Sunday, July 31, 2016

Y8 D66

Didn't do to much of anything yesterday. Went and did some errands in the morning. Went to the office supply store for some screen wipes and printer ink. Hit the grocery store for some stuff. Boring every day stuff.

I had an issue with my tablet. It tried to do an update and got caught up in an endless loop of rebooting forcing me to have factory reset it. Sucks, but luckily I keep all data on the SD card and not on the tablet itself. I didn't lose any data, just apps. Oh well. At least my tablet is clean.

B took a long afternoon nap. When she woke up we had chicken stir fry for dinner. It finally has cooled off again. Not too bad temperature wise here. After dinner we went to the piercing shop. B wanted her daith pierced to help with migraines. Supposedly that's a pressure point and can help minimized migraine pain. Okay. While there, I got the other side of my nose pierced. It will sound stupid to anyone who doesn't have piercings or tattoos, but I felt off. I felt lopsided having one side done. Now I have both.

Not a lot of hunting yesterday. We didn't go to the park at all. I did manage to get in 11,000 steps and she got in 6,000 so we did walk enough yesterday at least.

Today is laundry and who knows what else.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Y8 D65

It's supposed to be much cooler today than yesterday. Which is good. It got up to 95 here yesterday. Sucked ass. But luckily after about 12, we were somewhere else. Where we were it was in the 60s which was lovely.

In the morning we did B's cousin a favor. They are moving here from Indiana in a few days and she asked if we could go check out there new apartment complex. They rented it sight unseen based on location and what they found on the internet. I have been there before and know that can always be a bit of a scare. Luckily for them, they picked a nice place. A little overpriced for my tastes, but at least from the outside it looks nice. Quiet area and they were doing some upkeep on the units. New roofs, paint, things like that. They are going to be paying 1300 a month for a 1 bedroom with loft. Like I said, a little pricey. BUT I asked B how they were affording it and apparently the boyfriend is using student loans for everything. That's why they are moving out here. He is doing his masters at one of the colleges. I did the math and just rent and utilities and the basic is going to cost about $18k a year. Two years of that on student loans is going to be a killer when he's done. It wouldn't surprise me if he finishes with $50k in student loan debt. Kind of sad. I do feel a bit bad for him.

While we were out doing that my boss sent me an email - "I will be available by phone or email for emergencies this afternoon. I will be at the fair and the beach.".  This is why I don't have a regular job. I responded back with "okay, I think we'll head to the beach too". Don't get that at an office job. Around 1 we headed to the coast. Fuck it. I paid bills in the morning and everything is good. A drive to the beach wasn't going to kill us.

Best decision ever. It was 65 on the coast and the hunting was out of this world. I picked up at least 10 new pokemon, we both walked an incredible amount, and it was just a good time overall. B did over 11,000 steps and I did 17,000. Crazy. My feet are killing me this morning, but it was worth it. We got home around 9, watched an episode of Stranger Things and I went to bed around 11. I wish it wasn't 70 miles away or I'd go back again today. We are both over 100 caught now. Time to find a different park.

No big plans for today. Maybe try and find a new park, but other than that, nothing. I like that.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Y8 D64

It's too hot. Go away hot. No like you. Come back rain and cold. Come back.

It was so hot here yesterday I put the AC unit back in. Outside noise be damned. I couldn't take it. I didn't go all fancy this time with the sealing part either. Threw a fucking black garbage bag over the hole. Ghetto up bitches.

Worked on and finished changes to four training classes yesterday. Our material is now all in line with the marketing team's crap. That should make everyone happy for a while. I have more classes to do over time, but these four were the highest priority.

Walked to the gyro place next door for lunch. Was good. Took a while to get our order but the wait was worth it.

B ended up sleeping most of the afternoon away. After she woke up I made pork chops for dinner. After dinner we went to the mall. She really wanted to hit her 10,000 steps as she hasn't done it yet. We walked around the mall and found her new shorts and jeans for $20. A steal for sure.

We stopped at two parks on the way home to do some hunting and to get in more steps. We didn't get home until 10, but she did it! I did 13,000 steps but she managed to get 10,500. Her best day! I am proud and excited for her.

Went to bed around 11, got 5h 24m of sleep. Acceptable.

Today is bill day followed by a trip to the coast where it will be cool. I am hoping everyone and their mother doesn't have the same idea. We shall see.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Y8 D63

Yesterday was X2's birthday. Some things you just never forget I guess. Knowing her she is spending the week in the Keys at a private villa living that Allison Hendrix life.

Me, I spent the day writing documents and updating training materials. Whee. They were blowing bark into the planters around the building all day which meant we had to keep everything closed and rely on AC all day. Thank goodness that's an option for us. I feel for the people without AC who had to keep everything closed yesterday. They came home to sweat boxes. It was about 90 yesterday and felt hotter.

Made a tri-tip for dinner. It wasn't an active day overall. It was the first day I missed my 10,000 step goal. Just barely. I made 9,965. So close. I wonder if I can dump the fitbit data into Tableau. I should check that out. Use it in my classes as demo data.

We went to a new park last night. Mixed results. It's a skate park and there were more people there doing physical activities than hunting. The upside is I would have been even farther off on my steps had we not done that. We also caught a new pokemon we didn't have which was good. But overall the hunting was mediocre at best. Our normal park is much better.

Got back home around 9:30 and went to bed around 10:30.

I am hovering in and out of a funk right now. I feel it coming on and then it leaves. It's just hanging around the edges of my mind. Worse at night when I lie in bed thinking about the day and bills.

Speaking of bills, I spent an hour yesterday trying to figure out why I owe $423 to a doctor for a 20 minute visit and three vials of blood. They are being stubborn about providing me an itemized breakdown of the charges. It's a lot of money for very little work on their part. I also spent another hour dealing with Verizon to try and figure out why my bill is about $40 more than I expected it to be. That went better. I managed to get a guy on chat and we broke down the math to the penny. My bill is what it should be and there's little I can do to change it unfortunately.

Also talked with my buddy who is visiting next week. We are going to go to his race and cheer him on when he is here. He kept trying to push us into doing the race with him. Yeah right. Like I am going to wade through mud and muck. No thanks friend.

