Y9 D219

Last day of the year, decided to sleep in a bit. Why the heck not. I actually did quite a bit yesterday and I want to see if I can remember everything. First I finished watching season 4 of Black Mirror. Not bad since it was release Friday. I posted this on Twitter already but for those of you who don't follow me there, here's my ranking of the season:


1. Black Museum (E6)2. Metalhead (E5)3. Hang the DJ (E4)4. USS Callister (E1)5. Arkangel (E2)6. Crocodile (E3)
I especially loved the little touches in Black Museum that brought all six episodes, and the prior seasons, together. I started the day with Crocodile and was worried because it was meh. I had really enjoyed USS Callister and it wasn't getting better with episodes 2 or 3. Thankfully Hang the DJ took it back in the right direction. Some may disagree with me on Metalhead, but I really enjoyed the black and white filming but more I liked the whole lack of context. What happened? Why are there robot 'dogs' everywhere? WTF? Don't care. Just going to go with it and enjoy the episode. By not asking questions I was really able to get into it. And then Black Museum. Well that was just the shit. 3 stories in one plus all the easter eggs you can handle? Hell yes. One of the side stories was actually based on a short by Penn Jillette which I thought was cool. In the end, 4 strong episodes, one okay one, and one meh. Not bad. Now to wait another year for season 5.

Other things from yesterday included ordering B a birthday gift. I got her a 'Retromini' handheld ROM based game. It plays GB, GBC, GBA, and NES roms. She saw it and had to have it. It will be here in about 2 weeks and that makes it a perfect birthday gift. I already have something in mind for Valentines Day and I need to order it soon. It takes 2-3 weeks to arrive as well.

Did we leave the house? Hmm. Shit, did we? Wait, yes, because I realized I was low on gas. Went to the store around 4 to get some riced cauliflower to go with the slow cooker stew I made. Ha. Memory you be the thing. I wonder what a doctor would say about me writing like this for so many years. Have I helped to stave off memory loss or other things? Regardless, I have a chronicle for when the memory loss starts seeping in. I am old this year you know. Past the point of no return. Sigh.

That's about it, may you all have a nice NYE. I am going to take some advice I saw recently. I plan on being in bed normal time so I can start my new year refreshed, clear headed, and full of positive energy unlike a number of people out there. Try it, might work for you. Better than waking up with a fizzy tongue and a headache I would say (and trust me, I have way too much experience on that front).

See you in 2018 people.

Y9 D218

I feel horrible this morning. I have been tossing and turning since 3 with the worst stomach problems. Throwing up in my mouth kind of problems. All to blame is our dinner last night. We went to this asian place that was just god awful and made us both sicker than shit.One of our goals for next year is to eat at one if not two new restaurants per month. This is what that gets you. Throwing up in your mouth at 3am. Fuck that noise.

Didn't do much on anything yesterday. Watched the latest episode of Happy! and started Black Mirror. Only two episodes in so no spoilers please. I will probably finish it today. But that was about it. Not much else going on except dying from food poisoning.

Oh duh, I went grocery shopping in the morning. Got enough food for 10 meals already planned out. Tonight is mexican chicken crockpot stew. Starting it at 1pm. We are trying to eat more planned meals and I have the next two weeks lined out. Managed to get everything on my list without any problems.

So today, not much. We are going to home depot to find a shelf to hang in the laundry room but that's the extent of our plans. Obviously if we find one, we will hang it up. Look out world! I can't believe it's NYE weekend. This year is almost done. Crazy shit.

Y9 D217

Woke up to like 10 emails this morning. Nothing bad or evil, just a lot going on. End of year statements, bills, etc. Just a lot happening overnight it seems. Had to wade through and delete the garbage and filter out the good.

Our big adventure yesterday was going to a local crystal shop. B kept some of the bullet casings from when she went to the shooting range with the intent of turning them into jewelry. She had seen where others took the casings and added crystals to them. We spent a good hour in the shop trying different crystals. It's a nice little store and the guy who works there was a big help. I ended up buying a selenite lamp for my desk since everything was on sale.

Other than that brief sojourn outside, we didn't do much. I cleaned a bit including vacuuming. Made pasta for dinner. Worked on some stuff for the marketing team.

Today I am going grocery shopping and paying bills. Such is my life. Last weekend of the year. Farewell 2017. What a fucking concept. 2030 is only 12 years away. WTF? Time keeps on slipping...

Y9 D216

Finished my document yesterday. 12 pages and 8000 words. And although I sent it off to the desired recipients, it's going to sit for at least a week. The minute I sent it, all I got back were out of office messages. Back Jan 2, back Jan 8. Well fuck me. Meh, at least it's sent and done. No going back now. As I put in the email I sent, if I didn't care, I wouldn't have written it. Which is so very true. When most people are frustrated at their companies, they don't write 12 page manifestos. They just start looking for a new job. The simple fact that I took as much time as I did to analyze all these things shows that I am sincere in my desire to make things better. Let's just hope it gets seen that way by the people who are supposed to be reading it.

That was pretty much my whole day. Didn't do much else. We had Indian food for dinner which was quite tasty. During dinner we also made a decision on what to do with the car. We have pretty much decided we're going to keep it. Based on what we owe, the residual value, the condition it's in, etc, it's in our best interest to just hold on to it at the end of the lease. If we're able to keep it in good condition then we will be able to have something to use as a good down payment in 2021. Man that sounds weird. We both like the car, we like the features. Let's make smart financial decisions for once, ya know?

Watched some tv, played some games, went to bed around 11. Not much else going on.

Y9 D215

Our stomach sagas continue here. Stomach flu maybe? The tail remnants of our being sick? Regardless, neither of us is doing well at this point. B tried going to group but ended up coming right back home. We did have a veggie lasagne last night which isn't helping. Go fiber? Ugh. Getting old sucks.

I spent from 5:30 until 2 working on my 2017 in review document. It's currently at 8 pages and I have a good 3-4 to go. This thing is covering everything; where we did good as a group, where we could improve, gripes I have about salespeople, but the real kicker is the last part where I am asking for a raise. I am backing it up numbers of course. $745k in generated revenue for me personally. An average of $34k per client. Dealt with over 680 students.

That last metric got me thinking about both my positive and negative feedback I receive from clients. I was thinking about how the average consultant at our company deals with maybe 2 or 3 clients in a year. Some only deal with 1. When you look at the number of people they have direct contact with on a daily basis over that time versus the sheer amount of time I spend with people, it's only natural that there will be some who don't get along with me. It's okay. Some will some won't. It's human nature. The other employees will talk to someone maybe an hour a two a day over the course of months where as I am in these people's faces 2-3, even 5 sometimes, days straight for 8-10 hours a day. The sheer volume is a magnitude difference. Therefore it's only normal that I would get both a higher number of compliments and respectively, complaints. Perspective man, it's a bitch. Anyway, I have about 3-4 more pages to go today and then I will send it off to key people and sit back and wait. We shall see what happens.

That was the bulk of my day. I started making dinner around 3. It was a lasagne, they take a while. B left at 6, but was back by 7. I was about to start watching the Doctor when she let me know she was on her way back. I waited for her to get back and she ended up watching it with me. The end of 12. It was an extremely emotional episode. My Doctor is gone. Let's see how you do 13.

We got like 5 packages in the mail yesterday. Ended up with our own little boxing day celebration. Stuff that didn't make it in time for Christmas because Christmas Eve was a Sunday. I got a new vape battery and B got some boots we ordered her off eBay. She loves these boots she bought earlier in the year but the stitching was coming apart. We tried finding them in the original store but no luck. We did however find a pair on eBay for $12. Score. Unworn, brand new, no box. Done and done. We enjoyed our little second Christmas.

Time to finish my manifesto. Such fun.

Y9 D214

Been up for a little while but have spent most of it in the bathroom. Not doing too well in the old tummy region this morning. Not sure why, didn't eat anything to out of the ordinary. We ended up eating fried chicken for dinner but it was from Popeye's and that doesn't usually bother me. Weird.

So Christmas. I got some cool stuff including a new mini-projector, five or six books, some socks, some PJs, and some jewelry. B was overwhelmed as usual. I tried my best to not cause her grief but it didn't work. She gets up too early to try and please me, then gets to tired and ends up sleeping half the day away. It's okay, while she slept I hung my new shower curtain rod. You know you're old when shit like that gets you excited. It's a dual rod design and curved. I like it.

As I said, we went out for dinner, watched some TV, and we both were exhausted and collapsed around 9.

Today I have some stuff coming that didn't make it in time, and we get to celebrate Boxing Day basically. No complaints here. Otherwise, I am writing up my end of year assessment for my boss on everything we all did good and bad and I will be asking for a raise. Let's see how that goes.

Y9 D213

MERRY CHRISTMAS BITCHES!!

I've only had 4.5 hours sleep but who can sleep on Christmas??? Apparently, my wife. She mad me promise I wouldn't wake her before 8 or 9. Sigh 8:01 would be okay, right?? Nah, I will let her sleep as long as she needs. I'm not that mean. It's not like we have a lot of plans today other than open presents. I did also make one sacrifice for her. She feels guilty eating out on Christmas and I said we could eat at home. We have a veggie lasagna in the fridge I was going to make tomorrow, but we can have it tonight. I do find it interesting she doesn't like to eat out. Working class guilt? My white privilege is showing when I do want to go out today? Especially to have Chinese food? Probably. Years of conditioning I need to break. Hence why I am not going to throw a fit. She wants to stay home, we stay home.

We stayed in the house pretty much all day. She was low on meds and around 11 I told her this is your one shot for me to go to the store. Now or ever. Of course this prompted her to add like a dozen things to the list. Okay. We had a big ol' plate of nachos for lunch. I had made pancakes for breakfast too. A day of eating it was.

