Price Cutter

I had another slow start this morning, but we had a pretty good day at work. Clint had emailed me way early in the morning with a question that he didn’t even realize would be about databases. I hopped on a call with him and we discussed that for a little bit. Then I continued trying to clean up some policies between other little tasks I needed to complete.

Summer had an MRI in Little Rock and wouldn’t make it back for lunch, so I went to Ortega’s by myself. It was another strange day of absolutely no service, but at least I only got charged like half of what I normally pay for that meal.

The afternoon dragged slightly, but it wasn’t too bad. We got home without much fuss, just after Summer, and I went inside to unbox a whole bunch of Vine stuff. She laid on the couch all evening, and we never saw Eaddie. She eventually got up and ate some leftovers. I did some cleaning and ate a little myself, then took Muad’Dib for a short run to my parents’ house.

I finally sat down to review the old and new repair estimates for my car, and it looked like they cut my labor hours nearly in half. I assume the first guy was giving me walk-in rates while the second girl was giving me insurance rates.

Cut it again!

Quiet Focus

I felt like I slept okay even though my mind was reeling all night. I woke up around four and laid awake for most of the next couple hours, then got up and out for work. I forgot the power went out briefly yesterday, which messed up my clock. I was a little later than usual, but still there well before eight.

I had a pretty good, focused day after a bit of frustrating back and forth where our Aptean support just plain didn’t seem to be reading our messages. We still never got a real answer for anything by the end of the day. I had to fight with the laptop I had for Gary, since he decided he wasn’t going to be able to make it in person. I was planning to use him to test some of my recent policy updates as a part of updating for best practices, but instead I got to test something completely different.

The day went by really quickly, but I wanted to get something good for Muad’Dib for lunch since it was his birthday. We shared some chili cheese fries, chicken bites, and even a bit of my burger before heading back. It didn’t feel horribly hot, but it never felt like it got any cooler.

The rest of the afternoon flew by as well, and I didn’t even realize when it was time to leave. We walked out a little later than usual, so I just let the car do its thing most of the way home. Summer had a roast in the slow cooker all day, and Eaddie was having her birthday dinner with Eli’s family instead, so the two of us sat down to eat.

Afterward, I ran Muad’Dib to my parents’ house to help Dad pick up sticks in the front yard before they come over to mow. We didn’t stay long because it was warm, so we headed home and I gave Muad’Dib a much overdue bath. Eaddie had Eli and Mari over for a little while after Summer went to bed, so I tried to get things cleaned up quickly.

I finally got a copy of my new repair estimates for my car, and even found my original copies for the warranty work, but I know I had a check from the insurance company, and I can’t find it or any evidence that I deposited it.

Cheque please!

Supermeh

Summer had a race first thing this morning, so I went with her to the junior high for that. Muad’Dib and I rode around with the Onewheel, making laps around the building while we waited, and then he got some attention from others as we milled around waiting for results. There was another guy there with a small heeler that wanted to run and play so badly, but he didn’t want to let her off the leash, which was probably a good thing.

Summer got her second place medal just as it started to get really gross and humid, and we headed home for a snack and to clean up before our trip to Fayetteville. Eaddie was in bed until we left, and stayed home with Muad’Dib. We made it to Alma for a charge and pit stop, then continued straight to the Arkadia Retrocade.

We talked to Shea briefly after paying him twice the admission fee, just to show support for the work he’s done, and to share our excitement about the place. I think I actually enjoy it more as a walkthrough museum experience than someplace I enjoy going to sit down and play. I’m always a little disappointed in the condition of some of the machines, which I know are hard to service, but the place was also crawling with mostly unsupervised kids. It’s still a blast, and I would recommend it for anyone. It really seems like a passion project, and I love that he’s been successful with it.

After about an hour there, we decided we were hungry enough to eat a little bit, so we drove toward the Malco. I would have preferred to go somewhere uniquely NWA, but we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings and sat at the bar for a couple drinks and some buffalo chicken dip. Then we headed to the surprisingly empty, but well-maintained theater for our IMAX experience.

Right off the bat, the audio was just too loud. It distorted dialog especially, and made a few scenes completely unintelligible. I enjoy Jason Momoa, but Lobo’s existence added nothing to the film. All of the characters were short-lived and mostly forgettable, and all of the action was depicted too close up and cloudy/dusty/blurry to be entertaining. The animation and physics felt fake, which could have been forgiven for the sake of a better story, but it just wasn’t good. There were certainly emotional bits, but overall we were super disappointed.

After the show, I found a place called House of Taste, which seemed fairly authentic Korean. At least the old lady running the place felt somehow relatable. The food was good, but seemed unnecessarily expensive. There were several signs about a long wait, but we were only bookended by two other tables during our visit. The food was served impressively hot in near-molten bowls that retained the heat well. My soup was scaldingly hot to nearly the last bite.

