Tag: family

Traditions

What are Traditions: Father’s Day 2018

We got up early this morning to go to Conway for Father’s Day. Before that, we went to Harbor Freight to pick up a trailer hitch cargo carrier. Julie was running behind, so we left about 45 minutes than we planned. Mom and Dad wanted me to drive, so I got us to Red Robin for some burgers. We managed to squeak in with a relatively short wait time, and made it out just in time to get to the other side of town for the movie.

With just a few minutes to kill, we ran to Harbor Freight across the parking lot so I could get a moving blanket to wrap stuff on the cargo carrier, and then we went in to watch Incredibles 2. I don’t know if it was because I was so hot and tired, or if the movie just had a way slower pace than I expected, but I had trouble staying awake during the first half. I wasn’t the only one though, because Mom fell asleep and then woke up screaming about how she couldn’t see anything.

After the movie, we came straight home and I started putting together my cargo carrier while Summer went to the gym. As I was finishing up, Lelan texted and wanted to know if I could help Stephen with a Mavic Pro drone they were having trouble flying, so I met him at his office to see what I could do. We managed to get it airborne, and he flew it around in their big lobby area because it was a bit too windy outside to be flying near an airport. Once he was satisfied with that, I came back home to meet up with Summer for dinner and The Office.

Don’t be koi.

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Caress Your Balls

A brief interruption in power woke us up really early this morning. I didn’t feel particularly tired, so I got out of bed pretty early for a Saturday. Most of this morning and afternoon was just a lazy day. I spent some more time fighting with my media server, and Summer napped for a while. We eventually got out of the house to meet up with Ronda and Steven for some Fat Daddy’s.

On our way out the door, Summer checked the mail and found my free pair of glasses from Zenni Optical, courtesy of EyeQue. They seem to have a lot of glare, even from the reflection of my own eyes on the back of the lenses. They’re fine for near-sight, but looking at anything far away seems way blurry at first. My eyes will adjust eventually, but I think they’re giving me a headache. It’s definitely time to go back to the eye doctor to find out my official prescription anyway.

After dinner, we all went to the bowling alley for a couple games. I don’t think any of us had been bowling in quite a while, but it was a good time. It went by faster than I expected it to. Steven won the first game, and then Summer squeaked by me for the win in her extra frame at the end of the second game.

We stopped by the Walmart Neighborhood Market on the way home because Summer wanted some cake, and we watched The Office until bedtime.

Yakety yak!

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Dine Together; Work Alone

This Friday was in rare form. I was left by myself all day without any group work, so I finished running my 10 lines from the library to the switch closet, terminated and organized where everything came into the switch, and started setting up new computers in the library. I was pretty happy with how it all turned out overall. Summer joined a big group of us at Brick Oven for a long lunch. It took over 40 minutes to get our food, which seems typical for a party of four or more there.

Ben let me go at 2:30, so I headed home before picking Summer up at the shop. They still couldn’t find anything wrong with the A/C in her car after tinkering with it for a while, so I took her on the bike to pick it up again, then went to my parents’ house to see what they wanted to do for dinner. We landed at Pasta Grill, where Erica seated us next to an overly excited baby shower. The food was pretty good for anything I’ve had in town.

When we finally got back home, I guess my house had misunderstood a command and ended up heating the house for a little while, so it took a bit for the air conditioner to get things back to normal. Now that it’s cool again, I’m exhausted and ready to go to sleep.

One more week.

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The Long Way

We got a ton of cable in today, and they finished the floors on the east side of the junior high, so it was my time to run nearly 4,000 feet of cable. It was a relatively easy run to the library, but splitting the lines up to run down individual tubes of conduit got a bit hairy. We spent literally all day working there, with a break for lunch at a barbecue cookout/vendor meetup at Elliott Electric Supply.

After work, I came home and got the house cleaned up before Summer brought Noah over. He wanted to spend the night, so she brought some Domino’s home and we watched When We First Met and the first episode of Black Mirror. Just before bed, I ran into some trouble with my file server. I’m hoping I can recover without too much trouble, but it seems to be an issue with some software. Ironically, if it had been a hardware failure with a drive, I would have had no trouble at all.

Computers are stupid.

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The Kayak Hunt

We got up this morning and decided to go to Conway to hunt for a kayak. I texted Mom to see if they wanted to go to Sam’s, and Summer and I went to get some pork chop biscuits from Hardee’s for breakfast. She headed to the gym while I got ready, and then we went to pick my parents up when Dad got home from church. We went to Old Chicago for lunch, and the poor girl flipped my slice of pizza face-down on the table while trying to serve us. I don’t think I’ve ever had them serve the first slice, so it was a bit odd in the first place. I think I’d rather just figure that out on my own.

After lunch, we headed to Sam’s Club and wandered around. We ran into Steven there, and Summer and I started video chatting Ronda on Marco Polo while she sat in the car waiting for him. We didn’t buy a whole lot, but I did pick up a Bug-A-Salt gun, and I’m super excited to ruin some pest lives during our next cookout. I may even season some food with it. The salt. Not the bugs.

From there, we went to Dick’s to check out the kayaks. We ultimately decided to wait for a proper deal, so I’ll just have to keep watching online for a great price. We walked to Old Navy to spend some bonus money I had, then went to Marble Slab for some ice cream before heading home. We stopped for just a minute at Walmart to look at their kayaks before taking my parents home. It’s back to group projects tomorrow, and I’m less than thrilled. Vacation is coming.

