Y9 D278

Things are better with my plumbing today. The antibiotics are doing their job. The excessive amount of fluids I have been drinking are working wonders at cleaning house. There's still pain, but I think the light may be at the end of the tunnel. All disgusting puns intended.

I am up way too early this morning. I have a 5:30 class and am not looking forward to it. It's with Floridian government employees who are proving to be a huge pain in my side. This is not going to be a fun day.

Yesterday was an okay day. Taught my class from 6 until almost 2 on the dot. We finished with 9 minutes to spare. I was drained from doing the class but had to keep my spirits up as I was going out at 4. At 3:30 I get an email telling me to book a trip FOR MONDAY to be onsite in SoCal for a week. WTF? Okay. I managed to get the flight done before I left the house. I did the hotel, car, and car service from my phone on the way downtown on the train. But I got it all done. I will have 3 trips in March back to back. L.A., TN, and then back to L.A.. Such fun. My hotel nights will be right up where they need to be that's for sure. Mileage won't hurt either. I always enjoy hitting the basic tier of service 4 or 5 months into the year. Makes it easier to have six months to get the rest.

Got downtown around 5, waited for my guest to arrive. He got there at 5:50. My goodness, someone else who likes to be early! We had a great night talking for 2 hours about the industry, life, our pasts, etc. We both enjoyed ourselves and agreed to do it again. I could learn a lot from this guy. He's about 13 years older than me and I can see myself in his shoes in a decade. Not bad shoes to be in.

Got home around 9 and was wired from my evening. I went to bed later than desired around 11. So not only am I going to deal with the most annoying people on the planet today, I am doing it with insufficient sleep. Today is going to suck balls.

Y9 D277

Are you all ready for this? As I expected I did get bounced around yesterday. I have the pleasure of having not just an UTI. Oh no, that would be too easy. I also have a renal stone! That's right! Hence the pain I was in while in TN was the stone moving. Right now there's literally nothing I can do except take antibiotics, drink gallons of fluids, and wait. Although there is a still a small chance there is something else going on because I have these flu like symptoms that are worrying them. I will know back on those labs today or tomorrow. But yeah, fun stuff, eh? That's how I spent 6am to 10am yesterday.

When I got back I took a nap because I was exhausted from everything. I did basically tell my boss screw off, I am not doing anything today. It's a sick day people. I drank more water yesterday than I have in like the last week. I will flush this thing out of me. I miss my drinking days. At least the alcohol killed all the bad germs inside me.

We had massive amounts of leftovers last night. Cleaned out the fridge big time. Tried to eat away at everything in there. Goddamn cats. I can smell their poop all the way over here. Stupid stinky cats.

Relaxed, went to be around 9:30 because I was exhausted. Today 6am class. Tomorrow 5:30am class. Tonight I am supposed to go out. Sick or not, I am going.

Y9 D276

I have a doctor's appointment this morning. I think I know in part why I have been such a cranky ass the last few days. I think it's a BPH flare up, B is convinced I have a UTI. After listening to her describe the symptoms, I think she might be right. It's something so less common in guys that I didn't even consider the possibility. I will be telling the doctor as much this morning. Unfortunately the only location with an opening was a 'clinic' not a real office and I am going to see an AP. I have a feeling I might get bounced between multiple locations today until I get this resolved. Which sucks because it fucking hurts. A lot. I was worried it was kidney stones but they pain would be even worse.

We didn't do much yesterday. Stayed inside. Watched some TV. Made pulled pork for dinner. I baked cheddar and chive 'scones'. I use that in quotes because they are scottish scones which I would call biscuits. Scones is a stretch. They were really good regardless.

That really was about it for the day. Going to the bathroom every ten minutes, screaming while I pee, you know, a typical Sunday. Right?

Other than the doctor, today is light. Tomorrow, Wednesday, and Friday I have EARLY east coast classes. Not fun. Tomorrow is take two of hanging out downtown. Let's see if that happens.

Y9 D275

Yesterday was a real up and down sort of day. B was in a mood because her dad for the second day in a row called at 8am, then when she answered says "are you sleeping, oh I will call back later" then never does. I went grocery shopping at 6. Started a pork butt at 7. We planned on making tamales last night. It was only supposed to take a few hours. By 8pm we had a big mess and only a handful of decent tamales. We looked at everything we did wrong/right and know how to do it better next time. But I just jumped ahead to the evening. In between...

