Y8 D339

I find it funny that the "Kansas City" of "Kansas City, Here I Come" fame is in MO not KS. No one ever sings "Wichita, here I come!". Because, well, it's Wichita. Ask me in 12 hours how it is and I will let you know.

Did as much of my shit before 8am as I could yesterday. Laundry, repacking, groceries, timesheet, expense report, post office, you name it, if I could get it done, I did. By the time B got up at 10, all the trivial stuff was done.

When she did get up we decided to go to the mall. I need a new pair of shoes finally. My main work shoes, that I bought in 2005/2006, have finally given up the ghost. Last week I tried wearing a different pair (purchased 2009) and they were very uncomfortable. I need a pair of good, long lasting dress shoes. Nothing cheap, nothing flimsy. We went to a bunch of different stores and I found a pair at Nordstrom that I liked. $350. But given how much they were, I wanted to do some research first. They seem to have good reviews and I will probably go back next weekend and get them. I have enough upcoming trips that it won't be an issue to wait one more week.

Got back home around 3 and relaxed. B took a brief nap from 3:30 to 5 and then made dinner. Soup, salad, and homemade poutine. Because reasons. Watched TV and I went to bed around 9:30.

I have a 4:30 pickup with a 6:45 boarding time today. Got both of my upgrades already so no stress there. Will get breakfast en route to DFW. Not sure if I get anything from DFW to ICT since it's only an 1:20 minute flight. Get in around 4pm local time. Need to hit a Target or something when I land. Busy day ahead.

Y8 D338

Sometimes minor travel miracles do happen. I was scheduled to land at 11pm. That flight last I heard was getting in around 2am instead. I wouldn't know because I managed to get home at 8pm. Score.

I went to the client from 8-12 and they were so respectful of me being out of there by noon that at ten minutes to the hour, the coordinator told everyone that's it, he needs to leave. That was really awesome. He then made sure my driver could find me. Good people.

Here was my original flights: msp to phx 5:45 - 7:10, phx to pdx 8:10 - 11. Well seeing as I was at the airport a heck of a lot earlier than planned, I immediately went to the counter to see if I could get to Phoenix early at least. I managed to get on a 2pm flight which got me to Phoenix at 4. Still had some time to kill, but nowhere near as bad. When I hit Phoenix I went to the Admirals club near the gate of a 5pm flight. They only had four seats but she put me on the list. No more than 10 minutes later I cleared AND they put through my upgrade all in one shot. SCORE! Not only did I get on a much earlier flight, I still got to have dinner and relax.

When I landed my driver was already waiting as I had managed to text him before leaving. Rolled in at 9. Happy happy days. Unpacked, got stuff together, hung out with B. I came home to a sparkling clean house which was awesome. Plus a gift basket of some candies and a bath bomb hanging on my office door. Nice.

Today I have to do laundry, run some errands, then I leave again at 4:30am on Sunday. Not happy about all that, but it is what it is. I am a little worried about next week. Kansas is a very red state. The area I am going to is very conservative and pro dampnut. This may be a bad move. I am going to have to tread carefully.

Y8 D337

Guess what I woke up to yesterday? Snow. Yep. It was freaking snowing. And pretty hard too at times. Enough that it was sticking on the ground. Less than two hours away it was closing schools and shutting things down. It didn't get as bad here, but I did have to walk over in the morning in snow. I mean come on. It was one thing to land and have it start raining, but this was just ridiculous. The weather gods are not my friends right now. It looks like I am going home to mostly cloudy which is acceptable at least. It's raining in Wichita though and I will have a week of rain to deal with next. Much fun.

Class went fine. Went from 9-4:45 which is exactly how I like the class to go. Not too early, not over the expected time. I was very pleased with that. Stopped at Walgreens on the way back to grab some back related things. Some aleve, epsom salts, and icy hot. My back once again was killing me. I am way too fat right now. I need to dramatically change my diet. No more food. I need to get at least 50 lbs off of me in the next six months. If I don't I am going to continue to kill my back and the rest of me. This is not a drill, this is not some pipe dream. When I get home from Tulsa I am probably finally caving in and joining a gym. If there's one thing I miss about that job I had in the city, it's the walk every day. That walked helped keep me trim. 2 miles a day was perfect. I am a fat fucking sloth right now and that needs to change. Because if it doesn't I am going to keep being in pain and it won't be fun.

Soaked in the tub, watched some tv, and went to bed around 10. Have a 5:45pm flight tonight and am stressing about it. I have one hour between flights so 30 minutes until it boards. I have to change gate areas, but not terminals at least. My concern is if I miss my connecting flight, I won't get home. My flight home is at 8 and that is I believe the last flight out for the night. If I miss it, I am spending the night in PHX. I don't like these later in the day trips. What also pisses me off is my boss is off from yesterday through Monday skiing with his family. What did it matter if I took a flight tomorrow instead of today? Pain in the ass. Here's hoping I get home tonight late as it may be.

Y8 D336

29 days until this rolls over to a new year. Almost there. I think at the end of this cycle I am going to dump the whole thing just to see how big it is at this point. How many words have I written in this time? Maybe publish it all out to put a copy on the shelf. I can self-publish at Powell's. Have a nice hard copy of all of this. Maybe.

