Tag: work

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Center for the Farts

I took Summer’s car to work today so she could keep mine in town. Casey’s had a free Reign Storm (ha), so I picked one up on the way to work and just accepted that I’d squeeze in a little bit late. It was more or less pretty quiet, with just a small group of kids doing some makeup testing in our office, followed by the usual lunch shenanigans. I was pretty scattered again, so it was a lot of meaningless accomplishments and nothing of any consequence was fixed.

Summer went home early with a headache, and got some new messages about reduced power and acceleration in my car, so we’ll tow it to Tulsa for a replacement high voltage battery. I guess I should be happy to rewind a year of degradation, but it doesn’t make me feel really great about the longevity of my car. I noticed Summer had a little dent in the back of hers when I got back home, apparently from trying to open the trunk while the garage door was shut. I almost made the same mistake once, so I couldn’t be too mad at her.

I fed the fish and picked up some tacos to take home for us. Then we went to the high school for Eaddie’s Christmas concert. Autumn spotted us as soon as we walked in and came over to our seats to talk at us. It was super awkward, and I imagined it was a little bit like how she still hangs out around the high school where others can’t just walk away from her.

The concert band was pretty bad, but it wasn’t until the symphonic band played that I realized how spoiled I was from listening to Eaddie’s elective concerts. It really is the difference between a group of really passionate, or at least dedicated musicians, and a public school band. There’s simply no comparison.

Eaddie went out with friends afterward, so Summer and I came home so she could go to bed. I was up a while, in part to try and get the old refrigerator running. I’m afraid the compressor may have finally bit the dust, which is frustrating to have happened after we finally got it situated in the laundry room. Oh well.

It’s obviously the product of favoritism, and not at all hard work.

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BMS_a035

I got an error message on the drive to work today, which said my car may not restart. Nothing appeared to be wrong, and I made it to work, but a quick Google indicated it could be anything from the high voltage system to the 12-volt battery. I parked close to the building in case I needed to run an extension cable out to charge something, and set up a service appointment once I got inside.

I really struggled to stay awake today, though I wasn’t particularly low on sleep. I was fairly concerned about my car, and I eventually received a message recommending that I have it towed to the Tulsa service center. I asked whether that would be covered by warranty, and a quick call to the roadside assistance number confirmed that it would be. He also said my car had been on for a really long time and had me restart my screen, though I don’t think that really had anything to do with my problem. I wasn’t even really sure that restarted anything but the screen computer.

Shortly after that, I got a call from the actual tow driver. He would be coming from Broken Arrow and could pick up the car the same evening, but after the reboot, my car wasn’t complaining about anything. Service said I should be fine to drive home as long as I had the range, but that I may have trouble charging. It wasn’t until I got back through Dardanelle that I got the error again, so I was hesitant to stop at Casey’s only to miss out on the freebie of the day. I made it to the old house without further incident, though it wouldn’t start charging the first time I tried. I unplugged and plugged in again, and it successfully started charging.

I had Summer pick me up so we could go to Cici’s for dinner. Then she dropped me back off with the car and I drove home to finish charging. It seems to be fine over short distances, but I figured I’d take her car to work in the morning until we can figure out how everyone will get to school or work after they take my car for service.

I ended up relaxing in a bath until the girls came home. Eaddie needed some energy to study, so I made her a milk-heavy latte and then settled in for bed.

Tough luck

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It’s Heavier Than You Think

I was early to work again this morning, so I had some time to ease into the day before I had to meet with the music department to help them figure out the audio mixer in the auditorium. I was a little annoyed that Eric was downstairs the entire time to direct the band, when the whole point was to show him how to work the machine. At least Kelsey was there, and had the benefit of a little bit of experience with the mixer.

Other than that, I did a bunch more reading and only a little bit of tinkering with my imaging process. I’m still leaning toward rolling out SCCM, even though they seem to be pushing Intune as the wave of the future.

After work, I grabbed some free gum at Casey’s, fed the fish, and then ran home to change so I could meet Suzanne and Trent at Ridgewood Brothers BBQ. Summer said she was tired and didn’t want to go, and Eaddie didn’t want to go with other people there.

Grant was out back and gave them a quick peek inside one of the smokers, and then we went in to eat. It was great food as always, and then Kevin texted as we finished up. Suzanne and Trent went to the house while I ran to Harbor Freight to meet Kevin. They used a forklift to get the tool chest into the truck, which had me a little bit worried about unloading it.