We went the 30 minutes to crate and barrel because someone wanted two new pillows for the couch. Stopped at the Walmart on the way back to get a tamale pot. Stopped at office depot to get a floor thing for my chair. It was a lot of outside time and people time and it was annoying both of us.

Came home and from 1-3 we both took a serious nap. A much needed one. Worked on tamales.

Went to bed at 11.

Y9 D274

Was still pissed off in the morning about my check. Heck, I am still angry today. Why? Because once again my budget numbers will be off because I don't know what my actual net is until they pull out the old mistake check and put the new one back in. Which will be like Wednesday. I have bills to pay. I have groceries to buy. Fuckers. I actually sent a couple of messages to people yesterday asking if they might be aware of any new opportunities in this area. Let's see what happens.

Taught my class. Annoying students were annoying. I got through everything. Finished at 2:57pm. It's been a while since an online class has come that close to the mark. On one hand I was grateful for a group who was asking questions and engaged, on the other hand, I was in a pissed off mood at didn't want to do anything.

After class we didn't do much. I wasn't hungry and B made herself Indian food. I had an egg later. What we did do is start our weekend project; we need to rearrange the linen closet and pantry. We started in by picking out some stuff to donate, moving some other stuff around, and making some room. That helped my mood a bit. Rearranging things always helps me. It's a control thing. I need to feel like I have a handle on something.Even if it's just a linen closet. We also ordered two more pillows for our couch which we need to go pick up this morning.

I have to hit the grocery store followed by the pillow store. We want to make tamales today but that will be an all day process. I need to get to the store soon so I can start the meat. That's our weekend.

Y9 D273

I was so pissed off at my company last night. Like pissed off enough that if someone were to mention a new job to me this weekend, I would seriously consider it. Once again they fucked up my payroll. Then I found out the salesperson was trying to withhold my product license for something I need because he didn't think I filled out some form he sent around. Turns out he never sent it to me. NOR is that form really relevant to me filling out based on what I do. All of this by the way, took place in less than a 45 minute span at 7pm. I've had it. I am tired of being the golden goose but being treated like chattel. It's insulting.

Had 10 students yesterday (yeah so like I made the company $25,000 this week working only 3 days. Just saying). They were fine. Day two today. We finished right around 3pm. A couple of the students are a bit annoying but only because they really don't need the class. They are in it to ask some specific questions which of course when put on the spot my answer is 'i dunno'. So they're just kind of there in my mind. Whatever.

Made a pork roast for dinner. Took B for frozen yogurt after dinner. I didn't want anything. Came back. Watched some tv. Went to bed around 9:30 because I was pissed off, tired, and had a headache. Something's got to give right now. I am bubbling with some anger and I don't know how to release it. It's going to turn into depression if I can't figure out a way to channel it into something. Lovely.

Y9 D272

We went and saw Black Panther yesterday. I know this is another one of those movies not meant for me, so my critique of it will be properly worded. Overall it's a good movie. If I take into consideration who it is made for, I still have some issues with it. First off, many of the scenes are too dark and it's hard to see what's going on. That could be the fault of the theater but I feel they used the old style cams for this one that have that matte feel in the final picture. Nothing really popped out at me EXCEPT his suit. And that was a problem. The movie kept pulling me out of the moment when they had him in his suit running around and being all action-y. Because it felt like CGI when that happened and it took on this cartoon effect that made my brain stop and go, nope. Therefore, while I do think it's a good movie, it suffers from some technical issues that stop it from being a great movie.

Had a team meeting yesterday. Blah blah, goals, blah blah.

Snowed last night again. Not as heavy. I look out the window and it's a thin sheet, not a blanket. I think we are supposed to get more through the weekend. Don't mind too much. I am in the house the next few days and shouldn't need to go anywhere.

Had soup and sandwiches for dinner last night. Nothing fancy. Just using up stuff in the house.

Today and tomorrow, 10 person class. A little worried about it based on the names and companies in the list. We shall see how it goes.

Y9 D271

Guess who cancelled on me due to 'weather'? Yeah. Fucking sucks. He didn't want to deal with driving into downtown in the snow because the traffic would be hell. I don't disagree with him (which is why I was taking the train) but it still sucks.

