Tag: anxiety

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Good Buy Pizza Pie

I didn’t sleep terribly late today, and hand-ground some coffee for breakfast. The girls were both up pretty early, so Summer went to the gym and Eaddie did some cleaning before her evening plans for the Sadie’s dance. Julie texted asking to borrow a phone for Kevin after he ran his over with a lawnmower, so I spent much of the afternoon cleaning up my Galaxy S21 Ultra for them.

Once the phone was wiped, I took the dogs out for a run through the neighborhood. We stopped to see Mom, and then went up the hill and through Pinewood before making it back home. Then Julie and Kevin came over to get the phone, and I gave Julie an iPad Mini to use when she’s flying.

Summer and I hadn’t eaten all day, so I ordered some Domino’s and we went to pick it up together. They were super busy, so we ended up waiting in the parking lot for a while before I went in to get it. Then we took it to Mom to surprise her with dinner. We ate and then headed home for the evening.

Get to it.

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Watchtower

The guys were socializing this morning while I tinkered around in SCCM. Then as I moved on to PDQ, we suddenly started having network issues. Randy and Kyle left for the core closet, where they later reported that some new equipment being installed caused a loopback. With that fixed in the late morning, things calmed down a bit.

Maggie and I went to Taziki’s for lunch in the mall, and the food was really good. She was super excited to have someone else that would eat there, because evidently the old men in the group always want pizza and barbecue. I love being able to go to all these new places for lunch.

The afternoon was a bit more casual and quiet. Randy came back and chatted with us for a bit, and the morning’s antics inspired me to finish setting up a PRTG server to monitor our network and servers. I didn’t even realize how quickly time had passed, and I had to jump up and leave as Jay walked out.

Eaddie had parent/teacher conferences today, but Summer left work to attend them early. I got home just as Eaddie arrived with some little hockey pucks from Little Caesar’s. We ate a mix of that and some leftovers, and then I took the dogs for another really great run. I don’t know if it’s the weather, or maybe the repetition is finally paying off, but they’ve been super well-behaved. We stopped to visit with my parents, then continued up the hill and back home. I gave them some good pets and treats, and finally Summer and I watched some more TV before bed.

Coco for Cuckoo Puffs!

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You Can Take Rally’s Out of the Hood

I squeaked into work this morning, and I think I’m even more consistent with my arrival time now than when I worked five minutes away. The guys sat on the other side of the partition for a while, and Randy debated his Chromebook strategy with them. I had to be careful not to ruffle too many feathers, but it was the same old story. They didn’t seem super anxious to work any harder. I still think people will grow to meet your demands if you’re consistent in holding them accountable.

Nobody showed up for lunch, so I went to Rally’s by myself. I ordered online and got my food reasonably quickly, but I felt super out of place when I saw the other people that had walked up to the window. The fries looked soggy, but tasted alright. I even tried their mozzarella sticks and found them to be pretty tasty, even without the marinara sauce they failed to give me. Then I found they had mismade my burger, so I went back to the window again to ask for a correction. A guy named Omar came up to the window and gave me some grief about it, and said, “we don’t have onion straws, so you wouldn’t have got ’em anyway.” I offered to let him just squirt some barbecue sauce on my partially eaten burger, but he called for it to be remade anyway.

I tinkered with SCCM and VMware the rest of the afternoon, and fought traffic the entire way home after work. Dad had the trees cut down in the front yard at the old house, so I stopped by to have a look and grab a few things. I didn’t care much for the look of it, but I suppose now there will be fewer tree-related problems.

The car was pretty gross from all the bugs I encounter on my regular commute, so I stopped to wash it on the way home. Summer was getting ready to take a bath when I got there, so I ate my leftover remade burger from Rally’s and discovered that they did have onion straws after all. It was even pretty good reheated. Then I took the dogs for probably the best run I’ve ever had with them. They ran the whole way to my parents’ house and sniffed around there for a while. Then we went through the basin and back up to the house without any fuss. I didn’t even have to scoop any poop!

I fed the dogs, loaded them up on treats, and then settled in to watch a couple episodes of Modern Family with Summer until bedtime. Eaddie made it home a little later, but I only barely caught sight of her as she came in and ducked straight into her room.

…but you can’t take the hood out of Rally’s.

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Fun Without Hinges

I was a little slow out the door this morning, but I got to work on time. Not that anyone would have noticed. I spent a little time in the morning finishing up the Google Classroom cleanup I had to do for teachers that had left. Then I started tinkering with SCCM again.

They took me to another new place for lunch. This time it was Gadwall’s, and I had a big plate of chili cheese nachos. They were fairly good, but also fairly expensive. I was just happy that for the price, it was a pretty big plate. It occurred to me as we chattered that I’ve really missed being around people that haven’t acclimated to the unhinged things I sometimes say. It was a solid reminder of how hilarious I am, and how those who are around me more often are taking that hilarity for granted.

