Plop Plop Fizz Fizz

I hadn’t felt super smurfy in the morning the past couple days. It was just slightly early for lunch when I decided to go to Walmart and get some meds, and then tempted fate with some Taco Bell before going back in. The rest of the afternoon was fine, and Joel came by to check in briefly. I’d probably feel better about how I’m doing if I couldn’t see the kind of stuff Brandon was doing before he left. I’ve got a bad case of imposter syndrome.

Traffic was nearly dead-stopped on the way home for the third time this month. I couldn’t tell what happened – only that there were two cop cars, separated by quite some distance. I finally made it through and Summer had dinner about ready when I got to the house.

Dad had come over to have someone quote fixing our sagging ceiling in the living room, and evidently they got into the attic and didn’t return the boxes in the garage to the correct place. When I pull in, I’m watching the cameras to see the sides and rear, so I ran right into a box that was left in the middle of the garage. I don’t think I broke anything, but I pushed it all the way forward into the bike rack that was in the floor and didn’t know until I got out.

The three of us had a good dinner. Summer made chicken-wrapped asparagus, mashed potatoes, and broccoli salad. I ate too much, and then started opening a bunch of Vine stuff. Ben called and we caught up for quite a while until it was cool enough to take Muad’Dib out for a run. He did pretty well, but got slow as usual due to the heat. We visited Mom, then made it home for the night.

I heard a rat in the kitchen, but the traps haven’t done anything for us. I’ve seen some poop around the dog food bowl, but I don’t know how else to get rid of them. They’re too smart for me.

The moon’s too heavy.

This Feels Redundant

I had an anxiety attack at some point this morning that hit me pretty quickly, but I shook it off. My two big tasks for the day were to call Brandon and get access to the password manager he set up, and then reinstall the second firewall after hours.

I went to McDonald’s for a late lunch, and then had an episode of rapid heartrate and feeling a bit like I was going to pass out near the end of the day. Maybe I psyched myself out about making network changes without the benefit of cellular service in case something went wrong. I just breathed through it until I didn’t feel dizzy.

Bret from Ashton called right on time, and it was a pretty quick and easy job to get the firewall in place. I actually re-racked it to match the other one, instead of the other way around, since all the cables would be up front. I wasn’t paying attention to the time, and we actually started the process early. I thought I’d be staying late, but I actually finished about ten minutes before I normally leave.

I checked my blood pressure pretty high, but wasn’t feeling bad, so I headed home. They had locked me in, so I had to make my way out through the factory side. Eaddie had taken Muad’Dib to his vet appointment in the afternoon, and they were hanging out at home when I got there. Eli was there and then gone again to get some snacks for them. Summer got home from work and had to get cleaned up from her long day.

I took Muad’Dib for a casual run, then found Mom watering plants outside while Dad was at church for something. She offered some bánh ướt(?) inside, and though it was getting late, I was pretty hungry. Muad’Dib laid down in the laundry room like a good boy while I made my food, and then Dad got home just as I was running out the door.

We got home well after dark and Summer was in bed while the kids were watching TV.

able to be omitted without loss of meaning or function

“barbecue”

I left around lunch time to get a free slush from Casey’s, and grabbed a pretzel and some free cheese sticks from Sonic on the way back. Then I got another slush on the way home. Julie wanted to go to Fat Daddy’s for her birthday dinner, so Summer and I met the family there. I picked up a third slush after dinner.

Muad’Dib and I went for a walk when we got home, and Eaddie left to spend the night at Maristella’s.

After that, only television noise.

At the Table

We had a staff meeting this morning, and it was interesting to have a seat at the table. I learned a lot about the business in a short amount of time, and it doesn’t look like there’s any slowing down. Later in the afternoon, I had a meeting with Shane as well, and came up with a few tasks to actually resolve.

I took a rock to the windshield on the way home and got a round-looking fracture on the far passenger side of the glass. It looked like it formed a cone that went deep into the glass, so I don’t know if it will be fillable, but if it is, at least it will be out of my line of sight.

Summer worked really late. I stopped to see her for just a moment, then made it to the house to bake some potatoes for dinner. She fried potatoes the other night, and it looked like she left a bunch of small ones for some reason, including one that had been cut to remove a bad spot. I wish she had chosen differently.

Noah was still at the house, but Eaddie was nowhere to be found. He was in and out, smoking on the porch, and dragging his stank into the house. I opened some packages and then ate alone before taking Muad’Dib out on a walk. I helped Dad fold the pool cover when we stopped by there, then had a bite of some fried noodles Mom made.

It was a quick and frustrating winddown, but early to bed.

Un-

Cold and Quiet and Hot and Slow

I didn’t hear from anyone today, so it was hard to get motivated without a real project to work on. I just dabbled in things all day. It was cold upstairs, so I ended up turning on my heated deskmat for a while. I had hot lunch in my office again, and then it was a super long afternoon.

Noah was still at the house when I got there, but said someone had work for him to do in the evening. He left, Summer got home and made some potatoes and Brussels sprouts to go with the leftover meats I smoked, and then I took Muad’Dib for a run. He was pretty sluggish, and I’m sure he’s ready for some cold weather.

what an outlook

sdrawkcaB

I dragged out of bed this morning, and pretty immediately felt sick to the stomach. I got to work about half an hour later than I have been, but still within the parameters I was given, so I didn’t bother messaging ahead that I’d be late. I brought a container of some leftover rice, chicken, and veggies for lunch that looked a lot more like supper, but I was a little bit afraid to eat it.