Had a pretty decent day yesterday. I wore different shoes on this trip and while they look good, they aren't meant for 8+ hours of standing. I was getting a back pain yesterday afternoon that was making it hard for me to teach. It feels okay now, but the last two hours of class were a challenge.

The rest of the day went okay. Taught two different groups, one from 9-1, the other from 1:30 until a little after 5. No major issues other than the usual connection type stuff. After class hit up a local candy store and got some taffy for my group today. Everyone told me to check it out after class which is why I headed there. I wasn't too impressed. Not as good as the candy store by us, but it had a decent taffy selection. Got back to the hotel around 6 and ordered up room service. Had a burger. Spent the rest of the night watching Fargo. I am almost through season 1. What a great show! It deserved every accolade it's received. Incredible cast and acting. I am blown away by this first season.

Went to bed around 10. Today is part two for the group from yesterday morning. I did already get my upgrade notice on one of my flights. The shorter of the two of course, but it's better than nothing. No complaints. At least I will get some dinner in me on the way home tomorrow. Right now, it's time for some breakfast.

Y8 D335

While yesterday was a lengthy day, it was also one of the best travel days I have had in quite a while. A few reasons helped make it such a good day. But let's go in order for sake of narrative.

Got up at 1:30, didn't have my upgrade cleared yet. Was the only person on the list too which made it a bit frustrating. My driver showed up at 2:45am which was perfect. We got to the airport about 3:20. At that time of the morning only one security line is open and it's on the other side of the airport. No big deal to be honest as I was still able to get through security well before the other side even opened. Was at my gate by 4am and had 40 minutes or so to kill. At 4:38, I went to the agent and asked if I was going to clear. I was nice and polite about it and stated that I didn't want to get all comfortable putting my stuff away only to clear after boarding. She understood and checked. Luckily she was able to clear me and I had 3A for my entire trip.

Once onboard I asked the attendant if I would have to deplane in PHX since the flight was continuing on and not terminating. She said she needed to check since it had been so long since even she had been on a flight that didn't terminate. We had a good laugh about it because neither of us could recall a recent flight that actually had continuing service versus termination. Funny the things you don't realize have changed in regards to travel like this. We got to PHX and she told me, screw it, stay on. We're staying, you can stay. Sweet. It's dumb, but this reduced my stress level greatly. I ended up being the only person on the plane for the entire 45 minutes we were there waiting to reload. Felt very old school and made my day. The best part was when the first of the first class passengers started coming on. The first guy had this smug look on his face because he had been 'first to board' and then he saw me already sitting in 3A and the smug smile vanished. I could almost hear the conversation in his head - "How am I not first?? Who is this already on the plane?? This is not fair to me old white guy!". Suck it bitch. It was made even better when he could tell I already had a report with the attendant as we joked about the service being breakfast again. I did in fact end up having two breakfasts. Eggs from PDX to PHX and the oatmeal from PHX to MSP.

We got in about 40 minutes early and luckily my driver in MSP was also early. Wonderful. He was great. Friendly, knew where he was going, and allowed me to arrange my Friday transportation back right then and there. Perfect. Arrived at the hotel around 2:30 and my upgraded 16th floor corner room was waiting for me. The minute I checked in it started raining but who cares. I am so used to rain at this point it's invisible. I unpacked, did my ironing and went exploring. Determined where the building I will be working at this week was, and headed back to the hotel.

Grabbed a sandwich from Jimmy Johns to eat later while I was out. I then settled in and started watching Fargo. Noah Hawley is an absolute genius. That show not only has some of the most incredible star power ever, the writing is flawless. I made it through 4 episodes without even trying.

Went to bed around 10. Slept okay. Am a little off time zone wise right now, but not feeling sluggish. Since the office is 3 minutes from here I do have some time to kill. Breakfast at six, then who knows what until 8. We are meeting at 8:15 so no need to rush.

I wish all trips went as smooth as it did getting here. Hopefully the rest of the week can keep up with yesterday.

Y8 D334

I'm awake, I'm awake. Just checked the upgrade list. I am the only one on it. Fucking hate that. That means everyone else cleared already except me. Fucking sucks. Oh well. My car will be here in 90 minutes.

Had a pre-call with these people yesterday. I am not going to enjoy this week. Did some impromptu shopping. B found jeans, I found a new shirt. Had leftovers for dinner. Slept from 8:30 - 1:20. Much fun.

Finished the OA. Still not sure if I 'liked' it or not. Curious about season 2 though.

That's about it. Next stop MN.

Y8 D333

I was doing some reading last night about John Waters. I have seen and heard too much about him in the last few days and wanted to make sure he was still alive. Side notes: we did in fact lose Erin Moran this weekend. 56 years old. That's kind of sad. Also saw a picture of Burt Reynolds. Wow. He aged fast, didn't he? Jack Nicholson celebrated 80 in the last few days too. Crazy shit. Anyway, John Waters, still alive, is a very interesting person. This led me to reading about David Lynch. Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes to be a John Waters or a David Lynch? To have that great of a "I don't care what you think" mindset? I mean the things they have done. I can appreciate and can see myself associating with people like that, but could I have the courage, the drive, the vision to be like them? Very few can and that's why they stand out. Just pondering.

