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Big Game Food

The duck jumped out of his little home somehow. Luckily he wasn’t too difficult to catch in the bedroom, so I set him up with a new home in a slightly larger bucket and moved his water bucket closer to the center. I went to the Co-Op to check for some duckling food, but they didn’t have anything smaller than a 50-pound bag. From there, I went to Tractor Supply Co. and picked up some feed, but I was so focused on avoiding antibiotics that I missed the warnings that what I had bought should only make up about 10% of their diet. I finally ended up going back to Atwoods to pick up some game food that I think will work alright.

When I got home, Michael called and asked if I wanted to go to Hot Springs with him so he could check out a new bike. I didn’t get to go because Mom wanted to go out to eat with Bác Vân, so we went to Chili’s where they both complained about the food and the president, and about how salty they both are. I had one of the best sirloins I’ve ever had, especially considering how much of a steak snob I’ve become.

After lunch, I came home for a while and messed with my Logitech Harmony Elite remote some more until
Allen invited me over to help him unload a grill from his truck. I returned the frozen food he left with me when his freezer broke, and he offered to cook a couple deer burgers for us. They were dryer than the usual burger I would make, but I really liked them. It was definitely a little different, but they were good.

When I got back home, I played just a little EVE Online with Keno before heading to bed.

It’s Space Excel!

Work Adventures

What the Duck?

I feel mostly normal after the past couple days of travel. I really enjoyed getting to go out for the conference, and learned some lessons in how to make the best of my time there in the future.

We’re still waiting on some of our projects to come full-swing, so for at least the next week or so we’re looking at busy work. I managed to get out to one of my campuses for a bit. I was talking to Ben when Zach walked in and said he had a question for me that was stranger than usual. He asked if I wanted a duck, and explained that Ryan had found one in the stairwell outside. I’ve never seen a duck anywhere near there, so I don’t have a clue where it came from. I plopped it in the kitchen sink to chill for a while, and it seemed to come a little more alive.

After work, I took it by Apex so Jesica could see it, then took it to my parents’ house for some show-and-tell time there. After dinner, I took it home and put it in the bathtub while I met Jesica at La Chiquita to watch her eat some nachos. Once we left dinner, I stopped by Davis’ Pet Shop and then Atwoods to look for some duck feed. I wasn’t really satisfied with the apparent lack of confidence from the guy there, so I left empty handed and came back home to complete a habitat for my new little friend.

The cats really wanted to eat it, so I set it up in one of the spare bedrooms with some electronic equipment that should keep it pretty warm. If it doesn’t at least pick at some of the stuff I’ve left it to eat, I’ll likely go by the co-op tomorrow.

Got any grapes?

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HSTI 2017: Day 2

Today was admittedly tough after staying up so late and sharing war stories with Allen. I had been feeling sour since a few meals back, and finally watched in horror as I relived the previous day in reverse. It was the combination that did me in, but I’m a glutton for a deal.

We eventually got checked out and headed to our last day at HSTI. Amanda and I lost out on my first pick for a class on Chromebooks, and ended up going to a security class that was really just a shitty sales pitch in disguise. I’m not sure I could have been more disappointed. I expected at least some coverage of best practices or something, but all we got was a couple of guys literally reading every. single. PowerPoint. slide. To make that even worse, the slides were basically just a list of all the products they sold.

We eventually split for lunch and shoehorned ourselves into some seats in the cafeteria for some subpar catfish. The chicken strips were pretty rockin though.

I kind of got guilted into coming back sooner than I really wanted. They probably would have begrudgingly stayed if I really pressed it, but I was tired too after the long night and rough morning. Gary hitched a ride with AWOL, so it was just Jason, Zach, and me for the ride home. Once there, I took a nap for a while before playing some Overwatch to keep myself awake, then unpacked before bed.

Overall a great experience with some lessons learned.

I don’t want this to sound too commercial, but here are some packets of references from work we’ve done in the past that you can take with you.

Work Adventures

HSTI 2017: Day 1

The conference was mostly a drag today. We got some neat parting gifts, but the sessions we sat in on were more or less useless. I did get to sit in on a really great speaker for a presentation on having a digital identity and how to deal with this with youth. There was nothing groundbreaking for me, but I think what surprised me the most was that it wasn’t someone up on stage with just a bunch of scare tactics trying to use fear to push control over children. He does what he can to make parents aware of what is out there, and also tries to reach out to the kids he interacts with to make a real difference in how they treat technology.

After the conference everyone wanted to go back to the hotel to nap, so I split off and went to Magic Springs to process my season pass. The whole process took about an hour less than what I was expecting, so I headed back to the hotel to meet everyone for their meatball sliers.