Around 7 we started in on the Christmas watching:

- Year Without Santa Claus
- Charlie Brown Christmas
- Grinch
- Always Sunny
- Die Hard

That took us all the way to midnight. I annoyed a couple of people with texts and went to bed.

Can I open presents yet??

Y9 D212

This is it! The final hours!! Only 19 hours to go and it's Christmas!!! WHEE!!

Didn't do much yesterday. B is just about shaken off the cold she got when she came home. Took her about a week, about as long as me. But I didn't want her pushing herself and made sure she still took drugs and stayed in the house. I went to the grocery store in the morning followed by the kitchen store in the afternoon. We needed new potholders and I took advantage of Christmas sales to get some. The store wasn't too crowded either. I was in and out in less than 20 minutes.

Just took care of my timesheet so no one yells at me. On Tuesday I will be writing up my 2017 manifesto where I ask for a raise and point out some of the issues from this year. One of those is timesheets. We don't bill like the consulting side so to ride my ass for a timesheet is stupid. I should be able to do mine when I do it, if at all. My boss knows when I am scheduled to teach so that should be enough. Whatever.

We watched a movie together yesterday called Bright with Will Smith. Not bad. I could see it turning into a series. I recommend it.

Made fajitas for dinner. They were pretty good. Not great because I used pre-packaged steak for convenience and it was okay. Overall they were good but not like the best ever.

Played some video games and went to bed around 11. Nothing planned for today except counting down.

Y9 D211

We're in the Christmas home stretch!! Only 43 hours to go! Woo hoo!

So B and I went and test drove two cars yesterday. She hated both. We have three more on the list. If she hates all of these then I am just going to make a decision. I am trying my best to let her have the final say but she doesn't like cars for one reason or another. I think it's her subconscious not letting her accept the fact that she deserves a new vehicle. She is so used to buying used pieces of shit that the thought of driving around in a new car stresses her out. She nitpicks little things. Whatever. I am trying.

Other than that excursion out of the house, not much was done yesterday. Thank goodness. We had some really good veggie tacos for dinner, watched some tv, played video games, and went to bed. I went to bed around 11, her around 2. I do like when she goes to MI because it helps to equalize her sleep schedule. For the first few days when she gets back she goes to bed closer to me. Not that it's important, but it makes things easier.

Today I have to go to the bank and activate my new card, then spend like two hours making sure I have changed everything that has my old card as a default payment method. This is the part that sucks.

That's the big plans for the day. Yay! Just two more sleeps and it's time. Oh and it will be time for THE DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS EPISODE! Yeah, that's what I really care about.

Y9 D210

I made it through! Thank the gods both old and new I am now officially done until at least Tuesday. I am not teaching again for 2 weeks, but I am under no expectations at least for the next four days. It was rough but I got through it. Finished around 2 and was happy as a clam.

Why are clams happy? Do they know something we don't?

After class we had our date night which was really awesome. We headed down to the train station around 4:30, got right on the train, and we were downtown by a little after 5. We first stopped and picked up our tickets, then we went to Powell's. B needed a new book bag as she tried to wash hers and it ended up shrinking. It now holds one book please. Powells was pretty busy but we had time to kill so it wasn't stressful for us.

Got back to the theater and sat at their bar where we had dinner. B had a steak wrap and I had a pretty good burger. I have to say, this theater is perfect for someone like me. Small theaters (only 50 seats in ours), a bar area with food, a TV that shows when your movie is starting to seat, in chair delivery, and just a real relaxed vibe. Loved it.

As for the movie? It was good but not great. We saw the Bill Nye movie. The problem with it was that it felt like four movies in one. Was it a documentary on his life? On his work as Science Guy? On his work with climate deniers? On his work with the Planetary Society? All of those were showcased but it didn't feel like it spent enough time on any one topic. I could have used another hour. But then no one would have sat for a 3 hour Bill Nye movie. It might have been better as a mini-series. It was good, just not enough depth. We got home around 9:30 and went off to bed shortly thereafter. A really nice night.

Today I am going to the Walmart for some final final gifts, then we are driving a car at 11, then nothing, sweet glorious nothing, for a while.

Y9 D209

This is it. The final day of teaching for 2017! Just got to get through this last day with this dickhead student. Asked about yesterday his response was 'meh'. Asked if he learned anything 'very little'. Then why the fuck did you show back up dickhead? Leave. Be gone. Don't waste my time or the time of the other students. You're just filling out the week so you don't have to do any work. He's a government employee so I know that's exactly what his dick ass is doing. Fucker.

So yeah, that was my day.

After class, did nothing. Had dinner. Spilt food all over me. Had to do emergency laundry. Fell asleep on the couch. Went to bed.

Tonight we're actually doing something. Going downtown to a movie theater to see the Bill Nye movie. That should be fun. Actually leave the house. Go us. Is this day over yet?

Y9 D208

Yesterday was okay. Not great. Just okay. I will say I slept fairly well last night. I had a LOT of dreams going on. I remember one with Tom Petty in it. Another one had me in some store trying to get a car stereo installed. Lots of different dreams going on. I feel fairly rested this morning. Not looking forward to my class though and here's why.

So yesterday I start up the meeting and 2 of my 3 students connected by 7. My third student was running late. At 7:06 I sent an email asking if he was having trouble. He showed up about 3 minutes later. It went downhill from there. He started complaining about how his 2 minute commute took 20 and how his coffee was cold and was this class ever going to start and 'i thought this was an advanced class'. He carried on this way throughout the whole day. I gave my boss a heads-up that this guy might come asking for a refund. I honestly don't know if he will even show up this morning. Doesn't make for a pleasant time, that's for sure. I was so glad when class was over.

Went to the bank and got a replacement card, came back, took a wee nap, then helped B with dinner. She made slow cooker potato soup which was really good. Plus we now have leftovers for lunches. She went to group, got home a little after 9. We talked about her session. There was some new guy there who caused her some discomfort. He was potentially dangerous and that gave her anxiety. Why dangerous? He may be a little autistic or mentally challenged and she felt he was about to have a melt down at one point and needed to be out of that scenario. She actually left group ten minutes early as a result. One of the best skills she has acquired going to these sessions is knowing when to walk away from something that is not making her feel comfortable. Good job.

Went to bed a little after 10 and fell right asleep. 2 more days of this group and then I am done. I am officially done for four days but I have no classes until January so, I am done for the year in my brain. I have some stuff to work on next week, but don't have to deal with any buttholes. Only 115 hours until Christmas!!

Y9 D207

So yesterday started off like a horrible piece of shit. And it continued from there. The only redeeming part of yesterday is B made it home safe and sound. I was so tweaked out yesterday in the morning that I ended up leaving at 4:30. I got to the site where the class was supposed to be at 5. I then sat until 7 when I went into the building. It turns out Kaiser does have some random remote IT group on one floor of this office building which otherwise has real estate and investment companies. Random. Whatever. My contact arrived, I got in the room, and some people started showing up. Cool. I can handle this.

We were scheduled to start at 8:30. At 8:30 I had my contact who wasn't planning on actually attending the class and THREE students. OUT OF 18!! As it creeped to 8:45, I told the 3 that we would have to adjust to a 9-5 and I was sorry they had been there so early. At 9:02 it was still three people and I said fuck it. So yeah, I drove all the way out there, I stressed out, I fucking got dressed, for three out of 18 people to show. I told my boss and he was like whatever they pay well. Excuse me?? Do you not value my time or work at all? This is disrespectful as fuck. What if the 3 hadn't shown? Would I have done one student? Fuck you. This is why I fucking hate Kaiser. They think they're so fucking special but fuck you.

I said fuck it and just steam rolled through the material. Luckily the 3 remaining were pretty smart. We finished around 4:15 and I was home by 5.

I forgot to take something out for dinner because I was so stressed so we ended up just going to Arbys. Came back, relaxed and since we had both been up early, we were in bed by 9:30. I have 3 days of 3 students now and then I am done for the fucking year. This week can't end soon enough for me.

Y9 D206

Well this day is off to shit already. Woke up at 2:30 from an email from Wells. Someone tried to use my card at Budget for $1600. Thank you Wells for catching it but fuck you thief for making me cancel my card and have to be without for 5-7 business days. Fucking assholes.

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah. So yesterday. Cleaned. Yep. That's that. I cleaned, did ALL the laundry. Changed sheets. Had sushi for lunch. Dealt with a possible issue for today. The address the client gave me doesn't exist and they swear it's this other address so I am going to drive to some random spot this morning. I don't even know if it is the right place. My boss is no fucking help. Ordered a pizza for dinner since I know they won't feed me today and I need food for lunch and for B when she gets home.

Fuck. I have too much going on in my head right now. losing my shit. need to go shower. I may need gas.

Y9 D205

Yes, I am up at 4am on a Sunday. Been up for about 15 minutes. Why? Well, someone has to check B in for her flight, now don't they? Y'all think I am crazy with this exactly 24 hours thing, but trust me, I can pull the stats and show you that it makes a difference in whether you get an upgrade or not. The system flags the time you checked in and it can change where you are on that list. Same thing with number of years as part of their loyalty plan, how many years at a certain tier, etc. It's all math at the end of the day. And if you're willing to play the game it makes a difference. Case in point, I just paused typing to go check her in and she has a very nice seat in 3C. Suck it bitches.

So my day was spent cleaning. The house wasn't bad but it was disorganized. It also was in dire need of vacuuming. Everything is now done. Is it perfectly spotless? No, but if someone were to come by unannounced I would not be embarrassed letting them in the door. I know when B walks in the door tomorrow her first impression will not be of frustration because now she has to clean. I never understood that in tv or movies. The spouse or parent goes away for a couple of days, like literally a weekend, and the house turns into a shambles. WTF? Clean up after yourselves. The cleaning I did yesterday including like baseboards and floors. Not throwing away trash. I did windows and mirrors. I did under the bed. That to me is cleaning. Not leaving shit all over should be a normal part of life.

