Tag: family

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I Have a Certain Set of Skills

Today was another beautiful day that made it hard to go inside to work. I spent all morning running back and forth across campus to close out some simple work orders. It went by a lot quicker than I expected, and I ended up taking a late lunch.

I just ran home and made a burrito to eat, then stopped by to see Summer on the way to the shop. I chatted with Gary for a bit, and then I ended up sitting with Ben for quite a while to figure out a way to bend Impero to our will, and it seemed to work at the time, but we won’t really know until tomorrow.

I didn’t get back to the high school until pretty late, so I wrapped up what I could and headed home. The girls were going to dinner with their father, so I thought I was going to just stay home and have dinner by myself, but Summer inadvertently talked me into coming up to have a late dinner with her.

Since I had what felt like hours to kill, I went to Walmart to track down some deals that Dad had spotted. They had the cheaper Nest thermostats marked down to $99, but I had hoped they were the higher end ones.

After covering the entire store, I finally made my way up the hill and scarfed some cold pizza with Summer. Then we all sat in the living room and watched some random clips on YouTube before bed.

I spent your money AND made you do the work! Hah!

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Ring That Bell

Today was a bit wet, but I never actually encountered any rain myself. I stopped by the shop first thing to return the furniture dollies. Ben said our talent pool wasn’t looking all that great, and asked if I had any friends that wanted to work with us, so I tried to get Josh to apply. He apparently just got a new job, which opened up when Justin left to work at Dover.

I spent all morning running around, trying to take care of the 10 or so work orders that I had gotten since I left on Thursday. Since stopping my morning Amlodipine, I’ve had to monitor my blood pressure again. It was actually a little bit low all day.

I took a quick break to run to McDonald’s for some discount lunch, and caught the mail lady just as I got back home with my food. Of course she didn’t ring my bell again, and instead just threw my letter in the back of her car. I wanted to really get on to her for not even trying to do her job, but she was such a miniscule little woman. She wasn’t friendly at all, but for some reason I still felt bad being upset at her.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly as people kept wandering into my office. I got stuck trying to fix one problem late in the afternoon, and didn’t ever get to many of my other work orders. I guess there’s always tomorrow.

Summer had already dropped the girls off at my house by the time I got home, so I just picked Autumn up and took her to an Explorer’s meeting. Then I went to my parents’ house for some dinner. They were at Kroger for hours, so I helped them bring in groceries before we ate. Julie called, and we had a conversation with emotions over speaker phone as she tried to organize our Disney trip.

By the time I got back home, it was pretty late and I was exhausted. Summer had taken Eaddie to pick up Autumn, and they all arrived home shortly after I did. I wrapped up my evening routine, and it was off to a relatively early bedtime.

Why don’t you just get to the point already?

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A Heavy Shadow

We all got up this morning and headed to my parents’ house to meet up with Uncle Giao, Aunt Teresa, Erica, and Nova. They were already there and hanging around the driveway because they thought my parents might not be up yet. I told them Mom probably never went to bed because she had so much cooking to do, and we went on in.

I fired up the grill to get the pork chops cooking, then went to investigate the motorcycle that Uncle Giao brought me. I was a little confused by some paperwork for a 2007 model, but the VIN checked out to be a 2009 Honda VT750C Shadow Aero. I took it out for a ride to the bank for some cash that he ultimately wouldn’t accept, and then to PDQ for some air in the tires. By the time I got back, it was time to cook.

Bâc Ván and Doug eventually showed up, and we all ate an assortment of egg roll salads, pork chops, or phở. At some point the politics started rolling, but Julie hadn’t showed up yet to stoke the fire. When she did finally arrive, the conversations with emotions really took off. I definitely feel like the majority of people are misinformed, on both sides, and I’m starting to think the only way out is for this civilization to fall. I did just recently watch Batman Begins, though.

After a while, everyone headed out and we took the girls back to the house so Summer and I could rearrange the garage. We finally got my giant Kobalt cabinet moved to its rightful home after a quick trip to the shop to borrow the furniture dollies. Then the girls went home to do chores while I started the same.

First, I rode by Allen’s house only to find that nobody was home. Then I got the fire pit cleaned up and prepped for another fire before covering it all up. I took care of some laundry, took a quick shower, and spent some time removing the saddlebags, windshield, and stickers from the Shadow. There’s one enormous one that turns to dust every time I try to peel it off, so I think I’ll have to use a razer blade tomorrow. It could use some TLC, but she’s a smooth ride.

What are you, the mob?

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Daylight’s Burning

We slept in a bit today, and Summer took Autumn out to take care of something at the shop and get some milk for breakfast. Eaddie and I played the Switch while we waited for them to get back, and then we all had some cereal.

