Back in the 80s people used to use the phrase "He who dies with the most toys wins". I have since come to realize how false this statement is. Instead, a better phrase is "He who dies with the most STORIES wins". Because isn't that what life is really about? Living it so you can have stories to tell? Hell, I have been telling a story here for 10 years. Some days the narrative drags and doesn't amount to much. But other days it's compelling reading. Today might be one of those days. Because I have a great addition to my list of stories. Here's how it starts: "Hey so remember that time I was in a polar vortex?".
Left the house at 3:20am yesterday morning. Got to the airport at 4. Moderately busy. I think a lot of overflow from cancelled flights earlier in the week. Mostly because the people I saw were in the regular lanes and massive people at southwest. What I mean by this is when I walked up to get my boarding passes, there was no one in the priority line. While there were a good 100 people in the regular line, I walked around all of them. Some were grumbling about that, but hey, not my fault. I also made it through security in about 2 minutes where as the other side had a much longer line. To paraphrase another 80s slogan, membership has its privileges bitches.
Got to my gate and no issues from DTW to ORD. Cold, yes, but no delays. We actually arrived 40 minutes early. I had 2 hours until my next flight, but I could see from the board that things were getting cancelled. I knew I couldn't leave until my flight was officially cancelled otherwise I wouldn't get the refund. So off to the Admiral's club I went. I got three delays totaling 2.5 hours and 11 gate changes in that time. Finally as the flight was just about to board, they cancelled it. Perfect. I had them put me on another flight again so it looked like I was doing something, and headed off to the Avis counter. When I got outside to get on the shuttle, my snot froze. Yep. It was that fucking cold out. My entire nose just shut off. Horrible. -15 at that point and with wind chill -24. Good times. Still not as bad as when I was in Canada that one time. But bad.
I made it to the Avis counter, got a 4wd with GPS and headed off to Milwaukee. Not a bad drive. Cold, but okay. Took about 2 hours. It was roughly 1:30 when I got to the hotel. When I got out of the car a gust of wind hit me and once more my face said nope. I did forget to bring gloves and I am paying for that right now. Oh well.
Got into my room, did my stuff, had dinner in the restaurant. Thank goodness there is one here. I didn't feel like driving and exploring in the cold. Dinner was okay but good because I didn't have to leave. Came back to the room and went to bed around 9.
Okay, so maybe not the most compelling narrative I have ever written, but it's one more story for the books and that means I am one step closer to 'winning'.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Y10 D249
Current temperature? -1. With wind chill, -25. Federal offices closed. But guess who has to travel in this shit? Yep. Me. As of right now, everything is still listed as on time and departing. We shall see how that changes in the next few hours. I have two contingency plans in place. The first is if I make it to Chicago and get cancelled, I will see about driving to Milwaukee. If that fails, we are set to reschedule in two weeks. So we are all set for whatever comes our way right now. Doesn't mean we like any of this, but we are ready for it.
I did a class yesterday for my folks in NJ. 1pm - 5pm so I started around noon with getting prepped and ready. Sucked working late, but filled my day. B went and got more paint and finished painting the basement. Next up are the floors down there and things will be looking good.
New cat is adjusting well. She is happy to have a forever home. She is cuddling and purring away. The other two are suspicious something is going on but they don't know what yet. Amusing.
Time to shower and brave the elements. Wish me luck in getting to WI today.
I did a class yesterday for my folks in NJ. 1pm - 5pm so I started around noon with getting prepped and ready. Sucked working late, but filled my day. B went and got more paint and finished painting the basement. Next up are the floors down there and things will be looking good.
New cat is adjusting well. She is happy to have a forever home. She is cuddling and purring away. The other two are suspicious something is going on but they don't know what yet. Amusing.
Time to shower and brave the elements. Wish me luck in getting to WI today.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Y10 D248
LOTS of news this morning. I have been sitting on some stuff to see how it played out before saying anything, so here we go. We have news of all sizes and shapes today. Let's start with little news.
Little news:
Had a conference call yesterday with a potential new client that got dropped on us by sales. What a fiasco. There is one IT person on the call who clearly doesn't think his team needs 'outsiders' telling them what to do and was coming up with the most specific niche questions to see if 'we knew our stuff'. I fucking hate people like that. They just are trying to show they know more about one little thing than anyone else. We get it Timmy, you read one white paper in 2004 and think you know shit. At the end of the call my boss and I talked and I straight up told him I wasn't doing the training. He said it's okay, I am telling them to walk. We could never make them happy and the money isn't worth it. THIS is why I stay with my company even if some days I get frustrated.
More little news, had a second team conference call where we went over some plans for this year. Plus we got enlightened on what's going on with the other side of the business. Marketing is finally admitting that they are old and out of touch. We are having an outside marketing firm review things. It's about fucking time. Nobody wants your mass fucking emails any more grandma.
Medium news:
It snowed. BOY OH BOY did it snow. It started around 9am and didn't let up until after 6pm. We got a good six or seven inches. I started getting flight alerts that I should be prepared for cancellations and delays. I need to check in for my flight in 2 minutes. We shall see if it is still scheduled as on-time. I did get my upgrade on the one flight where it's offered. The funny part is when I went to look at the seat map, I was the only one showing in 1st. Oh darn. An entire cabin to myself.
Big news:
Yep, time for big news. And the thing about snow up above plays in. On Saturday we stopped into PetSmart around 7pm. It was there that B saw something. You all know how she has a fondness for animals she thinks won't be loved because of deformity, age, etc (heck she married me, am I right??). Well there she was; Amaretto. 10 years old, distended belly from litter complications, just wanting love. Since it was late, we could only spend a little time with her before having to go. We got as much info on her as we could but needed to call the original shelter yesterday to get her full medical history. I talked to them yesterday around 10:30am and after the call we decided to add her to our family. The snow was still light at that point, but I had my calls. Around 1:30 I was ready but there was already a ton of snow on the ground. We went anyway. When we got there and we were talking to the manager, I made the comment "you can tell we're serious because we went out in this shit for this cat". Heck the manager had already started sending people home so she knew what I meant by that. 40 or so minutes later, we had a new family member. She is in the bedroom where she will spend the next week getting acclimated. Hopefully there will be no issues with any of the other dummies. Ah, home ownership - where the only people who can tell you how many pets you can have is the city. If I want four more cats, I will have four more cats. No, not happening. Three is more than enough.
Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print. I did check in for my flight in the middle of this and it's showing as on time. We shall see.
Little news:
Had a conference call yesterday with a potential new client that got dropped on us by sales. What a fiasco. There is one IT person on the call who clearly doesn't think his team needs 'outsiders' telling them what to do and was coming up with the most specific niche questions to see if 'we knew our stuff'. I fucking hate people like that. They just are trying to show they know more about one little thing than anyone else. We get it Timmy, you read one white paper in 2004 and think you know shit. At the end of the call my boss and I talked and I straight up told him I wasn't doing the training. He said it's okay, I am telling them to walk. We could never make them happy and the money isn't worth it. THIS is why I stay with my company even if some days I get frustrated.
More little news, had a second team conference call where we went over some plans for this year. Plus we got enlightened on what's going on with the other side of the business. Marketing is finally admitting that they are old and out of touch. We are having an outside marketing firm review things. It's about fucking time. Nobody wants your mass fucking emails any more grandma.
Medium news:
It snowed. BOY OH BOY did it snow. It started around 9am and didn't let up until after 6pm. We got a good six or seven inches. I started getting flight alerts that I should be prepared for cancellations and delays. I need to check in for my flight in 2 minutes. We shall see if it is still scheduled as on-time. I did get my upgrade on the one flight where it's offered. The funny part is when I went to look at the seat map, I was the only one showing in 1st. Oh darn. An entire cabin to myself.
Big news:
Yep, time for big news. And the thing about snow up above plays in. On Saturday we stopped into PetSmart around 7pm. It was there that B saw something. You all know how she has a fondness for animals she thinks won't be loved because of deformity, age, etc (heck she married me, am I right??). Well there she was; Amaretto. 10 years old, distended belly from litter complications, just wanting love. Since it was late, we could only spend a little time with her before having to go. We got as much info on her as we could but needed to call the original shelter yesterday to get her full medical history. I talked to them yesterday around 10:30am and after the call we decided to add her to our family. The snow was still light at that point, but I had my calls. Around 1:30 I was ready but there was already a ton of snow on the ground. We went anyway. When we got there and we were talking to the manager, I made the comment "you can tell we're serious because we went out in this shit for this cat". Heck the manager had already started sending people home so she knew what I meant by that. 40 or so minutes later, we had a new family member. She is in the bedroom where she will spend the next week getting acclimated. Hopefully there will be no issues with any of the other dummies. Ah, home ownership - where the only people who can tell you how many pets you can have is the city. If I want four more cats, I will have four more cats. No, not happening. Three is more than enough.
Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print. I did check in for my flight in the middle of this and it's showing as on time. We shall see.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Y10 D247
The old joke is "I want to be a weatherman so I can be wrong 50% of the time and still get paid". There was supposed to be 5-8 inches of snow last night and then more today. Well, I just looked outside and zero fell overnight that I can tell. Even B's sister is scheduled for a snow day today and nope. Now don't get me wrong, it could change in mere seconds. Heck, I could open the blind right now and see a foot of snow. It's just funny/
As planned, we painted. B went off to bingo as the progressive was over $8,000. Someone won it last night. They split it $4k each, but damn I wouldn't turn that down.