We all eventually loaded up and headed to The Porterhouse for dinner. I had a Filet a la Oscar, which was a great steak but a weird fish. The meal was overall pretty good, and the service was better than average. After we ate, we headed upstairs for a party with some free beer and cocktails. We didn’t stay long, though, and headed back to the hotel for some cards.

We had enough people to warrant two tables: one with Cards Against Humanity that I brought, and another with Hearts, or some other game I didn’t know how to play. We spent a few hours drinking and gaming until it was time for bed. At that point, we lost Heather and had a brief moment of panic until we finally managed to get a hold of her. She had split off, well after dark and after everyone had settled in, and hadn’t been responding to calls or messages.

After we found everyone to be okay, I headed down to my room, at which point Allen invited me over for a drink. I spilled my guts to him, explaining my life, the universe, and everything. He really does remind me of myself when I was older.

It’s been a long and interesting, or even adventurous day. I won’t get nearly enough sleep, but I never do.

Free, as in beer!

Work Adventures

HSTI: Year 1

Today’s the big conference day. I met Jason after work, then picked up Gary and Zach to head to Hot Springs. I was kind of surprised to see how openly excited everyone was to go. As defeatist as these guys are sometimes, I think the conference is going to be really fun. I didn’t even realize that meals would be covered as well, so that always makes for a great trip. I hope there’s plenty to learn as well, but I don’t really know what to expect. So far it seems like mostly a vendor show, but they say there are some really good breakout sessions to attend as well.

But seriously, free beer on tap at the hotel?

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Pack ‘n Load

Today was by far the slowest day of work this summer. I finally finished setting up my 60 tablets, and set up a Chromebit for digital signage. I’ve got a couple things to finish up tomorrow, and then I’m ready for the HSTI conference.

After work, I met a guy named Ethan that wanted to know if my ’87 Fiero was for sale. I expressed my feelings, and he seemed to be mostly looking for a steal, but he may come around. I’m rarely a motivated seller of my own possessions, but if he comes back with the right amount of cash, I’d probably have to accept the relief of the physical burden.

I got most everything packed up for the trip, but I’ll have to finish in the morning since I’m driving and everyone wants to leave right after work. I had hoped for some time to come home and clean up, but I guess New Guy duties override that.

What a bunch of nerds.

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Dead Sundays and Closed Taco Trucks

I finally cleaned my aquarium after a few weeks of neglect. I keep getting a film of green all over my glass, and I’m not sure if it’s algae or diatoms, and I guess I’ll just have to do bi-weekly water changes to get rid of it.

For dinner, I took my Bác Vân out to La Plaza for tacos because all of the taco trucks we could find were closed. Even La Plaza was slow, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see the trucks closed. I can’t imagine how hard it is to maintain a steady flow of business for some of these places.

I also finally got around to hanging my motion sensing lights outside. And I took out the recycling.

I think I may already be dead.

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Blurry Platinum

Today was odd. I woke up around 7 went back to sleep for a few more hours because my back was still hurting. I got up again after 10 and played some Overwatch for a while to get ranked for this season. I ended up taking a nap for a couple hours in the late afternoon until around 6, then played some more games.

It looks like I may not go to Magic Springs tomorrow as planned for the past week. I may end up going by myself if it’s nice out, but I’ve probably got things to do around the house instead anyway. This week/end was a bummer.

It’s a burden, really.

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Backbreaking Tablets

I spent all day at work getting a bunch of Samsung tablets ready for next year. There’s not a great way to manage the devices without paying for some sort of management software, and at this point it’s not really worth it for us. That makes it that much more difficult to get them into the system, though.

We went to Brick Oven for lunch, and I got the Big Italy pizza, which was awesome. After lunch, I started hurting around what I’m guessing are my back muscles. It feels like I slept wrong, but it didn’t start hurting until after lunch, and it hasn’t gotten any better all night. I’m hoping that sleeping in a bit tomorrow will help.

I feel real loose like a long necked goose.

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How do you catch the Etherbunny?

After lunch, I discovered an app on a computer that I think a lot of parents wish they knew about.
I also discovered the rare Lexiedog in her natural habitat.

I spent all morning running cable with Ben at Vo-Tech. Lucky for us it was super hot in the rooms we were in, and sweating is one of my most favorite pastimes. We finished a bit late for lunch with the rest of the crew, so he and I went to Ruby Tuesday on our own. I love their salad bar.

After work, I went by my parents’ house again for some more bánh xèo. It didn’t sound good when she offered it, but I enjoyed it once I started in on it. The fresh ingredients kind of made it for me.

More games until bedtime.

You use an Ethernet! Get it? Guys! Guys…?