Sick as a Dog

Eaddie texted me last night as I was getting ready for bed, and asked if Muad’Dib could stay home from work the next day. I told her he could call in sick, and I left by myself in the morning. Just as I approached my exit, I decided to stop at Wendy’s for breakfast and was surprised at the size of their burrito. It was of fairly poor quality, but it was a decent size with two real eggs, which was nice.

I thought it would be more quiet, but everyone was upstairs. I bounced between a couple of things, but still didn’t really make any notable progress on anything. Summer went to Little Rock, so we met for an early lunch on her way back. Ortega’s has been a great way to break up my fast food week, and their all-you-can-eat is a great deal to get some variety even if we don’t stuff ourselves.

I picked up an order from Walmart on the way back, and when I got to the office, Tammy said she got permission to go home at 2:30. I was thankful the afternoon wouldn’t have a chance to drag on. I got another RMA approval from Future Motion, but of course that just means I have to ship off my Onewheel again. With the battery failures and intermittent motor disengagements, I’ve just been a little terrified to go on any serious rides.

Everyone was at the house when I got there. Summer and Muad’Dib met me outside. Eaddie had Eli and Ceci over to watch Stranger Things. I took Muad’Dib on an early run, and it was so warm that he just barely walked the whole way.

A little while later, Summer wanted to go to the grocery store. Muad’Dib insisted on going too, but he had to sit in the car. They were really busy, but there was a good flow and it wasn’t too crazy. They were out of mollases though, so Summer got some dark corn syrup for the gingerbread cookies instead.

Back at the house, I played some Don’t Starve on my phone with my new controller mount attachment. It worked really well, and I was surprised at how little battery it actually used on my phone. I played for a while as Summer bathed, and then eventually wound down for bed.

Gonna have to dock a vacation day for that.

Not Quite Quiet

I expected fewer people at work today as the holiday approached, but after a particularly quiet morning, I began to see a few more people. It was a big day for emails as I communicated back and forth with Aptean about an open ticket, and Chris about some email filtering shenanigans, several times throughout the day.

Nothing sounded good for lunch, so I had a McRib and then rode out the afternoon. Summer had to close the lube, so I took Muad’Dib for a run as soon as we got back to town. We visited my parents just before they left to go shopping. Then I cleaned up some leftovers before Summer got home. She showered and I warmed up some pizza for her.

I wanted to talk to her and Eaddie together about their desire to have Autumn over to decorate cookies, but Summer pressed and we had it out. I didn’t feel good about the outcome, but I don’t think there was a way to. We both vented until we were exhausted, and then she went to bed. Eaddie was out with Eli and Ceci and wanted to come over to watch Stranger Things, but ended up not coming. Then Eaddie texted me and asked if Muad’Dib could stay home from work tomorrow. We had a good laugh as Summer suggested he call in sick.

Someone’s gotta put kibble in the bowl.

Hammer and Chisel

I got up this morning and actually got showered fairly early. Eaddie had the community concert in the evening, and Summer wanted to do some shopping. I wanted to take Muad’Dib, so we went to PetSmart first to pick up some more food. Then we put him in the car while we quickly poked our heads into Belk. They didn’t have what we wanted, so we drove over to JCPenney. From there, I got Muad’Dib out and we walked up the strip. Summer stopped at Shoe Carnival, and then we walked a little further up before returning to the car.

We were pretty hungry by then, and I was actually hungry enough to eat Italian, so we tried to stop at Italian Garden. Muad’Dib got super whiney, so we let him out to run a bit first. That was my mistake, because I should have had Summer queue us first. By the time we got in the door, she said there were a few people waiting. They quoted her ten minutes, but we decided to leave. I made a quick pass downtown to see if the taco place down there was open, but they weren’t. Feeling my frustration steadily growing, I took us to the house and warmed up some pizza and other leftovers.

Summer went to the gym and I started chipping away at the dining room table. I got a little bit of stuff moved, but there was just so much to put away properly. Summer eventually made it back, and I took Muad’Dib for a run while it was a little warmer out. Mom made curry, but it wasn’t ready when Muad’Dib ran us straight there. We continued around our reverse route for a while and then turned around just a couple blocks from our house to go back to my parents’.

