Tag: work

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WH and San

I woke up pretty wide-eyed today, so I didn’t bother trying to go back to sleep. I made another phone call to try and schedule a consultation, and was surprised to schedule a call within just a couple hours. I headed home to prepare, and aside from the cost structure, it seemed like pretty good news. My main concern was that after telling my side of the story, the rest of the call really sounded like a sales pitch. I spent most of the rest of the day trying to research alternatives just in case. I called another firm, and they also asked about another government acronym. After hearing about it twice, I figured I should do some research, and scheduled an appointment in August – the first available.

I didn’t get out of the house until Eaddie called and asked for a ride later in the evening. I brought her home, and discovered a lizard stuck to a glue trap in my garage. I thought it was dead, but Dad convinced me to check again, and luckily I was able to use some vegetable oil to free it. It wasn’t too happy, and kept opening its mouth at me, but I got it into a little critter keeper to try and nurse it back to health just in case anything got broken.

We made it up to Summer’s house, where Autumn had done us the huge favor of making some Hamburger Helper. Obviously it was devoid of anything even resembling plant matter, so I used one of her dirty pots to fry up some fresh broccoli and cauliflower to add to mine. That helped, but it was still such a heavy meal.

After we ate, I took Eaddie to Tech for another band concert. Then I picked her up again after it was over. We never saw Autumn again all night. I nearly forgot about my new little critter, so I caught a couple crane flies and threw them into the container, hoping he could find them. I’ll have to try for something a little squishier tomorrow.

Contingency Plan C

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Whornado

I got up early this morning and cleaned up some leftovers for breakfast before diving into some more job hunting. I applied for three remote jobs, and one of them looked like it might be really fun, and actually appreciate some personality. It would pay really well too, so hopefully I at least hear something back.

Afterward, I made it home to do a couple more loads of laundry before jumping into the shower. Once I was cleaned up, I headed to Conway to meet Summer. We parked my car at the Holiday Inn Express to charge while we went to Marketplace for dinner. The girls called a couple times with some trouble back home, but it was mostly argument drama, and Eaddie wanting help getting another bike down so she could take a friend riding. After all of the fuss, I don’t think she ever even went out. After we ate, we traded again and took the Model 3 to Little Rock for Whose Live Anyway at Robinson Center.

We arrived just before the doors opened, and then we had to wait another half hour before they’d let us find our seats. There were plenty of available seats behind us, but it was still a good crowd. The show started a little late, but it was overall pretty great. It was definitely more vulgar than Whose Line Is It Anyway? the television show. There were some really hilarious parts, and then a bunch of middling stuff, but all-in-all it was an awesome time aside from the seating.

We bailed pretty quickly once the show was over, and made it home quickly after a stop in Conway to get the Model Y. It had to split charging with another car that came in, so it didn’t actually get topped off like I had hoped. It will be nice once we get the wall connector installed at my house though. I had to shuffle cars again once I got home, and I discovered the kids hadn’t locked the Murano like I specified multiple times over the phone. They’re completely thoughtless and worthless like 80% of the time.

Once I made it up to Summer’s house for the evening, she was getting ready for bed. The girls were already locked away in their rooms. I finished up quickly, and it was off to sleep.

Leave it to Arkansans to not follow the directions.

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Off the Job

I woke up pretty early today and started doing a little research before leaving. Summer wanted me to swing by to see her after she finished at the gym, and then I went to 10 Box to get some almond milk. I tried the almond and coconut this time, and it was a little bit weird with my cereal, but I’m just glad I can eat a bowl without being sick for the rest of the day.

I also did some laundry while I put together some more damning evidence, and then took a shower so I could head up to Summer’s for the evening. I quickly applied for another job before I left the house, but there’s some kind of test I’ll need to take for it tomorrow.

The girls were at the high school for most of the evening for some band event. Summer came home while I was cooking her ground turkey into taco meat, and said she went through the touchless wash in Morrilton, and that her right wheels got scratched on the guide rails. The company will fix them, but I don’t know if that means replacing the wheels or just grinding them down and repainting.

Dinner was alright, for as annoyed as I felt while making it. I hated the lettuce wraps before, but having proper taco seasoning and some corn tortillas made all the difference. Then I laid on the couch with her and watched TV for a while, feeling sad and frustrated, but still less stressed than yesterday.

The girls got home really late, and Eaddie talked to us for a bit and then ate before going to bed. It was really hot inside, so I ended up switching on the air conditioner, and then it was off to bed.

