Tag: work

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Graveyard Dead

I unloaded the last of the old laptops this morning, but I still had some other odds and ends to bring back before recycling day. Gary was back at work again, but now with his arm in a sling. I was worried he wasn’t in great spirits at the start of the day, but as we got into it, he seemed to be doing alright.

A bunch of us went to Taco John’s for Taco Tuesday. Then we had everyone come to the shop afterward to help rummage one last time through all the junk in the graveyard. We pulled out a bunch of old Lenovo laptops, which have been absolute workhorses. I almost hate to get rid of them after all this time.

As we finished up, everyone filtered off. Zach and I ended up in my office at one point, and I decided that I just had to have a Sonic slush. I went around the office to take orders, and then Zach and I picked them up in the middle of an apparent controlled burn across town. It was so hazy that it nearly blocked out the sun.

After work, I took some new scrap home to unload, then cleaned up a bit more junk at the house to take back tomorrow. Summer came by after her workout to help me load some into the car, and then I eventually went up to her house, taco in tow.

The girls had karate and got home late. Autumn seemed to be in a much better mood, but I didn’t see Eaddie all night. I forgot my medication, so I just got ready for bed as quickly as I could.

To parts-store, or not to parts-store…

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Mission: Success

It was pretty cold out this morning, but it turned into a beautiful day for a few hours in the afternoon. Work was pretty uneventful for the most part. Zach was out of the office all day. Greg was in his office making a bunch of racket when he spilled coffee everywhere and decided to mount a TV to the wall as his monitor instead. It really looks like a grandpa setup now.

I was talked into Brangus for lunch, where I tried their grilled chicken sandwich. The chicken didn’t look like much, but basically came with an entire salad’s worth of fixings, and it tasted alright. I think I ate too many peanuts though, and I felt pretty stuffed the rest of the day.

The afternoon was equally quiet, if not moreso. I did go by Oakland for a few minutes, but only to drop off a badge holder. Somehow quitting time still snuck up on me, and I was the last one out.

I went home to change, and then met the girls at the high school to talk to their advisors about their student success plans. Autumn didn’t want me there on account of her hatred toward anything remotely challenging, but warmed up to me later in the evening. Summer wasn’t super impressed with our first visit, but I knew what to expect. Eaddie’s went much better, but then I had to take her to the junior high to look for her lost phone.

The junior high had their own evening plans, though it was basically a ghost town with teachers sitting around bored in the cafeteria. Hope helped us look in the office for Eaddie’s phone, but it wasn’t anywhere to be found. I ran through Taco Bell on the way up to Summer’s, but that took an incredible amount of time for no apparent reason.

Once we got to the house, Eaddie found her phone in her backpack. Autumn had brought a very trying friend home, but they stayed in her room until Autumn had to take her home. Summer had brought Popeye’s home for everyone, but had a ton left over.

When Autumn got back home, we had a short heart-to-heart before she went to do homework. Then Eaddie came and looked through some old photos with me until I went to bed.

Life is just a series of choices, one after the next.

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A Dandy, Mandy Birthday

We had a really long, relaxing meeting this morning with some fancier donuts than usual. It really felt like we didn’t have much of anything to do, and everyone was just happy to be at the end of the week. Jacob wanted some help troubleshooting a sound system that kept going to sleep, so I went to the junior high with him for a bit.

When I got back to the shop, I poked around a little bit until lunch time. Then a big group of us went to La Chiquita. We even got Tammy and Kelsea to go with us, which has never happened before. Thomas ended up paying for everyone, which was super generous. I had the fajitas for the first time in quite a while, which reminded me how much better they are than just about anything else on the lunch menu.

The afternoon went by pretty slowly after that. I ran home to grab a package, but otherwise didn’t have a whole lot at work that was just super pressing. I closed out what tickets I could for Gary and myself, and eventually made it to four o’clock.

