Author: gallopingcow

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Rainy McDainy

We got out a little bit early this morning, grabbed coffee, and got to work in the rain. I had forgotten I had a call scheduled with Tammy and the Aptean folks in the afternoon, so I worked on some other stuff in the morning and had to take lunch a bit earlier than I have been lately. I ate completely free today by redeeming a Happy meal, a double cheeseburger, and a snack wrap, but I probably should have stopped after the first two.

Our call with Jason went super well, and Tammy indicated she was at least mostly able to follow along to repeat his troubleshooting steps. We’ve got another call scheduled, but this one felt really good. I still can’t quite get a feel for what people think about me out there, but hopefully I’ve been visible enough lately that they at least see I’m doing things even if I’m not as forcably visible like Brandon had been.

The drive home was even rainier, so I ended up taking the first exit and driving through town. Summer was home working, so I made some rice to go with leftover chicken and what I think was actually chả trứng chiên, but Mom always calls it egg foo young. Eaddie was in Conway late, so Summer and I ate, she went to bed, and I continued vacuuming until I was more or less satisfied with the first half I’ve been working on for the past few weeks. I’m still getting about a tablespoon of what is essentially sand every time I make a pass over the area, but hopefully another steaming will draw out a bunch of that. I can be okay with a lesser clean under the couch, with the assumption that we’ll eventually leave this place.

And Grimace, too.

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Cone Down

Muad’Dib just didn’t want to listen today. He immediately jumped out of the car and wanted to chase a cat in the parking lot, and refused to come to me as I called after him. I finally caught him and had to spank him before he would follow me into the building. It was a quiet day and I tried to focus on the Avigilon all morning.

I had picked up a coffee, and then a steak biscuit on the way in to work, so I ended up taking a late lunch. I had my usual Big Mac and then an apple pie with a melty ice cream cone that the girl had to put into a cup on account of how soft it was. It was still a perfect combo.

The afternoon was slow to go by in spite of how late we left for lunch. I had brought Muad’Dib back in on a leash, and ended up having to leash him again on the way out because the same cat was hanging around outside. We got into the car and made it to the house where Summer was taking a work call.

I took Muad’Dib out for a run and let him play in the creek, so I knew he would need a bath. We visited with Dad, then got back to the house. He didn’t much like his bath. I cleaned up an assortment of leftovers out of the fridge, and then went to my room to wind down.

It’s a lonely job.

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PentaCheese Soup

We got up and I made bacon and eggs for breakfast for Summer and myself, and even had a cup of coffee to get things started. Summer went to the gym while I cleaned up a bit, and we eventually got over to Walmart for some shopping. Muad’Dib had been stuck inside for a while, so we took him out. He had to run off some steam in the parking lot before we put him back in the car.

Summer was making tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, so we got stuff for that along with some other random things we had on our shopping list. I was really hungry by then, so we got a bunch of chicken strips from the deli to tide us over until dinner.

Muad’Dib needed a run when we got back, so I took him out for an early run. It was a little wet out, but not too bad. He had a great run in the cool air, and we visited Dad before making it back to the house. Summer made a cheesecake and tomato soup, and once Eaddie got home from watching a recital out of town, I grilled some sandwiches on the stove and the three of us sat down to eat.

We cleaned up and I vacuumed the living room again, but I couldn’t really tell how much good I was doing since Summer had let Muad’Dib run around and get hair everywhere. I’ll have to clean the vacuum cleaner again tomorrow and go over it at least once more, but I think the amount of fine insulation dust is finally getting to an acceptable level.

It’s about standards!

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Raining Dogs

Summer left early this morning for a run in Conway. I slept in a while, but was up when she got back home. Eaddie left for marching practice before a game in the evening, so Summer and I got around to go to La Huerta for a late lunch. We brought Muad’Dib along and were able to sit with him out on their back porch. We were the only ones out there, so service was fairly slow even in spite of the restaurant being mostly empty due to how late it was.

It rained pretty hard all day, but we thought we’d try taking him to PetSmart just to get him out a little bit. I let him out of the car and he ran up to the door and inside, so I had to wrangle him to put his leash on. After that, he went nuts smelling everything in the store. He didn’t seem nervous, but he just wanted to chase after everything. He didn’t get to burn off any energy because of the rain.

We needed to go to Walmart after that, but I didn’t want to get out in the heavy rain, so we just went back home. The three of us laid down to watch Thunderbolts and did some laundry. Dad sid they had bánh bao, so I took Muad’Dib over there to have one while they were still a little warm. Then we came home and went to bed super early.

No cats.

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Lockdown: Not Just for Schools!

I thought McDonald’s would be busy again, but we breezed right through for a coffee. Mitch called just as I was leaving the house, so I called him back to tell him all about our resident alien. After that, the drive in got a little crazy because some idiot with out-of-state tags was cruising in the passing lane, below the speed limit, in perfect lockstep with a semi truck in the right lane. A whole line of cars was swerving and peeking around angrily, trying to pass. I finally got around and slowed way down in front of him to try and get him to move over to let other cars pass, but I also had an upcoming exit.