My accomplishments from yesterday? Laundry. Plus I got exalted with two factions and finally got the two mounts. One more to go. That was the big excitement of my Sunday. Getting a cloud serpent and a water strider. Look out world! Went to target in the morning. Target at 7am is a beautiful place. There were like three of us in the whole store. Got a new shirt for this trip. Wanted something a little brighter and sunnier than my normal greys and blacks. Found a very nice mint shirt for $20. Ended up having to go back to target because B needed stuff. Big difference between Target at 7am and Target at 4pm. Big difference.

Had indian food last night. Mostly so we could have the leftovers. Although I woke up with horrible indigestion around 1am. So have to really decide if I want it for dinner tonight.

Today I have a conference call at 11am, then it's early bed, and tomorrow 3 weeks of travel begins! I will be home 2 days over the next three weeks. Crazy shit man.

Y8 D332

Never recommend a good show to my wife. She will end up power watching it leaving you behind. The show in this case is The OA. I mentioned how I watched one episode. Well I watched episode 2 yesterday morning and told her to check it out. Apparently she finished it already. We also watched a second episode of Santa Clarita diet. I like that show. I think I like it more because of Olyphant. If he wasn't in it, it would be less interesting.

Yes, we did a whole lot of nothing yesterday. I prelim packed. Everything but the stuff that is in the laundry. I was really hoping to wake up to an email from American. I have entered the 48 hour window for my upgrade notification. I went grocery shopping to make sure she has food in the house. I am basically gone for two weeks. I leave Tuesday, come home midnight on Friday, then leave 4am Sunday. I will need food for one day. Otherwise, it's all her. Had to make sure there's a good balance of healthy shit and stuff she doesn't really need to prep to make sure she actually eats. That many days, by the halfway mark she will be sad and not want to spend a lot of time cooking. Find the balance.

That was really about it. Not a whole heck of a lot going on.

Y8 D331

It's actually a little warm here right now. Still supposed to rain for the next seven days straight, but the temperature got up to the high 60s, low 70s. Today is back to a high of 60. Joy. I woke up at 4. Just was awake. I need to go grocery shopping this morning so it's not too big of a deal. I haven't gone early in a while and I am actually looking forward to it.

Tried to start early yesterday. One student showed up at like 5:15. The other unfortunately didn't show until 5:50. Oh well. We got a little early start but not much. Went until a little after 1pm. Took a little nap. Made a quiche for dinner.

B and I did a little tv experimenting. We are out of regular stuff to watch for right now until a couple of things finish, so we started some new stuff to see what we like and don't like. I started The OA. Interesting. Not sure if it's good yet, but definitely interesting. She power watched Bill Nye Saves the World. She loved it. Got through 13 episodes in one day. Go figure. We both watched Santa Clarita Diet. Just one episode but we approve. This week I am taking Fargo with me. Finally going to catch up on that.

That's about it. I went to bed around 10:30. No big plans for the weekend other than groceries, laundry, and packing.

Y8 D330

35 days to go and a new year starts. Amazing.

Yes, I am up early this morning. No, I am not on the road yet. I have a private two person class this morning for some people on the east coast. We're scheduled to start at 6am, but I am going to start the session at 5 and start the class when they both join. The goal is to be done by 1pm today. 2 at the latest if we start at the original time. Plus I have to be up early on Tuesday and the rest of next week so might as well get back into it.

Day three of my other class yesterday. It went until about 2:30. Took a tiny nap. We got a package delivery and I didn't pay attention when I opened it. Turns out it wasn't for us. It was a pair of Jordan 11 tennis shoes. I looked them up and they are $200 shoes. Yes, we took the package to the office. Karma and all that. It was for the previous residents of this apartment. If they're buying $200 Jordans then they're doing okay I hope. I have a feeling they were a pre-order as you don't mess up the address on something like that.

Went for sushi for dinner. Came back and B had a skype session with her Australian friend. I played some games and went to bed around 9:30.

It's the weekend coming up. Shopping for groceries, laundry, and packing. That's my agenda.

Y8 D329

I wish we lived near Chicago right now. Riotfest 2017 announced their lineup for a 3 day show and holy sweet mother of god is it good. NIN, QOTSA, Peaches, The Buzzcocks, New Order, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, Ministry, Gogol Bordello and so many more bands I would love to see. Tickets range from $200 to $1500 for all three days. Here's when I wish I still had money. Buy the $1500 ticket, hop on a plane, and enjoy three days of incredible music. Oh well. One can dream.

Taught day two. Went up to the mark. It's always that way with this class. Lots going on. Made a pork roast for dinner and after dinner B and I went out for some ice cream. Even though it was pouring rain and like 50 outside. I am starting to get tired of the weather. I really am. I am looking forward to going to MN just to get away from this. How sad is that?

