Y11 D66

Just got our DTE bill. More than I hoped, less than I planned. It's about 30% higher than last month which is not cool, but it wasn't as outrageous as some of the horror stories I have heard. People with $300 and $400 bills. No, ours was $168. Again, that's a 30% jump over last month, but I really think that new AC unit is pretty efficient and helped keep it from being out of control. I'm not happy, but I am relieved to some degree. Paid and done.

Yesterday went okay. Two sessions, morning had 15, afternoon had 10. Morning group went right on time, the afternoon was off a bit. I need to readjust the material in the afternoon. I need to spend some time cleaning up the class too. Found some out of date screenshots which bugs me because I thought I had all those locked down. But luckily I have been here before, the group knows me, and we got through stuff.

It was over 100 degrees when I got out of there at 5 last night. I was just dripping when I got back to the hotel. Went to Red Lobster for dinner and just sat there for 40 minutes eating crab and shrimp. It cooled down a bit while I was in there, but not enough.

There's some kid's horse competition in town this week and the hotel is packed with cowboy hat rodeo moms. A bunch of Karen's in impractical fashion cowboy hats. I haven't had much interaction with them and hoping that stays the case.

That portable humidifier B bought me is the greatest thing ever. I woke up at 2:30 a little dry, turned it on for two hours and woke up for once not gagging because my throat was so dry. One of the best gifts ever. Isn't funny how sometimes the smallest gifts can be the best?

New class today. A blend of 15 from the two yesterday. All new material so I've got to test the timing and the flow.

Breakfast now. Thinking pancakes and bacon this morning.

Y11 D65

Yesterday felt never ending. I left the house at 3:20 and got to OK at about 1pm CDT. Three hour layover in Chicago plus an hour sitting on the runway. 3 hours is too long for a layover. 90 minutes is like the sweet spot. Enough of a buffer to allow for delays, but not too long that you find yourself bored out of your skull.

Got a very nice, fully loaded Jeep Grand Cherokee this week. Wow, two good rental cars in a row. Miracles can happen Charlie Brown.

Got to the hotel, unpacked, ironed, lounged around.

Had dinner with the client at Saltgrass Steakhouse. This is a good long standing client so we discussed some of the recent changes and how they may impact the company, our relationship, the future, etc. Hopefully I assuaged his fears.

Went to bed around 10. Used my new portable humidifier. Not bad. Worked pretty well. I knocked it over once. I need a larger mouth bottle for it. But it put out the steam and for once I slept okay in a hotel.

Three days of 15 people each day, four sessions total. I can do it.

Oh and that other gig? Yeah, it fell through because, well, salespeople. Sigh.

Y11 D64

And this is why I can't work for salespeople - I checked my email at 8:30 last night right before going to bed expecting to find nothing. Nope. Instead I find two salespeople deciding I should be in OH 8/12 - 8/16 (M-F). Okay, except I have to be in UCLA the following week M-F. Which means for both I am traveling Sun-Sat which means I have ZERO time at home in between. Which means I have two weeks straight of on the road. Plus the OH isn't even training. They have no idea what they want. So a week of me being onsite doing nothing which to the sales people is free money but to me is nothing but a fucking joke.

I'm done with this. This week while I am in OK, I am going to polish up my resume. Shoot for a January start date.

Leaving in an hour for OK. Fuck everything. A good weekend ruined in a blink of the eye.

Y11 D63

Ugh. Up early to do flight check in.

Uneventful day.

Had weird dreams. Was running a radio station out of a weird warehouse and had some drummer lady in and it was like a PBS station without ads and I needed to buy some time while she setup her drums. It was all very odd.

Nothing to do today. Go to bed early so I can leave at 3:30 tomorrow.

Y11 D62

X2 turns 50 today. I bet if I went back in the archives, there's a post saying "X2 turns 40 today". Because I am nothing if not predictable?

Yeah.

Knowing her she is somewhere enjoying the weekend. Keys probably. But then again it's her 50th so the Moon? Who am I to judge? Despite everything, when we worked, we worked. Why? Because narcissistic birds of a feather flock together.

What did I do yesterday? Ate dinner at Ruby fucking Tuesday. What would I have been doing with her 12-15 years ago? Having Friday night fun at A's in Laguna hanging with McG and the like (true story). I went to dinner last night in grandpa's pickup. Because after dinner we had to hit Lowe's. Back then? Mercedes Benz and after we'd hit the beach or get invited to a party in the hills.