I ran straight home and got to work making my smoked queso dip. I cooked some chorizo, then melted smoked Velveeta, smoked shredded blend, and some smoked pepperjack into the Rotel, garlic, and jalapeños. I forgot my onion and cilantro, which would have freshened it up quite a bit. The chorizo also ended up being a big mess because the grease bubbled up around the cheese and popped everywhere. It tasted alright though, and not too smokey.

As soon as I loaded that up into my little crock pot, I headed to Amanda’s for her birthday shindig. It was just her and Sarah, their roommate Steven, and their friend Khris there, so it was a really chill evening of just hanging out and playing a couple games. We picked up some pizza and candy from Casey’s, then played Sushi Go, followed by Cards Against Humanity.

I left shortly after midnight, when we wished Amanda a proper happy birthday. Then it was straight home and to bed after a long, waking day.

It don’t confront me none!

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Melo

I had trouble getting to sleep again last night, but then woke from heavy dreams. Work started to look interesting once I got there, because I immediately started receiving phone calls through Tammy from others in the district that I don’t typically interface with. I felt pretty helpful though. I actually had the last couple days to myself since Brody’s been out.

Zach, Thomas, and I tried going to CJ’s for lunch, but the parking lot was beyond full. We ended going back to Wendy’s for my burger of choice, but I had trouble getting their app to load. I finally got my food as they were finishing theirs, but the service was so fast that we ended up just sitting for most of the hour anyway.

I ended up at Oakland for the better part of the afternoon, partly to finish up the TV install we did yesterday, but then killing the last bit of time until the end of the day. Eaddie had me take her and Zane to Zaxby’s right after work, so they could hang out with Autumn and the Quiz Bowl gang. I stopped by Superfast to see Summer for a bit, and then went home to change.

I had some stuff to run to my parents’ house, so I went over there to visit for a while. Dad and I set up a new set of cordless phones while we caught up. By the time I left there, it was getting pretty late but I wanted to get my taco, so I ran through the drive-through to get it and then ended up going on to Summer’s for the evening.

The girls were still at their event. Summer was in bed. I ate, and then got to bed as quickly as I could. I was cold and tired, and ready for sleep.

Anything to keep the blood pressure down.

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Back in Zax

I remember sleeping pretty hard and dreaming when my alarm went off this morning, so I wasn’t very happy to have to get up and go to work. I made it in just a hair late, but there was nothing going on anyway. Zach had Jacob, Kyle, and me go out to the graveyard to sort through some of the stuff that was out there. I pulled out a working overhead projector, if for nothing else, then for awesome hand puppets.

When we got back inside, I made myself some English breakfast tea with milk. I had forgotten how much I like milk with tea. It was a pretty quiet day after that. I helped with a few things here and there. Zach, Thomas, Josh, and I went to Zaxby’s for lunch, since they were finally open for dine-in again. The only thing I didn’t miss was their prices.

The afternoon went by quietly as well. I went to Oakland at the end of the day to take care of something, and then Zach met me there after school to help install a new touch panel for the room that had the whiteboard ripped off the wall.

After we dropped that stuff back off at the graveyard, I headed home for a quiet night to myself. I finally picked up a bit in the kitchen after smoking all of that cheese. Then I ate some of the beef that was leftover from our night out a couple weeks ago before getting on the treadmill for a bit. I didn’t feel super great, so I stopped a little under two miles and came inside to go to bed.

Tell me it’s Jason Bourne without telling me it’s Jason Bourne.

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Taco Threesday

I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, and ended up going off routine. I made it to work a couple minutes early to little fanfare, and tried to find some work to do. Brody came around for some help, which kept me busy for a large part of my day again. I did go by Oakland for a little bit, but even that was a pretty quick in-and-out.

I almost didn’t go to lunch, but the guys chose Taco John’s and I couldn’t pass up a meal under $3. I felt pretty satisfied after that, too. The afternoon was uneventful, and I ended up killing some some until my Google user research call. That was kind of interesting, but not really as fun as I thought it could have been. I would have hoped for more insider information, but there was nothing really groundbreaking.

