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Working Boy

I was surprised at how easily I got out of bed this morning. It wasn’t great, but I didn’t feel awful. It was pitch black outside, and Summer was dead asleep, so I loaded everything up and headed out of town. I stopped at McDonald’s in Morrilton for some breakfast since I was about 20 minutes early. The sun didn’t come up until I was nearly to Little Rock. In spite of what Randy said, there was no one at the office when I got there. I was the first car on the lot, by several minutes. He finally showed up closer to seven, and I walked in with him.

Things went pretty slowly for me all day. Randy drove me around, first to the middle school to check out why the wireless was down. They ended up leaving me in the library for a really long time, so I just paced back and forth, looking out the giant picture window at the courtyard where kids walked around the turf for “PE.”

Next, we went to the administration building and got my paperwork finished before helping with a couple things. I felt good about being able to provide accurate assistance as Randy struggled with a shared inbox. Then we waited around until a school board finance meeting. There was also a new tech that stopped in, and Randy showed both of us how to run the cameras for the board meetings. Then it was just the two of us sitting in while they met over lunch. They did at least feed us a boxed lunch from Corky’s. It wasn’t the worst barbecue I’d had in my life, but they made a solid run at it.

After the meeting, we finally headed back to the office and I basically just relaxed while Randy and Maggie worked on some things. They scheduled me for the Arkansas Conference of Technology, which had me excited until I realized they wouldn’t be paying for my hotel. It was expected to get a hotel when I worked farther away from the conference, but now I have a daily commute to the city, so a hotel isn’t justified.

The drive home was in way heavier traffic, but at least it was uneventful. I got home and fried some tater tots so Summer and I could finish up the last of the burgers, and then I took the dogs out for a run. They did pretty well, but Stilgar needs to be leash trained badly. He’s too strong and too heavy to be yanking us around at every perceived critter we encounter. We stopped to see my parents briefly, and then continued around the neighborhood on a different path than usual until we got home.

Eaddie didn’t get home until late, and then came to talk to me about her Imagine Dragons concert the night before. Her father got them tickets near the front, but when ushers couldn’t find their proper seats, they were given pit passes, so they had a great time. Of course Summer was long in bed, so I was just happy to wind down before my previous bedtime, before I had to wake up two hours earlier.

PLAYBACK ERROR

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Working Girl

I got up early with Summer this morning so I might be able to go to bed early tonight. Even Eaddie got up pretty early because she had to record a session at Tech. I cleaned up some leftovers by making steak and eggs for Summer and myself, and then she went to work to help replace a starter in Trent’s car. I cleaned up the kitchen, washed dishes, and started some laundry before she got home.

I kept busy as the day flew by. Eaddie got home and then left to go to an Imagine Dragons concert with her father. Summer got home, but didn’t have long before she had to go to Greenbrier to train the staff there on how to properly clean the wash. Mom started making shrimp noodle soup early so Summer could come eat before she left town.

I took my Onewheel with us so Summer could leave straight for work, and then after I ate, I rode home to take the dogs out on a run. They were pulling pretty hard, and Stilgar is heavy and strong enough that it’s a real problem on the Onewheel. I got a prong collar in from Amazon Vine today, but I’ll need some walking time with him alone to properly train him.

We rode nearly four and a half miles, stopping briefly at my parents’ house for a drink. I should have brought their water bottle too, because Stilgar was super thirsty when we finally made it home. Overall they did fairly well even when we encountered other people with dogs, but they’re just too strong for me to pull away from a distraction when I’m on the Onewheel.

Once we got home, I fed them and took a late shower. Then I packed up a few last-minute things for the new commute starting tomorrow. Who knows what new adventures await. At least they pay better.

But that drive, though.

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Reasor’s Peacers

We got up early today for Conquer the Gauntlet in Tulsa. Eli came over and we headed straight out of town, stopping at Casey’s in Van Buren for a charge and some breakfast pizza, and then again at a small town gas station so the girls could use the restroom. We got to the 181 Ranch a little later than Summer wanted, but presumably they had plenty of time to get registered for their start time. I just dropped them off and drove into town to try and find somewhere to charge.

