Tag: anger management

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#UnexpectedCrucifix

I went by the shop this morning to pick up a couple TVs for Athletics, and dropped them off at their office. After that, I stayed quietly busy in my office for most of the day. Allen invited me out to lunch, so we decided to try The Gunslingin’ Burger.

The staff was friendly, and the menu was quaint. They had a TV up with a special Murder Burger that looked pretty good, so I just got that without even bothering to look at anything else. Loaded Beer Cheese Fries on the side brought my total to just under $15, which set the bar pretty high.

After we ordered, we noticed the rest of the decor, which consisted of a giant, life-sized, floor-standing cross, and a jail cell. We took a photo op with the more interesting of the two, and then were relatively quickly served our meals. I was more than a little put off by the overall presentation, but it was cool that Allen could get a side of chili with his. My fries were pretty good, and the burger was tasty, but the price was all I could think about. The burgers were disappointingly flat, at about half the thickness of the photo. More vegetables would have given it the thickness I craved, but the sliced celery was an interesting addition that I enjoyed.

The cook came out a couple times, once to check on another couple of guys that were there, and again to check on us. The approach was a little bit awkward, but I could appreciate his desire to connect with his patrons. I hadn’t fully made up my mind by the time he came to us, so we just responded that everything tasted good, which wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t worth $15.

I actually left hungry, so I ran home and cut up another peach for my afternoon at work. I did a bit of running around, had a sit down political conversation in the library, and then left work to meet up at Summer’s for dinner. She grilled a bunch of meats to eat for the whole week, so tonight was rice, chicken, broccoli, and cheese. I threw all of mine into a bowl and just sort of mixed it up, and it was great. She didn’t take the girls to karate, and Autumn decided she didn’t need to go to the high school for whatever band fitting they were having, so I ended up leaving them there for the night so I could come back home.

I wanted to clean up a bit more, but most of my evening was spent getting distracted by different problems everywhere, and I was never satisfied with any fixes. My new WEMO switch still isn’t working, my WiFi is a mess because of it, and I’m overall just super frustrated with the whole process.

And for some reason, I’m still freakin’ hungry.

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In Charge

Summer and I got up this morning and went on a mission to replace the battery in the Murano. I didn’t even bother trying to start the car, and instead just pulled the battery out. We stopped at Wendy’s to pick up some breakfast just for the two of us, then ate it in the AutoZone parking lot before going inside. When we went inside, the store manager wasn’t there and we got a pretty young kid to just take the battery back and exchange it no questions asked. He didn’t even press me to let him test it. He just wandered straight back and got me a new one.

When we got back to the house, we got the battery in and then Summer took all the kids home to start their chores. I stayed pretty busy for the rest of the day. I opened up the car and pulled out the spare tire to find a big puddle of the spilled spring water from yesterday. Then I walked around outside with Bác Vân for a while. We moved one of the water hoses to the other side of the house, and chatted for a bit about the landscaping she’s done.

I spent the afternoon going in and out of the house, randomly cleaning and reorganizing things. I can actually walk up to one end of my workbench now, which was an accomplishment in itself. The only time I sat down for any length of time was after I installed another Belkin WEMO light switch and couldn’t get it to connect to my wireless.

Summer eventually made it back over for the evening after dropping Noah off at work and taking the girls to their father’s house. She settled in while I continued tinkering with my WEMO. Hopefully leaving it on overnight will help, and I won’t have to spend any more hours tomorrow getting the stupid thing to work.

I can’t even imagine not having to spend six hours connecting a smart device any more.

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I Have a Certain Set of Skills

Today was another beautiful day that made it hard to go inside to work. I spent all morning running back and forth across campus to close out some simple work orders. It went by a lot quicker than I expected, and I ended up taking a late lunch.

I just ran home and made a burrito to eat, then stopped by to see Summer on the way to the shop. I chatted with Gary for a bit, and then I ended up sitting with Ben for quite a while to figure out a way to bend Impero to our will, and it seemed to work at the time, but we won’t really know until tomorrow.

I didn’t get back to the high school until pretty late, so I wrapped up what I could and headed home. The girls were going to dinner with their father, so I thought I was going to just stay home and have dinner by myself, but Summer inadvertently talked me into coming up to have a late dinner with her.

Since I had what felt like hours to kill, I went to Walmart to track down some deals that Dad had spotted. They had the cheaper Nest thermostats marked down to $99, but I had hoped they were the higher end ones.

After covering the entire store, I finally made my way up the hill and scarfed some cold pizza with Summer. Then we all sat in the living room and watched some random clips on YouTube before bed.

I spent your money AND made you do the work! Hah!

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Ring That Bell

Today was a bit wet, but I never actually encountered any rain myself. I stopped by the shop first thing to return the furniture dollies. Ben said our talent pool wasn’t looking all that great, and asked if I had any friends that wanted to work with us, so I tried to get Josh to apply. He apparently just got a new job, which opened up when Justin left to work at Dover.

I spent all morning running around, trying to take care of the 10 or so work orders that I had gotten since I left on Thursday. Since stopping my morning Amlodipine, I’ve had to monitor my blood pressure again. It was actually a little bit low all day.

