Category: Uncategorised

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Floored

Summer left this morning, giving me the day to take care of my own things at home. The afternoon just raced by, but I got some stuff moved around in one of the bedrooms. If I can get enough stuff cleared out, we can bring one of Eaddie’s twin beds down here so the girls can each stay in a bed of their own and not have to share. I found a few things I’d been wanting to track down, as well as a bunch of old gaming console accessories.

I went to my parents’ house for just a few minutes and had some dinner with Dad, then came back home to continue what little work I had done for the day. I sought out some advice about my employment contract, but didn’t get much out of it. I don’t guess I really expected much – at least not directly.

The evening flew by just as quickly as the rest of the day, and I did my best to get into bed early for what is surely to be another trying week at work.

The hunt is on.

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Buckets N Boards N Guitars N Ukuleles N Turtles

We lazed around a bit this morning before Summer went to the gym and then home to make mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Eaddie and I watched some House until it was time for her to take off on her bicycle to meet us at my parents’ house. I ran by the shop because I thought Summer was going to be stuck there helping remove a drain plug, but she finished up just as I got there.

We dropped her car off at my house and then continued to my parents’ house for a late lunch. Eaddie showed up a few minutes later with her friend Aaron, but then went back out to ride bikes. Julie came to eat too, but just sat in the living room. It was like a mini Thanksgiving dinner, but with slightly less food and yelling. Eventually the kids showed back up and ate a little too, before taking off again.

Summer and I went for a little swim before we had to leave so she could change before the concert. She bought tickets for us all to see Buckets N Boards at the arts center. Autumn beat us there right after work, and my parents showed up just in time to find seats before the show. At first I was worried it was going to be more Buckets N Bored, but then they started roasting children. It was entertaining but long, with an intermission.

The girls wanted to go home after the show, so Summer let them go while we went back to my house for the night. She played games in bed while I messed around on the computer, and then it was a relatively early night to sleep.

There’s 1,440 hours in my day!

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Sandy Lines

Four of us immediately went to the junior high today to try and clean up the work orders that had been piling up due to the lack of a tech there. It was overall pretty quiet, and mostly a cluster of us all bumbling over each other, but we put a dent in them. Lunch time came around really quickly, and seven of us all met up at Mulan’s for lunch. Summer wanted to get lunch, but I was at the mercy of whoever would drive me, and she didn’t want anything that heavy.

We finished up at the junior high in the afternoon, and then came back to the shop to work on Central Office tickets that had piled up on Gary in the time he’s been pulled away to other things. It wouldn’t be this bad if we hadn’t restructured the department in the middle of already being super shorthanded. We just don’t have the people.

Shortly after I got settled into my office, I received an email from Rebecca stating very matter-of-factly that they had a new contract for me to sign, and that I would need to pay the district $558 due to a mistake that they had made. I knew how I wanted to reply, but Gary thought talking to Thomas first would be a good idea. I knew this was coming, but it didn’t get real until that moment, and I got pretty upset. He gave me what advice he could, and asked me not to take any action until he had a chance to go to Central Office on my behalf.

I spent the rest of the day writing a sort of memo of conversation to attach to the email I was forwarding to him, and thanking him for what he’s done in his short time here. I think I’ve been leading up to this for a long time. I just never could have imagined the district would initiate this conversation, especially in such a way that may possibly be more in my favor than not. All I know is that I’ve really enjoyed how my job has changed within the past six months, and that the work I’ve done in that time has been more valuable than ever.

I went home for the evening, and Summer brought Eaddie over once they cleaned up at home. Summer and I watched several episodes of Modern Family before she went to sleep. Then Eaddie came out and watched the last 20 minutes or so of a movie trailer compilation with me. I dawdled a bit more on YouTube before coming to bed, mostly feeling dread for what the future holds.

Audentes Fortuna Juvat

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Dog and Pony

Today was full of meetings for me, so I hardly got anything done. First up was a meeting with Thomas and Gary about the Agile Mind sync I had been working on. Evidently Thomas was stressing over the number of work orders complaining about it, though most of it had been fixed already. I went in and immediately put him to rest with the knowledge that I had completed as much of that project as I could without any further input from their team.

The ocular migraine that I got the minute I walked into his office started to wane as I went back to the shop area to help Kyle with something. I spent a little time in my office, and then I had to go upstairs for a CPPC meeting where Karen had invited all classified staff. We had a decent crowd for a school day, and I don’t know if it spoke more about how involved people wanted to be, or how completely not busy and available people were to come hang out for two hours until lunch time. We had three people from the junior high office alone, so I’m sure they were super necessary staff.

