs for Center Valley, which I’m pretty sure were more repairs than I’ve done all year for Oakland. A group of us went to Arby’s for lunch, and I rode with Thomas and the rest of the gang because I had somehow gotten a curved piece of metal in my back tire. When we got back to the shop after lunch, I managed to pull it out and confirm that it was less deep than the remaining tread on the tire, so all was well.

Zach had a big group of us out in the graveyard enrolling Chromebooks for the rest of the day. I, of course, was an efficiency monster and dominated with four complete carts by the end of the day. Summer left Conway and wanted me to call her, but didn’t answer her phone. Then Eaddie needed a ride home from her father’s restaurant.

I ran home to get a helmet for Eaddie, but as soon as I got there, Summer rang in with some disturbing news. Eaddie and I got on the bike and met her back at my house for a chat. We ended up calling Kevin for a bit of advice, and then we wound up at Chili’s for dinner.

I didn’t even order anything for myself, and instead split a full rack of ribs with Summer. Somehow I still ended up eating the most, long after they had finished. I went home stuffed, and ended up on a Discord call with Mitch for quite a while. He offered what advice and comfort he could, and we shared some laughs about the past. Things have changed a lot since January 9th, 2002, but we’re keeping it real.

AM I BEING DETAINED?!?!?

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Center of Attention

I took the Grom in today to complete the set. I stopped at Oakland first to swap a couple iPads, and then got a couple more Chromebooks to work on from the library. Back at the shop, we had a visitor from eSchool working out of Greg’s office. I kept my room to a dull roar, and mostly kept busy until lunch time.

Thomas took a bunch of us to Brangus, but I rode the bike so we didn’t have to ride five-deep. Even Tammy came along, and Brody met us there. My inner dialog kept telling me to take half of my beef spud home, but almost instinctually, I continued to finish my plate.

Sometime in the afternoon, we were scolded for not making an appearance at Center Valley, so I dropped some stuff off at Oakland, ran home to swap for the R1, and sped north out of town. I just didn’t feel sanguine riding that little bitty bike all the way down the hill, and then back up.

I ended up bringing a backpack full of devices back to the shop, which I think is more than the number of part replacements I’ve had to perform at Oakland all year. The end of the day approached relatively quickly, and I went home exhausted because of my poor sleep the night before.

At some point I video called Summer for a bit, and we did some parental plotting and scheming. I could barely get into anything else, and went to bed early.

Her: “He’s probably thinking of other girls…”
Him: “I wonder when I can drive the forklift again…”

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Just Forkin’ Around!

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.

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Return of the Whirlpool

I got a call from the Lowe’s truck drivers shortly after I woke up this morning, saying they were about 10 minutes away. That nearly got me in a dead-run to get everything cleared out and ready to go. It occurred to me that they are making a lot of assumptions every time they come out, and as a customer, I should be more upset about my experience. They walked the fridge out without having to do any door gymnastics, and even walked it past both of my grills after I moved the deck box. I guess they were less worried about damage coming out than they were going in.

Somehow, I still managed to make it to work on time, stopping at Oakland to take care of a backup battery issue, and then making a quick run through the rest of the work orders I had from the end of the week. It didn’t take terribly long, but did help the morning go by.

Gary was a little stressed with Zach, Greg, and Brody out for the day, and me out of my office first thing. I chatted with him briefly and did my best to ease his worries. We evidently had some more unexpected, sweeping changes that we weren’t informed about, which frustrated us as I had to troubleshoot an issue that we caused. There are a lot of wheels turning, and not all of them are aware of the others, though they’re all connected and affect each other. It makes for a disjointed team.

Lunch came quickly, and I just went home to some leftover Ridgewood barbecue. I ended up eating a bit too much and didn’t have time to go to Lowe’s to see about my refund, so I just went back to Oakland to finish up some stuff. The rest of the afternoon was relatively quiet, and Kyle was the only one I ever saw back in the shop.

