R.O.U.S.

I slept hard with vivid dreams last night, and had to drag myself out of bed in the morning. We got to work and Joel had brought Dexter, who didn’t take very kindly to Muad’Dib. It didn’t help that Muad’Dib just wanted to eat his food, so I had to shoo him up the stairs. I did pretty well in the morning, but after another Monopoly run, I found the afternoon to be pretty dull. I did discover that I could get hot tea to drink for an extra game piece, which was cool.

I remembered to call TCW to schedule another service call, and they somehow managed to make it out the same day. Luckily Summer was home early to cook dinner, so she was there for them to complete the job. It was rats again, and they threatened to charge the next time they had to come out. My response would have been for them to run rodent-proof cable if they’re going to leave bundles of it lying on the ground like that.

The kids were basically sitting at the table ready to eat when we got there, so we sat down for a quick dinner. Then Summer and I went out back to investigate the basement situation. Dad showed up to join the party, and the two of them wandered back farther than I could go. I actually had some spare PVC pipe sections from, I think the kids’ History Day project, so they ran the fiber through that, and I coiled the rest and hung it up in a place that hopefully a rat won’t find. While they were down there, they looked for a doorbell transformer without any luck. They did find a cat skeleton, but Summer said it looked like it had been down there longer than we have been here.

It was a short night after that. Just more frustration and bed.

|floodgates|

Prodogtive

I tried extra hard to stay focused today, and it sort of went okay. I tried to tie up some loose ends and choose a project of some importance that could keep my focus. We ended up getting pulled away from that to go downstairs, and I decided to let Muad’Dib into the office with Teddybear. I was proud of him for listening and playing nice with the little pup, and even Rhonda had to stop and take a picture of them just staring at each other. Being down there gave me the project I needed to focus on, so we went back and pecked away at that.

Monopoly was back at McDonald’s, so I had to go there for lunch. Muad’Dib was mad that I left him in the car, but I was only inside for a little bit anyway. The afternoon went by at a very normal pace. I couldn’t remember whether I had my anxiety attack then, or earlier in the morning, but it hit me pretty hard whenever it was.

When we finally left, something caught Muad’Dib in a laser-focus, and I turned back around the corner to see one of the guys leaving the plant with a bag of chips. He offered one up for puppy tax, and then I had a little trouble rounding him up to leave. We stopped at the wash to see Summer, but she was too busy to really visit anyway.

We weren’t at the house for very long before Summer showed up, and we decided to go to Cici’s since they had the cheapest meal in town. I just had to go easy on the pizza, and left actually feeling pretty decent after a good salad. It was dark when we got back, but we walked Muad’Dib to my parents’ house to see Dad after his trip to Alabama. Then it was right back to the house for bed.

Toxic Gift Cards

Let the Hauntings Begin

I got up right after Summer this morning and made us some bacon, eggs, and cheese to go on a couple leftover biscuits from Popeye’s. Eaddie had a game in the evening, and Summer wanted to go to the gym early, so I spent the day vacuuming the carpet some more.

Summer wanted to take some banana pudding to the people at the wash, so Muad’Dib and I went with her to get out of the house. Afterward, we went to Tacos 4 Ever where I encountered two super confused young people when I asked if we could eat with our dog outside. After disappearing into the back of the restaurant, a third young lady came out only to be just as confused. After some back and forth and me insisting that I wasn’t wanting to order to-go, they said we could just bring the dog inside and they would seat us in the “back” of the restaurant, which was just the end of the aisle of seating they had.

Our food was excellent as usual, and Muad’Dib got a handful of chips. Some were even dipped in my birria juice. We left there and went straight to Tech to find a place to watch the band. We were there way earlier than I expected, and I kind of cooked in the sun a bit. I tried to walk around with Muad’Dib to find some shade, and then an officer approached us and asked me to put him on a leash that people could see. He was being a good boy and let me wrap it around him for a while, but Summer felt I was protesting too much.

