Tag: work

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Final Test

Full Self Driving took me all the way from the onramp to the office this morning, with only one intervention when it wanted to move into the passing lane in front of a car, but wouldn’t take the shot when the person coming up behind me in that lane flashed their lights to let me merge over. Apart from that, it was hands in my lap the whole way, with only a few directed lane changes by signaling.

I really just tinkered all day again, since I was waiting for Randy to get me some instructions on how to reach our servers that had been migrated to Hyper-V. There were a couple techs in and out of the office pretty much all day, so things were always relatively fresh, though I was still just stuck in my corner doing my own thing.

Summer was in town for a meeting of her own, so she came to the office and then we drove separately to Red Lobster for lunch. I tried their unlimited salad and chowder, but only had time for one salad and two chowders. Our server was kind, but acted like the chowder was somehow being “prepared” in a way that took more time than ladling it out of a crock pot. There is no possible way that endless shrimp is what caused them to go bankrupt, because I don’t think I’ve ever managed to get more than two refills in a visit. They were always so incredibly slow, no matter which restaurant we visited.

The afternoon was mostly dull as I spent my time pausing sensors in PRTG in preparation for our trial license to expire. I didn’t want to be forced to pause 100 free sensors at a time until I managed to find the 100 I was most interested in seeing. Randy, still fresh off of his vacation, was fairly over being at work, so he shooed us out a couple minutes early.

Summer made it home early for Eaddie’s marching assessment, so I stopped by McDonald’s and Arby’s for a couple of deals for dinner. Then I ran the dogs quickly before dark, and Dad came over to get me to go see the band.

Autumn had found Summer and sat next to her, and immediately moved over to talk to me once I was seated. She made a big show about how she wanted to apologize in a blanket statement for “everything” she had done to me, and expressed how it had been weighing on her all this time since we kicked her out of the house. I just told her I wanted her to work hard to be successful, but she was content being an absolute parasite and claiming success in the way of “all As in nursing classes.”

Eye-roll.

No lessons have been learned, and she’s still only apologizing for selfish reasons to make herself feel better. I’ll believe it when she’s not trying to weasel her way out of caring for her two elderly “roommates” that are paying her nearly half of my salary just to carry on existing.

The bands did great, and we squeaked out as soon as UCA finished their set at the end. I could have done without, but Dad drove. I went home with Summer since she drove herself, and then we went to bed as quickly as we could make it.

It’s always Green Hill Zone.

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Second Lunch; Worse Than the First

I let FSD drive me to work today, and I basically didn’t touch the wheel after Atkins. I kept waiting for there to be a steering wheel nag, but it just didn’t happen. I got the typical “pay attention” warnings if it looked like I wasn’t staring straight ahead for too long, but otherwise my hands were in my lap for the entire drive. I intervened once when I was nearly all the way to work, in order to prevent it looking stupid in heavy traffic. Then I had to whip into the office parking lot quickly because it couldn’t find the entrance with an oncoming truck. Otherwise it performed reasonably well on the highway as long as I was dictating lane changes. That’s still an issue that makes it look like a first-time driver.

Randy was back, and full of piss and vinegar, which was more funny than scary. He gets on rants and just lets it fly, which is only different from my usual accompaniment in that he’s much louder. I don’t mind, and I at least feel like we have the same struggles. He sort of helped me with access to stuff I had been missing since he left, and then he hung around the main office area complaining about all the email he’d gotten.

There was a non-union organization representative that brought us pizza from American Pie Pizza for lunch, and it reminded me of Brick Oven. I liked it, but after I’d eaten my first slice and a bite of the second, Jim called Randy and wanted to go out to eat. Randy said we were going to second-lunch, and at this point I’m still mostly in it for the camaraderie, so I summoned the Model Y and we took it across town. Maggie said she was too nervous to ride with FSD, so she drove separately.

The place Jim wanted to go was closed when we got there, so we rerouted to Señor Tequila, which I thought was fine, but not good. I figured it might be authentic with such little English being spoken, but it was just like any other middling Mexican restaurant. The beans were runny and the chips lacked salt. Otherwise the food could have used a bit more kick. I tried the tamale, and it was fine. The restaurant was also awkwardly quiet. I just wished I had stayed with the pizza instead.

