Traditions

What are Traditions: 0x23

I got up a bit earlier than usual this morning so I could get my Birthday Slam at Denny’s. I was worried for a moment about not having the coupon printed out, but thankfully they just took my ID. Last year I got bamboozled, so I would have felt rightly stupid for messing up again.

I spent all morning running around until I inadvertently convinced Jason and Allen to go to Ci-Ci’s for BOGO all-you-can-eat pizza for $5.99. That’s a hard one to argue, but the food wasn’t as good as our last visit, except for the whole weekend-long fever thing that happened last time.

After lunch, Jason helped me run down an intercom issue at Oakland, then I spent most of the remainder of the afternoon helping set up some more stuff for Sara.

Once off of work, I headed home to set up my newly RMA’d cable modem before heading to Summer’s for dinner. She made chili in a slow cooker, then we all played Phase 8 because bedtime is a very real thing in that household.

When I got home, I stopped by Bác Vân’s to pick up some strawberries she got me for my birthday. I guess overall it went about as well as it could have.

Nobody likes you when you’re 23.

Adventure Time!

Are you serious?

We crawled out of bed this morning just in time to get some breakfast from the bar downstairs. I had just about one of everything. I only regret not making it in time for the free beer the night before.

After we got up and around, we checked out and headed into town. I thought we’d have enough time to hit the mall and the strip, but we ended up only shopping at the mall. We spent most of our time in FYE, one of the last remaining general media and entertainment retailers. Then Summer tried on some swimsuits, and I remembered why I hated shopping at Dillard’s. By the time we got out of there, it had started to sprinkle, and we decided to start heading home. We did stop for some spring water on the way out, but then we hit the road.

It cleared up pretty nicely for the trip back, and I was surprised again that we didn’t encounter any leisure riders, either by motorcycle or car. It was mostly stupid trucks. The ol’ Murano carried us back swiftly enough to make me proud, and I dropped Summer off at home before heading to my parents’ house for a pre-birthday dinner.

They tried to broil some lobster tails to go along with a hodgepodge of other food. Mom made fried rice, but didn’t fry the lobster in the rice. I had a bit of everything, just like breakfast. My sister tried to fix 30 years of incompatibility by griping at it, and I had a Coco Rico.

When I got home and unpacked, I played a couple rounds of PUBG with Clint, and almost carried us to victory, but landed second place after getting shot in the face by a bush.

You make it hard to take anything seriously.

Adventure Time!

Shiny Rocks

We decided to spend a night in Hot Springs this weekend. The weather was great, and the roads were surprisingly clear. We didn’t encounter a single motorcycle until we stopped at Iron Springs, where we got out to wander around and dig for quartz.

Once we got into greater Hot Springs, traffic had us riding the break all the way through town. It must have been a big day at the horse track, because there were a ton of people walking down the streets dressed to the nines.

We stopped by Red Lobster for dinner before finding a hotel. We probably could have gotten by way cheaper, but I decided to stay at the Staybridge Suites where we stayed for HSTI. I liked the rooms, and the girl at the counter gave us a better price than what was advertised online, so overall I was happy.

Just in time to miss the sunset!

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Of Course Mine is Better

Our only group project today was to hang an 80+ inch touch panel in the training room at the high school. For some reason, it seemed fitting to have something larger and more extravagant there than what the actual classrooms have for normal daily use. It’s easy to feel bitter and compare who gets what around there. Most struggle while others roll around in needlessly wasted funds.

After work, I came home and cleaned up house before Summer came over. We binge watched The Office until bedtime, because we’re adults that do what we want.

Christopher Robin, what exactly is doing Nothing?

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Half of Twice is Barely Nice

I’ve been getting a steady flow of work orders lately, but it’s all been miniscule stuff. It’s just enough to keep me from getting any serious projects worked.

