Tag: friends

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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.

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Ridgewood Drive

We got up at a reasonable time this morning and milled around the house for a bit. I made Summer a coffee and cleaned up a bit before taking a shower. Eaddie came home for a bit, but I barely saw her. Summer and I had tickets to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D, and then a lunch date at the new Ridgewood Brothers location in Conway.

We dropped Muad’Dib off with my parents and headed out of town pretty quickly. We got to a mostly empty theater, grabbed popcorn, and sat down just in time for the movie that played no previews. I definitely ate too much popcorn. Summer hadn’t been feeling well all day, so she was going light on everything. I don’t really get the appeal of the movie, but I thought 3D would be fun. Summer didn’t much care for it.

From there, we headed straight over to the restaurant and found Grant and Kyler in the smokehouse out back. Grant gave us a walkthrough of the surprisingly tiny building with two giant propane tank smokers, and then an impressively tall rotisserie smoker. He emphasized that it was all still pure wood fired, and sacrificed some smoke to give us a peek inside.

From there, we found our way into the restaurant where Robert was at the block carving meats. They had a pretty small crew working, but it was late for lunch on a soft-open day. We visited briefly in line before finding seats at the bar area. Grant and Kyler were walking around visiting and making sure everything was going well. I didn’t realize it was the old Outback Steakhouse because it had since been Foghorn’s wings. They had a ton of room to eat, and a patio to be finished sometime in the future.

After we ate, Grant gave us a walkthrough of the enormous kitchen and storage area in the back. Kyler had said it was one of the largest commercial kitchens in Conway, and I believe it. I really wish them all the best, because they’ve been putting everything into it.

Summer had to get something from the Splash on the way out of town, and then we made it home. I found the caterpillar wrapped up in a cocoon, so he was ready for the winter in the garage. I took the Onewheel to get Muad’Dib and crashed because of some uneven concrete at the end of the driveway. Then we did a loop around the block before doing our normal reverse route. I felt the board struggle over small bumps several times, so I really need to get the tire replaced on my GT S-Series.

Summer had taken a long bath but still didn’t feel well. I did a bit more cleaning up, then got ready for work pretty early. I didn’t feel great either after so much heavy grease, and I felt exhausted for it as well. I just hoped an early bedtime would help me out in the morning.

This isn’t just another large father figure’s barbecue joint.

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No, I Do Not ‘C.’

Summer got up and we had some coffee before she went to the gym. Eaddie came by to clean up before going to practice for the game in the evening. I finished up some leftovers and then got cleaned up for the day. Kevin came over to mow, and I went outside to pick up some fallen branches and sticks out of the yard. After Kevin left, I tried swapping license plate frames on our cars, but my original screws weren’t long enough, and the ones that came with the frame were the wrong diameter. I was able to get Summer’s replaced, though.

The afternoon went by quickly, and we had to go to Tech for the party in the plaza. I dropped Summer off and had to go park out by the pastures. Just as I got on the Onewheel, I noticed a giant caterpillar in the middle of the parking lot. I scooped him up and carried him with us to the band, who was just finishing up. A young officer came up and asked me to leash Muad’Dib, who was being a bit ornery anyway, so I unwrapped it from around his neck and held onto him. The guy seemed impressed with Muad’Dib’s behavior, but I wasn’t.

Summer and I struggled to get the caterpillar off of her stadium seat where it had been riding along with me, but we eventually got him onto my sleeve. Muad’Dib and I went back to the car and then headed to my parents’ house for a while. It got cold fast, so Muad’Dib and I did a quick run around the block at his fastest speed since last winter. After that, we headed home for a few minutes before going back to pick up Summer.

We had to wait in the car for a few minutes, but we got Summer and headed back to my parents’ house so I could get some food. I hadn’t felt well all day, but by that time I was super hungry. I cleaned up some lemon grass chicken and rice, and then we went home for the evening. I dug out a new rimless aquarium for the caterpillar and set it up in the garage for the winter while Summer went to bed.

I assumed it was the cappuccino that had me burping all day, and I’m sure the tiny scoop of ice cream I had for dessert didn’t help. I just couldn’t stop, and my chest felt full all night long.

I know. I have improoooved it.

