Tag: work

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Too Many Things

The crack slowly creeped past the center of my windshield throughout the course of the day. I stopped at Burger King for breakfast, ate mine in the car, and then gave Kim my spare biscuit when I got there. I didn’t really look at work orders at all today, and tried to get carts loaded instead. I loaded four, but then didn’t even finish wiring one more because it didn’t have any cable management. I just kept chugging along as Kim was in and out at random, working about how a paraprofessional would.

The roofers finally came by to fix my roof, but had trouble understanding my English through the doorbell. Luckily Dad came over and got them sorted, and now I have a (hopefully) waterproof roof again. I ended the day by enrolling about as many Chromebooks as I think she’s done all week. I hoped I was mistaken, but I probably wasn’t. Then I raced home to stop by my parents’ house and prompt them for our final walkthrough at the new house.

Summer and Eaddie met Alisha there first, and Julie and Kevin showed up just before we did. Mom didn’t have much nice to say, but I didn’t expect her to. She doesn’t look for the same things in a lodging as I do. Julie kept repeating that we should paint, and I struggled to get my point across that no matter how many times she said it, we wouldn’t just magically find more money to do it while it’s convenient.

As soon as we left, we had to go to the high school for Eaddie’s open house. We went through the main office so I could say hi to Erica, and then I lost the girls when I stopped at the library to see Amber. I spoke with Jazz for a bit while I was looking for them, and then caught up briefly with Ethan right before I finally ran into them in the hall again. I joined them as they finished visiting the last of her classes, and then we headed on home.

Melissa had called earlier in the day to prompt me for the closing process tomorrow. For some reason I assumed that after all the money I was paying them, and all the information they were able to obtain about my assets at other institutions, they could do some magic bank bullshit and just get the required funds themselves, but evidently they want a cashier’s check. Of course that wouldn’t be possible with my savings account, so I had to come up with a way to get access to a whole bunch of money. I finally realized that a transfer of $15,000 or less from Discover to Arvest would only take one day to deliver, so I rolled the dice and we’ll see what happens by noon tomorrow. If we don’t close, we don’t close. The only thing I hate more than lawyers are banks.

I picked up some Taco John’s on the way to Summer’s, and then tried to relax in the quiet dark of the bedroom after I finished eating. Hopefully I’ll be super productive working from home in the morning before closing time.

Last call!

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What My Day Was Like Today:

The crack in my windshield slowly grew toward the center of the glass today. I thought it had grown a bit overnight, and then it was nearly dead-center by the end of the day. Fortunately, someone butt-dialed me from Fast Glass while I was at work, and though they never heard me yelling at them through the phone, they did answer when I called back.

Things seemed to be relatively on fire in the morning. Kim and I ended up going to the core closet to start identifying and mapping out our switches. While we were in there, Brody called for some help with computers dropping off of the domain. I didn’t have a whole lot of advice, but I tried. Once we got the core closet documented, we went to the upstairs auditorium closet where I found three switches. For some reason, the core switch in that closet was unresponsive in the Ubiquiti app, but it was still passing traffic. We found one more random switch in the counselor’s office, and then it was back to other things in my own office.

I got my AeroPress yesterday, so I stopped to make a cup of coldbrew with the coconut coffee I got at the junk store. The grounds seemed a little bit too coarse, because I had a lot of drip-through while I was stirring, but after about a minute, I had some pretty good coffee. It really was pretty simple to clean up too, so I won’t miss having the big, communal coffee pot any more.

I worked right through lunch, and Harry came into my office to let me know the school board had voted to approve my new Technology Handbook. I mentioned my salary again, and he kind of hemmed and hawed a bit, but I pressed that the reason I stayed was because I believed he would fight for me. Then I had to go to the elementary building to meet with a teacher about some Clever sync issues that I fixed. Kim came down with me to look at a couple work orders, and I poked around to look at some access points. They were still complaining about not being able to connect to the wireless in some rooms, and some phones appeared to be dropping connectivity at random. Most of those were problems to kick down the road for later.

The drive home was reasonably quick, and I started up some more laundry before finishing up my hot wings from the other day. I got to Summer’s house a little late, so she was in bed. Eaddie came out to see me though, and then came back out to chat over a modified Hot Pocket while I blogged.

That’s about it.

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Taco Platter

I was a little bit late for work this morning, half because of my own timing, and half because of super slow traffic for the entire drive. I anticipated traffic around Dardanelle, but it wasn’t as bad as yesterday. Kim was there and immediately took me to a room with touch panel issues. It fixed itself, and provided further example of just how unconfident she is about resolving issues on her own. I’m stuck doing things that anyone could do, so nobody will get to the things that only I could do.

