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An Act of Piracy

I took Split into the vet this morning, tears in my eyes, expecting never to see him again. They met me in the parking lot and shuttled him away with the hopeful demeanor that veterinarians have, and I sobbed off toward the shop for work.

They were still mopping up water from the flooding, but for the most part everyone was back to work. I chatted for a little while, then went on to the high school to see what I could accomplish.

I worked a little into lunch, then left in a hurry to make my interview in Dover. I ran home first to change into some nicer pants and shoes, then made the 15 minute drive out of town to try and find their technology office. Excitedly, it’s on a bit of a hill in the old middle school building, so flooding shouldn’t be such a regular occurance.

I felt like the interview went really well. Josh, the superintendent, was there, along with Toby, one of the techs, and of course Sandy, the technology coordinator. They all seemed pretty friendly, and I was probably a little too relaxed, but it was nice to do an interview and not be so uptight. Not needing a job really does wonders for the nerves.

Afterward, I went back to the shop to update everyone. Then ran home to change again before going back to the high school. The vet called in the middle of all of that, and let me know that Split’s bloodwork came back showing signs of normal kidney function and blood sugar, so all we were really looking at was an enlarged thyroid. The stupid cat’s got too many hormones. Or a tumor. Who’s to say? The point was, I would get to continue shampooing carpet until he either quits making messes, or I give up and kill him myself.

After work, I stopped by the vet to get him, along with some meds and a can of special, bland food, to help him “reset” his tastes. I really don’t understand how that’s going to work, but he did at least eat about a quarter of the can of food when we got home. I watched him for a little while, then went to get Eaddie from karate.

When we got up to their house, I snacked a bit until Summer got home, and then she grilled some brats for the girls while I ate some leftover pork chop. I dare say it was better leftover and reheated. It didn’t even really taste freezer burned any more.

I didn’t stick around too long before leaving for Walmart to pick up some plain yogurt to give Split some gut bacteria. It was awful. It’s no wonder he didn’t want to eat it. Of course I also had to clean the carpet again, because that’s still my life. It’s inescapable. This damned cat is going to live forever.

I would say that my biggest weakness is that I never have a good answer for this question during interviews.

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Waiting…

It’s been raining all week, and it’s made me really sluggish in the mornings. It doesn’t help that I’ve been working nonstop for what feels like forever. I miss the early days of COVID when the days were shorter, and we spent most of them at home.

I went by the shop this morning to turn in Autumn’s time sheets. I brought my life jacket, because they said the basement and the server room both flooded yesterday, and that it was way worse than ever before. Evidently we lost about $15,000 worth of equipment. There was still (again?) about an inch of water in the shop today, and both custodians and maintenance were there helping to clean it up.

Eventually I made it to the high school and just churned out work orders as quickly as I could. I think I actually got down below 40 by the end of the day. I did take a lunch break to run home and check on Split, because I left him outside all day while I was at work. I felt pretty bad about it near the end of the day, especially when it just kept raining late in the afternoon. I brought him inside all soggy and boney, and I just knew how close to the end we were.

Summer came over after a while with some salad, and we ate that with some cold chicken I got the other day. Then she went to get the girls and I stayed with the cat. We watched Waiting, mostly because I remembered watching it when it came out, and that was the year he was born. It wasn’t really as sentimental as I thought it would be. I guess cats don’t really care about movies. At least, not when they’re starving to death and it’s a movie about servers at a restaurant.

Well, we are under a flood watch...

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Triple Chicken

I slept in just a little bit today so I could stay up with the cat and try to get him in to the vet. When I did finally call, they couldn’t get him in until Thursday for a morning drop-off, so I spent the rest of my morning running around town looking for something he might eat.

I stopped by Casey’s first, to redeem a free slice of breakfast pizza before it expired. I didn’t want to sit in my car in front of the gas station and eat, so I just stopped at the park on the way to Walmart. It rained pretty much the whole time I was out, but I got an arm full of stuff, including three kinds of chicken.