We finished up the afternoon and I tried to close out some stale tickets, and then I headed home. I had to stop at Kohl’s to pick up an order on the way, and then I had to take a break before taking the dogs out on their run. It was already getting dark quickly, so we stopped briefly to see Dad and then continued up the hill and around the block a couple times. They did alright, but not great. I was also aggravated to see pots scattered in the yard and the edge of Stilgar’s pool all chewed up when I got home. They got some chews since I haven’t gotten any more hot dogs, and then I came in to clean up and wrap up before bed.

Cornel West, he’s our guy! If he can’t win, then why’d we try?

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Chuy Fajitas

I was super tired this morning, but I managed to get out of the house early enough that I could pick up a coffee from Starbucks. I got a Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte thinking the oatmilk wouldn’t upset my stomach, but I still felt a little bit gurgly for most of the day. I was early enough to the office that the back door was deadbolted, so I walked around to the front to get in. I later learned this was unnecessary, because my office door key also opens that door, but I also learned that you have to push or pull the door a bit while turning the key.

Maggie and Jay showed up, and Jay went to the middle school just long enough to decide he wanted to take the rest of the day off. They were having parent-teacher conferences, but he said he just didn’t see anyone around and decided he’d rather spend the day elsewhere. I worked on SCCM some more, but didn’t get very far. In fact, after going to Chuy’s for lunch with Maggie, Kyle, and Jim, I learned that the SCCM server had disappeared from vSphere entirely. It was still operational, but I couldn’t actually remote into it.

I gave up, and Maggie and I left at three. The Model Y got Full Self-Driving in the morning without any warning, so I let it drive me home. I stopped in Conway thinking I had a deal for Long John Silver’s, but after I got there I realized that none of the local restaurants were participating in the deal. I continued on home, brought in a huge stack of boxes of Vine stuff, and eventually got out with the dogs.

They were behaved pretty well, and boy did they want to run. They maintained an average pace of 8.8mph with a top speed of 20.4mph. It was a wild ride, but it was great fun. They just kept going, I guess because of the cooler weather. I thought they would be worn out, but after some treats and food back at home, they got wound up again late in the evening.

Summer got home a little late, but earlier than she originally thought. She has a 5k run in the morning, and then a yoga class with Eaddie later in the day. Eaddie was out late but then came to talk to me for a bit when she got home, just as I was going to bed.

Old people bedtimes

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Remap

I got out early today and had a leisurely drive to work. I made myself some coffee and tried to clear out some PRTG alarms while Kyle and Gary were waiting for the phone call with Windstream and IK Electric. Kyle gave up before the call even started, and went to his office to take the call. Gary seemed to know a bit about the phone, but I thought he was the one who called Kyle about it yesterday for help. Maybe it was Jimmy. I can’t tell any of those old guys apart yet.

I just kept chugging away, trying to be productive. I was on my own again for lunch, so I went to Arby’s for another deal. Then I spent the afternoon redesigning the PRTG map to make it more readable on the TV in the office. Maggie seemed to like the improvements anyway.

Dad babysat the restoration guys that went to the old house, and I left work a little bit early so I could get to The UPS Store back home and return some Amazon items. Coming into the parking lot, I guess the curb was sharp enough to push in the tire, and the back wheel bit the curb. It took a big chunk out of the wheel and also cut a strip of the rubber, though it was still attached. I haven’t been happy with the wheels on that car at all.

Summer was getting ready to settle into a bath when I got home, so I took the dogs out for a really good run, up to the point where another dog chased us from the end of my parents’ street all the way to their house. They were riled up while they sniffed around the yard, and then we continued our usual route through the basin trail. They got hot dogs and new chew toys, courtesy of Amazon Vine. Then I tinkered with the security cameras a bit before bed.

Tik tok, on the clock.

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Bathroom Blitz

I ran behind, but got out of the house early enough that I didn’t have to speed quite so much on the way to work. It was pretty chilly out, but that wouldn’t affect me in the office. Maggie was hungry, so she talked me into trying Panera Bread for breakfast. They had a four sandwich deal that worked out for the two of us and Charles.

