Tag: television

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Forced Urgency

I was a couple minutes late to work this morning for some reason, and I walked in to the team talking about going to all of the schools to cut laptop chargers out of the carts so the kids could take them home. It was an unnecessary reaction to a threat of inclement weather because they didn’t have the forethought to make a plan.

I rode with Zach and Travis to Sequoyah, Oakland, and Center Valley where we met with Kyle and Jacob to complete the work. We didn’t actually remove chargers, but we cut zip ties to make it easier for the teachers, who ranged from unfazed to absolutely panicked.

That took most of the morning, and then Thomas took Zach, Greg, and me to Quiznos for lunch. Afterward, we met back up and went over a chat support system that Thomas had implemented in case we could work from home. A little later, Tammy was worried about verifying inventory for some touch panels we received a week or two ago, so Zach and I went to the maintenance warehouse and talked to Chris for a bit, and then counted our touch panels.

School let out a couple hours early, which really wasn’t necessary for the precipitation we had. Instead of having an AMI day with all of the newly liberated devices, administration decided it was best to just call Tuesday an inclement weather day that would have to be made up at the end of the year. It would seem that AMI days should always be used first, since we have them, but I guess not everyone was prepared for that.

I made it home and loaded up to go to Summer’s for the evening. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to burn a sick day for what probably should have been given to us regardless. Summer was feeling much better, and quite chatty. Then I settled in for some Breaking Bad with Eaddie until bedtime.

They have an incredible talent for making things much worse than they have to be.

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Post Snow

The office was really quiet today, but the building techs seemed to be working in their buildings. Greg and I chatted for a little bit throughout the day, which was more than usual. I was pretty busy all day, just from working on random things that kept coming to me. When lunch time came around, it was just Thomas and me and I convinced him to try Ridgewood in the hour we had.

We made it through the line in a little under 40 minutes, which meant we made it back to work right on time. Considering we’ve been late for worse food, I thought it was a fair deal. When we got back to the shop, I went across the street to install some RAM for Joseph, and then spent the rest of the afternoon downstairs.

Summer stayed home sick, so after work I went to Linh’s to get her some soup and spring rolls. Eaddie shared a recording of a ridiculous argument she had with Autumn in the morning, and we collectively rolled our eyes in solidarity. Then Summer and I watched some Modern Family until bedtime.

But our princess is in another castle!

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So Long, and Thanks for All the Carbs

Today was Josh’s last day, so we had a bit of a long meeting to socialize before everyone split off. Once that happened, Kyle asked me for help on a one-person job. I had my own things to tend to, so he okayed delaying that until Monday when the kids are out. I actually did a fair job of keeping busy for the rest of the morning, even finishing up some things at Dwight before making it back for lunch.

Just as I got back to the shop, Tammy was walking out to pick up Pasta Grill for lunch. I rode along with her, and then the whole crew got together to eat. Travis missed out on account of some unexplained intercom issues at Oakland, but made it back for some leftovers after everyone else had split off.

The remainder of the workday just creeped by. I went across the street for some ice and talked to Kayla for a little bit, but otherwise it seemed like several of us were just riding out the clock. I ended up taking the leftovers home, but there was hardly enough for a couple people left.

I went home and tended to the shrimp for a bit, and eventually made it up to Summer’s for the evening. Eaddie wanted to watch TV, so after she finished baking brownies and Summer ate some food, we watched one episode of Umbrella Academy. Then everyone was off to bed, because the girls had all-region in the morning. Summer hadn’t felt well all afternoon, so she went straight to bed. I still had heartburn and indigestion from lunch, so I struggled to settle down for the evening. I burned so much time tending to frosty survivors on my phone.

Of course I overpaid.

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I Heard a Rumor

Today went by fairly quickly compared to the rest of the week, which was technically short, but felt really long. We had a pretty chill meeting in the morning, and then I sat in the dark for most of the morning until lunch time. Several of us went to Freddy’s and ate in relative quiet until we got back to the office.

