Tag: family

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Brassers

I continued to churn out flash drives today, as though that was my sole purpose in life. Predictably, Jacob was immediately concerned that they would quickly be lost due to their diminutive size. I continued on until lunch, when Gary, Greg, Thomas, and I went to Taco John’s since Taco Tuesday can be both cheap and healthy. I was neither, as I took the rare opportunity to order an actual combo meal instead of squeaking by with three tacos.

After lunch, I spent some time at Oakland and took care of a few things before ending back up at the shop to finish the day. Things got really quiet at the end of the day, and I think I was the last one out. I went home until Eaddie needed me to pick her up from the robotics camp at the high school.

We went to McDonald’s for another Mario Kart Happy Meal, and met Summer back at my house. Earlier in the day, I had gotten a call from Lowe’s that our refrigerator would be pushed back yet another week. Summer wanted to look at our options, but after spending some time shopping, it looked like most everything of interest would be about the same timeframe.

Summer surprised me first thing in the morning, saying she purchased tickets for us to see a group called Dallas Brass at the Center for the Arts. I looked them up and was okay with the idea, but once the show actually started, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. It was a nice, quiet concert compared to the full school bands that we’re used to hearing. They went on for a very entertaining two hours, and even played some pieces with the Tech and high school bands.

After the show, Summer dropped me off back at home and I rushed to sleep. I was up all night again last night, but hopefully tonight I’ll sleep straight through since I drugged up.

Still not cool.

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Something in the Water

I was up at least every hour last night, much like I have been for the past week or so, and it’s been the absolute pits. On top of feeling like I was wide awake and couldn’t fall back asleep every time I laid back down, we ran into some trouble with the water in our motel. There was a bunch of air in the lines, which I tried to purge by running the bath and sink. The loud glurging sound of course woke the girls, and the water started turning brown with lots of sediment. The tub wouldn’t drain either, and basically started filling up as though I had the plug in it.

We all got up and decided to just check out. My parents still had a good shower across town that I wanted to use, so Autumn and I grabbed a few things from the continental breakfast in the office and made our way out. The lady was super friendly and apologetic about the whole thing, and evidently she discovered a problem with the air pump that feeds their water supply. It might have been fine to go back and shower, but by that time we had already packed up and were ready to go.

The Christ of the Ozarks was just at the end of the road, so we drove through there quickly and got a few pictures at Eaddie’s request. Then as we drove through downtown, the girls decided they wanted to go on and find a coffee shop or something that was open while I went to shower.

Mom was still in bed, but started getting around once I got there. I had a nice shower, then caught up with the girls. I chanced it by parking in front of a broken meter, and walked to a few shops with them. I thought we might spend more time there, but they were over it pretty quickly. Autumn got to see her “working bunnies” and bought a shirt. Summer and I went up some stairs above the park in the middle of it all. We thought we might get lunch with my parents, but Summer, Autumn, and I were the only ones that were very hungry.

Instead, we just decided to stop by McDonald’s on the way out of town. They were super busy and clearly understaffed, so we ended up waiting quite a while for our food. The app also let me order a McRib, which they did not have, so I got a refund for that. The food was otherwise good, and I even got a Mario Kart Happy Meal for Eaddie before we headed out.

The drive back was different for some reason. I just trusted Google to get me home, not particularly caring how. We came through Lamar, then hit the interstate, making fairly good time. Autumn had plenty of time to get ready for her evening shift at Denny’s. Eaddie cleaned up a bit and then fell asleep super early. Summer and I just laid on the couch all evening until we decided to make some ramen and then go to bed. I went home to unpack and clean up, but made a quick night of it.

Collecting ALL the vacations…

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Witchcraft!

We all woke up early to leave for Eureka Springs this morning. I had to stop by Superfast first though, to check my coolant level again. We took a jug of some extra along just in case it got bad later, but I really shouldn’t have, because at the end of the day we found it had leaked all over the trunk.

It was a long and pretty drive, though the trees were all still dead from winter. Eaddie did great in the car, and we didn’t even have to drug her. We got to the Inn of the Ozarks a little before the last lecture let out for lunch, so we picked up Dad, then Mom and went to the top of the hill for lunch at Myrtie Mae’s.

After lunch, we watched the matinée for Dad’s performance. Then the girls had to cut out partway through the closeup show in order to make their zipline appointment. My parents and I got back up to their room just as the girls finished up, so once they walked back across the street, we headed to The Rockin’ Pig Saloon for dinner.

