Tag: work

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Board to Tears

I grabbed Hardee’s and ate my biscuit and gravy on the drive in to work this morning. Muad’Dib was super pumped when we got there, and kept bouncing all over the office to see everyone. We settled in pretty quickly though, because Charles asked me about some IP addresses for a project we’ve got, and it occurred to me that I still didn’t know how any of that was set up through our firewall.

I studied most of the day in a bit of a panic, again feeling underqualified. I eventually sent an email to the MSP that helped with the HA setup, to see if they could help walk me through some of the configurations. We took a late lunch to Arby’s for a ham and cheese. There wasn’t a table or bench outside, so we just sat on the curb and shared the sandwich in the sun. Muad’Dib was super well behaved, though he did drool on my pants out of excitement while waiting for a bite.

The afternoon went by comparitively quickly after such a long morning. We made it back to town and I had an anxiety attack in the car just as I pulled into the garage. Once Summer got home for her break, we went to my parents’ house for spaghetti, and then she had to go back to work to close shop.

I took Muad’Dib out for a run, and he sprinted the better part of a mile. He did great, we stopped to see Dad, and then I had board trouble on the way back to the house. It happened once yesterday, but tonight it started flashing red, sounding its haptic buzz, and reported that the battery needed to be charged. The only problem was that the battery was reporting over 70% remaining.

I carried the board back for a little over half a mile, took a quick shower to cool down, then submitted another serivce ticket before bed.

Could use a little moon shine.

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Weird Recovery

I slept in for just a little while since I was working from home today. Summer left for work and I brought my laptop to bed. There still hasn’t been much asked of me, so I did a couple tasks and then tried to sit through some more Microsoft training. It felt a lot more like a sales pitch than training for how to do something specific, so that was a bore. Muad’Dib dozed on my arm, snoring all the while.

Eventually I got cleaned up and took Eaddie to meet Summer at Cicis for lunch. They’re running their early week deal for the remainder of the year, and it’s by far the best salad bar you can get at that price, even if you don’t eat the pizza.

After we ate, I took Eaddie home and went back to work for a while. Later in the afternoon, I took Muad’Dib to Clear View to see if they could fix the chip in my windshield. When I walked in, they were all in the office folding paper airplanes, and asked if I was any good at it. I asked if she just saw my Asian eyes when I walked in and assumed I was good at origami.

Mike pulled the car into the bay and got to work on the glass, and I let Muad’Dib out to wander around. We chatted, along with another kid that was there, until the job was done. When he finished, I offered to pull the car out and then give him my insurance information to he could get paid, and he ran me off and said not to worry about it. I left feeling really conflicted, because he’s always super nice when I talk to him, but there’s always something wrong with the work I have done. Last time it was tiny bubbles in the tint. This time, he didn’t level the surface of the chip, and it left a bright spot that catches the light, plain as day.

I stopped at Casey’s for a freebie Celsius and then pulled into the Tri-Mountain driveway next to Airgas to try and exchange my CO2 tank. The gate was closed, and I learned that they had actually closed at four, so I went back to the house without any gas. Summer got home from work just shortly after that, and tried to wind down pretty quickly.

Dad texted that they had eggrolls, so I eventually ran Muad’Dib over there while Summer drove. Julie and Kevin beat us. It was a quick dinner with some fried rice, and then we finished our run while Summer went home to crash. I gave Muad’Dib a good bath and tried to clean him up enough to last a couple days, then picked up around the kitchen before bed.

He needs his own CPUP.

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One Step Two Step Red Step Blue Step

Kevin checked in to see if I contacted Diamond Ridge, and ended up calling Jon to get things moving for me. I wanted to be respectful of his time and work/life balance, but Kevin gave me Jon’s personal cell to work things out.

Rhonda got a little fussy about the automation I created for shipment documentation, but without invoking more human involvement, there wasn’t much I could do to improve the automation. It seemed simple enough to sort files by date, but after our conversation about phone storage the other day, I don’t guess I was surprised to hear she felt it was impossible to find what she needed.

Muad’Dib and I went to Sonic for lunch again since it was still nice out. We shared a toaster, but he couldn’t have any onion rings. I did risk giving him some of the breading though. Later in the afternoon, I was invited downstairs for some leftover ice cream with the team.

Jon called on my way back home, and said he would have someone visit us tomorrow. I stopped at AT&T to see Kevin, and brought Muad’Dib inside. He was busy with a customer, but Hope came out and found me. We chatted for a while, and Kevin would come over periodically while his customer was, presumably, transferring stuff between devices.

I left there and stopped to see Summer at the wash, and tried to vacuum Muad’Dib’s seat protector. That went fairly poorly, so I’ll just need to remove it and shake it out. It wouldn’t hurt to hose it off either. As soon as I got to the house, Muad’Dib and I rode over to my parents’ house for fish soup.

After that, the girls were home and I sat down to talk with Summer for a while. Then we tried to find something to watch on the bedroom TV, but she fell asleep almost immediately.

A Leash Called “Obedience”

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Chili Dog Daze

I spent the morning continuing to clean up data for import. It was done by lunch, and nobody reported anything being broken, so maybe I did it right. It certainly could have been less tedious.

