Y11 D127

I do not fear Hell for I have been to Florida.

No, really. It's like 90 degrees with 70% humidity and an average age of 2000. My flight from Philly to Orlando had so many old people on it I felt like it was a tour bus to Reno. I expected them to bring me round some applesauce and chocolate pudding. Then deplaning was the worst. Walkers, canes, unable to get their bags out. Ugh.

The hardest part about being some place like this is everyone here around me is on vacation. They are moving at a different pace. They're having fun. I want to just get to my hotel, get in my room, and have silence. I am less than 5 miles from the parks so it's pretty crazy around here. People everywhere. Children everywhere. I don't think it would have been any different at any other hotel either. I mean, anything within a ten mile radius would be like this. Plus the Mouse is everywhere on everything. I too without realizing it brought shorts that are Disney. Oh well.

Of course it does irk me that I won't be able to GO to the parks at all. Sigh.

My day was pretty uneventful. DTW to Philly to Orlando. 3 hour layover in Philly.  Got lost twice on the way to the hotel. Ran through at least three toll road things. Can't wait to see that bill from Avis. Oh well. Ordered in Chinese food. Have dinner if needed for at least one night.

The shitty part is I get home Thursday, teach again on Friday, teach on Monday, then leave for SF on Tuesday. Don't get home from that until Saturday night. And now I just learned I may get two trips to Seattle. One in October, one in December. From a mileage standpoint, not complaining. From a headache and weary bones standpoint, I will suffer.

Okay. Today is day one so leaving early. Let's see how bad it is at 6:30 here.

Y11 D126

Oh boy 1am! Time for the airport! Yay! Massive sarcasm there my gentle reader. Massive sarcasm.

Spent the day outside. Got B some groceries for the week. Participated in a few raids. Ran errands. Grilled steaks for dinner and went to bed at 7. Good times.

Fish tank update. We added plants! 10 Live plants. It's looking good. One more week and maybe we add some fish.

Y11 D125

Up early to check in for my flight. Yay me. Then groceries. Fun times.

Spent the day recording. This is a tough class this time. The demos are 12-15 minutes in length so they are taking a while to record, edit, and process. I got through six demos. That's it. I still have about six to go but now with my schedule, I won't touch this class again until 10/14. Oh well. That's the way it is.

For dinner we went for a ride to Del Taco. Sometimes you just want Del Taco. Unfortunately the nearest one is about 25 miles away. Took like an hour to get there. On the way back we stopped at a Books a Million. I didn't know there were even any around us. That was fun.

Got home, made popcorn, and watched a movie downstairs. We watched Hoobs & Shaw. Meh. It had it's moments but overall it was just that - a popcorn movie.

Went to bed around 11.

It's 92+ with 70% humidity in FL right now. I am not looking forward to next week. Fuck this shit.

Y11 D124

Recorded for the first half of the day, did a private training the second half. Finished at 5.

Had a salad for dinner.

Visited both sets of grandparents.

Went to bed.

Tired. Have to leave sunday. No sleeping in for me until next Saturday. Joy.

Y11 D123

I really am coming to despise my coworker. He acts like he is my boss and he so isn't. This division of labor is not working out for me. I cannot report or even work with a spineless, ass-kissing sales person. He had the nerve last night to send me and the other trainer a message telling, not asking, us to upsell in classes. Um fuck you? Please don't tell us how to do our jobs. People don't come to classes just to be sold on something else. I am a trainer, not a used car salesman. He pissed me off earlier in the day by first not knowing how to not hit reply all (a serious pet peeve of mine) and trying to get me to add something to the class that isn't logical. Fuck I dislike this guy. He alone is enough to make me want to move on. Sigh.

Spent the day working on curriculum for one client and then upgrading one of our AWS images to the latest version of software we teach. That took pretty much all day.

B went to bingo so I made myself swordfish for dinner. It came out okay. I wasn't 100% happy with the cut of the fish.

Did laundry. Lots of it. I want nothing dirty sitting around while I am gone. Also did some closet rearranging. Yeah, it's time for me to go back out. Moving furniture and mass cleaning are the signs I need to get the hell out of the house.