Went out a couple of times yesterday. Once to drop off some donations with Goodwill. Went to the store for a couple of food things and got some stocking stuffers. About one week left! I am glad I have classes 4 out of 5 days next week. Will help me from being Christmas Antsy. I can distract myself with work and sleep the remaining time.

Doing laundry and the sheets today but otherwise no plans. I have to iron clothes for tomorrow since I will be onsite. I am not quite sure where I am going and need to look that up too. Well I just went and looked it up and this may end up being a disaster. The person didn't give me a 'real' address. He gave me a street number but not the right city. Or at least I can't tell if it is the right city. It's the address of some random office park. I did some more searching and the address he gave me doesn't exist in any of the surrounding cities. Seriously. This could be a fucking nightmare. I will go to the address he gave me unless I hear otherwise today, but nobody can get pissed at me that's for sure.

Great. Now I am stressed for the next 24 fucking hours. Lovely.

Y9 D204

Slept in a bit this morning. But I didn't fall asleep until after midnight so it's not that off. Plus it's been super dark here in the mornings and I can't tell if it's 7am or 4am just by looking outside. The only thing giving it away is an increase in cars outside the window. Otherwise it all looks the same.

Got quite a bit accomplished yesterday. I finalized our new class which can now be rolled out in January. This is a major milestone as I have been working and tweaking this class for a good six months. Our salespeople piss me off when it comes to this. Do they not know how long it takes to do stuff like this? New material doesn't happen overnight. I need to come up with the flow, decide on the slide material, come up with demos, TEST the demos on multiple machines, then finally when it seems ready, I have to dry run it to make sure it won't be too long or too short. Then I have to go back and run through it one last time to make sure I haven't skipped any steps or forgotten any files. Only after all that is done is it ready to go. I found four or five big things that needed to change yesterday. I was missing some supplemental files, I skipped some steps in demos, etc. The skipping steps thing is the hardest because there's so many things you do as an instructor or someone familiar with a product that you forget to write them down. You're so used to having to do X first all the time that it becomes second nature. That's the kind of stuff that need documenting. Regardless, I got it done.

I then tackled another project which has been eluding me only to not be able to succeed. Not through any fault of my own mind you. When we bought the soundbar, I simply swapped out the existing cable connections with the old one. Problem is that those connections don't allow the TV to talk to the soundbar for power. We were having to press a button on another remote to 'wake up' the soundbar. I knew that if I swapped it over to a different connection type this could be avoided. I tore all the cables apart, put them back the way they should be, and nothing. WTF? Several scraped knuckles and sweat and I have no sound. What gives?? Well it's our TV. To minimize the amount of mansplaining, let me say this briefly. There are three types of HDMI connectors - STB, DVI, and ARC. STB stands for set top box and is meant to go from tv to cable box or the like. While it sends an audio signal, it doesn't send all the other signals needed. DVI is for computer connections and send no audio signal. This is what you use for things like video games or computers. ARC or audio return channel is what I need. An ARC signal sends EVERYTHING including wakeup signals. That's where you hook up a soundbar. Guess which two my tv has and which one it's missing? Yep. No ARC. So I had to put everything back the way it was. 2 hours of my life gone for nothing. Argh. In the future when we buy a new tv you bet I am going turn it around and make sure it has an ARC signal.

After that defeat, I went to the pet store. Got litter and this new UV light thing for the tank. It is supposed to control algae bloom and give you back your crystal water. We've been struggling with algae since the weather turned. It was a bit pricey but everything I read and saw showed it worked. I need at least a week to see a real difference. I am hoping it works.

Around 8:30 I decided fuck it, I am doing groceries tonight. I went to three different stores but got enough to have dinners for 9 days. I am ready through Christmas. Got back home around 10, put everything away and finally stopped. It was a relaxing time. I also paid bills yesterday. Took care of all that. It's that nice couple of days where I have no emails marked "Bills". Enjoy it because it goes away very quickly.

B went and saw TLJ last night. She didn't enjoy it. Whatever. She's not the target audience. The reviews I have been hearing seem split on age. Over 35 love it, under, not so much. Go figure. I will see it when I can probably in January. I am more excited for Deadpool 2 to be honest.

Today is house cleaning day part 1. I say part 1 because there's some stuff that has to wait until tomorrow to make sure it stays clean before B gets home on Monday. She will be coming home while I am onsite at a client and I want to make sure she walks in to a clean house.

Let's go clean a bathroom! Woo!

Y9 D203

I said this yesterday on Twitter but it bears repeating here for those of you who don't follow my (now) 280 character bits of wisdom.

No matter how bad I feel about myself, I can at least take comfort in one thing. Things could be worse; I could be Ajit Pai. The most hated, disgusting, despicable man on the face of this earth. 83% of Americans felt his decision yesterday was wrong including 3 out 4 Republicans. What the fuck? 83%. How do you get up in the morning knowing that what you just did was so reviled that even the majority of people in your own fucking party think you're an idiot?How does someone like that look in the mirror and think they are doing the right thing? Either he is such a soulless greedy monster that he doesn't care, or someone has blackmail on him that is too much to handle. If 83% of the people I knew all told me something was a bad decision, I would probably think REALLY hard before doing. It just shows you that no matter what kind of bullshit comes out of his extremely punchable face, he is doing this for himself and only himself. He is the worst part of this administration. The lackey who has no morals or values. Fuck him, fuck this whole administration. And fuck all of you who voted for him. This is directly your fault. You put that walking fucking cheeto into office and he put the Indian Uncle Tom into his position. YOU did this. Not me. YOU have no one to blame but yourself when things get even worse. I hope you're proud and happy you fucking idiot.

As for me, I worked on my new server class and got quite a bit done. I worked up until about 2 at which point I took a nap. I am just about through with this cold. I had a rough time last night and ended up getting up at 11:30 to take NyQuil. I was trying to avoid it, but the cough was pushing me over the edge. I had to squish it to get some sleep. I finally fell asleep around midnight. After my nap I took a ride out to the big Walmart to get some stocking stuffers. That was fun. On the way back I stopped for dinner at a diner kind of place. Had a Monte Cristo which wasn't half bad. Got back home around 7. I tried making this thing I saw on the internet. Edible pine cones. They did not come out at all like the picture. Oh well. I now have these three monstrosities I have to eat. Oh darn. They look decent but not as good as the tutorial did. I know what I did different even though the author left out  a step I feel in her recipe. I might try doing it again when B gets home.

Speaking of B, she is having her typical horrible time. All of her family is so mid-west passive aggressive it's ridiculous. "So whatcha doing tonight" is their code for "cancel all your plans and spend time with me and only me". It's hard enough for her to see as many people as she'd like when she is there. To have these people try to monopolize her time is a pain. Plus it's snowing heavy and she fell multiple times yesterday. Just a rough trip. She did have fun going to the shooting range with her friend. She shot a Glock handgun and a lightweight assault rifle. Apparently he works at a gun store so gets a massive discount on stuff. We have been discussing taking shooting lessons. Before you freak out, here's why. If we do move to a more rural location we might actually need some kind of weapon in the house to fend off creatures. We have considered a shotgun for this reason. If we were to have a shotgun, I want us both trained and prepared to use it. Her friend recommends a Remington 870 for us. Pump action 12 gauge with a 28 or 30" barrel. I looked it up and it seems to be right in line with what I was thinking too. So down the road, we may look into that more. You should have seen her target. Not a single shot hit the bad guy. Lots of nice holes around him. I think she clipped his shoulder at one point but that was it. Amusing. I don't know if I would do any better, but it's still funny for me.

Today I have to run through some test stuff on the class I finalized Tuesday to make sure it's ready to go but that's it. Tomorrow is house cleaning, Sunday is laundry and don't touch anything day. Then Monday I have an onsite while B gets home around 9.

Y9 D202

I finally managed to get a full, decent night's sleep. I had a humidifier 2 feet from my head all night, but it helped. I still feel the cold lingering but not as bad as yesterday. Yesterday the couch started. You know that little tickle in the back of your throat that even when you cough won't go away and you try to fix it by spending the day sucking down cough drops and lozenges? Yeah, that one. Lots of fun while trying to teach too.

My class went well. 15 students, no major issues. Most of them had no problem following along with the material or keeping up. Only issue a couple of times was some people had slow machines. But they weren't mad at me about it. They knew the issue was on their end and not something I was doing poorly. Fair enough. I had to repeat a couple of things, but not too much. They were all empathetic to my cold issue too because they could hear that my voice was strained. Talking all day was definitely a chore for me.

I took a nap after class which helped. Not much else for the rest of the night. I didn't go anywhere. Ate my leftovers for dinner, watched some tv including a great BBC show called Christmas 77 with the Sex Pistols which was a sort of documentary showing how they had been banned that year and the secret concerts they had to put on. It was a mix of new interviews and old footage. Was kind of cool.

Played some video games and went to bed around 10. I did take a bath around 8 to steam and sweat out the nasties in my body. I think that helped too. I had planned on maybe going downtown this weekend but if I am not feeling 100% by tomorrow then fuck that. I don't need a relapse. I want to be healthy before Monday. Not only does B come home, but I have an onsite with Kaiser about 20 miles away I have to do. I don't want to pass out on them in person. Remotely fine, just not in person. So I need my strength.

Today I will work on server documents, then tomorrow is a day of rest.

Y9 D201

This cold is kicking my ass. I wonder if I have a cold or the flu? What's the difference? I mean I know the technical differences; one is a virus, the other bacterial. One can be treated with meds, one you have to suffer through with chicken soup. I mean the symptom differences. Hold on. Let's ask the internet (while we still can. I am talking to you Ajit fucking Pai you piece of shit). All signs point to cold. That's good then. I can just keep going with meds and wait it out.

