Author: gallopingcow

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Bashed

I was exhausted this morning, but I made it to work early again. Eaddie ended up sleeping in and going to school around lunch time, and I was so mad and jealous at the same time. I had to dig into my VMware issues some more, but still didn’t have a fix. It looks like I’ll have to learn some more command line stuff to really fix it. It was a long day, but thankfully my coffee got me through it.

Afterward, I went straight home to charge for a while. I ended up just figuring dinner on my own because Summer made chicken salads, and I was tired of salad after eating one every day at school. I took the Shadow out, and it was a cool night for my first ride in months. I felt bad that I hadn’t taken the bikes out earlier, but I just haven’t had a good opportunity for it in a long time.

I tried going to Taco Bell at first, and it looked like they had remodeled and duplicated the Chick-fil-A method of multiple drive-through lines. Those were packed, but I wanted to dine inside anyway. When I went into the restaurant, there were about a dozen other people standing around waiting for food, and I didn’t see a single person eating anything. I decided to dip pretty quickly, and ended up going to McDonald’s for an equally poor experience. Employees were yelling at each other across the restaurant, my fries weren’t very fresh, and my Quarter Pounder wasn’t made correctly at all. The lady behind me was traveling through, and went Super-Karen because she wasn’t happy with how her food was made either. She kept muttering to herself, and I realized pretty quickly I was in CrazyTown.

I took the bike back home after I ate, and took the Model 3 for a wash before going to the new house. Summer was helping Eaddie study for tests, so I took care of my own chores and made it to bed roughly on time.

It’s the state of the civilization for me.

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“Cheer Up,” My Friends All Say

Today was my first drive in to work straight from the new house. I wasn’t quite early enough to make it to the old house first to feed the fish, so I figured I could take care of them after work. I was fairly productive until lunch time when kids started screaming at the tops of their lungs right outside my door. I really have no idea how I’m expected to get any work done in there, and it made me furious. On top of that, I was constantly up and down at my desk to let visitors in for Denice. Productivity was down in an already ailing department.

I left just a little bit early to get home to change before the concert. Eaddie was wishy-washy about going because her band teacher made an announcement that anybody who didn’t show up to practice couldn’t march at the homecoming game. I told her there was no way they would keep their star performer from marching, and she finally agreed to go with me.

We headed out of town later than I wanted, and stopped in Ozark to charge and get some food. We ran into Alisha and Joshua there, who were also on their way across the state for the concert. They wanted to make it for the gate opening, but we didn’t arrive until The Get Up Kids were near the end of their set. After that, I knew one song by Motion City Soundtrack. I knew the most songs from New Found Glory. The lead singer from The All-American Rejects was super weird, but he kind of made me think of what I might be like if I had lived in the spotlight as long as he had.

Overall, everyone was entertaining. It was a packed house, but we managed to get out in a reasonable amount of time. We stopped in Lowell for a quick charge just long enough to use the restroom and get a drink, and then continued to Ozark where I charged enough to get me to work the next morning. Eaddie slept the whole way home and never got out of the car. I wrapped up quickly once I got home, so I shouldn’t be much shorter on sleep than a typical late night.

There’s a place, somewhere that’s between dream and awake.

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Imbalance

I was a little bit behind this morning, and I still had a mix of my routine at the new house and at the old house. I never brought shoes over, so I had to wear flip-flops to the old house to feed the fish, brush my teeth, and then get to work on time. I jumped right on some super old requisitions that I had, and then spent like two hours on printing asset tags. That basically took me through lunch, when I had to work with earbuds because of the noise. I hate my new office arrangement so much.

I spent most of the afternoon in PowerShell trying to figure out why our existing scripts were screwing up student accounts in Clever. I ended up staying super late after a day of hearing Kim on her phone, but I think I got most of it fixed before testing tomorrow.

My car seemed to be taking a bit longer to charge than I expected, so I was home for a while before I finally went to Taco John’s for dinner. Then I went back to the house to kill some more time, pay some bills, and charge before going to the new house for the night.

I just want to pay my gas bill.

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Snoop 8-Double-0-Double-g

I got up this morning and made myself a coffee in my shiny new, white Ember Mug. Summer wanted me to smoke some ribs, so I had to get an early start for the over six-hour process. When she got up, she seemed to be having a rough day, and we could never quite put a finger on why. I think we both just feel a little stuck in a house that we can’t fully unpack in yet, and to be honest, I think maybe she’s starting to feel how I’ve felt at her house for the past several years.

I got the ribs onto the smoker, but struggled to get anything connected or updated properly. The Ember Mug refused to update its firmware, just as my other one did for years. Then the Gravity 800 smoker wouldn’t connect to the new wireless network. It took me nearly two hours to get everything connected properly.

Eaddie left for band practice pretty early in the day, so Summer and I ran to my old house for my barbecue spray bottle. We had to get back to spritz the meat, but then we went to Zaxby’s for some lunch before going to Walmart to pick up some potatoes and Brussels sprouts for dinner.

