Tag: food

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Not My Jam

I woke up about half an hour early today, which didn’t start out terribly, but I quickly found myself out of sorts. I managed a shower, but finished everything quite early, so I sat in the bed next to Summer for a bit before she left, and then left myself. We headed straight to the Tesla service center in North Little Rock, fighting stop-and-go traffic after Conway. I don’t know if it was just backed up from where the sun meets the curve in the road just right in order to blind everyone, but it seemed about right.

We arrived just before our scheduled time, which was perfect. I dropped off my car to little fanfare, and was offered Uber credits to get around. I asked about a loaner, and was told Muad’Dib couldn’t get in the car, so I asked about a Cybertruck so he could ride in the back. Being early in the day, they had one available for me, and we made our way to the school district office to see Randy and company.

Randy met us outside, and I quickly learned that they had begun letting people bring their dogs to work. He said he was initially turned down when I asked permission, but later caught the superintendent with his dogs, and through a change of heart, others were suddenly allowed as well.

It was Jimmy’s birthday, but there was no fanfare there either. I visited with him, Maggie, and my replacement, Billy for a bit. At one point, Charles came through as well. Randy and I tried to orchestrate lunch with Ben, but he was slow to reply. I got a call that my car was finished surprisingly early, but we had just a little bit of time before lunch anyway, so I swapped vehicles, Supercharged a bit, then went to Waldo’s to wait for the others.

They had a little patio area, but the highway traffic was horribly loud. As the midday sun came around, things got pretty warm, but it was just a little sweaty. We ate and visited, and eventually went our own ways. Muad’Dib and I made it back to Morrilton for some work in the afternoon.

Things were pretty quiet around the office. I messed around with ChatGPT a bit more since Joel sent me an invite to a company account. It had me wondering again if it would be better to start with Copilot, but it remains that our SharePoint is a mess. I ended up working late to try some network changes that I’d been holding onto until everyone was gone. That got put off a little longer because Amanda and Elizabeth were working late.

Luckily I had my Onewheel, so Muad’Dib and I ran a couple miles around the property and over to Petit Jean Meats to try their walking track a couple times. Muad’Dib had a super time in a new place with cooler air. The girls were still wrapping up when we made it back, but I got things lined up and then made my changes when they left. It went flawlessly and quickly, so we headed home in the dark after that.

I was hungry after the incredible fried chicken at Waldo’s, so we stopped at Popeye’s to burn some points and get some more chicken on the way home. As usual, there was a drive-through line around the building and a lobby absolutely full of angry looking people. All of the workers seemed super unhappy, and I witnessed an old guy gripe at the nice, but sad looking kid at the counter. They boxed up my food surprisingly quickly, so I told the kid things would get better and got a laugh out of him as I left.

When we finally made it home, Summer was lounging in an antigravity chair in the driveway. She came in and we ate some chicken, then watched the next episode of VisionQuest before she went to bed. I was exhausted from my own long day, and didn’t stay up much longer.

If I go, there will be trouble!

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Plop Plop Fizz

I took my leftover sausage, jalapeño, egg, and cheese kolache for breakfast today, which got me off to a good start in the Sophos again. I spend more time going back and forth over the same concepts than anything, but I’m feeling good about my understanding. I had a couple side quests, including a drop-in from a couple guys from Ritter again. I took the opportunity to take Muad’Dib outside, and we chatted for a little bit.

After that, we made it to lunch a bit earlier than usual. The Wendy’s drive-through went all the way around the building, but inside was mostly empty as usual. I had a cheap lunch, then made it back for another surprise task in the afternoon. Teisha lost a file folder, and Purview didn’t help, but only because I didn’t have the right file name. Luckily her File Explorer cache came to the rescue.

The rest of the afternoon went by pretty slowly until we left. I felt a bit sick to the stomach, so I couldn’t take Muad’Dib on a run immediately after we got home. Summer came in right behind us and took him outside for a little while after she ate. Once I felt better, I took him to my parents’ house. I had eaten a brat before I left, but Mom had some rice soup to clean up, so I ate a bowl of that before we made it back home.

Summer waited for us, and we watched an episode of VisionQuest before she went to bed. I had my Tesla service appointment for my left repeater camera in the morning, so I got to bed a few minutes early too.

Missed it!

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Build It Out

Shipley’s notified me too late yesterday to get their bogo kolaches, but fortunately their app let me order ahead for today using the promo. We left the house in the rain and found a line wrapped around the building, but I was able to walk inside and pick up my order without a hitch. We made it to work through some pretty heavy rain, making surprisingly good time for how slow we had to drive.

I desperately wanted to actually start building out some network changes today, so through a lot of reading, I finally built out some new VLANs and subnets. We took a break to go to Ortega’s for a quick lunch. They were probably the busiest I’ve ever seen them, but they had me in and out in a flash. Then we had some leftover dessert at the office before going back upstairs to continue working.

