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Re-Store

I struggled to get rolling this morning, but I had one big task I wanted to complete, which was getting blood drawn for my upcoming appointment. I had some leftover hibachi stuff I had made on the grill, then got cleaned up for a trip out. Eaddie was trapped cleaning her room all day, so I took Muad’Dib and went to the hospital.

As luck would have it, the Genesis Cancer and Blood Institute was closed today. It didn’t even cross my mind to check their hours, but evidently they’re only there Tuesday through Thursday. We left there and ended up going to Summer’s storage unit on a whim just to see what she had moved.

After a few frustrating minutes of finding my way into the facility, locating the building, and then locating the storage unit, I was in. She had rented a fairly large space and piled up a few boxes of my stuff in the corner. It seemed to take her multiple trips in her Model Y, so I was worried at first, but I was able to fit all of it in my Model 3 even with the dog in the back seat. We headed home and I told her to cancel the rental.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening going through my stuff, reorganizing and familiarizing myself with where things were. Being highly dependent upon spatial awareness, having my shit moved is incredibly jarring. I managed to figure out most of it, and separated a few things to sell in the process. At one point I started digging through the dog’s locker and had a pretty quick anxiety attack.

Eaddie left for the gym and Summer got home late after closing the lube. It started thunderstorming just as I had decided to take Muad’Dib out for an acoustic walk, so we were stuck inside. He hadn’t had a good run in a week, so he took a long bathroom break out in the rain, and I decided to give him a good bath. He did fairly well, but then got distracted when the kids got home and ate a bunch of leftovers.

Summer has a run sometime tomorrow, but with the storm rolling through, it’s anyone’s guess what actually happens.

What a Shock. Top dinner.

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Get It, Snap It, Try It, Write It, Sell It, Trash It, Carbonate It

Muad’Dib must be putting on some weight, because I could hardly move with him on top of my covers all night. I got up shortly after Summer left for work, and got into moving stuff around again. I stopped for a slice of rye with mustard and pastrami, honey roasted turkey breast, and provolone for brunch, then took an early shower so I could keep cleaning and organizing.

I was in and out of the house quite a bit, and had to get into my car a couple of times. Muad’Dib thought we were going on an adventure and hopped right in, then refused to get out, so I gave in to him and drove us to Superfast to see if Summer needed anything. She was in the pit when we got there, and Muad’Dib ran all over trying to find the location of her voice. She asked for some soda water, so we crossed the street to get some from Walgreens. If I had thought of it sooner, we might have walked, but I didn’t have a leash to tie him up anyway.

While I was in the store, I spotted a big bag of Skittles with the original/superior/correct flavor of lime for the green ones. I also tried some peanut butter and jelly M&Ms, but I found the jelly to be lacking. We delivered Summer’s water, then went to Sonic for some onion rings and a slush before we made it back home.

Eaddie was gone all day, so I just kept going through stuff by myself. Muad’Dib was intermittently in the way, but overall a good boy. At some point, I pulled out one of the new smart locks I got from Vine and tried to swap out the lock on the front door. This one has a doorbell, camera, and fingerprint sensor on it, which seems better than just a PIN code. I wrapped that up just as Summer got home from work.

She took a bath and did some more work on her laptop for quite a while, so I dug out a SodaStream adapter for my large CO2 tank and filled up every single bottle I could find. I’m pretty sure I found them all, and I’m glad that I did, because I paid $2 for her can of sparkling water earlier today, and she’s been drinking it every day.

Summer had some leftover rice while I finished bottling her water. Then I sat down myself and had the last piece of fried chicken and some leftover mashed potatoes from whenever she last made mashed potatoes. I couldn’t remember, but they didn’t smell bad. She went straight to bed after that, and nearly passed right out. I tried not to stay up too late, but got a couple reviews done until Eaddie finally made it home.

