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Sip and Stretch and Fall and Roll

We had a pretty short staff meeting this morning. They always stress me out, and afterward I always feel like it was for nothing, because everything went fine. Tammy brought up an issue with Rhonda’s Traverse, so I went to check on her afterward. That turned into a whole ordeal, but I tried to help. Afterward I was a bit scattered between projects. The morning went by quickly from being so busy.

We went to Sonic for a big lunch, and a lady driving a semi chatted with us while she waited for her food. We bounced around a little more when we got back, so the afternoon didn’t seem to drag on as much either. At the end of the day, I finally called the Lieblong Eye Clinic to schedule an appointment for my vision that seems to have degraded quickly over the past year. They were expectedly booked through the middle of January, so hopefully I don’t go blind before then.

We made it home and Summer was resting before her Sip + Stretch. Muad’Dib and I cleaned up and then were going to take the Onewheel downtown to meet her. I knew jumping onto the street going the other direction was going to be difficult, but the lack of torque on the Pint X always surprises me in the worst way. I tumbled and scuffed up my left knee, but it wasn’t terrible. We rode on.

Muad’Dib was awesome the whole way. It was a rare path for us, so he ran practically the entire two miles. We rolled through the Ridgewood parking lot, but they were super busy. Summer was a little late coming out of the class, so we just sat and waited for her. Point Remove was busy too, but we had a table away from the other dogs that were there. They had the roll-up doors closed when we got there for some reason, but opened them shortly after we got seated.

Once Summer got out, we drove to my parents’ house for some spring rolls. Summer only ate one, so we just shared the one set of dishes. Dad joined us to eat, and gave Muad’Dib plenty of spaghetti noodles. We got home a bit late, so Summer went to bed. I cleaned up a bit from the day’s worth of stuff, and then got to bed later than I wanted.

Y’all got any more of them deals?

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There and Gone

I actually meant to grab a Soylent but forgot this morning, so I was super hungry by the time we got to work. I considered stopping, but didn’t really want to take the time, so I snacked and had coffee instead. It helped to get up from the desk a bit, so I started the morning by talking with Elizabeth about what she needed from UPS. Then a little while later, I went down to talk to Rhonda since she was eavesdropping on my earlier conversation. I was glad but not surprised to hear that she didn’t actually have any trouble with SpeedShip.

After that, I showed Marivic my maps in PRTG and then went back upstairs to tinker with them some more until lunch. It was free nugget Wednesday at Wendy’s, so I got to eat fairly cheap. Then the afternoon dragged a little bit. I ended up switching gears a bit to revisit onboarding, since Shane needed an account made.

I left on time and considered stopping by the liquor store, but didn’t. Eaddie was home when we got there, but then I left to run Muad’Dib. He trotted a bit slowly and it started to sprinkle on us a bit, but we got to my parents’ house without issue. Mom was already eating something else, but Dad warmed up the chicken Alfredo for us and was making salads. We ate pretty early for them, and then headed home in the dark.

I visited with Summer for a bit and then did my prep for work while a Vine drop was happening. Earlier in the morning while I was downstairs, a 10-inch network rack dropped and I missed out on that. Then while I was getting things ready in the evening, I missed out on an Ember Mug 3. Those were two very specific things I’ve been wanting to buy, so it was a bummer to miss out on free ones.

Holding out for something freer.

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It’s Mostly Corn

I avoided breakfast today and made it to work a little early. Coffee got me through to lunch. I spent all day tinkering with the PLCs again, and got the data translated on the controller before sending it to PRTG. It might have been faster, but they kept shutting the line off, making all of my numbers read zero while I was testing it.

Summer had a long meeting in Little Rock, and after all the talk, Amanda said she didn’t want to go to Ortega’s with me, so I went by myself as usual. I had a relatively new-to-me server, but she was great. In fact, I think she formally checked in on me more than anyone else ever has. The food was great, as usual.

The afternoon didn’t drag as much as I thought it might after taking lunch just a few minutes early. Things were quiet, and I had accomplished a year-long task that I just knew was possible.