Do I miss it? Of course I do. I'm not going to lie. Feed the ID. Feed the ego. STUFF the Super Ego. Leave a beautiful corpse.

Bah.

Went to Ann Arbor yesterday afternoon to try and find something B is looking for. Ending up wasting gas, time, and energy.

Finished one more class. I am not happy working for sales people. Hell, I'm not happy working. I'm not happy. I'm not. I'm...

Y11 D61

I hope that in my lifetime I get to see, not necessarily the elimination, but changes to our capitalistic society. I hear people complain like this is a new sort of thing, but it's not. Things have been progressing towards the shit show they are today for 30+ years. It's just that we have reached critical mass. The exploitation of human capital has become so widespread and normalized and that's the problem. What am I rambling on about? I don't know. Just that I am tired of being called 'divisive' and 'not a team player' when the truth is, the things being asked are more akin to slavery and are wrong. Both B and I worked until 8pm last night because, well I don't know why to be honest. But it annoyed the fuck out of me. At least she is getting an hourly billable rate. Side note - we have asked her to help with some stuff because our current firm is charging us $100 an hour to do some stuff. We are paying her $30 to start, $40 once she is up to speed. Now I know you're thinking how can we get away with using her for 1/3 of what we are paying right now and it's simple. For her skills and geographic location, that's still 2-3 times what most people around here make. People here don't see that kind of hourly rate until they have reached an expert level at their craft, if ever. She has to be very careful when talking about what she is getting around her friends who make much less. Heck, the one friend I like who has busted her ass to get the promotions and standing at her place, makes barely $13. But still. It's exploitation of resources to make me, the salaried employee, work until 8pm on something that isn't even that fucking important at the end of the day. Fuck them in the ear.

B also is back on the rocks with her mother. This time I don't think it will heal. Her mother asked her to go to a therapy session with her and it turned sour quick. So much that B walked out before it was over. Her mother expected B to play nice and she didn't.

Fuck playing nice. No matter what it is.

We watched Detective Pikachu last night. Cute AF. Loved it. Worth the 90 minutes of your life.

Today I am only working up until about 1pm. I am on the road all next week so fuck them.

Y11 D60

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die. - Roy Batty, Blade Runner

There's something else about bears not many people know. If a bear gets hooked on the taste of human blood, it becomes a man-killer. He'll go on a rampage and has to be destroyed. And that's why you should never hug a bear. -  Hobo, Hobo with a Shotgun

Goodbye Rutger Hauer. There's a profilic actor the world shall miss. I know he hasn't done much in the last few years that was noteworthy but I remember him in everything when I was younger. That hair. Every time you turned around there he was. Bad guy, good guy. He did it all. He shall be missed.

Got my last class finished yesterday. All brand new demos. I have to package it all up today and provide it to the client. Two days to spare. Cut it very close. This wasn't supposed to be needed until next month's UCLA gig, but things change. Three brand new classes from me, one from my coworker. This is going to be fun teaching. At least I will be comfortable with 3 of them since I wrote them. But the 4th will be trickier. I won't have a lot of time to preview it. Oh well.

B went to bingo last night for the first time in a while. I watched Batman Hush. It wasn't bad. Better than Killing Joke at least. They changed some key plot points but I get it. No one would have understood it if they tried to literally adapt it.

Had a decent day. Was able to sleep in this morning. I needed the rest. Almost the weekend and then I am gone all next week.

Y11 D59

My insurance sucks. Why does insurance suck so bad for most people? I know I am not a unique snowflake in this situation. I can't go back to therapy because every move is $140. Better than some, but not as good as I would want.

More package delivery issues. Very disappointed in everyone right now. I am about to have 2 more get delayed. Fuck the drivers in this area. I am not ordering anything online any more. If I can't walk into a store and buy it, I don't need it. Period.

Have to finish docs today. Bigger project than I realized. I am overwhelmed. I may have to work 10-12 hours today to get this done. Not happy about that.

B is better. She started new meds. Please dear god let them work.

Y11 D58

You win. You broke me.

I can do no right.

Home for 20 minutes have an anxiety attack. Tell me everything I did wrong. Tell me how overwhelmed you are because I need you to act like a fucking adult.

Of course it's my fault. Everything is my fault.

Y11 D57

Slept like shit last night. Have bad indigestion but don't know what from. Had pasta for dinner with pesto but damn it doesn't normally bother me this bad. Fuck.

