Tag: family

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Ramping up for Break

We met at the shop this morning but didn’t have any projects, so I ended up walking around vo-tech with Ben and some guys that were going to quote a cell dialer for our fire panels. Afterward, I went inside and did a couple little work orders before heading back to the shop for lunch. Allen was the only one at the shop, so he and I left to meet Gary, Zach, and Jason at Brangus for lunch. My beef spud was particularly good today.

After lunch I got a bit of an ocular migraine and had to sit down for a while. Gary came into Zach’s office with me since Zach left for a lockdown drill, and we chatted about what life is like being surrounded by girls. Nearing the end of the day, we started to look at my PowerShell script again, but ultimately left without learning much even after Ben joined in.

I ran home to get my delivered Stadia package inside, then went to Russellville Eye Clinic for my appointment. I had to fill out some new patient paperwork and waited just a little while before they called me back. Then they set me up at a machine with a little farm house inside it, and it wiggled around until it had my approximate prescription. Most of my time in the back was spent giving them information about my past prescriptions, but at one point they brought the insurance lady back to talk to me, and it was my old classmate Brian’s mother Donna that recognized my name and came back to chat briefly.

Overall, my experience at the clinic was wonderful, and everyone I dealt with was super friendly. I guess nobody really went way out of their way to do anything necessarily, and the girl that helped me initially seemed pretty new, but nothing about my visit was deserving of any of the 1-star reviews the place has on Google Maps. Once I complete my contact fitting and get new glasses or whatever, I’ll have to add my own comments.

When I got back home, I set up my Stadia and tried to load up Destiny 2, but encountered an error. Clint said the game servers crashed earlier today, which made me feel better about it not being a Stadia issue, but I still didn’t get a chance to play anything before I had to run to Summer’s to get the girls. Autumn had a date to go bowling, and the rest of the family chaperoned. The boy seemed nice, though awkward and possibly a bit outwardly immature for a 17-year-old. It was a good time though, and a couple girls I knew came up and bowled next to us. Taylor mentioned their annual Halloween party and said she would have to make sure I got the invite next year, and before they left I had to point Alex out to Summer because she didn’t really recognize me as the one who bought their Grom.

The girls went to bed pretty quickly once we got home. I sat down to re-skin my Pixel 2 XL, and got the new screen protector on as well. Then I lost myself in Zenni Optical for a while before heading to sleep.

I had forgotten how beautiful this bare phone is.

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Tying up Loose Ends (To Throw Them out to Sea)

It was a little warmer this morning, and I should have taken the bike. We finally started testing, and I immediately got called down to the opposite end of the campus for a non-issue that was resolved before I got there. I had a bagel for breakfast and couldn’t find a toaster anywhere. Asking around didn’t turn up a lot of suggestions, and ultimately Lee seemed to really want to go for a walk down to home ec, so we busted right into a full classroom and I bashfully asked to borrow theirs. Then I spent a bit of the morning catching up on some things that needed catching. Being an excellent multitasker, I was able to make a few calls while I was working so I could verify my benefits for next year, get back into my old retirement 401(k), and even get bounced around to a third and fourth customer service contact for Summer’s failing ONN TV that I got from Walmart.

I wanted to go to Ruby Tuesday for another $5 salad, and I should have just gone by myself, but Brice, Allen, and Jason all wanted to go to Long John Silver’s for a $5 meal coupon they sent out today. I was nervous when we encountered a sign on the front door asking customers to call a number to report if the restaurant was not open during its posted business hours. The guy inside even seemed a bit sketchier than usual, but we all made it out in the end with free drinks and an extra side of fries for Allen.

Jason wanted to come work with me at the high school in the afternoon, so after milling around the shop for a bit, we headed up to my office. I had him hunt down some Adobe stuff for Macs while I poked at another issue I was having. Then we took the trip across the campus to install Daniel’s software and set up Tina’s new computer. Jason had to leave just as school let out, and I kept tripping over myself trying to reconfigure the switch that Tina’s computer was plugged into, but at the end of the day Gary was able to save the day. I stuck around late trying to figure out why my test software deployment kept failing, and finally gave up so I could make it up to Summer’s for dinner.