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It’s Mostly Corn

I avoided breakfast today and made it to work a little early. Coffee got me through to lunch. I spent all day tinkering with the PLCs again, and got the data translated on the controller before sending it to PRTG. It might have been faster, but they kept shutting the line off, making all of my numbers read zero while I was testing it.

Summer had a long meeting in Little Rock, and after all the talk, Amanda said she didn’t want to go to Ortega’s with me, so I went by myself as usual. I had a relatively new-to-me server, but she was great. In fact, I think she formally checked in on me more than anyone else ever has. The food was great, as usual.

The afternoon didn’t drag as much as I thought it might after taking lunch just a few minutes early. Things were quiet, and I had accomplished a year-long task that I just knew was possible.

Suzanne was finally coming over to get some stuff, so I hurried home right at quitting time. It was lucky too, because she arrived before I had even changed clothes. I loaded her up with a bunch of lights, the bottles I was mis-shipped, and the two extra glass rinsers I opted not to use. We visited a little as the kids came through, and Summer made it back from her run. Then she was off and I took Muad’Dib for a run.

We had a decent run, but not the fastest in the humidity. Just before we made it to the basin, we ran across a lady jogging with a stray dog following behind. She didn’t really want to stop and chat, but I learned they were her neighbor’s loose dogs, so Muad’Dib and I tried to return them. It took a couple tries, but Muad’Dib had an awesome time running at full speed with them, and eventually we got them inside the fence of their yard.

We made it to my parents’ house, and they were just coming in for chicken Alfredo. We initially planned to come eat, but I was still full from lunch, and Summer had just started a bath and was full from her lunch-and-learn. We visited for a bit and then made it home after dark. It was a short night after that.

Spooky!

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Sun Uppers and Sun Downers

I woke up surprisingly early after staying up so late. I tried to take Muad’Dib out, and he got out of bed, but then immediately looked back at Summer, refusing to walk out the door. It’s their routine on the weekends, and apparently it was non-negotiable. She got up and put on her robe, and he took off down the hall.

I got up and made a couple coffees to get things moving. We expected Suzanne to come around sometime to pick up some stuff, so we lounged all morning. I put on Donnie Darko, since I’d seen it once around the time that it came out. Some of the acting was unbelievably bad, and it didn’t make much sense, because so many of them were established actors. After that, I put on the old David Lynch Dune for a few minutes before giving up on that.

I had to get around to come cleaning, but I also got a few more packages. Summer had to do some work and Eaddie left, so I was on my own for most of the day. Suzanne never came around, so after cleaning up a bit, Summer and I went to my parents’ house to eat spring rolls. Mom ended up not going to Fort Smith with Dad, so she was there cooking the whole time. We ate, cleaned up, and headed right back home.

I cleaned the kitchen and eventually took Muad’Dib for a run. He mostly trotted along the whole way, which was especially annoying because there were a ton of people out walking around. I always feel especially lazy when he’s not running fast enough for me to really need the Onewheel. We made it to my parents’ house to see Dad, grabbed the Maggi and dried squid he picked up for us, and made it home just after dark.

Summer headed to bed and I got ready for work. The shorter daylight hours makes it feel like we have less time, but the truth is I always feel like my days are short, even in the summertime. I’d be much happier with 30-hour days, and it really makes me wonder if I could ever have made polyphasic sleep work. I had a bit of the Fireball Torch’d Vanilla to help put me down quickly, and made it to bed.

So much night time!

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Glowout

I slept in a little bit today and felt rejuvenated for it. We still had milk, so I made a cappuccino and sat with Summer in the living room for a bit. Eaddie left for marching rehearsal and Summer mentioned going to Walmart to order a cake to donate to the junior high, but we ended up skipping that so we could relax a while before going to Eaddie’s game.

We eventually made it to Tech and I rode a couple circles around with Muad’Dib. We got a picture of Eaddie while they were practicing and then made it back to Summer for their march in. As soon as they finished, we left Summer to watch the game, and went home to clean up a bit around the house.

Mom had called earlier about coming to eat rolls, but then just said to come make it myself. Summer had a run immediately after the game, so I figured I should take my opportunity to get a meal for the day. As Muad’Dib and I pulled in, my parents were leaving for the grocery store. Mom had just a little bit of bún bò Huế left in the pot, so I finished that instead of making rolls.