They had a bunch of menu items with Wagyu beef, including an $85 ribeye that made even our server’s eyes go wide. Mom got a non-Wagyu ribeye for less than half that, and the rest of the table got a pretty good mix of things. Somehow Autumn ended up with a pepperoni pizza, and even it was pretty good. I still think the brisket at Ridgewood is more tender though.

We got back to the Inn just in time for the raffle drawings, and then we watched the evening show. It was a good time getting to see everyone again after putting the event off for COVID. As they closed up shop, we left my parents to go find our hotel across town.

The Statue Road Inn was a cute little motel, at least in the dark. There was some confusion with the check-in process, because I was sure that I paid in full online, but I received an email saying I had to make a partial payment at the inn, and the lady at the front desk didn’t have any record of payment at all. She was super friendly though, and unable to find any credit card history, I felt comfortable making the partial payment. After researching some more online, I’m not convinced that I don’t owe the rest of it, but we’ll sort that out later.

The room was kind of cute, but it looked like they had some renovations going on at the other end of the building. This was the second time I’ve had a physical, metal key for a room I’ve stayed in as an adult. Aside from the miserable water pressure that Summer reported, everything seemed to be on the up and up. I guess we won’t know for sure until morning.

Short trip.

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Crystal Clear

I was in and out of bed all night, but managed to get up in time for some breakfast with Summer before the girls got up. Then she went down with Autumn while I started getting ready for the day. Eaddie was the last one out of bed, and then we loaded everything up to head home.

Autumn wanted to stop at a crystal shop on the way home, so we went to Miller’s Rock Shop. They had a couple anoles in a sunlit window, and evidently they just hang out loose there, and they put food and water out for them. Autumn picked up a slice of rock, and then we continued to Iron Springs.

The girls were less enthusiastic about the thought of hiking, but Summer coaxed them across the wooden bridge and just off the path to dig in the dirt a little bit. Summer found a decent sized crystal, and then we continued home. She took the girls home as soon as we got to my house, and I got unpacked.

My parents were at Burger King before their trip to Eureka Springs, so I ran around the block to see them. Then I loaded up some leftover chicken strips and went to Walmart for salad to take to the girls.

The chicken lost a lot of its water to ice crystals, which caused some trouble as I tried to split it up into smaller bags and then fry. I ended up having to take the deep fryer outside, and also melt the ice in the toaster oven before frying the chicken. I eventually had a decent system, but it was a huge pain in the ass, and in the end none of the girls were really hungry. I made Summer and myself salads, but was frustrated that they watched me spend a lot of time making a lot of food for everyone, knowing that they didn’t have a refrigerator to keep any leftovers.

After Summer and I ate, they wanted to play a game of Uno Flip. Eaddie gave up after Summer won first place, and then Summer won again finishing Eaddie’s hand before Autumn gave up. Then the girls went to their rooms for the night, but stayed up either tinkering or moving and cleaning up their rooms. Summer went to sleep really quickly, and I was tired enough that I didn’t stay up much longer.

I can’t like anything out loud any more.

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You Make the Rocking World Go Round

I got out early for breakfast this morning and brought it back to the room while I waited for the girls to get around. Once they were up, we went down and I had a second round with some delicious fruit, yogurt, and granola. That was only the beginning though.

Once everyone was cleaned up and ready to go, we went to the mall to do a little shopping. I was not at all prepared for how sad that would be. The girls seemed really happy with shopping for shirts at every store that was left though, so it was a fair enough time. I think about half of the spaces were vacant, and there was hardly anyone there. It is spring break though, so maybe traffic was lighter for that reason. We’re the only ones lame enough to spend our spring break at the mall.

After that bit of shopping, the girls wanted to go eat. We went to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch, and Summer got herself a big plate of crab legs and a free slice of cheesecake for her birthday. Autumn was somehow unimpressed with her chicken strips, but at least they were relatively cheap. We enjoyed our server and talking with the geese in the lake beside us.

We came back to the hotel to clean up after lunch since it was so close, and then we headed downtown to walk the strip. We didn’t really have any big goals, but I heard Kringles and Kones and Fat Bottomed Girl’s Cupcake Shoppe called out. We never made it to Kringles, but went into a few shops and looked at shirts and crystals, then finished up with a box of cupcakes before heading back to the car.

It was a nice afternoon, but things got chilly quickly back at the hotel. We went downstairs without Eaddie for the happy hour social. We thought we’d play a board game, but ended up playing cornhole in the cold wind outside until the end of the social. Then we came back upstairs and watched the end of Captain America: Civil War. The girls took showers, and were quickly off to bed after a long day.

I ate three much.