Greg helped me look at the Gardner sign after lunch, and then I spent the end of the school day at Dwight. Karen said her lunch with Ginni went well, and that she admitted after some thought that the school newsletter was focused primarily on certified staff. I keep feeling like I could have a much better one-on-one relationship with her than our public interactions ever go. In any case, I finally made it back to the shop for a collaborative Net+ practice test with Greg, Gary, and Thomas to end the day.

I went by my parents’ house after work to drop off some paperwork, but had to run home to change so I could make it up to Summer’s for dinner. She made a pork chop dinner and we all sat down to eat together for the first time in quite a while. Then Eaddie and I spent the rest of the evening watching The Umbrella Academy until bedtime.

Resourceless.

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Work Wives

I got a bit of a slow start this morning, but made it home to shower before lunch with Brandie. She suggested the newly re-re-opened Old Bank, so I met her there. Just as we got seated, Mollie got my attention from the booth right next to us. They had some pretty good looking nachos that at least filled the plate, unlike the bacon-wrapped, goat cheese-stuffed dates that we had.

Brandie got the Reuben, so I felt obliged to get something different and went with the off-menu wagyu burger. The food service was disappointingly slow, but at least our drinks stayed topped off. Overall the food was good, but quite overpriced. I didn’t really feel like anything we ordered was anywhere near worth the price.

After we ate, I took her for a ride up and around town, and we chatted for a while longer before she left. Then I went by Superfast to find Summer in the pit. She didn’t have time to talk, so I ended up leaving to get another quote on some tint for my car.

I went by Clear View this time, and there was nobody in the office for a couple minutes. Eventually a younger guy came out from the back, surprised to see me, and chatted with me for a bit about some options. Evidently he didn’t really have the pricing, so I’ll have to give them a call next week to really find out. He did at least say they’d be likely to offer a cash deal. The operation itself appeared to be less put-together, or at least had a less professional atmosphere, but that didn’t matter a great deal to me for what I needed.

Robert texted that he was getting an oil change, so I tried to catch him at Superfast. They were too fast, though, and he was already gone. Summer was just leaving work, so I saw her out and went to my parents’ house alone for some phở.

After I ate, I headed home to swap vehicles, and then beat Summer home since she stopped at the gym. Eaddie wanted to watch The Umbrella Academy, so we started on a couple episodes of that before bed. Autumn arrived home late after spending all day with her boyfriend, and then immediately gave us attitude when we called her out for being weird about the plans she was making for New Year’s Eve. We just laughed it off though, and continued watching our show until bed.

It’s called allowance, you ignorant skank.

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In Transit

Our meeting was fairly short this morning, as they’ve only come up with about three agenda items per week. That will grow as we bring in the two new-hires though, and we’ll continue the tradition of learning the flow of data every year and a half when we lose people. I was left mostly to myself, so I picked at a few things in my office before going to Oakland. I didn’t notice when I’ll actually start moving to Dwight, but I’m not really stoked about it.

I came back to the shop for lunch, and a few of us went to Zaxby’s. After we ate, we noticed a semi with a trailer full of identical grey Teslas going down Main Street. I had to get gas in the Shadow anyway, so I followed it until the guy parked in the turning lane at Chick-fil-A and ran across the street. I figured he was just stopping for lunch, because he was on the road again by the time I finished getting gas.

On the way back to the shop, I saw a girl tip-toeing her sport bike down the road by Summer’s new car wash, so I turned around and helped her push it over to 2nd Street. She fussed a bit about having just purchased the bike, and how they had trouble with the shift lever. They had it rigged together with some wire, and the whole linkage just fell apart. I made sure she was okay, and continued back to work when she insisted that she was fine and someone was on the way.

The afternoon was really quiet, and I spent some time cleaning out my old cubby in the office. I threw out an armful of stuff that I was saving, because my perception of value has changed quite a bit since I first started and was using that cubby. Now that I have an office, I should make room for the new techs.