Trent came out to help once we got there, and then some stranger that was walking through the neighborhood stopped to help as well. He ended up dropping his corner, but fortunately the pallet was super sturdy and took all of the damage. We felt pretty stupid once we got it inside and found a ramp in one of the drawers that would have helped us take it off the pallet.

Kevin didn’t stick around, and Eaddie had left to spend time with friends, so it was just the four of us sipping drinks and playing Uno Flip as we shared stories. Trent made a birthday cake for Suzanne with lemon and blueberries, which was delicious. We had a great time, but they left a bit early to get back home before another big drive tomorrow.

Summer immediately went to bed and I loaded the expensive tool chest with a bunch of Great Value K-Cups of questionable coffee quality.

Pay attention.

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Short Parade

After going to bed super early last night, I woke up around midnight thinking I had shut off my alarm. I was halfway through getting ready for work when I realized the sun wasn’t coming out, so I crawled back into bed and snoozed through a couple of alarms as I laid in bed awake. That got me to work a few minutes early, but not for much good.

I was by myself for most of the day because Kim had to take Jase to the doctor, where she learned that he had a ruptured eardrum. After that, he spent most of the day in the office with us. She left again in the afternoon to get a prescription, so I carried on until finally leaving just a few minutes early.

I stopped to feed the fish, and then went to Harbor Freight to buy one of the smaller tool chests with Dad’s coupon for 25% off. It was still a pricy cabinet, but I guess that’s what you get for buying the latest model. Hopefully they release a nice hutch to fit on top, but even without, I think it’ll fit the space better than if we had crammed a cabinet into the room that was a whole foot longer.

Without a truck to take the thing home, I arranged for them to hold it and I went to AT&T to see if Kevin was there. He was, but said I couldn’t borrow his truck because he had to go to the parade right after work. He was riding his bike in the parade, but said he could probably help tomorrow.

By that time, people were already gathering along the sides of the street. I made it home through the traffic, changed clothes, picked up Dad, and made it across town to park for the parade just in time to meet Summer there after getting back from Greenbrier. Somehow she didn’t notice that it was me parking in the road right in front of her, so she parked a block away and walked over to us. I had brought my Onewheel, but after feeling a little wobbly in the middle of the street and bailing off, I decided to stick it back in the trunk.

Eaddie was the first band in the parade, so we got our pictures of her and left. We didn’t even get to see Kevin riding with the mountain bike club. I took Dad to his house and then beat Summer home. I cleaned up some leftovers and made Summer a bowl of some corned beef. Eaddie made it home pretty late, and everyone went to bed early.

You sass that hoopy?

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Off Task Sequence

Summer started some corned beef in the slow cooker this morning. I made it to work and made some coffee for the day. It pretty quickly turned into a day of people constantly grabbing me out of my office, either to fix the auditorium sound that they broke again, or to help with with personal technology issues. It became even more frustrating when Barry, who had just pulled me off task, wanted an update on a project I’ve been working on, but struggling to complete.

The light at the end of the tunnel was finally piecing together where the image and the task sequence reference each other. It wasn’t obvious or intuitive, nor could I find a place to actually see that information. I had to build it for myself, and could only possibly know how it was built because I built it myself. Even the system itself lacks documentation.

I left work a few minutes early to drive to Atkins and pick up a Chromebook that was recovered by a garbage collector. The lady that called me on Monday said she could leave it at Subway for me, and the guy behind the counter really wanted to make sure I was who I said I was. He was single-handedly using more security precautions than anyone I’ve witnessed at the school. Any school.

The girls were already home when I got there. Summer was in the bath, so I finished wiring the speakers until she was ready to eat. Then we listened to a little bit of music in the living room since I couldn’t convince anybody to go actually get the other television with me. It’s been a zero effort for so many people around me today.

The Chromebook Recovery Tool is the car I drove across two towns to recover it.

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Slithery Little Sneaky Snake

There was absolutely nothing new at work today. We had people in and out for testing, Kenny came to socialize for a while, and then Kim disappeared for a while in the afternoon. It was cold in the morning, but only a little chilly after work. I stopped at Casey’s again for my freebie, went home to feed the fish, and then washed the car before heading home.

My replacement craft ice maker showed up, and I knew I needed to snake my drain, so I cleaned up some leftovers and then got to work. Dad came over and we snaked the drain. Unfortunately we couldn’t test it without putting it back together, which was the bigger chore. We ran to the old house to pick up a new faucet that I had, but then I decided against installing it for now. We’ll have to wait for the silicone to dry before we can test it.

I got the ice maker installed just as Summer got home. She was overworked to tears, so we got her to bed. Eaddie got home late after a concert, but I never even saw her. I got most of the new TV stand put together and started to rewire the receiver, but it got late and I had to wind down quickly to get to bed.