Once everyone started toward the gates, I left with Muad’Dib to find more entertaining things to do. We were on the way home when I saw a crowd at the train depot, so I thought we’d stop in to see what was going on. I remembered something about a fund raiser for hungry children, but in spite of a small crowd, there really didn’t seem to be anything fun for us to do. There weren’t many vendors, and though it seemed like some people were still arriving, it also seemed like others were leaving. I was confused, and not in the mood to stick around, so we walked the block and left.

When we got back to the house, I felt like I hit a brick wall. Muad’Dib didn’t waste any time going to bed, and I eventually laid down with him for just a few minutes. Eventually halftime came and went, and I got my text to pick up Summer. We got her home and wound down pretty quickly. I watched a very small bit of Dodgeball with Summer in bed before getting up to finish my routine. Not long after that, the fiber went out again. I went outside to investigate, and found the basement door wide open. I didn’t see any trouble with the part of the fiber I could get to, but we’ll have to investigate further tomorrow. Power flickered sometime later for only a second, so maybe the whole place will burn down so we can just leave.

This place is cursed.

Suck It Up

We ran a little late today, but not enough to matter. Between the pain in my elbow and my head cold, I wasn’t worth a whole lot. I did at least manage to bring my OneWheel to send along with our UPS pickup. We had a quick peck at Sonic and made it back for a long afternoon.

Summer had met the TCW tech to fix our fiber, so internet was back up at the house and everyone was there to celebrate. Eaddie and Eli practiced stuff with notes while Summer bathed. I cleaned up an assortment of leftovers and started a load of laundry before getting to vacuuming as quickly as I could.

I extracted canister after canister of the finest powdered dust, as though someone had dumped a bag of flour all over the living room. There would be occasional bits of hair or fuzz, but it was almost entirely the broken down insulation dust. I completed less than a quarter of the room, and I’m sure I’ll still have to go over it several more times. I had a pretty bad anxiety attack near the end that had me in a daze for a while.

McMonopoly looms.

It’s All in My Head

I started stuffy last night, but then then my nose was running profusely all day. I progressively felt a little bit worse by the hour, but had an okay lunch at Sonic. The afternoon dragged on a bit, but having lunch late helped. Summer met a tech at the house from TCW to investigate our bad fiber, but couldn’t stay with him until he replaced the rat-chewed cable. I got no further details until she asked me at home whether they had scheduled a new appointment with me.

As I got to the house, Eaddie was leaving for a date night in Conway to see one of their wind ensembles play. I had a few ribs and then walked to my parents’ house with Muad’Dib. Mom had stuff to heat up some phở, so I stayed for dinner. Dad unboxed his new computer but wasn’t ready to do anything with it. By the time we left, it was already dark outside.

Summer was in bed when we finally made it back. I felt terrible, and prepped for sleep. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to start vacuuming.

always|dniheb

Mac is Back

I went to bed a couple hours early last night, but woke up several hours early with a stomach ache. I managed to fall back asleep for a little while, but it wasn’t long before I had to start getting ready for work. I knew it would take me longer to clean and dress my wounds, so I accounted for that and got to work right about the same time. I was slow and achy all day, but we made it work. The stupidly slow PC I had been working on was evidently only slow because of an insufficient power supply, so I was happy to get that off my desk.

When lunch arrived, I noticed the Big Mac was back on the $6 medium combo deal, so that’s where we went. I was relatively quick in and out, though things seemed to be running more smoothly today than usual. It looked like there were some suits there, so hopefully they’re getting things straightened out.

I tried to go late enough that the afternoon wouldn’t drag on forever. I stopped for a free coffee at Casey’s before going back, and then it was a slow sprint to the finish line. At one point I took a walk with Muad’Dib just to stretch out a bit from being sore.

