Tag: family

Uncategorised

Board to Tears

I grabbed Hardee’s and ate my biscuit and gravy on the drive in to work this morning. Muad’Dib was super pumped when we got there, and kept bouncing all over the office to see everyone. We settled in pretty quickly though, because Charles asked me about some IP addresses for a project we’ve got, and it occurred to me that I still didn’t know how any of that was set up through our firewall.

I studied most of the day in a bit of a panic, again feeling underqualified. I eventually sent an email to the MSP that helped with the HA setup, to see if they could help walk me through some of the configurations. We took a late lunch to Arby’s for a ham and cheese. There wasn’t a table or bench outside, so we just sat on the curb and shared the sandwich in the sun. Muad’Dib was super well behaved, though he did drool on my pants out of excitement while waiting for a bite.

The afternoon went by comparitively quickly after such a long morning. We made it back to town and I had an anxiety attack in the car just as I pulled into the garage. Once Summer got home for her break, we went to my parents’ house for spaghetti, and then she had to go back to work to close shop.

I took Muad’Dib out for a run, and he sprinted the better part of a mile. He did great, we stopped to see Dad, and then I had board trouble on the way back to the house. It happened once yesterday, but tonight it started flashing red, sounding its haptic buzz, and reported that the battery needed to be charged. The only problem was that the battery was reporting over 70% remaining.

I carried the board back for a little over half a mile, took a quick shower to cool down, then submitted another serivce ticket before bed.

Could use a little moon shine.

Uncategorised

Weird Recovery

I slept in for just a little while since I was working from home today. Summer left for work and I brought my laptop to bed. There still hasn’t been much asked of me, so I did a couple tasks and then tried to sit through some more Microsoft training. It felt a lot more like a sales pitch than training for how to do something specific, so that was a bore. Muad’Dib dozed on my arm, snoring all the while.

Eventually I got cleaned up and took Eaddie to meet Summer at Cicis for lunch. They’re running their early week deal for the remainder of the year, and it’s by far the best salad bar you can get at that price, even if you don’t eat the pizza.

After we ate, I took Eaddie home and went back to work for a while. Later in the afternoon, I took Muad’Dib to Clear View to see if they could fix the chip in my windshield. When I walked in, they were all in the office folding paper airplanes, and asked if I was any good at it. I asked if she just saw my Asian eyes when I walked in and assumed I was good at origami.

Mike pulled the car into the bay and got to work on the glass, and I let Muad’Dib out to wander around. We chatted, along with another kid that was there, until the job was done. When he finished, I offered to pull the car out and then give him my insurance information to he could get paid, and he ran me off and said not to worry about it. I left feeling really conflicted, because he’s always super nice when I talk to him, but there’s always something wrong with the work I have done. Last time it was tiny bubbles in the tint. This time, he didn’t level the surface of the chip, and it left a bright spot that catches the light, plain as day.

I stopped at Casey’s for a freebie Celsius and then pulled into the Tri-Mountain driveway next to Airgas to try and exchange my CO2 tank. The gate was closed, and I learned that they had actually closed at four, so I went back to the house without any gas. Summer got home from work just shortly after that, and tried to wind down pretty quickly.

Dad texted that they had eggrolls, so I eventually ran Muad’Dib over there while Summer drove. Julie and Kevin beat us. It was a quick dinner with some fried rice, and then we finished our run while Summer went home to crash. I gave Muad’Dib a good bath and tried to clean him up enough to last a couple days, then picked up around the kitchen before bed.

He needs his own CPUP.

Uncategorised

Everything You Know Is Wrong

We had to wait for Eaddie to get home from church before we could leave for Rogers this afternoon. Summer got a bit of yard work done, and I finished laundry. We finally hit the road about an hour later than I intended, stopped in Ozark to charge, and finally made it to KPOT for dinner. I was fairly hangry by then, and it didn’t help that our estimated 30-minute wait was closer to the hour mark.

Fortunately our server, Daniel, was very respectful of our time when I told him we were trying to get to a concert. The food experience was a bit better than last time, but then we were shocked to hear that Daniel had never heard of Weird Al before.

We made it to our usual parking spot, which was surprisingly still available. This was doubly convenient because the end of the line was right there, and we were able to walk leisurely to the amphitheater. We got in, the merch line was short, and Summer and I both got shirts. We found a seat with plenty of time before Puddles Pity Party took the stage. Autumn was on the other side of the lawn with Adam’s family, and came over to talk to the girls for a bit. Puddles had a fairly short set, which ultimately I appreciated, because I don’t know how long I could have sat through that energy.

When Weird Al finally came on, it was pretty much non-stop high energy from everyone. They put on an incredible show, and I was excited that Eaddie got to experience it with us. I think we surprised her with how excited we, and particularly Summer, got for some of his songs.

The drive home was fairly quick, and I had a good chat with Eaddie while Summer tried to sleep in the back seat.

And everything you thought was just so important doesn’t matter.

Uncategorised

Play Sassafras Chicken in D, and Make It Extra Lumpy!