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Middling America

We got up early this morning to hit the road toward Hot Springs. I haven’t actually gotten gas since the prices have started going up, so I felt my soul leave my body as I filled my nearly-empty tank. We got the girls, and headed straight down Highway 7 in the rain. The roads were clear, but it was evident they have been doing a lot of work on the scenic highway since the last time we came down. We crossed at least two new bridges, and bumped along several grooves left by new drainage pipes installed across the road. Then as we neared the end of the journey, they had torn down a gas station and installed a giant roundabout in its place.

Once we got into town, we headed straight to the Mid-America Science Museum. They were pretty packed, and the place was crawling with little children. I had hoped there would be more for young teens, but I think both Autumn and Eaddie had really outgrown most of what they had. It was hard to not feel like we paid that much money just to play with wooden blocks.

The Tesla show was pretty neat, though short. They had a planetarium as well, but they were just showing a movie about our cosmic timeline that mostly bored us all. The guy that sat next to me spent the entire show explaining every single thing to his small child, which I begrudgingly endured. We thought we’d get some food at whatever deli they had, but that was shut down and we had to resort to cold sandwiches out of a refrigerator in the gift shop.

We had enough time for an early dinner before check-in time at the hotel, so I routed us to a Mexican restaurant that was apparently shuttered. Our second choice was an Italian place that just happened to be in the same parking lot, so at least that was easy. I didn’t even order an entrée myself, and just ate half of Autumn’s medium pepperoni pizza instead. We still had more than enough to bring a slice and some bread back for a midnight snack.

I took Summer and Eaddie for a tour around the hotel once we got settled, and then we came down for the evening social once it started. The girls didn’t want to stay down though, so they took some food and drinks back to the room while Summer and I relaxed downstairs. We thought we might all swim, but everyone was so tired they just wanted to hang out in the room for the rest of the night. Summer was, of course, in bed before sundown. Autumn took the sleeper sofa. Eaddie found comfort in the floor under the computer desk because she’s weird.

Spring break has officially started.

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Coughee and Donuts

I just barely made it in to work this morning, and though I thought I’d feel better pretty quickly, that really was not the case. Fortunately nobody was up to much. Thomas wouldn’t be there Friday, so he brought donuts today and everyone chatted in the shop for a while before splitting up. Kyle’s birthday would happen over spring break, so Tammy made brownies for him today.

Zach, Gary, Josh, and I went to Wendy’s for a quick lunch, and the food was actually pretty mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had so much better from there. Summer came by to see me after her expo was over, on her way to Cabot. Most everyone in the shop started a weight loss competition today that I didn’t opt into because it was never clear whether there was a buy-in, but mostly because I was not committed to a time limit for what will have to be a lifetime of change.

Dad said they wanted to grill burgers after work, so I went straight over there and got things started for dinner. We ate, then discussed the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its many, confusing timelines. When I made it home, I doped up on some NyQuil and waited for it to knock me out again.

Birds sing when the drugs hit.

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Honorable Mention

I developed a nasty sinus issue last night that kept me up until I remembered how soothing it could be to have hot water in my CPAP. For hours, I had struggled with a scratchy throat, unable to sleep for more than an hour or so, and finally I found rest.

I chugged some orange juice before I went to work, then sipped on piping hot green tea all day. Evidently the meeting that occurred right outside my door was a surprise to our department. Jeff and Terry were there with the guys trying to sell us Avigilon again, and based on what I heard, I didn’t hear a lot of kickback from my guys. I couldn’t tell if that’s because they had already said what they wanted to say and were at the point that they felt defeated, or if nobody wanted to rock the boat. I told them afterward that we should have developed hand signals so I could bust out of my office and make a super disparaging remark.

It was Brody’s birthday, and surprisingly he picked Linhs for lunch. Just as we got there, Zach got a call that several pallets of Chromebooks had just arrived at the shop. He took my car back with Greg, and the rest of us sat down to eat, ordering their food for their return.

After lunch, Tammy had made a Butterfinger cake, so of course Thomas was super excited to eat that. I had some more tea, went to Oakland to take care of a few things before school let out, and then spent a pretty relaxing end of the day in the front of the office.

Summer came over after she got back to town from Cabot, and we got changed to go to Eaddie’s National Honor Society induction ceremony. After a scan of the crowd, I discovered that we were basically sat directly across from my greatest nightmare, so I was on edge the entire time. Then, as it often is, alphabetical-order spoiled what fun I was having.