Didn't do much yesterday. Watched the new Helloby. I don't know why people thought it was that bad. I mean the hard part for me was David Harbour as Hellboy. I kept picturing Hopper. So maybe that's part of it. The plot also had way too much going on but in the end it worked. I mean was it great? No, but it wasn't so bad that it should be considered a "flop". Sigh.

Cleaned the house a bit. Made crepes for breakfast. Had my pie for dessert. So I guess yesterday was about eating.

B will be home today. Need to do a quick look around the house and make sure everything looks good. Take out garbage, wipe counters, etc. Nothing too major as I didn't do anything for the last four days.

B's friend came over last night around 7 to do laundry. She was here for like 2.5 hours. That was just awkward. I mean it was okay, but it was just weird. Meh, whatever. She watched a movie while I played a game. She only did a part of her laundry but I needed her gone. I needed my house back so I could go to bed.

More doc writing this week. I had two classes stripped from me in otder to do this writing but the reality is I need 2 days to do this. This will end up being a weird week. I leave again on Monday so next week is a little more solid footing. OK this month, CA next month, then FL in September. At least I have work to do.

Y11 D56

Slept in. No particular reason. Just needed the sleep.

Been sitting here trying to figure out what I did yesterday. How sad is that? I did go to the store at like 6:15 in the morning to avoid heat and people. I did a load of laundry. I cleaned. I grilled pork chops. I made pancakes. I made a peanut butter ice cream pie with chocolate ganache. But I didn't really DO anything yesterday. Cest la vie. It's not like it's a big deal. Just trying to remember. Stupid accounting person questioning my expense report. Send me my $3000 bitch. Fought with amazon over delivery of a package because the drivers here suck ass.

Yeah, that's about it.

Y11 D55

It's 5am and like 80 outside already. To be accurate, it's 79 but feels like 84 according to wunderground. Good times. At one point today, 109 will be the outside feel. I have to go to the store and I want to do it before six am. Hence the up at stupid time on a Saturday morning.

My expense person sent me an email confirming I used my own personal card for B's new computer. Yes, yes I did. Please send me my money. Stupid head.

I finished two classes total yesterday. One more to write next week. I have five days to do it and it should take me three tops.

My new boss, (same as the old boss)(see what I did there? Huh? GET IT? Bah. Philistines) is trying to pigeon hole me into one particular technology that one, I hate and two I am not that good at because I hate it. It's the same old story. People think I am some serious programmer type and I'm not. I'm a fucking trainer. I am a schmoozer. I am a bard not a coder. I need to look for a new job for next year. For real.

I reorganized our laundry room yesterday. It looks much better in there and you can now find stuff in the cabinets. I also finally got rid of the last two boxes from our move that were sitting down there doing nothing. That was fun.

I watched a movie last night, Shazam. It wasn't bad. Not MCU good, but better than most DCLA movies. It had its moments.

Tried to sleep around 11. Tossed and turned. Fuck heat.

Y11 D54

Excessive heat warning in effect today. With humidity and the like, it's supposed to feel like 109 at some point. Guess who has two thumbs and won't be leaving the house today? Probably spend the day in the basement. It's always a good ten degrees cooler down there.

So I had a busy day yesterday. I worked in the morning and got about 70% done with a class I am working on. I am hoping to get it and one more done today. That will make next week a much lighter week for me. We shall see how that goes.

In addition, I did the following:

- worked in the yard trimming stuff
- picked up some jewelry B was having repaired
- Moved the wine fridge which required drilling holes through wood for the power
- made hawaiian pork burgers for dinner
- went to the store thrice because I kept forgetting things
- went to home depot to get a new deadbolt because amazon sucks
- yelled at amazon because three packages, three different drivers, two showed up
- yelled more at amazon because one driver decided to sit in my driveway, then mark my package as damaged, then drive away
- dyed my hair

So yeah, busy day. B is up at the lake with her grandparents and friend. She gets home sunday. I get two days of alone time in my own home. That's kind of nice. Be nicer if it was 10,000 degrees outside, but whatever. You deal.

Ugh. Just checked email and may have to go to FL at the end of September. Ugh.

So what else is new? Meh. That's about it. I just need to get through the day and have a day of quiet to myself tomorrow.

Y11 D53

I got all my recordings done yesterday. 22 modules total in three days. I worked my butt off. It has been handed off to the people to put it all together. When B is back from the cabin she is to start working on it too. We want to see how her output compares to the current company. They're going to charge us like $5k to do it where as her cost would only be about $2k. Plenty of money for her, big savings for us.