I didn’t really sleep in, but had a slow start this morning. Summer went outside for a bit, and I cleaned up some leftovers to make breakfast. We had one small baked potato that I sliced and fried with some leftover onion, and then i scrambled some eggs in with some dried up flour tortilla crumbs. It actually turned out pretty good.

Jon said Alex would be here at noon, but he was over half an hour late to come look at our ceiling. He seemed to think they could just replace a couple panels of drywall and then scrape the rest of the ceiling. Hopefully we get a quote back soon, and it’d be even better if it came in under five grand.

Summer and I had a couple of “arguments” throughout the morning that just left us both feeling defeated. She went to the gym and I tried to start some laundry, but had to clean up a mess that they had left first. Eaddie left to hang out with friends, and Summer and I decided to go to the movies for a late matinée to see The Naked Gun.

I didn’t really enjoy the movie at all. It just seemed really dumb with a couple cheap giggles, but absolutely no rolling, laugh-outloud moments for me. I was hungry when we got home, so we took Muad’Dib to Chipotle for a late dinner. They had a little outdoor seating area, and it felt great outside.

After dinner, we went for a quick run in the dark to see my parents before winding down for bed.

Weird Al is waiting for us!

Uncategorised

One Step Two Step Red Step Blue Step

Kevin checked in to see if I contacted Diamond Ridge, and ended up calling Jon to get things moving for me. I wanted to be respectful of his time and work/life balance, but Kevin gave me Jon’s personal cell to work things out.

Rhonda got a little fussy about the automation I created for shipment documentation, but without invoking more human involvement, there wasn’t much I could do to improve the automation. It seemed simple enough to sort files by date, but after our conversation about phone storage the other day, I don’t guess I was surprised to hear she felt it was impossible to find what she needed.

Muad’Dib and I went to Sonic for lunch again since it was still nice out. We shared a toaster, but he couldn’t have any onion rings. I did risk giving him some of the breading though. Later in the afternoon, I was invited downstairs for some leftover ice cream with the team.

Jon called on my way back home, and said he would have someone visit us tomorrow. I stopped at AT&T to see Kevin, and brought Muad’Dib inside. He was busy with a customer, but Hope came out and found me. We chatted for a while, and Kevin would come over periodically while his customer was, presumably, transferring stuff between devices.

I left there and stopped to see Summer at the wash, and tried to vacuum Muad’Dib’s seat protector. That went fairly poorly, so I’ll just need to remove it and shake it out. It wouldn’t hurt to hose it off either. As soon as I got to the house, Muad’Dib and I rode over to my parents’ house for fish soup.

After that, the girls were home and I sat down to talk with Summer for a while. Then we tried to find something to watch on the bedroom TV, but she fell asleep almost immediately.

A Leash Called “Obedience”

Uncategorised

All Fronts

Today did not go as planned. I had a couple of calls from some of the sales guys for help, which actually went fairly well. Then I had some virtual training planned for the morning through lunch, but immediately after our HubSpot call, Joel emailed me and asked me to update pricing on some products there. That of course had me switch gears entirely, and I had to learn how the old pricing spreadsheet calculations were done, and then figure out how to import them into HubSpot.

Muad’Dib and I went to McDonald’s for fries and Arby’s for a sandwich, just for the sake of pinching pennies, and then I dug into my first real task. I ended up talking to Joel at the end of the day just to confirm what I was doing, and saved the real work for the next day.

We tried to stop and see Summer at Superfast when we got back to town, but she had left early and went to the gym. Eaddie was leaving for Clarksville when I got to the house. Summer got home shortly after that, and I had to figure out dinner. I ended up going to Zaxby’s for a couple salads, and then we ended up venting at each other about each other over the way we prioritize (or don’t) tasks.

I left to run Muad’Dib, and then crashed about an hour later than I wanted.

focus

Uncategorised

Working Like a Dog

I took Muad’Dib to work again today, and he was much more comfortable to leave my side and wander around. I was worried at first that he would bother people, but Teisha greeted him with a treat, and then everyone upstairs stopped to pet him this time. Scott even commented that after meeting him last week, he looked into adopting another dog himself. Joel came upstairs and made a point to stop and give him some pets, and I’m starting to think he likes the dog more than me.

We went to McDonald’s for lunch again, but I just left him in the car so I could eat there. It was a quick meal though, and then I stopped at Sonic to get him some “premium” chicken bites (quotes mine, because I learned that it is still mechanically separated chicken and not actual breast meat). The afternoon was really quiet and I spent some time watching videos on Intune until quitting time.

Summer was already home and went with me to my parents’ house to load up some more wood that Dad had cut for me. Then we went for a swim to cool off before going back to the house to figure out dinner. She took a bath while I picked up Taco Villa. I stopped for a quick carwash before getting the food, because my car had gotten pretty disgusting. Then a bird got my windshield while I was parked at the restaurant.