While she was at bingo I went to dinner at a Persian place nearby. REALLY good. I had bhagali-polo with lamb and lima bean dill rice. Excellent stuff.
Went to bed around 11. Today I have multiple conference calls, tomorrow I have a 1-5pm class, then I leave on Wednesday (possibly). That's my week.
As planned, we painted. B went off to bingo as the progressive was over $8,000. Someone won it last night. They split it $4k each, but damn I wouldn't turn that down.
While she was at bingo I went to dinner at a Persian place nearby. REALLY good. I had bhagali-polo with lamb and lima bean dill rice. Excellent stuff.
Went to bed around 11. Today I have multiple conference calls, tomorrow I have a 1-5pm class, then I leave on Wednesday (possibly). That's my week.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Y10 D246
I had a rough first half of the day. I was unpleasant and annoyed. Why? Because I felt stuck. I was tired of looking at the ripped up floor in the basement. It's been that way for over a week. I am not used to waiting for things if that makes sense. If I decide to do something I do it. B is of the opposite mentality. She hems and haws and worries and debates. So trying to get her to spend $1200 is a challenge. Is there a better deal? Can we look at other options? Can we live with it? NO NO NO. Just fucking do it. But before we can do the floor, we have to rip off the baseboard. And we have to do this and we have to do that. I was getting more annoyed by the second. It didn't help that there were these children things still here.
I did go out in the morning and get them bagels. I was supposed to eat one too, but I was just so grrr I didn't want it.
Their mother came and picked them up around noon and we showed her BF what we are up to and he said he would be glad to help us. He showed some pictures of his previous house and the work he did. I trust him to do our stuff. I hate to admit to B but he's a nice guy. She has a chip on her shoulder about him because he was kind of a dick a while back when they broke up for a while. I don't blame her, but looking at each situation uniquely, he's not a bad dude. Regardless, he has a truck and can help up pick up the flooring and help us install it. So I said fuck it and we put things in motion. We went out and we first stopped at B's grandparents to see how her grandfather is doing after his surgery. He isn't having back pain for the first time in like a year. He was so happy. I could immediately tell he was doing better.
Around 6 we went out for Mexican food. FINALLY found a real place. One that serves stuff like I am used to having. Nothing of this bullshit white people tex-mex or taco bell crap. Real food. I was very happy. On the way back we went to Home Depot and got the primer and paint to start the work. And that is how we spent our evening until about midnight. Priming the basement. Ripping off baseboard, removing plates, covering stuff, etc. Today we paint. Then I think we will make the drive to purchase the floors and then send the BF to pick them up on Monday. I can't put them in my car. We're looking at almost 1000 pounds of flooring. By the time I get back from Milwaukee, the basement should be much closer to being done.
Speaking of Milwaukee, that's assuming I can go. It snowed about 5 inches last night and there's more coming. I may not be able to get out of here. Another 5-8 inches is predicted for tomorrow. Which means I need to get out and shovel the driveway again so we don't end up with a foot of snow in it. Sigh. Why did I move here?
I did go out in the morning and get them bagels. I was supposed to eat one too, but I was just so grrr I didn't want it.
Their mother came and picked them up around noon and we showed her BF what we are up to and he said he would be glad to help us. He showed some pictures of his previous house and the work he did. I trust him to do our stuff. I hate to admit to B but he's a nice guy. She has a chip on her shoulder about him because he was kind of a dick a while back when they broke up for a while. I don't blame her, but looking at each situation uniquely, he's not a bad dude. Regardless, he has a truck and can help up pick up the flooring and help us install it. So I said fuck it and we put things in motion. We went out and we first stopped at B's grandparents to see how her grandfather is doing after his surgery. He isn't having back pain for the first time in like a year. He was so happy. I could immediately tell he was doing better.
Around 6 we went out for Mexican food. FINALLY found a real place. One that serves stuff like I am used to having. Nothing of this bullshit white people tex-mex or taco bell crap. Real food. I was very happy. On the way back we went to Home Depot and got the primer and paint to start the work. And that is how we spent our evening until about midnight. Priming the basement. Ripping off baseboard, removing plates, covering stuff, etc. Today we paint. Then I think we will make the drive to purchase the floors and then send the BF to pick them up on Monday. I can't put them in my car. We're looking at almost 1000 pounds of flooring. By the time I get back from Milwaukee, the basement should be much closer to being done.
Speaking of Milwaukee, that's assuming I can go. It snowed about 5 inches last night and there's more coming. I may not be able to get out of here. Another 5-8 inches is predicted for tomorrow. Which means I need to get out and shovel the driveway again so we don't end up with a foot of snow in it. Sigh. Why did I move here?
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Y10 D245
There are children in my house. One is okay because she is 12 and doesn't have the energy of a small tornado. The other, is a small tornado. She just is so. Let's just say I raised my kid differently than how these kids are being raised.
I worked all day. ALL day. But I did get my second document completed. This makes me very happy. It means I am going into next week with nothing hanging over my head. I took a break in the morning because DTE came and picked up the fridge the previous owner left. And they handed me a check for $50 right on the spot. Not bad, not bad.
B took care of getting the girls while I made dinner and made sure everything was ready. We watched a movie, played video games, and went out for ice cream. Then bed.
I don't know what we're doing with them today. Maybe dropping them off a cliff? Yeah, that works.
I worked all day. ALL day. But I did get my second document completed. This makes me very happy. It means I am going into next week with nothing hanging over my head. I took a break in the morning because DTE came and picked up the fridge the previous owner left. And they handed me a check for $50 right on the spot. Not bad, not bad.
B took care of getting the girls while I made dinner and made sure everything was ready. We watched a movie, played video games, and went out for ice cream. Then bed.
I don't know what we're doing with them today. Maybe dropping them off a cliff? Yeah, that works.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Y10 D244
The white rain from the sky came back last night. Not cool. Just a couple of inches, but it wasn't supposed to hit until next week. Poop.
Finished one of 5 new classes yesterday. I would like get a second one done before I leave on Wednesday but the next one is pretty big and I am not sure I will be able to finish it today. I am going to try though. Worked on it all day. Didn't stop until about 3. Then I worked in the garage. Sometime between 8 and 12 I have the power company coming by today to pick up the fridge the previous owner left. So I had to do some rearranging to make sure it was out and ready to go. Hopefully they will still come even with the snow on the ground. I guess the people here are used to functioning in it.
B was out again most of the day. Her grandfather is back home from surgery and she was over helping them out.
When she got home I went to cook dinner only to realize we had forgotten to take out the chicken I planned to make. Had to switch to soup. Made potato cheddar soup instead with a nice spinach quiche. Adapt. My life story.
Making my first note payment today. Already paid my mortgage. Shit got distracted. People wanting money. That's my life.
We are getting B's sisters this weekend. This will be interesting.
Finished one of 5 new classes yesterday. I would like get a second one done before I leave on Wednesday but the next one is pretty big and I am not sure I will be able to finish it today. I am going to try though. Worked on it all day. Didn't stop until about 3. Then I worked in the garage. Sometime between 8 and 12 I have the power company coming by today to pick up the fridge the previous owner left. So I had to do some rearranging to make sure it was out and ready to go. Hopefully they will still come even with the snow on the ground. I guess the people here are used to functioning in it.
B was out again most of the day. Her grandfather is back home from surgery and she was over helping them out.
When she got home I went to cook dinner only to realize we had forgotten to take out the chicken I planned to make. Had to switch to soup. Made potato cheddar soup instead with a nice spinach quiche. Adapt. My life story.
Making my first note payment today. Already paid my mortgage. Shit got distracted. People wanting money. That's my life.
We are getting B's sisters this weekend. This will be interesting.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Y10 D243
Slept in this morning because I could. I am finally after 50 years, turning into one of those people on TV who goes to bed at 11:30 and wakes up at 6:30. Neat. I can only do that when I don't have class mind you. But it's still kind of neat.
Taught day two of my group. Went until 4pm. Talked to my boss after class. Looks like at the end of next month I am off to Merced. Aka the middle of nowhere CA. I will have to fly into one of two airports and drive for two hours. It really doesn't matter which airport I fly into SFO or SJC, they're both going to be a drive to the destination. What I need to do is look mileage and traffic wise between those two and OAK to see which is the best option. But I knew with our other guy accepting a full time gig I would end up traveling more. By end of Feb I will be 15% towards Diamond at Hilton and 50% towards Gold on American. I should have well over 100k miles available for other use. No complaints here. I would like to finish the year with 200k banked. That would be more than enough to take a Hawaii trip.
B was out and about all day. Her grandfather went in for surgery so she drove her cousin to school (he lives with the grandparents right now and is working on getting his license), then she had to go back at 4 to pick him up. From there she headed to bingo. She is loving her bingo ladies. They have a progressive round that is up to $8000 right now. I don't mind if she spends $10 on cards once or twice a week if it could lead to eight grand. Plus I spent a lot more in my day on booze going out at night so I can't bitch. I just want to find something like that for myself. I need to find a group I can hang around with at night. I'm trying. Not very hard mind you, but I am trying.
