Tag: food

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Bang a Drum

I was surprised to wake up first this morning, but Summer wasn’t far behind. She made some sausage, eggs, and biscuits for us. Eaddie ate with us, then left for church after a while. I sorted some Amazon stuff and did some reviews, but apart from playing with the dogs, things were pretty quiet.

Eli came over after church, but then they wanted to go to a Tech band concert in the afternoon. Summer and I got cleaned up and met them there. I wouldn’t be so opposed to going if I had more free time, but that comes at a premium these days. They’re better than Eaddie’s school band, and I love going when she’s playing, but this just feels like too much extra if I don’t have the time to actually enjoy it. The pieces today were also super long, and though the students played well, I just didn’t care for one super long, super aggressive percussion-focused piece. It was not at all pleasant to hear.

The kids went on doing their own thing, and Summer and I went home to change before going out to Mulan’s for an early dinner. Mollie spotted me getting food and gave me a big hug. She’s back on chemo, and I guess that means she can go out in public again. I invited them over for a quick drink after dinner, but she said they had to get home.

Summer finished up some laundry when we got back to the house, and I took the dogs out for a run in full darkness. They did reasonably well for not being able to see anything. We stopped to see Dad, then made a short run home for hot dogs and dinner. I tried wrapping things up quickly after that. Some of the guys are showing up at five in the morning to start moving the core servers. Randy said I didn’t have to, since that would mean waking up before three in the morning. I have no idea what I’ll be coming in to though.

In the Air

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The “Ga” is Silent

I woke up at 6:30 so we could make it to a nine o’clock movie in Conway. The girls got up after I was out of the shower, and then we were off. Summer drove so I could try and order snacks on my phone, but we ended up ordering there instead because I couldn’t redeem Movie Club credits for online orders.

Summer drove stubbornly and reacted poorly when I scolded her for not letting the car move out of the passing lane. Then when we got to the theater, she tried giving up after one horrible attempt at parking. I got out in a huff and waited in line to order snacks, then had to yell at them from across the lobby to come help me carry stuff.

We watched Wicked, which evidently was a Part 1, in a smaller auditorium in 3D. I think we were there with only one other person. I accidentally spilled a bunch of buttery popcorn and had to deal with a slippery floor for the whole movie. I also got super tired and struggled to keep my eyes open for part of it. Otherwise I thought it was pretty good. I think I liked the live show better though.

After the movie, we went to Brick & Forge for lunch. Our server was super weird and kept wanting to hover while we were reading the menu. Then he brought our food out before our appetizer. In fact, that didn’t come out until Summer had eaten all she could stand of her pasta entrée. Eaddie liked her burger, and my brunch quesadilla wasn’t bad. The pulled pork bread roll appetizer was pretty good, but simply came out too late. I nearly asked for it to be removed from the ticket.

Once we finished eating, we headed to Kohl’s and Shoe Carnival to do some shopping. Summer wasn’t feeling well, and Eaddie needed to get back to practice before her rehearsal, so we headed home after just those two stores. I drove this time, and stopped at Walmart once we got back into town so Eaddie could get some body wash. Summer waited in the car, so we were in and out fairly quickly.

I took the dogs out for a run as soon as we got home, and they did fairly well. They got treats and food, and then I tried to clean up in the kitchen a bit. I cleaned up some leftovers, then had Eaddie pick up some dollar McNuggets before the coupon reset. She ended up going to get Eli first, so there was a bit of a to-do. I probably spent $10 in gas for her to get those $1 nuggets.

Summer went to bed, Eaddie eventually made it home and did the same, and I wrapped up late, unslept and aggravated from more general negligence around the house.

Some things I cannot change, but ’til I try I’ll never know.

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I Make a Penny

I’ve been bringing leftover Starbucks coffee to work lately, but having very mixed experiences with the USB heated mug. The Ember gets it hot once I get to work, but it’s annoying that the travel mug doesn’t work as well. We had someone from IK Electric and someone from Fortinet coming to set up some demo phones for us, but I wasn’t sure when they would be there. That meant we had a fairly slow morning waiting for them.

Randy had to disappear to deal with the Windstream folks, so I tried to lead some of the conversation with the phone guys. Maggie kept including herself in the conversation for some reason, which was annoying because it was difficult to get any more technical questions out.

