Slept in a little bit. They aren't going to need me for a full day today so we are taking it slow. Unfortunately I couldn't change my flights to something that would let me get home at a decent time tonight without trying to go standby or having multiple stops so I get some free time here in Miami. Now, anything I'd want to do in this awful place would be things B would want to do too, so I will sit in my hotel most of the day. It will give me a chance to prep for next week which is fine. If I went to say DisneyWorld or Universal without my wife, I'd be a dead man. Guess I am playing WoW today. Much safer. Assuming the network here can handle it.
Left crazy early again, sat in their parking lot until 7:30. Started class at nine, finished up around 5:15. Got back to the hotel, packed, ate my dinner, watched Modern Family, went to bed. One more day. Tomorrow will be a crazy travel day with no upgrades on the horizon which kind of sucks. I chose the MIA to PHX route to see if maybe it would be a quieter flight than DFW but the lack of upgrade notices has me worried. Oh well. I guess I will be getting in a long nap.
I am heading down to breakfast soon, then the client, then who knows what.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Y8 D126
Day 2 done. I had to sing and dance a little yesterday because of bugs in the new version of the product, but I did an okay job. This is a good close knit group which makes a difference. They all know each other, they work together, and they are a casual group. It truly does make a difference in the classroom. Makes for a lighter day when things go wrong. But we got through it. Took a little longer than I wanted and we didn't finish up until almost 5:30, but we made it.
I got there super early. The traffic here is so terrible that getting out of the hotel driveway is an adventure. You get stuck in a turn lane if you don't get out early enough which forces you to drive through the traffic of the two colleges. I left here around 6:15am to make sure I didn't get stuck. Only problem with that is the client is in a gated parking lot and I had to sit and wait until someone showed up to open the gate. Then I sat in the car until someone from the group I am working with showed up. A lot of sitting. Whee.
They have been bringing lunch in each day which has given me dinner each night. Add to that my free breakfast and I am not spending a lot of money at least. It's amazing how different two trips can be. In NJ nothing is free and I spend a ton on meals where here I haven't spent diddly and I will be here longer. Just goes to show how different areas are.
Watched some TV, talked to B, talked to my boss about how things are going, then went to bed around 10. We may be doing a half day tomorrow depending on how today goes which will be nice. I can actually sleep in a little bit or at least take a nap. Depends on how we structure the day. Wish me luck for today.
I got there super early. The traffic here is so terrible that getting out of the hotel driveway is an adventure. You get stuck in a turn lane if you don't get out early enough which forces you to drive through the traffic of the two colleges. I left here around 6:15am to make sure I didn't get stuck. Only problem with that is the client is in a gated parking lot and I had to sit and wait until someone showed up to open the gate. Then I sat in the car until someone from the group I am working with showed up. A lot of sitting. Whee.
They have been bringing lunch in each day which has given me dinner each night. Add to that my free breakfast and I am not spending a lot of money at least. It's amazing how different two trips can be. In NJ nothing is free and I spend a ton on meals where here I haven't spent diddly and I will be here longer. Just goes to show how different areas are.
Watched some TV, talked to B, talked to my boss about how things are going, then went to bed around 10. We may be doing a half day tomorrow depending on how today goes which will be nice. I can actually sleep in a little bit or at least take a nap. Depends on how we structure the day. Wish me luck for today.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Y8 D125
Slept better but still very tired. In about a week and a half I can sleep in a bit. Be back in my own bed and won't have to rush to do things. Sorry got distracted. Was looking at the calendar. While B is gone I will have 5 days including weekends where I won't have anything to do, can sleep as late as I want, and have no worries. Only one of those is a weekday, but during that time I have a couple of early start days so my day will be over around 1pm. I can handle this. Just have to get through this week in Miami and next week in SoCal.
As for here, fuck this place. The day started out with me dealing with super heavy traffic. Took me 30 minutes to go 1.4 miles. I should have walked. Except the hurricane-esqe rains were back and I would have been a soaked tamale. I get to the client and they aren't ready for me. They made me sit in a cube until they were off a call. That was bad because I got to hear (and I am not exaggerating one bit) how one woman thought "Trump was so handsome and did so well last night". WTF? That walking cheeto is handsome?? Are you on the crack? This was after already hearing at breakfast how he "kicked her ass" at the debate. What is wrong with you people? B had enough and decided to take a break from all social media until after the election. I don't blame her. I am about two steps away from unfollowing everyone especially on Facebook. All it is these days is ads and people reposting stupid shit from other sites. I don't care about your Jesus minions, Occupying anything, or the greatest way to do whatever. Post original shit or go away. Or I will just hide all of you. I stay on there because of one stupid game I have been playing for 8 years. Seriously, that's it. Otherwise I don't really care about much else on that site. It needs to go.
Have 8 students in my class and they are okay. While I may not agree with all of them on their politics, they at least have good technical skills. I can handle that. We got through the day and finished around 4:30. It once again took me 24 minutes to go that same 1.4 miles back to the hotel. Got back around 5. Since they provided me with lunch, I had leftovers and food I brought for dinner. I basically didn't leave my room from 5:30pm on. Watched season 1 of superstore which is a really cute show. Typical sitcom stuff for the most part, but funny and cute. Worth watching.
Went to bed around 10pm. Day two today of official material. Should finish around the same time. I am leaving a bit earlier this morning to see if the traffic will be better. Here's hoping.
As for here, fuck this place. The day started out with me dealing with super heavy traffic. Took me 30 minutes to go 1.4 miles. I should have walked. Except the hurricane-esqe rains were back and I would have been a soaked tamale. I get to the client and they aren't ready for me. They made me sit in a cube until they were off a call. That was bad because I got to hear (and I am not exaggerating one bit) how one woman thought "Trump was so handsome and did so well last night". WTF? That walking cheeto is handsome?? Are you on the crack? This was after already hearing at breakfast how he "kicked her ass" at the debate. What is wrong with you people? B had enough and decided to take a break from all social media until after the election. I don't blame her. I am about two steps away from unfollowing everyone especially on Facebook. All it is these days is ads and people reposting stupid shit from other sites. I don't care about your Jesus minions, Occupying anything, or the greatest way to do whatever. Post original shit or go away. Or I will just hide all of you. I stay on there because of one stupid game I have been playing for 8 years. Seriously, that's it. Otherwise I don't really care about much else on that site. It needs to go.
Have 8 students in my class and they are okay. While I may not agree with all of them on their politics, they at least have good technical skills. I can handle that. We got through the day and finished around 4:30. It once again took me 24 minutes to go that same 1.4 miles back to the hotel. Got back around 5. Since they provided me with lunch, I had leftovers and food I brought for dinner. I basically didn't leave my room from 5:30pm on. Watched season 1 of superstore which is a really cute show. Typical sitcom stuff for the most part, but funny and cute. Worth watching.
Went to bed around 10pm. Day two today of official material. Should finish around the same time. I am leaving a bit earlier this morning to see if the traffic will be better. Here's hoping.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Y8 D124
I had a rough night. 4 hours and 4 minutes sleeping. The time change for once caught up to me. Just made my car reservation for next Monday. And now I need to make flight and hotel for November. Back to NJ. At least October is looking okay to be at home. Yesterday started off okay. A little rough because I got out of the shower and went to put in new contacts. New contact day is always fun. Except everything was blurry with the new contacts. WTF? I went to take them out and realized I never took out the old ones. Yep. I double contacted. Good job. Left for the airport at 3:30, arrived a little after 4. Got my upgrade 7 minutes before boarding. I was the only one who cleared. I was thinking about this on my second flight - if you could only have one upgrade, which is better? The first part or the second part? My second flight wasn't horrible, but it would have been nicer if I had been up front. But in the morning I got breakfast and was able to sleep right away. So which one would have been better? Who knows.
Landed around 5pm EST and spent the next hour taking two trams to get to the rental car center. Then spent 45 minutes driving through a hurricane to find my hotel. I fucking hate the weather and the smell here. Old people and dirt. One in the same I guess.
My room is nice. A full suite with kitchen. This totally passes the apartment test. Bed is okay. I am now spoiled by my $4000 bed. Can't wait to sleep in it for one whole day next time I am home. Sheesh.
Had cuban food for dinner. It was okay. Not the best I have had. But then again it's next to a hotel on a strip mall street. What did I expect? I will find something better tonight. Heading out around 7 as I don't know where I am going this morning. Would rather sit in their lot than be late. Got last minute changes to the presentation last night. Of course. But I will deal with that later. For now, I need to shower, eat breakfast, and deal with Hurricane Sticky Butt.
Landed around 5pm EST and spent the next hour taking two trams to get to the rental car center. Then spent 45 minutes driving through a hurricane to find my hotel. I fucking hate the weather and the smell here. Old people and dirt. One in the same I guess.
My room is nice. A full suite with kitchen. This totally passes the apartment test. Bed is okay. I am now spoiled by my $4000 bed. Can't wait to sleep in it for one whole day next time I am home. Sheesh.
Had cuban food for dinner. It was okay. Not the best I have had. But then again it's next to a hotel on a strip mall street. What did I expect? I will find something better tonight. Heading out around 7 as I don't know where I am going this morning. Would rather sit in their lot than be late. Got last minute changes to the presentation last night. Of course. But I will deal with that later. For now, I need to shower, eat breakfast, and deal with Hurricane Sticky Butt.
Monday, September 26, 2016
Y8 D123
In 12 hours I will be in Miami. My day is already starting off poorly. I got out of the shower just now, put in my contacts (new ones) and couldn't figure out why the world was blurry. I forgot to take my old ones out last night when I went to bed. Good job dumb ass. Talented. I leave in an hour. Hopefully it will improve. None of last night's shows are available yet either which is pissing me off. I miss my old site. Things were much easier.
Did nothing yesterday. B's anxiety was through the roof and she was a crying clingy mess. I love her, but her being like that doesn't help me for trips like this. She also recognized she was bad yesterday and made a doctor's appointment for this week. Let's see how that goes.
Played some WoW, watched some TV, ran some errands. Went to bed at 8pm. Oh the crazy times.
Did nothing yesterday. B's anxiety was through the roof and she was a crying clingy mess. I love her, but her being like that doesn't help me for trips like this. She also recognized she was bad yesterday and made a doctor's appointment for this week. Let's see how that goes.
Played some WoW, watched some TV, ran some errands. Went to bed at 8pm. Oh the crazy times.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Y8 D122
I am not feeling well this morning. I have it coming from both ends. And B was not doing too good last night either. She was having similar issues. Something we both ate yesterday is knocking us. Possibly bad fish from the sushi place? It's not usual for us both to be having problems. It's got to be something we both ate. Lovely. I need to eat nothing but dry toast today. I can't be going to Miami and having to poop in the air. Not cool.
We ran errands yesterday morning. Got some stuff for her for the week at Target. Need a couple more things which I will go out in a little while and get. I also cleaned out and rearranged the storage area off our patio. I want to be able to fit the AC units in there so I don't have to go back downstairs come next summer. I managed to get the window one and the one from my office in there. I didn't do the other two because there's still one hot day left this month. It's supposed to be 83 today and 88 tomorrow. I won't be in the office so that will be okay, but I didn't want her melting in the bedroom while I am gone. When I get back, I will work on putting the other two away.
