Category: Uncategorised

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Booking

I slept in a little bit today, but not for terribly long. I got a couple packages in early, which was quite a surprise. I spent quite a bit of time researching places to stay in both Eureka Springs and Hot Springs, then booked stays since our condo plans fell through for the week.

The girls were going to come over for the evening, but then it started thunderstorming. Summer said it would just be her, though it didn’t rain for very long. We braved it long enough to get some food from Zaxby’s, then came back home for a dull night. I gave her a “wearable blanket” as an early birthday present while she did stuff for work in front of the TV.

I doped up early on some NyQuil and moonshine since that worked well last night. Hopefully it won’t be much longer with this head cold.

Sleepy chicken?

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The Monster Under the Refrigerator

I woke up a bit early today and sulked in the quiet. The girls would be going to Little Rock with the high school’s JROTC kids for the Run for the Fallen, instead of with me on the way to Hot Springs. I truthfully needed the time to clean up, but it was still aggravating to be working on the assumption that we had plans for the whole week.

I cleaned up around the refrigerator and moved it away from the wall so I could clean behind and under it. It was super nasty, but I didn’t even know what from at that point. It hadn’t really been moved in 18 years. I just vacuumed up what I could, then sprayed a lot of cleaner repeatedly until everything came up. At the end of it all, the linoleum under the fridge looked better than the rest of the kitchen just because it hadn’t faded and worn down.

The girls wanted to go to CiCi’s when they got home, but after my shower I decided against joining them. I just continued cleaning and finished up more leftovers when I got hungry. There’s almost room for some more food in the fridge again.

TOTALLY AWESOME™

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What a Gas

I got a slow start this morning and laid in bed to watch an episode of The IT Crowd. It hasn’t been very good so far, so I’m hoping it gets better, while also not feeling guilty for watching it by myself because I don’t think any of the girls would enjoy it.

The replacement gas cylinder for my Aeron chair came in, so I started to take my chair apart before realizing I was missing parts to the cylinder removal tool. Bác Vân didn’t have a pipe wrench, so I went to my parents’ house to borrow Dad’s. It’s a good thing I took the chair over there, because it took quite a bit of force from the both of us to get the thing loose. In the end we were successful, and I made my way home to reassemble it with the new cylinder.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning up a bit in preparation for the new refrigerator to be delivered. I did some laundry and shuffled some things around a bit. I’m still nervous about getting the thing into the house once, so I think I’m really glad that I decided to have it delivered here rather than to Summer’s, only to bring it back here in the future. It’s going to be a chore getting my old one out and up to her house, but I bought some moving straps that should make it a bit easier.

Summer got word back that our condo time would be cut in half from what she was planning, which was a real bummer. I was skeptical just because we hadn’t received any solid plans yet, and I was doubly nervous leaving town before knowing a real plan. In the end, I figured it would be best to have the girls take the bus to Little Rock for the 5K Run for the Fallen. That would give me an extra day at home to prep for the appliance deliver. In addition to that, my head cold is still making mornings pretty rough, so I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to try and make last minute accommodations. There will still be plenty of time to do things.

Like sitting on solid air.

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But He’s the Happy One

I got up extra early this morning for our introduction to the new superintendent at the arts center. They advertised “light grab and go breakfast options,” but I kind of expected more than scones and mini muffins. In hindsight, I should have grabbed a handful of the prepackaged breakfast bars for later. As expected, as soon as I stepped through the front door, I was assaulted by people with issues signing into their school accounts on their phones. I ended up changing the Google Form to allow anyone to enter their own data.

The speech was only about half an hour, and was more of a “this is where I’m from” than anything else. We did have a confusing activity with M&Ms that would have been more suited for crowds of complete strangers, but evidently we should have just been happy that we were allowed to have food in the auditorium. We did have a hilarious moment where the superintendent actually walked right up behind us and asked us questions. At least her mic wasn’t live, so I just awkwardly drew aggro away from Gary, the non-participant, to make jokes and give her my own silly answer.

After that was over, we made our way to the shop and eased into some work. Surprisingly, I think Kyle and Kelsea were the only two that didn’t go. Josh was off for the day anyway. We eventually made it to lunch time, and even Jacob showed up for the first time ever. That may have just been because he didn’t have his own vehicle and had to ride with Brody though.

The afternoon went by relatively quickly. We had some time to visit and argue with Tammy about procedures. Sara came downstairs to finally clean out her junk from the storage room. Then I took Gary home before going home myself.

Ben surprised me with a phone call just to chat. I don’t know if he was just really curious about the new superintendent, or if he just wanted to kill time on his commute home. We had a good conversation though, so it was a nice surprise. I didn’t get up to much else for the rest of the evening. I felt pretty weak in the chest from all of the coughing and blowing of phlegm, so I doped up again and went to bed.

I like turtles!

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Coughee and Donuts

I just barely made it in to work this morning, and though I thought I’d feel better pretty quickly, that really was not the case. Fortunately nobody was up to much. Thomas wouldn’t be there Friday, so he brought donuts today and everyone chatted in the shop for a while before splitting up. Kyle’s birthday would happen over spring break, so Tammy made brownies for him today.