When I left work, I decided to ride by Allen’s house to see if he was home. His car was there, and the front door was open, so I popped in to surprise him the day before his birthday. He was happy to see me, and we chatted for quite a while. I caught him up on all the goings-on at work, and he talked about going hunting tomorrow.

Apparently Eaddie wanted to play hooky and stayed home from school all day. Summer let her, since her lowest grade was a 94%. Autumn had to perform at an away game after school, so she was gone all evening. When I finished at Allen’s, I asked Eaddie if she wanted to go get her bike, and she quickly responded that she did. I went to pick her up, and she took off as soon as we got to my parents’ house. I stuck around for just a little bit, but they were busy either eating or watering the garden.

I went home to clean up before Summer got home. Bác Vân was outside for a little bit, and asked me to mow some of the tall grass in my front yard. I knocked that out really quickly, but then she wanted to buy my mower because she was aggravated with her own gas mower. I just kept telling her I could mow when the season comes around again.

Summer originally wanted to have a fire, but I was glad I didn’t waste the effort. She didn’t leave work until super late. Eaddie never made it home, and instead stopped at Maristella’s house. She asked me to pick her up, forgetting our conversation just minutes earlier that we had to wait for Summer to get back with the Murano. I brought her home, and then we went back for the bike once Summer arrived. They both wanted Casey’s pizza for dinner, so I ordered that before we left, and then we stopped at Kroger for some juice before getting the pizza. I ordered their beer cheese breakfast pizza and a barbecue brisket pizza, and the brisket was surprisingly good.

After we ate, we settled on watching the first two episodes of She-Hulk. I was glad I did, because I had forgotten who a couple of the characters were from the very beginning. I didn’t even realize how neglected some of those characters were as the story kept moving along. Eaddie quickly went to bed afterward, since she has a robotics event tomorrow. Autumn came over as soon as she got back to town, and Summer was quick to bed.

It must have fit, because it shipped!

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Draining

I finally remembered to bring a bánh giò for breakfast this morning, but I forgot my soy sauce. Luckily Summer was working in town and brought me some after she finished her morning workout. I spent the first couple hours of the day resetting passwords that Brody had accessed during his time with us, which was coincidentally the first time we’d ever done that before. We just never bothered in the past, but with such a new crew, it seemed like a good time.

The guys went to lunch several minutes early, but I went an hour late to go with Summer. I picked her up on the Shadow and we rode across the street to Morelos. The lunch fajitas are so good there. She had told me earlier in the day that she wanted to have family time this weekend, but I absolutely could not waste any more time getting my things in order. Then I upset her further with my response when she pushed me about John and Melissa. I’m simply juggling too many things, and I’m prioritizing them the best that I can. I’m not going to let something that’s going to drag me into the past distract me from the future I’m trying to build.

I dropped her off and planned to meet her at home right after work, where Dad was going to meet me to help with my leaky sink. I spent most of the afternoon watching more Network+ videos until I had to go upstairs for a couple work orders. Then I left on time, because Dad beat me to the house and had already started looking at the sink.

We took everything apart once I got there, and struggled breaking the garbage disposal apart until I brought out a real hammer. He had some ancient plumber’s putty from McCoys, which he was able to knead and microwave in order to make it pliable enough to apply to the sink drain. Summer came over after work and picked at weeds in the back yard, and Dad and I had to go to Lowe’s for a replacement rubber gasket.

We got most everything put back together correctly this time, but Dad had to go to a church meeting. Summer stuck around for a little while, but eventually went home. I continued compressing the putty, and scrubbed the corroded parts until they were a bit cleaner and more usable. Then when Dad came back after the meeting, we got everything sealed back up water tight again. There’s still a leak in the faucet, but that can wait for another day.

I ended the evening with the finale of She-Hulk, which was both weird and satisfying. I, for one, enjoyed it for its quirks.

