Tag: work

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Trump Town

I got a bit sidetracked today, but that’s not out of the ordinary. I still felt alright about what I accomplished, but it also kind of feels like there’s never any way out. Summer took the girls to work with her, but none of them would respond to me all morning, so I took a late lunch and went home to eat a burrito by myself.

After lunch, I discovered that Summer had lost her phone. I was mostly concerned that someone had stolen it, and tracked it down to a specific house just south of Scottsville. It took me a while to get an answer out of anyone, but Summer realized she dropped it in a customer’s car and just didn’t feel the urgency of getting it back.

When I left work, I dropped by the shop to see them, then rode on up through Dover to retrieve it. It was a really nice ride, apart from all the bugs. Trump flags were out in full force, and someone had placed a hay bale on top of another and painted it to look like old Donnie. It was actually kind of cute. The “neighborhood” was actually really cute, and I was surprised at how many houses were out there along that road. Luckily I found an old lady outside, and I guess it was her family across the street that had the phone.

With that relief, I headed back to town and delivered Summer’s phone to her at Planet Fitness. Then I met them all at my parents’ house after the girls finished karate. Mom made chow mein, and we even got Autumn to eat some. We didn’t stick around too long since Summer was exhausted from her chaotic week. At least she managed to get her stitches out today. Next week has got to be better.

That’s 2020 for you.

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Kinder Class

This morning was super quiet at the high school, but Zach asked Josh and me to help deploy laptops at Oakland after lunch. I met them at the shop for lunch, and since Linhs was closed, we went to Smackin’ Wings and Things for the first time in months. The menu looked a bit more finished, but I couldn’t decide what to eat, so I had the waitress surprise me. She did well, with some wings and one of their fry dishes.

After lunch, Ben and Kyle joined us for the deployment party at Oakland. I really didn’t do that many myself, because I kept getting stuck fixing dumb things, or helping others. It was incredibly humid wearing my mask the whole time too, which made it pretty miserable. It was fun getting to see a lot of those people again though, and I had forgotten how much fun it is to walk into a chaotic kindergarten room with kids running and screaming everywhere. Tracy’s room is always a hoot anyway, and she had stories as usual.

We finished up right around the time that school let out, and went back to the shop. Zach got permission for us to leave work early, but I ended up sticking around and chatting with Ben until closer to quitting time. Then I ran by Sonic for a drink on the way to see Summer and Eaddie at the shop.

They wanted to come over and ride bikes, so I came home and cleaned up a bit first. Then when they got there, Summer took Autumn to get some food and face wash while I took Eaddie on a bike ride. It got dark fast, so we didn’t get to stay out very long. We all got back home at almost exactly the same time, so the girls came in and watched The Simpsons while I caught up on some email. Then it was off to bed.

They never quite know what to do when the strange adult starts copying their crying.

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Talk About Feeling

It was pretty brisk getting home this morning, but I did it. Work was really quiet, and I just spent most of the morning trying to catch myself back up mentally. I took a moment to do my wellness questionnaire, and made an appointment for my wellness visit the same day as Summer’s dentist appointment.

I took a late lunch and brought Summer a Baconator since I knew she could really use a lunch break after returning to work. Then I went by the shop for a little while, but Ben wasn’t there to chat. I went back to the high school to wrap up, and the afternoon went by really quickly.

The girls had karate, so I ran home to change and to take a peek at the Grom to see what kind of damage we were looking at. The handlebars seem a smidge off, and the headlight leans left a bit now. The right handlebar stop seems not to work, but I couldn’t tell why. Hopefully the damage isn’t too bad, but maybe I’ll feel more confident working on a tiny, cheap bike that isn’t also my main ride.

After getting the girls to karate, I went by my parents’ house for some fish soup. They had already eaten, so I just ate on my own. Dad had some comments for me that required some thought, so after eating and heading back home, I decided to go back up to Summer’s for the evening.

The girls were all winding down, but Summer brought them in to chat, and we kind of just made sure everyone was happy. Maybe there are assumed guidelines to the whole step-thing that I don’t adhere to, or maybe it’s a lack of anyone else seeing the interactions of my family in their own home. Maybe they’ve underestimated how long we’ve all been around each other in such close quarters. At the end of the day, the Captain’s got to go with his gut.

No complaints from the crew tonight.

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Maybe It Wasn’t Jason

We had to meet at the shop this morning for a brief training meeting and then project work. The project work ended up being mostly already done though, so there was just a touch panel install in the afternoon. I ended up sticking around the shop all day anyway, so Ben and I could tinker with some of Impero’s broken features.

