Tag: anger management

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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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Grand.

I got out of the house super early today just in case traffic was awful. There were tons of trees down along the way to work, and the house across from the school had like three trees blown right over. Of course I actually beat everyone to work, but Kim was right behind me to let me into the office. The day went by super fast, but ham and cheese wraps didn’t sound at all appetizing. I ended up taking James to the Junction Cafe for lunch, to needlessly build a little more rapport. I’m just too nice.

The afternoon went by quickly as well, and Kim and James both left at 3:30, which still shocks me. I don’t think he’s worked eight hours yet. I stuck around to get my hours, because I ain’t no cheater. I headed straight home, and Summer had veggies, potatoes, and sausage in the oven. Eaddie had Eli over, and it didn’t take long for me to get generally irritated.

Stilgar chewed the water hose apart, so I spanked him with it. It didn’t stick, because he was right back on it after I went inside. I wasn’t in the mood for company, and there was food rotting in the fridge, so I didn’t eat any of the new food. Summer wound down early, and I took the dogs for a walk to my parents’ house as the sun set. We got home with the last little bit of twilight, and then Dad wanted to come over to update his new DJI FPV drone. Their cable has been out for a few days, and I don’t know if there’s an ETA for repair.

We eventually got the drone updated, and the Roomba suddenly wasn’t fussy about being on my account, so I left it alone. Dad went home, and I wound down as quickly as I could.

It’s complex.

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No, but Maybe

I forgot to grab a banana for work this morning, so I started off hungry. It was pretty quiet, but I still had plenty of time to vent about the surrounding idiocy. I was a bit more helpful today, and it seemed like James was getting into a little bit of a groove. I still don’t know if he’ll stick around, but I guess he is making more than I was. I could see him leaving for Russellville, since he evidently lives just a few blocks away from us.

I did get a call from Grace Manufacturing, which was a bit of a surprise. They turned me down for the job I interviewed for, but liked me well enough to call back because one of their IT guys is retiring in a few months. I laughed a bit that they were actually able to get ahead of that and train someone before he leaves, unlike schools where they just play catch-up forever. I’ll get to have a real interview next week, so I feel like I have a pretty good chance of getting an offer from them. Tomorrow, I’ll have my call with Moodle too, so I really need to study up for that one in the morning.

I was the last one out of the office again, this time messing around with SCCM. I should just leave it, but I also don’t want to make it seem like I didn’t actually have it working. I need to be able to image at least one computer to prove it works before I go.

After work, I took care of the fish and made it home to eat some of the leftover tacos Dad brought over. Then I was pretty quick to take the dogs out for a run. We got to the end of my parents’ street when my Onewheel just died. Luckily I was coming up to a stop, so I just tipped forward and stumbled off of it, but all the lights went out and I could never get it to wake up again. I ended up carrying it, a water bottle, and two bags of poop, all while trying to keep the dogs from pulling me over all the way to their house.

Dad got the DJI FPV drone in, and unboxed it before he had to go water the plants. I had Summer bring my swimsuit over so I could cool off, and we played with the dogs by the pool. Stilgar really wanted in, so I splashed him a bunch to cool him off. Then Summer took everything else home so I could walk the dogs back. It was a struggle, but we made it through the humidity of the evening.

Eaddie got home a little after I did, and spent some time talking to Summer while I wound down for the night. Muad’Dib really doesn’t seem to like the Ol’ Roy that we’ve gotten for them, so I guess I’ll have to keep buying something better.

Pay the bills!

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Hold the Phone

I spotted a Cybertruck at the new donut shop on the way to work, and I wondered if the owners were just crazy Tesla people like us. I don’t mind the way they look, but I do think it’s stupid how polarized people are over them. I’ve been listening to podcasts on my commute, and though I guess I’m a little late to start doing that, I’ve been enjoying it. Today was The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart, since he’s basically the only person who can present politics in a way that I can enjoy them.

I wasn’t going to do much at work, but then James and Kim managed to break the counselor’s phone. I finally went down to the elementary with him after lunch and fixed her phone there, but then I had to fix the one at the high school too.

My interview had to be rescheduled again for an “ongoing family emergency,” so hopefully everything is alright for my interviewee. I headed home with a couple things from the old house and ate a couple leftover burritos since I skipped out on cafeteria spaghetti for lunch. Eaddie and Eli were watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but left for the park when that was over. I cleaned up the kitchen before Summer got home, and then Dad came by with some leftover tacos from church.

It was hot and humid out, but I took the dogs for a run. They did really well again, but Stilgar struggled with the heat. They drank all of their water and we took a slower pace on the last leg of the walk. I’d be alright with some cooler weather.

“How do you spell literacy?”
“I-R-O-N-Y”

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Experience Depreciation

I got up extra early today so I could try and beat the new guy to work, but that failed for multiple reasons. I stopped at Taco John’s for breakfast, which ate up all of that extra time, but he also showed up a full hour early. Todd had already given him the tour, and as I would learn later, Samuel had actually given him a tour the week before last, while I was still there. In fact, Samuel was the one that called him the week that Blake told me they weren’t going to keep me, and told him they were looking for a new Tech Coordinator. The entire thing has been super shady, and it just made my day worse and worse until the end.

