Tag: work

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The Little Guy

We stopped by Chick-fil-A for a free chicken biscuit this morning, and then on a whim grabbed something from Hardee’s as well since I didn’t expect the Chick-fil-A biscuit to be any good. To my surprise, it was actually nice and moist and flaky, so I just saved the Hardee’s for later.

I had a relatively good day for focusing on Autopilot. I didn’t complete the entire setup, but I felt like I had a better understanding of a lot of the pieces I had been missing. I brought half of a burger from Five Guys for lunch, so we just worked straight through all day, and I felt pretty good for it.

Casey’s had 50-cent wings, so I grabbed a bunch of those when we got back into town after work. As we drove home, I saw Gary parking at Point Remove, so I ate with Summer and then took Muad’Dib out to have a beer. The place was packed for stein night, so we were practically shouting at each other. It was a good time.

When we got back home, I could swear I heard a rat jumping around in my bucket trap, so I went outside to check it out. I had something, but when I finally made it out to Washburn park to release it, it ended up being a little mouse.

It was a quick night to bed after that, because I was exhausted in the morning after some strange, bad dreams.

Sixteen chickens.

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All Signs Point to Less

We had our staff meeting first thing this morning, and it was relatively short. I somehow made it through without much ado, and then chatted briefly with Teisha before going to play with the new digital sign in the plant breakroom. I didn’t even get to show anything, since I still really hadn’t settled on a content management system yet.

Most of my day was actually derailed trying to wipe a laptop for Jon, because he was still having trouble with his being slow. I had an anxiety attack sometime in the morning, and then I messed around with Autopilot some more after failing to do a simple wipe from an ISO. We did take a break to go to Sonic and had a pretty good burger and fries. As we left, Muad’Dib spotted a beaver in the creek, so I had to shoo him into the car.

I let him run a bit on the way back to work, and then took him with Teisha to walk the property and see where we would be hosting the company picnic. We encountered some soft dirt and my shoes got a little muddy, but it could have been worse.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly, without major success on any of my projects, but I did at least feel like I made a dent in some infrastructure building. We had to run home because Summer was making dinner. We still had steak, so she made some vegetables and some linguini with pesto to go with it, and it was one of my favorite meals she’s made. Then we watched a little bit of YouTube before she went to bed. I eventually got there too.

Just trimmings.

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Tostaguac

I skipped the Soylent this morning and just had some coffee instead. Charles and his crew got the TV mounted, but still hadn’t run power to it, which was fine since I still hadn’t really made any content to put up on a digital sign anyway. Every time I get into a content management system, something about it frustrates me to the point of looking for something new.

I had an anxiety attack in the morning, then met Summer at Ortega’s for lunch. I found another great combination with the tostaguac, and we filled up and headed back to work. The afternoon went by fairly quickly, and I left just a few minutes early to get back to town for therapy.

Summer was working at the lube, and then we walked over and took Muad’Dib inside with us this time. I don’t think anybody really felt like the session did any good this time, and probably did more to irritate us. This was a pity, since otherwise we had been feeling really good. Summer even mentioned at lunch that she finally felt like she wasn’t enjoying her job any more, but of course that didn’t come up when we were with the therapist. It really felt like we just burned our 45 minutes.

We left for home and I had a few packages to go through. Then I only got distracted into one big project while trying to clean up the kitchen table. I did get a monitor set up by the bathtub for Summer, so that pleased her. Unfortunately the monitor may not be any good, but we’ll test it out some more.

Summer went to bed and Eaddie had Eli come over late for some leftovers. I cleaned up a bit more and then rushed to bed.

I guess we’re wingin’ it again!

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Dryday

Somehow I failed to get into a rhythm with drinking today, and I barely had any water. I felt a little more focused, so it may have just been how busy I stayed. My longest battle was with the Windows 11 Home edition PC that was on the shelf, since I didn’t have a way to upgrade it to a Pro license for Intune management. I’m still not comfortable spending money, and I went back and forth with Dylan to see what Howard could do for us.