As I left, Eaddie called and asked me to pick her up. I had to go by Oakland for a few things anyway, so it worked out. Evidently the autism room had a kid rip the SMART board off of the wall, so we’ll have to figure something out for that tomorrow.

We didn’t spend much time at my house. I vacuum sealed some of the shredded cheese, and then we left for Summer’s. I picked up another taco along the way, and then ate it along with some more leftover double decker tacos once we got to the house. Autumn was out late at some wrestling event, and then it was a quiet evening until an early bedtime.

Increasingly elaborate tortilla sandwiches…

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Super Cheesy

It was a crisp sort of frosty this morning, lugging my cheeses back home for smoking in the evening. I made it in to work without event, but Gary messaged to say he would be out for a few days after slipping on ice and breaking his arm. It was pretty quiet, otherwise. Thomas sounded significantly better, and said he was finally nearing normal.

I spent a large portion of the day finishing up some work for CPPC, between helping Brody with random things. I thought I’d make it to Oakland at some point, but I never did.

Zach, Thomas, and I went to Arby’s for lunch. I had thought to myself recently that it had been a while since we’d eaten there, so it was a treat. Their new Brisket, Bacon, ‘n Beef Dip was awesome, and then Zach bought us all turnovers for dessert.

When we got back, I printed off some copies of the CPPC email and changed policies, and walked them over to Transportation, as well as all the way out to the bus barn for the drivers less likely to read their email. The rest of the afternoon just got quieter and quieter until quitting time.

As soon as I got home, I rushed to get things ready to smoke my cheese. I did some quick research, sliced up all of my big blocks, and loaded them onto a metal rack to stick in the grill. My A-Maze-N Tube Smoker lit off like a champ, and we were off to the races.

I stuck around for about an hour and flipped the cheeses, then went to Taco Bell to pick up dinner. I video called Summer while I waited in line, and then made it home to eat. I flipped the cheese some more, then did a couple miles on the treadmill before coming back in to finish things up.

It took me a bit to get the vacuum sealing right, but I was pretty pleased with the results. All of the cheeses looked pretty good, but I won’t know until at least the end of the week how good they really turned out. They’ve got to rest a bit while they’re all wrapped up, so the smokey flavor mellows out. I did sneak a couple pinches of the shredded cheese though, and it was pretty good.

Sucks to suck.

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Iced Out

I woke up this morning and cautiously waited for a notification that never came. Work was happening, in spite of any remaining ice. I went outside in the dark and tried to get into my car, but there was a quarter inch thick sheet of ice wrapped smoothly around my entire door. I managed to get to my door handle, but the more I pulled, the more I felt like I was going to rip the handle right off. It just wasn’t worth the damage, so I opted to work from home for the morning.

I answered some emails, had an hour and a half phone call with Aimee about bus driver pay and benefits, and tried to help someone with a VPN issue. As I wrapped that up, Bác Vân called to offer some sweet rice she made for the new year’s celebration. As I walked next door, I was able to get my car door open, so I started the car and let it defrost while I went nextdoor. She gave me a big bag of fruit and a couple rounds of rice.

Heading in to work was a piece of cake, as the roads were almost completely clear. I arrived just as a big group of the guys were headed to lunch. I wasn’t much interested in La Chiquita, so I just went inside and shared my rice ball with Thomas and Tammy. I didn’t have a lot to work on right away, but eventually the guys made it back from lunch and I went over some CPPC stuff with Zach.

Eventually Thomas came back to socialize with everyone, and after a while he sent us on home for the weekend. I went home and tried to keep up my momentum to clean up a bit. It was less cleaning, and more trying to organize a bunch of random stuff that ended up in the bedroom floor. Time got away from me as I documented healthcare receipts for later HSA reimbursement. Eventually I gave up and took a shower so I could go to bed grime-free.

It’s poteen, me boys!

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Stand Up

I got in to work this morning and continued work on what I had to say for the CPPC meeting. Justin happened to call me with some thoughts just as Gary came back to review it with me, so he came down and they both listened to what I had to say before the meeting at 9:30.