Today is more document writing. Whee.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Y8 D62

Tried to do some work yesterday but kept running into problems. Having issues doing an installation. Drivers not found, keys not right, etc. I needed help from someone and of course no one was around to respond. Got so frustrated around noon I said screw it and B and I went to the zoo for a couple hours. While we were there finally got some feedback from my boss on something totally unrelated. But at least now I have a plan for the rest of the week. He needs me to do some stuff which should take me a day or two to finish.

The zoo was a bit of a bust. Not as good hunting as we would have liked. Plus we still haven't figured out the zoo layout and found ourselves lost a couple of times. It's a very confusing setup and it's easy to get turned around.

Got home, B napped, I started in on my work. For dinner she made stuffed peppers. Haven't had those in a while. Enjoyed it. After dinner we went to the park. Around 9 we were sitting at home and suddenly she saw on the radar something really good popped a couple of blocks away. We weren't going to make it if we walked so we hopped in the car and caught our first Snorlax. Yeah, I know. Leave us be.

When we got back neither of us were tired. Ended up watching The Killing Joke which came out yesterday. They did an excellent job on it. 99% true to the original material. I don't know if it deserved an R rating, but they did a good job. A fitting one for Conroy and Hamill to go out on.

It's going to be hot here again today. Really hot. Not looking forward to this.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Y8 D61

Our big adventure yesterday was spending way too long and way too much at Costco. We needed stuff unfortunately and it was the best place to get it. It's also getting hot here again which is making for a rough time.

We had to go to costco to get two things primarily for B - passport photos ($5 and ready in 15 minutes) and an anti-inflammatory prescription ($3, gotta love that). While we were there we also got the world's largest package of toilet paper, rockstars, and other things that were giant size. Before going to costco I went to the regular grocery store to buy normal sizes of things where I debated between buying some stuff there and waiting for warehouse hell. An example was laundry pods. Yes, I would have paid less per packet if I got them at costco, but did I really need 100 laundry pods? That would have lasted us over a year, taken up way too much room, etc. You have to make that call sometimes.

After there, we came back and I did some work. Then we decided to take a drive out to the outlet malls. One because we wanted to see what kind of hunting was out there and two because I have been looking for new sandals. I hoped to find some cheap but no luck. Outlet stores are such a misnomer. But calling them "Shit we couldn't sell at our regular stores" wouldn't attract as many people I am assuming.

Headed home and stopped at the park for a while. Got home around 9:30. Did some stuff and went to bed around 11. 6 hours 8 minutes of sleep with 3 times awake and 26 minutes of restlessness. Fun.

Today I don't know what I am doing. I am going to do some installations, watch the Killing Joke, and have peppers for dinner. Beyond that, who knows.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Y8 D60

We had a good day yesterday. Got up, did laundry, cleaned the office, and we tried to go to Costco right when they opened. I say tried, because it turns out the pharmacy is closed on Sunday. Go figure. We didn't know that and nowhere on line does it explicitly say that. Well poop. We weren't about to stand in a Sunday line either for just a few things and we ended up leaving. We got on the train and headed downtown for some hunting and to run an errand. My Samsonite bag has been having zipper issues and last weekend when we were down there the nice lady at the store said to bring it in and they could check it out. We got on the train and took my bag in.

Okay, massive kudos to the Samsonite store. Not only did she agree to have it sent in to be looked at, she offered ON THE SPOT to replace it if I wanted a new one instead. No questions. The only problem is she didn't have one exactly like mine, so we decided to have it looked at to see if it could be repaired first. If it's going to be too much hassle, then I will replace it. But I was very impressed at how they were willing to help and just do a swap. No receipt, no hassles. Just boom, take a new bag. That's service in my book.

From there we headed down to the waterfront for some walking and catching. We had the most wonderful experience. I will share what B posted on facebook about it:

[We] went into downtown today specifically to go Pokemon hunting and while we were sitting on a bench by the waterfront, a sweet older gentleman named George approached us. He noticed that we were playing the game and asked us for help (he wasn't able to collect any more Pokemon or any items from Pokestops because both his bag and his Pokemon storage was full). He sat with us for at least a half an hour while I helped him transfer and heal some Pokemon, get rid of some potions, and taught him to do the two things himself.
At 74 years old, George was not only enthusiastic about the game but also thrilled that we were willing to help him out. We learned a lot about him in that time: He used to race cars professionally, he has a Kia Soul that he loves, and his wife of 30+ years died about a year ago. He, understandably, has been having a hard time with her passing, and Pokemon GO has been helping him to get out more and get back to living a normal life. As a thank you, he gave us each what he had on him at the time, a Hostess Boston Creme Pie.
In addition, [we] have also been getting out and moving around more, plus I'm working on my social anxiety disorder by actually speaking to other players.
If this app can get people moving, help an older gentleman keep going with his life, and bring complete strangers together even for a short while, I can't understand why there are some people that are so proud that they have nothing to do with the game and look down upon others who play. Maybe it's not for you, but try telling George that the game is a "waste of his time" and "for kids."
Isn't that great? What a wonderful adventure. We got back on the train around 3 and headed home. Got home around 4 and B was feeling a migraine coming on. She ended up falling asleep for a little while which messed up here night schedule but dulled the headache a bit. I made chicken for dinner and for the first night in a week, we stayed in.

We started watching Stranger Things on Netflix. GOOD show. Strongly recommend. We watched 3 episodes and then I got tired. Went to bed around 10. It's getting hot here again for a week and it was nasty in the bedroom. Time to turn on AC units again. I pulled the one from the office too soon it would appear. Oh well. I may go get a piece of plastic this week.

I have a light week thank goodness. Some technical stuff to do, some doc changes, etc. Otherwise, should be a stressless week work-wise.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Y8 D59

A long travel day but I feel I slept well last night as a result. My fitbit confirms this. I slept for 7 hours and 6 minutes with minimal restlessness. Not too shabby. I did over 13,000 steps yesterday too. Almost 6000 before noon. Helps when you get up at 1am and have to walk airports, then walk to trains, and then walk home.

Got up at 1am, left the hotel at 2:30, got to the airport at 3, boarded my flight late. We didn't board until 6:30 with a scheduled 6:40 departure. Yeah, that didn't happen. At least I was in first. Had a comfy chair. The flight wasn't bad. Had a nice breakfast, slept for 20 minutes. Landed around 8:30 and got home at 10:30.

