Cleanup Checkup

The kids all made it to school and work this morning, which let Summer and me sleep in a bit. Summer left to shop for an ugly sweater while I cleaned up at home. Then we went to her follow-up appointment at the clinic. The doctor and nurse went on about how much tissue they serrated-ice-cream-scooped out of her, but it was all benign, so hopefully the procedure will have the desired result.

It was a quick appointment, and we were hungry, so our next stop was New China for lunch. I didn’t have a single grain of rice, and it made me feel weird about the visit, but I also didn’t feel super stuffed when we left. We headed back home and lounged around for a while before getting back up to clean up outside. I was surprised I still had hot coals in the fire pit, but I guess we did burn a lot of wood, so there was a lot of ash to insulate them.

When we finished outside, Summer went home to do some cleaning of her own while I filed paperwork inside. Then she and Eaddie came back over to get me for Autumn’s band concert in the evening. We got there early because Autumn did a poor job of informing us of the event, so we caught the last middle school band before the high school started.

Surprisingly, some of the middle school sounded better than the worst junior high band from the other day. The high school only had two bands, which were fine. The symphonic band seemed to be cheating with the pieces they had for their trip to Carnegie Hall. There were constantly so many notes that they masked any possible mistakes throughout the performance.

Eaddie went with Autumn to a group IHOP meet after the concert, so Summer dropped me off and I wound down for the day by testing my Pixel Buds and catching up on normal computery stuff that I do every day.

Three down, half to go.

Burn it Down

Summer and I woke up super early, but with just enough time to get dressed and drive to the hospital. Her ablation wouldn’t actually take place for a couple hours, but we had to be there at six to start her on the medication before surgery. I waited patiently in the dark, playing on my phone. It could have been less comfortable, but they weren’t great digs.

My right Pixel Bud died while the left was still around 70%, and I’ve only got a few days of warranty left. That will require some testing, like right now. We finally left the hospital around 11 and went to Rose Drug to pick up her prescription. Then we stopped by KFC to pick up lunch on the way back home.

Summer pretty much slept the rest of the day, so I played a lot of Don’t Starve. I eventually took a shower, and then she did the same so we could go to Eaddie’s Christmas concert. We stopped by KFC on the way to pick up the fries they forgot to give me with our lunch order. Then we went to my house for a few minutes before the concert.

I walked around the house to inspect for the cause of the crashing sound on my security camera overnight, but couldn’t find anything. Then we headed to the Performing Arts Center for the concert. Noah surprised us with his presence, and we sat through one terrible performance, one that should have been the worst of the night, and then Eaddie’s band, which was still worse than I anticipated.

I think the problem is that being around Eaddie, my expectations have been misguided. I assume everyone is as good as her, considering that she’s in the best of three different bands. That’s simply not the case. Even the smallest, best band that she is in, is full of people that can’t keep time or hit notes. Hopefully they beat that out of them in high school, but I think I’m more looking forward to the college years.

After the concert, Noah was going to come stay the night. He didn’t make it before everyone was off to bed though. Even I couldn’t stay up any longer after such an early morning.

That’s a helluva way to celebrate Pearl Harbor Day.

Let’s See What We Can Stirrup

I got to sleep in for about an hour compared to my normal work alarm since Summer wanted me to go to her appointment with her. She went in to work for a bit, so I got up to a hard boiled egg for breakfast before going home to shower. Then I picked her up and we went to Millard Henry. The appointment took a little while, but it wasn’t ridiculous. They did a good job of spacing patients out so there was hardly anyone inside while we waited.

After the appointment, we stopped across the street so I could give Aaron a projector remote. Then I dropped Summer off at work before going to McAlister’s to pick up some lunch for us. She wanted Stoby’s, but I had a free potato that expired at the end of the month, and I couldn’t trust that I’d ever end up eating there otherwise. I went back to the shop to eat with her, and then headed home for the day.

I was on my feet for the rest of the afternoon and on into the late evening, rearranging furniture and cleaning things up. I opened the garage and back doors to let the cooler air flow through the house all day long. I felt pretty good about what I accomplished, but there’s still so much more. At least now I have room for the loveseat, while still having an exit path out the back door. I ended the night cleaning some more carpet, but this time it was in a different area, so I didn’t go crazy.

This felt like an incredibly long day.

Going for Broke

Thomas and Gary were both out today, and Zach texted me before work to say he was getting donuts and would be late, which meant the shop was extra quiet when I got there. We all gathered for a really relaxed meeting and mostly talked off-topic for a while until a couple groups left to work on some stuff together. I was left in the shop all alone for a while, since Tammy and Kelsea both had a meeting to attend early in the day.

