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If You Can’t Get Out of It, Get Into It!

The girls were sleeping peacefully this morning, so I let them sleep in as late as they could. I picked them up in time to make it to Little Rock, and the Model 3 did much better with navigation on autopilot during the day. I was hopeful that there might have been improvements overall, but the evening drive home proved otherwise. It seemed the daylight made all the difference.

Avatar: The Way of Water was great in IMAX 3D, and was fortunately loud enough to drown out the nonsense in the crowd of people around us. Some idiot came to sit next to Eaddie, and then left a colossal mess behind when he left. I was a bit surprised to see so many people there, but I guess Avatar has been a success.

After nearly four hours, we made our way out and across town to Star of India for dinner. They wouldn’t be open for about an hour, so we went around the block to Michaels, and then Office Depot for lack of a better option. The parking lot creeped me out a bit, with all of the mental illness creeping around. We made it out without incident though, and made it to dinner.

The trip home was more stressful than it should have been. I don’t know what all the traffic was for, but there were idiots everywhere. Fortunately, we made it home without too much trouble. I dropped the girls off before swapping vehicles, and then met Summer at Shell to get some discount gas.

Everyone was off to bed pretty quickly once we got home. I had been up for much longer than the girls, so I was pretty tired myself.

The sea gives, and the sea takes.

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No Fear, But Stupid

Summer made sausage, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast this morning before heading out to the gym. I had a slow start, but eventually made it home to clean up while she and Eaddie went out shopping. When they finished, they wanted to go out to eat to Chili’s, so they picked me up and we ate in a surprisingly busy restaurant.

After we ate, we went through Walmart and they had more fun going through the Christmas clearance than I ever do. They loaded up a whole cart full of stuff before we made it back to my house for the evening.

I put on the first Avatar so we could refresh ourselves before seeing the sequel tomorrow. The girls didn’t waste any time getting to bed after that. I struggled a bit, but made it there before too long.

Pandora’s Farts

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I Heard a Rumor

Today went by fairly quickly compared to the rest of the week, which was technically short, but felt really long. We had a pretty chill meeting in the morning, and then I sat in the dark for most of the morning until lunch time. Several of us went to Freddy’s and ate in relative quiet until we got back to the office.

Greg helped me look at the Gardner sign after lunch, and then I spent the end of the school day at Dwight. Karen said her lunch with Ginni went well, and that she admitted after some thought that the school newsletter was focused primarily on certified staff. I keep feeling like I could have a much better one-on-one relationship with her than our public interactions ever go. In any case, I finally made it back to the shop for a collaborative Net+ practice test with Greg, Gary, and Thomas to end the day.

I went by my parents’ house after work to drop off some paperwork, but had to run home to change so I could make it up to Summer’s for dinner. She made a pork chop dinner and we all sat down to eat together for the first time in quite a while. Then Eaddie and I spent the rest of the evening watching The Umbrella Academy until bedtime.

Resourceless.

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That’s Jefe, Man!

Gary came by my office first thing and asked Kyle and me to go help Jeff at the middle school since he had gotten several new tickets while he was out for jury duty. I got to swing by choir to see Marky Mark, and then fixed a display issue for Beth before going back up the hallway to help some teachers I didn’t know. I wrapped up by fixing a printer for Sara in the office, and then went back to the shop.

I got pretty hungry pretty early, so Gary and I thought we’d leave for lunch a little early. We thought Thomas was gone, but he was actually there and went with us to Sam’s. The gumbo was awesome, and it looked like they had elevated its presentation by quite a bit. Thomas ended up paying, which was a surprise treat.

The afternoon was dark and quiet in my office, and I ended the day at Dwight again. Once I finished up, I stopped by the carwash to see Summer, who was mostly stressed, or a little frazzled from the day. They had a bunch of leftover chicken fried rice from Umami, so I had a plate of that before I picked Eaddie up from robotics.

Eaddie was hungry but didn’t know what she wanted. We thought we’d go by my house to hang out for a bit, but then I mentioned Ridgewood and her eyes lit up. I took her across town and we shared a tray with a small assortment. Robert had the evening off, so it was all new folks running the counter. We got to visit with Grant in the back for a bit though.

We ran back by my house to trade vehicles, and headed up to Summer’s for the evening. She wanted me to make her a stiff drink, and then complained about how strong it was. It was an early night to bed for everyone.

It’s the Quitting phase!

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Surrounded by Imbeciles

I was relatively calm this morning, for all the anxiety I had leading up to today. Maybe I was distracted by the fact that my car didn’t recognize me when I was ready to leave the house, and I had to use my physical key card to get to work. Two more work orders came in for the same issue I diagnosed at Dwight yesterday afternoon, so I ran a power supply over there first thing. Then I grabbed some donuts for our CPPC meeting and killed a few minutes with the folks at the Transportation office. I gave Frankie a ride down the block, and then I was told that I was officiating the meeting.

