Tag: Reviews

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I Am the Director Now

I had another chicken biscuit this morning on my way to work. Conference food made me pretty queasy all night, but fortunately today went okay. I was surprised to see Maggie in the office when I got there, and further still that she was still there when I left. I felt the pressure of more people needing me today, plus I had a couple of conference calls scheduled. I only went to one of those because the teacher was unable to reproduce an issue for a vendor.

I had placed an order for a Reuben at Arby’s the night before, since I had a discount code. Randy and Jim really wanted to go to a place called North Bar, so I picked up my food and then met them there. It was a more expensive place with a variety of burgers, wraps, and such. Jim’s chicken sandwich looked pretty good because the chicken was more than twice the size of the bun. Randy’s order was put in wrong, so his got comped and we split my burger, and then his when it eventually came out. I liked his bologna burger better than my blueberry one, but both were pretty good. Overall I thought the flavors were great, but it just wasn’t worth the price for the portion size. Everything being à la carte didn’t help, because I had to pay extra for fries with the burger.

I stopped by Target on the way back to the office to get an online order of Tide that I had placed a few days ago. Randy left in the afternoon, and said he was leaving me as the de facto director. I laughed that I was the newest hire, but he responded that I was the one with the most experience in his role. After that, Maggie had me sign a bunch of data privacy agreements. I told her it felt like he was leaving so they could use me as a fall-guy on some sketchy paperwork.

I was a bit hungry after lunch, so I actually ended up eating my Reuben before I left work. Then it was a dull ride home to find Summer in the kitchen and Eaddie and Eli watching TV. I took the dogs out for a run to my parents’ house and then spent some time with them when we got back. I skipped the chicken Alfredo because of the dairy, and drank some dinner instead. I had to rearrange the dishwasher after the girls poorly cleaned up the leftovers, and I kind of stewed a bit until bedtime.

unappoint

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Geek Squad Vs. Volt Typhoon

I was a little later today, but I would have made it to the conference on time if it hadn’t been for a major slowdown after Conway. Randy was sitting in the back, so I joined him with my blueberry scone and listened to more, mostly irrelevant chatter. Kyle came in behind me, and evidently Ben was there on the opposite side of the room, because at one point he stood up and asked a question.

The four of us had lunch together a couple blocks away at Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. My first piece was a little dry, and it all looked a bit overcooked, but they were all actually super good. My last piece was particularly juicy, and I completely missed the heading of the menu that pointed out the “Louisiana hot” seasoning. It really made me miss the hot and spicy chicken from KFC.

They had some really good cookies after lunch as we rode out the rest of the conference in the main auditorium. I was surprised when one of the last guys actually got up and started talking about some more technical stuff, but by then everyone was ready to go home. The conference had shrunk more and more after the very first couple of hours of the first day, so hardly anyone was left at the end.

I didn’t feel great when I got home, so I took a break before taking the dogs out for a run. It was super nice out once we did get outside, and the dogs were great. We visited my parents and then came back home for hot dogs. I sat outside and pet them a while before coming in to open a whole bunch more Amazon packages. Our delivery people must think I’m insane. I know Summer does.

Eaddie was in Conway late for orchestra tryouts, and she was surprised to have made first chair again. Nobody else expected any different. I tried to get to bed early, but my stomach didn’t let me. Hopefully tomorrow gets me back into a less-bad rhythm.

Hey Gemini, imagine a comic book cover for a lightning wielding supervillain named “Volt Typhoon” fighting a nerdy hero named “Computer Guy.”

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Dirt Doggers

I took it a little easier in to work today since I got out of the house on time. I was the first one in, and then Gary came through cursing Maggie because of some other miscommunication outside of our office. She actually walked in right after that, and they went to resolve that nonsense for the time being. After that, it was just the two of us in the office for most of the day, and I think that’s just how it’s going to be.

She really wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for lunch since they had a special lunch menu, and they’re only open for lunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I would have preferred to go to Skinny J’s again for their $10 melt, but she wasn’t excited by that idea. I was disappointed in my chicken fried steak, which had white gravy that tasted super sweet for some reason. I was surprised at the size of the steak, but it was mostly breading. The chili was okay, but could have been warmer. Overall, I think I just don’t like their food as a company.

It was really tough to hang on the rest of the afternoon with Randy gone. I finished building a new virtual machine for our HVAC, but had to stop in the middle of the SQL server installation since I didn’t know what they’d actually need. Quitting time eventually rolled around, and I didn’t waste any time getting out of there.

