Better Take Me First

I think we all slept fairly well last night. I got up and made some breakfast sandwiches for Summer and myself before she wanted to leave for the gym. Eaddie was in bed all day, so I never saw her. Not long after Summer had left for the gym, she called to say they were closed due to a power outage. Instead, she headed to the old house to mow, so I took Muad’Dib over there with the trimmer to get the rest of it cleaned up.

After that short trip, we went to the car wash to wash both of our cars. She went for a Sonic drink before meeting me back at the house, and after a little while we headed over to my parents’ house to swim. Mom was going to have spring rolls, but of course those plans were vague at best.

We ended up staying until it was time to get dinner ready. I sliced a bunch of meat while they went to the store for some more veggies, and eventually Julie and Kevin showed up with the baby. Eaddie and Eli showed up after they did some trimming in our lawn. It was kind of a hot mess with the baby wandering around haphazardly and not having much room on the table for all of the food. We set up a secondary table, but it ended up just being Eaddie and Eli out there.

I helped clean up a bit after everyone was gone, and then I left pretty upset at Kevin’s earlier comments about Muad’Dib. The baby kept going after him, and Muad’Dib was playing nicely, but he and Julie wanted to make a statement about how the baby’s otherwise neglectful family would react if Muad’Dib got aggressive, and I’m not willing to take any chances.

Summer and I went home while Eaddie went to Eli’s. Summer made it to bed quickly, and I wound down a little early myself.

It’s okay. Let’s go home.

Under the Wire

I had a bit of a rough morning, but we managed to get to work a little early for our staff meeting first thing. That took up a good portion of the morning, so the rest of the day kind of flew by. I had enough coffee in me to propel me through my normal lunch hour, but we went to Taco Bell a little later and Muad’Dib was so well behaved. For some reason he’s always much better there than at Sonic. That may be due to the number of carhops walking by constantly.

The rest of the afternoon flew by as I tried to fix a couple quirks, not really getting deep into any projects. Traffic was dumb when we first hit the Interstate, but we got ahead of the mess pretty quickly and made it home. Summer was already there after starting work super early. She was having a bath, so I got back to reviewing, trying to get over 90% before the end of the day.

A little later, Dad said they had spaghetti. Summer wasn’t hungry, so Muad’Dib and I rode over there to eat, and then headed home just before dark. He wasn’t running very much and wanted to skip several blocks. I didn’t argue since I still had more reviews to do, but I finally hit 91% before bed.

★★★★☆

Long Day Under Water

I woke up last night with an intense pain in my right foot, which I’m guessing was from the weight of the covers, as light as they were. My feet have been hurting from the Onewheel, and I guess it was just sensitive to the pressure while I was asleep on my back for a while. We managed to get out with another burrito, but this time it was actually a little juicy somehow. It dripped through my fingers and I got a drop on my shirt, but it wasn’t too bad. We made it in for another day on the struggle bus, but I did get assessment mode working on a test machine.

We went to Sonic for lunch, but I didn’t feel great. It was super windy and hot, and I was already tired. It had been kind of a long morning, but the afternoon dragged on even worse. It felt like I was there for three days. Near the end of it, Joel came in to ask me to think about a way to automate some manual data entry stuff that they’re doing, so I went downstairs to talk to Rhonda about it. The whole process was awful, and worse, I had no idea where to start to make it better. I’ve just got to get up and spend some time downstairs with these people to see what they’re doing.

We got home a little late, but Summer had chicken ready for me to throw on the grill, so I got that started. We had a quick barbecue chicken dinner with some potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and then did a quick cleanup. Afterward, I drained the basement and took Muad’Dib on a short, modified run. We briefly stopped to see my parents, but tried to get back home early.

Eaddie was gone helping Autumn move all evening, but had to come by for a bunch of boxes. She was upset that after all of the behavior issues and nonsense everyone has had to deal with, Autumn continues to just get whatever she wants all of the time. She’s got a nice house that everyone keeps filling with things she wants instead of making her tough it out with some cheaper starter stuff. She said she wasn’t going to have nearly as much stuff when she finally moved out, and I told her she would, because she would also have the respect of everyone around her for doing it on her own.

I cleaned up a bunch more, and finally ran to bed, fretful that it would only be Thursday.

Come on, brain. Do the thing!

Reviews R Us

We managed to get out a couple minutes early today, so it would have been a good day to pick up breakfast, but I brought a frozen grilled cheese and banana instead. Eventually I’ll run out of sandwiches, but until then, I’m still living off of Two Rivers.

