Tag: television

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Bumday’s a Drag

Summer was super sick all day, so I just sat around with the kids all day. Autumn came out and watched Criminal Minds while Eaddie played Mario Odyssey all day. Summer ended up going back to bed and slept most of the day while we just sat around bored. Eventually I shut everything down and tried to get the kids to do something else constructive, and they went to clean up their rooms a bit. Eventually I went home to clean up and figure out dinner.

I cleaned up after the cats and did some partial water changes on the tanks. One of the lights on my 55 gallon tank had gone out, and I figured out it was the bulb and the starter. Luckily I had a spare from Julie’s tank, so I got it running again. After a shower, I went to Walmart to pick up what I needed to make red beans and rice in the Instant Pot.

Back at Summer’s, I got dinner going while they watched TV. It took me a bit longer than I expected, so I cut up some summer sausage and cheese to eat on crackers as a snack while we waited. Once I could relax and let the food cook, I propped up against Summer and watched the first episode of the first true season of Battlestar Galactica. That ran both of the girls off to their rooms, so we just finished the one episode before dinner was ready.

Autumn snapped at Eaddie when she tried to fetch her for dinner, so Summer didn’t let her have any. The other three of us sat in the kitchen to see how I had done. The beans seemed slightly undercooked again, which was a little frustrating. It wasn’t too bad, but it definitely could have used some more time. I don’t know why dry beans are requiring so much more time than the recipes are calling for, but I’m afraid if I start off that much longer, they’ll end up mushy. It was still plenty edible though, and Eaddie seemed to like it pretty well. There were quite a few vegetables in it, so it seemed at least a little healthy.

After dinner, the girls pretty much went straight to bed. Summer and I went to the bedroom and watched an episode of Parks and Rec before she really started feeling the Nyquil. I emailed work to take a half sick day to help out getting the kids to school and stuff. Hopefully my sinuses don’t flare up more overnight.

Baby snails doo doo doo doo doo doo.

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Short Notice

Summer and Autumn left early this morning for a quiz bowl tournament. I slept in for a little while, but tried not to sleep all morning and got up to watch some Caprica in my boredom. There were still some leftover biscuits with gravy, so breakfast by myself was easy enough. A couple episodes in, Clint sent a message saying he was in town and wanted to know if anyone wanted to meet him for lunch.

I woke Eaddie up and we both jumped into some clean clothes and ran across town to Linh to meet Clint. He was in town to get Landon after an archery tournament. It was nice to catch up a bit, though Eaddie took a while to really wake up. Clint didn’t have time to socialize after we ate, so Eaddie and I came back to their house to shower and clean up for the day.

Eventually Summer and Autumn made it back in to town, and Summer had a really bad head cold. I ran to La Villa to pick up a chicken parmesan for them to split. Eaddie made her bowl of ramen she got from the Oriental food store, and I scraped the bottom of Summer’s plate when she finished. We tried watching an episode of Battlestar, but I had some trouble getting it to play the correct episode. Instead, we watched an episode of Parks and Rec, then I put Summer to bed. Eaddie stayed up watching Home Movies, and then Legends of Tomorrow once I was ready for bed.

Cold, rainy days are sleepy enough without also being travel-lagged and sick.

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Overpromised and Underdelivered

I got an email after work yesterday asking for us to replace a touch panel first thing this morning after I waited all day yesterday with no response. We still somehow managed to get it done without running into any kids, but it was still annoying. Otherwise, I was impressed with how quickly Jason, Brice, and I were able to get the job done. I honestly don’t think I could have been any more proud of them in that moment. Jason did seem to be in a promising mood though, in that he kept offering his guarantee that she would love the new touch panel, and that Sara would offer all kinds of extended training on how to use the new equipment. It got to the point very quickly that I had to start shutting him down on his referrals.