Everyone came back around for lunch, and we went for something completely different – Cracker Barrel. I actually thought I’d eat a pretty light meal just because I never remember getting filled with their portions, but then our waitress brought out cornbread and biscuits and gravy for us all to share. I ended up getting the Friday Fish Fry, which was a pretty good sized plate, too.

After lunch, I had to call Arvest to try and figure out why my mileage check was returned and I was charged an $8 chargeback on my account. The kid I talked to left me on hold for a really long time and then came back completely unable to help. Then I had a quick conference call with Nanoleaf to review something new before running to Oakland to finish up a couple more work orders.

On the way back to the shop, I decided to stop at the physical bank so I could talk to someone face-to-face. He found, as I sort of suspected, that the mobile check deposit had truncated a part of the check numbers, so the system couldn’t complete the transfer. Upon calling someone, they advised him not to negotiate the check because I would need a new one from the school. I argued that, since the first one was only a picture that technically had different numbers on it, then the original check I had given to him was technically a different check and should still be valid. He basically winked and slid the check back to me, and I went on to fight that another day.

When I made it back to the shop after school, I chatted with Tammy a bit until it was time to fill out time sheets and go home. I tried on some more clothes I got in and put together a new hamper, building up an intense headache along the way. That continued to radiate through my entire skull and neck all evening even as I made my way up to Summer’s. I laid in bed with her for a bit, and then got cleaned up for bed so I could crash.

Pain, pain, go away!

Cool, Sweat!

It almost felt cool outside this morning after so much heat. I took the Grom to work, and we almost immediately went outside to move a truck bed full of Chromebooks to fifth grade. Once we got into that, I couldn’t stop sweating until we made it back and I sat down inside. I had to import those devices into Destiny for student checkout, and then I just had to sporadically help others with things from the office.

Nobody was responsive about lunch, but Josh and Thomas were in the building, so we tried going to Mulan’s. I beat them there and saw a sign that they’re closed on Wednesdays from now on. We made a split second decision to go to Sam’s instead, and I had some gumbo that was probably a better life choice anyway.

I spent some time in the afternoon at Oakland just to see people filter back in and accomplish what I could. Then I went back to the shop to shut everything down and rode to my parents’ house.

Dad was released from the hospital with a relatively clean bill of health, and he was up and around the house helping Mom with some chores. We ate some leftovers and chatted for a bit, but Mom was mostly asleep on the couch. Things were mostly back to normal after such a surprisingly rough day yesterday.

My sinus nonsense has gotten worse over the course of a week or so, and I really felt it in my head and chest by the end of the day. Something also had my left foot in quite a bit of pain all day. I was just going to stay home for the night, but I needed some cuddles.

Autumn was a little upset that she wouldn’t get to sleep with Summer, but I don’t know why she’d want her that close after this weekend. She’s really playing the baby card again, and I’m not falling for it. Eaddie was in her room the entire night talking to her boyfriend, so I was left to medicate and go to sleep.

Today’s problem is brought to you by the letters D, R, and S, and by librarians that don’t understand alphanumeric order.

Don’t Stress About It

I just barely got around to work this morning, and it was really tempting to take half a day just to sleep in after the long night. It’s been cooler, so I took the R1 to work and made it just in time. Everyone was off doing work orders, so I packed up some things I needed and headed to Oakland to close out what work orders I could.

Just as I was getting to head back to the shop, Julie called and said Dad was at the hospital because he needed CPR after his stress test. Evidently they gave him a shot instead of making him walk on the treadmill, and something didn’t agree with him in a big way.

I ran across town to see him, and though he was awake, he was in pretty rough shape. Julie was still on the way from work, so I stayed there for about an hour as he dry heaved and even looked like he had a seizure after his heart rate dropped during a heaving spell. They didn’t want to let anyone else in, but Julie convinced them to let us swap out. I went back to work just as he was trying to fall asleep, and his heart rate was still falling below 50bpm pretty regularly.

I spent the afternoon at the shop, partially helping Zach move his office into my old office. When it was time to leave, I went home to change and retrieved a package that Bác Vân signed for. Julie came by and got Dad’s phone from me since I forgot it in my pocket when I left.

Once the girls were home, I left to return something to Walmart and then headed up to their house for dinner. Summer had picked up a Little Caesar’s pizza for dinner, but I really wanted a burrito. Naturally I had a bit of both and went to bed with some wicked heartburn on top of the sinus congestion I already had. I decided to go ahead and start Modern Family with Summer, but I think Eaddie will be catching up to us as well.

Never tell me the odds.

Single File to the Cioppa!

I couldn’t sleep in much today, and got up to rummage for some leftovers for breakfast. We sat around for a bit before Summer went to the gym and I headed home to try and motivate myself back into cleaning. I got some piles of old paperwork sorted and trashed or filed, and did a few odds and ends here and there. Summer came over after the gym and put in some major work in the back yard. She stacked all of the firewood that was piled up in the back, and even consolidated the larger logs that will have to be split later.

