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Treading Water

Gary gave a bunch of his tickets to Greg and me this morning, so I spent all day working on those. First up was a bunch of stuff in the Transportation office, but afterward I did everything from my office. It was quiet, and would have been boring if not for all the questions I kept getting from the rest of the crew. It was nice to be needed, but it was also hard to get anything done.

Zach, Gary, and I went to CJ’s for a quick lunch, and then it was back to the shop. Jason came by for a GoGuardian demo, so I went up front just to say hello before hiding in the back again. It’s kind of that time of year when it just feels like we’re treading water.

I went home for just a little bit after work and played some Into the Breach until Summer called on her way home. She wanted to meet up at Linh’s, but I remembered that it was Wednesday and that they were closed. I met at her house instead, and just cleaned up a bunch of leftovers while she made an egg. The girls didn’t come out much, so I laid on the couch with Summer for a while, playing my game until it was time for bed.

Only a little delayed.

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We Do Not Speak of Tres

I didn’t sleep great last night, but I wasn’t nearly as cranky as the girl in front of me on the way to work. She flicked a cigarette butt out her window and slowed down to practically a stop before crossing the railroad tracks, and I guess she thought I was riding her tail, because she flipped me off. Then she flipped me off again and started screaming out her window at me when we were next to each other at the stoplight. She was amped up on something.

The workday started with running over to the new early childhood offices to hook up phones. Gary said he hooked phones up for them, but they told me yesterday that they didn’t have any. I should have just saved myself the trip and taken the phones over there to begin with, because apparently Gary was remembering the other end of the building. I had to run back a second time because not all of the lines were terminated, and Greg had to help me find one that wasn’t even hooked up at the switch. It was pretty frustrating at first, partly because of how hot and humid it was.

I never did catch anything in my critter traps either. I had the largest one set up in the front hallway with a couple sheets of paper with “Affirmation” and “Kindness” written on them. I honestly thought it would get more laughs, even if I couldn’t capture any kids’ hearts. I was just proud to put what I had learned in sensitivity training to work.

We went to Taco John’s, and I had a relatively light lunch. Then it was back to the grind in the afternoon. I went to Oakland to clean up a bunch more tickets, and I’ve still got more to go. I’m not happy about playing musical touch panels, but I’ll have to swap a couple 65-inch displays for 75, and then re-mount the 65s in a couple new rooms.

After work, I went straight to my parents’ house to drop off the largest trap, since I was pretty sure whatever we had wouldn’t trigger it. I ended up sticking around for some leftovers that they were trying to clean up. Then, almost on a whim, we discussed some of our future plans and my wanting to invest in my future. Summer’s car has been reliable, but finding a low tire yesterday really triggered me, on top of not wanting to drive it past the need for new tires in the first place. It’s just time to go, and we all agreed that it was time for something n3w.

I went home for the evening and finished up some really brief paperwork. Summer and I chatted for a little while, and then it was off to bed as early as I could.

haha yes

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I Smell a Rat

It was cooler and rainy today, so I went in with my hair down and did some quiet work in my office all morning. Evidently our rodent friend returned and ate through Gary’s backpack to find some crackers, so he put out some glue traps in the breakroom. I kept busy all morning, so lunch time was there before I knew it. Zach, Gary, Thomas, and I went to Sam’s for the first time in a while after Tammy suggested Chick O’ Fish. It really does seem to just depend on who’s cooking that day, because I got some decent sized fish, but the chicken was smaller than my jumbo shrimp.

After lunch, I finished up what I could in my office and then ended the day at Oakland to close out several tickets that had accumulated. I never got around to looking at any of Kyle’s tickets, but Greg and Zach did quite a few since he said he was out for the week with COVID. It definitely seems like it’s spreading quickly now that school is back in session, because Sheri said Steven was out as well.

I went home for a while after work and tinkered a bit before deciding to set up a live trap at the office. Evidently Dad bought a couple larger ones, so I took all four, from Mason jar, to full cat-sized. Once I had them set up at the shop, I headed on up to Summer’s for the evening, but kind of wished I had just gone home. I lose a minimum of an hour out of my day by doing that, and everyone was already in bed anyway. It was a little unfair how irritated it made me, but I should know better by now. I kept getting too distracted as I was leaving the house, so it was just too late by the time I got there. On top of all of that, I noticed that Summer’s rear driver-side tier was down to 15 pounds, so I’ll have to watch that to check for a leak. I think it’s time to pull the trigger.

