Category: Uncategorised

Uncategorised

Turning Up the Back Burners

I expected orders today, but none came. Brice and I were left in the shop, so he came with me to the high school to clean up some super old, low-priority work orders that I’d just never gotten around to completing. It felt really good to get so much accomplished, but I’m not sure anyone else was doing the same. Half of the department was out, and we never heard anything from the other half that showed up. Brice and I just kept trucking on what we were doing, only taking a quick break for some Zaxby’s. I dropped some off for Summer on the way back to the shop, where I spent a little time catching up with Gary before jumping back into the work we were doing at high school.

We didn’t see the email right away, but Ben sent everyone home at 3:30. Brice and I finished up what we were doing and left eventually. I came home and relaxed for a little bit before going to my parents’ house for dinner. Dad was back from his trip to visit his family in the north, so we chatted a while. Then I came home and intended to catch up on a little gaming since I don’t remember the last time I had an opportunity to do any of that, but instead got caught up watching some guy on the internet sort pennies.

The songs are there. They exist all by themselves just waiting for someone to write them down. I just put them down on paper. If I didn’t do it, somebody else would.

Uncategorised

That Spiked Pear Tree Can Burn

We slept in a bit today, then got up to a couple episodes of Battlestar Galactica before lunch. I started craving Taco Bell and needed to run a couple errands, so the yard work waited a bit longer. I should have known I was in for trouble when I couldn’t get the Taco Bell app to work again. I’ve still got quite a bit of money wrapped up in e-gift cards in the app, and I can’t use them because the app won’t keep me signed in. When I finally gave up and went to the counter to order and pay, it took them 24 minutes to get our food out to us. They were pretty busy with a couple vans worth of kids there, but the wait was still unreal.

After eating, we went to Lowe’s to dispose of some CFL bulbs and then wandered around a bit to check out any seasonal clearances. They had some blinds outside that the lady practically wanted to give away, but we couldn’t find any the right size. Next was a quick stop at Walmart to return the globe light bulbs I picked up last night because they were too big to fit inside my fixtures. I didn’t much care for the color anyway.

When we finally got back home, we went out back to start cleaning up the yard. It took me a while to get a fire going because it just wasn’t getting any airflow without any breeze at all, but I finally got it going well enough to burn down my ant-infested stump. As we wound down, Summer went home to clean up as I tended the coals, then I cleaned myself up and waited for her return. She brought a bunch of salad stuff over, I chopped up some dinner, and we ended the night with some surprisingly sappy Parks and Rec for a lighter evening.

Goodbye Ann. I have enjoyed parts of our time together.

Uncategorised

An Attempt at Cleaning That Was Really Mostly Playing with Shrimp

Summer got called into work this morning, so I slept in for a bit before heading home to try and clean house. I got a little bit done, but mostly wandered around picking at little things all day. I did a pretty big trimp to the plants in the Imagitarium, and moved some plants from the ghost shrimp tank over since the snails were preventing them from growing any leaves anyway. Hopefully they do better without all the pest snails running amok. I did manage to clean up the guest bathroom a bit, which seemed to be my focus all day.

After work and some gym time, Summer came over and we went to have dinner at Mom’s. She was asleep on the couch but got up to help assemble some phở for us. We watched TV with her there for a bit, then left for Walmart so I could pick up a new flapper for my leaky guest toilet. We perused any clearance areas we could find and picked up a couple other things, then came back to my house for the evening. Summer went to bed while I spent some time changing light bulbs and cleaning up the bathroom a bit more before following suit.

Maybe I’m the reason I have so many brown recluse spiders here.

Uncategorised

Crew Crumbs

There were only four of us at work today, so Zach took the role as leader to point us at Jason’s list of duties on the board. He sent Allen to do work orders and Brice to try and update a touch panel’s firmware while he and I stripped and rebuilt a large charging cart. We got about halfway through stripping it when Brice got back and helped us finish. Then when Brice went to get the second cart, we realized that the first cart could have been left as it was with the old chargers, because we needed one of each for old and new chargers.

With that major flub out of the way, Brice and I left for Oakland to swap his faulty touch panel. On a whim, I turned the old one on and we couldn’t get it to fail again, so we ended up not replacing it. We got the new firmware to install by reading the instructions, and then we met Zach and Allen at Brangus for lunch.

