Tag: work

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Don’t Break Anything

I got out a little earlier today and had a slower drive in to work to save some battery power. I could have made it home on the charge, but I still ended up supercharging on the way home anyway.

Randy was out at a conference, so it was just Maggie and me all day. She was in better spirits after her friend passed yesterday. Randy emailed us some things to do, but it seemed like those weren’t entirely our job to do. It’s confusing what we’re actually responsible for because the district is so overstaffed. We personally handled much more at both of my previous districts. On top of that, people kept knocking at the door all day, pulling me away from whatever I was avoiding.

I actually didn’t even take a lunch, but Maggie made me eat her leftovers. I can never tell if she’s just worried about me being hungry or if she’s just genuinely not hungry enough to finish her food. It’s a pretty regular occurrence for her to have leftovers, so I try not to feel guilty about eating stuff she gives me. I thought I’d leave a little early because I never left, but I only got out about ten minutes early.

I stopped in Conway to charge a bit just so I wouldn’t have to shuffle cars late at night. Then I got home and ran the dogs to the Ridgewood Brothers to see if I could catch Robert. I actually saw Grant, and he seemed to be doing a little bit better. I think their whole situation has probably just gotten to the point where you throw up and then start to feel a little bit better.

We got rained on a bit as we made our way back across town. Just as it started to sprinkle, we encountered Hannah driving the opposite direction. She stopped to chat and we caught up for a little bit before we continued on to my parents’ house. By then it had started to rain pretty hard, so my leg was soaked by the time we got home. The dogs were good though, so they got hot dogs before dinner.

Someone had brought a bunch of Vine packages in for me, so I sorted all of that before Summer got home. The morning went by fast, the afternoon went by slowly, and then the evening flew by. Summer had a bad day at work, and I think we’re both feeling pretty unsatisfied in general. We chatted for a bit before she went to bed. Eaddie got home late and went straight to her room, and then I crashed as quickly as I could.

You broke it.

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Bummers

Traffic was pretty bad on the way in this morning, but I got there. Randy was early again, and we all sat and chatted for a while in the morning. Maggie was stressing out due to something happening with a friend or family, so she ended up taking the afternoon off. I tried to help Jim with some stuff over the phone and was mostly successful, and Randy was in his executive team meeting all morning.

Lunch came a little late, and I met Kyle, Jim, Randy, and Jay at Brewski’s for their version of Taco Tuesday. I remembered thinking their burger was okay last time, but it was still bar food. I was even less impressed with their tacos, so I’ll never order those again. Everything was incredibly dry. Even the limes fell apart into pulp when we squeezed them. I actually ended up stopping at McDonald’s on the way back to get some fries, which were actually pretty good since I went to the one on McCain this time.

Sometime in the afternoon, Greg stopped by our office and for some reason wanted a tour of our shop area. I had a feeling someone put him up to it, but eventually Randy came back inside and said I couldn’t charge my car in there any more. That’s a pretty big bummer, especially in the winter, and it may be the straw that prompted the camel to update his resumé. It’s all about minimizing my time away from home, and if a few pennies worth of electricity is going to keep me away any longer, then it’s just not going to be sustainable for me.

I got home without any trouble and took the dogs out for a run. They weren’t great, so they didn’t get any treats when we got home, and I cut down their dinner a little as well. Muad’Dib hadn’t been eating some of his meals anyway.

I took care of some large Vine stuff before Summer got home, and she didn’t have a great day at work either. Then I had to fire off a message to the clinic because I was completely out of amlodipine for the next morning. Luckily they phoned it in to Walgreens and I was able to pick it up just a few minutes before they closed.

After I got back home, Dad said Uncle Tuan wasn’t doing great, so it looks like we’ll be going to visit. I don’t really know what happened to him for the past several years, but I know I’ll have a very different memory of him than what we’ll find, and he likely won’t remember me at all.

No Win Tuesday

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Fish Fry

Almost exactly 11 years ago on January 30, 2014, I messaged a guy on Reddit about some fish he needed to re-home. My parents and I stopped by the Air Force base to meet him, and I brought home two corydoras and five tetras. A couple of the tetras died fairly quickly, if I remember correctly, but some of the others lasted a while. None of them lasted the 11 years of mostly neglect that the cory catfish survived. There have been a couple other tankmates, including a female betta that would eat out of my hand and let me pet it. Several snails have passed through the tank. They seemed to thrive through the neglect as I spent less and less time at home, and then made the move with us to the new house.

