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Jesus Hubert Christ

I made it in really early today and got started in a classroom to test and fix an Airtame 2. The teacher’s laptop was still trying to connect to the old device for some reason, so I just had to point it at the new device instead. I was pretty productive the rest of the morning as well, but then got stuck on some medieval software that another teacher wanted me to install on all of her students’ devices from a compact disc.

Allen wanted to go to KFC for lunch again, and I’m always down for that party. We had just sat down to eat when I looked out the window and spied, with my little eyes, Jesus of Nazareth. Not like a long-haired, blonde, homeless vagrant type, but like a guy wearing potato sacks for clothes. You don’t get that stuff at Walmart. I don’t even know where you’d begin to look for fabric like that. I told Allen that he was about to be raptured away, and that I would be left to eat the rest of the chicken all by myself. The guy came in holding something square under his arms wrapped in the same fabric, but I couldn’t make out what it was. His ensemble was complete with some kind of rope or heavy twine for a belt and everything. I knew for sure that this was it. Either the end times were here, or we were about to be blown up by some religious nut coming after gluttons at a buffet.

The man came in, spoke to someone at the counter, and then left just moments later. It seemed we were all spared. Or all left behind. I’m always telling Allen he’s not living right, but he never listens. Not one soul was spirited away, so maybe we’re all damned. I’m not really sure how we would know in any event. Allen suggested that maybe there was a play going on at the church next door, but I told him that this was no Thursday matinee Jesus. This was the Saturday night, packed mezzanine, prime-time son of God.

I went back for seconds. Then dessert.

After lunch, I went to the junior high to pick up another rubber cable cover, then stopped by the library on my way out. When I got back to the shop, I chatted with Ben for a bit about various goings-on before heading back to the high school. I wasn’t super motivated by that time, and ended up talking with Karen about my spiritual encounter. Eventually I did get back to work, and the girls came to my office so I could shuttle them around after school.

We left first to go to my house so I could change. Then we dropped Autumn off at the junior high for her football game. Eaddie had some time to kill before karate, so we ended up at Sonic for some cheese sticks and fried Oreos à la mode. Everything was incredible. I dropped her off, then went to my parents’ house to visit while she was in class. Dad brought out a bunch of old junk for me to discard, and I went to get Eaddie.

When we got to her house, Summer was laid out in bed feeling ill. I started watching Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, which I wholeheartedly recommend for any old fans. Autumn called for a pickup just as the credits rolled, so I went to pick her back up from the junior high, and we all came home for bed.

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This Drill Is Not a Drill

It was a little wet outside this morning, but I wished I had ridden the bike to work anyway for as cool as it was in the morning. I jumped right into the work I had and got things done. The fire alarm went off just as I was finishing some of that work in a classroom, so I couldn’t hide out inside like I normally would. It was a little creepy going outside in the back, so I just kept my eyes open and watched people. When things calmed down a bit, I wandered around to a couple people that had open tickets, and managed to get enough information to close them out as well.

Allen responded with Quiznos for lunch, but by the time he said it I would have been meeting him there late, so I just kept working instead. Eventually I did take a lunch break and went to Sonic, but it was one of the worst visits I’ve had there. The tots were probably the most stale tasting potatoes I’ve ever had at a restaurant, ever. The “Philly cheesesteak” barely had anything in it, so it was mostly bread. The only thing that saved my break was the fact that I went home to eat in front of the shrimp tank, where I just sat and relaxed for the rest of my hour before going back to work.

My afternoon was short after having such a late lunch, and by quitting time I wasn’t in the mood to stay much later. I went home and started researching eye doctors. I wish I had made an appointment at the very start of the year so I’d be sure to have everything filed on insurance before dropping it. Now that I’m researching it, everyone in the EyeMed network seems to have terrible reviews except the CFO’s wife’s clinic, and there’s no way in hell I’m supporting that racket.

Summer had a roast going in the slow cooker, so I went to Walmart for some slaw mix and met up at her house. The girls said they forgot about tacos, and had already eaten Wendy’s with their grandparents by the time I got there, so Summer and I just ate in the kitchen. Eaddie couldn’t help but have a few herself because they were so good.

