Tag: home

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Silly Dog. Fence Is for Rabbits!

I awoke to another call about our escaped dogs. They happened to be in the same neighborhood, so I got over to them and they ran up to the car. They didn’t even hesitate to jump into the Murano for the ride home, and now I’m thinking they just like riding around in a car. I took them for a walk around the block, but Muad’Dib couldn’t get enough. I was still exhausted though, so I went in and tried going back to sleep for a bit, but never had a good time with it. Summer got up and made eggs and corned beef hash for breakfast. Eaddie slept in, and I was more than a little jealous.

I tried calling the vet and a couple other places to see if anyone could take both dogs for the duration of our vacation, but the closest thing I could find was our own vet, who could only take one dog. I knew then that I would have to fix the fence issue for real, so I picked up Dad and we went to Harbor Freight for some bold cutters and Lowe’s for some welded wire fencing. They had a few different options, but we went with the fencing for rabbits on account of how much cheaper it was, and I figured it would do the job well enough. It was a little easier to bend than the other stuff, but I think with enough staples it should hold.

After we left Lowe’s, I dropped Dad off so he could take care of some stuff, and I went home to get some containers to bring home some rice for lunch. Then I picked Dad back up and we got the wire fence installed. There were still a couple places that could have used some work, but I think overall we have a pretty good chance of thwarting their next escape plan.

I let Dad take the Murano home and I rode over on the Onewheel to swim. Without any recovery time, my whole body has been aching, and I hate the thought that I’ll struggle at Disney now because of it. I’ve got exactly no time left to recoup.

When I got back home, Eaddie and I tried to clean house and she packed her bags. I had to go back across town to pick up a shirt for Summer and fix the fish feeder, but I forgot to return our unused bolt cutter. I also forgot that we had technically tried to use it to cut a twisted wire that was holding the fence roll together, and noticed a small mark on the tip of the cutters that made it pretty obvious that something had actually been cut.

As soon as I got back to the house and got out of the car, my phone slid out of my lap and onto the driveway where the back glass shattered. Most of the glass was contained, but I was mad all the same. I suppose this is what the insurance is for, but I hated that it happened at such an inconvenient time.

Eaddie and I eventually took the dogs out for another walk while we waited for Summer to come home from work. Then I took a shower and Eaddie brought Noah over to housesit. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens tonight.

haustion

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Raining Sunshine

The dogs chewed their way out again through a new hole, and I only finally saw Stilgar as I was leaving for work. He was up the hill in the neighbor’s backyard, chomping on a dead frog. Luckily he followed the car back to the house, and I put him in the fence again. Dad sent a screenshot of the Nextdoor app where someone had posted some pictures of both of our dogs with a third, which I’ve seen around the neighborhood multiple times. Eaddie and I did some sleuthing and found the house in the background on Google Maps, and she drove around to try and find Muad’dib while I was at work. She never did see him, but Summer came home in the afternoon and found him with the neighbor. I guess he just found his own way back, and she kept him for a playdate until later in the evening.

I did a bit of research into home solar since I had a meeting with Sean from Nivo Solar later in the evening. He didn’t seem super enthusiastic last time, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew we didn’t have prime property for panels, but it’s something I’ve always wanted, and some of the incentives appear to be going away soon.

It was a long day, but I eventually got back to the old house to feed the fish, and then went to Optimum to drop off their modem. I didn’t think to ask for a receipt the first time, so I went back and got one from someone else. The girl that took the modem earlier asked about cellular, but didn’t put up much of a fight. When I got back for the receipt, I made a comment to the guy about how they were always nice there, but I couldn’t bear to do business with Optimum the company any longer. I’ve never seen an employee completely turn on their company so quickly before, and it seems toxic the entire way through.

With that done, I finally made it home to find both dogs. It started sprinkling, without a single cloud above me, and the sun shining bright. Summer got home much earlier than I expected, and then I had my solar meeting to discuss some options ranging from about $14k to $30k. Those numbers matched mine pretty closely, so they seemed okay to me. I also asked about putting solar on the shed out back, which would be possible, but also covered by trees. I’d like to get some additional quotes, but so far they seemed pretty straightforward.

