Tag: frustration

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What Is

I got very little sleep last night, but made it to work at a “normally” late time. It was not a day for accomplishments. I went to McDonald’s with Randy for some breakfast and had a steak, egg, and cheese bagel. That got me through to a late lunch with him and Jim at Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken just up the road. They liked their food pretty well, but my jambalaya was poured over rice that simply wasn’t cooked.

I guess the afternoon went by pretty quickly. I charged a little extra last night so I wouldn’t have to stop on the way home now that my free Supercharging is expired. I took Muad’Dib out for a run and did two laps of our usual course while I took a phone call

Completely out of the blue, Shawna sent me a friend request over the weekend, so I entertained her message, fully expecting to be phished or scammed in some way. To my absolute surprise, it really was her, so we had been catching up since Sunday. I think in hindsight, that conversation went fairly predictably. Then, again by chance, I got a call from Johnny and I talked to him for a bit as we made our way to my parents’ house to see Dad, who had gone out for a flight with Julie since she earned her next step in her licensure.

We made it home for the night and I brushed him out. I desperately wanted to take him for a bath so he could stay inside for the night, but we dawdled too long and didn’t make it. I threw myself a pity party and reminisced as I gathered myself for bed.

What Should Never Be

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Sundane

I was a little worried that Muad’Dib stayed in all night and Eaddie let him out of her room without taking him outside, but I never found a mess. The house is far from dog-proof, so I was frustrated at the lack of care again. He didn’t want to go out when I woke up to try and take him, and he seemed fine when Summer took him out later when she finally got up. I didn’t want to sleep too late, so I just ran on the couple hours I got.

Summer went to the gym and I took Muad’Dib out for a good run in the morning because I was worried it would rain. The ground was a little bit wet, but not too bad. We had a decent run, but he was really slow. We went to my parents’ house, then circled back around to run most of the course in reverse.

Mom was hungry when they got back to town, but Summer wanted to come home and work on the yard. I went to Check H with my parents and rode around with them for a little bit, then came home to try and clean things up a bit. I had a bunch of Vine stuff to clean out of the walkways, but I need to focus on putting some stuff to work instead of just collecting things without any time to use them. I’ve cut my ordering way back already.

That was pretty much it for the rest of the day. Summer did laundry and sat down in front of the TV to work and finish Moana 2, which was still terrible. I milled around, exhausted from lack of sleep. Muad’Dib didn’t get to hang out inside because he chose to take a bath in the creek, so we’ll need to take him to the dog wash again soon.

Hilarious Universe moments

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Hair Combs the Groom

I went to bed late and got up early so I could take Summer to her mammogram this morning. That went way faster than I expected, so we decided to get some breakfast before she went to work. I had to wait a little bit longer after taking my iron pill before we left, so we went home first and then drove separately across town to the new Hardee’s. It was a cute building with not enough parking and a tiny lobby for dining in. I was glad to see familiar faces behind the counter, since those old ladies did a pretty good job of running the old place. We saw a couple people from the school district while we were there, but didn’t really chat much with either.

After we ate, we had to squeeze out of the parking lot and Summer went to work while I went home to change so I could take the dog out for a run. We ran straight over to Ridgewood Brothers and I gave Robert the convex mirror I got from Vine. I didn’t really get much out of it in the garage since I remembered how I used to park without scraping the bottom of my car. It was a beautiful morning, so I decided we’d make the trek across town to see Summer at Superfast. She was super excited to see us, and then we headed back toward home, stopping to see my parents first. Mom gave Muad’Dib a couple Ritz crackers, which was a big turning point for her.

I didn’t have a ton of time to kill after that because Eaddie and I were going to take Muad’Dib to meet Summer at PetSmart for his grooming appointment. They disappeared him into the back, so we didn’t get to watch anything. We went to Walmart to do a little bit of shopping, then went back by to see if they had an ETA. Eaddie left at that point to meet some friends at Old Post, and they hadn’t even started on Muad’Dib yet, so Summer and I went to La Huerta to share some nachos as a bit of a snack.

As we finished up, I got a call from our groomer saying Muad’Dib started freaking out, so she had to stop after shampooing him. She didn’t even get to rinse him off at all, so I was worried about what we’d be bringing back home. We left the restaurant and went home to get a tarp, then traded cars with Eaddie at Old Post before we made it to PetSmart. They didn’t charge me at all, and Muad’Dib was pretty dry by then, but just looked extra fluffy. He didn’t feel gross or soapy, so the tarp wasn’t really necessary.