When we got back to the house, I wrapped the ribs for two more hours on the grill. Then I unwrapped them for one last hour with a maple glaze. I was pleased that we got rid of a whole bottle of Larry the Cable Guy seasoning and the ribs didn’t turn out too salty.

We also moved the cabinets out of the laundry room and into the building out back. I’m having trouble coming up with a good name for it, and I think we need another “shed” for lawn equipment. Eaddie brought Eli over for dinner, and nobody complained about any of the food. Afterward, I cleaned up the kitchen and got the smoker prepped for next time.

Just as I finally had a chance to settle down, Eaddie made it back home and came into the bedroom to tell me she had gotten a flat tire. She had some story about getting scared by another vehicle, which didn’t seem to make any sense. We went out to take a look, and the front-passenger wheel was sitting on the ground with a completely flat tire. We didn’t see a tear in the tire anywhere, and I especially don’t know how she managed to hit the front and not the back. Luckily Summer will be able to take her to school in the morning, and get the tire replaced tomorrow.

I need a substantial break, and that dog needs to shut the hell up. These new neighbors are ruining our outdoor vibe.

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Fire, Good!

I slept in really late today after not getting to sleep until around three in the morning. Summer had to work, so it was quiet in the house. My shower was infuriating, because the water was either cold or scalding. I’m convinced the mixer is broken, so my next big project may be to install a thermostatic one. I also ran out of hot water about halfway through my already-quick shower. I wanted to relax in it for a while, but that just didn’t happen.

Eaddie got up and put away her laundry, and I left to meet Summer for lunch. I picked her up at the wash and we went to McDonald’s to fix my Big Mac craving. Afterward, I dropped her off back at work and went to my old house to charge and pick out a few things to take to the new house. I ended up staying there for way longer than I anticipated.

When I left, I loaded my trunk up with fire wood so I could try out the new fireplace. The girls were doing their own things, so I got a fire going and tinkered with anything I could get my hands on. It cooled off really fast outside, so hopefully we can take advantage of the nice weather while it’s here.

Enjoy the scent before burning, the smell escapes when lit.

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If I Had a Nickel

I slept in a little bit today before we got around to organizing the house. Summer mostly did things herself in the spare room, and I finally got the cabinets pulled away from the wall in the laundry room. I got a little hangry after a while, so I showered and we went to Mulan’s, Walmart, and then to my house to pick up a few more things.

I had an idea to mount Eaddie’s bathroom Google Nest Mini on the wall and to make the power cord into some wall art to look like a flower stem with leaves. The Command Strips we picked up weren’t perfect, but I eventually got them to stick, and I thought it looked pretty good.

Summer didn’t feel great, so she cancelled her therapy appointment, took a bath, and settled down pretty quickly. Brody invited me to see The Exorcist: Believer, but I turned him down on account of my being a big sissy. He stopped by to check out the house though, and then I let him take a ride around the block in the Model Y. He seemed to be doing pretty well at Clarksville, and it made me angry again that I didn’t go join him when I had the chance. The pay there really would have been so much better.

Eaddie was out late at an away game, so I was up by myself pretty late. I took apart the dryer because it had been making an awful racket, and I shook a nickel free from the edge of the drum. That seemed to resolve the issue, so I put everything back together and eventually made it to bed.

This sleep schedule is getting out of hand.

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Keyless Entry

My shower kept swinging between scalding and cold water for some reason. I would make incredibly tiny adjustments and wait for a while, and eventually the temperature would shift suddenly. I managed to get through it though, and went to the old house to finish getting ready for work. I was just early enough to stop for a McMuffin, but when I got to work I realized I forgot my keys at home.

It was a reasonably quiet day, and I actually got to accomplish a couple things. I’m still falling behind in work orders, but maybe I’ll catch up by Christmas. Near the end of the day, the superintendent came into my office to borrow the Newline display cart. They were having an ASBA meeting with school board members around the area, and I kind of wanted to stick around to see if anyone from Russellville would show up, or if they were too good for that.

Summer wanted me to stop by and see her at Splash when I got back to town, so I did that briefly, and then went to Arby’s a couple of times to get all of my order. I took food to Summer and then went home to eat and charge for a while.

Eventually I started loading up some things to take to the new house, and then started picking up a little bit when I got there. Summer wasn’t long behind me, and then Eaddie got home from helping at a football game shortly after that. The microwave quit working on Eaddie, so I’ll probably have to check out some replacement switches for it pretty soon. I guess I can do that at the same time I’m fixing the refrigerator.

Inthinuation

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Zero Productivity

I was early to work today, but that was about as good as it got. I pretty quickly got sucked into doing other peoples’ jobs. The one task I set out to do for myself ended up breaking a switch again, so I had to factory reset it. Fortunately that didn’t take down the entire network like what happened on Monday.