When I got back to the house, I started boiling a chicken breast while I tried to feed Split some fried chicken. He ate a nibble of breading, but refused anything else I put in front of him. I waited around for a bit longer, then left for work in the afternoon.

It was a quick and fairly productive day, but I still feel like I’m drowning. I just need to choose a project and finish it so I can move on to the next thing. Everyone’s begging for attention though, and I hate having to put people off until later.

After work, I got the girls to karate. Then I went to my parents’ house and waited for Summer and Eaddie to get there for some mango soup. Julie showed up to eat too, and started looking at timeshare stuff.

The girls stayed with their grandparents, so Summer came back home with me. She showered and went to bed while I cleaned more carpet. Even a fresh can of tuna didn’t do anything for the cat, but he’s still walking.

Imagine vacationing, but like…forever. That’s how sailboats be.

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That Which Does Not Kill You Only Postpones the Inevitable

I slept so well last night and just wanted to stay in bed. I’ve grown so weary over the past month, and things aren’t looking up yet. I hid in my office for most of the day and got some things done. Some of those things would have been more satisfying if I hadn’t been so exhausted and hungry. I skipped lunch just to cut down a bit while chipping away at the Great Wall of Work Orders.

At the end of the day, I came home to a huge mess of cat and had to start cleaning that up. He refused to eat anything, so I’m calling it. I’m taking off tomorrow morning to take him to the vet. It’s tragic that his mind is all there, but I can’t get him to consume calories.

I met the girls at my parents’ house for pork spaghetti, then came home to finish cleaning. Tomorrow is going to be rough.

Back from whence we came.

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Resume Work

I got up this morning and made some banana nut muffins for breakfast. I only set off the fire alarm once, because I left a drip pan full of oil in the oven at a higher than normal temperature. The muffins came out alright, though probably a bit dry for as large as they were.

Summer left to get the girls home, and I worked on my résumé and cleaned up after the cat some more. I really need to get him to the vet early this week, so I may take off early tomorrow. It feels premature to just put him down, but I doubt they’ll have any magic cure to make him eat something.

I eventually made it up to Summer’s for dinner, where I grilled some old pork chops I had in the freezer along with some fresh asparagus. Summer fried some potatoes and onions, which were the star of the show. The pork chops were too freezer burned, dry, and tough to be any good.

The girls wanted to finish our game of Phase 10 after dinner. Then Eaddie wanted to watch an episode of Glee before I left for the evening. Back home, I filled out an application for an IT job at the Dover school district. They pay more than we do, and if I were to get a step bump to where I think I should be, it would be a pretty significant pay raise. All I have to do is click the submit button.

Objective: Employment
Qualifications: Modest
Experience: Varied

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Strike First

We got up this morning and had a Wendy’s breakfast before Summer left. I cleaned up after the cat, but couldn’t ever really get him to eat any more. He seemed to bounce back this week, but I’m guessing it won’t last much longer.

When dinner time came around, I headed up to Summer’s and we had some chicken salads. Then she helped me load the deck box into the back of the car so I’d have someplace to store the cushions for the outdoor chairs. I took her car to get some gas and a freebie from Casey’s, and waited for her to get back to my house.

Once she got there and we unloaded the box, she had me make some popcorn. That’s when the power flickered, and my computer’s UPS died. I pulled another one out of the garage and let it charge while we watched Cobra Kai.

It’s the story of a hopeful, young karate enthusiast whose dreams and moxie take him all the way to the All Valley Karate Championship. Of course, sadly, he loses in the final round to that nerd kid. But he learns an important lesson about gracefully accepting defeat.

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Welcome to Back to School

I went by the shop first thing this morning so Ben could help me move a whole truck bed full of parts for the old leased Lenovos to the junior high. We didn’t actually get out of the shop until a while after 9, but the loading of the truck was pretty straightforward. We did get stopped in the hallway by a chatty Karen, but I think we still made good time.