Kyle and I met Randy and Jim at Shotgun Dan’s Pizza for lunch, and they appeared to be much busier than they expected, because there was only one server for the whole restaurant. She was struggling to get anything done, but at least the food was pretty good.

After lunch, Randy went with me to Central Office to “apologize” to Sonya. I expected to at least say something, but really he walked in and just started talking and never really quit. She didn’t seem very chipper, but maybe she’s just sassy like that. I couldn’t be bothered.

When we got back to the office, Randy realized his car was actually at the high school. We decided I could just take him back to his car after work, and we finished out the afternoon. I had to charge in the warehouse in order to get home, but it all worked out.

Summer made slow cooker chili, so I got home and ran with the dogs. It was pretty cool outside, and we were chasing daylight anyway. I was pretty frustrated when we got back, because Summer brought in Stilgar’s slow feeder that she had left outside. He literally chewed the whole food dish in half. I really liked that slow feeder, and I haven’t seen another one like it available on Amazon Vine. I don’t know how many times I’ve told her not to leave it outside. Stupid.

My new Pixel Watch 3 came in, so I spent some time setting it up. I didn’t love the color of the band, but I’ve ordered more from Vine. Otherwise than that, I spent some time on the phone with Johnny, and went to bed early.

My boss makes a dime.

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Overwhelming Sense of Email

I tried warming up some coffee this morning, but the heated travel mug I used didn’t seem to work. I was early enough that I had a fairly leisurely ride in. I was left alone for the first part of the morning, but then Charles came in and chatted with me for quite a while about his life in the past, present, and future. It was nice, because we’d never really talked much before. I helped him get a desktop image started, and then he left.

They fed us catfish and chicken strips for “Thanksgiving” at Central Office, so I rode with Maggie over there. I also delivered my transcript and certification paperwork to HR to see if they could find me a raise somewhere in there. It’s neat that so many people are actively trying to help with that. It’s such a foreign concept to me thus far.

Most of us gathered around a table to eat, and the food was pretty good. I had to laugh because Javier couldn’t tell the difference between the hush puppies and the fried chicken. That kid is weird. We had plenty of food, and then I managed to make it back to the office with Maggie without my paperwork that I had leaned against the wall while we ate, so I had to drive back to get it.

The afternoon was slow, and I felt like I hit a brick wall. I tried to be productive, but I was just too tired for some reason. I felt like I slept reasonably well. I made it to the end of the day and ran to The UPS Store to return a few things. The bottom fell out of the sky on the way home, so I had to slow down quite a bit. I could barely see ahead of me, and even the Model Y struggled with traction in places.

I got home to an empty house and played with the dogs for a bit. When Summer got home, we shopped for some pants online, and then I realized I had some bills coming due. I hurriedly paid those, and then wrapped things up for bed.

Efficiency Struggle

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Hundred Baker Would

Summer had a 5k in Conway this morning, but I stayed home in a warm bed for a little while longer. I checked with Diana to make sure she was home, and then I had Summer pick up an assortment of baked goods from the Blue Barn Bakery in Conway on her way home. We got cleaned up, and then went to visit Diana for nearly a couple hours. She was super chatty, and had a lot to share about music.

After our visit, Summer and I went to Walmart to pick up some things on my shopping list. We ran into Allen, who seemed a little worse for wear. I think I’ll have to check in on him a little more often. On our way out of there, I texted Mom and Dad about coming over to clean up the bún bò Huế. We unloaded the car at home, then walked the dogs to their house.

The dogs did okay, but kept pulling pretty hard for the entire walk. After we ate, Dad let me fly the FPV drone around a little bit as it got dark, and Summer played with the dogs. Then we walked home in the dark and settled in to watch some Agatha All Along. Eaddie was gone all day for a robotics tournament in Conway, but came to visit with me once she got home. Everyone was tired and went to bed pretty early.

Is it even bread?

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Barnacles

I tried to sleep in a bit today since I would be out late for Howard’s customer appreciation dinner, but I woke up close to my usual time to a loud, droning sound coming from across the house. I made my way to the kitchen and found the garbage disposal running after multiple days without power. Evidently somebody accidentally left the switch on when they turned on the sink light, and never turned it back off. The negligence meant the disposal had been running dry for over two hours, and left the house smelling of a burning motor.