When we got back we decided it was time to rearrange the bedroom. We have been debating doing it because when it does get hotter we will need access to the window for the AC unit. Well no better time. After we watched some TV and off to bed I went.

Day three of this group today. No plans for the evening. Early class tomorrow. Then a weekend of packing and grocery shopping. Whee.

Y8 D328

Woke up early this morning. Don't have to teach for another 3 hours. Oh well.

Taught all day, dealt with some emails after class. Had leftovers. B had group. Watched some tv. Went to bed at 10. One week until I go on my road adventures (YAY!). I am looking forward to some time on the road, I won't lie. Been home for ages now and am starting to feel it.

Had a very brief but very crazy rain moment yesterday. The sky opened up, thunder, lightening, the lights flickered, and the rain came down in buckets. And then, it was gone. Like nothing had ever happened. It was very odd.

Day two of three today. Smart group, but a quiet group. Trade-offs I guess. Oh well.

Y8 D327

Woke up to a very annoying email this morning. The bank is sending me a new debit card. Why? I didn't fucking ask for one. "For your security" is the biggest bullshit line ever. Why does this piss me off? Because of everything that I have set up as recurring. Now I have to go through and fucking update everything. Pain in the ass. At least they included a list of things they identified as 'recurring' for that card. I know it won't be a complete list, but it does help a little bit. Still annoying.

Worked on recordings yesterday. I am enjoying doing these more than I thought I would. They're not easy to do as you have to get it right. I did three yesterday and the first one I did in one take. 8 minute recording, boom, no issues. The second and third ones were not so smooth. Between the cats, stumbling on my words, clicking on the wrong things, outside noise, etc, it took longer than I would have like to record another 20 minutes of material. Anyone who thinks people who work in like tv and are done in 30 minutes are idiots. There's a reason it takes a week to record one 20 minute episode of a show. But, it still ended up being pretty enjoyable.

Oh, morning annoyance number two - my phone has decided I need "Nougat". I dislike the new icon look. Why must these things all update? I didn't ask for your dumb update. And what the fuck is nougat anyway? No one will ever know...

Did a bunch of other work including nailing down what I will be doing on my next two trips. A lot of 'mentoring' is involved on both the MN and the KS trip. Joy.

B and I had a gaming session in the early evening. WoW did an easter release last night and we both logged in to get the mount and pets. Took us about 2 hours but we did it. Got all the goodies. I like that she plays even if it less than me for reasons like this. I can tell her why I am not moving for 2 hours and she gets it.

Had leftover lasagne last night. Frankly that's dinner all week. It's a big lasagne. She watched SVU. She is finally caught up. 18 seasons. I finished the Office yesterday. 9 seasons. Now we both need something new to watch. Together we started DCI Banks. BBC show. Enjoyed the first episode for sure.

Went to bed around 9:30 as I was pretty tired. Three days of one group followed by a private two person on Friday. Full week the rest of the week. Then begins multiple weeks of travel. Fun stuff.

Y8 D326

Five hours of my day yesterday were spent in the kitchen. B decided she wanted lasagne for dinner. From scratch. Including homemade cheese. Do you know how long it takes to make a lasagne from scratch? That's right captain smart ass, five hours. And add in the time at the only store open on Easter because you don't have all the ingredients you need. But in the end it was worth it. One hell of a meal made. Plus leftovers for days. 

I got into a serious argument with two of my co-workers yesterday. Basically I blasted them for sending emails not only on a Sunday but a fucking holiday Sunday as well. Then to top it off for not removing people from the CC list once the conversation went in another direction. They didn't like being told to shut the fuck up. Tough shit. But I am sure I will have some fallout from it this morning. It's a serious issue at our company - this 24/7 mentality. Plus the improper use of "Reply All". There's a point where no one wants to hear your irrelevant comments. Take it off the fucking thread people. 

Watched some tv, relaxed. Sliced my thumb open making the food. Still hurts.

Today is recording day. Have a few demos to record. Need absolute silence. Won't get that in this fucking neighborhood.

Y8 D325

Happy Lich King Day!

As expected, didn't leave the house yesterday. The highlight of the day was the new Doctor episode! Man that was good. I am trying to think what we did and the answer is not much. My big project was cleaning my closet and rearranging things for the 900th time. Some day I will get it right. I think I am very close. Put together a whole bag of donations and one of garbage. Not too shabby. That took up the majority of my morning. Made french toast. We had leftovers for dinner. Watched a movie. That's about it. Wow. We didn't do much, did we? Good? Bad? Who knows. What I do know is I am okay right now. Pretty happy. So the rest is irrelevant.

Y8 D324

Yesterday was a very productive day. We got up early because we needed to go to the passport office for B a second time. Apparently they didn't approve of the way she signed her name the first time. Even the woman we dealt with yesterday said "this is some jerk in Seattle being petty". Nice. Anyway, we got up early because the office we go to only sees 30 people a day. They have one passport person and they start at 8:30 and when you get there you get a number. When they have hit 30 numbers (or it's past a certain time) they stop accepting people. We got there at 8am and we were first!! Except... the normal guy was on vacation and they didn't start until 9:30 until he's back. Sigh. Okay. Because we had the #1 card and that's all that mattered. She told us to come back at 9:20 and be ready. Gotcha. I have to say, out of all the government employees I have met, dealt with, worked with, etc, our local folks are some of the nicest. I had a great experience at the DMV (odd in of itself, I know), and these folks at City Hall are really nice too. 

