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Nolo Wyer

I woke up to a disappointing and short phone call from Joey, letting me know that they don’t practice in what I need, so the hunt is on for representation before taxation, or whatever. His only suggestion was to try someone local, but I know how the local politics work. Mark never got back to me, so I assume he’s lost interest.

I got up and around to do some more research, but the internet kept dropping out every few seconds. I decided I’d had enough and wrapped up Summer’s modem to take it back to TCA/Cox/Suddenlink/Altice/Optimum. I went home to shower first, and couldn’t get deep into much else. Summer said she could meet for lunch, and that turned into the rest of the day for me.

I went to Optimum while I waited for her, and had to wait in line while the singular employee processed the queue as quickly as she could. I could tell she was excited that my request was very straightforward, and I walked out with a new modem in a relatively short amount of time.

As I left, I realized I had forgotten where Zaxby’s was, so I had to circle back through the Walmart parking lot, but still had time to wait for Summer, who still hadn’t even left Superfast. She finally showed up and we had lunch, and then she said she was just going to work from home for the rest of the day. I reminded her that I had her new modem, so after we ate I had to run home to get some things and then head straight up to her house.

Most of my afternoon was pretty wasted. The girls showed up late after a long day out on a band trip. Eaddie came in and promptly fell asleep. I called Mom for her birthday, but she didn’t want to go out for dinner or anything tonight. I got hungry after a bit, but never made a proper meal and just did my best to find healthy snacks instead. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have fewer distractions and get some more done.

If I hurt my knuckles when I punch you in the face…

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Cheapest Wash in Town

I got up and munched on some of the Mexican sweet bread this morning for breakfast. I didn’t much care for it, but I woke up hungry. I put on a Kelsey Cook comedy special on YouTube, which ended up being a little raunchier than I expected. Then Summer wanted to go to the gym, so I left to get cleaned up myself.

Before going home, I stopped by the carwash to get the bug guts off of my car. It was nice and cool outside, and quiet for being relatively early in the day. Then I went home and had some cereal around lunch time. I eventually took a nice, hot shower and made it back up to Summer’s in her Model Y so we could go wash it and stop by to visit with my parents.

While we washed her car, she spotted a couple chips in the paint. I still don’t know that it’s worth getting white and just wrapping the whole car, but it sure is annoying that the paint is so thin. It really seems like there’s just no clear coat at all. When we got to my parents’ house, Dad came out to check out her car since he hadn’t seen it yet. They weren’t doing anything for Easter, so we left there and went to Walmart to get stuff for sloppy joes.

Autumn was home by the time we got back, so she helped out a little bit with dinner. Eaddie started mowing the lawn, and then came in to eat when the food was done. She was excited by a robin that kept following her mowed path to pick up bugs. She finished the lawn after dinner, and it was a pretty quiet night after that. Summer and I watched Master Chef for a while, and then it was off to bed.

Don’t fall for the false confidence.

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Work Searching Saturday

We got out of bed this morning, but it took a little bit to get started. I started playing some music videos on the TV and we all just sat around for most of the morning. Summer eventually went to the gym and I started job hunting again. We got Autumn outside to mow, but of course she tried bargaining her way out of it first. Eaddie was inside doing homework the whole time.

Summer came home feeling frustrated, but I showed her my own willingness to help out around the house by cleaning out her little vacuum cleaner. She had to call her maintenance guy because the sink had started leaking after the last time he came over to clean out the garbage disposal.

She let Autumn go out to the movies and hang out with her boyfriend, so the rest of us enjoyed a quiet evening at home. I picked up a couple pizzas from Little Caesar’s for dinner, but otherwise it was a super dull night with lots of reality TV.

Master Chef, but it’s only the dramatic pauses.

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It’s-A Me, Appropriation!

Eaddie wanted me to take her to school this morning so she could just avoid Autumn entirely. After I dropped her off, I went home and tried not to be a sack of potatoes. I had a bowl of cereal again, and tried to get in touch with a lawyer again.

Summer wanted some coffee, so after I took a shower, I headed to McDonald’s to get her one. The app had trouble switching my order from drive-through to curbside though, so I ended up having to go in to retrieve my order. I hung out with Summer just briefly at Superfast before heading down to Arby’s to take some cheap lunch home. Then I messed around with a state application for another job for quite a while.