Technoholic

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Forty Nights

I got up to clean some more today. I finished up the assortment of bologna sandwich fixings for an early lunch, then took a shower so I could go to town. I had to take my Onewheel to UPS, but I needed to print the shipping label first, so Muad’Dib and I went to Superfast to have Summer do that. They were working on their rebranding stuff, so she was out back cleaning up a bunch of stuff when we found her.

With the shipping label in hand, we headed across town to The UPS Store and dropped off my Onewheel. Then we went to the Neighborhood Market to figure out what to do for dinner. I went straight to the protein to see what deals I could find, and picked up a couple packages of chicken wings, a rump roast, and some ahi tuna. Then I went back and got some smoked sausages and veggies for an assortment of things to cook on the smoker and flattop.

We made it home and I quickly prepped the Gravity grill to smoke the wings, beef, and sausages. I split the wings into lemon pepper and left some with just salt and pepper so Eaddie and I could toss them in Buffalo sauce. I peppered the heck out of the roast to try and give it a nice bark, and threw the sausages in for an easy addon. I steamed some rice and prepped the zucchini, squash, onions, mushrooms, snap peas, and jalapeños. I don’t think I’d ever actually made fried rice on the flattop before, and I figured it was a good day to try.

Summer eventually made it home and brought some broccoli and cauliflower for me to grill as well. I took the beef off the smoker and cubed it to sear with the veggies. It looked incredible for being smoked for such a short amount of time. I pulled the wings off to make some room, then went through three rounds of cooking on the flattop before it was all done. I cooked the tuna last, just as a fun extra.

The girls seemed to love the food. I thought it turned out pretty good, but I was too scattered to take notes on how to improve next time. I juggled a lot, and was glad Summer didn’t mind prepping the veggies she brought home after her long day at work.

After dinner, we cleaned up and I laid down with Summer for a while and watched part of Airplane! on the live Roku channel. Eaddie went to the gym, then brought Eli over to eat some of our leftovers. It was pretty quiet after that, but the night flew by and it was later than it seemed. I think it was a pretty good day.

If I were a fish and you caught me, you’d say, “Look at that fish!” Shimmering in the sun; such a rare one. Can’t believe that you caught one!

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hole in one

I made myself another bologna sandwich for brunch, then started picking through things to find their permanent homes. That left things pretty scattered. I got a notification that Summer had low pressure in one of her tires, and by the time I got her on the phone, it had dropped 20 more pounds. She stopped in Maumelle and eventually worked out a tow because she didn’t have the emergency jack in her car.

I started putting together the nicer shoe storage rack I got from Vine, and it was way more involved than I expected. Eaddie was slow to get around, but came out to eat some leftover pizza just after Summer and I decided to get a bucket of chicken.

Summer picked up the food on the way home and we ate in tense air. Eaddie kept complaining about how she didn’t like KFC. They gave us all dark meat for some reason, so we didn’t get any breasts or wings. Summer cleaned up and went to bed while Eaddie went to the gym and I finished up the shoe rack. I continued to organize, but left the shoe rack empty so Eaddie could organize her own shoes how she wanted them.

I think that even Sisyphus would hate his uphill climb.

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wasted space

I slept hard with hard dreams. Summer went to work in Conway after cancelling her oncology appointment. Eaddie left to meet with her advisor and make her class schedule. I managed to get out of bed and make a bologna sandwich to eat over the sink.

It was quiet all day, so I finished my new hire paperwork and then did my best to motivate myself to clean. The kids eventually came back, and Eaddie started some laundry while they watched TV. I climbed around and scrubbed some difficult spots in the shower. Summer had a relatively short day, so we planned to meet at Cici’s for an early dinner.

The kids and I met her there after she finished at the gym. While we were eating, I spotted Josh as he came in to meet his wife and kids. We had a laugh about him still not having his house finished. Then Eaddie rode home with Summer, and Eli and I took the fast car home.