Suzanne was finally coming over to get some stuff, so I hurried home right at quitting time. It was lucky too, because she arrived before I had even changed clothes. I loaded her up with a bunch of lights, the bottles I was mis-shipped, and the two extra glass rinsers I opted not to use. We visited a little as the kids came through, and Summer made it back from her run. Then she was off and I took Muad’Dib for a run.

We had a decent run, but not the fastest in the humidity. Just before we made it to the basin, we ran across a lady jogging with a stray dog following behind. She didn’t really want to stop and chat, but I learned they were her neighbor’s loose dogs, so Muad’Dib and I tried to return them. It took a couple tries, but Muad’Dib had an awesome time running at full speed with them, and eventually we got them inside the fence of their yard.

We made it to my parents’ house, and they were just coming in for chicken Alfredo. We initially planned to come eat, but I was still full from lunch, and Summer had just started a bath and was full from her lunch-and-learn. We visited for a bit and then made it home after dark. It was a short night after that.

Spooky!

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UPS and Outs

I was pretty hungry this morning, so I made the split second decision to drop off the Interstate and swing through the Wendy’s in the Pilot for breakfast. That put me a little behind because I accidentally went to the Flying J first, but we made it to work on time. I thought I had a plan, but I immediately started getting otehr plans handed to me.

I was pleased to hear from Heaven when she had a question about SpeedShip. She went ahead and moved off of UPS WorldShip on her own, so I had to work out a couple details for her. I’ll have to make sure accounting has what they need tomorrow.

We got tacos for lunch, and Muad’Dib was extra good, so he got most of my cinnamon twists. I tinkered a bit with the new Red Lion controller in the afternoon, and then was stumped by a browser issue that Charles had, which ended up being due to the user profile from their old Google accounts.

I misread Suzanne’s message and thought she was coming by this evening instead of tomorrow, so we headed home quickly to get our run before she came over. Muad’Dib did pretty well, but wasn’t his fastest. We had a good time though, and got to visit my parents and get home well before dark. We were just a couple blocks away when I texted her and realized what I had done.

Summer got home just after we did, and was barely a husk of a woman after a long day at work. I was super hungry again, but she provided zero input when I inquired about food. She pulled out some leftover noodles that the kids made and ate some of those, then left the rest for me. I dressed them up with seasoning, cheese, and some frozen chicken strips that we’d had in the freezer for a while.

Eaddie breezed through at some point, but addressed only the dog before leaving again. I wanted to play a game or something, but there was no time for recreation. At least my new tire is here for my Onewheel, so I can try installing that sometime this week.

Sweet devil!

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Sun Uppers and Sun Downers

I woke up surprisingly early after staying up so late. I tried to take Muad’Dib out, and he got out of bed, but then immediately looked back at Summer, refusing to walk out the door. It’s their routine on the weekends, and apparently it was non-negotiable. She got up and put on her robe, and he took off down the hall.

I got up and made a couple coffees to get things moving. We expected Suzanne to come around sometime to pick up some stuff, so we lounged all morning. I put on Donnie Darko, since I’d seen it once around the time that it came out. Some of the acting was unbelievably bad, and it didn’t make much sense, because so many of them were established actors. After that, I put on the old David Lynch Dune for a few minutes before giving up on that.

I had to get around to come cleaning, but I also got a few more packages. Summer had to do some work and Eaddie left, so I was on my own for most of the day. Suzanne never came around, so after cleaning up a bit, Summer and I went to my parents’ house to eat spring rolls. Mom ended up not going to Fort Smith with Dad, so she was there cooking the whole time. We ate, cleaned up, and headed right back home.

I cleaned the kitchen and eventually took Muad’Dib for a run. He mostly trotted along the whole way, which was especially annoying because there were a ton of people out walking around. I always feel especially lazy when he’s not running fast enough for me to really need the Onewheel. We made it to my parents’ house to see Dad, grabbed the Maggi and dried squid he picked up for us, and made it home just after dark.

