Nearly Ninety

Summer made us some eggs to go with leftover pork chops and waffles for breakfast this morning. Afterward, we enjoyed some coffee on the couch and I played on the Steam Deck for just a few minutes. When she finally went to the gym, I cleaned myself up and got ready for the day. She was going to mow the lawn when she got back, but Mom texted that she made bánh cuốn, so we walked Muad’Dib over there for a late lunch first.

Flip flops were a bad idea for me, and my feet were super sore from the friction by the time we got back home. Summer mowed while I gave Muad’Dib a good and long-overdue bath. Then after she got cleaned up from that, we laid on the couch and watched some YouTube for a little while until she was ready for bed.

Eaddie went out late, but when she got back home, she told me she found the other Pathfinder keys in her room. Now I just need to find the Grom key, my waist fan she borrowed, and most recently the high powered USB charging brick that disappeared from the living room.

Black hole son’s got nothing on her.

Scrolls of Doom

I felt out of mind for most of the day. I had trouble picking a project at work, and it probably didn’t help that we never stepped out. I brought the last of my Hawaiian Bros. for lunch, and just happened to notice I had a call to join right after that. The afternoon dragged just as the morning did, and I got to the house where Summer had been for several hours, vegetating in front of the TV.

I wanted to take her out for dinner, but she would barely move or say anything. I sat with her for a while until I finally got fed up and left with Muad’Dib. We walked to my parents’ house to see them, then continued around his route. We got back and Summer hadn’t moved, so I just cleaned up some other leftovers.

Like the birds in the backyard

The Difference is Staggering!

We had our staff meeting first thing this morning, and I didn’t have a whole lot of exciting news. The whole day kind of dragged on a bit, possibly because it seemed like it was going to be such a nice day out. We went to Taco Bell for lunch and had an okay time, but I think the salt got to me later in the afternoon.

I let Muad’Dib out for a run on the way back to the office, and we finished out the day quietly upstairs. I had another quick anxiety attack that snuck up on me. Summer wanted to go to the yoga Sip + Stretch at Point Remove shortly after I got home, but I felt my blood pressure was high and had to relax a moment at home first.

Summer went to her thing for an hour, and Muad’Dib and I walked all the way downtown to meet her. It worked out perfectly, because we arrived just minutes before she finished her hour, and we didn’t have to sit around entertaining ourselves the whole time. We had some wings and a few drinks, then drove back home for the night. She passed right out, and I finished up my stuff fairly early. I would have gone to bed early too, but Eaddie got home early and came to my office and chat for a while. She’s got spring break coming up, and is excited for all the new, fun stuff that comes with independence.

It’s a five minute walk from my house to the bar, but an hour walk from the bar to my house.

Walk and Roll

I didn’t sleep great last night, but I think it was mostly the dog’s fault. We made it to work, but I had trouble focusing as well as I have the past few days, so I switched gears and looked at some other company portal stuff. Between that and a couple phone calls, I managed to stay fairly busy. I was put in Vine jail for my lack of reviews, so that’s finally caught up with me. Between that and taxes, I’ve got my work cut out for me.

I went back and forth several times with Clifford from Future Motion, and they insist it’s completely my fault for my footing that is causing the motor to cut out on my board. I feel like I’ve tested every possibility of that, but it doesn’t sound like they’re going to do anything else for me, and at this point the board has been out of my possession for over 100 days since I bought the damn thing.

I brought my pastrami sandwich from Ridgewood for lunch, along with a little bowl of some Hawaiian Bros since the sandwich looked pretty small. The sandwich was great, but I could have done with some more of it. Afterward, I walked Muad’Dib outside and found a roll of material out next to the dumpster, and had the idea to take a closeup photo of it for a background image to use in the company portal.

Muad’Dib got rowdy and wouldn’t listen when we came back in, so he got a spanking. Then the afternoon dragged on for a bit since we never actually left. I had just been thinking about how I hadn’t had an anxiety attack in a little while, and then one snuck up on me out of nowhere. That put me in a little bit of a daze for a while. I ended up losing track of time by a lot, so we left late and got home nearly half an hour later than usual.