Other exciting things from yesterday, I restarted my WoW account. I pretty much deleted all my old characters, but had to leave one as it had too much stuff on it. I then created a Panderan. Played with that and a Worgen yesterday. I like the Panda. Might keep that one going. I have to decide Horde or Alliance with it as the Panderans start off neutral. Probably go Alliance. My sister and her husband will be starting back up next week and this will give me someone to play with when I want to do things that absolutely require multiple people.
Who the fuck is making noise outside at 4:29am?? Hold on...
Stupid drunk people. Drunk people don't realize how loud they're being do they? I want to walk down there and tell them to shut the fuck up. Stupid drunks. Yes, I know. I get the irony. I am very sure there were many times I didn't realize how loud and obnoxious I was being. I am quite certain of this. Pot kettle black.
In other news, B made her own shrinky dinks for the fun of it last night. She had some containers from take away we got and drew on them then cut them out and viola. Shrinky dinks. Kind of cool. We did some more Halloween/Fall decorating yesterday too. We have 31 pumpkins in here counting like 15 on a wreath. Sheesh.
In the morning I worked on the presentation for next week. That took up a good chunk of my time. I added about 20 slides and one more demo. The new material will add a good half hour to the class as well as give me fluff material I can answer questions about and adhoc demo if needed.
That's about it. Flight check in soon, then store. Bed at 8, up at 1am, off to Miami.
We ran errands yesterday morning. Got some stuff for her for the week at Target. Need a couple more things which I will go out in a little while and get. I also cleaned out and rearranged the storage area off our patio. I want to be able to fit the AC units in there so I don't have to go back downstairs come next summer. I managed to get the window one and the one from my office in there. I didn't do the other two because there's still one hot day left this month. It's supposed to be 83 today and 88 tomorrow. I won't be in the office so that will be okay, but I didn't want her melting in the bedroom while I am gone. When I get back, I will work on putting the other two away.
Other exciting things from yesterday, I restarted my WoW account. I pretty much deleted all my old characters, but had to leave one as it had too much stuff on it. I then created a Panderan. Played with that and a Worgen yesterday. I like the Panda. Might keep that one going. I have to decide Horde or Alliance with it as the Panderans start off neutral. Probably go Alliance. My sister and her husband will be starting back up next week and this will give me someone to play with when I want to do things that absolutely require multiple people.
Who the fuck is making noise outside at 4:29am?? Hold on...
Stupid drunk people. Drunk people don't realize how loud they're being do they? I want to walk down there and tell them to shut the fuck up. Stupid drunks. Yes, I know. I get the irony. I am very sure there were many times I didn't realize how loud and obnoxious I was being. I am quite certain of this. Pot kettle black.
In other news, B made her own shrinky dinks for the fun of it last night. She had some containers from take away we got and drew on them then cut them out and viola. Shrinky dinks. Kind of cool. We did some more Halloween/Fall decorating yesterday too. We have 31 pumpkins in here counting like 15 on a wreath. Sheesh.
In the morning I worked on the presentation for next week. That took up a good chunk of my time. I added about 20 slides and one more demo. The new material will add a good half hour to the class as well as give me fluff material I can answer questions about and adhoc demo if needed.
That's about it. Flight check in soon, then store. Bed at 8, up at 1am, off to Miami.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Y8 D121
Slept until 6am again. Can't get used to this because I have to be up early tomorrow for flight check-in then back on EST all week. Enjoy the sleep while I can is the point I guess. Took the car in for service yesterday. Sat there until about 9:30 when they said it was done. Was halfway home when I realized the rear wiper was standing straight up. It seems that they put on the wrong blade in back and when I used it, it was too big or heavy for it and burned out the motor. B will have to take the car in for repair next week when the new motor comes in. This is why I lease. I am always under warranty for stuff like this. I never have to worry or think about it. I did spend $150 yesterday on the car as they did a full 10k mile service, replaced all three blades, and replaced the air cabin filter. I didn't even know I had an air filter in the car. Not under the hood, the one inside. Go figure.
Got back home around 10:30 and did laundry. We then spent time cleaning the house. I also did my timesheet and expense report. Got that out of the way so I don't have to deal with it today. We went out for sushi for dinner and hit the parks as B hasn't been able to collect any items since I wasn't home. Not that she couldn't, she just didn't. Got back and dealt with some emails. The class I am teaching next week is brand new and my boss was putting it together. He just finished it at 7pm last night. Unfortunately it's light on content and I need to spend some time today fluffing it up a bit. Add in some new stuff to make it a full day. Which sucks because I am not sure what to add. But I will figure it out.
Watched some TV and went to bed around 11. After I finish this class today, I am probably going to take the leap and restart WoW. I know. But I want to check it out. Just a 3 month subscription. Nothing more. If I hate it, I hate it. If I like it, in October I will pick up Legion and start the new quests. We shall see.
Got back home around 10:30 and did laundry. We then spent time cleaning the house. I also did my timesheet and expense report. Got that out of the way so I don't have to deal with it today. We went out for sushi for dinner and hit the parks as B hasn't been able to collect any items since I wasn't home. Not that she couldn't, she just didn't. Got back and dealt with some emails. The class I am teaching next week is brand new and my boss was putting it together. He just finished it at 7pm last night. Unfortunately it's light on content and I need to spend some time today fluffing it up a bit. Add in some new stuff to make it a full day. Which sucks because I am not sure what to add. But I will figure it out.
Watched some TV and went to bed around 11. After I finish this class today, I am probably going to take the leap and restart WoW. I know. But I want to check it out. Just a 3 month subscription. Nothing more. If I hate it, I hate it. If I like it, in October I will pick up Legion and start the new quests. We shall see.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Y8 D120
6am and I am already flustered. I overslept by about an hour. I guess my body wanted sleep. Not cool body. Stupid body and it's stupid sleep desire.
I have to take the car in for service this morning and wanted time to do my normal shit but now I am scrambling a bit and will do things from the dealer. Whatever. Just now how I wanted to start my day.
Because yesterday was so much better. I ended up throwing up the turkey burger. Lovely. I did get them to take it off my bill at least. Yay? Got the shuttle to the airport at 3, was there by 3:15. Through security at 4, sat in the club until 6:20, got on my overcrowded flight and got very lucky. Didn't get my upgrade, but at least there was no one in between us.
Got to DFW at 9:15 and waited 2.5 hours. Got on my next flight and once again was next to an Indian who decided my rib cage was theirs for the elbowing. Fuck me.
Landed at PDX at 2pm PST only 15 hours after getting up in NJ. Finally got home around 4. B made dinner, we went to the store for groceries, and then came back and watched TV in bed. Our new bedroom layout lets us watch the old Mac in the bedroom. It's nice. I fell asleep around 10 while she was watching Grey's. 13 years that show has been on.
Today is errand day. First stop, dealer.
I have to take the car in for service this morning and wanted time to do my normal shit but now I am scrambling a bit and will do things from the dealer. Whatever. Just now how I wanted to start my day.
Because yesterday was so much better. I ended up throwing up the turkey burger. Lovely. I did get them to take it off my bill at least. Yay? Got the shuttle to the airport at 3, was there by 3:15. Through security at 4, sat in the club until 6:20, got on my overcrowded flight and got very lucky. Didn't get my upgrade, but at least there was no one in between us.
Got to DFW at 9:15 and waited 2.5 hours. Got on my next flight and once again was next to an Indian who decided my rib cage was theirs for the elbowing. Fuck me.
Landed at PDX at 2pm PST only 15 hours after getting up in NJ. Finally got home around 4. B made dinner, we went to the store for groceries, and then came back and watched TV in bed. Our new bedroom layout lets us watch the old Mac in the bedroom. It's nice. I fell asleep around 10 while she was watching Grey's. 13 years that show has been on.
Today is errand day. First stop, dealer.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Y8 D119
Sitting at an airport. Been up all night. Had a turkey burger for dinner and I think it was undercooked. Been throwing up. Lovely way to have to spend a travel day. Queasy stomach on a plane. Joy. And no upgrades. Double joy.
Classes went fine yesterday. Double session made for a long ass day. 12 in the first session and 11 in the second. Everyone seemed happy this time. I was very careful with my words and didn't piss anyone off I think. Finished up a little after 5 and headed back. I was going to get a sandwich but said no, I will order in and save time. Yeah right. Good job.
Nothing else exciting though. Stayed in the room throwing up and tried to sleep but that didn't work. I don't need to be here for another 2 - 2.5 hours, but here I am. I land at PDX around 2:15 PST. Basically 14 hours from now. Then my hour train ride. I should get home around 4 making it a 16 hour travel day. I am taking tomorrow to myself. Car service, bills, oh boy. Then laundry this weekend so I can leave for Miami on Monday.
Highlight of my week? Catching a second grimer. Yeah. That's the highlight.
Classes went fine yesterday. Double session made for a long ass day. 12 in the first session and 11 in the second. Everyone seemed happy this time. I was very careful with my words and didn't piss anyone off I think. Finished up a little after 5 and headed back. I was going to get a sandwich but said no, I will order in and save time. Yeah right. Good job.
Nothing else exciting though. Stayed in the room throwing up and tried to sleep but that didn't work. I don't need to be here for another 2 - 2.5 hours, but here I am. I land at PDX around 2:15 PST. Basically 14 hours from now. Then my hour train ride. I should get home around 4 making it a 16 hour travel day. I am taking tomorrow to myself. Car service, bills, oh boy. Then laundry this weekend so I can leave for Miami on Monday.
Highlight of my week? Catching a second grimer. Yeah. That's the highlight.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Y8 D118
So tired this morning. Time changes. Headache. Ugh. And I am only home for a few days which means my clock will be screwy for the next few days until I am done with the trip to Miami. Lovely.
Taught from 9-5 yesterday. Got on site around 8:15, setup, waited for students. Only 10 in the first group. I have two sets of 15 today so much larger classes. Everything went well for the first group. I prefer the slightly smaller classes. Plus it was all day where as today's are half day sessions.
Finished up, stopped at Subway, headed back to the hotel. Ate, talked to B, watched some TV, went to bed around 9:45.
That's it. That was my day. I didn't get into trouble this time. Watched my mouth. Was a good boy. Got emails about some UK classes in October. Remote at least but starting at 1am my time. That will be loads of fun. Nothing like working 1am - 9am. I will probably fall asleep on these poor people. Or I will end up being awake for two days straight. Either way, fuck me. Fucking sales people making promises I have to keep. Whatever.
Go get ready now. Check in for flight soon. No upgrade notices yet. Long trip home in bitch class. Fun.
Taught from 9-5 yesterday. Got on site around 8:15, setup, waited for students. Only 10 in the first group. I have two sets of 15 today so much larger classes. Everything went well for the first group. I prefer the slightly smaller classes. Plus it was all day where as today's are half day sessions.
Finished up, stopped at Subway, headed back to the hotel. Ate, talked to B, watched some TV, went to bed around 9:45.
That's it. That was my day. I didn't get into trouble this time. Watched my mouth. Was a good boy. Got emails about some UK classes in October. Remote at least but starting at 1am my time. That will be loads of fun. Nothing like working 1am - 9am. I will probably fall asleep on these poor people. Or I will end up being awake for two days straight. Either way, fuck me. Fucking sales people making promises I have to keep. Whatever.