The drive home was much more relaxed, with a stop in Ozark to charge again. I hate that the trip is long enough to really require charging twice, since there’s not a Supercharger right in Fayetteville. We’d have to drive further north for that, so we just charge twice inbetween instead.

Eaddie had just finished mowing our lawn when we got home. I took Muad’Dib for a run to my parents’ house, but then waited by the pool for them to get home from Kroger. I helped unload groceries, then headed back home to find Eaddie practicing loudly in the bathroom while Summer was passed out in bed two doors down. I wrapped up quickly and joined her.

Who expected Seth Rogen to be the best part???

Runabout Rock

I had my wellness appointment this morning, and I really wanted to push the anxiety issue I’ve been having. I spent way more time talking to Irene, the nurse, than Crystal, who just came in for a couple minutes and basically asked how I was from across the room. She said she could refer me to a neurologist and run some extra labs, so I gave a little bit more blood and then left.

Summer, Muad’Dib, and I loaded up and headed to Little Rock after that. We went straight to Southern Tail for some lunch since we could take Muad’Dib out on the patio. They were pretty quiet and it was pretty hot outside, but they had sunshades up, and we got to sit on an outdoor couch to eat.

From there, we went up to my old office to see if we could catch Randy or any of the other guys. Anita had been moved to Transportation, and everyone I wanted to see was at HSTI, but I went back and saw Charles, Jimmy, and Gary all sitting on their computers scrolling social media.

We got to Gwatney Collision about half an hour early, but I filled out my paperwork and they got out pretty quickly to take pictures. I didn’t hear about my estimate again, but hopefully I’ll get an email soon. We left and went by the new Tesla service center to see what it was like. The showroom was surprisingly barren, but I talked to a guy named Vaughn(?) for a while before going back to the service department where I met Phillip.

I went back up front and got Vaughn to sign me up for a test drive of a Cybertruck. He had to take me first, but then he dropped me off and I took Summer for a spin. She was surprised at how well it drove and handled, so I guess that was a win.

We stopped once more for Muad’Dib and then headed to Conway for a charge. Summer said “ice cream” while I was thinking it, so we stopped at Kassi’s Cookies for a couple scoops and then made it home. Dad need to go to Walgreens, so I dropped Summer off and then picked him up. We got his prescriptions, then went to the Neighborhood Market to get my own before dropping him back off.

I did some cleanup back home when I got a call with lab results. They said I was a little low on iron, but not as bad as last year. I was also low on vitamin D3, so I’m adding both of those to my regimen. Then I took Muad’Dib for an evening run when it actually felt really nice out. We stopped to see my parents and I had some mango soup, and then we ran home in the twilight and raced to bed.

I asked you what I owed, so don’t send me a bill later!

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!

Side Quests

Summer had to work this morning, so I slept in a while, then got up for some leftover corned beef for brunch. Eaddie left for school and I got cleaned up for a trip to Conway with Summer to pick up some stuff for work. I had gotten tickets to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie so it wouldn’t be a whole trip just for work. I really wanted to see Project Hail Mary, but the release of Mario knocked it out of every single larger theater.

I lost track of time and we got out the door way later than I planned, but we made it just in time to walk straight back and sit down at the end of the trailers. A family with at least one kid was sat right next to our seats in an otherwise mostly empty auditorium, but I sat down and shared an armrest on principle because I had reserved our seats ahead. It wasn’t completely unbearable.

I thought the movie was fun, but the 3D didn’t really do much for it, which was a surprise. After that, we went to Splash to pick up Summer’s stuff. I asked for the key to the manual wash and was able to give the Model 3 one of the best washes it has ever had. I had forgotten how vibrant the paint was.

By the time I finished, we were both super hungry, so we made our way downtown and ended up at the Rogue Roundabout. Summer didn’t have her ID for some reason, so our server said she would have to call over the manager. I didn’t recognize him, but he learned where we were from and said he was born and raised there, having graduated high school a year after me. I asked his name and learned he was the same Chris I had driven to the emergency room after stepping on broken glass at Cole’s bachelor party camp trip some fifteen years ago. I still had photos, and even had his number saved in my phone.

After that, we had several drinks before our food came out an hour and a half later. Everything tasted great – it was just incredibly, frustratingly slow. We caught Chris outside as we left, and I shared a couple pictures. Then we started toward home. Summer had previously said no to Long John Silver’s when we were thinking of where to eat, which put the bug in my brain that I should pick some up for later.

We went through the drive-through where I ordered a family mean, and was subsequently parked to wait for our food. I ended up going inside and had a great conversation with another customer that came in after me. We chatted intermittently with the guy who took my order, since he was busy running around behind the counter. He gave both of us free drinks for waiting so long, and then I remembered their delicious strawberry lemonade. The restaurant always looks super dated and worn down, but has never been what I would consider dirty. The staff has always been super friendly, and the food has always been fresh. I wish them success, because I miss the one in town.

