Fired Up and Smoked Out

I could tell pretty early at work today that it was going to be a chill day. We had a long, slow, mostly quiet meeting. When it finally ended, I was left to my own devices until lunch. I actually finished up what I was working on right about time to go, and I lead a group of seven of us to Stoby’s to eat.

After lunch, I got to spend some time at Oakland. I didn’t even think about it being a Friday before Halloween, so all the parties and treats in the building were a fun surprise. I got some stuff done, and then left as they started dismissing. Then Thomas let everyone go just a few minutes early, so I headed straight home to do some last minute cleaning.

Summer took Eaddie to her driving test, so after she passed that, I met them at Harbor Freight so I could buy a hatchet. Then we went to Walmart for the food we needed for the evening. John and Melissa had to go pick Travis up since he had been unresponsive the past few days. When they finally showed up, he was blitzed out of his gourd.

The rest of us had a pretty good time. It was cold and a little bit drizzly at times, but the fire was hot. It smoked quite a bit, which was disappointing, and I think I just needed to clean out the air gaps in the bottom for some better flow.

After we all had our fill of fire-roasted wieners and s’mores, we all came inside and watched 10 Cloverfield Lane. I couldn’t remember a whole lot about Cloverfield, but it didn’t really matter. It didn’t really seem at all related anyway. It was an odd movie, but I enjoyed it alright.

Just as we had gotten started, Travis wanted John to take him home. We continued watching though, and John didn’t miss much. They left when the movie was over. Autumn showed up from her ball game just as I was cleaning up outside. Then everyone went to sleep.

I don’t remember this episode of “Roseanne.”

We’re Duned

I went home to shower this morning, then picked up Zane for our trip to Little Rock. As we pulled in to get the girls, I had him duck down in the back seat to surprise her. I was a little disappointed that she didn’t scream, but her reaction was very typical Eaddie.

We had to stop in Conway first, so I could pick up an order from Kohl’s. Then we continued to Little Rock and went to Tokyo House for lunch. The kids didn’t eat a whole lot, which left me holding everyone else up while I ate. I wasn’t just going to not eat all of the things though.

Next we went to The Promenade at Chenal to kill some time until the movie. We only went into a couple of the stores, as everyone balked at the prices of everything. The new Bath & Body Works was probably the most reasonably priced store on the premises, and we didn’t even walk in. I kind of thought we’d eat there and then just lounge around, but instead we just meandered around and then went into the theater really early.

The movie was very long and slow, so I knew the others wouldn’t really be that into it. I didn’t know what to expect, but really thought we’d get farther along than we did. I felt like the movie covered about as much as I had read of the book as a child. I never did make it very far, and it ended just as it got to the exciting bits.

As we waited for Amber to get there to pick up Zane, we walked to Maggie Moo’s and had some ice cream. It gave us about the perfect amount of time to wind things down for the day. Once she got there, I got to share some of the pictures I had taken throughout the day, and then we headed home.

Eaddie and I stayed up late and watched a couple episodes of House. I stayed up to make sure Autumn made it home from her Sadie Hawkins dance, and then made it to bed.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

What’s Cookin’

Summer got up and made breakfast this morning. I got super stiff last night in bed, which I felt the numerous times I got up in the middle of the night. It really made it hard to move around for a while, but I never got up to much of anything anyway. We did finally play UNO Flip, which was a great twist on the classic game. Then we watched The Princess Bride while Eaddie did something else.

Eventually dinner time came around and Summer wanted to cook up some stir fry with the leftovers we had. She dug out some frozen veggies and cut some extras up, and then I threw in the leftover steak and sausage, filling up the wok nearly to the top, once the rice and everything else was in it.

Eaddie really approved of dinner, and then Summer made some pumpkin bread for dessert. We made Eaddie play a game of UNO Flip with us, and then everyone filtered off to bed.

I just want you to feel you’re doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed.

Buddy Thing

I didn’t let myself sleep in today, and got up to finish the leftover chicken tacos from weeks ago. Summer got the girls up and around, and eventually we left for a day in Conway. We went to Kohl’s first so Summer could look for some clothes. As we finished up, I wanted to run through the guy’s clearance, and that’s where I ran into Kyle and Terri. It was great getting to catch up with him for a bit, because it’s been ages since I’ve seen them since they moved to Conway.

As they had to run, the girls rushed me out so we could find some food. We landed on Golden Corral since we had over an hour to kill before the movie. I stuffed myself pretty silly and paid the price in various cramps during the show. Venom wasn’t even playing in 3D at all back home, so we settled for a smaller screen in Conway again.