Then tonight, as I dropped some food into the tank and added some water to satisfy the gurgling filter, I noticed a baby. The tank was too dark and covered in algae to really see, but my eyes didn’t deceive me. At least one little cory fry was swimming around, along with both of the adults. I never had any inkling that they might be a breeding pair, but at some point, conditions must have been right. I’m afraid to even try and clean up the tank, for fear of damaging the ecosystem. It may just continue forever as it is in the guest room.

The rest of my day was incredibly boring by comparison. I was a little bit late leaving the house, just after Summer. I tried to catch up to her, but caught some slow traffic coming into Morrilton. There was no way I’d make up the time before she got off the interstate in Conway. I made it to work and was surprised to see Randy there before me.

People were mostly out of the office, and I worked on SCCM as my Vine ticker scrolled. Lunch time came and nobody else was interested. Everyone else left the office, so I took a late lunch and went to Cici’s by myself since they had a $4.99 deal. They were absolutely packed, almost entirely with old geriatrics – slow ones, at that. It mostly looked like poverty, and a couple people had crocheted hats that reminded me of the pigeon lady from Home Alone. One particularly ignorant old woman kept yelling loudly at one of the hispanics working, and asked multiple times where she came from before she lived here. In the end, I had a good salad and tried not to overdo it. I felt pretty good afterward, and it was actually rewarding to have paid less than I would have anywhere else.

The afternoon was pretty lonely since Maggie and Randy didn’t make it back until near quitting time. I made it to the end and got home to run the dogs. It wasn’t frigid out, so we had a good time. At one point, I stopped momentarily at the basin and Muad’Dib immediately peed on my Onewheel. I couldn’t believe it, because he’s normally pretty good about that stuff. I don’t know what prompted him to do such a thing.

From there, we made it to my parents’ house where Dad met us in the road again. I rinsed the Onewheel off under the faucet outside, and then we made it home. The girls ate some leftover pasta, I cleaned up what Summer didn’t finish, and then I took out a bunch of recycling before all of the excitement happened with the fish tank. I messaged the guy on Reddit just to let him know, so it’ll be interesting if I hear back.

Fishy

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See Food

I ran really late today, which was a little worse because Randy texted me while I was still trying to get out of the house to let me know that I would be the point of contact while he would be coming in late. It really didn’t matter though, because it was just Kyle and Gary in the office when I got there, and they didn’t stick around long once I settled in.

I didn’t have a lot going on in the morning, and Randy did eventually show up, if for nothing else, than to lament about being at the board meeting until after 10 the night before. He, Javier, Jim, and I ended up going to Red Lobster for lunch because Randy and Jay had never been before. Randy even said he had never had lobster before, which I find difficult to believe. Overall I think it was a success, though I was disappointed in the portion size for the fish and chips, and our service felt unnecessarily slow.

Afterward, I rode with Randy while he got gas, then creeped by the Mazda dealership to see if his car was still sitting on the lot waiting to be serviced. When we did finally get back to the office, Javier had to come back because he forgot his badge there. Then Maggie, Randy, and I grilled him about his upcoming date with the girl he met in his apartment gym.

We finally left at the end of the day and I made it home where Summer was mostly done making a huge pot of chicken Alfredo with spinach and broccoli. I took the dogs for a really extended run since my parents weren’t home again. Then Eaddie brought Jenny over for dinner, but they spent most of the night in Eaddie’s room. I spent a while replacing light bulbs and then swapping them back after not being satisfied with the color temperature. Then I dragged through the night until bed.

Brained

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Taco Well

I stopped at Casey’s in Atkins this morning for a free coffee, since it was the one store closest to my path to work. I got there just after Kyle, and nobody else had been around, so the outside door was still locked. We caught up a little bit before he left, and then Maggie showed up. It was quite a while before Randy came in, and he seemed to be in a pretty foul mood, though that’s not terribly uncommon. It can be pretty endearing sometimes.

Gary evidently failed to complete some work from the start of the year, so Randy was on him about that, and had me image some desktops for him. That took me back into SCCM for some fun, and I figured out some dumb things that were breaking my task sequence. I had everything fixed by the end of the day.