I tried to take Muad’Dib out for a run later in the evening, but the Onewheel appeared dead. I couldn’t get any lights out of it. We came back in and I had a pretty heavy anxiety attack while vacuuming his fur. It was a short night after that.

☀️—————————🌎󠀠󠀠————————🌘————————-☄️

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On Hopes and Incense

Summer went to the gym and Eaddie went to church. I had a slice of pizza left over from I know not when, and then showered in time to get to Lelan’s to help grill pork chops before everyone else showed up. It was the second Ngày Giỗ since Bác Vân’s passing, and she had me grill pork chops and an assortment of sausages to add to the smorgasbord of other traditional and favorite dishes they would offer to those in the Great Beyond. The girls showed up after Summer finished mowing the lawn. Julie and Kevin arrived pretty close to the agreed-upon time. Our parents were, as expected, last.

Those who chose to, prayed. Dad made it a point not to, out of respect for his own faith. There didn’t seem to be any difference to me whether you prayed to a deity with or without incense, but I carried that learned respect with me when it came time to bless the food. I felt the emotion and the want, but I knew that to me, there was only the present, and I was there to enjoy the company of my family.

We visited as we waited for the incense to self-extinguish. There was something very traditional about sharing cold dishes after they had been offered to those passed. Lelan evidently didn’t get the message about my customary flattened, boiled eggs, and with fewer and fewer people upholding these traditions, I wondered who would slice The Sausage that I Like™ to eat with steamed rice on the anniversary of my own passing.

I didn’t love that Randall wasn’t there, but he is also a man of many cultures. At least having fewer people made eating around the table easier. After we ate, Dad had a slideshow of a trip to Europe they took before I was born. I was neither nostalgic nor sentimental about any of it, but we did eventually find a photo of me in a bunny costume.

When we all parted ways, Lelan, Stephen, Mom, and Dad all headed to the cemetery. I ran home first to get Muad’Dib, since I figured it was important that somebody new should be a part of the tradition. Once Mom and Dad showed up, they burned some more incense and offered fruit as, I suppose, dessert. We stood in the shade and visited until the incense burned out, and then we all went home.

I stopped at Casey’s to redeem a free drink and ran into Rusty, riding home from a day’s work at Atwood’s, on a small Shadow. We chatted for a little while before I eventually made it home. Eaddie had left again, so I talked Summer into going swimming at my parents’ house. We took Muad’Dib along, and Mom was watering plants when we got there. The pool was just about perfect, but we couldn’t convince Muad’Dib to dip his toes in the water.

We headed home after dark, and Summer went straight to bed. Eaddie came home really late and talked to me for a long while. She shared about her own day out, and then tried to help by telling me to be selfish and buy a sailboat. We talked about dreams, expectations, and the paralysis of choice. It doesn’t seem to me that there is a real choice, so for now, we’ll all float on.

Good news is on the way.

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Destinare

I slept pretty hard last night and didn’t set an alarm, so it was lucky that I woke up just in time to get cleaned up and hit the road to make it to Stephen’s visitation. We decided to take Muad’Dib with us since Eaddie had plans to go boating with some friends. Summer and I just drove ourselves and planned to meet my parents and Julie in Bismark.

We made it to Ola where we stopped for some Chester’s Chicken and a dried up chimichanga to tide us over. The drive down Highway 7 was mostly fun, but before we got to Jessieville, a Camaro and I got stuck behind a long line of people driving 15 miles under the speed limit. The internal monologue was not kind. The external monologue wasn’t much better.

Once we got into Hot Springs, I decided to stop at the Franklin’s Charging Station to get a little bit of juice just in case we were stuck out in the middle of nowhere for a while. I figured we would be leaving Muad’Dib in the car for a while as well, and I wasn’t sure how much power that would take. It wasn’t as nice of a place as their Little Rock location, but it was fine to be in a place just outside of town.