The movie was relatively forgettable, much like the first. It was mostly a buddy film, with not much of a story, especially for an iconic villain. I was glad to see them fold the cinematic universes together at the end, though It was a bit jarring how they did it. The whole thing felt super forced, so hopefully the final result isn’t awful. I think we’re going to be going off the rails from here on out though.

When we made it back home, the girls got ready for bed. Eaddie and I stayed up for a couple episodes of House, where we got to a less procedural episode. I like it when they try different things like that in long-running shows.

Disappointment is anger for wimps.

Baby Let’s Cruise

I didn’t sleep too late today, and got up to have some leftovers out of the fridge. Autumn was already off to work, so I just hung out until Summer was ready to go to the gym. I went home and finally opened up a bunch of boxes of paper towels and toilet paper that were still in the garage, and then organized a bit inside the house. I’ve been holding on to a lot of cardboard boxes, but I think I’ll actually get rid of some of the oversized ones because they won’t be as useful as I suspect they will be.

The girls all wanted to go to the movies with friends, but of course the two wanted to go to different ones. Autumn’s friends ended up bailing after Summer convinced Noah to go with them, so we sent all the kids to see Free Guy again since Noah hadn’t seen it. At least Eaddie’s boyfriend made it. Since they were all together with Noah, Summer and I split off to watch Jungle Cruise.

The first part of the movie really bored me, I think just because it was very much a kid’s movie with silly physical comedy that I just wasn’t at all into. Eventually the story picked up, but I just couldn’t get into any of the characters. I did like that they made a bunch of corny jokes like the skippers do on the ride at Disney.

After the movie, we all went back to Summer’s for the evening to play some Uno with Noah. Then he and Autumn played a couple infinite rounds of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate before he left. I even squeezed in for a quick round, but it all felt pretty meaningless without any score or time limit.

Once the other two were off to bed, Eaddie and I watched some more House until she got sleepy again. Then it was off to bed.

Reward Juggler

Big Fun in Little China

I slept in a while today after sleeping pretty heavily last night. Autumn had gone to work and Eaddie was still in bed while Summer watched TV. I eventually got up and choked down some questionably old fish tacos before going home to clean up. Once Autumn got home from work, I headed back to pick the three of them up to go see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Conway.

We stopped in at Game Point first to browse around and kill some time before the movie. Eaddie really didn’t want to go in, so we let her sit in the car. Before too long it was time to head across town for the show. The Cinemark was completely out of butter somehow, which I didn’t even think was possible. What followed was the driest movie popcorn I’ve ever had, but somehow still not the worst.

It felt like there was about an hour of mostly commercials and previews before the show, but eventually we got our movie. I thought it was incredible, and I found myself getting a bit weepy during the old style fight scenes with the traditional movie style martial arts. I just thought the whole thing was really beautiful.

After the movie, everyone was in the mood for Chinese, so we went a few doors down to China Town. Autumn ate frustratingly little and then continued a downward spiral of attitude the rest of the night. We hand-picked our playlist for the drive home, I stopped by my house briefly to take my contacts out, and then we took the girls home.

Summer had to yell at Autumn a bit before they both went to bed. Eaddie and I stayed up to watch a couple more episodes of House until she fell asleep in my lap again. Then I finally made it to bed.

Did America make you soft?

They’re Just Resting…So Sleepy

I woke up early this morning and my heart was racing for some reason. I went back to sleep while Summer took the girls to the Cyclone Extravaganza, and though I woke up in better form, I felt pretty bad for most of the day.

I met Summer and Eaddie at the theater to see Free Guy in the early afternoon. Autumn didn’t want to go for some reason, but the three of us loved the movie. On the way back home, we were stopped in the street by a funeral and I decided to pop in to see Robert as they were cleaning up. I didn’t stick around more than a couple minutes though, and continued on home.

While I was home, I added some carbonated water to my shrimp tank and inadvertently suffocated all of my shrimp. I had knocked them out before, but this time I think I nuked them all and I felt horrible. I even tried pulling a bunch of the water out and changing some fresh water in, but the damage was done. Even my snail that I thought I had lost months ago appeared to struggle, but it survived. I also took care of some of my little plants that didn’t look so hot.

Eventually I made it up to Summer’s for the evening. I made a burrito to chip away at their leftovers, but there’s still so much to clean up in there. Autumn came home late from the evening portion of the Extravaganza, but by then everyone else was already in bed. I stayed up later than I wanted just trying to complete some Windows Updates. Overall I was just ready for it to end.