After lunch, Brice and I went to the high school to hang a signage TV in the STEM center. It went up without too much trouble, but then I couldn’t get the Airtame to talk to our cloud account for some reason. We spent a while messing with it, but never did get it going. Zach sent us home just a few minutes early, and I went to the junior high to wait for the girls to finish their activities. Once they came out, I dropped them off with Summer and went home to clean up. I’m pretty sure I saw a new shrimp spawn, and the first batch are getting big enough to see them all over the tank.

Mom had been boiling some phở broth all week, so I went over there and the two of us had dinner together before I had to go see Summer get her quiz bowl ring at the football halftime show. As soon as that was over, we headed back up to her house and the girls left with their father. Then Summer and I ended the evening with a couple more episodes of an ever-dramatic Battlestar Galactica.

Yeah, you point finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two.

Uncategorised

Pulled an All-Dayer Today. Pretty Rough.

It’s endlessly frustrating how much work I always have left to do these days. Then I go to the shop and hear someone watching YouTube videos a good hour before lunchtime. I spent a bit of the morning at the high school rushing to get some things done before my call with Jamf support. We never came up with a resolution, but at least I learned a couple things during the call.

Zach, Allen, and I went to Morelos for lunch, and then crossed the street to give Summer some lunch too. Then I made my way back to the high school to get as much other stuff done as I could. I ended the day dragging the ladder around the STEM center so I could set up their new Airtames. I still don’t understand why we’ll buy TVs for them, but not every other department. I file those under “nice to have, but ultimately pointless.”

Summer needed me to take the girls to karate, so I ran home for just a little bit before picking them up. Eaddie forgot her pants again, and fussed at me the whole way to take her home to get them. I told her it wasn’t about time, and that I had other things I wanted to do that didn’t involve driving all the way across town. Then as soon as I got to my parents’ house, Summer called to say that Eaddie had taken her car keys. So here’s me, driving back across town again to return the stupid keys.

Mom and I finished up some leftovers with some more of that weird, flavorless squash. I added a ton of fresh ground black pepper this time, which gave it a nice kick. After that, I started to head home but decided to go up to Summer’s instead.

When Summer and Eaddie got back from the gym, we let the little stray cat in for some cheese, then settled in for some Battlestar before bed.

to be continued

Uncategorised

Midweek Blitz

It was back to work today after a four day weekend, though it didn’t really feel like I had a day off at all. I jumped right into work and picked apart all the work orders I had gotten while I was away. A few of them had already been looked at by someone, which was a really nice surprise. I ended up spending all morning at the shop to catch up. Most of that time was spent with the iPad Pro after hearing back from Jamf support, but unfortunately we still couldn’t get it enrolled properly.

Zach, Ben, and I went to Arby’s for lunch and all got the Beer Cheese ‘n Double Beef Sandwich with free fries. It was a bit messy, but not any more than a big Beef ‘n Cheddar. I really enjoyed it. Then after lunch I finally made it to the high school to jump into my remaining work orders. I kept really busy right up to the end when Autumn came to the high school. On the way out, we walked across campus to the PAC so I could take a look at their sign again. What a surprise to see it not responding over wireless.

Autumn and I came back to my house for just a little while until it was time to get Eaddie from her after school activities. Then I dropped them off at their house before going to visit with Mom for dinner. She had made some salty sausage and stir fried some kind of squash to go along with it. Then we shared some French bread and sweetened, condensed milk for desert.

To wrap up the evening, I came home and did some more laundry while I took care of all the pets. The teeny baby shrimplets have doubled in size by my estimation, and it’s becoming easier to see how many of them there are. I really may have to just eat the culls, because they’re booming and it’s only going to get worse as more of them mature.

Missin’ out on ACOT has me all sad ‘n stuff.

Uncategorised

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

Summer took Eaddie to school this morning while I went home to clean up. Then I picked her and Autumn up to go back to Children’s so we could commit to a surgery date. Talking to the doctor and the train of other staff didn’t seem to take that long since we kept moving from one place to another. I don’t think I’ve ever waited as long there as I do at my own doctor’s office. Autumn got some new crutches and got to practice going up and down stairs.