While we had time to kill we decided to head to the post office. Mailed off a package of B's and our taxes. Check for $477 and all. Want to hear something nice? We are paying the bill without a credit card, without taking from our LOC, without hitting savings. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I won't lie, $500 out of checking right now will make it a tighter week, but it's doable. SO doable. It's dumb but I am so fucking proud of that. I don't have to skip any other bills. Don't have to adjust anything. It's just done. Fuck that makes me proud. 

Finished up at the post office, went back to passport, and waited. Got it all done and was home by 10. B decided to take a nap and I did some work. We are doing samples of our classes to put on the website and I spent over an hour doing an 8 minute recording. Fun stuff. I have three more to do on Monday. I also took care of booking my hotel in MN. I got lucky and got one literally next door to where I will be teaching. Always a score. No car needed. Just walk on over. 

Went to the store for some dinner food. Ended up getting pulled pork. We had pulled pork, fries, and broccoli tots. If you've never tried those, they are pretty good. We watched an okay movie from 1999 that was suggested by B's friend in Australia. It was an Australian movie featuring Heath Ledger (a very young Heath Ledger). I think because they're Aussies they have to like it. It was okay. Neither of us thought it was the best movie, but we did it out of friendship. 

Went to bed around 10. Slept pretty well.

Nothing major on the calendar for today. Am going to work on rearranging my closet this morning, but that's about it.

Y8 D323

Got some cool news from the kid yesterday. She has been commissioned to design the poster for her town's 100th Pioneer Days celebration happening soon. How cool is that? Her artwork and design will be all over town and part of history. Plus this will open up some doors hopefully. Other businesses in town will see what she did for the city and hire her. She got the gig through a connection of her BF. It's all about who you know, right? When it's done I want her to send me a copy so I can frame it. So cool.

In other news, didn't do much yesterday. A few emails here and there. Some paperwork/documentation stuff that needed to get done. Taxes showed up so had to sign, date, process all those. Mailing them out today.

Watched some tv, read a little, went to bed. Not a very exciting day to be honest.

Y8 D322

The mother-in-law is safe at home. Couple hours of delays in Chicago due to a medical emergency on her incoming flight. Her plane got rerouted to St Louis because someone was ill. I don't know any more details just that she had one of my kind of travel days.

Speaking of travel, I fully booked my KS trip (4/30 - 5/5), and partially booked my MN trip (4/25-4/28). Partially because I still need an address to book hotel and car, but the flight is done. I leave 5/8 for Seattle, and 5/21 for OK. A little bit of travel coming up? Points points points. We only need 75k miles more for Australia tickets. Anyone with American miles who wants to donate, feel free. We can do it!

Taught my class, finished about 1:45. It went fine. No issues. Had to deal with getting the mom out of the house before hand which threw me off a little bit, but all good. After class I didn't want to nap even though I was tired. Instead I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, put away the air mattress, and a bunch of other little things. Including going to Target to get some bins to help rearrange and reorganize my closet. The dresser in there is not working out for me. It's taking up too much room.

Speaking of the air mattress, it was nice to be back in my own bed last night. I slept fairly well. A little bit of a sinus pressure headache this morning, but that has more to do with the weather not knowing what it's doing than the bed.

Made chicken for dinner and then B went into the other room. She is doing some editing for her friend on her new book and had a chapter to deal with last night. Something tells me down the road, while she would rather write, she has better career choices as an editor. She's good at it. Who knows.

One thing I found interesting about this last week is B's mom told her how great I am as a husband. Humbly, I accept the praise, but let's be honest - 10 years, 20 years ago, you wouldn't have said that. The only reason I am so good now, is because I was such a shit before. I had to learn. If a person is lucky, they learn and grow with one person. Sometimes it's the second or third who gets to benefit. Sometimes people don't grow at all and end up alone. So while I am grateful for the compliment, it was a long fucking journey to being a good husband and person. A long long journey.

Got some random stuff to do today. Testing, finalizing trips, etc. Let the fun begin.

Y8 D321

Only 45 days until we roll into a new year. How crazy is that? The mother goes home today! Car service will be here in an hour to take her away. Even if I wasn't teaching this morning, there's no way I would drive to the airport and back on a Wednesday at this time of the day. My time is worth more than the $90 it's costing me in car service, ya know?

I taught from 6-2 yesterday. Technically started earlier because one student was already having problems at 4:30. Connection issues, file issues, etc. He was impressed that I was up and ready for him. It's what I do. Class was pretty good. No issues. Day two today should go until 2 as well.

While I was teaching they went off to the zoo. Took the train, had a good day. I think they got home just as I was finishing. B mom was tired and for once she took a nap. I ordered pizza for dinner as they had to go out at 6 for group. B was excited to bring her mom so she could see and understand things. They had a good time. I stayed home and watched The Middle and FOB. Whee.