I took a quick break to run to McDonald’s for some discount lunch, and caught the mail lady just as I got back home with my food. Of course she didn’t ring my bell again, and instead just threw my letter in the back of her car. I wanted to really get on to her for not even trying to do her job, but she was such a miniscule little woman. She wasn’t friendly at all, but for some reason I still felt bad being upset at her.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly as people kept wandering into my office. I got stuck trying to fix one problem late in the afternoon, and didn’t ever get to many of my other work orders. I guess there’s always tomorrow.

Summer had already dropped the girls off at my house by the time I got home, so I just picked Autumn up and took her to an Explorer’s meeting. Then I went to my parents’ house for some dinner. They were at Kroger for hours, so I helped them bring in groceries before we ate. Julie called, and we had a conversation with emotions over speaker phone as she tried to organize our Disney trip.

By the time I got back home, it was pretty late and I was exhausted. Summer had taken Eaddie to pick up Autumn, and they all arrived home shortly after I did. I wrapped up my evening routine, and it was off to a relatively early bedtime.

Why don’t you just get to the point already?

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Daylight’s Burning

We slept in a bit today, and Summer took Autumn out to take care of something at the shop and get some milk for breakfast. Eaddie and I played the Switch while we waited for them to get back, and then we all had some cereal.

I wanted to get home to take care of some things, so I left and waited for the girls to come over. Uncle Giao and the rest of the family came by, so I went outside and talked to them for a while before eventually coming back in to shower.

The girls didn’t show up until the sun was going down, and I had to start the fire pit to cook brats for dinner, so I got absolutely nothing done that I wanted. Summer left before the fire was ready, and took Autumn to the haunted house again. Then we ate when she got back.

By the time we were finishing up, Autumn called for an early ride back home, so Summer picked her up and we all came in to watch Glee. Autumn went to bed really early, and it was a good thing because she missed a really bad Christmas episode. I don’t know what the writers were thinking.

It’s my money, and I want it now!

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On the Subject of Curing Teeth, Calculating Warranties, and Haunting Barns

I took the day off of work so I could get my wellness exam done first thing this morning. Summer came out with me to test my battery, and it predictably tested bad and then failed to start my car, so she had to pull around to jump me. I went home to clean up, then made it to my appointment with plenty of time to spare. Of course I didn’t even leave the waiting room until after my appointment time. I didn’t notice Lori was there until she came back out, and we caught up briefly.

I had a new nurse today. This makes three different people in the last three visits. I liked her quite a bit better just based on brevity alone. I got a new low score on my diastolic blood pressure, so she told me to quit taking my morning amlodipine. Now I’ve got to watch my blood pressure closely again for the next month, but maybe at least I won’t keep getting lightheaded every time I stand up.

The car struggled to start again, but I made it to the shop to pick up Summer, and we went to AutoZone to try and fight for a battery replacement. She went straight to the store manager, and he said he would take care of it, and then said my battery was out of warranty because it was a warranty replacement itself. That made enough sense to me at first, but after some more thought, I don’t think having a prorated warranty discount on this battery should invalidate its own warranty period. He said the original battery was purchased in 2014, and then replaced in 2017 with a prorated discount of $35. I still paid $114 to get a new battery at that point, and the receipt spells out the terms that the battery comes with a 5 year warranty from the date on the receipt. I’ve got another month to fight it, so I’m gonna get my battery.

I took Summer back to work for a while, but then had to jump the car again so I could pick up some breakfast for myself. I didn’t even realize McDonald’s would make a triple McGriddle, but they do, and it was glorious. I barely finished it in the parking lot before it was time to take Summer to her dentist appointment.

The filling of her two chipped teeth barely took any time, and I was surprised that they couldn’t have just taken the time to do it when we originally came in. Maybe it was just in case something else went wrong that would extend the procedure, but it was a pretty painless, quick in and out. The teeth were completely cured and ready for eating as we walked out.

The car wouldn’t start again when we tried to leave, so I called Dad and had him come jump us. Then I dropped Summer off at work and headed home to put the car on the charger. I moved the couch around a bit and did a little cleaning underneath it. I vacuumed out a bunch of spider egg sacks, but I couldn’t tell if they were new or old. It still made me feel better, and I never actually saw any spiders, so I assumed they were old.

I didn’t do a whole lot more before Mom got home from work and wanted to go out to eat, so I picked Summer up after work, then got the girls, and met my parents at New China for their COVID re-opening week. Their buffet was set up a lot less elegant than Mulan’s, but it could have been how many people were there. It just seemed like there was always a mob of people up at the bar, and there weren’t clear directions for people to enter or exit a certain direction. We missed the food though, so it was nice getting to have that brand of Chinese again.

Autumn volunteered for an Explorer’s event in Dardanelle that had her working a haunted house, so we left dinner and went to drop her off. There was no clear entrance or anything, so she and Summer wandered around the property to try and find an adult. It was set up in a barn at the Yell County fairgrounds complex, which was small anyway.