Go get ready now. Check in for flight soon. No upgrade notices yet. Long trip home in bitch class. Fun.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Y8 D117
I fucking hate this hotel. It's very conveniently located to the client, but it's also right next to Penn Station. Constant flow of trash and beggars. You can't get a moment peace trying to walk anywhere. Last night I must have been hassled 10 times between the vape shop I went to (hold on explain why in a minute) and back. That was less than a .5 mile away. Fucking ridiculous.
I had the worst flight ever yesterday. I never get angry or confrontational on planes, but this motherfucker next to me almost made me break my rules.
The morning started out okay. Got to the airport, had a nice seat in 4A. Made it to DFW 30 minutes early. Things started out okay. Well there must have been some cancelations or problems because my second flight was packed to the teeth. 40 names on the upgrade list. 40! I was at 15. Only one got cleared. I had an exit window which wasn't horrible in of itself so I wasn't too upset. At least at first. I had an hour to kill when I got there and was doing okay. My flight ended up being 90 minutes delayed. I was already not getting to NJ until 5:30, now it would be 7.
I get in my seat and Gupta sits down in the middle. He immediately tries to take over the entire armrest which I was having none of for sure. I then spent the next three and half hours with him elbowing me as he worked on a fucking tablet doing some stupid ass presentation for his stupid ass company. I finally shoved my tablet in between us to make a wall and he bangs his elbow into it and gives me a look. I hard stared his ass down. A little after that he tried to cross his legs and I kicked his foot back to his side. It was an uncomfortable annoying flight the whole way.
Get here, finally get to the hotel around 8, iron, order room service, and discover my vape tank leaked all over and I don't have enough to refill it. Luckily I found a shop close by and was able to get some replacement juice. That was the only thing in my favor it felt like.
Watched some TV and went to bed around 10. Two days and then I go home. I can't believe I am looking forward to Miami. Only because it has to be better than this shithole.
I had the worst flight ever yesterday. I never get angry or confrontational on planes, but this motherfucker next to me almost made me break my rules.
The morning started out okay. Got to the airport, had a nice seat in 4A. Made it to DFW 30 minutes early. Things started out okay. Well there must have been some cancelations or problems because my second flight was packed to the teeth. 40 names on the upgrade list. 40! I was at 15. Only one got cleared. I had an exit window which wasn't horrible in of itself so I wasn't too upset. At least at first. I had an hour to kill when I got there and was doing okay. My flight ended up being 90 minutes delayed. I was already not getting to NJ until 5:30, now it would be 7.
I get in my seat and Gupta sits down in the middle. He immediately tries to take over the entire armrest which I was having none of for sure. I then spent the next three and half hours with him elbowing me as he worked on a fucking tablet doing some stupid ass presentation for his stupid ass company. I finally shoved my tablet in between us to make a wall and he bangs his elbow into it and gives me a look. I hard stared his ass down. A little after that he tried to cross his legs and I kicked his foot back to his side. It was an uncomfortable annoying flight the whole way.
Get here, finally get to the hotel around 8, iron, order room service, and discover my vape tank leaked all over and I don't have enough to refill it. Luckily I found a shop close by and was able to get some replacement juice. That was the only thing in my favor it felt like.
Watched some TV and went to bed around 10. Two days and then I go home. I can't believe I am looking forward to Miami. Only because it has to be better than this shithole.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Y8 D116
Travel day. Hence the 2am post.
You want to know the best thing about the new bed? It's not the incredible mattress, oh no. It's the extra 16 inches in width we gained by going to a king size bed. THAT is beyond words. Being able to the for the first in forever, not have to sleep on the edge of the bed is something I just can't describe in words. It's the feeling I get in hotel rooms when I can sprawl out. Now I have that at home. Amazing.
Ran a couple of errands yesterday. Nothing fancy. Just a quick trip to the store. B decided she wanted to reorganize our linen closet since we now don't need most of it. See above. Everything we owned was queen size. Sheets, blankets, etc. Now none of that fits. We gave her cousin two sets of our better sheets, held on to a couple for the future and prepped the rest for donation. This resulted in an empty cabinet which led to picture hanging which led to moving a light fixture which etc. I ended up doing a lot of stuff around the house yesterday. Laundry, vacuuming, light fixture moving, oh boy. Not complaining though. It was all good.
Had chicken for dinner, then I went to bed at 8:30 and slept until 1:45. Long day ahead of me. I land in NJ at 5:30 eastern. I did get one upgrade confirmed already. Here to DFW. Okay. I am cool with that. At least I will get breakfast. It also looks like I will be at the same gate for my flight to EWR. Makes things easier. Might even be the same plane and crew. Be nice if I had the same seat too. We shall see.
Two days of teaching in NJ with two days of travel. Let's do it.
You want to know the best thing about the new bed? It's not the incredible mattress, oh no. It's the extra 16 inches in width we gained by going to a king size bed. THAT is beyond words. Being able to the for the first in forever, not have to sleep on the edge of the bed is something I just can't describe in words. It's the feeling I get in hotel rooms when I can sprawl out. Now I have that at home. Amazing.
Ran a couple of errands yesterday. Nothing fancy. Just a quick trip to the store. B decided she wanted to reorganize our linen closet since we now don't need most of it. See above. Everything we owned was queen size. Sheets, blankets, etc. Now none of that fits. We gave her cousin two sets of our better sheets, held on to a couple for the future and prepped the rest for donation. This resulted in an empty cabinet which led to picture hanging which led to moving a light fixture which etc. I ended up doing a lot of stuff around the house yesterday. Laundry, vacuuming, light fixture moving, oh boy. Not complaining though. It was all good.
Had chicken for dinner, then I went to bed at 8:30 and slept until 1:45. Long day ahead of me. I land in NJ at 5:30 eastern. I did get one upgrade confirmed already. Here to DFW. Okay. I am cool with that. At least I will get breakfast. It also looks like I will be at the same gate for my flight to EWR. Makes things easier. Might even be the same plane and crew. Be nice if I had the same seat too. We shall see.
Two days of teaching in NJ with two days of travel. Let's do it.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Y8 D115
2 minutes until I can check in for my flight. Tomorrow starts three weeks straight of travel. I will have a couple of days at home in between, but otherwise it's pretty solidly booked. Job security.
Did a whole lot of nothing yesterday. Cleaned the house, went to the store for a tea ball for B, visited her cousin at work to drop off some stuff, and that's about it. We watched tv, relaxed, had dinner, and -- hold on, flight check in time...
Okay back. Stupid site was being stupid. I have shitty seats on this flight and it's a packed plane. Lovely. I hate Monday flying. I honestly much prefer flying on Sunday. It's better flying out of PDX than it was SFO but the flights to DFW are always rough. Last time I tried ORD and it wasn't any better. On the return for this flight I am going through PHX and we will see if that's any better. I doubt it, but one can hope. I come home on a Thursday for this flight so it might be a little better. Maybe.
Anyway. Didn't do much. Same thing planned for today. A whole lot of nothing. Need to do laundry so I can finish packing. But that's about it. Not much else to report. B's friend is going through a hard time right now and we are trying to be supporting but she needs to dump her boyfriend. He's emotionally abusive and a man child but she isn't seeing it unfortunately. Hopefully B will be able to help her when she's out there.
Still loving the new bed. Haven't had this solid of sleep in a long time. Despite the delivery issues, I can solidly recommend the bed itself. A worthy investment.
Did a whole lot of nothing yesterday. Cleaned the house, went to the store for a tea ball for B, visited her cousin at work to drop off some stuff, and that's about it. We watched tv, relaxed, had dinner, and -- hold on, flight check in time...
Okay back. Stupid site was being stupid. I have shitty seats on this flight and it's a packed plane. Lovely. I hate Monday flying. I honestly much prefer flying on Sunday. It's better flying out of PDX than it was SFO but the flights to DFW are always rough. Last time I tried ORD and it wasn't any better. On the return for this flight I am going through PHX and we will see if that's any better. I doubt it, but one can hope. I come home on a Thursday for this flight so it might be a little better. Maybe.
Anyway. Didn't do much. Same thing planned for today. A whole lot of nothing. Need to do laundry so I can finish packing. But that's about it. Not much else to report. B's friend is going through a hard time right now and we are trying to be supporting but she needs to dump her boyfriend. He's emotionally abusive and a man child but she isn't seeing it unfortunately. Hopefully B will be able to help her when she's out there.
Still loving the new bed. Haven't had this solid of sleep in a long time. Despite the delivery issues, I can solidly recommend the bed itself. A worthy investment.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Y8 D114
Come on rain, hurry up and get here. It's hot and stuffy right now. It's supposed to start raining today and not let up for two-three days. Any time would be fine by me.
Taught a rough class yesterday. Which really sucks because I was in some ways looking forward to it. It was a private class for Disney which you think would be filled with fun people. Nope. They were annoying as fuck. No responses, stupid ass questions, boring. I hated every minute of it. Didn't help that we had to start at 9 either. For me that is a long day. Especially after doing two days of 6am classes. Really threw me off. I managed to get it done and move on.
I did a corned beef in the slow cooker yesterday. Had that with some red potatoes for dinner. We ended up watching two hours of Project Runway last night. New season, new designers. The one we wanted gone from the first time he appeared on camera went too. Good job group. He was a douchebag. We also did my hair. Look out people, we be on the loose.
B did something which made me really proud and excited for her. She made banana bread. Three loaves. The exciting part, is one of those was for our new neighbors downstairs. Which she delivered. On her own. Take that anxiety! That was a huge thing for her and it's nice to see her breaking out and doing stuff outside her comfort zone. Milestone.
The bed is doing well. I slept pretty solid again last night. I also got confirmation the extra $220 is coming off our bill for all our issues. Got a package from the kid yesterday. Stuff from Ireland. She got B a necklace and me coasters from Guinness. She was paranoid about stuff fitting as she only brought one bag and tried to buy small gifts. I am honored as we were the only two people who got anything at all. Suck it!
Nothing planned for today thank goodness. I have to do laundry this weekend and pack, but otherwise it's a task free time ahead.
Taught a rough class yesterday. Which really sucks because I was in some ways looking forward to it. It was a private class for Disney which you think would be filled with fun people. Nope. They were annoying as fuck. No responses, stupid ass questions, boring. I hated every minute of it. Didn't help that we had to start at 9 either. For me that is a long day. Especially after doing two days of 6am classes. Really threw me off. I managed to get it done and move on.
I did a corned beef in the slow cooker yesterday. Had that with some red potatoes for dinner. We ended up watching two hours of Project Runway last night. New season, new designers. The one we wanted gone from the first time he appeared on camera went too. Good job group. He was a douchebag. We also did my hair. Look out people, we be on the loose.
B did something which made me really proud and excited for her. She made banana bread. Three loaves. The exciting part, is one of those was for our new neighbors downstairs. Which she delivered. On her own. Take that anxiety! That was a huge thing for her and it's nice to see her breaking out and doing stuff outside her comfort zone. Milestone.
The bed is doing well. I slept pretty solid again last night. I also got confirmation the extra $220 is coming off our bill for all our issues. Got a package from the kid yesterday. Stuff from Ireland. She got B a necklace and me coasters from Guinness. She was paranoid about stuff fitting as she only brought one bag and tried to buy small gifts. I am honored as we were the only two people who got anything at all. Suck it!