The day didn’t go by quite as quickly as yesterday, but lunch time arrived all the same. This time I went for some soft tacos, and apparently they made too many. They put out a bunch of extra food, and a few kids came up and started just grabbing tons more. Kim ended up getting a whole foil tray full of tacos to take home.

For a while in the afternoon, she disappeared to the elementary building to close some work orders. I didn’t expect her to do a ton, but at least it gave me some time to think. Ben called for a bit and I sent him some eSchool upload templates for a script he was trying to fix.

I finally built one Chromebook cart that can be deployed tomorrow, but we still have like 16 more to go, plus the one-to-one deployment for the older kids. I just wish it would all go away. I left a little later than I wanted, confused by who works what hours. Coming home was nearly as slow as it was on the way to work.

I tried calling Fast Glass to schedule appointments to have our windshields replaced, but they never answered. I figured I would stop by the shop, but the doors were locked at least 10 minutes early. We may never get new glass. From there, I caught Summer at Superfast just briefly before grabbing some Taco John’s and going home to do more laundry.

When I finally made it up to Summer’s, she was already in bed. I watered some plants and made more hummingbird food, and then Eaddie finally got home in the middle of my internet chores. She came out later to show me her new backpack, and then wanted to sit and talk for about an hour about school and friends. I finally had to finish up so I could go to bed, so I ran her off.

We can tacobout it later.

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Why Fi, Man

Just as I left for work this morning, I noticed my newest chip in the windshield had turned into a crack spreading toward the middle of the glass. We just haven’t had any luck with these cars, and it doesn’t make any sense. I always try to give plenty of space on the highway, and I never pick up rocks the way I have in this car. Summer’s enormous rock had to be a freak of nature, but I wasn’t there to witness that one.

I barely made it on time, on account of the school traffic in Dardanelle. Cars were backed up way down the road, all at 7:30 in the morning. I don’t know if school just starts earlier there, or if people are just stupid. I’m not ruling out a combination of both.

Kim was already there, since she had to take her kids to school. I jumped right into things, and the whole day really flew by. Early on, I had to call Progressive to confirm our insurance information, and then passed that information along to our loan ladies. Everyone wanted to blame someone else, and it all seemed rather silly.

Kim had lunch duty and then got some food, while I snacked a little bit throughout the day. I should have had a Soylent instead of chips and such, but I just didn’t. Later in the afternoon, we went down to the elementary to suss out a potential wireless issue. Spending all day Friday in the Ubiquiti system made me a little more comfortable, so we reset one access point and removed two redundant ones.

Just as we got back to the office, Missy called to say that we should be on track for our closing date, and finalized some stuff for our loan. Apparently we’re still waiting for the appraiser for some reason or another. Then I left work a little late just because I was getting into things. I started some laundry once I got home, and then headed up to Summer’s as quickly as I could. She had a surprise dinner ready for us when when Eaddie got home from band practice and I finished my laundry. We had grilled pork chops, steamed some carrots, and mashed potatoes that all turned out really good. Then Eaddie went out to mow a bit before dark, so I did the dishes.

Summer was feeling emotional, possibly from her medication, so I tried talking to her for a bit, and encouraged her to talk more with her doctor. She eventually fell asleep, and I wrapped up my usual routine.

Needs coffee.

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Purgatory

I didn’t go to work today, and instead woke up and did some remote work. Duvall’s Air Conditioning came out early to replace Summer’s air unit, both inside and out. Eaddie stayed in her room the whole time, which was a few hours. I took breaks to eat and make more hummingbird food, since there was nearly a cloud of birds buzzing around the feeder. I managed to get all of my network equipment updated, and now I feel a little more comfortable in the Ubiquiti software.

After the guys left and we had some cool air flowing, Eaddie came out and cleaned up some leftovers with me. Then she left for band practice and I started to head home. Mom called just as I was getting ready to leave, and said that Lelan was having them over to pray for Bác Vân’s 49th day in purgatory. I hurried home to clean up and then got there just as Julie and Kevin arrived.

On the drive over, Ben called to chat a little more about work stuff. I didn’t have anything too exciting to share with him, but we talked for a little while. Then I went in and socialized with our small group of family for a few hours.

I forgot Eaddie’s band family event was tonight, but Summer went to learn how to march with her. I eventually made it back to their house, but didn’t feel super Smurfy. I eventually got settled in though, and made it to bed around midnight.