I ended up at a grocery store called Reasor’s, which seemed like a nice, clean, upscale place compared to where we can shop closer to home. The PlugShare app showed two chargers, but I think there was really only one. I plugged in and walked next door to Lowe’s where they had some larger-than-life Halloween decorations up.

I didn’t find anything else of interest, but I picked up a couple succulent leaves off of the floor to try my own hand at propagating them on the car dash while I waited. They didn’t do much in the few hours I had to wait. I went into the grocery store and ended up getting some beer because I figured it was cheaper than what I could get at home. I waited around for a little bit and then headed back toward the farm. I had gotten pretty close when I realized I looked at the clock wrong, and I was about an hour early. While on the road, I tried to call Diana about her home that we viewed, but after all the messages I’d gotten from Alisha about how she was concerned that she’d missed my call, she didn’t answer and I left a voicemail.

I drove back to the charger and had to ask an old guy in an old minivan to move so I could charge. He looked a little cranky, so I kind of expected a fight, but fortunately he was super nice. I ended up going inside with my laptop to experience their incredibly slow Wi-Fi. I got a text back from Diana and invited her to lunch next week, so worst-case scenario, we feed a sweet, old lady and we don’t buy a house. Or maybe that’s the best-case scenario. Who’s to say?

This time, I headed back to the farm on time and picked up Eli and the girls just as they were finishing changing. We loaded up and drove back toward town to eat at a place called Tijuana’s, which boast the “best Mexican food south of the Arkansas River.” I’m pretty sure Mexico has something to say about that, but I’m not here to start a fight. The food was okay, but the cheese dip was weird. As we left, I noticed the donut shop a few doors down in the stripmall was called “Donuts Near Me.” I could just see navigation systems bringing people from miles away, who were searching for nearby donuts.

Our next stop was a Supercharger in the Tulsa Hills Shopping Center. I think Dad and I stopped there on one of our trips when I was looking for Ember mugs at Targets all over the state. We went into a retro game place called Vintage Stock, which had a ton of stuff to buy, but no other large displays from movies or events like they have at Gamepoint in Conway. From there, we walked up the strip and got some dessert at Peachwave. They had edible cookie dough and various frozen yogurts, as well as Dole Whip in a few different flavors. I got the Whip to avoid any trouble with milk. We had plenty of time to charge while we walked around, and then we headed home.

Not terribly far along our drive, I hit a small box sitting square in the road, which had an empty bottle of diesel exhaust fluid. It didn’t seem to make any trouble, but as I pulled over, it started kicking rocks up onto the hood and windshield. I didn’t see any damage though, and we continued all the way to Ozark for another charge. That was where I discovered we still had the cardboard box stuck on the skid plate, but it still didn’t appear to have damaged anything.

We made it home just after dark, unloaded, and then I played with the dogs for a while. They had a new chew toy of questionable integrity, so I brought it back inside before I left them. Then I played with the other new review fodder I got from Amazon. This time it was some pretty cool stuff, like a cocktail smoker and a surprisingly good hand-cranked coffee grinder.

Summer had passed out early watching Aladdin. Eaddie was up late for some reason. I finally made it to bed just after midnight. Overall, I think it was a successful trip, and easily the most comfortable one I’ve been to while waiting in the car.

INTO THE UNKNOOOOOOWWWWWWNNNNNNN

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Food? Check.

I got up fairly early again, so my sleep schedule is slowly getting back to normal. I’ve enjoyed making coffee at home, but I’m not sure I’m ready to make it a part of my early morning routine before my drive to work. It just seems to taste better when I brew it while I’m on the clock.

Summer wanted to try Check-H, the re-skinned Western Sizzlin, so I met her there after I took a shower. It was absolutely identical, all basically run by the same people. I guess they finally paid off, or didn’t need the franchise any longer. I never really understood how that worked. Jen actually saw me and patted me on the shoulder while I was getting dessert, and we talked briefly about my sudden departure from Two Rivers, and we wished each other well. I also spotted Todd and his wife finding a table just as we were finishing up. Overall, the food was identical, and it was still one of the lesser experiences I’ve ever had there. It was fine, but I prefer days with steak and shrimp on the bar.

After we ate, Summer had to go downtown to help one of her employees with his dead car. We tried jumping it with the Murano, but the starter would just click once and never crank. They worked on it for a while, and fortunately he parked it right outside Bumper to Bumper, but the only help they could provide was to suggest the car wasn’t worth the cost of repair.