I cooled down at the office and got into some stuff there. We didn’t have a call in the morning like I expected, but I dug into the security stuff all day. We went for our Big Mac break and I had an apple pie with a vanilla cone, and it was spectacular. I was surprised how good their ice cream was, and the apple pie was perfect with it.

When we got back from lunch, I spotted no fewer than three cop cars near the property, including one parked right near where I always park. Teisha didn’t answer her phone, but I got a hold of Tammy, who let me in and said there was a car chase, and they thought someone jumped our fence. They had locked down the best they could while operations continued in the plant. Muad’Dib and I went back to work.

The afternoon wasn’t very fruitful. Kandi finished her last day without much fanfare that I could see. Muad’Dib and I left a little late, so I skipped our slushie stop and we made it home through heavy traffic. It wasn’t very long before Dad texted that they had bún thang for dinner, so Summer got out of her bath so we could go eat. Muad’Dib got a little antsy, so I let him out to run part of the way. Dinner was good, but we headed home soon after because Summer had an early run in Conway the next morning.

Eaddie was home briefly but left. I was feeling pretty worn down, so I didn’t stay up much later than usual before going to sleep.

Some guard dog.

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The Secret Life of an Alien

I had an anxiety attack in bed while I was trying to go to sleep last night, which was a rare occurrance. At least I went to bed early, and got an above-average amount of sleep. We got out of the house and tried the other McDonald’s, but still got stuck in line again. It seems to be completely luck of the draw. I took my coffee and made it to Morrilton to order a biscuit for breakfast.

It was more deep-dive into the AI exploits of the fraudster technology manager, and I am one billion percent positive that he is an alien from another planet. I have begun collecting evidence. If I disappear or am found dead, then dear reader, do not believe anything they say about me. It was no accident. They got to me, and silenced me the only way they could.

I went down to help Elizabeth with something, then took a walk with David to investigate our two fence controllers. It appeared they had blocked the safety sensors to keep the back gate open, which seems counter to any security protocol. It had clearly been that way for some time.

We went back to McDonald’s a third time for lunch and had to argue with the staff about my order. The two low-level staff were as friendly as they knew how to be, while admitting complete ignorance. The manager on duty absolutely refused to make eye contact or respond when I spoke directly to her. I wasn’t ugly in any way, and I see her five days a week, so I could not fathom the stress she was under. I was eventually fed and went back to work.

The afternoon went by fairly quickly because of how late I went to lunch. I texted Kyle since I remembered he used to work at Acxiom, and he actually replied pretty quickly. I talked to him about our resident alien, and as if by mysterious forces beyond our universe, he was actually working for the company that Brandon moved to. We shared several laughs over text throughout the evening.

Muad’Dib and I made it back to town and I ordered tickets for Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. Then we went on a great run in the crisp air before it got dark. Summer and I ate when we got back, and then I took my car for a good washing. The new FSD release gave me all kinds of fits this morning, and even fussed quite a bit on the way home, so hopefully this helped.

I vacuumed some more to end the night, and got to sleep just a little bit early again.

⏁⊑⟒ ⌇⟒☊⍀⟒⏁ ⌰⟟⎎⟒ ⍜⎎ ⏃⋏ ⏃⌰⟟⟒⋏

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Fall of Man

We went all the way across town for a smoothie this morning, and that McDonald’s was way busier than the other one. I don’t know if it was the timing or location, but I thought it would be a shorter and faster detour. We got to work and had a bit of productivity in the morning until I started reading more of my predecessor’s old ChatGPT logs.

At this point, I am completely convinced that Brandon was not real. He was not human. He was an alien, or some kind of lizard person with primative knowledge of our species. I’ve seen the memes about AI, but I could never imagine such intense and immediate reliance on “artificial intelligence” for literally every aspect of seemingly everything he was doing. Every email, every presentation, and every written interaction from him was constructed by ChatGPT. He didn’t even write his own “heartfelt” resignation letter to the company. It was entirely crafted by ChatGPT. What really sent me over the edge was the fact that he asked it to “tell me about 4th of July.” He asked about things that should have been muscle memory for anyone that has been even tangentially interested in IT as a hobby, much less as a career.

Flabberghasted, we went to McDonald’s to decompress. I took the whole hour.

The afternoon wasn’t much to speak of. I wrote some more documentation. I wrote it myself. I didn’t ask ChatGPT to write it for me. That’s what I got from Brandon. Literally a roadmap written by AI to tell me how our network is set up. Even I know what a /24 subnet is. Asinine.

We ran into traffic on the way home and took the Atkins exit just in time to pass Summer, who was stuck due to a wreck ahead of us. I took Highway 64 the whole way home and beat her by just a couple minutes. She had a “beef stroganoff” with meatballs going in the slow cooker all day, so I took Muad’Dib for a quick run and made it back to eat outside with the girls. Eaddie left again for band, Summer went to bed, and I did a bit of cleanup before crashing myself.

