Destruction Derby

The dogs were barking in the back yard when I left for work this morning, but Dad texted shortly after I got to work and said they were at his house and killed his cat. Summer was already nearly to Conway, so nobody was around to take care of them. They kept getting out of his fence too, so he ended up getting their leash from our house and dying them up. Stilgar chewed through that and got out again, and even destroyed the oil drain pan they were using for water.

Meanwhile, I broke PXE booting at work and could never get it working again. It was a miserable day trying to undo whatever change I made that broke it, and I had zero success. The only win for the day was Waldo’s Chicken and Beer for lunch. I had their Fowl Mouth spicy chicken sandwich, and it was probably the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. It was awesome. The cheddar biscuits were too small, but tasted good, and the service was great too.

I had to charge at a nearly full Supercharger station on the way home, then quickly patched the hole in the fence while Summer worked on a cake to go with the chili she made for dinner. I rode to my parents’ house to get the dogs, and dragged them home pretty aggressively. I think they knew they were bad, because they pouted on the porch all night.

I had to run to the Neighborhood Market for some cheese, and then Summer and I ate. Then I took care of my Vine haul while Summer watched Mary Poppins and then went to bed. Eaddie got home really late and went to bed. I was underslept, exhausted, and frustrated all day, so I was anxious to get there myself.

Straight to doggy jail.

Just Wandering

I got to witness someone going off the road into the grass this morning because they were outdriving their brakes. I think someone hit a deer at the 430 split, and it had traffic backed up for a couple miles. I still beat the important people to work, and it was another day in the doldrums after that. I brought some containers to take the leftover barbecue and coleslaw home, and I helped plug in a TV.

Dustin took us out for a vendor lunch at Brood & Barley. I refused to pay $4 for parking, so I reparked a block away for free. The components of our meals were good, but I thought the Philly sandwich special had about a third of the filling that it should have for the price. It honestly tasted mostly of corn and avocado. Maggie had a meatloaf sandwich that would probably have been better as a burger.

The afternoon was quiet and dull, and I was still hungry. Not much success anywhere. I was eager to get out, charge, and make it home to run the dogs. Summer was making dinner, and just as I was walking out the back door, Zany called to say they had gotten into her yard and that she was about to walk them back, but they had gotten out and run off. I rode toward the basin, then came back up and found them at the top of Ridgewood. We took an odd course to my parents’ house, then came home backwards.

Summer’s salmon, asparagus, and potato dinner was actually really good, but then she wanted to talk to Noah about his asking to borrow money. Eaddie had Eli over for a bit, but Summer and I were stuck talking to the misguided one. I stayed up way too late after that, and I was exhausted.

What union?!?

Chicken Wings are Fried Chicken

It was nasty and rainy again today, and conditions were a bit worse for the drive in, so I took over driving for a bit when the car wouldn’t let me reactivate FSD. Somehow we still managed to get to work before everyone else. It was another pretty quiet day, and I picked at some PaperCut stuff for Jim. The water dispenser hasn’t been working, so I’ve been having to melt ice to drink, but that went okay today.

Lunch time came around and nobody was quick to jump at anything in particular. We ended up going to Wingstop, and Jay initially turned us down for “fried chicken” but spun right around when he heard the word “wings.” I just don’t get that kid. I thought the food was decent, and the ranch did seem nice and thick compared to most others.

The afternoon was even more quiet, and I spent a bit of it by myself. Then I had to charge on the way home again because of the wet and cold. The streets were still a bit wet when I got home, but I took the dogs out. Muad’Dib didn’t eat his breakfast again, but he had dinner and a hot dog after our run. They did pretty well until Stilgar took the wrong side of a telephone pole and clotheslined us again. I managed to stop in time, but the leash snapped tight and gave me a little bit of a rope burn in the cold.

The girls were both home and ate some leftovers on their own accord, so I finished up some others once I got settled in. Then I had several Vine packages to break down. One of them in particular was a portable charger and battery pack that turned out to be way better than I initially thought, so that was a win. Then it was off to bed super early.