I had an anxiety attack sometime in the day while I was standing in the tech closet, possibly because I had my chin down to my chest. That seems to be a recurring cause. I was pretty hungry for most of the morning, but snacked quite a bit and didn’t get into my Soylent. We ended up going to Arby’s for lunch, and I used a deal to get a free French dip for later.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly as I crunched on the digital signage a bit. I fired off a few emails, and then on the way out, Janice said that the office staff would still be off for President’s Day. I headed on home, stopping at the lube to catch Summer as she wrapped up her long day.

We got to the house and the kids were there laying around. Summer showered and I spread out some rat poison she brought home. Then I made her a plate of leftovers and ate my sandwich from earlier. Then the kids left and Summer and I finished watching the MKBHD feature. I think I may have enjoyed listening to the podcast about it more, but the video was still great. Their passion for their work is infectious.

less than three

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Slowingburgertime

We got to work a little early this morning and tried to lock in. I had a couple things interrupt me throughout the day, but I felt like overall I had decent answers to everything. It was nice enough at lunch time that we ate outside Taco Bell again. Then Muad’Dib had a good run up the road back to the office. The afternoon went by quickly since I got to move around a little bit more.

Summer was standing outside when we got back to the house, and she really wanted a cheeseburger for dinner. I suggested going out to get a good one, rather than getting something less good from a fast food joint. We decided on Buffalo Wild Wings so we could take Muad’Dib.

Service was kind, but unbelievably slow. It may have been the kitchen’s fault, because the restaurant was absolutely dead, and we were the only ones outside. At least the food was really good, and we had a decent deal for it all.

Summer had a bath while I tinkered and cleaned up some stuff. Then we watched some of the MKBHD YITL episode before bed.

Mechanical Button Pushers

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Square Wheel Keep On Turnin’

I woke up hungry today, but I tamed that with a Soylent. I’ve been under-stimulated and under-motivated, but I played around some more with PiSignage and its less-than intuitive interface. I didn’t decide on lunch until we got outside, and then decided on Wendy’s. Muad’Dib looked back at me through the windows with jealousy, so he got a treat when I finished. Then I let him run back to the office from the very end of the street. That boy misses the Onewheel as much as I do.

The afternoon was a little more focused, but only just. The drive home had more traffic than I expected, which got worse as we got to town. I should have let the car take the first exit like it wanted. It knew better than me. We ended up going around our normal route at the last exit, and finally made it to the house.

The girls were home so we could chat about Eaddie’s band trip, but I guess I had figured most of it out before I got there. I wanted to book a hotel, but that didn’t happen. They got distracted by the television, and then I warmed up food for Summer and myself. We just can’t all stay focused on one thing ever. Then I got upset with Eaddie because she and Eli left about a quarter of a steak worth of scraps in the trash, which I fished out for Muad’Dib.

I thought I had caught a rat because I didn’t see my bait, but evidently something got to it without falling in. I added some more bread, then started some laundry to finish up the night.

I don’t wanna wait

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Big Catch

I felt much better today, but found it much harder to focus. I basically just tinkered all day between projects or other break/fix stuff. Summer had a meeting in Little Rock, so she met us for lunch at Ortega’s. Our server was slow, which saved me an extra plate. We ran into Teisha and her husband on the way out, and he was rocking a solid cast on his leg.

The afternoon went by just as slowly as the morning, but it could have been worse. Then we stopped by the old house on the way home so I could get a five gallon bucket to use as a rat trap. Summer was doing her cross stitch in front of the TV, and Eaddie was on her way out the door.

I set the rat trap and had some leftover split pea soup, then sat in front of the TV with Summer briefly before she went to bed. Just then, I heard some commotion downstairs and went out to find I had caught a small opossum. It wasn’t too toothy, but refused to come out, so I had to set the bucket on its side and then just wait.

I eventually re-set the trap, and then it was off to bed on time.