We made it to the Bismarck First Methodist Church just after the rest of my family, and we let Muad’Dib out to stretch his legs. He made a quick loop through the church before we put him back in the car. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the service because it felt very impersonal to me. We didn’t really even stay long enough to visit with the family for very long. Once they had the flag unfolded and folded back up again, we left.

Julie was pretty hangry, so I suggested Fisherman’s Wharf for their dog-friendly deck over the water. When we got there, I was surprised that there wasn’t a wait for outside seating, since there appeared to be a line of people waiting to sit inside. We made it through the restaurant to our table, and Muad’Dib had lots of fun looking around, and staring at geese in the water. It took awhile for our food to come out. Letting our waitress, named Destiny, choose my entire meal seemed only fitting.

My food was good, but Julie complained about her fillet. I ate what she didn’t, and I agreed that it was overcooked and under-seasoned. The gator tail appetizer was also an incredibly small portion of incredibly small pieces. At least they tasted pretty good.

We parted ways after our early dinner. Julie took Mom and Dad back through Little Rock again, and Summer and I went into Hot Springs to wander around. I first took us through the car wash a couple of times since I wouldn’t be back again, presumably ever. Then we made it downtown where the Tesla chargers were all occupied. Luckily, the power pole right behind the available spot had a piece of plywood with multiple varied outlets available. I got my mobile connector out, and wouldn’t you know, the very first plug I tried was energized and we were up and going.

Muad’Dib had a great time walking the strip off-leash with us. He behaved super well, except for one moment when he wouldn’t stop sniffing a poodle walking the other direction. I held onto his e-collar remote after that, and he immediately returned to my side any time I beeped him. We walked down a ways, crossed the street, and walked down to find some ice cream. Summer asked for a pup cup, and though that wasn’t something they normally did, the girl gave her a cup of whipped cream anyway. We sat outside, fed him, and shared a banana split. Then it was back to the car.

Take my hand!

Take my hand!

I filled up some water bottles, and then we loaded up to head home. I let the car drive the entire way home up Highway 7, and it did fabulously. Muad’Dib appreciated not sliding back and forth in the seat from hitting the curves at three times the recommended speed, and Summer didn’t have to stop to throw up. I just accepted that the drive would be less exciting, and more relaxing instead.

I stopped at Casey’s for a freebie, and then we made it home. Eaddie was back and didn’t bother coming out of her room to greet us. I took Muad’Dib out in the dark for a short, cool, evening run. We went straight to my parents’ house, then a modified route back home. He did great, and was ready for bed once we got home.

My Vine reviewed appeared to be up to date enough that my review period was over. The girls both went to bed, I vacuumed Muad’Dib and gave him a spritz of cologne, and eventually went to sleep.

Choose your own adventure. Or not. Whatever.

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Baths All Around

I couldn’t leave Muad’Dib outside, so I brought him in for a vacuum to get some of the smelly dirt off of him, then washed his paws in the tub. By the end of it, I was satisfied enough to let him sleep with us. We slept in pretty late, too. When I finally got up, I warmed my leftover SuperSONIC Breakfast Burrito in a skillet, then continued to tinker with more Vine stuff. I started to feel a little sick and decided to take a bubble bath to relax for a while, and as soon as I got settled in, Summer asked if I wanted to get lunch with her.

We ended up going out for an early dinner, not long after Eaddie woke up and made herself some ramen. I drove to Mulan’s to meet her like she said, but had to wait 25 minutes for her to show up because she thought “I need to get dressed” meant it would take me so long that I would have to tell her when I was on the way.

Dinner was pretty good, but I’ve been stuffed all week. As we left, there was a big wreck on Main and Knoxville that had traffic diverted, so I spun around and went back up to Parkway. We got home and Summer had a bath. I tried to keep up with Vine reviews as multiple deliveries arrived today, and I eventually took Muad’Dib out for a run.