I was just proud to have something to show for my time before I left. Then it was a clear drive home in the evening. Summer was in the bath when we got there. I immediately took Muad’Dib for a quick run, skipping the flooded basin and stopping at my parents’ house briefly before making it home in the dark.

Summer pan fried some chicken bits a couple weeks ago for a bunch of salad she said she wanted, but hadn’t eaten any of it since. I frustratingly picked through melting salad and combined a bunch of other ingredients I really didn’t want, with dressing I didn’t like, and pushed it down my gullet to get rid of as much of it as possible. Summer got immediately quiet when she saw how frustrated I was, and then seemed to pout on the couch the rest of the night, insisting she wasn’t upset. I came out to sit with her, and we eventually watched an episode of VisionQuest before she went to bed. I wasn’t far behind.

Fighting for what’s left.

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Yes, But Why

I woke up feeling pretty okay, but the stress of getting ready for work got to me as Summer kept riling up Muad’Dib and not listening to what I was telling her. We left in time to get some breakfast to try and settle things, so I grabbed a Hardee’s breakfast burrito and luckily had FSD working all the way to work.

I struggled to accomplish much today, partly from my own trouble focusing, but also because I was having absolutely no luck with the one thing I was trying to accomplish. They said we couldn’t use mobile check depositing, so I spent all day messing with the check scanner again. I sat downstairs with a test laptop off of management just to try and eliminate every possible configuration, and I just couldn’t get it working.

We left to get some Angry Orchard for Summer, then grabbed a Taco Bell deal on the way back. We ate downstairs with Janice and Elizabeth, and then went back to Amanda’s computer to mess with it some more. As I gave up, I plugged it back into her computer and suddenly it worked. My only possible guess was that it was all caused by the Sophos MDR, but I really had no clue or proof of it.

I went back upstairs pretty defeated after the days-long fight. I poked around in a couple things, but just couldn’t get locked into anything. When it was time to leave, we left in a bit of a hurry to try and get a run in before it got dark and possibly rainy. Summer had to work late and had a meeting, so we took off.

It started to sprinkle a little, and got heavier as we rode on, so we went straight to my parents’ house. Mom was making bún bò Huế, so we decided to stay for that. I needed to juggle some car charging though, so we rode a bit of a ride to make it back to the house. Luckily it didn’t really rain any more while we were out. While at home, I moved some things around to prevent water damage when it eventually does rain a lot. Then we rode back to my parents’ house to eat.

After dinner, we came straight home and took care of new packages while Summer vegged on the couch. Eaddie came home for a bit and tried to find her wallet, which she can never hold onto. I cleaned up a bit, Summer went to bed, and then I wrapped up pretty early. The biological clock is holding on to the old time, and I’m trying to take advantage of it to catch up on some sleep.

Catch up!

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Sumo Dem Noodles

I was up pretty late, but we rolled back last night. Summer got up for some coffee, but then spilled a bit on the couch when I came out to lay on her. We got that cleaned up quickly, and then I did some picking up, followed by processing of more Vine stuff. Eaddie got up and shopped for some new glasses and they chatted for a bit in the living room while I started some laundry. Then in a surprise twist, Eaddie would actually be around long enough to have lunch with us.

She wanted to go to Sumo, so I showered and then we all headed out to eat. I really haven’t cared much for Sumo on account of their arbitrarily high prices, but I tried the cheaper option of yaki soba with steak, and was a bit surprised by it in comparison to the hibachi dishes. It wasn’t my preference, but it tasted pretty good with a nice char.

Afterward, we came out to find Muad’Dib had climbed out of his seat into Eaddie’s. We let him out to pee, then dropped Eaddie off at Tech. As she got out, Muad’Dib lunged after her, which required scolding. I don’t know if it was the lack of going out for a run the night before, but he was being pretty ornery.

Once I got him back into the car, we went by Julie’s to pick up a loaf of jalapeño cheddar sourdough. We made it home and had a couple slices, then Summer wanted to go on a bike ride while I rode the Onewheel with Muad’Dib. He ran us straight to my parents’ house where we visited very briefly before continuing around most of our usual path.

When we got home, I finished up my laundry and we eventually sat down to watch a couple episodes of VisionQuest. Summer got tired pretty early, but was still up later than usual after the time change. I actually wrapped up just a few minutes early and made it to bed on time.

That’s because you’re old and your body sucks.

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100k Dog

I tried to get out of the house a little early today since we had the whole sales team in town from all over the country. I didn’t get out as early as I would have liked, but we weren’t really needed anyway. Full Self Driving failed on the drive in, which was surprising given the cool air and lack of sun. It’s pretty upsetting that one bad camera kills so many of the safety features of the car.