With a surgery date planned, we made our way across town in the rain to get some food. I picked Chuy’s at first, but then changed my mind as we passed Genghis Grill. I’d always wanted to try that place, so we pulled around the block and found our way in. It was pretty quiet but cramped inside, without a lot of room between tables. Autumn had an absolute fit about not liking Chinese food, which was half the fun for me. We picked out our daddy, mommy, and baby-sized bowls and made our way through the selection of raw ingredients and seasoning. Even my large bowl seemed really small to me, especially since I know how much the vegetables cook down in size. I wanted way more vegetables, but just couldn’t fit any more into the bowl.

Even Autumn really liked her end result of rice, ham, and smoked sausage. We’ve got to get her on some vegetables somehow, and I want so badly to play mean. Teaching kids the food pyramid doesn’t do a damned thing if you don’t enforce it.

We made our way home pretty quickly, stopping briefly for some drinks. I got some Mango Wheat Blue Moon that I’m anxious to try, along with something else that came in what was designed to look like a bottle of lighter fluid. We had to stop by my house so Autumn could change, and then we went straight to the high school for her marching competition. After all these years, I finally got to see her spin her flag around, so I can say first hand that she doesn’t always just walk around with it by her side.

We ended up spending more time waiting for her back at the junior high than it took for us to see the junior high compete. Then we went to the Neighborhood Market for some additions to dinner at home. Autumn neglected to bring her uniform bag out of my house, so we had to run and get it on the way back to their house. I cooked up some chicken for sandwiches, and then Summer and I watched a couple more episodes of Battlestar Galactica before bed.

They needed a home, so they set out in the void of deep space with nothing but their ships and their guts.

Uncategorised

Ketchup Over Rice

I slept as late as I could this morning, then got up to take the girls to school. Afterward I went home and started some more cleaning and laundry. I got a good shower, then went to meet Suzanne at Linhs for lunch. They were super packed, with people coming and going. It was really nice to see after so many visits in the past to an empty restaurant. Suzanne showed up shortly after I sat down, and we chatted over an assortment of our usual choices. It was really great having a conversation of substance after such a long time apart, and I even got the truth out of her that she was the one that sent that embroidered apron to me out of the blue.

After lunch, I went home for just a little while to wait for Eaddie to get out of school. I gave her the choice, and she had me pick her up from the junior high with the bike. Then we went back to my house for a little bit before taking the car out for gas and then to get Autumn. I took both girls to their house to wait for Summer to get home from her retreat. Once she got there, I took them all to Western Sizzlin for dinner.

Stuffed, we returned home for the girls to get ready for bed. Summer and I caught up on a couple episodes of Battlestar Galactica and finally found Earth. It was nothing we wanted and less.

Nothing but the rain.

Uncategorised

Babysitting the Runaways

Summer started her leadership retreat today, so I was left to mind the girls as they did their Sunday chores. I figured I’d let them sleep in a while first, so I had some cereal and hot tea, and played some Oxygen Not Included. When they finally did come out of their rooms, Autumn informed me that their father was coming to pick them up. There was an effort to maintain control. Eaddie at least got up and started cleaning the kitchen. I think Autumn cleaned her room, since she shut herself up in it until their father showed up.

I left right after they did, and went home to take care of my own neglected chores. I did a bunch of laundry and some vacuuming between peeping in on my little shrimplets. Finally something I could actually be proud of. They’ll never leave me.

Dinnertime eventually rolled around and I went to visit Mom. She was worried about Dad’s contraption to feed the semi-stray cats, because it had dumped food everywhere. I scooped up what I could and went inside to have a pork chop. Then I sat with her until Eaddie texted me wanting to know when I was coming back. They never said a single word to me all day, so I assumed they were still gone, but Autumn later told me they had been back for most of the evening.

With the girls off to bed for school tomorrow, I slid into a hot bath and studied some plans for Oxygen Not Included before eventually making it to bed myself.

There’s no time for better precedents.

Uncategorised

Bored Bored Bored Bored

I got up this morning after the light coming through the windows made it too difficult to sleep. I milled around the house waiting for Eaddie to wake up, but apparently she had been up a while and just didn’t want to come out of her room. We went to my house so I could do a bit of laundry and take a shower. Then we went to see Mom for lunch. I warmed us up some soup and we shared some dessert, then headed back to their house.

I played a little Anodyne that I picked up for the Switch for a buck until Summer got home from work. She wasn’t feeling great, so I just let her settle in and wasted more time. By the evening time, she was ready to watch some Battlestar before bed. Then I finished the first episode of Luke Cage to catch up with Eaddie.

Sine qua non