I wanted to get home to take care of some things, so I left and waited for the girls to come over. Uncle Giao and the rest of the family came by, so I went outside and talked to them for a while before eventually coming back in to shower.

The girls didn’t show up until the sun was going down, and I had to start the fire pit to cook brats for dinner, so I got absolutely nothing done that I wanted. Summer left before the fire was ready, and took Autumn to the haunted house again. Then we ate when she got back.

By the time we were finishing up, Autumn called for an early ride back home, so Summer picked her up and we all came in to watch Glee. Autumn went to bed really early, and it was a good thing because she missed a really bad Christmas episode. I don’t know what the writers were thinking.

It’s my money, and I want it now!

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On the Subject of Curing Teeth, Calculating Warranties, and Haunting Barns

I took the day off of work so I could get my wellness exam done first thing this morning. Summer came out with me to test my battery, and it predictably tested bad and then failed to start my car, so she had to pull around to jump me. I went home to clean up, then made it to my appointment with plenty of time to spare. Of course I didn’t even leave the waiting room until after my appointment time. I didn’t notice Lori was there until she came back out, and we caught up briefly.

I had a new nurse today. This makes three different people in the last three visits. I liked her quite a bit better just based on brevity alone. I got a new low score on my diastolic blood pressure, so she told me to quit taking my morning amlodipine. Now I’ve got to watch my blood pressure closely again for the next month, but maybe at least I won’t keep getting lightheaded every time I stand up.

The car struggled to start again, but I made it to the shop to pick up Summer, and we went to AutoZone to try and fight for a battery replacement. She went straight to the store manager, and he said he would take care of it, and then said my battery was out of warranty because it was a warranty replacement itself. That made enough sense to me at first, but after some more thought, I don’t think having a prorated warranty discount on this battery should invalidate its own warranty period. He said the original battery was purchased in 2014, and then replaced in 2017 with a prorated discount of $35. I still paid $114 to get a new battery at that point, and the receipt spells out the terms that the battery comes with a 5 year warranty from the date on the receipt. I’ve got another month to fight it, so I’m gonna get my battery.

I took Summer back to work for a while, but then had to jump the car again so I could pick up some breakfast for myself. I didn’t even realize McDonald’s would make a triple McGriddle, but they do, and it was glorious. I barely finished it in the parking lot before it was time to take Summer to her dentist appointment.

The filling of her two chipped teeth barely took any time, and I was surprised that they couldn’t have just taken the time to do it when we originally came in. Maybe it was just in case something else went wrong that would extend the procedure, but it was a pretty painless, quick in and out. The teeth were completely cured and ready for eating as we walked out.

The car wouldn’t start again when we tried to leave, so I called Dad and had him come jump us. Then I dropped Summer off at work and headed home to put the car on the charger. I moved the couch around a bit and did a little cleaning underneath it. I vacuumed out a bunch of spider egg sacks, but I couldn’t tell if they were new or old. It still made me feel better, and I never actually saw any spiders, so I assumed they were old.

I didn’t do a whole lot more before Mom got home from work and wanted to go out to eat, so I picked Summer up after work, then got the girls, and met my parents at New China for their COVID re-opening week. Their buffet was set up a lot less elegant than Mulan’s, but it could have been how many people were there. It just seemed like there was always a mob of people up at the bar, and there weren’t clear directions for people to enter or exit a certain direction. We missed the food though, so it was nice getting to have that brand of Chinese again.

Autumn volunteered for an Explorer’s event in Dardanelle that had her working a haunted house, so we left dinner and went to drop her off. There was no clear entrance or anything, so she and Summer wandered around the property to try and find an adult. It was set up in a barn at the Yell County fairgrounds complex, which was small anyway.

After dropping Autumn off, we went to get gas for both of our cars, then went to our respective homes until Autumn was finished late in the evening. I went to get her, and we got back to their house well after everyone had settled in to bed. At least all the battery charging seemed to help.

Pancake, cheese, sausage, cheese, sausage, bacon, egg, pancake.

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Batman in the Middle

Today was another really quiet day at work. I got down to around 15 work orders, so I really need to be putting some time into some of my older, harder, more complicated ones. I took a break for lunch and came home to make a burrito. I rode the bike back to work, and the afternoon was mostly more of the same. I got a lot of steps in, running around to collect and redistribute microphones.

After work, I came home and waited for the girls to get here. Then we ate a mix of leftovers before Eaddie and I ran to Sonic for half price Blasts. When we got back, I put on The Dark Knight for the evening. I think this was my third watch, and I finally put all of it together in my head. I don’t know why I found it so confusing before, but it just felt so disjointed for some reason. It was a long movie with a lot of plot points, so I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad.

See, I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.

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🍑

Summer took Eaddie to the gym this morning while I got ready for work. Then they picked up Autumn and left just as I was leaving for work. It was a beautiful day out, so I knew I’d be coming home for the bike at lunch time.