It wasn’t long before I started to get busy. From looking at a television to see a cable was plugged into HDMI 1, and then to an inability to upload attachments to ChatGPT. The second one ran me around a little bit, but I think I narrowed it down to our Sophos endpoint protection.

Later on, I had to help Amanda with her check scanner, but this time I could never get it working. I was down there for most of the afternoon, failing to resolve the issue. No driver or service changes helped, and my last guess was an issue with old, improperly or unsigned drivers. I’ll have to pick up on that again tomorrow.

I had a break in the middle of that to eat some leftover catered fajitas with Janice, Elizabeth, and Amanda. Then we got to chatting about our UPS invoice process, and though I understand a desire to confirm quotes to invoices, I’m still not sure of the best way to do so.

Late in the afternoon while I was still downstairs, Kaleb came down and started playing with Muad’Dib in the floor. He asked if I’d take $50,000 for my dog, and said he was a good dog that would be worth it. Then he asked if I’d take $100,000. My initial thought at 50 was that I’d have to think about it. By the time he got to $100, I had decided that even that amount of money wouldn’t make any meaningful difference in my day to day life, and I’d rather have my good boy.

I drove the entire way home, since Full Self Driving was likely to fail immediately. We got home and left on our run since Summer had to close. Muad’Dib did really well, and then we stopped at my parents’ house to eat. Mom had shrimp soup planned, so I called Summer to stop by on her way home. We ate, and then she left while I visited with Dad as he and Muad’Dib finished eating. Then we made it home in the dark.

It was too late to do much else, but I put away my new Vine stuff as I got ready for bed.

Besides, you can’t even say his name!

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Four Outta Five

I woke up surprisingly early this morning. Muad’Dib must have gotten hot or something, because he slept in his own bed all night. Of course he came and laid in my spot as soon as I got up, though. I had several things I wanted to accomplish, and overall I guess I did more than I expected. First up was grilling pork chops at my parents’ house for a noodle lunch. Summer eventually got up and went to the gym, so I started some laundry and got cleaned up and ready to go.

Summer was later getting back than I expected, so I was headed out the door when she finally showed up. Muad’Dib and I went over to get the charcoal started. Dad got home from church, and Summer eventually made it over with some brats to grill, after also receiving some surprise ribs from Autumn and her father. It felt like it took longer to make our bowls and eat than it did to cook.

After lunch, we headed back home and I folded my laundry and took care of a bunch of Vine deliveries before taking my car to the wash. The first stall I tried was awful, so I moved and found a really good one, except for a lack of wax. After that, I went to Splash for a vacuum before heading back home. I considered starting my Onewheel tire replacement, but it was getting later already and Muad’Dib needed a proper run. We did our full course pretty quickly, saw my parents, and then saw Mason and his family out walking and biking. I let him try the Pint X, and then we made it home just before dark.

I started Muad’Dib’s bandanas in the washing machine and then gave him a good vacuum brushing before his bath. He was reasonably accommodating for the really long bath and extra long drying. I should have vacuumed him again before giving him some cologne, because his hair was just damp enough to stick to my hand when I rubbed it in. He felt really soft and fluffy afterward though, and of course he smelled way better.

I wrapped up just about on time for bed, still without a new tire on my GT S, and the plants were looking awfully thirsty, but we’ll give it another try tomorrow.

Everyone’s thirsty.

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The Pawling Station

I slept long and hard today while Summer woke up long before dawn to get to Conway in time for the City of Colleges 10k. She made it home as I was getting through my morning routine. Eaddie had just gotten home from house sitting, and wanted Summer to go vote with her. After some back and forth, they decided they wanted to get lunch before going to go vote, but the kids had a sorority meeting first. Summer and I had a little time to get ready, then met them at Olive Garden.

My biggest problem with Olive Garden has always been the price for the quantity of food, but I think my problem was that I didn’t realize I could get unlimited soup. Unlimited salad is much less appealing, but their soups aren’t bad. I got a couple bowls with my Tour of Italy, and the then I get some salad too, since that’s what the others ordered. I don’t know if I’m technically not supposed to eat any, but the servers never seem to care that I eat both. I was happy enough with my meal, but I still would have liked some more meat to it.

Afterward, we went to the election headquarters. We parked a little ways away, but as soon as I let Muad’Dib out of the car, he ran up to the building, walked down the veranda, and then right in the open door as though he had been voting all his life. Luckily I had his e-collar on, so I buzzed him to come back. He did so reluctantly, but I don’t blame him for wanting to be heard.

The kids came along, and Summer took them in to vote. While we waited outside, one of the guys working asked about Muad’Dib and suggested that he might somehow have one of his sisters. He said they had the exact same eyes, were about the same age, and had the same build. Then he pulled out his phone and showed me a very light brown-colored dog that, to me, looked nothing like Muad’Dib. The pictures were pretty bad, to be fair, and didn’t show her eyes at all. After that, we all went across to Block City to check out the flea market. I was surprised at how many of them were just selling Amazon junk, and it seemed like a good way to get rid of some of my stuff, but I also didn’t want to pay rent on something like that.