Went to bed around 10. Last night of sleeping in the office. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight. Small things.

Y8 D320

I went to bed with my phone at 89%, I wake up this morning and it's shut off because it drained. WTF?? FUCKING BULLSHIT BUILT IN APPLICATIONS THAT WON'T SHUT OFF PROPERLY. I FUCKING HATE YOU.

There. Better.

Okay day yesterday. I did work stuff. B's cousin came over and the three of them went through some clothes B is getting rid of, went to lunch, hung out. That was the bulk of the day. Noodles for dinner, followed by some more mother/daughter time at the craft store. I am trying to stay out of their way. We had hoped I could be on the road for about 1/2 of her visit so they could spend time together. I am doing my best to be invisible. Like today, I am teaching and they are off to the zoo together. Then tomorrow she is gone and I get my bed back.

Time to get ready for class. Early one today. 6-2.

Y8 D319

Had a fun day yesterday. Took B Mom shopping. Our mall is much nicer than the one by her house. I have noticed something interesting about her mother these last couple of days. She is much quieter here than she is back in MI. I figured it would be the case but it's nice to see it in practice. It's because she's not yelling at two crazy kids constantly. She doesn't have to be crazy woman. Whole other side of her.

Made everyone waffles before heading out. We got to the mall around 10, walked around, B Mom got some new jeans at Lucky (her first pair of 'nice' jeans in a while) for $45. I got a crab necklace because I am one. She got other souvenirs for folks from the Made in OR store. The best part was a mother/daughter session at Build a Bear. I waited outside and let them have their time. I think they enjoyed it. Around noon we went to Panera for lunch. B Mom paid for it which was nice.

Got home, took a brief nap, went out around 5:30 for Indian. It was her first time having it. That was fun watching her try all the different stuff. She liked her masala so all was good in the world. Stopped at the store after where we got eggs and dye. Yep. When we got home they had mother/daughter egg dyeing time. It's good for them to bond like this. Again, when they are back in MI, she is constantly dealing with B's sisters and the sisters want B's time. These two haven't had one on one like this in a long while. I am happy to sit quietly to the side.

After eggs, they watched Taken 2. Taken was Saturday night, 2 was Sunday, and maybe they will watch 3 tonight.

Today, B's cousin is coming and the three of them are doing stuff. I have work to do. I do teach this week. 6-2. Not until tomorrow, but still, I have to be ready for work stuff.

Y8 D318

Hello! I am back in better spirits this morning. After THIRTY FOUR HOURS without power, we are back! I won't lie, it was rough yesterday. I took a cold shower in the dark. I stole power from the side of the complex office building to charge my phone like some crazy homeless person. I finally had to get out of the house so we loaded up B's mom and headed to the beach. The drive over was pretty nice. We headed out around 10:30 and got there a little after 11. Not bad at all. Found some parking, had lunch, wandered around, got caught in not one but two hailstorms, went to the aquarium to feed seals with every person on spring break ever... wait what was that last part? Yep. Two hailstorms. It was crazy. Just out of nowhere the sky opened up and it came down for about 5 minutes each time.

We had a good time at the beach and headed home around 3. We got back home to still no power. Sigh. B and her mom both wanted a nap so I took a handful of stuff down to the office and sat there until 5 charging things up. Just as I was finishing B excitedly calls me to tell me power was back on. YAY! Our 34 hour adventure was finally over. First task, finally opening the fridge and freezer. Here's where I was pleasantly surprised. Only a few things had gone bad. Because we made sure not to open either one the whole time the power was out, everything in the freezer was still solid and we just lost milk, sour cream, and strawberries from the fridge. The rest was good.

B's mom made a chicken dish she used to make B as a kid. (I went to the store and got fresh chicken, not some that would have been in the fridge in case you were worried.) We had dinner, then they wanted to watch a movie. Around 10, I realized I was drained and exhausted and went to bed. Don't know what time they crashed.

Going to the mall today and then indian food for dinner. Big plans.

Y8 D317

We have been without power now for 22.5 hours. Seriously. It went out a little after 7am yesterday and has not been back up. We are the only building in the area without power. I think because our building is on some kind of "feeder" line we are way low on the power company's list of priorities. Which fucking sucks. All my food is ruined. We didn't leave the house for fear of the alarms going off when the power comes back on. A wasted fucking day and night. I am stealing internet from the coffee shop next door, running on battery fumes. Lovely fucking day.

Y8 D316

Ah, nothing like sleeping on an air mattress in your office while you give up your side of the bed to your mother-in-law. Good times. Slept like complete and utter shite. Can't breathe in here. The air mattress takes up 90% of the floor space. No correction, 100%. I have to deflate it during the day just to move around in here. But it's the smartest thing. She can't sleep in here because I am up earlier and will need to work next week. She can't sleep on the couch because it would kill her back. So this is the way it will be for a few days. Suck it up and deal with it. Yelling at myself. Don't mind me.