I was by myself for a part of the morning, and most of the afternoon. My big success was discovering the incompatible version of my Configuration Manager. Once I found the correct install for that, my laptop was able to connect to the server, which should speed up any work I do in that system.

After work, I ran back to the Target on our side of town to look for another Pixel Watch. I didn’t have any luck with that, but I did pick up a shirt for Muad’Dib and a big pool float that were both on clearance. Then I headed to Kohl’s in Conway to pick up an order before finally heading toward home.

Summer had a rough day at work and wanted Wendy’s for dinner, so I picked that up once I got into town, and we ate together before I went out with the dogs. They were super excited and had torn into a bunch more stuff in the yard. They ran the entire way to my parents’ house again, which tells me that we really need to get them out even more than we do.

I visited with Dad briefly for a walk around the yard, and then we headed home. I got a little upset to the stomach, but also had at least three separate anxiety attacks throughout the day, so I really wanted to get to bed early to get some rest. As I was just going to bed, Noah called from the ER, but it seemed to be more due to the fact that he needed a doctor’s note to keep his job. I talked to him a little bit and gave him what advice I could, but maybe we’ll hear more about it soon.

No crap.

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Doggy Paddle

I got up pretty early this morning, but things went pretty slowly after that. The girls eventually got up, and Eaddie left for church with Eli. I made a “grilled cheese bacon, egg, and cheese” sandwich out of some frozen grilled cheeses and leftover bacon that I found. Then Summer and I wanted to take the dogs to the lake to see how they’d like the water.

We waited around for Eaddie to get home in the afternoon, and we loaded everyone up to go to the marina. We walked around a little bit at first, and the dogs had to run around sniffing everything. Then, as we predicted, Stilgar dove right into the water. Muad’Dib was a little slower, but eventually did get all the way in on the boat ramp. Stilgar would have tried to swim to the other side of the lake if he hadn’t been on the leash. We let them run around to play, and I even let Muad’Dib off of his leash for a little bit. I wasn’t quite confident in Stilgar’s recall to let him go, but he stayed on the long leash.

After we had enough of the water, I rode them around the loop on my Onewheel to dry off. We encountered a persimmon tree right by the road, and they absolutely loved those. I had one off of the ground, and it was pretty sweet. I tried not to let them eat too many of them though, for fear that some of the seeds would get stuck coming out.

We made a couple loops, and then Stilgar passed something bright orange. I thought maybe the persimmons had just gone through him that quickly, but when I picked it up, it seemed really hard. I couldn’t tell what it was, and I wasn’t willing to dig through the poop to figure it out. We finished our loop and packed everyone in to go home.

The dogs got fed as soon as we got back, and then they were pooped out. I went and got some KFC for the rest of us, and then the girls retreated to their televisions. I took a late shower and wound down pretty quickly. It was a fun day, but the weekends feel particularly short now.

Three months of driving…

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BiteFighter

It still surprises me how little I notice the long drive to and from work. The only thing I notice is how much less time I have at home, which still isn’t good. It just makes my days feel so much shorter. Once I got there, I spent all day in group policies again. I think I found the source of some slow profile loading, so hopefully everyone notices that immediately.

The guys wanted to go to The Purple Cow for national cheeseburger day. I had Rally’s yesterday, but I wasn’t opposed. The Purple Cow wouldn’t have been my first choice, but the food was good and our server was even better.

I left for home a little bit late and passed Eric and Carlie on the interstate as I got closer to home. I wasn’t sure if it was them, so I called and talked to him on the phone for a little bit until we each got to our exits. Carlie sent me pictures of some turtles from their pond, which may or may not be related to the one we released there a couple years ago.

I stopped at the old house for a few things and then made it home. Summer wasn’t feeling well and sat in the sunroom all evening. I went out with the dogs and found they had torn up the water hose some more, and one of them carried a bottle of Tiki torch fuel out into the yard. The lid was chewed off, so I was worried one of them had ingested some, but they acted alright. Then as we hit the road on the Onewheel, it was evident that Stilgar didn’t have his usual energy.

We walked slowly the entire way to my parents’ house and I made sure he got some water. Then we made it home slightly faster, but he still wasn’t acting right. Muad’Dib was fine, but I gave Stilgar two cups of food to try and give him something in his belly. I came back in to eat some leftovers myself and then went back out to find he had thrown up both cups in two different places in the yard.

I gave him a bit more food and spent some time on the porch with him. He seemed to perk up a little bit, but I won’t know until the morning how he’s really faring.

Bored dogs get into things.

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Smoked Meats and Drinks

Eaddie went out this morning to volunteer at a cat adoption event downtown. I got up just in time to take a shower and take Summer to pick up some Ridgewood Brothers to take to Diana’s house for lunch. Grant hooked us up with some heavy handed servings and sausages, which was awesome. I forgot to ask for some plates, and I wasn’t even sure they had any even for takeout, so we ran back to the house to get some and made our way across town.