It was a fairly leisurely day, but I still feel like I’m not really prioritizing correctly. I spent a lot of time rearranging PRTG again until Kyle came to the office to go out to lunch. He, Maggie, and I went to Eat My Catfish, which tasted good but had pitiful portions. The single catfish fillet I had was basically a quarter of a small fish.

The afternoon got a little bit exciting when the inbound DID numbers quit working, at least a part of the time. Maggie got on the phone with Windstream and IK Electric to see if anyone could see what went wrong. Kyle hung around the office for the rest of the afternoon too, but nobody in our department carried any stress over any of it.

Dad said the restoration people would be coming over the next day to start working on the bathrooms, so I ran home as quickly as I could and took the dogs for a quick run. They were super good, and then Summer got home just as we finished, so we went to the old house to bring the last remaining fish tank to the new house. We got it set up, moved the water and everything. Then I went back again to clean out the rest of both bathrooms. It took me a while, and I was up about two hours later than I wanted to be, but I guess I can nap on the way to work.

Are you ready Steve? Andy? Mick? Alright fellas, let’s go!

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High Schooled

I don’t know how the cops manage to single out particular vehicles for traffic stops in the morning. We nearly had a dead stop after Conway this morning because someone got pulled over. I got in and started messing with SCCM, but then Kyle called for some help replacing a switch at the high school.

I made it across town and it wasn’t too bad. He really only needed me as an extra set of hands, so I pulled a flatbed cart with the switch chassis across the campus. We looked for some rack screws to mount the old temporary switch, but instead just set it on top of another shelf. After sitting around and waiting for Kyle to investigate his issue for a while, he discovered that the problem lied in a configuration change that he made, so we moved everything back to the production switch.

At that point, I was late for lunch with no plans or lunch buddies. I tried texting Ben to see if he wanted to meet, but he responded after I had already made it across town to Arby’s. I ate my roast beef and then went into the Walmart for a few minute to investigate their clearance section. I found a couple things for the girls, grabbed some apple cider, and headed back to the office.

Instead of getting back into SCCM, most of my afternoon was occupied with more PRTG, since it was evident that it has been correctly identifying failures for Kyle before he has been aware. Hopefully making those maps highly visible for everyone will make them all more aware of their systems.

The drive home was a little slower because the Model Y’s range had diminished for some reason. I don’t know if it was the temperature, but I barely made it home with 5%. I stopped by the old house to check on the fish, and Dad had been by to move some of my stuff into the shed next door. Once I finally made it home, I took the dogs out for a pretty quick run. They were super good, and I kept trying to teach them directions.

Near the end of the run, they both had to poop at the exact same time with absolutely no warning, so I got that cleaned up and we made it home. They both got their own hot dogs for being so good, and then Summer and I watched some WandaVision before bed.

In a real magic act, everything is fake.

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Peptolk

I felt pretty sick to my stomach all night, and it didn’t get a whole lot better this morning. I actually slept about half an hour late since I planned to power through my morning routine after showering so late in the evening. I foolishly thought I was ahead and could stop by Starbucks on the way out of town, but I was actually the latest I’ve ever been. Maggie and Jay were the only ones in the office though, as the old men were outside smoking.

Maggie ended up leaving early to take her kid to the dentist, so I was actually in the office by myself for nearly the entire day. I grabbed some McDonald’s for lunch to try their Chicken Big Mac. It was fine, but it really just made me want a regular Big Mac more.

The afternoon was dull until I finally left a little bit early. I stopped in Blackwell for some beer and then made it home. I took the dogs out for a longer run than usual, stopping to visit with Dad, then out to sniff around the pond. We went past the basin and then turned back around to go through it again on the way home. We passed another girl, her baby, and two large off-leash dogs that came by for a sniff. They made my dogs pretty jumpy, but they weren’t bad.

We made it home and they did super well, so they each got their own hot dog after dinner. Then I had a couple burritos before settling in. I cleaned up a little, got a couple more security cameras up, and then did some shopping before bed.

The worst kind of liquidity.

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Robeauven

I remembered the “We, Robot” Tesla event last night as I went to bed, so I stayed up and watched it as it started late. Overall I was pretty frustrated with what was offered. It seemed like buzzword vocabulary with a short tech demo that was only useful for people that were there in person. I immediately went to sleep, and then woke up to get to work.