It’s my turn.

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Home of the Acceptable Burger

I slept in way later than I wanted to this morning. Summer went home and took Autumn to the gym while I cleaned up. When she got back, we went to Lowe’s to pick up a window screen replacement kit, and then Walmart to get some food for the girls’ lunch, as well as some burgers for dinner.

We dropped Autumn and the groceries off at their house, and then Summer and I went to her parents’ house to fix the screen. It was only one window that we did, and the screen material was an unmatching black, but that didn’t seem to bother anybody. As we were heading back to the driveway after fetching the screen from the back yard, I found the tiniest baby snake that I had ever seen. I thought it was a really thin earthworm, but then noticed how fast it was moving. For the rest of the night, I wished I had scooped it up to try and keep it for a pet, but that probably wouldn’t have worked out great. It was barely big enough to fit ants in its mouth.

I had to kneel in the driveway to fix the screen, but after pouring sweat for a while, we got it done. I got an obligatory hug, and then we headed back to the house to start grilling burgers. We just picked up some really cheap, boxed, frozen patties, and I threw them on the grill with some salt and pepper. They were small enough that I thought I’d make everyone a double, and they turned out pretty good. The frozen Rally’s fries really helped sell the meal though.

Eaddie was mostly absent all evening, but Autumn did some homework with us at the table. Summer wanted to give her phone back with some limitations, but that would have taken me all night to sort out after Autumn had repeatedly reset her accounts to access things behind our backs. I was frustrated to the point that I just didn’t want to deal with it any more, since we weren’t going to take any of those breaches of trust seriously anyway. I was ready to wash my hands of it.

Eaddie was the first one to bed. Summer and Autumn followed. I had a bit of a belly ache after those greasy burgers, but I made it to bed eventually. Waking up less than 12 hours earlier certainly didn’t help.

Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea.

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High Schoolers

Summer and Eaddie went to the Cyclone Extravaganza 5k this morning. Autumn was supposed to go, but talked her way out of it and watched TV all morning until I left. I went home to shower, and then the girls were going to come over, but that never happened. Eaddie and Autumn ended up going out together, so I went to get some barbecue from the Ridgewood Brothers. I contemplated a large platter, but I ended up spending nearly as much on just a couple of sandwiches and some sides.

The girls were actually still at home when I got there. Summer and I ate, they left, and then the two of us went to do a little shopping. I was surprised how busy it was, and it was super hot outside. We started at Walmart, but didn’t really pick up much. She really wanted to go to TJ Maxx. We were both feeling pretty dehydrated, so we stopped at PDQ for some drinks before going to PetSmart. They had some tiny shrimp there, but I didn’t feel great about paying five bucks a pop. Summer continued to decline with a headache, so we went back to my house and she fell asleep until we had to go see the girls perform at eight.

We took the Shadow to the high school so it would be easier to find a place to park. They made us pay to get in, and I wished we had just gone in the side gate instead. It didn’t seem to matter to anyone else going in or out, and there were multiple gates open with only one collecting money. The girls got to go out onto the field for individual introductions, which took forever. We watched them perform, got them some concession water, and then headed back home.

I put Prey on, and was surprised that Summer stuck around to watch it. I thought it was a decent movie. The girls decided they didn’t want to come over, which was no surprise to me. Summer let them go home, so we finished the movie and went to bed.

How colorful.

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Synccess

I had some more ideas for the transportation software this morning, and it finally worked out. I took a trip to the bus shop and verified everything was working as it should, and finally wrapped up that day and a half of work. Lunch time came around pretty quickly, and Brody said the guys wanted Mulan’s. I really didn’t want another buffet, but I thought I could switch up my normal routine enough that I wouldn’t get sick from it.

I was shocked at how much better the food was at Mulan’s than New China. I had been favoring New China for a little while, but I think after the last few visits, I’m ready to switch back. The variety and freshness have just been better, and it feels like New China is just getting run down.