We met up with Jessica and Ronda at the junior high to deliver all the stuff. Then we spent a little time reassuring Jessica again that everything is just awful, and that’s normal. It was okay though, because it was lunch time.

I left Ben at the shop and took a late lunch to get some Burger King for the girls. I dropped Summer’s off at the shop, then went to eat at home where the girls were up in the living room. Autumn was fully into TikTok while Eaddie was very focused on schoolwork. I told Autumn in no uncertain terms that she needed to put more energy into something productive, and that if her grades weren’t good, she would have absolutely nothing to defend herself.

I went back to work and pondered a few things but didn’t get a whole lot closed out. I really wanted to get Autumn’s timesheets done so she could get paid, so that rounded out my day.

I played a little Overwatch at home until Summer got there, then we went to my parents’ house for some leftovers. Eventually we made it back home for a quite night without the girls. Summer spent most of it on the phone, so I read the first chapter of Winnie-the-Pooh. I couldn’t remember the last time I picked up a book. I probably won’t finish this one either.

Tut-tut, it looks like rain!

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The Brown’s Autonomous Zone

CenturyLink’s PRI line was down at the high school and London today, so I was the guy that got to call in the ticket. I’m getting pretty good at navigating that IVR and deciphering the support techs’ accents.

I spent all day, skipping lunch, running around the building and closing tickets. I got a fair amount accomplished, but there’s still so much to go.

After work, the family all met at Brown’s for Dad’s birthday. Mr. Brown seemed more aggravated about the mask mandate than anything, but they had things under control. They were definitely less busy than usual, but that didn’t stop me from eating way too much.

When we got back home, everyone just sat around all night until bed.

Spend 15 minutes with everyone for maximum chance of quarantine!

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The Boys Are Back in Town

For the first time in over a week, I went straight to the high school this morning. My first job was to deliver a box of hotspots they had been screaming about for days. Al said some parent was blowing them up on Facebook about not getting her free internet from the school. I told him to snap back at her that she must have internet if she’s on Facebook. I think he appreciated the irony.

It was overall a pretty relaxing day. I caught up on a few things, but didn’t wear myself out trying to get to everything. I still have plenty of rooms to visit in the near future. Lenovo shipped me three huge boxes of parts, so I ended up taking a late lunch. I just picked up some Burger King to eat at home so I could check on the cat. Autumn was still there, but Summer picked her up before I left for work again.

I went back to the shop in the afternoon just to see some people again. That ended up being an adventure in charging cart deliveries with Ben. Then I wrapped up the day back at the high school.

After work, I went by the house for a little while until Summer got home from work. Then I went up the hill for a dynamite spaghetti dinner that Autumn threw together. Then we played most of a game of Phase 10 before I headed back home.

The cat still seems to be eating pretty steadily, but he’s still really loose. At least he’s enjoying getting outside more, and I’m not going quite as crazy cleaning up after him.

Should I stay or should I go now?

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The Suits

I went to the shop this morning to find that Gary had returned to work. He survived the Coronavirus, and all he got were the dadgum antibodies for that crap, man.

I went straight to hotspots again, and spent literally the entire day doing nothing but that. Bryan was there for a little while asking me things and kind of trying to pawn some of that work off on me, but then even he had to leave to visit with other people for the rest of the day. I soldiered on through the day, stopping only to eat some old, wilted fruit that was left in the fridge. In two separate instances, Mark and then Danny stopped by the office to check in. I think they were there looking for Bryan, but in finding only me, just thanked me for washing my hands.

After work, I had to get the girls to band and karate, and then I stopped by my parents’ house for some leftover shrimp soup. We recapped the Master Plan again, and then I went home to clean more carpet. The girls eventually showed up, and we had to have another heart-to-heart with Autumn about who gets to make the decision on whether she’ll be attending school in-person, and why we were doing so solely to make her miserable.

With step one of the Master Plan underway, it won’t be long before I’ll finally be able to harness their misery and turn it into a magical elixir that will let me defy the effects of aging.

And your little dog, too.