Tag: work

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Low Key

I thought I would be sweating my balls off today, but Zach did me a favor and tasked me with some things at my desk. I did get out to help unload a couple trucks, and then move a bunch of Chromebooks, but it was pretty much everyone else that did all the heavy lifting. I spent most of the day alone in the office.

Greg drove the four of us to Brangus for lunch, and I had probably the smallest chicken fried steak I’ve ever seen. It was truly miniscule. I kind of wished I had just gotten the beef spud as usual. The afternoon went by quickly after that, as I tried to finish up sorting through a bunch of my own filing.

I had to run by the junior high to deliver a laptop, and while I was there, Courtney, Sarah, and Hope chatted about all the hooligan tomfoolery that happened throughout the school year. Then we discussed a teacher that insisted a kid use “nuts” instead of “scrotum.” I ended the day there, then stopped by The UPS Store to ship an Amazon return. The kid that helped me got super chatty and just kept asking questions starting with, “what’s a rash guard” and ending with “how do I tell my father that I dropped out of college?” It was probably the most interesting conversation I had all day.

After work, I stopped by the shop to see Summer had already torn into her car. The plugs or coil had caused it to misfire on cylinder two, so she dove right in and fixed the thing. I was super impressed, but I had to run home and change into some shorts because of how much I was sweating. When she finished up, she drove it on home and everything ran great.

Eaddie was sat on the couch with Fortnite, and the floor in her room still wasn’t swept. Autumn mowed a tiny sliver of the lawn, but burned through both batteries doing so. I was super upset, so we made Eaddie sit it out while the three of us picked up some pizza and went to my parents’ house for the first swim of the season.

When we got back home, Summer and I cuddled up for the first episode of Loki, which I thought was just perfect. It did a great job of plucking a singular character out of the universe, putting him into a new one, and completely defeating him in order to rebuild a whole new world. I can’t wait for the next one.

Wolfman’s got REDACTED!

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Feltnerds Water-Burger

We continued with inventory this morning, with most of us going to the junior high to split up. I walked the building with Kyle and covered most everything. It even ate into lunch by a few minutes just because we lost rack of time. I ran across town to meet the others at Morelos.

When we got back, Zach had me go to the middle school with him to pack up some sample devices to take to The UPS Store to get a quote. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon at the shop just sort of piddling on things.

A little while after work, I met up with Gary and Mitch again at Whatta-Burger. They beat me there by several minutes, and then it took them a really long time to get our food out to us. It really didn’t make sense that it took so long. We had great conversation though, which was good because we may not have any more for a while again.

When we finished up, I headed up to Summer’s where we watched an episode of Glee before Summer went to bed. Then Eaddie and I stayed up and watched some House until I was ready to pass out.

Fun résumé is going to be the talk of the town.

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#ForTheGraham

We had a pretty small crew this morning, so we all just did our own things until lunch time. Gary made it back to the office, and the two of us went to Colton’s for some steak. Then Gary had us all back at the high school to continue hanging wireless access points for the rest of the day. At the very end of it all, he, Kyle, and I wrapped up by finishing up some inventory in all the out buildings.

I loaded up an armful of old stuff to bring home from my old office, and waited there until dinner time. Mitch came to town and crashed on Gary’s couch for a couple days so he could train on how to manage a mattress store. He evidently doesn’t own a car, so Gary’s having to chauffeur him around. They decided on Daddy’s Smackin’ Wings for dinner, so I met them and Grant there after dropping a few things off at my office.

We had a great time catching up, and waxed poetic about the old days of video games. Robert picked the wrong time to get his tonsils out, so all I could do was send him a picture. Hopefully we’ll have a couple more days to get together before Mitch leaves again.

When I finally got back home for the evening, I spent a while cleaning up email. I constantly feel like I’m forgetting something important these days. I need to pay the bills I have, and then make a real effort to clean up and unsubscribe from unimportant, attention-seeking companies.

Correct.

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Divide and Make Busy

My back and neck weren’t much better this morning, but I made it through the day. We ended up taking the entire crew to the high school to split up between replacing access points and updating inventory. I lead two groups of two doing inventory while Gary took a couple with him to replace access points. While we accomplished more rooms, I think we overall felt less accomplished overall, just because we know how futile inventory of that nature tends to be.

Four of us went to Linh’s for lunch, and then it was more of the same in the afternoon, right up until quitting time. Then I stopped by the shop to see Summer, who looked like she had been in an oil slick. I didn’t stay for too long, and headed home to clean up before the girls came over.