As I left for the day, Eaddie called for a ride. I had to drop some things off at Oakland anyway. She was hungry, so we picked up some chicken strips from Dairy Queen for her, and then went back to my house to start Moon Knight. I absolutely hate the accents and how quiet the voices are, because it makes the dialog that much harder to understand. Otherwise it seems like it’s going to be a neat show, and unlike many of the others, they didn’t waste any time getting right into the action.

When we finished the episode, Eaddie rushed me to take her home. In turn, I made her wait in the car while I stopped at Lowe’s to resolve my return. The kid at customer service said it would take a day for them to process the return, but I was concerned about having made part of my purchase with gift cards. He insisted that I would “probably” get a call in the morning, but rather than risk it, I walked to the back to find someone. I never could find an employee that wasn’t busy, but I did find my refrigerator that had been marked down by $450 to be sold as-is. It was almost tempting to re-buy it at that price.

While I was back there, I saw the windowed version of the LG we were looking at. I didn’t love it either. The freezer seemed really small and narrow, and the shelves had nearly no adjustability. I think one shelf in the fridge side had a choice of two levels, but the rest only had the existing molded mount points. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even fit a frozen pizza in the freezer anywhere unless I left an entire shelf out, which would make for one super tall shelf. I may end up spending quite a bit more money for something much nicer by the time this is all over.

Back at the front, I explained that my refrigerator was already on the floor ready to sell, so he called a manager up to process the refund and I was on my way. When we got to the house, Eaddie went to her room to practice her flute, and I went outside to dig out the lawn mower. I probably spent about an hour trying to get the thing started, and eventually did with the help of some starter fluid, but it wouldn’t stay running for long. I’m inclined to think it’s the leftover fuel, but I can’t get any of the girls to run the mower often or long enough to keep that stuff flowing through it.

Summer got home super late. I thought I might stay over, especially since she arrived with some apparent energy left. Ultimately she ate and went straight to bed, so I headed back home. I took another crack at charging the Grom battery after stopping it last night when I heard it sizzling. Hopefully the lower amperage will keep things from exploding.

People actually lived for ages without refrigeration, so maybe I can just make it to Black Friday for a better deal.

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Typical Two Hour Visit

Summer and I got up this morning and decided on a whim to go have breakfast at Denny’s since Autumn was working. Eaddie didn’t want to go because she was supposed to go with her father, but after a while he showed up there without her. The restaurant was packed, but there was still no reason any of the service should have taken as long as it did. Every single time I’ve been there, it’s been painfully clear that the place is simply mismanaged. My guess is that if the owners would invest in one good store manager, they could probably turn the whole thing around. Autumn seems to enjoy working there, so I can’t see it being entirely due to staffing issues.

Ronda and Steven were there as well, and stopped by our table to chat briefly on their way out. We were in the restaurant for at least a couple hours, through the rush, and into a pretty quiet time in the early afternoon. The kitchen never got any faster, but after that long, I’d had enough eggs. It’s sad to say that I’m very rarely out of that place in less than an hour and a half, and I simply can’t imagine how they could possibly take that long to scramble eggs.

I dropped Summer off at home to clean house, and then went back to my house. Eaddie was up in bed, but said she never received a call from her father as he had said. I heated up my leftover spaghetti and meatballs, which she enjoyed while we watched the last episode of Stranger Things. We’re super excited for the next season in a few weeks.

I tried getting Eaddie to go out on the Grom for a bit, which she was up for at first, but after some television decided she’d rather be lazy and spent most of the afternoon in her room on her phone. I probably should have forced her outside, but I was still feeling heavy and sleepy from breakfast myself.

Eventually Autumn came by to get Eaddie after staying an hour late at work. She wanted to chat about her day and about some 27 year old she’s crushing on out there. Eaddie just rolled her eyes and pleaded to be taken home while I did my best to briefly explain, without being too negative, that she should probably aim higher.