B had a doctor appointment at noon so we had to move a little quick. Got unpacked and got ready to go out. She has had some pain in her shoulder and she was worried it was rotator cuff related. Turns out, she does in fact have something wrong - bicep tendonitis combined with pec tendonitis. Lovely. Nothing too serious, but it will require her to baby her arm for a while to get it relaxed. The doctor also prescribed a hard core anti-inflammatory to make things better. We have to go to Costco today to get that taken care of.

After the doctor we had Chik-Fil-A and ran some errands at Target. Came back and discovered the people behind us moving out. Oh my, another set of people gone. Our building is getting nice and empty and quiet. No complaints here about that. Neither of us felt like a full dinner and we had tamales. Nothing exciting. Our latest CAH merchandise arrived. A Donald Trump Bug Out bag. A duffle filled with a gas mask, mexican currency, dog whistle, harmonica, and of course, new cards.

Went to the park around 7 to do some hunting and at 8:30 we got some ice cream. Got home around 9 and I crashed at 10. It was a long day.

Today is Costco and expense report day. Fun stuff.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Y8 D58

Ever wonder if you could bring grapes on a plane? We're about to find out. I bought a thing of grapes the other night to have as a snack and I am not about to throw them out if I don't have to. Grapes and TSA, the story tomorrow!

Finished up day two around 4. Went to the outlet mall to get some walking and hunting in. Both were less than fruitful. The hunting at the mall was okay but not enough stops to make it worthwhile. The mall itself was filled with busloads (no serious, they have busses) of Asians. It was hell. It was like I was back in Hong Kong. The pushing, the rudeness. Fuck this. I got my walking in at least and finished another day over 12,000 steps. Pretty happy with myself for hitting these goals. I need to work on the calorie intake though. Too much. I had a burrito for dinner with a quesadilla. I was about 400 over for the day.

Got back to the hotel and finished watching Orphan Black. I am all caught up. Damn. Good show. With my normal source down it's been tricky getting new shows. I did manage yesterday to successfully get shows from a different source. The trouble is I used a free account and it was very limited in bandwidth. If I decide to go this route I have to be prepared to drop some cash. Not sure if I am 100% ready for that yet, but at least from a technical standpoint, I know what I am doing which is pretty cool. It took multiple attempts at finding the best software, but I found a reader that works. I just need to decide who has the best service at a reasonable price. Then I will be good. Weekend project.

Laid down on the couch in my room around 8 and slept until 1. Pretty good sleep too for once. Leaving for the airport in about an hour. I will get to PDX around 8, then home by 10. B has a noon doctor's appointment for her shoulder. This should be fun.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Y8 D57

Rough night last night. According to my doo daddy thingy I was asleep only 5 hours and 24 minutes. I was up 5 times with 46 minutes of restlessness. It didn't help that around 3am the building fire alarm decided to go off. That was just lovely, let me tell you. Regardless, I am tired and sore this morning.

Work was okay. I dislike this client. Always have, always will. They are so disorganized and in efficient it drives me nuts. Mostly because they use too many fucking contractors and not enough real employees. Network issues, setup issues, language issues. Then of course there were server issues. Because why not. We went from 8 until about 3:00 as they had "more important" meetings in the afternoon. Whatever.

Got back to my hotel and had a conference call from 4-5 with another client. Then I went and met a friend for dinner. That was nice. We went to BJs which was okay. Nothing exciting but not bad either. Got back to my hotel around 8:30, watched some OB and went to bed around 10.

Fly home tomorrow. Another 'late' flight in my mind. I got up early this morning thinking I had to check in at 5 but my flight isn't until 6:40. Fuck that noise. Throwing me off.

I have to poop.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Y8 D56

Weird weird day yesterday. Traveling late does not agree with me, that's for sure. I was out of whack all morning and my stress level was at ll. I was pacing around in the morning waiting to leave. We left around 6, dropped me off at the train at 6:15, and I boarded one around 6:20. That was an adventure to begin the day. I get on the train which says AIRPORT on the front, but the inside signs and the recording were listing stops the opposite direction. I freaked out at first. Like wait, did this thing change directions when I wasn't looking? Am I actually going the right way? What's going on? Luckily I know the stops and could tell we were going the right way, but imagine being a tourist and having it say one thing on the front but another inside. Confusion city. I got to the airport around 7:15, got through security, and sat in the lounge until 9:20. Boarded my flight on time and landed at SFO around noon.

Got my car and met the kid for lunch. That was a nice time. We enjoyed a nice sushi lunch. Really good place. A bit of sushi fusion. We had an octopus carpaccio, smoked aji, and a sashimi platter. Good stuff. Got to the hotel around 3 after sitting in traffic, and took care of ironing and the like.

Around 5 I got some bad news. The site I use to grab most of my stuff was shut down by the government. This makes for a rough time in getting new stuff. My buddy is putting together a tutorial for me (which you need to resend because your mail server blocked it) on alternate options, but what a blow. They seized all the domains. Fuck cable companies and broadcast tv.

Had dinner with a friend around 7:30. She was looking for some technical advice too and I did a demo for her on one of the products we recommend. She works for a non-profit which means it will be hard to get a budget but she was impressed with the product and recognizes the need in her organization. We had a nice steak dinner, late, but nice. Okay, late for me. I am old and tired.

Went to bed around 10. Did over 11,000 steps again yesterday. I like the motivation this Fitbit provides me. Walked 5 miles according to it yesterday. Not too shabby. I was also 300 calories under the limit too. Pretty good. Caught some good pokemon including two new ones.

The only downside to yesterday is I may have to go straight to another client. I haven't told B yet because it's not confirmed, but I may have to leave here Saturday, drive down to SoCal, and teach down there. We'll know more today.

Now it's time to have breakfast and do the do.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Y8 D55

I HATE partner flights. I don't get any upgrades, and now I discover they didn't capture my KTN and I may have to go through regular security. I am not mentally prepared for that this morning. I will have to go to the counter at the airport and see what the hell is going on. This is already a weird travel day as it's a Wednesday, I don't fly until 10, and I am taking the train. WTF. So many issues.

I did hit a milestone yesterday - 11,000+ steps. That's pretty awesome. Plus I was under my calorie intake. Good day fitness wise. I didn't do much else. Had a couple of conference calls, the internet went down at 3:15 and killed one of them which I have to do from a hotel room at 4pm today (lovely), but otherwise, uneventful day.