Bureaucracy? More like bu-YUCK-racy!

Curb Your Enthusiasm

I was super late for work today because somebody went off the road just after Menifee. We were dead-stopped for several minutes, and as I finally approached the scene of the accident, there was dirt all over the road. I was so late that I decided to stop in Conway to charge back up to 80% so I wouldn’t be stuck doing it after work, and could drive straight home. Traffic was stop-and-go after Conway too, so I was just over an hour late in total.

There wasn’t much going on in the office. I mostly fought Jim’s laptop that wouldn’t image, and I figured it was a drive failure since I could image anything else. There was still some leftover Corky’s “BBQ” in the fridge, so I eventually just ate a bunch of that at my desk for lunch.

It was rainy all day, but mostly dry by quitting time. I worked a little bit late to make up for being late, and then made it home to run the dogs. I thought they had gone missing earlier in the day, but Summer said they were still in the yard. Normally they come running when they hear me on the cameras, but not so this afternoon. They had a good run with me though. I was a little worried about Muad’Dib because he hadn’t eaten the last three or so meals Summer had given him. He didn’t care for his little bone treats either. He still pooped a little, and he didn’t have a problem with his hot dog, so I messed with his new slow feeder. I think he may have been bothered by the raised portions, because once I lowered them and made it easier for him to eat, he finished his whole bowl.

The girls made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, but I wasn’t very hungry and just skipped it entirely. I felt a bit bothered most of the evening, so it was a quiet night until bedtime.

All Filler

Back to Packed

I was a bit out of sorts this morning, but I managed to swing by the new Starbucks for a free coffee and still made it to work just a couple minutes late. Randy said last week was super rough without me, which I guess made me feel good about myself, but I feel like a placebo. Surely I’m not contributing that much most of the time. I kept fairly busy trying to image a couple of laptops all day. Jim was having trouble with it, and I’m still having trouble setting a naming standard for everyone across the district because of our weird mix of devices.

We went to Skinny J’s for lunch because they had a $9 sandwich deal, and then $3 pickles on top of that. Dad called while we were there and said the dogs were at his house. Luckily Summer was home and could go pick them up, and she reattached the pallet they tore off of the fence. It started sprinkling a little bit after lunch, but it didn’t really rain hard until the evening. I supercharged for a while on the way home, and just as I was changing clothes to take the dogs out, it started to pour.

It let up a little bit and I took a bunch of Amazon returns to UPS. Summer was home from the gym when I got back, but she didn’t want dinner. Eaddie showed up and said she would be down for a $4.99 Cici’s buffet, so the two of us went out. They were packed and kept a good rotation of pies up, so it was pretty good.

When we got back, Summer had to get on a Zoom call for the band trip. I played with the dogs for a bit since they didn’t get to go out on a run with me, and Muad’Dib wouldn’t eat any dinner. I hoped that he had just found some other food somewhere else, and wasn’t just sick and not eating. Stilgar hadn’t lost his appetite.

As I was getting ready for bed, my head felt completely clogged, and I hoped I hadn’t caught whatever Eaddie brought home. I just finished two rounds of antibiotics that didn’t really seem to help my cough at all, so we may just be going into month three with this crud.

Don’t blink!

Chilly Mac

I felt sick to the stomach for much of the day, but it could have been yesterday’s milkshake catching up to me. Eaddie left for church for a bit, and Summer went to the gym. I felt like I kept getting stuck in a loop. I felt like I kept getting stuck in a loop. I did manage to take a shower, and I got dressed to take the dogs out on a run in the early afternoon because it was getting super cold again. They didn’t come running when I opened the door, so I knew something was up.

Eaddie and I walked out to the fenceline, and they had torn down the top halves of three pickets, and climbed out. She and Summer worked on fixing that while I rode the neighborhood looking for them. It was a bit of a wild goose chase, because a lady that walked past our house said she saw them on Honeysuckle where they started following some other walkers. I went down that way and over toward the basin, then encountered two different walkers that had seen them around Ridgewood. As I rode up Ridgewood, a car passed me and stopped to flag me down. He said they were just up on Eastwood, and that one of them was WET. I made my way up and over the hills to find them on Ridgewood, so we collected ourselves and finished the walk to my parents’ house to visit Dad.