We didn’t have any other group projects, so I spent the rest of the morning taking care of a docking station setup before we went to lunch. Nothing sounded particularly good to me, and Jason really wanted CiCi’s, so he, Allen, and I went there. We cut it really close for our clock time, but we managed. I’m really not excited about having to do it, but it seems like at least Ben is going to have our back on some of the stuff anyway, so in the end it won’t really matter.

After lunch, I took care of a few things at the junior high. When school let out, the place quickly became a zoo of kids coming in for all-region band tryouts. Autumn was a bit upset that she only made second alternate, but she’s not willing to commit to the work needed to improve herself either, so she’s just going to have to figure it out.

I went home for a while after work to do a small water change on the aquariums, and eventually made my way up to Summer’s for the evening. I picked up a dollar burrito and free drink at Taco Bell on the way up, and after eating and finishing up Bridge to Terabithia with the kids, Summer and I watched a couple episodes of Parks and Recreation. Then it was off to bed for quiz bowl tomorrow.

He shows zero initiative. He’s not a team player. He’s never one to go that extra mile. Tom is exactly what I’m looking for in a government employee.

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Snap into the New Year

We didn’t know it at first, but power had gone out for about half the town this morning. Summer discovered it when she tried to get us some Burger King for lunch and had to drive to the north side of town to get it. She said traffic was horrible – probably because the traffic lights were out. She made it back eventually though, and we ate while the girls watched Criminal Minds. Once that was over, they left to get cleaned up while I did the same here.

Autumn took her first chance to get out of dinner with my family and had Summer take her to her grandparents’ for the night, and Summer and Eaddie came over so we could try and do a little shopping before dinner. We went to Bath & Body Works first, but it looked like they never bothered coming in to work after the power was out this morning. Then it was to Harbor Freight, who looked to be open from the cars parked out front, but were actually closed early for New Year’s Eve. With those out of the way, we headed on to my parents’ house for dinner.

Summer finally gave Dad the camera she bought him last year, which he seemed to really like, and (surprise!) even had a related camera on display. Mom made caramelized pork, which the girls loved. Mom didn’t like it without the pork skin, but I liked the lack of extra fat in it. When we were done eating, Dad found a couple bulging cans in the outside pantry that we shot up with a couple pellet guns. I managed to break one of the pumps, but after repeated shots with a regular BB gun I was able to puncture the last can.

Back home, Eaddie never could come up with anything besides playing Super Mario Odyssey. Summer and I looked all over the house for my Exploding Kittens cards but couldn’t find them. We finally gave up, and watched The Fundamentals of Caring on Netflix. Then on a bathroom break, I got a mental image of where I placed the cards and went straight to them to retrieve them. Summer, jaw agape with amazement, was speechless. We finished the movie with a little over 10 minutes to spare, so I lined up the end of Infinity War so we could bring the new year in with a snap. I ended up being about 10 seconds too slow, but I didn’t have that kind of finite control to scrub through Netflix anyway. At least Eaddie thought it was perfect timing.

After that, I managed to squeeze an episode of Parks and Recreation into Summer. When we finished that, Eaddie asked to watch one more. Then it was off to bed.

Perfectly balanced.

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That’s What She Said

I took the morning off but decided to work in the afternoon. I ran by Burger King to get Summer some lunch on my way in. Nobody else was there, so I headed on to Oakland to pull some old cable out of the ceiling in a couple rooms. Zach let me know that central office was closing a couple hours early, so I really only had to work an hour and a half before getting off.

Brice eventually showed up back at the shop and we ended up chatting for a couple hours about how terrible and corrupt and stupid the place is. Then he said the school board overturned the limit and hired him on at step nine when everyone before has always limited to step five, and we both just kind of sighed again at the whole “you can only get ahead if you know somebody” after he had gone on about how he goes to church with the district CFO.

I eventually made it back home and waited for Summer to get off work so we could go to my parents’ for dinner. The girls were staying another night with their friends, so it was just the two of us joining my parents for egg roll salads. Then we ran to Walmart to hunt for a big stock pot that I could use to cook up some apple pie moonshine. They had a cheap looking one that was super dented up, but they were only willing to come off the price by a couple dollars, so I decided to go back and just get a different brand of pot that looked to be of slightly better quality.