She had stayed home sick today, and made spaghetti mac(?) since she didn’t have proper spaghetti noodles. It turned out really yummy though, and then we watched an episode of Parks and Rec with Eaddie before I headed home for the night.

Don’t you know what happened to the little boy who cried, “wolf!”

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Talk Down Lock Down

Summer felt a bit off this morning and took a slow ride downhill all day. We got up and munched on a bit of breakfast and then she laid back down for a while. Eventually she tried to get the kids up to take care of some chores and Autumn seemed to be in some sort of mood that earned a stearn parenting moment. I wasted most of my time playing Oxygen Not Included or Lumino City. Summer had a nice pork chop dinner planned and eventually got up to execute that. I put on the National Geographic documentary Science Fair so the kids would have something perhaps a little less mind numbing to watch, and it seemed to grab their attention pretty well, but I wish it had been a little more educational.

When I finally made it home for the evening, I got started on some laundry and cleaned up house a bit. I even managed to frame a poster I’ve been meaning to hang for a few years, but I’ll have to find my way to the wall in order to actually hang it.

Parenting is way easier when you’ve never been one before.

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Seven Player Megonopoly

Summer had to moderate a quiz bowl event today, so I got up shortly after they left to make some breakfast and then go home. I was a bit slow getting started, but eventually became productive. I spent too much time messing with my Google Home/Nest speakers, but discovered my Chromecast Audio devices would output an optical signal, so I eventually got that going in the living room for a true whole-home audio system that sounds great. I started to get the kitchen cleaned up as well as I bounced from one thing to another.

Eventually I got showered and headed to Walmart for cheese dip stuff, and to my horror it had already become quite the zoo. There were so many people wandering around with such full carts, and I could barely make it from aisle to aisle. I loaded my arms full of everything I needed and then some, and the only saving grace was a zero wait time at the newer self checkout lanes they recently opened.

Back at Summer’s, I made the cheese dip in the Instant Pot by first sauteing some hamburger meat with some onions, Rotel, and taco seasoning. I had twice the hamburger meat the recipe called for, but I added some American cheese to it on a whim. The whole thing came out looking pretty bad, and the cheese didn’t seem to properly melt very well, leaving what looked like tiny pellets of unmelted Velveeta. It tasted fine though, and soon we were off to John and Melissa’s.

Travis was there, along with Maria and her boyfriend Asher. Veronica showed up eventually after running around town doing very Veronica things. We snacked on dips and eventually got a game of Monopoly going for seven of us. We had to break out a different set for the extra money and player tokens, but we made it work. It didn’t take us very long to break down some of the rules, but having a couple drinkers around made everyone giggly enough that nobody cared. Much fun was had by all, lasting late into the night.

But what if we put two whole boards together into a figure-8?!?

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Look at the Skies, They Have Stars in Their Eyes

I didn’t sleep in very long today, but I was still slow to get around. It could be the cold making me sluggish too, but I still felt a little lame most of the day. I played Lumino City on my phone for a while and really enjoyed the cute handcrafted feel of it all. Then I played some more Oxygen Not Included until it was time to go up to Summer’s. We had some leftover salad she brought home from Venezia’s, and then watched the new “live action” Lady and the Tramp. It was definitely a more flawed animation than The Lion King, but it was still pretty spooky. You can’t trust anything to be real any more.

Remember that night time we were having?
Cell phone cameras are creepy…

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Nice Day for Anything

We all got up this morning at a pretty good time, and Summer made egg sandwiches for breakfast. I spent a whole bunch of time playing Oxygen Not Included, and the kids watched TV or played the Switch. I joined them for some Mario Party and Mario Kart for a bit while Summer went to the gym, and then they all worked on some chores. It was a beautiful day outside, so I wish we had gone out to do anything at all, but it just didn’t happen.

Noah had to work in the evening, so Summer made a really early dinner for us all. Then I took Noah to work and went home to clean up a bit myself. I got in a little more game time, and Josh got on to play a little Rocket League with me before a bunch of the other guys got on to play Call of Duty. I can’t believe they just keep making those games.

Prep the Soylent!

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Meeting My Pot Dealer Before the Party

We got up this morning with enough time for a little breakfast, so I made some pretty bad Ramsay eggs to go over the last of the sourdough that Suzanne brought us. Then I went home to shower while Summer took Eaddie to the gym. Once ready, I got Summer and we went to the Hughes Center for the craft show where Suzanne was selling the last of her pottery. Summer got a mug, and I picked up a butter bell because I’d wanted one for quite a while but not enough to actually go out and buy one.