Everything sucks.

Worked on a bunch of shit. Got a lot accomplished. The day itself dragged on like a nightmare though. The sky was one color all day and you couldn't tell what time it was.

Went to bed at 10.

Y9 D270

I leave the house yesterday at about 2:50 to allow for road issues and possible traffic. Halfway there, I kid you not, I get an email saying "hey since the roads are so bad, do you want to do this remotely?". SON OF A BITCH. I responded a few minutes later when I was onsite saying, sorry already here. I could have stayed in bed. I could have stayed home. C'est la vie. It ended up being two students local and TWENTY EIGHT remote. You read that right. I sent my boss a message saying WTF? He didn't know about this. He used an old contract that didn't explicitly cap the number of students and the client sent it out to everyone. I had 16 in one location alone and had 5 different locations on. The sad part, is for the two people locally, they basically got to see me teach a remote class. I stayed in my seat all day with the random room pace. We finished around noon, and I headed home. Now, if I had a commute like that everyday at those times, I could handle working there. I made it home in 20 minutes as it should be given it's 16 miles. No traffic either way. No issues. Wasn't horrible at all.

Best part of yesterday was being home and done by 1pm. We tried getting tickets for Black Panther but there were no seats we would find acceptable. I have some holes this week in my schedule and we are going to go on Wednesday at noon. It should be a little less crowded. Or at least a little more of an adult audience.

Neither of us wanted to cook last night and I ended up doing pickup from BJ's Brewhouse. It was pretty good. A little pricey, but nice to eat in the privacy of our own home. B got a migraine last night and around 6:30 laid down. She didn't pop back out until 8:30, at which point I was going to bed because I had been up so long. Oh well.

Today I have a few things to get done for a couple different clients. Then I am heading downtown for drinks. Looking forward to this. I probably won't drink, using the term generically in this situation. Just be fun to get out and see other people without having to teach them anything.

Y9 D269

When I went out yesterday morning to get some groceries, we actually got some decent snow. It snowed on and off for a good portion of the day yesterday. I just looked out the window and it looks like some more came while I got my paltry five hours of sleep. Oh yes, I am up at 1:53am and running behind. I need to be out of here in the next hour if I am to make it on time to the client. I have been up for 25 minutes or so, but been dealing with an 'internet outage'. Also known as my wife not bothering to check the power cord plugged into the modem. Ugh.

We didn't do much yesterday. Stayed inside, watched tv, B crocheted, played some video games. A quiet Sunday. Now I am off for bullshit 101.

Y9 D268

So we now have a second fish tank. We went to the fish store to talk to them about a new snail, and B sees a poor slightly retarded one-eyed chalceus fish. She must rescue him. He now lives in our house along with a swordtail, a dalmation tetra, a mystery snail, and an algae eater. Sigh. It's only a 20 gallon tank and when they are bigger (and we have the room) we can upgrade our other one to a 60 or 80 and everyone can live together. The things I do for my woman.

Went to the store early yesterday and picked up some grocery type things. Nothing fancy or crazy, just enough to get us through the week. I am home at least the next two weeks but then may be gone again and I don't want to have too much in the house.

Came back, put things away, kind of fell back to sleep (I was up at 3 something), and then B got up and we went to the fish store. That pretty much took up the rest of the day. We had leftovers for dinner, played some video games, read, and went to bed around 10.

Today there are no plans. I need to iron for tomorrow's early onsite. I am still pretty raw about this. There is really no reason I have to be onsite tomorrow, but I will be. I will elaborate after it happens to make sure I am in the right.

Other than ironing, not much else. We got laundry done last night which will save me some time today. The house is pretty clean so nothing needing to be done there either. Nope, just a relaxing Sunday. It 'snowed' last night. As in lawns are white and tops of cars are covered, but that's about it. It's supposed to continue throughout the day. We shall see.