It rained a bit as thunder and lightning struck all around in the distance. That dropped the temperature enough that it felt pretty nice out, so Muad’Dib and I went to Sonic and sat outside for lunch. It was actually a great time. We both just hung out, he was chill, and we shared a footlong coney.

I spent the afternoon just poking around at some different things, then stopped to see Summer at the wash on the way to the house. She had a late team meeting to run, so I stopped by Zaxby’s for dinner. I tried to clean up the kitchen a bit after I ate, and then Summer got home and wound down while I ran Muad’Dib.

The cooler air got him running more than he has been, so it was good to get moving. We stopped to see my parents, and then cleaned up for bed.

You got your hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, baby.

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All Fronts

Today did not go as planned. I had a couple of calls from some of the sales guys for help, which actually went fairly well. Then I had some virtual training planned for the morning through lunch, but immediately after our HubSpot call, Joel emailed me and asked me to update pricing on some products there. That of course had me switch gears entirely, and I had to learn how the old pricing spreadsheet calculations were done, and then figure out how to import them into HubSpot.

Muad’Dib and I went to McDonald’s for fries and Arby’s for a sandwich, just for the sake of pinching pennies, and then I dug into my first real task. I ended up talking to Joel at the end of the day just to confirm what I was doing, and saved the real work for the next day.

We tried to stop and see Summer at Superfast when we got back to town, but she had left early and went to the gym. Eaddie was leaving for Clarksville when I got to the house. Summer got home shortly after that, and I had to figure out dinner. I ended up going to Zaxby’s for a couple salads, and then we ended up venting at each other about each other over the way we prioritize (or don’t) tasks.

I left to run Muad’Dib, and then crashed about an hour later than I wanted.

focus

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Out of Tune

I had a slow start and got to work a little later today. Muad’Dib seemed to be having a little trouble himself, and kept licking himself as smells happened. He eventually perked up, and didn’t appear to make a mess anywhere, but I was a little concerned. I tried to dig through some more 365 documentation, but I just kind of hate it so far. I had an anxiety attack at some point, but rolled on as usual.

Summer was supposed to come have lunch with me, but she ran a couple hours late without saying a word about it. I finally texted to find out what was going on, and she said she wasn’t going to make it. Then I suggested I could pick up pizza so she could just stop in to eat at the office, and she was in for that.

Pizza Hut had a strange drive-through orientation, but it worked surprisingly well. I got in and out of there, and then stopped by Casey’s for a deal on some wings since I was still waiting on Summer anyway. I let Muad’Dib out to walk around for a bit in the heat, and then tried to leave him outside while I ran in to get the food. It took almost no time for him to take off and find a family at one of the gas pumps. Luckily he didn’t get far, and he ran right back to me. I put him in the car after that, since the wings weren’t anywhere near done.

Summer just barely beat me to the office, and I was reminded that they had ice cream and Italian ice as a gesture of employee appreciation. Most everyone was in the break room and introduced themselves to her in a flurry. Muad’Dib was getting nosey, so we went upstairs to eat. I walked Summer back to her car and then had some Italian ice myself with Rhonda in the breakroom. I don’t know why, but I got chattier than I usually do. I guess I’ve just spent more time talking to her than most anyone else at the office so far.

The afternoon was tough because I was exhausted from going to bed so late after last night’s panic. We made it to the end and headed home. Dad had met Brandon from Dream Builders Construction to get a quote, and he came back almost immediately with a total of $5,100 that didn’t appear to include a tax calculation. It also looked like he was less thorough than R&R, who Dad had called. They finally came back with a quote after a week that also considered blowing new insulation for a total of $6,936.47. For a thousand more, it sounded like R&R may be better equipped to do the whole job, but I don’t know.

The evening was pretty quiet. Summer took a bath for a while, Eaddie left for Eli’s, and I shut in to do some long-overdue Vine reviews. Once the sun was nearly down, I took Muad’Dib for a quick run, and then raced to bed.

EXTI

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Working Like a Dog

I took Muad’Dib to work again today, and he was much more comfortable to leave my side and wander around. I was worried at first that he would bother people, but Teisha greeted him with a treat, and then everyone upstairs stopped to pet him this time. Scott even commented that after meeting him last week, he looked into adopting another dog himself. Joel came upstairs and made a point to stop and give him some pets, and I’m starting to think he likes the dog more than me.

We went to McDonald’s for lunch again, but I just left him in the car so I could eat there. It was a quick meal though, and then I stopped at Sonic to get him some “premium” chicken bites (quotes mine, because I learned that it is still mechanically separated chicken and not actual breast meat). The afternoon was really quiet and I spent some time watching videos on Intune until quitting time.

Summer was already home and went with me to my parents’ house to load up some more wood that Dad had cut for me. Then we went for a swim to cool off before going back to the house to figure out dinner. She took a bath while I picked up Taco Villa. I stopped for a quick carwash before getting the food, because my car had gotten pretty disgusting. Then a bird got my windshield while I was parked at the restaurant.

