Assemblance

I worked from home today since the guys were supposed to finish work on the ceiling. They did a bit of painting, I pointed out some issues, and they touched up. The total cost increased by about $500 due to some extra construction elements they had to do to raise and level the whole ceiling. They got ceiling fans re-hung, and I immediately noticed a missing pull chain. I looked all over for it under the deck, but didn’t have any luck.

Dad came over to look at some of it with me since he would be over to hand off the second half of the money the next day. Summer got home and started making spaghetti. I took Muad’Dib for a run to the bank to get the money, and we went inside to talk to Aaron for a bit.

When we got back to the house, Dad wanted to go to the other house to uninstall the microwave so they could have the cabinets replaced. I picked him up and we got that taken care of. Eaddie finally got home so we could eat, and then I took Muad’Dib out for another run. While we were out, Summer noticed a hole in the wall, some broken trim near the floor, and I found a broken USB cable from one of my security cameras, so I had to send another email before wining down for bed.

Spaghetti and Squealy Olive Balls

Aweem Away

Summer never got her work stuff out of my trunk, so she asked me to drop it off for her on my way to work. I did that as quickly as I could, then picked up some spicy chicken biscuits from Hardee’s on the way out of town. It was a bit wet out, but I couldn’t tell that we really got any more rain the rest of the day.

I finally got into Brandon’s old Vimeo account to cancel the subscription he forgot to cancel. Then Charles and Matt were saved by my superior/existent network documentation. I had a fairly heavy anxiety attack at some point.

Dad said they should be able to finish the house tomorrow, so I got the okay to leave work early and then work remotely the next day. Summer was supposed to be off early too, but got stuck again. The guys were packing up just as I got home.

Mom said they still had spring rolls, and Julie and Kevin were coming over, so I took Muad’Dib over too. Dad suggested I take a dip in the super cold pool to try and wash off some of the dog before coming inside to eat, but I couldn’t stay in for long. Mom got everyone going and then disappeared to the back of the house, but we had a good visit otherwise.

After dinner, I took Muad’Dib on a surprisingly short and slow walk. I thought he’d run harder with the cooler weather, but he just wanted to lollygag. Summer was in bed, so she wouldn’t get up to inspect the ceiling work with me. I had some wine and crashed a couple hours early.

Seek differing opinions. The fact that they’re haters doesn’t make them wrong.

2 roll or not 2 roll

The clock ticked slowly today, but for no benefit. Summer had to go to work to troubleshoot an equipment outage, which took way longer than she expected. She was going to make breakfast, so I took over and made eggs with RO-TEL. She got home just in time to eat it hot, and Eaddie actually came out to join us after not enjoying her overnight oats.

We were all in limbo for much of the day. We thought we might visit with Diana, but that fell through because she didn’t feel well. Mom mentioned spring rolls yesterday, but we never heard from her. Eaddie had, for the third day, said she had Ceci’s birthday to attend. Eli came over for a while and they eventually left. Summer went to the gym for a while, and I ended up taking a bath because I didn’t feel great myself.

I reached out to my parents to figure out the plan, and discovered that Mom had broken out really badly, so she wanted to avoid us and the dog to see if that was the problem. After some back and forth with poor communication, Summer and I went over and ate on the porch outside with Dad.

There was a threat of some heavier rain, but we just saw sprinkles for a bit. Muad’Dib and I finished our run after dinner, and then settled in early. I did a bit of cleaning, so the girls beat me to bed.

Object Impermanence

Paper Thin

I didn’t sleep very late for how late I got to bed. Summer hit the gym and I started some laundry before getting showered for lunch with the family. Eaddie went to church and came back with Eli, and Muad’Dib and I rode the Onewheel over to my parents’ house while the other three followed behind.

We wanted to try the meat slicer I got for Mom, but Dad took the meat out to thaw, which made it more difficult. We juggled between different cuts of meat as some refroze and others came out of the freezer, but it eventually all got sliced. It seemed like the slicer worked really well for completely frozen meat.