We walked, we ran a couple of errands, we went back to the park. Even B did almost 6,000 steps yesterday. Really proud of her. Had chicken alfredo with penne last night for dinner. Went to bed around 11. Slept just under 5 hours with 17 minutes restless. So I guess that's good. Time to shower. Need to take a 6:30 train to make sure I have enough time to do everything - like get my KTN on this ticket. Argh.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Y8 D54

Fitbit sleep results: 6h 8m, 47 minutes restless, 1 time awake. Why so restless? What am I doing in my sleep? Walked over 6000 steps yesterday. Haven't made it to a full 10,000 yet but I am trying. When I am in NJ and I have to walk to the hotel/client each day, I will hit that goal for sure. Right now, not much walking in my life. Well, not true. Not much during the day. I was pretty stagnant from 5am until about 5pm. The majority of my steps came in at night. I love how this thing expects you to be active between 9 and 5. Yeah sorry fitbit, I can't get up from my desk and walk around during the day. Once I park my ass it stays parked.

Taught my class, went until about 2:30. Decent group. 6 people so not too many but enough to cover costs and make us some money. Covered today for sure, as well as the two travel days this week. After class I relaxed for a while. Made a slow cooked pot roast for dinner. Came out really good. We had mash and veggies with it. Basic but tasty.

Around 7 we headed to our Poke Park. We also looked up where I need to go tomorrow. I am taking the train IN to the airport for once. But the catch is I don't want to have to worry about transferring so we are dropping me off at a different stop. This way I won't have to change trains. Once I am on, I am good. It's very near the park which is good because B won't have any trouble getting home. We're going pretty early for her and I want her to be okay.

We counted 78 people at the park last night. We battled a gym, caught some decent pokes, and walked around the park quite a bit. Hence my 6000 steps. 6373 to be exact. I like being able to track things and seeing data. I am a data person after all. Specific numbers give me information. Seeing it all laid out like this on their dashboard helps.

Speaking of data, I am having dinner with a friend tomorrow night. She works at a non profit and posted something on FB about needing to do X and Y to a data set she has. Um, that's my life? I am giving her some product demos tomorrow night. I know she doesn't have much budget, but if they can squeeze out a couple of thousand, it will help her immensely.

Went to bed around 11. Today is a few conference calls and getting prepped for tomorrow travel.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Y8 D53

Another day of external activity. Not too shabby. I want to start this post of with something that has been bugging me the last few days:

A big giant heartfelt FUCK YOU to everyone hating on Pokemon Go. All my life I have had to watch and listen to people talk about sports sports sports. You know what I have witnessed and read about with sports? People getting into fights, people burning down cities, a bench thrown through a bus window, partners being beaten and killed because a team didn't win or they interrupted the 'big game', drunk drivers, drunk idiots - the list goes on. The amount of negative things I have heard and seen related to sports my entire life is incredible. This game? This little game is getting people outside. It's getting people talking. People are interested in monuments that are pokestops. People are having fucking fun without all the negativity. I can't tell you the number of parent/child teams we have seen. Teenagers who wouldn't normally think of being in the same fucking room as their parents are out WALKING AND TALKING with them. All races, all genders. No "well you can't be a REAL fan, you're a girl/black/asian/latino/not a native" bullshit. It's inclusive, it's entertaining, and it's creating positivity. Autistic children responding. Depressed people leaving the house. Nobody getting paid multi-million dollar salaries. No one on steroids. No ads. No corporate fucking sponsorship. Yeah, it's a horrible fucking thing.

Okay, rant over.

We headed out around 10am, got on the train, and apparently picked a bad time because guess what filled the train? Sports people. A Timbers soccer game was happening. Everyone packed in carrying fake axes and already drunk. Whee. We got off a couple stops after them luckily and it was quiet for a while. We walked about 10 blocks from the station to the water, then back up for ice cream, and a little shopping. I found a new backpack at the Samsonite store. I wanted something to take on trips that wasn't as bulky as my roller bag. Specifically short trips like I have coming up over the next few weeks. I don't need a big bag to take a few things. I have my HP bag, but it's more of an overnight. I needed something 'professional' looking with enough space. I found a nice one. I also picked up a columbia rain jacket on sale for $40. Pretty happy about that.

We headed back home around 2 and guess what just let out? Yep. The game. More drunks and buttholes. We got off the train at the zoo stop and wandered out to let things thin out. The advantages of membership. When we got home we made a decision. B has been complaining about being tired all the time and we both know it has to do with her sleep quality. Well I know it, she has other theories. We found fitbits on sale at Best Buy for $79 and bought a pair. Time to track our sleep. For example, last night I 'slept' 5 hours and 14 minutes. BUT got up once, and had 46 minutes of restless sleep. That means I really got 4.5 hours. Big thing to keep track of over a few weeks. See how much sleep I am REALLY getting. I am curious to see her numbers this morning.

Made a pork roast for dinner then went back out to a park for some walking and battling and farming. We both did pretty well and stayed out until about 9:45. Got home around 10 and went to bed.

Teach a class today, then tomorrow is prep and then I leave on wednesday. Weird week.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Y8 D52

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs. Started off by going to the grocery store and making sure there is food in the house for B while I am gone next week. I will be out of town Weds - Sat which is weird in itself. But I wanted to make sure she has enough without stressing. Didn't spend a lot, but there are plenty of options available to her now.

Up next was laundry. For me that meant taking the clothes from my suitcase, washing them, and putting them right back in the suitcase. Whee.

Got back and we went to the mall to do some shopping. We had a few goals and managed to hit a number of them. For example, I found a new pair of shorts for $12 and she found a purse for $13.50. Not too shabby. We had a rough poke day though. Apparently in the morning a group called PoodleCorp decided it would be "fun" to DDOS the pokemon servers. Why? What the fuck? I understand going after the 'man'. But what the hell? This isn't hurting anyone. It's not some evil corporation. It's a company of about 40 people working their asses off to make a game people like. WTF? PoodleCorp is a bunch of dicks in my mind. This meant the servers were up and down all morning as they tried to recover from this idiotic childish attack. Things finally stabilized in the afternoon, but man the morning sucked.