Got up at 3:40 yesterday. B's mom successfully navigated her first airport and was all set by 4. B went to bed for a while and I stayed up to receive any last minute flight change texts. All was good. B woke up briefly at 7:45 to make sure we did okay on her layover. All good. Back to sleep for her. For me, no. I was up. Yay. I watched some tv, played games, and basically sat until B woke up around 11. I then vacuumed, changed the sheets, and we left for the airport at 1pm. I am off work yesterday and today to make sure there were time conflicts and we could leave at 1 with no issues.

Got to the airport around 2, and she landed at 2:20. On our way out we got donuts from Blue Star. Hell yeah. Got back home around 3:30.

Chilled and went for mexican for dinner around 5:30. After dinner we took her on a little drive around. Nothing major. We went for ice cream and then around a craft store. Got back about 8 and all of us were exhausted. B Mom went to bed by 8:30, B and I were in bed by 9:45.

Today we are going to a Tulip Festival. This should be fun.

Y8 D315

And part one of the B Mom adventure has begun. I managed to get her checked in yesterday morning and while I couldn't do a lot, I managed to get her a better seat on one flight and priority for her whole trip. She was able to use the priority lane for security and in 15 minutes board before her assigned group 4. That's a big difference. It would put her about 4th in the boarding process group-wise instead of last. B is still up and guiding her through things. As soon as her butt is in a seat she is going to bed and I am taking over. Hence my being up early again.

We did the semi-final cleaning all day yesterday. Bathtubs, toilets, entryway, kitchen appliances, floors, etc. Heavy duty stuff that had to wait until the very end. ALL the laundry in the known universe. Done. Today we change the sheets and vacuum and this house will be spotless. I will at least wait until 8 to do that. B will be getting back up at flight switch time to make sure her mom navigates DFW okay. Then she will sleep again until it's time to go at 1pm.

We had quick dinner out last night because the kitchen is too damn clean to use. Watched some tv and went to bed around 9:30 because I was exhausted and knew once again I would be up early. I too may nap between flights. We shall see.

Let the week of B mom begin.

Y8 D314

Who has two thumbs and played the tax game RIGHT this year? That's fucking right bitches, ME! Check out these numbers:

Fed - owed: $477
State - refund: $645
Net: $170

BOOM! That's how you do it. No giant refunds, no giant bills. Maximize my paychecks while not letting the government have my money interest free. Suck it. The shit part is I will have to pay the fed first then pay myself back when it comes, but I have it, and I know my net is good. So what the hell. By June at the latest I will be up $170.

Finished my document yesterday. Way bigger than originally planned but I think it can still be done in a 1/2 day class. It's right on the cusp and may require some creative moves on the part of the instructor, but whatever. Do it to it.

Around 2, B and I went to the thrift store as she wanted a ceramic dish for something she wants her mom to make while she is here. One more day - 35 hours - and her mom will be here. It's really throwing her off. It's such a surreal concept that it's just not fully registering with her. Causing some anxiety as you might imagine.

It fell over into her group last night making it hard for her to be in a social setting of any kind. Plus there were more new people than regular and it made the evening tougher to get through. Too many people use things like this as a singles mixers and there was one guy who was straight up about it. "Here to check things out and see if I make any new connections". Wrong. Not what people are there to do.

She got home around 9:30 and I pretty much went to bed right after. If you notice, I am writing this at 3:30 as I have to check her mom in for her flight in an hour. I am trying to get her some kind of upgrade. Let's see what I can do.

Y8 D313

Did not wake up as rested as yesterday. Struggling a bit this morning. Luckily I have another day of document creation. I was able to really make progress on this new class yesterday. Added about 20% more material to it and got into a great groove. I definitely should be able to finish it today. That was the bulk of my day. Stopped working around 3. Took a ride over to target as B needed to get her prescription filled for her migraine medicine. Which is technically blood pressure meds, but it works so whatever. I do find it amusing how many drugs out there were meant for one thing and end up being used for another - viagra, finestaride, etc. The side effects turnout to be benefits. Go figure.

B knocked more stuff off her list. Unfortunately she took care of all of today's stuff too which means she will be anxious until she can hit Wednesday's tasks. Some stuff just can't be done until the final moments. Just the way it is.

We did work on something in the office. We lined the windows with blackout paper. To the outside world it looks white, but in here it's pitch black. We are trying to reduce our need for A/C full blown come summer time by taking steps to reduce the heat coming into the room. We'll see how it works.

Played some games, went to bed around 10:30. That's about it for now. Trying to confirm some upcoming trips. Starting in a couple of weeks I will be non-stop through the end of may if all these trips go through - Kansas, Minnesota, Seattle, Newark NJ. Busy times ahead. Good.

Y8 D312

I just woke up at 4, thirty eight minutes before my alarm. Funny enough though, I woke up feeling really rested and ready to go. Not one of those groggy awakenings. I technically don't have to get up early this week except for Wednesday to check B's mom in for her flight, but I also want to treat it like a work week. I do have work to do the next couple of days, but not official classes so getting up at 4 or getting up at 6 would make no difference.

Was having a dream with Ryan Reynolds in it. We were in some surf town and the waves started picking up so I grabbed my short board and hit them hard. That's it. Surfing. I'm a dork.