It was drizzly out, so I drove around the building to our central office. I got there without much time to spare, so once the meeting started I actually took a little bit to get myself situated to make my speech. I got all kinds of looks, but I was too concentrated on breathing through my mask to notice much. I said what I had to say, and I got roughly the response I thought I would. It’s our meeting, and we’re welcome to come up with whatever policy changes we would like. Janie was back after being out for the last meeting, and her response was actually less incendiary than any of us expected. I think overall it went well, because everyone was pretty involved in the discussion of every policy moving forward for the rest of the meeting – at least until people started to disappear, one by one.

I made it back to the shop about half an hour before lunch, which gave me just enough time to get settled before Gary came around and said we were going to McAlister’s. I drove him, Josh, and Thomas there to meet Greg, and of course my online order that I submitted while we were still halfway through the line came out after they had gotten theirs at the table and already started eating. Mine was deliciously customized though, with every free vegetable they offered.

After lunch, I spent most of the afternoon working on the CPPC minutes. I decided to leave out my 30 minute diatribe about Chrissy, and instead stuck to the policies we changed. I’ve felt better, but it didn’t feel bad to stand up for something I believe in either. Near the end of the day we got an email announcing the closure of school for the students tomorrow. Thomas’s policy is that we would work unless Central Office closed, which was a break from what we were used to with Ben. I’d much rather just have the day off like everyone else, obviously.

Just as I got home from work, Julie called to talk about our Disney trip. She felt that I was making a grave mistake by threatening Autumn over her grades. She didn’t think it was right to position our family vacation either as a punishment or reward. I tried to stop and let her know that it was a non-issue, but she stood on principle. It was clear there was nothing I could say to satisfy her. She started the conversation with clear intent. Frankly, I had run out of polite ways to tell her that it was none of her fucking business how we choose to parent. She ended the call by saying that Disney was cancelled, and hanging up on me.

I’ve only ever had one other person that was able to stress me out so instantaneously, and I swore myself out of that situation. Julie is evidently incapable of accepting that there are things that she cannot change, and she refuses not to fight over it at every chance possible. I’m absolutely through with it. I’m mustering every bit of will that I have to make good decisions for myself and for my family, and I will not have anyone bring me down from that. She can blame me or our family for all of her issues, and I do not care. In the end it is personal responsibility that you can rely on. I hope she makes a better life, but I won’t have her making mine worse.

I walked a brisk 1.6 miles on the treadmill with a glass of apple pie moonshine and a cream ale to calm the nerves, and ended the evening with a couple tacos and some fries because I’m no stranger to bad decisions either. Eyes forward.

Quit wasting my time.

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Wanna Fight?

I got in a couple minutes late this morning after a split night of sleep. I wasn’t as sore as I thought I might be, but I still felt pretty gross in general until I had my shower. Thomas was out again, and Zach was transient all morning until he took off for the afternoon. That left me with a grumpy Gary to sort through everyone’s messes.

Several of us went to Taco John’s for Taco Tuesday, and I had a light lunch that left me surprisingly satisfied, if not a little peckish. The afternoon was pretty quiet, but I had Justin come down to chat about our meeting tomorrow. It’s time to put thoughts into action and stand up for what I believe. At least I won’t be completely alone, and maybe I can get a couple raises out of the deal.

After work, I ran home to change before going to my parents’ house to wish them a happy new year. Then I stopped by the bank so I could be prepared to put my money where my mouth is, picked up my “free” taco, and headed up to Summer’s for the evening.

Noah came over, and all of the kids went to some kind of wrestling event. I showed Summer a bit of what I was working on until the kids made it back home. Then Eaddie and Noah stayed up being super loud until Noah went home. I kept feeling like my blood pressure was up, even after being pretty good over the last couple of days without medication, but I didn’t have my cuff to check. I guess that’s one more thing to check during my morning prep.

Opinions are like armpits, and yours are wrong.