I spent a little more time with the dogs, but the evening flew by and before I knew it, I was late to bed. I reviewed the pet grooming kit I got from Amazon and got an invite to their Vine program, so I’ll have to look into that more tomorrow.

TAXABLE INCOME

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What’s the Deal with Negotiations?

Eaddie left for band camp and said the dogs were out again. I was ready to walk out, and Muad’dib came running back, but Stilgar was nowhere to be found. I had to leave, but Summer eventually found him. Everyone made it back, but I don’t think it took them long to get out again.

McDonald’s has had their bagel deal the past few days, so I had another one for the drive in. I had plenty of time to make some coffee and settle in, but then I saw an email from Harry that he was finally ready to meet with me after I had been trying to pin him down for basically the entire year. I had to update a few numbers before I could see him, but then Kim walked in with the boys and talked to me for a little bit before she had to go turn in some paperwork.

The meeting went more or less how I predicted. He appreciated my Seinfeld references in my agenda, and I held strong with my side of the negotiations. He wanted a signed contract, and I wasn’t willing to sign the contract they offered. He fidgeted as I made my “presentation,” and then we had more of a discussion once I was done. By the end of it all, he thought to suggest a $50,000 salary plus a $10,000 merit-based bonus to get me to sign for one more year. That sounded alright, but I also asked for the autonomy to work from home at my own discretion. He seemed agreeable. Now we’ll just have to wait and see what I’m offered, because he seemed anxious to get something in writing before the first of July.

I missed lunch because my meeting carried on so long. Harry has trouble getting to the brass tacks, and talks in circles quite a bit. Luckily the lunch lady had some pizza and broccoli bagged up, which I assumed she was taking home. Summer was having a rough day, so I talked on the phone with her for a while. Then I wrapped up the day tinkering with the Ubiquiti equipment that Todd had returned. I don’t know how long that rat had that stuff, but they had dirt from his chicken houses all over them. I wasn’t pleased.

I eventually made it back to town and fed the fish before getting home to eat some leftovers and then patch holes in the fence. I screwed some wood into a couple places the dogs had been getting out, and I think we have a fair chance of keeping them inside now. They’re resilient, but hopefully not diggers. If this holds, we’ll have a better chance of starting some real training. Then all we’ll lack is time. While I was out there, I picked up some branches that a couple country bumpkins had cut out of the neighbor’s tree, and Stilgar helped me carry them to the brush pile. At first he was tugging back, but then he actually helped drag them the same direction, and then even went to get one of his own, but only made it about halfway to the pile before giving up.

The tree trimmers stopped to ask if we wanted any limbs removed that were leaning over our house. At $40, I knew they weren’t insured, but they seemed to have been doing an alright job so far. As I watched them work, Nick came home and I formally met the neighbor. Evidently he worked at Two Rivers for a few years before I got there, but had since moved to Lamar. We chatted for quite a while, and then exchanged numbers before going in to find refuge from the mosquitos.

I wrapped up, and Eaddie came to chat with me for a while when she got home. With any luck, we’ll still have two dogs in the back yard in the morning.

Doggy Jail.

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Tank of Least Resistance

I had a massive headache all morning, but Summer saw a post on the Ring app that our dogs were out wandering the neighborhood, so I had to ride around to try and find them. I took several laps around the neighborhood and never caught a glimpse. My feet started hurting really badly, so I came back home and walked to the back yard just to make sure they hadn’t come home. They weren’t back there, but they were in front of the garage when I came back around the house. They must have seen me somewhere and followed me back.

I fried some eggs for French bread sandwiches, and then Summer really wanted to mow. I tried to find how water was getting from the cold to the hot lines, and with Summer’s help, we eventually tracked it down to the master shower mixer. I tried to take a cold shower since we didn’t have a water heater, and it was much colder than I remembered from the other night. I tried a couple times, but just barely managed to get myself wet. Of course Summer had to outdo me and take one herself.

My parents had eggrolls and noodles, so we went over there for a late lunch. When we got back home, I decided that it would probably be best to just stick with a water tank for now. I’ve always wanted to switch to tankless, but the lack of a regulator, need for a larger fuel line for either gas or electric, need for a more substantial vent if we went with gas, and the likelihood of the work being pushed back a week for the actual work to be done convinced me that I just needed to get something done today.