The phở was really good, but Mom thought it was too salty. We all finished eating and I finished slicing all of the extra meat for more phở or spring rolls later. Summer took the kids home and I took Muad’Dib for a pretty short run since it was so warm out. We passed a house with two really surprisingly young kids trying to sell lemonade, but I didn’t have any cash.

I considered going back, but the sun was out and it was hot. I had to finish laundry anyway. Summer did her nails and worked for quite a while, so I just stuck to myself. The girls got hungry again after a while, and I had $10 of Papa Dough to burn, so I ordered a pizza and some cheese sticks, then went to pick it up with Muad’Dib.

He enjoyed the car ride, and then was a good boy and stood outside to wait for me while I got our pizza. Another customer came up and gave him some pets, so it was a worthwhile outing. We got home with the food, ate, and then Eaddie left. I tried spending some time with Summer, but she just put on another cooking competition show.

Understimulated

Chasing the Same High All Night

Felt late.

Wasn’t.

Grabbed a biscuit from Burger King and hit the road.

Quiet and lonely day.

Dad waited for a work crew that never showed.

He called for an update, and Adam said the guys didn’t show up for work.

Suspect miscommunication and shifting blame as an excuse.

Late lunch Baconator with a surprise baked potato kicker.

Summer got home early and wanted to make dinner.

Strange rubber chickens, but ultimately decent meal.

Must be the marinade.

Muad’Dib needed a run and a bath.

Encountered a field of geese, but he was disinterested.

Had a creek bath.

Met a tiny black kid on a tiny kit bike that wanted to try the Onewheel.

Then he wanted to race.

All three of us took off.

Much fun.

Dirty good boy got a bath and came out a fluffy good boy.

Slushy mixer and chunes.

Bed.

Tequila Mocking Bird / I can’t stop drinking about you.

Two Three Four

It started raining last night and kept going all day long. It was a nasty drive to work, but I got out early enough to pick up two chicken biscuits on the way. Unfortunately, the misty air made my drive a little more hands-on than I like. We caught another huge rat, and I ended up taking it all the way to Morrilton with me again. I pulled over a few blocks from the office and let it go, but it ran under my car somewhere to get out of the rain. I just had to hope it didn’t jump up onto the car somewhere.

I got in and asked permission to leave early again, but Dad texted later and said his haircut was rescheduled, so I stayed. I had an anxiety attack pretty early in the day. Later, I wasn’t super hungry for lunch, but I took a break to grab three buns in the form of a Big Mac.

The afternoon dragged on forever, and the rain had mostly stopped by the time I headed home. Summer texted that Eaddie was going to pick up pizza just as I was pulling up to the house. She got back and I had four slices out of the three overkill pizzas she ordered.

Eaddie was up singing all night, practicing for one of her classes. Eli came over to help. I wound down super early.

five six seven eight

Weightlessness, No Gravity

I thought I had a call this morning, and sat waiting for far too long before I realized it was actually Monday. Matt came in to install the data loggers, so that project is at least started with minimal actual effort. I spent the rest of the day playing around with IDRAC and deciding whether to just nuke the Dell server they bought late last year.

We went to Casey’s for a slush before making it to Taco Bell for some lunch. Rather than fight the dog who follows, I left Muad’Dib in the car, picked up our food, and left it at the picnic table outside before letting him out. As soon as I did, he ran to the table and laid down next to it like the best boy. We had a good time in the cooler weather.

We had pineapple upside-down cake for Rhonda’s birthday as soon as we got back, and then I texted Brandon for a little more insight into the server issue. That gave me the confidence to go all-in on wiping it to start fresh. I backed up what I could, and got through updating a bunch of firmware before leaving for the day.

We got another slush and made it to the house where Summer was working on some sort of cold chicken salad she had made before. I ended up eating a leftover Crunchwrap since the kids weren’t there anyway. She went to clean up and immediately made it to bed, so I took Muad’Dib out for a good run.