I played a bit of Superbeat: Xonic while the girls all got ready for bed, and then Summer and I watched another episode of Battlestar Galactica. Luckily it was actually an episode that really carried the main plot.

Who the hell shoots heavy artillery fireworks this late at night at the end of September? Country bumpkins. That’s who.

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Sink the Ship

Today was a fair day for getting things done. It was quite a bit cooler and rainy all day, so I just hunkered down and started closing work orders. It helped that I had multiple requests for the same couple printer issues, but I still got quite a bit accomplished. I picked Allen up and we went to Ruby Tuesday for $5 salads for lunch. Then I ran by the junior high for a couple things before going back to the high school.

After work, I did some water changes at home, then went to get the girls from karate. My parents made spaghetti for dinner, so we went there while Summer went to the high school for some career path dinner meeting. Eventually I got the girls home and we settled in pretty quickly. Eaddie lost another tooth for my collection, and we kicked back for an episode of Battlestar Galactica.

You’ll start losing your adult teeth, but they’ll keep growing back instantly and then falling out, and you won’t be able to stop vomiting teeth.

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Polishing the Doo

I thought I would start at the shop this morning just briefly so I could take the new, overbuilt, misappropriated computer to the PAC, but getting it going ended up being an all-day affair. It was maddening being around the shop too, seeing people casually come and go, or hearing them wasting time watching videos in their office. I’ve got a steady flow of too much work to handle, and all I get from those people is that they’re too busy or just flat out refuse to do any of it.

I felt like I couldn’t even get an assist on the computer this morning, and eventually Allen came back around for lunch and I just left it. KFC’s soda fountain was out of order, but the tea was alright. The food had been better. I saw Kyle there and asked if he was going to Bikes, Blues, and BBQ, but he isn’t. Back at the shop, I finally got a little useful help and learned the Dell-supplied drivers didn’t match the hardware revision, which was the source of my troubles all along.

As the school day ended, I gathered my things and headed to the high school for the first time. I got the computer set up in the curtain access room-become-office, and amazingly the wireless antenna on that thing was able to pick up a signal. I did have to run to the office for a longer power cable, but I got it running and able to access the network at the very least.

Eaddie had taken the bus there today, but Summer had to pick her up since I wasn’t there all day. I went home and spent a moment to decompress a bit, then went to get Eaddie from the shop just before Summer got out. I took her home and we had some chili that Summer had simmering all day, and then I killed most of the evening streaming random things on YouTube until Summer and Autumn got home.

While they ate, I got Eaddie to try her hand at the Melbourne shuffle. She enjoyed it at least enough to not completely goof off, and got the running man down pretty easily. Once the girls went to bed, Summer and I watched a feel-good episode of Battlestar and went to sleep.

Maybe if we keep throwing money at the corruption, it will go away.

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Shrimp Paste

I warmed up some leftover pizza and eggrolls for breakfast this morning once we all rolled out of bed. Summer started some laundry and eventually we started some Battlestar. Then I tinkered around while Summer went to the gym. Before too long we had to take Noah home, so we picked up his stuff he forgot at work and dropped him off. Then we went by my house to move a box spring outside for tomorrow’s bulk item pickup.

We had to go grocery shopping for the week, but we stopped by Harbor Freight first to get something to split up power behind the TV. Then we went to Walmart and got everything we needed for the week. We had a bit of time, so we made a quick circle through the store to look for anything good on clearance. Then we went to Summer’s to drop everything off. Mom made shrimp noodle soup, so we headed that direction and picked Autumn up along the way. Summer wasn’t completely grossed out by the smell of the shrimp paste, and even liked it well enough to have some in her soup. I still object. Eaddie’s father dropped her off eventually, and then we all headed home for the night.

The girls got a few chores done and headed for bed, and then I made Summer watch another episode of Battlestar Galactica before going to sleep.

One day, you just decide to… get up and walk out of your room.

