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Cool, Sweat!

It almost felt cool outside this morning after so much heat. I took the Grom to work, and we almost immediately went outside to move a truck bed full of Chromebooks to fifth grade. Once we got into that, I couldn’t stop sweating until we made it back and I sat down inside. I had to import those devices into Destiny for student checkout, and then I just had to sporadically help others with things from the office.

Nobody was responsive about lunch, but Josh and Thomas were in the building, so we tried going to Mulan’s. I beat them there and saw a sign that they’re closed on Wednesdays from now on. We made a split second decision to go to Sam’s instead, and I had some gumbo that was probably a better life choice anyway.

I spent some time in the afternoon at Oakland just to see people filter back in and accomplish what I could. Then I went back to the shop to shut everything down and rode to my parents’ house.

Dad was released from the hospital with a relatively clean bill of health, and he was up and around the house helping Mom with some chores. We ate some leftovers and chatted for a bit, but Mom was mostly asleep on the couch. Things were mostly back to normal after such a surprisingly rough day yesterday.

My sinus nonsense has gotten worse over the course of a week or so, and I really felt it in my head and chest by the end of the day. Something also had my left foot in quite a bit of pain all day. I was just going to stay home for the night, but I needed some cuddles.

Autumn was a little upset that she wouldn’t get to sleep with Summer, but I don’t know why she’d want her that close after this weekend. She’s really playing the baby card again, and I’m not falling for it. Eaddie was in her room the entire night talking to her boyfriend, so I was left to medicate and go to sleep.

Today’s problem is brought to you by the letters D, R, and S, and by librarians that don’t understand alphanumeric order.

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Don’t Stress About It

I just barely got around to work this morning, and it was really tempting to take half a day just to sleep in after the long night. It’s been cooler, so I took the R1 to work and made it just in time. Everyone was off doing work orders, so I packed up some things I needed and headed to Oakland to close out what work orders I could.

Just as I was getting to head back to the shop, Julie called and said Dad was at the hospital because he needed CPR after his stress test. Evidently they gave him a shot instead of making him walk on the treadmill, and something didn’t agree with him in a big way.

I ran across town to see him, and though he was awake, he was in pretty rough shape. Julie was still on the way from work, so I stayed there for about an hour as he dry heaved and even looked like he had a seizure after his heart rate dropped during a heaving spell. They didn’t want to let anyone else in, but Julie convinced them to let us swap out. I went back to work just as he was trying to fall asleep, and his heart rate was still falling below 50bpm pretty regularly.

I spent the afternoon at the shop, partially helping Zach move his office into my old office. When it was time to leave, I went home to change and retrieved a package that Bác Vân signed for. Julie came by and got Dad’s phone from me since I forgot it in my pocket when I left.

Once the girls were home, I left to return something to Walmart and then headed up to their house for dinner. Summer had picked up a Little Caesar’s pizza for dinner, but I really wanted a burrito. Naturally I had a bit of both and went to bed with some wicked heartburn on top of the sinus congestion I already had. I decided to go ahead and start Modern Family with Summer, but I think Eaddie will be catching up to us as well.

Never tell me the odds.

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The Return of Reason

Greg wanted a ride from Phil Wright this morning, but changed his mind when they wouldn’t open the door until eight. We went to work instead, and then left there shortly after eight to drop his truck off. I spent the rest of the day tinkering and breaking things, only to get them working well enough again before lunch.

On the way to the dealership in the morning, I noticed The Gunslingin’ Burger was putting signs out for a year anniversary special, so Gary, Brody, Josh, and I went there for lunch. The food was pretty good, but the fact that the $10+ “combo meal” doesn’t come with a drink is still stupid. It has also become painfully obvious that the place is run by people with zero experience running a restaurant, and I think a little experience would go a long way. The recipes are great. It even has certain unique polish and is obviously thoughtfully put together. It just lacks, from what we could tell, a little common sense.