If I hurt my knuckles when I punch you in the face…

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Straight Fire

I had to stop by the wash to give Summer her lunch that she forgot at home, and then I continued home to finish prepping for my hearing. I had pretty much all of my information where I wanted it, but I still wanted to get copies of some things to hand out to the board members. After taking a shower and starting some laundry, I went to Staples for copies of a couple pages. I didn’t realize how much the copies were going to be though, and spent over six bucks for 20 pages.

Afterward I went by the wash and printed the rest of what I needed, and then I read my argument to Summer, Justin, and Cameron before I left. I spent the last few minutes I had re-assembling my handouts and dressing up before Summer came by to pick me up. We made it to the high school a little later than I wanted, but it didn’t really matter anyway.

My dad beat us there. Kevin was inside, I suppose as “the muscle” in case things went really sideways. I was happy to see him. Thomas was manning the recording station. I remembered seeing Andrea, Chrissy, Samantha, and of course Ginni. Six of the seven board members were there, but Jason was absent. Ben showed up right before we started, and I think Jeff showed up a little after we started. Judy had to sit with Marshall, and by five o’clock we were off to the races.

The hearing more or less went how I expected. Marshall had binders for everyone with the supporting documents, which were just the statements given by those that were there when I bumped into Zach, as well as one from Thomas after our conversations. I was really surprised how much some of the statements differed, but I was most bitter about Thomas’s. I chose to assume it was misremembering, rather than outright lying. Given that he has a Pixel with an excellent audio recorder, I don’t know why he wouldn’t have recorded the conversation to get my quotes correct.

The biggest letdown was the fact that Marshall objected to me giving any background of my employment. I think I made my case to the board reasonably well, and I received sad smiles from a couple of them. They went into executive session for about 45 minutes, so I almost got my hopes up while we waited. Things were relatively light outside the boardroom doors, and I chatted with several people there.

When they let us back into the boardroom, they got right to the vote, and only Don voted against my termination. The feeling of the room read very much that there were others present that didn’t feel comfortable with the situation, but played the political game of backing the superintendent they had just hired for the next three years. Onward to Plan B.

I tried to get Kevin to join us for dinner, but it was just Ben with Summer and me. He chose Linh’s and we chatted over noodles. My phone had been blowing up, but I tried not to pay too much attention to it. I did jokingly ask Judy if I would get to fill out an exit survey. Brody confirmed he was trying to open a position for me, so I’ll have that option. Ben insisted on paying, even though I had originally offered to buy his if he actually showed up. I don’t even know why I was surprised that he said he would, because he’s one of the most supportive friends I’ve ever had. I did have to joke that it took me getting fired to bring him back to town though.

After dinner, we dropped him back off at his truck at the high school. Then I went home to clean up before catching up with Summer at her house. Shortly after I got there, I remembered I had a pickup order for some chicken strips at Walgreens, so I took the Model Y across town to get those. Summer was feeling mixed emotions about the day, but I felt nothing but relief for the moment. At least now I know what path to take next.

Six to four isn’t a bad ratio. At least I’m not a quitter!

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The Old Man and the Pleas

I got up this morning and forced myself into the day. With my school board hearing approaching at a dreadnought’s pace, I had to formalize my thoughts into something I could actually present. I had some coffee and finalized some plans for our weekend trip first, since that happens first. Just as I was nearing time to head home, Allen texted and invited me out to lunch.

I met him at New China, and we spent the hour catching up. He said he lost his aunt that raised him, but he was more interested in what I’d been up to lately. I filled him in on the craziness, and he wished me well. I somehow managed to make it out of there without a bellyache, and he insisted on paying for my meal. I gave him a quick ride around town in the Model 3, and then I headed toward home.

John, the electrician, hit me up for some money again. I tried to withdraw it from an ATM, but I guess the amount was too high. It didn’t tell me why, but it declined the transaction and spat out my card. I headed home instead, to clean up for the day. Then I went to a location with humans to get his cash. He eventually showed up to my house, and I clarified what I wanted done. He seemed insistent on doing something completely different, but hopefully I got my message across about what I’d really like done. I’ll probably have to clean out the corner and precut some holes to make absolutely certain, but I gave him a little over half the cost of the job, and he was on his way.