Today is doc writing but I also have to work in the garage. We have DTE coming tomorrow to pick up the old fridge the previous owner left. We have held on to it in case any friends or family want it, but time's up. It goes this week. I want my garage space.
Other than that, no big plans the next couple of days.
Taught day two of my group. Went until 4pm. Talked to my boss after class. Looks like at the end of next month I am off to Merced. Aka the middle of nowhere CA. I will have to fly into one of two airports and drive for two hours. It really doesn't matter which airport I fly into SFO or SJC, they're both going to be a drive to the destination. What I need to do is look mileage and traffic wise between those two and OAK to see which is the best option. But I knew with our other guy accepting a full time gig I would end up traveling more. By end of Feb I will be 15% towards Diamond at Hilton and 50% towards Gold on American. I should have well over 100k miles available for other use. No complaints here. I would like to finish the year with 200k banked. That would be more than enough to take a Hawaii trip.
B was out and about all day. Her grandfather went in for surgery so she drove her cousin to school (he lives with the grandparents right now and is working on getting his license), then she had to go back at 4 to pick him up. From there she headed to bingo. She is loving her bingo ladies. They have a progressive round that is up to $8000 right now. I don't mind if she spends $10 on cards once or twice a week if it could lead to eight grand. Plus I spent a lot more in my day on booze going out at night so I can't bitch. I just want to find something like that for myself. I need to find a group I can hang around with at night. I'm trying. Not very hard mind you, but I am trying.
Today is doc writing but I also have to work in the garage. We have DTE coming tomorrow to pick up the old fridge the previous owner left. We have held on to it in case any friends or family want it, but time's up. It goes this week. I want my garage space.
Other than that, no big plans the next couple of days.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Y10 D242
It's so nice to wake up and have power. Ah the little luxuries. I went to bed with some annoying news but woke up to it being mostly resolved. I got a letter in the mail last night, which for the record didn't arrive until 8:04pm, but that's another story, from my old insurance company. Or at least I thought they were my OLD insurance company. Turns out it was a letter introducing me to my new agent. Um what?? So I log in to my online account and the policy that was supposed to be cancelled on 1/3 never was. I guess they were switching over accounts at that point. I then checked my bank statement and yep, I got charged yesterday for the policy as well. Motherfucker. I immediately emailed the new agent sending them a copy of the email I sent the old agent. I went to bed without a response, but woke up to one saying it will be dealt with and backdated. Thank goodness. Now to get the monies refunded. That will probably take forever. Don't you love how companies demand their money but then can take 5 weeks to get you a refund? Assholes.
My class from yesterday was a clusterfuck from start to finish. The main group of students are from the Canadian government and as one would expect, they couldn't connect to the remote servers. What a big shockeroonie. Not. We had to wait for all of them to get home, one had to take the bus, it was just a rough day. But we got through and the group itself is good. They were all nice and eager to learn just technically challenged. Finished at 4:40, a little over from what I would like.
Had leftovers for dinner, watched some tv, went to bed around 10.
One more day of this group, then two days of doc creation. Then next week I am off to Laverne and Shirley land. We're gonna do it.
My class from yesterday was a clusterfuck from start to finish. The main group of students are from the Canadian government and as one would expect, they couldn't connect to the remote servers. What a big shockeroonie. Not. We had to wait for all of them to get home, one had to take the bus, it was just a rough day. But we got through and the group itself is good. They were all nice and eager to learn just technically challenged. Finished at 4:40, a little over from what I would like.
Had leftovers for dinner, watched some tv, went to bed around 10.
One more day of this group, then two days of doc creation. Then next week I am off to Laverne and Shirley land. We're gonna do it.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Y10 D241
I have been up for about an hour, however I have just gotten to this because I woke up to no power. Welcome to the fucking midwest. Good times. From what I can tell, it went off somewhere around 4am. I woke up at 5:21 and immediately knew something was wrong because our white noise machine was off. I figured I hit it in my sleep for some reason but it was still odd. Got up and the thermostat was flashing at me. And it was bloody cold in the house. That's when I realized how quiet it was and knew there was no power. My phone was down to 19% too. I immediately emailed and texted the appropriate people since I have a class at 8:30 today. It came back on at around 5:55. Ironically, my alarm was set for 6 and had I slept until the alarm I would have noticed, but not panicked. This better not be a regular occurrence out here.
Got some stuff finalized yesterday with my co-workers. I now know what are material will look like for 2019. Just need to sit down and develop it. I figure I can get one of the four classes done by Feb 2.
Took B to the doctor yesterday. She is bruised and hurting still. She may have to go back today to get some MRI or X-rays done. We will see. They taped her up yesterday and said go home and rest but you know, shitty service.
Man, I have high expectations. Oh wait. No I don't. I expect people to do the job they're paid to do. And in the case of TSA, not paid to do. Zing.
We stopped at the store on the way home as she wanted sloppy joe's for dinner and I wasn't about to deny her anything right now.
I had some stuff come yesterday from Amazon, including a 3-way remote switch. For those not familiar, you replace the main switch with one that has a little RF device and then you surface mount the remote switch wherever you want. We now have a LOGICAL kitchen switch. Doing the hallway next.
Got to go get ready for class. 7 servers up and running. Two days of class. On a 23 year old product. Fun.
Got some stuff finalized yesterday with my co-workers. I now know what are material will look like for 2019. Just need to sit down and develop it. I figure I can get one of the four classes done by Feb 2.
Took B to the doctor yesterday. She is bruised and hurting still. She may have to go back today to get some MRI or X-rays done. We will see. They taped her up yesterday and said go home and rest but you know, shitty service.
Man, I have high expectations. Oh wait. No I don't. I expect people to do the job they're paid to do. And in the case of TSA, not paid to do. Zing.
We stopped at the store on the way home as she wanted sloppy joe's for dinner and I wasn't about to deny her anything right now.
I had some stuff come yesterday from Amazon, including a 3-way remote switch. For those not familiar, you replace the main switch with one that has a little RF device and then you surface mount the remote switch wherever you want. We now have a LOGICAL kitchen switch. Doing the hallway next.
Got to go get ready for class. 7 servers up and running. Two days of class. On a 23 year old product. Fun.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Y10 D240
Something dawned on me yesterday. I started to get an insight into how areas with snow work. And this may seem obvious to some of you, but I never really thought about it before; on Saturday it dropped 5-6 inches of snow. It's not supposed to snow again until tomorrow night late, very late to be precise. Another two to three inches are scheduled. Well, that will mean there will be 9 inches of snow out there. What I am used to in OR is it snows, then the next day it's 50 degrees and the snow goes away so when the next round hits it's not too bad. Here it's been negative temperatures at night with highs of like 12 yesterday and today. Hence, the snow can't melt. It just keeps piling up. So while the individual snow periods aren't that bad, it just keeps dumping on top of itself and creates ice layers at the bottom. See now even Tahoe was different. In Tahoe you'd get a BIG snow storm for a few days that left 12-14 inches of snow, then it would be sunny for a few days, drop it back down to 5-6 inches which would stay for a few months. Weather - what a ride.
B is still bruised in a few spots from the accident. Lots of rest and icing for her yesterday. We didn't leave the house because of the aforementioned snow. Instead we caught up on some tv, worked in the basement, shoveled (a lot), looked stuff up on the internet; you know, boring old people locked inside house stuff. I was fine with it personally. No big deal here. We even watched a movie last night. We watched Spirited Away. I haven't watched that in forever. It just confirmed me wanting a soot sprite tattoo no matter how cheesy it might be.
Today I have to get prepped for classes. I have 7 students tomorrow and wednesday. My first class from my new space. 8:30 - 4:30 which will be weird. 6 of the students are from the same place, the Canadian government. I could have probably driven to them. Oh well. I am pushing for massive trips this year. We decided we are going to save up our miles and hotel points to be able to try and take B's grandparents to Hawaii when they are through their medical shit. That would be like 2-3 years from now and that gives me plenty of time to rack up the miles. I will need about 200,000 miles for all four of us for first class seats, and I already have 93,000 still even after Australia. I can do it.
Time to do some work. Whee.
B is still bruised in a few spots from the accident. Lots of rest and icing for her yesterday. We didn't leave the house because of the aforementioned snow. Instead we caught up on some tv, worked in the basement, shoveled (a lot), looked stuff up on the internet; you know, boring old people locked inside house stuff. I was fine with it personally. No big deal here. We even watched a movie last night. We watched Spirited Away. I haven't watched that in forever. It just confirmed me wanting a soot sprite tattoo no matter how cheesy it might be.
Today I have to get prepped for classes. I have 7 students tomorrow and wednesday. My first class from my new space. 8:30 - 4:30 which will be weird. 6 of the students are from the same place, the Canadian government. I could have probably driven to them. Oh well. I am pushing for massive trips this year. We decided we are going to save up our miles and hotel points to be able to try and take B's grandparents to Hawaii when they are through their medical shit. That would be like 2-3 years from now and that gives me plenty of time to rack up the miles. I will need about 200,000 miles for all four of us for first class seats, and I already have 93,000 still even after Australia. I can do it.
Time to do some work. Whee.
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Y10 D239
And lo, winter is upon us.