This is how AI takes our jobs – not directly, but by empowering those that are simply not qualified for the jobs they conned themselves into.

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Clownin’

I got five orders into McDonald’s today. We started with a coffee before leaving town, then stopped in Morrilton for a chicken biscuit. I spent all morning documenting printers, and then we went for a late lunch and redeemed points for a free Happy Meal. The six McNuggets didn’t quite satisfy me, so I redeemed a free Double Cheeseburger, which was quite a bit heftier than I remembered. I was actually quite pleased. I wrapped that up with a free Apple Pie for dessert.

As I was finishing up, a young, very McMethed-out girl approached and asked if I had a hot spot. I was polite and tried to learn what she really needed, and she said she was trying to get a ride to her uncle’s place that was “less than ten minutes away.” I had to decline her at that point, and she walked up to a kiosk to order something before walking over to talk to someone else, who I think was an employee.

The afternoon went by quickly, and then we made it home so I could eat some leftover chicken before taking Muad’Dib on a run. I originally thought I’d run him to the high school to meet Summer for the marching assessment, but she wanted me to run him first, and then go with her for the entire time she would be there.

Muad’Dib ran well, but I had to zap him a few times when he kept trying to chase cats, or generally wouldn’t listen. He was mostly good, but just wasn’t being as obedient as I needed him to be. Summer and I had a chat when we got back, and then we went to the high school to watch a couple bands play before Eaddie would go out with the Tech band.

We brought Muad’Dib along, and he was immediately wound up and alert for all the noise and goings-on. He didn’t even wait to get out of the car, and sprung out as soon as I opened the door, which was very unlike him. As we entered the stadium, there was no one to turn us away. He got more and more anxious as we entered the crowd of people. We got seated and watched one band, but then I decided to take him off to the side of the field to decompress in the grass. We walked around for a couple of bands, and then he finally felt okay to come back for Tech.

Summer was straight to bed as I tried to clean up some stuff in the garage and kitchen. I didn’t feel great, but I eventually made it to bed.

Makin’ my way downtown, walkin’ slow, faces pass, and I’m homebound.

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Oohs and AWS

This morning was really cool out, which caused some condensation in the cabin that prevented FSD from doing its job for nearly the entire drive. Sure, Tesla can do it with pure vision, until they can’t. The rest of the morning was all support from very early on when I learned that AWS was down, causing outages across multiple systems. The most surprising of them was our in-line email filter, which was holding on to scan-to-email attachments all morning long. Everyone just moved on quietly though, unlike the schools when everyone seems to lose their shit when even something minor disrupts their routines.

We went to McDonald’s for a really quick lunch before coming back to a call about the website. There has never been a real reason for me to be there for those, but I did actually follow up with an email to answer a question afterwards. A little while later, we had cake for Joel’s birthday, and then Rhonda let me take Teddy outside with Muad’Dib. He had to stay on his leash, but they still had a ball running around like crazy.

I had an anxiety attack just before quitting time, which was a bit of odd timing for me. Then the drive home was interrupted by traffic that came to a complete stop for a moment on the Interstate. The car tried to route me off at Blackwell, but I intervened in my infinite wisdom. Fortunately it didn’t delay me terribly long, and we got to the house for a quick run before dark.

Summer was home when we got back, and we had some leftover chicken with rice before she went to bed. I did some more vacuuming, and then it was an early night to bed after having trouble sleeping the night before.

Spacey

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Off Grid

Today started out fairly tense. Summer and I left for Little Rock to see Tron, and it was just awkward silence the whole way. Things lightened up after that as we went through a whole bucket of popcorn before the previews started. I thought the movie was okay, but it was grungier than I liked. A huge part of the appeal for me was the digital perfection of everything, so it was kind of ick that the main character was a program who looked like he hadn’t showered in a couple of days. Of course Daft Punk could never be replaced for the soundtrack, and NIN only added to the grungy feeling of it all. Ultimately it was an entertaining flick without too much Morbin’.

We hunted for food after the show, and ended up driving a ways further south to eat at La Patrona Asian Sushi Buffet. It was an odd fusion of Asian and Mexican, split pretty closely down the middle. The food was okay. I liked the variety, but it wasn’t a huge selection. The service was very lacking because we didn’t seem to have a dedicated server, but we had already paid up front. I’d eat there again, if I were hungry, and if I were already very close.

After that, we made it over to the Outlets of Little Rock, which was a cute little outdoor courtyard type shopping center. It reminded me very much of Disney Springs, but only in the way that Arkansas could do it. The highlight was probably the weird Asian arcade behind the weird Asian pop culture store. There was hardly anyone there, except for one guy that was really getting into whatever piano-style rhythm game he was playing.

We made the loop and headed toward home, stopping in Conway so Summer could pick up something from the wash there. Once we got to the house, I took Muad’Dib for a quick run as the sun went down, and then it was a rush to bed.

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