Work Adventures

ACoT 2017: Day 2

That bed was AMAZING! I’ve never had such a comfortable bed in a hotel in my life. The mattress, the sheets, the blankets, the pillows… Everything was just exactly how I like it. I was really blown away.

I was mostly on my own for classes today. I went to a 3D printing session, and then a couple of sessions on phishing and security with a guy from Palo Alto that I had talked to at the bar the night before. The phishing session ran a bit long into the break, so after a while I got up for a few minutes and then returned with Allen for the second session. When we got there, the guy was leaving for lunch. We checked the schedule with him to confirm that he was supposed to be there, and then the three of us sat down for a really loose conversation for a few minutes before breaking for lunch.

After we ate, we started to pack up and headed back home. I ended up hanging out at the shop for a while until Ben let everyone go home. We chatted for a while, and eventually I made my way home to unpack. It was a good couple of days, but I’m exhausted, and now I miss the hotel bed.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Let’s do something stupid instead.

Adventure Time!, Work Adventures

ACoT 2017: Day 1

After an early start, today was pretty awesome. We’re at the Arkansas Conference of Technology, and so far the classes seemed really great, and the vendors are always a great plus. While I could have learned as much just on my own given a whole day of focused playing around, this really helped to have a guided tour.

After the conference, we went to dinner at a Benihana in the hotel. I totally got the high score. Then we went to a bar on the Riverfront for a vendor’s shindig. It was just Ben, Ryan, and me, and I had a blast. It’s weird to see a bunch of tech people get down to music that always makes me roll my eyes. You really can’t beat 12 drinks for a $5 tip to the shuttle driver.

Today was a great full-day class, but I’m looking forward to normal classes all day tomorrow. I wonder what I’ll learn.

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Squeak By

How can something so clean come from someplace so dingy?

The days are getting so short already. It was supposed to be nice during the day, so I braved the cold ride in this morning. No regrats.

I tried to clear out a bunch of work orders so I wouldn’t get backed up the rest of the week. Then Mom made bún bò Huế for dinner. I didn’t stick around long because I had to get ready for a conference.

I did squeak in a couple rounds of Rocket League before tearing into prepping the car and my bags. I love traveling, but I hate the anxiety I get while I’m trying to pack.

I’ve also spent too much money recently, and I don’t want to dip into savings, so I’m slipping past this month by the skin of my teeth. I have impeccable timing.

Hopefully my paycheck does too.

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Two in the Bush

Mornings are flying by this time of year. Learning of things has slowed to near nothing, but that will change soon. Intake throughout the day was relatively low, but I’ll have to work to maintain. I stayed late to wrap some things up, then had leftover spring rolls for dinner.

Washing machine needs a new timer to be less annoying. Not sure I can get one, and a new machine would be nice, but mine works. I just have to babysit. Clean socks are nice, though.

Some people might think of it as cowardly, but I can tell you with statistically reliable certainty that live cowards are infinitely happier than dead ones.

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I’ll Be Straight with You

I woke up with a pretty wicked headache this morning, so making it to work was a bit rough. I tried out the new straightening brush I got over the weekend, and it did a great job of keeping the ends of my hair from getting super tangled throughout the day. I even got some compliments for having my hair down, but I was feeling too lost to take advantage of my diva moment. I just couldn’t find anything to focus on, so I picked at a few things throughout the day to keep myself from getting behind.

Dinner was spring rolls with my parents, and I got to watch my sister help my mom with her iPhone some more. The more I watch them, the less I understand why someone in either of their positions would choose Apple as a platform. What I really miss more than anything else is my old Palm Prē.

Once I got home, I played a few losing rounds of Overwatch and Rocket League for their seasonal rewards.

It’s only logical.

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Junkenstein’s Revenge

I always manage to kill half of my weekend in a way even less productive than watching television. I don’t even know where most of my time went. I did play some Overwatch for the seasonal loot boxes, and a couple rounds of Rocket League with Josh and Johnny.

Clinton stopped by while he was in town, and we watched a couple episodes of Letterkenny. It’s one of those shows with super fast dialog, so I really need to watch it at about half speed to get what’s going on. It’s seemed pretty funny though.

I went to my parents’ for dinner, but bún riêu didn’t really hit any spots. Spring rolls tomorrow, though.

Pitter patter, let’s get at ‘er.

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Close to the Vest

I woke up around 8:30 this morning and couldn’t ever get back to sleep. I laid in bed for a couple extra hours, but the sun was just pouring into my room. Eventually I got up and started cleaning up the house. I stopped at one point to watch Spider-Man: Homecoming, then took a late shower. My parents stopped in for a couple minutes to give me some harvested bananas and persimmons.

Mayra invited me to New China for dinner. Afterward, she, Armando, and I came back to my house and watched Scary Movie. It was a real blast from the past. Pop culture jokes basically serve as a reminder that those things happened.

You jumped off a sign and landed on your face.

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An Unexpected Trip

This week went by really fast. We ran a few relatively easy lines in the morning, went to Mulan’s for lunch, then I had a little help again in the afternoon with some other projects. Then things got… different?

I gave Zach a bit more insight into my anxiety, and in return I learned of a new place to avoid. On our way out, Summer was walking by and mentioned that her quiz bowl team was being recognized at the high school game. She invited me to meet her there, and while normally this would have been an easy, “no,” I had just joked with her earlier in the day that, though I may not bring much to the table, I always show up when invited.

So I did.

I made myself as small as possible and sat through the first half of a high school football game. It was nerve-racking at a level I have not experienced in a long time. It wasn’t until later in the evening that I realized how long ago our paths had really crossed.

This place terrifies me.

Paperclips: 30,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

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Unnecessarily Sat

I was stuck at Oakland pretty much all day today for a bit more testing. Fortunately, Ben came to help me run some cable that needed to be run, so my entire day wasn’t just a bust while I was there. It was super aggravating that I didn’t really resolve a single technology issue for them. Literally the only troubleshooting steps they have to follow are to restart the computer or move the kid to a different computer, but still I get pulled into a room because presumably I have some sort of techno-magic touch.

Casey is moving to a different campus, so they had a goodie table for her along with leftover chili dogs from their O’Down, so I had lunch with Becky there. Later in the afternoon, I went back to the office and found myself sleepy from sitting all day, so I just ended up chatting there until it was time to leave. I felt a bit guilty though, and ended up going to the junior high to wrap up a few loose ends, then took a new wireless access point back to Oakland on the way home to finish off the cable run from earlier in the day.

I had to get some gas, so I ended up stopping at AT&T to chat for a while before eventually making it home to some solo Rocket League. Eventually Josh came on, and we played doubles until bedtime.

At last, the war on drugs is over. We won.