Something is bugging B but she won't say. Maybe she doesn't know. I can tell because she just went to bed at 5:30. As I was getting up, she was coming in the room. I am happy I slept in, but sad that she couldn't sleep. I don't think I did anything wrong, but who knows.
Went over to my friend's in the morning to deal with his pets. That was not good. The dog was still afraid of me. He came out a little bit but nope. I did manage to leave his morning treats in his bowl and take care of the cat. I tried holding the cat and leaving the door open to get him to go outside, but no luck.
Went back in the afternoon to the same results. Again, left a couple of snacks.
Finally tried going back to feed them dinner and that was crazy. He wouldn't even let me in the door. He kept snapping at me and trying to attack. B and I worked together to finally get him away from the door. I blocked him in the hallway with some moving boxes, prepared their dinners, and then as I was leaving removed the boxes. The minute I pulled the boxes away he came right at me. I managed to squeeze through the door at the last second. I feel guilty he is so stressed out, but not much I could do. I did get them fed and that's all that counts.
As for us, we didn't do much yesterday at all. We played Lego Marvel Avengers, ran to the store, and we did have dinner out. B was craving sushi which sounded like a good idea to me too. We also stopped at the store to get her a baby cheesecake. They have these little tiny ones at the store by us which are really good. We mailed out the kid's christmas presents finally. Grabbed some frozen yogurt for me while we were out.
Came back, played more video games, then I went to bed around 11. She stayed up. Let's see what today brings.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Y7 D249
Got my students through class kicking and screaming but we made it through. I am very worried for their businesses still but they made it and I did what I could do to make them proficient at their jobs. The rest is up to them.
Before starting class yesterday I worked in the kitchen prepping and getting my beef stew into the slow cooker. Had it done and started by 6:30. Started class, finished around 2:30. B wanted to go to Costco to get something we saw the other night. The cats have been driving us both nuts with their litter because they scratch at the carpet all around it. We tried putting things down but to no avail. We picked up a 6x9 piece of indoor/outdoor carpet and then came home to custom cut it to fit the closet. Boom. Problem solved.
We had our dinner then went over to our friend's house to take of his pets while he is out of town. That turned into a bit of a mess. Everything was fine when we got there but then his dog started freaking out at strangers in his house. He lunged at B at which point she said nope and went and waited in the car. She has severe anxiety over something like this and it shook her. I tried to coax him back out to eat but he ran into the hallway after lunging and snapping at me too. I waited but to no avail. He kept growling and barking from the back hallway. In the end I left his food and hoped he had no problems. I am going back in an hour or so to see how he is doing. Poor dog is just freaked out about being at home.
Got back, watched a little TV, played some video games together and then we both went off to bed around 10.
Nothing planned for the weekend except trying to get the dog to eat again.
Before starting class yesterday I worked in the kitchen prepping and getting my beef stew into the slow cooker. Had it done and started by 6:30. Started class, finished around 2:30. B wanted to go to Costco to get something we saw the other night. The cats have been driving us both nuts with their litter because they scratch at the carpet all around it. We tried putting things down but to no avail. We picked up a 6x9 piece of indoor/outdoor carpet and then came home to custom cut it to fit the closet. Boom. Problem solved.
We had our dinner then went over to our friend's house to take of his pets while he is out of town. That turned into a bit of a mess. Everything was fine when we got there but then his dog started freaking out at strangers in his house. He lunged at B at which point she said nope and went and waited in the car. She has severe anxiety over something like this and it shook her. I tried to coax him back out to eat but he ran into the hallway after lunging and snapping at me too. I waited but to no avail. He kept growling and barking from the back hallway. In the end I left his food and hoped he had no problems. I am going back in an hour or so to see how he is doing. Poor dog is just freaked out about being at home.
Got back, watched a little TV, played some video games together and then we both went off to bed around 10.
Nothing planned for the weekend except trying to get the dog to eat again.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Y7 D248
I got so frustrated with my class yesterday it's not even funny. Not all of them mind you, but enough of them. They don't have the right skills for this class. I cringe to think of how they are going to do for their companies when they leave this class. Luckily they will at least have the knowledge they have received from me, but man, it's still going to be rough for them. Finished up at 3, then I went to the store to get stuff for dinner tonight. We are making slow cooker stew and we needed a few ingredients.
Got back and played some video games with B. Made pork chops for dinner. Nothing else happened yesterday. Let's see what else I can think of from yesterday - it's raining. Been raining. Still raining. Got my new corporate card in the mail. Been waiting for a delayed christmas gift for B in the mail but it didn't show yet and USPS has the worst tracking site in the world. Changed the sheets on the bed because it's too hot for flannel sheets already.
Wow. I had a really boring day, didn't I?
Got back and played some video games with B. Made pork chops for dinner. Nothing else happened yesterday. Let's see what else I can think of from yesterday - it's raining. Been raining. Still raining. Got my new corporate card in the mail. Been waiting for a delayed christmas gift for B in the mail but it didn't show yet and USPS has the worst tracking site in the world. Changed the sheets on the bed because it's too hot for flannel sheets already.
Wow. I had a really boring day, didn't I?
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Y7 D247
Managed to sleep in a little bit this morning. Better than my recent attempts. At least it wasn't 3am this morning. 4:11. I will take it.
Taught day 1 of 3 yesterday. I do not like the majority of the people on my class. Well, 50% of them at least. I guess that's not quite a majority. They are just not paying attention and some of them do not have the proper skills to be in this class. They are too inexperienced for the level of stuff we are going over. Today is the hardest of the three days and I am worried it's going to be a long trying day. Managed to finish around 2:30 at least.
We headed out for the science museum around 3:45. Got there at 4:30 and wandered around. I took some nice pictures of the river, the buildings, etc. Our friends met us there at 5:15 and we got some dinner at the cafe. Really nice food at a reasonable price. We both had a pulled pork sandwich with homemade chips. After dinner we headed towards the lecture hall and listened to this great lecture on comic book superheroes of the 1940s. It was presented by a professor of English at the university. I had a really great time doing this. It's the kind of thing I have always wanted to do. Head into the city to hear a lecture. As cliche as it sounds, it made me feel kind of cool. Like I was a hip urban person listening to a lecture. I loved it. The presenter was fabulous and I learned quite a bit.
After the lecture we explored the rest of the exhibits and had a great time. When we were leaving around 8:30 we made plans for February with them. It's so nice to have friends to do adult stuff with that doesn't involve getting drunk.
Got home around 9:15 and watched some tv before bed. Headed off to bed at 10:30. Was a really great night. Not out too late, went somewhere new, didn't spend the night drinking, didn't spend too much money. I really enjoyed everything about it.
Now to teach these goobers.
Taught day 1 of 3 yesterday. I do not like the majority of the people on my class. Well, 50% of them at least. I guess that's not quite a majority. They are just not paying attention and some of them do not have the proper skills to be in this class. They are too inexperienced for the level of stuff we are going over. Today is the hardest of the three days and I am worried it's going to be a long trying day. Managed to finish around 2:30 at least.
We headed out for the science museum around 3:45. Got there at 4:30 and wandered around. I took some nice pictures of the river, the buildings, etc. Our friends met us there at 5:15 and we got some dinner at the cafe. Really nice food at a reasonable price. We both had a pulled pork sandwich with homemade chips. After dinner we headed towards the lecture hall and listened to this great lecture on comic book superheroes of the 1940s. It was presented by a professor of English at the university. I had a really great time doing this. It's the kind of thing I have always wanted to do. Head into the city to hear a lecture. As cliche as it sounds, it made me feel kind of cool. Like I was a hip urban person listening to a lecture. I loved it. The presenter was fabulous and I learned quite a bit.
After the lecture we explored the rest of the exhibits and had a great time. When we were leaving around 8:30 we made plans for February with them. It's so nice to have friends to do adult stuff with that doesn't involve getting drunk.
Got home around 9:15 and watched some tv before bed. Headed off to bed at 10:30. Was a really great night. Not out too late, went somewhere new, didn't spend the night drinking, didn't spend too much money. I really enjoyed everything about it.
Now to teach these goobers.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Y7 D246
Moving slow this morning. I have been up for 20 minutes already and don't feel like I have done anything yet. I am so damn hot each morning when I wake up. I am sweating right now. I just opened the window in the office to get some air in here.
Taught all day yesterday. Finished up around 2:15. While teaching there was a bit of drama around the whole bonus check thing. In the end it looks like I have to wait until 2/12 for my check. Not a big deal, but an annoyance. Almost $1000 that will sit until Feb. I guess it's less money we will have to spend in Disneyland. It is what it is.
After class we went and checked out what apparently is the world's largest Costco. It didn't seem that much bigger to me. I think it's measured in actual square footage not anything else. The aisles seemed wider and there seemed to be less people in each other's way, but I didn't see any difference in merchandise or layout. We spent about an hour there. In the end I still had to go back to the regular store. This is why I was so against a membership. I look at things and say no, we don't need 5 lbs of shredded cheese. I need 16 oz. Some of the stuff is too large to be practical for us.
Got back, made chicken and asparagus for dinner, watched some TV, played some video games together (new Lego game came in the mail yesterday), and then I went to bed around 10. '
Tonight after class we head downtown. I am very excited about this. Can't wait to see this exhibit on Superheroes.
Taught all day yesterday. Finished up around 2:15. While teaching there was a bit of drama around the whole bonus check thing. In the end it looks like I have to wait until 2/12 for my check. Not a big deal, but an annoyance. Almost $1000 that will sit until Feb. I guess it's less money we will have to spend in Disneyland. It is what it is.
After class we went and checked out what apparently is the world's largest Costco. It didn't seem that much bigger to me. I think it's measured in actual square footage not anything else. The aisles seemed wider and there seemed to be less people in each other's way, but I didn't see any difference in merchandise or layout. We spent about an hour there. In the end I still had to go back to the regular store. This is why I was so against a membership. I look at things and say no, we don't need 5 lbs of shredded cheese. I need 16 oz. Some of the stuff is too large to be practical for us.
Got back, made chicken and asparagus for dinner, watched some TV, played some video games together (new Lego game came in the mail yesterday), and then I went to bed around 10. '
Tonight after class we head downtown. I am very excited about this. Can't wait to see this exhibit on Superheroes.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Y7 D245
It's funny how your perspective can change on something with just a little bit of knowledge. When I first watched the show The Magicians, it was a special preview of episode 1 before they started their regular airing. I thought the show was great and it got me real excited to read the books. In between the time the first episode aired and last night's second episode, I read all three books. After watching last night's episode it was a lot of what the fuck happening. They have deviated so far from the books that it makes no sense. It bears but a passing resemblance to the source material and both B (who also has read the three books) and I spent the 45 minutes trying to figure out who these people were, where they were taking the story, and just what the hell was going on. If you've never read the books, give the show a chance. If you have, well, prepare to scratch your head a lot.
I got screwed over by my company yet again yesterday. Once more my boss fucked me and my co-worker by not submitting our bonus numbers soon enough to get on the pay period. It's the fourth time we've done a bonus check yet we still don't seem to have a procedure in place. While I am sure they don't mean this, the message coming across is we are not important. That paying us for our hard work is secondary. To add insult to injury, instead of apologizing for the fuck up, we get an email chastising us both for not having enough student evals filled in. It's enough to make me consider finding local employment. Somewhere with a real HR department and payroll group that doesn't fuck things like this up on a regular basis. Let's see if we get any resolve on the issue today.
My class was straight forward. I had three students, all of them returns from previous classes, and two of them local. We ended up taking an hour and 20 minute lunch and still finishing at 2. I have six students today, but three of them are repeats from yesterday. I don't expect this class to go long either.
After class I went over to the store and got something we have wanted for a while - blackout curtains for the bedroom. B tried to nap yesterday but the sun was blazing through the windows. I picked up some nice shades which should also help with our heating and cooling bill.
When I got back, I checked the mail and our Costco cards finally arrived. B was fighting a migraine all day but we both figured getting out of the house might help. Before we left I hung the new curtains. We then went over to our local Costco and wandered around. We intentionally didn't grab a basket so we weren't tempted to buy things we didn't need. In the end we bought some snacks and that was about it.