We got a good 6-8 inches of snow yesterday. It's done until next week but it made yesterday rough that's for sure. I went out at 5:30am to get groceries before the snow started getting bad and it was already rough driving. B went up north with her grandfather to their cabin to check things to make sure it was all set for winter. They left around 9 and got back home at nine. I wish I could say they had an okay trip. Twenty minutes from home they hit an ice patch on the freeway and slammed the truck into the guard rail. Everyone is okay (mostly) but the truck has some decent front end damage and B's knee is messed up. We may have to take her in today for an exam. Depends on how swollen it is this morning and if she can put weight on it.
In between those 12 hours, lots got done. I did try to leave the house at 10:30 or so and made it as far as the grocery store less than a mile away. We have two grocery stores we use - the big Meijer for large trips (they're like a Freddies or a Target) because the prices are good and you can get non-grocery stuff there; then there's a smaller grocery store (like an old school Safeway or Ralph's) called Heartland less than a half mile down the street. The Meijer is good but they have shitty produce. Heartland is expensive, but they have great produce. Hence, I needed to get some last couple of things. I drove very slow but still managed to skid out twice on that half mile drive. That was it for me. I got what I needed and headed right back home. I know my limits.
I spent the day working on inside projects:
-- tightened the toilet in the master bath to stop wiggling
-- patched the hole in the master bath where they fucked up the wall where the light is mounted
-- did bills
-- tested out my projector in the basement for good placement (still need a bracket to mount it but now I know WHERE I am going to mount it)
-- setup my big microphone in my office for recording
-- cleaned
-- made mac and cheese
-- dishes, all of them
-- got some great photos of birds and squirrels in our backyard
-- kept their food above snow level all day (that was fun)
-- caught up on about 80% of the tv I was behind on
-- got cards for B birthday, Valentine's Day, and our anniversary
-- ordered presents for all of the above
-- started reorganizing the garage the way I want it including setting up a fridge removal appointment for Friday
-- looked into putting Nest products through the whole house (about $800 for what we need, so that has to wait)
-- timesheet, expense report
Basically I was a good homebody yesterday. I felt accomplished. Then around 8:30 B calls me to tell me they were in the accident but will be home soon. I took care of her when she got home. Including shoveling the driveway so they can park the truck easily. That was a back breaking job to do quickly. You know how I have said I love our driveway? Not last night. Fuck that thing. But I got it done.
Let's see how that knee looks this morning. I do hope it is okay as the roads still aren't good for driving. Hopefully we can keep it iced and everything will be good.
We got a good 6-8 inches of snow yesterday. It's done until next week but it made yesterday rough that's for sure. I went out at 5:30am to get groceries before the snow started getting bad and it was already rough driving. B went up north with her grandfather to their cabin to check things to make sure it was all set for winter. They left around 9 and got back home at nine. I wish I could say they had an okay trip. Twenty minutes from home they hit an ice patch on the freeway and slammed the truck into the guard rail. Everyone is okay (mostly) but the truck has some decent front end damage and B's knee is messed up. We may have to take her in today for an exam. Depends on how swollen it is this morning and if she can put weight on it.
In between those 12 hours, lots got done. I did try to leave the house at 10:30 or so and made it as far as the grocery store less than a mile away. We have two grocery stores we use - the big Meijer for large trips (they're like a Freddies or a Target) because the prices are good and you can get non-grocery stuff there; then there's a smaller grocery store (like an old school Safeway or Ralph's) called Heartland less than a half mile down the street. The Meijer is good but they have shitty produce. Heartland is expensive, but they have great produce. Hence, I needed to get some last couple of things. I drove very slow but still managed to skid out twice on that half mile drive. That was it for me. I got what I needed and headed right back home. I know my limits.
I spent the day working on inside projects:
-- tightened the toilet in the master bath to stop wiggling
-- patched the hole in the master bath where they fucked up the wall where the light is mounted
-- did bills
-- tested out my projector in the basement for good placement (still need a bracket to mount it but now I know WHERE I am going to mount it)
-- setup my big microphone in my office for recording
-- cleaned
-- made mac and cheese
-- dishes, all of them
-- got some great photos of birds and squirrels in our backyard
-- kept their food above snow level all day (that was fun)
-- caught up on about 80% of the tv I was behind on
-- got cards for B birthday, Valentine's Day, and our anniversary
-- ordered presents for all of the above
-- started reorganizing the garage the way I want it including setting up a fridge removal appointment for Friday
-- looked into putting Nest products through the whole house (about $800 for what we need, so that has to wait)
-- timesheet, expense report
Basically I was a good homebody yesterday. I felt accomplished. Then around 8:30 B calls me to tell me they were in the accident but will be home soon. I took care of her when she got home. Including shoveling the driveway so they can park the truck easily. That was a back breaking job to do quickly. You know how I have said I love our driveway? Not last night. Fuck that thing. But I got it done.
Let's see how that knee looks this morning. I do hope it is okay as the roads still aren't good for driving. Hopefully we can keep it iced and everything will be good.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Y10 D238
A decision has been made. We will be laying down LVP in the basement. We got a quote from Lumber Liquidators and it will run us about $1100 to do the area we want done. That includes all the trim, the underlayment, and the planks. But that can't happen until the asbestos tile is ripped out. Yeah, that's what was under the carpet. Lovely. B's dad is going to do that. When? Don't know. So I have a torn apart basement. FML.
Went to the eye doctor yesterday. All is good except they don't work with contacts so I tried calling my old office to order contacts and they haven't returned my calls. Double FML.
Hey did find one cool thing - B is heading to the cabin with her grandpa today and she wanted to pick up a thermal. Next door to where she went is a Sears. I popped in and found their Christmas department. We got a $400 7.5 ft tree for $80. SCORE! It looks great, works great, and that's the best thing about yesterday.
I have a bunch of little shit to do today. Let's get it done.
Went to the eye doctor yesterday. All is good except they don't work with contacts so I tried calling my old office to order contacts and they haven't returned my calls. Double FML.
Hey did find one cool thing - B is heading to the cabin with her grandpa today and she wanted to pick up a thermal. Next door to where she went is a Sears. I popped in and found their Christmas department. We got a $400 7.5 ft tree for $80. SCORE! It looks great, works great, and that's the best thing about yesterday.
I have a bunch of little shit to do today. Let's get it done.
Friday, January 18, 2019
Y10 D237
So um, half my basement is ripped up right now. Why? Because last night someone got a wild hair up their ass and decided they didn't like the way it looked. That resulted in us ripping up carpet at 8pm. Fun times. No, I don't know what we're going to do in it's place. More to come on that.
I worked on docs and stuff during the day. Booked my next trip in two weeks to Milwaukee. Going to be teaching at Kohl's of all places. Just a few day trip but still, it's another trip. I did extend my status for another year on American. I was 4,000 miles and $900 short so it cost me, but one of our guys quit this week and that means I will probably end up traveling MORE and there is no way I am doing it in coach. Plus I have almost 100,000 again. Another 100,000 and we'll have enough to go to Scotland next as planned.
Had indian for dinner. There are like 5 indian places in a row down the street from us. Decided on one. It was alright. Not the best but good. Gave me some leftovers.
This morning I have an eye doctor appointment. I am looking forward to that. After that we have to figure out the basement situation. Odds are we're going to paint over it because someone didn't realize how much flooring costs before she decided we needed to rip up carpets. Oops. Sigh. Whatever.
I worked on docs and stuff during the day. Booked my next trip in two weeks to Milwaukee. Going to be teaching at Kohl's of all places. Just a few day trip but still, it's another trip. I did extend my status for another year on American. I was 4,000 miles and $900 short so it cost me, but one of our guys quit this week and that means I will probably end up traveling MORE and there is no way I am doing it in coach. Plus I have almost 100,000 again. Another 100,000 and we'll have enough to go to Scotland next as planned.
Had indian for dinner. There are like 5 indian places in a row down the street from us. Decided on one. It was alright. Not the best but good. Gave me some leftovers.
This morning I have an eye doctor appointment. I am looking forward to that. After that we have to figure out the basement situation. Odds are we're going to paint over it because someone didn't realize how much flooring costs before she decided we needed to rip up carpets. Oops. Sigh. Whatever.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Y10 D236
WOW! I slept in and slept hard. Almost 8:30 here. I went to bed close to midnight, sure, but boy oh boy did I sleep long time. Before I get into stuff, explain to me why IT people have to overkill things. We now have Two Factor email!! Oh boy!! WHO THE FUCK CARES ABOUT OUR FUCKING EMAIL? Jesus you broke my email on every device. I can only seem to get it working on one device right now. The other two are just yelling at me about passwords and locks and this and that. We were fine for 14 years without this shit. But no, some IT person gets in a fit because we aren't secure enough and next thing you know I am dealing with everything fucking breaking. Thanks a lot you fucking asshole.
Was very stressed during my trips yesterday because according to one agent, I was a glitch! Oh boy, just what I want to hear. I get to SFO and I go to print my boarding passes and one prints fine, the other however says no. I go to the counter and they tell me I am a glitch. I am in a seat but not in a seat and it won't free it up until 30 minutes before my PHX flight. Ugh. Basically I was Schrodinger's Passenger - in a seat but not in a seat. Anxiety through the roof until 31 minutes before my flight. All was fine in the end, but the stress annoyed me.
Landed around 4pm EST, B picked me up, I dropped her off at bingo, and came home to do shit.
Laundry, groceries, cleaning, bills, the never ending list from hell. B came home in her grandfather's truck as they are going to head up north to do some stuff at the cabin.