The meeting went about as well as I expected, with the exception that it started as all meetings seem to do any more, with the new superintendent taking over the show and ineffectively communicating the purpose of what he was trying to accomplish. Judy was up front with us, and seemed to be on an exploratory mission more than anything. Once everyone else was done talking, Karen started going over the first page of titles that covered basically secretaries and clerks. Then the meeting was over, with absolutely nothing accomplished.

As everyone dispersed, Judy stopped me to mention that my contract was being rewritten. She said she saw my pay increase and assumed I had gotten a promotion. I let her know that based on the duties I was performing every day, I also assumed I had gotten a promotion. I told her I had no intention of signing a contract with a lower salary, and that if my pay was reduced before I signed one, they would have trouble. How much trouble will depend on how I’m feeling the day that it happens.

Back down in the shop, five of us went to Brangus for lunch. Greg spotted Dale coming in, so I popped out to wave him into our back room for a moment. When we got back to work, I did my best to help people as they came back to me. Then Judy came down to our dungeon to discuss our department’s salary schedule and the proposal Thomas submitted.

She confirmed that we were the only department to produce any kind of counter-proposal. I figure it’s not our problem if no other department can build a case for themselves, but they had better not drag us down. Of course, Gary shut down when Judy admitted that she hadn’t read our proposal completely, but I was feeling optimistic that she indicated she would likely just slap our proposal directly onto the second draft of the salary schedule and see where things go from there.

I stopped by to see Summer briefly at work, but she was busy and I headed on home. Eaddie had been there, but Autumn had already picked her up by the time I got home. I chose to spend another quiet night at home, and I’ll get up tomorrow to do it all over again until they don’t let me.

No sense in crying over your lack of proficiencies.

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Own the Rolls

It was a bit rainy today, but that just made things muggy instead of cool. I spent the morning at the shop being a total boss with people reaching out to me for help left and right. It’s been satisfying enough that I don’t even mind the stress, because I get the reward of helping people without being the one on the front line.

Brody convinced Gary to go to CiCi’s for lunch, and even Zach and Thomas joined us. I loaded up after a light morning, and then spent the afternoon running around Oakland so I felt pretty good. I had to make it back to the shop as school ended because Thomas wanted to meet with us about the proposed salary schedule. We’re meeting with Judy tomorrow, so we wanted to make sure everyone was well-informed beforehand.

I worked a bit late, then headed to the shop to see Summer before going home. Mom and Dad came by to drop off some soybean milk after their trip to the Oriental food store. Then they came back a bit later with some bánh bao. In the midst of all that shuffling around, I was trying to calculate how good of a deal I was getting on paper towels and toilet paper on Amazon. I’ve descended into madness with a spreadsheet that calculates the cost per sheet, but at least now I know exactly how much it costs me to poop at home.

Poopaper to your door for less!

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Mind Flay

It was a little bit cooler today, so I took the Shadow to work. I spent the morning in my office bouncing all over the place. I felt like I was on a rack, being stretched in every direction all morning long. I’m juggling so many things right now, and it actually feels pretty good. I struggle focusing on any one big project, but the constantly changing scenery keeps things from getting boring.

I picked up Summer and we went to Morelos for lunch, but she left me early and ran across the street after staring at an angry customer through the window. I managed to get the leftovers home on the bike, then went back to the shop to get some things to take to Oakland.

Michael and I got to talking about crypto for a bit after work. He gave me a frozen turkey that was sitting on his counter, which I had to swing by and get after going home to get my car. Eaddie had walked to the house after school, and Summer picked her up for karate. I went to my parents’ house after picking up the turkey, and Mom made some super dressed-up ramen.

Things were quiet when I made it back home. I got into the mood for some low-hitting bass after reading an incendiary thread on a speaker deal, so I put on some music. I don’t know what it is about speakers that brings out the forum trolls, but it’s so eye-rollingly stupid. I still want some big subs for behind/under my eventual theater seating though.

If they won’t cater to my whimsy, I’ll cater to it myself.

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Back to the Beginning

I went in to the shop first thing this morning so I could take care of a few things before going to Oakland. It was really quiet with most of the team out in buildings, but things got exciting at Oakland when I finally made it over there. I wandered back and forth down the halls trying to find where everyone had moved, and closed what work orders I could. Evidently there was a screaming runner, so there were a couple suits there briefly just to oversee what was going on.

I stuck around until lunch, then just went home to eat some leftovers before going back to the shop for the afternoon. I was able to get a bit more done there, and though my work is kind of piling up, things just felt more relaxed there than having to be in the building. It’ll be nice to get most of the work orders cleared out of the building so I can get into another project to finish.