Nothing planned for today thank goodness. I have to do laundry this weekend and pack, but otherwise it's a task free time ahead.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Y8 D113
Okay, the bed was worth the price. I think I just had the best night of sleep I have had in a long time. Of course, I am basing that against the last five days of air mattress sleep so it wouldn't have taken much, but damn. 6 hour, 20 minutes with only 4 minutes of restlessness. I fell asleep in under 10 minutes. Not to mention, it's HUGE. So much room. 16 inches wider and man what a difference that makes. I for once am not sleeping on the edge of a bed.
Taught my class from 6am to 1:45. Our delivery window was 10am - 2pm, and of course they show up at 1:30. B had to let them in and work with them to not make noise. Yeah, right. She did her best but there were a couple of door slams. Luckily I finished before they did. Only took them a few minutes to set everything up and then they helped me move the old headboard down to the garage. We then spent some time setting it and making the bed. We set our numbers (B is a 40, I am a 45 but I think I might go up to 50) and then we went to the store.
The other night when B bought her dress they forgot to take the security tag off. We tried to go back to a store closer but they claimed they didn't have the right kind of remover. Um, your stores use different tags? Okay. She complained on Twitter but got no response. We went back to the store once more in rush hour traffic. We immediately asked for a manager. Explained the situation and she told us that she too thought it odd that they didn't have the same mechanism. We all agreed that the person locally was either stupid or blowing us off. Regardless, the manager ended up refunding 30% of the price of the dress. Worth the trip for that.
Came home, made dinner (pork chops), and then we settled in on the new bed to watch a movie. We both just wanted to go to bed, but we had to wait until it was at least dark. We now have light reducing curtains in every room except the office and we could make it pretty dark without even trying. The movie finished around 9:30 and we both went to bed shortly thereafter.
Today is a 20 student private class, then I am free for two days, then off to NJ.
Taught my class from 6am to 1:45. Our delivery window was 10am - 2pm, and of course they show up at 1:30. B had to let them in and work with them to not make noise. Yeah, right. She did her best but there were a couple of door slams. Luckily I finished before they did. Only took them a few minutes to set everything up and then they helped me move the old headboard down to the garage. We then spent some time setting it and making the bed. We set our numbers (B is a 40, I am a 45 but I think I might go up to 50) and then we went to the store.
The other night when B bought her dress they forgot to take the security tag off. We tried to go back to a store closer but they claimed they didn't have the right kind of remover. Um, your stores use different tags? Okay. She complained on Twitter but got no response. We went back to the store once more in rush hour traffic. We immediately asked for a manager. Explained the situation and she told us that she too thought it odd that they didn't have the same mechanism. We all agreed that the person locally was either stupid or blowing us off. Regardless, the manager ended up refunding 30% of the price of the dress. Worth the trip for that.
Came home, made dinner (pork chops), and then we settled in on the new bed to watch a movie. We both just wanted to go to bed, but we had to wait until it was at least dark. We now have light reducing curtains in every room except the office and we could make it pretty dark without even trying. The movie finished around 9:30 and we both went to bed shortly thereafter.
Today is a 20 student private class, then I am free for two days, then off to NJ.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Y8 D112
These early start times are killing me. That was the last night I have to sleep on a fucking air mattress at least. Today between 10 and 2, yes right in the middle of my work day, they will be delivering our new bed finally. I also finally got an email saying our pillow and mattress pad have shipped. About damn time. I'm cranky this morning. Too little sleep. Plus my nose hurts. I think my piercing is infected. I need to clean it for the next few days and see if it gets better. FML.
Taught from 6 until 2, napped, then we went to the store. B decided we needed curtains in the front room and dining room. Okay. Went to three different stores until we found ones we could both agree on. We got back, made dinner, then attacked that project. By the time everything was done it was 9pm.
Yeah. Not much going on yesterday. I expect a similar day today. Teach, bed, dinner, sleep. I can't wait until next week to be back on the road. Yes, it's going to suck doing three weeks in a row, but it will kill this monotony that is being home too many weeks in a row.
Taught from 6 until 2, napped, then we went to the store. B decided we needed curtains in the front room and dining room. Okay. Went to three different stores until we found ones we could both agree on. We got back, made dinner, then attacked that project. By the time everything was done it was 9pm.
Yeah. Not much going on yesterday. I expect a similar day today. Teach, bed, dinner, sleep. I can't wait until next week to be back on the road. Yes, it's going to suck doing three weeks in a row, but it will kill this monotony that is being home too many weeks in a row.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Y8 D111
Do you realize almost a third of my writing year is complete? Over 100 days this year already gone. Time just keeps on keeping on. Stop now, okay?
Took me almost 12 hours of working yesterday but I got done what needed to get done. I finished converting that entire class. I was getting so stressed out at the end. Any email or other distraction was driving me nuts. I was so happy at 5pm when I finished. One less thing to worry about. I also booked all my travel for the next three weeks. Starting Monday, I am off to NJ, FL, and Socal with only 4 days at home in three weeks. The way things lined up, B leaves the same day I return. There will be two weeks where we don't see each other. The cats will be fine, but we will be losing our minds. I need 16k more miles on AA and 19 more stays at Hilton to hold my current levels of status for next year. I will get 12k of the miles and 12 of the nights in three weeks. I think I can do it before the end of year. We shall see.
After working we want to the mall. B still needed an outfit for the party while she is in MI and given my above schedule we don't have a lot of time to go shopping. Luckily she found a new dress and shoes and spent only $100 on everything. I can accept this. Took us quite a while and we ended up eating out unfortunately. I have been trying to minimize our eating out. Heck it's why I spent $150 on groceries dammit. But we were out.
We got home at 8:30 only to realize the store left the magnetic tag on. Fuck. It was too late to drive back to the store we got it at and we tried going to a closer one. They didn't have the same magnet thingie. WTF? They didn't even have the same dress so we could just swap it. Fail. Now she has to drive out there today while I am teaching or we go after work. Either way, another trip to the mall.
Went to bed shortly after all that because as you see I am up early. Today and tomorrow are 6-2 classes. Speaking of tomorrow, while we were at dinner I got the call confirming our new bed delivery date and time. Still tomorrow but now it's between 10-2. FUCK ME. It was supposed to be 2-6. I am not going to try and change it though because who knows how long it will be before they could get us back in. I need this bed here now. My back is getting torn up on this air mattress.
Time to get ready. 16 students, two days. Then a one day with 20 students. Ugh.
Took me almost 12 hours of working yesterday but I got done what needed to get done. I finished converting that entire class. I was getting so stressed out at the end. Any email or other distraction was driving me nuts. I was so happy at 5pm when I finished. One less thing to worry about. I also booked all my travel for the next three weeks. Starting Monday, I am off to NJ, FL, and Socal with only 4 days at home in three weeks. The way things lined up, B leaves the same day I return. There will be two weeks where we don't see each other. The cats will be fine, but we will be losing our minds. I need 16k more miles on AA and 19 more stays at Hilton to hold my current levels of status for next year. I will get 12k of the miles and 12 of the nights in three weeks. I think I can do it before the end of year. We shall see.
After working we want to the mall. B still needed an outfit for the party while she is in MI and given my above schedule we don't have a lot of time to go shopping. Luckily she found a new dress and shoes and spent only $100 on everything. I can accept this. Took us quite a while and we ended up eating out unfortunately. I have been trying to minimize our eating out. Heck it's why I spent $150 on groceries dammit. But we were out.
We got home at 8:30 only to realize the store left the magnetic tag on. Fuck. It was too late to drive back to the store we got it at and we tried going to a closer one. They didn't have the same magnet thingie. WTF? They didn't even have the same dress so we could just swap it. Fail. Now she has to drive out there today while I am teaching or we go after work. Either way, another trip to the mall.
Went to bed shortly after all that because as you see I am up early. Today and tomorrow are 6-2 classes. Speaking of tomorrow, while we were at dinner I got the call confirming our new bed delivery date and time. Still tomorrow but now it's between 10-2. FUCK ME. It was supposed to be 2-6. I am not going to try and change it though because who knows how long it will be before they could get us back in. I need this bed here now. My back is getting torn up on this air mattress.
Time to get ready. 16 students, two days. Then a one day with 20 students. Ugh.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Y8 D110
Almost had to go out at 10pm last night to help someone at the hospital. B's cousin's fiancee was hit by a car on his way home from class last night. He was on his skateboard and was in a hit and run. Separated shoulder, some bumps and scratches, but overall he is okay. But it looked like for a while there we would need to go to the hospital to help out as she forgot to put gas in the car before she went. I can see how that can happen. You're all caught up in the moment and stupid stuff like gas slips your mind. A scary night for them, that's for sure. We were mad at her earlier in the day I hate to admit. She was supposed to come over at noon to get some stuff so B got up, cleaned, prepped everything and then we waited. At 2:30 she still hadn't arrived and B texted her a little mad and told her so. She was apologetic but it still didn't make us any less frustrated. Then, 8 hours later, they're in the hospital. Fine. We won't be mad at you today. You have bigger issues.
I am pissed off at sleep number right now. I am so over this bed and want it done. I was excited to be getting a new bed, but sleeping on an air mattress for three nights and then finding out that the pillow and mattress pad we ordered still haven't shipped has dimmed my enthusiasm greatly.
I went out early yesterday morning and took care of sending the kid her snow globe. It will be there Wednesday. Gave me something to do while I waited around to hear from my boss with the day's tasks. He finally got to me around 10. he is dealing with a sick kid still. Wait to ruin Hawaii kid. He should be okay too but man, this is why you don't take kids on vacation.
Anyway, I had yesterday and today to completely redesign a training class for next week. Lovely. I got through slide 70 of 195. I am up early today to try and get a jump on it. I want to get as much done as I can. I am probably not going to finish, but I will get close. The sooner I start, the sooner it will be done. That was my day until almost 6. Also dealt with making my flight for Miami and getting prepped for this week's EST classes. I will be starting class at 6am tomorrow. Fun.
I made a pot roast in the slow cooker so dinner wouldn't be a hassle. Came out pretty good I think. We now have leftovers for at least three days. After dinner we took a walk to work off said pot roast. Got back around 9:30. Went to bed an hour later.
More docs now. Fun.
I am pissed off at sleep number right now. I am so over this bed and want it done. I was excited to be getting a new bed, but sleeping on an air mattress for three nights and then finding out that the pillow and mattress pad we ordered still haven't shipped has dimmed my enthusiasm greatly.
I went out early yesterday morning and took care of sending the kid her snow globe. It will be there Wednesday. Gave me something to do while I waited around to hear from my boss with the day's tasks. He finally got to me around 10. he is dealing with a sick kid still. Wait to ruin Hawaii kid. He should be okay too but man, this is why you don't take kids on vacation.
Anyway, I had yesterday and today to completely redesign a training class for next week. Lovely. I got through slide 70 of 195. I am up early today to try and get a jump on it. I want to get as much done as I can. I am probably not going to finish, but I will get close. The sooner I start, the sooner it will be done. That was my day until almost 6. Also dealt with making my flight for Miami and getting prepped for this week's EST classes. I will be starting class at 6am tomorrow. Fun.