We took him home to take a break for a little while and let everyone calm down. Julie called and talked to me for a little while, and then we took Muad’Dib to the Liberty dog wash to finish the job ourselves. He didn’t like the wash, but he did reasonably well with both of us there. He did try to nip at me a little bit, but never to harm me, and he was always pretty gentle. Considering it only cost like $15 to do it ourselves, we may not even go back to have him groomed. It just took some extra time brushing him once we got home, and he looked and felt much better.

We let him inside for much longer after that. Eaddie eventually made it back home and we played with him in the living room for a bit. He spent some time exploring the house and sniffed everything. Then he got confused when I played back some video of him on the TV. I still didn’t want him staying inside unsupervised, so I put him out when everyone went to bed. I finally booked a room for the Cavalcade, but it looks like it’ll be mostly rainy. I don’t know if we’ll take Muad’Dib since Eaddie doesn’t want to go, but hopefully we’ll have enough time in the morning to figure everything out.

Booked!

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Smart Pet

Today was an even slower day at work, and everyone was ready for break. Randy was spun up in the morning working on a donated Mac for the athletic department, and still updating our domain controllers while I tried updating SCCM. Then he and Kyle left and things got super quiet until lunch when I met them and Jim at Skinny J’s.

After lunch was slow, quiet, and dull until we filtered out early. I got to Conway to charge and then washed my car, and then I got home so we could take Muad’Dib to PetSmart.

I booked an appointment to get him groomed, and they suggested bringing him beforehand to get used to the place. He jumped into the Pathfinder with ease and rode with Eli in the back while Eaddie sat up front with me. He loved looking out the window, but threw up as we got halfway across town. He ate it again though, so it was pretty clean by the time we parked.

Muad’Dib hopped back out of the car and was super excited by the new place, so I grabbed his leash and we took him into the store. There were so many new things to smell, and he ran all over the store excitedly. He got to meet one other dog in there, and they were super chill. I let him wander around for a while, and then we headed back home so I could take him for a proper walk.

I guess the trip to the store got him into a mood, because he wanted to mark everything and wasn’t great about listening during our run. He kept running behind as I hurried him along. We stopped to see my parents, and then he didn’t listen when I tried to guide him on the way home. I followed him on his chosen route, and we got home without incident.

I cleaned up some leftovers and then took care of some old Vine stuff, and tried to get to bed quickly while Summer did her nails in front of the TV. Eaddie went to Eli’s for dinner, but we had to call her back to finish the laundry she left in the washing machine, but then it was off to sleep.

Hurry!

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Review Recap

I awoke from a deep sleep this morning, and it was off to work again. Jimmy was the only one there, but then Kyle and I walked in together. Randy got there shortly after that, and I recapped my week and a half since I’d left. The rest of the day I tried to catch up on emails in between talks with Randy about getting my evaluation done. They had trouble getting the self-evaluation form to us, so Randy was stuck.

The two of us met Kyle and Jim at the Black Bear Diner, and we had breakfast for lunch. It was super good, and a reasonably good price for all the food we got. It was still expensive, but I had leftovers to save for tomorrow. I finally got my self-evaluation form in my personal email, so I spent the afternoon filling that out more than what was probably necessary. Then I ran home as quickly as I could so we could pick up Muad’Dib.

Traffic was awful even after I stopped to charge in Conway, but I eventually got home where Summer was waiting for me. She had her bicycle out to ride over, and Dad met us outside. Muad’Dib was just hanging out on the porch, and didn’t seem to mind much. I’d seen him really whimper in the past, so I thought he might be even more excited after we were gone so long, but he just sort of greeted us like any other time. We ran Summer home, and then the two of us went for our normal route at a leisurely pace. He did great off leash, but I did end up holding onto him a couple of times near another small dog, just as a precaution.

When we got home, I started unboxing Vine stuff. I got all of the smaller packages done, but I still had a couple large ones that were mostly outdoor light fixtures. I sprang to bed as quickly as I could, so hopefully I can maintain a healthy sleep schedule.

Bark

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We’ve Been Conned

We slept in pretty late today as a reward for the long day of travel before. Summer finally made me get up so we could find our way to the opening ceremony. Eaddie got lost trying to find her way back to get us, but luckily we ran into Phoebe in the elevator, who got us to the right place. The ceremony wasn’t really “for” us, but Summer wanted to experience it. It was a huge mob of people, so it was neat to at least see all of them in one place.