I spent the rest of the afternoon recompiling what I wanted to present to the school board. It didn’t look as pretty as I had hoped, but maybe most of the text should be saved for myself anyway. I can always have a couple copies of that on hand, while giving out mass copies of my supporting documents for closer inspection. I’ll have several hours of uninterrupted time with Summer in the car tomorrow, so that will be my chance to really fine-tune everything.

It started to storm after nightfall, so I rushed to pack and then visited Dad before heading up to Summer’s for the evening. It got late fast, and I tried to pack too much into my evening. In the end, I made it to bed by midnight after a nightcap to calm the nerves. I’ll set an alarm for the first time in a month, and it’ll be one foot in front of the other for the foreseeable future.

Boldly going forward ’cause we can’t find reverse.

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6º

I got up when everyone left this morning, and made myself some fried rice out of some leftover egg yolks from a cake that Summer baked. Then I went home and got showered before my Tesla service appointment. Jacob came over a little before 11, and we kind of laughed at the fact that they sent him out for basically nothing since they denied any fault in my autopilot complaints. After that, we stood around talking about motorcycles for a while. He made a comment about the Grom, and it turned out he knew Chase from the group of guys that gets together to stunt ride.

Dad came over just as we were finishing up, and we went next door to work on Bác Vân’s patio door. We kept fighting getting it out from the inside when we should have just started from the outside. The fixed glass door was actually way easier to remove, so even though we had to lift more things, it was way less trouble than going out the wrong direction. The rollers didn’t seem to be in awful shape, but they were a part of a bracket that ran the width of the door.

We went to Lowe’s first to try and find some replacement rollers, but they didn’t have any. We saw Manuel on the way out, and he tried to help even in plain clothes, but he didn’t think they had the whole bracket, so we headed to Leonard’s. They had just the wheels, but they bolted on and we weren’t sure that would work with the bracket we had. In the end, we knew we were missing a screw to lower the rollers on one side, so Dad picked up a replacement and we headed back. I spotted Allen on his old Kawasaki on the way back, and it looked like he was enjoying the ride.

The replacement screw ended up not fitting, but after going through a couple drawers and several cookie tins of random screws, we actually found the original! I just had a feeling about it, and luck was on our side. We got the door back together and it was marginally better, but then the locking mechanism kept falling down. We went back to Leonard’s and picked up a new one, but then we had to Dremel the opening a bit in order for the latch to fit.

The project snowballed on us quite a bit, and we could still fix it better, but that was enough for one day. We put everything back together, Bác Vân forced some money on me, and some shrimp and rice on Dad. Then he went home and I waited for Summer to come get the paperwork to request a new title for the Pathfinder.

Autumn dropped Eaddie off to go ride her bike, and then Summer got her paperwork for the DMV. I waited around, exhausted, for Eaddie to finish, and then I took her home. It wasn’t long after that she wanted to go to the mall to do homework with some friends. I dropped her off, and then remembered I left my valve stem caps off for my appointment. I ran home to get them, and then headed back up to Summer’s.

Julie called me about another Entergy job I asked her about, and we ended up talking for quite a while, even as I had to pick Eaddie back up. It seems that no matter what happens next, it won’t happen fast. I’m fortunate to have savings, but we had plans for all that money I was making. Hopefully my hearing next week will keep that flowing at least for a little longer.

There’s gotta be a better way. I just haven’t started looking for it yet.

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We Have a Date

Eaddie woke me up from a pretty deep slumber this morning, and I hopped right up to get her to school just in time. Summer was at work, and Autumn left super early because of an Ed Rising competition out of town. I made it home after dropping Eaddie off, and it was a cold, slow start to the morning for me until I got an email from Judy with only a single date and time for my hearing.

After that, I went outside to try and reset the Pathfinder’s anti-theft system, but after pulling the battery and jumping through hoops with the ignition, I finally called a locksmith that told me it was most likely a bad computer that would just have to be replaced. That, of course, means either finding another old one to swap myself, or taking it to the dealership since it would involve reprogramming the keys anyway. That whole car just hardly seems worth the trouble, but hopefully airing it out today will at least help with the smell.

Later in the afternoon, Bác Vân called and asked me to come oil her back door because she was having trouble opening it. I felt bad for Doug, because she kept griping about him not fixing it, but apart from replacing the rollers, there wasn’t much else we could do. I guess that can be a project for tomorrow.

I thought I might accomplish a bit more than that today, but my mind just kept spinning in circles. I need a way to reboot myself, but I just don’t know what I need and at this point it feels impossible. At least I have a date for my board hearing, so that should help destress me. Maybe.