I had gotten frustrated with my Pixel 2 XL earlier in the day, and got caught up swapping over to my Galaxy S21 Ultra. Once Autumn and Eaddie showed up, we went to my parents’ house for some stir-fry for dinner. Summer was too tired to get out again, so we brought back some for her, and then it was a relatively early night to bed.

Why did that guy have to go and invent ory in the first place?

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Dismount

I made it in relatively early this morning and wound up on a crew at the middle school to help remove a bunch of old displays for painting the walls behind them. I kept feeling like I had other things to be doing, but I suppose I wasn’t much of a team player last year while I was getting things ready at the high school. I had an inkling of anxiety following me around all day, and ended up panting in the hallway at one point because I just wouldn’t snap out of it. Things got pretty fuzzy for a bit, but once it was over, it was over.

Nearly everyone made it to lunch at Las Palmas, which was good. That definitely made me feel better. Then after lunch I stuck around the office. I think everyone is just working off of the assumption that Thomas will be coming back to reclaim his old position from Ben, which doesn’t make me super happy. What will be, will be.

After work, I went by the shop to see Summer for a bit before going home. Then I picked up some Popeye’s on the way up to her place, not knowing the kids wouldn’t be hungry. We ate and chatted, and then watched some House with Eaddie. When Summer was ready to go to bed, we put on Bo Burnham’s new Netflix special, Inside. We didn’t care for it, but like Summer and her marathons, I felt compelled to finish it.

Boat life would be so much simpler.

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Why so Serious?

I got up extra early this morning so I could make it to my interview with plenty of time to spare. I got the last couple pages I needed from my office, then went across the street to sit and wait by the door until everyone else was ready. The interim superintendent wasn’t there, but it was a panel with Jeff, Justin, Judy, and then Ben for emotional support I guess. He didn’t really ask anything, but he did help elaborate on some things as I answered their questions. For the most part, they stuck to a list of questions Ben wrote for them, which they wouldn’t even know enough about in order to rate my answers.

I wasn’t terribly nervous, but I did decide to go all out with a jacket and tie, and started out by dropping my pirate flag on the desk in front of me. The others were spaced out around the U-shaped conference tables. Justin immediately wanted to hear about why I love cows. From there it was mostly business until my only concluding question for them was whether they would like to see a magic trick. I received an immediate and resounding, “yes,” so I proceeded to unlink two rubber bands to at least one incredulous gasp.

With that out of the way, I went back to the shop and watched as Gary, and then Zach left for their interviews. I felt pretty confident in my own answers until I heard their shared responses. I knew it was a moonshot anyway though, and assumed I would have to rely on Doge to make it to the moon for me instead.

The three of us went to Sam’s for lunch with Josh and his wife. Then I tried to leave my leftovers for Summer, but she wasn’t at the shop at that time. We continued back to work for a slow afternoon while the newbies went to work on projects elsewhere.

Thomas came by to chat with Gary and Zach, and from the sound of things, they’re working to come up with an agreeable number that would bring him back to the district. Time will tell, but hopefully not too much time.

After work, I went by the shop to see Summer for a bit until it was nearly time for her to leave. Then I went home to change and made it up to her house for the evening. She grilled chicken for salads, and then it was an early night to bed after a long day of tickling anxiety for me. I don’t know why I had so much trouble with that today, all well after my interview was over. Breathing exercises haven’t been working to alleviate them, so I guess it’s off to try something else.

Let’s put a smile on that face!

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Dress Rehearsal

I felt exhausted all day again today, and I still don’t know if I’m just not getting enough sleep, or if it’s some kind of internal clock thing that still hasn’t reverted back to this time zone. Fortunately it was pretty quiet at work. Mike was at the high school all day for the virtual conference they were hosting. I spent all day with Brody hunting for Chromebooks. We’re short nearly half of the lease that needs to go back, and I don’t know what we’re going to do. Hopefully we can return some alternate devices.

We decided to try The Gunslingin’ Burger for lunch. I had been once with Allen a while back, and my opinion didn’t change today. It was a pretty good burger, but not worth near what it cost. It would have stung less if the combo meal at least came with a drink, but the girl said they stopped including a drink when too many people chose to bundle with shakes. I guess it never crossed their minds to simply not allow that, and to only include a fountain drink.

In any case, I’m still creeped out by the life-size cross standing in the dining room. Then the chef seems to miss social cues as he lingers to ask how you enjoyed your meal. In most any other environment I wouldn’t take issue, but in this scenario it just kind of makes everyone feel a little uncomfortable. I think at a cheaper price point I would just accept everything else, but this just feels like a lot.