Don’t have a good day. Have a great day!

Who Knows Why Madmen Do What They Do?

Summer took Autumn to work and Eaddie home late this morning while I got cleaned up. Eaddie said last night that she wanted New China, and I had been craving it earlier in the week, so I took Bác Vân and Doug to meet the girls and my parents for lunch.

After we ate, I came back home and started to doze off, so I broke down and took an hour nap. I woke up a bit groggy, but only because I was still short on sleep. I had to get up to the girls though, so we could meet Noah and his friend Wade at UEC for The Suicide Squad.

I didn’t realize how gory it would be, but maybe I should have. I hadn’t really looked into it much, so everything about it was a fresh surprise with plenty of good twists. The kids enjoyed it. I hated that it was in one of the four smallest theaters, but at least it was for the matinee price. A couple came in with two adolescent boys that sat down in the front area and wouldn’t shut the hell up. It was like a really lame Mystery Science Theater without any jokes.

After the movie, we picked up Autumn and headed to my house for the evening. I had to take Autumn to the high school to pick up her flag while Eaddie went out for a bike ride. Then I started some laundry while we watched a few episodes of House before bed.

A little Xtra

Just Don’t Do It Wrong

I made it in a couple minutes early today after Gary said he would be late. He really wasn’t very late at all, but he wasn’t early the way he normally is. We didn’t have a meeting, and everyone paired off on their own to help each other. I spent the early morning climbing around my desk getting things rewired and plugged in so I could finally get to work.

Gary’s old office feels slightly smaller than my old one next to Ben, so there’s a bit of wasted space in front of the TV that I can’t really use, and everything else just feels a bit cramped. I made it work though, and was able to rearrange a few things to suit the new layout.

I couldn’t get the PowerShell script to verify characters in the middle of the hostname string the way I wanted, but I did at least get imaging to work, so long as people don’t screw up. I thought everyone else had already left around lunch time, but Tammy and Thomas were both still there and heard me rocking out.

When I finally left work, I ran by the carwash to get the bugs cleaned off from our trip back from Little Rock. Then I stopped by Walgreens for my prescriptions before swinging by to see Summer. She was busy, so I just went home for a bit instead. I picked at a couple things, and planted a new mango seed before making my way up to her house for the evening.

Autumn must have been asleep in front of the TV when I got there, because she didn’t say a single word to me and went to her room after unlocking the door for me. I cooked some leftover hamburger meat from earlier in the week, and when Summer got home we had double-decker tacos again. They were really spectacular, but I felt like my gut was going to bust after just two.

We settled in for the evening, and I put on The Time Traveler’s Wife. It has just enough of a sci-fi element to keep me interested, and I figured Summer could use a love story.

Enrique Iglesias is at it again…

Slow Return to the Cinematic Universe

I pretty much worked with Kyle all day today, finally running some cable at Dwight in the morning, and then shuffling devices at junior high in the afternoon. We only had to make one trip back to the shop, but we ended up with a pretty clean install.

Everyone really wanted Fat Daddy’s for lunch, so I followed along and had an overpriced chili dog. It looked pretty gross with everything added on it, but tasted fine except for the cheese dip, which was just a bit too much. There wasn’t enough chili, and the coleslaw made the whole thing cold in the middle.

After lunch, I ran by The UPS Store and paid for our lease shipment finally. Then I tried to track down a single missing device that I’m pretty sure was dead out of the box at the junior high. I couldn’t find it after a couple rounds through the building, so hopefully it turns up sooner than later.

When I left work, I went home for a bit and waited on Summer to get back from Conway so we could use my BOGO coupon at CiCi’s. Then we met the girls at UEC for Black Widow. I was a bit uncomfortable for most of the movie, and ultra disappointed that we missed it in 3D. I guess all the movies rushing to release now after being held back due to the pandemic are pressuring theaters to run everything through really quickly. I got pretty stressed over it, and ended up disappointed in the theater as usual, from the stuff hanging in front of the screen and casting shadows, to the loud air conditioner, to the sound of the auditorium next door. At least the size of Auditorium 8 was better than I had remembered.

The movie was enjoyable enough, but did feel really lackluster after the prior movies, and even all of the Disney+ series. It felt more like a formality of passing the Black Widow baton than anything else. What I’m really looking forward to is more Loki.

It’s no “Falcon and Arm Guy.”