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The Humidity of Our City – Our Ciiiity!

I scarfed down an apple fritter on the way home this morning, and was greeted by another dead A/C unit, presumably full of water again. At least the house had cooled down quite a bit, so I was able to get ready for work without too much additional sweat. I was running a tiny bit ahead, so I proceeded with adding the new shrimp to the kitchen aquarium. Dad showed up just before I left for work so he could house-sit while Dependable replaced my central heating and air. I figured it would be a few hours, but it ended up taking all day long.

Jason decided to take a look at the high school sign with me, which took quite a bit of walking and driving back and forth across the campus. We ended with the assumption that the outlet is bad, or at least giving dirty power that’s causing some issues. Everything else seems to be working correctly. When we got back to the shop, we loaded up with some cable and went to meet Heather at the junior high to pull a couple lines. I thought I had it down to the foot, but I ended up being super short and lost one of the two cables in the ceiling, so we had to finish after lunch.

Allen and Gary wanted to go to Bocadillos for lunch, but didn’t want to wait for me to get back to the shop, so I had to drive myself down to Dardanelle. The food had been better, and the salsa tasted like it had started to turn. To top it all off, I was charged double for my drink, and my mangonada cup was served super messy. I managed to make it home to check on Dad though. Bác Vân brought him lunch, but I felt bad that he had to sit in the hot house all day. I really had no idea it would take that long, and I didn’t leave him anything to keep entertained. I really should have just taken the day off myself.

Back at work, Jason stayed at the shop while Heather and I finished re-running and terminating cables. Then we ended the day with some battery swaps and a cooldown in the office. That’s when the rain finally hit, and it really poured. I wasn’t willing to wait it out, so I ran to the car, splashing through the flooded parking lot, and made my way home.

Baby Bye Bye Bye!

The guys were just finishing up with the equipment and needed to test the thermostat. It was a bit upsetting that they didn’t seem to have a clue how to use the Nest thermostat since Dependable is a registered Nest Pro. I had to set the thermostat up myself after plugging it in to a micro-USB cable to quickly charge it back up after they cut power at the breaker for it last month. They had enough other stuff to finish while we waited for the charge though, and eventually tested everything successfully. It took the house a few hours to cool down from the peak of 89 degrees, and the unit didn’t seem to be very fast at all. The air coming out of the vents was just barely cool, and the outside unit didn’t blow as hot as I expected. I was just happy to have something going though.

When Summer and Eaddie finished what they were doing, they came to pick me up and we went to my parents’ house for some leftover phở. We sat there for a little while before going back for my car. They went home and to sleep while I cleaned up a couple things at the house, and then I joined them for another night.

So much to catch up on now…

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Lessons in Procrastination

Uncle Giao brought the whole family down yesterday and we missed them, so I went to Bác Vân’s house first thing this morning to catch them on the way out. I don’t even remember the last time I saw Erika. I don’t know if it was premeditated, but seemingly out of the blue, Bác Vân handed her seldom-driven car over to Nova since she’s old enough to drive now. Then they were all off.

Back in my house, the betta I had in the kitchen died overnight for no obvious reason, so I brought out the test kit and went through everything I could test. For some reason I’ve always had really acidic water, but I think the nitrates are what ultimately done her in.

When the girls got back from lunch with their father, I met them at my parents’ house so Summer and I could eat. They all went swimming for a bit while I ran home to start cleaning up in preparation for a new air conditioner and furnace installation tomorrow. Since there weren’t any other large critters in the aquarium, I did a huge 80% water change to prepare it for the new shrimp. Summer stopped by to help move the kayaks across the garage, and I completed clearing a path to the furnace. All throughout the day, I fought with my portable A/C unit because it kept filling up with water, so I’m particularly excited to have a working central unit after tomorrow.

The girls came back over in the evening, and we went to my parents’ house for dinner. We were there for a while before heading back to their house for the evening. I’m not super thrilled to go back to work tomorrow, but I’ve got to spend some time there moving in to the new office if I can only break away from group non-work for a day.

I’m likely to freeze out the house after tomorrow.

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Wrapping Phase Three

I had tickets for Spider-Man: Far From Home today, but Summer had to work in the morning. I left to clean up at home first, then came back to get the girls up. They were more or less ready to go, so we waited just a little while until Summer got home, then we left for Conway.

Summer wanted to try a place downtown called Poke Hula. Autumn disagreed with the choice, and after seeing a menu I don’t think anyone else really favored it either, so we ate at Señor Tequila next door instead. The food was good, but exactly like seemingly every other Mexican restaurant on the planet. I felt the portions were a little small too, but we still all left full and happy after splitting churros and ice cream.