Thanks to B, I was up way too early yesterday. Thanks to me, I am up early today. But yesterday I woke up at 3 because of her messages saying she arrived safely and just stayed awake. On the positive side, I was able to get up and get some work done. I wrote a 13 page install document and configured one of our remote servers to work for an upcoming class. I was also able to get a slab of ribs in the oven for some all day slow cooking. I finished up work around noon, took a nap, and then I went and ran an errand. The Mazda folks finally got in 2018 models of the CX5. I have only 8 months left on my lease and it's time to start looking at what we might want next. For simplicity sake, the CX5 is the easy choice. But while I was out I also went next door and checked out the Audi Q5. I really liked that. But it's like 6k more. It's not the smart financial move. We are also considering the Ford Edge which we have yet to drive.

Came back, had dinner (ribs, mac & cheese, and cornbread). Watched some tv, got exhausted, and went to bed at 9. That was my exciting day. I think today after class I am going to take some nyquil and see if I can sleep for a while. Maybe I can shake this by Friday. That's the goal.

Y9 D200

My throat is done for this morning. Thank god I don't have a class today and can rest it. I have that Kathleen Turner voice going on right now. Mixed with Danny DeVito. It's pretty nasty. My nose is finally starting to snot too. Such fun.

Got through my one student yesterday. She didn't show until 8. Apparently she sent an email saying she couldn't start early but she sent it to just my boss which means I never saw it. I had that class ready to go at 5am and sat and sat and sat. Whatever. At least I finished around 2:30 because it was just one student. She was okay. Not a big talker but not too crazy either. She kept comments to a minimum, got through the demos, and asked good questions.

After class didn't do much of anything. Both B and I were anxious because we felt like we were just sitting around. To kill time we cleaned the fish tank. it was supposed to do it while she was gone, but now it's done. At 5:30 I checked traffic and it was showing 1 hour 41 minutes to the airport. Ugh. But I knew most of that was rush hour traffic and it would change dramatically the later I waited. But at the same time, it was making me even more anxious. We ended up leaving a little after 6 and got to the airport about 7:30. That was just 2 hours for her to wait. Not horrible given that she had no layover. For me coming back home there was zero traffic and I made it back in 45 minutes. Go figure.

She landed without incident around 2am but unfortunately she didn't sleep because she normally doesn't sleep until that time anyway. That's the sucky part. She's now sleepy but has to do shit with family. Her mother is already pissing her off. She pulled some next level passive aggressive shit yesterday. They are supposed to go to Frankenmuth today, aka the Christmas town, and it was going to be B, her mom, her grandma, and her sisters. A good chance to spend time with a number of people. Well her mom conveniently forgot to tell her grandma, decided the kids should go to school, and boom, it became a 'best friends' day. See her mom is under the impression they are friends. Which they're not. At all. Joke is on her though. The girls heard her talking and managed to get her to let them go. At least she can use the time to spend with her sisters. They're supposed to leave in a little while, but we will see how that goes.

I am going to make slow cooked ribs today. B got the idea planted in my head the other day about ribs so I bought a rack of baby backs and am putting them in around 8. Let them cook all day at 250. That will give me food for at least three days. Other than that, I have to write a document today and configure a server. Not too bad. I can take a nap and rest my voice as needed.

Y9 D199

Goal of not leaving the house achieved!I seriously did not leave the house once yesterday and it was wonderful. Oh wait, dammit, I did leave the house. I got confused there for a minute. It was a long day yesterday for some reason. I was blending together saturday and sunday. No, I went out at 7 to get a Xmas gift B saw saturday while we were out. So while I went out, it was for no more than 15 minutes. Came back, wrapped said gift, done.

For the rest of the day we didn't do much. Some video gaming, some reading, naps, and final packing. I made those frozen bucket dinners for us again. B had beef sirloin tips, I had mango chicken with cilantro rice. Pretty darn good, healthy (to some degree), and cost effective.

My phone is coming up on 4 days without a charge. Still at 20%. Not too shabby.

Checked B in at 10:07. Whose flight leaves at 10:07? WTF? Managed to get her an upgrade. While she has an AA account, her status is still pretty low and I was impressed they offered her the upgrade. Now she can lean her seat back and get some good sleep on her flight tonight.

Haven't heard back from my one mystery student. Don't know what time they are planning to show up. Going to leave for the airport at around 7. That should let traffic die down while still giving B enough time. Wish us luck on that. As of tonight, I will have 6 days alone at home. Fun?

Y9 D198

Well my nose finally cleared last night. I can breathe once more. The sinus pressure/headache is still there and my throat feels like sandpaper, but hey, I can breathe.

We went to the garage sale store yesterday. Didn't buy anything, but enjoyed wandering around until both got way too tired. I need to keep my germs to myself for at least another 36 hours. I don't want B getting on a plane tomorrow night sick. Did I mention she is taking a red-eye? She flies out at 10pm tomorrow and gets in 5am Tuesday. Direct flight on Alaska. No layover, no bs. She is both looking forward to it and dreading it. Sleeping on a plane with people. Getting in at 5am. Those are the downsides. Non-stop flight? 4 hours to Detroit? Okay.

Speaking of flights, I am going to be booking our Australia trip soon. Probably going April 6th for 10 days. I need to call American and see what I can do for flight times. I can't do it online because I want to split miles and money and it is stupid.

Made a corned beef for dinner. Watched some tv together. Went to bed around 11.

Talked briefly to my sister and she asked if I was healed up. I swear I talked about this, but yes, I am all healed down there. No issues. It amazes me how such a tiny piece of stitch could cause so much problem. I mean it was so tiny. But now that it's gone, I am good. All healed with no issues. That was put to the test the other night and let me tell you, no issues.

Today I do more nothing. A good video game day it is.

Y9 D197

I am almost at a full 48 hours of phone usage and my battery is still at 60%. Not too shabby, eh? Granted I am not a heavy user but still, that's some good battery life. Let's see how it does on a trip.

Taught day 3 of my group. Once again they proved to be a sharp group. The ones who felt it was too advanced politely left the meeting and didn't expect me to hold their hands. They thanked me for my time and went on with their day. Amazing. I wish all groups could be like this. I would love to teach this group in person. We finished at 11. Went and did some errands after class including grocery shopping. I got enough to get us through this weekend and me for next week. I don't need much but I wanted some basics in the house too. Not a lot, but enough that I won't starve.

Came back and took a nap. B and did some house cleaning as she is antsy. She is in that pre-trip sort of mood where she doesn't know what to do with herself. Too early to start packing, but she needs to figure things out. It always makes her anxious and I end up paying. This time it was redoing our towels. Okay. Whatever you need to feel calm.

Had Taco Friday. Was good and fun. Watched a little tv, did laundry, went off to bed around 10.

I am still feeling sick and would prefer not to leave the house this weekend. I have one student on my Monday class which sucks but it is what it is.

Y9 D196

I feel like shit. I have a cold of some type. Not surprising after the recent week I have had. Too many different climates, being in a hospital. Sadly that's probably where I got it. Regardless, I am sick and it sucks.

Taught day 2 yesterday. Really good group. Sharp, honest about their skills, responsive. I would work with this group in person any day. We finished around 11 again and then I took B to the store. She wanted to add a magnet to the new bag she got. Plus pick up a laptop sleeve for her laptop to go in the new bag. Both missions accomplished.

On the new phone front - 24 hours later and I have lost only 20% battery. That is freaking awesome. I could go three days at this rate without even thinking about charging it.

My head hurts and I don't feel like typing any more. I hope everyone out there is doing okay. I haven't heard from some of you in a while IRL and I hope you're all alright.

Y9 D195

Big news! My phone finally took a shit and was replaced. I was 27 days away from having it for two years. The longest I have kept a phone in the last 10 that I can remember. Probably even longer than that. You all know the charging port stopped working a while back and I have been having to use one of those charging pads. Those things suck ass by the way. Clunky, hard to deal with, the phone has to be just right on it. But lately it has to be just just right and has been giving me trouble. Not to mention the random battery drain issues. The buttons have been less responsive too. Yesterday B asked if we could get her a small portable hard drive for her trip because she has been doing these video diaries and they so far have eaten up 85gb of her hard drive. Sure. No problem. While on the Best Buy site, I saw they had a special on the Google Pixel XL 2. I bit the bullet and added to cart. A few hours later, I am now the proud owner of one of these bad boys. So slick, so clean. So thin. So fast. Battery drain? Ha! Thing of the past. Bloatware? Not on my phone. Everything can be deleted. No Samsung bullshit apps taking up room. Automatic new version of android for the next 3 years. Full 2 year warranty. Automatic cloud backup on photos and videos. I ordered a case from Amazon (two actually because I couldn't decide and B will get one of these phones at some point) which will be here tomorrow. I haven't fully installed everything, but I am getting there. I am installing most stuff as needed. I did the basics but I am waiting to add other stuff. I still need to figure out the interface a bit. I also got $150 gift card as a trade in for my old phone.

Taught my first of three half day sessions. MUCH better group. Smart, responsive, on time. Even though there's 15 of them, they are on the ball and were a pleasure to work with. I am not dreading today or tomorrow. Thank goodness. We finished at around 10:45 and I took a nap until noon. We went out at around 4.

While we were out B found a great tote bag for her trip at Ross for only $25. I found a scarf for $5. Score for both of us. She has needed a new under seat bag and this one is perfect. She can also use it as an overnight bag one future trips.

Made pork chops for dinner. Watched some TV. Did a facial mask together. We had a nice night. For those wondering, my body is healing finally. Thanks to the doctor on Saturday removing that tiny piece of stitch, things have been healing right up. No more pain, no redness, no blood. I should be fully healed by the weekend.

That's about it for right now. Need to talk to the kid. We haven't talked in a couple of days. She finally got her full time offer letter and a small raise this week. Really proud of her. Using her degree. Doing what she loves. She is kicking some ass. Can't ask for more.