I poked around in the vent to see if I could get it reattached. Dad came over when we couldn’t find where the vent actually left the house, and we found it in the secondary attic. Summer and I went to Lowe’s to try and pick up a replacement water heater, but Dad had to meet us there because there wasn’t a soul in the store that knew a thing about plumbing. We eventually just settled for a couple parts, and headed home.

The girls were able to help me lift the tank high enough that I could wrap straps around it and lift it the rest of the way. It was a super tight fit, but having a 50 gallon tank instead of a 40 gallon tank should let us keep the set temperature a bit lower, or at least keep us from running out so quickly in the winter. Dad came back over to help hook everything up after I got it in place, and I was finally able to take a hot shower before bed.

Sometimes we trade dreams for convenience.

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Seven Trains Later

Both of the dogs were gone this morning, and I found the front gate open. I assumed the neighbor accidentally didn’t close it all the way, so I took the Onewheel around the block and found them not far away, running through the streets. As soon as they saw me, they came running and I just rode home with them right behind. I thought it was a pretty good response, but Muad’dib eventually disappeared again in the afternoon.

I spent the morning cleaning up the creeping vines on the fence, so the gate was much more accessible. Then I trimmed the rose bushes so they weren’t sticking out over the walkway. Our backyard neighbor Josh handed me a bag of homegrown blueberries from their garden and we traded phone numbers. I continued to sweat profusely as the sun got higher, so I came inside for a shower. After the shower, I heard a water leak alarm and found the water heater standing in a pan full of water.

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a jumble. Dad came over to take a look at the tank with me, and we started draining it. I warmed up some leftover roast beef for lunch when Summer got home, and then Dad came back over so we could pull the old tank out. We really wanted to go tankless, but the earliest anyone could come even look at it was Monday. We figured we could deal with cold showers for a few days, but needed to replace the washer in the shutoff valve, so we went to Leonard’s for that. Then Dad had to leave for his old friend Dave’s art show.

Ronda and Steven were cooking at their new food truck, so we wanted to go support their soft-open. We took that food back home to eat, and then tried to catch Dad at the art show. He was already gone, but we wandered around the gallery with wide eyes. I told Summer he was good, but I don’t think she believed me when I told her how good.

After that, we went shopping for a couple things at the house, and we also looked for some better dog collars and leashes. Walmart didn’t have what we were looking for, so we went to T.J.Maxx and found a leash and a squeaky toy. Perhaps we should have waited, because Ross actually had a better selection. Five Below had nothing. It was all garbage.

We ran home and I met up with Dad again to try and pick up a super cheap tank heater that was on clearance at Lowe’s, but they couldn’t find it on the floor. We grabbed a plug for the hot water line instead, and sealed that off so we could at least turn on water to the house without it coming out uncontrollably from the wrong pipes. I tried to track down the faulty mixer that was letting cold water back up through the hot lines, but gave up about halfway through the house.

I was exhausted and sticky by the end of the day, but at least cold showers are on the table again, and I can wash my hands after petting the dogs. Hopefully they’ll stick around for a walk in the morning.

When it rains, it leaks some more.

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Lab for One

There was no way I was getting to work on time in the rain this morning. I forgot my routine for summer hours, only barely remembering that we would work four ten-hour days. I resigned myself to picking up some Burger King so I wouldn’t starve for lunch, and made it in about five or ten minutes late. I was by myself all day. It looked like Denice had been in her office at some point, but otherwise I never actually saw her.

I spent the entire day imaging lab computers and updating network equipment. I got nearly all of Jaime’s lab finished, and got rid of most of the boxes that were stacked in front of my desk. Tim called to say they fixed the Pathfinder, so we can go pick it up tomorrow. Becky came in a couple times to get trash and then invited me to have breakfast with them in the mornings in the life sciences classroom.

It was a ghost town by the time I left, which made me wonder when everyone else left. Being completely solo, and working more hours than Kim, I really don’t have a clue when I’m allowed to duck out a little bit early.