I was talked into Chick-fil-A for lunch and had the chicken tortilla soup. It had a good flavor and spice, but the texture was super gritty. Plus I paid nearly nine bucks for it. Seriously, I could have gone to Brangus and had a beef spud. I should just not go, like every single time. Why do I make poor decisions just for a small social hour?

After work, Summer and I went to Ruby Tuesday for BoGo entrees. They weren’t super busy, but it was kind of early for dinner. The food was pretty decent, but I can’t ever help but feel let down with anything but the salad bar.

Afterward, I came home and killed some time online before heading to bed early. I’m sick of being sick.

Yeah, that was a set up for a punchline on duct tape.

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Attack of the Sinus

I had an awful sinus attack last night that kept me from sleeping, so when I woke up for work in the morning, I just couldn’t do it. I emailed for a half sick day and went back to bed. I actually started feeling a bit better not long after I laid back down, but I definitely needed the rest, and I didn’t really have anything pressing to work on anyway.

After work, I came home for just a bit before heading to Summer’s for dinner. Then we started watching the first episode of Cosmos before everyone went to bed. When I went back to my car, I found that I must have sat on my key fob long enough to roll the front windows down part way. The insides of the doors, seats, and my backpack were all soaked in rain water. Fortunately it hadn’t rained super hard, but it was still a lot of water that will hopefully dry out before tomorrow morning.

You, me, everyone: we are made of star stuff.

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Brown Clown Shoes

I made the mistake of wearing my new brown shoes today. I thought they were too big when I tried them on, and I was right. I should have checked that they had half sizes. Hopefully I can exchange them.

Lunch landed a group of us at Popeye’s for a typically subpar experience. At least it wasn’t my strips that were too strippy and small. With the variance they have, it should really be sold by weight. Mine were a little on the small side, but Zach might as well have gotten nuggets. Mine just took forever to cook, because why would you have spicy tenders available during lunch hour?

After work, I went by my parents’ for more bún bò Huế, then made it home in the rain.

Take those pills.

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Recovery Monday

I had trouble falling asleep last night after sleeping all weekend, so I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. I decided to power through it though, and made it through the day without too much trouble. I made it home for some Taco Villa for lunch and swapped to the bike for the afternoon with a high in the 60s. It was still cool out though, so after work I came straight home.

Mom made bún bò Huế for dinner, so I went there for that before going to Summer’s to visit for a bit. I let her wash out my weepy right ear with peroxide, which burned and tickled all at once. I guess we’ll see if it sticks.

Are Q-Tips a qualified FSA purchase?

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The Good for What Ale Crust

After fading in and out of consciousness all weekend, I finally got up today and managed some leftovers for breakfast and a much-needed shower. I forced myself up and out to pick up the girls for our trip to Conway to see Black Panther. We stopped by Old Chicago for some pizza first, and then loaded up on popcorn for the movie.

I was actually a little let down by the movie, simply because of how much hype it got. I really enjoyed it, and at first watch I had nothing to complain about, but I let myself get worked up by what everyone else was saying about it. I think if I had not heard anything about it, I would have left feeling better, but as it was, I enjoyed it as much as any of the other MCU movies.

On the way out, I dropped my Coke on my brand new shoes and got it all over my pants as well, so I dropped the girls off before heading home to work on some laundry. While that was going, I got in a couple rounds of PUBG before bed.

It’s a Bugatti spaceship!

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40 Hours Weak

Friday started out okay, but the evening spiraled into a whole weekend of flu-like symptoms that left me weak and achy. Nobody else that went to Ci-Ci’s for lunch got sick, so I guess I can’t blame that. I don’t really know where it came from, but it wasn’t fun. I ended up going to bed around 6 or 7 o’clock, and was in and out of sleep for the next 40 hours. I got up for a little while on Saturday and started Firefly to have some background entertainment, then slept through most of the series. By the time the episodes finished, it was time to go to sleep on Saturday night. Now I’m finally up on Sunday, and I’m still achy, but the 103º fever seems to have gone and I’m left with a sinus infection and a back ache.

Well, we’re still flyin’.