Today I am playing catch-up and trying to get my goddamn email working. Fun times.
Was very stressed during my trips yesterday because according to one agent, I was a glitch! Oh boy, just what I want to hear. I get to SFO and I go to print my boarding passes and one prints fine, the other however says no. I go to the counter and they tell me I am a glitch. I am in a seat but not in a seat and it won't free it up until 30 minutes before my PHX flight. Ugh. Basically I was Schrodinger's Passenger - in a seat but not in a seat. Anxiety through the roof until 31 minutes before my flight. All was fine in the end, but the stress annoyed me.
Landed around 4pm EST, B picked me up, I dropped her off at bingo, and came home to do shit.
Laundry, groceries, cleaning, bills, the never ending list from hell. B came home in her grandfather's truck as they are going to head up north to do some stuff at the cabin.
Today I am playing catch-up and trying to get my goddamn email working. Fun times.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Y10 D235
In a rush this morning. I had a rough night and had trouble sleeping. I have to get to the airport soon and am stressed out.
Had a short day. Finished, came back, hung out in room. Had dinner in room. Whee.
Home tonight around 5:30, nothing tomorrow.
Had a short day. Finished, came back, hung out in room. Had dinner in room. Whee.
Home tonight around 5:30, nothing tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Y10 D234
A bit sleepy this morning. I slept better last night than the previous night, but still not as well as I would have liked.
Not a bad day yesterday. It's a small group locally with an additional 4 folks on the phone in TX. Two of my students are C level executives who actually want to be there and are excited about using the tool. One of them sent me an email at 9pm last night thanking me for a great first day. I'll take that. They're a good group. I am sorry I only have today with them. I could stay and do more with this group as they have the enthusiasm I like seeing in folks. Oh well. Maybe I will get to come back later on this year. I would definitely be up for it.
After class, I was scheduled to meet my friend for dinner. I finished a little after 4 and we were meeting at six. I killed some time walking around the mall. Man, nothing to make you feel old like walking around a mall you have been to in years. I can remember going to this mall in the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, etc. How it's changed over the years. Yet, at the same time, so much of it is the same. The elevator where my buddies and I got busted for imitating Gene Simmons for example. Long story, some other day. But then I notice the stores that are gone or where they knocked out a wall and it made me feel very out of touch. And very old.
Had a good time at dinner. Missed my buddy. I haven't seen him in over a year and it was nice. We had dinner, shot the breeze, and I was back in my room by 8. Watched some tv and went to bed around 9:30.
I may see about changing my flight home. There's a red-eye that leaves at 12:30am but it doesn't get me in THAT much earlier due to layovers. So I don't know. I will think about it.
That's all. Not much else going on. B assembled some new nightstands we got. They look great. Her chiro helped her with some knee pain she was experiencing which is great news. Otherwise, all quiet on the home front too.
Home soon.
Not a bad day yesterday. It's a small group locally with an additional 4 folks on the phone in TX. Two of my students are C level executives who actually want to be there and are excited about using the tool. One of them sent me an email at 9pm last night thanking me for a great first day. I'll take that. They're a good group. I am sorry I only have today with them. I could stay and do more with this group as they have the enthusiasm I like seeing in folks. Oh well. Maybe I will get to come back later on this year. I would definitely be up for it.
After class, I was scheduled to meet my friend for dinner. I finished a little after 4 and we were meeting at six. I killed some time walking around the mall. Man, nothing to make you feel old like walking around a mall you have been to in years. I can remember going to this mall in the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, etc. How it's changed over the years. Yet, at the same time, so much of it is the same. The elevator where my buddies and I got busted for imitating Gene Simmons for example. Long story, some other day. But then I notice the stores that are gone or where they knocked out a wall and it made me feel very out of touch. And very old.
Had a good time at dinner. Missed my buddy. I haven't seen him in over a year and it was nice. We had dinner, shot the breeze, and I was back in my room by 8. Watched some tv and went to bed around 9:30.
I may see about changing my flight home. There's a red-eye that leaves at 12:30am but it doesn't get me in THAT much earlier due to layovers. So I don't know. I will think about it.
That's all. Not much else going on. B assembled some new nightstands we got. They look great. Her chiro helped her with some knee pain she was experiencing which is great news. Otherwise, all quiet on the home front too.
Home soon.
Monday, January 14, 2019
Y10 D233
Not much to discuss from yesterday. It was a pretty boring uneventful travel day, which are the best kind to be honest. I am still not used to the backwards time travel arriving at a destination though. My driver got there at 3:45, was at the airport by 4:15. My flight didn't board until 7, but B was so worried about the shutdown affecting TSA lines that she made me do the early pick up. Let me say, I was very grateful for every TSA agent working yesterday. They appeared to be fully staffed and I had no issue getting through security. I did thank the two of them I had direct contact with yesterday. They seemed genuinely happy to be thanked too. I'll take that. I did do something when I hit SFO though to just make sure I won't have any problems. More in a minute.
Left DTW at 7:30 on time and got to PHX 50 minutes early. Unfortunately because we were so early we had no gate and no crew to get us in. We ended up sitting out of the tarmac until we were 5 minutes late. What a pain. But I still had plenty of time and I had my upgrades on both flights so whatever.
Took my second flight and landed at SFO 15 minutes early. As I was leaving SFO I stopped to talk to the people at CLEAR. I figure if there's going to be TSA issues I should have something in my back pocket to combat security lines. They are currently doing a 30 day trial of CLEAR and it is in a good 60% of the airports I use, most importantly, DTW. I spent the 15 minutes signing up. Now when I go back on Wednesday, I can skip the line completely. For me it's good because they are in DTW, DFW, SFO, LAX, MSP, and a few other majors I use. What the heck, right?
Killed some time by hitting the grocery store. This client is being very cheap on expenses and I spent $42 on groceries for all three days here. Kiss my ass cheap people.
Checked in, relaxed, ironed, watched TV, ate, went to bed at like 9:40.
Today I teach, then meeting a friend for dinner.
Left DTW at 7:30 on time and got to PHX 50 minutes early. Unfortunately because we were so early we had no gate and no crew to get us in. We ended up sitting out of the tarmac until we were 5 minutes late. What a pain. But I still had plenty of time and I had my upgrades on both flights so whatever.
Took my second flight and landed at SFO 15 minutes early. As I was leaving SFO I stopped to talk to the people at CLEAR. I figure if there's going to be TSA issues I should have something in my back pocket to combat security lines. They are currently doing a 30 day trial of CLEAR and it is in a good 60% of the airports I use, most importantly, DTW. I spent the 15 minutes signing up. Now when I go back on Wednesday, I can skip the line completely. For me it's good because they are in DTW, DFW, SFO, LAX, MSP, and a few other majors I use. What the heck, right?
Killed some time by hitting the grocery store. This client is being very cheap on expenses and I spent $42 on groceries for all three days here. Kiss my ass cheap people.
Checked in, relaxed, ironed, watched TV, ate, went to bed at like 9:40.
Today I teach, then meeting a friend for dinner.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Y10 D232
I don't know if B's mom tried talking to her yesterday, but I know we didn't make any gestures. This is going to drive a huge wedge in between family members and the fallout won't be pretty.
Been up for a little while. Leaving in about 90 so wanted to shower and be ready. Now I can do morning stuff guilt free.
This is my first trip with my new bag. Luckily I have my upgrade on both flights and shouldn't have overhead issues. I am a bit worried. Only bringing one bag and it's not quite the size of a carry on, but it's definitely larger than my old backpack by about 2-3 inches. Logical since it holds up to an 18" laptop where as my other did 15.6. Oh look, about 2-3 inches difference. Logic. Your friend.
We went to a couple of shops yesterday for no particular reason other than to get me out of the house. Did some cleaning, had pizza for dinner, went to bed around 8.
We watched the R Kelly special. What a fucking piece of shit. Nope. That's it. He is a piece of shit.
Okay driver, let's go. I land 1pm PST, about 14 hours from now. This is definitely one of those it will take me longer to get there and back kind of gigs. Whatever.
Been up for a little while. Leaving in about 90 so wanted to shower and be ready. Now I can do morning stuff guilt free.
This is my first trip with my new bag. Luckily I have my upgrade on both flights and shouldn't have overhead issues. I am a bit worried. Only bringing one bag and it's not quite the size of a carry on, but it's definitely larger than my old backpack by about 2-3 inches. Logical since it holds up to an 18" laptop where as my other did 15.6. Oh look, about 2-3 inches difference. Logic. Your friend.
We went to a couple of shops yesterday for no particular reason other than to get me out of the house. Did some cleaning, had pizza for dinner, went to bed around 8.
We watched the R Kelly special. What a fucking piece of shit. Nope. That's it. He is a piece of shit.
Okay driver, let's go. I land 1pm PST, about 14 hours from now. This is definitely one of those it will take me longer to get there and back kind of gigs. Whatever.