I eventually got my food and we headed home, snacking on clam strips as it started to pour down rain. We made it home where Muad’Dib had apparently been left alone for several hours. He ran up to me like he thought I had gone forever. I had asked Eaddie about being home, but I guess I wasn’t specific enough because she had been gone to Tech for several hours before we made it back. Everything was intact though, so maybe he’ll be okay to be left alone a little more frequently.

First goes the body, then goes the bones. Then all that’s left is dust.

Together We Can Take the Long Way Home

Eaddie beat us all up and into the shower this morning, which was great. We all managed to get ready and left right at checkout time. The kids actually left a little before us so they could get lunch downtown. I thought my parents had already left, so we headed toward Rogers for lunch, but then discovered they were still back at the hotel. Summer and I got to the Supercharger and walked around with Muad’Dib for 20 minutes or so, then put him back in the car and walked to Việt Buffet.

My parents arrived with perfect timing just shortly after we walked up, and we had a great lunch. I’m worried they won’t last long because of how many people were on staff and how empty the restaurant was, but all of the food was great. It’s a long drive even for a day trip, and there’s not much else up there to do that we can’t find closer.

Mom and Dad left a little before us, and then we still had to walk back to the car, but we got home just behind them. I took Muad’Dib on a run since we hadn’t been through the neighborhood in a couple months, and I could tell he was tired from an adventurous weekend. We visited my parents briefly, then made it home to unpack and clean up.

Eaddie had a sorority thing in the evening, so took a moment to decompress, and then I had to load up my loudspeakers to take to work for the upcoming picnic. I’m excited to actually get to use them properly, especially with all the new accessories I’ve been picking up.

Summer passed out early, and even Eaddie got home and went to bed before I finally got there. It was a fun and exhausting weekend, but man, what a year.

Better than watching Geller bending silver spoons

Cavalcade of Home Movies

Summer worked this morning, so I slept in a little while before having a quick breakfast. Summer made it home and cleaned up, and then I gave Muad’Dib a bath. Eli came over, and eventually left with Eaddie for Eureka Springs ahead of us. Summer and I finally got things packed up and left, stopping in Ozark for some food and a Supercharge.

We got to the Inn of the Ozarks with enough time to check in and decompress a bit before dinner. I needed to charge, so we dropped my car off at the trolley stop and had Eli pick us up to meet my parents, Uncle Rick, and Ginny at La Familia for dinner. Muad’Dib had to sit on the porch and wait for us, but he did great.

After dinner, we got back just in time for the evening tribute show. There were more people in the audience than I had ever seen, which was a shame because the tribute show was less magic and more of a talk-show style tribute with a surprising amount of home movies on a projector. It seemed like half the audience left halfway through that.

I rode around the parking lot with Muad’Dib before finally making it back to the room for the evening. The first couple Harry Potter movies played before everyone started to pass out.

It’s knot juggling.

PackItShipItCleanItUseIt

I really had one main goal at work today, and I got that done. An insurance adjuster also came out to look at my car. Just before lunch, I had a really ignorant support call, and then I met Summer at Chopsticks. The afternoon went by relatively quickly after that, and we got home to get ready for our trip.

Summer got home shortly after we did, and we cleaned out her car. Then I gave Muad’Dib a really good bath, cleaned up a little more, and ended up running him to my parents’ house to see Dad kind of late. I could tell Muad’Dib really needed the run, because he took off in front of me and nearly made it to the end of the street by the time I got out of the driveway.

We never actually packed up, so it’ll be an early morning of that before we go.

FlipItReverseIt

Weightlessness, No Gravity

I thought I had a call this morning, and sat waiting for far too long before I realized it was actually Monday. Matt came in to install the data loggers, so that project is at least started with minimal actual effort. I spent the rest of the day playing around with IDRAC and deciding whether to just nuke the Dell server they bought late last year.

We went to Casey’s for a slush before making it to Taco Bell for some lunch. Rather than fight the dog who follows, I left Muad’Dib in the car, picked up our food, and left it at the picnic table outside before letting him out. As soon as I did, he ran to the table and laid down next to it like the best boy. We had a good time in the cooler weather.

We had pineapple upside-down cake for Rhonda’s birthday as soon as we got back, and then I texted Brandon for a little more insight into the server issue. That gave me the confidence to go all-in on wiping it to start fresh. I backed up what I could, and got through updating a bunch of firmware before leaving for the day.

We got another slush and made it to the house where Summer was working on some sort of cold chicken salad she had made before. I ended up eating a leftover Crunchwrap since the kids weren’t there anyway. She went to clean up and immediately made it to bed, so I took Muad’Dib out for a good run.

Summer noticed we had caught another rat, so after the run, I took it to Washburn park for release. It was small and cute and afraid, so much so that it didn’t immediately jump away when I opened the trap. Its lilttle head was down in the corner and didn’t realize it was free, so I had to shake it out.

After that, I went by both Casey’s in search of more slushies, but they both had their machines turned off. I had the car take the long way home while I relaxed to some music and enjoyed the view.

A bird’s-eye view of San Luis