Tag: friends

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Newly Guests

Summer went to Conway for a run this morning, so I got up to take a shower before she got back home. When she did get home, she said she decided to subscribe to the monthly Full Self Driving for me for Christmas. I felt like that was a fair compromise for her wanting to get me something, and me not wanting to receive anything. Even if I don’t commute in the long term, we can always cancel the subscription.

Eaddie got home a little after that, and we all got ready to go to Chris’s house for Thanksgiving. I loaded up the drinks and Summer brought her broccoli salad and some deviled eggs, and we headed up the hill. We arrived at a full house just behind my parents, and I think Julie and Kevin were the last to arrive. The only other people I knew there besides Lelan and Steven were Seth and Danielle.

The inebriated Chris gave a little speech and then we all got to eating. We found the proper dining room table and crowded around that with some other strangers. Julie got into a fight over Disney Adults with the one small, loud-mouthed child that showed up. It was a fine time.

After we ate, Lelan was making rounds and stopped by to talk. I ended up taking her and Kevin for a ride with FSD. Kevin babysat in the driver’s seat, and we rode to the Neighborhood Market and back. As we made our final turn, the car took a left in front of a blind hill and then stopped in the middle of the lane when an oncoming car appeared. Kevin gunned it and we all got out to kiss the ground.

We stayed for a little longer, and then the girls had to get home. I took the dogs for a run before it got dark, and we caught my parents just as they got home. Then I spent the evening sending texts and submitting Vine reviews. My bedtime shifted way too much, so this weekend will be a treat trying to get it turned back around.

Like Thanksgiving in a hotel lobby.

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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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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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Sliced

I got out really early today, and it seemed to make a huge difference in traffic. The guys were outside talking, but I went in because it was chilly out. Most of my day was pretty scattered, but quiet. I started with a cup of oatmeal, and the morning went by reasonably quickly. We took a late lunch, and I went to BJ’s Market Cafe with Jim and Maggie, where they had us in and out within minutes. They were like Old South, but bigger, and possibly even more packed. I had the “beef tips” which mostly reminded me of rice and roast beef that had been in the slow cooker too long.

The afternoon dragged on a bit, and Johnny called right at the end of the day to gripe about Lamar. I finally got out of there and made my way home after coming to a dead stop right out of Little Rock. Summer was in bed with a bad back, so I took the dogs out for another record-breaking run. They did 2.3 miles at a 9.5mph pace with a top speed of 21.2mph. We stopped at a house along the way home because it looked like they had a water hose running into their yard and all down the neighbor’s yard. They didn’t answer the door, so I went to find their neighbor, who had already texted the lady but hadn’t gotten a response. Hopefully they were just draining their pool, because the back gate was padlocked so I couldn’t get back there to turn a faucet off. The dogs and I finally got home and I gave them treats before making myself a burrito for dinner.

Kevin came over with Mathai to get his laptop. Then after they left, I ended up slicing a huge gash on the right side of my right hand as I tried to swat a fly off of an open can of refried beans. Blood gushed everywhere for a moment, and I called Eaddie for some help as I leaked life fluid into the sink. She brought alcohol, bandages, and even helped clean up the blood splatter all over the floor.

Once I got my hand cleaned up and bandaged, we sat in the dining room and talked for quite a while about growing up and her future plans. It was a great moment, and eventually I had to make a mad dash to get to bed late.

I’m pretty sure I’ve learned this lesson before.

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Computah Man

I woke up around the same time today, trying not to sleep in too late, and came out to find Summer having coffee with the dogs. I went out and played with them a bit before deciding to take them out on an early run, since it was going to rain the rest of the afternoon. Summer didn’t want to ride her bike with me, so I woke Eaddie up to see if she would. By the time she got out of bed to tell me she didn’t have time, I got rained out of going.

She had to get ready for a Tech Symphonic Youth Wind Ensemble concert in the afternoon, and then Mom texted that she would have bún bò Huế for lunch. Eaddie left to get ready, and Summer and I cleaned up and went to my parents’ house to eat. After we ate, we took Dad along to the concert. I like the Tech concerts because they’re just better, and they’re a whole lot shorter with way less sucking up to the administration.

It was raining again by the time we left, so I tried to summon the car to us. It drove out of range, so I had to walk closer. Then it drove out of range again, so we walked even closer. Then it parked itself and refused to get onto the “public road” in front of Witherspoon. I was so mad, and people were having to drive around it to get out of the parking lot.

We took Summer home and then took our carved pumpkins to drop Dad off. I got back home and Summer had been cleaning up a bit more around the house. I spent a bunch of time with the dogs because they were stuck on the porch to stay dry.

Later in the evening, my buddy Kevin brought over an old laptop for me to wipe. He was here way longer than he expected, and ended up just leaving the laptop here so I could finish backing up all of his files. File transfers are always slow on old machines like that. We chatted, I gave him some old vitamins that Summer wasn’t taking, and I baked some pumpkin seeds a bit longer after they got soggy in the fridge.

Eaddie came home really late, and I used up all of my extra hour I had for sleeping. We’ll see how tomorrow goes with different daylight hours. Yippee.

Dark Thirty

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The Definite Articles

I slept in today since I knew I’d be up late. Johnny called with some SCCM questions and woke me up, so I got around to making some coffee to start the day. Summer could tell I was irritated with her, but there was nothing to be done for it. She went out for a run, and after we got cleaned up, we headed out for the day. Our first stop was Arvest to deposit the insurance check we got for the lady that clipped the Model Y. Then we stopped at Arby’s to get some lunch on the way out of town.