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Y10 D231
Okay, let's get the serious stuff out first. B had an extremely rough day yesterday and it's all her mother's fault. We are both very pissed off at her mother and it won't surprise me if we don't speak to or see her for a while. Here's what happened:
As I mentioned yesterday, the cat messed himself up again. The verdict was $1600 for the surgeries. Now I know that's a lot, you know it's a lot, but there are ways to handle it. You figure it out, right? Yeah. B finds out in the morning they have a 2:30 appointment to take the cat in to have him checked out for any other issues other than being a kitten and thinking he is invincible. So she goes to her chiropractor appointment at 9:30 then heads over to her mother's to help out and be with her sisters. One is oblivious as usual, the other is more distraught. She's older and can grasp everything that is going on right now. Immediately B's mom starts in with how rough this is on her and how woe is us. Even though when all this went down originally, B warned her against getting a cat in general, let alone a kitten. Fast forward to the afternoon. They take the cat in and he is just a dumbass. There is nothing out of the ordinary wrong with him other than just being a kitten. But it's still going to be $1600 for the surgeries, plus after care, plus rehab to get him walking again, etc. So they take the cat home (yep, even with two broken fucking legs) on pain killers to make a decision. WTF right? I mean it would have been dealt with right then and there. When B got home, I told her the words I have been dreading, come on, let's go get that cat. She tells me no. They have to deal with it. We can't bail them out this time. A couple hours go by and as you might have already figured out, shit went down hill. Her mother had the cat put down. Yep. Fucking cunt. I'm sorry, but that was not the right decision. We are not happy right now. Not one bit. Of course B was a wreck for the rest of the evening. We'll see how she's doing this morning, but last night was bad. Real bad. This is one of those rifts that might not heal. I don't know how her sister is doing, but I can't imagine she is doing much better. This all happened around 6 or so last night. Some fucked up shit.
Not the best, but definitely acceptable. I am happy with them for the price. $100 each. I am happy about the aisle location as I can make sure to put the kid on the end so she can see no matter what. Should be close enough to get some decent zoomed in shots. Now to get to Sacramento in six months. Worry about that in like 4 months.
Had our team meeting for two hours yesterday. Got some praise and recognition for all the work I have been doing the last couple of weeks. That felt good. We talked about what we want to see happen in Q1. I learned I might be going to Milwaukee in a couple of weeks. All in all, it was a good meeting actually. Very pleased with that.
Made thai peanut curry for dinner as planned. Came out pretty good. After dinner and all the drama we tried to distract ourselves by catching up on Superstore. We binged on nine episodes. It gave us both some laughs but there was still the pain of what was going on underlying.
I got both of my upgrades for tomorrow confirmed at least. That's good. One less thing for me to worry about. I did push my pickup time 30 minutes because of the government shut down. I wanted to allow some extra time in case TSA is light.
No plans for today other than relaxing and getting ready to leave tomorrow.
As I mentioned yesterday, the cat messed himself up again. The verdict was $1600 for the surgeries. Now I know that's a lot, you know it's a lot, but there are ways to handle it. You figure it out, right? Yeah. B finds out in the morning they have a 2:30 appointment to take the cat in to have him checked out for any other issues other than being a kitten and thinking he is invincible. So she goes to her chiropractor appointment at 9:30 then heads over to her mother's to help out and be with her sisters. One is oblivious as usual, the other is more distraught. She's older and can grasp everything that is going on right now. Immediately B's mom starts in with how rough this is on her and how woe is us. Even though when all this went down originally, B warned her against getting a cat in general, let alone a kitten. Fast forward to the afternoon. They take the cat in and he is just a dumbass. There is nothing out of the ordinary wrong with him other than just being a kitten. But it's still going to be $1600 for the surgeries, plus after care, plus rehab to get him walking again, etc. So they take the cat home (yep, even with two broken fucking legs) on pain killers to make a decision. WTF right? I mean it would have been dealt with right then and there. When B got home, I told her the words I have been dreading, come on, let's go get that cat. She tells me no. They have to deal with it. We can't bail them out this time. A couple hours go by and as you might have already figured out, shit went down hill. Her mother had the cat put down. Yep. Fucking cunt. I'm sorry, but that was not the right decision. We are not happy right now. Not one bit. Of course B was a wreck for the rest of the evening. We'll see how she's doing this morning, but last night was bad. Real bad. This is one of those rifts that might not heal. I don't know how her sister is doing, but I can't imagine she is doing much better. This all happened around 6 or so last night. Some fucked up shit.
In other news, I bought my and the kid's birthday present yesterday. Ozzy tickets for July. Here's our seats:
Not the best, but definitely acceptable. I am happy with them for the price. $100 each. I am happy about the aisle location as I can make sure to put the kid on the end so she can see no matter what. Should be close enough to get some decent zoomed in shots. Now to get to Sacramento in six months. Worry about that in like 4 months.
Had our team meeting for two hours yesterday. Got some praise and recognition for all the work I have been doing the last couple of weeks. That felt good. We talked about what we want to see happen in Q1. I learned I might be going to Milwaukee in a couple of weeks. All in all, it was a good meeting actually. Very pleased with that.
Made thai peanut curry for dinner as planned. Came out pretty good. After dinner and all the drama we tried to distract ourselves by catching up on Superstore. We binged on nine episodes. It gave us both some laughs but there was still the pain of what was going on underlying.
I got both of my upgrades for tomorrow confirmed at least. That's good. One less thing for me to worry about. I did push my pickup time 30 minutes because of the government shut down. I wanted to allow some extra time in case TSA is light.
No plans for today other than relaxing and getting ready to leave tomorrow.
Friday, January 11, 2019
Y10 D230
I have actually been up and doing stuff since 5:30. B needs the car this morning for a few things and I had to go to the grocery store for stuff for dinner. So I got that all done first before doing this stuff. 7:30am and I already feel rushed.
Why does she need the car so early? Because she has a chiropractor appointment at like 9:30 but FIRST she has to go to her mother's place. Why? Because the fucking cat did it again. Remember how he got stuck behind the dryer and got like brain damage? Then remember when he got tangled up in the blinds and broke his leg? Well, this time he fell off the banister into the basement and re-broke his one leg, broke the other, and broke his fucking tail. $1600 they're looking at for surgeries. They are unsure if he will even walk again. They may end up having to put him down. It's a quality of life thing. He may have something wrong with his bones causing them to be so brittle and break so easy. That's what they are hoping to find out today. We shall see. Fucking cat. I told them they were dog people...
As for me, I finished up conversion of our existing material to our new 2019 format. Now I move on to improvements. This will take a while and require me to review all four agendas for the one product like I am focused on. I need to add stuff, move stuff, etc. Good times.
We had tacos for dinner last night. Watched some tv. All this cat shit happened at night so needless to say it wasn't very happy around here. Tonight we are having thai chicken curry. I am excited to see how it comes out. Then I leave on Sunday. Four days back on the road.
Now to go buy Ozzy tickets for mine and the kid's birthday. July 17th, Sacramento. Rock on baby.
Why does she need the car so early? Because she has a chiropractor appointment at like 9:30 but FIRST she has to go to her mother's place. Why? Because the fucking cat did it again. Remember how he got stuck behind the dryer and got like brain damage? Then remember when he got tangled up in the blinds and broke his leg? Well, this time he fell off the banister into the basement and re-broke his one leg, broke the other, and broke his fucking tail. $1600 they're looking at for surgeries. They are unsure if he will even walk again. They may end up having to put him down. It's a quality of life thing. He may have something wrong with his bones causing them to be so brittle and break so easy. That's what they are hoping to find out today. We shall see. Fucking cat. I told them they were dog people...
As for me, I finished up conversion of our existing material to our new 2019 format. Now I move on to improvements. This will take a while and require me to review all four agendas for the one product like I am focused on. I need to add stuff, move stuff, etc. Good times.
We had tacos for dinner last night. Watched some tv. All this cat shit happened at night so needless to say it wasn't very happy around here. Tonight we are having thai chicken curry. I am excited to see how it comes out. Then I leave on Sunday. Four days back on the road.
Now to go buy Ozzy tickets for mine and the kid's birthday. July 17th, Sacramento. Rock on baby.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Y10 D229
Not much going on right now. B wasn't up to going to bingo. No tree issues outside but it did lightly snow all day in a pretty way. Never enough to really stick but enough to make it calm outside. It's all gone now. We ate as much of the leftovers in the house as we could for dinner. Watched some shows to catch up on things. Then at around 8 we both got a wild hair up our asses and started cleaning. It's been frustrating both of us that certain areas felt messy but it's a bigger space then we had so we had to figure out a way to tackle it without it being too much work. She ended up doing the kitchen and I did the baby bathroom and side entry way. We both felt better when we were done. Now we need to put together a whole house strategy that let's us keep things clean without feeling like it's too much to do.
So yeah, that was our exciting Wednesday. Three more days until I leave. 4 days on the road in Jan. Not bad. Start the year off with some good trips.
So yeah, that was our exciting Wednesday. Three more days until I leave. 4 days on the road in Jan. Not bad. Start the year off with some good trips.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Y10 D228
Sorry for the brevity of yesterday's post. When I mentioned my back was hurting, it was an understatement. I was near tears. I spent 30 minutes on the floor on all fours tilted to the side because it was the only comfortable position I could be in. After B woke up and cracked it and the application of a thermacare for 8 hours did it finally feel better. B's back finally felt better after going to the chiropractor and setting up a 'care plan'. Speaking of back pain, B's grandfather had the worse day of his life yesterday too. We were supposed to have dinner with them and I had managed to start a slow cooker beef stew. We ended up putting three servings in Tupperware with french bread and bringing it over for them for dinner. We set up their trays, got them all situated, etc. They were very grateful. As B's grandma told her 'this is help that helps'. A simple yet powerful statement.