Y9 D267

Had a bit of a stressful travel day yesterday. I am really not a fan of CHA. Two times there, two times delayed. This time I was still able to make my connecting flight, but with only 3 minutes to spare. And the gate agents in CHA just don't seem to care. It feels like they are so used to things being late or cancelled that they're just like whatever. That doesn't work for the rest of us, sorry. And while we boarded on time at DFW, we sat on the runway for too long and ended up getting into PDX 20 minutes late. Luckily for me, B was there to pick me up. Got home around 1, unpacked, and relaxed. We went to the store to get her a couple of things, went to PF Changs for dinner, came home and crashed. I ended up being so tired I fell asleep by 9. That's what happens when you have 3 hours of sleep in 24.

I got an offer in the mail yesterday from American. They want to allow me to bump to the next level. Cool, right? Wrong. $2700. Um, fuck you? I was expecting like $600 or even $1000. But $2700? No thanks. In the trash that goes.

Have to do expenses, timesheet, etc today. Going to the grocery store first. Not much on the list. We need to go through the fridge and figure out what we need.

Got a couple of nice emails yesterday. My boss was on the phone with the people I had just left seeing about setting up more sessions and they told him that I was 'the best training we've ever had'. That's nice to here, ya know? Makes me feel the struggle traveling and being away is worth it. Plus it helps justify me wanting more money.

Two more days and I will be having drinks with Stephen Few! Amazing.

Y9 D266

At the airport already. My 80 year old driver was 20 minutes early. No complaint there. Am typing this on the pixel with a mobile hotspot connection. Useful.

Nothing exciting yesterday. Taught my class, finished up around 4:45 and headed back to the hotel. Grabbed a sandwich at Jimmy Johns on the way. Packed up all my stuff, watched some TV and laid down around 8. Managed to get about 4 hours of decent sleep. I should be able to get in a couple more hours on my Dallas flight today. Won't get any on this first flight probably but that's okay.

Looking forward to being home, but really didn't mind being gone this week. It was a nice change for me that was seriously over due. I am home for no more than 3 weeks for the next two trips which is perfect. I am back here in March and NJ in April confirmed. I may have a FL trip and a L.A. trip in between those, but no biggie. Heck, if I can hit Gold before May then my year will be off to a good start mileage wise that's for sure. Knock out 20 or so hotel nights and have less stress come later in the year.

No plans for the rest of today. I should get home by 1pm, shower, unpack, and maybe have sushi for dinner. Have a belated Valentine's dinner. Tomorrow I want to go to the mall because my fat ass needs new pants. I was stressing this week. The tops of my toes are also fucked up right now. My shoes were killing me and I put inserts in them which caused them to be too snug around the toes. I bruised the tops of both big toes.

Falling apart slowly. That's me.

Y9 D265

I slept like complete and utter shit last night. I woke up so many times wanting to throw up because I had such massive heartburn. Which is a bit weird because I didn't eat anything that should have disturbed my stomach. I haven't eaten anything crazy this whole week. I had a burger with asparagus for dinner. That's it. I don't know why my body is revolting on me. Fuck me.

It rained yesterday here. But by rain I mean it was a light drizzle. To these people you'd have thought the end of times was upon us. Umbrellas, giant coats. It was barely even dripping. At home we would have called it a sunny day.

New group. Things went okay. Some internal network issues. But we got through and finished at 4:45. Still a few people who shouldn't really be in the room, but there they were anyway. The majority of the group did well though. One more day of them and I am done.

I stopped and got them cupcakes for today. Because I am a nice guy. I can't wait for my jump drives to arrive from fucking China. March is when they should be here. I did man age to upsell the group to another 3 days of training in possibly April. Yeah, go me. I don't mind. If I can have 20k miles on American by April, then that's looking good for my yearly numbers. I apparently have something in the mail at home offering me an upgrade to the next tier. I will look at it. Not saying going to take the offer, but I will look at it. Every little bit helps.

Watched more Lucky Man. Only 2 episodes left and I will be caught up. Series 3 starts soon and I will be ready.

Went to bed at 9:30 and suffered until now. Still suffering technically. Fun stuff.

Y9 D264

After taking all the drugs on Monday night, I did feel better yesterday morning. But I also knew it would be short lived. It was going to be a cycle. Just because I felt better didn't mean I was better. I knew another day of pushing myself would make me weak again and I was right. By the time I got back to the hotel last night I was feeling the same symptoms. So another night of Theraflu was in my future.

The day was uneventful. Taught my class, got them out of there by 4:45. They were happy, I was happy. Second group of 16 starts today. Nothing like having to do a second performance back to back. Same jokes, same material, different room.

