Tag: food

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Alright, Bud

I woke up feeling pretty sick this morning after last night. I made it through my shower and to work, but it didn’t get better for quite a while, and I never quite made it back to 100%. Thomas was at work, but Zach and Gary were out. The others got together and split up into groups to close old work orders, and I went to Oakland to swap out old Chromebooks.

Brody called and said they were going to Fat Daddy’s downtown for lunch, so I went back to the shop and picked a group of them up. After we ordered, our server told us they were slammed with a short staff, and it showed when it took an hour to get our food. That would have made more sense if the food was actually hotter or fresher. They never cease to disappoint me, this time with a tough, dry tortilla, lukewarm filling, and dry, tough brisket. All of that was $17, and of course the server stands over you while you pay on their handheld device that everyone else has touched, making tipping accurately very awkward. I was out the door for just under 22 bucks, which absolutely disgusted me.

I spent the afternoon with more of the same, not quite finishing what I had started. I should be able to finish tomorrow for our half day though. As I finished, I started a support chat with Google because my Pixel Buds have been giving me trouble with battery life. My right bud constantly dies very early, after only two hours of playback. The battery percentage always reports with some disparity, but the right one has consistently been giving me less than half of the life it should have.

After work, I went home to change and then went to my eye appointment. I nearly fell asleep in the exam room waiting for the new doctor. She was kind, but I don’t think I got great news. It’s odd, because my vision doesn’t seem worse, but she seemed to indicate sub-optimal results. I guess we’ll see in 2023, because I dropped vision insurance for next year.

I went back home and waited for my UPS package, and then went up to Summer’s for the evening. Eaddie and I watched an episode of House while Summer and Autumn watched TV in the living room. Then everyone went to bed pretty early.

Just turn down your muchness.

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People That Clap at Movies

I kept waking up last night as though I was completely full of water. I couldn’t even really sleep in very late because of it. The girls were already awake, so I got up and picked at some old leftovers. Then when Summer and Autumn went to the gym, I left to clean up.

On the way home, I stopped by Ridgewood Brothers to see if they might be free to see The Matrix Resurrections with Mitch and me next week. It didn’t sound very likely, but I had to try. Gary never responded either, until I called him out on it late in the evening.

When I finished getting ready at home, I went to pick up the girls and we made our way to Conway. They really wanted to eat on our trip, so we went to Red Robin first and had some pretty good burgers. I still don’t really think they’re worth the prices they charge, but at least it’s something a little different.

After lunch, we went to Sam’s Club for a bit, then Target. That place was absolutely packed and it was pretty difficult to get around the place. The checkout line stretched back to the cosmetics, but fortunately we pushed a cart around for absolutely no reason and bought nothing. By then, we didn’t have time to dawdle on the way through traffic to the theater.

The Cinemark was packed as well, with several theaters showing the new Spider-Man: No Way Home. We got snacks, sat down, and then I got up for more popcorn just in time to make it back before the previews. The movie was pretty good, but didn’t really have many surprises after all the rumors and spoilers that have been going around. I enjoyed it, and so did the rest of the room as evidenced by the constant clapping any time a character returned. I was pretty disappointed in the 3D, mostly because of the darkness of the projector. I guess I’ll have to just prioritize the large format screens from now on.

When we got back home, Summer and Autumn went to bed pretty quickly. Eaddie and I stayed up and watched several episodes of House, so we’ve only got three more episodes to go.

Planning with adults is stupid. Families are much easier, because they can’t leave.

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Tropical Christmas Cookies

I got around this morning and went to Walmart and to get gas on my way to Summer’s. She baked lemon cookies for the kids to decorate when Noah got out of work. Eaddie was still in bed, so I was more or less left to my own devices for most of the day. When Autumn left the TV, I played some more Don’t Starve, which has been fun playing a little more casually on the couch.

Summer made a big pot of chicken alfredo, and we ate when Noah arrived. Then they decorated the tree while Summer made colored icing. It didn’t seem like anyone was really in the mood to do any of that stuff this early, especially with highs in the mid 70s this past week. Our weekends are pretty booked up until Christmas though, so we made do.

When Noah left, Eaddie went to finish up homework while Autumn did chores. I played my game some more, but ultimately died. C’est la vie. I needed to warm back up to the mechanics anyway.