I dealt with the logistics of next week's travel. They have people local, people in texas, and time constraints. GFY. But of course I will work around things. They have offered some reimbursement on expenses - $250 a night for hotel (reasonable, I booked mine for $237), $50 a day for uber or lyft (um, fuck you. I got a rental for all 4 days for $200 so net is equivalent without me having to take my life in my hands), and $100 per day food (wtf? Breakfast is free, I can figure out lunch, and maybe $40 a night for dinner if I do it right). At the same time, no airfare reimbursement. Whatever.
The wind was howling pretty crazy last night. I haven't looked outside yet but I am worried there's tree crap all over. At the same time, our weather has been better or similar to what I left behind. Sorry to disappoint everyone that I am not freezing to death. Maybe next year.
Today I need to finish new curriculum and B has bingo. Go midwest life.
I dealt with the logistics of next week's travel. They have people local, people in texas, and time constraints. GFY. But of course I will work around things. They have offered some reimbursement on expenses - $250 a night for hotel (reasonable, I booked mine for $237), $50 a day for uber or lyft (um, fuck you. I got a rental for all 4 days for $200 so net is equivalent without me having to take my life in my hands), and $100 per day food (wtf? Breakfast is free, I can figure out lunch, and maybe $40 a night for dinner if I do it right). At the same time, no airfare reimbursement. Whatever.
The wind was howling pretty crazy last night. I haven't looked outside yet but I am worried there's tree crap all over. At the same time, our weather has been better or similar to what I left behind. Sorry to disappoint everyone that I am not freezing to death. Maybe next year.
Today I need to finish new curriculum and B has bingo. Go midwest life.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Y10 D227
The kid had to change her trip by two weeks thanks to the stupid BF. She had forgotten about a previous commitment she made to him for the weekend she planned to come here. Sigh. It only cost her $20 to change her flight and now she comes 2 weeks later when the weather will be better anyway.
Worked on stuff. Took B to the chiropractor. She pulled something in her back. She needs to go back today. Of course now my back is hurting because, life.
Went to bed. My class for this week is canceled due to only one student. My boss held up his end of that which I appreciate. But he just put me on the road next week. Whee. I leave Sunday, home Wednesday.
That is all.
Worked on stuff. Took B to the chiropractor. She pulled something in her back. She needs to go back today. Of course now my back is hurting because, life.
Went to bed. My class for this week is canceled due to only one student. My boss held up his end of that which I appreciate. But he just put me on the road next week. Whee. I leave Sunday, home Wednesday.
That is all.
Monday, January 7, 2019
Y10 D226
Guess who's coming to visit? That's right, the kid is coming!! Not until March, but hey, she's coming! She will arrive early on a Friday and leave Monday morning so we get 3 full days with her. I am really excited about it. Feel like one of those TV/Movie parents where the kid is coming home to visit and bringing their new-fangled city ways with them.
Big project for yesterday was getting groceries and the pieces we needed to hang that new light fixture in the bedroom. That was it. That was our adventure and day. The light fixture looks cool. Our goal is to replace every sterile home depot light fixture with something cool. Three down, like 10 to go. Let me seriously count - B office, Guest room, 3 in the basement, 2 in the kitchen. Okay 7 to go. Close.
We hung a second bird feeder yesterday too. Nothing exciting there, but it was fun.
Made quiche with a nice salad for dinner, went to bed around 10:30 and slept pretty well actually. We put the heating blanket on the bed and it helps a lot. Can turn down the house heat which stuffs me up. Reminds me of my childhood living with my grandparents. Wood floors, wall heat. You had to have a heating blanket or you'd die. Okay, die is a bit extreme, but you got REALLY cold. I mean it!
Kudos to my buddy for doing two comedy sets last night. One he wasn't happy with, the other rocked. That's a rough business to be in and he is doing well. I am proud of him for being so far out of his comfort zone and kicking ass. When he's on Netflix with his own special I will be telling everyone how I knew him when. Unless of course I AM INVITED BACKSTAGE AS I SHOULD BE. Right man? Right??
Big project for yesterday was getting groceries and the pieces we needed to hang that new light fixture in the bedroom. That was it. That was our adventure and day. The light fixture looks cool. Our goal is to replace every sterile home depot light fixture with something cool. Three down, like 10 to go. Let me seriously count - B office, Guest room, 3 in the basement, 2 in the kitchen. Okay 7 to go. Close.
We hung a second bird feeder yesterday too. Nothing exciting there, but it was fun.
Made quiche with a nice salad for dinner, went to bed around 10:30 and slept pretty well actually. We put the heating blanket on the bed and it helps a lot. Can turn down the house heat which stuffs me up. Reminds me of my childhood living with my grandparents. Wood floors, wall heat. You had to have a heating blanket or you'd die. Okay, die is a bit extreme, but you got REALLY cold. I mean it!
Kudos to my buddy for doing two comedy sets last night. One he wasn't happy with, the other rocked. That's a rough business to be in and he is doing well. I am proud of him for being so far out of his comfort zone and kicking ass. When he's on Netflix with his own special I will be telling everyone how I knew him when. Unless of course I AM INVITED BACKSTAGE AS I SHOULD BE. Right man? Right??
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Y10 D225
B's mom is out of the hospital. Guess what they found wrong with her? Nothing. Fucking doctors. Two days of tests only to be told 'stop smoking, stop drinking coffee, lessen your stress'. Oh and that will be $5000 please. You watch, that's probably a low estimate. Regardless, she's out of the hospital and back home. We went there first thing yesterday to not only visit her mom, but also to drop her sister off. We then went to this place called House O Pets and B found another blind fish that no one else wanted. Sigh. Add it to the fucking collection of misfit animals.
We ran some errands, came home, she napped, and then we killed Christmas. This involved not only taking down and apart the tree, but having to rearrange the storage area where holiday stuff will live. Remember, we had the movers leave everything out when they came since it was all going right up. The storage area wasn't properly setup. Physical labor ensued.
Everyone kept saying how 'nice of a day it was' yesterday. Bullshit. It was 38 degrees. They misconstrue the sun being out with it being a nice day. Big difference people. But it did provide some decent sunlight into the house. That part was nice while we worked on killing things.
After we rearranged the front room into how it will probably stay until November. I like it. It feels less crowded now.
In the early evening we headed to the mall to see if I could find a new backpack for travel. None of mine will fit this behemoth laptop. I even made a cardboard template to bring with us. Unfortunately we didn't find anything, but it was nice to get out of the house for reasons other than family or errands. I needed that.
Came back, did laundry, put the heating blanket on the bed, went to bed.
No plans for today thank goodness. Oh wait, I have to go to Home Depot. We stopped at a random little junk/antique shop yesterday and B found a light fixture for the bedroom. I have to go get a mounting kit for it though. That's my plan for today. Mount a light. That's it.
We ran some errands, came home, she napped, and then we killed Christmas. This involved not only taking down and apart the tree, but having to rearrange the storage area where holiday stuff will live. Remember, we had the movers leave everything out when they came since it was all going right up. The storage area wasn't properly setup. Physical labor ensued.
Everyone kept saying how 'nice of a day it was' yesterday. Bullshit. It was 38 degrees. They misconstrue the sun being out with it being a nice day. Big difference people. But it did provide some decent sunlight into the house. That part was nice while we worked on killing things.
After we rearranged the front room into how it will probably stay until November. I like it. It feels less crowded now.
In the early evening we headed to the mall to see if I could find a new backpack for travel. None of mine will fit this behemoth laptop. I even made a cardboard template to bring with us. Unfortunately we didn't find anything, but it was nice to get out of the house for reasons other than family or errands. I needed that.
Came back, did laundry, put the heating blanket on the bed, went to bed.
No plans for today thank goodness. Oh wait, I have to go to Home Depot. We stopped at a random little junk/antique shop yesterday and B found a light fixture for the bedroom. I have to go get a mounting kit for it though. That's my plan for today. Mount a light. That's it.
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Y10 D224
B had a rough day yesterday and it isn't going to get much better today I am afraid. B's mom is in the hospital. Looks like she had some kind of minor heart thing. They spent the day stress testing, catheter in the heart, looking for blockage, etc. B was there all day with her and we're going back this morning. I didn't go with her yesterday because I had work to do. But I am going this morning.
While she was with her mother I was at home working. I managed to get two new demos recorded. My new machine lived up to the promise. I was able to render a 16 minute video in under 2 minutes. I was happy about that. Because of the length of the video, it took me almost two hours to record, but at least I didn't have to wait around for a long decode time.
My boss was FINALLY 'back' yesterday. Which means he was catching up on a week's worth of emails and dumping all at once. Some time around 6 or 7 I got six emails back to back. Son of a beech. I did get approval on my new presentation and can now finally send it to the client. Yay for me.
B's sister came home with her (just the older one, they didn't tell the younger what's going on because it would be more stress than help). They played mario party and relaxed. B needed it. We all were in bed by 10.
So today - hospital, drop kid off, look for a new laptop bag, fish store. That's our Saturday adventure.