Got back, relaxed, and had sloppy joes with tater tots for dinner. After dinner we headed out towards the library where there are two huge parks. There must have been 100 people just hanging in the park getting to know each other and having a good time. This is what you attacked PoodleCorp. Dumbasses. We stayed out until about 10 and came on back home. Went to bed around 11.

Today we are thinking about going downtown and walking the waterfront. Catch some shit and have a nice walk. What a horrible company that made this product. So evil getting us outside and walking. Dicks.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Y8 D51

I really wish people would back off Pokemon Go. For most of my life I have had to listen to people talk and post about sports and stupid sports related things. Nobody has burned down their city, killed another human being, injected themselves with illegal drugs, etc in the name of Pokemon. Sports, can you say the same? At least people doing this have to actually go outside unlike people who watch sports and sit their lazy asses on the couch for 8 hours.

We had a really fun day yesterday and it involved a lot of outdoors time. We went to the Oregon Zoo. I like to do research on zoos before I go to them and the Oregon Zoo has some pretty good programs. Hence our decision to to join as members. I know my money is going to good things. We didn't like the layout of the zoo as it is very linear which bugged us both for multiple reasons. By linear, I mean once you start down a path you have to stay on that path. Not freeform exploration. This wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't gone on what I can only assume was small child field trip and all the nannies want out of the house day. Too many small children for our tastes. But the zoo itself was cool. Saw penguins and big cats and elephants and giraffes and monkeys oh my. Plus we got like oodles of pokemon. The other nice thing is you can take the train. It drops off right at the front gates. No parking, no hassle. Only about 15 minutes once you're on the train. That was nice. We left around 8:45am and got home about 2:30pm. A long day at the zoo. B ended up taking a nap until after 5 and then we went on another adventure to a new city nearby. She has been craving BBQ and I found a place not too far away but somewhere we haven't been yet.

The food was pretty good. Cafeteria style ordering. We had dinner, then drove around. We ended up on a "Main" street where there were dozens of Poke players walking around. We too started walking. Did a couple of miles and saw some neat new stuff.

Got home around 9:30 and just relaxed. B went to bed around 10:30 and I followed shortly behind her.

Today will consist of laundry and then a trip to the mall. Get some more walking in and I need a new pair of shorts.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Y8 D50

Super long travel day with a bit of morning stress. I left the hotel around 1am, got to the airport at 2:15. Had a bit of drama on the way there when I realized I forgot to put gas in and had no clue where the nearest gas station was. Luckily B was still awake and was able to map a route and send it to me in hangouts. Gas procured, crisis one resolved. Got to the airport, dropped off the car and walked to the terminal. Nothing was open (so I thought) and I wandered a little. Sat off to the side and talked with B while scrolling stuff. Around 3:05, a TSA woman noticed me and was like "you ready?" Um yeah? Well come on. Sweet. Through security and at my gate by 3:15. I was scheduled to board at 4:30, leave at 5. 1st class seat all ready. I sat in a corner, captured a gym, and watched Orphan Black. I am through season 3. Bless Helena.

At 4:45 we hadn't boarded yet and everyone was getting antsy. The pilot was late. Sigh. We were postponed until 6am. Except that would only give me 20 minutes to get from one gate to another at DFW. FML. No upgrade on that flight either. I was going to be screwed for overhead space. I was stressing. Luckily they got us boarded by 5:10 instead of 5:30 and we were in the air about 5:40. Still behind but not so horrible. I had 45 minutes to get to my gate. Made it right on time. I arrived, we started boarding. Whew.

Had 14a, exit row window. Next me was Mr Giant McTalkie man. 4 hours this fucker didn't shut up. He wasn't trying to talk to me at least, but the poor woman on the aisle? She probably wanted to kill him too. "Here are my kids. I got my MBA in Indiana. I like golf. Look here's solitaire." Dude, shut the fuck up.

Landed at 11, got on the train, home at 1ish. Unpacked, did my expense report and other admin stuff. That included booking my NJ trip in August. I will be .4 from the client. Their email recommended the hotel I chose, but they were like "he needs a shuttle, we can figure it out". Then I looked it up and was like it's .4 people. Who the fuck needs a shuttle? I got Pokemon to catch. I will walk. Finished everything up around 3. Since I basically did a double yesterday I told my boss I am on "Admin" today. He was cool with that.

For dinner we went to PF Changs, then did a bunch of walking. B has been really getting out and walking because of Go. We did at least 1.5 km last night. Not a lot to some people but for couch potatoes, it's helping for sure.

We got back home around 8:30, she showered, then we watched the two hour premiere of Mr Robot. Season 2 is off to a beautiful start. I still like this show. Went to bed around 11 and let me body do it's thing. I didn't wake up until 6:30am. Sweet.

Today? The zoo.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Y8 D49

It's after midnight here so that's good enough for me right now. I have to leave in about an hour and don't want to forget to do this. After 8 years you'd think I would learn how to schedule things. Cest la vie.

Did day two of training. Same material, different group. This group was more responsive and able to comprehend some of the material better than the first group. Made things a bit easier. Finished around the same time with questions.

Got back to the hotel around 5 and packed. Watched a little TV and then went to bed around 7. Slept on and off until 11:45. I am very sleepy. I do have an upgrade on one flight this morning. At least I will get food in 5 hours. I will try to sleep more on my second flight than first. The second is longer which will make it easier to sleep through. Plus I will be in coach and there's nothing to be awake for back there. I do have a window exit at least.

When I get home I am going to try and do a bunch of stuff to free tomorrow up for me. I want to get expense reports and the like done to give me a day to myself before I travel again next week. I need to book my NJ flight at some point too.

Now I drive for an hour, wait for an hour, fly for three hours, wait for 2 hours, fly for four hours. FML.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Y8 D48

Yesterday was annoying. Not the client part of it, but mostly the after part. Work stuff way too late in the day.

Got up, had breakfast which was acceptable and headed out to the client at around 7:15. Got onsite at 7:30 and sat and waited for my contact to arrive. He was running late and apologized profusely. No worries. Since this is a mentoring gig, it's not the end of the world. The whole thing is casual. Had about 11 students and we spent the day discussing databases, the best way to build things, etc. (Side note - just checked in for my flight and have the shittiest (to me) seats. This is going to be a lousy trip home too. FML.) We finished the day up around 4:30 and I headed back to the hotel. That's when the fun started.