We had some time to kill before the movie, so I took us to Game Point to browse around for a bit. Autumn picked up a few buttons, and then we were off to Cinemark. I brought my clip-on 3D glasses, and though they worked well enough, I definitely felt like I had more shadowing from the lenses not being dark enough. The movie was absolutely amazing. I thought they did an incredible job with Mysterio based on what I knew about him. After reading up more on the actual comic book character, I think the plot twist was less unexpected, but I still personally really enjoyed it. I’m glad they left the universe so wide open, so they really can go anywhere from here.

After the movie, we went to Sam’s for a while where the girls became restless and irritable. I wanted to stop by the café for a super cheap dinner on the way out, so Autumn got a slice of pizza, Summer and I got hot dogs, and Eaddie refused to eat anything. Then I stopped by Petco to pick up some shrimp on our way home. When we got back to town, I dropped Summer and Autumn off at home before taking the shrimp home to acclimate. Then Eaddie and I went to my parents’ house so she could eat before I took her back home for bed.

Bitch, please. You’ve been to space!

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Have Sumo Sauce

Summer had to work today, which left me with the girls for most of it. I immediately bailed and went home to shower. When I got there, my bedroom was super hot and the air conditioner seemed to be struggling. It wasn’t until after I finished my shower that I realized the exhaust tube had come unhooked from the unit and it was pumping the hot air right back into the room. I got it fixed, but not before dripping sweat everywhere.

Autumn had her grandmother pick her up for her physical therapy, and I went back to pick up Eaddie for lunch. I didn’t realize Summer had a late lunch, so I stalled a bit and got some gas first. Then I sat at the computer until it was time to leave. She wanted us to take her to Sumo for their “cheap” lunch special, so we all had the same thing. I asked for no salt on mine, and it turned out way better than usual. We saw Ronda’s car there, but she said she was at the hibachi with her parents, so we didn’t actually get to see her.

We dropped Summer back off at work, then went to Sonic for some shakes while we walked through Lowe’s. I wanted to pick up a couple more lights, but I couldn’t find them, and the website had the price back up to $20. I tried to buy a couple nightlight outlet covers, but when we got to the checkout, the girl said they had an alert not to sell them for a recall or something.

Empty handed, I took Eaddie back to her house and fought with her to complete the chores Summer laid out for them. Eventually Autumn returned, and I had to have the same argument with her about how both of them had to do more work than the other. I spaced out on the couch watching tech or aquarium videos on YouTube all afternoon until Summer got home, and then I fried up some chicken for sandwiches and a big salad for myself. I mistakenly put too many sauces on my salad, so it wasn’t my favorite.

Summer, Eaddie, and I watched a couple episodes of Parks and Rec before Summer went to sleep. Then Eaddie and I ended the night with the second episode of Daredevil.

You can’t both have the exact same argument.

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Bánh Mì on the Rooftop

We all slept in quite a bit today. Summer got up and ready to hit the gym while I ate leftover Mexican. I cut up some potatoes and made some really skinny fries to go with some chicken strips for everyone else when Summer got back from the gym and from picking up Autumn. Immediately after she ate, she started super-cleaning the house while I more or less wandered around uselessly. I should have gone home to clean up, but I didn’t.

In the late afternoon, we got the girls loaded up to go swim at my parents’ house. I remembered that I had a pickup order ready at Lowe’s, so I ran in there first, then to my house for what was supposed to be a quick stop. My portable A/C unit had stopped because it was full of water, so I had to empty it out and clean the air filter before we left. Autumn had a couple hot dogs at my parents’ house before joining the rest of us to swim for a while. When we got out, I pulled out some super old fireworks to explode, and the girls didn’t seem to want any part of it. None of them really wanted to be around it. Summer at least got into some sparklers.

It seemed to get late pretty fast, and Amanda beat us to the junior high, so we left to get my keys I had forgotten at my house, then went to meet her there. The fireworks show had been moved to the aquatic center, and I estimated we would have a pretty good view from the roof. Mom and Dad brought some bánh mì for us to eat on the roof, and they watched from down below. Amanda’s crew had to split before the main show, but I think the better part was seeing the surrounding fireworks from around the city and even out of town.

The weather was nice, and there weren’t much in the way of bugs where we were. Once the show got started, I don’t think it even lasted 15 minutes. Most of the low stuff was hidden, but we could see bits of it peeking out over the trees. I assume you couldn’t see much of that from the ground. It was a great time though, and the girls really enjoyed it after begrudgingly climbing a pair of vertical ladders.

