Y5 D159

Okay time for the multi-day catch up post:

Monday - Spent the morning doing some work stuff. Was watching the weather very closely before we left. The conditions were calling for snow and all vehicles were required to carry chains. Dammit. I had to go to the store and buy two sets of chains. $100 that I might not use. The upside was that if I didn't need them, I could return them with a 20% restocking fee. Basically $20 for peace of mind. Fair enough. Got back to the house and loaded up the car. In order to beat the weather we left around 10. The first part of the trip was straightforward. We did have one issue which turned out to cause problems yesterday. We stopped for lunch and in the parking lot was a stray kitty. B fell in love with it and wanted to take it with her. I jokingly said we would stop on the way back because I couldn't keep it in the hotel room. She thought I was serious. I figured she knew I was joking. There was no way in hell I was going to take in some random cat found in a field. But more on that later. The road over the pass ended up being cold, windy, and light flurries, but luckily for us, no chains. Some of the folks who arrived later weren't so lucky and ended up having to put on chains. Glad we left when we did. We got to the hotel around 2:30 and checked in. The room wasn't bad. Not as good as I am used to but not horrible either. It was billed as a 'deluxe' room which makes me wonder what the regular rooms looked like. We unpacked and then headed out to show B the casino. This was her first visit to not only Reno but a casino as well. We ran into one group of our friends, looked around, and then headed back to the room for a nap. We met up with one of our other friends around 5 at the martini bar. They gave us a huge set of coupons when we checked in, one of them being a two for one martini. Plus it was happy hour. They had 102 martinis on their menu. I had a caramel apple and B had a chocolate raspberry. Some of our other friends joined us and then the six of us headed out for dinner. We hit the buffet and proceeded to get our $15 worth. We ate everything they had to offer. As we were eating other folks started arriving and we met up with everyone around 9. By this point we were a group of about 15. We all hit the casino and B got introduced to gambling. She ended up winning about $25 which she promptly proceeded to lose. Welcome to gambling. About six of us then decided it would be a good idea to buy a 100oz margarita. Ugh. Bad move. I was exploding from the food and drink. We ended up heading back up to the room around midnight.

Tuesday - Big day. We got up around 8 and hit the buffet again. One of the coupons was a 2:1 breakfast buffet. This time we ate in moderation thank you very much. Around 10 we met up with one of our friends and went pawn shop shopping. I found a 75th Anniversary Mickey watch and B found a ring she loved. Since I had won about $30 Monday night what the heck. That took up a large part of the morning. We then just hung out until it was time for the show. We gambled a bit, walked around, played in the midway, and got ready about 5. One of our friends needed a ride home so instead of trying to track her down later, we moved her into our room. She is really sweet but a little lacking in the common sense department. We met up for an early dinner before the show then walked back and forth between hotels getting her moved in. Luckily there are three hotels all connected via walkways and casinos but it was still a pain. I was getting frustrated with her because I wanted to get over to campus and get things rolling. We ended up getting over there about 6:45. Found the truck and the loading docks and proceeded to try and get things rolling. Around 7:15 we started loading in, got things on track, etc. The venue was AWESOME. Three ballrooms put together for us. The room was huge. In the end we found out the attendance was at early count 669 people. We figure the final count will be over 700. The show was great. Everyone kicked ass and the audience had a blast. It was a long crazy day but so worth it. We got back to the hotel around 12:30 and by the time we unwound it was almost 2.

Wednesday - Which ended up being a problem. Why? Because I was up at 5. Three hours of sleep. Fun. I woke the women up and managed to get everyone in the car by 6. We had a balance of about $75 on the hotel bill which I paid for cash thank you very much from my winnings. In total I ended up winning about $80 so I won't complain. Started to head home and they promptly fell asleep while I tried not to. We got near the point of the kitty and B started to move things around in the car. She honestly thought we were going to stop. WTF? I was not about to get pissed off in the car, but things got ugly quick. A very quiet ride home. We dropped of our friend and got home around 10. Traffic wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I could have saved at least 30 minutes if it wasn't for traffic. When we got home we unpacked and I got the silent treatment. Whatever. I went and returned the chains, got $75 of my money back. Okay. I can handle that. Came back and locked myself in the office as I had work to do. She went into the other room and slept. I did my work and around 3:30 took a nap. I never left the room. Around 8 she came in and asked if I wanted dinner. I politely said no. We finally talked about things. She was pissed because she thought I was serious about the cat. She believed me and trusted me. My fault for leading her on. I was pissed because I couldn't reconcile how she though taking a random cat home was a good idea. We talked it out but things still are kind of off between us. It is what it is. I went to bed around 9:30. I don't know what time she came in. I have class today AND a show tonight as it is Halloween. I will probably not see her all day then briefly tonight before I leave. She isn't doing the show tonight because she works on Friday. Three hours later than me mind you, but yeah okay. I will get home at 3 and just stay up.

Let the day begin.

Y5 D158

Reminder - don't try to blog from a phone on a shitty connection from a hotel casino. Sigh.

We are back from Reno but I still don't have the energy to update. Too much has gone in the last 24 hours. If I feel like it I will write more later otherwise it may have to wait until the weekend because I STILL have too much shit to do.

Y5 D157

Yes I missed a post. I will update when I get home tomorrow. Still alive. Barely.

Y5 D156

I have slept like a log the last couple of nights and it's been nice. Solid dreams too which tells me I am actually sleeping. Getting down into REM. Never complain about that. Never a sufficient amount but that's a different story. At least I am sleeping.

Fun day yesterday. Got up and went out for some errands. We primarily went out to pick up some stuff for the show tomorrow in Reno. Some batteries, some cups, misc stuff. We then stopped at the pumpkin patch for a couple of pumpkins. B had fun with that. While I may be jaded about some things, I know she still gets a kick out of them and I do not want to disappoint her. Let her have her fun. Because despite my crankiness, I know I will have fun too.

Managed to find an excellent value at the thrift store. We were looking for a globe for cast, which we found for $6, but we also stumbled on a nightstand for $20. I have been needing one since she moved in and was very pleased at this discovery. It's the perfect height and width for the space. Love it.

Got home and relaxed for a while before heading over to our friend's house for a pumpkin carving "party". I use the word loosely as it was a very quiet event. We watched a couple of movies while everyone focused on their pumpkin. They had a great spread of food out which was nice. We all sat around carving and eating. B did a scooby doo pumpkin and I did a skeleton face. We also picked up two baby pumpkins and she made a Harry potter while I did Perry the Platypus. Those were just hand drawn ones. They actually came out pretty good.

Headed home around 8:30 and got into bed around 10. She stayed up later but I crashed right away.

Working for a little while this morning then heading to RENO!