Summer noticed we had caught another rat, so after the run, I took it to Washburn park for release. It was small and cute and afraid, so much so that it didn’t immediately jump away when I opened the trap. Its lilttle head was down in the corner and didn’t realize it was free, so I had to shake it out.

After that, I went by both Casey’s in search of more slushies, but they both had their machines turned off. I had the car take the long way home while I relaxed to some music and enjoyed the view.

A bird’s-eye view of San Luis

Gramblin Man

I left Muad’Dib at home today to babysit Dad while he babysat the guys working on the ceiling. It worked out well since we had a staff meeting first thing in the morning anyway. I didn’t really come prepared to say anything, but took up enough time with what updates I had anyway. After that, I spent all day messing with the newer Dell server they picked up last year, but hadn’t actually been doing anything since then.

I went out for a really late lunch, and decided to go to Blue Diamond Cafe for some table service since I didn’t have to worry about time with the dog. I made the mistake of asking my young server for a suggestion, and ended up getting a super basic hamburger because of it. It was good, but lacked dimension. Next time I’ll just have to go in and know what I want.

The afternoon was short after that, and I stopped by the wash to see Summer just as she was about to leave. My car has been filthy for quite a while, so I stopped for a quarter wash on the way to the house, and then washed the inside and outside of my windows once I got there.

Our ceiling had been completely removed, and they hung plastic up to cover the hole, and tarped the whole area, though air could still freely pass through. Luckily it’s been slightly cooler, so the air wasn’t struggling quite as much to keep up. It wasn’t long before I took Muad’Dib out for a run.

We picked up a small dog along the way, who has been roaming farther and farther every day, looking for things to hump. I ended up picking up my pellet pistol from my parents’ house to take along with us, in case he follows us again.

We got back to the house just as it got really dark, and I gave Muad’Dib a bath. Then it was a relatively early night to bed.

Drive

Downed

I was up late moving some more stuff, and I finally got a call early this morning from Adam, who asked for our address because he had put my parents’ address on our quote. He and two younger guys showed up, I handed over $3,500, and then Adam left the other two to it. They had to drop off a trailer and then go get supplies, so I took Muad’Dib for a quick run around the block. Then they came back to move some furniture and hang plastic around the room.

I tried to get some work done, but I still had so much other stuff to clean and move around that I actually couldn’t concentrate on anything. Coupled with a stomach ache for much of the morning, I just wasn’t productive. Eaddie came home from her first day of college, I scolded her for the state of her bathroom and had her clean it up so the guys could use it, and they eventually finished up pretty early in the afternoon.

The whole house was hot and dusty – moreso after more of the ceiling was missing. The plastic sheet slowly fell throughout the evening. I felt gross, and a shower didn’t help a great deal. Summer had to work late, so when I asked what she wanted for dinner, she immediately responded with Brangus. I mistook the message and drove to Check-H, then realized my mistake and drove the extra few blocks.

Summer enjoyed her meal, but just about ever aspect of our visit was middling-to-poor for me. It started with stale peanuts and a burned tumbleweed, then followed through with an old, dried up baked potato, and rounded out with a cold steak.

We got back to the house and I took Muad’Dib out for a run because the quick spurt of rain we had just before dinner had dried up on the ground. It felt quite a bit nicer, but got dark quick. I had more cleaning to do before bed.

out

No Fix

I got out of bed not knowing when the crew would show up to start repairs on our ceiling. I waited and waited, and eventually got an email from Adam that said he meant to respond yesterday that they would be a day behind because his father went to the emergency room. I considered going in to work, but just carried on at home instead.

When Summer got back to town, Eaddie, Muad’Dib, and I went to meet her at Cicis, though he had to wait in the car while we ate. Afterward we went back so I could continue working from home. Later in the afternoon and evening I cleaned up around the dining room and tried to move more smaller stuff out of the living room. We’re running out of room elsewhere because things have been moved and packed inefficiently.

Summer got back from work late and basically went straight to bed. Eaddie had left for a while butu came back while I was cleaning up.

No fix at all.