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The Existential Review: Year 3

I had my yearly review scheduled for this afternoon, so I spent the morning doing what I could around my buildings. I took a break for lunch and met Dale, Brice, and Summer at Taco John’s for Taco Tuesday. We ended up getting way too much food because of a coupon, but somehow I managed. Getting over being sick again has me regularly hungry, but I was hoping it would help me cut back.

My review went well after lunch. I sat down with Ben ahead of schedule just to get things started, and we chatted for quite a while. It’s looking hopeful for an esports stipend, and everyone seems to be on board with what I’ve presented. I’m just hoping I can keep it from feeling as life-sucking as last week when the kids were super rowdy for no reason. I think that will get better as the teams get more serious though. Dale’s retirement is set, so it’s looking like I’ll be moved to the high school now, which leaves me to clean up and move offices. I’ll lose a window, gain a ton of room and storage, and be left with the best-documented procedures on campus. Hopefully I’ll be able to retain enough free time to keep learning things I want to learn, and also have time out for esports in the afternoons. Time will tell. I’ll miss my friends the most.

Nearing the end of the school day, I dropped by Oakland to move their copy machines for kindergarten registration, then made my way to the junior high for esports. We had several new faces today, which meant spreading to the second lab for the first time. We were really only short by one computer, but several of my quieter players chose to move over immediately when I offered the space, which made it a bit easier to manage everyone else. Unfortunately that lab hadn’t been updated automatically, so we wasted several minutes doing that before anyone could play. It was nice to get to talk to a few of them in that time though, since normally I’m just having to sit back and watch over the entire lab of everyone at once.

After work, I ran home and messed with the aquariums a bit, and experimented with some alternative CO2 dosing by filling some glass bottles with carbonated water and floating them upside down in the tanks. I’ll probably have to try again some morning rather than so late at night, but again I’m hopeful that it will provide noticeable growth improvement. That put me a little behind getting the girls from karate, but they seemed to have other things going on anyway. From there we went to their house for leftover chicken in the form of nachos. They were pretty good, but felt like they missed a binding agent like cheese dip. They just kind of fell apart too much, and missed the flavor of the dip.

My head cold cocktail seems to have worked fairly well the past couple days, so I went for a third night to combat the snottiness.

Welcome to your life. There’s no turning back.

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Custom Cocktail Cures

After doubling up on Benadryl last night, my head seemed a bit more clear when I woke up. I’m hoping I’ve found a combination of medicine that I can take to quickly rid myself of the congestion that normally plagues me for months at a time.

When I got to work, Zach gave me an ice chest full of frozen food he wanted to clear out of his freezer. There was something about a church food bank that always has leftover frozen goods that nobody ever wants to take because it requires more effort to keep. There was a surprising mix of better frozen meals, junk food, and microwavable breakfast sandwiches. I managed to fit it all into my freezer, and it’ll be nice to have something easy to warm up on weekends when the kids are over.

I didn’t get a whole lot done today because I still wasn’t feeling great. I spent a few hours fighting with the intercom system at Oakland, picked up some soup for lunch by myself in my office, and then spent the rest of the afternoon there just picking at things to clean up. The day went by pretty quickly though, and it didn’t seem like too long before it was quitting time.

Summer talked to Matt, and made it official that she’ll be taking the job at the shop. I guess I knew she was leaning that way, but she never really talked to me any more about it. I was hugely disappointed that she didn’t at least try to negotiate a better starting rate. Every time I bring it up, it’s like a deer in headlights and I don’t know what else I can do to help without just pushing her away. This stuff is really important to me, and I feel like it should be important to her too. I completely understand being shy or lacking confidence to have that conversation, but at the end of the day, money not earned is money lost, and that directly impacts the family. At some point, something’s gotta snap into gear where you just get shit done. The weirdest thing is that she’s very much that way in many other aspects of her life, so I don’t understand why this should have been any different. This should have been an easy win.

I volunteered to wait for Autumn and then take the girls to pick up Noah before heading home. The kids all sat around playing their various electronics while I started a load of laundry and confirmed that my kitchen aquarium water was toxic. From that point, I knew I had to jump right into a water change tonight.