B had a ton of errands to run yesterday before she goes out of town today so we ended up eating taco bell for dinner. No biggie.

Not a whole lot happening. It's supposed to be REALLY hot the next few days and with B out of town, I am probably not going to leave the house. I have more curriculum stuff to work on and will be focused on that today and at least half of tomorrow. I have some yard work that needs to get done, but if it is too hot, forget it. I do need to go to city hall this morning and get some stickers for my trash cans. I want to put some yard waste out and they have to be labeled properly. Stupid city rules. But it will get rid of the crap in my backyard.

One hour until I wake B up.

Y11 D52

Slept through my first alarm. I'm tired. I went to bed around 11 because I wasn't tired until then, but now I am paying for it.

Spent the day recording. Almost done. 22 modules to record, 15 done. I have 7 more to get through today. I should be able to finish by around 1 or 2. Then it is nap time. As soon as I get this recording stuff done, I won't have to get up early. I can work more normal hours. B leaves for the cabin tomorrow and I get a few days at home alone too. I am going to sleep. God I am boring.

We made fajitas together for dinner last night. I grilled a tri-tip while she mad the tortillas and prepped the veggies. It all came out really nice. We then went to the grocery store around 7 for her to get some trip stuff.

While we were out, we stopped at lowes and got a small hedge trimmer. While we were in the store, the sky opened up and a noah quality rain appeared. I swear I thought we were going to float away. By the time we got home though, gone. Sky was clear. WTF? I used that time to try out our new hedge trimmer. Glad I did. It worked really well and the front of our house looks so much better. It's going to be near 100 later in the week and I wanted to minimize how much I did during the day. I still have the backyard to do, but at least I got some done already.

The world is falling apart in other news. I am so sick of reading shit. I swear if I read one more article about a woman being charged with murder for a dead fetus, I am going to lose it. May someone some day find these archives and go what the fuck are they talking about? Why would someone be charged with murder for a fetus? May the deity of your choice help us all. In my case, it's Elizabeth Warren.

Y11 D51

I got up a little later today. I did a good job recording yesterday. I would like to duplicate that success today. I figure I can go from 6-4 today and get in a good session. I managed to get an entire day's worth of material recorded. Using this new machine and software make a huge difference. Instead of 45 minutes to an hour for one video to render, it's 30 seconds to a minute. That lets me get through a lot more.

My new projector screen arrived yesterday. I am VERY happy with that. We spent most of the night putting it up. But the results are looking good. May have to have movie night down there while B is gone this weekend. My only issue is the sound. I can't get an ARC trip off the projector so the sound bar isn't kicking in. It's on, it's working, just no audio. I will figure it out. Got to be something stupid on my side.

It's going to be hot here this week. Mid 90s and on friday almost 100. Thank god for AC. Afraid to see what our bill is going to look like though.

Y11 D50

Ugh. It's supposed to be 90 today. And that's not the hottest day this week. Friday is slated for 97. Fuck that noise. It's 3:45am and it's already sticky in this house. This is when you live in the basement. Avoid all outside interactions. Or die.

We tried to avoid outside yesterday but social graces got in the way. We had to go to B's grandparent's to bring back some jumper cables she borrowed. That turned into 3 hours of chatting on the patio. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy their company, and enjoyed being there. But it was getting hot by the time we left and B hadn't eaten all day. Lethal combination.

We had dinner with B's friend. They went shopping after dinner and I stayed home.

Went to bed around 9:30. I have to do recordings this week so up early to lay down audio tracks. I have some goals set for myself and the earlier I start the more likely I will hit them.

If I get stuff done early this week, I will have more time to enjoy later in the week. B is going to the cabin with her grandparents Thursday - Sunday. I get some nice alone time at home with a car for once. So the more work I get done before Thursday, the better.

Got to get cracking!

Y11 D49

I can't believe I slept until almost 9am. WTF? I didn't go to bed that late. Like 11 something. My body telling me something I guess. Wow. Hours lost.

There are multiple bunnies hopping around my backyard. Yesterday like three different deer all wandered in. Neat.

Took care of a bunch of house stuff yesterday. Cleaning. Groceries. Menu for the week. Boring every day shit.

Same today.

