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Muddy Buddies

We went downstairs for breakfast first thing this morning, then came back up to the room to get ready for Summer’s Tough Mudder race. Traffic was relatively fine, but it was still a long drive across a boring, asphalt city. Once there, it was just a sea of cars parked in a hilly field. It took a bit of time to get through the processing, but she made it in time for the last wave in her hour start time. Once she got started, I went back to the car and waited for about three hours.

I brought all kinds of things to keep myself busy, but I just ended up playing on my phone the entire time. I could see a couple of obstacles from where I was parked, and I could hear a bunch of sheep across a pond. The weather was perfect for just hanging out there, so it wasn’t too bad. As the two and a half hour mark approached, I made my way back up to the event and waited at the finish line.

Summer had made a friend along the way, and they helped coach each other along to the end. She had to run pretty immediately though, so I waited for Summer to clean up and then we made our way back to the hotel. Traffic was pretty awful on the way back, and I added some time to the drive making a wrong turn. Constant construction made it worse. I fully decided that I would be okay if Thanos successfully snapped away half of all life in the universe. There are just too many people.

I waited for Summer to clean up, and we had just enough time for her to relax a bit before making our way across the city again for a late dinner at Medieval Times. Summer absolutely loved it. I enjoyed it for a while, but eventually I got tired of watching sadly drooly horses prance around in circles. I thought the knights would play off of the heckling a bit more, but the crowd was pretty loud and it made it difficult to communicate even with our serf.

Our knight was the first one down during every round, which made it all the more disappointing. The food was pretty good though, and Summer really enjoyed the whole experience. As the show came to a close, we took the short-but-long way back to the hotel and went straight to bed.

Rough knight?

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Over and In and Down and Out

I slept in a little bit today before getting ready for our trip. Summer had to work, but thought she might get off earlier than expected. That ended up falling through, so we left around two and headed toward Little Rock. We stopped at the Splash in Benton for a quick car wash, and then we headed practically straight through to our destination.

We stopped in Rockwall, since it was the first In-N-Out Burger we encountered. I’ve wanted to try it for ages, and we finally had a chance to stop in. Summer got a double-double, and I had to go with the triple-triple. Overall I guess it really was comparatively cheap. The biggest surprise was the poster advertising the pay for new hires. I also wasn’t quite sure how masks would be down here, but only like two people we encountered there were wearing them, and neither were employees.

The last bit of the trip was hectic, even for a night drive. We made it through traffic in the dark in unexplored territory, and nobody died. The hotel was relatively easy to find, and the studio room was pretty cute. Summer pretty much crashed as soon as she hit the bed, so I didn’t dawdle before wrapping it up for the day.

Hopefully COVID doesn’t mess with you guys…

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Lil Pops

Today was another really chill day at work. Kelsea brought a chocolate cake for Gary’s birthday, along with a 3D-printed topper. I eventually made a “candle” out of a stripped piece of Cat 5e cable with the exposed wiring inside making up the flame. I helped with what I could in the morning, and then most of us went to Sumo for lunch for dinner and a show. It was pretty muted with everyone in masks, but the food was alright.

I spent some time at Oakland in the afternoon, and then came back at the end of the day for some cake. My final act was sending out the CPPC minutes, and then I headed home for the long weekend.

It wasn’t long before Summer reminded me that the girls’ father was having a soft-open at his barbecue joint, so eventually she came by to pick me up for that. The girls were already there, but hadn’t really had dinner since they were waiting on us. He had run out of ribs, so I tried the nachos with some brisket. Unfortunately I couldn’t find much of the brisket under the canned nacho cheese. Eaddie’s bologna sandwich looked pretty good though.

After we ate, the girls headed home. Summer dropped me off, and I spent the night prepping for the trip. It got quite cold inside, and I ultimately settled down and watched Shazam! until bed. I’ve really got to find some quality Atmos content.

Time to find out who really shot J.R.