Eaddie went out shopping and was gone all night. I took Muad’Dib for a night run and ran into Alisha on our last stretch home. She was looking for her injured cat, which we found two houses down from where she had given up and turned to go home. I called and waited for her to come get it, then took Muad’Dib home for a vacuum before bed.

I remembered that internet was down at the old house and texted Dad about the cameras seeing a couple strangers in the garage. We panicked and raced over, but on the way he remembered letting the little girl in to use the restroom after they had come to get some old wood. Fortunately all was fine, except for an overheated router. I rebooted everything and got us back in business so they could take me back to go to bed.

Don’t forget that the moon has a cold, dark side.

Uncategorised

Fantastic Fourth Try

I wanted to take Muad’Dib out for another early run since we’d be gone all day, and Summer wanted to clean up the yard a bit more after Eaddie’s mowing yesterday. Then we got ready to take my parents to Little Rock for some KPOT and a movie.

Mom drove us all in her car, so it was a little wild. Eaddie was stuck in the very back and got carsick, but she made it to the restaurant. This was only my second time at KPOT, and it was pretty frustrating. We were sat relatively quickly, but it took nearly ten minutes for anyone to acknowledge our existence after that. A girl eventually came over and asked if our server had talked to us yet, and it really seemed like tables weren’t assigned to servers, and she had just decided to take care of us.

The soup base came out slowly, long after we received our first order of meats and veggies. It took a while for us to get our soups boiling, so I had a plate of some fried rice and chicken nuggets while I waited. The rest of the food was fairly good, but it really made me rethink the value of the experience. I had a much better time on my first visit.

By the time we finished, we had just enough time to get across Little Rock to the IMAX for our movie. We were sat in our usual spots, but Mom couldn’t handle the giant screen, so she and Dad went back up several rows. We thought the movie was pretty good, but found it to be really predictable with very little rewatchability. I might sit through it if I caught it on television in a hotel, but otherwise I don’t know that I would ever seek it out to watch it again on my own.

The trip back home was just as scary, but we bumped Eaddie up a row. Muad’Dib was super excited to see us, so we took a quick run to see Dad before making it back home for a good bath and brushout before bed.

He does not want. He feeds.

Uncategorised

Wooden Do It

Summer had to work this morning, so I got up and took Muad’Dib for a run while it was still a little cooler outside. Dad and I moved a couple big logs over to their driveway from nextdoor so I could get some firewood before the tree service hauled it all off. Summer had plans to take Eaddie to the Clarksville water park in the afternoon, but it felt really clammy and gross out, and I just didn’t want to go. Eaddie got up and mowed the lawn, so I was in and out some to get her started, and then was trying to organize some of the chaos inside since the ceiling collapse.

Eaddie and I cleaned up some charcuterie stuff in the fridge, and I had an anxiety attack in the pantry. I eventually took a shower and made it back over to my parents’ house where Dad had sawed up a bunch of manageable logs that we could load into the Pathfinder. I brought them a little solar-powered pool skimming robot that we watched mostly fail, and then I ate bún bò Huế with them before getting the wood back to the house just as the girls got there. They helped me unload into the front yard, and then took a bit of a break. Dad came over with a little more wood and a plastic sheet for the hole in the ceiling. Unfortunately the staples ripped right through, and I didn’t want to fight it, so he took that back home.

Summer and I eventually made it over to their house to swim after sundown. My parents were out watering the garden, and Muad’Dib got the zoomies and ran circles around the yard. Summer got cold pretty quickly, so we headed back to the house for the evening.

I had originally planned to go to Little Rock to see Mitch in the evening, but time got away from me and we just had too much stuff going on. We decided to reschedule for later next week.

rattle ’round

Uncategorised

Human Adult Things

I wasn’t sure what the girls were doing today, so I decided to take Muad’Dib to work with me, just to make sure he stayed out of the insulation that was covering the living room. I brought him in on a leash, but as soon as we got upstairs, he was off. He did great, ate some food, drank a bunch of water, and eventually got to go socialize a bit. Everyone seemed to like him, but as expected, some were way more excited to see him than others. I think I was most surprised by Joel’s response to get way down on the floor with him.

Nobody really wanted to attempt his name, but Muad’Dib and I hung out upstairs most of the day. Summer actually stayed home today, so I had her try and find someone else to quote us on a repair and cleaning. She found a single guy named Cano that said he would come out.

We eventually went to get lunch, and I just picked up some McNuggets at the drive-through. I picked up a free slush at Casey’s, and then we went back to the office to eat. After that, I spent some time with the Vuzix headset again. The afternoon was dead.

Cano finally came by the house late in the afternoon, but just before I got there. Summer must have been starving, because she wanted a Chinese buffet. We left Muad’Dib in the bedroom alone for the first time, and drove across town to discover that New China was closed for some personal event. We ended up at Mulan’s for a relatively quick meal before coming back to the house.

Muad’Dib seemed to do fine. he had a little block of yak cheese that he had been chewing on at work all day, and I found where he had hidden it under the stuffed cheetah under the bed. We laid with him for a while in exhaustion, and then we skipped his run to go to bed.

displaced