Back home, I got everything mixed up and cooking while we watched the last two episodes of The Office. I don’t remember where I stopped watching before back when the show was actually running, but I definitely know that I didn’t finish, so it was nice to wrap the whole thing up. They did a really good job of recapping the show too, to show how everyone had grown and changed. Now it’s time to find something new to watch.

I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.

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Kids Are Just Bums You Can’t Berate

Somehow I managed to beat the kids out of bed today. Summer was working at the shop, so I was in charge of keeping them alive again. I figured letting them sleep was probably my best chance. When they finally did wake up, I warmed up some leftover brats for them. It was surprisingly fuss-less all day, but they were completely enthralled by Criminal Minds.

Summer called after a little while and had me take her some eggrolls I had just warmed. Neither of the girls cared enough to leave the house, so I just dropped off the food and returned right back home. I didn’t try very hard to get them to do anything, so I just kind of milled around cleaning up my own things while they binged their show. I tried making some stock from an old leftover chicken carcass, but added too much water and was left with the LaCroix equivalent of chicken soup. Eventually I got a shower so I could take them home to do the same, but was told they wanted to spend the night with a friend, so Summer came to get them instead.

After only a little attitude, we agreed to go to my parents’ house for dinner as we had previously arranged, and then Summer took the girls home to clean up. I followed behind to take them to their friend after they finished cleaning up, and then Summer met me back at my house after her workout. I got a little Into the Breach in before we watched a couple episodes of The Office. I cooked down my soup too, but I think this time I boiled off too much of the water and was left with a muddy looking broth. It tasted alright, but still seemed not worth the effort. I’ll have to try that again, only better somehow.

It’s a great play about crushed dreams.

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Solstice with the Mostice

The kids got up and started watching Criminal Minds this morning. They got hungry, so I threw on some ramen while Summer went to take care of some school stuff and work out. After she got back, she took them home and I eventually got cleaned up enough to leave the house.

I stopped by Davis’ Pet Store on the way to Summer’s house because I wanted to pick up a few more baby snails while she had them. She gave me another tiny little ram’s horn style baby as well, but we weren’t sure what kind it really was.

When I got to Summer’s, she was in the middle of doing laundry and cooking food for my family’s potluck tomorrow. I warmed up some leftovers for us, and once she was done with everything we watched a couple episodes of The Office. When Nick brought the kids back, Noah started tearing the house apart looking for the ring he lost the other day. Autumn holed herself up in her room with her new phone, and Eaddie generally bummed around complaining about how she also lost her tablet several days ago but nobody would help her find it.

Summer wanted to play some Diablo, but I couldn’t get the family plan email invite to show up on her account, so she ended up falling asleep. I played Super Mario Party with Noah and Eaddie until they went to bed as well.

Today literally went by so fast!

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Wild Deal Chasing

Summer got up and hit the gym. I finished a bunch of mashed potatoes and stuffing from several weeks ago. Both were accomplishments in their own way.

Once I was ready, I picked Summer up at her house and we went to Gamestop to do some Christmas shopping for the quiz bowl team’s adopted Whirlwind. They didn’t have any Nintendo 64 stuff, so we went to Game X Change and picked up a console, a couple games, and an extra controller. From there, we headed to PetSmart to look around. Summer got some turtle food, and I drooled over more aquarium stuff. I spent a good amount of time trying to accumulate enough in purchases to use my $10 off $50 coupon, but in the end I found myself frustrated with the higher prices negating the savings of the coupon, and I put everything back.

We were both pretty hungry at that point, so I ordered some snacks from Sonic that we picked up on the way back to her house. The girls arrived shortly after we did, and Autumn packed a bag for her grandparents’ place since she has a blood sugar test in the morning. Mom made curry for dinner, so Eaddie and I headed that way while Summer dropped Autumn off.