I made a pot roast in the slow cooker so dinner wouldn't be a hassle. Came out pretty good I think. We now have leftovers for at least three days. After dinner we took a walk to work off said pot roast. Got back around 9:30. Went to bed an hour later.
More docs now. Fun.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Y8 D109
A much less eventful day. Highlights included washing the car and going to the store. Woo. We did take a drive out to the Walmart. In our area that means driving for 20 minutes. Why the Walmart? Because B was looking for a specific flavor of hot pocket. I know. I told her they didn't have them because according to the website the closest location with them was 150 miles away in WA. But she didn't care. She was on a mission and we were off. I humored her because we honestly had nothing else to do.
They didn't have them.
Worked some more on organizing things. Now that the garage is good, our patio storage space can be reorganized. I managed to do some work out there as it is almost time to pack away the AC units for the season. I don't want to have to lug them up and down stairs if possible. Right now I can fit two of three out there if I do it right. We also need to get rid of the window unit. I offered it to one friend but he has enough going on and isn't ready for it. We are offering it to B's cousin today. She is coming over to pick up something. I am not looking to sell it, but rather holding on to it for someone in need. If neither of them can use it now, I will store it.
This damn air mattress is killing my back. Three more nights of this shit. I don't know if I can take it. I may just sleep on the floor. Might be easier for my back.
Didn't do much of anything else. Made dinner, watched some TV, played a little video game. Didn't start WoW yet. I am waiting until I am either on the road, or B is in MI. I don't want to start a subscription and then not have time to play.
I did rearrange my desk a little yesterday. Looks pretty good I think. All four screens are easily viewable and lined up for optimum class teaching. I will test this theory out this week. I have three days of private classes this week. Two days of Pru on Weds & Thurs, then a 20 person class for Disney on Friday. That one will be a bitch. Too many people in one class in my opinion. Should be onsite dammit.
Went to bed around 10. Slept like crap. Three more nights. Just three more nights.
They didn't have them.
Worked some more on organizing things. Now that the garage is good, our patio storage space can be reorganized. I managed to do some work out there as it is almost time to pack away the AC units for the season. I don't want to have to lug them up and down stairs if possible. Right now I can fit two of three out there if I do it right. We also need to get rid of the window unit. I offered it to one friend but he has enough going on and isn't ready for it. We are offering it to B's cousin today. She is coming over to pick up something. I am not looking to sell it, but rather holding on to it for someone in need. If neither of them can use it now, I will store it.
This damn air mattress is killing my back. Three more nights of this shit. I don't know if I can take it. I may just sleep on the floor. Might be easier for my back.
Didn't do much of anything else. Made dinner, watched some TV, played a little video game. Didn't start WoW yet. I am waiting until I am either on the road, or B is in MI. I don't want to start a subscription and then not have time to play.
I did rearrange my desk a little yesterday. Looks pretty good I think. All four screens are easily viewable and lined up for optimum class teaching. I will test this theory out this week. I have three days of private classes this week. Two days of Pru on Weds & Thurs, then a 20 person class for Disney on Friday. That one will be a bitch. Too many people in one class in my opinion. Should be onsite dammit.
Went to bed around 10. Slept like crap. Three more nights. Just three more nights.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Y8 D108
So much happened in the last 24 hours it's crazy. Plus there's shit I forgot about from Friday. On top of that, there's resolution to the issue with my family member. Let's start there. It would seem I didn't screw up as bad as I thought I did. I'm still an ass that's not in dispute. But luckily they are forgiving and understand I am an ass. That part is resolved for now. Thank goodness.
From Friday, B found out that they are having a huge 50th anniversary party for her grandparents in October. We discussed and debated and in the end decided we could afford it. $590 for a plane ticket, but B will get to be there for an important family event. That at least makes me feel good. She will be gone October 7th through the 17th. 9 full days of family time. 9 days I get the house to myself. Win win.
Now, let's move on to the clusterfuck that was yesterday. I got up around 5 and proceeded to go grocery shopping. I don't leave for another 8 days and needed to make sure there was food in the house not only for her, but enough for lunches and shit this week. $150 later, there's food in the house. Came back, put groceries away and waited for B to get up. She got up around 9:30 and we proceeded to get right to work. We put the old bed downstairs and then spent an hour packing up the garage. It looks great. Unfortunately, there's no way short of tearing the whole thing apart were we ever getting to that bed again. Not until we move. For all intents and purposes, our old bed was gone. This will become important shortly.
Our delivery window was 11am - 3pm. You know, our whole saturday afternoon basically. Fine, we wait. At around 11:30 B went to the store and I stayed waiting for the bed. 11:51am the phone rings. I am expecting them to tell me they are 10 minutes out. Nope. Instead I get:
"Your delivery is being canceled due to 'technician issues'. We have no new delivery date at this time.'
Will it be tomorrow?
"We don't work on Sundays. We will call you back when a supervisor is in."
Excuse you? Are you fucking kidding me? Of course I went off and called the store, posted on social media, etc. Four hours later and many phone calls including back to the HQ in MN, the end result is we will have a new bed THURSDAY. Until then we are supposed to sleep on the floor. I did get some compensation. They ended up removing $400 from our bill. $180 was the delivery charge, then an additional $220 as that's the max they are authorized to do. Basically enough to cover 4 nights in a cheap motel is their thinking. The woman in MN was nice and patient and she acknowledged that this sucks ass and that I wasn't getting anything tangible. She did say "hey at least I'm not just trying to offer you free sheets". And she's right. I appreciate that part of it. She didn't try to placate me with something stupid. She did give me what amounts to 4 payments off the bed. Except, we have nothing to sleep on until Thursday AND you're now delivering on a work day.
I ended up going out and finding us a queen size double height air mattress to tide us over until Thursday. It sucks, but it's not the floor. If it had only been one day, I would have sucked it up and one of us would have taken the couch, the other the floor. But five nights on the floor isn't going to work for anyone.
We were both so tired and frustrated at this point we decided to eat out. We went to Claim Jumpers because I needed only four more points for another $25 Landry's credit and B decided she wanted to get a dinner gift card for her grandparents. They have Landry's restaurants back in MI and this was the easiest thing to do so we don't have to ship anything or carry it on the plane.
Dinner was good. We both like the food there. No issues with dinner. After we went to the Sleep Number store which happens to be near by. We brought them up to speed on the situation. The sales guy showed me an email he sent after me calling him all day. Turns out this is the 4th delivery that's been screwed up in 3 days. He is tired of taking the heat for this as customers immediately go back to him with problems (as they should he agreed). But it's a pain in the ass. I know they spent way too much time trying to get me info when they should have been selling beds.
We stopped in some stores and ended up getting B some new Vans. Came on back home around 7:30 and at around 8:30 we heard noise outside. A big old Budget moving truck. Motherfucker. We now have new neighbors. A Pakistani or Iranian family from what we can tell. 2 adults minimum, 2 children. I was impressed that they had friends helping and got that truck unloaded in less than 90 minutes. A little bit of noise, but they were done by 10:10. Good job. While all that was going on, B and I watched TV while she gave me a manicure. I needed one, believe me.
Last things, my sister and I are debating something. We are thinking of getting back into WoW. I know, I know. It's been five years since I last played but there's a new expansion. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but might today. We'll see.
Today there's not much going on. I need to mail something for the kid, get the car washed, and that's about it.
From Friday, B found out that they are having a huge 50th anniversary party for her grandparents in October. We discussed and debated and in the end decided we could afford it. $590 for a plane ticket, but B will get to be there for an important family event. That at least makes me feel good. She will be gone October 7th through the 17th. 9 full days of family time. 9 days I get the house to myself. Win win.
Now, let's move on to the clusterfuck that was yesterday. I got up around 5 and proceeded to go grocery shopping. I don't leave for another 8 days and needed to make sure there was food in the house not only for her, but enough for lunches and shit this week. $150 later, there's food in the house. Came back, put groceries away and waited for B to get up. She got up around 9:30 and we proceeded to get right to work. We put the old bed downstairs and then spent an hour packing up the garage. It looks great. Unfortunately, there's no way short of tearing the whole thing apart were we ever getting to that bed again. Not until we move. For all intents and purposes, our old bed was gone. This will become important shortly.
Our delivery window was 11am - 3pm. You know, our whole saturday afternoon basically. Fine, we wait. At around 11:30 B went to the store and I stayed waiting for the bed. 11:51am the phone rings. I am expecting them to tell me they are 10 minutes out. Nope. Instead I get:
"Your delivery is being canceled due to 'technician issues'. We have no new delivery date at this time.'
Will it be tomorrow?
"We don't work on Sundays. We will call you back when a supervisor is in."
Excuse you? Are you fucking kidding me? Of course I went off and called the store, posted on social media, etc. Four hours later and many phone calls including back to the HQ in MN, the end result is we will have a new bed THURSDAY. Until then we are supposed to sleep on the floor. I did get some compensation. They ended up removing $400 from our bill. $180 was the delivery charge, then an additional $220 as that's the max they are authorized to do. Basically enough to cover 4 nights in a cheap motel is their thinking. The woman in MN was nice and patient and she acknowledged that this sucks ass and that I wasn't getting anything tangible. She did say "hey at least I'm not just trying to offer you free sheets". And she's right. I appreciate that part of it. She didn't try to placate me with something stupid. She did give me what amounts to 4 payments off the bed. Except, we have nothing to sleep on until Thursday AND you're now delivering on a work day.
I ended up going out and finding us a queen size double height air mattress to tide us over until Thursday. It sucks, but it's not the floor. If it had only been one day, I would have sucked it up and one of us would have taken the couch, the other the floor. But five nights on the floor isn't going to work for anyone.
We were both so tired and frustrated at this point we decided to eat out. We went to Claim Jumpers because I needed only four more points for another $25 Landry's credit and B decided she wanted to get a dinner gift card for her grandparents. They have Landry's restaurants back in MI and this was the easiest thing to do so we don't have to ship anything or carry it on the plane.
Dinner was good. We both like the food there. No issues with dinner. After we went to the Sleep Number store which happens to be near by. We brought them up to speed on the situation. The sales guy showed me an email he sent after me calling him all day. Turns out this is the 4th delivery that's been screwed up in 3 days. He is tired of taking the heat for this as customers immediately go back to him with problems (as they should he agreed). But it's a pain in the ass. I know they spent way too much time trying to get me info when they should have been selling beds.
We stopped in some stores and ended up getting B some new Vans. Came on back home around 7:30 and at around 8:30 we heard noise outside. A big old Budget moving truck. Motherfucker. We now have new neighbors. A Pakistani or Iranian family from what we can tell. 2 adults minimum, 2 children. I was impressed that they had friends helping and got that truck unloaded in less than 90 minutes. A little bit of noise, but they were done by 10:10. Good job. While all that was going on, B and I watched TV while she gave me a manicure. I needed one, believe me.
Last things, my sister and I are debating something. We are thinking of getting back into WoW. I know, I know. It's been five years since I last played but there's a new expansion. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but might today. We'll see.