A group of us went to Fat Daddy’s in London for lunch, and it was some of the worst barbecue I’d ever had from them. I decided to get the brisket sandwich, and they forgot my slaw on the sandwich. I didn’t bother going back up, but then the brisket itself was dry and tough. Maybe I’m just spoiled now, or maybe the quality of the beef suffered due to the pandemic. I think I’m spoiled.

We stopped by the Ridgewood Brothers on the way back into town and chatted with Robert and Felix for a little bit just to complain on the way back to work. I wish they would hurry up and start service on Fridays so we could get some decent barbecue for group lunches.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly. I still mingled around the shop, partly waiting for our project at the end of the school day. Melinda had me go upstairs with her to fetch a couple stacks of boxes, and Josh called wondering where I was. He had the truck and trailer all loaded up and ready for the job, and I was making him late.

Evidently Zach and Greg were already there, but we didn’t realize they brought everything for the job already. Everything Josh brought was just extra, and they already had the old SMART touch panel down and the Newline up. We finished the wiring and tidied up a bit, and then we were out of there.

I wrapped up the day chatting with Ben for a while, then headed home just long enough to change before getting Autumn from therapy and taking her home. I cleaned up some leftovers there while we waited for Summer to get home from the gym. Then Noah called and needed a ride up. I didn’t even realize he was coming over this weekend, but everyone got along pretty well all night, so it really was a treat.

We got gas on the way back to my house, and then Summer pretty well passed out as soon as we got there. We tried setting up something for the kids to do, but nobody could settle on anything. I got Slender running for a bit and played through a round of it. Autumn went to bed before he got me, and afterward I crashed and left Noah and Eaddie up for some late night television.

Maybe we’re just bad at projects.

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You R1 to Talk

It was another pretty lovely day, so I got the big boy out for the ride in to work. I meant to call in for service, but never got around to it. The morning was relatively quiet, though I did spend some time with Ethan trying to troubleshoot a software installation.

I took another late lunch and just ran home to make a burrito. Then I went to the shop for a little while to sign some paperwork and put in for vacation time. Ben had me extract another headphone plug from an iPad, so I got to deliver that to Oakland on the way back to the high school.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly too, and I spent the last part of the day chatting with Karen in the library. I guess I caught her in a calm mood, because for a moment it felt a little like I was kicked back on a therapist’s chaise lounge. It was a good chat though, and I felt like we bonded a little.

Summer made chicken and dumplings for dinner that was ready before I got off, so I had to run straight to her house for dinner after work. The girls had karate, so she took them in while I waited. Then we chatted for a bit until she had to pick them up.

I went home for the evening with the hopes of getting a bit more cleaned up, but it just didn’t happen. I did get one relatively large object out of the house though. The cats never really liked their little play thing. Hopefully Kayla’s will. I ended up going to bed early with a headache and some congestion.

Let me get this straight. You desperately need this to do your job, but you don’t know what it does? Of course, how silly of me.

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And Then You Marry One

It was so nice out this morning that I took the Grom in all day. Something was happening in front of Hickey Park though, and traffic was backed up about halfway to my street. It looked like they were moving stuff from one Tyson truck to another, but the trucks were already in the parking lot and for some reason they had a portable canopy set up between them. There were some cops there as well, but I couldn’t make out what was actually happening.

I closed out several old work orders, and even dealt with a sassy teacher. I guess it wasn’t really a surprise to find out she’s married to another thorn in my side out there. The morning went by so quickly that I ended up taking a late lunch. I had a couple expiring deals, so I made a coupon run through McDonald’s and then Chick-fil-A. I stopped by the house to eat quickly, then went back to work and caught up with the Google hardware announcement.

After work, I came home and got busy cleaning. My shower had been leaking water from the door trough, so I decided to take the doors out and powerwash them. I didn’t notice until I was nearly done, but there was actually a cavity in the bottom of the doors that was just full of lint and soap scum. Undoubtedly, that was what kept pushing water out of the shower when the trough got full.

I hit a wall pretty quickly after that. I tried to keep the momentum going, but I stopped for a light dinner and then just couldn’t get moving again. I felt so sleepy that I rushed my evening routine and went straight to bed.

I didn’t want the ashes, and I surely didn’t want a vial of his fur, but thanks for the thought, I guess?

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Uppers

Today went by pretty quickly, as all days seem to do lately. It wasn’t long before I found myself taking a late lunch. Slim Chickens had BoGo tenders and mac, so I had lunch with Summer on the bench outside the shop before she went to take the girls home.

On the way to the shop, I picked up a free coffee from Casey’s. After work, I picked up another one from the other Casey’s, which kept me up through the evening.