Got back and I made a pork roast. We watched some TV (above mentioned magicians and the premiere of Lucifer which I really liked). I went off to bed around 11 and B shortly thereafter. Tomorrow we are going to the Oregon Museum of Space and Industry for OMSI after dark which is when they open just for adults. The theme will be superheroes. We are both excited about this. So Thursday's post should be exciting. Tonight nothing planned so a basic day is in the works.
Now let's see if my boss gets his shit together today and offers us a solution other than wait until February.
I got screwed over by my company yet again yesterday. Once more my boss fucked me and my co-worker by not submitting our bonus numbers soon enough to get on the pay period. It's the fourth time we've done a bonus check yet we still don't seem to have a procedure in place. While I am sure they don't mean this, the message coming across is we are not important. That paying us for our hard work is secondary. To add insult to injury, instead of apologizing for the fuck up, we get an email chastising us both for not having enough student evals filled in. It's enough to make me consider finding local employment. Somewhere with a real HR department and payroll group that doesn't fuck things like this up on a regular basis. Let's see if we get any resolve on the issue today.
My class was straight forward. I had three students, all of them returns from previous classes, and two of them local. We ended up taking an hour and 20 minute lunch and still finishing at 2. I have six students today, but three of them are repeats from yesterday. I don't expect this class to go long either.
After class I went over to the store and got something we have wanted for a while - blackout curtains for the bedroom. B tried to nap yesterday but the sun was blazing through the windows. I picked up some nice shades which should also help with our heating and cooling bill.
When I got back, I checked the mail and our Costco cards finally arrived. B was fighting a migraine all day but we both figured getting out of the house might help. Before we left I hung the new curtains. We then went over to our local Costco and wandered around. We intentionally didn't grab a basket so we weren't tempted to buy things we didn't need. In the end we bought some snacks and that was about it.
Got back and I made a pork roast. We watched some TV (above mentioned magicians and the premiere of Lucifer which I really liked). I went off to bed around 11 and B shortly thereafter. Tomorrow we are going to the Oregon Museum of Space and Industry for OMSI after dark which is when they open just for adults. The theme will be superheroes. We are both excited about this. So Thursday's post should be exciting. Tonight nothing planned so a basic day is in the works.
Now let's see if my boss gets his shit together today and offers us a solution other than wait until February.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Y7 D244
One of these days I need to dump all of these articles. I have thousands of entries and my luck they will tell me they are canceling this service. Then what? I should do a backup just in case. Add that to my to do list.
I have a bad sinus headache again. Heat drives me nuts. I am so not used to having heat on all the time. I almost prefer being cold to this kind of pressure in my head. Let's see, what did we actually do yesterday...
Went out by myself around 10 to get cat food. Around 11:30 we went over to our friend's place and got the keys to take care of his animals next weekend while he is out of town. That was our excitement. Then we went to storables to get some bins to replace the yarn hanging thing that fell in the middle of the night. Came back home and B took a nap. I went back out to the store and got a couple of things I needed to make dinner and some more yarn for B. She made herself a cat hat the other day and decided I needed one too. She finished it in like two hours. This is something she could easily sell and make a decent profit on as she can crank them out pretty quickly. I am going to encourage her to wear it around town and get people interested in them.
Made crab and shrimp scampi for dinner. Watched some TV, played some video games, and went to bed. I have been wanting to go for a bike ride but the weather has not been cooperative. I am going to try and go today after class. I have a full week of teaching this week. Two one day classes followed by a three day class.
Nothing more to report. I need to go out of town soon. I can feel the trapped at home feelings starting to creep in.
I have a bad sinus headache again. Heat drives me nuts. I am so not used to having heat on all the time. I almost prefer being cold to this kind of pressure in my head. Let's see, what did we actually do yesterday...
Went out by myself around 10 to get cat food. Around 11:30 we went over to our friend's place and got the keys to take care of his animals next weekend while he is out of town. That was our excitement. Then we went to storables to get some bins to replace the yarn hanging thing that fell in the middle of the night. Came back home and B took a nap. I went back out to the store and got a couple of things I needed to make dinner and some more yarn for B. She made herself a cat hat the other day and decided I needed one too. She finished it in like two hours. This is something she could easily sell and make a decent profit on as she can crank them out pretty quickly. I am going to encourage her to wear it around town and get people interested in them.
Made crab and shrimp scampi for dinner. Watched some TV, played some video games, and went to bed. I have been wanting to go for a bike ride but the weather has not been cooperative. I am going to try and go today after class. I have a full week of teaching this week. Two one day classes followed by a three day class.
Nothing more to report. I need to go out of town soon. I can feel the trapped at home feelings starting to creep in.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Y7 D243
I slept in compared to yesterday. I was up at 3 for some god awful reason. I don't know what's happened to my sleep schedule. I used to be able to sleep until 6 or 7, now it's 3 or 4. Today I slept until 5 which feels like a miracle. But yesterday it caught up to me. At 6:40 I laid down on the couch and fell back to sleep until 9. Pretty sad when you take a nap at 6:40 in the morning because you've been up for almost 4 hours.
For a no plan day we certainly had a bit to do. We ran some errands including our monthly visit to Taco Bell. Once a month won't kill us. Well it might, but we'll do it anyway. We got a door sock for the front door because I noticed a small gap and don't want to have another ridiculous bill. Our bill was $101 up from $80 up from $60. Time for it to start going back down thank you. I know relatively speaking that's cheap, but I also never turned on heat before. I would just suck it up and put on a sweater. Being fat helps. More insulation.
Played some video games and relaxed then B and I went out for Italian. As of Monday we go back to our restricted menu so we wanted to get in one good Italian meal first. It was a nice relaxing dinner. Headed home, watched some TV while cuddling and I went off to bed at 10.
Was awoken at midnight by a loud bang. I was groggy and couldn't figure out what was going on until I saw B in the closet. Her knitting thing fell down again causing a mess. I need to figure out a better way to hang that today.
Only plan for today is to meet up with our friend for keys. Otherwise, nothing planned. Let's see if it stays that way.
For a no plan day we certainly had a bit to do. We ran some errands including our monthly visit to Taco Bell. Once a month won't kill us. Well it might, but we'll do it anyway. We got a door sock for the front door because I noticed a small gap and don't want to have another ridiculous bill. Our bill was $101 up from $80 up from $60. Time for it to start going back down thank you. I know relatively speaking that's cheap, but I also never turned on heat before. I would just suck it up and put on a sweater. Being fat helps. More insulation.
Played some video games and relaxed then B and I went out for Italian. As of Monday we go back to our restricted menu so we wanted to get in one good Italian meal first. It was a nice relaxing dinner. Headed home, watched some TV while cuddling and I went off to bed at 10.
Was awoken at midnight by a loud bang. I was groggy and couldn't figure out what was going on until I saw B in the closet. Her knitting thing fell down again causing a mess. I need to figure out a better way to hang that today.
Only plan for today is to meet up with our friend for keys. Otherwise, nothing planned. Let's see if it stays that way.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Y7 D242
The kid is back home safe. There was a bit of drama yesterday on her end from her grandparents but we found an alternate solution and she made it home. She called them from the airport to let them know her arrival time and they threw a fit about having to go out because it was raining. I mean what bullshit. They told her to take a cab home. Ridiculous. One trying to find a cabbie who's not going to be pissed off at making a drive like that would be hard enough, but that would be like a $100+ cab ride. She was so stressed. Luckily I got a hold of a friend and they agreed to pick her up. So around 7:30 she finally got home.
The earlier part of the day was much less stressful. I went to the eye doctor at about 7:30. Was so excited for my appointment. I look forward to the eye doctor every year. This year there was only a slight change in my prescription and he got me into a new brand which is very comfortable. I am to wear them until Wednesday to confirm no problems then order a year's worth. Was done and back home around 8:30. We then went for Hawaiian food for lunch which was really good.
After lunch we headed to the airport and I helped her get through the check in process and off to security. Me and B headed home and she took a nap. It was a beautiful day out and we opened all the windows to air the house out. The kid's stay was just long enough because we both realized our place was still clean it had just felt messy because of all her stuff all over.
For dinner we weren't hungry so we noshed on leftovers. B needed to get a new crochet hook and some yarn for something she is making so we went out around 6:30 to Michaels. Got back and then we watched a bunch of TV then I went off to bed around 10.
This weekend we have no plans other than meeting up with our friends to get a key to take care of their pets next weekend. That's the extent of our wild weekend. Whee.
The earlier part of the day was much less stressful. I went to the eye doctor at about 7:30. Was so excited for my appointment. I look forward to the eye doctor every year. This year there was only a slight change in my prescription and he got me into a new brand which is very comfortable. I am to wear them until Wednesday to confirm no problems then order a year's worth. Was done and back home around 8:30. We then went for Hawaiian food for lunch which was really good.
After lunch we headed to the airport and I helped her get through the check in process and off to security. Me and B headed home and she took a nap. It was a beautiful day out and we opened all the windows to air the house out. The kid's stay was just long enough because we both realized our place was still clean it had just felt messy because of all her stuff all over.
For dinner we weren't hungry so we noshed on leftovers. B needed to get a new crochet hook and some yarn for something she is making so we went out around 6:30 to Michaels. Got back and then we watched a bunch of TV then I went off to bed around 10.
This weekend we have no plans other than meeting up with our friends to get a key to take care of their pets next weekend. That's the extent of our wild weekend. Whee.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Y7 D241
Had a fun day yesterday. Took the train back into the city for lunch. The kid wanted to go to Deschutes Brewery as it's her bf's favorite brewery. We went so we could check it out and so she could buy him a souvenir. We had a nice relaxing day. First stop was the bookstore. We found a book for B's stepmom that covers the condition she has been experiencing. The kid found books to read on the plane. Lunch was next. Lunch was good. We spent about 2 hours there and we tried quite a bit of the menu. After lunch we walked around then headed back on the train. When we got back, B took a nap, the kid watched some TV, and I went off to mail that book to MI. Later none of us wanted dinner as we were still full from lunch. We then got the kid packed. We did pretty good. We managed to get everything into two carry ons and one checked bag. Only thing that didn't fit was her new painting I got from Disneyland, but that's okay. I don't want that ruined so I am going to ship it next week. We watched some tv together, relaxed, and went off to bed around 11.
This is the last day. I have an eye doctor appointment this morning at 7:45 then we are going to relax and take the kid to the airport. I have really enjoyed having her here. The amount of time has been perfect. She is going to go home, do laundry, then go see her bf. We get the weekend to ourselves to relax and be alone.
All in all it's been a good week.
This is the last day. I have an eye doctor appointment this morning at 7:45 then we are going to relax and take the kid to the airport. I have really enjoyed having her here. The amount of time has been perfect. She is going to go home, do laundry, then go see her bf. We get the weekend to ourselves to relax and be alone.
All in all it's been a good week.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Y7 D240
I have finally seen The Force Awakens. Took me a month but in some ways I am glad I waited. I saw it on a Wednesday at 6:40pm and there were only 8 other people in the theater. That's how to see a movie. I don't get much pleasure out of going to the movies any more because of other people so to see it in a quiet theater with a small group of people was perfect. I must admit I was very impressed that I didn't have anything spoiled for me before going in. I knew some things, but most of them were straight forward and logical that you could have figured out pretty easily. The true spoilers stayed hidden and I won't ruin anything for any of you either. I did thoroughly enjoy the movie. I think they did an excellent job of melding old and new. There was enough to interest the original fans plus introduce a whole new set of characters to move the story forward for two more movies.
Taught day 2 of my class and that went well. Hit only two small issues during the whole class, neither of which were deal breakers or caused me any major hiccups. One of the 'problems' worked to my advantage as it taught the students how to handle what will probably be a common issue for them.
