At the Table

We had a staff meeting this morning, and it was interesting to have a seat at the table. I learned a lot about the business in a short amount of time, and it doesn’t look like there’s any slowing down. Later in the afternoon, I had a meeting with Shane as well, and came up with a few tasks to actually resolve.

I took a rock to the windshield on the way home and got a round-looking fracture on the far passenger side of the glass. It looked like it formed a cone that went deep into the glass, so I don’t know if it will be fillable, but if it is, at least it will be out of my line of sight.

Summer worked really late. I stopped to see her for just a moment, then made it to the house to bake some potatoes for dinner. She fried potatoes the other night, and it looked like she left a bunch of small ones for some reason, including one that had been cut to remove a bad spot. I wish she had chosen differently.

Noah was still at the house, but Eaddie was nowhere to be found. He was in and out, smoking on the porch, and dragging his stank into the house. I opened some packages and then ate alone before taking Muad’Dib out on a walk. I helped Dad fold the pool cover when we stopped by there, then had a bite of some fried noodles Mom made.

It was a quick and frustrating winddown, but early to bed.

Un-

Cold and Quiet and Hot and Slow

I didn’t hear from anyone today, so it was hard to get motivated without a real project to work on. I just dabbled in things all day. It was cold upstairs, so I ended up turning on my heated deskmat for a while. I had hot lunch in my office again, and then it was a super long afternoon.

Noah was still at the house when I got there, but said someone had work for him to do in the evening. He left, Summer got home and made some potatoes and Brussels sprouts to go with the leftover meats I smoked, and then I took Muad’Dib for a run. He was pretty sluggish, and I’m sure he’s ready for some cold weather.

what an outlook

sdrawkcaB

I dragged out of bed this morning, and pretty immediately felt sick to the stomach. I got to work about half an hour later than I have been, but still within the parameters I was given, so I didn’t bother messaging ahead that I’d be late. I brought a container of some leftover rice, chicken, and veggies for lunch that looked a lot more like supper, but I was a little bit afraid to eat it.

I had an anxiety attack early on. Then I had a couple of meetings to sit in on, and felt mildly productive with some other things as well. I hope people like me.

I happened to go downstairs to warm up my food a little late and ran into Elizabeth as she warmed up her own. We ended up sitting in the breakroom to eat, and then Janice joined us. Elizabeth made a comment about someone who was voted one of the top nurses in the state, and then showed me a picture of my old friend Tiffany. I guess she’s dating Tiffany’s father, or something of the sorts.

The afternoon went by a little quicker, though I stayed a bit late and then got hung up in traffic for the second day in a row. I thought about stopping by Taco Bell to pick up a Tuesday deal I scored, since it would expire overnight, but ended up going straight to the house instead.

Summer and Eaddie were working on a chicken salad for pitas, and some guacamole for dinner, but it looked a lot more like lunch. It was really good though, and Eaddie brought Noah over to join us since he wrecked his car today, only then learning that his insurance had expired.

I took Muad’Dib for a run, visited with a little corgi named Kaylee, saw my parents, then made it home for the night. I gave him a good bath, and then tried to get to bed as quickly as I could. That was when I remembered Taco Bell. I couldn’t place a future order, and the kids wouldn’t pick it up for me, so Muad’Dib and I ran out to get it. To make things worse, the closer restaurant couldn’t make it, according to the app, so we had to drive all the way across town.

stank boys

Blue Berry Cake

It was a bit rainy on the way to work, but that was the last I saw of it. I was greeted at the door by Joel’s new puppy, so I had my opportunity to talk about bringing Muad’Dib to work with me. He said they used to have several people that brought them, but only one that comes every day now.

I thought I would meet Shane today, but he wouldn’t be in town until the evening. Other than that, I had my first little meeting with some of the staff in the afternoon. I brought a bologna burger to finish up some of that stuff, and learned a bit more about some very non-IT systems just to be able to support people.

The morning dragged on more than the afternoon because I wasn’t super well rested. Janice made a cake for Teisha’s birthday, so we all met in the breakroom for some of that after lunch. I worked a little bit late, and then ran into some super slow traffic on the way home.

Summer wasn’t feeling great, so I made some rice to go with our leftover ribs for dinner. Then Dad texted to offer phở, so I fixed Summer’s plate and then took Muad’Dib out for a run and then ate with them.

I had laundry to do, so I went home to do that. I guess the washer was unbalanced, because it took way longer to finish than it should have.

Too tired for floury prose.

Super

I made everyone get up a little early today so we could get breakfast, hoping that we would make time for lunch or dinner later in the day. They had the same offerings as they do during the conferences I’ve attended, except for the addition of custom omeletts. I don’t recall having those during ACOT. The food was good, though I missed out on the poppyseed bread when they changed that out for cinnamon. My omelett was great.