Today there's not much going on. I need to mail something for the kid, get the car washed, and that's about it.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Y8 D107
It would appear I have managed to alienate myself from one of the few remaining family members I have left to whom I speak. In my infinite wisdom I let my self centered childish thoughts come out to another human being and it was not good. I know I am a narcissistic asshole. I forget sometimes the rest of the world doesn't need to hear it. I am also an envious twit. If I manage to come back that's one of the things I need to work on. Stop being so damn childish and envious of what other people have or don't have. Stop comparing myself to other people. Stop being a big fucking baby and feeling sorry for myself. My decisions were my decisions. I am in the place I am in because of me. No, that's not 100% true. Sorry, but it's not. There are people in this world who took things from me. Things I worked for and earned that got stolen away. Things they didn't earn or deserve. I can be mad at those people but not at others who didn't do anything to me. There's where I need to grow up. I just feel like such a failure sometimes. Most of the time. I lie and smile and act like things are fine but inside, deep inside, I know that I am a useless piece of shit who has screwed himself over. This is why I avoid people. So I can stop feeling bad about myself when they have successes. Actually feel happiness for other people when they move ahead. But when you're stuck and can't ever move ahead it's really hard to show happiness. Instead you get bitter and cold inside. I am an old cup of coffee. Bitter, cold, disgusting and no one wants that. Or me. Because the bitterness comes out at the wrong times. Because I say shit I shouldn't say. One more relationship destroyed. Good job stupid. Add this to the list of things I have fucked up. The never ending tally of destruction.
Taught class until 2:30. Napped. Went to dinner and the store around 5:30. Got a mattress bag to store the old one. Got some cash for the delivery guys today. Had dinner. Came back and started rearranging the bedroom. That took until 10pm. We managed to get most of it down to the garage. I need the delivery guys help taking down the last part. Hopefully they will help me. Went to bed. Had a dream I was playing golf with George Takei. I got a hole in one.
Positive news - the kid went to the DMV and got the car situated. It is officially registered in her name as non-operational. She can now sell it, donate it, burn it. The one thing in my life I haven't fucked up is that kid. She turned out okay. I can take pride in that. She's a good human being and will do good in this world. Make up for the sins of the father. I am all seven rolled into one. I am too prideful when things go well, I am fat fucking sloth and glutton. I envy way too much. I want it all and I want it now. I horde my shit because I fear someone will take what I have left. Mine. All mine. I am angry. Very angry. I am angry at a god who doesn't care. I am angry at people who leave me behind in their wake and benefit from my pain. Lust. Lust is the only one I don't have. But that causes me trouble too. Maybe I should work on that one and just knock all seven at once. I did the feel good hit of the summer, I can do this. Reserve my spot in hell and be done with it.
Taught class until 2:30. Napped. Went to dinner and the store around 5:30. Got a mattress bag to store the old one. Got some cash for the delivery guys today. Had dinner. Came back and started rearranging the bedroom. That took until 10pm. We managed to get most of it down to the garage. I need the delivery guys help taking down the last part. Hopefully they will help me. Went to bed. Had a dream I was playing golf with George Takei. I got a hole in one.
Positive news - the kid went to the DMV and got the car situated. It is officially registered in her name as non-operational. She can now sell it, donate it, burn it. The one thing in my life I haven't fucked up is that kid. She turned out okay. I can take pride in that. She's a good human being and will do good in this world. Make up for the sins of the father. I am all seven rolled into one. I am too prideful when things go well, I am fat fucking sloth and glutton. I envy way too much. I want it all and I want it now. I horde my shit because I fear someone will take what I have left. Mine. All mine. I am angry. Very angry. I am angry at a god who doesn't care. I am angry at people who leave me behind in their wake and benefit from my pain. Lust. Lust is the only one I don't have. But that causes me trouble too. Maybe I should work on that one and just knock all seven at once. I did the feel good hit of the summer, I can do this. Reserve my spot in hell and be done with it.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Y8 D106
I just realized I have gotten used to the new chair. It took me a little while, but I am finding it pretty comfy to sit in all day. The chair was rated for 8+ hours a day and it is delivering. A happy ending to that story at least.
In preparation for the new bed we ordered a shelving unit for the garage. We have decided we are going to keep the old mattress, but probably not the box spring. We can deal with getting a different box spring later. For now, just the frame and the mattress itself will be saved. We plan on storing it down in the garage. But to do that, it will require some rearranging. The plan was to do that tonight when the shelving unit arrived. Well, it arrived yesterday. Plans changed. After class, which finished around 2:45, we headed down to the garage to make room.
First off was assembly. We got one of the heavy duty metal kind. It's not pretty to look at, but will take 200 lbs per each of the five shelves. We may order a second we like it so much. Got that assembled then proceeded to empty out the storage area of the garage. Boy was that fun. We managed to get rid of some garbage and consolidate stuff in the process. That was the good news. The bad news is I don't think everything will fit. We will find out tomorrow morning when we break down the old bed. This should be fun.
By the time we finished it was already 6pm. I then had to make dinner but we realized we were out of a couple of things. By the time I was able to serve dinner it was 7:30. I made tortilla encrusted chicken with spanish rice and salad. Not bad. Cleaned up and we watched a little tv.
Not much else. Went to bed at 10 and slept my second to last sleep on this mattress. One more sleep to go.
Oh, a couple of work things; first my boss is stuck in HI. I would normally say oh poor baby, but they are stuck because his kid is sick and he couldn't fly. That part sucks. Second, one of my students from this week works at a winery (actually three of my students). He offered to send me a 'care package' (his words) of their 65 wine brands they own. Um, okay. I won't say no to that. I should be getting a nice wine shipment next week. Coolness.
My buddy got his birthday presents yesterday which made me feel good. Even though we moved away, I still like to remember things like that. Make sure they don't forget us. Plus he's a good guy and deserved it. I got him a book, nothing exciting, but compared to everyone else he knows, I am one of the few who actually got him something other than booze I am betting. I hope he enjoys it.
Day three of class, then it's the weekend. And only one more sleep until new bed!
In preparation for the new bed we ordered a shelving unit for the garage. We have decided we are going to keep the old mattress, but probably not the box spring. We can deal with getting a different box spring later. For now, just the frame and the mattress itself will be saved. We plan on storing it down in the garage. But to do that, it will require some rearranging. The plan was to do that tonight when the shelving unit arrived. Well, it arrived yesterday. Plans changed. After class, which finished around 2:45, we headed down to the garage to make room.
First off was assembly. We got one of the heavy duty metal kind. It's not pretty to look at, but will take 200 lbs per each of the five shelves. We may order a second we like it so much. Got that assembled then proceeded to empty out the storage area of the garage. Boy was that fun. We managed to get rid of some garbage and consolidate stuff in the process. That was the good news. The bad news is I don't think everything will fit. We will find out tomorrow morning when we break down the old bed. This should be fun.
By the time we finished it was already 6pm. I then had to make dinner but we realized we were out of a couple of things. By the time I was able to serve dinner it was 7:30. I made tortilla encrusted chicken with spanish rice and salad. Not bad. Cleaned up and we watched a little tv.
Not much else. Went to bed at 10 and slept my second to last sleep on this mattress. One more sleep to go.
Oh, a couple of work things; first my boss is stuck in HI. I would normally say oh poor baby, but they are stuck because his kid is sick and he couldn't fly. That part sucks. Second, one of my students from this week works at a winery (actually three of my students). He offered to send me a 'care package' (his words) of their 65 wine brands they own. Um, okay. I won't say no to that. I should be getting a nice wine shipment next week. Coolness.
My buddy got his birthday presents yesterday which made me feel good. Even though we moved away, I still like to remember things like that. Make sure they don't forget us. Plus he's a good guy and deserved it. I got him a book, nothing exciting, but compared to everyone else he knows, I am one of the few who actually got him something other than booze I am betting. I hope he enjoys it.
Day three of class, then it's the weekend. And only one more sleep until new bed!
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Y8 D105
To my buddy currently on the east coast - sorry about all your travel adventures yesterday. Glad you made it in one piece. Your hotel room looks nice. Enjoy your trip!
I made the mistake of thinking about something last night. I am still currently thinking about it. Remember how X1 sent me a drunk text recently telling me how grateful she was to have that house and everything I did blah blah blah? It's been weighing on me. Had I been smart, I would have put some stipulation on the money I gave her. Something that said once the kid is out of the house, I get 10% of the current value. Something. Because now (and for the last 5 years technically) she has been living in a house I paid for with her husband and kids. Not even mine. Yet I paid for a good portion of it. At least 30-40%. And what do I have to show in return? Nothing. Not a fucking thing. A pile of debt and a headache. That's my legacy. Of course if I say this to her, I will be the bad guy. Always the bad guy.
I started thinking about this because the kid and I were talking last night. She bought her last set of school supplies so we cleaned out her 529. $300 left in it. Of almost $10,000 to start. But I did it. I made sure there was enough for her to get through college. Again, without her mother's help. How about some payback on that you bitch? Whatever.
Taught day 1 of 3 yesterday. Went okay. 7 students and most of them are pretty good. I have one who is a little behind, but overall it's okay. Today is the hard day and I will more than likely lose at least one during the day. Finished around 2:20.
Went to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner. Made pork chops. After dinner we went to the park and then stopped at the store. We both realized we don't have a blanket to fit the new bed. All of our stuff is queen size. We stopped at Kmart for the hell of it and found a comforter set for $45. It's nothing fancy, but at least we will have a blanket. See? I have to shop at Kmart while she gets to send drunk texts about her house. Fuck the world.
Came back, did nothing, went to bed.
To my sister: respond to me in hangouts, I have a question for you.
I made the mistake of thinking about something last night. I am still currently thinking about it. Remember how X1 sent me a drunk text recently telling me how grateful she was to have that house and everything I did blah blah blah? It's been weighing on me. Had I been smart, I would have put some stipulation on the money I gave her. Something that said once the kid is out of the house, I get 10% of the current value. Something. Because now (and for the last 5 years technically) she has been living in a house I paid for with her husband and kids. Not even mine. Yet I paid for a good portion of it. At least 30-40%. And what do I have to show in return? Nothing. Not a fucking thing. A pile of debt and a headache. That's my legacy. Of course if I say this to her, I will be the bad guy. Always the bad guy.
I started thinking about this because the kid and I were talking last night. She bought her last set of school supplies so we cleaned out her 529. $300 left in it. Of almost $10,000 to start. But I did it. I made sure there was enough for her to get through college. Again, without her mother's help. How about some payback on that you bitch? Whatever.
Taught day 1 of 3 yesterday. Went okay. 7 students and most of them are pretty good. I have one who is a little behind, but overall it's okay. Today is the hard day and I will more than likely lose at least one during the day. Finished around 2:20.
Went to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner. Made pork chops. After dinner we went to the park and then stopped at the store. We both realized we don't have a blanket to fit the new bed. All of our stuff is queen size. We stopped at Kmart for the hell of it and found a comforter set for $45. It's nothing fancy, but at least we will have a blanket. See? I have to shop at Kmart while she gets to send drunk texts about her house. Fuck the world.
Came back, did nothing, went to bed.