Finished class at 2:45, the kid and I went out to the store because her and B wanted coffee drinks, B made stuffed peppers for dinner, then we headed out to the movies. We got to the theater around 5:30 and waited. B actually went and saw Hunger Games while we saw Star Wars. The movies overlapped except for 5 minutes and it was perfect timing all around. Surprisingly both movies have the exact same run time - 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Got home from the movies around 9:30ish and we decided to start a quick load of laundry. While we waited for the washer, we watched Criminal Minds. Switched loads and went to bed around 11. Not a bad day.
Today is the last full day the kid is here and we are headed back downtown. She wants to go to Deschutes brewery as it is her bf's favorite brewery. Since she has been here we have talked a lot about her and the new bf. He seems like a very nice guy who has his shit together. They are trying to figure out how to keep a long distance relationship and so far have been doing a pretty good job. He graduates soon and we will see if they can keep things going.
Now to go make sure all the clothes dried while I slept.
Taught day 2 of my class and that went well. Hit only two small issues during the whole class, neither of which were deal breakers or caused me any major hiccups. One of the 'problems' worked to my advantage as it taught the students how to handle what will probably be a common issue for them.
Finished class at 2:45, the kid and I went out to the store because her and B wanted coffee drinks, B made stuffed peppers for dinner, then we headed out to the movies. We got to the theater around 5:30 and waited. B actually went and saw Hunger Games while we saw Star Wars. The movies overlapped except for 5 minutes and it was perfect timing all around. Surprisingly both movies have the exact same run time - 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Got home from the movies around 9:30ish and we decided to start a quick load of laundry. While we waited for the washer, we watched Criminal Minds. Switched loads and went to bed around 11. Not a bad day.
Today is the last full day the kid is here and we are headed back downtown. She wants to go to Deschutes brewery as it is her bf's favorite brewery. Since she has been here we have talked a lot about her and the new bf. He seems like a very nice guy who has his shit together. They are trying to figure out how to keep a long distance relationship and so far have been doing a pretty good job. He graduates soon and we will see if they can keep things going.
Now to go make sure all the clothes dried while I slept.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Y7 D239
Nothing major to report from yesterday. Big difference from the contrast of Monday's wild time. Had to teach yesterday which took up the majority of my day. This is the first time we are using the new material I worked on last year. 8 students and a couple of them are annoying me. Mostly because they showed up late. There's one in particular who is a real pain in my side. This is the third class she has been in over the last year and both other times she proved to be a challenge. She just doesn't pay attention and follow along well. She asks a question five minutes after I have moved on to something else. Drives me nuts. But we got through it, finished around 2:40. I made chicken for dinner then after dinner we took a ride to the mall. We spent way too much money in the candy store. The kid then spent time putting her new laptop together and deleting off the crap that gets installed. Oh and her internet speed? Same issue as B's laptop. Fucking windows capping the speed. I just looked up some possible solutions and there is one that could be a big culprit. I will see at lunch what is going on.
That's about it to be honest. B's stepmom is being moved from ICU to a regular bed this morning. Hopefully everything is okay now with her. But we will see what happens over the next couple of days. My friend asked me to watch his animals while he is out of town towards the end of the month which is no problem at all. We are going to meet up this weekend to exchange key and get the details.
Teach and then maybe a movie today after class.
That's about it to be honest. B's stepmom is being moved from ICU to a regular bed this morning. Hopefully everything is okay now with her. But we will see what happens over the next couple of days. My friend asked me to watch his animals while he is out of town towards the end of the month which is no problem at all. We are going to meet up this weekend to exchange key and get the details.
Teach and then maybe a movie today after class.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Y7 D238
Where do I start this morning? With my hangover? B being mad at me? The most incredible restaurant ever? Or that we lost yet another musician in his 60s? Let's go with the last one first. Glenn Frey, dead. What a sad fucking piece of news. We all love to hate the Eagles. They are good music that you've heard way too many times but you still find yourself singing along when it comes on the radio. They are the California vibe. So sad that one of them is gone. Lately it feels like a whole lot of crossroads deals are coming due at once. Stop it please.
Now as to the hangover...
We all went out in the morning around 10 to Best Buy. The kid got a new laptop as a Christmas present. She needed a new one for school and we narrowed it down to a 17.3" HP with 6gb of memory and a 1tb hdd. Not bad for under $400. We didn't set it up yet, but did get it charged. After class today we will set it up.
When we got back, her and I walked to the train station and headed downtown. Our plan was to go to the bookstore then have the cheese bar for dinner. The first part of that went as planned. We went to the bookstore, hung out, walked around downtown for a while, then headed to the cheese place only to find they were still on winter hours, which means closed on Mondays. Motherfucker. We ended up at this nice hotel bar where we had a couple of drinks and snacks. After leaving there around 4, we ended up at The Whiskey Library. 1600 unique bottles of booze. No tables like a regular restaurant. It is literally set up like a library with chairs and couches and small tables. The bartenders wheel a cart over to your table and make your drinks there. We spent 3 hours there having small plate after small plate. We had duck fat popcorn, beet cured salmon, cod fritters, homemade sausage, madelienes, and way too many absinthe cocktails. We headed out around 7, got on the train, and drunkenly rode home. Got off the train around 7:45 and walked home. B was not happy with us. We were loud and drunk and goofy. She doesn't deal well with drunk people. She got very quiet and cold towards us. The kid passed out on the couch like immediately. I managed to last until 9:30 before I passed out. Not sleep, pass out. Hence the hangover.
She was also having a rough time because her stepmom took a turn for the worse and ended up in ICU last night. I don't know the current status but it is looking kind of scary. Being drunk I was not the best husband last night to give comfort either.
Now today I have to teach. Brand new class. This should be fun. After class we may head to the mall.
Now as to the hangover...
We all went out in the morning around 10 to Best Buy. The kid got a new laptop as a Christmas present. She needed a new one for school and we narrowed it down to a 17.3" HP with 6gb of memory and a 1tb hdd. Not bad for under $400. We didn't set it up yet, but did get it charged. After class today we will set it up.
When we got back, her and I walked to the train station and headed downtown. Our plan was to go to the bookstore then have the cheese bar for dinner. The first part of that went as planned. We went to the bookstore, hung out, walked around downtown for a while, then headed to the cheese place only to find they were still on winter hours, which means closed on Mondays. Motherfucker. We ended up at this nice hotel bar where we had a couple of drinks and snacks. After leaving there around 4, we ended up at The Whiskey Library. 1600 unique bottles of booze. No tables like a regular restaurant. It is literally set up like a library with chairs and couches and small tables. The bartenders wheel a cart over to your table and make your drinks there. We spent 3 hours there having small plate after small plate. We had duck fat popcorn, beet cured salmon, cod fritters, homemade sausage, madelienes, and way too many absinthe cocktails. We headed out around 7, got on the train, and drunkenly rode home. Got off the train around 7:45 and walked home. B was not happy with us. We were loud and drunk and goofy. She doesn't deal well with drunk people. She got very quiet and cold towards us. The kid passed out on the couch like immediately. I managed to last until 9:30 before I passed out. Not sleep, pass out. Hence the hangover.
She was also having a rough time because her stepmom took a turn for the worse and ended up in ICU last night. I don't know the current status but it is looking kind of scary. Being drunk I was not the best husband last night to give comfort either.
Now today I have to teach. Brand new class. This should be fun. After class we may head to the mall.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Y7 D237
The kid is here! Happy days all around! First sad news:
B's stepmom is in the hospital. I don't fully know or understand what's wrong but last night she checked in due to dehydration issues and then her blood pressure screamed out of control. They were looking at putting her in ICU but they managed to get it back down. They are keeping her overnight to monitor things and see what happens. I hope this is the end of it and she won't have to go back in.
My sister is dealing with some medical shit with her mother right now too. I am proud of her decisions to put herself first because frankly her mother isn't a nice person. It's always sad when someone is in pain, but the feels stop there.
My day started with texts from the kid with her trip to the airport and her grandparents driving 2 miles an hour on the freeway. From there I supported her remotely through the kiosk checkin, security, and finally to her gate. She boarded around 8:30 and was on here way.
We went out around 9:15 to pick the kid up. As we pulled into the airport she texted. Her flight was almost 30 minutes early. The timing worked out perfectly. As we were walking towards security she was coming out. No delay at all.
We went to the cheese bar for lunch where she had a cheese board, B had the baked mac and cheese, and I had the pork loin sandwich. After, we headed home where we did Christmas finally. The kid got to open all her presents and then we took down the tree. After two months, the holiday season is officially over in our house. We were able to move some furniture around and things look great. I am very happy.
B took a nap, the kid read, and I cleaned up all the paper. After the kid and I went to the store because she packed one pair of pants and 10 skirts but not enough tights for this weather. It was nice just spending time out together. We got a bottle of mead which was really good. We had that after dinner. For dinner, we did sushi. Then we took her to the big Japanese store where we got mochi for dessert. Came back home, had our dessert, and watched a movie together. We were all exhausted and in bed by 10. She is sleeping on the couch right now and I am trying to not make noise.
Today we are going to best buy to look at laptops as her's is dying. I bought it for her 5 years ago so it has done it's job. After we are heading downtown to go to Powell's and do some shopping. We are going to have dinner at the omikase style cheese place downtown. Yes, more cheese. I have been wanting to go there since we moved here but haven't had anyone to go with me. Finally this will be happening. We will probably have lunch off a food truck. I am going to grab cash to make that easier too.
B's stepmom is in the hospital. I don't fully know or understand what's wrong but last night she checked in due to dehydration issues and then her blood pressure screamed out of control. They were looking at putting her in ICU but they managed to get it back down. They are keeping her overnight to monitor things and see what happens. I hope this is the end of it and she won't have to go back in.
My sister is dealing with some medical shit with her mother right now too. I am proud of her decisions to put herself first because frankly her mother isn't a nice person. It's always sad when someone is in pain, but the feels stop there.
My day started with texts from the kid with her trip to the airport and her grandparents driving 2 miles an hour on the freeway. From there I supported her remotely through the kiosk checkin, security, and finally to her gate. She boarded around 8:30 and was on here way.
We went out around 9:15 to pick the kid up. As we pulled into the airport she texted. Her flight was almost 30 minutes early. The timing worked out perfectly. As we were walking towards security she was coming out. No delay at all.
We went to the cheese bar for lunch where she had a cheese board, B had the baked mac and cheese, and I had the pork loin sandwich. After, we headed home where we did Christmas finally. The kid got to open all her presents and then we took down the tree. After two months, the holiday season is officially over in our house. We were able to move some furniture around and things look great. I am very happy.
B took a nap, the kid read, and I cleaned up all the paper. After the kid and I went to the store because she packed one pair of pants and 10 skirts but not enough tights for this weather. It was nice just spending time out together. We got a bottle of mead which was really good. We had that after dinner. For dinner, we did sushi. Then we took her to the big Japanese store where we got mochi for dessert. Came back home, had our dessert, and watched a movie together. We were all exhausted and in bed by 10. She is sleeping on the couch right now and I am trying to not make noise.
Today we are going to best buy to look at laptops as her's is dying. I bought it for her 5 years ago so it has done it's job. After we are heading downtown to go to Powell's and do some shopping. We are going to have dinner at the omikase style cheese place downtown. Yes, more cheese. I have been wanting to go there since we moved here but haven't had anyone to go with me. Finally this will be happening. We will probably have lunch off a food truck. I am going to grab cash to make that easier too.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Y7 D236
I took a major step towards improving my health yesterday. I bought a bicycle. I am very happy with my purchase and rode it for a good 30 minutes last night in the rain. I was so excited that the thought of getting wet didn't even phase me. The day started with me going out to the bike shop in the morning. I went and got an education on the different styles of bikes, the features that were of importance to me, etc. I decided on one and told them I would be back later to pick it up. While I was out I also got us a hamper and lunch from Zoup. B was in a mood all day yesterday. Even though she won't admit it, I don't think she is happy with my purchase. To her it was way too much money to spend on a bike. But she also knows how important it was to me. What she doesn't know and frankly I don't think anyone needs to know, is that this is the first bike I have ever owned. I didn't have one as a kid. I didn't ride around the neighborhood. I borrowed other people's bikes, but I never owned one of my own. It's more important to me than people will ever realize.