We loaded up and headed to Summer’s where the house was filled with the aroma of simmered, shredded chicken breasts. I’d always read about shredded chicken out of a crock pot, but I’ve never actually tried it. The chicken came out way mushier than I expected, but I didn’t know all the variables to correct it for next time. It tasted good though, and made plenty for leftover nachos tomorrow after the barbecue sandwiches today. She scored a key lime pie for dessert, and then I had to head back home to tend to my own chores.

The bettas and snails all seemed to look a little better after a massive water change, but I’ll have to keep doing more relatively soon to make sure the chemistry balances out. I also need to go get some potting soil and sandblasting media to properly plant and cycle another tank or two in order to move things around to where I want them. It’s a shame we’re only given so much time for all the different things we enjoy.

Guaifenesin Diphenhydramine Phenylephrine

 

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I Want a New Drug

My head cold was in full force today, and I had trouble trying to sleep in. We got up and watched some more Battlestar Galactica, and I had a bowl of ramen before Summer left to get things done at her house. She came back with Baconators for lunch, and also brought me some Benadryl to try. I’ve never really found anything that works for my congestion, but I also haven’t really tried much, so this was an easy one to get.

After lunch, Summer went to take care of the girls and I went to bed. I kind of dozed off a little bit, but I didn’t put my CPAP on at first, so I just kind of kept waking up groggy. Eventually I did put it on and got some good sleep, which seemed to help a little. Summer came back with some Sonic for dinner, and I dropped my last bite of chili dog on the floor. She didn’t stick around for long, and I ended up in the living room watching a bit of YouTube until bed.

Must work three times as fast then, right? Everybody wants to be their own doctor.

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‘Cause I am Barely Breathing

Summer had a 5k and quiz bowl tournament to attend today, so I slept in a little bit. It really wasn’t too late though, before I got up and started trying to motivate myself to clean house. I felt my head cold grow all day long, and I just kept feeling worse and worse, but I didn’t want the day to be a total loss. I ate my week old Firehouse sandwich that was dry and not delicious. Then I started cleaning up around the kitchen and vacuumed the living room.

I wanted to get the big pieces picked up before Ronda and Steven came over to drop off some stuff she picked up for me, but I guess they had more deliveries to make and didn’t stick around long. She got me a reptile double lamp and a nice little aquarium with an overly intricate filtration system in the back. I think it will make a nice home for Murderface in the near future.

I went ahead and moved Blue over to the community tank and she seemed to do fine there. I also noticed she only has one ventral fin, and I’m not sure she’ll grow a second one back. It looked like it could have been a birth defect. I watched her for quite a while to make sure she settled in well, and nobody really seemed to take any notice. The heavy plant coverage should help her find a home in there anyway.

When Summer got home, she took a shower before we strapped in for a Battlestar marathon. I got up to make some instant phở for dinner because neither of us were too keen on getting out, and it was rainy anyway. We got a few episodes watched before my head stopped functioning and she was ready to pass out. I loaded up on what meds I could and hoped for the best.

Hamburger

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Pinafore Your Thoughts?

We started out today, as we’re often wont to do, with a racist remark and story from Allen. That guy’s got more than a screw loose. We didn’t have any group projects, but Jason hasn’t really gone out of his way to make up anything, which Zach was super proud to do during his moment in the sun. I spent the morning wiping computers to sell and chatting in the library. Eight of us met at Brangus for lunch, and most of us made it back in time afterward. Allen and Jason t-boned some lady that tried to make a turn across traffic at a yellow light, so they were behind by like half an hour. We half jokingly wondered how long it would put them both out of work even though everyone was fine afterward.

I spent just a half a moment at Oakland to make a delivery, but left after they brought a couple cops in to supervise a couple crazy parents. They were short handed anyway, so the extra craziness was just a little much for me. Ben came out of his office and back to the shop area to chat with me for quite a while after everyone else had gone. It’s looking like I’ll be making a move this summer, so I really need to pick and choose what I want out of my office now while I still can.

