Author: gallopingcow

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Worked Like Dogs

Scott brought his new little puppy to work today, so Muad’Dib and I went to his office quietly to visit. She was a tiny little beagle named Maple, and Muad’Dib whined until he got to go sniff her, but we didn’t see her much after that. It was a quiet day, and I really struggled to get into anything serious. I tried to gather some notes to share at the staff meeting for the next day, and continued to document the network.

I tried to get a McRib for lunch, but the app failed me and I ended up just redeeming a free double cheeseburger and small fries instead. I got a vanilla cone on the way out, and shared that with Muad’Dib when we got back to the office. He ran around outside a bit, we came in, and then Janice had us come downstairs for cake she made for Elizabeth’s birthday.

The afternoon dragged a bit until we headed home. Summer had dinner just about ready, and I wasn’t feeling great, so I waited to run Muad’Dib until after we ate. I had an anxiety attack on the way down the hill, but we made it to see my parents before getting back to the house. Then it was a pretty early night to bed after tossing and turning all last night.

Churn

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Let’s Review

I didn’t sleep great, but we slept in just a little bit before getting up for coffee. The girls went outside and I sat down to write a bunch of reviews while continuing with laundry. The day went by really fast, and we were all aware that we felt a little moody. Maybe it was cycles, or maybe it was seasonal affectivity. Maybe it was the anxiety attack I had when I started laundry. Maybe it was a continuation of the melancholy and dissatisfaction that we all seem to have accepted.

Summer made it to the gym, and Eaddie left for a concert of some kind. I took Muad’Dib for a run a few minutes earlier than on work days, and then Summer and I went to Colton’s for a late dinner. We sat in the car for a while before going in, trying to work through some feelings. Then we ate too much and came home to go to bed.

stuff

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Everybody Out!

We all woke up pretty early today. The girls went outside for coffee with the dog, so I joined them with a cup myself. Eaddie had a football game in the afternoon. Summer went to work and the gym while I got cleaned up. Then I made myself a burrito just before she left for the pregame show. I followed along with Muad’Dib, and we parked at the aquatic center and rode the Onewheel over to Tech from there. It was a short show, and then she went in for the game while Muad’Dib and I headed back to the house.

It was nice out, so we ran to my parents’ house to see them. We visited for a bit before Muad’Dib took me around most of the rest of his course. He skipped zig-zagging through the neighborhood blocks, but it was also pretty warm out. I spent the afternoon cleaning up and did some laundry when we got back to the house. Summer and Shaana had an Alabama concert in Little Rock later in the evening, so Summer dropped her car off and changed before running out the door again.

The kids came home after their game, and I offered to take them out for dinner. I wanted to take Muad’Dib since the weather outside was so nice, so our options were a little limited. We landed on Buffalo Wild Wings, which was a typical and expected disappointment, but they let the dog in.

Eli had a wrap, and Eaddie and I split a huge order of wings. We didn’t care for two of the sauces we got, but I liked the rest. The potato wedges were good, but the portion size for the $8 large was absolutely unbelievable. A single russet potato would have yielded more wedges than what we received. Even the small tray they were served on had an insulting amount of free space available. It was as though we were at a fine dining establishment that served single bites of food on normal sized plates. Service was also incredibly slow, but they were packed inside.

After we ate, we made an impromptu stop downtown for some ice cream at the Cool Cat Creamery. Eaddie got some rolled ice cream for us and we sat outside to eat and visit. There were some skaters over around the stage area who approached Eli and me while Eaddie was inside, and asked if either of us could do a backflip. I asked if I looked like the kind of person that did backflips. Eli’s respose was that he had a dog at home. He elaborated, after seeing the confusion in everyone’s faces, that he couldn’t allow himself the opportunity to injur himself, presumably because the dog needed him.

We eventually made it back to the house. Summer got home pretty late, and then everyone was off to bed.

Like a summer night.

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Signals Lost

I wasn’t at work for very long before I got a call from Calvin, who was at the warehouse in Conway. He was having trouble with the internet out there, and I didn’t know enough about the place to walk him through any kind of troubleshooting. I talked to Scott, and decided to head over there to check out the place.