We made pretty decent time for how hot it was. We got chased down by a dog that slipped away from its owner, so we turned around to return it. I was proud of Muad’Dib for minding so well. We got around to my parents’ house and visited very briefly before making it home.

It was time to give Muad’Dib another proper bath with some new shampoo I got from Vine. He was immediately warry, and hid from me outside when we got home. Eaddie got him back inside and I vacuumed him, bathed him, blow dried him outside, then vacuumed him some more before bed.1

I was up quite a while later, finishing up some more reviews and getting lost in thoughts. A somber weekend approaches.

Thinkin’ how you left me for dead.

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Back to the House

I decided to take this morning super easy because none of the breakout sessions have been revelations. I got everything packed up and checked out just in time to get a car wash and make it to the Junior Academy just in time for a late lunch. I found Ben, who had already eaten, and sat down for some catfish and chicken strips. It was pretty good for HSTI.

I went to the Q&A session with DIS, then waited for door prizes. Randy and Kyle were gone by the time I left the hotel, so when they called Kyle’s name for an Igloo cooler, I volunteered to take it to him. I got out, had another car wash, then stopped at Sam’s Club to get some booze for Summer.

The drive home was a pretty good mix. I stopped to get some spring water, then let FSD take me through Hot Springs Village. Once I hit the twisties, I started passing cars and doubling the speed limit. I got stuck behind a couple of slow people for a short while, but overall I was able to pass easily.

Julie called about weekend funeral plans, and I had to stop at McDonald’s for a restroom break in Dardanelle. I eventually made it to the house, unloaded, greeted Muad’Dib, and then found Summer once she was out of the shower. I barely had enough time to unpack before we had to load up and go to Witherspoon for Eaddie’s band camp concert.

Summer wanted to watch all of the bands, so we sat through two shows before Eaddie got on stage. They did well, and then we went back to the house where Summer went straight to bed. I unboxed all of the Vine stuff that came in while I was away, and then went to bed myself.

But home is where the heart is, so your real home’s in your chest.

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HSTIBBQ

I didn’t think we were getting lunch today because there wasn’t a break in the schedule, so I skipped the keynote and went to Sonic for a breakfast burrito before going to the conference. Being able to eat while the car drives me is really the killer app. I walked into a session and saw Jason, so we caught up briefly before things got started.

After the first session, I saw that they had barbecue for lunch, so I circled the vendor area, found Ben, and then we sat down to eat instead of going to another session. Craig was there as well, so I had him sign my badge as a local celebrity. After lunch, Randy, Dustin, and I sat in on Ben’s presentation about APSRC data projects, and then I had one more session on cyber forensics before the end of the day.

The other Craig and Dustin had to get to The Blitzed Pig early enough that Craig could get set up for karaoke in the evening, so we planned to have lunch super early at Fisherman’s Wharf. I got another car wash before going to the room to clean up. Then I met Randy and Kyle at the restaurant. When Dustin, Craig, Ben, and then David showed up, we realized that we really needed a bigger table and moved to the back corner. David ended up covering us, which was unexpected. We had a great time though, and I got way more full than I expected on my filet Oscar.

I went back to the hotel to clean some of the humidity off of myself, and then called Summer to spend some time catching up. I eventually made my way to The Blitzed Pig for karaoke and drinks on IK’s dime. It was not at all my type of shindig, and it was still super humid outside, but we stuck around through the good, the bad, and the ugly. By the end of it, We had a ton of drink tickets left, so I gave the wheel of them to a waitress when she finally came back around, and asked for as much Fireball as she would bring us.

A little while later, a guy came out with a tray of individual shots, so I poured as many of them into a big plastic cup as I could before he picked up the tray and walked off. He didn’t seem keen on me drinking it all, but my goal was to walk out anyway. They eventually did door prizes, and Randy and I both won. He traded me his Tosy glowing disc for my SSD enclosure, and then we left. I made it back to the room to dump my cup into an old bottle, and I’ll have Fireball for another day.

But you’re still alive.