Y5 D155

Been up for a while but not too long. Not too shabby seeing as we didn't get home and in bed until 4. Show night. Fun shit. And Halloween has officially begun for us with last night's show. But more important was our day yesterday. We had an 'us' day. We stayed off the computers and phones for a good part of the day which was great. We moved around furniture, hung shelves, hung pictures, and spent the whole day together. Even a shared nap. The place finally feels like 'ours' since we rearranged things in a way we both like. I think it also helps B feel more like it's her place and not the she is living with me and intruding on the space. Which is a good thing. That took us from about 8 until probably 6 or so. We stopped at the door for some food for dinner, watched Supernatural, and played Disney Infinity. Started getting ready for the show around 8 and headed out about 9:30. Everyone was in good spirits. Even though we were short handed, everyone pulled together and we did great. Our first sell out show of the week. We will have at least two more sell outs in the next few days. We are off to Reno tomorrow for that show, then back in the City for Thursday, and then one more on Saturday. Welcome to Halloween for cast. It's also very cute when B gets possessive. There was a girl trying to join cast and she pissed off both B and my director at the last show because she was messing with their men. Seriously. She was getting her boobs way too close to our director's husband and she was touching my ear to 'look at' one of my piercings. When the ladies saw her last night? The claws came out. I was flattered and it made me feel special and loved. Yeah, I know it's dumb but who cares. Still felt good. My director and I were talking backstage too - she really loves B. Things were just good last night and that's all that matters.

Today is a pumpkin carving party. bring it.

Y5 D154

Ugh been up since 5:20. Why? Because someone locked the cat in the other room last night and I was hearing this 'twang', 'twang' sound this morning. That would be the cat swatting at the door jam thing to let everyone know she had been locked in all night. Which of course woke me up and when I am awake, I am awake. Sigh. Whatever. Still kind of on EST anyway. 

Decent day yesterday. Spent the day catching up on stuff. Upgraded all three of the Macs to Mavericks. No real issues except for on my laptop where I have been running VMWare Fusion and it is no longer compatible with Mavericks. Dangit. Had to install parallels on that machine and then spent hours copying things from one machine to another making sure everything worked. I honestly lost track of time in all that. Because while things were copying I started in on some of the house things I wanted to accomplish like moving stuff out of our closet, rearranging the hall closets, etc. One minute it's 8, the next it's 1:30. Damn. Okay. At around 3 me and B went out to run some errands. We went to Target where I picked up the new Disney Infinity Toy Story playset plus some other household stuff. We popped into Best Buy because I wanted to get a DVD binder so I could get rid of some DVD cases while keeping the artwork and the disc. She ended up paying for that and Lego Marvel Superheroes for me. I wasn't going to get it because of the Disney Infinity purchase but she said she would get it for me for all the stuff I did for her. Aw. Okay. We went next door to TJ Maxx and she got a new purse. She is very happy about her new purse.

Grabbed some food at Wild Wings, came home, she napped, I kept working on moving files. She got up around six and started helping me take DVDs out of their cases. I then played Marvel Superheroes while she worked on her blog. Around 9:30 we both were craving something and we headed to Jack in the Box. It was perfect. Got back around 10, talked, hung out, made some cookies, and finally hit bed around midnight. Which is also why I am not happy about being up already but whatever. I slept well. Some weird dreams involving birds and motorcycles but it's all good.

Show tonight then we leave for Reno on Monday.

Y5 D153

Only took about 15 hours but I made it home yesterday. Very long day full of ups and downs. Just when I thought something would be okay, something else happened. You know what I think that's called? Life.

Just to make sure everyone follows along, I will include timezones...

I should put in here that in addition to all this going on, I had to deal with our sales guy being a douche yet again asking me in an email if I had any 'midnight oil' to burn for the company. No. Suck my dick. Back to the adventure.

Got up around 4/4:30EST. Did my normal morning stuff, packed, double-checked everything, etc. Then around 6:20EST I headed downstairs. My ride was schedule to be there between 6:30EST and 6:45EST but you know how I get when I have to rely on someone else. I start panicking. But guess what? He showed up at 6:35EST. NICE! Someone who follows through and does what they say. How rare! So far things are going okay. I have a first class upgrade on my morning flight, I have movies to watch if I want, and I am at the airport 3 hours early. Okay. I can handle this. I saw when I checked flights in the morning that there was a sale on Admirals club day passes. $30 non-expiring good at any airport. Okay. So I headed to the Admiral's club and checked in. I also had him look to see if there was an earlier flight I could get on for standby in Chicago. There was and when I checked in, I was first on the list. My flight out of Atlanta gets delayed about 20 minutes because it's icing in Chicago. Still not a problem because I have 3 hours until my scheduled flight once I land and 90 minutes until the standby. Still feeling okay. My flight is good. My seat is a solo seat, I get three things of nuts and a soda, I watch a movie, all is well. I get to Chicago and things go downhill from there.

I find the gate for my standby flight and I have been bumped down to sixth on the list. Fuck me. Okay. I can handle. Then I look around. Packed. Sigh. Alright. I sit and watch the board. 4th. 3rd. Second on the list! Then they start asking for volunteers because now it's an oversold flight. Ugh. They start boarding and I ask the agent what my chances are. He is still missing passengers so it's 50/50. Fine I sit. Mind you, I had 90 minutes so I am sitting at this gate for 90 minutes until it gets down to door closing. One seat left. Son of a bitch. Fine. I go to the Admiral's club to settle in and charge my devices. My flight is scheduled to leave at 2CST. I head to the gate at around 1 and they actually start boarding on time. I have an aisle exit which I wanted. I sit and then in the window comes a tiny woman. Awesome. THEN in the middle seat? A fucking moose. Seriously. This guy wasn't just fat he was a moose. He was like 7 feet tall and wearing the typical midwest 53 layers of clothing. He was a fucking moose. Between the assholes slamming my shoulder on the right and moosey on the left, I ended up sitting sideways and scrunching. THEN at 2 when we are supposed to leave the pilot tells us the FAA says we have to sit on the runway until 3. Then he comes back and says ground crew says we can leave at 2:30, then they change their minds. Now note the whole time I have been texting B since she is supposed to pick me up. In the span of about 15 minutes things changed four times. I finally told her be at the airport at 6pm PST and we'll figure it out.

We take off a little after 2:30CST and I don't know what this guy did, but he got us there at 4:45PST. Damn. He sped like the wind. It was a bumpy flight so I think he took the unapproved route to shave time. Good job! Our original time was 4:25PST and he did his best. Kudos to the pilot. The whole flight sucked though because of the moose.

I get off the plane and call B. She tries to come pick me up but then calls to tell me she got on the freeway the wrong direction and was freaking out in traffic. Sigh. Okay. I will take a cab. I get in a cab and finally get home around 6:30PST. Start to finish, 15 hours. FML. I was tired and hungry and cranky. I did come home to a wonderful woman, a clean house, and a was able to decompress. Thank you B for making things welcoming when I got home. I expressed this to her. She then took me out to dinner. Nice.