We also spent more time organizing the house yesterday. We tried to watch Empire but she wasn't into it. She ended up going off to read around 8 and I stayed up playing games until 10. The kid was sending me messages all day. She is stressed about her flight today. Her grandparents were going back and forth on driving her to the airport which was causing more stress than needed for something so simple.
We are leaving to pick her up soon. So excited to see her. Now to go for a bike ride.
We also spent more time organizing the house yesterday. We tried to watch Empire but she wasn't into it. She ended up going off to read around 8 and I stayed up playing games until 10. The kid was sending me messages all day. She is stressed about her flight today. Her grandparents were going back and forth on driving her to the airport which was causing more stress than needed for something so simple.
We are leaving to pick her up soon. So excited to see her. Now to go for a bike ride.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Y7 D235
Taught my class, finished up around 2:30. After class me and B went for a ride to look for new mats for the bathroom. While I was teaching she spent the day cleaning and reorganizing. The house is spotless and I don't want to move too much and mess it up. I also stopped at a jewelry store yesterday. I have been looking for a wedding ring the entire time we have been married. I wear my grandfather's ring which while nice, is also the same ring I wore before. It would be nice to have one that is just for us. The problem is I can't find any I really like. What I talked to the jeweler about is refreshing and updating mine. It's a 60 year old ring and looks it. We discussed adding in six new stones, three small 5 point diamonds on each side of the existing stone. Give the ring a new look while maintaining the integrity of the original design. Depending on the size stones I choose, I am looking at 700-1000. That's honestly not bad considering a new ring would be 1500+. We found new bath rugs too.
Got back, ordered a pizza for dinner because we didn't want to mess up the kitchen. I also made us Costco members. B has been wanting to join for the last few months as there is one right down the street from us. I have avoided it because I hate the crowds of Costco. But if it makes her happy, then so be it. Watched some TV, then I played fallout while B read. Did laundry as well. Hung a shelf B wanted up in the bedroom. Went to bed around 11.
One more day and the kid will be here! I am so excited. I am also really proud of her. Traveling on her own, arranging the time off work, etc. She has become such a capable adult. I did good dammit. No thanks to her mother. One of those things I am truly proud about.
Today I am going to the bike shop to look at bicycles, get the last few things on our grocery list, and do some rearranging in the office. Not a busy day, but things to do.
Got back, ordered a pizza for dinner because we didn't want to mess up the kitchen. I also made us Costco members. B has been wanting to join for the last few months as there is one right down the street from us. I have avoided it because I hate the crowds of Costco. But if it makes her happy, then so be it. Watched some TV, then I played fallout while B read. Did laundry as well. Hung a shelf B wanted up in the bedroom. Went to bed around 11.
One more day and the kid will be here! I am so excited. I am also really proud of her. Traveling on her own, arranging the time off work, etc. She has become such a capable adult. I did good dammit. No thanks to her mother. One of those things I am truly proud about.
Today I am going to the bike shop to look at bicycles, get the last few things on our grocery list, and do some rearranging in the office. Not a busy day, but things to do.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Y7 D234
Okay, what the hell is going on? Now Allan Rickman? Same age as Bowie? This shit needs to stop. It really does. I checked the news this morning first before writing this to make sure no one else is dead. That's pretty sad. I will honestly admit I teared up a bit reading the news yesterday. But a perspective moment - I found out last night around 9pm a friend's mother passed away. I was just having a chat with him earlier in the day too as he has been planning to move up here and we were talking about that. He mentioned his plans were on hold until he knew how is mom was going to be. An hour later she was dead. Well fuck me in the ear. That's just some fucked up shit right there. Death. The one thing we haven't been able to conquer. And probably never will.
In other news, Windows sucks. Elaborate? Sure. Ever since we moved, B has complained about her internet being slow. I have always taken her complaints with a grain of salt as 'slow' is a relative term. On Tuesday she showed me something. She was doing a speed test and her machine was getting 22-25mb down. Huh?? We pay for much higher service. I then tested all 4 of my machines (3 mac, one chromebook). Every single one of my machines on the same test was pulling 100-115mb down. Over 4 times the speed of hers. What the hell? So I looked at all of the nic cards in each of the machines and the router. Turns out all of my machines do 802.11ac as does the router. Where as the built in nic card in B's machine? 802.11b. It caps at 25. Son of a... So I went ahead and ordered a USB 802.11ac adaptor for her machine. It arrived last night and I plugged it in. No issues. Machine immediately saw it, it connected to the network, boom, all good, right? Nope. Still same speeds. I then did some digging. Turns out windows 8.1 THROTTLES DOWNLOAD SPEED AUTOMATICALLY. See the average person never sees this because they don't have 'high-speed' internet. Most people only pay for 10-15mb download speeds. If Windows flags a network as 'public', then it enables heuristics and restricts the cap. I had to go into a command prompt, disable tcp heuristics, and try again. By doing that I managed to get her to 30-35mb down. Still not where I wanted it, but at least now I know that it's not the USB device or my network, it's fucking windows. This is why I hate windows. I am going to dig more and see what I can find. I need her to be getting at least 50. The sad part is if you go to the hardware screen it shows speeds up to 72mb down for the device. It is literally the operating system blocking the speed. Total bullshit.
In between all that, I taught my class. Nothing too exciting there. 6 students, all of them seem okay. One guy is 8.5 miles from me. Cool. I could honestly run into this person at the mall. We finished up around 2:30 and have one more day.
For dinner I made chicken tikka masala. While we were both happy with it overall, the recipe called for way to much salt. For B it was good, for me I could barely eat it. I would definitely make the recipe again, but this time reduce the salt by at least half. Just way too over powering.
After dinner we went out. The saga of the wedding ring is finally over. B's ring was in and ready. We went to the jewelry store and picked it up. She is 100% happy with it, which makes me 100% happy. While we were there we looked at some rings for me. On the way home we decided to stop at Jared's to see what they had for rings. While I didn't like any of them, they were the first store to ask me "what would your ideal ring look like". I never thought of it that way. Basically it would be my ring with a couple more stones. She asked if she could show my ring to their designer. In the end they said my ring would be a good candidate for that kind of work. I may end up going back to get a quote on how much something like that would run. This way I can truly call the ring mine.
Got back home around 8:30, watched some TV and then B laid down to read. I stayed up for a while playing Fallout. I got passed a big quest last night. Pretty proud of myself actually. I am doing good in this game which is surprising for me. Usually I get frustrated with these kinds of games, but this one is managing to hold my attention.
Went to bed around 10:30. One more day of class to go and then I get three days and the kid will be here Sunday. Woot!
In other news, Windows sucks. Elaborate? Sure. Ever since we moved, B has complained about her internet being slow. I have always taken her complaints with a grain of salt as 'slow' is a relative term. On Tuesday she showed me something. She was doing a speed test and her machine was getting 22-25mb down. Huh?? We pay for much higher service. I then tested all 4 of my machines (3 mac, one chromebook). Every single one of my machines on the same test was pulling 100-115mb down. Over 4 times the speed of hers. What the hell? So I looked at all of the nic cards in each of the machines and the router. Turns out all of my machines do 802.11ac as does the router. Where as the built in nic card in B's machine? 802.11b. It caps at 25. Son of a... So I went ahead and ordered a USB 802.11ac adaptor for her machine. It arrived last night and I plugged it in. No issues. Machine immediately saw it, it connected to the network, boom, all good, right? Nope. Still same speeds. I then did some digging. Turns out windows 8.1 THROTTLES DOWNLOAD SPEED AUTOMATICALLY. See the average person never sees this because they don't have 'high-speed' internet. Most people only pay for 10-15mb download speeds. If Windows flags a network as 'public', then it enables heuristics and restricts the cap. I had to go into a command prompt, disable tcp heuristics, and try again. By doing that I managed to get her to 30-35mb down. Still not where I wanted it, but at least now I know that it's not the USB device or my network, it's fucking windows. This is why I hate windows. I am going to dig more and see what I can find. I need her to be getting at least 50. The sad part is if you go to the hardware screen it shows speeds up to 72mb down for the device. It is literally the operating system blocking the speed. Total bullshit.
In between all that, I taught my class. Nothing too exciting there. 6 students, all of them seem okay. One guy is 8.5 miles from me. Cool. I could honestly run into this person at the mall. We finished up around 2:30 and have one more day.
For dinner I made chicken tikka masala. While we were both happy with it overall, the recipe called for way to much salt. For B it was good, for me I could barely eat it. I would definitely make the recipe again, but this time reduce the salt by at least half. Just way too over powering.
After dinner we went out. The saga of the wedding ring is finally over. B's ring was in and ready. We went to the jewelry store and picked it up. She is 100% happy with it, which makes me 100% happy. While we were there we looked at some rings for me. On the way home we decided to stop at Jared's to see what they had for rings. While I didn't like any of them, they were the first store to ask me "what would your ideal ring look like". I never thought of it that way. Basically it would be my ring with a couple more stones. She asked if she could show my ring to their designer. In the end they said my ring would be a good candidate for that kind of work. I may end up going back to get a quote on how much something like that would run. This way I can truly call the ring mine.
Got back home around 8:30, watched some TV and then B laid down to read. I stayed up for a while playing Fallout. I got passed a big quest last night. Pretty proud of myself actually. I am doing good in this game which is surprising for me. Usually I get frustrated with these kinds of games, but this one is managing to hold my attention.
Went to bed around 10:30. One more day of class to go and then I get three days and the kid will be here Sunday. Woot!
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Y7 D233
Made it through class. Was a little rough at the end as the concepts got harder. Some of the students were out of their league but we made it through. We got through all the material and got everyone's questioned answered. I call that a success. While teaching I came across a link for 50 cupcake recipes. I was so stressed by the end of class that I decided to make cupcakes. Apple pie cupcakes to be exact.
After class I went to the store to get the ingredients and while I was there B texted me another recipe for chicken tikka masala. That unfortunately took too long to make last night, but I got all the ingredients and will be making it tonight.
My cupcakes came out pretty good. We each had one which for B is a miracle as she is trying to not eat anything. I just can't do that. I need sweet. She is a salty person and would rather have chips, but I need the sweet. For dinner we had ham steak with veggies. Watched some TV and then I went to bed around 10:30. Boring ass day.
Only a few more days until the kid is here and we have some fun. Tomorrow and saturday are house cleaning days. I also made an extra payment to one of my cards yesterday. That felt good. Chip it away a little at a time. If the Doctor can punch through a diamond wall, I can get through this debt. I wish I had one of the three winning tickets for that 1.6b lottery jackpot but I don't so there. I will do it the old fashioned way. Yeah, I am boring like that.
Time to prep for today's class. Two days of sys admin and then I get a little break.
After class I went to the store to get the ingredients and while I was there B texted me another recipe for chicken tikka masala. That unfortunately took too long to make last night, but I got all the ingredients and will be making it tonight.
My cupcakes came out pretty good. We each had one which for B is a miracle as she is trying to not eat anything. I just can't do that. I need sweet. She is a salty person and would rather have chips, but I need the sweet. For dinner we had ham steak with veggies. Watched some TV and then I went to bed around 10:30. Boring ass day.
Only a few more days until the kid is here and we have some fun. Tomorrow and saturday are house cleaning days. I also made an extra payment to one of my cards yesterday. That felt good. Chip it away a little at a time. If the Doctor can punch through a diamond wall, I can get through this debt. I wish I had one of the three winning tickets for that 1.6b lottery jackpot but I don't so there. I will do it the old fashioned way. Yeah, I am boring like that.
Time to prep for today's class. Two days of sys admin and then I get a little break.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Y7 D232
I dislike late start times on classes. Class yesterday went from 8:30 until 4. Throws my day off. I am so used to being done earlier. Especially when I get up as early as I do. The class went okay. I sent my boss a message after class asking if in the future the sales people could strongly suggest that a class like this be done in person. Any class that requires a remote connection to a server and has this many students is better if I can be there to assist them. We spent nearly 30 minutes just getting everyone connected to their servers. Also some of the students were only half paying attention which of course led to issues.