I headed on home and waited for the girls to get home. Summer was a little later than she said she would be, and once Eaddie got home, she wanted some peace and quiet to record her flute. Summer went out back to work on the porch, and I took the dogs for a ride.

We went to visit with Dad, and I talked to him about the house we viewed yesterday. I had been getting excited about it, but when I talked to Kevin, he said he really needed three bedrooms. I don’t understand the appeal of staying in a duplex when he could move somewhere even slightly better for similar money, but maybe we can talk more about it later. Alisha actually texted and said the homeowner liked us, so we traded numbers and we may try taking her out to lunch next week.

Mom got home from work and we walked the dogs around the back yard for a while before I got them home. Then Summer and I picked up Nova and came back to my parents’ house for phở. Mom used the oxtail I got from Kim, and she and I each bit into a little lead pellet in the meat. Someone must have shot the cow in the rear with birdshot for some reason. It wasn’t a surprise for those Yell County folk.

Summer wanted me to drop her off first so she could pack for her Conquer the Gauntlet race in the morning. I took Nova back to her dorm and then came home to a quiet house. I got things wrapped up super early, so hopefully I’ll be able to pass out quickly.

water water water

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No, but Yes

I was a little on edge this morning as I waited for a call from Moodle. I woke up early and Summer was around for a little while before work, and then I made some coffee and cleaned up a little bit while I waited. I eventually got a text, and about ten minutes later a call in the early afternoon, and she apologized for the missed communication. They filled the position, but would have a different one open at the start of next year if I would be available. This worked out pretty beautifully, since Randy would later confirm my employment in North Little Rock.

I took a breather as the afternoon flew by, and then Summer came to get me so we could go look at a house across town. That ended up being a pretty neat experience. The house was small, but super cute, and seemed to be well maintained. As we ended our visit, Alisha spotted the owner in the driveway next door, so she walked over to ask a question we had about the property line. Another guy drove up to look at the house unannounced, so the homeowner went to talk with him, and then came over to talk to us. She ended up taking us back inside to tell us the rich story about her life and the home.

Her father built the house for her mother in 1961 or ’62, and she knew the history of all the surrounding farmland before it was developed. She had all kinds of improvements made and maintenance done, and the house really did appear loved. I was a little concerned about the number of cameras outside, but it made sense for her situation. The lot seemed to be fairly sized, which was difficult to discern from the maps I found online. Summer was nervous about taking on additional debt, but we’ve been doing so well, and I may have an opportunity for immediate income.

We finally left and stopped by the old house before going home. She thought she had a Tech event for work, but ended up back home because she had the dates wrong or something. I took the dogs out for a run, but then wiped out going pretty fast just a few houses down the road. I don’t know how I didn’t take more damage, because I tumbled over backwards and lost my phone out of my pocket. I must have rolled just right to take the inertia out of the fall. I took the dogs back home since Summer was still in the driveway, and then the neighbor rode over on her little recumbent trike. I shook off a bit while we talked, and ended up continuing my ride with the dogs to my parents’ house.

I visited with them for a little while and then ended up just going straight back home. The dogs had been pulling kind of hard all night, and I was still feeling shaky on my board. I got them fed, and then I came inside to watch the recorded Linkin Park streaming event. I’ve never had a more emotional connection with a band, and I don’t entirely know why. Maybe it’s nostalgia, or maybe it’s power in the vocals, but I was weepy the entire show, even with their new singer that made me feel a little iffy about them.

I got hungry late and ate some leftover pizza and fried mushrooms. Eaddie got home from her away game and went to her room to study and sleep. I thought I’d get to bed early, but I missed. I won’t be able to keep that up if I’m going to make it to Little Rock by seven o’clock in the morning for five days a week.

Get some cheddar for now, and worry about the rest later.

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Mystery Pasta

Johnny woke me up again this morning for more help with his server project. He was having trouble getting storage drivers working so he could install Windows Server, but he eventually got it going by manually trying several different ones by trial and error. I got around to some leftover Pasta Grill and finished my spaghetti, but left my lasagna for later in the day.