You don’t keep it this warm in here even during the summer!

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A Thankful Hurrah

Summer got up and made pancakes for breakfast this morning. Eaddie stayed in her room most of the day, and I played Firewatch on the TV over my Steam Link for a little while with relatively good results. Autumn finally made it back home, but hadn’t showered since she was last with us. I really just don’t understand how she can go that long carrying her stench so often.

I eventually headed home to start a fire out back, and prep the new grill for dinner. The fire caught pretty nicely and rolled all evening once the girls came over. Summer and I ran to Walmart to get burgers for a quick dinner, and I finally got to cook on the charcoal side of the grill.

I was actually a tiny bit disappointed, because the two halves aren’t connected at all, so there’s really no heat transmission between the charcoal and propane sides. That meant the grilling surface was actually pretty small. I struggled to get all twelve burgers on at once, not to mention the four hot dogs that Autumn didn’t want to cook over the open fire out back. I did like the grates and the general build quality though, so hopefully it lasts a while. I’ll have to get some propane to try out the other half, but that will be convenient for a quick cook.

After we ate, the girls all came outside and we roasted some marshmallows. When we finished, I helped Autumn prep her bicycle for her ride to school in the morning since she still hasn’t earned her right to the car again. Then everyone was off to bed to wrap up our first holiday break for the year.

You are here, and it’s beautiful, and escaping isn’t always something bad.

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Puzzling

The frost is becoming a regular thing in the mornings again, so I’ve been having to get out of the house a little earlier. I really wanted to have the garage cleaned out enough to park in it by now, but it just didn’t happen.

We met at the shop for no reason other than to see if anyone had any projects. With nothing planned, I was left in the office more or less to myself, and spent most of the day trying to resurrect the old LanSchool server. I felt like I just barely blinked and it was lunch time.

Brody wanted to go to Nonna Bella’s, but they were closed. Thomas ended up driving us to Morellos, which was slower than usual, but good enough. We ate, then went back to work until almost three. Thomas let everyone go home early, so I headed home and tinkered around the house.

Mom was trying to clean up the fridge, so I went to their house and had rolls with Dad. Then I went up to see the girls and watched more House until everyone was off to bed.

DEMOGORGON!

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Who Are You Calling?

I woke up pretty early this morning for how late I went to sleep. We just laid around though, until it was time to get ready for the movie. We’ve had plans to see Ghostbusters: Afterlife for about a week, and I invited my parents along as well. As soon as I was cleaned up, I picked up the girls and met my parents at UEC.

The movie was pretty great, though I could see why others felt like it spent too much time pandering to fans of the originals and not enough time on a new storyline. It’s been a while since I’ve seen either of those, so I couldn’t say how it compared in laughs per minute. We were all quite happy with the movie though, and I’m anxious to see if they do anything more with it in the future.

After the movie, we headed back home to meet up with Noah for dinner. Summer made chili and I grilled hot dogs, and we all had a mix of chili dogs or Frito chili pies. Then we played a long round of UNO FLIP until Noah went home. Finally, Eaddie and I wrapped up the night with two more episodes of House.

Four feet above her covers!

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Stranger Thanks

We got a much needed slow start this morning. Eaddie and I watched some more House until I went home to clean up. Summer took her to get haircuts, and then I met back up with them to go to a Thanksgiving gathering with John, Melissa, Travis, and friends.

I upset Summer by being predictably surprised by how short her hair was cut, which set her mood toward me for the rest of the night. Autumn was still at Quiz Bowl camp until later in the evening, and Eaddie didn’t want to go, so the two of us left for my house to get some chairs, then my parents’ house to get a folding table.

We arrived at John and Melissa’s at just about the perfect time to be helpful for the setup but not in the way of others already helping. Actually, Summer helped and I mostly just sat by myself until others started to show up. It was a majority of new faces, but it was a good time. We were split up at three tables that were separated just enough to make communication relatively impossible, so Summer and I just chatted with Travis and Veronica, who sat with us.

We never did get to any games, and people filtered out a fair bit earlier than I expected. Summer’s cold shoulder wasn’t helping any, so I loaded up the car by myself and we awkwardly left. Just as we got home, Summer said she had to go check on a customer that claimed to have a massive oil leak after a service today. I took her to the shop, where we picked up Justin and headed up Mill Creek.