I had a couple phone calls, but nothing too pressing. I just kept tinkering with my new test VMs and Intune, with a Wendy’s break in the middle.

Summer was home a little before us, and she and Eaddie had gone through a bunch of stuff Eaddie “shopped” from Autumn’s hoard before she moves into some place she’s paying her father to rent for her(???). Summer and I ate our leftover Pasta Grill, and then we sat down to do a ton of reviews on the clothes and things I’ve gotten her on Vine.

As it started to get a little darker, I took Muad’Dib on a run. I ran the hose out from the basement but completely forgot to turn on the sump, so after we visited my parents and made it back home, I had to kick it off. I did at least figure out the garage door remote situation, so that was a win. I stayed up a little late cleaning up and finishing the basement, and then it was off to bed.

Make something up if you have to.

Child Labor

I had the hardest time falling asleep last night, and felt like I had been run over by a truck when I had to get up. We managed to make it to work, and Janice had left me a slice of banana bread, which helped. It was a really long day to myself after that.

The sun was out in full force for lunch. We went to Sonic because they had a couple deals that would stack for a lot of food. The sun was so bright, I would swear I got a sunburn just walking from the car back into the office. The afternoon was long as well, but we finally got to head home.

Eaddie had Eli and Ceci over at my parents’ house to uncover the pool and wash the cover, and they were all done by the time Summer and I made it over there. They left to shower while I started frying eggrolls, and then they came back to eat along with Julie and Kevin.

It was a big crowd for dinner, but it was staggered, and we worked around the space we had. Everyone filtered out and Summer drove home to deal with the newly diagnosed arthritis in her knee. I took Muad’Dib on the remainder of his run, and tried to hurry him along to avoid the incoming storm. We got a little wet, but it wasn’t too bad.

The kids came back over and watched a scary movie all night. Summer hadn’t been charging, so I had to stay up to juggle the cars around. She may just have to supercharge tomorrow morning, because like everything else in this house, the car charger doesn’t work quite right.

More noggin!

Fixalotl

We got out slightly early this morning, but so did everyone else. I started the day downstairs with Elizabeth to try and fix her printing issue, and still couldn’t get her computer enrolled in Intune. Then Rhonda had some oddities. I finally made it upstairs and experimented with some Aptean print settings myself, and learned a new trick in Traverse.

Lunch time showed up and I went to pick up some fries from McDonald’s, and it took them eight minutes from the time it said my order was ready to the time they handed me a bag of food. I took those to Subway and picked up a sandwich, then ate in my office while I continued to work.

The afternoon was frustrating, but dull until quitting time. We made it home through some more rain, and then Summer showed up with groceries to cook dinner. She made some kind of creamy pasta with chicken and spinach, and it was super good.

After dinner, it was a pretty quick night of cleanup. It looked like my last catfish may have died, which was super upsetting after more than twelve years. I just never made rebuilding the tanks a priority with everything else that needed to be done. Then I did some bill paying, data entry, and went to bed.

Hah. Gas.

Sad Grad

Summer got up early for Run Like Yell in Dardanelle. I originally said I would go, but she insisted that I didn’t have to, and I didn’t sleep great. Of course I couldn’t really sleep after she left, so I got up and made myself a croissant sandwich. I burned the bread and set off the alarms, and then Eaddie got up and left to play at graduation. After that, I repotted a plant and watered the rest. Summer showered, then I followed suit before we left to meet the girls at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Muad’Dib did reasonably well there, and we stuffed ourselves with junk food again. Autumn fussed about not being able to eat much, and then about her relationship, so the conversation started going in circles a bit. I tried not to be too involved, but it really served as a reminder of the past drama we always had to endure. Eaddie showed up late after rehearsal, ate a bit, and then I think she left with Autumn while Summer and I took Muad’Dib to stay with my parents.

It didn’t take Muad’Dib long to break out of the back yard, and then Summer kept calling at him to go back, which of course drew him to jump on my car. I yelled about it, so she got quite for a while. We made it to graduation nearly an hour early and found seats in the second row. It wasn’t terribly long after everything finally started that I got an alert that Muad’Dib had left his safe zone.

I panicked and got up to call Dad, who didn’t answer. Mom answered, but didn’t have a clue where he was. I couldn’t tell if Dad had taken him out for a walk or if he had left to look for him. I also couldn’t send a screenshot of the GPS location because my phone got hot and started acting jittery. I got most of the way back to the car when the location finally updated to show Muad’Dib back near my parents’ house, but Dad still wasn’t answering. I waited a while and eventually felt good enough to go back inside.