Randy has been great about my multiple interviews and other potential opportunities, so I wanted to reach back out to Moodle before the school board meeting. I assumed they had a lot of candidates to process, and I figured there was no way they would just ghost me at this stage, but I was feeling a little discouraged that I hadn’t heard anything at all since my skills test. I got a response pretty quickly, but I’ll have to wait for a call tomorrow morning to see if I’m actually moving forward. I just don’t want to leave Randy hanging since he’s ready for me to work if I don’t get a better offer.

I put on some tunes, had a nice shower, and then got to cleaning up around the house. I cleaned up all the dog stuff we’ve been accumulating and put it into a rolling rack that’s just been sitting in the corner. The dining room table had gotten a little wild, so I put a bunch of random stuff away, and did some more organizing. I’ve got to get the hard floors clear of clutter and mopped up in preparation for the new Roborock.

Summer came home early, but not as early as she thought she would. I thought we might do something together in the afternoon, but she had a headache and just took a bath and laid on the couch, so I took the dogs out for a run. They weren’t as good as yesterday, but we still had a good time. We got to visit my parents, did a couple extra laps around the new subdivision, took a break in the basin, and finally headed back home.

I worked up a little bit of an appetite, so I warmed up a burger for dinner, then put Summer to bed early. Eaddie came home late again and asked if we could leave the house on Friday so she could “lock in” her flute recording. I wrapped up a bit early myself, and made it to bed before midnight.

No sense worrying about making the wrong choice before it’s even presented.

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Email From the 1900s

My Onewheel was out for delivery today, so I paid extra attention to the front door to make sure I could be there to sign for it. I made myself a pretty good looking burger for brunch, and then helped Julie set up some web hosting so she could get a business email set up. When I heard the mail truck pull up, I went outside to fetch the mail. I stopped on the way back inside to check on my black widow, and then the UPS truck pulled up. I got my Onewheel unboxed and charging, and unfortunately my odometer had been reset, but at least it worked.

I dug through Namecheap and Hostinger to try and pick hosting for Julie, and ultimately just kept it all on Namecheap thinking it would be easier for her for not much difference in price for her current needs. It astounded me how web hosting is still just as complicated as it was back when I started this type of stuff over 20 years ago. I tried to break it down for her as simply as I could, but it wasn’t until late in the evening that I got her email going.

Summer had range anxiety after going to Little Rock and Greenbrier for work, but she made it without any trouble. I even had enough charge to take her car across town to get Zaxby’s for Eaddie, who was working late at the high school.

As soon as I got home, I took the dogs out for a really fast and long run on the Onewheel. We stopped to see my parents, but they were gone, so we continued on around to the basin trail. We stopped to rest on a bench for a while, and the dogs sat nearby for pets. They did super well, and I hoped they would tire out for the night. They had killed a tiny, baby possum the night before, so I had to bury it when we got back home.

Summer was in a bit of pain for the rest of the night, so I didn’t see much of her. Eaddie came home earlier than she expected and wanted me to go get her some cigarette papers to clean her flute, so I drove to the closest gas station, which didn’t sell them. That led me to Casey’s, who sold them, but didn’t have any without the glue. I didn’t feel like running to another store though, so I picked up what they had, along with a freebie cookie, and headed home.

I ended the night completing new-hire paperwork for the North Little Rock School District, and then tinkered with Julie’s email some more. Evidently it didn’t automatically point the domain to the host, even though the purchase specifically asked me to do so since they were both purchased from Namecheap. With that finally working, it was time for bed.

What do we want?
Low-flying airplane noises!
When do we want them?
Nnnnnooooooooowwwwww! 🛩️

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Clean in an Hour or Less

I thought Summer might rush me out of bed a little earlier, but she let me sleep in a bit. I made some coffee once I got up, and then got ready for another work trip to Conway. She was stressing about performing a site inspection, so I washed her car for nearly an hour in the manual wash while I waited. After that, I went to the junk store again, but she texted just after I got a couple aisles into the store. I bought a few snacks and went back to get her, and then we drove through town looking for some food.

We ended up at Hideaway Pizza, as recommended by my pal Kevin. The fried mushrooms were spectacular, but I let Summer pick the pizza. She wanted their “Maui Magic” with Canadian bacon, pineapple, and mandarin oranges. Our server recommended barbecue sauce instead of red sauce, so we decided to get it on half of the pizza and get red sauce on the other half. Then Summer piped up that she wanted to add olives to the barbecue half as well. I was fine with most of this until the pizza came to the table and she claimed the “interesting” half of the pizza for herself. She knows I find pizza with only a couple toppings to be quite dull, and that I didn’t want a Hawaiian pizza to begin with.