I have a half day class today plus some recording. Then tomorrow is an 'admin' day because I am about to do my back to back six day weeks.

Oh and I had a chipmunk in the laundry room. I figured out how he is getting in and out and had to spend time blocking up that hole. That was fun.

Watched tv, lots of new shows. Prodigal Son is pretty good. Bed at 11. Tomorrow no alarm. I sleep the sleep.

Y11 D122

What day is it? I think Wednesday? It's been a screwy week already.

Taught my class. Finished around 5. Made dinner. Then we went out and hung out with B's friend and his friends. It was nice to get out of the house and socialize. We walked around downtown Plymouth playing Pokemon together. We fought in three raids and I caught a legendary. B caught a shiny legendary.

Got home around 9:30 and went to bed around 11.

It was a pretty uneventful, but nice, day. I can handle that. Few more days and I am off to hell. It also looks like I will have more trips before the end of the year. Gee, what a shock. Here's what I am looking at:

FL
CA
WA
PA
CA
Canada

The first three are booked, the third is in the PO stage, the other three are close. I honestly think that for the very first time ever I can hit Platinum Pro on American. If not, I will come so close. I am at 50k right now, FL will give me 5, CA 7, so that takes me to 62. WA gets me another 7 so there's 69. One more CA confirmed and I will be at 76. That's all I need. I won't hit the magic 100k mark, but damn. If I do almost 80,000 miles this year. Damn. The difference between where I am at, Platinum, and Pro is pretty significant. Here's what I get now:

• Complimentary auto-requested upgrades on flights 500 miles or less*
• 48-hour upgrade window
• 60% elite mileage bonus
• Complimentary Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats*
• 2 free checked bags

Here's what I would get at Pro:

• Complimentary auto-requested upgrades*
• 72-hour upgrade window
• 80% elite mileage bonus
• Complimentary Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats*
• 2 free checked bags

Seems like a small difference, but it helps. A lot. Especially on the upgrades and the mile bonus. Almost double the miles. So if I fly 5, I get 9. That's how you rack them up people. A year of 50,000 miles means I get 90,000. That means in 2022 for B's birthday, we got to the UK for free, in business class. Boom.

Sigh. That's my life. Getting excited about hitting the next tier. Whee.

Y11 D121

No pics for you today. Not because we didn't do anything, we did, but because I don't want to bore you with a picture of a new air stone, mossballs, and a heater. I'll give you more pics once we drop in some plants and then again with fishies.

Taught my late ass class yesterday. The stupid salesperson tried to get into an argument with me saying how he made it an hour earlier. Yeah you idiot if you can't do math. It was an hour later for me dumbass. Time zones. Not some people's friend.

Class itself was fine. Three students and they're all pretty good. No issues from them. Some technical issues with the server but I got around those pretty quick.

We did have to go back to the pet store but this time to get new litter boxes. Someone is pissing on our new couch and it's driving us nuts. We don't know which one it is. We replaced one of the litter boxes and added a third to see if that's causing the issue. If I go down there this morning and there is pee, they are all banned. BANNED.

Went to bed around 11. The one advantage of a later class start time I guess. Oh speaking of that, when I am in SF in a couple of weeks, two of the three days start at 10. WTF. That's like half a day gone. 10 - 6. Fuck. You. No respect for people's time. Seriously.

Y11 D120

I'm already starting this morning pissed off. Fucking sales guy not only moved the dates of the classes I am teaching today, I realized last night at 10pm he changed the fucking time too. He is acting like he warned me but I went back through every email and we only discussed a date change, not a time change. I am now working later than originally planned. On top of it, he shouldn't have moved the classes to today anyway because he ruined a better deal for us onsite in Canada. Douchebag idiot.

So yeah, that's my morning.

Now it's show and tell time. Apparently our backyard is a safe zone because we went out to the fish store yesterday and came back to this:

Just lounging and napping in our backyard. Nice.