Once the show was over and the heavy traffic had left the parking lot, we headed back to Summer’s for the evening. Eaddie and I watched the first episode of Daredevil while everyone else went to sleep, and then we followed suit.

Is it sacrilege to celebrate the birth of America with a picnic of Vietnamese sandwiches?

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16K Santa

It was a small crew this morning, so Ben sent the four of us to hang some touch panels before an early dismissal. We hung the first at Dwight before inspecting Sequoyah and then taking a lunch. We all agreed on Wendy’s, and then we were going to do work orders afterward. I chose to help Brice finish up at Sequoyah, and then finished the day delivering a speaker to my new office.

After work, I went home to change before heading out to the Clarksville Walmart for some TVs. I got four takers and picked up four ONN 50″ 4K TVs. The whole purpose of the trip was to replace Summer’s bedroom TV. Then my sister wanted one for her spare bedroom. I decided to pick one up for my parents since their TV still won’t play copy-protected sources. Finally, Gary decided to upgrade his smaller TV.

I made my way back home and delivered to Gary, and then my parents. I got Julie’s garage door camera and she let me in to her house while she was on the way home from work. I got the camera set up after a little trouble, and then she gave me a bowl of Blueberry Morning, which I don’t think I’ve had since before I moved out of my parents’ house. She said they stopped either making or carrying it locally, so she picked up a case or so.

You can’t say I never gave back!

Summer went to the gym after work, so I went to her house with the last TV and set it up as a surprise before taking Eaddie to my parents’ house for dinner and a swim. We stopped by the shop where I discarded her old TV before meeting her. Eaddie wasn’t hungry, so she jumped straight to the pool while I ate. When Summer got there, she didn’t want to eat either. I finished and then joined Eaddie for a swim, and Summer eventually came along for just a short while.

Dad got a couple telescopes out, but I think everyone was too tired to stand around looking through them. We ended the evening inside watching My Fair Lady, and headed back to Summer’s for the evening. I put on the rest of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse until Summer passed out.

Everybody knows that the best way to learn is under intense, life-threatening crisis!

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Be Happier, and That’s an Order!

I woke up around 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep for a long time. I felt like I just started to doze off a little bit around the time I had to get up. Ben had his little chat for us and basically told everyone to get along better and stop having poor morale over our pay. I hate that the district’s response to that is that they’ll help us find new employment if we don’t like it.

We loaded the trucks up and took two groups to Oakland to rehang touch panels. I’m pretty sure at least one of the rooms we hung had a newer projector, so it aggravates me that they didn’t even attempt to change the bulb before removing them. I guess I’ve just got to learn to ignore the stupidity at this point, but it’s just so damned aggravating.

Summer was running around with Ben schmoozing local businesses, and invited me out to lunch at Fat Daddy’s. It must be so nice to be appreciated by your employer.

After lunch, I kind of got left behind in the shop, so I spent the whole afternoon just chatting and sifting through Dale’s old Google Drive. It won’t be long before I have to dig right into the 1:1 laptops, and I couldn’t be less excited.

I went home after work and spent a bunch of time cleaning up. I took care of the cat, fish, cleaned up the kayak and put it away, and finally headed up to Summer’s. I beat her and Eaddie home, so I started cleaning up a salad with chicken strips. When they got in, we watched an episode of Parks and Rec, and I watched just a little bit of Into the Spider-Verse while they showered before bed.

Alright, let’s do this one last time.

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Without a Paddle

I got up early this morning and drove by McAlister’s to scope out their free tea tumbler day. There was one truck there, so I figured we had a good chance. I got cleaned up and went back to pick up the kids. We only had to wait for about an hour and a half, so really I was kind of over-prepared in bringing my Chromebook and portable charger. By the time we got back with the kids, some woman had gotten there, parked right in front of the door, and made everyone else get out of their cars. She only got more petty over time, dictating the direction of the line and just generally being a nuisance. It got to the point where I ended up just placing an online order so I’d be the first one with food to try and secure my own legitimacy. Fortunately the lady that came up behind us agreed that we were there before her, and let us in the door first for our 5th through 8th spots in the line. They only gave out about 20 cups and limited it to two per household for those 16 and over. Since Jesica came up to meet us earlier, she took the kids’ place in line and we walked out with three cups between us.

The kids just wanted to go back home, so I dropped them off and went back home to load up my kayak. Jesica and I made our way to Dover and stopped at Harps for some lunch meat since she’s on keto. I had meant to bring a Soylent, but the sandwich from McAlister’s ended up being enough to last me all day. Missy spotted us at Moore Outdoors and gave me a shout. Then we dropped off my car and headed to Longpool.