We ate, and then I took us shopping through Best Buy and PetSmart before going back to Bargain Hunt. We got just a few more things and then headed home so we could go to my parents’ house for barbecue chicken wings and corn.

I fed the dogs, and then we walked them over to my parents’ house to have a swim while Dad cooked. Julie and Kevin eventually showed up, and then Eaddie walked over once she finished with school stuff. Stilgar was loving putting his snout into the pool and blowing bubbles before drinking the water. When Summer and I got out of the pool, I went in to help Julie register their domain before we ate.

The walk home was dark, but nice. It was actually cool enough today that I wasn’t dripping sweat at the end of it all. The dogs also did much better. I fed them once more, and then everyone was off to bed.

I crave MEAT!

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Grungeday

I slept fairly late today because I slept pretty well. Eaddie left for church, and we didn’t see her until bedtime. I got up and made some coffee, and then watched some robot mop reviews with Summer. She liked the idea of something to keep the floors from tracking dust, so I did a little last-minute research and ended up buying the new Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra while it was on sale. It’ll be overkill, but I think it will bring some much-needed sanity back since we’re tracking so much dust through the back door from the dogs.

Summer went to the gym and then came home to mow the lawn. I tried to blow some of the dirt back into the holes the dogs have been digging under the fence, but she ran me off to do some trimming in the front yard instead. Just as I was nearing the end, it started to rain pretty heavily. Luckily Summer finished mowing, and we hung out on the back porch with the dogs for a bit.

Summer had to go to work for a little while in the afternoon, so I worked on some other things around the house until she got back. Then we took the dogs out for a walk to my parents’ house. It must have been the rain this time, because they were super bad about pulling on the leash again today. We eventually made it home and fed them again.

I snacked quite a bit because I never really felt like making another burger. I showered late in the evening after collecting a fairly long day of grime. Eaddie got home late, and then she and Summer went to bed. I shopped for some more review materials on Amazon Vine for a while, and eventually settled in as well.

Big money

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It Ain’t Too Early

I set an alarm today so I could get up and ready to go to Conway with Summer. She needed to shuffle some chemicals around between some of her washes, so we went to Morrilton to pick up a bunch. Then we made it to Conway in time to watch Twisters. I found the first half of the movie to be pretty dull, but eventually they got some character discovery going and it made the last half palatable. It was just too much dumb cowboy storm chasing stuff, throwing caution to the vortex-shaped wind.

After the movie, we headed up to Greenbrier to drop off and get some different chemicals for Russellville. Fortunately we didn’t actually have to deliver those right away, so we went back to Conway and did some shopping.

Our first stop was Bargain Hunt where we picked up just a few small things. Then we went to Kohl’s and shopped for a while until Summer got hungry. I did a quick search and found a well-rated cajun and steak place on the east end of town called Almost Famous Smokehouse & Grill. They had a good variety and good flavors, but they appeared to have some trouble in the kitchen. Service was a bit slow, and the small dining room filled up quickly. Both of our meals were served with incorrect choices. I asked for beer-boiled shrimp, but got fried. I think Summer was supposed to have a potato with her steak, but got rice. She liked how her food was cooked, but I thought the steak was a little under. My catfish was overcooked and dry. Otherwise, everyone was super friendly, and I’d definitely give them another try.

After we ate, I made Summer follow me through Target and Home Depot before we headed toward home. I made a quick stop in Morrilton for a keg of Fireball in case Aunt Diane comes down to visit for the holiday. Once we got back home, I reflected on the small taste of the drive I’ll have to make five days a week if I don’t get an offer from Moodle. It really got me considering another Model 3, but I just think it’s a bad time to buy.

Eaddie and Eli were at the house when we got home. Summer and I took the dogs out for a quick walk around the block before it got dark, and we sent Eaddie to pick up her car after she left it at school from the football game last night. When she finally got back home, Summer went to bed and Eaddie and I chatted for a little while, and we eventually went to bed.

And It Ain’t Too Late