The afternoon went by slowly, being a full day for the first time in weeks. Then I went home for a bit before having to pick up the girls to go get Eaddie from the airport. Summer initially thought the plane landed around 10 in the morning, but it was actually in the evening. On top of that, it was delayed a bit.

We stopped in Conway at Golden Corral for dinner. Autumn ate a frustrating plate of shitzza and macaroni and cheese. I should have expected that, but then I brought up that she should write letters apologizing for wasting the sheriff’s department’s time this weekend, and all I could do was bury the rage deep down inside from her response. She insisted that it wasn’t a waste of time and that she called them for a reason. No lessons have been learned, and I’m spending more and more of my waking hours coming up with more creative punishments and monitoring solutions.

We arrived at the airport about an hour and a half early, so we sat in the car on our phones. Fortunately it was super nice outside, so I just rolled the windows down and kicked back. Autumn managed to get in a bit of a nap in the back seat. When the plane arrived, the airport was shut down enough that Summer couldn’t get a parent pass to meet Eaddie at the gate, so we just waited together at the main exit. We gathered bags and headed straight home.

Eaddie said she didn’t have a great time. I could relate. I’m glad she’s back.

Cruel and unusual. You know, like riding the bus with the peasants.

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Donut Go Gentle Into That Good Night

I woke up early this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I went to Shipley’s to pick up some donuts for Summer after she mentioned them last night. She was roused when I left, and got up to eat once I returned. Then she took Autumn to work and went to the gym while I stayed behind and showered and cleaned up a bit.

Summer came back over after a little while and shopped for eyeglasses while I continued poking around the house. When Autumn was done with work, Summer took her to the gym for a bit. I eventually got out to Walmart to return one of the hairdryers I bought because it felt like a fat guy breathing on the back of my neck. It seriously had no heat or air movement at all. It was worse than the one you get in the Motel 6.

I wandered around looking at clearance a bit and eventually made it up to Summer’s for dinner. We just finished up some leftover salad before coming back to my house for the evening. Autumn went to the bedroom and worked on a puzzle while Summer sat on the couch with me watching YouTube. Then it was off to bed.

Bock!

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DiSLAPpointing

I got up this morning and warmed up some leftovers for breakfast. Summer was watching TV, and Autumn was supposed to be mowing the lawn after putting it off for two weeks since Eaddie’s been gone, plus who knows how much time since it was last mowed. I can’t even really remember what happened first, but I’m pretty sure she did at least go out to get started without too much protest. She had hardly gotten anywhere with it before things quickly escalated though.

At some point, Autumn came back in and just pitched an absolute fit about mowing. We weren’t having any of it, because we had no sympathy for a procrastinator and her woes. Eventually Autumn started back talking enough that I dropped my bowl of food and got in her face. She pulled her best “come at me bro,” and I didn’t waste any time.

After hearing about her blow up at Summer so many times, and even being present for a few, I thought slapping her across her face would feel better. I absolutely lost my shit and got screaming mad in her face. She still didn’t go back outside immediately, but she eventually made it out and the mower started up again.

I should have suspected something when I heard the mower stop, but eventually Summer walked by and said we should get dressed because the cops were on the way. Evidently Autumn phoned an officer from her Explorers program, who either felt compelled or was possibly even required to report the incident. I was already super torn up by the incident, but this just served to add embarrassment to the things I was feeling.

Two deputies from the county sheriff’s office pulled up as Autumn stood out in the sun waiting for them. They laughed when Summer recalled how Autumn argued she wasn’t responsible for keeping the lawn mowed because her name wasn’t on the lease. The visit was short and they recommended, I suspect out of protocol, that we look into filing a FINS petition. Looking into it just briefly, I’m not sure that’s the best path for us. I think we’d be better prepared to tighten our own leash, rather than possibly give up control to any part of the system.

When we all came back inside, Autumn refused to give up her phone and we had to physically wrestle it out of her hands while avoiding all manner of biting, pinching, and scratching. Being the stubborn parent that I am, we of course won the battle and she went back outside to continue mowing after a brief cooldown period.