Eaddie said she had just eaten and wasn’t too hungry, but she still enjoyed some curry. Summer went a little light, but I went back a couple extra times. Then it was back to my house for the evening. Eaddie took a shower before we all sat down and watched a couple episodes of The Office before bed.

Hang on a sec. Your mom and I are trying to have a fight!

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Keep Pressure on It

I made myself get up and out of bed this morning since it’s back to work tomorrow. After digging through my SIM cards, I pulled out my old HTC phones and tried activating one for Summer to use. It took me a while to get them going, and the SIM I found didn’t work, but I think I’ve about figured out a plan.

Once Eaddie was up, she and Summer had some leftovers for breakfast, and then Summer went to work out. Eaddie spent all day watching Arrow, and I bounced around the house, mostly still working on the phones. I still had a ham bone in the fridge that I wanted to throw into the Instant Pot, so I talked Summer into running to the store for an onion, some carrots, and celery. I had enough of everything else here to try making some soup. I don’t remember my parents ever using dried beans before, but I found some Instant Pot recipes that I could blend together and tweak to make it work.

I sauteed what was left of the meaty ham bits with the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and olive oil, while Summer sorted through the bag of organic great northern beans that John left me years and years ago. Then I added the two cups of beans, the mostly cleaned ham bone, eight cups of water, and some fresh rosemary and thyme to the pot. I originally set it to pressure cook on high for 35 minutes, but then after depressurizing and trying the beans, they were still a bit hard. Fortunately it didn’t take very long for the pot to regain pressure, and another 20 minutes finished them right up.

While the Instant Pot was going, I called the jury line to see when I would have to report for jury duty or selection, or whatever it was that I was summoned to do. The line was busy for quite a while, but eventually I got through and received a message that my summons was cancelled, or at the very least put on hold. I still have mixed feelings about that, but at least it’s one less thing I have to worry about for the time being.

Once the soup was done, I went through the surprisingly long process of depressurizing the pot again, and served up three bowls. The ham hock had nearly completely disintegrated, and all of the flavors poured out into the soup. The girls really liked it, so I called Julie to see if she wanted to try some, but she wasn’t hungry. I thought it was too sweet because it was a glazed ham and I used all of the juices from the pan as well. Next time I’ll avoid the drippings if they’re sweet. Overall it was a great success, and I can’t wait to try cooking another animal carcass. I think I’m even a little more excited to try cooking more dry beans, because they’re just so cheap. This thing is probably killer with chili too.

We watched The Office while we ate, with a windstorm in the background. Then the girls had to head out to pick up Autumn and get ready for school in the morning. I spent the evening hand-washing dishes, partly because I wasn’t completely sold on using the dishwasher on the Instant Pot, partly because I didn’t really have a full load of dishes, and partly for just a little bit of old school Zen to wrap up the week off.

All of that, and I forgot to take a picture. Guess I’ll have to do it all over again.

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Cleanup for Company

I got up this morning and continued working on chores all day. By the time I got to a good stopping place, I was late getting to Summer’s. Autumn had her boyfriend, Adrian over for dinner, and I don’t think I’d ever seen her room, the bathroom, or the rest of the visible house so spotless before. Summer had me sit in on her hand of Uno so she could start dinner.

The kids all gave up, since they were barely paying attention to the game anyway. Then we had a chicken alfredo with weird vegetable pasta. It wasn’t bad I guess, if we’re making healthier choices. Autumn had to go to her grandmother’s house for the evening so she could help with something the next day, so Summer took her and Adrian to drop them off, and I took Eaddie to my house.

Eaddie started to feel a little sick again, so I made her some Swiss Miss and let her watch Arrow while I started up some more laundry. When Summer got here, she started playing Torchlight II on her laptop until I got to a point with my laundry that I could watch some TV, and we put on The Office. Eaddie passed out eventually to some Nyquil, and we called it a night.

But I don’t want to turn the alarm on again!