Yeah, I am doing okay today if you can't tell. Let's see how things go from here.

Y9 D194

It was rough, but I made it through that second day of teaching. I did lose it a little bit at one point where I had to send an email. Why? Because they kept 'old people-ing' me; you're going to fast. that's too small. Oh fuck off and die mad about it. It was a long damn day but it is now over. Now I have these three weird half days sessions and I am not even sure what I am teaching to be honest. I will figure it out.

After class, B managed to convince me to go to Target because she had a scrip that needed picking up. Ugh. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't fun either. All the rookie shoppers are coming out and it just gets worse as the season progresses. I was thinking about going downtown while B is gone, but I have to weigh that against how much I will want to kill people. Trade-offs, ya know?

Got back home and made dinner before she headed off to group. She got home around 9:30 and I went to bed shortly thereafter.

Is it the weekend yet?

Y9 D193

This may literally be the dumbest group of people I have taught all year. Many facts are playing into this comment. First off, they're government and move at a snail's pace. Second, they're Floridians which means I hate them just on principle. Then there's the age thing. I can tell that most of them are lifers who have been at this job for 20 years and still don't know how to use a fucking computer. Add all this into 10 of them being in a conference room and you have recipe for stupidity. Just one more day of them and then I move on to another group. My next group is at 7am too so I don't have to be up so damn early. I am feeling cheated out of my weekend right now which isn't helping matter either. We started 20 minutes late and finished at 1:30 pretty much on the dot. I fell asleep for about an hour after class.

For dinner we had these 'buckets o food'. At Freddie's now, they have this self service area where you can get different frozen food which you just heat up for 8-12 minutes on the stove. B had beef tenderloin with mushrooms and gravy while I had shrimp in pasta. Both were actually pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised.

We watched some tv and I went to bed at 9:30. B was up until l2:30 because that's when I woke up and saw her in bed still scrolling. I think it's starting to set in that she is leaving in a few days. She always gets anxious before a trip. This one she is taking the red-eye which will be a new experience for her. It's a direct flight which is nice, but she isn't used to be at airports at 10pm. I can see the anxiety starting to creep in a bit.

One more day of this group, then three days of another group, then an 8:30 class on Monday, and a 6am NJ class next week. Fuck. Do I get a break? Yes. 12/22. That's my last class of the year. I can make it.

Y9 D192

Neither B nor I is doing well right at the moment. The Indian food is coming back at both of us with a vengeance. I got up at 3:17 and it's now 3:41, what does that tell you? Ooo body. It's going to be a long day, let me tell you.

We went out to Target early in the morning for a couple of things for B for her trip. She has to attend a graduation (college), a party (family), and some other thing where people will be dressed up. For one of the few times in recent days she needs to wear makeup but doesn't want to have to check a bag. We are going to ship a package ahead of time to make sure she has what she needs. Luckily she needs most of it for later in the week and the weekend so we should have plenty of time.

Beyond that, we spent the day in the house. We went to a new Mexican restaurant for dinner which was REALLY good. More upscale items like jicama and pepino and pozole. I know pozole isn't fancy, but it's hard to find on a lot of menus for some reason. I think because it is 'real' mexican food versus americanized mexican food.  There is a difference.

Came back and alternated between the bathroom and video game playing. Went to bed around 9:30 because I had to be up now.

Time to deal with a bunch of people in fucking Florida for two days. Oh boy. Such fun.

Y9 D191

I finally am home. I get to stay here for a while too thank goodness. I had such a long day yesterday I ended up going to bed at 9 and sleeping all the way until 5. I have been up for a while but was putting away laundry as I had one more load I didn't finish last night. But now things are done and I can enjoy my 20 hours of weekend. Whee.

Left the hotel at 4:30 yesterday. Even though my flight didn't board until 8:30 I wanted to get there early to talk to a ticket agent. While I was issued a boarding pass from the agent in TN, when I tried to use the app it kept telling me I needed to check in. But if I did, it would just kick me back out. While it showed me on the flight, it didn't show me with a seat or give me an option to pick one. I needed to make 100% sure I really did have the seat I had on that flight. I was in 6A according to my boarding pass. The ticket agent confirmed that her system showed me as 6A as well and that the app was just being stupid. Fair enough. This is why I get paper ticket, mobile ticket, and use the app. Trust no bitch.

Went and sat in the admiral's club where I ended up falling asleep at a cube for 30 minutes. I had plenty of time and the club was at the gate I needed to be at. I was able to leave the club 5 minutes before my flight and still waited three.

Boarded, got fed, napped for an hour, landed at 11:15. My driver was there and he got me home at a little before noon.

I just went and checked my AA balance out of curiosity to see if this weekend posted. It did. I have flown officially 65,300 miles this year. God, one UK trip in December and I could have finally hit the next tier. Technically this runs through January so who knows. Maybe I could do it. I would be "Platinum Pro".  That would be insane.

Unpacked a little then got in the car to head to the urgent care clinic. We checked in at 12:51pm. It was about 1:45 by the time they called me back. Then I waited in a room. The clinic is not cool. It's one of those temporary spaces where nothing feels real. It was really weird. They are rebuilding the facility and you can tell they moved this into a space just to move it. I sat back in the room until finally a PA came in. I explained what was going on and he returned with these magnifying head glasses and a scalpel, tweezers, and clamps. Oh boy!

After digging for 10 minutes he managed to get out SOME of the stitch. Not all. Lovely. I still have the 'knot' buried in there. Time. That's all I can do at this point. I am luckily not infected, but it's still painful to touch/rub/etc and I have to watch the wound, clean it, and keep it 'soft' with something like aquaphor. By the time we finally got back home it was after 3:30. To recap, I was up 1am PST and finally was able to sit down at home at 3pm PST. That was my Saturday.

For dinner we had Indian. Wasn't about to cook. Swapped out laundry which we had started before we left, then went to dinner. The place where we have Indian is in a Pottery Barn White People zone and they were having some bullshit kid's Christmas thing in the park. It was packed with annoying children and their parents. None of them were eating Indian food and the restaurant was no more crowded than usual at least. One small miracle.

Got back home around 6:30 and we both were exhausted. We did more laundry, I wrapped some presents which had come, and then we both just vegged out until 9 when I gave up the ghost. No plans for today, but I do need to do my timesheet and expense report. That's as much energy as I plan on putting out there.

Y9 D190

And this is why I don't like same day flights. What's that? You thought I was at home writing this at 1:23am? Oh no dear reader, I am in a hotel adjacent to DFW. Oh yes, that's right. I spent the night at an airport hotel because I landed 3 minutes before my flight left and there was no way I was making it from terminal B to Terminal A. Not happening any time soon.

It has been a stressful 24 hours let me tell you.

Did I mention the fact my scrotum is on fire and bleeding? Yeah.

Let's start with that. So the right side has decided it doesn't want to heal like the left. Instead my damn mutant healing factor decided to start healing OVER the stitches instead of waiting for them to dissolve like the left side. So now I have a hardened piece of flesh with a stitch embedded under it all red and bloody. Needless to say walking and sitting in clothing has not been fun. I have to get to a doctor today but I won't land until 11:15, get home around 12:10, then have to drive to the urgent care 15 miles away on a saturday in traffic. Rock on.

I did a half day session with my client (while in pain and knowing I was having problems) and wrapped up at 12. Only one problem happened during the class. Our remote server got hit by ransomware and the entire system was encrypted demanding bitcoin payment. I am not joking. Someone did a random attack on an AWS server and tried to hold it hostage. Luckily all I had to do was bring it down and bring up another but that killed 40 minutes of the time I had with the students.

Got outside and guess who wasn't there? That's right. I did have a backup phone number in case of this emergency and look story short, I managed to get a cab and get to the airport by 1:30. I had 2.5 hours to kill. Okay. At 3:40 it became apparent our flight wasn't coming in. Stand in line. Get rerouted. What? There's no other flight home at this time of night? What a shock, put me on the morning flight. Excuse me while my balls bleed all over everything.

So here I am. Angry. Tired. In pain. And I don't get home for another 10 hours. Fuck. My. Life.

Y9 D189

It's very weird getting up and not immediately heading out to the airport. I feel like I need to rush and then I remember, no, your flight isn't until 4pm. Ugh. I hate same day flights. So frustrating.

Had a better day mostly yesterday. No technical issues but I the material wasn't really appropriate for the group. It was a rehash of the first three days. We ended up finishing at 4pm and that was even with a lot of side discussions. It's not my fault they agreed to a class that didn't fit with the flow but I am the one who will take the blame in the end. Whatever. I do know they are planning more work with us as a company in general so that's good.

I finally had to eat out last night. I made it through all my leftovers and was out of food. I went to a BBQ place which wasn't bad at all. I ended up with leftovers and I am going to try to take it with me to eat at the airport since I didn't get my upgrade on my first flight. This way I won't be starving when I get home tonight at 10:30pm. It's going to be a long damn day. Up at 1:30am PST and home at 10:30pm PST. Double ugh.

I forgot my mouse at the client last night. Thank goodness I am going back today. I can't afford to not have a mouse. It stopped me from being able to play any games last night. I ended up watching tv and going to bed at 9:30. Mostly out of sheer boredom. I did get some decent sleep. Even barring the fact that I woke up at 11:45pm feeling like it was morning. Some day I will have a normal people sleep schedule. Some day.

Today is the last day. Open discussion. I hate this shit because people expect me to be some superhero and I am only okay. I don't know all the magical ins and outs of these things people. I do my best.

Speaking of superheroes, I am loving the Infinity War trailer. Finally after 10 years we get everyone together in one big romping movie. About damn time.

I am stressed about getting to the airport this afternoon. My cabbie from Sunday hasn't called to confirm. I do have the number of a backup cabbie at least from the front desk, but that means I may have to sit and wait. Once again, fuck same day travel.

I need breakfast.