We chatted a while and lost track of time, so we had to leave in a hurry and run across town to get Gary before Dale’s birthday shindig. I expected there to be trouble parking, but it was actually relatively empty. Ben brought his family, and Allen eventually showed up with Charlotte, but that was all of our group that made it. It was a really good time, but I expected about three times that many people since Dale knows someone everywhere we go.

After the party, we headed back to Summer’s and laid around watching YouTube videos while the girls went to dinner with their father. Eventually they got back home and I had to go get Noah from work. Eaddie rode with me to DJ the ride, and then we watched an episode of Parks and Recreation before Summer went to bed. I played a little Mario Kart with Eaddie before going to sleep myself.

I miss nuts and seeds way more than I expected.

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Four Percent Friday

We didn’t have much going on today, but I still didn’t feel the need to go to the high school. I spent all morning at the shop, partially working on a couple things. Pretty soon it was only an hour until lunch, which wasn’t enough time to really get into anything. A group of us went to CJ’s for a long lunch. When we got back, Zach and I rolled a magnet around our parking spaces to pick up the 30ish screws and such that were left behind by the people savages doing the work upstairs.

Allen had a touch panel to install in the afternoon, so I went with him. We got it hung pretty quickly, but then encountered a weird touch issue. He immediately jumped to calling technical support, and then leaving them a voicemail when they didn’t answer – all before actually trying anything to fix it. He was in some kind of stupid and belligerent mood, which is the absolute worst for him.

We wrapped up the day about the same as the rest of it, with a whole lot of keeping chairs on the floor. I think it’s the seasonal rut.

On the way home, I stopped by Superfast to loan Summer a projector, then went home and continued my colony in Oxygen Not Included. I made a fair amount of progress, but am getting to a point where I need to come up with a better way of managing gases. Eventually Summer and Eaddie got home and I went up to meet them. I dug out a bunch of leftovers to clean up, and then we watched a couple episodes of Parks and Recreation before bed.

I’ve got forty hand towels, some energy bars, and a Chinese finger trap. Let’s get gross.

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Not a Fan of the Wobble

I got up a little earlier this morning so I could go to Starbucks for their free holiday cup. It was a cheaper plastic than I expected, and they didn’t even use it for the drink I ordered, but the $5 caramel brulee latee was delicious in spite of how much it had cooled down by the time I got through the line. I was feeling pretty congested all morning, so I took a half sick day from work and spent it cleaning and trying to balance my ceiling fan. The cleaning alone helped the wobble an embarassing amount, but there’s still a sway at low speed that I just can’t shake (heh heh).

Summer and I met at Arby’s for some lunch before we had to start our days. She had a Chamber meeting, and I chose to show up for the last half of my day at work. I didn’t get a lot done, but it looked like not many at the shop did either because it had flooded again, and the worst yet. I left work after what felt like no time and went home to rest a bit before dinner with my parents.

The girls met me there once they finished with their activities, and then we all went to our homes for an early night of rest.

Proper story’s supposed to start at the beginning. Ain’t so simple with this one.

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The Sickly Terminator

I got up this morning feeling pretty well rested, but still warm and clammy. The humidity and rain didn’t help much, but it didn’t rain nearly as much as I thought it would. I made the trek back across the campus to terminate those four lines for Jason’s closet before making it back to the shop for lunch. Allen agreed to go to Mulan’s with me so I could get some soup to soothe my head.

After lunch I came back to the shop for a bit before deciding to take the rest of the day off. There wasn’t much going on, and I knew I wouldn’t be very productive. I went by the shop to check on Summer, then went home and rested a while. Eventually I started up Oxygen Not Included and played until Mom called for dinner. She made shrimp noodle soup, and I figured it might make me feel better even though I still wasn’t very hungry from lunch.

Eventually I ended up at Summer’s waiting for the girls to get home. I laid on the couch and queued up some YouTube videos, and then Eaddie put on the last episode of season six of Parks and Rec once they got settled in.

This is the hardest I’ve ever worked on anything since… Wow, I’ve never worked hard on anything! What a cool life!