After dropping Autumn off, we went to get gas for both of our cars, then went to our respective homes until Autumn was finished late in the evening. I went to get her, and we got back to their house well after everyone had settled in to bed. At least all the battery charging seemed to help.

Pancake, cheese, sausage, cheese, sausage, bacon, egg, pancake.

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Exit Stage Lift

The Murano nearly didn’t start this morning in the cold, so I knew I’d have to take it in to have the battery checked again. I went on in to work and started the day by hunting down a lamp and the lift to repair the projector in the large band room. Then I piddled on a few different things until lunch. The girls wanted to ride their bikes to the park to do their school work, but ended up just getting lunch and taking it to Summer and then coming back home because it was so cool out.

I ran to Tropical Smoothie for lunch, then had to go to the post office to grab a letter that my mail lady made zero attempt to actually deliver. I stopped by the house to check on the girls, and got some pictures of my old life preservers for Daniel to see if they were “old and dirty” enough to fit in a play they’re doing. When I got back to work, I had a bit more running around to do in the afternoon before wrapping everything up for a long weekend.

Summer got off work right around the time I did, so she took the girls to karate so I could get the Murano to AutoZone. This college kid came out to test the battery, and basically just couldn’t help me because it was reading good at like 85% capacity. The alternator worked, predictably, because after the car runs for a few minutes, the battery has enough juice to crank again for a few hours.

Summer had me run by the shop to get her battery tester so we could test it in the morning after a cold night. Then I went home to clean up before getting the girls home from karate. I made a salad for dinner, then laid on the couch with Summer until bedtime.

“I’ll let the manager know.”
“Sure, buddy.”

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Trump Town

I got a bit sidetracked today, but that’s not out of the ordinary. I still felt alright about what I accomplished, but it also kind of feels like there’s never any way out. Summer took the girls to work with her, but none of them would respond to me all morning, so I took a late lunch and went home to eat a burrito by myself.

After lunch, I discovered that Summer had lost her phone. I was mostly concerned that someone had stolen it, and tracked it down to a specific house just south of Scottsville. It took me a while to get an answer out of anyone, but Summer realized she dropped it in a customer’s car and just didn’t feel the urgency of getting it back.

When I left work, I dropped by the shop to see them, then rode on up through Dover to retrieve it. It was a really nice ride, apart from all the bugs. Trump flags were out in full force, and someone had placed a hay bale on top of another and painted it to look like old Donnie. It was actually kind of cute. The “neighborhood” was actually really cute, and I was surprised at how many houses were out there along that road. Luckily I found an old lady outside, and I guess it was her family across the street that had the phone.

With that relief, I headed back to town and delivered Summer’s phone to her at Planet Fitness. Then I met them all at my parents’ house after the girls finished karate. Mom made chow mein, and we even got Autumn to eat some. We didn’t stick around too long since Summer was exhausted from her chaotic week. At least she managed to get her stitches out today. Next week has got to be better.

That’s 2020 for you.

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Smashing Good Time

We got up this morning and almost immediately got up to start cleaning up around the house. I still had trouble finding a good focus, but managed to mostly stay busy. Summer went to the gym for a while, then came back and tried to clean up the patio a bit so we could have a fire in the evening.

A little while later she got a work call and ultimately had to go in to resolve an issue with a customer. Not long after she got back, I took a call from Mark and had a short remote session to work through some questions with Google Calendar.

By the time that was all done, it was about time to meet Suzanne and Trent at Linhs for dinner. It was relatively slow and quiet in there, yet somehow a group was sat right behind us. I haven’t been impressed at all with any of the new servers in there. Our spring rolls lagged behind our meal, and we basically never saw the girl again after she took our orders. At least the company was good, and it was nice to catch up again.

After dinner, we came back to the house and started a little fire. There were enough small branches to actually start a proper flame, but the logs burned really smokey. It was a good time though, and a beautiful night. Suzanne accidentally shattered one of my fancy glasses, so I’ll have to re-complete that set the next time they go on sale. Otherwise it was a really good day, and I can’t wait to get the old, ratty furniture out tomorrow for bulk item pickup day.

This is why we use plastic.

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Bake and Fry and Grill, Oh My!

We got up this morning and had the last of the eggs. I’ve really enjoyed frying eggs. They’re so simple, and so delicious. Summer left for the gym while I got baked potatoes ready for dinner with my parents. For as little as I actually did, I was still just completely beat.

The cat refused to eat anything again, which has been wearing on me more than anything else. He tried to throw up his medicine today, but Summer said it just came out foamy. I don’t know what else to do.

I had to run to Walmart for some stuff for the twice-baked potatoes, then came home to load everything up and head to my parents’ house. The girls were back home, so they beat me there and were playing in the pool. I got there and started frying bacon for the potatoes. Everything came together reasonably well, but there were just so many people there with the girls, Julie, and Nova.

Afterward, I came straight home and tried to bring the cat in. He immediately went and had diarrhea in the tub, which really was the best possible scenario. He also dumped water all over the kitchen floor though, so I just kept running around after him, trying to clean up. He has me absolutely ragged. Every day, I wish they had just put him out of both of our misery.

The vet never asks about your quality of life.