On the way home, we encountered some sort of medical emergency, but it didn’t look like there was a wreck or anything. Fortunately, traffic moved pretty quickly right on through. We got to the house to find Summer cleaning up. I unboxed a bunch of Vine stuff and then ate the old, dried up KFC that was still in the fridge before taking Muad’Dib on an acoustic walk. I just wasn’t keen to trust the Onewheel after it plowed into the ground without warning yesterday.

We walked straight to my parents’ house, then looped back around just as it got dark. I was too tired and sore to vacuum, but I’ll need to get on that tomorrow. Internet had been out since sometime the night before, so I called TCW to schedule a tech for sometime the next day, and eventually got to bed early.

Medium Big

Pick Me Up

Summer took Muad’Dib out back for coffee this morning and he got dirty chasing squirrels, so he had to stay outside until I was ready to give him a bath. I got up and finished some old eggs and RO*TEL out of the fridge before starting on my projects. Summer went to the gym, and I started digging under the sink to find where the garbage disposal was leaking.

I got everything cleaned up, but never could find a leak, so I just kept cleaning up the kitchen. Summer came home and mowed the lawn. I took a shower and kept at the cleaning. I misunderstood and thought the girls were planning to go out without me, so I ate some of the ribs I warmed up for them. When they finally explained that they wanted to cook something for dinner, they ate some of the ribs to tide them over.

I really wanted to make a few passes with the vacuum cleaner, but I just never had the time. I eventually took Muad’Dib out for a run and let him splash around in the creek. We visited my parents, and then my Onewheel died at the end of the street again. I turned it on and tried to power through, but it shut off on me without warning as we were climbing the big hill. I hit the ground hard and got some road rash on my left ankle and knee, but my elbow was by far the worst.

Summer came to get me just as dinner was done. Muad’Dib had to ride in the trunk, but he did great. We got home and I went straight to give Muad’Dib a bath and spray myself down in the process. The blood was only dripping a little bit, so we got through the bath and then I ate before bandaging up. Eaddie and Eli made Oreo balls and then disappeared, and Summer and I went to bed early.

My, what big teeth you have.

Family Day 2025

Summer woke us up with a classic bacon and eggs breakfast this morning. Eaddie had a football game in the evening, preceeded by a big family day tailgate party with free tickets to the game, t-shirts, and apparently a “barbecue” lunch. I figured I would go along, since there’s not much I like more in this world than a free shirt.

The girls left, for early rehearsal and the gym, and I got ready to meet Summer outside the football stadium for the event. I think she actually got to see the band practice early while I rode the Onewheel around outside the stadium with Muad’Dib. I was concerned that somebody might say something about him being off-leash, so I tried to avoid anyone that looked like they had any authority. Muad’Dib did great, and the only people that said anything had kind things to say about his behavior.

Summer eventually made it out and we waited for a line to form for shirts and tickets. It wasn’t much after that when we had to line up for food. They had Fat Daddy’s pulled pork, potatoes, beans, and slaw – all served to barely cover the plate. If I had known they were going to be that stingy with the pork, I wouldn’t have stayed. We ate that and then headed home so Summer could shower. I actually stopped by Ridgewood to see if anyone was there, but the guys were inside and the restaurant was still closed.

We got home and hung out there for quite a while before Summer wanted to be back for the game. We rode together and watched the band perform outside the stadium before the game, but I forgot Muad’Dib’s e-collar remote and he had to stay on his leash. Once that was over, Summer went inside and I went home because I had no interest in football.

We stopped by Ridgewood again, this time to pick up some of their specialty ribs. I got a rack of each since I hadn’t had the opportunity to try them before. Grant was there long enough to wave at me before he had to leave, but I talked to the rest of the crew for a little bit since they were so slow. The bag came out pretty greasy, so we headed straight home to eat. Muad’Dib even got a bunch of scraps.