After the ceremony, we tried to find our way back to the room, but immediately discovered how easy it was to get lost. I changed so I wouldn’t be overdressed, and we eventually took the car across town for a charge and some late lunch. The place turned out to be a co-working space, and there was a huge room with a bunch of food vendors, and even a barber. We ate at a burger place called The Bull Grill, which was super good. I particularly appreciated that in spite of being very tall burgers, they stayed together perfectly to the very last bite.

We headed back to the room again after that, until we got a text from Eaddie that they were going to the mall down the road. We thought that was our indication to meet them since they had discussed going together, but after a super long walk through a maze of escalators and skywalks, we arrived at the mall just in time to hear the closing announcement.

The kids wound up walking further up the road to eat at a nitrogen ice cream shop, but Summer and I weren’t really interested. We crossed the road and used my old gift card at Steak ‘n Shake instead. I still had money left after they closed our location at home, so Summer got a cherry Diet Coke and I redeemed a free birthday shake.

We decided to take the sidewalk back to the hotel since the weather was so nice, and as we walked past the giant convention center, we encountered a poor girl struggling to roll three giant suitcases down the broken and cracked sidewalk ahead of us. She even had a cane on top of one of them, so we decided to cautiously approach and offer assistance. We eventually learned that her name was Elaine, and she was there to set up a vendor booth for Growing Geeks Clothing at the Comic Con happening this weekend. A security guard refused to let her in and told her she had to go to the opposite side of the building to the registration desk. Fortunately we encountered another guy rolling stuff in a side door he had gotten through, so we helped Elaine get everything inside.

She was so thankful that she wanted to give us her extra exhibitor pass, but I wasn’t sure we would have time. Summer eventually caught up and jumped at the chance to go to the convention, so we ended up getting her to the registration desk, helped her locate and arrange her booth, and even hung a bunch of clothes on hangers for her. It was fun to make a friend, and by the end of it as we were walking out, we decided to go ahead and buy an extra exhibitor pass that she was allowed at the discounted rate of $50. When we got to the registration desk, the girl just handed me a pass for free after having her own long day, so Summer and I would both get to go together.

Not really believing our luck, we made our way back to the room for the night. I called my parents to share the excitement, and then Summer found Spider-Man: No Way Home on the TV, so I got sucked into the rest of that as she fell asleep. I was up too late in a mixture of ADD fog and ruminating about the dogs, but I eventually got there.

Buncha nerds.

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Goulashes

It was a rough night, but I still woke up early to check on Muad’Dib. He had his head down all day, and it broke my heart how depressed he looked. I almost wished he had gone too, just for the sake of not being alone with whatever trauma he witnessed. He just hasn’t been right since we lost Stilgar, and I feel similarly. I tried to go back to bed for a while, but just laid awake with my mind rolling.

I eventually got around and spent some time outside with him before getting cleaned up to go for a run. I had been slowly organizing my thoughts for our Indianapolis trip, and needed to visit Dad to see what he had planned for taking care of Muad’Dib. We rode straight over to their house to visit, and then I took him backwards around the basin trail. He did great off-leash until we encountered a young guy spraying something on his lawn. Evidently he had an infant in a car seat in his garage floor, and Muad’Dib made a beeline for the kid as soon as it started crying. I ended up having to zap him multiple times to stop him dead in his tracks right by the guy, and I apologized profusely as I grabbed his leash and took him back to the road.

We got back home and I had a burrito for a late lunch and then paid my stack of medical bills. Eaddie came home and ate some of those leftovers with some Fritos as well, and then thought I should cook something with the extra macaroni that Summer made the other day. I eventually got back out of the house, washed my car again, then went to the Neighborhood Market for some hamburger meat and a bunch of snacks for our trip.

I ended up making a sort of goulash I found online, but with a twist of Rotel instead of diced tomatoes. I let Muad’Dib hang out with me in the kitchen while I cooked, and he was a super good boy. The girls were thrilled when they saw him inside, but I told them he couldn’t stay, especially while he was still dirty and untrained. The goulash was super easy, and the girls really liked it. It made a big pot of food, so we’ll have something to eat as soon as we get home.

The girls packed up and I took Muad’Dib for a quick night run back to visit Dad. Then I packed once we got back home. The girls went to bed super early as usual, and I just did what I could and powered through an anxiety attack.

As in the best it is.

