Doggy Daycare

I considered breakfast this morning, but couldn’t come up with a worthy deal in time and just showed up at work early instead. Amanda needed help downstairs, so I spent a while working down there. Teddy came out of Rhonda’s office and ran around with Muad’Dib for a while, but then she made him go back before we left. The morning went by pretty quickly, but luckily we left for lunch when we did, because I forgot about the call I had in the afternoon.

We ended up at Taco Bell, then made it back just in time to hop on with the Aptean guys again. There was really no point to the call other than for us to be prompted to fill out a survey. I didn’t leave great remarks. The afternoon really dragged on after that.

Chick-fil-A sent me a free fry, so we stopped by on the way to get those on the way home. I saw Kevin and Hope at AT&T, so we stopped there to see them while we ate. Kevin was on his way out, but I caught up with Hope a bit before we left. Just as we were pulling out, I met the new store manager and we chatted briefly, and he suggested I should come back and work a part-time position they had because he “liked my vibe.”

I was pretty hungry when we made it back to the house, so I ate some leftover mush with Summer and then we sat on the couch and watched some YouTube for a while. She suggested popcorn and a movie, but I guess she changed her mind after I took Muad’Dib on a late run in the cooler air.

We visited my parents, and then I basically had to drag him back home. I ate some other leftovers and Summer went to bed.

Woah, again.

10/12

Today was accomplished with coffee. I wasn’t especially tired or groggy or underslept, but it was a day of mundane tasks. Summer was having a rough time at her meeting, but met me for lunch at Ortega’s. I begrudgingly let her get her $5 shot of cheese dip, which was an insane price to pay in contrast to the all-you-can-eat. Afterward, she took Muad’Dib with her to sit at the house.

I finished up my afternoon with only two months worth of Vine orders to process and felt good about having my taxes done within a day. The drive home was a bit frustrating behind a few groups of slow people though.

Muad’Dib went on a run as soon as I got there, and Eaddie was making chocolate covered strawberries for a classmate’s recital. Summer didn’t cook dinner again, and we just sat on the couch watching YouTube until she was ready for bed.

Oh, brother!

Side Quests

Summer had to work this morning, so I slept in a while, then got up for some leftover corned beef for brunch. Eaddie left for school and I got cleaned up for a trip to Conway with Summer to pick up some stuff for work. I had gotten tickets to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie so it wouldn’t be a whole trip just for work. I really wanted to see Project Hail Mary, but the release of Mario knocked it out of every single larger theater.

I lost track of time and we got out the door way later than I planned, but we made it just in time to walk straight back and sit down at the end of the trailers. A family with at least one kid was sat right next to our seats in an otherwise mostly empty auditorium, but I sat down and shared an armrest on principle because I had reserved our seats ahead. It wasn’t completely unbearable.

I thought the movie was fun, but the 3D didn’t really do much for it, which was a surprise. After that, we went to Splash to pick up Summer’s stuff. I asked for the key to the manual wash and was able to give the Model 3 one of the best washes it has ever had. I had forgotten how vibrant the paint was.

By the time I finished, we were both super hungry, so we made our way downtown and ended up at the Rogue Roundabout. Summer didn’t have her ID for some reason, so our server said she would have to call over the manager. I didn’t recognize him, but he learned where we were from and said he was born and raised there, having graduated high school a year after me. I asked his name and learned he was the same Chris I had driven to the emergency room after stepping on broken glass at Cole’s bachelor party camp trip some fifteen years ago. I still had photos, and even had his number saved in my phone.

After that, we had several drinks before our food came out an hour and a half later. Everything tasted great – it was just incredibly, frustratingly slow. We caught Chris outside as we left, and I shared a couple pictures. Then we started toward home. Summer had previously said no to Long John Silver’s when we were thinking of where to eat, which put the bug in my brain that I should pick some up for later.

We went through the drive-through where I ordered a family mean, and was subsequently parked to wait for our food. I ended up going inside and had a great conversation with another customer that came in after me. We chatted intermittently with the guy who took my order, since he was busy running around behind the counter. He gave both of us free drinks for waiting so long, and then I remembered their delicious strawberry lemonade. The restaurant always looks super dated and worn down, but has never been what I would consider dirty. The staff has always been super friendly, and the food has always been fresh. I wish them success, because I miss the one in town.