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Don’t Call it a Bonus

I had a CPPC meeting early this morning. They predictably didn’t have much to show us, and basically just promised they were working on it “really really hard.” Karen asked about a Christmas bonus, and we actually got what I thought was a more-than-satisfactory answer. With ESSER funds, they could actually give us a pretty substantial not-a-bonus bonus as long as we report it as an incentive for recruiting and retaining employees. Many were unhappy about it being too late for Christmas, but to that I say it is not the district’s job to manage the finances of its employees. If you’re dependent upon unpredictable and totally-not-at-all-guaranteed compensation to maintain your lifestyle, then that’s your own goddamned fault.

At the end of the day, nobody would turn down free money, so that felt like a win to me. I went on back to the shop and spent a really quiet day in my office. Zach, Gary, and I went to Slim Chickens for lunch, where the girl gave me a teacher discount without me even saying anything about it. Then it was more time killing in the afternoon.

Bryan came down to visit me for a little bit, which was a nice break in my day. Then I worked a little late on getting CPPC meeting minutes put together. I should be able to turn that around tomorrow for publication, so that makes me feel pretty good about doing my part.

After work, Mom called me over for some more phở. Then I headed on home for a cold, quiet night alone. I was pretty tired after a stressful evening of planning last night, so tonight will be a good night of sleep before a long weekend.

The cold comes quickly.

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Booked and Ticketed

I was pretty tired this morning after not getting much sleep last night. I drank up some coffee and did what I could in my office until lunch time rolled around. Zach, Gary, and I met Brody at Brangus for one of the better meals I’ve had there. Then it was a quiet afternoon all around.

I spent some time at Oakland and closed out some tickets, and brought a couple iPads back to the shop. Everything was relatively easy today though. I worked a bit late on a custom icon for the middle school, and then went home to see what I could get into before Summer came over.

The girls were at a game until late, so I warmed up some leftovers for Summer to eat as I tried to pick up in the bedroom a bit. Then after she left for home, I spent the rest of the night plotting out our Dallas trip. I got tickets for Medieval Times on Gary’s suggestion, and tickets to Eternals in Dolby Cinema on a cinema tech on Reddit’s suggestion. I even found a hotel for just shy of a C-note that looks pretty nice.

Now we just have to get there.

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Crab Claw Chicken

I slept really hard last night, so it was a little bit of a struggle to get out of bed. I slept well though, so I didn’t drag too much once I got started. It was a pretty quiet day at work for the most part. I accomplished some new things that came across, and then went to lunch with the trinity. We went to Popeye’s, and I tried to use an app discount that disappeared on me while I was waiting in line, and the manager ended up manually giving me an even better deal. The chicken strips I got varied greatly in size, but they came out even, unlike usual.

In the afternoon, I ran around with Zach a bit and tried to look at some other shirts at Mullen’s. They had even less variety than Autumn’s typical dinner plate, so we left there and went to Crawford to check on a door that was working perfectly. Afterward we chatted with Shavon for a minute before heading back.

I ended the day at Oakland just to drop a bunch of fixed equipment off. I saw Eaddie on the map outside, so I went out to fetch her and took her home with me. I got out my new, unused Cardo Packtalk system and spent far too long trying to mount one to her helmet. The rubber kept peeling off, and I probably caused more scuffing to the helmet than if I had just removed it in the first place. Eventually I got it on, and we tested everything to make sure it would work for her next riding lesson.

Everyone assumed I was bringing Eaddie home, so we ate some leftovers there and watched a couple episodes of House before I did. Everyone else was in bed, so I wrapped up as quickly as I could and went to sleep.

Go ahead, TACCOM!

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Ride About, Now

Summer made breakfast this morning, but Autumn and her visitor chose to continue stuffing their faces with junk food instead. Eaddie didn’t want to get out of bed, and I didn’t get home to clean up until the afternoon.

Autumn had wrestling practice in the evening, so eventually Summer brought Eaddie over and we went to the high school so she could practice driving. She didn’t drive around in the car for very long before she was tired of that and wanted to try riding the Grom. We never got out of first gear, but she only killed the engine a couple times. I had the benefit of knowing how to drive a manual transmission when I learned to ride, so I could understand her hesitation.

We didn’t stay for very long, and went to my parents’ house for some phở. Then we stopped by Brody’s house to try and drop off a tripod, but they weren’t home. Summer dropped me off at my house, and I tried to do a little more organizing before bed. It’ll be a short week, and I’m both excited and dreading it.

