Category: Uncategorised

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Pixar 2020: What if Black People Had Feelings?

I got some really good sleep last night, then woke up to pay some bills. Then I started researching some Samsung phones to decide whether to take advantage of a deal on Google Fi. While I was in the middle of that, Dad and Uncle Giao came over and dumped a bunch of old tech junk. Then Uncle Giao asked for me to find him a laptop and set it up with a Vietnamese keyboard. Everyone surrounded me, insisting that I could just “download it or something.”

Once they all left, I got a shower and headed to Summer’s for the evening. She ordered Domino’s after having to work all day, so I picked it up on the way. After we finished eating, Autumn put on Soul, which was at least better than Incredibles 2 in my opinion. Maybe I was just tired when we saw that in the theater, but I hadn’t dozed off at the movies in a looong time.

All this house does is sleep.

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Lonely Friday

With so many quarantined, there were only four of us on site at all today. We didn’t have any projects, so I just went straight to the high school to get started. When Mike got there, I helped him take care of a couple things. That got us nearly to lunch, so I ran by the shop for a bit and then met him at Linh’s.

After lunch, I went by the shop again to image a laptop to deploy at the junior high. Gary stopped in and chatted with me for a little bit, and then I finished the day at the junior high. It took me a while to get the laptop set up with all the software she needed, so I didn’t really get anything else done before quitting time.

I picked Autumn up at the high school, and then dropped her off late for therapy since nobody told me she was scheduled for it. I had just a little bit of time to go home and check on Bác Vân at her house, and then I went back to take Autumn home.

Eaddie and I went to my parents’ for dinner, and then Summer came along after the gym. Bác Vân wanted some soup too, so when we left, I took her some for the next day. My new Chromecast with Google TV came in, and somehow I received the wrong note card inside with someone else’s message. I’m not sure what’s funnier: The Pee Team, or the fact that some other random person received my card with “Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?”

After putting it off this long, I’d better pass this A+ test the first time.

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Junior Tecknikken

Summer had me drop the girls off at school this morning, so it was a slightly earlier day for me than usual. We dropped Autumn off, and then I went to the junior high with Eaddie. I ended up staying the entire day, only leaving to get some Arby’s for lunch. It was mostly quiet, but I got a decent amount done there.

After work, we had to get Autumn from the high school, and then we waited at my house until time for karate. Once I dropped them off for that, I went to my parents’ house for some dinner. Dad made a corned beef, and then afterward he did some mad science to try and fix the tea infuser I had that broke immediately after I purchased it and brought it home.

Nobody got electrocuted, but the tea ball didn’t stay together either. I eventually headed home for the evening and spent all night trudging through email.

Hold my beer.

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A Bit of the Old Ultraviolence

It rained all day today, which made it feel pretty bitterly cold. I spent most of the morning troubleshooting my recently-deployed software while Mike chatted at me. The day went by relatively quickly, and it felt a little eerily quiet, likely because I’m not actually getting any ticket emails assigned directly to me any more.

When we left for lunch, I ran by Burger King and McDonald’s for a Whopper and fries, then stuffed myself at home. Suzanne came by to visit in the afternoon and inspected Frankie, my office succulent. Hopefully he pulls out of the dry spell he found himself in while I was gone. While she was there, she showed us that, evidently the rest of the nation had fallen into chaos with riots in the streets.

Autumn didn’t go to school today, so it was just Eaddie and me all evening. We went home after work to change, then to my parents’ house for dinner. Summer eventually made it home after yet another long day, so we picked her up a cup of chili and some fries on the way home. I called Bác Vân at the hospital to check in on her, and then it was an early night to bed.

WHAT DO WE WANT?
A rational and informed discussion of the issues and exploration of possible workable solutions!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT!?!?!
As soon as reasonably feasible!

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Six of One, a Dozen of the Other

Things were pretty quiet today. Mike came in and talked at me for a while in the morning until he had to leave for an early lunch. I took a late lunch and then just ate it at the junior high since they had some work that needed to be done.

Evidently Zach, Greg, and Ben all had to quarantine again, so it’s just the relative newbies and me until Gary gets back next week. Fortunately it’s a pretty good time of year to be short, so I don’t think it will get too stressful. I finished most of what needed to be done at the junior high, but then I had to go to the high school to get the girls because Eaddie didn’t get my message to stay at the junior high.

We dropped Eaddie off at her flute lesson, and then Autumn and I finished the day at the junior high. When Eaddie was done, we got their karate gear from Summer at her shop, and I dropped them off. Then I went to my parents’ house for dinner and to crunch some numbers.

We wrapped up just in time for me to get the girls. Michael was there, I guess donating a bunch of weight lifting stuff, so I helped him unload. Then I took the girls to pick up some flowers to take home to Summer. It was an even quieter night, with everyone off doing their own thing. We watched a very little bit of YouTube with Eaddie, and then it was bedtime for everyone.

The indian shoots his arrow at the smaller, weaker number.

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Don’t Look Up

It was really frosty out this morning, but I made it back for a true full day at work. I was catching up with Karen in the library when Julie called to say Bác Tran was blowing up her phone to check on Bác Vân. I got a hold of Doug without too much trouble and confirmed that Dad and Lelan were already on the way. When I got into my office, I found the bucket I had placed above the drop ceiling had crashed through the tile and shattered when it hit the cubbies, dumping rainwater all over everything. I wouldn’t have expected to get that much water there, but it did rain for a really long time.

I took a late lunch to run by the post office, then just grabbed some Tropical Smoothie on the way back to the shop. I spent most of the afternoon there catching up with Ben and boxing up the three laptops we had ready to ship off to the depot repair center. I did eventually make it back to the high school to wrap up the day and pick up the girls.