I eventually got my food and we headed home, snacking on clam strips as it started to pour down rain. We made it home where Muad’Dib had apparently been left alone for several hours. He ran up to me like he thought I had gone forever. I had asked Eaddie about being home, but I guess I wasn’t specific enough because she had been gone to Tech for several hours before we made it back. Everything was intact though, so maybe he’ll be okay to be left alone a little more frequently.

First goes the body, then goes the bones. Then all that’s left is dust.

Makin’ Our Way Downtown

Summer and I got out for breakfast alone this morning because the kids didn’t want to get up. We drove across town to a place called The Squatch, where we had a breakfast burrito, biscuits and gravy, and avocado toast. The toast was probably the best of them. None of it was bad, but none of it was great either. It was a cute place though.

Afterward, we made our way back to the hotel and I ran around with Muad’Dib a bit. Evidently there was some kind of a footrace going on across the street, because we saw a few runners and could hear the commotion. We eventually got everyone out to go downtown and walk around, dropping the Model 3 off to charge at the top of the hill before taking Eli’s truck to park down the hill. I mostly stayed out of the shops with Muad’Dib, but it was really nice outside. As lunchtime approached, we ended up eating at New Delhi Cafe where they had a fusion of Indian and American. Eli and I split a burger and a curry chicken wrap. Eaddie had some butter chicken, and Summer had a huge fillet of fried fish and chips. Everything was really good, but I think the fish was probably my favorite bite.

We made it back for the afternoon show, which was much better than the last. We all had a good time before going back to the room to rest a bit. I ran around with Muad’Dib some more, and the others spent some time at the clubhouse playing mini golf and pool.

Dinner time eventually came around and the four of us met my parents, Uncle Rick, and Ginny at Red’s Pizzeria. Their four-generation sourdough pizza crust was great, and then we picked up my car on the way back for the evening show.

Everyone had a great time, but even Muad’Dib was exhausted by the end of it. We made it back to the room and started settling down for bed. Of course the Harry Potter marathon was finishing up, so I had trouble as my eyes kept wandering over to the TV, but I finally got to bed after midnight.

fifteen

I’ll Tost’a My Own Guac

I slept hard through the first few seconds of my alarm this morning, then dragged out of bed. I didn’t go to sleep super late, but I must have been in a deep slumber. We made it to work in spite of the asshole guarding the left lane by speeding and slowing down around me for no apparent reason. I wasn’t driving inconsiderately to begin with, but he couldn’t keep up when I decided to pass him for good.

I was proud of how busy I stayed all day, and I felt like I got some good stuff done, even if they were all short-term tasks. I was rewarded with Ortega’s for lunch, but was told I couldn’t have a tostaguac, so I just ordered a tostada and chalupa, then sandwiched them together to accomplish the exact same thing.

The afternoon was busy as well, and we ended up leaving just a few minutes late, which landed me in some slightly heavier traffic for a bit, but it wasn’t too bad. We found Summer at home finishing up her schedule, so I started some laundry and cleaned up a little bit. We saw Eaddie for just a moment, and then she was gone again. Brandie texted and I caught up with her for a while, and eventually made it to bed.

No cheese for you.

Full on Monday

It finally rained a bit today after threatening for a while. We got to work early, and then out of nowhere I started to feel gross inside. I managed to keep myself busy enough helping the girls with something downstairs, and we made it to lunch time. We left without a plan other than to grab cheese sticks from Sonic, and ended up at Wendy’s for a break and a cup of chili.

I felt much better after that, and tinkered with Intune some more in the afternoon until quitting time. Summer had call-ins and had to close the lube, so we stopped by AT&T to see Kevin for a moment, then by Superfast to see Summer. They were dead, so we went to Walgreens to pick up my prescriptions. They had lines inside and out, so I just had to stand there and wait.

Once we got home, I changed and then went to pick up Nova at Tech so we could have dinner with my parents. Mom made noodles for pork chops, shrimp, and egg rolls. Summer met us there, and we finished eating just as Julie and Kevin showed up.

Summer headed home to clean up and go to bed, I took Nova back, and then wrapped things up quickly so I could try and get some better sleep than last night.

Bonus pill!

Long Distance Pool Party

We lost power briefly last night, and I woke up gasping because my battery backup just doesn’t have any life left in it. I got back to sleep after a reset, and eventually got up to eat a leftover waffle. Summer did her nails and watched TV, and I got ready for my trip to the Springdale Pool Lounge.

I couldn’t find anyone to ride with me, so I made the trip alone. I stopped in Alma to charge, and went into Harp’s for some food since the pool hall wouldn’t have any. I got some pretty good chicken strips and a hilariously small serving of potato wedges, but it was all more than enough.