Summer headed to bed and I got ready for work. The shorter daylight hours makes it feel like we have less time, but the truth is I always feel like my days are short, even in the summertime. I’d be much happier with 30-hour days, and it really makes me wonder if I could ever have made polyphasic sleep work. I had a bit of the Fireball Torch’d Vanilla to help put me down quickly, and made it to bed.

So much night time!

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Glowout

I slept in a little bit today and felt rejuvenated for it. We still had milk, so I made a cappuccino and sat with Summer in the living room for a bit. Eaddie left for marching rehearsal and Summer mentioned going to Walmart to order a cake to donate to the junior high, but we ended up skipping that so we could relax a while before going to Eaddie’s game.

We eventually made it to Tech and I rode a couple circles around with Muad’Dib. We got a picture of Eaddie while they were practicing and then made it back to Summer for their march in. As soon as they finished, we left Summer to watch the game, and went home to clean up a bit around the house.

Mom had called earlier about coming to eat rolls, but then just said to come make it myself. Summer had a run immediately after the game, so I figured I should take my opportunity to get a meal for the day. As Muad’Dib and I pulled in, my parents were leaving for the grocery store. Mom had just a little bit of bún bò Huế left in the pot, so I finished that instead of making rolls.

Summer texted with perfect timing that they were almost to halftime, so we left and went straight back to the stadium to pick her up. She ended up being hungry and had more time than she expected, so we stopped by Ridgewood Brothers for some ribs. We sat outside with Muad’Dib, and he sat up on the bench with me. Grant was finishing up his day and came out to chat with us for a little bit, and invited us out to their soft opening for the Conway location, so we were excited to go to that.

We still had time for Summer to go home and change for her run, and then we headed to St. John’s after dark. They were having a glow run fundraiser, and Summer warned me of fireworks from last year. We dropped her off and parked on the opposite end of an adjacent parking lot, then rode the Onewheel over to the crowd. Muad’Dib did really well at that time, but we had to ride away and hide for the start of the race. We should have gone back to the car, but instead I took him around to the other side of the building where I thought I could shield his ears a bit. He still squirmed away and laid down under a bush.

After the fireworks were over, I tried taking him back out to run around some more, but then a helicopter came in for a landing right next to us at the hospital. That really freaked him out, and he took off running. I had to chase him down the street, but luckily he didn’t get into too much traffic. He ended up coming back around to the car, and we sat down in the cool air with some music to settle down. Once Summer was about done, we headed back to the crowd, but he was still high anxiety. I kept him on a leash at that point, and he got a few pets while Summer was cooling down. The kid I bought the Pint X from came up to tell me he got his e-bike, and then wanted to ride his old Onewheel around a bit. I let him take off on it and he buzzed through the crowd. Summer didn’t want to stay for awards, so we left after that.

We made it home and I dawdled way too long. Summer was long in bed, and I gave Muad’Dib some melatonin so he could rest well. Eaddie brought Eli over to watch TV, and I eventually made it to bed after midnight.

Now in stereo!

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Catching Up in Slow Motion

I woke up pretty tired again today. I started with a Soylent and skipped the coffee. That probably didn’t help much, because the entire day just crept by. Several people were out, so things were quiet. Scott said he was up all night, and Charles was out. There just wasn’t much of anything going on. I kept digging into PLC stuff, but never actually took any action on anything.

We went to Sonic for lunch and came back plenty full. Even fewer people were there in the afternoon. Nearing the end of the day, Teisha called to say she was the last one downstairs, and that she was walking out and locking up early. After staying late yesterday, and not wanting to be locked in, we opted to leave a few minutes early too.

Traffic was annoyingly slow for several miles, but we eventually broke free. Summer was supposed to be home around the same time, but she was late. She didn’t feel well, either. I took Muad’Dib for a shortened run by his choice, and it was a good thing. I didn’t realize how low the battery on the Pint was, so we just barely made it to my parents’ house. I brought along the charger and got some juice while we ate.

Julie and Kevin had come over early to help close the pool and prep for dinner. Dad smoked a pork loin for spring rolls, so we had a good dinner. Summer never felt good enough to come over, so we rode back in the dark. We laid on the couch watching YouTube for a bit before she went to bed. Eaddie came home a little early and went to bed. I stayed up for a little while, but hit a wall and had to crash.