Lunch was late and on my own, since nobody else wanted to eat. It took me a while to decide on anything, and I finally landed on Taco Bell to see if my good experience was a fluke due to the presence of corporate heads. I was only a little surprised, and very pleased to find that it was another great experience. This pleased me, because Charles came in and said the Sonic up the road was permanently closed and up for lease.

Randy and I both walked out just a few minutes early since he had to get ready for the board meeting. I made it home and took the dogs out for a good run, though they were a bit slower. I tried switching up their path a little bit, and they did alright. My parents weren’t home, so we continued on around the neighborhood and then had hot dogs and food. I ate some leftover pizza, and then got to work on a bunch of deliveries.

It was a reasonably quick night for me as I got things cleaned up and headed to bed. I really want to get another charger set up so I can quit swapping cars every night.

I could teach you, but I’d have to charge.

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Support Class

I got a better amount of sleep last night, so it was only fitting that I would be up late tonight. I was the first one in the office, and we rode it out until lunch time. David and Woody came to talk sales and take us out to lunch at Saltgrass. Maybe I just had my hopes up too high, but I was kind of disappointed in the steak. The quail and Brussels sprouts were delicious. I liked the baked potato soup, but there wasn’t much of it. My ribeye was just very thin and gristly, and apart from the crawfish and shrimp on it to make it “Cajun,” the tomatoes just watered it down. Overall it was a good, large meal though, which was good because it was my only one.

The afternoon went by relatively quickly. I helped someone find a breaker they had thrown using two space heaters on the same wall. Luckily I had just enough charge by the time I left that I could make it home without Supercharging.

Summer was home when I got there, and had to charge up from 5%, so she was pretty nervous coming home. I took the dogs out for a good, long run. We weren’t breaking any records, but we maintained a good clip. We encountered both of my parents driving separately, and chased them down their road to the house. Then we made it home for doggy dinner because I forgot to thaw hot dogs.

As I was trying to process my evening, Mitch called on me for some support. We chatted a little bit, and then I called Robert. We didn’t talk long because he was just starting a movie, but then I ended up talking with Mitch for quite a while after that, just to catch up. I eventually got all of my nightly chores done, and an overstuffed recycle bin to the curb, so hopefully sleep hits fast tonight.

More buffs!

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Freeziots

I got out early again today and made it to the office. It wasn’t very long before Maggie texted and asked me to let maintenance into our shop to unload a bunch of stuff. I didn’t realize they had a trailer full of shelving and other crap. I let them in, but then they just stood around doing nothing because I couldn’t tell them exactly where everything was going. I assumed they would just bring it inside, but instead they got back into their trucks. I very nearly just closed back up and went inside, because the cold had me in a coughing fit.

Maggie eventually showed up and I went back inside. There was something going on in the conference room, so there were a bunch of ladies in and out of our restroom. I helped bring some stuff back from the front, helped Jim over the phone, and generally tried to be useful until lunch time. I suggested David’s Burgers, but Kyle preferred The Purple Cow for some reason. The food wasn’t bad, but it just didn’t seem as bespoke.

The afternoon was mostly dull, though the maintenance crew showed up again to try and hang a TV in the lobby. The gringo didn’t want to make a call on how to hang it, and the four or more Hispanics just giggled amongst themselves. After an hour or more, the TV still didn’t get hung and I would have done it myself if I had longer screws.

It was so cold out that I had to stop and Supercharge on the way home. I had went into Five Guys for some fries and a restroom break, then made it home to run the dogs. We make a new record at 11.5mph average for 3.4 miles, and a top speed of 22.2mph. Dad met us at the end of their driveway, and the dogs made a mad dash the whole way down.

Summer was home when we got back, so I had to play Musical Cars to get everybody charged. The dogs got hot dogs and food, and I warmed up the rest of my fries. Eaddie and Eli came in and did homework in front of the TV with Summer, and I cleaned up the kitchen until everyone settled in for the night. I finished early, and may have to dress more warmly for tomorrow.

The dog prefers the ice. I don’t know what to say.

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Hauliday

I got to work on time, but I didn’t see anyone for a while. Evidently several of them had met at the annex to move some stuff, and it wasn’t until Randy called that I went outside to help unload into the new shop. For the rest of the day, I rode around with Jim and Randy as we collected a couple more loads of stuff.