After class B and I went to the store for some stuff for dinner and to the pet store. Agador has been a real pain in the ass lately and we are looking for something to help calm her down. Petco lists this brand of cat treats on their website but apparently they don't sell them in store. They are supposed to help calm a crazy cat. I ended up having to order them off Amazon.
Speaking of Amazon, I had something I ordered show up yesterday which kept me busy for a little while. I have a ton of cooking magazines and needed some way of putting them on the shelf. Over the weekend we went to the office supply store but they wanted a ridiculous price for essentially cardboard. I order a set of 5 magazine holders off Amazon for $7 with no tax or shipping. Much better. Our cooking magazines are now well organized on the shelf and won't fall all over the place. There are things like that where I question why I never bothered to order them before. So simple but yet I never have. Oh well. They're here now.
Made pork chops for dinner and then we settled in to watch a new show - The Shannara Chronicles. It's based on the books by Terry Brooks and neither of us is sure if we like it or not. It was a two part first episode and was almost 2 hours long. It was okay? There are two more episodes and we will see how those are before we pass judgment. We also watched iZombie. That show we like. I hope it gets picked up for a 3rd season.
Went to bed around 11. Talked to the kid yesterday. She was asking questions about the weather and what to pack. She is excited to be here next week and I am excited to see her. It's been since October. Way too long. But this is what it means to be an adult.
Now to kill 4 hours until class starts.
After class B and I went to the store for some stuff for dinner and to the pet store. Agador has been a real pain in the ass lately and we are looking for something to help calm her down. Petco lists this brand of cat treats on their website but apparently they don't sell them in store. They are supposed to help calm a crazy cat. I ended up having to order them off Amazon.
Speaking of Amazon, I had something I ordered show up yesterday which kept me busy for a little while. I have a ton of cooking magazines and needed some way of putting them on the shelf. Over the weekend we went to the office supply store but they wanted a ridiculous price for essentially cardboard. I order a set of 5 magazine holders off Amazon for $7 with no tax or shipping. Much better. Our cooking magazines are now well organized on the shelf and won't fall all over the place. There are things like that where I question why I never bothered to order them before. So simple but yet I never have. Oh well. They're here now.
Made pork chops for dinner and then we settled in to watch a new show - The Shannara Chronicles. It's based on the books by Terry Brooks and neither of us is sure if we like it or not. It was a two part first episode and was almost 2 hours long. It was okay? There are two more episodes and we will see how those are before we pass judgment. We also watched iZombie. That show we like. I hope it gets picked up for a 3rd season.
Went to bed around 11. Talked to the kid yesterday. She was asking questions about the weather and what to pack. She is excited to be here next week and I am excited to see her. It's been since October. Way too long. But this is what it means to be an adult.
Now to kill 4 hours until class starts.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Y7 D231
I have Young American stuck in my head. It's been in there for the last 24 hours. Bowie's death hit me harder than I expected. Such a tragic event. B couldn't understand why so many people were so hurt by his passing. She didn't grow up with his music or his antics. Hell, she's never even seen Labyrinth. I am waiting for the day that someone she grew up with dies. Then she will understand why there was the outpouring of grief we saw yesterday. It reminded me of when John Lennon died. I understood it, but didn't really get it. It was my parent's music. They lived and died for the Beatles. I can only imagine what it would have been like if social media had been around then.
Did a half day mentoring session with a client then had the rest of the day to myself. We went to the store to get some stuff for dinner, followed by a whole lot of nothing. Made steaks for dinner. Watched some TV and then finally I got B to watch Star Wars. She has been wanting to finally watch them so we can go see Force Awakens. Let's just say that watching it for the first time as an adult doesn't have the same magic as watching it as a kid.
Went to bed around 11. That's all.
Today I have a private session for 12 people which has the potential to be a real nightmare. I have no class list, I don't know if everyone can connect to a server, and I have no knowledge of their skills. I am not looking forward to the next two days.
Did a half day mentoring session with a client then had the rest of the day to myself. We went to the store to get some stuff for dinner, followed by a whole lot of nothing. Made steaks for dinner. Watched some TV and then finally I got B to watch Star Wars. She has been wanting to finally watch them so we can go see Force Awakens. Let's just say that watching it for the first time as an adult doesn't have the same magic as watching it as a kid.
Went to bed around 11. That's all.
Today I have a private session for 12 people which has the potential to be a real nightmare. I have no class list, I don't know if everyone can connect to a server, and I have no knowledge of their skills. I am not looking forward to the next two days.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Y7 D230
WTF?? Another rock legend gone. This time we lost David Bowie people. The Thin White Duke. Ziggy Stardust. The Man Who Fell to Earth. Goblin King. So much he gave us for entertainment and now it's gone. Thankfully last Thursday on his 69th birthday, he released one last piece of beauty. His album Blackstar no matter how good or bad, gives us one last piece of the glory and life of one of music's greats.
In less important news, I am happy with the battery life on my new phone. I charged it to 100% at 6am on Saturday and I just plugged it in at 41%. Almost 2 full days and I still wasn't empty. Not bad.
We went out yesterday morning to run some errands as B had the wild hair up her butt to clean and organize before the kid gets here. That involved emptying out the pantry, the hall closet, the laundry area, and the linen closet. Man I love how much space this place has. I don't like how much reorganizing involves work dammit. Things look good right now don't get me wrong, but that was our whole day. It even involved me having to go back to the store halfway through because she ran out of Dymo label tape. I had to put gas in, go to the store, deal with people, ugh.
After all that I made chicken for dinner with baked asparagus. Came out really nice I think. We watched some TV, B read for a while, took a bath, I played some Fallout, and then we went to bed around 10:30.
This week I am back to teaching. I have a 4 hour mentoring session today, 12 person class T-W, then a six person class on Th-F. Busy week. Good.
In less important news, I am happy with the battery life on my new phone. I charged it to 100% at 6am on Saturday and I just plugged it in at 41%. Almost 2 full days and I still wasn't empty. Not bad.
We went out yesterday morning to run some errands as B had the wild hair up her butt to clean and organize before the kid gets here. That involved emptying out the pantry, the hall closet, the laundry area, and the linen closet. Man I love how much space this place has. I don't like how much reorganizing involves work dammit. Things look good right now don't get me wrong, but that was our whole day. It even involved me having to go back to the store halfway through because she ran out of Dymo label tape. I had to put gas in, go to the store, deal with people, ugh.
After all that I made chicken for dinner with baked asparagus. Came out really nice I think. We watched some TV, B read for a while, took a bath, I played some Fallout, and then we went to bed around 10:30.
This week I am back to teaching. I have a 4 hour mentoring session today, 12 person class T-W, then a six person class on Th-F. Busy week. Good.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Y7 D229
Only one more week until the kid is here!! YAY! I haven't seen her since October so yeah, I am pretty excited. This is what it means to be an adult with adult children, isn't it? You only see them a few times a year. Strange. They have their own lives and doing their own thing. But you still miss them and think of them as they were when they were little. When they needed you to drive them everywhere and do everything. Sigh. The passage of time stops for no one.
Quiet day yesterday. We didn't do much of anything. In the morning we went to look at the ornament box I bought and realized it had a big crack in it so we headed out to replace it. We had Zoup for lunch then came back home. B took a long nap, I played Fallout.
We were going to have pork for dinner, but it was bad so we ended up having veggie burgers instead. Watched some TV, did laundry, listened to our damn neighbor play her music too loud, went to bed. For real not much of a day to be honest. Was very dull.
Dull is good. Right? I need something to do. I am starting to go stir crazy being home with nothing on my plate. I know I will complain about being too busy soon enough, but man, this dead time is driving me nuts.
Today is most likely going to be a repeat of yesterday. Whee.
Quiet day yesterday. We didn't do much of anything. In the morning we went to look at the ornament box I bought and realized it had a big crack in it so we headed out to replace it. We had Zoup for lunch then came back home. B took a long nap, I played Fallout.
We were going to have pork for dinner, but it was bad so we ended up having veggie burgers instead. Watched some TV, did laundry, listened to our damn neighbor play her music too loud, went to bed. For real not much of a day to be honest. Was very dull.
Dull is good. Right? I need something to do. I am starting to go stir crazy being home with nothing on my plate. I know I will complain about being too busy soon enough, but man, this dead time is driving me nuts.
Today is most likely going to be a repeat of yesterday. Whee.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Y7 D228
I am very proud of something we did yesterday. Our original plan in February was to leverage my trip to a client to go to Disneyland for B's birthday. But that same client kept changing the dates and now it doesn't look like I am going there until March possibly April. We still wanted to go for B's birthday however. I went over all of our numbers, looked at what is coming up, and went ahead and booked us a trip. We are going on a vacation like normal people paid for by ourselves. The flight cost $500, the rental car $75 (I had a $20 coupon I have been holding on to which helped), and I used points for the hotel. I had to do the last one otherwise the hotel alone would have been as much as the flight. But still, how recently was it that the thought of doing something like this would have been impossible? Growth man, growth. The result is on 2/5, we are flying to Disneyland for two days in the park. Very proud of this.
We also had an adventure yesterday. We took public transportation downtown and had lunch with a friend. B crocheted him an awesome gift too which we hoped he liked. She made him 'pot' holders. They're normal potholders with a pot leaf stitched on to them. Clever. We headed out around 10:45, caught the train into downtown and got to his office building around 11:45. After some back and forth, we ended up at a Lebanese place that was pretty good. It was nice seeing him too as we have through one reason or another not seen him in like 3.5 months. I know. All our fault. We just have trouble making plans and sticking with them. Either I end up on the road, or we end up being too tired, but we finally did it and had a good time. After lunch we took a walk around and went to Powell's just to browse. We both love that bookstore. Got back on the train and made it home around 2. B wanted a nap so I went out around 3:30 to run some errands. I managed to get quite a bit knocked off our list. I got an ornament box, some supplements our friend recommended, dishwasher packs, etc. Stuff we needed at three different stores. I also took a look at a sporting goods store. I need to do some kind of exercise. I got back and forth between joining a gym (which I would hate, but it would serve its purpose), buying a machine (best option but no room), or buying a bicycle and just riding around. I looked over some bikes and some machines. If we can fit it, the machine will work. Just don't know where the hell we'd put it. I got back around 4:30 and B slept until 5:30.
Neither of us was hungry because lunch had been very filling so we picked on leftovers still in the fridge. We watched some TV, then I played Fallout while B crocheted. We ended up going to bed around 11:30.
Pretty good for a Friday. I had some work emails come through. One of them from my private session next week. I don't like the guy who's in charge of answering our questions. He's your typical Indian contractor who has better things to do. Speaking of development, I decided yesterday to see how hard it is to make a phone app. I downloaded Android Studio and am going to go through the tutorials today. As for other work stuff, my client in Tulsa sent us an email saying they want me out for a week in March. Works for me. I am also going to take that certification test today. I am nervous about failing since it costs $200 for me to take it, but fuck it. I am 90% sure I can pass. And I only need a 75% grade.
Today there's nothing on the agenda that I know about. But that will probably change.
We also had an adventure yesterday. We took public transportation downtown and had lunch with a friend. B crocheted him an awesome gift too which we hoped he liked. She made him 'pot' holders. They're normal potholders with a pot leaf stitched on to them. Clever. We headed out around 10:45, caught the train into downtown and got to his office building around 11:45. After some back and forth, we ended up at a Lebanese place that was pretty good. It was nice seeing him too as we have through one reason or another not seen him in like 3.5 months. I know. All our fault. We just have trouble making plans and sticking with them. Either I end up on the road, or we end up being too tired, but we finally did it and had a good time. After lunch we took a walk around and went to Powell's just to browse. We both love that bookstore. Got back on the train and made it home around 2. B wanted a nap so I went out around 3:30 to run some errands. I managed to get quite a bit knocked off our list. I got an ornament box, some supplements our friend recommended, dishwasher packs, etc. Stuff we needed at three different stores. I also took a look at a sporting goods store. I need to do some kind of exercise. I got back and forth between joining a gym (which I would hate, but it would serve its purpose), buying a machine (best option but no room), or buying a bicycle and just riding around. I looked over some bikes and some machines. If we can fit it, the machine will work. Just don't know where the hell we'd put it. I got back around 4:30 and B slept until 5:30.