Y9 D188

Yesterday was rough. We dealt with a lot of stupid little issues. First the versions of the document didn't match the environment. Then the machines being older had issues. Then there problems due to security on the machines. Then there were network issues. It was just one thing after another. I was very frustrated and exhausted by the time the day was over. I went for a walk at lunch with the group and because of all these little issues, I ended up not even eating my lunch. I had a cold steak sandwich and fries for dinner. Wonderful.

It was just a long tiring day. I did the best I could given the situation but I felt like the day was not as valuable as the first two. I have one more day of formal material to get through, then a half day of just talking about things on Friday. Then I can go home. Thank goodness.

Other than eating my lunch for dinner, didn't do much at night. I am having some issues post-surgery I am dealing with right now. My right side is not healing the same as the left. There's a little piece of stitch buried under the skin and since I have been wearing real clothes this week, it's rubbing and causing me pain. I was able to speak with my doctor last night and he did give me some suggestions, but short of coming back in to have the piece of stitch removed, there's not much else he can do. I may have to go in after work next week and get things looked at.

Watched some tv, went to bed at 10. Got one upgrade already. Surprisingly on my second flight and not my first. I can't believe there's that many people going out of TN ahead of me. But this is why I don't like taking midday flights. Every other business person is trying to get home by Friday night too. We are all competing on a very small plane. Hopefully it will come through but seeing as it's a 2 hour flight, I am not worried about it. It's the longer one home that's more important and that one is already confirmed.

Next week is all over the map still. I wasn't able to nail down any solid times on Weds-Fri yet. I know what I am doing Mon - Tues. Solid 5:30 - 1:30 classes. Easy enough. It's the rest of the week I am worried about. We'll figure it out today hopefully. Tomorrow's the first and that means bills bills and then some more bills. Fun stuff.

Y9 D187

Got my official email from American last night letting me know I hit Platinum for another year. Came close to the wire this year. I was worried I might have to take a quick random trip somewhere to make that last $128 I needed. Fly to Seattle or something to rack up the points. But luckily this trip pushed me over the top. I should finish the year with about 175,000 miles available. I need 160 for the ticket to Australia. Looking good. That trip is at least 5 months away but I am getting excited. I haven't gone anywhere good for fun like this since my 2009 adventures. I need a good fun trip. Soon baby, soon.

Day two went without incident. Got through everything and finished around 4:45. Walked back to the hotel, ate my leftover pizza, and watched some tv. The hotel got very crowded last night. Some kind of convention or something must be going down. I am very near the convention center here and it looked like people knew each other. I should look that up real quick. Don't see anything on their website. Must just be a lot of people in town. Odd.

That is about it. I dealt with my boss and calendar changes for the next few weeks. People moving things around on him means moving things around on me. Sometimes we go too far out of our way to accommodate people in my mind. But whatever. I would rather have stuff to do than sit around stressed out about an empty calendar. It's just that next week for example I have some days starting at 5, some days at 7, and some at 8:30. That's the part that drives me nuts. I can't plan for things when shit gets turned upside down and is different every day. Sigh.

Day three. It should be a light day today. Finish by 4 if all goes well.

Y9 D186

Another group of students who can't seem to be bothered to show up on time. This time however I didn't let it stress me out. When it was apparent that over half the class wasn't going to get there by 8:30, I said fuck it, we're now going from 9-5. Can't show up on time? Fine, we stay late. Your problem, not mine. Let me tell you, half the class was pretty pissed off. Blame your co-workers people, not me. For the record, the missing students? All fucking Indian. Plus they all were bathing in cologne and I ended up with a splitting headache before the day was over. Why are they so rude and impossible to work with?? Drives me nuts.

Other than not being able to respect the time, the rest of the day went fine. We managed to finish up a little past 4:30 which wasn't horrible but still, I didn't like getting on site at 7 and having to wait. Plus they have the most rude security procedure. Full metal detector, bag scanner, AND wand after going through the metal detector. What the serious fuck? You're a power company, not fort knox. Punk ass bitches.

Took a shuttle over, walked back. Not a bad walk in the afternoon. Took me about 20 minutes to walk back as I did it at a leisurely pace. Didn't rush. Stopped at a cupcake shop and got a strawberry ice cream cupcake. That was my dinner. I'm an adult.

Watched some tv, went to bed at 10. I did manage to get credit for the first half of my flight on my AA account and I hit my numbers for next year. Another year of Platinum status. If I could score one big trip in December to like the UK, I could even hit the next level. Technically I have until January for it to roll over so who knows, it could happen.

Same schedule and game plan for today. I moved the start for the rest of the week. Let's see if these fuckers try to come in after 9. I am starting without them today. Don't have time to play your fucking games.

Y9 D185

While it was busy for a Sunday, it wasn't the hell I was expecting at any of the airports. It was definitely more busy than an average Sunday for sure, but not horrible. I even managed to get my first upgrade at the last minute. I was first on the list when I got to the airport and cleared right at boarding. Works for me. DFW was more crowded than PDX had been but it was tolerable. My flight to TN was maybe 80% full. Funny enough, while I waited for that flight I was looking around and I managed to pick out 5 out the 9 of us who would be in first. Two I would have never picked because they were college kids looking like they were flying on mom and dad's dime. The other two I just didn't see in the waiting area. Overall my arriving in TN was pretty uneventful.

When I landed I was shocked at how small the airport was. I turned the corner from my gate and poof, I was past security. I had to do a double-take to make sure I was really out of the secured area. I then went to find the taxi line and there wasn't one. Just taxis waiting at the curb. I picked one and boy was that a mistake. My driver was a former radio preacher who played Jesus music and quoted scripture. Sigh, okay buddy, you keep that to yourself. Luckily it was only a 15 minute drive and he agreed to pick me up on friday. Hey, sometimes you deal with shit because it's easier that way.

My hotel is good. Once again I am at a Doubletree and they are consistently good. Quality room, good layout, proper amenities. The internet has no issues and I am happy. I ordered a pizza for dinner to have food for the week. I don't know what the lunch situation will be like this week and I wanted to make sure I have a plan.

Watched some tv and went to bed around 10. I have a shuttle lined up for this morning so I don't have to walk there. I will walk back, but this way I won't arrive all sweaty and nasty. Breakfast in 75 minutes and then I am off. Four full days, then I head home and 10 days later B is off to MI. Then? Then it's fucking Christmas bitches!

Y9 D184

Of all the days I have to travel, the Sunday after thanksgiving? Really? Fuck me. I am leaving in 90 minutes even though I don't board until 5:30 to allow for extra people on the road, extra people at the airport, etc. I didn't get my upgrade so I am stuck in the back for 5 hours. I have a tight layover which is good? It means I have to haul ass off the plane though. That's the part that sucks. I have a ton of people in front of me that need to MOVE. ugh. My day in a nutshell.

Yesterday the kid came by and said goodbye around 7. Here bf finally said thank you for everything. I just think he is severely socially awkward. A perfect fit for her. They got home around 3. Other than a trip to the pet store, I didn't leave the house. Stayed in, had leftovers for dinner. Finished last minute packing.

That's about it. Nothing exciting. Tomorrow will be all about my adventures traveling today. Fun stuff to look forward to tomorrow.

Y9 D183

I just saw I typo'd yesterday in the very first line - Firday. Oh see, now spell check catches it. Where were you yesterday? Huh??

I had a rough day. I woke up with back pain which set the mood. I made everyone waffles and both B and I noticed that the kid's bf doesn't seem to know how to say thank you. This bothers me. We studied him throughout the day and it seems that overall he doesn't have quite the right social skills. He seems genuinely grateful for things, but doesn't know how to express it. Interesting.

We took the train downtown, went to Powells, had lunch, shopped, came back, and they went off to the hotel for a while and B went and laid down. The whole day had put her on sensory overload and I was having a hard time dealing with it. While she slept, I dealt with a USPS fuck-up. They mis-delivered three packages and while I know where they are, I can't do anything about it. They gave me the wrong parcel locker key. I need them to give me the right one but I have to somehow catch them today. It's going to be rough. I need to stalk the mailbox all day. Fun times.

They came back and we went to the zoo for zoo lights. That was fun. Crowded and almost not happening, but it was fun. On the way home we stopped at Freddies so he could take home a growler of Oregon beer.

Went to bed around midnight. Today I stalk mail. Then I go to TN tomorrow.

Y9 D182

I swear to fucking god if I get one more "BLACK FIRDAY STARTS NOW" bullshit fucking email I am going to lose it. Oh wait. Already did.

Had a great time with the kid and her bf yesterday. They got here around 11, we hung out until 3 when I took them over to the hotel and checked them in, then they came back around 5 and we ate. We played games, we did early Christmas. Everyone (including us) was happy with their gifts. They brought us shirts from the kid's work INCLUDING one that she designed. I will proudly wear that around. I also got the poster she designed for a charity event she worked recently. Going to have it framed.

He's a good guy. I worry about their long term viability because he seems to have some plans for the future that I don't know if they will line up with what she wants/needs. But we shall see. She has never been one for the whole marriage/kids thing and maybe that will be okay. Time will tell.

I did have to go out in the morning for milk but otherwise stayed inside most of the day. We prepped things in the morning for the evening feasting. We had ham, turkey, rolls, green beans, gnocchi, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and for dessert a butterscotch bundt cake with rice krispie treats. A good feast was had by all.

The dishes are all cleaned already. Today we are taking them downtown on the train. Then tonight, zoo lights at the zoo. Should be fun time for all.

Got one upgrade confirmed for Sunday and unfortunately not the one I wanted. I got my DFW to TN flight. The whole 1 hour one. I don't expect the DFW one but I can hope.

Y9 D181

HAPPY TURKEY DAY! No, I don't really care that it's Thanksgiving. I didn't suddenly have some change of heart about one of the most bullshit days ever. BUT I am excited because the kid is coming, I get to meet her stupid bf finally, and tomorrow we're doing baby Christmas. So for all that, I am like WOOOO!.