I ate and then we started rolling back to the house. I got to the end of the road when my board threw a charge error again, but I was able to limp it most of the way home. I did carry it for about a block total, mostly just to make it up the hills. By then it was about time to get ready for the concert. We put Muad’Dib out back and then picked up Dad, and made our way to Witherspoon.

We sat near the back with Eli’s family, and Salvadore talked to me until we finally sat down. Summer wanted to sit by Shaana, so Dad and I just sat at the end of the aisle. The music was pretty typical for a Christmas concert. On the way out, Summer had us walk all the way around the building to avoid Gerald, which seemed a bit ironic considering the heat I’ve gotten for wanting to avoid Autumn lately.

We dropped Dad off and then got back to the house so I could give Muad’Dib a bath. He did wonderfully, and even stayed in the tub for me while I fetched the blow dryer. I gave him a good vacuuming afterward and pulled off a bunch of hair. Then it was a rush to bed.

Payout for tricks!

Simple Party

Muad’Dib had to wear his ugly sweater again all morning today since we had our Christmas lunch and Dirty Santa. He ended up sleeping for a lot of the day just because of how uneventful it was until the food got there. We had Colton’s, which could have been better just for being kind of cold by the time we got it, but it wasn’t bad. Afterward we just went around the table playing Dirty Santa. David was sat next to me, and Teisha had him start. Then it went all the way around and I was last. Shane actually got the toilet golf set that I brought, and he seemed tickled, which was the best possible outcome, I think. When it got around to me, I stole a returning “boss voodoo doll” from Scott, which had been re-gifted a couple times in previous years, along with a small handful of lottery tickets. It happened to be David who regifted that one.

The afternoon dragged on pretty awfully after not leaving for lunch. I sort of dreaded coming back home, but I guess it was water under the bridge by then. Summer and Eaddie were watching TV. I took Muad’Dib for a good run, and then I warmed up leftover pizza for everyone when we got back. The girls decorated the tree and I watched a little bit of YouTube as they finished up and went to bed. I started dozing on the couch, so I had to get up from there to go to bed myself.

…to shreds you say?

Peppers, Partners, and Puppers

Summer texted me a picture of a rat we caught while I was on my way to work this morning, and fortunately she didn’t fuss about having to take it out to the park for release. We got to work and I was tossed into a few different things throughout the day, so of course I felt just as scattered as ever. Hopefully I can represent well at the staff meeting tomorrow.

On her way back from Little Rock, I met Summer at Ortega’s for an all-you-can-eat lunch, which was the extent of our recognizing eight years together. I think it’s the longest either of us have been in a relationship, and maybe it shows.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly, and then we made it home for a run as the sun set. Summer got back to the house just before us, and then we laid down on the couch together for the first time in months since the ceiling collapsed, and watched a MKBHD video, followed by a Babish video. Then she went to bed while I cleaned up and finished some Vine reviews.

You’re welcome.

Quiet Mundane

We were mostly upstairs by ourselves today. Scott and Charles were periodically there, but otherwise it was just Muad’Dib and me with our thoughts, and he was probably doing the majority of the thinking. I did try to stay focused on NetBox again, but then I got a call to import products into HubSpot. That has never been fun, but I got it done.

Without any better ideas, I tried to get a McRib for lunch. While we were on the way, I got an alert that my order was cancelled for some unknown reason. I fought with it for a little while, and nearly gave up to go somewhere else to eat, but got a BigMac instead. They accidentally gave me large fries and a drink instead of mediums, so I guess that was my karma.

The afternoon went by relatively quickly as I tried to learn a little more about processes. Then it was a frustrating drive home through some slow traffic. Muad’Dib and I went on a quick run to see my parents, and then the girls were there when we got back to the house.

Summer was in a mood, and Eaddie had a concert to attend. I ate some leftovers standing in the kitchen, and then got to marvel at my limited edition Windows XP Crocs. I hate the shoes, but man do I love an inconsistent variety of nerdy pop culture. Clippy has never looked better. I still can’t believe they didn’t bring him back as their new AI assistant. I would have paid a subscription for that.

It was a short night, packed with some finishing reviews. I should make my deadline to continue this madness.

What can I say except, “you’re welcome.”