Neither of us was hungry because lunch had been very filling so we picked on leftovers still in the fridge. We watched some TV, then I played Fallout while B crocheted. We ended up going to bed around 11:30.
Pretty good for a Friday. I had some work emails come through. One of them from my private session next week. I don't like the guy who's in charge of answering our questions. He's your typical Indian contractor who has better things to do. Speaking of development, I decided yesterday to see how hard it is to make a phone app. I downloaded Android Studio and am going to go through the tutorials today. As for other work stuff, my client in Tulsa sent us an email saying they want me out for a week in March. Works for me. I am also going to take that certification test today. I am nervous about failing since it costs $200 for me to take it, but fuck it. I am 90% sure I can pass. And I only need a 75% grade.
Today there's nothing on the agenda that I know about. But that will probably change.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Y7 D227
Oh so much nothing yesterday. Ugh. I can't be home this long with nothing to do. I start going a bit stir crazy. I went to the store twice just to get out of the house, I vacuumed, I cleaned the bathroom, scrubbed the kitchen, and reorganized my desk. I need something to do. I am going a bit stir crazy. I did do some work related stuff. Not much, but a little. I went through and did the practice exams to prep for the certification test. I got 10 out 14. Enough for a passing grade at least. I will probably take the test this afternoon and be done with it. I also dealt with my SoCal client going back and forth on dates. Right now it looks like I am not going there until March 28th. That sucks balls. I wanted to get some miles in well before that. I need to see how much a trip to Disneyland is going to run me out of pocket now. I will do that this weekend and probably book the trip. I can cover the hotel with no problem, but I don't want to eat up my air miles for something like this, and the car will be pricey.
Other than those things, it was a frustratingly quiet day. I played some Fallout. Very creepy game in the beginning. I am out of the vault and back in my town. Let's see where it goes from here.
Wow, I am struggling to remember what I did yesterday because there was so little. I worked on our puzzle. I hung a thing for our statues. I made B food. For dinner I made chicken stir fry. We watched Blacklist and Big Bang. Um... Yeah, that's about it. I went to bed around 10:30. I can't wait until next week which is packed for work. Keep me occupied. Then the week after the kid will be here. I am looking forward to that. I haven't seen her since October.
Today we are meeting a friend for lunch downtown. That should be fun and get us out of the house at least.
Other than those things, it was a frustratingly quiet day. I played some Fallout. Very creepy game in the beginning. I am out of the vault and back in my town. Let's see where it goes from here.
Wow, I am struggling to remember what I did yesterday because there was so little. I worked on our puzzle. I hung a thing for our statues. I made B food. For dinner I made chicken stir fry. We watched Blacklist and Big Bang. Um... Yeah, that's about it. I went to bed around 10:30. I can't wait until next week which is packed for work. Keep me occupied. Then the week after the kid will be here. I am looking forward to that. I haven't seen her since October.
Today we are meeting a friend for lunch downtown. That should be fun and get us out of the house at least.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Y7 D226
I was all set to teach today when I learned something yesterday. Early in the morning I sent an email to my boss as I haven't heard from him in days. I asked about the upcoming project in SoCal, my private sessions next week, my classes this week, and how did Q4 look. He ended up calling me around 9 and letting me know the answer to everything. Next week's sessions are still a go and he sent out the email to the client for confirmation, he also sent out an email about February, Q4 looks like we exceed goal (full bonus check for me hopefully. It all depends on what gets billed for Q4 versus Q1. As far as him and I are concerned, Q4 was good.) and then this week. It seems that are outsourced team that manages the website and registration forms fucked up and didn't put any of the classes for this week online. They didn't just screw up mine, they also messed up another instructor's classes. She was supposed to have taught Tuesday and Wednesday and now she is without classes too. I asked if he needed me to take PTO for today and tomorrow and he said no as it wasn't my fault they screwed up. Fair enough. Instead he wants me to work on taking a certification test. I can do that. Not a problem. Today I am going to review all the training material and then take the test on Friday. I also reminded him he agreed to let me upgrade my AA account. He forgot about that but he said to go for it. Hence today's plans.
I then spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing. I decided to try and play more with Plex. I let it scan all the directories. It took most of the day, but it is now up and running and reading my files automatically. Let's see if I like it or not. Around 3 B got a call that her ring was finally ready. I don't know how much I went into it here, but she has been unhappy with how the jeweler soldered her ring and before we went out of town she complained to corporate. After seeing pictures of it and what happened they agreed to not just fix her ring, but give her a brand new one. We have been waiting for it to come back in. This especially makes me happy as that is one of the accounts I just paid off. She owns her ring, her bracelet, and her tennis bracelet. Boom. We headed out to the mall and the ring was still messed up. All of the women in the store immediately saw the problem and agreed with her. I was on the fence. Here's the issue - they soldered it the way it *should* be which is not how the picture shows it. She wants it the way the picture is because it looks better. The jeweler did it technically correct, not picture accurate which is in fact the wrong way. In the end emotion won out over logic and they sent the ring back to have it done again. She should have a new ring in 3-5 business days.
While we were out she wanted to stop at the craft store. We also went into the storage store there. We had dinner at the seafood place which was really good. We had a fun time with the waitress joking about us and the old people in the place. Hey we were hungry dammit. After dinner we walked around and went to the book store. They were having a sale on stuff and we ended up getting Harry Potter trivial pursuit. Got back home around 7:30 and I decided to do something. I have had this pile of electronic cables and mice sitting by the door ever since I cleaned out my cable bins. I took those and some clothes we have had sitting to the Goodwill. Didn't even ask for a receipt. Just here ya go. Enjoy.
Got back and we played the new game. I did pretty well. I mean I lost, but we both knew that was coming. It was fun for her and I didn't have a horrible time. She went and showered, then we watched the season premiere of always sunny. I give it a B+. After she did some crocheting while I played Fallout 4. I got through all of the intro stuff and have just emerged from my Cryogenic container. I left off after exploring for a while. I will play more today since I don't have a class to worry about.
Went to bed around 11:30. A pretty good day all in all me thinks.
I then spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing. I decided to try and play more with Plex. I let it scan all the directories. It took most of the day, but it is now up and running and reading my files automatically. Let's see if I like it or not. Around 3 B got a call that her ring was finally ready. I don't know how much I went into it here, but she has been unhappy with how the jeweler soldered her ring and before we went out of town she complained to corporate. After seeing pictures of it and what happened they agreed to not just fix her ring, but give her a brand new one. We have been waiting for it to come back in. This especially makes me happy as that is one of the accounts I just paid off. She owns her ring, her bracelet, and her tennis bracelet. Boom. We headed out to the mall and the ring was still messed up. All of the women in the store immediately saw the problem and agreed with her. I was on the fence. Here's the issue - they soldered it the way it *should* be which is not how the picture shows it. She wants it the way the picture is because it looks better. The jeweler did it technically correct, not picture accurate which is in fact the wrong way. In the end emotion won out over logic and they sent the ring back to have it done again. She should have a new ring in 3-5 business days.
While we were out she wanted to stop at the craft store. We also went into the storage store there. We had dinner at the seafood place which was really good. We had a fun time with the waitress joking about us and the old people in the place. Hey we were hungry dammit. After dinner we walked around and went to the book store. They were having a sale on stuff and we ended up getting Harry Potter trivial pursuit. Got back home around 7:30 and I decided to do something. I have had this pile of electronic cables and mice sitting by the door ever since I cleaned out my cable bins. I took those and some clothes we have had sitting to the Goodwill. Didn't even ask for a receipt. Just here ya go. Enjoy.
Got back and we played the new game. I did pretty well. I mean I lost, but we both knew that was coming. It was fun for her and I didn't have a horrible time. She went and showered, then we watched the season premiere of always sunny. I give it a B+. After she did some crocheting while I played Fallout 4. I got through all of the intro stuff and have just emerged from my Cryogenic container. I left off after exploring for a while. I will play more today since I don't have a class to worry about.
Went to bed around 11:30. A pretty good day all in all me thinks.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Y7 D225
I just dealt with something new for me. I went to take the trash out and the blacktop of our complex is one giant ice slick. I have heard of black ice on the roads, but not like this. I swear I thought I was going to die with every step. Now if I were 20 years younger I probably would have Risky Businessed that shit, but no. I am old and don't want to break a hip. You damn kids!
Yesterday was a quiet day again. I went out only once to the grocery store to get eggs as I made B an omelette for breakfast with our new pan and that about used them up. Other than that, she read (she finished the book finally and now is starting the second one. I told her that she would want to see how things play out), I played some video games, and then specifically in the afternoon, I started Fallout 4. I got as far as the character creator. It took an hour to go through the intros and the creation screens. I haven't seen a character creation as detailed as that one in a game ever. B and I did it together which was fun.
I got a couple of emails from work - one saying my expense report was rejected, then 20 minutes later another one saying to never mind. Ok.
I talked with a friend during the day. I love catching up with her. We talk a few times per year but it's always a good conversation when we do.
We dyed my hair at one point and B started a crochet project for the kid for Christmas.
Made a pork roast for dinner, watched some TV (new episodes of shows are finally coming back), and went to bed around 10:30.
A very quiet day.
Yesterday was a quiet day again. I went out only once to the grocery store to get eggs as I made B an omelette for breakfast with our new pan and that about used them up. Other than that, she read (she finished the book finally and now is starting the second one. I told her that she would want to see how things play out), I played some video games, and then specifically in the afternoon, I started Fallout 4. I got as far as the character creator. It took an hour to go through the intros and the creation screens. I haven't seen a character creation as detailed as that one in a game ever. B and I did it together which was fun.
I got a couple of emails from work - one saying my expense report was rejected, then 20 minutes later another one saying to never mind. Ok.
I talked with a friend during the day. I love catching up with her. We talk a few times per year but it's always a good conversation when we do.
We dyed my hair at one point and B started a crochet project for the kid for Christmas.
Made a pork roast for dinner, watched some TV (new episodes of shows are finally coming back), and went to bed around 10:30.
A very quiet day.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Y7 D224
Back to our nice normal rain here. No more snow. Good? I kind of enjoyed it to some degree. First time in my life I was able to be in my own place and watch snow fall. But the rain is much easier if I need to go anywhere. No more sliding on the roads. I saw a few service vehicles yesterday with chains on their tires. Interesting concept.
Didn't do much of anything yesterday. Spent about half of my working hours dealing with customer follow up emails. All the emails that the last week of December I blew off saying it was holiday. I also had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn't have a ton of stuff on my plate yesterday which is why I held on to these emails to give me something to do. B wanted to go to the movies yesterday but I told her no as I was afraid something important would come through. I am still waiting for my boss to approve the training guide I busted ass finishing while in MI. He was supposed to have reviewed it and been ready to give me changes yesterday. Gee thanks for nothing.
In the morning I made two phone calls. One to Synchrony bank to close two accounts. That felt good. The accounts I opened to buy our bed and couch. They are both paid off and there is no chance of me needing them again as I don't live in the area where those stores exist. Bam, closed. I also called American. I am still waiting to be able to pay the fee to upgrade to Platinum. It's taking some time for some stupid reason. I am to keep trying the website until Friday then a manager can manually override it and do it for me. Let's see what happens today when I log in around noon.
I did go out once during the day. I went to Best Buy to recycle an old laptop battery. I like how they have a bin right in the front of the store for stuff like that. While I was there I walked around to see what they had on clearance and bought a couple of Lego Dimensions figures. They had them 50% so why not. $7 a figure. As we have been playing there's a couple that keep coming up - Gollum and Wonder Woman - and I decided to add them to our collection. I also stopped at the kitchen store and got B an omelette pan. She has been wanting one for a while and I was out so, pan.