While she was out continuing to mow, Summer called Nick and tried to explain the situation to him. I chose to open up, possibly in vain, and was basically scolded for laying hands on “one of his girls.” I let him speak his mind and awaited his arrival, of course after finishing up at work and running his necessary errands.

When Autumn finished up in the backyard, she came back in just as normal as could be. She warmed up some food and sat down at the table with us to eat. Everything was just fine, as though nothing had ever happened. She went back out to finish mowing after her break, and eventually Nick showed up and took the lawn mower away from her for a few passes as she came in for some water. We suggested she should go back out and finish herself since it was her responsibility, and she complied.

Once the lawn was done, everyone came in and we sat down for a surprisingly calm chat. I really suspected to have to go on the defence at least to some degree, but his tone seemed to change immediately after I told him that she had put off mowing for two weeks. Autumn expressed at least some regret, and I let Nick say anything he wanted to say. He ended up not taking her home with him because not having her own car to go to work the next day was too much of an inconvenience for him.

Summer went to the gym while Autumn and I had some leftovers for dinner. Then we came back to my house for the evening. Autumn went straight to bed after expressing some desire to watch a movie. When Summer finally made it, we curled up on the couch and watched most of a standup special on Netflix. Then it was off to bed.

I just wanted to make more eggs…

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Just Don’t Do It Wrong

I made it in a couple minutes early today after Gary said he would be late. He really wasn’t very late at all, but he wasn’t early the way he normally is. We didn’t have a meeting, and everyone paired off on their own to help each other. I spent the early morning climbing around my desk getting things rewired and plugged in so I could finally get to work.

Gary’s old office feels slightly smaller than my old one next to Ben, so there’s a bit of wasted space in front of the TV that I can’t really use, and everything else just feels a bit cramped. I made it work though, and was able to rearrange a few things to suit the new layout.

I couldn’t get the PowerShell script to verify characters in the middle of the hostname string the way I wanted, but I did at least get imaging to work, so long as people don’t screw up. I thought everyone else had already left around lunch time, but Tammy and Thomas were both still there and heard me rocking out.

When I finally left work, I ran by the carwash to get the bugs cleaned off from our trip back from Little Rock. Then I stopped by Walgreens for my prescriptions before swinging by to see Summer. She was busy, so I just went home for a bit instead. I picked at a couple things, and planted a new mango seed before making my way up to her house for the evening.

Autumn must have been asleep in front of the TV when I got there, because she didn’t say a single word to me and went to her room after unlocking the door for me. I cooked some leftover hamburger meat from earlier in the week, and when Summer got home we had double-decker tacos again. They were really spectacular, but I felt like my gut was going to bust after just two.

We settled in for the evening, and I put on The Time Traveler’s Wife. It has just enough of a sci-fi element to keep me interested, and I figured Summer could use a love story.

Enrique Iglesias is at it again…

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M R Not I. M R Ducks!

I felt pretty sour this morning, but I made it back to get the girls for their trip to the Children’s Hospital. There was a report of a crash around Pottsville, so Waze routed me off the interstate from there to Atkins. Fortunately we still had plenty of time to get there. I dropped Summer and Autumn off at the hospital for Autumn’s MRI, and then drove a few blocks away to Ben’s new office.

I was surprised how close it was, though it took some Google Fu and driving around his building to realize I was right under his office the whole time. I found the Arkansas Public School Resource Center on the directory downstairs, took one of the four elevators up, and could not have been any closer to their office. It was just a short walk down the third floor, past a big open stairway above a big water fountain. When I walked in, I told the lady he’d get a kick out of it if she told him his StripperGram had arrived. He didn’t answer the phone, so she had to go back and find him, and I heard laughter from around the corner.

He took me back to where he was working and we chatted for a bit, and then I got my laptop out to work on the importing of new laptops for the junior high library. I was on the right track and really would have had it figured out on my own, but it was nice to get some back history of his process so I could more easily replicate what he had done in the past. I really doubt it’s something the libraries will be able to do themselves in the future.