I got to sit with a teacher for a while first thing, and actually helped him create some filters and learn how to take advantage of some of Gmail’s more advanced features. It felt really good to make such a difference for him, but sometimes I still don’t understand how more people don’t already know about these things, or take the time to figure them out themselves.

The day went by pretty quickly from there. I ended up taking a late lunch and ate the beef stew Julie gave me the other day. I still felt a little off from the morning, but I pulled myself together and rode back in to work. Overall it was a really quiet day, and I didn’t hear much from anyone else, though I guess that’s pretty typical these days.

After work, I changed clothes and went to get the girls for dinner. We stopped at the Neighborhood Market for some super cheap peaches. I got two big bags for just over three bucks. Then we went to my parents’ house for some more chow mein. Summer met us there as soon as she could get out of work. Then we all went home separately.

I had to run next door to help Bác Vân with a DVD when I got home. Then I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up my email and getting ready for bed.

It looks like a butt.

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Beginning Batman

I got up this morning and picked up some Hardee’s for breakfast. Eaddie had some more school work to do, so she got on that while Summer and I poked around at her car’s tail light. I got to use my electronic probe after a quick reading of the manual, and it’s looking like there really is something breaking continuity inside the housing.

Eventually they left for the gym and to clean up at their house. I went next door to help reteach Bác Vân and Doug how to switch inputs to their VCR and Blu-ray player, and then again to hook up another VCR in the den. When I got back in, I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Then I took a shower before the girls got back for the evening.

Summer brought some chicken, broccoli, and cauliflower to grill, so I threw that together while she and Eaddie went out to ride bikes. Nick dropped Autumn off shortly after the others got back, and just as dinner was finishing up on the grill. The chicken was a bit frozen when I started cooking it, so I think that made it a bit rubbery. Otherwise it was pretty good.

We started the Dark Knight trilogy while we ate, and everyone seemed to really like it. I still think they’re the best DC movies ever made. The trick is going to be finishing the rest of the trilogy in a timely manner.

You see, girls, it’s a time-honored tradition to kiss a boy for no reason and then leave him hanging.

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Are You Shedding Me?

The three of us got up and went to Denny’s for breakfast as a treat. We had what was probably the best service we’d ever had there, but then ran into an awkwardly slow checkout experience. None of the other customers seemed very happy about it, but I don’t know why they were all so surly.

On the way home we rescued a box turtle. Summer didn’t feel well for most of the day, and spent most of it on the couch. I hung the hammocks in case Eaddie wanted to do some school work outside. Then I cleaned out the shed where some animals evidently got in and shredded a bunch of cardboard boxes I had in there. Once it was cleaned out enough, Summer helped me move the kayaks out of the garage, so I’m just a little bit closer to being able to park in there again.

We came back inside to cool down in front of the TV, and when dinner time rolled around, we all agreed on pizza. I had some Papa John’s reward money expiring soon, so I picked that up for dinner and we watched some Glee. Then Eaddie and I ran to Julie’s house because she made some beef stew for us to try. Mom and Dad were there, but we didn’t stay long since Summer was still home on the couch. We watched a bit more TV, and then for some reason everyone went to bed really early.

How do I love thee?

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Talk About Feeling

It was pretty brisk getting home this morning, but I did it. Work was really quiet, and I just spent most of the morning trying to catch myself back up mentally. I took a moment to do my wellness questionnaire, and made an appointment for my wellness visit the same day as Summer’s dentist appointment.

I took a late lunch and brought Summer a Baconator since I knew she could really use a lunch break after returning to work. Then I went by the shop for a little while, but Ben wasn’t there to chat. I went back to the high school to wrap up, and the afternoon went by really quickly.

The girls had karate, so I ran home to change and to take a peek at the Grom to see what kind of damage we were looking at. The handlebars seem a smidge off, and the headlight leans left a bit now. The right handlebar stop seems not to work, but I couldn’t tell why. Hopefully the damage isn’t too bad, but maybe I’ll feel more confident working on a tiny, cheap bike that isn’t also my main ride.

After getting the girls to karate, I went by my parents’ house for some fish soup. They had already eaten, so I just ate on my own. Dad had some comments for me that required some thought, so after eating and heading back home, I decided to go back up to Summer’s for the evening.

The girls were all winding down, but Summer brought them in to chat, and we kind of just made sure everyone was happy. Maybe there are assumed guidelines to the whole step-thing that I don’t adhere to, or maybe it’s a lack of anyone else seeing the interactions of my family in their own home. Maybe they’ve underestimated how long we’ve all been around each other in such close quarters. At the end of the day, the Captain’s got to go with his gut.

No complaints from the crew tonight.