Since I didn’t die in a house fire in my sleep, I got up and ready for work. I figured I would get there a little before eight after stopping at Starbucks for a holiday drink and cup. Then I ran into stop-and-go traffic after Conway. I was surprised that I didn’t see much traffic coming from the first couple ramps in Conway, and figured the big rush had come and gone from people trying to show up at seven. The eight o’clock traffic hadn’t hit yet, but surely somebody’s stupidity caused the slowdown ahead.

I arrived about ten after eight and tried to charge the car in the shop, but the power was out. Maggie showed up just as I was walking into the office, and we had a quiet morning inside without much foot traffic. I didn’t have much luck with anything I worked on, and after a while it was hard not to feel discouraged.

Maggie ended up taking the afternoon off, and I just ran to Sonic for a chili cheese coney. I also grabbed some fries from an inconceivably slow McDonald’s, then ate in the office by myself. I stayed until nearly four, then left to find a place to charge at the Embassy Suites. Maggie came out with a hotel key card she borrowed from David, and then I met her in the vendor hall. I saw Ben, but no one else that I really knew.

Randy eventually came around, but Kyle had to work the board meeting. Randy and I sat in on the whiskey tasting with his Conway crew, and then went down the hill to The Butcher Shop for dinner. Howard always throws a big party, and our room got progressively louder as the drinks flowed. Food took a while to show up, but we all ate, and I took Randy and Dustin back to the hotel before I headed home. Dustin was completely enamored with the Tesla, Full Self Driving, and Actually Smart Summon.

The Model Y handled the drive pretty well and only required minimum intervention. Summer was passed out when I got there, and Eaddie was just finishing up a shower. I cranked through my routine and hit the sack as quickly as I could.

Should’ve paid!

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It’s Not Wireless

I stopped for breakfast in Morrilton, and McDonald’s had me in and out so fast that I got to pass someone on the interstate twice. I was still the first one to the office by quite a bit, and I immediately dug into my Adobe licensing issue before Randy started sending me things to do. Maggie said she had to go to the transportation office to check out a pile of old junk, so she didn’t show up for a little while.

When lunch time came around, she and I went to a place called Sweet Poppas and had their fried chicken lunch special. I also got a drink and some cheddar peppers, which incredibly brought my lunch total to over $22. I couldn’t believe it. The food was good, but the portions were small, and the cheddar peppers came out with cold centers the first time around. Maggie’s chicken took forever to come out, so mine wasn’t exactly piping hot by the time we started eating.

The afternoon got wild when Kyle asked me to go to the high school to investigate an issue in the rack. Apparently the guys we paid to install the new VxRail forgot to plug in one of the iDRAC cables, so they couldn’t manage it remotely. It took me a while, but I finally found the right piece of equipment and the right port. There were a couple other cables that seemed poorly connected as well, so I don’t know what they were doing in there. Hopefully we can bring a lot of that stuff in-house.

I left straight from the high school and got home to run the dogs. We did our usual route through my parents’ yard to talk to Dad, then took a dip in the creek before making it home. Then I made a burrito for a quick dinner before spending some time cleaning up the kitchen and taking out the recycling. Eaddie and Eli did homework until pretty late, and Summer went to bed pretty early. I tried to take care of as much stuff as I could before I finally got to bed.

But I still forgot to clean the vacuum.

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Turn it On

I really left for work a little early today, which meant that I got to work right on time, which meant that I was the first person in the building. Luckily I had the alarm code ready. Jay was the next one in, nearly ten minutes later. I didn’t really get into anything at all before Johnny called for some help with GCDS. I talked to him for a while, and then Randy wanted me to ride with him to all of the elementary campuses to check on some printers. I think he just wanted company, because all we really did was turn printers on. Literally press the power buttons and walk away.

We went to lunch at Larry’s Pizza, where we had good salads, good pizza, and no service. I wish I hadn’t left a tip at the front counter when we paid, because I got all of my own refills, though it really appeared as though we were supposed to get table service. Otherwise it was a surprisingly good experience for how quiet the restaurant was. The buffet bar was also super tiny, but they kept it well stocked somehow.

We continued turning printers on and chatting with various people in the district for a while, and then came back to the office where I worked with Johnny some more. I lost track of the time and Maggie had to alert us to quitting time, so I ran home to deliver some beer to Travis before I could take the dogs out for a run.