Whatever, K.E.V.I.N.

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Worsedevil

I didn’t end up going to Maumelle with Summer today, and instead slept very heavily until around 10. I finally got up and around to finish some leftovers for breakfast, and it looked like Autumn was awake, but I never saw her. I peeked in at Eaddie to see if she wanted to go ride her bike, but she got up and did homework instead. I unintentionally spent all afternoon playing Into the Breach while she worked on her stuff, and didn’t leave for home until nearly dinner time.

I had gotten the date wrong on my free headlamp from Lowe’s, and stopped by there on my way home to pick it up. Shortly after I got home, Bác Vân called and wanted me to come over to try some ground-up black sesame seeds in water. She insisted it would cure my high blood pressure, but I wasn’t so sure it was worth it. I went back home and killed most of the rest of the evening in front of the TV.

I watched the penultimate episode of She-Hulk, and was surprised at how much Daredevil was in it. He was very different from the Netflix version though, down to his accent and the way he spoke. I didn’t much care for it, but I’m still excited to see what’s next.

After a hot shower, I headed back up to Summer’s for the evening, but she was already nearly asleep. I ended up just sitting in the dark on my phone again, wasting what was left of the night. I kind of assume tomorrow won’t be much better.

Spoopy.

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UpToDate

I was phlegmy all day today, which was no fun. I went through two cups of coffee to keep my throat soothed. The office was quiet again, except for when it literally wasn’t. The girls up front were cackling over something, so I had to give them a hard time. I got into a few different things that people sent me, but nothing too difficult.

I wasn’t super hungry until right at lunch time, and someone suggested Western Sizzlin. I probably should have stayed at the shop to eat my leftover chicken mac, but I figured I would feel a little less guilty if I started with a salad.

Just before school let out, I went to Oakland to take care of a couple small things. I ended up staying longer than I originally planned, and left after most of the kids were gone. Everyone had wound down at the shop by then, so I was quickly out by quitting time.

I was supposed to pick up Eaddie from school, but Autumn called just as I was about to leave and offered to pick her up and take her to the football game “so she could hang out with Maleea” instead of going to karate like she had planned. I knew immediately that she was full of shit, but then she asked whether I was going to spend the night with them, and said she would take Eaddie to school early in the morning if I didn’t. I took the opportunity to stay home and spend a bunch of time cleaning up the garage while the weather was nice.

The mosquitos eventually got to me, but I was happy with the dent I had made in all the junk in the garage. I came inside to watch the latest episode of She-Hulk, and then Brandie texted out of the blue to check in. I shared with her our new week of drama, and it sounded like she has a pretty busy rest of the year.

Summer eventually called before going to sleep, and I showed her around the garage. She had called her clinic for an update, but both her doctor and nurse were out, and the neurologist referral apparently wasn’t able to get her an appointment any earlier than mid-December. When we finished talking, I wrapped everything up and did my best to keep from getting distracted from going to sleep myself.

Abomaste

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Long Days

I took the Shadow in today, and it felt much cooler than yesterday. I really need to get some service scheduled for at least two of the bikes. I spent most of the day helping Jacob with some imaging issues. I felt like I never really got to concentrate on any one thing, and just jumped around all day.

Taco Tuesday was a light meal, and I got most everyone’s receipts, so I need to start eating there on other days to redeem my points. It’s been especially lucrative lately because I’ve been earning double points for some promotion.

The afternoon seemed to drag on forever. Zach even came into my office to try and kill about an hour. It looked like the others got some walkout time, but I left pretty close to quitting time after chatting with Tammy on the way out. I rode home and cleaned up a little bit before going to my parents’ house to help finish up the shrimp noodle soup.

When I got back home, I watched an episode of She-Hulk while I did a load of laundry. Then I struggled with some phlegm and generally feeling pretty wired when it was time to go to bed.

Points, please!