The afternoon was pretty quiet again, but I kept busy with other things people were sending me. When it was time to leave, I caught Zach and Gary talking outside, and Zach said he was going to Lowe’s to check out an alleged sale on lawn furniture that Brody told us about during our meeting. I decided to ride over with him, and his girls beat us there. We didn’t see much of interest, which wasn’t a huge surprise since Brody is like 90% hype and about 12% follow-through.

I rode on home for a little while, and got a message from Dad that he was going to go see the paramotoring guys again. I met them at the aquatic center just in time to see them take off. The new guy we met, Nathan, had an old gas-powered rig and took off with relative ease. Jim had his brand new electric one from OpenPPG, and seemed much more cautious about the wind direction. He did finally get off the ground and took off to the north, but he never gained much altitude. As he went down below some trees in the distance, I saw his wing collapse and heard a crash. Dad and I drove around to check on him, and he was walking around picking up the pieces. We felt terrible, but he refused any help, and Nathan eventually landed and came around to help.

We left from there, and I went up to Summer’s for the evening. She was just sitting down to watch The Devil Wears Prada on the recommendation of someone at work that likened their work relationship to theirs in the movie. I told Summer this wasn’t a good thing, and of course neither of us cared much for the movie. The girls left to pick up some Wendy’s while we watched the movie, and then everyone called it an early night.

Ptlblblb.

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Is It Bussin? Is It…?

I spent the entire day working on that stupid computer for the bus shop, and I still didn’t finish the job. Dale didn’t have backups of any of the installation media, and of course none of the manufacturers supported any of that stuff any longer. I was actually surprised at how much help I did receive. I received a call back within minutes from one of them, but I suppose we actually pay them for fuel. The other tried to be helpful, but I could never figure out how to import the old data into the new installation.

Zach and Greg were busy pulling cable out there, so I never heard anything about lunch. Both Tammy and Kelsea made noises about going out to eat, but Kelsea didn’t have her debit card and Tammy said she would eat there. I had just started on a Soylent when she came around the corner beckoning me to go to Brangus with them. Evidently Tammy folded and decided she was going to pay for Kelsea.

When we got to Brangus, they noticed Thomas’s truck in the parking lot. We sat right by them just as they got up to leave. I let peer pressure get to me, and we all three ordered the hamburger, which didn’t impress me much. The burger patty was small, but thick, and it was overall messy and just barely adequate. Tammy was going to have all of us rung up together, so I jumped up to pay first because chivalry isn’t dead.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly after taking a late lunch, but I still never had a chance to get out much. I talked to Thomas about it a bit on my way out, and I think he’s going to investigate whether we need to bite the bullet and upgrade some of their equipment.

I went home just briefly to package up an Echo to trade in to Amazon, and then dropped it off at UPS on the way to New China. Noah wanted to have his birthday dinner a day early, so everyone met there separately. I thought after a disappointing lunch I would be hungry, but I still felt slightly ill from Western Sizzlin the other day. I ate anyway, but mixed it up from my usual routine a bit. Afterward, I had to get some gas in the Murano since Summer had been driving it to Conway and Little Rock all week.

Noah came back to the house to spend some time with the girls, but Autumn just immediately started watching YouTube, and Eaddie had homework. I felt a little bad for him in the same way that I feel bad for myself when I’m here. He hung out for a bit longer while Summer took a shower, and then I wound down pretty quickly after he left.

Too tired for games. Depressing.

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Dizzy Devil’s Yucky!

I spent today in my office, and picked at a few different things all day, as people would bring them to me. Relatively early in the morning, I spun myself into an anxiety attack somehow, and was a bit jittery for the rest of the morning. Zach, Brody, Thomas, and I went to Zaxby’s for lunch, and I tried their little Nibblerz. I thought they were alright, but the rolls were quite a bit bigger than the chicken fingers, which made them overall very bready. We didn’t stick around long, and as soon as we finished eating, we headed back.

The afternoon was a little quieter, and quitting time couldn’t come around soon enough. I hadn’t been home for very long before Summer called, and then I checked on Eaddie to see if she needed a ride home from Autumn’s karate event. I really wanted to go to Walmart to exchange the faulty water hose nozzle I bought yesterday, as well as PetSmart to see if they had any shrimp, but she just wanted to go home to do homework.