When I got home, I found that I had received an unmarked, hand-addressed mailer with no return address on it. Inside was a white apron with my name embroidered above a flowery heart. Tracking shows it originated in Pottsville, but I couldn’t find anyone that would own up to it. Perhaps more investigative work will follow, but for tonight I was happy with a little mystery. Summer came over to shower and then went to pick up some Taco Villa while I tried out the new electric mower. The grass wasn’t very tall yet, so it didn’t have any trouble covering the front and back yards. I’m sure it’ll be a different story once we’re in full swing, but again, for tonight I was happy with what I had.

My sinuses had been at me all day, and mowing didn’t help. I coughed up what I could before sitting down to eat with Summer, and then we ended the night with an episode of Battlestar Galactica.

That’s why it’s called hay fever!

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Autumn in April

It felt quite a bit cooler today with clouds and wind pretty much all day long. It really felt like fall again, which was pretty nice after having a couple hotter days. I just can’t wait for the summer heat to roll in and make everything miserable. I didn’t really have anything going on at work, so I spent pretty much all day cleaning up. I met Zach, Gary, and Ben at Morellos for lunch, and then continued on with the same all afternoon.

After work, I came home and messed around with the fish, then put one of my electric lawn mowers together. It took me a lot longer than it really needed to because I read all of the instructions and maintenance guides. I’d like to keep it really clean, but we’ll see how long that lasts. I put the battery on the charger for tomorrow after work since it’ll be cooler.

Can I retire yet?

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I Have Reservations About This

It was more bike weather today. I started off at the shop and got to spend some time in a room with Gary, and I felt smarter for it. I hope I’ll have some time to hang out with him over summer projects, because there’s still so much I want to learn. The trick is to be around for his projects and not the busy work that I normally get assigned to because I’m actually willing to work.

When I finally left the shop, I spent some time at Oakland taking care of a few things before heading back to go to Chick-fil-A for lunch. It tasted better than average, but it was still expensive. I’ll take a deal at Wendy’s over full price at Chick-fil-A every day of the week.

I spent the afternoon at the junior high trying to clean up a bit, but I didn’t get a whole lot accomplished. I did get to flex my math skills a bit by using known component measurements to find the unknown angle of a TV that Jessica wanted to mount outside the library. After that, I got to use Google Assistant with Duplex to make a dinner reservation at Pasta Grill for Mom’s birthday. The assistant asked everything from how many people were coming, to what name and contact number she should give the restaurant. Ronda said it seemed like it would have been faster just to call myself, but she missed the whole point of not having to talk to people myself. A robot did all the work for me. The only thing it lacked was a transcript or recording of the call. I would have loved to hear the transaction. About 15 minutes later, I got the notification and an email that my reservation was confirmed!

I finished up at the shop, enrolling the Chromebits Jessica got for her TVs. Then I ran home to clean up for dinner. Summer and the kids beat me there since I stopped for gas, and then we headed to Pasta Grill.

Julie beat us there and confirmed that the reservation was made. I couldn’t find anyone that knew anything about the call, so I guess I’ll have to try again when Erica is working. I’m glad it worked, but I want to experience the other end of it so badly. I’m such a nerd.

After dinner, I came home and started some laundry while I messed with the fish a bit. I don’t want to move Blue since she’s built a bubble nest and is actually floating her eggs, but I did get some snails moved to the kitchen. I want to clean up the 55-gallon, but I’ve got too many other things I need to do this weekend. I’ve felt exhausted for a few weeks now though, and summer is only going to make it worse with the heat. I just have anxiety about feeling behind all the time now.

Too many things!

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Updating….

It’s felt unseasonably warm this week, which gave me some extra time on the bike. Unfortunately it’s all been spent at work. I started out at the junior high making sure esports were updated and set up appropriately after doing some re-imaging. Then I discovered that my Chromebook from Oakland would update automatically from the junior high’s network. That lead me back to Oakland to test some devices, which ultimately lead to Gary finding we were breaking updates with SSL inspection. Evidently we weren’t inspecting traffic at the junior high for some reason. At least it was a relatively easy fix, and we discovered it only halfway through manually updating all of my carts.