Summer was home and just out of the shower, so we walked to my parents’ house for spring rolls. Julie and kevin showed up just after us, and we all sat down to eat. The kids were invited, but couldn’t make it. It started to get a little darker by the time we left, so we walked straight home and got ready for bed.

Believe it or not, straight to jail.

Spur of Thought

I really planned to have a Soylent this morning, but then I got super hungry just as I was getting into Morrilton again, so we stopped at Wendy’s for a small breakfast. Muad’Dib was super distracted and didn’t want to come inside, which left me shivering in the wind. We finally got inside and I continued tinkering with Intune.

Summer finished with her meeting early and wanted to meet for lunch, but I didn’t want to eat too early, so I had her meet me at the office. She came in to see Maple, but she was being shy all day and wouldn’t even come to me for a treat. We went to Ortega’s and had a really good lunch, and then I had her go by Ridgewood on the way home so I could try their pastrami special.

Earlier in the morning, I finally emailed Future Motion for an update on my Onewheel. It took them all day to respond that after thorough testing, they found nothing seriously wrong with it. That was exactly what I knew they would say, and I probably should have just disputed the charge with Discover Card first instead of talking to them again. They’re such an incredibly shitty company.

I finished the slow afternoon, completely forgetting about therapy until right at 4:30, so we raced out the door and made it just in time to wait another five minutes. I felt like our session was really good this time, but I didn’t realize how depressed Summer was really feeling. All I can really do is try to keep communicating with her, but doing happy little things is never going to be enough to turn this around for good.

When we got home, she put the cabbage in the slow cooker with the corned beef she started in the morning, and then we waited to eat. Once we did, dinner was great. Then her birthday present arrived and we set up our pair of BedJets for some temperature controlled air in the beds. Hopefully this keeps us comfortable and try, since she has a habit of feeling cold and then sweating all over the place.

What do you call a cow who tells dad jokes? Corney beef!

Pork Choppin’

I surprisingly woke up pretty early today and didn’t feel groggy, but I just wasn’t ready to get up before the sun, so I slept for a couple more hours until Summer got up. I had a leftover waffle, but nobody else wanted to eat with me. Eaddie left and was gone for most of the day, but Summer we planned to cook a nice dinner in the evening.

Summer eventually went to the gym, then we cleaned up the kitchen a bit in the afternoon. We eventually got out of the house to go to the Neighborhood Market for groceries, and just as we got inside, it started pouring rain. Muad’Dib didn’t seem terribly bothered in the car, so we continued shopping, and it had stopped raining by the time we were done.

I had voiced frustration trying to continually plan around Eaddie when she has become less and less reliable over time. She loses my stuff as well as her own stuff, and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m just ready for her to move along with her own life, but she doesn’t have any source of income yet. I think we’ve agreed that we just need to do what we’re going to do in spite of her, because we’re always going to cook more than just the two of us can eat anyway, and then Eaddie can join us or not without any expectations.

Summer made mashed sweet potato and broccoli, and I grilled pork chops, zucchini, and squash, and it all turned out really good. We’ll have plenty for the coming week, with opportunities to amend our meals with other sides. Dinner was great, and I finished up some laundry before we started winding down for an early bedtime.

Pork paper!

ESOP’s Fables

I felt overdue for a casual Friday, so I went with jeans and a work polo today. I did pretty well in the morning, and then we had a pizza party for our ESOP update. It was neat to hear a little bit more about Garland’s operations even if it was a super high-level overview of some numbers. Business seems good, and we hope to keep it that way.

Immediately following that, I had to hop on our weekly call with Aptean to hear about some more “AI” stuff. Still not much we can use, and everything is in development anyway. The afternoon dragged a bit after that, particularly because it was such a beautiful day outside, and we didn’t even go out for our usual lunch break to enjoy it.

I ended up stopping in Atkins for a couple slushies on the way home. Summer was in the bath and didn’t want to go out, so she sent me out on my own. I couldn’t decide on dinner until she suggested I go to Taco Villa, so that’s where Muad’Dib and I headed. I stopped at Casey’s here for another free slush first, and then let him wait for me outside while I ordered food.