I got to Springdale about half an hour late after all of that, but it looked like they were just getting settled in anyway. There weren’t a bunch of people, but we had a good time and played a few rounds of some pretty bad pool. We were only there for about three hours before we had to give up the reserved tables, and then we parted ways.

I stopped by the Hawaiian Bros just up the road and had a little bit of food, but brought most of it back home. I had to stop in Alma again to charge for a little bit, and then wound down for bed.

Don’t get distracted by all the pretty lights.

Still Walking

I woke up feeling okay and took my smoothie and matcha to work for breakfast. I didn’t drink my Soylent just because I didn’t really feel hungry, but then we went to Subway to pick up lunch before a call with Aptean in the early afternoon. That ended up being pretty boring with just Tammy and me on the call, and I didn’t love feeling like we’d just have to report back to others. They’re definitely expecting more from us, but we’re also expecting more from them for how much we pay.

The afternoon went by fairly quickly and I started to lose a bit of focus as my tab count grew larger and the tabs themselves became unmanageably small. We nearly made it home when I noticed Summer was still at work, so we turned around and went to Ridgewood instead.

Grant and Kyler were out back talking, so we popped in to chat for a while. I got to try their upcoming shepherd’s pie special, and hopefully they’ll have some of everything left by the time I can get there on St. Patrick’s Day. As Summer started to head home, I went in and got some meat to put on our leftover baked potatoes at home.

We ate, and then had to run downtown for her glow run. We took Muad’Dib, dropped her off to pick up her packet, and then I ended up parking way over behind Papa John’s. There were a couple gas burners parked in front of the new EV chargers that were installed, but I’d later learn that they weren’t powered up anyway.

It was pretty noisy and Muad’Dib didn’t love it, so we mostly stood back and waited for Summer to finish her race. She placed, so we waited for her medal pin and then headed back to the house for the night. Eaddie went to a concert of Eli’s, so I didn’t see her again all night.

It’s just indigestion… maybe.

Carpal Tunnel Vision

We got out a little bit earlier today after a lot of sleep, redeemed a free burrito at Burger King, and got to work to focus on HubSpot product updates. My hand hurt all day from zipping through spreadsheets and manually moving and combining data to make it fit HubSpot’s limited search capabilities.

I forgot Muad’Dib’s food at home, and ended up taking lunch about an hour late myself. I just went for a quick Big Mac, and then grabbed some cheese sticks from Sonic on the way back to share with Muad’Dib in the car.

The afternoon was short after that, but I got a break in the middle of that when my car alarm went off. I peeked at the sentry cameras and saw David’s truck nearby. It wasn’t long after that he came upstairs and said he accidentally bumped me with his trailer hitch. We went downstairs to check it out, and the hole we saw was really just the tow bolt cover that had popped off. The plastics and a lower running light were also damaged though, so he said he would get with his insurance company to take care of it.

Summer had been home cleaning all day, and was still at it when we got home. I had plans to go help Neal with a computer that was given to him, so I changed clothes, had a quick bite, and then headed over. It took a couple hours, but we got it going. The whole time I was working on the computer, he was flipping through his phone and showing me pictures of his family, friends, and things that he had collected over the years. I also learned that my old boss, Adam, had passed away. Neal has always been an interesting friend.

The kids were getting ready for their band trip while Summer was finishing up a bunch of laundry. I don’t know what I was busy doing, but I never sat down for long. The night flew by, and then it was time for bed.

Mindful Mondays

Fast/Slow Saturday

Summer and I slept in a bit today, so by the time we got around, it was nearly time for lunch. Nobody sounded very excited about breakfast anyway, so Summer and I had leftover steak and baked potatoes for lunch. My morning coffee with a bit of eggnog didn’t sit well, so the rest of my afternoon was mostly shot. Summer didn’t feel great either, so she had a bath and I got the monitor replaced so she could watch TV. A little later in the evening, I took a long bath as well.

Eaddie wanted to bring Eli and Ceci over for some games after dark, so they brought some Little Caesar’s for dinner, and then we all sat in front of the TV for some Drawful and then a couple other Jackbox games. It was quite a bit of fun, and the Steam Deck worked great for us to have a quick game without much fuss.

The girls went out at some point to make some slime, which was a fad we thought was long gone. Otherwise it was a quiet evening and then we got to bed a bit late.

In Search of Chargers