I spent three hours yesterday morning working on cleaning the parts of the tank. Here's an example of what it looked like at the start:

And I got it looking like this:

Slight difference, eh? I was reeking of vinegar when I was done, but it was worth it. We went out to the fish store to talk to them about plants and the like. We have to wait about a week to get a water test done, then maybe we can add some plants in. Then another week, another water test, and we can add in fish. A big tank setup is not for the feint of heart. But it's coming along. We got three air stones and the canister in last night. It's creating an ecosystem now:

We also had a date night last night. Went to the melting pot for dinner. It was B's first time doing fondue. She enjoyed the experience but like most people, she doesn't need to go back any time soon. It's one of those things you do every so often for the hell of it, like a Brazilian steakhouse. It's fun, it's neat, it's not an every day thing.

Okay, time to go teach this fucked up class.

Y11 D119

Did a ton of stuff yesterday. Most of it before 10am. I got up early to get B's friend out of here. Shehad to be to work early so I was up at 4:50 to make sure she got up. At 4:55 I went down and woke her up. At 5:10 I went back down and woke her up again. She was out of here at 5:35. She not only was early for work but she even had time to get coffee. See how easy things are when everyone does things my way?

Because I was up, I went to home depot. Got a light fixture for outside. Took care of installing that. Hit the grocery store at 8. Did laundry in between all that. Then I started working on the fish tank. Got it shimmed and leveled. Started cleaning all the other parts. Here's an example of what I was dealing with:

Gross, right? Well it's much better now thank you very much.

Then B and her sisters got up and I made everyone breakfast. Did a bunch of other random shit around the house.

Grilled up some chicken and veggie kabobs for dinner. After dinner we went to the pet store to get one more hood for the tank. It only had 2. While we were out we stopped at Spirit and got some decorations for the house.

Then we started baking rocks. We are using rocks that B brought home from the lake but to make sure they were safe we had to bake them. While that was happening I started doing more vinegar cleaning.

Finally we were ready to move the tank on to its stand, add the sand, add the rocks, and add water. Took us hours to get it all done, but I think it was worth it. Next we are going to add plants, set up the filter systems, and maybe by next weekend, consider adding the fish.

Here's some pics of it during the different phases:

Today we are going to relax. Maybe go for a nice walk. We have a date night dinner reservation at the Melting Pot which will be fun.

Y11 D118

Happy weekend unto you. I have a houseful of people big and small. B's sisters are here as is are friend. She came over for dinner and since she has to be to work at 6:30 she stayed the night in our basement while the girls slept in the guest room. We had a fun time with everyone last night. Made a big ol' taco bar, then went to DQ for end of summer ice cream. It's definitely end of summer. It's about 70 right now but I don't think it's going to get much warmer. It's just going to kind of stay there you know?

Did some random work yesterday but primarily worked around the house. Installed a new light fixture in the backyard. Spotlight type thing. No motion bullshit. Just on or off. Worked well so I am going to pick up a second one today. B needs the light at night to scare of critters when she is outside doing her thing.

We also started working on the fish tank. Got the tank all scrubbed out. Now we need to shim the stand, add some reinforcement brackets on the legs to make us both feel good, and we can start adding water. We also need to clean all the accessories and get them done.

Cleaned the house yesterday in anticipation of people. Changed all the sheets, got groceries, etc. Nothing too exiciting. Just shit getting done.

Not sure what we have planned for today. Light fixture and laundry are my two initial things. Go me.

Y11 D117

It's Friday, what do you think I have been doing for the last 40 minutes? Yep. It's fun time bill time. And it's grocery day. Oh boy. But this time I only need stuff to last through the week since I will be gone to FL on Sunday. I have some back to back shit going on right now which eans for the next three - four weeks I will be working six days weeks. As such, I am taking today to myself. Right when I get back from FL, I have to teach Banc of Canada, then immediately go to SF, then more BoC, then public classes. I won't catch a break for a while. October is looking busy as is November. I MIGHT just pull it off and hit the next level on American. I should only be about 12k miles short by the end of october. Two west coast trips in November and December would do it. Damn. First time I have ever hit that. I should also roll over at least 10 nights for Hilton. That too makes me happy.

Taught all day yesterday. Finished around 5pm. Good group. No issues, no complaints. They were awake, smart, attentive, asked good questions, followed along. It was an expert level class which does help things. It was a long day, but a good one.