Summer texted with perfect timing that they were almost to halftime, so we left and went straight back to the stadium to pick her up. She ended up being hungry and had more time than she expected, so we stopped by Ridgewood Brothers for some ribs. We sat outside with Muad’Dib, and he sat up on the bench with me. Grant was finishing up his day and came out to chat with us for a little bit, and invited us out to their soft opening for the Conway location, so we were excited to go to that.

We still had time for Summer to go home and change for her run, and then we headed to St. John’s after dark. They were having a glow run fundraiser, and Summer warned me of fireworks from last year. We dropped her off and parked on the opposite end of an adjacent parking lot, then rode the Onewheel over to the crowd. Muad’Dib did really well at that time, but we had to ride away and hide for the start of the race. We should have gone back to the car, but instead I took him around to the other side of the building where I thought I could shield his ears a bit. He still squirmed away and laid down under a bush.

After the fireworks were over, I tried taking him back out to run around some more, but then a helicopter came in for a landing right next to us at the hospital. That really freaked him out, and he took off running. I had to chase him down the street, but luckily he didn’t get into too much traffic. He ended up coming back around to the car, and we sat down in the cool air with some music to settle down. Once Summer was about done, we headed back to the crowd, but he was still high anxiety. I kept him on a leash at that point, and he got a few pets while Summer was cooling down. The kid I bought the Pint X from came up to tell me he got his e-bike, and then wanted to ride his old Onewheel around a bit. I let him take off on it and he buzzed through the crowd. Summer didn’t want to stay for awards, so we left after that.

We made it home and I dawdled way too long. Summer was long in bed, and I gave Muad’Dib some melatonin so he could rest well. Eaddie brought Eli over to watch TV, and I eventually made it to bed after midnight.

Now in stereo!

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TACOↃAT

I had a much better start today, and had time to grab Hardee’s on the way out of town since I didn’t have any cold Soylent. Apart from being stuck behind idiots hogging the left lane, we had a good ride in, and got right to work picking at UPS and PRTG some more.

Johnny called me pretty early, and I ended up on the phone with him for almost an hour trying to figure out his ESXi setup. I did my best to point him in a direction, but he’s been so scattered in his understanding. I absolutely understand it, but we also learn and react very differently, so it’s tough for me to guide him.

The day went by fairly quickly. I went to Ortega’s pretty late for National Taco Day, so they were dead by the time I got there. The food tasted especially good though, and I ended with a really good tamale and chicken enchilada. I’d still like to go on other days to see those specials, but I don’t know if that will ever happen since I have so many choices on Tuesdays.

The afternoon went a little slower despite my late lunch, and then got a little crazy when I started messing with the PLC again. Charles came in late to tell me they had set up the new radar sensors, so I tried adding them to PRTG with critical failure. Somehow my configuration push failed, and the controller seemed to quit responding. It took three or four more pushes, but it came back up. Unfortunately the changes I made came across with another floating point/integer problem, so I’ll have to convert the numbers to something PRTG can read.

We left about half an hour late and found Summer in the tub. We left for a run, then made it back just as it was getting dark. It took forever to wind down, but I eventually made it.

Restart

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Screamin’ Good Times

I got up early with Summer to go to Dardanelle for a run. Muad’Dib and I ran a couple miles with the Onewheel, and after stopping for a moment, I turned around to see him lying in a puddle to cool down. Summer made first in her age division, so she was super happy with her progress. Afterward, we went to Waffle House for some breakfast before heading back home.

We cleaned up and had a bit of a break before Eaddie left to get her friends. Then Summer and I drove separately to drop Muad’Dib off with Mom, and headed to Hot Springs. I had been belting out songs in the shower earlier, and we continued on rocking out while we were driving, so I didn’t notice how much the car was speeding. I got pulled over, and I think it was the same guy that got me when I was working at Two Rivers. He gave me another warning, and we were on our way.