I had an anxiety attack early on. Then I had a couple of meetings to sit in on, and felt mildly productive with some other things as well. I hope people like me.

I happened to go downstairs to warm up my food a little late and ran into Elizabeth as she warmed up her own. We ended up sitting in the breakroom to eat, and then Janice joined us. Elizabeth made a comment about someone who was voted one of the top nurses in the state, and then showed me a picture of my old friend Tiffany. I guess she’s dating Tiffany’s father, or something of the sorts.

The afternoon went by a little quicker, though I stayed a bit late and then got hung up in traffic for the second day in a row. I thought about stopping by Taco Bell to pick up a Tuesday deal I scored, since it would expire overnight, but ended up going straight to the house instead.

Summer and Eaddie were working on a chicken salad for pitas, and some guacamole for dinner, but it looked a lot more like lunch. It was really good though, and Eaddie brought Noah over to join us since he wrecked his car today, only then learning that his insurance had expired.

I took Muad’Dib for a run, visited with a little corgi named Kaylee, saw my parents, then made it home for the night. I gave him a good bath, and then tried to get to bed as quickly as I could. That was when I remembered Taco Bell. I couldn’t place a future order, and the kids wouldn’t pick it up for me, so Muad’Dib and I ran out to get it. To make things worse, the closer restaurant couldn’t make it, according to the app, so we had to drive all the way across town.

stank boys

Blue Berry Cake

It was a bit rainy on the way to work, but that was the last I saw of it. I was greeted at the door by Joel’s new puppy, so I had my opportunity to talk about bringing Muad’Dib to work with me. He said they used to have several people that brought them, but only one that comes every day now.

I thought I would meet Shane today, but he wouldn’t be in town until the evening. Other than that, I had my first little meeting with some of the staff in the afternoon. I brought a bologna burger to finish up some of that stuff, and learned a bit more about some very non-IT systems just to be able to support people.

The morning dragged on more than the afternoon because I wasn’t super well rested. Janice made a cake for Teisha’s birthday, so we all met in the breakroom for some of that after lunch. I worked a little bit late, and then ran into some super slow traffic on the way home.

Summer wasn’t feeling great, so I made some rice to go with our leftover ribs for dinner. Then Dad texted to offer phở, so I fixed Summer’s plate and then took Muad’Dib out for a run and then ate with them.

I had laundry to do, so I went home to do that. I guess the washer was unbalanced, because it took way longer to finish than it should have.

Too tired for floury prose.

F is for Family

I had to disable an account today, and it seems like the employee process could use some work. It’s also possible that having government regulations involved actually made schools more security-focused. The rest of the day, I spent mostly worried about being in way over my head compared to the last guy. I may have had another anxiety attack, but I also might have been remembering yesterday. At the very least, we are two very different individuals with brains that function very differently. This seems to be a theme lately.

It’s me. Hi.
I’m the problem.
It’s me.

I got out for some McNuggets for lunch, and then the afternoon was super quiet and difficult to stay focused. I meant to go to Casey’s for a slush after lunch, but forgot, so I stopped on my way home. I stopped again in Atkins for another one because the first one ended up being mostly air, but their machines were off. I stopped to see when Summer would be home, then got another one at our Casey’s after waiting in a checkout line that wrapped through the store.

Mom was making phở, so Muad’Dib and I ran over, arriving just as Julie did. Summer and Kevin both sat it out because they said it was too hot after spending all day in the heat. Food was good, but then Julie started prying about our issues at home. I mistook it for a safe space to vent, but it felt more like I was being grilled and blamed, so I walked out. Muad’Dib and I finished the walk, made an extra block to avoid a small, yappy dog, and opened some Vine stuff before putting the girls to bed.

Drink to the foam!

Roll On

I went straight to my office this morning. I definitely had an anxiety attack. A little while later I went downstairs for coffee and a bit of social…ism? It didn’t take long before I had questions coming at me, for programs which I was barely familiar.

I brought a bologna croissant, then spent a fairly long, fairly lonely, fairly cold afternoon upstairs.

The kids were gone when I got to the house, but Eaddie had received my Onewheel from UPS. I put it on the charger, brought Muad’Dib inside for a vacuum and to wash his paws, and then we went for a run.

We went around the block before going to Sonic for some mozzarella sticks. Summer was nearing quitting time, so I texted her and she actually met me there to get a corndog. We ate, and then Muad’Dib and I chased her down the road toward home. I had to wave her off to keep him from overexherting himself, and it was a slow walk the rest of our time out.

We zig-zagged a bit around our usual course and stopped at my parents’ house. Mom was asleep and Dad was out, so we waited for him to get home. I had a little bit of his scalloped potatoes, and then we made it back to the house where I gave him another good vacuuming and a spritz of cologne before bed.

Do it again. Only 14,669 to go.

CTRL-C

Soylent, banana, bologna burger, Power Automate.

I might have had another anxiety attack. I can’t remember.

The girls were at the gym when I got home, so Muad’Dib and I stopped by my parents’ house for some potatoes. I washed his feet when we got home, then baked potatoes to go along with leftover ribs and chicken. The girls were preoccupied, so I ate alone, took out the recycling, and eventually made it to bed long after them.

CTRL-V