When I got to the old house, Dad was there with a guy down the street cutting branches off of the fallen tree. He wanted to get quotes for insurance, and the tree removal alone would have been slightly more than his deductible, so it didn’t seem to make sense to start removal if nothing was seriously broken. He did uncover the air conditioner though, and without any damage, it started up just fine.

The mini fridge fit in Dad’s trunk perfectly, so we took it to the new house after stopping by his house to get the rice dispenser he had already picked up from Bác Vân’s house for me. We should have left the fridge outside to defrost, but we brought it in and left it in the entryway.

Once Eaddie got home, we went to Dardanelle for dinner and ice cream at Bocadillos. The food wasn’t bad, but the service was. The girl just didn’t seem to want to be there at all. We chatted and stuffed ourselves before heading back to town. I thought we’d swing by the store to find Summer, but she was having a very bad day. She wouldn’t be home until late, so we headed home to find water all over the entryway.

I crawled around and cleaned up the water, and set the fridge up in the dining area. I think it’d probably be better in the living room, but I’d want to put something under it to keep it from leaking onto the carpet. Summer eventually made it home and I put her to bed quickly before heading to sleep myself. We were both completely burned out from the day, and needed much rest.

Government wouldn’t do something like that…

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If a Tree Falls in the Hood

Today was the last day of school, and things were quiet everywhere. Traffic wasn’t bad, and people weren’t pouring into my office constantly, so I had a little time to get settled in and put some Chromebooks and chargers away. I ended up scanning all of the returns into a sheet so I could know exactly where each device was on the shelf.

They brought us Taco Villa for lunch, and then sent everyone home afterward. Kim ate with everyone in the cafeteria, and I would have too if I had realized it soon enough. I already had everything open in the office though, so I just ate and continued working. I stayed a little bit late just to wrap things up, and then headed home.

Just as I was getting close to Dardanelle, my old neighbor David called me. I could swear he said a big branch had fallen between my house and Bác Vân’s, so I headed over to check it out. When I got there, I was greeted not by a branch, but by an uprooted pine tree from the front yard. By some miracle, it managed to fall perfectly between the houses and only appeared to cause a little bit of damage to the very edge of my roof. It missed the other house entirely.

I headed home to change, and then picked Dad up so we could go check it out. He took a bunch of pictures that we took to the insurance office, and it seemed like it would be the better option for us to just take care of the tree ourselves and then just pay a roofer or carpenter to fix the house. As long as there’s no hidden damage under the tree, we didn’t figure it would be that bad. The trunk of the tree would be a lot of work, but the upper branches seemed small and manageable for two people.

I dropped Dad off and went back home until Eaddie showed up after school. Summer was supposed to work really late, but came home because she didn’t feel well. FedEx delivered a replacement thermostat and Eaddie was super hungry, so I took her for a ride across town to swap out the baseplate at the old house and then get some food. Just as we were about to go to Freddy’s, Dad reminded me that they had both ribs and curry, so we got Eaddie a free custard and then headed back across town.

After we ate, I took Eaddie home and then took the Onewheel across town to swap thermostats. It hurt my feet pretty bad since I was out of practice, but at least I didn’t dump the board. I was afraid to test the thermostat until we got the tree off of the unit outside, so I just headed back home. I stopped to get some more pictures of the shipping container in the woods, then at Casey’s for a drink, and circled around Ridgewood and the bike path where I saw the first lightning bugs of the season.

The girls were in bed by the time I got home, so I cleaned up a bit and then tried to get to bed early myself. Kim is out for the summer, so unless we have a project for her to work on, now is my time to really get things done.

Like threading a pine needle…

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Be Cool

I saw that the cafeteria was having macaroni and cheese as an entree today, so I stopped by Burger King for some croissants instead. I ended up getting to work a little late after following a bunch of really slow people, but Kenny was the only one fussing about anything right off the bat. He couldn’t access our old camera system, and evidently the server never properly powered back on after our surge last week.