Eaddie went out shopping and was gone all night. I took Muad’Dib for a night run and ran into Alisha on our last stretch home. She was looking for her injured cat, which we found two houses down from where she had given up and turned to go home. I called and waited for her to come get it, then took Muad’Dib home for a vacuum before bed.

I remembered that internet was down at the old house and texted Dad about the cameras seeing a couple strangers in the garage. We panicked and raced over, but on the way he remembered letting the little girl in to use the restroom after they had come to get some old wood. Fortunately all was fine, except for an overheated router. I rebooted everything and got us back in business so they could take me back to go to bed.

Don’t forget that the moon has a cold, dark side.

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Human Adult Things

I wasn’t sure what the girls were doing today, so I decided to take Muad’Dib to work with me, just to make sure he stayed out of the insulation that was covering the living room. I brought him in on a leash, but as soon as we got upstairs, he was off. He did great, ate some food, drank a bunch of water, and eventually got to go socialize a bit. Everyone seemed to like him, but as expected, some were way more excited to see him than others. I think I was most surprised by Joel’s response to get way down on the floor with him.

Nobody really wanted to attempt his name, but Muad’Dib and I hung out upstairs most of the day. Summer actually stayed home today, so I had her try and find someone else to quote us on a repair and cleaning. She found a single guy named Cano that said he would come out.

We eventually went to get lunch, and I just picked up some McNuggets at the drive-through. I picked up a free slush at Casey’s, and then we went back to the office to eat. After that, I spent some time with the Vuzix headset again. The afternoon was dead.

Cano finally came by the house late in the afternoon, but just before I got there. Summer must have been starving, because she wanted a Chinese buffet. We left Muad’Dib in the bedroom alone for the first time, and drove across town to discover that New China was closed for some personal event. We ended up at Mulan’s for a relatively quick meal before coming back to the house.

Muad’Dib seemed to do fine. he had a little block of yak cheese that he had been chewing on at work all day, and I found where he had hidden it under the stuffed cheetah under the bed. We laid with him for a while in exhaustion, and then we skipped his run to go to bed.

displaced

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Stretching the Upper Limit

Johnny called just as I got to work this morning, so I talked to him for a while. He actually knew quite a bit about Microsoft 365, so he can probably help me for a change. I had a fair bit of trouble focusing after that.

I went to Wendy’s for a late lunch, and grabbed some McDonald’s fries on the way back to eat in my office. It wasn’t very long after that when Eaddie texted that, “Hey so part of the ceiling may or may not have just fallen.” I don’t know why she would lead like that, but I eventually got some photos from her that showed the drywall leaning up against my irreplaceable 3D OLED TV.

Teisha told me to just go home since Joel was on a call, but I wanted to at least message him about it. He said the same, and I headed to the house. Eaddie and Eli were both there to see when it happened. The entire living room was coated in a thick layer of dust. Our fuzzy couch was completely covered. Everything was covered. My first priority was to get the drywall off of the TV. It was heavy, and I was completely astounded when the TV turned on without a shattered corner. It actually broke the drywall. I got some of that out, and then Dad came over to help the kids and me clean out as much of the insulation as we could.

We moved the most expensive stuff into the sunroom in case of further collapse, and then Dad and I went to his house to find some wood and a floor jack to get the rest of the drywall screwed up to the joists. It went better than I expected, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Summer got home after her doctor appointment for her knee. I was already irritated that I beat her home from my job in Morrilton, and that she couldn’t make our home a priority. Then she had the nerve to ask if I would support her quitting her job before finding new employment because she had a really bad day. I’d been telling her for YEARS to find something else and quit, and she always pushed back. So no. Hard, “NO.”

I was able to move the thermostat sensing to the bedroom so it wouldn’t just keep pumping air into the gaping living room. Then Muad’Dib and I left to run, and I went to my parents’ house to swim. Mom thought this all happened at the old house, but I told her it was at our new house.

We left once I was sufficiently cooled down, and got to the house before dark. Summer was in bed, and Eaddie had gone to Eli’s for dinner.

Shocking. Make lemonade.

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The Power to Automate

I felt less bad this morning. It was my day to try and complete some tasks, so I dug into block coding with Power Automate, sent off my fixed asset checklist, and at the end of the day, played with the Vuzix smartglasses that were given to me. I took a break in the middle of all that to get a Big Mac – my cheapest local meal that isn’t a dollar frozen burrito from the Walmart. The fries were really sad, so I stopped at Sonic on the way back for a dollar corndog.

I had an anxiety attack just as I was driving away from the office, so I let the car do its thing. Eaddie wanted to take Eli and Ceci to my parents’ house to swim, but Dad wanted me there as an adult to watch over them, so I changed clothes when I got to the house and rode Muad’Dib over on the Onewheel to meet them. Mom was actually home early too. I sat outside with the kids and dripped sweat after a while.

Mom said they still had fish soup, so I brought that in to heat up just as Eaddie said she was going to their house for dinner. Mom went out to water plants, so I ate alone and then finished my walk with the dog. He was pretty sluggish and we cut about a mile off our route.

It was recycle and trash duty when we got back. The kids stayed out late, and I tried to sleep early.

what if then else