When school let out, Autumn called to ask if Eaddie could hang out with some friends. Confused by the fact that it wasn’t Eaddie who was asking for permission, I called to get her side of the story. After a minimal amount of back and forth, Eaddie decided she would just come over and eventually ride her bike, and Autumn would bring her so she could kill some time until Adam was done doing whatever he was doing.

Steven stopped by for some money after mowing the lawn, and I wasn’t completely sure what arrangement he had with Bác Vân, so I gave him the 40 bucks he asked for. Later on I was able to corner her, and she said she had agreed to $60 per month for him to mow every other week, and wanted to add on my lawn for just a little more. She acted like they had already overpaid him, but to hear him say it, he was expecting more. The whole thing just left me feeling icky, and I’d already dealt with a lawyer once this week.

Eaddie and I watched an episode of Breaking Bad, and then she left on her bike. She was out quite a bit later than I expected, so we didn’t pick up Summer and make it to Conway in time to shop at all. We barely squeezed into the Chinese restaurant in time to eat, because they were trying to close shop. We stuffed our faces and then went next door to watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which I thought was fair, but mostly fan service.

We headed straight home after the movie, squeezing in just after midnight. Summer was already fussy from being up so late, and Eaddie went straight to bed. I tried not to stay up too late, but my stomach was a bit gurgly.

Worth it.

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Leaky Rail

I slept like a rock last night, and woke up a little bit late. When I finally got up, I noticed Eaddie’s phone reporting its location south of town, out in the woods. I tried to ask Autumn and Summer if she was leaving on a trip or something, but the longer she was out in the middle of nowhere, the more I suspected her phone was stolen. Summer ended up calling the school to learn that she was, in fact, on a field trip for her outdoors education class, but not before I texted Kevin to see if he thought the cops might help me recover a stolen phone.

After that, I headed home and wanted to try and track down a water leak in the roof of the Murano somewhere. Dad ended up coming by to help, but we couldn’t find anything around the sunroof as was suggested to me. It didn’t look like there were drain holes anywhere near that. After slowly pouring a couple gallons of water on the car, we did finally find where the roof rack was leaking in the back. We couldn’t get the front to leak, but I guess it’s likely to be the same problem. We couldn’t snap the cover off to try and remove the rack though, so I’ll have to get some softer pry tools or end up taking the thing to the dealership.

When we finished messing with that, Dad was hungry for a burger, so he took us to Hardee’s where we chatted for a bit. Then he dropped me back off at the house. I poked around a bit more and was about to take a shower when Eaddie called and wanted to know if she could come over for some help with homework.

Autumn dropped her off, but before we could get into anything, Brody called to hear the story of how they fired me. We chatted for quite a while, and then I found Eaddie to help with her science work. She started getting hungry, and Summer came by to trade vehicles since her battery was low, so Eaddie and I took a break to pick up some Popeye’s.

After we ate, she looked at her homework for a little bit more, and then had me take her home for a little bit before dropping her off at Tech for a trombone concert. She was only there for about an hour and then I picked her up. She finished her homework while everyone else was asleep. I was pretty tired myself, so I didn’t wait around too long to go to bed.

Increase productivity.

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Whornado

I got up early this morning and cleaned up some leftovers for breakfast before diving into some more job hunting. I applied for three remote jobs, and one of them looked like it might be really fun, and actually appreciate some personality. It would pay really well too, so hopefully I at least hear something back.

Afterward, I made it home to do a couple more loads of laundry before jumping into the shower. Once I was cleaned up, I headed to Conway to meet Summer. We parked my car at the Holiday Inn Express to charge while we went to Marketplace for dinner. The girls called a couple times with some trouble back home, but it was mostly argument drama, and Eaddie wanting help getting another bike down so she could take a friend riding. After all of the fuss, I don’t think she ever even went out. After we ate, we traded again and took the Model 3 to Little Rock for Whose Live Anyway at Robinson Center.

We arrived just before the doors opened, and then we had to wait another half hour before they’d let us find our seats. There were plenty of available seats behind us, but it was still a good crowd. The show started a little late, but it was overall pretty great. It was definitely more vulgar than Whose Line Is It Anyway? the television show. There were some really hilarious parts, and then a bunch of middling stuff, but all-in-all it was an awesome time aside from the seating.