After lunch, I ended up sitting out of any real group work. I tried to do some sleuthing to find the missing devices in any system at all, but didn’t have any luck. I spent the last bit of the day prepping for my interview first thing tomorrow. I think I’ve just decided to go all-in. I want to believe that the three of us have a fighting chance, but a bigger part of me thinks there’s no way they’ll let it happen, so I feel like I have to really do something to stand out.

After work, I ran by Summer’s shop to try and print a better copy of my “blank” page to my résumé. It turned out really well, but I wanted to see if Staples could go full-bleed. Unfortunately they couldn’t, but I perused clearance while I was there. Then I stopped by Taco Bell for a quick dinner on the way home. They were unbelievably slow, and the food seemed really lean, but it tasted alright.

Mom and Dad stopped in while I was putting together my individual packets for tomorrow. Then I video chatted Summer while I picked out a nice outfit for the morning. I hope it pays off.

I suppose you’re all wondering why I called you here today.

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Crying Over Spilled Milk Products

It was a good thing I showered up last night, because I refused to get out of bed this morning. I gave myself another half hour or so, then got up and ready for work. Ben was out, and will be out for quite a bit as he wraps up his last month. Zach had everyone on projects, which involved cutting zip-ties at Crawford, then hunting for leased devices to return from the middle school.

A handful of us went to Slim Chickens for lunch, and I took Eaddie some on the way back to work. Then I spent the rest of the day with Brody trying to find the last of the devices. We took a pretty good bite out of the list, but there’s still a lot to go, and we’re running out of places to look.

After work, I went to my parents’ house to take a family photo to send to Susan after she texted to check up on us today. Maybe not everyone hugs their cab drivers. Maybe that’s the problem with the world.

Mom decided to make phở for dinner, so Summer brought Eaddie over as soon as they were done cleaning up at home. We ate a late dinner, then headed home for the night. I stopped by Dairy Queen with Eaddie on the way, and ended up spilling about half of my shake all over the kitchen floor when I knocked it off the counter. I’m struggling with flat surfaces.

I’ve been exhausted during the day, but I can’t ever seem to get to bed earlier. Something needs to change, but I can’t quite figure out how.

Maybe being the first interview can be a good thing.

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Baggage

I didn’t want to sleep in too late today, so I rolled out of bed once I woke up. I had a COVID test at Walgreens at 1, so I went home to clean up first. The test was a super simple and painless nasal swab, and not even too far up the nose. As soon as I was done there, I had to run to Mark’s to help out a bit. What he needed from me took seconds, and we ended up chatting about school stuff for a while after that.

When I left, there was nobody in the Ridgewood Brothers’ parking lot, so I crossed the street to see how things were going. Grant almost immediately offered me a sandwich, which I couldn’t turn down. I took it back up to Summer’s with me since he didn’t have time to chat, and on the way there I called Josue to see how he was doing.

Summer got back with Autumn from their car show fund raiser shortly after I got in, and then Summer and I went to do some shopping before packing. We went to Leonard’s first to spend a $5 coupon I had. Then we went to TJ Maxx for some cheapish rubbah slippahs. Summer got a neck pillow as well, and I’m not sure any of it was a bargain.

The packing took forever due to my travel anxiety, but I’m pretty sure I got everything. Fortunately we’ll have another day nearby in case something goes horribly wrong.

When we finally got back up to the girls, Autumn was in bed. I warmed up some leftovers for us, and then filled out some travel forms with my negative COVID test. Eaddie and I finished up the night with some House, and then went to bed ourselves.

Forget it, just grab all the sinks.

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Playing the Game

Today was perfectly short, since we would be getting out early for the end of the year celebration. It wasn’t the usual mandatory district-wide thing that everyone hated though, and instead each building celebrated on their own. That, of course, meant that our department wasn’t celebrating anything at all.

I didn’t accomplish a whole lot of my own stuff today since I was mostly cleaning things up in preparation for being away. We did get our COVID tests scheduled, which was important. Zach, Greg, Ben, and I went to Wendy’s for some pretty slow, below-average service. My Baconator was good though. Then after lunch I went to the high school to take care of some of Mike’s stuff since he’d been out for a couple days. It all ended up being super simple stuff.

I met Autumn right after school and took her to the shop to see Summer, and then I took her home to start some laundry. Once Summer got home with Eaddie, we took them to karate and then went to my parents’ house to clean up some leftovers they had.

When we got back home, Eaddie wanted to watch some House, which carried everyone to bed.

Alright, back up.