Twice a day, five days a week.

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Floating the River

The teachers didn’t show up until later today because they had open house in the evening, which meant there was no breakfast to be had. I had a Red Bull to pep myself up, and after a little while I had to meet Blake and Courtney to teach her how to edit the website. I didn’t really have much to say about that, but tried to point them in a direction of posting to the website first, and social media second.

I think Kim worked on carts for a little bit, but I spent the rest of the morning messing with something else. Then we had Ridgewood Brothers for lunch, which was awesome because they didn’t just have pork. They brought brisket and turkey, as well as some potato salad, baked beans, and an assortment of desserts. It really was too much, but it was awesome.

Kim and I eventually made it down to the elementary to try and close out some work orders, but herding her around was a little like trying to herd a cat. Anything would catch her attention. At one point, she was literally playing with a basket of toys in the counselor’s office. Then I learned that the open wireless network wasn’t even split off to its own VLAN. Everything is exposed, and I’ve got teachers fussing because their work orders haven’t been addressed yet.

I ended up staying quite late to pen an email that I didn’t even send because Ben called on his way home. We chatted for a little while, and then I set up some remote software so I could work from home. It just didn’t seem worthwhile to go in on Friday when nobody else would be there.

I charged up and dawdled around at home for a while before making it up to Summer’s. She was supposed to get a new air conditioner, but evidently that didn’t happen. The house was cool from all the rain, though Summer kept complaining about being hot. I never even saw Eaddie until she came out of her room super late to find some food. I felt pretty cranky, so I avoided sleep for a couple hours before going to bed.

Elective Idiocy

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Cartesian Planes

This morning was rainy again, but I was early enough for a calm ride to work. Breakfast was more or less leftovers today, and I fussed with the task scheduler for a while before giving up to make carts with Kim. I think I nearly caught up to her other work so far, but the built-in clips in the carts ate up my fingers. It was helpful to lift the carts up off of the ground though, so I could scoot in closer to reach all the way through while I sat on the floor.

We ate lunch a little early to beat the line of teachers. They brought fajitas from some Mexican place that were pretty decent. Then I left pretty close to four and charged up at home for a while. Ben called to catch up on work stuff a little bit, and then Becky returned my birthday call and we caught up for the first time since around Christmas.

When I got to Summer’s, I remembered to look at her windshield that took a rock yesterday. The small smashed spot had split right up the middle of the windshield, which meant it would have to be replaced. She said she and Justin actually saw the rock, which was really large and came from the left, with no vehicles except for across the median of the interstate. Of course she forgot that she could honk the horn to save dashcam footage, so there’s no chance of ever knowing what actually happened. I started the claim online and then let her take the call to schedule the windshield replacement. Two Tesla windshields within six months of buying the cars seems like it can’t be a coincidence.

I tried to wind down quickly because I kept falling asleep on the couch, but then I had to look at home insurance stuff again. Eaddie got home from her friend’s house late, and then I wrapped up quickly for bed.

Update those profiles!

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Croc Code Dial Rock

It was pouring down rain on my way to work again, but I was plenty early to grab some breakfast. They had a variety of meat and cheese biscuits or “crescents,” which were super good. Kim actually made it in before me, and finally got started on wiring some carts without me. I felt a little bad, like I wasn’t a leader, but they aren’t really paying me to be one, and I haven’t even gotten the impression they want me to be.

I spent virtually all day long trying to fix the Clever sync. I was finally successful after nearly half a day and rebuilding the script from “scratch,” or at least from the repository. Then I spent the afternoon doing the same for the eSchool uploader, so students would have their email addresses attached to their accounts.

We grabbed some pretty sorry “chicken strips” for lunch and ate in the office while we kept working. Then I tried to slip out a little early but kept hearing people outside. When I finally left, it was nice and clear outside and I made my way home quickly.

Summer said she had dinner ready, so I charged a little bit and then headed up to her house for the evening. She re-boiled the boiled chicken in some cream of mushroom soup with some new vegetables, which made it taste better over a bowl of rice, but would have been better still if she had just baked the damn thing. She’s made a chicken and broccoli casserole dozens of times before, so I don’t know where she got the idea to boil it all in a pot. At least it tasted alright, and then I put the leftovers together in a baking dish for later.

I played 20 Minutes Till Dawn for a bit, and then did some research on insurance and escrow for the house, I’d been tired all week, so fortunately I made it to bed “on time.”