Y11 D48

Worked on a bunch of stuff yesterday. Prepping for recording next week. I have one week to lay down tracks for three days of training. Yeah, right. This is going to suck. Spent my day working on that and setting up a new work laptop for B. She is ready to go. She has office, articulate, and an internal email. Start cranking.

My new projector finally came. 4500 lumens, 4800 lux, low profile mounting kit. I am very happy with it. Pulling a 98" screen now. I ordered a screen last night. It will be here monday. Had to go up in size to get one that will fit but that's okay by me.

I am getting tired of delivery services around here. USPS, Amazon, UPS - they all suck. I see why people in the midwest complain about these things. I was supposed to have something coming today but nope. There's no pride in work around here and it's annoying.

Had chinese food at a new place last night. It was mediocre.

Spent the rest of the night mounting the projector. Today I have to go grocery shopping. No other plans.

Y11 D47

I had the worst day of my life yesterday. Yes, even worse than 10 years ago. Even worse than ever being fired. I got scammed. Yep. I fell victim to a perfectly worded email scam. I got what I thought was an email from my boss that turned out to be an elaborate phishing scam. I got ripped off for $1500 in gift cards. I know you're thinking how the hell did I fall for it. The person emulated my boss via work email so perfectly and the request was not out of line of what they would want me to do that I fell for it. And so did other employees. I wasn't the only one. They sent the email to the entire company and ended up taking us for over $5000 in gift card scams. I feel so stupid. I promise to never mock anyone for something like this again. I am lucky to have a job this morning to be honest. Never felt so dumb in my life.

Had multiple meetings. Got a lot of things accomplished on that front. That was the good part of the day.

Bought B a new laptop for work. She will be working with us on projects now. She's about to make the most money she's ever made per hour. I need to set it up today.

Got 1 of my two birthday presents finally. Got a robot vac. Neato D6. The other present is a new projector which is four days late. Not happy about that.

This week has sucked 10 ways to sunday and I just want it to be over.

Now to go pay bills and watch my money vanish some more.

Y11 D46

Got some sleep to finally catch up and reset my internal clock to EST. I have some shit to do today but luckily it's with people behind me in time. I can dink around a little bit this morning. My first meeting is at 11am. Got three more hours.

I spent the day teaching. 8:30 - 5 which took up my whole day. Not much else to do. B on the other hand had an insanely busy day. While we were gone, our friend was admitted into the hospital with spinal meningitis. I know, right? Anyway B went to visit her and ended up being there to help her get checked out. She came back in the afternoon after stopping for groceries, starts dinner, and then gets a call that the friend needs to go back in. Stupid doctors. B took her to a different hospital this time and then spent the next few hours with her. They ended up releasing her around 9 after once more failing to fix her. B brought her back here in case there was a flare up of symptoms.

So yeah, that's how I ended up eating some wonderful pasta in meat sauce alone. Oh well. B did a good thing and I can't knock it.

Time to get ready.

Y11 D45

Twas a travel day yesterday. Up at 2am, out of the hotel by 3. Rental car facility, tram, lounge, board 5am, Dallas, lounge, -PAUSE-

While at the lounge in DFW I decided to check email. Bad move. Seems my old boss left me one parting shot. He confirmed OK at the end of this month without telling me. The issue is that this is a new material class. Material that isn't finished yet. So now we are going to have a meeting tomorrow to figure out WHEN we will have time to finish this material. The answer is we have no freaking idea. -UNPAUSE-

Board at 1:30, land at 5, crazy car drive home through rush hour traffic, home at 6:30. Unpack, laundry, sleep.

I have a class today but still don't have a voice so this will be fun. But at least it's normal work and I can be back in the groove of things.

Y11 D44

Yesterday was long but a good use of time. We had our Company 3.0 summit meeting and got a lot accomplished. I ended up taking some work off my plate but adding other work. We hashed out a lot of logistical things plus strategic long term goals. We were there from 9am until 4:30 with only a 30 minute lunch. It was tough and I got frustrated a couple of times, but in the end a lot of questions were answered and I think we can move forward.

I also ordered a new projector yesterday for the basement. See? I told you I got bored a couple of times. It will be arriving today and will be waiting for us when we get home. 4500 lumens, 4800 LUX, 3000:1 contrast ratio. This should end up being a much nicer picture downstairs. I am really looking forward to setting it up this week.

We are leaving for the airport in about an hour, board at 5:15 and land at home at 5:15pm EST. 2 hour layover in Dallas. It will be a long travel day.