By then, the sun was out of my way and I could let the car take over. It did really well, and got us right to the place we needed to go. Calvin had to let me in, and then he showed me the little box of an office in the middle of the big warehouse. From there, he walked me back to the core closet at the far end of the warehouse. He kept asking questions and trying to talk to me while I was trying to figure out what was going on, so I politely told him it was going to take me a little while to figure out what was going on, and asked where he would be if I needed to find him. That worked perfectly, and I spent the next few hours mapping cables and walking back and forth across the complex.

I don’t know how any of it worked before I got there, because it appeared to be plugged up wrong. I got their little Netgear router working again though, and then had to figure out lunch with Muad’Dib. The Rogue Roundabout turned in on bringfido.com, so I figured I would give them a try since they were just a little ways away. We found street parking and went in to inquire. Evidently they had a patio somewhere, but it wasn’t open at the time. The guy walked us back out the door to look for a table space, but then he changed his mind and just let us sit inside in a seat away from other patrons.

It was a fairly hip place, with long picnic table type seating. I would absolutely turn around and walk out if they were busy, but I wouldn’t mind to eat there again on a slow day. Of course I couldn’t try any beer, but Muad’Dib and I liked the beer cheese and pretzels. I didn’t care for the Wellington, and my Reuben was overtoasted, but otherwise good. I would have liked to see our server again sometime between ordering and paying, but otherwise it was fine.

We made it back to Morrilton, got some wine for Summer, and then it was pretty dull the rest of the afternoon. I did figure out an issue that Jessica was having, so hopefully that was visible enough after the call I had tiwth her and Shane. It seemed like everyone was ready to get out of there, and we made it home without any fuss. Again, I let the car do its thing, and it performed excellently.

I took Muad’Dib out for a quick run. My parents weren’t home, but we continued on around Inglewood and made it back to the house well after dark. Summer was still complaining of back pain after her bath, so she went on to bed. Eaddie was home and showered before going out again. I separated myself until it was time for bed.

pure tingles

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Problems with Pilots

It’s been a bad year for pilots. I was headed to work this morning, stopping at Starbucks for red cup day, when I saw Dad text that Mom was in the emergency room after wrecking on her way to work. I messaged Teisha and Joel that I would be late, then headed to the hospital to see how she was doing. I got in just in time to watch them roll her off to a CT scan, so I sat with Dad for a bit before having to go back out to scold Muad’Dib for trying to climb into the front seat.

We walked around the parking lot a bit, and then I went back inside once Mom was out. She looked to be in good shape, but had some cuts from the glass after rolling her car. She was in the left lane, and a semi truck was in the right lane, turning right. Someone on that road didn’t see her behind the semi, and T-boned her, which caused her car to roll. All things considered, she fared really well.

Muad’Dib and I eventually continued to work, and then just stayed at the office all day. I found a good series on subnetting with some practical exercises, so I mostly did that all day. I had my bánh bao and some popcorn for lunch and just worked straight through the end of the day.

We got back home for a quick run, checked on my parents, then came back to the house where I ate some of the grosser leftovers that hadn’t been finished yet. Then I unboxed some Vine stuff before an early bedtime.

shortest days

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These Subnets Are Just Right

I was in a convoy of speeders all the way to work today, so I shaved quite a bit of time off the drive. I had an anxiety attack really early, and then I really tried to dig into network redesign. I think I’ve made a decision and am finally ready to move forward with some changes. Otherwise it was really quiet all day long. We had some McDonald’s, but their ice cream machine was down and I couldn’t redeem dessert.

The afternoon was short by comparison, and then I took Muad’Dib for a run as soon as we got to the house. Summer got home just as we were walking out, and went to bed with an aching back. I made a couple burritos once we got back, and then we expected more of the aurora in the evening, but it just didn’t happen. I was really surprised at the one second video time lapse I got from the Pixel 8 Pro’s astro photography mode last night. We ended up staying in and just went to bed early.

Really early.

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Dull Drums and Electro Acoustic

I had another rough start like yesterday and got out of the house a bit late, but I made up the time. Muad’Dib must have had a belly ache, because he had to stop a few times outside before he was done. Then he threw up in Tyler’s office later in the morning, but he didn’t eat and hardly drank anything all day.

I pushed lunch out again, not feeling great myself. I decided to try Domino’s since they had a large one-topping for $6.70. I ordered a thin with half pepperoni and half bacon that I ended up just eating in the car in the Domino’s parking lot. There wasn’t another soul there, and all three employees were sitting at a little table in the corner when I walked in. When I opened the box, I spotted a singular, tiny little critter crawling around, but I think it was just a little spider. Everything else appeared clean.

