Public Anxiety and the Importance of Context

A poster in health class about the tobacco industry.

Ben had me go to the junior high to log their phones back in this morning after a reset. There, I happened upon a curious poster about high school. By the time I was done, they said they didn’t need the extra help at the high school to hand out laptops, so I met up there at lunch and stayed for the afternoon. It was really pretty mellow, but I imagine the new kids coming in will be the worst part.

After work, Bác Vân called and offered some rice and shrimp she made, so I went and ate over there before coming back home. The cats were out of food, so I made a late night run to Walmart that really got to my nerves. I haven’t been quite right since then. Sometimes I want to go to see the world. Tonight I want to go to escape it.

Mini vacation soon. Maybe that’ll reset me.

It’s life. Nobody makes it out alive.

Staying

I spent all day today at the junior high. I still have one stubborn laptop that won’t install a particular piece of software, but I think I’ve managed to force it now. I only left once to go to Dwight, but my trip turned out for naught. Allen was already there, and had completed the task I was sent to perform.

As I was leaving work, Jesica called to let me know she had passed an exam for work. Once I got home, I had a couple spring rolls for dinner and continued texting Sarah H. for a bit since her birthday was yesterday. She’s planning a move to California soonish. I envy her bravery for such bold moves.

I don’t know what it’s like for you, but for me, staying is a little like watching yourself die in slow motion.

They don’t love you like I do.

This week is going to start out mellow, and quickly tighten up into major crunch time. I got to spend all day at Oakland working on a new printer. Nobody said anything about lunch, so I went to Wendy’s by myself. Their Coke Freestyle promotion has me drinking unhealthy drinks that I don’t want to drink, all for the hope of some tiny Amazon gift cards. Consumerism.

After work, I played some Rocket League with Josh so we could place ourselves in the competitive season. My parents brought over some spring rolls for me, so I ate a couple of them for a late dinner. I capped the night with the movie Arrival and a little drink. Stellar movie.

This is fine.

Movie Sunday

Rather than accomplish anything worthwhile today, I spent my time watching movies. I started off with Passengers before Johnny called and wanted to get a wireless card for his computer. I got a bit aggravated because as soon as he got here, he wanted me to drive. I figured he wouldn’t mind just picking me up since I was giving him something, but it didn’t work out that way.

After he left, Josh texted and wanted to hang out, so he came over and we watched Life of Pi. I was a bit worried that it wasn’t his kind of movie, but he really liked it a lot. He left after the movie, and I tried to continue watching Arrival, but my home theater PC just couldn’t keep up with the 4k resolution. I guess I see an upgrade in my future.

You want me to wipe your ass for you too? You smell like you forgot.

Grime Time

I woke up around 8 this morning and made the conscious decision to go back to sleep until around 11. I managed to get out of the house for some spring rolls at my parents’ house between Overwatch and Battlegrounds, but I didn’t accomplish anything beyond that.

Mom went to Tunica with some friend, I assume from work, and should be back tomorrow. At least she goes very rarely these days. I need to spend some time cleaning house. Any kind of progression at all, really.

There are just too many distractions.

MexiTown

I had most of the day to myself at work, so I’m almost done with all of my lab work. I can feel the crunch coming before school, though, so I’ll need to stay on task next week to make sure the group stuff goes as smoothly as possible.

For lunch, we went to Steve’s Snack Shack for some Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. I had Steve’s Steak Sandwich, which was awesome, though cumbersome to eat. I didn’t manage to get a picture of it, so I guess that means I’ll have to go back.

After work, Johnny called to confirm we were meeting up with Josh. Josh apparently didn’t accept the plans as confirmed and had his friend Chris over, so Johnny came to my house instead and we went to Dardanelle for a taco truck and mangonada. I’ve had better food from there, but the mangonada was delicious. Josh eventually came over, and we goofed around on YouTube for a while until Johnny left. Josh left shortly thereafter, and I ended up going to sleep relatively early for the weekend.

Too tired to blog? Get outta here!

Nice Rack!

It was more cable pulling at work today. I got a bit frustrated with some of the team for lack of participation and attitudes. Physical labor seems to really put all of those guys on edge. I was tired yesterday, but still in high spirits. Everyone else just turned sour.

I forgot that Mom had planned to make spring rolls after work, so I ended up eating a bunch of leftovers at home. Dad called earlier and said he spotted a server rack in a dumpster at work, so we went to check it out. We had to climb a ladder to get inside the dumpster, then lift the rack and all the side panels up and out of it. Somehow we managed to haul it home successfully. It’s a bit shorter than the one I wanted to take from work, but it has all of the sides and doors, plus it’s ready to use immediately unlike the ones at work.

Hopefully tomorrow’s a lighter day at work and I can spend some time in my own buildings.

And I’m just a little bit closer to turning all of this money into heat.

Getting Cable

We spent all day running network cable at the high school. When we weren’t running cable at the high school, we were running cable at one of the elementaries. At least lunch was Lenovo’s treat.

I was so exhausted after work that I went to my parents’ house to take a dip in the pool. It was my first swim all summer, and I needed it. It was my parents’ anniversary, but Mom fell asleep on the couch, so we didn’t go out for dinner. I had a leftover salad for dinner instead, then headed home.

I had forgotten about Sonic’s half-price cream slushes and shakes today, so I went back out to AT&T to visit and see if anyone there wanted to join me. I convinced Mayra to go, and we sat out on the patio to enjoy our treats.

Afterward, I came back home and played a couple rounds of Battlegrounds with Johnny, Clint, and Josh until my headache got the best of me.

If the headache doesn’t kill me, another charley horse like last night definitely will.

Catching Up to 2017

I got to spend all day catching up in my own buildings by myself, which means I got a lot done. All the teachers are starting to come back around, which seems only to serve as an annoyance to some of the guys I work with. I get really sick of their attitudes. I enjoyed seeing people again.

For lunch, it was just Dale and me at Arby’s. I tried out their new Triple Thick Brown Sugar Bacon BLT. The flavor was a bit too far on the sweet side for me. The bacon seemed overcooked and drenched in sauce/maple sugar glaze. Also there just wasn’t very much bacon on the sandwich. It could even have used a bit more tomato and lettuce. It was just overall a bit too saucy.

After work, I went to my parents’ house for some leftovers, then came home to a load of laundry and some Battlegrounds with Jack, Clint, and Johnny. I had my best game yet, which was nice.

Mood: Forlorn

This is Life

Wake up. Shit. Shower. Blow dry. Brush. Brush. Dress. Work.

It’s just another one of those long, inconsequential days.

I had surprisingly good Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch with Jason. Chicken wasn’t dry or over-sauced. Probably paid too much though. It wasn’t as hot outside as it has been. I dropped off an Amazon return at the UPS box, then came home and played a couple rounds of Overwatch before spending a couple hours on support chat with HTC to replace my phone before the warranty ends. Then it was Battlegrounds when Josh and Johnny got back on.

This is working so I can afford to keep working.