We watched Autumn walk, and Summer kept yelling at other people she recognized. I kept feeling like she needed to go back to education if she wanted to feel happy about that kind of stuff again, but we’ve also gotten used to bigger paychecks.

They finally wrapped things up and we met the girls outside in the sun. I got pretty warm and was annoyed that we kept having to wander around looking for kids that were doing their own family things, and hadn’t asked to meet anywhere in particular. We got some pictures, but Summer wanted specific group shots. I ended up sitting in the car for some of that. When the girls all finally caught up with one another, she called me to drive over to them. Then Autumn started fussing about Adam some more. I said my peace and then wandered off to chase my car, which was driving around on “Smart” Summon in an annoying pattern without crossing parking lines.

I finally got Summer into the car, and the kids allegedly left to go meet up with Noah. I dropped Summer off at home so she could rest before going to a team meeting at work, and then took the Onewheel to retrieve Muad’Dib. We sat inside for a little while, then Mom came out to look at her plants. We helped a very little bit before riding back home. Summer called just as we got there because Autumn wanted to tell me I helped motivate her to break up with Adam. I just told her to keep pushing herself to be better and do the right thing.

Summer eventually made it home and we watched a YouTube video about digging for supercritical geothermal. Then she went to bed and I followed for just a little bit before going off to do my own thing. I was up later than I wanted to be, and had an anxiety attack at one point while playing on my phone. Eaddie eventually made it home near midnight, and then I went to bed as well.

Late night drops!

The Dilemma

Feyd-Rautha laid on the porch by the back door all night long, and I could not have felt worse about the possibility of him going back to those people. He had finally started wagging his tail when he saw us come out, though he still hadn’t eaten anything but a couple treats. Summer left for Little Rock and I headed to work with the plan to deal with him later, though I texted Eaddie later and asked her to play with him some when she came back home from class.

I stayed pretty busy, but took time to email Animal Control again. They said they would send someone to do another welfare check, so I called to clarify that I still had the dog in custody. Tammie didn’t seem too concerned with what I had to say or what I wanted to do, so we just agreed to bring him in ourselves in the evening. I guess I wasn’t surprised, because it just comes with the job for them.

I met Summer for lunch at Ortega’s, and I was a little frustrated by the lack of service. They brought us a brand new bottle of salsa and then no chips, and didn’t get all of my order right. At least the food was good, but I could have gone for some more.

The afternoon was short just due to how late we ate, and then I asked to leave early so I could help Summer take Feyd to Animal Control. I raced home through slow traffic, and we wouldn’t have even made it on time if they hadn’t been waiting for Dreya to show up with another found dog. She talked to Summer briefly, and I took Feyd-Rautha into the loud, smelly, anxiety-inducing prison for the night. Tammie was of course unaffected, but did say the guy called looking for him. She did me the favor of not telling him that I had him, but said she would at least make him fill out the return paperwork tomorrow.

Summer and I headed back to the house and I started grilling steaks while she baked potatoes. I wanted to use charcoal this time, and it turned out pretty good. I even managed to use a small amount of charcoal without having a ton left over. At some point, we made it to the bedroom where I dug around and found my S21 Ultra, so I’ll be able to use it for the company picnic. We ate, and then I took Muad’Dib for a late run to see my parents. It was dark by the time we made it back, and we rushed to bed.

Oh, yes. I remember Gammu when it was Giedi Prime – the oil-soaked, blood-soaked hell hole of the Imperium!

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!

PEAS AND CHOPS

I had my last pork chop sandwich on the way in this morning, but also brought a whole bag of sugar snap peas to eat before they went bad. I actually managed to munch through about two thirds or maybe even three quarters of the bag by the end of the day. They were good, and they felt really guilt-free.

I managed to stay relatively focused on Intune stuff in the morning before we went to Wendy’s for a free Baconator with points. I had some chips when we got back to the office, and the afternoon brought some other projects.

Summer got home early and planned to cook the other bag of peas and a whole head of cabbage to eat with the remaining pork chops. That only took a few minutes while I cleaned up, and then we ate.

Flies are coming back around, and I was able to catch four of them to feed to the spider. He ate one right away, but the others were buzzing in his cage all night. I took Muad’Dib for a pretty slow run to see my parents, but then cut him short on the way back because he just wasn’t moving fast enough.

Summer was long in bed by the time we got back. I found that one of my baby catfish had died, but I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise since the tank has been so neglected. After that, I finished the evening working on a bunch of reviews until I couldn’t stay up any longer.

The warden threw a party in the county jail!