We talked and spent time while I unpacked and then hit bed around 9. That was my day.

Here's where I am going to verbally vomit for a minute - for those of you who don't travel much, do you ever think about how much time a person like me loses during the week? Think about your home life. You spend a good 4 hours a night doing house stuff - cleaning, reading, organizing, bills, being with your SO, hanging out with friends, dinners, whatever. And if you watch an hour of TV a night, that's another 5 hours per week. On average you have probably about 25 hours a week to your own pursuits - aka non-work related. When I am on the road, I lose that home part. I lose the chance to move some shelves, rearrange the garage, laundry, whatever. That's an entire DAY I have lost. due to being on the road for work. And I will never get it back. THIS is why when I get home from a trip I am so pissy and don't want to be around people. I want to try and get done in 1/7th the time all the things I missed out on all week. People who don't travel don't get it. End rant.

Now today I have to try and do all the stuff I have needed to do all week as well as work stuff. Wish me luck.

Y5 D152

I fucking hate our salespeople. I wake up to an 'urgent' email and voicemail from our sales guy about starting projects next week as he saw I have some 'spare cycles'. I was pretty sure I had our forecasting system updated correctly and double checked this morning. Yep. I have a whopping 8 hours free next week. And that's it for the next two weeks. I don't where all these spare cycles of his are coming from. Asswipe. I sent him an email just now. He can enjoy having emails sent at 2 am. Dick wad.

Anyway. Trained all day. Second group. Same class, 12 new people. Same jokes. Sorry I only get paid enough for one set of jokes. Took some leftover lunch with me for dinner. Got back to the hotel around six, talked to B, ate, and went to bed at 8:30. I did get confirmation that I have one of my two flights upgraded today. At least from here to Chicago I will be comfortable. Can't ask for much more than that. I leave for the airport in about an hour and get home around 4:30pm PST. Another 12 hour plus travel day. And then tomorrow I have a shit ton of stupid stuff to catch up on. But hey at least tomorrow is payday.

Y5 D151

Really tired this morning. How many of my posts start out like that I wonder? Too many probably. Some day and this will probably never come, I will sleep soundly. Yeah right. Stop smoking, lose 50 pounds, and have nasal surgery so I can stop snoring and then maybe I won't wake myself up in the middle of the night. I am kind of meh right now. It's a whole lot of little things just kind of bugging me. Not making me mad just kind of done with everyone. I want to go hide in a hole for a while. When I go to Vegas in two weeks I will have at least one day where I can hide. I plan to exploit that. Just avoid everyone and everything. Sit at the pool and do nothing. Get a little sun. Until then I will smile and act like nothing is wrong like one does.

Up around this time yesterday, got picked up by the client a little after 7. We hit the office at about 7:20 and started class at 8. Class went well. They brought in lunch which wasn't anything exciting but it was free food. Had a pen explode all over my hands which sucked as I still have ink all over my hands. Whatever.

Went until 5, but I had to wait for my ride to finish up some stuff so I didn't get back to the hotel until after 6. Walked over to an Irish pub I found. Last place on earth that allows smoking inside. That was fun and interesting. Had a decent shepherd's pie, walked back to the hotel, talked with B, who was having a shit day herself, and then passed out around 10.

My life. Rinse and repeat.

Y5 D150

In Atlanta. In all my travels, I think this is the first time I have ever been in Atlanta. Not that I will see much of it. I am a whopping 3 miles from the airport, my client is two miles from here, and I have no car nor time to do anything. This is a quick trip. I arrived yesterday around 3 est, teach from 7:30 - 5 each day, and then leave at 6:30am on Thursday. So hello and goodbye Atlanta.

Flights here were pretty uneventful. B did not like being up at 4am to take me to the airport but she managed. She didn't get to go back to sleep which through her whole day off but welcome to my world. I was up from 3am until 8pm yesterday myself.

Got to Chicago around noon and managed to score an earlier flight. Once again I had the fun of bumping people down the standby list. There were about 8 people on the list when I walked up to the counter and asked if they had room for me. Oh look, my name is at the top now. And oh looked, I am cleared for a seat. Saved me two hours of bumming around an airport. No complaints here.

I did have one small issue when I got to Atlanta; the hotel shuttle wasn't working which I only discovered by calling the hotel. I waited at the hotel pickup area and was seeing shuttle after shuttle for everyone but my hotel. I finally called to make sure I wasn't being stupid. They told me to take a cab and they would reimburse me. Okay. When I got to the hotel I asked instead of reimbursing me, give me points. They gave me 5,000 extra bonus points. That's like 25% of a Disney room. I will take it. I need a Disney trip bad and anything I can do to get closer helps.

Walked around to find Rockstar (only found the zero variety which tastes like crap I am discovering) then came back and had dinner in the hotel. Had a burger and fried green tomatoes. Tonight I think I will hit an irish pub down the street. Better than what I had last night.

Talked with B and helped her solve a network issue. The modem needed to be reset and I was able to walk her through it. I tried going to bed around 10est but couldn't sleep until 11 because of time changes. Was up and down all night.

Today I have to be 'on' so need to wake up. I have a ride in 90 minutes. Let's see how it goes.

Y5 D149

Up at 2:45am, yay travel day. I have to get B up in less than an hour. This will not be pretty. She is not used to having to get up and take me to an airport. If I had known it would be such an issue I would have arranged transportation. Live and learn.

I am typing this today from our RECONFIGURED PLACE! WHOO! Our place is finally fixed for two of us. We spent the whole day yesterday reorganizing and we both are SO happy. The difference it makes. I knew it would be a domino effect once the kid moved out. It was like everything just fell in line.

We got up yesterday at a decent time, had breakfast and left the hotel. Got home around 9:30 and started in. By three we had the majority of it done. Two desks, the printer, a reading nook where the desks used to be, and more room in our room. When I get back from this trip we will tackle our room, the hall closets, and the kitchen. By next weekend everything will be situated. We are both so happy. I know I have said that five times already but it's true. Things are just in their place.

After working all day we treated ourselves to Taco Bell. We earned it. Came back, watched some TV and then headed to bed at 8. I slept in chunks as I usually do when I have to travel. Too paranoid to sleep, too tired to stay up. Story of my life. Whatever.

Time to go.

Y5 D148

Today's post is late for good reason. We went to one of the two parties last night and since it was an hour away decided to get a hotel room. Smart move on our part.

B worked all day and I helped the kid with her room. She managed to get everything out yesterday and as a result we have been spending our day rearranging. It seemed like yesterday flew by. B went off to work at 8, I went to Target, the library, and Men's Warehouse to get a bow tie and a belt. Talked to my sister. She seemed exhausted and frustrated. Sorry kiddo. Wish I could help out by buying your house. Got back home and packed all my stuff for last night. Then I made sugar "glass" and caramel apple cookies for the party.