Zach, Gary, Josh, and I went to Wendy’s for a quick lunch, and the food was actually pretty mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had so much better from there. Summer came by to see me after her expo was over, on her way to Cabot. Most everyone in the shop started a weight loss competition today that I didn’t opt into because it was never clear whether there was a buy-in, but mostly because I was not committed to a time limit for what will have to be a lifetime of change.

Dad said they wanted to grill burgers after work, so I went straight over there and got things started for dinner. We ate, then discussed the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its many, confusing timelines. When I made it home, I doped up on some NyQuil and waited for it to knock me out again.

Birds sing when the drugs hit.

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Half the Gurgle

Last night was really rough at Summer’s with my head cold, so I ended up taking the morning off from work so I could try and sleep in at home. I couldn’t really fall asleep for a few hours, but I got up much more rested after a while, had some leftovers, then went in to work.

Brody got back from lunch just as I was coming in, and came right into my office so I could help with his Visual Studio issue. I don’t know how we’re expected to maintain the “babysitting” functionality of our student devices if we’re also forced to allow them to execute whatever files they want.

Eaddie forgot her phone at home this morning and also needed a ride home from Oakland, so I ended the day there to replace a video cable. Then we went to my house to watch an episode of Stranger Things. When Brody finished at the gym, he met me at Lowe’s to try and buy a fridge, but we were told they no longer did a military discount on large appliances. He went along his way while I redeemed over $1000 in gift cards toward the purchase. At least I got a price match to a cheaper store.

When I got back to the house, Eaddie had fallen asleep on the couch and had her hoodie completely covering her head. I poked her a little bit, then let her nap while I went to my room. When she finally got up, I convinced her to finish the episode with me, and then I tried to get Autumn to take her home. Autumn ended up working an hour later at work though, so I took Eaddie home and took the opportunity to lie down with Summer for a bit.

I took some medicine and decided to go back home to avoid another night of gurgling condensation in my CPAP. At least the sore throat is gone now.

Fuck that, get money.

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Honorable Mention

I developed a nasty sinus issue last night that kept me up until I remembered how soothing it could be to have hot water in my CPAP. For hours, I had struggled with a scratchy throat, unable to sleep for more than an hour or so, and finally I found rest.

I chugged some orange juice before I went to work, then sipped on piping hot green tea all day. Evidently the meeting that occurred right outside my door was a surprise to our department. Jeff and Terry were there with the guys trying to sell us Avigilon again, and based on what I heard, I didn’t hear a lot of kickback from my guys. I couldn’t tell if that’s because they had already said what they wanted to say and were at the point that they felt defeated, or if nobody wanted to rock the boat. I told them afterward that we should have developed hand signals so I could bust out of my office and make a super disparaging remark.

It was Brody’s birthday, and surprisingly he picked Linhs for lunch. Just as we got there, Zach got a call that several pallets of Chromebooks had just arrived at the shop. He took my car back with Greg, and the rest of us sat down to eat, ordering their food for their return.

After lunch, Tammy had made a Butterfinger cake, so of course Thomas was super excited to eat that. I had some more tea, went to Oakland to take care of a few things before school let out, and then spent a pretty relaxing end of the day in the front of the office.

Summer came over after she got back to town from Cabot, and we got changed to go to Eaddie’s National Honor Society induction ceremony. After a scan of the crowd, I discovered that we were basically sat directly across from my greatest nightmare, so I was on edge the entire time. Then, as it often is, alphabetical-order spoiled what fun I was having.

I thought I was keeping it together for the most part, but then they dismissed in the most chaotic way. Everyone started walking down to the floor of the arena, and just feet away from where we were heading, I froze. I couldn’t breathe, and I just had to exit as quickly as possible. I felt absolutely horrible for it, because I wanted to be there for Eaddie in her moment of accomplishment. All the love and support in the world didn’t mean a thing if I couldn’t even bear to exist in that moment. I was a wreck for hours after that.

Autumn took Eaddie out to get food and then went home while Summer and I went back to my house for a bit. I had a tentative plan to go to Lowe’s with Brody, but ended up postponing it for his birthday’s sake. I ended up taking Summer to Brangus for dinner, and robotically ate way too much.

When we got back to her place, Eaddie was melting more Perler beads. Autumn was getting ready for bed, and Summer didn’t waste any time crawling under her own covers. I finished up what I always do, and it was time to pass out.

And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.

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RSD Cribs

I dressed up a bit for work today just in case the new superintendent came back to meet everyone. I worked sporadically on a few different things, but nothing that made me feel too accomplished. Just before lunch time, the tech sent by Dell to replace a motherboard for me arrived. That didn’t take long at all, though I cut out a couple minutes before he finished since it was lunch time.

Zach took Gary, Thomas, and me to Las Palmas, and evidently the name “Used Chips” is old enough that Thomas remembered it. The food was good, but I always feel a little iffy when I pay there. They’re big fans of cash.