I walked around with him again and we visited all of the switch closets in the high school and elementary. We didn’t bother going anywhere else, and I probably won’t, except maybe Plainview to see if there’s anything out there that I want for myself. Maybe I could get lucky and find some rails.

We had several waves of kids come in for password resets, but otherwise it was relatively quiet. I had to keep telling him that I wished him the best of luck in spite of how crappy they’ve been to me, but secretly I just hope he gets the same and leaves them in a short amount of time. It’s just not fair that I invested all of that time and effort to fix so many major problems, and he gets to come in and ride the calm seas at a higher rate of pay with two fewer years of school experience.

I was the last one out of the office, and I had already relinquished my keys, but luckily Keith was there and I could borrow his to lock the office. I headed toward home and fed the fish, and got gas at Casey’s. Summer was making a baked spaghetti with pink sauce when I got home, and I just held her for a bit before I got changed and went out to sit with the dogs.

Summer called Eaddie home for dinner, and the three of us ate. Julie called because she saw a Cybertruck in town and thought it might actually be me. Then I went out for a run with the dogs. They did super well, ran hard, had some mostly solid poops, and for the most part weren’t too bad about getting distracted until the very end. It got dark fast, so we only stopped at my parents’ house long enough to say, “hello.”

I wound down pretty quickly, and everyone was off to bed. It was an awful, emotional, maddening day of being the better person, and the frustration of living by an unmatched code of integrity just made me incredibly sad.

And either I’m right and justice is never served, or I’m wrong and I go to Hell anyway.

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Collared Greens

Summer was up early doing some work, and I ended up sleeping in later than I wanted. I eventually got up and made some more eggs for breakfast, and even cleaned up some leftover stir fried beef. It was rainy all morning, but it eventually dried up enough to go out with the dogs.

Eaddie wanted to take my car to drive around with her friends because it was nicer than her Pathfinder, and we ended up having a big family discussion after she didn’t like my answer. That threw all of us off for the rest of the day.

I took a really late shower and then took the dogs out for a walk. We took a new path up and around Inglewood this time, and on the way home I couldn’t break their focus off of a nearby squirrel. I’ve got to do something to fix that behavior, because Stilgar is just able to throw around too much weight.

They were about out of food when I got back with them, so I got Summer up and we went to Walmart to look around a bit. We got more food, and a couple cowhide sticks for them to chew on, with the hopes that they’d stop chewing on important things. Eaddie spotted us while we were there, but we didn’t actually see her. She was out super late, and we ended up going to bed before we ever saw her again.

Interesting days ahead…

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Interview Season

I let myself sleep in a while since I was up so late, but I still wanted to get up early enough to shower before my phone interview. I had leftover waffles for breakfast while Summer was at work, and then went outside to clean up after the dogs. They had gotten into a bag of potting mix and dumped it all over the porch, and at some point they also killed a possum. I cleaned up some poop in the yard, but I’d have to borrow a better shovel to dig a hole for the possum.

Eaddie went out with her friend Autumn once they got up. I sat down for my interview with DeepNet, and as the appointment time passed, I saw an email from the lady saying she couldn’t make it due to a family emergency. Fortunately I also made the shortlist for a job with Moodle, and the pay should be comparable to what I’ve been making. It’d be nice to get a raise, but not having to leave the house will save me some money and a lot of time.

Dad was mowing the lawns across town and wanted help moving a display case out of Bác Vân’s house, so I called Eaddie back with my car and headed over. The restoration people were also there to fix the drywall in the front bedroom, but I didn’t see much of them. It took some work to air up the tires in an old dolly to move the case, but we got it into his car and then I headed back toward home. I stopped and saw Mom along the way to borrow a shovel. Summer was home when I got there, so I sat with her for a little while.

Mom had leftover pork chops and noodles for dinner, so Summer and I headed over for that. We tried to get Eaddie to walk the dogs over, but she insisted that she couldn’t, and I drove back home to take them on the Onewheel while she drove over. We got there, I tied the dogs up, and then Summer and I went for a swim. Eaddie yelled at me for disciplining the dogs for being bad around the cat in the yard, and I got mad at her for speaking out of turn when I’ve been the only one to actually try and fix their behavior.

From there, the girls went home and I continued around the block with the dogs. They were still pulling really hard and trying to chase things, but we made it home alive. Everyone went to bed pretty quickly after that.

Sleep time.

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Big Ask

Breakfast was better this morning, but Kim was by all accounts worse. She disappeared often, and left at some point to drive to another town to retrieve her wallet from her husband’s unlocked truck where he parked at work. Fortunately it was mostly quiet for me. The afternoon dragged horribly after we got our hibachi food truck for lunch.