By the time she got home and we got situated, it was too late to go to the other party unfortunately. It would have been tiring as hell for us to go to both. I feel bad, but it is what it is.

We got to the hotel around 5:30, checked in and then she saw a Buffalo Wild Wings. She decided we needed to go there. Having never been I said okay. My mistake. It's an annoying as fuck sports bar. 100+ TVs all blaring sports. We sat outside as a compromise but it wasn't that much better. At that point I realized I forgot shoes, cufflinks, and she forgot tights. Off to Target and the mall next door. Mission accomplished.

Went back to the hotel and got ready for the party. I wore a tux and B wore the same dress she wore to the wedding the week before. We headed out around 8 and were the 3 couple to arrive. There were only about 10 people but food for 1000. I feel bad for these friends because they are so far out that it's hard to get people to their house. They are the sweetest couple and fun to be around but it's an hour without traffic to their place.

Left the party around 11:30 and went back to the hotel. After wild monkey love, we both passed out and slept like rocks until 6 this morning when I had to check in for my flight tomorrow.

Yes, I am off to Atlanta tomorrow. Yay me. Upside? After this and Vegas I will hold gold on American and only be 5 nights short of Diamond at Hilton. I can do it.

Y5 D147

Fucking awake at 6:30. We both slept like shit last night. According to B I was  snoring like a mad man and according to me she was tossing and turning and flailing all night. Either way we both suffered. Yesterday just felt like a goddamn long day and neither one of us was feeling good when we went to bed. We both were having stomach issues (still am) and it was just unpleasant all around. The difference is she has to be at work in an hour where as I just have to deal with house shit all day. Because once again the kid is not yet out of the house. She still has a ton of shit left in her room and it's driving me insane.

Spent the day teaching while B worked. Long class. It's a class that I keep pushing to be made into two days but no one listens to me. I guess we can't sell it as a two day class for some reason. But it's too much material for a single day. Whatever.

After class we waited because the kid was supposed to come over. We started laundry to have something to do. Even after finishing laundry they weren't there. I then get a text saying they aren't coming. No. I went off on her. I even went so far as taking a picture of my screen showing that it is $20 to rent a goddamn cargo van. After silence for like 20 minutes she ... sorry needed a bathroom break. Told you I wasn't feeling well. Anyone she then texts me back saying they are coming. When they got here I had a talk with her. KBF had thought you had to be 25 like with rental cars to get a truck so he didn't even bother checking. Ugh. They managed to get a few boxes out last night. We helped a little. She is coming back today to hopefully finish everything up. I also explained to her that I have to go to Atlanta and was hoping to use today to move furniture around as it will be my last chance for a while. After they left we went and got some dinner. I think this is why we are both suffering. It was 8:30 when we finally ate. Way too late.

After dinner we watched a Torchwood and basically both groaned until bed time.

Today we are supposed to go to two different parties. But given her schedule and our stomachs, let's see if we make either one.

Y5 D146

Gee I love being up ten minutes before my alarm. Ugh. I swear anyone wakes me up tomorrow I will kick their butt. I want to at least sleep until 7 tomorrow. Big goals, look out.

In other news - there are times when I don't know what to do with B. To be honest I wouldn't know what to do with anyone doing what she did last night. Before you think it's something serious, let me continue. She was in a 'mood' last night. One of those moods where she was sad because she was missing friends and family back home. A funk of home sickness. Something I don't understand or know how to deal with at all. As Jack says:

Strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery one.

That's how I felt last night. It was just awkward for me because I don't know how to console someone in this situation. I don't do homesick. I can walk away any time from anything. Sure, I get sad, but not emotional. Made for a rough evening. No one was mad or anything, I was just unsure of what to do other than say there there.

Spent the day teaching. Rough class. So many questions that I just didn't have any good answers to unfortunately. Made for a long day. After class I rested for about an hour. Not quite asleep but not running around either.

When B got home from work, the kid was here 'finishing' up her packing. I use that word in quotes because how fucking long does it take to load and pack one bedroom?? Oh wait, you aren't renting a $20 truck so you're doing it one box a day. Okay fine, they are doing two or three boxes a day but JFC hurry up. I could have had that whole room done in one day. Go already. I am hoping that they take care of it all before I get back from Atlanta. Rent a fucking truck for the day. Not that challenging. One truck, one load, all done.

In order to be out of the way and not say those things out loud, B and I went out for dinner. We also stopped at the Halloween store. We are going to a Masquerade Party tomorrow night. It's a bit of a drive and we have a birthday party in the same area. As a result, we are spending the night near the party. It was a $100 for a room, but I get the points and it's 1.92 miles from where the party is. We can walk if need be. It's the smarted option. $100 versus driving home at 1 in the morning for 90 minutes. This way we can go to the birthday party in casual clothes, head to the hotel, then head to the party. Works perfect. We both found masks for the party that make us happy. We killed time around the mall afterwards just to make sure they were gone before we got back.

That plan worked, but I think coming home to an empty house is in part what triggered her mood. I did some stuff here while she was on the computer looking up flight prices. Sorry babe, it's not cheap to fly this time of year.

Let's see how today goes. One more day of teaching. I can do this.

Y5 D145

Paying for going out last night right now. Not in a truly horrible way, but enough. I only had 4.5 hours sleep and I have to train in a little while. I have a slight headache, but not enough to be incapacitated. Turned out to be worth it though. Right before we ready to go out, the government voted and apparently we have a government again. Yay? The upside is my friend who I went out with last night after almost three weeks gets to go back to work today. That's the good news. He works for NASA and has been sitting at home going stir crazy for three weeks. He wanted to do stuff but he didn't want to spend any money because he wasn't sure how long this would last and if he would ever get back pay. So instead he stayed home every day and cleaned and replayed video games and essentially went nuts. This is why we were going out in the first place. He needed out of the house.

Taught all morning. Not a bad class. A little annoying in terms of their questions, but not so bad that it became a problem. Today is day two of class and things should be fine. I went out to target for some errands after class and when I got back had a lovely surprise waiting for me in the mail. Two letters from the courthouse. WTF? Turns out a certain someone ran a red light in my car on October 4th and the security cam got her.

Luckily in all the scary paperwork they included - you can lose your license, you owe us $500, etc - there was a form to assign it to another driver. Done and done. Put that in the mail right away. While I was taking care of that B and the kid were out dropping off some of the kid's old clothes with goodwill. When they got home I showed her the ticket stuff. She freaked out for a minute but then I showed her everything that needed to be done, that she could call to contest or have the fine reduced, and that she could do online traffic school. That mellowed her a little. The three of us walked down to the mexican place for some dinner and then I started getting ready.

Headed out about 7:30 and got home around 11:30. We just went to a bar near my friend's house and hung out. We hadn't seen each other in a while so we had a bit to catch up on. Got home, talked to B for a while and went off to bed.