Summer was making a lasagna dinner that Eaddie requested, but I was still stuffed from pizza. I took the dogs to my parents’ house where Julie stopped in for a bit, then we went in a short loop around the block instead of going all the way through the basin trail. It was well after dark by then, so we came back to my parents’ house for some more water before making it home.

Eaddie brought Eli over for dinner, and Summer and I chatted with them for a bit before making it to bed.

Get creative!

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I’ve Got No Strings

Eaddie left early this morning for her orchestra rehearsal and concert. Summer and I got up pretty early as well, and headed to Conway early for a movie, shopping, and food before the concert. We ended up barely getting there in time for Venom: The Last Dance, so I missed a few previews waiting in line for popcorn. I thought the plot was pretty contrived, and they tried to pack a lot into it, but overall it was fun. It was definitely the weakest of the three. We ran to the lube to drop off someone’s jacket, then came back to Bargain Hunt to see what they had. It wasn’t much, so all I got were some dog treats.

We made it across town and ended up at Skinny J’s for lunch. I thought Randy said they were closing down the Conway location, but maybe I was confused. Or maybe I wasn’t, because we were basically the only people in the restaurant. It was a late lunch though. We ate quickly and then made it to the Conway High School to see Eaddie’s concert.

The kids did great, but then Eaddie wanted to race over to UCA to see Eli play in a low brass concert. Summer had to check her out with the teacher though, so I ran Eaddie a few blocks away and then came back for Summer. We eventually got back over to UCA for a charge, and watched the tail end of that concert, which was much less formal anyway.

After all the concerts were over, Eli came with us and we went to Old Navy for some more shopping. The kids wanted ice cream after that, so I took everyone to MarketPlace Grill. They said it would be a 20 minute wait, but it didn’t take nearly that long to get a seat. Our server was super talkative and kept asking the kids questions about stuff, and then talking about her family life.

The food was probably more miss than hit, with super stale chips and cold food. I remembered having the same problem with the chips last time, so it’s probably time for a review. We ate and then headed home in the rain, stopping first in Morrilton for some beer and to plant a promo sign in front of that carwash. Then we dropped the kids off at Eaddie’s car at the high school and headed home. The girls were super pooped and crashed immediately while I played with the dogs a bit and then tried to minimize distractions before bed.

All run and no stop.

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Garaged

My hand hasn’t been hurting too bad, and it didn’t start bleeding again until I was out of the shower and trying to put my hair up. That put me behind getting to work, so I burned through the battery trying to make that time up. Randy was the only one there when I got there, and he was fine with me pulling into the shop bay to charge, so I more than made up for what I burned to get there.

School was out, and most of the administration was out as well, so Randy figured we would probably cut out a little early. We chatted for a while in the office, and I tinkered a little bit, but didn’t get too deep into anything. We Maggie said NextStep was taking people to Topgolf, but then Randy said he and Jim were meeting Hunter and Corey at BJ’s Market Cafe, and I wanted to meet up with those guys. About that time, Ben texted about lunch and I invited him to join us. Maggie just went to Topgolf by herself because she wanted to meet with the vendor.

I tried having Google Duplex(?) make a reservation for us, but that didn’t work and I just called myself. When the time came, Jay decided he was going to go, and Ben said he had a +1 with him. Unfortunately, he misunderstood the location that I didn’t clarify, and he ended up at Skinny J’s instead and never made it to us.

The catfish dinner was pretty decent, and it was nice to meet the old director and network admin. I didn’t have much to add to the conversation, and Hunter seemed mostly sour on the district for good reason. We finished up there and went back to the office for a little while before Randy cut us loose.

Traffic ground to a full stop twice on the way home, but I made it. Summer was home early due to the weather, but it was only barely sprinkling when I got there, so I took the dogs out for a quick, early run. We stopped just long enough to see Dad, then made it around the basin and back home.

After a while, Summer and I decided to leave for dinner, but she didn’t know what she wanted to eat. I activated FSD as we left the house, and decided to just let the car go and see where we ended up. It drove north over the Phoenix bridge, past Tech, and around the old gymnastics building. As we drove by IHOP, Summer decided that was what she wanted.

The food was good, but the service was better. We ate, and then left in some heavier rain. She went to bed, and I wasn’t long behind her. I saw Eaddie briefly as she came in from her rehearsal day in Conway, and we’ll head that way tomorrow for her concert.

SLZZZZZP