Every time I went outside, my body started to just seep moisture from every surface. I don’t know how Summer does it, and I absolutely hate it. I’m just ready for winter to come along so we can burn some wood now. I couldn’t believe she finished the entire pile of wood, so I treated her to a steak dinner at Colton’s.

Nearing the end of our meal, Cole and Aimee were seated at a table next to us, and I hadn’t seen Cole in several years. We didn’t chat too long though, since they had other family there as well. When we left, we came back to my house for the evening. Summer watched some TV while I just barely poked around, not feeling super smurfy. It really feels like a switch was flipped, and I’m just completely drained all of the time now. Everything hurts, and is more difficult than it should be.

This just won’t do.

New High Score!

I had to get up early this morning for my Catapult Clinic appointment. The first couple doors I tried were blocked, so I had to walk all the way around to the front like some kind of commoner peasant. The checkup went well compared to the last time when they thought I was dying. After the video conference with the nurse, I went back downstairs to make another round of flash drives for Brody’s new laptops. Then I headed up to Summer’s before she had to go to work.

While I was there, I managed to get her gas mower running again. I think I just had to burn off some bad gas at the bottom of the tank by tilting the mower all the way back with the handle on the ground. After running it for a few minutes, it seemed to work itself out and I think the girls will be able to use it again.

Eventually I made it back home where I could poke around the house. I threw away some old packaging that matters less to me now than it did before. I’ll have to do a bunch more of that. Summer came over when she got off work and we ate the leftovers I brought from her house. She watched TV as I continued sporadically picking up around the house until bedtime.

Dubble Bubble

No Butts About It

I slept in a bit today since Summer took the girls to school and went to work for a little bit. When I got home to shower, Bác Vân was out back with the guys she got to cut down one of my trees in the back yard. I loved the placement of three trees for hammocks, but that one looked like it had started to rot a bit at the base, so I figured it was best to take it down before it came down on its own.

Summer dressed down for surgery, and we headed to Saint Mary’s for her procedure. We were there from a little before 10 until around 5:30, and I just played on my iPad the entire time. Her procedure went well, and they didn’t find anything to worry about. The nurse that was taking care of her was Autumn’s friend’s mother, so they had a good laugh once they realized it.

She rolled Summer out in a wheelchair, and then I took her to Rose Drug a couple times because they didn’t fill all of her prescriptions the first time. I’ll still have to go back tomorrow to get one they didn’t have in stock. On the way home, we picked up some Wendy’s for her first solid meal since Saturday. The girls shuffled themselves around with friends for their after school activities, so I laid with Summer for the rest of the evening.

After a while, she wanted some dessert, so I ran to Walmart to find something. I ended up with a turtle ice cream cake that was pretty good. The girls arrived home shortly after I did, and went to their rooms for the night.

Society isn’t woke enough yet to identify them as HERhoids.

The Doge Days are Over

I slept most of my way through Thursday with a pretty steady 103ºF fever, body aches, and fortunately a lesser chill than I had during true COVID and my first Moderna shot. It still hurt to move, or to sit wrong, or to adjust, or to lye in one place for too long. I still couldn’t get up and do anything, or watch TV, or really bother staying awake. By Thursday night I was hungry enough to eat some real food, so Dad brought me some leftover chicken and scalloped potatoes.

I woke up Friday having finally broken my fever and chills, but after trying to continue with my morning routine it was clear that I wouldn’t be much use at work, so I took another sick day. Summer came over after taking Autumn to school and laid with me for a while. It was Melinda’s last day, and I didn’t want to miss sending her off, so I made it out of the house to meet everyone at Morelos for lunch. Ben pulled a quick one on us and paid for everyone. Then I headed up to Summer’s for a while since she was still feeling pretty rough.

It wasn’t long before I had to get Autumn from school. She got her phone back from Summer’s office after a paltry week without it. When we got home, their father was there to pick up Eaddie for the weekend. Autumn had previously volunteered for an event this weekend, but backed out so she could go as well.

Summer and I eventually made it back to my house for the evening, and she watched TV while I shuffled around in the laundry room. I was still working out some aches, but felt good enough to push myself a little more, so I got the dryer vent duct cut and temporarily placed. All we have left to do are a few finishing touches to seal everything into place, and then I’m ready to do laundry again!

Dogecoin has been on a tear, jumping from when I purchased it at around 4.6 cents to just over 49 cents. It felt really surreal to watch it keep climbing over the two days I was stuck in bed sick. Unfortunately I was too optimistic to cash out at its peak, but I still came out plenty ahead. It’s hard not to make snap emotional actions when you can make or lose hundreds of dollars in just a few seconds, but at this point I have enough of a buffer that I can afford to ride it out a little longer.

Wouldn’t mind another run at a dollar, though.