Autumn ended up not getting an MRI today after a new doctor talked to them about checking on some mental health issues that may be more likely, so maybe his words will carry some more weight. When Summer said they were done at the hospital, we picked them up and drove just a few blocks further past Ben’s office to Cotham’s for lunch. They were pretty packed, likely from walkers since there was plenty of parking available. Service was extremely slow, but not the worst. Three of us got hubcap burgers, which had a pound of meat that completely dwarfed the already large buns. The meat and the fries were both seasoned well, and everything was really good. Summer had to be different and got the chicken fried chicken, since they were out of regular fried chicken. She seemed to like it, on account of her happy plate.

After we ate, we dropped Ben back off at work and headed to the Splash Carwash on JFK for a quick detail. Then we went to McCain Mall and wandered around uncomfortably in the heat. I was absolutely miserable for nearly the entire time. I agreed to get Autumn some cookies from the Nestlé Toll House Café because I thought some ice cream would help, but it really didn’t. The young girl at the counter was having some trouble with her receipt printer, so I fixed it for her and jokingly asked if I earned a free cookie. She smiled and nodded, and I gave her another buck for a tip because she was so nice.

We made our way back through and out of the mall, and drove across the street to Target. There, at least a gust of cooler air came out of the door as we walked in. I was still uncomfortable though, and ended up just fanning myself with an Exploding Kittens expansion that I picked up on clearance.

Summer wanted to stop for some wine on the way home, so I looked up reviews and we drove the opposite direction to a well-reviewed one in Sherwood. They were nice, with a pretty good selection, and I even got a case discount on some Flyway. Once we loaded everything up, we made our way home, having to stop in some construction traffic around Morrilton. It didn’t take us too long to get through it fortunately.

The girls went to their rooms as soon as we got home, and I finished importing the rest of the laptops for Jessica. Then it was off to bed.

Time to sync some photos…

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Tired

Someone decided it would be a good idea to start work two hours early today so we could beat the heat. I wouldn’t suggest that they were wrong, but my pants were still completely wet by the time we got everything moved from the junior high back to our shop, and then took all of the trash out to the recycle bin. It would have been a little warmer out by 8:00, but I don’t think it made enough of a difference. The humidity after the rain yesterday was just absolutely suffocating.

We also learned that Mike turned in his notice, and I don’t even know if we’ll see him again. Hopefully he’s healing up and on the road to recovery, but I can’t say I was terribly surprised or even necessarily upset. It is what it is.

Once everyone was rested up, a few of us moved everything out of my office into Gary’s old office. I wish I had seen how the desk drawers came out, because that would have saved me quite a bit of grief. I’ll still have to unpack more later, and I really have better things to do.

I thought we’d take lunch earlier than we did, but we only went a few minutes earlier than we normally do. The Service Plus boys wanted Waffle House, and I couldn’t argue with that after hitting my steps goals before 9AM. I had one of the lesser burgers I’ve ever had from there, but the hash browns were perfectly awful for me.

After lunch, I had to go by the junior high to help Jessica with importing her new laptops into the library system. I thought they knew how, but evidently they had no clue, and after seeing Ben’s documentation, there’s no wonder why. Fortunately I’ll actually see him tomorrow to explain what the heck I’m supposed to do.

I ended up leaving work much later than I thought, and went to Summer’s shop to get my new tires. There, they were experiencing trouble with their air system, which incidentally ran just about everything, including the tire machine. Unfortunately my car was already disassembled with all of the air out of the tires, so I was stuck until we either fixed the issue or built up enough pressure in the tank to run the machine.

I helped Alex with the whole process mostly so that I could learn how to do it myself next time. I may not still have access to the machinery in another 50,000 miles, but at least I’ll know what’s involved if I get the opportunity to do it myself in the future. We got all four tires mounted, and even found the bulge in my old tire that was causing the shaky ride and starboard drift. I ran home to get some cash to pay, then went straight to my parents’ house to take a dip in the pool.