Autumn wanted to spend the night with her grandparents, so I went home after work and had dinner by myself before putting all that energy to work picking up around the house. Summer and Eaddie came over after karate, showers, and dinner. Then we watched an episode of Glee until Summer went to bed. Eaddie and I wrapped up with an episode of Jessica Jones.

He who controls the Pumpkin Spice, controls the basic white girls!

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The Time Honored Tradition of Hating the New Guy

It rained a bit last night, but today was cool, clear, and beautiful out. My morning went by pretty quickly, though I didn’t accomplish a whole lot. I did decide to take a lunch though, and went home to make myself a couple burritos. I should have stopped at one, but I was afraid I’d still be hungry with the work I would be doing in the afternoon.

I took the Grom back to work after lunch. I spent just a little while at the high school, then had to meet some guys at the shop to help with a couple touch panel installs at Dwight. Zach, Greg, and Kyle were loading up Greg’s truck, and then I rode with Kyle to the school. We got there with plenty of time to spare before school let out, but the teachers let us in anyway.

The first install went relatively quickly, but Zach kept making eyes about how Kyle was doing a lot of standing and watching. In his defense, he’s shy anyway, so being new and timid seems completely normal to me. He’s fully capable of doing what you ask him to do, but it was like the other two just expected him to figure it all out. I’m sure he’ll get to where he can lead a project eventually.

We ended up having to re-run some cables in both rooms, so we didn’t finish up until right at quitting time. We unloaded at the shop, and then I went by Summer’s shop to see her for a bit. She was just about ready to leave though, so I headed home for a little while before going up to her house for dinner.

I thought we were just cleaning up leftovers, but she actually made some fresh chicken for the girls. I wasn’t really very hungry, but I just shoveled a bunch of really old food down my gullet to get rid of it. It was pretty dissatisfying.

After dinner, we came back to my house and moved the couch so we could watch a movie. Autumn really wanted to watch a Disney princess movie, which seemed to mostly annoy everyone else as usual. I had a trick up my sleeves though, because I knew we had the new Mulan on Disney Plus.

I thought the movie was alright, but lacked the punch you would expect from someone as large as the Walt Disney Company. In fact, I guess from that frame of reference it was pretty disappointing. There were a few groany parts, but overall it was entertaining and different enough from the original cartoon that it didn’t feel like a super lazy reproduction.

No, there is not at least some singing.

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Something Screwy

We had more “training” today, which was really just going over expectations with the new folks. At the end of it, I was voted into the Classified Personnel Policy Committee, essentially by default as the most tenured, sensible person in the department. Afterward I ended up hanging out at the shop all day long, which is nice to do occasionally. Most days I never leave the high school, so it’s cool getting to hang out and actually learn something with someone else for a while.

Zach really wanted CJ’s for lunch, so a big group of us went there. It’s going to be pretty bad for the district if anyone comes down with symptoms over the weekend. When we got back to the shop, Gary and I sat down and came up with a plausible cause for the flash drives wiping themselves out. It’ll take a little testing, but I think we’re in the clear, and it was way more simple than I originally figured.

I went home for a little while, then met Summer at the shop so they could inspect my rear right tire for a puncture after it leaked a few pounds overnight. Sure enough, I had a screw right in the middle of it. It wasn’t very long, but it was plenty to do the job. They got me patched up while Summer took Autumn home.

The girls were going to go out for dinner with their father, so I went home to clean up a bit before taking Summer out. She was tired and not very hungry, but she needed to eat before Conquer the Gauntlet tomorrow. I took her to Mulan’s after Allen announced earlier in the day that they had re-opened for dine-in. I expected an odd experience, but it really wasn’t too bad. They just had everyone use single-use gloves, and tried to enforce traffic flow in a single direction. It didn’t really help a whole lot, since people still bounced back and forth between bars, but it was a good experience.

When we got back home, Eaddie sat down with us to start season five of Glee. Then Summer passed out, and I stayed up too late on the computer. Tomorrow morning is going to be a real treat.

I almost forgot what it was like to eat this much.

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It’s Not Getting Any Higher

Today was pretty quiet all around. I spent all morning making flash drives and tinkering around. Lunchtime came and went pretty quickly. I met Greg at the shop to help load up a TV, and then he helped me hang the thing in the art room.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly too. I worked a bit late just to clean up some work orders. Tomorrow we have more training to go over expectations for some of the new folks, but probably just as much for the old folks.

After work, I left for a quiet night at home. I ate some leftovers before it got too late. Then Julie called to talk for a little while. Then it was a really early night to bed.

My achy breaky entire body.