Tag: dog

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Girls Day; Boys Day

I went to bed pretty late, but got up early this morning to keep my sleep schedule from rolling too far forward. The girls had a day in Conway planned, so I made some coffee and ate some leftovers for breakfast. Then I spent the day fixing up some things around the house. I thought I’d eventually get over to the old house to bring some more stuff over, but that didn’t happen.

My biggest accomplishment that I’d been putting off since we bought the house was to clean out Eaddie’s bathroom sink drain. It had a bunch of hair and an earring in it, and now the drain works great. After that, I started to take my old vacuum cleaner apart again. I found some broken pieces, and Summer melted some hair in the roller the last time she tried to use it, so I ended up shopping for some replacement parts and found a whole new floor nozzle on eBay. They wanted $60 plus $20 shipping, but accepted my offer for $35 plus the shipping, which seemed like a fair deal to get an old vacuum cleaner going again.

The girls got home just as I was finishing the disassembly. Summer wound down quickly and I took the dogs for a long run as the sun went down. We stopped by my parents’ house to visit for a little bit, and then ran through the basin and the long way back home. The weather was awesome, so they had a great time and were pretty well behaved.

Eaddie brought Eli over for some leftovers from their day out, and I laid on the couch with Summer for a bit until she went to bed. I finally got my Amazon Vine account unsuspended, so the race is on to get gold tier by December.

“Free!”

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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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Capitol Idea

I ran a little bit late this morning, made up some time in the rain, but then ended up losing that time when I accidentally took the wrong exit and had to drive down the side road to the office. I had actually passed Randy just before that, so he had a laugh when I finally got in.

The environment out there is just so incredibly relaxed. I made some coffee and poked around in SCCM a bit for the guys. There is so much to clean up and fix, and I’d be more excited to do it all if I wasn’t so tired from the long days.

For some reason, I was invited to a conference call with the Fortinet guys to hear their sales pitch for FortiVoice to replace our existing telephone setup. After that, Randy took me to the annex, and then we piled into Jimmy’s truck with Javier to go to Cotham’s for lunch. I got the hubcap burger, which was incredible. I didn’t love the fries though.

The afternoon was super quiet. Javier hung out in the office for a while trying to image a desktop, and it ended up being a problem with his flash drive. I really don’t know why they’re not imaging over the network anyway, but if I had to guess, it’s probably broken.

Diana called briefly to discuss our lunch date tomorrow. She was worried about her dietary restrictions and upcoming travel, so I told her I would chat with Summer and follow up with her in the evening. We left work a little early, but then I hit traffic in the middle of Little Rock, and it took me an extra half hour or more to get through it all. There were cops everywhere too, which may have been the cause of the stop-and-go line of cars. I ended up getting off the interstate early to go by the old house. The fish tank filter was having a fit, and hopefully I wasn’t too late to prevent permanent damage from it drying out. It’s still working for now.

Eaddie had a football game late, but Summer got home in time to go to the first home game to see Eaddie’s halftime show. I was going to take the dogs for a run to Ridgewood Brothers to see if their food was gluten-free, but turned around after a few blocks because the dogs went crazy sniffing stuff as we got further out of our usual area.

Summer went to the game, and I drove to the restaurant where I found Grant just as they were closing down. They had a big list of gluten-free stuff, so lunch tomorrow should be great. I headed back home and did some laundry, and then crashed after a long week of driving.

Not crashed driving.

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Review Bomb

I’ve gotten progressively less sleep throughout the week, but work has still been good. There was a lot more traffic and some rain today, but the drive was still straightforward and easy. I still wouldn’t want to do it without Autopilot though. I was a little bit more active today, and had a meeting with a vendor about our badge photo sync. Then for some reason, Randy wanted me to ride along with him to the admin office, where I didn’t really do anything for him. I met a few more people and looked at a timeclock that he couldn’t actually fix, but at least now I know it’s there.

From there, we went to a place by the office called BJ’s Market Cafe for lunch and met up with Maggie, Jim, and Jay. It was an odd place in what looked to be a very shady alleyway that was littered with potholes and standing water. Inside, it reminded me of Old South. It was packed with old people eating old white people food. They were all bragging about the beef tips with rice. I found it to be fairly bland, but the cornbread was good.

Sometime after lunch, Julie asked about my resume, and then I got a call from a local guy that may or may not be looking to actually hire somebody to do something that was never really made very clear to me. He just kept saying he liked to work with cool people, but all I really learned was that my sister doesn’t have a clue what I do. It’s not her fault, because I hardly know how to explain it.

Near the end of the day, Johnny called to check in and also said he enlisted the help of DIS for his SCCM project. We talked for a little while, and then it was time to go home.

Summer invited my parents over for dinner, but she didn’t give me any clues as to what she was cooking. I made it through unusually heavy traffic, then started a load of laundry as soon as I got in the door. From there, I started encountering aggravation after aggravation that made for a quiet night. I continued with laundry and took the dogs out for a short walk in the sprinkling rain.

Evidently I was temporarily suspended from Amazon Vine because I didn’t have enough reviews up, so I submitted several of those. Then I finished my last load of laundry for the night and went to bed.

Stop doing things.

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Screen Time

I got started a little later today, but was still the first person on site. I had a Soylent on the drive, for the first time in a long time, and I felt pretty good drinking that and listening to a podcast for the hour-plus drive. Jay came in and got me into the office, and we chatted a little bit. Then several of the other techs came into the shop to chat, and gave each other plenty of crap. It made me feel good about the environment being generally friendly and even a little lackadaisical.

Maggie and I went to “the annex” to gather some things from their old office area, including a bunch of large monitors for me. I let her drive back, and she enjoyed the experience. I spent the rest of the morning getting three giant monitors set up on a docking station for my little laptop.

Summer came by for lunch and we went to Red Lobster, which was a new experience I’d always dreamed about. She was having a rough day after her staff meeting, so we got her full of shrimp and I sent her home to walk the dogs in the fresh air. The rest of my afternoon was quiet until Kyle got back to the office and I chatted with him a little bit just to get to know him. Randy eventually came back from his admin meeting that lasted all day, and eventually everyone disappeared. I definitely get the feeling that I’m being given the autonomy I need to be happy and successful, so I’m excited to get to work.

The drive home was quiet, but I was frustrated that the native YouTube Music app in the car wasn’t working to play podcasts. I’ve been having to use my phone over Bluetooth to play anything but music. The drive actually goes by fairly quickly, so it’s just the work day that generally feels long. Robotaxi would make the commute awesome so I could actually do other things while the car drives me.

I made Summer walk the dogs again with me when I got home. I put Stilgar on the prong collar to try and keep him from pulling, and it seemed to work. He didn’t really fuss about it at all, but I think I need to use a less stretchy leash to really have an impact on him. After we walked the cul-de-sac, I took them for a run to my parents’ house on the Onewheel. We didn’t go any farther than that, and I got home to try and settle in early. I’m eager to see what tomorrow will bring.

Probably just more work.

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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.