It was a nice visit, and we chatted for quite a while. Lunch was great, and fortunately we seemed to avoid any trouble with her gluten allergy. I talked to her about my thoughts for the house, and she seemed really excited about it, so I think we may actually talk to the bank to see what kind of offer we can get there.

Summer left for the gym once we got back home, so I took the dogs out for a run to my parents’ house. Dad was getting ready to cover the pool, so I took the dogs back home and waited for Summer to get back. Eaddie was home when we got there, so I showed her the leftover barbecue, which was a mistake because she took it upon herself to feed her friends. She also wanted to go ride bikes with them, so I drove her to my parents’ house to get her other bike back, since not all of her friends had bikes. I’m not sure how I got suckered into that either.

Once Summer got home, we walked the dogs back to my parents’ house and covered the pool. By the time we got back home, I was sweaty and wanted to take a quick shower. Summer didn’t pay attention and left her leash outside where the dogs got into it, so I went back out later and found the rubber grip had been shredded all over the yard, and the poop bag holder was destroyed with plastic bags strewn all over the place. This caused a bit of a fight, because I’ve been beyond sick to death of her running around completely aloof, not paying attention to anything. I’ve got to get her back to the doctor to find some way to calm her mind.

Eaddie and Eli made it back to the house and hung out for a while, and then I got out my cocktail smoker and we tried smoking some Fireball whiskey for Summer and myself. The smoker worked great, and we didn’t even set off the fire alarm.

I ended the night submitting some reviews for my Amazon Vine products. I guess I’ve got to wait two weeks to be allowed to search for items again, because my review count dipped below 60% of the items I’ve ordered. The website only ever said I needed to review 90% by December, so I had no idea I was going to get suspended.

Come on!

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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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Oodles of Moodle and Noodles

I tried to study for my Moodle skills assessment this morning by poking around in their test instance. Eaddie went to church again, and Summer went to the gym. I finally just had to dive right into my assessment, and it was basically just another instance with one particular setting changed. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to find where the override was set, but I eventually sent my response. Hopefully my “customer service” response will be enough to make up for my lack of experience in their application.

Dad had messaged us early in the day that Mom mentioned spring rolls, but it didn’t seem like anyone got a hold of Mom to confirm. We did end up going over there, but not without jumping through some hoops first. Summer and I went to get Nova from her dorm, but then were sent back home to get our electric skillet so we could set up two tables for everyone to have enough room to reach all of the food.

As Summer and I rounded the corner to get back home, I noticed the house at the end of the road had a table and some stools out by the curb. We ended up going back home to get the Murano, I knocked on their door and confirmed it was okay to take them, and we hauled them home and into the back yard. It was all in surprisingly good shape, so I don’t know why they were getting rid of it instead of selling it.

By then, Eaddie was home and had decided she wanted to go eat too, so the three of us headed back to my parents’ house. I spilled a bunch of raw noodles in the floor, but we eventually got everyone sitting and eating. In the end, we dropped Nova back off at her dorm and made it home for the evening. Not having work for the next several days will be a bit nerve-racking, but I’m sure I’ll survive.

Cleanup time!

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C-Ya Suckers

I ran late today, but who would even notice? Apparently Barry came by while I was gone yesterday and pushed for Chromebooks to be deployed, obviously without having done any work himself, so Kim was loading devices onto a cart when I got there. They never actually got that done though, and I wasn’t even sure what they were working on. I just did my best to clean up the last few of my things.

It was Kim’s birthday, so I insisted that we take her out to lunch and then visit the Plainview campus. We went to the Junction Cafe but turned around when she saw her ex’s car there, and went to the Superette instead. That was a good choice, because they had a surprisingly good catfish meal deal for Friday. I was mad that she had never told me before, because it was only $11 for three large pieces of fish, fries, slaw, and hushpuppies. It was even freshly cooked and delicious.

After we ate, we went to the old school and rummaged through a bunch of crap just to see what was there. Then we headed back to the office and I continued to clean up my stuff. I ended up forgetting a couple of things, so I may go back, or James could bring them back to town for me.

Eaddie had friends over when I got home, and it wasn’t long before they went to my parents’ house to swim. I walked the dogs over there, but they were about done by the time we got there. I wasn’t terribly impressed with a couple of the girls that showed up last, but they didn’t really seem to fit Eaddie’s usual crowd anyway.

Summer was home when I got back with the dogs, and I sat on the couch with her until she went to bed. I finished my leftover lunch for dinner and eventually got to bed. I’m a free man, so now I just need to figure out what my time is worth for these wildly different salaries I may be offered.

Or maybe I won’t get a choice.