Walked back to the hotel and had leftovers for dinner. Watched TV and went to bed around 9:30. I slept a bit rough last night. I had weird dream including one where I was with the 12th Doctor and he was sitting in a giant tub of lime jello and cool whip. Hey to each their own. I just drive the Tardis.

That's all for now.

Y9 D263

I had a rough day yesterday. I felt flu symptoms coming on and did my best to fight them off. I am feeling better today, not great mind you but better. Here's what happened.

Got up, had breakfast, and headed to the client around 7:15. I left earlier than I needed to because the shuttle was going the other direction at 7:30. I would have had to wait until 7:45 or later for them to get back, or go earlier. Duh which choice I made. So I got to the client early and sat and waited until 8am. No biggie as I had stuff to watch. Got into the room, got setup, and as class started I was feeling a bit warm. I thought it was the lack of AC going in the room and didn't think much of it. First break hit around 10:45 and it just came over me. Aches, pains, headache. Boom. I spent the whole rest of the day trying not to pass out in front of my class. I was just dying on the inside. I managed to get through class but the walk back was hell.

When I got back to the hotel I had the shuttle drive me over to Walgreens. I spent like $50 on soup, juice, medicine, etc. I stocked the heck up. I am now good for the rest of the week and beyond. I don't know how I am getting the meds home as I got a giant thing of theraflu, but we shall see. I ordered up soup and a sandwich from room service so I could save my soup for lunches. I then took a healthy dose of drugs and got into bed around 8pm. I woke up around 11pm sweating through everything. I have the AC on at 68 and I was still burning up. But I think it's what I needed. I had to flush it all out of my system.

I am not taking any chances today and will pretty much repeat what I did last night to be safe. Just because I feel better today, doesn't mean I am better. It just means I am staying one step ahead. Got to keep that up.

I got my class some cupcakes on the way back also. I didn't get enough for the whole room, just my top students. Since I have no jump drives to give out yet, I needed something. I am debating to save some of the ones I got for my second group or get more tomorrow. No decision made yet. My boss sent an email to the team last night saying he is pushing for our salary increases this week. We shall see if that happens. That does mean that the extra money I got on my check was in fact due to changes in the tax law. Well, credit where credit is due. Good job on accomplishing ONE thing useful.

Breakfast soon, then another day of madness.

Y9 D262

My second flight was much better than the first, but still not wonderful. I got to the club and sat there until 10. Wandered to my gate, boarded at 10:30. We left around 11. Unfortunately I was too wired from my previous flight that I didn't sleep on that one either. All in all, I got about 2.5 hours sleep in a 36 hour span. Fun stuff.

Got to TN at around noon, my driver was there and waiting. Good guy. On time, good level of chatty, and not preaching at me. Thank goodness. We got to the hotel right around 1pm. They were ready for me. I am on the top floor in the far back corner just the way I like it. No one around me, no noise. I asked them to mark my account for my next trip next month with the same exact room. I like this one.

I now had a whole lot of time to kill. I decided to do something fun. I walked down the street to the TN Aquarium and got myself a ticket. I also opted for the 15 person only backstage pass add-on ticket. I actually got the last spot for the day. The aquarium here is really nice. Two separate buildings, one for fresh water, one for salt. The backstage pass was for the salt and started at 2:30. I had about an hour to wait and did the fresh water exhibits first. Cool, but not overly exciting. A lot of giant sturgeon and the like. River fish don't excite me that much. Remind me more of dinner than anything else. It was the salt side I wanted to see. At 2:30 we started our private tour by going up and above the penguin exhibit. So cool being so close to them. I loved them. They are my new friends. If I could have, I would have smuggled one home. We then went above the main exhibit tank for a close up experience. 618,000 gallon tank with six sharks, two giant sea turtles, and hundreds of fish, mantas, etc. So cool being on top of all of it and getting to talk with the divers who feed them every day. We then got to feed the fish and turtles. I have some great video of the feeding frenzy that happened when everyone started throwing their food in the water. From there it was on to a private hands on with a New Caledonian Giant Gecko. Neat! After that, butterfly gardens, manta ray touch tank, and then the bestest part - JELLIES! All the jellies. It was cooler than cool. It was ice cold. The last thing of course, my friend the octopus. I fucking love octopuses. They rock.