Shop ’til you drop.

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Double Date with Folks

Work was supremely frustrating today. Amanda and I were sent to pull Ryan’s cables at Jason’s buildings, and even if it was unintentional, we had the distinct feeling that Jason was selectively assigning difficult jobs to others so he wouldn’t have to do them. I’m covered from head to toe in fiberglass insulation, and now my skin hurts everywhere.

I went to New China for lunch with Allen and Kristen, and we met Summer there. It was an interesting time, and Kristen wants to hang out with us as couples now. Life is strange.

The afternoon was finishing up the bullshittiest cable run I’ve ever had to do, and then Ben cut us loose at 4. I refused to let Jason beat me out the door, so Heather, Gary, and I all left a few minutes earlier.

I went home and started charging Summer’s Amazfit Bip before she got there to go swim at my parents’ house. Dad came out to join us in the pool for a bit until Mom got home from work, and then we all went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner.

CONGRATULATIONS.
UNITED NATIONS

Adventure Time!

Road Warrior

We didn’t have a whole lot of extra time for adventure today because we had to get back home for work tomorrow. We slept in after an exhausting day and checked out of the hotel at noon. I happened to think to check Craigslist for an Aeron chair since we were in the city, and I found a few listed at a pretty good price. The first call I made ended up not working out because someone else had just bought them, but I arranged to meet another gentleman that had some for sale.

Before that, we headed downtown to find some food. I got us into the neighborhood where we had eaten at a Vietnamese restaurant about eight years ago, and Summer picked out a Moroccan place called Baida. It seemed to be a family affair, and we were one of two occupied tables there. The food was great, and the guy that served us was super nice, though a little slow on the water refills. I had him pick us out an appetizer and my meal, and we chatted for a bit about food. It seemed like a cool place to become a regular.

After lunch, we went across town to meet up with the guy with the Aeron chairs. It was a super nice, older neighborhood, and the people inside were a super nice, older couple. He worked in furniture, and was able to get the chairs pretty cheap. I didn’t love the fit of the B size, and he agreed that a C would probably be a better fit for me, so I ended up not getting a chair. Not thinking about having a full car on our return trip, I asked him to keep me in mind if he comes across a C model in the near future.

From there, it was time to head back home. We made the rest of the trip with only minimal stops for gas, and then for TCBY in Harrison. I made quick work of Highway 7, then hit up the car wash before unpacking for the night.

He doesn’t want lovin’. He wants chicken.

Adventure Time!

STL

Today was the day for our trip to St. Louis. I picked the girls up and we headed up Highway 7 around 9. It was a pretty good day for a drive with just a little rain near the end of our trip. We stopped at the Cliff House Inn for some sausage biscuits for breakfast, then made it to Springfield to eat at Lambert’s for lunch.

The food there was awesome. Everything was cooked perfectly aside from the dry chicken strips, but the girls loved them anyway. It was a ton of food, and they kept coming by with more to serve at the table. Everyone got to catch some throwed rolls, and Summer even got a hubcap cinnamon roll as a reward for cutting loose with the fried chicken instead of a salad.

After that, we made the rest of the trip to St. Louis to meet Summer’s sister Beth. We got there a little late because Waze didn’t have the right destination, but Google Maps got us back on track. As soon as we got there, Beth locked herself out of her car, so we ended up sitting in my car waiting for a locksmith. It got me thinking that I should get the tools to take care of that kind of thing myself, but I don’t know if there are any rules regarding that.

Once we got her into her car and the girls loaded up, Summer and I made our way across the city to get to the Crowne Plaza by the airport for the evening. We got a pretty decent rate of but I was disappointed to find out there was an extra $10 overnight parking fee. The in-room refrigerator was also super tiny, and there wasn’t a good rack for the towels, so they put them on the shelf under the sink touching some pretty gnarly looking plumbing.

I started feeling a bit sick, but I think it was just being so full from everything I ate and drank all day. Hopefully I’ll be over it in the morning so we can enjoy a little bit of the city before heading back home.

What do you mean the continental breakfast is twelve dollars?

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Home for the Evening

Work was dreadful and exhausting today. Jason and Allen took the day off and left us to pull a ton of cable. No surprise. I ended up with Ben and Ryan, who ended up spending quite a bit of time fighting with some phone cabling issues with the change we were making. It was hot and sweaty, and my foot has been hurting worse from what I assume is some bruising from dropping my kayak on it last weekend.

After work, I felt so gross and tired that I wanted to go swim for a while. The girls just got home from church camp, so Summer brought them over to swim a while too. Then I picked up some Little Caesar’s on the way back to their place before coming home to prepare for the trip. At least they’ll have one night at home before heading out again. I wish I had more time to sleep though.

Gotta find the lobsters on the walls.

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The Long Shot

After a weekend of feeling how I assume this camel must feel, I took a shot and waited for Summer’s bus to get back to town.

Five hours of melting in the sun later, they showed up and I’m happy to report that things worked out. I’ve been bitter and cold for so long that I kind of forgot how not to be. It’s time to raise that guy from the dead. He wasn’t perfect either, but he was definitely less cynical, and probably a bit nicer too. At least he acted like it.

You’re dumb, and I hate you. Welcome home.