Randy had been wanting catfish from BJ’s for a couple days, so that’s where we went for lunch. Javier met us there, and we had a good time learning how little he knows about history and historical figures.

We kept moving stuff, and then most of us stood around in the shop just to socialize a bit before we went inside. Maggie took the afternoon off, so it was mostly just Randy and me sitting in the dark until quitting time. Javier did stop by a couple times, but nobody was really getting into anything.

It sprinkled a bit on the way home, but luckily it had quit by the time I got there. I took the dogs out for a good run, we met Dad, and then zig-zagged home. Summer had to close the shop, and Eaddie was out late before her all-region weekend.

The dogs were about out of food, so I eventually made a trip to the Neighborhood Market for several things we had been needing. I got pretty sleepy on the drive home from work, and that just got worse and worse all night until I finally went to bed.

Be no more there.

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Corporate Grin

I had a pretty rough start this morning in spite of sleeping a bit longer. I got to work a few minutes late, and only then realized that I got all the way there and had forgotten my backpack with my laptop at home. I made my way inside and found a laptop to use, but had to join the domain and basically install anything I wanted to use. Fortunately there was absolutely nothing going on.

The day dragged as I dawdled, eventually coming to another lunch hour on my own. I landed at Taco Bell just up the road, and was surprised at all of the eerily cheery faces. I knew something wasn’t quite right, and then I finally recognized that there were at least three or four people there from corporate. I don’t know if it was their doing or not, but my food was awesome, and the service was great. They even had chip ice, which was deliciously crunchy. One of the corporate heads even said something about it, remarking that she didn’t think any of their Taco Bells had that kind of ice. I told her I loved it, so maybe it’ll spread.

The afternoon dragged on some more, and I left a few minutes early so I could get home and retrieve my car from Clearview where Summer had dropped it off for a tint job. She was short staffed at the lube, so I got Dad from the old house where they had been remodeling. Mike was super excited to chat about the car, and charged me even less than what he had said previously.

Dad drove the Model Y back to the lube for Summer, and then we went to check out the old house quickly before I headed home to run the dogs. They had a good run, got to see Dad, then made it home just before dark. I got them fed while Summer picked up some KFC on the way home. Then we ate and settled in quickly.

Eaddie got home late from something, and I was upset that for some reason both of the Murano keys were gone in spite of the car sitting in the driveway. Now nobody knows where the second key went, and I’m just sat there like Surprised Pikachu that my stuff has gone missing.

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Jumbo Gumbo

I was sleeping pretty hard when my alarm went off this morning, but I managed to get to work before anyone else. It was another slow day for me, just kind of riding out my new meds. I wouldn’t have expected such a difference for such a small dose of basically the same combination I’d started with before. I took my amlodipine and lisinopril a couple hours apart today to see if I could minimize my afternoon reaction, and it seemed to help a little bit, though I still felt a bit dizzy for a little while.

I was on my own for lunch, so I decided to pick up some gumbo from the Louisiana Fried Chicken place just down the road. The fact that they even have a website is wild to me, because the place looks so rough, is in such a rough area, and is basically empty every time I drive by. The guy was super nice though, and I really liked the gumbo.

Jim, Charles, Randy, and Maggie were there in the afternoon gossiping about some local drama. Evidently my superintendent nemesis in town is negotiating an exit from her contract by the end of this year as well. I’m really just standing by to see if I die from whatever ails me, so it’s hard to get me excited about much right now.

I ran the dogs hard when I got home from work, and they had a great time. Dad met us at the end of their driveway, and we hit over 20 miles an hour. He was making taco soup, so we went home and I fed the dogs, then unboxed a ton of Vine stuff before going back over there to eat. Summer got home late from work and wasn’t hungry, and Eaddie was out with a friend.

After dinner, I had to take out the trash and recycling. They hadn’t picked up recycling in a couple weeks, so with all the Vine stuff I’ve been getting, I could have nearly filled up two whole dumpsters. I accidentally spilled an entire box of miscellaneous recycling, and was picking it all up by flashlight when the UPS driver stopped to hand me one more package for the day. I lost count of how many were delivered today, but it’s clear I’ve got a problem.

The girls were up for a while talking about everything Eaddie has going on. I cleaned up the best I could and made a mad dash for bed.

Retail therapy gets me a 1099-NEC this year.