We got home and Eaddie took off on her bike just before another guy came by to check out the renovations we want to make to the bathrooms. This guy was a recommendation from Julie, and he seemed much less sales-y than the previous group. He wasn’t pushy at all and basically said he was just there to complete exactly what we wanted and nothing more, which I appreciated. I think the quote will probably come back quite a bit cheaper because of that. He also name-dropped my superintendent, who is on an entirely different reality of a pay grade, and I wasn’t quite certain how I felt about it.

Once they left, I took the girls home and started prepping stuff for salads. Summer arrived shortly thereafter and we ate, then watched an episode of Glee. Eaddie and I heard something that sounded like it was running across the roof, and we came out to discover two cats that appeared to have difficulty finding a way down. I’m not sure how they got up in the first place, but it just sort of made me mad that they’ve been hanging around, tearing things up.

At least it’s a rental?

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It’s Complicated Salad

We slept in a little bit today before the girls left. I had big plans that ended up being big dawdling around the house. Eventually I made it up to Summer’s for dinner, where she planned chicken tacos with lettuce leaves instead of tortillas. The execution was more annoying than anything else for me, since I could have just made a salad with the same taco-inspired toppings and eaten it with a fork instead of having to get up and completely wash my hands in the middle of the meal. I hate messy food, but I eat tacos because they’re delicious.

It’s back to normal tomorrow, and I just hope it’s not awful.

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A Wonder We’ve Made It This Far

I picked up some semi-disappointing biscuits from Hardee’s for breakfast this morning before our trip to Conway. They just seemed like they weren’t quite as “loaded” as they should have been. The biscuits themselves, however, were perfect as always.

The girls loaded up in the cold, misty rain, and we made it to Conway just in time to grab snacks and take our seats before the previews started. The girls didn’t really remember the first Wonder Woman movie, and we probably should have watched it last night instead of The Dark Knight Rises for a refresher. I thought this one was entertaining, but the story seemed weak. I would have liked to see more building up of the villain and where he came from. In contrast, I didn’t find the flashback to baby Diana to be very important at all.

After the movie and with some protest, we went to Kohl’s to look around. I got a mooing chip clip that was on clearance for what should have been regular price, so that was worth the trip by itself. The girls all wanted to eat by then, and of course couldn’t agree on a place to go, so I picked Mike’s Place as a treat. I figured Autumn could get the steak she wanted, and Eaddie could get something aquatic.

Our server was fantastic, but I didn’t love my fish. Autumn’s $30 New York strip looked to be cooked to perfection, but she turned her nose up at it after about three bites. Then she tried to convince us that her palate was sophisticated enough to identify and appreciate different cuts and qualities of beef, and that she didn’t want it because it wasn’t good. Astoundingly, I managed to bury whatever beast those comments normally would have unleashed, and we boxed up her leftovers for my breakfast.

Both of the girls’ behavior really started to slide from that point on, as we went to walk Target, and then Best Buy. They cried about staying one more night at my house, and I got to try my hand at Good Cop again. Their attitudes really seem to be habits learned from always getting their way, and again I can feel my strict hand at parenting tightening its grip.

Such is the cost of making a better people.

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Standard Fair

Summer had to work today but didn’t go in until late morning. I had some cereal for breakfast that I only regretted a little. The girls were to do chores all day to get the house back into shape, and Autumn did pretty well on her own. Eaddie wasn’t having any of it, and required more persuasion.

In the afternoon, Julie had us over for traditional New Year’s fixings. On the way out, I said something to try and correct some misinformation, but ended up just striking a nerve again. More on that later. A little while after we got back to the house, Autumn left with her father to go shopping and get some food. Eaddie didn’t feel like going, so I helped her clean under her bed. Eventually Summer got home from work and took Autumn to the gym with her. I went home to clean up before they followed me over.

Julie offered me the leftover ham bone, so I went to pick it up and she yelled at me some more about how life isn’t fair. It really got me aggravated with the whole family feud to the point that I’m going to have to settle it once and for all with some quick number crunching. It’s easy to cry foul when you’re using imagined statistics.

Back home, the girls arrived with some Tropical Smoothie, and I made some popcorn for the Dark Knight finale. Autumn spent a lot of the movie confused. Summer spent most of it behind her hands. Eaddie and I really loved it. I hated not getting to follow the Robin story line, but at least it was wrapped up in a nice little trilogy.

It’s not your year yet.

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A Stroll Down Memory Frames

It just rained and rained and rained today. Everyone pretty much stayed at the shop since it was just a half day. Somehow we got on the subject of my blog, and Ben started Googling for it. He happened across my old highschool site and the Cow Patty Link of the Week section. A little Wayback Machine later, and we got to experience the early Angelfire web of yore.

I got one more HP lesson done, and then Ben had me run to Staples to get some badge holders. They were a buck a piece for 40, so I ran by Lowe’s instead, and then finally Walmart where I found some for just under two bucks for a dozen.

That got me to the end of the work day, so I went home and waited for Summer to get off, and then we went to Leonard’s to spend a coupon I had been saving. She got a mortar and pestle, which was sold in a set, so I’m still not sure which one is the mortar and which one is the pestle, and at this point I’m too afraid to ask.

I had another coupon for Mulan’s, so we met my parents for a New Year’s Eve dinner. Then I took Summer back to her car so she could go home, and I waited until it was time to get the girls from their friends’ house. Eventually with them in tow, we went up the hill and waited for midnight.

Autumn came into the bedroom and played Monopoly on Stadia with Summer and me. We finished up right in time to not see anything happen, because we don’t pay for live television and we didn’t properly coordinate any kind of streaming service. Somehow, one of the neighbors managed to light a few fireworks in the downpour though, so it wasn’t completely anticlimactic.

Maybe all this rain will help put out this dumpster fire.