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Jutht Uth Girlth

Summer took Autumn to her quiz bowl tournament this morning, then came back and slept in a while. We rolled out of bed once Eaddie got up, and I took a shower so we could go to Wind Taste for lunch. Eaddie had been begging to eat there and insisted that I took her to eat there as I met a friend, but I was certain she was remembering when we met Clint at Linh Vietnamese Cuisine. The place was packed with Asians from Tech, and it seemed to really annoy one of the waitresses that they were just hanging out. As luck would have it, she and her poor attitude waited on us as well.

After lunch, we ran by Summer’s parents’ place to get Eaddie’s phone, then went to their house so Eaddie could get cleaned up to spend the night with her father. Summer and I watched an episode of Battlestar until it was time to get Autumn from the high school. Then I went home to get ready for my night out with the girls from school while Summer took Autumn to stay with her grandparents and then went to the gym.

I met Mollie and Erica first, and then found Ronda coming around the corner as I ran back to the car for my hot spot. It wasn’t terribly busy, so we got settled right into the middle of the restaurant. We had a great time just chatting and fussing over work. Steven strolled in a bit later, but Ronda made him sit at the bar where he hilariously spent the evening with a big town drunk.

After we all left, I went home and was going to clean up a bit but found myself with a pretty bad headache, so I laid down in bed instead and almost dozed off into a really light nap with the cat. When Noah finished up at work, I picked him up and we went to Summer’s for the evening. We watched a couple more episodes of Battlestar, then went to bed.

I count three berried shrimp, so let the genetic experimentation begin!

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So Berry Glad to See You

It was rainy most of today. We had a meeting to sign testing paperwork for the year, so Ben brought sausage biscuits and donuts. Then Jason had us all go out and clean up the graveyard. It wasn’t an awful amount of work, so we finished up pretty quickly and then I spent the rest of the morning trying to get my student data migrated from yesterday. I was talked into driving half the crew to Fat Daddy’s out of town in the rain, but at least I didn’t have to park in the mud like I usually do. I felt a little rude after asking so many questions about the burrito, but it really annoyed me last time to be charged extra for getting the burrito made like it was described on the menu.

After lunch I got my last stubborn kid’s stuff to start migrating, and eventually I made it to the high school to get the girls. Autumn had a quiz bowl meeting, so they got out a bit late, then we stopped by my house before taking them home. I watched some MKBHD videos after messing with the speakers for a bit, and then we went to my parents’ house for dinner. Summer met us there after the gym because Dad had grilled burgers and dogs. The girls and I had some rice with it since my parents didn’t think of any other sides to go with the burgers.

Autumn wanted to stay at my house where she’d be closer to the high school for her tournament in the morning, so Summer took them home to get clothes, and I went home to start cleaning up a bit. I discovered one of my cherry shrimp was berried with eggs, which got me really excited after spending the past few days so worried. I think they’ll be just fine in that little tank, and I can split the colony up into other tanks as they grow.

The girls eventually showed up and we watched an episode of Battlestar when Summer got out of the shower. Then she went to bed and Eaddie and I started an episode of Luke Cage. She didn’t last very long before wanting to go to sleep herself, which was fine by me.

It’s way too early to be this exhausted…

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Puttin ’em Off

I had to kind of recalibrate myself this morning and prioritize my work orders as I whittled them down into the teens. I got a few easy help desk tasks done before lunch, but they were all hotspots. One of the students whose account I deleted yesterday came into the library while I was there, and I ended up trying to help him out for a while. As I expected, he claimed a loss of some data and nobody could tell me anything useful, which made me out to be the bad guy.

Allen and I went to Wendy’s again, because he can’t get enough of that jalapeño burger. Afterward I went by the new Arvest to see what was going on there. Evidently we could have had a free lunch for their grand opening, but instead I went inside and got a new debit card made with some cows on it.

After lunch I had to dig into those student accounts some more, and learned that the Gmail didn’t transfer when I deleted the old accounts, so I had to restore them and try to perform a data migration instead. Unfortunately I couldn’t ever get that to work either, so I figured I’d leave it overnight and check again tomorrow. I wrapped up the day spending about an hour on a phone replacement I thought I could finish in about half that time.