I thought I’d stop by the old house first, but then I saw Kevin’s car at AT&T, and an otherwise empty parking lot, so I decided to stop in and chat. Nicole stopped me first for a hug, and I talked to Brandon for a bit as well. Kevin was consumed by a solitaire game on his iPad because business was so slow. This may be the beginning of the end for wireless retail.

We chatted for a while, and then Brandon offered some possum pie from Stoby’s. I had a slice of that, then walked with Kevin while he took out the trash before leaving. When I finally made it home, the Model Y was down to 5%, which I think was the lowest either of us had ever drained it.

I changed right away and then took the dogs out for a really good run. We stopped to visit with Mom, and then went around the basin. There was another lady walking ahead of us, so we diverted and went to the back side by the remaining pond. I let the dogs trudge through the mud there, and Muad’Dib was surprisingly excited by it. Stilgar sunk down like an alligator, and when I pulled them out, Muad’Dib got the zoomies. Not just the zoomies, but the jumpies and rollies too. He would take off running and then dive into the ground and roll. He was like that for basically the rest of the run. As we got up to the last straight stretch home, they both took off in a sprint, and we made it up the hill.

Once I had things cleaned up, I gave them a hot dog and fed them some food. I was pretty exhausted just from the week of little sleep, so I jumped straight on the computer to hammer out a blog entry, and then it was off to bed.

Christmas in the Amazon

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Cafeteria Dumplings

I actually made it to work about a minute early today, which meant I was the first one in the building. I continued rearranging devices in PRTG, and helped Randy with anything that he had going on. After a little while, he took me to the annex to hunt down some old cameras to try and repurpose them for a classroom. I grabbed a few things from scrap there, and then we headed back to the office.

I was super excited that we had ice and water back again, so I stayed hydrated today. I ate an old, giant cheesecake that had been in the fridge a while, and then we had to get on a conference call with Acer to hear about their Chromebooks. Afterward, Maggie and I went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, where the food was good, but the service was awful. I don’t know if she was overwhelmed, or just bad at her job, but we had actually finished our food before we even got our appetizer.

The afternoon was super relaxed as well. Randy left a little early, and then Maggie left, and even I left a few minutes early so I could be home in time for the dinner that Summer was making. It was some kind of shredded chicken, spinach, and mushroom cooked in canned soup or something, which we ate over rice. It tasted a little bit like the dumplings I had, but mostly reminded me of cafeteria food.

After we ate, I took the dogs out for a longer run to my parents’ house, and then through the basin. They were really good again, so once we got back to the house, I broke up a hot dog for them, which they absolutely loved. Summer also made cake, so we ate some of that before getting cleaned up for the night. Eli was there for dinner and helped Eaddie finish her musical instrument project. Once everyone else was wound down, I made my way to bed earlier than usual.

Biscuits and cornbread!

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Switch it Up

Summer wanted to take the Tesla to Little Rock today, so I had to take the Murano. It got me there much more stressed than usual, and I did not arrive feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as usual. I think if it hadn’t been so quiet and relaxed in the office all day, I would have been far more tired. I snacked a bit in the morning, so I wasn’t super hungry by lunch. Nobody came around to eat anyway, so I ended up going down the road to Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken to get something to eat by myself.

This place was an old Hardee’s with some new colors. For being such a targeted restaurant name, they had a strange mix of stuff. They had fried chicken on the bone, gumbo, jambalaya, fried rice. It was kind of wild. There was a nice black lady at the counter that had no problem scolding the sketchy, jittery fellow that didn’t quite get all of his trash into the can on his way out. In the back were a couple of brown guys, but I couldn’t tell what kind. They didn’t quite look Indian, but maybe Bangladeshis. I’m working with limited international experience.

I got jambalaya with some fried okra, and both tasted good, but the jambalaya didn’t look anything like the picture. It seemed to be missing some sausage, among other things. The shrimp in it was tasty though. I left a little bit hungry through, having gone à la carte, so I grabbed some fries from McDonald’s across the street on the way back to the office.

Maggie brought her daughter to the office after a dentist appointment, so the lights were out for nearly the entire day. I added all of the switches to PRTG manually, since the automatic scans just produced a bunch of other trash. I ended up leaving late because I got a call from Progressive about our auto claim. Evidently I should have just called GEICO directly instead of dealing with our insurance, since I wasn’t at fault. Later on the stressful drive home, I got a call from GEICO to get the claim started on their end.

I had felt a bit gurgly all day, so I took a break when I got home, and then took the dogs for a run to my parents’ house to eat. Summer watched a couple movies on the couch while I was gone, and then I sat outside with the dogs for a while when we got back. I got them some new food that was on sale on Amazon, and then cleaned up the kitchen a bit before bed.

This is incane.