Autumn made it home shortly after we did, so I felt dumb for wasting the effort to get Eaddie home earlier. At least I got to help her for a bit with some algebra homework. Summer eventually showed up, and I got a lucky super slow-motion video of a hummingbird. I made a leftover chicken sandwich for Summer and ate some other leftovers myself. Autumn went to bed really early, followed by Summer. Eaddie was up late doing homework. I fought with app updates on my S21 Ultra for a while, and eventually made it to bed.

Ugh.

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IncuBust

I switched it up this morning with the Grom, and rolled right into Oakland without issue. It sure seems like they’ve got the start time down pat. I didn’t have a whole lot to address there, but what I did work on was a little slow to finish. I made it back to the shop, where things were relatively quiet again. Gary seemed to be in a foul mood, so when lunch time came around, it was just Zach and me headed to Taco John’s. We ran into Wesley as he was finishing up his meal. They forgot mine completely, so Zach was done eating his by the time I walked back to the counter and had them make mine.

The afternoon was busy with more systems stuff, but I felt good figuring out three Clever issues. I was probably alone in my feeling like I had some time to breathe, but I just kept rocking out in my room until quitting time. Gary called me upstairs to help align a projector that neither he nor Zach could figure out. Then I finished up at Oakland by swapping out a docking station with one that Jacob brought me.

I rode home and waited for Summer to finish up at the gym, and then met her at Western Sizzlin for dinner. They were pretty quiet, and it seemed like the bar was nearing closing time. I left overstuffed, but Summer wanted to run to Walmart on the way home. We wandered around there for a little bit, and then I headed on up to the house while she stopped at Dollar General to try and locate a nail repair kit that she couldn’t find at Walmart.

The girls got home shortly after we did, and then their father called to break the news to them that his mother had passed. Autumn seemed to be a bit of a rollercoaster the rest of the night, half wanting to start bawling, and half unaffected. She, as always, just seems to have trouble both expressing and controlling emotions. Eaddie was quiet, but I checked on her before bed, and she seemed to be doing alright.

It was just as well that the Incubus concert was postponed. Things would be different if we didn’t live two hours away and have to make it back for school the next morning. I still couldn’t decide on our next show, because I only kind of enjoy some of the songs that any of the artists play, but it would be neat to see any of them in concert. I guess that’s what I get for listening to so many different kinds of music.

…but what KIND of punch was it?

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Back 22 School

I took the Shadow to Oakland first thing this morning, and I was shocked at how little traffic there was. I squeezed in right at eight without any trouble, waving at staff that was spread out across the parking lot to help guide new parents. I had a few work orders to complete, but I did a fair amount of work from my laptop. I did have to go to a couple rooms, but for the most part it seemed like they were on autopilot. For all the grief I’ve had every year having to hook things back up after the custodians unhooked everything, this year went surprisingly smoothly. Paul brought a huge tub of cookies for everyone, which I think tickled all of the ladies in the office to have a maintenance guy who actually does work and then goes home and bakes.

I made it back to the shop before lunch, and it was pretty quiet downstairs. I picked at a couple things there until Zach took Gary, Greg, and me to La Chiquita for lunch. The food was good, but our server was pretty slow. When we finally made it back to the shop, I had some of the birthday cake that Tammy brought for Kelsea. As I sat in my office, more and more things came through to distract me, so I didn’t really accomplish the one task that Gary gave to me.

After work, I was surprised again at the lack of traffic and how easy it was to get across town. I stopped by Walgreens to pick up a photo print, and then crossed the street to pay for the brakes I got a couple weeks ago. From there, I went home and started some laundry that kept me busy all night.

Summer worked from open to close in Conway and got home pretty late. She took the Murano, so I met her at Casey’s to fill up both of our cars with a discount from the Upside app. For some reason, it took the pump FOREVER to fill up her car after mine. I don’t know why it slowed down, but it slowly ticked by in hundredths of a gallon. I couldn’t believe how long it took. I had to go back home to finish my laundry after that, and then it was off to bed.

HEY! Teachers! Leave those kids alone!