There’s got to be a 12 step program for this.

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The Crocodile in the Room

I switched back to five day weeks today, just because I assumed I was supposed to. I took the opportunity to sleep in just a few short minutes, but then still had to get to work before eight. I didn’t have enough time to stop for coffee, but luckily they had breakfast for us with some coffee and an assortment of other drinks as well. I ate in the cafeteria by myself with my laptop, though I could have just as easily taken it to my office. Then I took my things to the auditorium where I ended up having to loan my laptop to the superintendent and anyone else that wanted to present, because the ancient laptop they had for the stage was just a piece of junk.

I was on stage to help for just a bit, and then spent the rest of his speech in the sound booth upstairs. I came down afterward and spent some time in my office through lunch, when they brought an assortment of Subway sandwiches. They weren’t bad, especially for free.

Blake came and prompted me after lunch so I could go present after him. I don’t know if anyone really expected me to have a presentation ready, but I did my best to put one together in a very short period of time. I thought I could go into it confidently, but of course I started melting as soon as I was on the spot. It actually went reasonably well, with teachers nodding in approval as I called the district out for their lack of accountability when handling students with devices. I tried to signal that administration would have our backs in the future, specifically so it would be solely on them if the failings continued into my watch.

The afternoon was a bit more loose, and Kim disappeared for a while. I’ve been disappointed that she’s just been waiting for me to start wiring carts, but it’s on me for not leading by example already. There’s just so much that she can’t do, and yet she’s waiting for me to help with the things she should be able to do.

I still left a little late, but not much over a full day. I went home and fixed my garage door sensor, which broke off of the wall when I manually opened the door yesterday. Luckily I found the two sharp screws in the driveway and under my tire, not having punctured anything. As soon as that was back together, I headed up to Summer’s where she and Eaddie had dinner waiting.

Summer has been trying to use up some of the food we’ve had in the freezer for a long time, and this time she boiled a bunch of chicken thighs for tacos. I tried to be positive, but was immediately disgusted by the sight and the taste of it all. I had two tacos and then tried to stop, but gave in to one more after feeling angry and hungry. After all of the cooking shows, the best she could do was boil chicken, and then throw out the liquid that would have actually made decent broth. I took a moment to cool down, and then talked to her about it afterward. I appreciated the gesture, but grew tired of the spectacular failures.

Later on, Eaddie and I went to Freddy’s to pick up some free custard for National Frozen Custard Day. I was a little skittish at first to place three free orders, but of course none of the minimum wage employees cared enough to even acknowledge our arrival. We scooped up our custards from the freezer and left.

I ate two bites and put the rest away, deathly afraid of what the dairy would do to my insides. The girls wound down quickly, and then we were all off to bed.

…with gently smiling jaws!

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Too Much Milling About

I got up with the girls this morning, but then napped for a little bit longer before going home to shower. I planned to take some Ridgewood Brothers BBQ to the mill as a gesture of goodwill since I still hadn’t actually accepted their job offer yet. Gary didn’t answer my call, but then responded to my text to say that they ended up filling the position earlier this week. I was pretty upset, but it wasn’t much of a surprise after all the time I had wasted since the original offer. Part of me thinks I should have just left the school without any qualms, since I had no evidence that the superintendent was actually putting forth any effort to increase my pay. Maybe he has, but he’s certainly not any good at communicating his intent.

Around that time, Eaddie finished at band practice. I told her I was free for lunch, so she came to pick me up and we went to Ridgewood ourselves. She made me get the two meat plate because she wanted a bite of some ribs, so I wasn’t quite as satisfied with my meal as I usually am. Then we went back to my house to get my car, but ended up leaving it there to stay on the charger.

As we left, I noticed she had things strewn all around the car, and my lip balm had been tipped up on its side, leaking out all over the place. Fortunately there was a removable rubber tray and it wasn’t terribly difficult to clean up. I was mostly upset that my lip balm was wasted all because the girls couldn’t pay attention to what the hell they were doing in my car.

When we got back to the house, I sat and played 20 Minutes Till Dawn on my phone. I brought my little 8BitDo controller, which made the game a lot more playable. Summer eventually made it home, but didn’t want to get back out. Eaddie and I went back to Ridgewood to try their pork belly pops and some brickle bars. We were in and out, but then got stopped by a train for several minutes as it went back and forth in front of us.

We loved the porksicles, and the desserts were great too. Then I laid in Summer’s lap while she watched TV, and played more of my new game until bedtime.

I like to think I would have been less happy there anyway.