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Long Drive Home

I ran a little behind again this morning, but the long drive gave me plenty of time to make it up. I helped Randy with some more of his admin stuff and then spent the rest of the day tinkering with PRTG. I was feeling pretty tired the whole day, so I knew it was going to be rough by the evening. I ended up just picking up some Sonic down the road, and picked up drinks for Maggie and Randy. They had a deal on coneys, and I also had a really good peach and vanilla slush.

The afternoon was quiet, but it’s always quiet where I am now. I left right on time so I could meet Summer in Conway for dinner. I went by the wash first to check on her, and then took the car to charge at a nearby hotel. Then she picked me up and we went to Texas Roadhouse for some steaks. I still wasn’t very impressed with the steak or the ribs. It wasn’t bad, but most of it just tasted really dry.

We stopped at Target for some dog food on the way back to the car, and then she made me drive the Murano back home. I always knew Autopilot made it easier, but I was absolutely beat by the time I made it home. I quickly changed and then took the dogs for a run around the block. They were great again, and ran even harder than they’ve run before with fewer breaks. I got them fed, and then it was off to bed as quickly as I could get there.

Reruns

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Stay on Target!

Someone said a big truck caught on fire on the interstate last night, and they still had the entire road blocked off when I got there. It took me an extra half hour at minimum to get through it after it started to divert me over the river. Somehow I was basically still one of the first ones to get into the office, and Randy didn’t seem too worried about any of it. Simply the most vocally relaxed boss ever.

I was stuck in GAM all day trying to clean up old Google Classrooms, mostly unsuccessfully. I had a Soylent, a leftover slice of cheese pizza that Eaddie brought home from the concession stand, and a coffee to get me through the long morning. Then I rode with Jay and we followed Jim, Randy, and Maggie to a place in Scott called Scott Station for lunch. They had a really fluffy, black, quiet, mild-mannered dog in the restaurant, and it looked like a Cracker Barrel on steroids. Unfortunately I found the brisket sandwich to be pretty lackluster. It was better than Corky’s, but it was still bad.

The afternoon went by a little quicker, but I felt hot and was frustrated with GAM the rest of the day. Then I had to meet Summer on the opposite end of Little Rock for our movie. She ran even further behind than I did, so I parked at a hotel with a charger for a little while until she got closer to town. Then we arrived at the Promenade at the same time. We had dinner at the Local Lime, and then watched Transformers One in IMAX 3D.

I thought the movie was cute, but Summer was way more excited for it. The theater was super cold though, so I just kept trying to cover her up with my extremities. I was fairly tired and uncomfortable by the end of it, just from being clammy and wearing my work clothes all day. She drove on home while I looked for deals.

I went two both Targets in Little Rock and found one Pixel Watch 2 at the first store for $75. The store on University didn’t have any marked down. I had to stop in Conway for just a couple minutes to charge and then checked that Target as well, but didn’t have any luck. Then I finally made it home super late.

Eaddie was up and came out to talk to me for quite a while, but had to go to bed for an early day of community service hours for school.

BADASSATRON

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Armadillo Eggs and Other Nonsense

I ran a little behind to work after having to clean up some more puke from Stilgar. He seemed to be feeling better this morning though, so the worry was over. I still managed to get into the office before anyone else by more than 10 minutes, but apparently they were socializing outside before work. I just continued working on group policies all day.

NextStep took us out for lunch to a place called DRAFT + TABLE, which was excellent. They had an appetizer called Armadillo Eggs, which were “fresh jalapeños grilled, stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in our sausage and cheese breading, and baked until golden and crispy, served with our signature blackberry cream sauce.” They were much larger than I expected, and absolutely delicious. Then I had their pastrami reuben, which was also much larger than I expected. Both it and the fries were amazing. Finally, their “banana pudding” was a gelatinous atrocity. It was served in a ceramic dish, similar to their crème brûlée, and it looked strange from the start. The “pudding” was a thin layer of appropriately colored gelatin that was so hard, it wanted to jump out of the dish. In fact, a square slice of Maggie’s made it down to the floor from our high table, and didn’t lose a bit of its shape. Zero out of five stars.

The rest of the afternoon was more of the same until quitting time. Traffic was awful on the drive home, but at least it was steady and fast. They need a bullet train that just runs down the Interstate. I got home and immediately took the dogs out for a run. Dad had checked on them midday and said they both seemed fine, and indeed we ran for nearly the entire loop of the neighborhood. We stopped to see Dad briefly, then went the long way around the basin trail, zig-zagging through the neighborhood to get home. Some lady saw me and felt compelled to record me on her phone while she drove slowly behind me in her car, hanging out of her window. It was super awkward, and I thought this must be what celebrity feels like.