Speaking of that, I slept in until 6 I think it was yesterday. Now I don't remember. I went out around 8 while B still slept. The Target near us changed their hours and is now open 7am -12am pretty much every day. I think it's 7a-11pm M-F and midnight on the weekends. But still, open at 7am. And let me tell you, Target is pretty darn quiet early on a Sunday morning. Needed to get a couple of stupid things like poo paper. B had done a great job of cleaning while I was asleep. She has her daily list and knocked things off. Pantry rearranged, fridge cleaned, etc. Today we are starting to get in the home stretch so the more immediate things are starting to get done. For example, laundry and sheets happen on Wednesday.

We had a few more things to do once B got up. Worked on the garage, the patio, the baseboards, and the window ledges. Why are we doing all this? Because B's mom made her house spotless? Nope. My wonderful wife is strong enough to admit it's because she is being petty. She wants her mom to see what life would have been like had she not had two more kids later in life and why B is not having any. The whole time she is here we plan to do things in a very 'casual' way that you can't do when you have small children running around. Man, I love my wife. She is being petty and stupid and knows it and embraces it. Rock on.

Made mahi for dinner, played some Wow, watched some tv, went to bed around 10. Slept well as mentioned above.

In other world events, lies, lies, and more lies from Grandpa Dampnut. He thinks he can be in charge part time I feel. You don't get to run off and play golf every weekend like some retiree. Seriously. Plus you notice he is starting to lose 'friends'? No one wants to be around him. He is such a fuckwad he is driving everyone away. Can we please just find someone to flip on him? Flynn isn't going to be any use I feel. We need someone like Kushner to get in too deep and turn state. Man that would be satisfying. In the meantime, let's watch an old man fuck up. Gee, if only there had been better candidates and if only people took the time to show up instead of treating the election like a joke. Good job fucktards.

Y8 D311

Slept in as one should do on a Sunday. Almost didn't. I woke up at 4 and B was still awake. I almost got up but forced myself to stay in bed. Woke up again at 5:30 and same thing. I managed to stick it out and sleep until now. I went to bed at 11 and I needed the sleep.

As planned and expected yesterday marked the start of 'the list'. Much was done around the house. Fan cleaning, closet organizing, patio cleaning, etc. That was our day. We did stick to our guns and not leave the house which was nice. You know what non-rainy days bring? Stupid fucking people. Including the white trash ones across the street from us shooting off fireworks. It's fucking April people.

Some good April Fool stuff yesterday speaking of April. Both Powell's and ThinkGeek had great products and Google brought back Pac-Man on google maps, but this time Ms Pac-Man. This is how the day should be done. Not cruel or mean pranks.

I think that's about it. Part two of the list begins today. Whee.

Y8 D310

I didn't enjoy teaching yesterday's class. It was late, the students were duds, the material is boring, and it's not a topic I deal with all the time any more. But I got through it just like they did and now it is done. Just like most things in life, you just need to deal with them, and move on.

The upside to the class starting at 8:30 is I had a bunch of time in the morning to catch up on tv. Watched the season finale of Legion. WHAT A GREAT SHOW. I really love that show and can't wait for it to come back. So well acted, written, and directed. The cinematography is just top notch. The soundtrack is so good too. Ugh, I want all shows to be that good.

When class was done, B and I started planning out her mom's visit. We wanted to figure out what kind of groceries we still need, how many days of eating in versus out, how much gas are we going to use, what about car service back, etc. We got all that taken care of and we called her mom to make sure everything was good for her as far as things we are planning. As of right now, we are going to a Tulip Festival, the beach, and the zoo. That leaves two days open as floaters. Just enough planned activities mixed with do nothing we feel. With that planned we were able to plan meals accordingly.

We had our own dinner and then took the drive to the big Walmart a town over. See, we don't have one in town except for a neighborhood market. To get to a HUGE (by my standards) one we have to drive about 15 miles away. Yes, I am a big ol' hypocrite sometimes; but truth be told, they have everything under one roof, their prices are cheaper, and it's pretty fucking convenient. I know, I know. It makes me a horrible person but you do what you have to do sometimes.

We managed to get all of our stuff, plus a couple of t-shirts for both of us all for $100. If I could afford to shop at other places these days, I would, but I would rather save my money for other goals. Speaking of that, paid some bills yesterday including rent which is why I wanted to nail down our grocery and plan list for her mother. I budgeted 100-150 for groceries and we were right on the money. All good. What was weird is we are usually in that store weekends during the day. Being in there on a Friday night was just odd. It had a weird vibe to it. Like a temporal space vibe.

Got back home and after putting things away, well, we got a bit frisky if you know what I mean, nudge nudge wink wink. That was fun. Next thing you know it's almost 11. B decided she needed to watch Road to El Dorado and I played for a while. Went to bed around 12:30.

The other advantage to us going out last night was now we are good to stay in the rest of the weekend. B has a four day cleaning plan to make sure she doesn't clean too early or too late and my only jobs on their are to vacuum and to do laundry. Easy peasy. Otherwise, I am to stay out of the way. I can do that.