We got back home and Summer was working on a tres leches cake, and eventually some baked crab macaroni and cheese for dinner. I felt like I kept getting stuck in a loop. I didn’t really feel good about anything for a while, but dinner was pretty good. Eaddie got sick up in Jonesboro, but appeared to mostly be dealing with a head cold. I just hope I don’t get sick again myself.

Freezing temps, but free coffee!

DogGos

Summer had a 5k this morning, and I awoke to a knock on the front door. Then I got a text a little while later from the neighbor a couple doors down saying our dogs were over in their yard. She was cool with them playing with her dog, so it wasn’t a big deal, but of course they got out of her yard by the time Summer got home and we made it over to retrieve them. We talked to a couple of the other neighbors while we were out there, and then I hopped on the Onewheel to try and find them.

I texted Dad to have him check his yard while I went toward the basin trail, and just as I was getting close to it, he said he had them both. It was cute that they went to his house, but Stilgar had gotten into the pool cover again, and I’m just worried he’ll end up drowning if he’s not careful. Dad tried to walk them to our house, but they took off again, so I told them to stay put.

Once I gathered them up, they were visibly tired and slow. We made it to the house, and I unboxed most of the Vine stuff that was delivered while I was gone. I had eaten most of a leftover bánh mì, gave the rest to Summer, and then had to take the other one to Julie at the airport. Summer wanted to go to Walmart after that to pick up stuff to make her baked kielbasa and vegetables with some leftover sweet potatoes.

After we got home, Summer realized she had forgotten Brussels sprouts, so I rode to the Neighborhood Market with the dogs. I saw Derick out in the yard of a house just behind Walmart and we waved at each other. It looked like he traded in his IT hat for real estate. The dogs did great tied to a bench in front of the store, I grabbed a bag of Brussels and dropped off some recycling, and then we headed on home.

I made some rice to go along with what Summer made, and we ate together. Eaddie wouldn’t be back from making first band/first chair in All-State until after midnight. Summer went to bed not long after that, and I wasn’t too far behind.

Tagline!

Professional Emailer

Work was a bit of a blur today because I was rushing to clean things up for the rest of the week. I still didn’t really tie up any loose ends because Jim was having trouble with imaging and I got sucked into SCCM. I did send out a couple of my trademarked customer service emails, where I resolved one issue and started helping someone on another.

Randy said he wanted a pizza buffet for lunch, and I reminded him that Cici’s was still doing their early week $4.99 deal. He, Charles, and I ended up going there, and it was pretty good. I missed out on my barbecue and spinach Alfredo, but I loved my salad.

When we got back to the office, Greg and Scott were in the building, which startled Randy. He disappeared for a bit, and then had a meeting with them afterward. I ended up staying a little bit late just trying to clean things up, but I couldn’t stay very late because I had to meet Summer in Conway for our dinner date.

I stopped to charge first, then met her at Old Navy to return the pants Eaddie didn’t like. Then we went to Outback and had what I thought was a super overpriced, poorly-cooked meal. The Bloomin’ Onion was good, but my baked potato was burned. The steak was pretty chewy, but it was a deal for a sirloin that came with a salad and cheesecake for dessert. Paying $70 for all of that plus a tip was wild.

From there, I headed home quickly so I could take the dogs out. Of course it was super dark out by the time we made it, but they did fairly well. They did try to chase a cat, and I had to yank them back and discipline for fear they’d yank me off the board again. We made it to my parents’ house, where Julie called in to verify some travel plans. Then I got the dogs home for their dinner.

Summer was settling in quickly, Eaddie came home and went straight to her room without a word, and I spent all night trying to pack and get things cleaned up for the girls to minimize their stress while I’m gone.

All my bags are packed. I’m ready to go.