I was actually a little annoyed that Karen told me she had asked Janie to do it, because I figured as the only other elected officer on the committee, it should naturally fall to me. Then I was annoyed when Janie said she hadn’t heard anything of the sort, and that I was supposed to do it. We got things kicked off though, and sped through most of the meeting until we got to the part about the newsletter. Of course Ginni and Jeff walked in super late, and she acted completely ignorant about why I was even mentioning the idea. If I had been better at thinking on my feet, I would have used her own tactic against her and pointedly ask if she had specific questions about what was written on the agenda. I would give anything to shut the idiots up, and have the more intelligent folks in the room say anything at all, but that’s just not how it works there, and I’m sick of it.

It was tough to get motivated the rest of the day. I started to skip lunch until Gary showed up to find a food buddy. He took me to Wendy’s and we ate in relatively awkward quiet. Then after a while I ran to the maintenance office with him just to get out of the basement for a bit.

After work, I stopped by Ridgewood Brothers to see what the guys were up to. I guess one of their friends/fans had brought a turkey leg for everyone to try, so they offered me a bite of that. Then I gave like five of those guys rides up the road in the Tesla. One of the guys on the first trip to PDQ for some drinks just kept going on about it, and it was fun to give them that thrill. The second time, I let Kyler take it for a spin, and then I headed on home.

Eaddie stuck with Autumn after school, so I went home and stared at shrimp for a bit. I had a drink and spent some time cleaning out some of the last remnants of threadlike algae out of the tank until Eaddie called, screaming at Autumn in the background, asking me to pick her up from the gym. I got her home, and then hid in the bedroom when Autumn finally got home. Eaddie poked her head out a couple of times for food, so I munched with her for a little bit, and then resumed hiding until Summer came home and quickly went to bed. I perused jobs for a bit, and found some high-paying ones that I seem to be relatively overqualified for, so as soon as I can find some of that ambition, I’ll probably end up applying.

This entire place is the lowest common denominator.

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Dig In

It was eerie pulling in to a mostly empty parking lot today, but as I was confirming what I already knew, Gary pulled in right beside me and we walked in together. Someone beat us into the office, but the lights were on while some of the inside doors were still closed and locked, which was weird. We sort of met in the shop for a minute to see if there were any projects, but then I was left to myself for most of the day.

I got into a support chat with Adobe for a couple hours because none of us were able to approve a student’s request for software. It’s worked in the past, but support insists that we shouldn’t be able to approve the requests due to our licensing type.

That got us right to lunch, and a big group of us went to Taco John’s where I had a really light lunch. Then I spent some time getting our agenda sent out for our meeting in the morning. At one point, Gary had me run some stuff to Greg and Josh at the high school, but they didn’t need my help beyond that.

I ended the day at Dwight to check on a laptop that they suspected may have received some liquid damage. Many pipes had burst in the freezing weather over the break, and many rooms and buildings were flooded and ruined. Eaddie needed me to pick her up from her flute lesson after work, so I just waited for her in the driveway.

On the way home, we stopped by Summer’s parents’ house to check on the charging battery. Connecting the terminal immediately started the alarm system, so I disconnected it again after a quick honk. I hooked up my smart charger to finish it off, and we continued to my house so I could change.

When we got to Summer’s, I picked at some leftovers, and then Eaddie and I finished the first season of The Umbrella Academy. The visual effects were kind of goofy all season long, but I chalked it up to the art style. In a word, I found the whole season to be predictable.

Target Acquired

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Storm’s a Brewin’

It was set to storm in the afternoon, but I thought I’d have time to get over to Summer’s parents’ house to test their old car battery after an overnight charge. I had a bit of a slow start and ended up bathing before I left her house, and shortly after I got home, the deluge started. I ended up working on getting Eaddie’s new phone set up instead.

Mom and Dad came by Bác Vân’s and wanted to see my refrigerator, so while they were still next door, I took my Google WiFi bridge over to test out whether it would help her signal for her iPad. Mom was there trying to teach her how to do things on the iPad, but I knew how frustrated she would get trying to do too much at once. I ended up having to shoo them along to look at my refrigerator so I could meet Summer at Walmart.

Summer closed the carwash early due to the storms, so we went to Walmart for salad stuff for dinner. We ran into Ryan there, and got to hear about their fourth kid on the way. Then we made our way home for the evening. I still had to port Eaddie’s number to a new Google Fi account, so Nick called me out of frustration with AT&T and had me hold on the line with him. It took a total of two transfers over several minutes, but we finally got it done. Autumn had brought Adam over, but they hid out in her room while we ate.

When Autumn finally took Adam back to the pet store, Eaddie and I started watching The Umbrella Academy. We both felt like there were several inconsistencies and plot holes, but enjoyed the show in spite of them. I found it to be relatively predictable, but entertaining. Elliot Page is teetering on the edge of Uncanny Valley, which is odd considering an android mother and a talking monkey are supporting characters.