Got back home, hung around in the computer room, took a little nap, then we decided around 5 that neither of us wanted to cook. We were both craving Mexican food. We found a good place and had an excellent dinner. Came back, relaxed, I played games while B read. We had a long discussion about the books I am having her read. I finished Lev Grossman's Magicians series while we were in MI and wanted her to read it. She is not enjoying them as much as me and we discussed why. We have different expectations from authors on character development. She wants as much backstory and feelings from the characters whereas I like to fill in those blanks myself. Also the writing style is much more conversational which I enjoy but she has a hard time reading. It was an interesting discussion to see what two people get out of the same set of books. One of the problems with the books is while there are three, they don't stand alone as well as if you read them all at once. You get a span of about 15 years when you read them all and it fills in some of those blanks she is describing. I am encouraging her to finish them then form an opinion. Hopefully she can make it through.
Went to bed around 10 and managed to sleep in until 5:30. One good thing that has come from this trip is it seems to have reset B's clock. Mine is slowly getting there, but she has been sleeping from about 11-7 which is great. Get her back on a normal schedule.
Not sure what's on the plate for today. I am expecting to finally hear from someone in my office. Let's see if that happens. Worse case, I am now scheduled for classes Thurs-Fri and have to just figure out today and tomorrow.
Didn't do much of anything yesterday. Spent about half of my working hours dealing with customer follow up emails. All the emails that the last week of December I blew off saying it was holiday. I also had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn't have a ton of stuff on my plate yesterday which is why I held on to these emails to give me something to do. B wanted to go to the movies yesterday but I told her no as I was afraid something important would come through. I am still waiting for my boss to approve the training guide I busted ass finishing while in MI. He was supposed to have reviewed it and been ready to give me changes yesterday. Gee thanks for nothing.
In the morning I made two phone calls. One to Synchrony bank to close two accounts. That felt good. The accounts I opened to buy our bed and couch. They are both paid off and there is no chance of me needing them again as I don't live in the area where those stores exist. Bam, closed. I also called American. I am still waiting to be able to pay the fee to upgrade to Platinum. It's taking some time for some stupid reason. I am to keep trying the website until Friday then a manager can manually override it and do it for me. Let's see what happens today when I log in around noon.
I did go out once during the day. I went to Best Buy to recycle an old laptop battery. I like how they have a bin right in the front of the store for stuff like that. While I was there I walked around to see what they had on clearance and bought a couple of Lego Dimensions figures. They had them 50% so why not. $7 a figure. As we have been playing there's a couple that keep coming up - Gollum and Wonder Woman - and I decided to add them to our collection. I also stopped at the kitchen store and got B an omelette pan. She has been wanting one for a while and I was out so, pan.
Got back home, hung around in the computer room, took a little nap, then we decided around 5 that neither of us wanted to cook. We were both craving Mexican food. We found a good place and had an excellent dinner. Came back, relaxed, I played games while B read. We had a long discussion about the books I am having her read. I finished Lev Grossman's Magicians series while we were in MI and wanted her to read it. She is not enjoying them as much as me and we discussed why. We have different expectations from authors on character development. She wants as much backstory and feelings from the characters whereas I like to fill in those blanks myself. Also the writing style is much more conversational which I enjoy but she has a hard time reading. It was an interesting discussion to see what two people get out of the same set of books. One of the problems with the books is while there are three, they don't stand alone as well as if you read them all at once. You get a span of about 15 years when you read them all and it fills in some of those blanks she is describing. I am encouraging her to finish them then form an opinion. Hopefully she can make it through.
Went to bed around 10 and managed to sleep in until 5:30. One good thing that has come from this trip is it seems to have reset B's clock. Mine is slowly getting there, but she has been sleeping from about 11-7 which is great. Get her back on a normal schedule.
Not sure what's on the plate for today. I am expecting to finally hear from someone in my office. Let's see if that happens. Worse case, I am now scheduled for classes Thurs-Fri and have to just figure out today and tomorrow.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Y7 D223
It has officially happened - I live in a place where it snows. Insanity. I got up yesterday morning, took the cat litter out like I do every morning and it was fine. It was about 4am and while it was cold, it wasn't bad. It was pretty clear out in the sky. Came back in, did my expense report, caught up on a couple of emails, and then I looked out the window. This must have been around 8:30am. B was up in the other room and I said "Look out the window now". There it was, falling from the sky - snow. White pieces of fluff. I have never seen someone as excited and happy as B was watching this happen. She was smiling from ear to ear. We went outside and played in it for a few minutes. Made a mini snowman, had a little snowball fight, etc. Something about snow seems to bring out the kid in people. We weren't the only ones. When I went out later, people in parking lots were doing the same thing.
And yes, I did go out in it. About 10am. I decided to get myself a late Christmas present yesterday. My phone has been acting up and it was time to upgrade. We have all had out Note 3s for 2 years now and all three lines were eligible for an upgrade. I have been between the Note 5 and the iPhone 6s Plus. On Saturday I did a bunch of research and hands down in every technical category, the Note 5 beat the iPhone. The big difference was if you wanted iOS versus Android. For me the technical specs were more important. For example. more memory, faster CPU, and the biggest, bigger screen. I ordered it online around 8am before I realized it was snowing with an in store pickup. Sigh. At 10, I got in the car and CAREFULLY drove the 1.1 miles to the Verizon store. They had just opened when I got there and it was dead. I have never been in a store that empty. It was wonderful. The drive there was okay except for one moment where I lost brakes and slid into an intersection. Luckily no one else was out there and I was fine. After setting up the new phone at the store AND trading my old one in for $100 (that was the best part, made the new phone only $200), I left the phone store and hit the grocery store. Here's where people were having fun in the parking lot. I grabbed a couple of things we needed and headed back. I have never driven that slow for so long on city streets.
Got home around noon and spent the next few hours setting up a new phone. The snow softly continued to fall. It let up around 1 and then later turned into freezing rain. Right now it is just pure ice out there. I am sure there will be some accidents this morning. I am glad to not be driving to an office somewhere.
B made peppers for dinner while I updated our video library and that's about it. We watched some TV, played some video games, and then I went to bed around 10.
Back into work stuff today. No class, but I do have some emails from clients I have been postponing answering. Not because I don't know what they are asking, but mostly because I don't care. I also have to call American today and see about upgrading my status for 2016. I have a trip to plan in February and want to enjoy it this time.
And yes, I did go out in it. About 10am. I decided to get myself a late Christmas present yesterday. My phone has been acting up and it was time to upgrade. We have all had out Note 3s for 2 years now and all three lines were eligible for an upgrade. I have been between the Note 5 and the iPhone 6s Plus. On Saturday I did a bunch of research and hands down in every technical category, the Note 5 beat the iPhone. The big difference was if you wanted iOS versus Android. For me the technical specs were more important. For example. more memory, faster CPU, and the biggest, bigger screen. I ordered it online around 8am before I realized it was snowing with an in store pickup. Sigh. At 10, I got in the car and CAREFULLY drove the 1.1 miles to the Verizon store. They had just opened when I got there and it was dead. I have never been in a store that empty. It was wonderful. The drive there was okay except for one moment where I lost brakes and slid into an intersection. Luckily no one else was out there and I was fine. After setting up the new phone at the store AND trading my old one in for $100 (that was the best part, made the new phone only $200), I left the phone store and hit the grocery store. Here's where people were having fun in the parking lot. I grabbed a couple of things we needed and headed back. I have never driven that slow for so long on city streets.
Got home around noon and spent the next few hours setting up a new phone. The snow softly continued to fall. It let up around 1 and then later turned into freezing rain. Right now it is just pure ice out there. I am sure there will be some accidents this morning. I am glad to not be driving to an office somewhere.
B made peppers for dinner while I updated our video library and that's about it. We watched some TV, played some video games, and then I went to bed around 10.
Back into work stuff today. No class, but I do have some emails from clients I have been postponing answering. Not because I don't know what they are asking, but mostly because I don't care. I also have to call American today and see about upgrading my status for 2016. I have a trip to plan in February and want to enjoy it this time.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Y7 D222
Back to non-exciting, non-deep posts. Sorry people. Yesterday was a very mellow day. Woke up, did my morning computer stuff, took a nice relaxing bath using some of the new Lush products I got for Christmas, and waited for B to wake up.
She woke up around 7, still very early for her. We played some video games for a while. Lego Dimensions to be specific. Both of us really appreciate the Lego games. They are challenging while not being overly hard, they have great humor in them, and they are just fun to play.
We then sort of took Christmas down. We are leaving the tree up until the kid gets here in two weeks, but we put everything else away. I went out and got us some storage tubs to put stuff in including replacing my giant cable bin. I have this plastic bin which has more cables than any single person should have. It is long past the time when I should have cleaned it out and reorganized the cables. That basically was two hours of our life. I went through and threw out old cables, neatly wrapped all the other cables, and cut the pile in half.
While I was working on that B cleaned the rest of the house. She changed the sheets, dusted, and put all the other stuff away. In the end we are both happy with how organized things are. While she was cleaning she was listening to the Hamilton soundtrack. She is enamored by this musical and seriously would love to go to NY to see it. We may have to make that happen in 2016. I won't go, but I have enough miles and points to send her and her friend with very little out of pocket.
Ate an early dinner because we both were hungry but not until B woke up from her unplanned 40 minute couch nap. We were sitting on the couch talking and the next thing I know she is asleep. A true little cat nap.
We decided we didn't want to sit inside all night and went to the mall to walk around. I have been considering a phone upgrade and we popped into the Verizon store so I could look at new phones. I think I am going to go with the Note 5. I have been between that and the iPhone 6s Plus. I read a bunch of reviews yesterday and in 99% of things the Note wins out. I haven't made a final decision as technically there's nothing wrong with my phone other than it is slow and has a few chips in it. Kind of like me.
We wandered around and got back home around 8:30. Watched some TV and I went to bed at 9:30. I was super tired. I am not sure what time she came to bed, but I doubt it was much later than me.
Nothing on the plan for today. I may go back to the Verizon store, but not definite. Other than that there are no plans.
She woke up around 7, still very early for her. We played some video games for a while. Lego Dimensions to be specific. Both of us really appreciate the Lego games. They are challenging while not being overly hard, they have great humor in them, and they are just fun to play.
We then sort of took Christmas down. We are leaving the tree up until the kid gets here in two weeks, but we put everything else away. I went out and got us some storage tubs to put stuff in including replacing my giant cable bin. I have this plastic bin which has more cables than any single person should have. It is long past the time when I should have cleaned it out and reorganized the cables. That basically was two hours of our life. I went through and threw out old cables, neatly wrapped all the other cables, and cut the pile in half.
While I was working on that B cleaned the rest of the house. She changed the sheets, dusted, and put all the other stuff away. In the end we are both happy with how organized things are. While she was cleaning she was listening to the Hamilton soundtrack. She is enamored by this musical and seriously would love to go to NY to see it. We may have to make that happen in 2016. I won't go, but I have enough miles and points to send her and her friend with very little out of pocket.
Ate an early dinner because we both were hungry but not until B woke up from her unplanned 40 minute couch nap. We were sitting on the couch talking and the next thing I know she is asleep. A true little cat nap.
We decided we didn't want to sit inside all night and went to the mall to walk around. I have been considering a phone upgrade and we popped into the Verizon store so I could look at new phones. I think I am going to go with the Note 5. I have been between that and the iPhone 6s Plus. I read a bunch of reviews yesterday and in 99% of things the Note wins out. I haven't made a final decision as technically there's nothing wrong with my phone other than it is slow and has a few chips in it. Kind of like me.
We wandered around and got back home around 8:30. Watched some TV and I went to bed at 9:30. I was super tired. I am not sure what time she came to bed, but I doubt it was much later than me.
Nothing on the plan for today. I may go back to the Verizon store, but not definite. Other than that there are no plans.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Y7 D221
My new year started off much better than I could have anticipated. In more ways than one. I did wake up with a bit of a sinus/heat headache yesterday (and today) but that's the only grey spot on an otherwise good day.