I'm going to miss this little rental car. It's been a hoot driving around in it. I will leave you with a couple of pics so you can see why we had so much fun:

Y11 D43

So very sleepy right now. My birthday went all the way until it wasn't my birthday any more. I've only had about 4 hours of sleep and I am really feeling it. Not because I overindulged or did anything crazy, just tired and want to go back to bed. Last day here. The big day. The whole reason we're here. The meeting. Dun dun dun!! I need to be alert for this and am not alert yet. I will get there.

As for yesterday, I had a wonderful birthday. Had breakfast in the formal dining room instead of the executive lounge which let us have the full on buffet. Asian food, American food, meats, cheeses, and still more. It was so nice to have a larger selection than just the basic continental breakfast. Not that normally there's anything wrong with that, it was just a nice treat.

After breakfast we didn't do much of anything. Which was awesome. Around 2:30 we got B In-N-Out which ended up being an adventure. She ordered animal fries, we get back to the hotel, she opens the box, and finds two meat patties with one slice of cheese. WTF? So we go back and get it fixed but man, what a pain.

Around 6 we headed out for dinner. We stopped first at the grocery store so I could buy a loaf of sourdough bread. Yeah, I know it's weird but dammit I miss good sourdough!

Then it was dinner with my boss. Boy what a spread he made. Steak, salmon (both sous vide), brussel sprouts, green beans, little potatoes, and an olive oil cake he baked special for me. We had a good long talk about everything that's going to happen today and set some ground rules for what I should and shouldn't bring up. We left around 11:15 and got back here a little after 11:30. Long, long day. But a good birthday.

Y11 D42

Happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday dear me.
Happy birthday to me.

Yep. It's that time of year again. I done made it to 51. Starting to outlive almost everyone in my family. Go me.

We had another really awesome day. Started off the morning with breakfast here at the hotel, then took a ride to the mall. We went to Daiso, aka the Japanese Dollar Store. Things we miss about living here. We had a great time. Had the top down, cruised around. Then we had lunch at our most favorite Mexican place. Came back to the hotel, napped, had a snack in the executive lounge, and headed to the beach around 6:45.

We had a great time hanging out with old friends. Karaoke was happening. Pies and cheesecake happened. A good time was had by all.

I really needed last night. Like a lot. Didn't drink, but didn't need to. We got back to the hotel around 12:45am, in bed by 1.

Today is boss dinner. Not as much fun I fear, but still hopefully a good time.

Y11 D41

We ended up having a really good day yesterday. We got to the airport hella early so we could go talk to the counter people. The way things were looking we would end up being closer to our original travel connection time so no issue with making the connection. Especially when we found out we were coming and leaving from the same terminal. 4 gates in 40 minutes? Not. A. Problem.

We had a snack before the flight because now we had 90 minutes to kill. Boarded our first flight, had breakfast, watched some Stranger Things, napped, and got to DFW with no issues. B was a little tense on the first flight, but got through it.

Boarded our second flight with no problem and this time had lunch, watched Stranger Things, and napped. B did much better on the second flight. She was in a great mood when we hit SFO.

Took the tram to the rental car and it was PACKED for some reason. When we got to the garage, we headed towards our reserved car, a Chrysler 300 LTD. As we approached the car, right in front of it was a red convertible beetle as a select and go upgrade. B squealed and said I want that! I said fuck it. It's my birthday weekend, let's do it. So yeah, we have this sweet little convertible. B loves it so much. As a matter of fact, she wants that to be our second car now. Okay. I am down with this 100%. It would be the third beetle I have owned so why the hell not.

We stopped at Target to get sunglasses because, hey we're in a convertible, forgot ours, and the sun is bright! We hit the grocery store for a couple of things, then hit the hotel. 15th floor, right next to the executive lounge. The room is good, not fantastic, but good. Beautiful view of the bay right outside our window. No complaints.

Met up with a dear friend friend for dinner. We headed downtown San Mateo, walked, talked, had sushi, and ice cream. I miss being able to just chill downtown somewhere like this and laugh. This is the most relaxed I have been in MONTHS. I miss feeling this way.

Came back to the hotel, watched MORE Stranger Things with our friend, took her back to BART, and collapsed in bed around 11. A really fucking great day.

Today we are going to do a little shopping but moving at a leisurely pace. Around 7 we will head over to the beach to hang out with other friends and have Bday celebration number 2.

I am doing okay.