After breakfast, we all got packed up and checked out. We had some time to kill, and it had been a little rainy, so we went to the Park Plaza mall. They weren’t open yet, so we waited in the parking lot for a little while before going in to browse. Summer kept chatting up a mattress sales guy in Dillard’s, so we were stuck there for longer than I wanted, but otherwise it was a fine time. We made it to the food court so they could get bobas, and I grabbed a pretzel and frozen lemonade.

Once we left that mall, we went across town to the Promenade to walk around. We really only went in to two stores, and one of them was the Apple store, so it didn’t really count. I felt a little bit conned because the girls had been talking about being excited to go shop, but then neither really jumped in to any of the stores, nor buy anything that I recall.

As movie time approached, Summer and I went in to AMC while the kids got ice cream. I got our snacks ordered, and then we got seated with plenty of time. Unfortunately I had been dehydrated all day and drank too much before the movie, so I couldn’t make it all the way through.

I thought Superman was awesome. It was a pretty big departure from anything we’ve ever seen, which was fine. It really dove head-first into a new, existing universe, and did so unapolagetically. It was pretty funny to watch a fight happening in the background while Lois and Clark talked in the foreground. Just another day in Metropolis.

After the movie, we headed back home and I took Muad’Dib out for a quick run before dark. Then he had a great bath when we got home. I’m trying so hard to reinforce behaviors, but it’s difficult when the girls don’t follow the same patterns. He knows who lets him get away with stuff.

It was tough getting everything done and ready for work in the morning. It feels like the girls forget that I’m tired too, and that I don’t like how little sleep I get while they’re already in bed for hours.

Man…

F is for Family

I had to disable an account today, and it seems like the employee process could use some work. It’s also possible that having government regulations involved actually made schools more security-focused. The rest of the day, I spent mostly worried about being in way over my head compared to the last guy. I may have had another anxiety attack, but I also might have been remembering yesterday. At the very least, we are two very different individuals with brains that function very differently. This seems to be a theme lately.

It’s me. Hi.
I’m the problem.
It’s me.

I got out for some McNuggets for lunch, and then the afternoon was super quiet and difficult to stay focused. I meant to go to Casey’s for a slush after lunch, but forgot, so I stopped on my way home. I stopped again in Atkins for another one because the first one ended up being mostly air, but their machines were off. I stopped to see when Summer would be home, then got another one at our Casey’s after waiting in a checkout line that wrapped through the store.

Mom was making phở, so Muad’Dib and I ran over, arriving just as Julie did. Summer and Kevin both sat it out because they said it was too hot after spending all day in the heat. Food was good, but then Julie started prying about our issues at home. I mistook it for a safe space to vent, but it felt more like I was being grilled and blamed, so I walked out. Muad’Dib and I finished the walk, made an extra block to avoid a small, yappy dog, and opened some Vine stuff before putting the girls to bed.

Drink to the foam!

Roll On

I went straight to my office this morning. I definitely had an anxiety attack. A little while later I went downstairs for coffee and a bit of social…ism? It didn’t take long before I had questions coming at me, for programs which I was barely familiar.

I brought a bologna croissant, then spent a fairly long, fairly lonely, fairly cold afternoon upstairs.

The kids were gone when I got to the house, but Eaddie had received my Onewheel from UPS. I put it on the charger, brought Muad’Dib inside for a vacuum and to wash his paws, and then we went for a run.

We went around the block before going to Sonic for some mozzarella sticks. Summer was nearing quitting time, so I texted her and she actually met me there to get a corndog. We ate, and then Muad’Dib and I chased her down the road toward home. I had to wave her off to keep him from overexherting himself, and it was a slow walk the rest of our time out.

We zig-zagged a bit around our usual course and stopped at my parents’ house. Mom was asleep and Dad was out, so we waited for him to get home. I had a little bit of his scalloped potatoes, and then we made it back to the house where I gave him another good vacuuming and a spritz of cologne before bed.

Do it again. Only 14,669 to go.

TwoDay

I got Hardee’s again this morning and had a chicken biscuit on the drive in, then saved the country steak biscuit for an early lunch. I spent all day in my office just familiarizing myself with things and trying to remember where to find it all. I’ve been in the Google ecosystem for so long that Microsoft tools are cluttered and overwhelming, and it doesn’t help that my laptop runs pretty slow. It seems to always be pretty quiet upstairs, though people will pass by occasionally. The office and hallway echo a lot, so I’m more self conscious about the sounds I make than anything else.

I still had to get my car insurance paperwork signed, so I tried going to a local agent who sold Progressive in the afternoon. She was only a little bit snotty about not being able to help me. I grabbed a little double bacon cheeseburger and some Takis fries from Wendy’s, and though the restaurant was super slow, the food was hot and fresh. The fries were actually better than I expected.