I ended up spending over 3.5 hours there, got a christmas ornament and a pin for B. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at the rib place and got dinner/lunch. Ate dinner in my room, watched some TV and was in bed by 9. I slept mostly okay. The heat was on and I woke up around 2 unable to breathe. That sucked but I managed to fall back to sleep until almost 4.

Two groups of 16 this week. Same class, two days each. Shouldn't be too bad. I have been here before and know the people and the drill. Breakfast in a couple of hours, then I will head over to the client about 7:30.

I am happy to be back on the road. I needed to get out and moving. I get to do this same trip next month on the same dates which is something to look forward to as well.

Y9 D261

Well that was one of the worst flights ever. Now does that count as yesterday or today? Hm. I am going to count it as yesterday. Didn't do much during the day as expected. B needed to run a few errands which we took care of pretty early on. I went out before she woke up and went to the post office, the car wash, and the grocery store.

For the most part we relaxed and didn't do much of anything. I made chicken curry bowls for dinner which came out pretty damn good.

Left for the airport at 8:30, arrived at 9:15 because fucking traffic on a Saturday night. Hung out in the club until 11, walked down to my gate, boarded at 11:30, and then we left at midnight on the dot. From there I endured almost 5 hours of some horrific turbulence. Like audible gasping and whimpering turbulence. People were not happy. Some slept. I got *maybe* two hours total. Otherwise it was a white knuckle no food suck ass flight. I am off mentally, physically, and have an ear infection to boot. Now I sit for 2.5 hours until my next flight. Whee.

Y9 D260

Don't worry, I'm not dead or anything. I slept in. Which in of itself might be worrisome to some. But I'm okay. I was up until midnight to check in for my flight and get my boarding passes. Plus I have to be up until midnight tonight since my flight doesn't board until 11:30. Hence, I wanted to get some decent sleep this morning. I am going to try and stay up the whole time without any naps so I will sleep as much as possible on this flight. Wish me luck.

As promised, I didn't do hardly any work yesterday. Since I am only getting 12 hours today before I have to leave and I lose all day tomorrow, I needed a day to do shit. I was at the grocery store by 5:30am yesterday. Got groceries, paid bills, took care of shit around the house. Take away my weekend and I will take it back somewhere bitches.

We got a pizza around 1pm and made it into lunch and dinner. Plus I can now take some with me to the airport so I have a snack when I get on the plane. I won't get meal service on either of flights because of the time of the first one and the short duration of the second. Need to be prepared.

We finished the last movie last night! Both of us really enjoyed Ragnarok. Much much more than Homecoming. Best of the Thor movies for sure. Jeff Goldblum was excellent. It just moved at a better pace, had better dialog, wasn't filled with stupid ass teenage angst, etc. Really good.

That was my day. Not happy about today, but it is what it is.

Y9 D259

Ah, nothing like waking up to find your upgrade confirmed and your paycheck is larger than expected. I don't know if I actually got my raise or if this is the new tax bill coming into play, but either way, it's $200 more than I normally get. I will look at my pay stub and see which it is when it comes in the mail tomorrow. If it's the new tax bill, then great because it means it will be even a little bit more when my raise comes through. I will give thanks if the tax bill actually did something and I am going to see $200 more per check because that's a decent increase. That's $5200 more a year. That can go right to debt and take care of some stuff quickly in a year. Fuck. I can't stand when I have to eat crow and admit this administration/congress did something right, but. Now if it's my raise, then that works too. We shall see.

Since B was still feeling down about her birthday and I will be gone next week, I made her open her VD and Anniversary presents last night. Score. She loves her little RetroMini but the ViewMaster had her in tears. Like giant sobbing tears. She called it the kindest gift she has ever received. She wants to show it to everyone but she is holding off because she thought it was so cool she wants to order one for like everyone now. I did good with that gift. I encourage you all to check them out. Image3d out of OR. It's an incredible gift for a reasonable amount. You will be the favorite. Let me tell you.

For my part, I got three Pops. Two Emperor's New Groove (one limited edition) and a rare Bob Ross chaser pop. I only need one more BR pop and I will have them all. For now. My bigger concern is in a few weeks when they release the Amy Pond Pop at ECCC. I need that one. I am so close to a complete Doctor Who set. I only need 10 more out of 40. I am right there.