Eaddie was out late again, and I managed to get to bed close to my planned time after catching up with Travis a bit. I don’t know what prompted him to reach out again, but it didn’t seem like much had changed. I just wish he would get over his anxiety and go outside some more.

No more nonsense.

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Too Familiar

We got up early to head to Tulsa this morning, and drove straight to the service center in one go. It wasn’t unbearable after driving so much, but I still don’t favor it. Life on the highway is boring. We got to the Tesla service center without any issues on one charge, checked in, and got a loaner to find something else to do in town.

We went to Michael’s and walked around, then walked next door to Kohl’s. We didn’t really find much, aside from a table of Mickey Mouse Farberware cookware. I sent some pictures to Julie, and then we left to find something to eat. I wanted something unique, which landed us at Oh-K Dog in the Woodland Hills Mall. They had Korean rice hotdogs with potatoes and stuff fried on the outside, and they were incredible. Summer and I each had one, and then went back for seconds. The price felt reasonable, which probably says more about my acclimation to inflation than it does about the value proposition of a hot dog fried in rice batter.

After we ate, we walked the mall in absolute awe of a functioning relic of our past. Only two or three shops were closed, and those appeared to be for renovations and not just due to a collapse in popularity. There were several stores with no customers at all, but it was also the middle of a Monday afternoon.

From there, we actually got a message that they were done fixing Summer’s Model Y, but we still wanted to find something else to do. We ended up finding a Cinemark nearby and went to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in D-BOX seats. Summer was surprised, but enjoyed the rumble motion seats. I thought it was a treat, but it would have been overpriced if it hadn’t also had a very large screen. Theaters in large cities astound me, but it’s not worth the people.

I didn’t think the movie was bad, but I just wasn’t interested in that world. I wasn’t nostalgic about it, so I could have easily gone without it, but at least it wasn’t boring. After the movie and a successful summoning of the car to the front door of the theater, we headed back to Tesla to get our car back. I had to drive the Model 3 Performance before we left though, and it really did seem to have a little more pickup than my old car. When we got back, I asked about a Model S Plaid, and the guy had to go ride along with us. We found an empty dead-end road and he let me do a full launch, and it was spectacular. If prices keep falling, I may have to hold out for one of those.

Once we were done there, we headed toward home with the hope we could make it without charging. I decided to stop in Van Buren for a restroom break anyway, and then got to Ozark where I decided to stop for some Taco Bell before it got too late. Eaddie beat us home from working the concession stand again, and I did my best to wind down quickly. She was still full of energy though, and ended up taking the dogs out for a late walk while Summer and I went to bed.

Just give me some stalks, man.

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Roll With the Lunches

This morning was my roughest start, but I’d still had worse. Somehow I got out of the house with my undershirt on backwards, but I fixed that before I got into the car. I got to work a little bit late since I wasn’t sure anyone would be there to let me in, and traffic was heavier, but not really any worse or slower than when I’ve started earlier. I still got there in the same amount of time, or possibly even faster because all of the traffic was speeding.

I brought some speakers from home and got them set up for music, and then I got into the SCCM server. I have been constantly surprised by the lack of best practices, and I messaged Gary to tell him how good of a job he had done back in Russellville. I made a couple imaging drives for the techs, and it kind of astounded me how little any of them knew. At least they’re good-natured.

I was alone for most of the morning because Maggie came in way later than she told me she would be. Eventually people showed up, and then several of us met at Jacob’s Wings for lunch. The “boneless wings” were really just chopped up chicken strips with sauce, but they were tasty, and I actually liked that they had less breading. Jay showed up to lunch late with a new Kia that looked pretty slick. Then everyone headed back out and I wrapped up the afternoon in relative peace. It was basically a fraction of what I had been doing at Two Rivers, except most everything was still functional, and I had a team of people doing what Kim should have been doing so I could stay focused.

The drive home was fine with more of the Waveform podcast. Dad had offered spring rolls earlier, but Summer had to cook the food she bought for dinner on Monday for Eaddie, because she would be out late for school stuff the rest of the week. I got home and immediately headed out to return an Amazon purchase to The UPS Store, and then picked up some laundry detergent from Walgreens. Then I took the dogs for a quick walk through the neighborhood while my parents ran to the grocery store.

I dropped the dogs off back at home and then rode back to my parents’ house to eat. It got dark early, so I didn’t get to stay long. The girls were in bed when I got home, so I had to clean up the grill and put everything back in place on the deck. I spent a little more time with the dogs, and then came in to wrap up before bed.

Keys like butter.