Crampache

Summer and I both got up fairly early today. Eaddie’s friend snuck out early while we were on the couch. I got a major thigh cramp that may have caused some muscle pain in my leg for the rest of the day, because I didn’t recall hurting that badly from yesterday’s fall when I first woke up.

Summer went to the gym and Eaddie left for church, and then was gone for the entire day. Summer said she wanted to clean up the back yard when she got home, but it was still soggy. I need to dig some trenches for the water to flow away from the house, and we probably need to clean out the gutters again before the spring rains show up.

I loaded up on some vitamins after cramping so much, and ate some leftovers for lunch. Then I took care of the plants, took a shower, and Summer and I took a bunch of bags to Walmart for recycling. We walked the store to try and stretch my legs out a bit, and picked up some dog food. Then we went by Lowe’s where she saw a couple of people from work. Our last stop was PetSmart to browse, where I encountered my old buddy Keith.

Summer needed to get home after we left there, so we made it to the house and I took the dogs out for a run. They did better than yesterday, and I was much better about staying behind them after the tumble I took. Both of the dogs wanted to splash in the creek a bit, but Stilgar wanted to dam up the stream. We met Dad in the street again, then made it home for dinner.

I finished up some leftovers with Summer, then spent the rest of the evening trying to clean up the kitchen area before I leave the girls for a week. They’ll have to bring in all of my Vine stuff while I’m gone, so I didn’t want that to stress them out much more than it already does.

Drop it!

Blunderive

I woke up several times last night with terrible shin and calf cramps. Then as the night progressed, I started waking up to Stilgar barking at something outside. I eventually got up when Summer got out of bed, and she made us some bacon and eggs for breakfast. Then she went to the gym and Eaddie got up to go do something in the early afternoon. I had plans to meet with Mark to help with some computer questions, so I eventually got cleaned up to go help with that.

I stopped by Walgreens to pick up my iron pills, and I should have just asked the pharmacist if I could take it with my antibiotic, but I didn’t think of that in time. I made it to Mark’s place and waited a couple minutes for them to get in, and then I tried to help him talk through the concerns he had. They’re never really deeply technical problems that he has, but rather software quirks he has to work around because he just seems to have a lot of stuff he wants to manage. I ended up hanging out there for about three hours, in part waiting for OneDrive to sync, and he handed me a hundred bucks as we finished up for the day.

Summer had Eaddie outside taking pictures before the Sweetheart dance when I got home, and I made it inside to find my Mothman onesie just in time to get dressed up and take some pictures with her. Then we took pictures of her with Eli when he showed up.

Dad invited us over for spaghetti earlier in the day, and I still had to run the dogs before dark, so I took them out while Summer saw the kids off. We were doing pretty well until we made it around to Promenade Circle. We got to the last stretch of that road, and Stilgar decided he had to make an emergency stop to poop. Muad’Dib was already pretty far ahead, so that yanked everybody by the rope, and I tripped off the board as I tried to slow down. I landed on my right hand hard enough to draw a little bit of blood on my palm, and the dogs both wanted to come up and check on me. I got myself up, picked up the trail of poop, and we made our way to my parents’ house for dinner.

I left the dogs in the fence out back, and Summer showed up while Mom was prepping the last of the salad. It was completely dark by the time we finished eating, so we didn’t stay long. As soon as I stepped out back, Muad’Dib was there to greet me at the door. They must have pushed their way out through the fence and run around and back in somewhere else. I called to Stilgar, and saw him climb out of the pool cover to excitedly come greet the three of us. Dad and I tried to inspect the fence by phone flash, and he found a couple loose boards they probably pushed through. Luckily Stilgar didn’t appear to have pushed the cover all the way into the pool, but it made another good case for a taught cover.

Summer followed me home and the dogs were rowdy enough that they didn’t get dinner. Summer sat on her phone in the living room while I wrapped up on the computer, and we eventually made it to bed. Eaddie ended up bringing her friend Emma over to stay the night because she lives a little ways out and it was late.

Don’t oversync it.