Undust

Eaddie went to Little Rock with Eli’s family today, so Summer and I spent the day cleaning and resetting the living room. I finally had a path to get to my plants again, so I took care of all of those, then cleaned and dusted things as they came back into the living room. I couldn’t believe the TV didn’t take any real damage. It looked like the frame might have been slightly bent where it came down and hit the center channel speaker below it, chipping the wood slightly in the process. Otherwise, the corner that took the full weight of the ceiling drywall appeared fine.

After Summer finished at the gym, we set up a couple outdoor Christmas tree lights. Then I took Muad’Dib out for an early run. I was super hungry when we got back, and Summer agreed that Chinese sounded great, so we went to New China. Muad’Dib was mad at me for making him sit in the car and pouted a bit when we got back.

I couldn’t find my lalst few speaker wires all day, but finally found them behind some of Summer’s stuff in the bedroom, so I was able to get the home theater set back up before bed. Everything seemed to be working great as far as I could tell.

Finally, if not a win, at least a reset.

Chillin’ Out Max

I had the hardest time staying focused today. I was completely worthless.

Everyone from upstairs was out doing something else for most of the afternoon, so it was super quiet. I picked up Arby’s and ate it in my office, which probably made the afternoon drag even worse.

The drive home was awful and slow, too. Someone was cruising along below 50, which caused a massive stretch of cars to slow down as people had to slowly get around them. That lasted for about a third of the entire distance of the drive.

My parents weren’t home, so Muad’Dib and I just did a quick run around the block before Summer got home. Then we loaded up and went downtown to see what the festivities were about.

The depot area was completely packed with people, and Muad’Dib got a ton of attention with his little Max reindeer antler on, but he also quickly got overstimulated by how many people were around. He did fantastically off-leash, but I eventually hooked him up when we tried to go further into the crowd. Eaddie came by with some friends and sang us one carol before that, and then we ended up leaving just to get out of the crowd.

While we were there, I ran into Brandon, Kara, and Sheri, and talked to each of them for a little while. Then we went to Zaxby’s for some dinner and went back to the house.

We ate, heard some fireworks in the distance, and then went to bed. I found Spider-Man: Homecoming on the Roku Channel and watched that while Muad’Dib and Summer both fell asleep, snoring in my arms. I must have been burned out, because I just felt dead.

No brakes.

Croc-a-doodle Doo

We had a decent day today. I bounced between a couple things, but didn’t get really deep into anything until the afternoon. Muad’Dib has been consistently using his bed, which made me happy. We went to Arby’s to try their steak nuggets, and they were absolute garbage. I got one nugget that was on the small side of acceptable, and then two that were too small, plus some crumbs to make up the last two. They tasted like cheap, air-fried beef, and I expected more from them.

I had gotten in to some Traverse mail settings before lunch, and continued that into the afternoon. I had an anxiety attack sometime, I think after lunch, as well. Then we rode home and went on a quick run. Summer had some baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli for dinner that turned out really good, and then the girls wrapped some presents before splitting up for bed.

I was a bit scattered, but notably I accidentally hopped into a Discord voice channel with Clint and Josh for a moment and talked to them without a microphone. Then I discovered that the limited edition Microsoft Windows XP Crocs were available to the public, so I ordered a couple of those. Ebay had some that sold recently for a pretty good profit, but I won’t mind having a pair to wear and a pair to keep if the price tanks.

What a throwback between Windows XP and Command and Conquer.

Easy Now

There wasn’t really anything going on today. I had a Soylent and some black coffee in the morning, then a banana before lunch time, so we ended up going out to eat even later. I couldn’t decide what I wanted, so we just went to the car. Muad’Dib wouldn’t listen when he got into the car, and I accidentally popped him harder than I meant to, so I felt really bad after that.

We went to Walmart to see if they had any decent looking salads or sandwiches, but they really don’t have a good deli area. I even looked around at frozen or instant meals, but gave up. I walked the store looking for a pretty sparse clearance aisle, and then I got a bag of chips and we ended up going to Subway to pick up a sandwich.

I ate in my office and shared some chips with Muad’Dib. Afterward he started to fall asleep on my foot, so I got his bed out for him. He had never really spent any time in it before, but I gave him his nylon bone and he actually stayed there for a while. At one point he actually fell asleep on it, which made me happy.

After work, we went for a quick run in the dark, and then just cleaned up and did some reviews before bed.

Closing in.