To my sister: respond to me in hangouts, I have a question for you.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Y8 D104
Made a major investment in our life yesterday. Bought a new bed. It will be delivered Saturday. But we didn't just buy a bed, we bought a Sleep Number. Yes, we caved in and finally did it. Only reason we did is they are doing 36 month 0 interest financing through the 11th. We have been waiting for the right time to make this purchase since checking them out back in May. Yesterday we pulled the trigger. We didn't get a super fancy one, but went with the one we could afford. We have a P6 with base and legs with headboard bracket. In addition we got sheets, a mattress pad, and a new pillow for B. I spent more on this than some people spend on cars. Sheesh. But it's an investment. I do have to look at it that way. We spent $4200 so yeah.
On the upside, before doing it I ran my credit. Boy has that gotten better. Per Experian, my single score is 705 and per Chase my combined FICO is 690. That's a big improvement over what it was a few years ago. Another year and they should both be mid 700. Not too shabby. My life while having to start over, again, is doing okay.
That took up a large chunk of our day to be sure. We went out around 11 and didn't get back home until after 2. We stopped and had lunch and went to the grocery store as well. I had yesterday scheduled as a full PTO day so I didn't care.
We watched some TV, played some video games, and chilled. I can't break down the bed until Friday but now we have to figure out where the hell we're going to put the old one. We went up to a king size bed but we don't want to get rid of the old one as we can use it in a guest room some day. Look at me, thinking about the future. Go me.
We did have one issue yesterday. I posted about the new bed on social media and one of our 'friends' sent me a message saying "hey tell them we referred you and it's worth $100 in sheets". I responded back saying that was nice but we already bought them when we bought the bed. She replied "no we get $100 for sheets". Um, no? You want me to go back, lie to the store so YOU get something? Hm. Not happening. I said that in a polite way and there's been no response. What a shock.
I did also install something yesterday. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I am thinking about getting back into WoW. I know, I know. It's been five years since I played according to my account. If B wants to go to MI for two weeks in the near future, I want something to do while she is gone. I haven't made a decision yet, but it's coming. I might be getting back into the crack. Sigh.
Went to bed around 10:30. 7 students, three days of teaching up next. Then a week at home followed by NJ, FL, and Anaheim. Oh boy!
On the upside, before doing it I ran my credit. Boy has that gotten better. Per Experian, my single score is 705 and per Chase my combined FICO is 690. That's a big improvement over what it was a few years ago. Another year and they should both be mid 700. Not too shabby. My life while having to start over, again, is doing okay.
That took up a large chunk of our day to be sure. We went out around 11 and didn't get back home until after 2. We stopped and had lunch and went to the grocery store as well. I had yesterday scheduled as a full PTO day so I didn't care.
We watched some TV, played some video games, and chilled. I can't break down the bed until Friday but now we have to figure out where the hell we're going to put the old one. We went up to a king size bed but we don't want to get rid of the old one as we can use it in a guest room some day. Look at me, thinking about the future. Go me.
We did have one issue yesterday. I posted about the new bed on social media and one of our 'friends' sent me a message saying "hey tell them we referred you and it's worth $100 in sheets". I responded back saying that was nice but we already bought them when we bought the bed. She replied "no we get $100 for sheets". Um, no? You want me to go back, lie to the store so YOU get something? Hm. Not happening. I said that in a polite way and there's been no response. What a shock.
I did also install something yesterday. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I am thinking about getting back into WoW. I know, I know. It's been five years since I played according to my account. If B wants to go to MI for two weeks in the near future, I want something to do while she is gone. I haven't made a decision yet, but it's coming. I might be getting back into the crack. Sigh.
Went to bed around 10:30. 7 students, three days of teaching up next. Then a week at home followed by NJ, FL, and Anaheim. Oh boy!
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Y8 D103
LONG day yesterday. Didn't get home until around 11:30pm from being up at 6am. We got up, had breakfast, then did a little last minute tourist shopping. We spent way too much on this trip, but whatever. I am a bit stressed out, but we get paid in three days. I can handle it. Not happy mind you, but we can handle it. We couldn't get to the ferry too early but we needed to be there early enough to get through customs and loading. We ended up leaving the hotel at about 11 and getting into the ferry line at 11:15. I am so glad we did. Turns out the ferry was sold out for two days straight. People were parking at 3pm for a first come spot on the 5:45am one today. We were at the front of the lines, but we were by far not the first ones there. We were able to leave the car though and go walking. We just had to be back by 1:30. Got back around 12:30.
At 1:30, officers walk up and down the line checking IDs and asking questions. You then take a slip into an office where you answer more questions. Fucking American border patrol is ridiculous. If you idiots elect Trump this will be even worse. Finally got on the ferry at 2:45 and they jammed everyone tight. We almost couldn't get out of the car.
The ride wasn't too bad. We talked to a nice Canadian woman the whole time which made it go by much faster. Didn't see any whales although someone was saying there were a couple. We hit shore a 4:40, and by the time we were off and through customs, it was 5:15. We decided to stop in Forks on the way home because B wanted to see it. For those who don't know, it's where Twilight is set. Sigh. I know. She took pictures, we ate dinner, and then drove back roads for what felt like forever. It was dark and rainy. We didn't connect to the main freeway until after 9:30pm. One thing we did do was drive through my dad's town and I showed B where he lives. Apparently he has a cow now. Okay. Oddball.
Rolled in late, unpacked, and crawled into bed at 12:30. This is why I took today off. Right now I have bills, organizing, and possible bed purchasing. I have a few emails to catch up on and that should be about it.
It's raining and cold here which is not a bad thing.
Side note - yesterday marked one year since we officially moved. Best damn decision I ever made. This has been one really good year.
At 1:30, officers walk up and down the line checking IDs and asking questions. You then take a slip into an office where you answer more questions. Fucking American border patrol is ridiculous. If you idiots elect Trump this will be even worse. Finally got on the ferry at 2:45 and they jammed everyone tight. We almost couldn't get out of the car.
The ride wasn't too bad. We talked to a nice Canadian woman the whole time which made it go by much faster. Didn't see any whales although someone was saying there were a couple. We hit shore a 4:40, and by the time we were off and through customs, it was 5:15. We decided to stop in Forks on the way home because B wanted to see it. For those who don't know, it's where Twilight is set. Sigh. I know. She took pictures, we ate dinner, and then drove back roads for what felt like forever. It was dark and rainy. We didn't connect to the main freeway until after 9:30pm. One thing we did do was drive through my dad's town and I showed B where he lives. Apparently he has a cow now. Okay. Oddball.
Rolled in late, unpacked, and crawled into bed at 12:30. This is why I took today off. Right now I have bills, organizing, and possible bed purchasing. I have a few emails to catch up on and that should be about it.
It's raining and cold here which is not a bad thing.
Side note - yesterday marked one year since we officially moved. Best damn decision I ever made. This has been one really good year.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Y8 D102
Homeward bound today. Our ferry doesn't leave until 3, but we have to be there at least 2 hours early for customs processing. We are going to have breakfast, hang about, then check out.
We did some exploring yesterday, but nothing major. B had her spa appointment from 9:45 until about 11:15. We then went back to the hotel so she could shower and change. Too much oil used at her treatment. After we went to a soda shoppe and hot dog place. Not too shabby. We did some souvenir shopping. Still need to get some maple syrup though. Have to bring back the maple syrup. For dinner we went to a place like Noodles and Co but Canadian. It was okay. We drove around to check out the residential areas. Found ourselves at a mall of course. Where else would we end up? Wandered around there for a while and came back to pack.
In bed by 10. This morning has been packing and final stuff. The shop doesn't open until 8. That's when I will walk over and get some syrup. Then it's home. I have tomorrow off thank goodness but have some stuff to do.
We did some exploring yesterday, but nothing major. B had her spa appointment from 9:45 until about 11:15. We then went back to the hotel so she could shower and change. Too much oil used at her treatment. After we went to a soda shoppe and hot dog place. Not too shabby. We did some souvenir shopping. Still need to get some maple syrup though. Have to bring back the maple syrup. For dinner we went to a place like Noodles and Co but Canadian. It was okay. We drove around to check out the residential areas. Found ourselves at a mall of course. Where else would we end up? Wandered around there for a while and came back to pack.
In bed by 10. This morning has been packing and final stuff. The shop doesn't open until 8. That's when I will walk over and get some syrup. Then it's home. I have tomorrow off thank goodness but have some stuff to do.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Y8 D101
Another fun day in Canada. We love it here. Do we have to go home? At least it's close enough that we could come back for a weekend getaway. It's not like 10 hours or something.
We were going to go to Craigdarroch castle yesterday but instead decided to do the Royal BC Museum. They have on display a 42,000 year old perfectly preserved wooly mammoth. It was pretty neat. There was even fur left on the skin. Most of it is gone from the snow and ice, but the rest of it is in perfect condition. It was pretty cool.
We were in the museum for a good 2-3 hours when we got hungry. We hit up the a food truck court in the back area of the museum. B found a perogie cart and I had a burger from another truck. We then went and viewed the parliament building. Unfortunately on weekends it's guided tours only and the next one was too long for us to wait. We are going to try and go back today.
Instead we walked around another farmer's market we found, a thrift sale at a church, and just checked out some areas in general. Back to the hotel around 3 for a rest.
About 5 we walked down to their Chinatown which was pretty neat. We were planning on Chinese food but none of the restaurants sounded good. Ironically we found a hipster kind of place that served more perogies. I had mac and cheese style with bacon, B had a perogie poutine, and then we had a deep fried blueberry one for dessert. Oh my.
Got back to the hotel around 8 and decided to watch a movie. I plugged my laptop into the TV and we watched Fury Road. B had yet to watch it. Went to bed around 11.
Today is spa day for B, then tour the parliament buildings. One more full day then we leave in the early afternoon. Should be home around 9pm tomorrow night.
We were going to go to Craigdarroch castle yesterday but instead decided to do the Royal BC Museum. They have on display a 42,000 year old perfectly preserved wooly mammoth. It was pretty neat. There was even fur left on the skin. Most of it is gone from the snow and ice, but the rest of it is in perfect condition. It was pretty cool.
We were in the museum for a good 2-3 hours when we got hungry. We hit up the a food truck court in the back area of the museum. B found a perogie cart and I had a burger from another truck. We then went and viewed the parliament building. Unfortunately on weekends it's guided tours only and the next one was too long for us to wait. We are going to try and go back today.
Instead we walked around another farmer's market we found, a thrift sale at a church, and just checked out some areas in general. Back to the hotel around 3 for a rest.
About 5 we walked down to their Chinatown which was pretty neat. We were planning on Chinese food but none of the restaurants sounded good. Ironically we found a hipster kind of place that served more perogies. I had mac and cheese style with bacon, B had a perogie poutine, and then we had a deep fried blueberry one for dessert. Oh my.
Got back to the hotel around 8 and decided to watch a movie. I plugged my laptop into the TV and we watched Fury Road. B had yet to watch it. Went to bed around 11.
Today is spa day for B, then tour the parliament buildings. One more full day then we leave in the early afternoon. Should be home around 9pm tomorrow night.
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Y8 D100
Day two was pretty damn good. First off, look at me sleeping until 6:25 in the morning. The day started with us going on down for breakfast where they had a really nice spread. Better quality it felt than the normal breakfast layouts. Maybe that's because the staff was nicer? I don't know what it was, but it was nice. I had an egg white omelette filled with goat cheese and asparagus, B had a mushroom omelette with potatoes and grilled tomatoes. The one perk of my travel status is not having to worry about it costing anything. Breakfast is always comped at my level.