Big news? The kid spent the night at her new place. The room isn't fully empty yet, but it's almost there. Real close. They are supposed to come by tonight with a truck to pick up the rest. That means this weekend I get to tear that room apart and have a real office again. God I can't wait.

Y5 D144

Damn I am so tired this morning. I just want to sleep for about 3 more hours. I feel like I am burning the candle at both ends but the reality is I went to bed at 10:30 last night. I just slept like shit. B was up and down with bathroom issues which meant every time she woke up I woke up. I didn't have solid sleep. I was awake at 1:30 and then again at 3. I do not feel rested at all.

Worked on a few things yesterday but mostly read up on stuff. I am being asked to get certified in a couple of the products I teach which means test prep. I did some sample tests and reviewed docs. I hate this shit. I have made it this far without extra pieces of paper in my life. Whatever. Helped the kid pack a little. She was at school all day and then home for about 20 minutes before she had to leave for work. She too is exhausted right now. This weekend can't come soon enough. I did get word of at least one more trip before year's end. If it comes through I will be looking at Atlanta, Reno, Las Vegas, Denver, and West Palm Beach all before the end of the year. Somewhere in there I would like to hit Disneyland. That's a lot of travel in less than three months. No sleep for me.

My friend pinged me last night. He wants to go out tonight. I am on the fence because while I would like to go out as well, I know it will just make me even more tired tomorrow. He has been out of work thanks to the government shut down and can probably use a night with friends. Odds are I will go, but I will probably be even bitchier tomorrow. Cest la vie.

No new Supernatural yet in the ether. That makes me sad. I was hoping to watch it on lunch today. Hopefully it will come down before 10:30. I have been debating on reinstating cable if we move. Because I will be saving a ton on housing costs, that might be a luxury we can have again. We shall see.

My sister is selling her house. I wish her luck with that. I wish it wasn't as remote otherwise I would buy it from her. It's just too far in the middle of nowhere for me.

Time to make the donuts.

Y5 D143

Today is the day they get the keys!! Not that they're going to be out today but it's one step closer! The plan is to get a truck on Thursday, but damn we are so close. By this weekend I may actually have some room in here. Won't feel so cramped finally.

Worked on stuff for both an upcoming class and an upcoming trade show. The first week of November I have to be in Vegas for an industry trade show as I am working the booth a couple of days. As a result, I am responsible for putting together some of the demo material we will be showing. Not too strenuous other than waiting on other people to deliver things. During lunch time, B and I went over to Kmart at her request. She put together a 'care package' for the kid and KBF for their apartment. She spent about $50 and inside a laundry basket gave them some essentials for their new place. All her. I had nothing to do with it except drive. She put in paper towels, a broom, air freshener, qtips, kleenex, dish soap, toothpaste, etc. When the kid saw it last night she got all teary in a good way. It was a very sweet thing to do.

I had a coworker come over around 7 to drop off some files and copy over a server instance. I haven't seen him in a while. One of the few coworkers I like. Got that all done and B and I relaxed. We watched Torchwood, Project Runway, and then sat in the hot tub for a while. That felt good for both of us. We both needed it.

This morning I volunteered to help a client with a problem they are having but otherwise it's a lot of the same today. Then I have three days of training, two parties, and then a trip to Atlanta. Whirlwind after today. Better enjoy it while I can.

Y5 D142

Yesterday was a fun yet long day. Still super tired but I need to get up and start my day. The weather is starting to change and with daylight saving time coming up on an end you can see it outside. It's still dark even though it's already 7. Few more weeks and we get that hour 'back'. Then at least it will make sense to be this dark.

Got up yesterday and let everyone sleep in. Except for the kid who had to be at work by 9. I decided to drive her because she wasn't sure what time she was going to be off and I didn't want to be stuck driving B's car to the wedding. Smart move on my part as she didn't get off until after we needed to leave. Her and KBF got to the wedding about 20 minutes after we did.

When I got back from dropping her off, B woke up about an hour later and I made her breakfast. From there we went to the mall. She realized she left every single pair of her heels back home when she moved to save space. All this time and neither of us realized she hadn't worn heels once. Correction, she has one pair and she wore them once, but they would not go with what she was wearing to the wedding. We headed over to DSW where she did a super job in finding shoes. Two pairs for $35. Score. I needed a new pair of black pants so we popped into H&M. By the time we got back home it was time to start getting ready.

We left for the wedding around 2:45 and got there just about 3:30. There were 50 or so people at the wedding and it was a fun time for all. I honestly don't even remember what time we left. The reception and ceremony were both at the same place, their synagogue, and it was definitely a quiet affair. I took 300 pictures though. We danced, we played with everyone's babies, and enjoyed ourselves. I think we left about 8. I honestly don't recall. Maybe a little earlier. We got home and I dumped pictures. Some really good shots of people. I miss shooting with my good camera. I need to take some good pictures again. It's not like I can't shoot with the little camera, but mine gives me so many more options with lenses.

Got into bed after posting a bunch of pics and had the wonderful sex. Quite enjoyable thank you very much. I think I fell asleep around 11. Had some pretty interesting dreams. In one of them I built my own TARDIS. Yeah, I know. But it was kind of cool. I was being chased by cybermen and daleks. Of course I was. I mean heck, I was in a TARDIS. But it was a fun dream regardless.

Today and tomorrow are development days before I have to train again. I am going to enjoy the relaxing time. B's bosses gave her the day off since she worked 6 days last week. I am letting her sleep as long as she wants today.

Y5 D141

Even though we didn't have a show last night, I still feel like I was hit by a train and am up way too early. Some day and this day may never come I will feel like my sleep patterns have all caught up and I will feel like a regular human being. Nah, who am I kidding.

Yesterday...

Woke up around the same time as now. Maybe a little earlier. Which was nice because I got to see B before she went off to work. I went and ran some errands in the morning to get things out of the way. Nothing fancy, just a quick trip to Smart and Final for some stuff, hit up the mall for some body wash, and then stopped at guitar center to check out their big sale. I ended up buying a new fog machine for cast. We used to have one but it mysteriously vanished about 4 months ago and no one has any clue what happened to it. They had a pro dj one on sale for $30. It was 70% off so screw it. My crew lost the last one so it's up to me to replace. However, this is now MY fog machine meaning it won't go in with props, it won't be touched by anyone else, and if anyone breaks it they owe me money. I finished up and was back home by 11. I then attacked the kitchen and started pulling out stuff for the kid and her move. I have so much junk that even after pulling out dishes, silverware, tupperware, pots and pans, and glasses, it feels like I barely made a dent in things. BUT she will have some good stuff to start off with in her new place. Nothing worse than moving in somewhere and realizing you don't have something as stupid as a spatula. I also plan on giving them some towels, sheets, and blankets too.