Taught my class, finished hella early. Not my fault I finally had a smart group of people. Seriously, these two were the smartest students I have had in this class all damn year. They were great. I look forward to having them in future classes.

I was supposed to go to the store this morning to get something and I failed to write it on the list so now I have completely forgotten what I needed. Dammit. I am going to go to the store anyway since I need toothpaste and hope it jogs my brain.

After class we finished all our cleaning. We broke a glass jar we use to keep knives in (by 'we' I mean B) so I had to hit the store to replace it. That was oodles of fun. We did Mexican for dinner since the kitchen was clean and neither of us wanted to ruin that.

I made a cake for tonight. Butterscotch Bundt. It looks really good. Here's hoping it tastes good. Went to bed around 11. Now to enjoy the next couple of days before heading to TN.

Y9 D180

About halfway through the year. Only Another 180 or so days to go. Will we make it that long? Will things be so fucked up none of us WANT to make it that long? I just can't get over the shit this administration is doing. So much evil. Fuck Charles Manson. Real evil lives in DC.

Speaking of dead people, as expected we lost David Cassidy. That one was expected at some point.

I still miss Carrie Fisher.

Taught day two and finished around 2.

We started 'the cleaning' yesterday. Scrubbing tubs. All the laundry. Vacuuming. Food prep. The kid will be here in about 24 hours. B is going to do the rest of the cleaning while I work today. It shall all be done and we shall touch nothing for 24 hours. These are the rules.

B had group last night. It went well from what I could gather. I only saw her for about 15 minutes after as I went to bed close to her getting home.

Day three then let the four day weekend begin. Oh wait. I only get 3 days because I have to fly to TN on Sunday. Boo. But it will give me the last few miles and dollars I need so yay? Let's see if I get any upgrades. Not expecting any given the time of year but one can hope.

Y9 D179

Once again I am tired with following the news. I can't keep up with the shit this administration is pulling. Between late night tax approvals to Ajit "My fucking mug is too big and I am dick" Pai trying to once more kill net neutrality. It's overwhelming. Which is exactly how they want it. They want you to be so distracted and fed up that things can just slip on by. This shit needs to stop. Trophy hunting in Africa. Back door shenanigans happening all around us. Enough already. There has to be a way to stop it. All the sexual misconduct stuff going on too is just a distraction. A sad horrible one but it's all a distraction. How is it that Weinstein gets his fucking life turned upside down but the cheeto keeps going even when there are videos? How? Are these people that spineless? Or are they getting so many favors they don't care? Fuck em all.

Haven't checked to see who's dead yet today. Della Reese went yesterday. David Cassidy still alive?

Me? I taught. Two students both dead and boring. They're smart but not interactive. Don't know which is worse. Sitting there like lumps or not following along. Whatever. It's a short week. Just got to make it through.

Made hamburger helper for dinner. Yeah, I know it's gross and lazy but we wanted it. Leave us be.

Tried watching a new show last night. It wasn't bad but neither of us could really focus on it. It just couldn't keep our attention. Haven, based on the book "The Colorado Kid" by Stephen King. We will keep at it but it may be meh.

I was really tired last night and fell asleep at 9:40. I am old. Leave me be.

Day two of three. Sigh. I can do this.

Y9 D178

And here we are back on the early morning special. 4am for the next three days at least. Maybe more. Definitely from Sunday on. Whatever it is what it is. It pays the bills and puts the food on the table.

We did something B wanted to do yesterday. Took up a good 3 hours of the day. We went back to color me mine. She likes that place. It makes her happy so whatever. $70 to paint two ceramic items but hey, it was fun. I did a gnome. She did another coffee cup. After there we came on home and relaxed. Aka she took a nap and I played video games. Had pork chops for dinner which we haven't had for quite some time. I enjoyed them. As of 9am today one week will have transpired since my surgery. I will be off all warnings. - lifting, sex, etc. I don't seem to have any side effects but I do have some scar tissue on one side from where they made the incision. Oh well.

That's all for me today. Just a bit of rambling. Only three days until the kid arrives!! I am looking forward to that.

Y9 D177

This was my last day for at least if not three weeks where I didn't have to get up early and I wanted to take advantage of that. Hence why I slept in until 6. Went to bed around 10:30 or so which means I got almost a full 8 hours of sleep. Go me!

Before we get into it, I was saddened yesterday by the latest celebrity death. This one hit very close to home and affected me for the rest of the day. Malcolm Young, co-founder and rhythm guitarist for AC/DC passed away at 64 of natural causes. He had been suffering from dementia for the last three years and was slowly fading away. No scary drug overdose (he had been sober since 1985 or 86), no suicide. Just age and the universe. They were one of the most influential bands on me ever. They were my first real rock band. My first concert. I own an SG guitar because of them. I met him once. Not like full on but we were all standing in line to get into a show one night and he came by the line and said hello on his way in. I was always thought that was a nice thing to do. Just very polite. He was always the hard working one of the band. The 9-5 kind of guy. He was credited with writing every single song they ever recorded. Go look at the album sleeves. He gets writing credit on all of them. A great guitarist who will truly be missed. Rock In Peace.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming:

Around here Christmas has arrived!! That's right. All the decorations are up including the tree. Presents are all underneath. Before we get riled up, we figured out a few things. First off, this week while the kid is here we're going to do baby Xmas with them where we exchange gifts. But then, I am gone the 26th - 1st, then B is gone the 11th - 18th. That's a good chunk of holiday time gone. We wanted to make up for it. We did go do a little shopping yesterday. Partially for decorations, partly for gifts, partly for winter clothes. I heard on the radio that it will be another cold, snowy winter and I want to be ready for it. Also Santa may have found me the most bitchin' pimpin' robe ever. It was a pain to wrap but so worth it. I also got a couple more things for the kid's bf. He got a variety 12 pack of 10 Barrel Brewing beer. It's a local brewery and thought it was a nice gift. This way he now has 4 things to open. Make him feel included.

I brought everything up in the morning and then it took us most of the night to get it all setup. Tree in different spots, this over there, move this around. we did it with minimal furniture disruption this year. Go us. It's our 3rd Xmas here too we realized. Wow. Stop moving time. K thanks.

We had tacos for dinner, tried watching a new show (it was awful), and then off to bed for me. B is still on antibiotics and is on a 9-5-1 schedule. Of course she is. Ironically if it were me it would 5-1-9. But okay. I have three days of classes this week but only two students. It will be a full week, but a light week. No plans for today. Just stay inside and maybe watch a couple of movies.

Y9 D176

Did my grocery shopping oh yeah! I had two lists to work off of, one regular one holiday, and it made for a challenging trip, but I was in the store early enough that I could take my time, switch between lists and not both anyone. I do so love shopping early. I remember doing it with the kid when she was a baby. We would be at the store before 7am. She would sit in the cart and munch on mushrooms while I got shopping ahead of the masses. Simpler times. Got back from shopping, put everything away, dove into some work. Got some remote stuff lined up for the first week of December now. No travel thank goodness but billable hours. December was looking a little light and we always want to end the year strong if we can.

Other than that, didn't do a whole lot. Hit the pet store later for some fish stuff. Took B to get some things she needed. Wrapped a Christmas present. Today I am bringing the stuff up from the garage so we can Xmas this place up. Excited about that.

We had Thai for dinner. Watched some tv. I was a bit sore still yesterday but not too bad. A couple of times I had some soreness and was like why does that hurt, oh yeah, I got cut up 4 days ago.

This weekend no plans that I know about. We are 5 days from the kid visiting, 8 from me going out of town, and 894 hours until Christmas!!

Y9 D175

Happy fucking Friday bitches!! Wooo! Why am I excited? Because it's grocery shopping day! Because of the whole paycheck snafu two weeks ago I have been cautious this week on spending large drops of money. We need not only groceries for us, but also for the kid's visit and Thanksgiving next week. Which means it will be a larger than normal trip. I wanted to wait until today to go. This is also why I am up so early. I want to be at and in that store by 5:30am. I think I can do it.

Still sore from my surgery. Not horribly so though. I still don't think they need to send you home with so many pain killers. I can feel the stitches which is weird. They also say to watch for any blood or oozing but I have been okay on that front. Just lumpy in two spots where they made the incisions. The stitches should dissolve fully in 10 days total which means I have a good six days to go before there's a problem. Very bruised though for sure.

Did some more work on stuff and waited for a call. The call never came but it's not my issue. I will throw this fucker under the bus. We agreed to work with some external consultant from Orange County on adding some material to one of our classes. He was supposed to call me yesterday. I did some internet stalking of him and he is a white ass chicken shit republican fucktard whose kids play water polo and will be going to Stanford. So, yeah, fuck you. I have no love for you or desire to talk to you.

Took B to the doctor. $35 co-pay for literally six minutes of doctor time. Pissed me off. But she is improving and has 4 more days of antibiotics to go.

We powered through the rest of the ST2. It's rare when you find a show where season 2 is as good or better than season 1. They managed to pull it off except for episode 7. If you've watched the show, you know what I am talking about.

Went to bed around 10:30 so I could be up early. Let's go get them groceries!! Oh and pay bills. And order a picture frame. And...

Y9 D174

I was listening to a show on NPR last night on my way to the store (we were out of toilet paper and while I really didn't want to leave the house, I did anyway). The show was asking "In the case of sexual misconduct, is your companies HR department on your side or the company?". You're kidding, right? I mean, it's in the name Human RESOURCES. This is the biggest joke ever. On your side. You are a RESOURCE. You mean no more to the organization than a chair or a laptop. You are a NUMBER. You are an inventoried, allocated RESOURCE. While I am sure there are individuals who get into the field and department for altruistic reasons, even they must know on some level their real job is managing assets and resources and at the end of the day, the company is always right. If I were off-base, we wouldn't have to have 3rd party whistle blower protection. We wouldn't have wrongful termination. But after the dust settles, it's all about protecting the company, doing what's right for the company, saving face for the company, etc. If we really wanted a department that was looking out for the individual, how about we start with the name? Employee Liaison,  Employee Assistance, Employee Whatever - anything that shows the employee is put first. But yeah, we all know when that's going to happen.