I thought I was keeping it together for the most part, but then they dismissed in the most chaotic way. Everyone started walking down to the floor of the arena, and just feet away from where we were heading, I froze. I couldn’t breathe, and I just had to exit as quickly as possible. I felt absolutely horrible for it, because I wanted to be there for Eaddie in her moment of accomplishment. All the love and support in the world didn’t mean a thing if I couldn’t even bear to exist in that moment. I was a wreck for hours after that.

Autumn took Eaddie out to get food and then went home while Summer and I went back to my house for a bit. I had a tentative plan to go to Lowe’s with Brody, but ended up postponing it for his birthday’s sake. I ended up taking Summer to Brangus for dinner, and robotically ate way too much.

When we got back to her place, Eaddie was melting more Perler beads. Autumn was getting ready for bed, and Summer didn’t waste any time crawling under her own covers. I finished up what I always do, and it was time to pass out.

And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.

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RSD Cribs

I dressed up a bit for work today just in case the new superintendent came back to meet everyone. I worked sporadically on a few different things, but nothing that made me feel too accomplished. Just before lunch time, the tech sent by Dell to replace a motherboard for me arrived. That didn’t take long at all, though I cut out a couple minutes before he finished since it was lunch time.

Zach took Gary, Thomas, and me to Las Palmas, and evidently the name “Used Chips” is old enough that Thomas remembered it. The food was good, but I always feel a little iffy when I pay there. They’re big fans of cash.

The afternoon was relatively quiet. I did get to shake the hand of our new boss, making her the first one I’ve ever officially met. She said she liked my office, and Thomas was there to witness it, so I guess that’s a win. I really should have left my hackertyper window open just to see if I could get a reaction from Thomas, but I chickened out.

After work, I ran through Casey’s for a free birthday cookie, and then I thought I’d try to fix Bác Vân’s sewing machine. Evidently she had been out shopping for a remedy to an allergic reaction she had to something, so I never caught them. Eventually I loaded up with some food and headed up to Summer’s.

Autumn was at work, and Eaddie did a bit of homework while Summer made alfredo pasta to go with the last of the chicken we rescued from the Great Melt of 2022. It felt good to clean up those leftovers, but it was all pretty dissatisfying to eat. I’m just glad it’s over.

We had some leftovers that needed to be refrigerated, so I decided to take it home with me. I’ve still got to make time to figure out the refrigerator situation, and I’m not sure tomorrow will be any better. I sure would like to save a couple hundred bucks though.

We’re utilizing machine learning algorithms via remote desktop protocol on the neural network to compile scripts on the mainframe to prevent cyber attacks from threats to our students and faculty.

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Who’s Afraid of the Big, Black Bat?

I woke up this morning forgetting that I had lost an hour overnight. I thought I’d be up early enough to make breakfast after how early I woke up yesterday, but instead I just heated some cold brew coffee for Summer and took a shower before my parents came to pick us up.

We headed to Conway and, after some deliberation, settled on Sharks Fish and Chicken for lunch. I was worried Mom wouldn’t like how dingy it was inside, but everyone was pretty happy with the food. We’ll have to take them to Sam’s in town sometime, because I bet they’d like it a lot.

After we ate, we were going to shop for refrigerators, but evidently they had already picked out what they wanted in town. Instead, we went to Kohl’s and wandered around for a bit. We left there empty-handed to go to the theater, and fortunately we left early enough to get through some traffic that was caused by a flipped vehicle right off the interstate.

The movie was as long and slow as Eaddie described it, and I was surprised at how much they completely focused on it being a detective story. I guess it made sense, but it was less entertaining than I had hoped. There were certainly scenes that I enjoyed, and styles that I appreciated, but overall I didn’t at all feel glued to my seat. What I perceived as their big plot twist didn’t really carry any weight with me, and overall I thought it was relatively forgettable. The realistic wingsuit didn’t help, but I guess they really focused on realism on this one. There wasn’t an overabundance of having to suspend my disbelief as there has been in previous iterations.

After the movie, we headed straight home. As Summer started to head home, she showed me a piece of her car’s roof trim that had come loose, so I pulled it off to move the retention clips and then hammered the thing back into place with a mallet. Then it occurred to me that I had just fixed her car with a hammer, and that we should probably follow through with a plan before we’re forced to rely on a backup plan.

Once Summer left, I went to my parents’ house for some fish soup with them. We chatted for quite a while before I headed back home to try and get to sleep as quickly as possible. The new superintendent is coming to see the shop tomorrow, and I don’t know whether I’ll meet her or if I’ll be asked to disappear for the afternoon. I suppose I’ll at least brush my hair in case.

Something in the way, mmḿ?