Maybe tomorrow we’ll ride.

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Almost Crafting

I was pretty mentally drained from work today. I’ve spent most of every day just reading, but I finally started digging into Windows Deployment Services today. As usual, the morning flew by, and the afternoon dragged. Out of nowhere, I answered a call from a lady in Atkins whose husband collects trash. She said he brings home laptops and other goodies that he finds, and she recovered one of our lost Chromebooks. I thanked her for taking the time to call, and Summer should be able to stop by on her way through town tomorrow.

After work, I went home to feed the fish, then ran to Harbor Freight for a drain auger. Summer was off work and not feeling great, but I met her at the Neighborhood Market to pick up groceries. When we got home, she took a bath and I had to figure out dinner. I really wanted some higher quality pizza, so I bit the bullet and spent the money on Papa John’s. While I was waiting, I saw one of my old esports kids and his father, so I chatted with them until my order was done.

Summer and I ate, and then she watched TV while I unpacked the new TV stand we bought. Then she went to bed and I watched some artistic folk on YouTube while I assembled our furniture-in-a-box. Eaddie got home late after spending the evening with Eli, and I lost track of time as I finished up. Without the glass surfaces, the stand is super light. Unfortunately one of the screw holes stripped out completely, so I’ll have to decide whether that’s worth a call to the manufacturer.

Just unlock, dammit.

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It’s Electric

The workday went by in a flash. We had a few people in and out of the office, but I mostly kept my head down and read a bunch of Microsoft documentation. Eventually I’ll have to turn that learning into practice, but for now I’m enjoying the peace.

I went straight home after work and unboxed my Onewheel to get it charging before we went to Conway for Eaddie’s concert at UCA. It was a really small crowd in a fairly small auditorium. They didn’t turn the house lights down at all, so everyone just sat there in the bright light the entire time. The music was great though, and the clinician seemed really cool. It was over and done with in no time.

Eaddie rode the bus home since they had already eaten, so Summer and I drove across town to try LongHorn Steakhouse. Their online reservation system said it may be a 45-55 minute wait, but we were queued for about an hour before they called us in. We just sat in the car until then. They were crowded inside, and the hostess that sat us was really awkward. The service was fine, and the food was decent, though a little bland. It would have been a fine meal for no wait, but I couldn’t imagine why anyone would wait more than ten minutes for a table.

We made it back home and I rode the Onewheel around the house for just a couple minutes before everyone went to bed. I was up a while longer just because I kept getting distracted. Hopefully we can get the sink fixed tomorrow.

ThreeEV

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Drained

My watch has been struggling with the Tessie app, and I don’t know if it can get any better. I may just have to uninstall it for now. It barely lasts eight hours any more, and though it’s been convenient to unlock the cars, it’s less convenient to have a dead watch three times a day.

It rained the entire day, but the temperature was pretty warm. The workday went by pretty quickly as I jumped from project to project, never really accomplishing much of anything. After work, I went to feed the fish before heading home. Summer was home early, but Eaddie was out late for band. I changed and went to my parents’ house for dinner, and then Dad came back with me to look at the bathroom sink.

We tore everything up trying to get into the P trap, and of course it was completely clear. It still puzzles me that the drain stopped so suddenly, and we didn’t have what we needed to clean it up and put it back together, so it’ll be at least a three-day project.

Clean it up.

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That’s a Lye

Traffic was bad in Dardanelle this morning, so I just barely squeaked into work on time. They did some more testing first thing in the morning, and then I had to spend some time deciphering the audio mixer in the auditorium. We had a big lunch because the cafeteria had extra fajitas, but they weren’t very good. I barely got started on it when FedEx showed up with another lab of desktop computers. Those will be in the way for the foreseeable future.

I ended up staying a bit late just because I felt like I made some progress in figuring out the sound system. Then I went to feed the fish and wash my car before heading home. The bathroom sink completely stopped up this morning, out of the blue, so I poured some boiling water down the drain, hoping that would help.

Failing that, I went to my parents’ house and ate some turkey soup before returning home with some lye and a plastic drain weasel. The drain didn’t budge, so I let it sit overnight. Summer fell asleep really early after working late, and Eaddie spent all night practicing flute before going to sleep. I fought with Arvest’s mortgage site for a while before giving up. I swear the “make a payment” button only appears at certain times of the day, and it’s a load of crap. I went to bed frustrated, but before midnight, which was an accomplishment all on its own.

Shut up and take my money. No, seriously. Take it. You stupid bank.