I brought Summer’s kayak, and it felt really shaky. I didn’t remember being that shaky on my 12-footer, but it’s possible I was imagining that. I should have spent some more time paddling around the swimming area first, because it didn’t take me long to spill over. I went down harder than ever before, and bounced across the jagged tops of a super long rocky area. The water was flowing too hard for me to get my footing and make it to shore, so I just tumbled right down the middle of it until I washed up along a rocky shore. My Vibrams didn’t last long there, and my feet ended up getting super bruised trying to walk ahead to gather my things. Fortunately Jesica stayed upright and was able to chase down my kayak, dry bag, and paddle. I just knew we were going to lose the paddle.

The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, but I did go over a couple more times, and by the end of it my body was so battered and bruised that I could hardly move. I was pretty happy with my upper body workout though, with the speed I was getting across flat water.

We loaded the kayaks onto the Murano, got the truck, and headed back to town. There was a train blocking my way home, so we stopped by Superfast to see Summer for a bit. Then we went to my house to unload the kayaks and headed up to Summer’s. The kids never did get out to swim, so we just sat there with them until Summer got home.

Jesica and I were super hungry, so we went to Las Palmas for dinner. Summer and I shared an amazing parrillada for two. Then we went back and she and Jesica chatted over some wine. I couldn’t do much but sit in one place until bedtime.

Cutthroat tea connoisseurs are the worst.

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Well Hot Doggie!

We got up this morning and I started picking at leftover pizza. Summer took Eaddie to the gym, and after Autumn and Noah finished their game of Magic, we headed toward my parents’ house.

The first stop was Noah’s house so he could get what he needed for his job interview at Western Sizzlin. Then we stopped by Neighborhood Market for stuff to grill for dinner. It was a pretty tense stop, with way more anxiety than I was prepared for. We made it out as quickly as possible, but still not quickly enough.

Once at my parents’ house, Dad started Noah on mowing the back yard. When Summer and Eaddie got there, they swam for a little while until Noah finished, and we let him cool off with us for a little while until Summer had to take him to his interview. Then Autumn started mowing her half of the front yard while Eaddie picked up sticks, and then Eaddie finished up.

I got the hot links, cheddar jalapeño smoked sausages, beef franks, and Polish sausages grilled, along with the corn and asparagus. They had some bacon grease saved, so I used it with the asparagus, which turned out pretty tasty, though not as bacony as I expected. It was a pretty satisfying dinner overall, and afterward the others went to swim for a bit longer until it was time to go.

Noah’s interview ended up being an actual first day and orientation, as they had already decided to hire him based on his cousin’s referral. He’s really excited to start, but didn’t think to ask off for Spider-Man: Far From Home next weekend. Everyone else seems to think that asking off now would be bad form, so I guess he can be an adult now and figure it out for himself.

I stopped by Julie’s house to deliver some fish sauce and an onion, and then by my house to take care of some things. While I was there, I pulled the little fuzzy caterpillar that had ridden outside the car all the way from my parents’ house, and stuck him in a little container with some leaves. Finally it was off to Summer’s for the evening.

A murder most foul.

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Birthday Magic

It was Eaddie’s 12th birthday today, so I tried to treat her a bit. We got up and had cereal for breakfast before I ran home. Leaving my air conditioner on super cold overnight helped the house stay a little cooler today, but it did still get uncomfortably hot after I finished cleaning up. Summer got Noah and had him mow her lawn while I was away.

When I got back, I tried taking everyone out to lunch, but it ended up being a really really late lunch because the girls couldn’t focus on their laundry tasks. We got to Zaxby’s after 3 and split four meals between the five of us. Then we ran by Dairy Queen to get Eaddie a Blizzard treat. I had to run by home and then the junior high to get a spare part for Travis, and then we went back to Summer’s until time to meet up with him.

Boss Monster Games opened a bit earlier than the expected 6:30, so we left to meet Travis and John. We jumped right into a super long free-for-all Magic: The Gathering game that exhausted most of us. When we finally finished, we were all hungry for some dinner, so Summer and I split up between Taco John’s and Little Caesar’s. She beat me back because Little Caesar’s seemed to be really understaffed, but I really didn’t have to wait super long.

Travis was too tired to continue with a new game, so he went home and the six of us paired off for a three-team free-for-all. Eaddie got quite a bit of help from John, and eventually Autumn and Noah got to a point where they were really helping each other with strategy. We didn’t even realize how late it had gotten when they came to let us know they were closing shop. She gave us a binder full of promo cards to pick through, and we headed on home without finding a true winner. I think we’ve probably got a new tradition though.

It was really just nice to have an evening out with other adults.