We didn’t stay very long, because I hit a brick wall and felt a gurgle and a wave of exhaustion that lasted all afternoon. I didn’t get to start my Onewheel tire replacement, but I absolutely had to do some laundry. We lounged around a bit since I didn’t feel well enough to start a project with Summer. After a while, I tried to lay down on the couch with Summer, and Muad’Dib started pawing at me incessantly. He just sat there, staring at me wide-eyed until I agreed to take him for a run. We had walked the last couple days, so I took him for a pretty good, late run on the Pint X. We stopped to see my parents briefly, then made it home so he could go to bed with Summer. I was up a little late still not feeling the best, but I tried not to get too distracted.

Take it to the limit!

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100mph Donut

I had a better start today, but still ran a little late. We must not have been as late as the guy that passed me going 100 with an emergency donut instead of a proper rear-left tire. It was a wonder it didn’t blow up in the middle of a mass amount of traffic as we approached Morrilton. We made it in and stayed pretty busy all day.

I brought a couple wireless cameras to test on the line, so Tyler and I went out to see if they would work that close to the machinery. They actually worked perfectly, and I discovered my little security camera would work on a battery pack. I figured if something under $50 would work, we could replace it 20 times for the cost of doing it the “right” way.

We went to Sonic for lunch, and I tried combining my Sprite and my strawberry and peanut butter sundae into a float. It tasted fine, but the peanut butter was surprisingly overpowering. Things got really quiet in the afternoon. I spent some time talking to Tammy and Janice about Elizabeth’s needs for processing UPS invoices, and I think I’ve pretty well decided that it’s completely unnecessary. Then I had to help Teisha with the breakroom digital signage because it wouldn’t connect again.

All of that made the afternoon go by pretty quickly. As much as I dug into the network project, I didn’t feel confident enough in my settings change to build out anything new. I couldn’t even get printing working across the internal wireless network because I didn’t understand how zones worked with networks, which somehow weren’t subnets.

I did a quick rearranging of the office before everyone shows up for training on Monday, and then we left. We hadn’t been on the Interstate long when my left repeater camera died again. This was much earlier than usual, even though I had parked with it away from the sun again. We made it home pretty quickly through some mad traffic, and I cleaned up to take Muad’Dib on his walk.

Summer got home just before we left, and seemed to be feeling much better. She stayed home to prep for a race in the early morning, and Muad’Dib and I walked to my parents’ house for dinner. I finished up the eggplant soup and stayed through some persimmon pudding with Dad. Then we headed home in the dark again.

Summer was up surprisingly late, but I got tired surprisingly early. A big Vine drop started after being pretty dead all day, but I left to lay down with Summer for a little bit just to rest. Eventually I had to get up to wrap up my usual end of day, but then it was back to bed a little early for a Friday.

No game.

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TPS Reports

I had a surprisingly bad start this morning, so we got to work a little later than usual. FSD worked again, so I planned to park away from the sun in the afternoon to see if that would resolve my camera issue going home. Elizabeth finally hit me up to look at her shipping reports, but didn’t tell me when she would have time, so I kind of sat on standby waiting for that most of the day.

Scott wanted to get some cameras on the line for the guys to see lay lines from their stations further down the line. He, Tyler, and I walked over to check it out, and I tried to look up some options for that. I try to walk the line between what’s cheap and what’s the right way to do things, and I think I find myself going cheap too often, but then again, he wanted to get a multipack of wireless cameras from Amazon.

I finally got to sit down with Elizabeth for a little bit, and then we went to Taco Bell for a really light lunch. I ended up having to go to McDonald’s for some fries on the way back to work. The afternoon was fairly short thanks to a little time in David’s office, and then more birthday cake for Scott. We had some good laughs and I felt a little more involved this time.

The drive home was uninterrupted, likely thanks to my alternative parking. We stopped by the election commission office to vote, then cruised on home to find Summer skipping her Arkansas Tech Career Center meeting because of an ongoing tummy ache. Muad’Dib and I walked to my parents’ house again for dinner. Along the way we ran into Stan, because that’s his name, walking the neighborhood again. He wanted to stop and chat and for some reason give me a handshake into a shoulder pat again. I brought up my Fiero, so maybe one day I’ll seriously approach him to see if he wants to take a stab at it. I don’t know how good he is, but he’s always working on lawn mowers, and a Fiero’s basically the same thing, right?

We finally got to my parents and I had some more eggplant soup. I think one more serving and it’ll be gone. We didn’t stay long since it was dark, but we had a good walk back. Summer was in bed, so I cleaned up a bit and got a few things together for work before bed.

Well, ship.