They did what they could by flashlight, and ultimately determined that their service wasn’t at fault for whatever was leaking, though they never really did find the source. All they could see for sure was that the filter and drain plug were in place with no signs of a leak in either place.

We weren’t out for very long, and headed back home for the night. Eaddie was in Summer’s bed when we got there, so the three of us watched more House until Eaddie wanted to go to her own bed, and Summer and I talked a bit before going to sleep.

“How is it that you always assume you’re right?”
“I don’t. I just find it hard to operate on the opposite assumption.”

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Studly

We had a meeting this morning about nothing in particular, after being told that we wouldn’t be having meetings every Friday as we have in the past. Zach was out with a sick kid, so Gary had to divvy the rest of us back up into groups to do the few projects we had. Brody, Gary, and I went to the middle school to hang a TV for the resource officer, but metal studs behind drywall made it a challenge. John ended up coming in to supervise in the already tiny and crowded office, but at least he was sat behind the desk.

We finally got everything up a little bit before lunch, and went back to the shop to wait for everyone else to get back before the Thanksgiving lunch in the cafeteria above us at ground level. The food was surprisingly good, and even the girls joined us this time.

Gary helped me run an audio cable on the Oakland stage after lunch, and then I went back to finish up a few things at the end of the day. Michael gave me a couple leftover pies from a pie party they had, and then chatted at me about cryptocurrencies for a while.

I took Eaddie home when I left, and we finished up our last episode of House before going to La Huerta for dinner. Autumn was at Quiz Bowl camp, and Summer had just gotten back from Little Rock and was working out at the gym, so it was just the two of us. As we pulled in, Eaddie wasn’t satisfied with how busy the parking lot looked, so we went next door to New China instead. She was in a super good mood and we talked a lot as I stuffed myself silly.

When we got back to the house, Summer and I went to Walmart to pick up things for our Friendsgiving the next day. Then she jammed out in the kitchen prepping pudding and broccoli salad while Eaddie and I watched more House until bedtime.

Now, sleeeeeeeeeep.

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Fat Patty’s

I had to take Eaddie to school this morning, but I jumped right into my morning routine and finished up about half an hour early, which meant I spent the rest of the time waiting for her to get ready. Miraculously, I managed to drop her off and get to work right on time. My office had a revolving door for most of the morning, but I got a few things done, and cleaned up some more work orders.

The morning went by pretty quickly, and four of us went to Fat Daddy’s downtown for lunch. I’m always opposed to eating at either Fat Daddy’s just because the food is almost always pretty bad for barbecue, but I tried the burger this time, and it was great. It could have used some vegetables, and my jaw hit the floor when our server told us it took 25 minutes to make, but it was one of like three things there that I can actually recommend. I very nearly went with the chicken strips, but the cost of everything was superficially high.

After lunch was pretty quiet. Shane came by with some cookies from Howard, and I ended the day at Oakland again. Eaddie was outside, so I took her home to watch an episode of House before Autumn showed up to take her to their last night at karate.

I tried booking a room for next week so Summer wouldn’t have to drive Eaddie home from the Harry Styles concert, but somehow the date changed on my reservation and I was given false hope for finding an open room anywhere near the arena. Without being able to walk to the hotel, I figure they might as well just drive home instead. Traffic is infuriating after that place unloads. I guess we’ll see what we decide as the date approaches.

It’s like a musical tug-of-war.

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Bake ‘n Shows

We slept in a bit after a long day yesterday. Summer got up and baked some cookies, and I eventually made my way home after Summer and Autumn went to the gym. Eaddie stayed behind watching Frozen, since Autumn had put it on while doing chores.

I fiddled around with a few things at home since it wasn’t too cold inside. I cleaned a whole bunch of algae and gross plant matter out of my old shrimp tank, though it’s devoid of any shrimp now after I suffocated them all.

Summer baked bread and Brussels sprouts, and grilled some barbecue chicken for dinner, so I came back up for that. Then Eaddie and I ended the night with a couple episodes of House.

No! He’s like a stray. He’ll eat everything, shed all over the place, and crap on the floor.