I did do work yesterday too. Got some things accomplished for Daimler. Also reminded the nice lady that for the 19th for her damn 5am ONSITE class, that I need in the room at about 4am and she needs to be there and ready to go. I hate non-tech people who don't get that we don't need to do shit onsite. I am going to be very angry if everything could have been done remotely. Sigh.

What else...

I think that's about it. We got through the second to last move, Spiderman Homecoming. Meh. Neither of us liked it a whole lot, but we didn't hate it either. It dragged in parts. Too much teen drama. But it's Spiderman. He's the baby of the group. I did appreciate all the cameos and the one liners, but overall, it could have been trimmed down.

Made leftovers for dinner. Trying to clean things out before I go. I am going to the grocery store in a few minutes. Don't plan on doing much today because I have to take a red-eye tomorrow and lose my entire Sunday. So yeah, there's that. Time to shower and hit the store before the other humans.

Y9 D258

B's birthday was acceptable. She doesn't like making a big deal out of it. Midwest guilt and humility people, it sucks. They don't like being the center of attention of people making a fuss and it leads to things like birthdays being awkward. But we got through it. Went to Benihana because she likes it.

Sorry got distracted paying bills. I hate Feb. It's an awful month being short and it makes for tricky pay periods.

Anyway, bought B a new Kindle. She is happy with it.

I worked on different things for different people.

Went to bed. Okay. Two more days and I get to go away.

Y9 D257

It is confirmed! I will be having drinks downtown next Tuesday with Stephen Few. I am pretty damn excited about this. Who knows where even an acquaintance with this guy could lead. He knows a lot of people. Not to mention it will be fun to talk to someone like him.

Today is B's birthday. Don't forget to wish her happy birthday people.

Worked on a myriad of things yesterday. Just things here and there but it added up and the day sped by. B went and got her OR license yesterday while I was working. That almost turned bad. We didn't think she would have to take a driving test, but for some reason they made her. Luckily they let her do it right then and there without an appointment. OR DMV is 1000 light years better than CA DMV any day.

When she got back we drove over to best buy where I got one of my 2018 perks from my company. I now have a nice shiny new PixelBook. Basically I have 12.3" tablet with a keyboard. But I am not complaining. I will put it to the test next week in TN. We shall see how it does.

Had Zoup for dinner and it didn't turn out well. Bad batch for both of us. Not good Zoup.  Both of ours were watery and too salty.

B had group, I watched TV. Went to bed at 9:30 because I was exhausted.

A lot of the same today. B gets to decide on dinner tonight. Let's see what she chooses.

Y9 D256

Something really cool happened to me yesterday. I spent the day reading Stephen Few's latest book, Big Data Big Dupe, and sent him an email praising how wonderful it is. Not only did he reply, he suggested we get together to talk!! He lives up here near me and decided to roll the dice and extend an offer to meet. I do in fact have to be in TN next week, but the week after I am home. I am trying to set something up for the 20th. Now most of you have no idea how fucking cool this is. This guy is a legend in his field, renowned author, and just smart as fuck. The fact that he would be willing to hang out with me is amazing. I am being a bit of a fanboy here but who cares. Anyway, that's the cool part of yesterday.

In other news, I am going to TN and because they waited so fucking long to confirm, I am taking a midnight flight out Saturday, get in at noon on Sunday. Lovely. I am going through Charlotte, in theory I will sleep the whole way but still, what a pain in the ass. They did confirm March's trip too and I can book that now, which shouldn't be as bad. I will have 20k miles down by May with all these trips. Boom. On my way to another year of status. 15 hotel nights done. Oh, the third trip is to NJ in April. One trip a month starting next week at a minimum. Honestly, I am happy. I need to get going somewhere. Losing my shit at home.

Worked on getting new jump drives for the company, I found a new supplier that saved us almost $`1100 in the end. I had to manipulate some AI files which I am no expert, but the end result looked pretty good. I got 8gb drives this time too.

We watched two more movies last night. Made it through Civil War and Doctor Strange. Down to the last 3. We can do it!