When I finally got home I stopped by Bác Vân’s for some eggrolls she made, then messed with the tanks for a bit. Once Summer got home, I headed out to hook up the first set of speakers, and realized I didn’t have the right cable to get the subwoofer going. Then we started season 3 of Battlestar and stressed her out until bed.

Yes, fear is a key article of faith as I understand it, so perhaps it’s time to instill a little more fear into the people’s hearts and minds.

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Just Shrimpy

I got home this morning and discovered one of my cherry shrimp had died. I’m assuming it was just a bad molt, because they all seemed fine yesterday. Can you imagine being trapped and suffocating inside of your own skin?

Work carried on with more random workie stuff. I do find myself annoyed with basically always having a backlog of work to do. It’s not that I don’t care to work the whole time I’m there, but rather that it’s so much more work than what I was doing before.

Lunch time ran a little late, and I found myself at Hardee’s to try their Monster Roast Beef. From the moment I walked in, I felt a little like I was in some kind of slummy neighborhood. What was confusing to me was that I saw examples of great customer service happening around me, but then I felt like I just got the “thank you, now move along” treatment. It was really kind of a weird experience. I felt like that place used to be a lot better. The sandwich was super tasty but surprisingly wet. I guess the roast beef was kept in juice to keep it moist, almost like a pre-soaked French dip.

I didn’t accomplish a whole lot more in the afternoon, and ended the day with some clerical nonsense that drove me a bit mad. I went by the warehouse to pick up some speakers, then home to change and hang out for a while. I made a frozen shrimp pasta dish of some kind that I got from Zach several months ago, and mixed it with some “grilled potatoes” he gave me as well. The whole meal was old enough to be walking and talking, but it tasted alright for what it was.

To wrap up the evening, I headed up to Summer’s and started setting up the speakers, and then we went to bed with the last episode of the second season of Battlestar.

Battlestar Shrimptactica

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Beating Down Problems

My first task of the day was to collect a new recording for the arena IVR. I had to wait in the office a bit, but eventually got Johnny to put on his best radio voice. With that out of the way, I jumped into some AppLocker configuration for Ethan’s lab. I kept digging and digging and felt like I was getting nowhere until lunch time. I eventually just had to stand up and walk away, if for nothing else than to get some food.

I hunted around for a bit but didn’t find anyone, so I headed to Wendy’s by myself. That’s where I ran into Allen at his new favorite restaurant. He was so adamantly against it for so long that it’s hilarious for him to love it so much now. That guy’s so dumb and hilarious. I customized a bacon jalapeño chicken sandwich by adding all the usual burger veggies plus the spring mix, and it made all the difference. It had a whole new crunch and depth of flavor to it, and I loved it. I don’t know why every restaurant app can’t be like theirs.

After lunch, I solved my great AppLocker conundrum with a stroke of luck with the flexibility of wildcards. It’s still technically a loophole, but a small enough one to not have to concern myself with the possibilities. Next it was off to beat my head against the wall for a VPN setup where I kept having to wait for Al’s password until he eventually just gave it to me. Super insecure? Sure. Did he only give it to me because of the rapport and trust we’ve built over the twenty four years we’ve known one another? Probably not. Does it not matter because of the eventual and inevitable heat-death of the entire universe and the end of everything we’ve ever known? Absolutely.

I wrapped up the day with a small cable run across the floor, and then headed home to clean up. Houdini, the black racer nerite, escaped from the front portion of the tank again, and I don’t know why. He seems to just prefer the sump area for some reason. Mom called with leftovers, so I went to their house for dinner. I got to try out the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 noise cancelling headphones I got for Dad, and I was super impressed by both their sound and their active noise cancellation. Then he brought out a bunch of old computer stuff and we tinkered for a bit.

I ended the evening at Summer’s, where I first helped Eaddie with a bit of math, and then settled in for another episode of Battlestar. I truly had forgotten how much I really loved that show.

We’re here on our own. That’s the way they set things up. We have to find our own answers, our own way out of the wilderness without a nice little sunny path all laid out in front of us in advance.