Apparently m boss has closed a shit ton of deals. Including me being back on the road, next fucking week. I had to book flight, hotel, and car for next Weds - Sat at the last minute. Plus another trip in 2 weeks to NJ. Ugh. I wanted more miles so I shouldn't complain, but I am going to anyway dammit. Because I am human and that's life. Upside is next week I will have time to see the kid and visit with friends. That's good. That part really didn't bother me. It was the emails from a past client who somehow got his hands on my personal email address and is sending me a bunch of questions that I simply don't have time to help him with right now. I told him I could follow up on Tuesday and he pouted a bit. Dude, I am offering to help you for free so back off. Then there were a bunch of sales/marketing emails about one of our classes that has been going on for a week or more. Sales people drive me nuts. They just don't get things. Sigh.

Went and had dinner at the restaurant next door. Had prime rib dinner. Like full blown soup and salad dinner. It was ok. Not the best, but I was hungry. I did pick up some stuff at the grocery store for lunch and dinner today. I am set on that at least.

Watched some Orphan Black and went to bed around 10ish. Slept better, not great, but better.

On the Pokemon Go front, there's nothing here at the hotel, but I did get quite a bit at the client. They have a pokestop right in front of their entrance which was nice. I picked up quite a few things from it during the day. Got some basic critters and had an egg hatch. Picked up a tentacool from that.

Wished a couple of people happy birthday. One more this morning. I don't want to send it too early because of time changes. But don't worry, it's coming.

Time to shower and head down for breakfast. I have to leave here at 2am tomorrow which is going to be a bitch.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Y8 D47

I jus woke up to a drunk text from the kid's mother. She's rambling on about how grateful she is to have the house over her head and if it wasn't for my family she wouldn't have that to raise her children blah blah blah. First off, even if I wasn't on the east coast right now, that text was sent at 1:42am PST. If that's not drunk text time, I don't know what is. Second, wtf? Go away. Don't remind me of one of the things that pisses me off at 2 or 5, depending on how you look it, in the morning. 20 years and I still can't get her out of my damn life. Ugh.

I dislike travel like this because I don't have enough time to acclimate my internal clock. I slept like shit and I am totally exhausted. I woke up yesterday at 1:30am to leave at 3:30, got to the airport at 4, through security and at my gate by 4:15. I boarded at 5:30. I did get my upgrade on one flight at least. I had a decent breakfast and was able to watch 2 episodes of Preacher. I am still not 100% happy with where the TV show is going compared to the books. But oh well. Not up to me. Just enjoy it for what it is. I landed at DFW at 11:20 and had 3 hours to kill. Basically sat in the lounge and did nothing. No upgrade on my second flight. There were 24 names on the list and I was 10th. I can only imagine how much farther down I would have been last year at this time. At least being in the top ten is better than the bottom. I slept for an hour on my first flight, then 2 on the second. That messed me up. It was 7:20pm when I landed. Got the car by 8 and had a 45 minute drive. I didn't get checked in and settled until almost 9.

I tried to go to bed at 10:30 but toss and turn central. Woke up at 11:30, 1, 2:30, and 3. I did have one dream that stuck with me. I was in a small deli trying to buy bread and cheese. I think I really want a good homemade sandwich. I want a nice roast beef on dark rye kind of sandwich. Some good bread. Yeah, my dreams are even boring.

Two days of onsite mentoring, then headed back home. No time to reset my clock, just more nights of fucked up sleep. Yay me.

Monday, July 11, 2016

Y8 D46

Nothing like waking up and finding you got at least one of your upgrades. One out of two aint bad especially when it's on the way to DFW. Leaving for the airport in about 90 minutes. On my way to PA this week. Two days of travel for two days of mentoring. Another one of those where the travel time exceeds the teaching time. I get to DFW around 12, leave at 3, then get to PA at 7:30. From there I have an hour drive to the hotel. Fun stuff.

We walked our butts off yesterday. Why? Pokemon Go. We both have downloaded it and we went a hunting. We started off walking the mall to see how many were in a place like that, ended up walking a park, and walking around in general. We did at least 4k yesterday. I know this because I was able to hatch eggs and it requires you walking. B did more walking thanks to this game in a day than she normally does in a week. If there goal was to get everyone outside, it worked. I counted at least 50 people of all ages, races, and genders playing yesterday. I saw a mother and son walking in the morning together. An older couple at the mall playing together. Kids with parents on phones getting excited. Score one for Pokemon. If you haven't tried it, do it. It's fun and dumb but a lot of fun.

But be warned - it's a battery drainer. We both bought battery packs yesterday because I was down to 13% at one point which for me is unheard of. We also met and talked with other people yesterday. We've been looking for friends and oddly, this may be the way.

I also got the car washed yesterday, picked up some snacks for this trip, and we had Popeye's for dinner. It was a fun day and a great way to end my vacation. I am pretty happy at the moment. Let's see if travel diminishes that.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Y8 D45

Had the quiet day as planned. B woke up early and we went to the store around 7:45 which was a bit of fun for her as she got to see the world nice and quiet like I do all the time. Not as quiet as when I get up or go out, but for a Saturday still pretty dead. We needed to get a couple of birthday cards, one for her dad and one for her sister. They too have July birthdays. I have three friends with birthdays this next week and I am all set to remember them. Two on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. I got a few belated wishes yesterday which I don't mind at all. We all just want to be remembered, right? It's the acknowledgment we exist. It's all anyone really wants.

We hung around the house afterwards doing laundry and some cleaning. I made us a nice cheese and fruit plate in the afternoon and for dinner a corned beef. After dinner we went to the movies. We went and saw Finding Dory. A+. One of the better sequels out there. I strongly encourage everyone to see it. And make sure you stay for the credits. All the way through the credits. Trust me.

We went to a later movie intentionally to avoid mass amounts of children. It wasn't bad. I would say there were maybe 20 or so people in the theater and only 3 or 4 of them were children. I had wanted to go to a 9:40 to make it even less, but B was afraid she would fall asleep.

Got home a little after 9 and B was kind of tried. She sat down to read and I played a video game for a little while. Went to bed around 11.