We bailed pretty quickly once the show was over, and made it home quickly after a stop in Conway to get the Model Y. It had to split charging with another car that came in, so it didn’t actually get topped off like I had hoped. It will be nice once we get the wall connector installed at my house though. I had to shuffle cars again once I got home, and I discovered the kids hadn’t locked the Murano like I specified multiple times over the phone. They’re completely thoughtless and worthless like 80% of the time.

Once I made it up to Summer’s house for the evening, she was getting ready for bed. The girls were already locked away in their rooms. I finished up quickly, and it was off to sleep.

Leave it to Arkansans to not follow the directions.

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Off the Job

I woke up pretty early today and started doing a little research before leaving. Summer wanted me to swing by to see her after she finished at the gym, and then I went to 10 Box to get some almond milk. I tried the almond and coconut this time, and it was a little bit weird with my cereal, but I’m just glad I can eat a bowl without being sick for the rest of the day.

I also did some laundry while I put together some more damning evidence, and then took a shower so I could head up to Summer’s for the evening. I quickly applied for another job before I left the house, but there’s some kind of test I’ll need to take for it tomorrow.

The girls were at the high school for most of the evening for some band event. Summer came home while I was cooking her ground turkey into taco meat, and said she went through the touchless wash in Morrilton, and that her right wheels got scratched on the guide rails. The company will fix them, but I don’t know if that means replacing the wheels or just grinding them down and repainting.

Dinner was alright, for as annoyed as I felt while making it. I hated the lettuce wraps before, but having proper taco seasoning and some corn tortillas made all the difference. Then I laid on the couch with her and watched TV for a while, feeling sad and frustrated, but still less stressed than yesterday.

The girls got home really late, and Eaddie talked to us for a bit and then ate before going to bed. It was really hot inside, so I ended up switching on the air conditioner, and then it was off to bed.

If I hurt my knuckles when I punch you in the face…

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Straight Fire

I had to stop by the wash to give Summer her lunch that she forgot at home, and then I continued home to finish prepping for my hearing. I had pretty much all of my information where I wanted it, but I still wanted to get copies of some things to hand out to the board members. After taking a shower and starting some laundry, I went to Staples for copies of a couple pages. I didn’t realize how much the copies were going to be though, and spent over six bucks for 20 pages.

Afterward I went by the wash and printed the rest of what I needed, and then I read my argument to Summer, Justin, and Cameron before I left. I spent the last few minutes I had re-assembling my handouts and dressing up before Summer came by to pick me up. We made it to the high school a little later than I wanted, but it didn’t really matter anyway.

My dad beat us there. Kevin was inside, I suppose as “the muscle” in case things went really sideways. I was happy to see him. Thomas was manning the recording station. I remembered seeing Andrea, Chrissy, Samantha, and of course Ginni. Six of the seven board members were there, but Jason was absent. Ben showed up right before we started, and I think Jeff showed up a little after we started. Judy had to sit with Marshall, and by five o’clock we were off to the races.

The hearing more or less went how I expected. Marshall had binders for everyone with the supporting documents, which were just the statements given by those that were there when I bumped into Zach, as well as one from Thomas after our conversations. I was really surprised how much some of the statements differed, but I was most bitter about Thomas’s. I chose to assume it was misremembering, rather than outright lying. Given that he has a Pixel with an excellent audio recorder, I don’t know why he wouldn’t have recorded the conversation to get my quotes correct.

The biggest letdown was the fact that Marshall objected to me giving any background of my employment. I think I made my case to the board reasonably well, and I received sad smiles from a couple of them. They went into executive session for about 45 minutes, so I almost got my hopes up while we waited. Things were relatively light outside the boardroom doors, and I chatted with several people there.

When they let us back into the boardroom, they got right to the vote, and only Don voted against my termination. The feeling of the room read very much that there were others present that didn’t feel comfortable with the situation, but played the political game of backing the superintendent they had just hired for the next three years. Onward to Plan B.

I tried to get Kevin to join us for dinner, but it was just Ben with Summer and me. He chose Linh’s and we chatted over noodles. My phone had been blowing up, but I tried not to pay too much attention to it. I did jokingly ask Judy if I would get to fill out an exit survey. Brody confirmed he was trying to open a position for me, so I’ll have that option. Ben insisted on paying, even though I had originally offered to buy his if he actually showed up. I don’t even know why I was surprised that he said he would, because he’s one of the most supportive friends I’ve ever had. I did have to joke that it took me getting fired to bring him back to town though.