A bit more sore yesterday than Tuesday. Got uncomfortable quicker. Part of it I think is because I was finally able to shower and moving things around didn't help. I had to go up and down the stairs a few times too and all the bouncing was not in my best interest.

Did some more document work, answered a few emails, prepped for TN. A mostly productive workday.

Made chicken and mac n cheese for dinner.

Watched more Stranger Things. Man Will cannot catch a break.

Went to bed around 10:30. Not much else going on. One more day until payday and I can pay some bills. Second to last Xmas present arrived. One more scheduled for tomorrow and we are done and done. I kept it down to about 60 presents so I am happy. Now to stare at them for a month. Whee! We will bring up the tree and the like this weekend. Get this mother decorated.

Y9 D173

Men are big whiny bitches. Or at least that's how every man on TV has ever been portrayed in any sitcom ever. Because of that it's leaked into daily society. What am I talking about? Why the hell did I get 15 pain pills? You know how many I took yesterday? Zero. Didn't need a single one. Don't get me wrong, this isn't completely pain free, but it's more obnoxious pain than bed ridden popping pain pills pain. It's soreness and annoying. Like after sitting too long working I was uncomfortable and need to stretch out for a while, you know? I wasn't moaning or complaining.

Now B on the other hand was having some major issues. I did have to take her to the doctor yesterday. She got some kind of infection which caused the right side of her face to swell up and look like she had been in a fight. They gave her some heavy duty antibiotics to deal with the issue. Plus she had to do warm compresses all day and night. She was in more pain than me for sure. I offered her one of my pain pills.

I did manage to work on a really important document. At least I discovered it was important after distributing it and seeing everyone's response. One of the software products we use has been in Beta and we just finished up the Beta 2 cycle. I decided to do a write-up on the new features including known issues as I am one of the few (if not only) people participating in the beta. It ended up being a 5 page document complete with illustrations on some of the new features. Well, it was quite positively received. Cool. Made me feel like I was able to contribute even in my 'oh so painful' state. It took me a few hours to work and I will admit I was sore from sitting in the chair after finishing.

That was pretty much my day. We finally started Stranger Things 2. We watched two episodes last night and then we worked on reorganizing B's bathroom. That took a while for sure. When we were done it was time for me to hit the sack. A repeat of yesterday is on tap for today. Had a couple of Xmas presents arrive yesterday and one more today coming. I need to hit the store this morning for some batteries but otherwise, not too much on the horizon. One week until the kid visits for Thanksgiving! I need to go shopping on Friday to get all the ingredients. Fun fun.

Y9 D172

I guess I am supposed to be in pain right now? But I'm not? I really think this is a case of too many men being whiny bitches. I am doing fine, thanks.

Got up yesterday honestly feeling mostly apathetic to what lie ahead for me for the day. I was up at 4:30, needed to leave at 7:30. I got up, did my normal morning stuff, watched Sunday night shows, woke B up at 7:10 and headed over to Kaiser at 7:30 on the dot. I was upstairs waiting to be checked in at 7:40. 7:45am all 'paperwork' was done and I was ready for my 8am surgery. I use paperwork in quotes because they really do it all electronically at Kaiser. Yeah because I have spent the last 10 years making them focus on their damn data! Go me. 7:55am they called me, took me to a room, went over things one more time, blood pressure check, vitals check, undress, lay down, and the nurse then spent a few minutes strategically placing things. What was I doing? Watching The Orville on my tablet. Before she did anything by the way, she asked twice if I already had children and if I was sure I wanted to do this. Yep, I am sure, let's keep going.

8:02, doctor comes in, introduces himself and his assistant. We make a couple of minutes of small talk and then HE asks me, do you have children, are you sure you want to do this. My response was "I had one 25 years ago, if I haven't had once since, I am probably pretty damn sure." His response was 'yeah, you've had some time to think about this '. Also said to both him and the nurse "my self worth is not wrapped up in my genitalia or my ability to procreate". They both appreciated that and got cracking. He explained a couple of things and I told him the headphones were going back on, tap me on the head if you need anything because I can't hear ya. Anesthetic inserted left side, work work work, 8 minutes later anesthetic other side, work work work, 7 minutes after that, done. How do I know the times? Was watching a tv show. I knew how long everything was. Good episode once again. Loving that show. It got renewed for a second season already which is great.

Anyway, finished up, got dressed, escorted out with an ice pack down my pants. Got home and B tried her best to make me 'bed rest'. I did good for a while. I took two Norco (they gave me 15) which did cause me to take a nap eventually. I slept from about 11:30 to 1. They told me the anesthesia would wear off around 10 and I should take pills before hand. Okay. I took two to be safe. When I woke up, I checked things out. Got rid of the 'packing material' they had used. All looked good. No major swelling, no real problems. I sat back on the couch. I did my best sitting until about 4. I was done at that point. I got restless. I wrapped some Christmas presents and started moving. I am not going to violate the no lifting part or the showering part (can't shower until this afternoon, can't lift anything over 10 lbs for like a week). But the sitting in one spot part? Nope. I am done with that shit.

In work news, I confirmed and booked TN. I leave 11/26 through 12/1. There's my much needed final trip for the year. I will have another year of Platinum access. Boom baby. Other than that, I caught up on some emails, responded to some stuff from random clients, and played with a beta of some software. That's mostly the plan for today as well. Write a blog post up, keep it light.

On the phone front, I have definitely narrowed it down to WiFi related issues. Once again, went to bed at 10:30 and got up just now at 5 and lost 6% while on data only. I have it set for WiFi currently and am going to test loss for the next 5 hours. I am at 93%. If I go down more then 6% something is fucking wrong with a runaway app and I need to figure out which one. Annoying as hell.

So that's my big adventure in having a vasectomy. I will be officially sterile in 4 months or roughly 30 ejaculations. Which ever comes first. No big deal, no trauma. Just another day.

Y9 D171

Good news bad news. My phone only lost 4% last night. Went to bed at 100, woke up to 96. What did I do different? I turned off WiFi. So something is set up to sync in the middle of the night OR it's struggling in the bedroom at night to get a wireless signal. I now need to investigate network usage per app and see what's going on. The bad news is I woke up and didn't have mail notifications. Saw them on the computer, but not on my phone. Okay, the mail app is set to not update in the middle of the night? Let's figure out why.

I will get to the bottom of this. I really am trying to hold off on buying a new phone as long as I can. I don't feel like spending $800 on a damn phone.

My day started with a phone call from Amazon. After all the issues I had this week, they had asked for a phone number so we could discuss. I gave them a number with instructions to call after 9am PST. So when did they call? 6:21am PST. Idiots. Upside is I was put through to someone in Amazon Logistics (AMZL). I got to speak with this person for about 45 minutes. We went over the process, the current issues, etc. Was a productive phone call.

We got a lot accomplished yesterday. We cleaned house, went to target, did some grocery shopping, laundry, dyed my hair, and the big one, a full water change and tank clean. That took us forever. We even added a second filter to the tank. Our day was spent mostly dealing with that.

For dinner we lazied up and did one of those meal in the bag things. It was okay. Neither of us was thrilled by it, but it was for convenience and we acknowledge that. I went to bed around 10, don't know when B went yet. But I am worried as she has to be up at 7am to take me to the doctor and she ended up taking a 2 hour nap at 4pm yesterday. I know it threw off her sleep schedule.

Why does B have to get up early? It's surgery day kids. Off for a little snip. 7:30 we are leaving here. Should be back home by 9 if all goes well. Then I get to sit in bed all day and do nothing. Woo! Wish me luck and hope for no complications.

Y9 D170

LOTS of stuff to go over today, but let's start with some of the immediate issues. First off WTF IS WRONG WITH MY PHONE?? 93% battery loss in 6.5 hours doing nothing but sitting on my nightstand? How much fucking battery does an LED use? Because that's the only thing that was going on all night. I just went and read some articles. I have some things now to look at once it is fully charged to see if I can narrow down what is going on. It only does this shit at night while idle. Something is sucking up things at night and it is annoying as fuck.

Second immediate thing - my right is killing me and I think it is my fault. In my dream there was something in my eye and I kept rubbing it. When I woke up my right eye was red. I think I was rubbing it in my sleep and irritated. Now I have phantom issues with my eye. It feels like something is in there but I know its not. Ugh.

4am and things are already annoying. Sigh.

We had an extremely productive day yesterday. We got up early and we were on the road by 7am. We drove to Bend and looked around. Unfortunately the one house we had hoped to look at turned out to be a bust, but we did have some awesome pizza, talk to a realtor about areas that would work in town, and found some great places that could in fact work for us. All we need now is 10k. Anyone want to help? Just 10k, not too much, right? Sigh more.

We did check out a lot of things in town and we think this is the best place for us to move in the future. We just need the fucking down payment. That's all. Nothing major. But we found houses on 1/4 acre lots for 225 - 250. That's a $1500 a month mortgage even with PMI and taxes. So frustrating that I can't just pull the trigger and be done with it. Make me want to cry. A lot.

On the way home we stopped in Sisters and looked at some antique stores. Found a couple of Christmas presents.

Speaking of Xmas presents, we got home around 6 and one of ours had yet to be delivered. But wait! It shows delivered on Amazon's site!! Turns out that the local AMZL delivery guy FUCKED UP AGAIN and brought it to the wrong building. I am getting really tired of this guy. He is horrible.

Went to bed around 9:30 because we both were so exhausted.

Today nothing. Tomorrow surgery.