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The Breakdown

I got up this morning to an empty house and checked on Muad’Dib. I didn’t have any messages about Stilgar, so I got showered and took the Pathfinder to visit Animal Control to see if they picked him up. In hindsight I guess I could have called again, but I was desperately hoping I’d get to bring him home. As soon as I got into the car, I saw how filthy it was from all of Eaddie’s junk in the passenger seat, center console, back seat, and trunk. There was crap everywhere, and the gas tank was empty to boot. I wasn’t even sure I’d make it to the shelter, so I turned around and went to Casey’s for some gas first. I redeemed a birthday donut and ate that in the parking lot, then made my way to the shelter.

The two ladies that were working said they hadn’t picked up anything like Stilgar, but immediately knew of him when I mentioned that Nancy had called 911 the day before. They said they had a couple people call about them killing cats, and that one of them, presumably the man, threatened to shoot them if they came around again. I think I knew it all along when Muad’Dib showed up by himself, but it really sank in when I got home and found the “final warning” door tag they had just left on our front door before I drove over.

I brought the leashes in from the car and had an absolute screaming fit before going outside to hold Muad’Dib. He hadn’t been eating, but he would take a few kibbles out of my hand if I offered them. We went out riding around to look for Stilgar, but didn’t hear a thing in the neighborhood. It was almost eerily quiet. We went all the way up Inglewood and visited the bank so I could pay Dad back for writing my sales tax check to the DMV. I realized I didn’t have my wallet once I got to the window, so we had to ride back home to get that, then made it back to the bank.

We waited longer the second time, but eventually got the cash and rode back to my parents’ house to give the money to Dad. That was when I realized they shorted me by 95 cents. We got back home and I got Muad’Dib situated in the backyard. Then I changed clothes and decided to take some returns to The UPS Store and then wash my car before going back to the bank for a third time.

The UPS Store visit was short and sweet since I took care of all the re-taping at home. The car wash was mostly out of soap, so it was a short wash. As I sprayed the side of my car, I noticed a fleck of white appear on the driver side rocker panel. Paint had actually flaked right off under relatively light pressure. I suspect they’ll try to deny it under warranty, but I feel like it’s worth pressing. Finally, I made it all the way back across town to get my missing 95 cents, and took Aaron for a ride in the new Model 3. I took him to our house since he had driven down Inglewood anyway. After I dropped him off, I went by the Neighborhood Market to get some hamburger meat to make tacos and clean up the veggies we still had at home.

I was unboxing Vine deliveries when Summer came home, and I was nearly shaking from the confrontation I knew we were about to have. Then she hit me with, “Why have you been ignoring me?” “I’ve been exhausted and in a tremendous amount of pain from riding 25 miles looking for my dog.” “You’ve been ignoring me all week.” I trembled as I yelled at her to leave me alone, and had another screaming fit in the laundry room after she slammed the back door going out to see our one remaining dog.

I eventually gathered myself enough to try and talk to her, but then after nearly eight years, she finally felt something strongly enough to yell at me. She was mad that “everything was her fault.” Ironically, that was precisely why I was mad as well. Of course she was wrong, but of course I wasn’t going to give her a list of all the stupid things she’s done on a daily basis to make my life more difficult at best, no matter how many times she asked me to name something. It was mutually assured destruction.

I had to clean myself up and went back outside to hold Muad’Dib, but knocked on the door to tell Summer she could come out too. She had calmed down and wanted to go to the gym, but I told her I had stuff to make burritos and that I hadn’t eaten anything all day. Then I asked her the question that’s been buzzing in my head for weeks: Did she book a hotel in Indianapolis with car charging?

“I don’t know.”

Eaddie got home just as Summer left for the gym, and we talked for a while as I cooked. We both ate, and then I had to go back to the store to get some Theraflu for my parents. Everyone was pretty much off to bed by the time I got home for the night, and I was up late stewing in my head for the next few hours.

Broke the Bank

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Stilgone

I didn’t get to bed until nearly four o’clock last night, and I awoke around 9:30 to a text from Dad that his neighbor Nancy had called 911 to alert animal control about the dogs again. Seconds later, Summer walked in and said she had been driving around looking for the past half hour looking for them before coming back to wake me. I immediately took off on the Onewheel while Summer went back out in the Tesla.

I had ridden about 14 miles when Mom called to say they were there, so I sped back to their house to find Summer and Dad with Muad’Dib. Stilgar was nowhere to be found, and Muad’Dib had blood on his front-left leg, and walked with a bit of a limp. I took him home slowly, calling for Stilgar along the way, but we never found him.

I had to take a break after that to charge the Onewheel, so I cooked a couple eggs to eat with the mushy rice that Summer made a couple weeks ago. Then I had to rush through a shower so we could make it to Tech for Eaddie’s send-off concert. It was just their two Indianapolis groups having a practice concert, and then we went straight back home so I could ride around some more while Summer went to the gym.