Y11 D40

This trip is already off to a bad start. We got like six emails last night saying our first flight is delayed and we will miss our connection. I say we won't. We still have 49 minutes to make the flight. I am going to the counter this morning to work this through.

Sleep was shit because of boom boom pop. Fun times there.

Did mostly nothing yesterday. Didn't leave the house. Ate leftovers to clean out the fridge.

Fuck I am already stressed and can't show it because B's anxiety is at a 12 and she is to the point where she will breakdown and not go anywhere. FUCK.

Y11 D39

We have moved into the next phase of sick - the snot and mucus phase. Whee. And I have to spend 10 hours traveling tomorrow! Oh Boy!! Such fun!

Got a package from the kid yesterday. 2 of 3 gifts she sent me for my birthday. The 3rd is coming from England and won't be here until next week. She sent me a new Pop, a tiny tiny waffle maker, and a Ravensberger puzzle that is not available in the US. Not too shabby child, not too shabby.

We have had our plans change for the weekend, yet again. Now we're doing dinner with a friend on Friday, other friends on Saturday, dinner with my boss on Sunday. Sheesh.

Spent yesterday dying. Took meds every four hours. Helped B as much as I could with cleaning the house before we left. Went to the store for fish food. Emptied trash. Packed. Finished up lingering laundry. But did it all very slowly so as not to exhaust myself.

B tried to go to bingo but they had a power outage so she was back home by 7.

Grilled me up a steak because I wanted the protein and iron. I think it helped. It tasted good and that's okay by me.

Took a bath to steam the shit out of my body. That helped too.

Today final prep for leaving, check in flights, hotel, etc. Otherwise, hiding away from POP POP BOOM which already started last night. This is going to be interesting living in a legal state.

Y11 D38

Day three of throat pain. Been sucking lozenges like they're going out of style. No other symptoms. Just the throat pain. Watch, I have fucking strep.

B made us chicken soup. Like a vat of it.

Took a conference call with the client in OH. Sold them on more training in September or so. She was so worried about my voice. Pity sale is still a sale, right?

Ate soup for lunch, ate soup for dinner. Napped during the day. Not much else in the life of a sick person.

Got to eat something so I can take meds.

Oh, the kid told me 2/3 of my birthday present is coming today. That's awesome. 1/3 of it is coming from england and will be here next or so. Neat!

Y11 D37

I currently feel like I am swallowing glass, my chest feels like it is being crushed, my left nostril is closed to air, and I have no voice. Some fucking vacation this is starting out to be.

The pains started coming on yesterday. My voice was trashed in the morning and the throat was hurting. But I had shit to do as usual.

Side note - I think I mentioned it here, but it's worth mentioning again. This is one of the things I had a discussion with B about recently. I don't have the luxury of stopping. Sick? Tired? Exhausted? Don't care. Shit has to get done so go do it. I don't get to say, nope, not being an adult today. And that fucking sucks.

Back to the main timeline.

Took the car in for service at 7am. Hit the grocery store at 8:30. Went to the bank at 9. Dealt with the gardeners at 11. Oh crap, need to mail his check this morning. Handled booking of travel for August for UCLA. Coordinated dinner with my boss for Sunday night. Rearranged other plans for Saturday night.

Finally at 2pm I got a chance to relax. Until 5 when I cooked dinner, did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen.

Collapsed at 10:30.

Fuck Eat Kill, do it again.

Y11 D36

I am sick. Poop. Throat hurts. Coughing. Sucks. NyQuil, be my friend.

I returned my birthday present yesterday. It just didn't do what I had hoped it would do. I wanted to rely less on my phone not more. If I were to ever look at another one, I would want one that has it's own dedicated data plan. The one I got relied on everything being open on the phone - apps, bluetooth, location, etc. Not what I had intended. Oh well.

We had a good day yesterday. Went to our favorite antique/knick knack shop. Found a little table for the guest room. Had ice cream from a cute little shop even though I knew the dairy would kill me. Oh well.

Made ribs for dinner. The quality of the meat wasn't the best and while I cooked them okay, the taste was kind of off. Not happy.

Watched some tv, played some games, went to bed.

Why am I up early? Car maintenance. Have to leave her shortly to take the car in for service. Fun way to spend my time off. 6 days until my birthday.

Oh, side note - the kid is going to Thailand. The kid BF's brother is getting married to a thai woman and they are going over for the wedding. Sick! I saw pics of the hotel last night and I am super envious. Looks like she will have a blast.