When B got home we rushed around a little as she needed to be back at work by 5 for her company meeting. I drove her back as we were heading straight to the amusement park right after her meeting. While she was in her meeting I went and washed the car. It killed a good amount of time. I ended up only sitting for about 30 minutes. Around 6:45 we headed down to the park. This is when the night got a little frustrating.

Over the last few years I have become a huge Disney snob and I know it. Didn't mean for it to happen, but it happened. And last night I felt it and understand why I am this way. From the freeway exit to the parking lot, it took us an hour. No one from the park was out directing traffic or getting people organized, etc. It was a clusterfuck on the street. It was horrible. It pissed me off to no end. B ended up having to take a xanax because the stress of sitting in this traffic and almost being hit multiple times was getting to her. She had brought it with her because she was worried about being scared in the park. Did I mention this was a Halloween thing? The whole park is done over with ghouls and goblins as well as there being multiple haunted houses. We FINALLY got to the gates and then waited another 30 minutes for all of her coworkers to get there. I met all of her friends and coworkers. They all seem pretty nice. Some of them are a little clique like but otherwise it was okay. There were like 20 of us total including significant others. It was close to 9 by the time we actually got inside the park. But it was the outside part of the lines, the trash everywhere, the parking situation that just soured me from the get go because I am so used to how organized Disney is on these types of things. Once we were inside everything had a huge line. We tried to go into one place but it was a 75 minute wait right off the bat. We ended up riding ONE ride all night and going through 2 haunted houses. Three hours and that's all we did all night. I dislike doing park with large groups for exactly this reason. I was proud of B though, she didn't get too scared and she even went on a roller coaster where it had two loops and a corkscrew which was pretty impressive for her.

The one thing I did notice was all the different places in the park begging for money - the arcade area, the fair games, etc. It just felt like everywhere was a sign asking for more money. I don't feel that way in Disneyland. There I WANT to give them my money. Plus there's the food difference. We spent $20 on two stale pretzels and two sodas. Was pissed off about that when I know $20 in Disneyland would have gotten me a plate of BBQ skewers that would have tasted awesome.

On the way out we actually ran into one of our friends. Totally random. The last time I went to this which was two years ago, he was working there and got us all tickets. I think that's why I was cranky too. The last time I got in for free. This time it cost me $45 for something I didn't even enjoy.

We drove one of her coworkers and her boyfriend home after. They were nice and it was a decent ride home. We left about 11:40 and got home a little after midnight. I stayed up for a few cleaning up things and when I got in bed 15 minutes later B was out like a light.

Today we have a wedding and I need a new pair of pants.

Y5 D140

Oh look, I am awake. Why? Why? Sigh because.

The day went pretty well yesterday but the early evening did not. The blow out I have been dreading finally happened. The fact that this place is too small for the amount of people in it came to a head. The kid and B had a huge blowout, the kid broke down, B stormed off, and I had to put all the pieces back together. I know the pieces fit...

It all started because the kid is super stressed and she made a snarky comment that really pissed B off. She had every right to be pissed. This led to me and the kid having a much needed heart to heart. One that involved her telling KBF he needs to get his shit in line. And about them spending more time somewhere else AND that she is ready to get on with her life. It was a long overdue good talk. In the end I settled everyone down, apologies were distributed and things are okay. BUT thank god this is the light at the end of the tunnel. They get the keys to their place Wednesday and this house will feel a little bit bigger.

All of that happened between 2:30 and 5. A very tense window. At 7 we had some friends come over to do a tech rehearsal. We went through all of the cues, all of our timing, etc. After we had pizza and played CaH. We wrapped up about 10:30 and I cleaned up until about 11. B had to be up at 6:30 this morning and she fell right to sleep. It's all good. Tonight she has a company event at a local theme park which I will be attending with her. This should be interesting.

Y5 D139

So tired. Starting class so early is a killer. BUT class went fine, no issues. A couple of annoying people but I survived. Let's see if I can make it through a second day of this. Another day of being up at 3:45 is killer. Especially having to go to 'lunch' at 9am. After class I took a much needed nap. Slept for about an hour. Slept sound too. B got home around 3 and we hung out. Took a ride to the store to pick up some fixings for dinner. I made one of those pre-packaged dinner things - carnitas bake. It was good for $10 and for what it was. Fed all three of us. We watched American Horror story coven which I thoroughly enjoyed and everyone else was creeped out by. After we watched Torchwood just to lighten the mood. You know something is dark when Torchwood is the lighter option. After we had pumpkin pie. The kid went off to work around 9 and we went to bed around 10.

Nice uneventful day. Needed one of those.

Y5 D138

Oh look the buttcrack of the morning. Gee I love my east coast clients. Sigh I know I shouldn't bitch because my day will be over at 1:30pm. While everyone else is still working I will be long done. I foresee a nap in my future though that's for sure.

Trained yesterday. Good class. No issues, no problems. Straight forward stuff. Finished around 3:30 and then finished up the puzzle we have been working on. Watched a couple episodes on Once finally.

Had hamburger for dinner and read. Oh my oh so crazy life. Upside? Started helping kid put stuff together. Only a few more days and she will be on her own. That means work for me because I will need to get that room in order, but that is work I am positively giddy about.

Not much else going on right now. Some minor other work shit but not enough to discuss. Not enough to show up on my radar.

Y5 D137

Oh look, I got up on time. Of course I did because I was super paranoid thanks to yesterday. Woke up 8 minutes before my alarms were set to go off. Let's do a two day to make sure everything is current. Today is Wednesday right? Therefore I owe you both Monday and Tuesday.

Monday - hmmm. Not much to discuss here. Taught all day while B worked all day. Kid and KBF lurked around a bit at night. The upside is they went and looked at another apartment on Monday and it sounded very promising. Promising enough that they filled out applications with the intent of dropping them off Tuesday. We went down to the hot tub Monday night as we were both in an achey sort of mood. That was fun. While we were down there we started talking about money and savings and future stuff. That led to a discussion of moving in September when our lease is up. Moving away moving this time. A place where I could keep my same salary but at the very least reduce our housing output by 40-50% a month. Just at high level numbers doing that would in one year eliminate 3-4 of my current debts. In one year. Granted it would be harder for B to find work that paid well, but it would be better for us overall. We are talking a 2-3 year move out of the area at a minimum. But this was just talk as we still have the kid and the lease to deal with here. We went to bed around 11 and well you know what happened yesterday morning...

Tuesday. Fuck me. I have never jumped out of bed as quickly as I did yesterday. So fast it scared B. I tripped over myself getting to the computer and starting goto meeting. I told everyone there was an internet issue and apologized for starting late. We started at 7:19 which honestly is about 10 minutes later than we would have started otherwise. And that was reflected in when we ended - we finished up at 3:06 instead of 3. Big deal. Of course I was stressed to the teeth for the first hour of class because I had all these emails from people wondering if something was wrong, if they had the right connection, etc. Things settled in and I got the day going. B headed off to work around 11:30 and I kept on training.