The office was empty today, aside from a couple people swinging through. I just sat in the dark and did my thing, messing with some PRTG and SCCM. Then one of the ladies in the office made a baked potato bar for lunch, and a bunch of us paid $5 to join in. She had some leftover ribs and barbecue from the other day to go with it, so it was a good meal.

After work, I left a couple minutes early and seemed to miss a lot of traffic, but then the Interstate slowed to a standstill around Plumerville because of a wreck around Morrilton. I exited and drove to one of the onramps in Morrilton, which bypassed all of that, but I wondered how much time I really saved, if any at all.

On the way to the old house, I noticed they had leveled the old Hardee’s building, which broke my heart. I love their breakfast, but Summer was with some classmates at Old Bank for homecoming and said they were rebuilding a Hardee’s and Chipotle in its place.

Once I got home, Noah and his friend Wade came by so Noah could take a shower. I chatted with Wade outside for a bit while I cleaned up all the cardboard the dogs chewed up on the porch. Then I took the dogs out for a fairly good run. We took an odd route to see my parents, and then went through the basin trail before making it home. They were still distracted by squirrels, but they didn’t try to take off like they have in the past. We made it home without incident.

Eaddie was at the game late, but Summer came home after watching them play. I had spent some frustrating time fighting with my Ember mugs after a major app update that disconnected them all. I had a second anxiety attack in bed watching YouTube, but I got over it fairly quickly. I had one earlier in the day as well when I had to try and contact a board member to help with email.

Links for Later

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So Many Thoughts

Traffic was dumb all day, but to my knowledge, nobody died. I was the first one into the office, and I basically spent the whole morning tinkering with things as they came to me. Nobody was around for lunch, so I ran to Rally’s for my usual, plus some surprisingly good funnel cake fries. The afternoon dragged a bit, and I spent some time in SCCM. At some point in the day, James texted, presumably for help with Savvas and the Milestone cameras. I pointed him in a direction, but there wasn’t a lot I could do for him specifically, and I wouldn’t without pay.

Traffic was thick the whole way home, and Summer was cooking since Noah was coming over. I got home and changed, then had to go to the store for tortillas and beans. I ran the dogs to my parents’ house when I got back home, and then the three of us ate since Eaddie was out late for something again.

The week went by really fast, but it’s not over yet. It’s just me by myself in the office all day tomorrow, so we’ll see who comes around.

Don’t bank on it.

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I Am the Director Now

I had another chicken biscuit this morning on my way to work. Conference food made me pretty queasy all night, but fortunately today went okay. I was surprised to see Maggie in the office when I got there, and further still that she was still there when I left. I felt the pressure of more people needing me today, plus I had a couple of conference calls scheduled. I only went to one of those because the teacher was unable to reproduce an issue for a vendor.

I had placed an order for a Reuben at Arby’s the night before, since I had a discount code. Randy and Jim really wanted to go to a place called North Bar, so I picked up my food and then met them there. It was a more expensive place with a variety of burgers, wraps, and such. Jim’s chicken sandwich looked pretty good because the chicken was more than twice the size of the bun. Randy’s order was put in wrong, so his got comped and we split my burger, and then his when it eventually came out. I liked his bologna burger better than my blueberry one, but both were pretty good. Overall I thought the flavors were great, but it just wasn’t worth the price for the portion size. Everything being à la carte didn’t help, because I had to pay extra for fries with the burger.

I stopped by Target on the way back to the office to get an online order of Tide that I had placed a few days ago. Randy left in the afternoon, and said he was leaving me as the de facto director. I laughed that I was the newest hire, but he responded that I was the one with the most experience in his role. After that, Maggie had me sign a bunch of data privacy agreements. I told her it felt like he was leaving so they could use me as a fall-guy on some sketchy paperwork.

I was a bit hungry after lunch, so I actually ended up eating my Reuben before I left work. Then it was a dull ride home to find Summer in the kitchen and Eaddie and Eli watching TV. I took the dogs out for a run to my parents’ house and then spent some time with them when we got back. I skipped the chicken Alfredo because of the dairy, and drank some dinner instead. I had to rearrange the dishwasher after the girls poorly cleaned up the leftovers, and I kind of stewed a bit until bedtime.

unappoint