The last couple hours of the afternoon went by quietly, and the lady across the hall poked her head in to ask how late I was staying. Without being given actual working hours, I let her know I could walk out at any point. She had a key to lock up, and figured we were the last ones there, so we walked out together through a dark office downstairs.

I drove straight home to find Summer and Eaddie playing Guitar Hero in her room. Eli showed up just a moment later, and then I jumped in to play a song with Eaddie and Eli. Summer wanted to eat after that, but I had to take care of a bunch of Vine stuff. She was stressed by it at first, but ended up really liking the things I got for her.

We eventually made it to Morelos for a surprisingly cheap dinner date. All these restaurants offering discounts to pay with cash, and charging extra to pay by card, are making me consider my options. I still hate how dirty cash is though. I’d rather keep my wallet lighter and keep their checks on the books.

Eaddie had Maristella and about half a dozen of her siblings over, and they were all watching TV and playing in the living room when we got home. I received a response from FutureMotion earlier in the day that my Onewheel was in for repairs. They said the controller module was replaced under warranty, suggested I pay $125 to have them replace the tire because it was “significantly out of round,” they replaced a loose gasket inside the motor “as a courtesy” that was causing a clicking sound that I had never noticed, that the battery module was somehow out of spec and would have to be replaced for $700 because it was only covered for six months rather than the whole year. That seemed like a lot of money for a $2,950 board, but the kicker was that they wanted $80 shipping to send it back to me.

But look at me, all made-of-money and shit.

Forty Nights

I got up to clean some more today. I finished up the assortment of bologna sandwich fixings for an early lunch, then took a shower so I could go to town. I had to take my Onewheel to UPS, but I needed to print the shipping label first, so Muad’Dib and I went to Superfast to have Summer do that. They were working on their rebranding stuff, so she was out back cleaning up a bunch of stuff when we found her.

With the shipping label in hand, we headed across town to The UPS Store and dropped off my Onewheel. Then we went to the Neighborhood Market to figure out what to do for dinner. I went straight to the protein to see what deals I could find, and picked up a couple packages of chicken wings, a rump roast, and some ahi tuna. Then I went back and got some smoked sausages and veggies for an assortment of things to cook on the smoker and flattop.

We made it home and I quickly prepped the Gravity grill to smoke the wings, beef, and sausages. I split the wings into lemon pepper and left some with just salt and pepper so Eaddie and I could toss them in Buffalo sauce. I peppered the heck out of the roast to try and give it a nice bark, and threw the sausages in for an easy addon. I steamed some rice and prepped the zucchini, squash, onions, mushrooms, snap peas, and jalapeños. I don’t think I’d ever actually made fried rice on the flattop before, and I figured it was a good day to try.

Summer eventually made it home and brought some broccoli and cauliflower for me to grill as well. I took the beef off the smoker and cubed it to sear with the veggies. It looked incredible for being smoked for such a short amount of time. I pulled the wings off to make some room, then went through three rounds of cooking on the flattop before it was all done. I cooked the tuna last, just as a fun extra.

The girls seemed to love the food. I thought it turned out pretty good, but I was too scattered to take notes on how to improve next time. I juggled a lot, and was glad Summer didn’t mind prepping the veggies she brought home after her long day at work.

After dinner, we cleaned up and I laid down with Summer for a while and watched part of Airplane! on the live Roku channel. Eaddie went to the gym, then brought Eli over to eat some of our leftovers. It was pretty quiet after that, but the night flew by and it was later than it seemed. I think it was a pretty good day.

If I were a fish and you caught me, you’d say, “Look at that fish!” Shimmering in the sun; such a rare one. Can’t believe that you caught one!

wasted space

I slept hard with hard dreams. Summer went to work in Conway after cancelling her oncology appointment. Eaddie left to meet with her advisor and make her class schedule. I managed to get out of bed and make a bologna sandwich to eat over the sink.

It was quiet all day, so I finished my new hire paperwork and then did my best to motivate myself to clean. The kids eventually came back, and Eaddie started some laundry while they watched TV. I climbed around and scrubbed some difficult spots in the shower. Summer had a relatively short day, so we planned to meet at Cici’s for an early dinner.

The kids and I met her there after she finished at the gym. While we were eating, I spotted Josh as he came in to meet his wife and kids. We had a laugh about him still not having his house finished. Then Eaddie rode home with Summer, and Eli and I took the fast car home.

I tried to take Muad’Dib out for a run later in the evening, but the Onewheel appeared dead. I couldn’t get any lights out of it. We came back in and I had a pretty heavy anxiety attack while vacuuming his fur. It was a short night after that.

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