The rest of the night went by quietly, and was just as dull as most of the afternoon. I made an effort to charge the R1 and Grom batteries, so hopefully they can both come out to play soon.

I can tell you all about guys that hang out with girls 10 years their junior.

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Garth eVader

I tried to sleep as much as possible last night so today wouldn’t drag on. I made it out of the house in time to get Eaddie and meet Dad at the train depot to see Summer cross the finish line for her half marathon at right around two and a half hours. Ben and Sarah were there, and snuck up behind me while we were waiting in line to take Summer’s picture in front of their big inflatable. From there, we split back up because Summer needed a shower and Eaddie wanted to go ride her bike in the nice weather.

Once Summer was cleaned up from her morning race, I got gas and picked her up for a quick bite to eat at Zaxby’s before heading to Fayetteville. That was when I learned that she didn’t actually have any tickets because every purchase she tried to make had fallen through. She was on her phone the whole time trying to arrange for new tickets.

When we finished eating, we picked Eaddie up from her friend’s house and came back to my place. I tried to help Summer pay for some tickets, but it just didn’t work out. I started feeling sketchy about all of the different failed payment attempts, and it was getting late fast. We ultimately decided to just stay home. We let Eaddie go back out on her bike while we watched some TV to relax a while.

Eventually we were hungry enough to have a nice meal. Eaddie still wasn’t hungry, so Summer and I drove across town to see if the boys at Ridgewood Brothers had any scraps left. Grant gave us their last half pound of beef and some banana pudding, and we caught up really briefly as they finished cleaning up. I’m super excited for them to build their new place and get out of the trailer.

After running around town dodging prom-goers, we ultimately ended up at La Villa for some reward pasta for Summer. Then we picked up Eaddie’s bike from her father’s restaurant so they could go out to eat together. Summer and I watched an episode of Middleditch and Schwartz improv, which had me absolutely rolling. Then when Eaddie got home, Summer went to bed and we stayed up late watching Stranger Things.

We nearly finished the season, but Eaddie gave up just before we started the last episode. It’s just as well though, because I’d rather not have to wait for the next season to start. I’ll be curious to see if they really try to make it scary.

Flayed

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Cartagain Weather

Thomas was out this morning, so Gary lead the team meeting with an intro for everyone to our new ticket system. The highlight of the morning was Brody calling out that Gary likely had more important tickets to work on than building out an unnecessary new system. Zach split everyone up for projects, but the big one for the day was cleaning up all the old carts we got from Bentonville so the group we hired can come wire up all the new chargers.

I went upstairs with Gary to troubleshoot a printer issue in the computer lab, but he had to bail early for a meeting. I came out of nowhere with an unexpected fix involving the shared account they were using in the lab, and made my way downstairs to help with the carts.

Brody suggested Mulan’s for lunch after much debate, so he took took Zach, Gary, and Josh. I rode the Shadow to work, so I rode separately through some pretty stupid traffic. I took a different approach to my plating, with most of my rice being in the sushi. I still ate a lot, but I wasn’t completely miserable by the time we left.

I spent most of the afternoon working in my office until everyone came back to the shop to rest from their own work. I was the last one out, and decided to swing by Oakland to see if Eaddie needed a ride. She and Zane were walking to her father’s restaurant to eat, so I got gas and headed home until she needed a ride.

Summer was headed home from Conway about the time Eaddie and I started watching an episode of Stranger Things. Then they left to get ready for a 5k that Summer registered the girls for. Eaddie was worried about homework and stayed home, but Autumn ran. I ended up meeting Summer at the finish line, and we were proud to see her finish strong.

I came home to try and rest up for a super long day tomorrow, but had trouble getting to bed. Hopefully I don’t drag tomorrow night, because I already feel like a bad boyfriend for not wanting to go.

Friends take work. You’re not going to spontaneously summon a crowd.