People keep calling or stopping in, which is throwing off my flow too. At least Denice wasn’t there for most of the day, but being cramped in half as much space has also made things more frustrating. I’ve just been having a bad time overall.

I tried watching the Pixel launch event, but struggled with that too. I ended up ordering a new phone and watch since my S21 Ultra has been on the struggle bus for a while now with its battery. I guess two and a half years is about the best I can hope for these days.

I thought I might sneak out a little early, but somehow still ended up a little late instead. The stupid kids hit my car with a basketball again, and it infuriates me that the teacher just sits there rocking in his chair the whole time. There’s still no damage, but I don’t want any more scuffs or dents. They just don’t respect peoples things.

Summer made dinner, so I ran home to change, stopped at my parents’ house for some moving boxes and eggs, and then made it to the new house for dinner. Afterward, I tried showing Summer how to load the dishwasher better, took care of my plants outside, cleaned up in the bathroom, and tried removing some more screws from the stupid extra cabinets in the laundry room. I still have one super stubborn screw to get out of one side, and then possibly more on the other side before we can take that thing out. Once we do, we should have plenty more room for the spare refrigerator.

Down the review rabbit hole.

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Could Should

I went home for my shower this morning and let my car charge for a bit. I was early for work, but then ran into directed traffic at the Scenic 7 junction, so I just showed up on time. I wasn’t too worried about the aftermath of yesterday’s snafu, but we did have a couple wireless shots that went down. Luckily a power cycle fixed those issues, but in reality, at least one of those should be a fiber run anyway. I don’t really know what else I even got into. I rearranged my desk a little bit more because it was super cramped where I was sitting. The front of that office simply isn’t big enough, and I’m mad about it. I’m trying to give them a fair shake, and Denice has been nice enough for what it’s worth.

Lunch was mid with a side of chips, but at least it was filling. I went home a little bit late just because I was busy catching up on a bunch of crap. It’s so hard to juggle everything I have to do, and by the time we’ll be slow enough for me to actually accomplish things, I don’t think I’ll care enough.

I spent a little time at home before meeting Julie and Kevin at my parents’ house to cover the pool. I hated to see it go, but this is just the way of our summers. Underutilized and undervalued. Afterward, we all sat down to eat some leftovers, and then I left to wash my car and then meet Eaddie at my house to try and dispose of an old mattress that wasn’t picked up for bulk pickup week. Unfortunately it wouldn’t fit into the Murano, so we left it in the garage as not to get wet in the eventual rain.

I finally made it to the new house late, and Summer was in a quiet mood. I tinkered for just a short bit, and then it was off to bed.

Cold Shold

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Different Kind of Downtime

I survived a morning routine at the new house because everyone else was asleep. I even slept in a little after staying up way too late, and made it home to feed the fish and change clothes to get to work. Ben showed up just after I did, and came in to help me look at some things. I appreciated having literally anybody there to chat about virtually anything intelligent related to work.

Denice and one of the other girls from the elementary were in the back, in my old office, working on who knows what for most of the day. It was annoying because they kept having to knock on the door because they didn’t have keys. Furthermore, I didn’t have any room to work with anyone else. I’m trying to give it a chance, but I really think this may have been the last shot for me. It’s too much frustration for not enough pay.

After we got my computer set up, I shoveled things around on my desk so Ben would have a place to land, and we kind of sporadically went through to try and fix some different things. The biggest thing was multicast paging on the intercoms. Everyone complained about static, but I don’t know if that was actually better or worse than not hearing anything at all.

We worked through cafeteria lunch, so Ben and I went to the Superette to eat. They had some pretty good “homemade” chicken strips, and we sat and chatted for a while before going back. Then we tried to chase some switches down in the building. Our last act of the day was to change a switch configuration at the elementary, which I should have known would end poorly. We basically turned off link aggregation, which broke half of the building for a few hours.

We went down and worked on it together for a while, but I eventually had to let him leave for another obligation. I stayed behind and worked it out myself, which ultimately resulted in a factory reset switch. I thought that had everything going again, but after I got about a mile down the road, I started getting constant notifications that devices were going offline. That continued all the way home, so I knew I had to remote in and get it fixed again. Before I went inside, David drove up from next door and chatted with me for a while. I told him about the move, and apparently he wasn’t aware that Bác Vân had passed. He had a lot to talk about, so I stood by the truck for a while before going in.

By the time I remoted in and got the school network fixed, it was pretty late. I headed to the new house where Summer said I had a surprise waiting. That surprise was mowed grass, which I appreciated, but maybe wasn’t worthy of “surprise.” She had also moved the lawn mower just enough that I didn’t notice, so I bumped it with my car. I don’t think it scuffed anything, but I was further annoyed by the tiny garage. I continued to become more agitated by the moment, so I went out to water the plants, shut down the old refrigerator, and spent the rest of the night on the computer.

Apply yourself.