The afternoon was relatively quiet. I did get to shake the hand of our new boss, making her the first one I’ve ever officially met. She said she liked my office, and Thomas was there to witness it, so I guess that’s a win. I really should have left my hackertyper window open just to see if I could get a reaction from Thomas, but I chickened out.

After work, I ran through Casey’s for a free birthday cookie, and then I thought I’d try to fix Bác Vân’s sewing machine. Evidently she had been out shopping for a remedy to an allergic reaction she had to something, so I never caught them. Eventually I loaded up with some food and headed up to Summer’s.

Autumn was at work, and Eaddie did a bit of homework while Summer made alfredo pasta to go with the last of the chicken we rescued from the Great Melt of 2022. It felt good to clean up those leftovers, but it was all pretty dissatisfying to eat. I’m just glad it’s over.

We had some leftovers that needed to be refrigerated, so I decided to take it home with me. I’ve still got to make time to figure out the refrigerator situation, and I’m not sure tomorrow will be any better. I sure would like to save a couple hundred bucks though.

We’re utilizing machine learning algorithms via remote desktop protocol on the neural network to compile scripts on the mainframe to prevent cyber attacks from threats to our students and faculty.

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Who’s Afraid of the Big, Black Bat?

I woke up this morning forgetting that I had lost an hour overnight. I thought I’d be up early enough to make breakfast after how early I woke up yesterday, but instead I just heated some cold brew coffee for Summer and took a shower before my parents came to pick us up.

We headed to Conway and, after some deliberation, settled on Sharks Fish and Chicken for lunch. I was worried Mom wouldn’t like how dingy it was inside, but everyone was pretty happy with the food. We’ll have to take them to Sam’s in town sometime, because I bet they’d like it a lot.

After we ate, we were going to shop for refrigerators, but evidently they had already picked out what they wanted in town. Instead, we went to Kohl’s and wandered around for a bit. We left there empty-handed to go to the theater, and fortunately we left early enough to get through some traffic that was caused by a flipped vehicle right off the interstate.

The movie was as long and slow as Eaddie described it, and I was surprised at how much they completely focused on it being a detective story. I guess it made sense, but it was less entertaining than I had hoped. There were certainly scenes that I enjoyed, and styles that I appreciated, but overall I didn’t at all feel glued to my seat. What I perceived as their big plot twist didn’t really carry any weight with me, and overall I thought it was relatively forgettable. The realistic wingsuit didn’t help, but I guess they really focused on realism on this one. There wasn’t an overabundance of having to suspend my disbelief as there has been in previous iterations.

After the movie, we headed straight home. As Summer started to head home, she showed me a piece of her car’s roof trim that had come loose, so I pulled it off to move the retention clips and then hammered the thing back into place with a mallet. Then it occurred to me that I had just fixed her car with a hammer, and that we should probably follow through with a plan before we’re forced to rely on a backup plan.

Once Summer left, I went to my parents’ house for some fish soup with them. We chatted for quite a while before I headed back home to try and get to sleep as quickly as possible. The new superintendent is coming to see the shop tomorrow, and I don’t know whether I’ll meet her or if I’ll be asked to disappear for the afternoon. I suppose I’ll at least brush my hair in case.

Something in the way, mmḿ?

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Of Milk

I woke up really early today for a Saturday. Eaddie got up to go help at a robotics tournament at Tech, and Autumn got up to go to her father’s for the weekend. When Summer left for the gym, I went home for a while to clean up. I finished up some leftover breakfast pizza, did the dishes, and got showered so I could run some of my smoked cheese over to Robert and Grant in the afternoon.

They looked to have been closed for a little while, and were busy cleaning up. We chatted just briefly, and then I went on home to wait for Summer. She had to get Eaddie back home to change, then drop her off at her friend’s house for her birthday party later in the evening.

We went to Walmart just because I hadn’t been in quite a while. I was really hoping to find something interesting, but all I got was some deodorant and bread that were being cleared out. Summer wanted to meet up with Justin and Ashlen to take a picture in front of the “coming soon” sign on their new carwash lot. Then we ran home before going to the bowling alley.

Strikers was super busy, and we had to wait for a lane to open up since they wouldn’t take a reservation. Summer thought we would need two, but between me not bowling and several others not making it, they fit in one. She got everyone pizza, and then we got some fried pickles and cheese curds. I ran into Robin and her family while we were there, and caught up with her just briefly.

Summer wanted to leave after one game, so she paid for the team to have one more after we left, and then we had to take Eaddie some stuff since she decided to stay the night with Maristella. Afterward, Summer really wanted some ice cream, so we went to Dairy Queen to redeem my birthday BOGO Blizzards.

The ice cream was super melty, so I didn’t eat much of mine. She nearly finished hers, and then I froze the rest so we could go to bed. She started watching her baking shows until she started to fall asleep. Then I finished my chores before crashing.

I simply will not tolerate this.