Need to check in for my flight in 10 minutes. I am all packed and ready to go. It's a trip where I will travel more than teach, but whatever. It's miles and hotel points and I need both right now.

We also looked up some houses in the area where we just were. Had a glimmer of hope doing that. We can get something really nice out there for under 250. There's logistical issues as it puts me far from an airport, but man, it would be nice to be able to have an acre of land for an affordable amount. Something for us to consider over the next year or two.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Y8 D44

Had another nice day. We got up and took our time leaving the hotel. Had some breakfast, made one last stop in town to get some chocolate bars from a local company, then headed out. We took the long coast drive home and stopped in Cannon beach to see one last Goonies thing. The restaurant where they filmed things. It's called Mo's and it's right on the beach. We walked for a while and collected seashells and hung out. It was pouring rain and a lot of fun. Got back in the car and ended up at the Tillamook cheese factory where we had lunch, ice cream, and got a couple of souvenirs. Drove home and got home around 2. B took a nap while I unpacked and dealt with some BS emails. We had mexican for dinner, had a skype conversation with her friend in Australia, played some video games, dyed my hair, and then crashed around 10:30. A long rewarding day.

Not much going on today. Going to make a corned beef in the slow cooker. Rest before I have to pack and leave.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Y8 D43

I had a really good day yesterday. Much better than my birthday last year. If you recall, that was a total disaster. No repeat this year. Just the opposite.

We got up and headed down for breakfast around 7:30. Breakfast was okay, no issues there. After eating we headed out and headed off to Seaside Aquarium. SO much fun. We got to feed seals, touch all sorts of animals, see an awesome shark, and saw lots of cool fish. It was really surprising since it's a small little place but has a lot to offer. From there we headed to the Seaside outlets. Didn't get anything but enjoyed walking around. I should mention that the weather gods were on my side all day. It never got above 70 and rained for the most part. Love it. We left the outlets around 11:30 and went to Pig N Pancake for lunch. That place was great. They even gave me birthday fruit and an ornament signed saying happy birthday. Cool.

After lunch we did the whirlwind three museum tour of Astoria. We started at the Oregon Film Museum where we saw all things Goonies. We got a t-shirt and a mini David statue. From there we explored the Flavel house, one of the wealthier citizens who custom built a giant house in town. Lastly was the Heritage Museum showing the town's history from early Indian days to the present. Really cool stuff overall. We finished up around 2 and headed back to the hotel.

Took a nap and then walked over to Rogue to get a hoodie since it was raining harder and all I brought were t-shirts. Yeah, I am dumb. At 6 we headed downtown for our dinner reservation. Nice Italian place, nothing fancy or out of the world, but a solid 7. I had a seafood antipasto plate followed by rack of lamb and B had crostini with cheese and a nice bowl of linguine bolognese. After dinner we drive around a bit and ended up having dessert at DQ.

Got back to the hotel around 8:30 or so and we decided to finish off the day by watching, yep, you guessed it, The Goonies. Why the hell not. Finished around 11 and went to sleep.

Not a bad birthday. Got lots of well wishing from friends which was nice. Feel like people remembered me which is always good. The world went a little crazy shooting itself but hey, not my issue for one day. Only answered one work email otherwise I ignored everyone.

Today we are heading home, stopping at the cheese factory on the way. This weekend we are going to the zoo to finish off birthday weekend, then it's off to PA.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Y8 D42

Happy birthday to me. I had a really awesome day yesterday.

It started out a little rough because my alarms didn't go off and I didn't wake up until a little after 5. I wasn't too stressed because I only had the one student. I managed to get all my morning stuff done in time to start the meeting at 6. We got through class and finished around 12:30. At that point B and I headed out to Astoria.

What a wonderful drive! It was nice through the mountains, then along the coast. We could both live out here. Very much like my old town. We got to Astoria about 3 and went exploring. We are right across the street from the Goonies house. Saw that and got some stuff at the Goonies store. Our hotel is beautiful. The view from our room of the columbia river is incredible. The weather is perfect too. Rainy and overcast. We love it.

We took a drive downtown around 6 and had sushi for dinner then explored downtown. We saw the county jail, the Flavel house, and a giant 640 year old tree. Then we drove around and ended up at the Astoria Column. 125 feet in the air, 162 steps to the top. I did it and feel pretty good about that!

Headed back to the hotel and walked to the pier behind us where Rogue Ales has a public house. I had a hazelnut float which was pretty good. B had tater tots and a fruit salad cider. We got back to the hotel around 10 and collapsed. Now for some breakfast.

Then we are off to the seaside aquarium, the film museum, and some outlet shopping.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Y8 D41

My alarms didn't go off this morning for some reason and I am running late. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but I told my one student I would start an hour earlier for him today. Now I am scrambling and feel stressed.

My one student is okay. He feels a little awkward at being the only student but he is also enjoying the one on one attention. We finished at 1:30 yesterday because of it. B and I decided because I will finish early again today to extend our trip by one day. We are leaving right after class and heading to Astoria. This will be fun.

After class I went to the store for some milk and stuff for dinner. Made chicken curry. We watched some TV and relaxed. I went to bed around 10 because I was just exhausted from the 4th shenanigans.

Only 18.5 hours until my birthday.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Y8 D40

I am running on less than 4 hours of sleep thanks to fuckwads. Two in particular. Idiots who think that fireworks should go on until midnight. Illegal loud ass fireworks too. It was so bad here last night. Honest to god, next year we are going out of town. Some place where they don't do this shit. Going to Canada or Australia or something. I can't have another night like last night.

Our day was nice at least. We took a ride to a mall we have never been to before. We went because we were specifically looking for a Container Store. We needed something for the pantry. $80 later we get stuff for the kitchen. Places like that are dangerous. Too easy to spend money because it's all for a good reason. Organization is good. And it is, it's just not cheap. We had a nice lunch at McCormick and Schmick's. Landry's sent me a $25 birthday credit. A really nice lunch cost us $20. Not going to complain about that. We also went and tried out a Sleep Number bed. Out of our budget at this time, but it was nice to try out.

Got back around 2 and re-did the kitchen. Yes, I re-did while she was gone. Yes, she hated it. Whatever.

Watched a little TV, made pasta with shrimp for dinner, then settled in for boom boom. Started around 7:30 and went until fuck knows when.