Muad’Dib and I went all over the neighborhood, and I let him go off-leash with the hopes that he would lead me somewhere. He behaved super well, but was slow, and I felt like he knew he was in trouble. Between that outing and then going out again after dark, we totaled nearly 24 miles but still could never find any sign of Stilgar.

The girls spent all night doing laundry after that. Summer got into her feelings at the gym, but I didn’t have the time or patience to deal with her. I did what I could to try and find Stilgar, and we’ll just have to hope I find him at Animal Control tomorrow, but I just couldn’t imagine only one of them getting picked up because they go everywhere together.

That’s a dome light.

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Killswitch Triggered

Summer left early this morning for a run in Danville, and Eaddie got up shortly after I did, then left for some band assessment event. I felt a little rough from my meds again, but it wasn’t terrible. I got out to check on the dogs, and it sounded like they were gone. Summer got home just as I was getting dressed to go find them. Then I rode about nine miles all around the neighborhood before I finally found them on my second trip to my parents’ house. I kept listening for barking dogs, but hardly heard anything anywhere, and nobody I encountered had seen anything. We got home and I ended up tying Stilgar up and putting the shock collar on Muad’Dib. I think Stilgar just had too much fur for it to work on him.

After that, I took a shower and got ready to leave town. I washed my car first since it was covered in spots from being washed, sprinkled upon, and then dusted. Then I headed toward Fayetteville for Brandon’s birthday event. I stopped to charge in Ozark, then made it up to the Northwest Arkansas Mall to charge outside Dillard’s for a few minutes while I waited for everyone else to show up at Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza and Taproom.

The mall was quite busy in most areas, but there were definitely dead spots too. Dillard’s had a surprising number of people, and there were a couple interesting stores inside. The food court seemed like the busiest area even though it was a little between lunch and dinner time.

I got to the restaurant just moments before Brandon, Diana, Ryan, Aaron, and Alma. I didn’t know what to think about the place, but it was their first time as well. It looked like it was a part of a fancy apartment complex, but it may have just adjacent coincidentally. It was a neat looking establishment though. We found a couple of tiny sofas and sat around a coffee table thing before getting any food. They had a wall of beers and wines that were all self-serve, and we had to go get an RFID bracelet that let us tap to pour. I really liked everything I tried, and the pizza wasn’t bad either, though it was all pretty pricey.

It was a great time catching up, but we had to get down the road to the concert at JJ’s Live. Aaron and Alma weren’t going, so we bid them farewell and I ended up driving the other three to the venue. We parked across the street at Target and walked over where it was a relatively easy entrance to a pretty packed floor. It was a very industrial chic with a catwalk balcony overhead. We were late enough that we completely missed Frozen Soul, but we stood near the back of the floor for Fit for a King and got to see their whole set. By the end I was sweating pretty hard and went to the concession stand to get some water.

While standing in line, I started to feel faint like I did at the school’s self-care fair. I ended up taking a knee right in line a couple of times, and finally got to the point where I turned to the guys behind me and let them know I thought I was having blood pressure issues. I asked them to help me get some water while I walked to the wall and had a seat on a flat dolly. They mentioned a nearby EMT, then reported the venue was out of water bottles, but the bartender poured her water into a cup of ice and gave that to me. Then I asked the guys to go ahead and get the EMT just to have him check my blood pressure.

That was when I met Hunter, the 22-year-old, patchwork tattooed, chatty EMT. I had a giggle to myself at his little Kilroy tattoo. He was super friendly and did his best to get my BP, pulse, and oxygen levels while I was sitting there. It was hard for him to hear, but he thought I was right around 120, which was unexpected. After sitting through all of that, I felt good enough to walk outside while he accompanied me to find a chair. It got super cold, super fast.

I texted the group and stayed outside for all of Kublai Khan TX’s set, but from what I heard, they would have been way too hard for me anyway. Diana came out to find me outside between sets, and then we went back inside for Killswitch Engage. I definitely liked them the most, but most of it was still too hard for my liking. We weren’t close to the stage at all, but it was still too much of a packed floor for me. I thought I was going to feel bad again at one point, but kept drinking water out of the sink until I felt fine.

After the show, we made it to the car really quickly and I dropped Brandon, Diana, and Ryan off at their car. Then I made it back to Ozark for a charge, break, and snack. I got home well after midnight and wrapped up quickly for bed.

Hydrate.