Dad pulled up next to me right by Western Sizzlin, but I didn’t notice until the light changed and he pulled ahead of me. I followed them there and went straight for the pool. The water was really warm and gross, and the floor of the pool was covered in dead algae. I could see the path I was leaving everywhere I went. While I was in there, I video called Eaddie just to check in, and found an AR model that put my face on a swimmer. It had us cracking up that I could dip my face in the water and blow bubbles in the animation.

I stuck around for just a few minutes to chat after I got out, and then went back to the shop to finish moving my stuff to the new office. I didn’t unpack everything, but at least moved everything into the room so it would be out of everyone else’s way. Then I finally made it up to Summer’s house for the evening.

Summer had already eaten and was relaxing with some TV. I warmed up some leftovers, ate, and then laid in her lap until she went to bed. Then we talked for a bit before she went to sleep and I wrapped my own day up.

TL;DR

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Overtaken by My Own Shadow

It was a quiet, brainy day at work today. I made some progress, but it was slower than I would have liked. I didn’t get distracted much, but I did get frustrated a couple times with others pulling my attention, which I’m sure is why Gary is so grumpy most of the time.

Brody wanted to go to Fat Daddy’s in London, but they were evidently closed due to staffing issues. The same went for Zaxby’s. Slim Chickens was a solid win today with the salad I got, and then we dropped off some strips for Summer, who was stuck in the pit all day.

I left near quitting time today and went by the shop to order some new tires for the Murano before going up to Summer’s to heat up her lasagna. I made it about halfway to her house before I realized I didn’t have keys to get in because I was on the Shadow, so I ran back home to change and get the keys.

As I came back outside, I hopped on the bike and started to pull away, only barely remembering to get the keys. I stood up to get off and immediately lost all balance due to the low, heavy nature of the bike. I had forgotten that I already lifted the kickstand, so the bike tumbled over on top of me and threw me to the ground. I avoided any major damage, but the handlebar controls and mirrors got a bit out of whack. The handlebars themselves were still bent from before I got the bike, so the only new “damage” was to the rear, left turn signal that now rattles from something being broken off inside it.

I finally made it up to Summer’s with bruised palms, and heated up the lasagna and baked some garlic bread. She and Autumn both made it home from work and we ate. Then Summer had to tend to some work business as we waited for the scattered showers to wane enough for me to make it back home for the evening.

I tried to pick up a little, and ended up on a trip down Memory Lane when I found a bunch of folders from my time at NEW. Then I went to bed as hastily as I could, since someone decided that working at 6am tomorrow will be fun when moving some old laptops around at the junior high. At least by then it will have reached the day’s low of 74º.

More like PowerHell.

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One Tubby Tubby!

I realized pretty quickly this morning that things have started moving and changing at work. The conference table was in the shop area, and Gary had moved to the office across from mine. As soon as he has the rest of his stuff out of his old office, I’ll be moving in there.

The big project for the day was to assemble “the rest” of the tech tubs we had and deliver them to fifth grade. The wingnuts on those things had my finger and thumb pretty raw by lunch time. We assembled all but one of them before it was time to eat. Nobody cared about my input for lunch, and Thomas suggested Johnny’s, so I relented and went along with the rest of the crew. It was every bit as awful as I remembered it being. The prices were low compared to other restaurants, but the menu was uninspired. My broccoli cheese potato was just the insides of a potato and a can of soup microwaved together.

After lunch, we delivered the tubs in the sweltering humidity. Then it was back to the shop where we discovered six of the new teacher devices had been delivered. From then on, it was my job to figure out imaging, which I was not at all prepared to do. I worked about an hour and a half late to get something done, and it still didn’t work when I left.

I went home to change, then went to the shop to see if I could get my car up on the lift. Something in either a wheel or the suspension has been shaking, but Summer had been too busy to help me look. I wandered around the shop until she finished up, and then headed up to her place to make some rice to go along with our leftovers for dinner.

Ronda chatted with me for a bit, but otherwise it was a quiet and uneventful evening. Summer was exhausted and went to bed early. I felt restless, but couldn’t do much else.

How absolutely unsatisfying.