I also called Roy’s early in the morning so we could get someone out to look at the air conditioner. I was surprised at how quickly I got a call back, and Summer was with Eaddie at the dentist, so I had to call Dad. I didn’t specify, so he accidentally went to the old house and I got a call when the tech arrived and nobody was home. Dad and Summer got to the house right about the same time, and luckily the tech found a hidden C wire that he could connect without having to run a whole new wire. Unfortunately it was the Nest thermostat at fault again.

The rest of the day was pretty hectic with teachers constantly coming in for me to sign off on their technology inventory. At least this year I had lists of Chromebooks to send back to them. Several kids were also in and out to borrow or return devices, because nobody seems capable of the responsibility of bringing them to class every day.

After work, I headed to the old house and pulled the thermostat off the wall again to see if it would work with the new C wire at the new house. It reported the same error, so I figured it was the backplate that had actually failed. Summer was doing some work from home, so I went back to the old house to get the newer backplate and swapped the entire system out. That got the system working, so the new house cooled down pretty quickly.

I spent about 45 minutes on chat with Nest support to try and file a warranty claim, but was told repeatedly that a 2-year warranty that started on May 30th had ended on May 4th. Unable to escalate to a live supervisor, I settled for a followup contact. Then I figured the air unit at the old house was completely replaced since I had gotten the new thermostat, so I took a trip back to see if the old thermostat and backplate would work with the new HVAC unit. Unfortunately it really was dead.

I picked up some Taco Villa for dinner on the way back home. Summer and I ate alone since Eaddie was out all night again. It felt much better inside, even at 80 degrees.

I mean, Stealth Grey looks fine.

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Get Your Mind off of the Gutters

I did manage to get out of bed at a reasonable hour this morning so we could go to Stoby’s for a pancake fundraiser. Eaddie left early to go help out, and I finally got up on the roof to clean out the gutters. It could have been worse trying to reach the edge of the roof, but if I just get up there a little more often, I won’t have to shovel out all of the pond sludge. Two sides of the house had to be scooped out, but the rest was dry and only partially full, so I got to use the leaf blower on that.

With the gutters cleaned out, I came in for a cold shower before breakfast. I wasn’t sure if they would have peanut butter, so we stopped at the Neighborhood Market on the way. The kids were mostly just hanging out at the restaurant because of the number of adults that were already there helping. Autumn was present and came over to talk forever. Then all three kids had planned to meet up after they left.

Summer and I went home so I could clean house while she went to the gym. It didn’t take long for the humidity to sap me again, and I kept a headache for most of the day. I did get a bunch of cardboard broken down and into the recycling, but I didn’t get as much other stuff put away as I really wanted.

Later in the afternoon, Eaddie brought Eli and Noah over, and Summer played Mario Party with them in the sunroom. I kept cleaning a bit and then sat down to eat some leftover rice and steak. Summer and I ended the night with some YouTube while the kids left, and then it was off to bed.

It’s like chewing air.

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Print Manager

Kim was out getting roto-rootered today, which left me to fix all of the printer and toner issues in the district. I felt a little bit helpless, because printers are one of the few things she does autonomously, and I never physically touch them. Other than that, I spent all day tinkering with Cognos reports to fix my Savvas rostering. I cut the errors in half, and I’m pretty sure it’s only fussing because I’m uploading classes that don’t belong there.

Denice was out for a bit of the afternoon, but then showed back up a few minutes before quitting time, when I had a scheduled interview with Bitec. I was a little bit concerned that I might have to explain myself to her, but she walked out about five minutes before my call.

The interview was one of the most relaxed I had ever experienced, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m older and less up-tight, or if it really is just a laid back environment for them. They definitely seemed tired for being at the end of the day. Evidently the position is a wholly new position, to take over IT duties full-time from those that just sort of help out day to day. It sounded a lot like what I’m doing now, except the size of the operation is a small fraction of what we do for a school. Possibly more coding, and surprisingly less management of people.

Otherwise the interview didn’t last super long. It seemed to go super well. I headed back to town to feed the fish after work, and got my old thermostat re-installed at the old house. Then I headed home briefly before Onewheeling to my parents’ house for some phở. Dad had come by the new house to babysit while TCW came and installed my fiber internet. They ended up running it all the way to the sun room, so if I ever get my rack going, I’ll be in business.

What is a VLAN, and what does it do?!?