Around 1 I got the text I have been waiting for - the kid and KBF got the apartment they were looking at! It was like the voice of angels singing. They take the keys on the 15h, next Tuesday. Halle - fucking - lujah. That prompted me after class to start cleaning out some stuff to put things together for them. I plan on giving them glasses, plates, tupperware, silverware, etc. I don't want them sitting in the dark eating off boxes. There's a lamp ready, a toaster over, some pots and pans, etc. They will have it easy. When B got home I told her the news and she about fainted. Both of us are so excited. I saw the kid for about 15 minutes in between school and work but she was excited as well. She is scared and freaked but excited. They are signing a six month lease to see if they like it, if they can live together, and how her school goes.

After cleaning B and I went back down to the hot tub. We are still both a little sore. Mostly it's from Saturday's show. That was enjoyable. We came back upstairs and watched some TV before bed. Headed off to bed around 10. Had beanie weenies for dinner which she had never had. How do you like your whole life without having hot dogs in beans?? Whatever.

What the news of the kid DID do was reignite the moving discussion. We are thinking Oregon. Yes, I am serious. We started looking up places just outside Portland. We can have a place almost 300 sq ft bigger than what we have for $900 less a month. That in one year would pay off at least 4 bills clean. AND we would be in an area where things are cleaner, less taxes, and more room. This might actually happen. More to come as things develop.

Today is another normal training day followed by two early sessions Thursday and Friday. The weekend can't get here soon enough.

Y5 D136

TOTALLY FUCKED UP THIS MORNING. Straight up forgot to set my alarm and didn't get up until 7:10. STRESSED TO THE TEETH RIGHT  NOW. 15 emails from pissed off students. FUCK ME.

Y5 D135

Slept like utter shit last night. Tossed and turned. B was too awake to sleep which meant every time I tried to fall asleep she would say something and wake me back up. She, like a lot of women I have dealt with, have this horrible habit of waiting until you get into to bed to bring things up. Not always bad things mind you, but they want to talk. When I get into bed I either want to fuck or sleep. You want to talk? Do it when I am awake and not trying to sleep dammit. Just because your brain won't shut down doesn't mean mine is paying attention. Drives me nuts.

Got up late yesterday. Real late. Made waffle sticks. Hung around. Wanted to kill the kid and KBF once again. I wish I could keep track of the number of days they spend hanging around here versus his house. I have a feeling it would be grossly out of alignment.. Go, go to his place for a while. Or better yet - FIND YOUR OWN PLACE DAMMIT. They have been dragging their feet for months. DO SOMETHING. If they don't find a place soon I am having a talk with her. One that will end in tears but I have to have it.

Around 4 we went out to try and find a couple of props for our show which means we went to the thrift store. Didn't find anything but at least we got out of the house. B treated for dinner at In-N-Out which was okay. I wasn't in the mood for it, but she was and she was paying. Got home, watched some Who and then attempted to go to bed. See above for success rate.

Training all week. Thursday and Friday I start class at 5:30 which will be fun. But it's a full week which means no one can bother me.

Y5 D134

That was weird. I started this post and then it just abruptly exited. Strange.

I would have written sooner, but we didn't get up until almost 11am. Slept in a bit. But given that we didn't go to bed until 4...

Yesterday was pretty good. Nothing exciting happening. B went to work from 8 until about 2, the kid worked from 9 until about 3. I stayed at home and played video games and cleaned. Took a nap in the afternoon as I knew we'd be up late.

Made pasta with chicken and veggies for dinner. Headed out to the show around 10. Show went okay. We're off on our timing on tech a lot so I am scheduling a mandatory rehearsal prior to our big shows. I was stressed out when we got inside because I had very little time to get music set up and ready. I barely even said hello to some people. It was just a non-stop ride last night. Nothing bad happened, just busy and short handed. Got through it though. B was exhausted as she worked tech last night too.

So far today has been okay.

Y5 D133

Grumble bitch moan. My mood stayed all day. Just would not leave. Caused problems in the evening. But we made it through.

Morning - worked on putting together a parallels system. I got approval from my bosses to buy a legal copy of parallels. I then worked on downloading windows 7, windows 8, chrome, ubuntu, and office 2013. Everything went smooth until the office install. I had to manually call to activate. Lame.

Once I had everything installed I started going through a bunch of old discs to see if there was anything useful out there. That was fun?

I don't know. I can't really write this morning. The whole day was just rage mixed with depression mixed with whatever.

I got pissed off because there were no vegetables in the house. I was pissed because I should be able to afford fucking vegetables.

It led to arguing which led to tantrums which led to people staying by themselves.

In the end it was all resolved. But it still made for tension which sucked.

It's all on me. Everything is on me. Always.

Y5 D132

7:30 in the morning and I am already stressed out. Not a good sign. I hate bills and money and everything that comes along with them. I seriously finally understand all the times X2 would get on me about money and being more careful with what we are spending, when we are spending it, and trying to get ahead. I swear I don't want to leave the house for the next week but even then I still will have money going out. How fucked up is that? I can lock myself away for a week and STILL would be stressing out about this. I am tired of taking care of four people on a one person's income. I am tired of my bosses not giving me a raise for the last two years. I need to find something new where I get real raises and bonuses. I can't keep going on like this. I am about to lose it. I have been trying so fucking hard to get ahead and yet I am still getting dragged under every fucking day. I have a hard drive that is crapping out on me, I have too much shit right now. It's starting to affect my sleep too. I had the worse time last night trying to sleep. It doesn't help that B stayed up until after 1 reading even though I tried going to sleep at 10:30. Plus I was already pissed off because I asked her to try and watch one lousy fucking show and she spent the whole time tweeting about how much she was hating it. Excuse me for not enjoying stupid television like you do. Pardon me for wanting my television to not include dancing, singing, or idiots. How about we never watch anything again together? That would make things so much easier wouldn't it? You watch your crap shows and I will watch mine and never the twain shall meet.

Spent the day on calls and webinars and calls and meetings. Longest fucking day ever it felt like. This whole week has dragged and next week won't be any better because I am going to be stressed the entire time. After working I made dinner - fish tacos and tater tots. We decided to get yogurt afterwards and I made B pay for mine.

That's it. That's the whole of my day. I was supposed to go to a charity zombie pub crawl event but I didn't want to spend the gas, the time, or the money to do it. That would have really fucked me up. Not to mention I would have been in an even worse mood because I would be kicking myself in the ass for going.

Fuck I am in a lousy mood.

Y5 D131

It's October 3rd! Mean Girls Day! Yay!

Okay, that's it. That's as excited as I can get about anything today. Too sleepy. Was up until after 11 last night but this time for a good reason. Good in my book at least.