Finished breakfast, came back up to the room to finish getting ready.
While up in the room I had a call with my boss. I am about to do two back to back weeks. First one is is in NJ again. Turns out there was only one person who didn't like me. They want me back for a second session. The following week, Miami for Lennar construction. I can use the miles that's for sure. Just hope there's no hurricanes. Booked NJ, waiting for confirmed dates to book FL.
After that we then headed out to the Butterfly Gardens. It wasn't a bad drive. About 15 miles away and it took us about 20 minutes. That place was SO COOL. I even had a butterfly land on my head! It was pretty damn neat. After there, we headed to Butchart Gardens where we had afternoon tea service in the rose garden then walked around the entire gardens. We didn't finish until after 2. Headed back to the hotel where we both rested for about an hour. While driving back we passed an area with a bunch of shops and restaurants and decided to walk back there for dinner.
We walked back and went to a place called Pig. It was all pork. Pulled. Belly. Etc. While the service was horrible, they had 3 people working with like 25 customers, the food was pretty good. It was a counter service kind of place, so not fancy. I had a pork belly sandwich with fried mac and cheese and B had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw.
After dinner we just started walking. Best decision ever. We ended up at a night market on the harbor where met all sorts of nice people, bought some jewelry, soap, a purse for B, chocolate, and mini donuts! We had a great time wandering around, just being in the moment.
We got back to the room around 9 and we both were feeling pretty good. We then disappeared into the bedroom for a while. Sometimes a break from home is what's needed to get other things motivated. It was pretty damn nice, let me tell you.
Fell asleep around 10:30. Today we are off to Craigdarroch Castle and something else. I can't remember what the second thing was. Oh well. We'll figure it out.
Finished breakfast, came back up to the room to finish getting ready.
While up in the room I had a call with my boss. I am about to do two back to back weeks. First one is is in NJ again. Turns out there was only one person who didn't like me. They want me back for a second session. The following week, Miami for Lennar construction. I can use the miles that's for sure. Just hope there's no hurricanes. Booked NJ, waiting for confirmed dates to book FL.
After that we then headed out to the Butterfly Gardens. It wasn't a bad drive. About 15 miles away and it took us about 20 minutes. That place was SO COOL. I even had a butterfly land on my head! It was pretty damn neat. After there, we headed to Butchart Gardens where we had afternoon tea service in the rose garden then walked around the entire gardens. We didn't finish until after 2. Headed back to the hotel where we both rested for about an hour. While driving back we passed an area with a bunch of shops and restaurants and decided to walk back there for dinner.
We walked back and went to a place called Pig. It was all pork. Pulled. Belly. Etc. While the service was horrible, they had 3 people working with like 25 customers, the food was pretty good. It was a counter service kind of place, so not fancy. I had a pork belly sandwich with fried mac and cheese and B had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw.
After dinner we just started walking. Best decision ever. We ended up at a night market on the harbor where met all sorts of nice people, bought some jewelry, soap, a purse for B, chocolate, and mini donuts! We had a great time wandering around, just being in the moment.
We got back to the room around 9 and we both were feeling pretty good. We then disappeared into the bedroom for a while. Sometimes a break from home is what's needed to get other things motivated. It was pretty damn nice, let me tell you.
Fell asleep around 10:30. Today we are off to Craigdarroch Castle and something else. I can't remember what the second thing was. Oh well. We'll figure it out.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Y8 D99
What a first day! We did and saw so much. It's amazing up here. Started the day at midnight. Got up did my morning stuff, finished packing. Woke B up around 1 and we left at about 1:30am. The drive was nice and boring with no traffic or any issues. We got to Port Angeles around 5:45. There were already three other people in line for the ferry which made it easy for me to know where to wait. I am glad we got there as early as we did. They start lining people up at about 6:30 and boarding at about 7:45. It seems like a long time but the number of people that came between 6:30 and 7:30 jumped by leaps and bounds. It went from 5 or six of us in line to 100 cars easily. We kept ourselves busy by playing pokemon go for that hour. For those of you who play, this sentence will make sense; drowzees are the pidgey equivalent up here. We got about 15 just sitting there. Crazy.
Finally at 7:45 the boat arrived and they started letting us on. You board from one end of the boat and they unload from the other. Us getting there early paid off. We were one of the three vehicles RIGHT at the exit door. We were second off the boat. Boom! Got off, went through the customs booth, and off to the hotel. Here I go, driving in a foreign country. Look out!
Luckily for us and the Canadians, our hotel is right around the corner. My foreign driving experience lasted all of about five minutes. At this point it was only 10:30 or so. I pulled into valet (no self parking) and ran inside. I asked them if our room was ready and they said to give them a minute. I went back to the car to start unloading stuff. When we came back in, they told me that the room I picked wasn't available BUT if I didn't mind a lower floor, they could upgrade me. Um, duh? Instead of the 15th floor, we're on the 8th in a room bigger than B's cousin's apartment. Seriously. Full suite. The living room and dining room are huge, they bedroom is the size of ours at home. No complaints here. There are only about 8 rooms on this whole floor. I can dig this.
We unpacked and went exploring. Our first stop was food. We looked out the window of our hotel and saw Greek. Easy peasy. We ended up being the only people in there. It was the best Greek food I ever had where the entire staff was Chinese. No lie. After lunch we went to the Spa Magnolia to make B an appointment for a massage. Only time they had free was Sunday, but that's okay. Done and done. Next stop, the BUG ZOO! So much fun. We went on the tour where B held stick bugs, millipedes, a tarantula, and more. It was really fun and corny. We loved. After we went into a tourist shop and I got the kid a gift. When I asked her what she wanted from Canada she said: "Snow? A moose? I dunno" Guess what I found? A snowglobe with a moose in it. Look at me go. Headed back to the hotel for a brief nap. I slept for about an hour, B for three.
When she woke up we went walking. We walked through the store area, found a Lush, got a bath bomb. From there we found a small mall and wandered. Nothing exciting to be honest. Time for dinner. I saw an ad for a place honestly on the back of a bus and it happened to be a block from where we were. Let's do it! Dinner was Japanese Village which is primarily a teppan place but they have some normal tables. We had a nice relaxing dinner. Not too shabby.
We finished dinner about 7:15 and on the way back stopped into the next tourist attraction on our list, Miniature World! A display of tiny dioramas about all sorts of things. The place was incredible. So many wonderful displays and the detail was just so good. We finished that and got back to the hotel a little before 9.
Both of us were sitting there and decided dessert was in order. We had one slice of cheesecake and one slice of pecan pie sent up. Dessert done, day done, bed time. We both fell right asleep and I know for me, I slept solid.
It was a great first day. Today we are off to the Butterfly Gardens and time allowing, Butchart Gardens.
Finally at 7:45 the boat arrived and they started letting us on. You board from one end of the boat and they unload from the other. Us getting there early paid off. We were one of the three vehicles RIGHT at the exit door. We were second off the boat. Boom! Got off, went through the customs booth, and off to the hotel. Here I go, driving in a foreign country. Look out!
Luckily for us and the Canadians, our hotel is right around the corner. My foreign driving experience lasted all of about five minutes. At this point it was only 10:30 or so. I pulled into valet (no self parking) and ran inside. I asked them if our room was ready and they said to give them a minute. I went back to the car to start unloading stuff. When we came back in, they told me that the room I picked wasn't available BUT if I didn't mind a lower floor, they could upgrade me. Um, duh? Instead of the 15th floor, we're on the 8th in a room bigger than B's cousin's apartment. Seriously. Full suite. The living room and dining room are huge, they bedroom is the size of ours at home. No complaints here. There are only about 8 rooms on this whole floor. I can dig this.
We unpacked and went exploring. Our first stop was food. We looked out the window of our hotel and saw Greek. Easy peasy. We ended up being the only people in there. It was the best Greek food I ever had where the entire staff was Chinese. No lie. After lunch we went to the Spa Magnolia to make B an appointment for a massage. Only time they had free was Sunday, but that's okay. Done and done. Next stop, the BUG ZOO! So much fun. We went on the tour where B held stick bugs, millipedes, a tarantula, and more. It was really fun and corny. We loved. After we went into a tourist shop and I got the kid a gift. When I asked her what she wanted from Canada she said: "Snow? A moose? I dunno" Guess what I found? A snowglobe with a moose in it. Look at me go. Headed back to the hotel for a brief nap. I slept for about an hour, B for three.
When she woke up we went walking. We walked through the store area, found a Lush, got a bath bomb. From there we found a small mall and wandered. Nothing exciting to be honest. Time for dinner. I saw an ad for a place honestly on the back of a bus and it happened to be a block from where we were. Let's do it! Dinner was Japanese Village which is primarily a teppan place but they have some normal tables. We had a nice relaxing dinner. Not too shabby.
We finished dinner about 7:15 and on the way back stopped into the next tourist attraction on our list, Miniature World! A display of tiny dioramas about all sorts of things. The place was incredible. So many wonderful displays and the detail was just so good. We finished that and got back to the hotel a little before 9.
Both of us were sitting there and decided dessert was in order. We had one slice of cheesecake and one slice of pecan pie sent up. Dessert done, day done, bed time. We both fell right asleep and I know for me, I slept solid.
It was a great first day. Today we are off to the Butterfly Gardens and time allowing, Butchart Gardens.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Y8 D98
Look out Canada, here we come! Leaving in about an hour to drive up to the border and get on a ferry. I am anxious and excited about the ferry part. Never brought a car onto a boat before. I assume it will be easy and something they do every day but still nervous. 4 hour drive to the border.
Guess what it did yesterday? It rained! In beautiful drops from the sky. Almost all day on and off it was raining. So glad to see it back. Heat be damned. When we get back I should be able to pack up these damn AC units and have the wonderful cold back.
So remember how I had issues at the east coast client? I did the exact same material, in almost the exact same way to a private group of 5 yesterday. This group was west coast. Not only did the material go over great, they fucking applauded me at the end of the day. Applause. From a remote group. Yeah. That's the difference when my personality meets east versus west mentality. And this wasn't some casual tech company. It's a billion dollar plus, 200 hundred year old power company. They fucking loved me. We even went over by 30 minutes because they wanted to do more. Boom.
Class was later yesterday and went until almost 4:40. Finished up and started packing stuff up. Had some leftovers and crawled into bed around 7pm. Slept until midnight. I am awake and ready for our Canadian adventure to begin!
Guess what it did yesterday? It rained! In beautiful drops from the sky. Almost all day on and off it was raining. So glad to see it back. Heat be damned. When we get back I should be able to pack up these damn AC units and have the wonderful cold back.
So remember how I had issues at the east coast client? I did the exact same material, in almost the exact same way to a private group of 5 yesterday. This group was west coast. Not only did the material go over great, they fucking applauded me at the end of the day. Applause. From a remote group. Yeah. That's the difference when my personality meets east versus west mentality. And this wasn't some casual tech company. It's a billion dollar plus, 200 hundred year old power company. They fucking loved me. We even went over by 30 minutes because they wanted to do more. Boom.
Class was later yesterday and went until almost 4:40. Finished up and started packing stuff up. Had some leftovers and crawled into bed around 7pm. Slept until midnight. I am awake and ready for our Canadian adventure to begin!
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