Gary and Zach went to lunch at Taco John’s with me, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of a few more things at Oakland before going to the junior high for esports. Matt emailed me again about the hours I’m putting and expect to put into them, so I stopped by his office to chat about it. I’m really just trying to get as large of a stipend as I can, since I know it’ll be hell trying to get it increased after the fact.

The kids were super rowdy this afternoon, and I couldn’t ever really figure out why. I had everything from kids screaming, to one kid singing uncontrollably about communism. It really had me reconsidering things for a moment. At least they all left pretty quickly after practice was over, and I could be on my way.

I tried cleaning up the cat box when I got home, but something was wrong with the control unit and it refused to do anything at all. I fought it for a bit, but couldn’t find any help at all online. I’ll probably have to just crack it open to try and find anything wrong with the controller, because the bottom half seems mechanically sound.

As soon as the girls got out of karate, I went to pick them up and headed to their house for dinner. Summer went straight home to get things ready, and we made some really delicious ham sammies. I took the “everything” French bread I picked up over the weekend and sliced it in half the long way before covering it with mayo and broiling it until just browned. Then I covered that with shredded cheese and broiled it again. Summer fried up some fancy ham and had veggies sliced up and ready to go. The avocado was annoying, and I probably should have skipped it for my own lack of appreciation. Mine was too messy to photograph, and a picture really wouldn’t have done it justice anyway. We’ve enjoyed making dinner this way.

I headed straight home after dinner to finish cleaning and reassembling the cat box. I also started a load of laundry and paid a couple bills. Still playing catch-up though. I’ve got to make this time up somewhere.

If I had a little money…

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Number Crunching

We weren’t expecting rain today, but I wasn’t going out on the bike after those early morning storms. I managed to get quite a bit done before lunch, so I was feeling good. I met Zach and Allen at Arby’s and saw Erika there. My King’s Hawaiian Sweet & Spicy Luau Chicken sandwich was way messier than I expected, and I felt like the flavor of the ham really overpowered the chicken, which otherwise would have been really tasty by itself.

After lunch, Gary helped me wipe a few carts worth of Chromebooks at Oakland. I didn’t originally think of it, but many of them are going to be returned on a lease this year, so it may not have been completely necessary. I still felt better having them updated though. Our little $1500 box for mass enrollment seemed less good than I imagined it, but I suppose for a one-man show, it would help.

Once school let out, I spent some time trying to estimate how many hours I’ll need to put into esports to really make the program what I want it to be. Matt said he was trying to get me paid, so I had to really dig in. The end goal is to come up with a position overseeing it, but not coaching every day. Only time will tell what really happens though.

I didn’t have much time to clean up at home before I had to run to Summer’s for dinner. We made some pork fried rice out of some leftover pork chops she grilled. I mostly just chopped up vegetables. It was really good, and afterward the girls wanted to watch some TV, but I had to run to take care of my own chores.

Back home, I started some laundry and got my taxes put together. I ended up with a net payment of $37, which was pretty damn close. I call that a win.

Occupation: Spy

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Bumday

Our greatest accomplishment today was breakfast. Summer got up and made eggs, sausage, and bacon, and I broiled a loaf of French bread with mayo on it, which I divided into equal sized sandwich portions. The bread turned out great and had a perfect squish to it. Almost surprisingly, there were no complaints as everyone had something they liked.

The girls started out pretty moody in the morning but mellowed out over the course of the day. Summer left a couple times to do some grocery shopping and then to get her nails done. I spent a large portion of the day cleaning up my Google Calendar and Gmail. I did at least take a shower, and I think I successfully removed a couple flow-limiters in Summer’s shower, though it didn’t seem to make a huge difference.

We kind of picked at leftovers for dinner, and ended the night with a little Switch time and then an episode of Parks and Rec.

Oh, I didn’t realize there were things you’d rather be doing!