Spent the day doing god knows what. It was one of those days where the emails just didn't stop. It was all little stuff but it was stuff none the less. Felt like the day got away from me to be honest. One minute it's 9am and the next it's 3 and I am not sure what I got done. Had a couple of conference calls, went over some stuff, and mostly answered emails and did logistical things in prep for all of my classes next week. Turns out I have 13 students on Monday and Tuesday's class. That right there makes my entire month. I could literally sit around the rest of the month and have covered my salary. But the upside is I have two more solid weeks of classes after that. October is going to cover itself as well November and probably part of December. That makes me feel good on the work front at least. The lunch I was supposed to attend today got canceled yesterday. That was like 10 emails back and forth first thing in the morning. That's always fun. It was partially my fault. I misunderstood the date. I thought it was today but it is actually next Thursday. Frankly I didn't want to go anyway. Not really complaining. At lunch, B and I took a quick ride to Michael's as she wanted to find a cross stitch. She ended up not liking anything they had, but at least I got out of the house for a little while.

Came back, worked some more. The kid and KBF went and looked at more places. They found another one they liked and they are going back on Monday to do the application and everything. Soon. So very soon.

What I keep realizing at odd moments is that in every place I have had up until now (and the last place I had), there's been an extra bedroom. But then again, there was always an extra paycheck to afford it. But the difference it makes. If this were a 3 bedroom place, we would all be a lot less stressed. There'd be an extra bathroom, more room, etc. When I first moved in it was okay as it was just me and two bedrooms. Even with just the kid it was fine. But if I compare this to past living arrangements, I am basically missing a bedroom. When the kid is out then I will have the room I need back and things will feel a little more relaxed.

KBF came over last night. They are both getting better about ASKING first if there's enough food. I appreciate that. It's a little thing, but it makes me happy. We all watched a movie, then they went off in the other room, we watched one more show then went into the bedroom ourselves. We both read for a while and then got frisky. Yes, I said frisky. Shut up.

Afterwards I collapsed. And here it is morning.

Y5 D130

Stayed up way too late last night. Didn't go to bed until after 1am. Just wasn't tired enough and I knew if I went to bed any earlier I would toss and turn which would be worse. Plus I was working on a puzzle and got distracted.

Worked all day on some presentations as well as attended a two hour session on how to migrate our existing training documents to a new powerpoint format for our new marketing materials. That was a complete and utter waste of my time. Two hours of some old guy who while he is probably a powerpoint guru was an idiot otherwise. It was like listening to grandpa go on about the war when no one else cares. Two hours of my life I will never get back. B worked from 11:30 until about 3:30. She came home and was making a sandwich when the kid came home. We weren't expecting her home as she had an appointment to look at an apartment followed by work. She managed to get done early enough that she could stop at home and grab some food. She told us all about the apartment and that they are going back today to submit their application. YAY! If the gods are on my side for once, they will get the apartment. They plan to file for a 10 month lease as she is looking to transfer to a school a little south of here and they would need to move closer. She took off to work and B and I had dinner. Chicken risotto with mushrooms and zucchini. Rather tasty I might say. We then took a ride down to Crapmart. Why? Because they have an exclusive release on a Disney Infinity figure. It was SUPPOSED to be released yesterday but when we got there we found the date had changed to Friday. Ugh. I hate that place and the thought of having to go back Friday disgusts me. But I will do it. We got some ice cream while we were out. B picked up a hair color kit while we were there and proceeded to come home and use it. She did one chunk of her hair blue. Yeah, I know. Her hair. Whatever. While she was doing that I worked on the puzzle. By the time she was done it was after midnight and she started helping me with the puzzle. Hence why we didn't go to bed until 1.

Should have a mellow day today. Let's see how things go.

Y5 D129

Busy day already. Woke up to five work emails. I actually slept in a little bit this morning. Paying for that apparently. Had a lot going on with work yesterday too. Mostly because I am not scheduled for anything this week which put me on everyone's radar. Hey he's free! Let's have him do this and this and this...

Started the day off by going to the city to drop off a laptop. One of our clients is the DOL. As most of you know as of midnight the federal government shut down. Anticipating this, DOL recalled any and all laptops that were in the field. This was early last week. I told them because of my schedule the earliest I could be there was yesterday. I headed out with the kid and drove us both to the train station. Took the train into the city and first dropped off some hoodies that have been sitting in my house for two months with my friend. It helped kill a little time and got stuff out of my house. Both good things. I arrived at DOL around 9. Went through security, which was amazingly light compared to their DC offices, and headed up to the second floor. I expected to find some kind of reception area but since this building houses multiple agencies, each has their own section. All of which were marked employees only. After wandering around for a bit I found someone who could get me in the right spot. I was amazed at how easy it was for me to walk around a federal building unescorted without anyone questioning me. Ridiculous. Found the guy I needed, dropped off the laptop, and headed back home. That took 4 hours. Basically half my day to drop off one laptop. Works for me.

Got back home around noon and took a quick nap. Just a little one. B got home around 1 from work and did the same. During that time I got three phone class, 10 emails, and was the most popular kid at the dance. My boss called me to ask if I could help out with a presentation on Thursday. No problem, what do you need. He wanted me to work on content because he is paranoid the guy delivering it (my other counterpart in training) has too much on his plate. Okay, sure. I sent the other guy an email asking if he had an outline etc and he said that he had it under control and to ignore our boss. I talked with my boss a little later and told him this in a nicer way and he said okay but I could tell he wasn't happy. He then attempted to apologize for what he did to me a month ago. That day he jumped down my throat while I was teaching. I shut that down quickly. Because he then started asking about my personal life. My response was 'everything is fine, thank you'. He got the message real quick when I said that three times in response to his questions. I think he realized he fucked up with me. While I don't have any immediate plans for leaving, he seems worried now. Good.

Dealt with that and a few other work things. It was a pretty busy day all in all. Picked up the kid around 5 and came back. She told me KBF was coming over and I told her that they should probably go out. B was extremely stressed already. She is being sued by someone and she doesn't know how to cope with it. Yes, a 'real' lawsuit. She was in an accident two years ago and the person she hit is now claiming damages. B and her father are listed as the defendants in this case. Her dad because it was his car and B because she was driving. The reality is that this person is using a shyster like my brother who is out to get her money from the insurance company BUT because B was driving she is technically the defendant. She has to speak with a lawyer on Thursday to do a deposition. It's got her extremely freaked out as she should be. I hate people and lawyers like this. Scavengers who deserve to die. If you look this guy up on the internet he is such a sleazeball. It's wrong and that's that. Regardless she is tweaked. I made us dinner and we watched some Torchwood while working on the puzzle.

After we just relaxed, kept watching Torchwood and went back to Series 3 of the Doctor. Tried to keep her mind off of things as best I could. Headed to bed about 10:30 where she proceeded to finally break down. I wish I could help her in this situation but I can't. There's not much I can do since we aren't married nor were we together when the incident happened. I can only support her emotionally which I am trying to do.

Slept well at least.