We stopped at Clampit’s Country Kitchen for a late lunch on the way. We had never been, but they had 4.7 stars and the pictures looked pretty good. It was a large building with cases of meats and some other little grocery items. The deli had plate lunches, so Summer got some brisket nachos and I got half a rack of ribs to add to that. I could not have been more disappointed. I didn’t detect any smoke on the meats at all. The hot sauce wasn’t hot at all. The nachos were just yellow corn chips with Velveeta cheese dip, cole slaw, baked beans, and a bit of brisket. The ribs weren’t sauced, smoked, or tender. It was edible, but the most stereotypical “white people” lack of flavor I could possibly describe. I think the only way the meat could have been worse is if they boiled it.

The kids caught up to us and stopped there, and then we continued to Magic Springs. The parking lot was fairly empty, so we were excited to enter with basically no lines for anything. Eaddie brought Eli, Ceci, and Jenny along, and we rode some rides and had a good time. Early on, I found an abandoned refillable cup, so we ended up cleaning it out to use for the day. We got stuck on Brain Drain the second time we went up, because the guy accidentally slipped off the button to lift the ride. They had to bring it down and run a test before it could be unlocked, but Summer really wanted to do a haunted house and it was getting dark. We wandered through a couple small ones, but by the time we made it back to the larger ones, the lines had formed. I was already burned out from yelling so much and running around, and we decided to leave the kids and head home.

I let the car drive the entire way, and it did great. We picked up Muad’Dib and made it home. Summer went straight to bed and I stayed up late just catching up. The kids ended up going to Conway for some reason, so I didn’t wait up for them. They had just taken a trip to Tulsa, so a bit of extra driving in-state must not have seemed much to them. I’m just glad I’m not paying for their gas.

Poppa’s is better somehow.

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All That for a Line Graph?

I had a terrible time getting to sleep last night. Maybe it was how late I slept in, but I laid in bed, wide-eyed, for at least two hours. Luckily the morning wasn’t too rough, and we got out in time for a Hardee’s burrito and still made it to work a little early. I talked to Charles about pushing a config to the controller, and his response was to just send it, so I did. That was the most excitement I had all day, after the burrito.

I spent a good part of the day tinkering with PRTG, trying to get it to show my data after that. I did finally get some graphs going, but it wasn’t easy or intuitive. We took a late lunch to Taco Bell and ate relatively light, then got back to work to try and clean up some HubSpot data.

Near the end of the day, I got a message out of the blue from Jack. We chatted for a bit, and it sounded like he needed a motorcycle ride. I went back and forth with him for a little bit, but had to pack up to head home. Traffic was rough and unpredictable, so that had my attention for a slow drive home.

I cleaned up a bit before Summer got home, and then I warmed up some pizza for her before taking Muad’Dib to my parents’ house for dinner. I warmed up some leftover bún bò Huế and Mom came in to fix me a bowl. I had a really bad anxiety attack while I had my head in the fridge looking for veggies, and that knocked me out for a bit. I got super lightheaded and woozy for a bit, and just had to sit back in a chair for a while.

After I ate, Muad’Dib and I continued on his run in the dark. The air felt great, and he had a good time before jumping up into bed with Summer for the night. I cleaned up a bit more and prepped for work quickly so I could get some better sleep.

Sun’s gettin’ real low.

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Taco Tuesday

Hard to believe it, but for as many times as we’d been to Taco John’s on a Tuesday, the title wasn’t taken. We left a little early so I could pick up a breakfast burrito, but their terrible app had them walking it out to me about ten minutes late. We got to work nonetheless, quiet as ever. Shane hit me up early about the approval process I built out, so he got to test it for me. There was more to do with it, but as usual, the problem is deeper than that.

Between permissions structures and the network, I feel like my work will never be done. Maybe that’s good. Who’s to say. I bounced between a few things throughout the day, then went to Ortega’s by myself I thought the girls downstairs might want to go this week, but nobody said anything. While I was there, Nicole spotted me from across the restaurant and came to say hi. She was out on maternity leave forever.

The afternoon dragged a little bit. I was there a little late, but made it home easily. Summer was home a tad early, and then Eaddie came home for a bit. I got a big package that was supposed to be a motorcycle stand, but ended up being a case of 192 one-ounce amber glass spray bottles. I took Muad’Dib for an early run, took my parents a solar light, and then made it back home before dark.

Eaddie took off, Summer went to bed, and I did my usual cleaning up and prep before bed.

Lace ’em up!