See, I learned something about myself yesterday. I learned that I'm okay. I'm actually better than okay, I am comfortable with who I am, where I am, and the path ahead of me. Nothing's perfect and I still have bad days, but in the grand scheme, I am alright finally. Big departure from how things were 3, 5, and especially 7 years ago. Why this epiphany of self understanding? Well...
Got up yesterday morning and headed to the grocery store around 6:30am. Our fridge was bare due to us being out of town which was fine and dandy. I got us a ton of food and only spent about $150. Not bad as we were gone for so long and there literally was nothing left to eat in the fridge. I felt like the narrator - a fridge full of condiments and no real food. But I remedied that in short order. Got back a little around 7:30 and B was awake and helped me put things away. She too is having a bit of trouble with time adjustment. This isn't one of those trips where we were gone for a couple of days. We spent 2+ weeks in EST. Things are off. We put the groceries away, threw a corned beef into the slow cooker for dinner, cleaned things up a bit, and sat down to play some video games. We opened up Lego Dimensions and started setting it up. As you build the base, there's a part where it wants you to follow along in game. Okay. We pop the game in and "update required - 6.86GB". Um. Wow. Okay. I needed to go to the mall and get shampoo and decided that while that thing was doing its update I would go. B was already tired and decided to go back to bed. I headed out around 9:40am and that's when I got a text.
I woke up to a few texts from friends wishing me a happy new year. One of my friends (who spent new years eve in Vegas) also sent me a text saying he heard something about X2 and did I want to hear it. Ya know, yes. Because otherwise I would sit there thinking things up in my head. So what the fuck, why not. I got to the mall, got my shampoo and then we talked. (The shampoo btw is the coconut one from Lush which is AWESOME, lasts forever, and smells really good.) Before he told me, I said let me guess - she bought a new company, started a company, gave a TED talk, or got married in Vegas. I figured they ran into her on the strip somewhere. Well, I was sort of right. His wife was on Facebook and it popped up one of those people you know things and guess who popped up. Out of curiosity (and don't lie, we would all do the same thing), she clicked it. Her profile was wide open. Turns out she did in fact get married 2 weeks ago on the beach in Key West. Not surprised. It also looks like she got an instant family. A boy around 10 or 11.
And this is the part where I realized, I don't care. For real. It made me look at my life and go, so what? I am in a good place, I have been married over a year to a wonderful woman who truly loves me and I love back, I moved out of a bad space that was causing me trouble, I have a handle on my finances and a goal, and inside, I am happy. Babies don't sleep as well as me. I drove back home thinking about all of this and it is what it is. I looked out the window while I drove and marveled at where I live. Is everything perfect? Of course not. That would be stupid to say. I wish some things were different, but I am working on making them the way we want.
He later sent me a pic from her page and I kind of laughed inside. It was a pic of her, the husband, and the kid at Disney World. See, the person I knew had zero maternal instinct. God only knows how she will fare with a boy for the next 8-10 years. Good luck with that. She also was never the Disney fan that I am. I am sure she doesn't mind going once or twice, but more than that I can see her skin crawl. Who knows, maybe she too has changed and evolved. And there it is, I am really apathetic to the whole thing. I wish her and her husband the best of luck. That was then, this is now. I am where I am, doing what I do.
Got back home, finally played Dimensions. So far it's pretty cool. It's like the ultimate in Lego games. Before I played B was still asleep so I did my time sheet. I still have to do my expense report, but I will do that today. I also paid bills. Paid one card off entirely which was nice. My goal is five of them this year. Plus I am on Monday closing two accounts which I have paid off. That will give my score a little boost.
Around 2 B asked if we could hit the store as she needed new slippers and didn't get any for Christmas. Okie dokie. Headed out to the store, found us both slippers 60% off. Score. Came back, relaxed, read, etc. Had dinner around 6, watched some TV, and started laundry. Around 8, we were sitting there and one thing lead to another and off to the bedroom we went. What a nice way to start the new year. With a bang! (Get it? Huh? Huh! Yeah I'm an idiot, shoot me.)
After that we both kind of were mellow, we both scrolled the internet, and head to bed around 10:30. Welcome to 2016. Let it rock.
See, I learned something about myself yesterday. I learned that I'm okay. I'm actually better than okay, I am comfortable with who I am, where I am, and the path ahead of me. Nothing's perfect and I still have bad days, but in the grand scheme, I am alright finally. Big departure from how things were 3, 5, and especially 7 years ago. Why this epiphany of self understanding? Well...
Got up yesterday morning and headed to the grocery store around 6:30am. Our fridge was bare due to us being out of town which was fine and dandy. I got us a ton of food and only spent about $150. Not bad as we were gone for so long and there literally was nothing left to eat in the fridge. I felt like the narrator - a fridge full of condiments and no real food. But I remedied that in short order. Got back a little around 7:30 and B was awake and helped me put things away. She too is having a bit of trouble with time adjustment. This isn't one of those trips where we were gone for a couple of days. We spent 2+ weeks in EST. Things are off. We put the groceries away, threw a corned beef into the slow cooker for dinner, cleaned things up a bit, and sat down to play some video games. We opened up Lego Dimensions and started setting it up. As you build the base, there's a part where it wants you to follow along in game. Okay. We pop the game in and "update required - 6.86GB". Um. Wow. Okay. I needed to go to the mall and get shampoo and decided that while that thing was doing its update I would go. B was already tired and decided to go back to bed. I headed out around 9:40am and that's when I got a text.
I woke up to a few texts from friends wishing me a happy new year. One of my friends (who spent new years eve in Vegas) also sent me a text saying he heard something about X2 and did I want to hear it. Ya know, yes. Because otherwise I would sit there thinking things up in my head. So what the fuck, why not. I got to the mall, got my shampoo and then we talked. (The shampoo btw is the coconut one from Lush which is AWESOME, lasts forever, and smells really good.) Before he told me, I said let me guess - she bought a new company, started a company, gave a TED talk, or got married in Vegas. I figured they ran into her on the strip somewhere. Well, I was sort of right. His wife was on Facebook and it popped up one of those people you know things and guess who popped up. Out of curiosity (and don't lie, we would all do the same thing), she clicked it. Her profile was wide open. Turns out she did in fact get married 2 weeks ago on the beach in Key West. Not surprised. It also looks like she got an instant family. A boy around 10 or 11.
And this is the part where I realized, I don't care. For real. It made me look at my life and go, so what? I am in a good place, I have been married over a year to a wonderful woman who truly loves me and I love back, I moved out of a bad space that was causing me trouble, I have a handle on my finances and a goal, and inside, I am happy. Babies don't sleep as well as me. I drove back home thinking about all of this and it is what it is. I looked out the window while I drove and marveled at where I live. Is everything perfect? Of course not. That would be stupid to say. I wish some things were different, but I am working on making them the way we want.
He later sent me a pic from her page and I kind of laughed inside. It was a pic of her, the husband, and the kid at Disney World. See, the person I knew had zero maternal instinct. God only knows how she will fare with a boy for the next 8-10 years. Good luck with that. She also was never the Disney fan that I am. I am sure she doesn't mind going once or twice, but more than that I can see her skin crawl. Who knows, maybe she too has changed and evolved. And there it is, I am really apathetic to the whole thing. I wish her and her husband the best of luck. That was then, this is now. I am where I am, doing what I do.
Got back home, finally played Dimensions. So far it's pretty cool. It's like the ultimate in Lego games. Before I played B was still asleep so I did my time sheet. I still have to do my expense report, but I will do that today. I also paid bills. Paid one card off entirely which was nice. My goal is five of them this year. Plus I am on Monday closing two accounts which I have paid off. That will give my score a little boost.
Around 2 B asked if we could hit the store as she needed new slippers and didn't get any for Christmas. Okie dokie. Headed out to the store, found us both slippers 60% off. Score. Came back, relaxed, read, etc. Had dinner around 6, watched some TV, and started laundry. Around 8, we were sitting there and one thing lead to another and off to the bedroom we went. What a nice way to start the new year. With a bang! (Get it? Huh? Huh! Yeah I'm an idiot, shoot me.)
After that we both kind of were mellow, we both scrolled the internet, and head to bed around 10:30. Welcome to 2016. Let it rock.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Y7 D220
Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it's good to be back home...
Truer words were never spoken (sung?). I am so happy to be back in my own bed in my own house on my own big computer.
Happy New Year to all of you. Another year down. Wow. We didn't even make it to 10pm last night we were so tired. Hey, it was 2016 somewhere when we went to bed darn it. We were out of the hotel at 3am EST, through the check in line by 3:30 and security by 3:40. There was no one at security it was amazing. We got on our 1st flight at 5:20 and touched down in Dallas at 8 CST. Hung out in the Admiral's Club until 10, then boarded our second flight at 10:15. Made it to PDX at 12:45, about 16 minutes ahead of schedule.
B and I were both worried about flying together as it was the first time. We did well. She is just as paranoid as I am so we had no problems. She did enjoy the perks of traveling with me - the club, early boarding, decent seats.
When we got home my niece was still here and I went to the bank and grabbed her the balance of her money. We gave her $100 up front and then $100 more if we got home and everything was cool. Everything was beyond cool. She cleaned, the cats were alive, and there was still food in the house. Score. It was nice coming home to a clean house. While B started unpacking I ran to Walgreens to pick up a prescription that had been sitting for a few days. Enough with the texts, I know it's ready.
Got back and I did my unpacking. Around 4 we finally sat down and did Christmas. Both of us were very happy with our presents. I got video games, a hand made tardis scarf, tardis cufflinks, a spirograph, and some books. We both got each other 'practical' gifts. I also had all my Disney stuff from the parks to open. There are still about 15 presents under the tree for the kid who will be here 1/17. We are surprising her by leaving the tree and stuff up until she gets here.
(I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO WRITE THIS FOR 20 MINUTES BUT THE CAT KEEPS BUGGING ME)
When we were done with presents and cleaning up, I walked over to the Thai place next door. Took almost 40 minutes to get a to go order, but it was worth it. We had dinner, watched some TV, and then around 9 B collapsed. The day caught up with her. I followed suit at 9:30. Yeah, we be old people.
A good vacation and a good start to the new year. May yours be good too.
Truer words were never spoken (sung?). I am so happy to be back in my own bed in my own house on my own big computer.
Happy New Year to all of you. Another year down. Wow. We didn't even make it to 10pm last night we were so tired. Hey, it was 2016 somewhere when we went to bed darn it. We were out of the hotel at 3am EST, through the check in line by 3:30 and security by 3:40. There was no one at security it was amazing. We got on our 1st flight at 5:20 and touched down in Dallas at 8 CST. Hung out in the Admiral's Club until 10, then boarded our second flight at 10:15. Made it to PDX at 12:45, about 16 minutes ahead of schedule.
B and I were both worried about flying together as it was the first time. We did well. She is just as paranoid as I am so we had no problems. She did enjoy the perks of traveling with me - the club, early boarding, decent seats.
When we got home my niece was still here and I went to the bank and grabbed her the balance of her money. We gave her $100 up front and then $100 more if we got home and everything was cool. Everything was beyond cool. She cleaned, the cats were alive, and there was still food in the house. Score. It was nice coming home to a clean house. While B started unpacking I ran to Walgreens to pick up a prescription that had been sitting for a few days. Enough with the texts, I know it's ready.
Got back and I did my unpacking. Around 4 we finally sat down and did Christmas. Both of us were very happy with our presents. I got video games, a hand made tardis scarf, tardis cufflinks, a spirograph, and some books. We both got each other 'practical' gifts. I also had all my Disney stuff from the parks to open. There are still about 15 presents under the tree for the kid who will be here 1/17. We are surprising her by leaving the tree and stuff up until she gets here.
(I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO WRITE THIS FOR 20 MINUTES BUT THE CAT KEEPS BUGGING ME)
When we were done with presents and cleaning up, I walked over to the Thai place next door. Took almost 40 minutes to get a to go order, but it was worth it. We had dinner, watched some TV, and then around 9 B collapsed. The day caught up with her. I followed suit at 9:30. Yeah, we be old people.
A good vacation and a good start to the new year. May yours be good too.
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