I wished we hadn’t eaten so much, because we were still stuffed by the time we got to Van Buren. We met Jesica at The Vault and split an appetizer with some drinks. It was nice getting to visit again after such a long time, but wearing my contacts was a mistake. My vision being cloudy just kind of made the whole room feel small, and it was hard to focus on things.

After a couple hours, we let her go so we could find our way to TempleLive in the old Masonic temple. There was a fence around it, so I found it difficult to spot until we drove around the block. We had enough time before the show that I thought we might try to do some shopping, but we ended up going back to park and just waited in line outside the front door.

We didn’t have to wait long before they let us in. It was a small group of people there, but it filled up quickly. We found the lounge downstairs was empty, so we headed on in to the pit in front of the stage. It was a small area, so we just leaned against the back wall and waited.

The first band up was The Props, and I thought they did an incredible job. The lead singer had some pipes on him, and though the acoustics and my earplugs made it difficult to really hear the lyrics, I thought they were good enough for a follow. They only had 73 subscribers on YouTube, so I felt like I was really getting in on the ground floor.

Between sets, I spotted my old classmate Matt as he passed right in front of us. I stopped him on his way back and we chatted briefly. Evidently he knew I had been at the school district in the past, because he asked if I was still there. We exchanged numbers and then got back to the show.

The Struts came out and put on an excellent show as well. I couldn’t believe how many people in the venue had actually seen them before. Summer and I later ran into our junior high coworker Leslie and her husband on the way out, and she said he had seen them six times, but this was only her fourth time. We loved the venue aside from Summer freezing her butt off. I was worried it would be hot, but they had the air blowing hard.

We had tickets for the “afterparty” in the lounge, but it was noisy, we didn’t love what little we heard of the band they had downstairs, and we were tired. The Props were up by the merch, so we stopped there and they each shook my hand before taking a photo with us. It was really cool to be able to interact with them, and they were all so excited to have driven out from LA just to play the one show.

It was a quick getaway with the crowd that would fit in such a small venue. I let the Model Y drive the whole way, city and all. It took us to Ozark to charge, and then all the way to the house. Full Self Driving loves empty roads. Eaddie was up just long enough to take a shower, and then the girls were out. I fought droopy eyelids to complete my evening, and then I went to bed as well.

I’m caught up with your acrobatics.

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Oldies, but Goodies

The girls both had homecoming things they wanted to do today, so I had most of the day to myself. Summer went to the gym in the morning, but when she finished, I had to take the Pathfinder to give her a jump because the battery was too weak to start the Murano. I don’t know why she didn’t take the Model Y, but it was just as well, so we could get the battery on the charger. When we got back home, we took the dogs for an early ride with her on her bike and me on the Onewheel. We visited my parents, then took them to the pond for a splash.

When we got home, Eaddie had left for Tech’s homecoming and Summer got ready to meet her old classmates at Fat Daddy’s for the afternoon. I cleaned up a bit around the house and took a shower, and then Becky and Jennifer invited me out to IHOP. Summer got home just as I was walking out, so I took her car.

Becky was already waiting in the lobby, so we chatted while we waited for Jennifer. Then we visited over pancakes and coffee. On the way out, we saw Antonia and her family coming in. It was a quiet night after that. I laid with Summer and watched TV for a bit before getting ready for bed myself.

Muddy Buddies

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Handy Dandy NotebookLM

I read an article this morning about NotebookLM that made me take another look. The AI voices were incredible, and I’d heard tale of “breathing” in other applications. I drove to work and forgot about it for a while, as I mostly looked for work to be done. Randy and I went to Skinny J’s to meet Ben for lunch, and they had their shrimp pasta on special for less than half price. I also got their “Reuben eggrolls” appetizer, which somehow got to us after our main course again, just to sample both sides of my heritage at once. They were delicious, as was the pasta, and I think I can make them at home without too much trouble.

We visited for a while, and then headed back to the office. I was left to my own devices again, so I circled back to NotebookLM and plugged in my blog to see what I would get. It was pretty amazing to hear two podcast-format hosts talk about me. It didn’t get everything right, and it clearly made some things up entirely, but overall it was super impressive.

After work, it was a slow drive home due to slow traffic nearly the entire way. I immediately took the dogs out for a long walk on an extended route. Then I unboxed some more Amazon Vine stuff before winding down for bed.

AIpitaph

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Not My Band

I was the first one up this morning, but Summer was right behind me. I made some coffee for us, and then we cleaned up a bit more while Eaddie left for church with Eli. She wanted us to go to a Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble concert in the afternoon, and we had some other errands to run as well, so Summer and I got ready to go by the time she got back.

Our first stop was Diana’s for the open house. We met her realtor, who knew us by name, and we got to show Eaddie the house. There wasn’t anyone else around, and we weren’t sure it was going to be very popular based on the location. Diana saw us on camera and made a comment about my Eagles shirt, and then we were off to Tech for the concert.

It was a long, but good show. I enjoyed the songs more than I typically do, but at this point I hate going to high school band concerts. It’s always way better going to the competitive ones that Eaddie is a part of. She had to stay for practice in the youth ensemble afterward, so Summer and I left her to go get dinner at Mulan’s. Then we went to Walmart for a few more things, Zaxby’s to get some food for Eaddie, and finally Casey’s for free coffee day before making it back home.

The sun was going down quickly, so I left the girls to go get gas while I ran the dogs. We went a bit backwards from our usual route, ending up at my parents’ house to visit with Dad briefly before coming back home. We settled in quickly, and it’s back to working sleep deprivation for me.

Imagine complaining about communism at a Chinese buffet.