Today I have day one of two of a class. For one fucking student. Ridiculous. We should cancel this shit. We barely make any profit and it's awkward for everyone involved. Whatever.

43 hours until my birthday.

Monday, July 4, 2016

Y8 D39

We had a rough night last night. Way too many idiots setting off way too many illegal fireworks. B was so jumpy and anxious it wasn't even funny. Next year I promise we will go out of town to some place where July 4th means nothing.

Didn't do much yesterday as anticipated. Hung around the house mostly. We went on a bit of an adventure to look for curry ketchup. But alas, none was to be found in stores. I sent out the two books for my friends from the book signing. Made chicken tikka masala for dinner. Watched some TV. The biggest thing was that I finished reading all six of the Preacher books. 66 comics with all the one offs. Now I am really curious to watch last night's episode since I know so much more about what is SUPPOSED to happen. And how far off the mark they are.

That's really about it. My brain is doing okay I guess. No major trauma. 65 hours until my birthday. I have one class this week on tomorrow and Wednesday and I have a whopping one student. What a joke. One student we break even between my salary and the cost of servers. We need at least 3 to make a profit. I hate this time of year. Next week I will be in PA. Haven't had a road trip in four weeks. Ready for one that's for sure.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Y8 D38

Not a whole lot going on right now. Pretty quiet day.

I went to the grocery store in the morning. Finally have food in the house again. I ate through a lot while B was gone.

We tried going to a book sale at the main library and instead got sucked into a farmer's market where we bought pie, some cheese, honey, and a couple of cookies. We also took a nice long drive around areas we don't know too well. In August B's cousin and her boyfriend are moving here for school. We drive around and ended up in the area where we believe they will be. The boyfriend is pursuing his masters in douchery and picked this area. I don't really know what he is studying, he's just a tool.

Got back home and took a nap. After we started thinking about vacations. We have a friend who moved up into WA - like WAY up into WA - and one of B's friends may be coming out to visit him. Apparently they have been talking on the FB and getting to know each other. No judgement here. Look at what that did for my life. Anyway, he is like 5 hours from us driving but he is in the middle of nowhere. We were thinking about driving up that direction to visit but making a vacation out of it. In the end we settled on Victoria BC CA. It's only a 4 hour drive with a 90 minute ferry ride. Go somewhere new. Exchange rate is in our favor thank goodness. We drive to CA, spend a couple days there, then drive over to WA, visit there, and drive home. 5 or 6 days total. We're looking 1st week of September for all this. Make for a nice trip.

B made peppers for dinner and I decided we should watch a movie. I had to think of something that would work for both of us and ended up watching HP-PoA. It's the one that pisses me off the least. They all piss me off to some degree because they leave things out.

We both went off to bed around 10:30 and I read for a while. Been reading Preacher. Now that I am into book four of six, the show is pissing me off. So many plot holes in the show that need explaining. The books are much better. Got about 700 pages to go and I will have all of the story.

Today we have zero plans. I have to make a car reservation right now, but that's about it.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Y8 D37

You know what sucks when you have a wife with severe anxiety and two small animals in your house? Fourth of fucking July that's what. The neighbors started in last night with firecrackers and cherry bombs. I am okay with on the 4th people shooting off cool fireworks and being safe about it. But to light off stupid shit near a bunch of trees and things that can burn down quickly? No thanks. We live in a state where fireworks are legal which is an oddity to me. It's been since I was a kid that they were for sale everywhere. It's odd going into the grocery store and seeing the packs of fireworks for sale.

Taught my second day of class yesterday. It went mostly better than the first but still this was a dead group who wouldn't respond to questions and then one of them had the nerve to flat out tell me to redo something because "I wasn't paying attention, I had more important things to do". Well fuck you too.

Finished class at 3 on the dot. We went to the store for a couple of things. B was not feeling well all day and we got Zoup for dinner. I read while she caught up on tv shows. We both went to bed around 11.

This morning I need to go get groceries and do bills. Happy holiday to me.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Y8 D36

I know this may be hard to believe, but I was once a dork. A nerd. A dweeb. Your choice of words. It's hard to visualize, but alas it's true. I was not always one of the cool kids. Yeah, some early morning sarcasm. Point to this is that I was diagnosed as needing classes around age 12. I hated them. Downright hated them. I refused to wear them. I would get to school and hide them away. When I turned 25 I finally broke down and got contacts. Now 20 years later I can't imagine life without contacts, except... I am tired of not having glasses for times like this in the morning. I need to see but I can't. I sit one inch from the screen in the morning so I can type. I don't wear the glasses I have because Clinton was in office when I last had the prescription (and the frames) updated. I found some decent ones at a store in town last night. They are having a sale and I can get a backup pair for under $200. Nerds are in style again so what the hell.

Taught my class yesterday. Horrible group. It's one of those groups who can't figure out the mute button and don't have any energy and won't answer when I ask questions. Drives me nuts. I hate passive groups like this. 3 asians, one Indian, one white person based on names. Why does that matter? Because certain types of people behave certain ways in classes. The asians are rude, don't want to joke around, and demand answers to their questions. The indians (female in this case) don't have confidence, are too timid to type, and lag behind. Yes I am generalizing but this is my experience from teaching thousands of people from different nationalities. Some traits show themselves over and over.

One issue during class - this was the first day class where I had the AC unit in. The sound from the outside was killing me. B went to the store for me and got some foam. During lunch we quickly replaced the plastic sheeting on one side, jammed the foam in there, and reapplied the sheeting. It's better but still not perfect. Still a lot of outside noise. I need to weatherstrip one more area if I want to totally eliminate the noise. Need to add that to the list.

Finished at 3:01 yesterday. B was napping. I finished her laundry which I started at lunch then I played Lego SWTFA. We ordered a pizza for dinner and then around 7 she wanted ice cream. She wanted a specific flavor of a specific brand and was appalled they didn't sell it in ice cream shops. What do you expect? We either have chains or artisanal places. Not just mom and pop ice cream places. Sorry. We did find it for sale by the pint at least. That's also where I found the glasses. Fred Meyer has everything. Got back, watched a little TV, and we both went to bed around 10:30.

Weekend is a three day this time around. 4th of July then my birthday. Only 6 days until my birthday. Not excited to be honest. We're going to Astoria for the night just to get out of town, but meh. It can come and go for all I care.