I got a call from Grace Manufacturing to do a same-day phone interview, so I took that at the end of the day after everyone had left. I thought it went alright, but I had the feeling they weren’t looking to pay anywhere near my asking price, and it’s not at all in the technology field either.

I eventually made it to the old house to grab some things and feed the fish. Then I headed home for some peace for a while before Summer got home and I left with the dogs. I took their water bottle along this time, and it really seemed to help pace them. We stopped at my parents’ house, and then went through the basin again. We ran across several others walking dogs, so we had to take some breaks and then ended up on the divided street before circling through the neighborhood again to get home.

Noah was back for some reason. Then Eaddie got home late, and I was upset at the state of her room. Summer failed to take the evening off for our concert tomorrow, and Eaddie still doesn’t want to go next week, and it has me wondering why I plan anything with them at all.

Good boys, anyway.

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Unintegritous

I ran a little late this morning, guilt-free. I even got a burrito on the way in. Good vibes only.

My morning was eaten up by people stopping by the office, and about a thousand phone calls from Denice. She seemed unsympathetic when I finally told her it was the next guy’s problem. Then I spent the afternoon packing up most of the rest of my things. I even had the maintenance guys smile at the cameras while I carried out a Dell box full of my crap, just to have some evidence that I wasn’t stealing anything.

When I came back in from the car, they mentioned that they were having a called board meeting tonight, so I ended up sticking around for that. It was pretty quick, with an unshared agenda and a motion to pass it all. Among those things, were staff changes, and then one specific item that they did call out, which was a flat pay rate of $50,000 for the Technology Coordinator position. Of course, before that was the recommendation to hire the guy from Western Yell County School District. I had no say in the matter.

The best I could do was one-up them on integrity once more. After they concluded the meeting, I waved to the president of the board and thanked him for the opportunity to serve his district. He came over to shake my hand, and I mentioned expressing a desire to speak with them prior to all of this. He went on about a military background that dictated he should follow the recommendations of their superintendent.

Afterward, I had Harry sign my timesheets for July, and he apologized and spoke words of validation for my feeling slighted. Then he basically blamed it on the board in saying that he couldn’t tell me what happened in executive session, or tell me what he was “directed” to do. Everyone’s pointing at someone else, and they’re all guilty of being idiots.

In the end, I asked what he wanted from me, and Harry said I could continue working on into the first couple weeks that their new guy starts. He acted as though he was helping me out, and even offered to write me a glowing recommendation for my exemplary professionalism against all odds. I’ll even get paid at the new hourly rate for the $50,000 stepless salary that the new guy is getting. Bully for me.

I went home, fed the fish, and picked up some fries from Arby’s and a sandwich from KFC since Eaddie brought home pizza, but not enough for me. Then I wanted to take the dogs out for a therapy run, but they were on the absolute worst behavior they’ve ever shown me. They were both constantly pulling on the leash, and Stilgar was constantly running in circles around the stop signs, getting tangled up. I kept having to kick him back around the correct direction. The coup de grâce was when I had to stop and pick up the third poop of the night, and Stilgar pulled on the leash and tangled me up enough that I dragged it across the open bag of poop. From then on, they were dragged behind me on a short leash all the way home. From now on, it’ll be short leash discipline runs until they straighten out.

I’ve had it up to here.

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Rogue Tech

It was kind of a weird and quiet day at work, feeling like I’m caught in limbo with zero oversight and literally no administration present. I’ve been a little bit concerned, or at least cautious after being told that people might have tried to throw me under the bus somehow, but I’m really working on my own terms right now. I could potentially even rack up a bunch of overtime and they would be stuck paying for it. I did see where Samuel had logged in to some of our systems, and given the lack of trust I have for Todd, I don’t really know what to think. I’d left his accounts active just because I wasn’t sure if I was sticking around, but he really has no business in my stuff while I’m there.

I’ve sent a steady flow of applications out, and gotten a few automatic rejection letters. I think only one of them was from a place I was excited about, but there haven’t been too many exciting places either. Other than that, my biggest accomplishment was getting my USG-Pro-4 to successfully re-adopt to my network. Now I’ve just got to figure out how the heck to configure the VLANs for it again without breaking everything else in the process.

Summer made shredded chicken tacos for dinner, so I fed the fish and stopped by the Neighborhood Market again for some slaw mix. It wasn’t really necessary because I think I was the main person to eat any of it. The kids were being numbskulls, so I stepped out with the dogs and a beer while they ate. After I came in to eat, they went out to walk the dogs. Noah disappeared to the guest room after Summer upset him when she pressed him to apply for jobs making more than minimum wage. We’re not running a charity, but she hasn’t told him that to his face.

When Eaddie and Eli got back from walking the dogs, they said Muad’Dib still had some energy, so I took him for a run on the Onewheel to my parents’ house. I picked up some baking dishes from them, and then took a long route back. By then the dogs were pretty tuckered out and quiet for the rest of the night. I wrapped up as quickly as I could, and then it was off to bed.

I’d walk with my people, if I could find them.