The funk soul sister.

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Take a Seat

Summer and Autumn had a race this morning, but I didn’t get to sleep in. Eaddie had to be at the high school by 8:15 to go to Conway for orchestra tryouts, but not before running home to get her music. I got her breakfast at Wendy’s on the way, and then I was on my own until the other two got back home. I spent my time cleaning up after last night, vacuuming and cleaning up outside.

When they got back, Autumn went home to clean up and Summer wanted to go by Fall Fest. I had just gotten out of the shower and needed to get ready. My parents stopped by to borrow a laser measuring tool, and then we were off. Fall Fest was busy with people, but not much of interest. We made a loop, stopping to buy some baked goods from her mother’s church, who opted not to pay the booth fee to the community, and instead set up on the church stoop to peddle their confections.

When we got back home, Summer left and I waited for Eaddie to get back from her trip. She made first chair, so I offered to take her out to a celebratory dinner. She wasn’t hungry right then though, so we headed on home.Autumn had a new friend over for the night, but we didn’t get into anything. Summer hid in the bedroom, and eventually Eaddie got tired of homework and wanted food.

After tossing around the idea of a taco truck, she decided on Bocadillos in Dardanelle for their frozen desserts. She chatted a bunch and talked about her day at tryouts in Conway. We both stuffed ourselves silly, but she made room for half a scoop of ice cream, and I couldn’t leave without a mangonada.

Everyone but Autumn’s friend was immediately off to sleep when we made it home. I felt a little bad, but I empathized with how tired everyone was. Now we just have to make it through breakfast, and hopefully I can get some more accomplished tomorrow.

22% minimum? Seriously?

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Fired Up and Smoked Out

I could tell pretty early at work today that it was going to be a chill day. We had a long, slow, mostly quiet meeting. When it finally ended, I was left to my own devices until lunch. I actually finished up what I was working on right about time to go, and I lead a group of seven of us to Stoby’s to eat.

After lunch, I got to spend some time at Oakland. I didn’t even think about it being a Friday before Halloween, so all the parties and treats in the building were a fun surprise. I got some stuff done, and then left as they started dismissing. Then Thomas let everyone go just a few minutes early, so I headed straight home to do some last minute cleaning.

Summer took Eaddie to her driving test, so after she passed that, I met them at Harbor Freight so I could buy a hatchet. Then we went to Walmart for the food we needed for the evening. John and Melissa had to go pick Travis up since he had been unresponsive the past few days. When they finally showed up, he was blitzed out of his gourd.

The rest of us had a pretty good time. It was cold and a little bit drizzly at times, but the fire was hot. It smoked quite a bit, which was disappointing, and I think I just needed to clean out the air gaps in the bottom for some better flow.

After we all had our fill of fire-roasted wieners and s’mores, we all came inside and watched 10 Cloverfield Lane. I couldn’t remember a whole lot about Cloverfield, but it didn’t really matter. It didn’t really seem at all related anyway. It was an odd movie, but I enjoyed it alright.

Just as we had gotten started, Travis wanted John to take him home. We continued watching though, and John didn’t miss much. They left when the movie was over. Autumn showed up from her ball game just as I was cleaning up outside. Then everyone went to sleep.

I don’t remember this episode of “Roseanne.”

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We Have You Surrounded!

Today was a bit quieter at work, but I still struggled to accomplish much. I ended up contacting SMART support and got a quick, yet apparently incorrect answer that I’ll have to address tomorrow. I also got a repaired Chromebook back from Dell, but it doesn’t want to let me set it up because it “can’t connect to the internet” even though I can absolutely see that it is connected to the internet.

If I didn’t have chores to do, I would have hung out after work with Gary, who was building his new gaming rig in the shop. Instead, I went straight home and started cleaning up the kitchen. Summer came over as soon as she was back in town from another day on the road, but she didn’t feel up to much. I abandoned cleaning in favor of wiring all of my speakers, and I don’t think anyone ever questioned my priorities.

Summer went to bed and left me up pretty late getting everything calibrated. Hopefully we have enough time after work tomorrow to get things ready for the shindig. At the very least, we can watch a movie.

Things are finally starting to look… roughly different…