We wrapped it up early since it’s back to work for me tomorrow. The kids will be back in school the day after that. I failed to actually apply for any new jobs, so the anxiety I’ve felt all day may not serve me well tomorrow. Time will tell.

Dick Tater Ship

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23 and Me

Mayra called me at one in the morning and wanted to talk about me with her new husband. I was pretty hazy from having just fallen asleep, but it was still a nice surprise for her to reach out. I tried to talk to them quietly from the kitchen since I didn’t really know where else to wander in the house, and then finally made it back to sleep.

The girls were supposed to go help their grandparents with some yard work, and Summer wanted me to meet her over there to try and get their old car running again after rotting in their driveway for several years. We stopped for gas first, then went to my house to get my battery charger. Then she went to hook that up and go to the gym while I cleaned up at home.

When I finally met them, I discovered that my smart battery charger wasn’t doing anything at all. I had a hunch the battery was too dead to register a charge at all, so I went home to get my dumb charger. We got it hooked back up, and then I took Jerry for a ride in the Tesla. He was super excited about it, and it was neat to get to connect with him even if it was just for a couple minutes to ride around the block.

By the time we finished there, the girls were hungry and crying for New China. That place had been on my mind for several days, so I ran home to swap vehicles and then met them there. After we ate, we went back to their house where Eaddie and I watched another couple episodes of The Umbrella Academy. I had to give up before midnight though, to try and get my sleep schedule back in order.

Me Undies

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Lickety Split

I woke up early this morning to meet some of the guys at Taylor’s Grocery down the road. I expected Josh and Aaron, but Aaron was running late. Josh showed up first, but nobody could get a hold of Aaron. Then Clint, Landon, and Johnny showed up, which was a surprise to me. Clint ended up buying everyone breakfast, which seemed to be fairly reasonably priced. I wanted to try a little of everything, and it all tasted exactly like what I would make at home.

Josh left after a while, but then Aaron showed up super late and had breakfast while the rest of us sat around and talked. We were there for just over a couple hours, and then everyone went about their day. I went home to shower, and then came right back up to Summer’s.

Eaddie had Gavin over, and Autumn was getting ready to take them to the movies. Summer decided she wanted to go out for an early dinner, so we stuck around the house for a little bit and then headed to Pasta Grill just before they opened.

There was a crowd of people waiting to get in the locked doors, and by the time we got inside, they said it would be a 20 minute wait without a reservation. We decided to take off, and I took us to La Villa instead. I don’t care for the food as much, but at least they’re not usually as stingy with their inferior bread. I had been suffering some indigestion for a few days, and dreaded eating Italian, but it wasn’t awful.

After we ate, we stopped by the pet store to try and get some face time with Adam’s father and grandmother. He recognized us right away and came over to chat, but she didn’t realize how we were all connected. We talked for a little bit, made a quick walk through the store, and then headed on home, stopping for some ice cream along the way.

I put on The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for us, and then Summer headed to bed to watch more TV. The girls got back home a little after that, and then Eaddie and I watched a little more than one episode of The Umbrella Academy before she got too tired to stay up. Autumn went to Adam’s for the evening, so I waited up to make sure she made it home on time, and then it was off to bed.

Make it better.

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Work Wives

I got a bit of a slow start this morning, but made it home to shower before lunch with Brandie. She suggested the newly re-re-opened Old Bank, so I met her there. Just as we got seated, Mollie got my attention from the booth right next to us. They had some pretty good looking nachos that at least filled the plate, unlike the bacon-wrapped, goat cheese-stuffed dates that we had.

Brandie got the Reuben, so I felt obliged to get something different and went with the off-menu wagyu burger. The food service was disappointingly slow, but at least our drinks stayed topped off. Overall the food was good, but quite overpriced. I didn’t really feel like anything we ordered was anywhere near worth the price.

After we ate, I took her for a ride up and around town, and we chatted for a while longer before she left. Then I went by Superfast to find Summer in the pit. She didn’t have time to talk, so I ended up leaving to get another quote on some tint for my car.

I went by Clear View this time, and there was nobody in the office for a couple minutes. Eventually a younger guy came out from the back, surprised to see me, and chatted with me for a bit about some options. Evidently he didn’t really have the pricing, so I’ll have to give them a call next week to really find out. He did at least say they’d be likely to offer a cash deal. The operation itself appeared to be less put-together, or at least had a less professional atmosphere, but that didn’t matter a great deal to me for what I needed.

Robert texted that he was getting an oil change, so I tried to catch him at Superfast. They were too fast, though, and he was already gone. Summer was just leaving work, so I saw her out and went to my parents’ house alone for some phở.

After I ate, I headed home to swap vehicles, and then beat Summer home since she stopped at the gym. Eaddie wanted to watch The Umbrella Academy, so we started on a couple episodes of that before bed. Autumn arrived home late after spending all day with her boyfriend, and then immediately gave us attitude when we called her out for being weird about the plans she was making for New Year’s Eve. We just laughed it off though, and continued watching our show until bed.

It’s called allowance, you ignorant skank.