Old CDs

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The Cheese Stands Alone

I heard some rustling in the dining room this morning, and shook down some boxes to expose a rat, who scurried around the corner faster than I could believe. The dog has no traction, but the rat moved like it was on rails. I thought I heard another one, but could never find it, so I knew we had to excavate the corner sooner than later.

We got to work and I actually felt pretty good, but quickly turned sour as my stomach did flips. We made it to lunch, and it was nice outside, so we went to Taco Bell. Muad’Dib did great sitting at the picnic table outside while I waited forever to get our food. There were multiple employees standing, and no discernible reason for the food to have taken so long. I eventually made it back outside and we shared some fries and chicken bits.

Afterward, we stopped by Sonic for some cheese sticks and then made it back to the office. It was a long afternoon, but I finally submitted my first purchase order with Howard. I like my new reps so far, and hopefully I can execute this digital signage well enough to impress some folks.

Summer was in the shower when we got home, and I still felt gross for a little while. I thought I might go help Neil with a computer, but ended up having leftovers for dinner with Summer, and then cleaned up the stack of boxes in the dining room. Hopefully I can keep things moving enough to keep the rats from moving back in, and then I’ll have to go full-extermination mode.

Gains

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Let’s Talk About It

I knew timing on food would be weird today, so we picked up some Burger King on the way out of town. They gave me the wrong kind of biscuit, but it was alright. When we got to the office, Muad’Dib didn’t want to listen, so he got spanked again in the hallway. That made him a little skittish about following me in there later, so I had to collar him for the rest of the day.

We were up and down the stairs a few times all morning. I brought a croissant sandwich to finish up some leftovers from home, so I ate that just before we left for the day. I raced back to town and met Summer at Beautiful Path for our first couples session. I was only a couple minutes late and she was already inside. I guess he decided to continue sessions off of her existing account when he realized we were together.

The session was about what I expected. Summer wanted to buy a pair of booklets for us to complete, and we played a “Newlyweds” style card game where we flipped cards and answered questions about each other. There were no surprises, and we both did well at the game after eight years together. By the end of it, he had us scheduled for future sessions in person instead of over the phone, which will be fine. We’ll be able to meet after work, which at least leaves my work schedule alone.

Summer went back to work for a little while and then went to the gym while I went to the house to do a little more work. When she got home, we did a minimal amount of cleaning up Christmas stuff that needed to be stored, and then we ate some spaghetti before she bathed. She didn’t feel great after that, so we laid together briefly until she fell asleep. I was up until Eaddie got home, and then it was off to bed myself.

It’s payback time!

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The Cat’s Outta the Fence

I felt a little better this morning, and stayed fairly physically busy all morning trying to make a patch cable out of some crappy, old wire. I went through a couple sets of ends before I gave up in favor of a different option. We went to Arby’s for lunch, and then I called to reserve a room for the Cavalcade of Magic when we got back to the office.

We were parked and sitting in the car, and Muad’Dib and I watched as a cat stalked through the grass on the other side of the fence that divides our property from the Interstate. I was still wrapping up my call when he started whimpering. The cat was out of sight and I thought Muad’Dib had given up, but as soon as I let him out, he ran out the front gate and leapt over a part of the fence that was leaned over. I wasn’t even sure he would be able to get back across due to the way the fence was leaning and how far he jumped. Luckily the cat ran back toward me instead of toward the highway.

They ran toward the building, and then the cat got into the drainage pipe that goes under the road, so luckily Muad’Dib didn’t fit. I got hold of him and gave him a good kick to the rear, then dragged him back to the car to get collared. We went inside and it wasn’t long before we were called down for cake to celebrate Elizabeth’s upcoming wedding.

We surprised her in the breakroom, had cake, and visited briefly before finishing up the afternoon. I got a text that counseling could be in-person tomorrow, so I got permission to leave at lunch time and finish the day from home. We got to the house a little while after Summer, though she was still sitting in her car when we got there. She bathed and I ate some leftovers, and then we watched YouTube as she passed out on the couch.

After she went to bed, I finished the evening filling out a bunch of intake paperwork for tomorrow. For now, it’s more of the same.

At least one of us has laser-focus.