While she was with her mother I was at home working. I managed to get two new demos recorded. My new machine lived up to the promise. I was able to render a 16 minute video in under 2 minutes. I was happy about that. Because of the length of the video, it took me almost two hours to record, but at least I didn't have to wait around for a long decode time.
My boss was FINALLY 'back' yesterday. Which means he was catching up on a week's worth of emails and dumping all at once. Some time around 6 or 7 I got six emails back to back. Son of a beech. I did get approval on my new presentation and can now finally send it to the client. Yay for me.
B's sister came home with her (just the older one, they didn't tell the younger what's going on because it would be more stress than help). They played mario party and relaxed. B needed it. We all were in bed by 10.
So today - hospital, drop kid off, look for a new laptop bag, fish store. That's our Saturday adventure.
Friday, January 4, 2019
Y10 D223
Dealt with my first power outage yesterday. Equipment malfunction not weather related at least. It went out around 5:15 as I was cooking dinner. Luckily when it came back on at 7 my dinner was still salvageable. Barely, but it was. The part that really pissed me off was they kept almost getting it back on so things would flicker and buzz. I have way too expensive of electronics in here for that shit. Luckily anything important is protected. My UPS gave me the time I needed to gracefully shut things down and make sure nothing would be harmed. It certainly did a number on traffic outside as it took out the signal at end of our block.
I worked most of the day. Got one of the things I was stuck on figured out thanks to the help of my coworker who was on vacation. She took time out to call me and without a computer walked me through my issue. Mad skillz.
I worked on my puzzle too. B was out all day. When she got home I was pissy and this time I was able to verbalize why. The last few days she has been out and gone ALL day with her family and friends. I have felt like nothing but an ATM and a chauffeur. I explained this to her. There wasn't anything she could do to be honest, but at least she recognized my anger for what it was.
Watched some tv, went to bed around 10. I like this no alarm sleep. Even next week when I have regular classes again, I don't have to get up until 6. I am going to enjoy this.
Today I am hoping to do some recording. Let's see how that goes.
I worked most of the day. Got one of the things I was stuck on figured out thanks to the help of my coworker who was on vacation. She took time out to call me and without a computer walked me through my issue. Mad skillz.
I worked on my puzzle too. B was out all day. When she got home I was pissy and this time I was able to verbalize why. The last few days she has been out and gone ALL day with her family and friends. I have felt like nothing but an ATM and a chauffeur. I explained this to her. There wasn't anything she could do to be honest, but at least she recognized my anger for what it was.
Watched some tv, went to bed around 10. I like this no alarm sleep. Even next week when I have regular classes again, I don't have to get up until 6. I am going to enjoy this.
Today I am hoping to do some recording. Let's see how that goes.
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Y10 D222
I watched Bird Box last night while B was at bingo. Small spoilers ahead.
First off, it was okay. I am sure the book was less draggy than the movie. Second, whether it's fair or not, I have to make the inevitable comparison to A Quiet Place. I liked the pace and tension of AQP better, but I will give BB credit that they never actually show what it is. That worked in my mind. But I did find myself fast forwarding through sections. It could have been edited down from 2:03 to like 1:50 and not lost a thing. Just saying.
I worked yesterday on a problem I am having. Unfortunately my boss doesn't seem to be around or is too swamped to reply to anything. I needed his, or someone's, help on something I am stuck on but no one is around apparently. Hence why I didn't rush to get up this morning. I know it's 7:30 already. Fuck it.
While I worked B went over to her grandparent's house (dad side) and helped them out. She helped take down the Xmas decorations, then helped them go to Costco. This is why we moved. She was only home for like 30 minutes when her OTHER grandma showed up to pick her up for bingo.
Hey at least one of us has a social life...
First off, it was okay. I am sure the book was less draggy than the movie. Second, whether it's fair or not, I have to make the inevitable comparison to A Quiet Place. I liked the pace and tension of AQP better, but I will give BB credit that they never actually show what it is. That worked in my mind. But I did find myself fast forwarding through sections. It could have been edited down from 2:03 to like 1:50 and not lost a thing. Just saying.
I worked yesterday on a problem I am having. Unfortunately my boss doesn't seem to be around or is too swamped to reply to anything. I needed his, or someone's, help on something I am stuck on but no one is around apparently. Hence why I didn't rush to get up this morning. I know it's 7:30 already. Fuck it.
While I worked B went over to her grandparent's house (dad side) and helped them out. She helped take down the Xmas decorations, then helped them go to Costco. This is why we moved. She was only home for like 30 minutes when her OTHER grandma showed up to pick her up for bingo.
Hey at least one of us has a social life...
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Y10 D221
I am moving very slowly today. I had planned to get up early and do some work so I could be done early, but I ended up being up until 1am. I had a real rough night. Lots of tossing and turning. It was one of those nights where I was paranoid about waking up and ending up waking myself up every hour.
We found a great new store yesterday. New to us at least. It's called At Home and it's the largest home goods store I have ever seen. Imagine a Bed Bath and Beyond mixed with a furniture store mixed with an outdoors store mixed with I don't know what. It was so big that halfway through B needed a nap. We went with the intent of getting some 50% Xmas stuff and did manage to get some spare bulbs and other little knick knacks. I also got some cleaner for the stove. We have one of those dumb glass stove tops and it's a bitch to keep clean. This is scrubber for it. I finally got it to a point where I am happy last night.
Got back, B took a nap, and I started a puzzle. I needed something to completely zen out on and a puzzle was perfect. Got all the border done and some parts of the middle. It's only 1000 pieces so if I cranked I could finish it in one day. But I am intentionally taking my time. Will work on it some more tonight.
Went to a place called 5th Tavern for dinner. MI fancy. It wasn't bad. I had Michigan Cherry BBQ Salmon. Yep, that was it's full name. I know. We came back and B at the last minute got a text from her grandpa asking if she wanted to watch Oak Island with him. She headed out at like 8:30 and didn't get home until 11:30. It was some 2 hour special from 9-11. That's also part of why I slept poorly.
Today I need to create some demos and record them. First time recording on this new machine. I am excited to see how they come out. B has bingo tonight with her one grandmother and is going to Costco during the day with other. I swear she has seen her family more in 2 months than in 5 years. Good for her. No, seriously. This is really one of the main underlying motives for moving back. For her to spend time with these people who may not be around in 5-10 years. Get some time with them. Enjoy them while you can. So no complaints on my side.
Okay, time to work.
We found a great new store yesterday. New to us at least. It's called At Home and it's the largest home goods store I have ever seen. Imagine a Bed Bath and Beyond mixed with a furniture store mixed with an outdoors store mixed with I don't know what. It was so big that halfway through B needed a nap. We went with the intent of getting some 50% Xmas stuff and did manage to get some spare bulbs and other little knick knacks. I also got some cleaner for the stove. We have one of those dumb glass stove tops and it's a bitch to keep clean. This is scrubber for it. I finally got it to a point where I am happy last night.
Got back, B took a nap, and I started a puzzle. I needed something to completely zen out on and a puzzle was perfect. Got all the border done and some parts of the middle. It's only 1000 pieces so if I cranked I could finish it in one day. But I am intentionally taking my time. Will work on it some more tonight.
Went to a place called 5th Tavern for dinner. MI fancy. It wasn't bad. I had Michigan Cherry BBQ Salmon. Yep, that was it's full name. I know. We came back and B at the last minute got a text from her grandpa asking if she wanted to watch Oak Island with him. She headed out at like 8:30 and didn't get home until 11:30. It was some 2 hour special from 9-11. That's also part of why I slept poorly.
Today I need to create some demos and record them. First time recording on this new machine. I am excited to see how they come out. B has bingo tonight with her one grandmother and is going to Costco during the day with other. I swear she has seen her family more in 2 months than in 5 years. Good for her. No, seriously. This is really one of the main underlying motives for moving back. For her to spend time with these people who may not be around in 5-10 years. Get some time with them. Enjoy them while you can. So no complaints on my side.
Okay, time to work.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Y10 D220
New year, blah blah blah.
I slept way longer than I wanted. I guess I wore myself out yesterday more than I thought. It was a severely long day and I didn't even make it until midnight. Made it to 11:15. Close enough.
In the morning I went to the grocery store, followed by home depot, followed by the bagel shop. Came back, settled in, did some work. I actually did quite a bit of work yesterday. Got a full presentation done and completed 17 new demos for us.
In addition to all that, I did some more re-wiring around the house. I am finding electrical errors all over the place here. Non-grounded wires, reversed switches, etc. Stupid shit right and left.
We took B's sisters back home around 5:30 and stayed there to have tacos. We hung out until 7 but needed to leave because the noise of that many people was getting to us both.
Came home, relaxed, went to bed. Yay us.
I slept way longer than I wanted. I guess I wore myself out yesterday more than I thought. It was a severely long day and I didn't even make it until midnight. Made it to 11:15. Close enough.
In the morning I went to the grocery store, followed by home depot, followed by the bagel shop. Came back, settled in, did some work. I actually did quite a bit of work yesterday. Got a full presentation done and completed 17 new demos for us.
In addition to all that, I did some more re-wiring around the house. I am finding electrical errors all over the place here. Non-grounded wires, reversed switches, etc. Stupid shit right and left.
We took B's sisters back home around 5:30 and stayed there to have tacos. We hung out until 7 but needed to leave because the noise of that many people was getting to us both.
Came home, relaxed, went to bed. Yay us.
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