Eaddie walked to my house after school, so I came home to her finishing up my pizza. Autumn came along shortly after and took her home, and I spent the rest of the evening in a quiet house to myself. I hardly moved off of the couch and just watched YouTube all evening. Hopefully I sleep better tonight.

Back to the mask.

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The Bore Before the Storm

I got up and picked at leftovers for brunch, then mostly sat around all morning and afternoon. Autumn was at work all day while Eaddie stayed in her room with her head cold. Even Summer didn’t get out to do anything until she decided to cook dinner. I eventually went home to clean up a bit, but didn’t get up to much before heading back up for the night.

I got back just as Autumn was home and cleaning out her car. Summer had some ribs and corn on the grill, and was inside making mashed potatoes and some kind of pan-fried vegetable medley. We all ate, then let Eaddie go back to her room while the rest of us played a game of UNO.

The girls went to bed early for the first day back to school. Summer and I watched a couple episodes of Modern Family, and then we were off to the same.

Chickie-chickie, Slim Eggie

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They’re Just Resting…So Sleepy

I woke up early this morning and my heart was racing for some reason. I went back to sleep while Summer took the girls to the Cyclone Extravaganza, and though I woke up in better form, I felt pretty bad for most of the day.

I met Summer and Eaddie at the theater to see Free Guy in the early afternoon. Autumn didn’t want to go for some reason, but the three of us loved the movie. On the way back home, we were stopped in the street by a funeral and I decided to pop in to see Robert as they were cleaning up. I didn’t stick around more than a couple minutes though, and continued on home.

While I was home, I added some carbonated water to my shrimp tank and inadvertently suffocated all of my shrimp. I had knocked them out before, but this time I think I nuked them all and I felt horrible. I even tried pulling a bunch of the water out and changing some fresh water in, but the damage was done. Even my snail that I thought I had lost months ago appeared to struggle, but it survived. I also took care of some of my little plants that didn’t look so hot.

Eventually I made it up to Summer’s for the evening. I made a burrito to chip away at their leftovers, but there’s still so much to clean up in there. Autumn came home late from the evening portion of the Extravaganza, but by then everyone else was already in bed. I stayed up later than I wanted just trying to complete some Windows Updates. Overall I was just ready for it to end.

Don’t have a good day. Have a great day!

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I Don’t Have the Time or the Crayons

Today was the last Friday before school starts, and a Friday the 13th at that. I jumped right back into my report scripting in Cognos, at least between calls and nags to help other people. Thomas came in to prod me into finishing the job, but at the end of the day I wasn’t even sure what else he had for me to do. I think Bryan got aggravated that I couldn’t stop everything and fix his issue, but it wasn’t just a simple fix at all, and I was busy trying to get rostering done for a math curriculum program used across nearly the entire district.

Evidently Shane from Howard came down and took the Big Three to lunch but they didn’t invite anyone else. Kyle happened to be in the shop with me, so the two of us went to The Gunslingin’ Burger again for their anniversary deal. I had a Cajun burger that had fried shrimp and rice on it, and I don’t think I loved it. The lady also brought out a plate with like four onion rings on it, but when I commented on how paltry that was, she ran to the back and had them fry up some more without any hesitation. At least the service is good, especially for a place that is more or less fast-food.

I still didn’t make it to Oakland in the afternoon, but things did at least kind of calm down for me while some people were coming through the front of the office for badges and accounts. I did my part quietly in the background and never had to interact with anyone, which was kind of perfect for today.

I worked a bit late again but made it home just before Eaddie made it back from a bike ride. While she was there, I cleaned some more hair algae out of my shrimp tank and found one of my missing snails in the sump area. I moved it back to the front, so hopefully it can keep that area a bit cleaner. Now I just need to find the little baby one, if it’s still alive.

Summer came home not long after that, and we went to Nonna Bella’s for dinner since the girls were going to their friends’ house for the evening. That place was way bigger inside than I imagined, and they actually had a really nice atmosphere. The staff reminded me of a cleaner version of the folks that run the burger joint. They were very proud to be a family-run business, and the service and food were both pretty good. Summer’s pasta seemed a bit too reasonably priced until it came out with imitation crab instead of real crab meat. The pizza I ordered was pretty awesome, but it was on the higher end of the cost spectrum. Overall I think it will be a decent date night establishment.

Summer went straight to bed when we got home, on account of her 5k in the morning. I got into some daydreaming about business cards and letterpress printing again, but had to shut myself down on account of how absolutely unnecessary that is for my present life.

Priorities are a struggle.