After dinner, we dropped him back off at his truck at the high school. Then I went home to clean up before catching up with Summer at her house. Shortly after I got there, I remembered I had a pickup order for some chicken strips at Walgreens, so I took the Model Y across town to get those. Summer was feeling mixed emotions about the day, but I felt nothing but relief for the moment. At least now I know what path to take next.

Six to four isn’t a bad ratio. At least I’m not a quitter!

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Y Not

I set an alarm this morning, but I still woke up way before it went off and couldn’t go back to sleep. We eventually got around to breakfast, but found pickings to be pretty slim. We knew the hotel was sold out, but it really seemed like they just didn’t have the staff to keep up. Even the front desk was covered by the same girl that checked us in 11 hours earlier, though I did overhear that she had a chance to go home for a “quick power nap.”

Afterward, we headed back up to the room to clean up and check out. We made it to the theater about an hour early, so Summer wanted to check out Shoe Carnival. After a bit, I spotted a pair of shoes that was marked down that she liked. Then we made our way to the AMC.

We had to wait a bit for the preordered snacks, but then we made our way into what I thought was going to be a smaller theater, but it was still quite big. I’ve got to remember that proper large cities just have nicer theaters all around. Even the small screens are great. We watched Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in Dolby, and aside from being too loud, I thought the movie was fantastic. We did have a funny moment in the middle where the movie stopped and then skipped back a few seconds. The whole crowd started cracking jokes, so it was a good time. I was happy to have time for a bathroom break anyway.

After the movie, we headed back to Tesla to get my car and head home. I was hoping to charge there enough to make it halfway, but we ended up supercharging twice instead. We stopped in Nevada first, and then again in Lowell. Once we made it to the Workman’s in Lowell, we decided to charge all the way up and then power home. I ate Summer’s leftover burger in the parking lot and then went back in to wash and get a drink. While waiting to pay, one of the girls asked if that was all I had, and then just told me to get outta there. I told her we were waiting to charge, and she kind of smirked that we were some of “those” guys.

We made it back home as quickly as possible, stopping to wash the bugs off before going home. Then we dropped the Y off at my house, loaded everything into the 3, and headed up to Summer’s. Autumn wanted to stay with her grandparents, so Eaddie was excitedly waiting for us to get back. She and Summer chatted while I finished up my evening routines, and then it was off to sleep.

Wanna stick around for an encore?

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Sassy Blue

I set an alarm for this morning, and we got up early for our trip to Kansas City. The girls went to school and I took a shower so we could head to the bank for a cashier’s check. Centennial Bank couldn’t connect through Plaid, so we had to do it the old fashioned way. The lady that helped us got excited when we told her it was for a car, so she came out to see mine as we left.

Summer drove us all the way to Joplin while I worked on my hearing rebuttal, and we stopped at the Undercliff Bar and Grill just in time for lunch. I had seen online that they had a Tesla charger, so I asked our server for permission to charge. She wasn’t sure it was for guests, but she was quick to call the owner to verify and I got us charging. She was super friendly, it was a really neat restaurant, and the food was great.

Summer insisted that she could continue driving to our next stop in Nevada for a supercharge. We wandered through the Casey’s for a while until we had plenty to get into Kansas City. Then I drove us the rest of the way. We arrived really early, but I talked to a couple people that were able to get my car charged, and then started our delivery process early. It took a while, but we finally got to inspect the vehicle. Unfortunately we found a couple paint defects, and the touchup paint they applied looked pretty awful, but they notated the account so we could take it to a local body shop.

We parked my car at the back of the lot and got Summer’s floor mats installed. Then she drove us to Ikea to wander through the store. We shared a plate of Swedish Meatballs and picked up a package of cookies on the way out. Then I drove us to a Red Robin near our hotel. It was in a beautiful shopping area that was built up to look like an old downtown square. It would have been neat to spend an evening out there, but we were both exhausted and ready for bed.

I got us to the hotel, and the girl at the front desk was slammed with check-ins. They were booked solid, and it seemed like there were people out everywhere. It’s a shame we won’t have much time to explore tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to at least seeing our movie.

I’ve acclimated, and it’s loud again!