I had the game streaming in the background so I could have some idea of when halftime would be. The stands were packed though, so I opted not to go at all, and just picked Summer up afterward. We made it back home and she tried the ribs before going to bed. I vacuumed a strip of the living room and came up with a shocking amount of dirt, so I sent an email to Kyle at Hydro Carpet Solutions. I don’t guess he has to do anything for us, but I couldn’t be more disappointed in the result.

I walked through the bedroom a few times to see Muad’Dib watching Summer’s baking shows after she had fallen asleep. I couldn’t bear the thought of both of them watching the crap and still not being able to actually bake, so I tried to find a dog show. I finally just went to Disney+ and put on Homeward Bound. Eaddie was out late, and I actually got an email from Kyle that basically said, “sorry, just vacuum it with something that has a beater bar.”

All a waste of time.

Lessons in Sevens

Every bit of today droned on. I started out running up and down to help the ladies downstairs, and then took a couple phone calls with Traverse support to fix the issues. I learned a bit, but it was probably something that those folks should know about the system they use. I don’t know how helpful it will be for me to know it.

We went to Taco Bell for a small lunch, and then made it back early just for the afternoon to creep by so slowly. Summer was home early, but I took Muad’Dib for a run as soon as we got there. I needed to help Dad cover the pool, but wanted to try and get any video I could of the skimmer robot before doing so. Fortunately he was able to get some video during the day.

Once the pool was covered, we finished our run. Muad’Dib had decided to dive right into the creek when we had passed by earlier, so he had to go outside until he could get a bath. I took Summer to La Huerta for dinner, and it was just tense and awkward all night. We ate, then went to Walmart so she could pick up a few things. We saw Amanda and talked to her for a minute when Summer was looking for Tech clothes. Then we finished up and went back to the house.

I gave Muad’Dib a bath while Summer went to bed. Eaddie came home as I was running the new vacuum, and after just a short run, I had an unexpected amount of dust. I didn’t expect good suction, so that meant the professional carpet cleaning we had done was basically worthless.

I’m ready to get gone. I don’t belong here.

I’m not sure I belong anywhere.

Maybe the sea.

Time Goes By…

We had an excellent biscuit and hashbrowns from Burger King this morning. We got out of the house a little bit late, but there was a thick line of fast traffic that carried us to work. I had an anxiety attack fairly early, but otherwise had a fairly busy day with some decent productivity. I had to leave early, so I tried to take a short lunch to make up for it. We went by Sonic for a chili cheese coney and Frito chili cheese wrap, and a guy I had never seen before came out and commented that I was starting to be a regular. I laughed and mentioned they were one of the few places I could take my dog.

Lunch was cheap and fast, so I let Muad’Dib run around outside before we went in. For some reason he took off down the side of the building, and by the time I got around the corner, he had gone in the back door. Luckily he found some guys by their breakroom that happened to be looking for me. We went in to talk to Rhonda, and suddenly I had another project.

Just as I was getting ready to leave, I got a call from Aptean support, who wanted to remote in and help Heaven set up printing. I ran downstairs quickly to take care of that, and then booked it home. Fortunately we got to the post office with plenty of time, I got my vacuumc leaner, and then changed clothes at the house before riding the Onewheel with Muad’Dib to see Dad.

I got an email late last night offering $300 cash for a video of the Dreame robotic pool skimmer, which I reviewed extremely poorly, failing to perform its task. They didn’t send me any specifics about what they wanted, so I thought we’d just try to set up a time lapse video. When we got to their house, Dad was gone, so we started to leave before we encountered him near the end of the road. We turned around and learned that he was repairing a water leak under the house, but he had already set up his phone to record a time lapse from the end of the pool. I set mine up in the middle to get a better view of the length, and let it record through dinner.

Mom got home and we ate some chicken wings, and then Muad’Dib and I finished our run before dark. It was a great night for a ride in the cooler air. Summer was home when we got there, and we caught up a bit before I started unboxing Vine stuff, and eventually made it to bed.

…So Slowly