They were super busy, but then died off just as we finished our food. Muad’Dib did great through all of that, but then we went down the block to wash my car. A cat came along and prompted him to climb up onto the center console, and when I opened the door to scold him, he jumped all the way into the front seat. I let him out and he stayed nearby, so I finished the job and then we headed home.

My parents were just getting back from Little Rock, so I eventually took Muad’Dib over to see them and visit for a little while before coming home for bed.

Everyone loves Hypnotoad

Intune with Nature

I had another good day in Intune policies all day today. It was really quiet and a bit rainy otherwise. If I had realized it wasn’t raining at lunch time, we would have gone to Sonic, but instead I had already ordered Subway for pickup. We got that and I ate in the office.

The afternoon was more of the same, if not a little distracted. Summer got home early and made dinner, so we rushed back for that. Then I started some more laundry while we took Muad’Dib for a walk to my parents’ house. We visited briefly and then let him lead the rest of the way home, which was a surprising twist from his usual route.

I cleaned up a bit more when we got back. Summer went to bed, I updated WordPress, and then it was off to bed a minute or two early.

Shoutout to Updraft for keeping backups dead simple!

Short Sunday

The time shift didn’t do much for us today. I tried not to sleep in too much so I could go to sleep in the evening. Summer got up to some coffee and I ate my leftover chicken strip, and then the brisket with the beans and chips from our trip. With the refrigerator mostly empty, I wanted to go shopping and cook a nice dinner.

Summer went to the gym with Eaddie and I got ready for a late start to the day. When they got back, Eaddie showered and left, and then Summer decided she wanted Chinese. All planning out the window, we eventually went to New China where they appeared to still have a steady stream of Hispanics coming in from church services throughout the day. The food was hot and fresh, and I managed to fill up on a few different kinds of broccoli.

After that, we wanted to take Muad’Dib for a walk around Bona Dea. Summer immediately had to stop at the trailhead, so I walked around the short ring with Muad’Dib, and then Summer just wanted to go on home. With her not feeling well, Muad’Dib and I just laid in bed to rest for a bit. I felt like I could take a nap, but didn’t actually fall asleep.

Dad wanted us to bring the Model Y over so their neighbor could check it out. He seemed to have done enough research that I don’t know why they didn’t just go test drive one at the factory, but I talked to him for a little while about it, then gave him a quick test ride. Muad’Dib had run over ahead of me, so I let him run back home as well. Then he and Summer went to bed pretty early. Eaddie was home for a moment, but left. I tried to pay our toll fees from our trip, but failed, so I’ll try again during the week.

Fine, I’ll do it myself.

Still Walking

I woke up feeling okay and took my smoothie and matcha to work for breakfast. I didn’t drink my Soylent just because I didn’t really feel hungry, but then we went to Subway to pick up lunch before a call with Aptean in the early afternoon. That ended up being pretty boring with just Tammy and me on the call, and I didn’t love feeling like we’d just have to report back to others. They’re definitely expecting more from us, but we’re also expecting more from them for how much we pay.

The afternoon went by fairly quickly and I started to lose a bit of focus as my tab count grew larger and the tabs themselves became unmanageably small. We nearly made it home when I noticed Summer was still at work, so we turned around and went to Ridgewood instead.

Grant and Kyler were out back talking, so we popped in to chat for a while. I got to try their upcoming shepherd’s pie special, and hopefully they’ll have some of everything left by the time I can get there on St. Patrick’s Day. As Summer started to head home, I went in and got some meat to put on our leftover baked potatoes at home.

We ate, and then had to run downtown for her glow run. We took Muad’Dib, dropped her off to pick up her packet, and then I ended up parking way over behind Papa John’s. There were a couple gas burners parked in front of the new EV chargers that were installed, but I’d later learn that they weren’t powered up anyway.

It was pretty noisy and Muad’Dib didn’t love it, so we mostly stood back and waited for Summer to finish her race. She placed, so we waited for her medal pin and then headed back to the house for the night. Eaddie went to a concert of Eli’s, so I didn’t see her again all night.

It’s just indigestion… maybe.