The pizza was good, and Muad’Dib seemed to have plenty of energy when we got back. I let him run it out and then we dragged on through the afternoon. I had a bit more fun when Elizabeth called me downstairs for some help, and I got to quit reading documentation all day.

I let the car take me home, and immediately took Muad’Dib for a run since Future Motion won’t do the right thing and replace or refund my board. They won’t even give me the benefit of the doubt and take it back for service without charging me. My hope is that the attorney general helps, since I’ve had luck with that avenue in the past.

We rode into the dark, stopped by my parents’ empty house, circled past home and then went back to see Dad. Mom showed up just as we were pulling out, so we circled back again before going back to the house. I could never reproduce my battery failure, but the motor did disengage for a split second at one point.

I picked at some random leftovers that didn’t quite make a meal while Summer baked her gingerale-soaked cranberries in powdered sugar. She went to bed, Eaddie came and left, and I wound down until Dad prompted me to run outside and check out the northern lights. I blew off a notification from the MyRadar app about it, but then Dad shared a picture he took and I had to go outside to try myself. It was visible with the naked eye, so I decided to wake Summer up to see it, and then it was quick to bed.

Peachy.

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Cold Quiet

We had our first, brief freeze last night, and it was a cold, quiet drive to work. I got there much earlier than I expected, and to a relative ghost town with several people out. I was surprised to hear from anyone at all. We took a late lunch and ate mostly free on McDonald’s rewards, and then the afternoon went by fairly quickly after that.

I got a response back from Future Motion that they wouldn’t refund me, which was expected, so I compiled a timeline of all my warranty and paid services to send to the attorney general, and finally replied back requesting to escalate the issue.

It was an easy ride home, and Summer was there early with a bad back. I made us a couple burritos when she got out of the bath, and then we laid down to watch Justin Willman’s Magic Lover on Netflix before I got up to finish my routine.

Nowheel

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Stowing Day

I woke up really early today after going to bed really late, but I felt reasonably good. Summer got up and we had some coffee and I made us some breakfast biscuit sandwiches before getting into cleaning. She helped put a bunch of stuff in the attic, and we got a few things moved to more permanent homes. We eventually split up and she cleaned out the garage while I continued to chip away at things inside. We didn’t really end up with any more space where we needed it, but I organized a bunch of storage, which should help with other things.

Later in the afternoon, I took a shower and we went to the Neighborhood Market to get stuff for dinner. Then we stopped by Walgreens for some free photos I had ordered. I started cooking taco meat when we got home, and the kids eventually got home from school stuff to eat. It was a good meal, but I ate way too much on accident and felt a little sick the rest of the evening.

I gave Muad’Dib a good bath and then blow dried him really well before letting him back into the bed since he had been outside all day. There’s lots more to clean, but there always is.

Ice is coming.

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La Magia

Summer had to work today, so I got up as she left and made some coffee with some old plant milk. The oat milk had gotten solid, and may have made me a little sick, but the almond milk seemed okay. The coffee tasted a bit burnt, but I wasn’t sure if I should blame it on the milk. I reheated a biscuit and sausage patty and fried an egg for a sandwich, and then tried to clean up a bit.

Dad invited us to a joint magic club meeting at Pasta Grill at the last minute, so we abandoned our dinner plans. I took Muad’Dib for an early run to see them at the restaurant before they opened, and then met Summer back at the house to go for the show and dinner. As I climbed the final hill, my board buzzed about needing to be charged again, which will be the third time I’ve had to send it in for service.

Summer picked us up so we could leave Muad’Dib and I could change, and we made it to Pasta Grill in plenty of time to catch the end of Ron’s lecture, and then we had most of a show before they took our food orders and then quickly served our food. The show continued for a little bit while we ate, and then we wrapped up pretty quickly after that.

Summer wound down quickly and ended up in bed while I tried to stay mostly focused on cleaning. It didn’t look like much, but I tried to be meaningful with what I was doing. I still probably should have focused on vacuuming, but I just needed to make some space.

I wrapped up the evening by submitting a help ticket to Future Motion, and I’m waiting for their response before I send something to the attorney general as well. I asked for a full refund of my purchase price, plus the $905 they charged me to replace the BMS, which has still not actually fixed my issue. I’ve been injured too many times for this nonsense, and my original warranty will be up before they could even get the board back to me.

Compounding Disinterest