Shovel time!

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Stop; Reset

I brought bananas and cheese for breakfast this morning, because Summer brought home a whole bunch of ripe bananas a few days ago and hasn’t been eating them quickly enough. All the cheddar was gone, so I finished the Swiss, which wasn’t great. I liked it on the chicken pesto sandwiches though.

I tinkered with UPS and SpeedShip some more, and got Rhonda to accept some more of that pending migration. Much of the day kind of blended together, but I did some more reading on my line monitoring project.

We had some cheap Taco Bell for lunch, and then grabbed some McDonald’s fries for a Monopoly piece on the way back to work. Charles had Matt over to look at our line PLCs, so I went out with him to chat for a moment. I asked him some more about the numbers they were pulling out of the PLCs, and I still just didn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling about his knowledge of the components they had sold us.

After that, we went to look at the network in the maintenance shop, and without the ability to cycle a breaker to get things going, I decided to go on up in a lift to try and reset things once and for all. That ended up being a two hour project, going up in the shop and again in the plant to get both sides of the wireless shot reset. It was crazy to me that absolutely none of that was documented, but now it is.

We left work about an hour late, so I was hungry by the time we got home. Summer was cleaned up from work, so we went to La Huerta to sit on the patio with Muad’Dib. We both tried something new, but then she clammed up when I made a comment about not wanting to pay for drinks. That lasted until we finally hashed it out later in the evening.

I took Muad’Dib for a run to my parents’ house as soon as we got home, and then we chatted briefly as Summer went to bed. I finished up my stuff and got ready for work, but had an anxiety attack when i sat down at the computer.

Don’t distill me like that!

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Gary’s Fixing That, Right?

I slept better last night, and took a Soylent to work this morning, but I ended up making a single cup of fresh coffee in my office instead. Charles had a guy named Gary from Victory come by my office to chat about the PLCs, and that was less helpful than I was hoping, but somehow not as unhelpful as I was expecting. I dug into it a bit more myself, but eventually fell back on UPS again.

I had a cheap lunch at Wendy’s, and got a new tire ordered for my Onewheel GT S-Series. Then in the afternoon, I finally pressured Rhonda into trying out an alternative to UPS WorldShip. I’m thinking it will work, and by the time we left, I think she was more open minded about it, though still resistant to change.

We made it home to clean up, then went on an early run. Summer had to close, so I ate some scalloped potatoes at my parents’ house. It wasn’t completely dark by the time we made it home, and we stopped around the block to chat with one of the neighbors I see outside all the time.

Summer went to bed pretty quickly, and I tried not to linger too far behind.

Ohhh, right! That was… garbo….

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TACOↃAT

I had a much better start today, and had time to grab Hardee’s on the way out of town since I didn’t have any cold Soylent. Apart from being stuck behind idiots hogging the left lane, we had a good ride in, and got right to work picking at UPS and PRTG some more.

Johnny called me pretty early, and I ended up on the phone with him for almost an hour trying to figure out his ESXi setup. I did my best to point him in a direction, but he’s been so scattered in his understanding. I absolutely understand it, but we also learn and react very differently, so it’s tough for me to guide him.

The day went by fairly quickly. I went to Ortega’s pretty late for National Taco Day, so they were dead by the time I got there. The food tasted especially good though, and I ended with a really good tamale and chicken enchilada. I’d still like to go on other days to see those specials, but I don’t know if that will ever happen since I have so many choices on Tuesdays.

The afternoon went a little slower despite my late lunch, and then got a little crazy when I started messing with the PLC again. Charles came in late to tell me they had set up the new radar sensors, so I tried adding them to PRTG with critical failure. Somehow my configuration push failed, and the controller seemed to quit responding. It took three or four more pushes, but it came back up. Unfortunately the changes I made came across with another floating point/integer problem, so I’ll have to convert the numbers to something PRTG can read.

We left about half an hour late and found Summer in the tub. We left for a run, then made it back just as it was getting dark. It took forever to wind down, but I eventually made it.

Restart