Made shrimp and chicken jambalaya last night. Came out pretty good. I was at the store last weekend and saw a 100 recipe chicken magazine and got it on a fluke. 1 down, 99 to go, and so far so good.

Today I am starting some CBT work and doing some recordings. That should be fun. B is off to DMV finally to get her license before hers expires tomorrow. Yeah I know. Then tonight she has her first group since coming home. I expect mass emotions. We shall see.

Y9 D255

I spent the day chasing a secret mount in Warcraft. It took me all day but I got him. Lucid Mount. 7 clues. Travel everywhere.

Had mexican food. Went to Goodwill. B found a shirt and a corkboard for pins.

Yeah it's Monday. I have two conference calls today. One with a nice guy and one with 11 pains in the ass.

I don't want to be up. Am supposed to go to TN next week. No confirmations. Am pretty bent about that.

Y9 D254

I am not going to belabor my feelings about today. After 10 years of reading this shit you know where I stand.

Didn't do a whole lot of anything yesterday which is okay by me. We did some house cleaning but mostly we did a movie marathon. In prep for Black Panther and Infinity War later this year, we have been watching the entire 10 years of MCU movies. We just finished Winter Soldier last night. We have 8 more movies to go. The final two, Homecoming and Ragnarok, I haven't seen either and am looking forward to watching those.

Other than that, we played some video games together. I made carne asada for dinner on the BBQ. It was a really nice day yesterday hovering in the mid 50s and I said screw it. Fired up the grill and made some meat. It was actually the best carne asada I have ever made. It came out just right. I was pretty pleased. Street tacos all around!

Today will be another low-key day (get it? Loki? Cuz of the movies??? Oh shut.) with nothing planned. We need to do laundry but that's about it. We are thinking about making our own tamales and I may go to the store this morning to get some husks, but otherwise, meh. Not much on the horizon. Hide inside and be happy.

Y9 D253

The kid turns 25 today. Holy shit. She definitely has her life in better shape than I did at that age. So proud of her. She has done really well for herself. She finished her education, didn't get pregnant, made smart decisions. The lessons of life all paid off. Good job.

I spent the day playing catch up and helping out a few different clients with miscellaneous stuff. Made one guy really happy by solving a problem for him. Yay me.

We had leftovers for dinner because we needed to clean out that fridge. Watch a movie and enjoyed quiet time. B's friend left yesterday morning and it is nice to have our place back to just us. I slept in my own bed last night for the first time in five days. My goodness I slept solid. Very enjoyable.

Today we have to go to the mall to do ring inspections. Whee.

Y9 D252

Ah Friday. The day I get my bed back. Nothing else matters. Okay fine, we will be sad to see B's friend go, but still, I get my bed back.

Taught my class, finished around 2:30. I got an email from one of my students afterwards saying how it was the best training class they have ever taken in their life. Yeah, so where's my raise bitches? After class I took a brief little nap. We went out for indian and more mexican ice cream last night. There was packing and tearful goodbyes even though her car won't be here until almost 8. I went to bed around 10.

I had some great dreams last night. I slept extremely well and had solid dreams to back that up. In one Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan were hanging out. They were driving by in some car laughing their heads off because that's what they do. I don't remember much else, but I remember that.

Today I have assorted things to work on including a workbook for a client. I will get to everything today. Eventually. I am starting to get cranky at the lack of response to my end of year requests. If things don't progress soon, I may progress right out the door.

Y9 D251

My head hurts this morning. I forgot to turn on the humidifier and it gave me a headache this morning. Pressure changes, dry air. The night before I slept with the window open and didn't need the humidifier but didn't open it last night. Now I am paying the price. Add to that back pain from sleeping on an air mattress. While B's friend is very nice, I can't wait for her to go home tomorrow. I get my bed back.

Taught my class, finished at 3. B and her friend got tattoos yesterday. Long story. She then made meatloaf for dinner as it was a request from her friend. Watched some tv and read. That was my exciting Wednesday.

I need to pay rent. This is a very tight pay period with way too much going on. I have over a week still until payday and it's making it rough. It's also stressing me out. A lot. We will make it but by the skin of our teeth. It's because of her insurance, rent, my LOC, and birthdays, anniversary, etc etc etc all coming out of one fucking check. Too much hit at the same time. I don't like this. I have worked very hard to minimize this issue. Sigh. FML.