Eaddie got a ride home from a friend after her band buddies program. Once Summer got home, I headed up and grabbed some tacos along the way. Then I spent all evening trying to plan a couple days in Kansas City again. This is all just so much happening at once, and I’m done having it all on the back of my mind.

At least I’ve got rewards.

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Can I Speak to Your Manager?

I got up this morning and made breakfast burritos. Autumn didn’t want one, so I had two. They were pretty great. Summer had to work, and the girls wanted to go out shopping. I went home for a bit, and then had the girls take me to Superfast so I could get the Pathfinder. I took it to Splash to vacuum out the inside, and then ran it through the car wash. It took hours to get the thing clean, and it still smelled awful. I thought it smelled like cats, but Summer said it was just mold or mildew from holding so much water for so many years.

Eventually I made it home, but was caught in limbo waiting to hear something back from Mark. I really wanted to send my request for a hearing yesterday, but that turned into this morning, which turned into “before 4:30,” which turned into “freakin whenever.” I eventually got it sent, and this was the easy part.

I headed back to Splash to catch Summer on her way out. She had to close shop late, and then we headed up to her house. The girls came out for a little bit while Summer ate some leftovers and I picked at some summer sausage. Summer got ready for bed, and then I got a message from Ernie, who wanted to chat on the phone. I called and talked to him for a little while, and he kept wanting to get together sometime. While I’d enjoy hanging out for a bit, the kilt club drama sounded a whole lot like the furry club drama I had just read about. I guess that’ll teach me to hang around Facebook.

I’m shipping up to Boston, whoa!

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Mark My Words

Summer took Eaddie to school today, so I laid around for a little longer this morning. Eventually I got up and had some tacos for brunch before prepping a corned beef in the slow cooker for dinner. Then I went home to try and gather my thoughts for a bit before getting some last-minute help. I felt like I had everything pretty well organized, but I should have reached out for help sooner.

The afternoon was there soon, and the girls headed home with Autumn’s boyfriend in tow. Eaddie went to her room for most of the time, which meant I had to keep an eye on Autumn and Adam so I could call them out later.

Finally I was able to meet up with Mark at their new building, and I gained what perhaps what shouldn’t have been such a surprising level of insight. He definitely looked at things from a different angle, but I wasn’t too far off with some of the things I had considered. I found myself wishing I had involved him sooner, though I still felt like when the time comes, I’ll screw something up. My best-case-scenario is just a moving target, and it stresses me out.

When we finished talking, I headed up to Summer’s where she had just gotten home to an empty house. All the kids went to the movies, and ended up watching Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Summer and I ate our traditional corned beef, and then I got to work assembling my documentation into its final form. The girls eventually made it home and I talked to Eaddie a little bit. Autum talked to Summer while she settled into bed, and eventually everyone went to sleep.

Hey, I’m the victim here!

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I Liked the Original Better Than the SQL

I woke up late today, but then immediately threw my leg into a charley horse. Once I worked it out, I realized the girls had already left for school, apparently with Autumn at the helm. I messaged Summer to check, and sure enough, Autumn had called for permission while I was asleep. In reality I have no idea how hard she tried to wake me, but usually Eaddie can just whisper my name and I hop out of bed. I did have a pretty sleepless night though.

I got around to a bean burrito, and then poked at some job listings. I found a couple to apply for, and even got a response from one with a test to complete. I decided to wait until I got home to start that, since they said it would take about an hour.

It rained most of the day, but I got home in a short clear period. Summer was at a ribbon cutting at the new Greenbrier wash. I didn’t consider doing a whole lot beyond looking at jobs. I started the test after I had a shower, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so heavy with coding. The job description mentioned SQL experience, but the test actually asked me to write some code, so I gave up at the last few questions.

Autumn made it home, and Summer picked Eaddie up from robotics. They went out to dinner to catch up, and I went to my parents’ house for some fish soup. They weren’t really expecting me, but the soup didn’t take long to reheat. After I ate, Mom asked about work and I explained the predicament I’ll have to fight. She seemed eager for me to dig in as well, so it seems my path is set.

I eventually made it up to Summer’s for the evening, and Eaddie and I watched an episode of Breaking Bad while Summer did her nails. Then everyone was off to bed.

DELETE FROM Prospective_Jobs WHERE CompanyName=’MagView’;