My new phone came and I spent most of the evening getting it setup, making it look like my old phone, getting my old one ready to ship back, etc.

Had some random stuff for dinner, then went for a walk. I have been trying to walk at least 1 mile a day right now. I have been pretty successful in turning it into a habit. So far this week I haven't missed a day. Pretty happy about that. I keep this up and I might actually not look like hell by the end of the year. That would be nice.

We're going to start working on the new fish tank this weekend. Try to get it all cleaned out and start adding water. Nothing more. Sand and water and the pumps. Enough to get an eco-system building. It will need to stay empty for at least a week. Build up bacteria and the like. It's much different setting up a big tank than your standard 10 or 20 gallon tank. We're going with live plants in this one too so there will be that set up and making sure they take. Mossballs for sure, but don't know what else yet. When it's downstairs, I will take a few pics so you can see the progress.

Okay. Off to the store.

Y11 D116

My new phone will be here today! Whee! It's been almost 2 years since I got a new phone. Unlike the old days when I would get a new one whenever something new and shiny would come out. So yeah, I am pretty excited. It's dumb but whatever.

Spent the day prepping for my next set of recordings which I will do on Friday. This will mean I have knocked out 4 classes in two weeks. Still have a few to go, but we are building a pretty good library of recorded content. It also means more work for B. When these projects are all done, she might end up making high four figures for side work. Not bad at all.

She went to bingo last night and I did a bunch of things around the house. We had to move my pin boards for the new fish tank so I spent time hanging them in a new spot. Those things are a bitch to move around, let me tell you. I then had to touch up the wall from where I moved it.

Trimmed my hair, cleaned, ate dinner. She got home around 10:30, I went to bed shortly after at 11.

Today I have to teach from 9:30 - 5:30. Ugh. But depending on the group, I may finish around 4:30. Just need to play my cards right on this one.

Then the glorious weekend. Bills, bills, and more bills. Joy.

Y11 D115

So check this out: I am getting a new phone this week. A Google Pixel 3XL. This wasn't planned but they are doing 50% through today because the 4 is coming out soon. I am not as concerned these days in having the super latest and greatest because they really are all similar and the changes are minute between models. The half off price was $450. But here's where the cool part comes in. In addition to getting $168 for my old phone, my boss still owes me $177. Add those two up and the new phone is only costing me $105 out of pocket. A hundred bucks to have a new phone? Um, okay. Especially to have one that originally sold for $900 new. No complaints here.

Taught class all day. Small group with good questions. I ended up going until 5pm. Our friend came over for dinner. B made her lentil tacos.

After dinner we took a drive to pick up a couple things at the store. Got back around 9:30, went to bed around 11.

Recording day today followed by a class tomorrow. New phone should be here Friday. Friday is  payday and I have a shitload of bills to pay. Fun time.

Booked a trip for October. Right after Florida so two weeks back to back. Going to SF this time. Tues-Saturday shit. But it's for internal stuff so I can dress any way I want at least. Screw nice. No time for nice. Getting a new tattoo while I am there. Because why the fuck not.

Y11 D114

I just can't seem to wake up this morning. I have a slight pressure headache and my eyes won't focus. The thought of doing this work thing for another 20 years is killing me. HA. Like I will be able to retire. Ever. Yeah right.

Spent the day recording. Took a break to hit the store because we were out of toilet paper. That was an adventure. I picked up a few other things, got home, realized I forgot the fucking toilet paper at self checkout. Had to drive all the way back. Mind you this was at 1pm so every idiot speeding back to the office from lunch was out. One person ran through a red light so fast next to me my car shook from the wind they created. They narrowly avoided slamming into people. WTF?

Got an interesting piece of mail yesterday. Apparently I am listed on our website as the "Michigan Office" so I received a bunch of KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and LABOR LAWS posters in the mail. I am supposed to hang them in my breakroom. Okay. I will hang them where all employees can see them for sure.

Had some pasts for dinner. Was a little heavy especially after not having any carbs for like three days. But it was good.

Actual class today. Two students. I am scheduled from 9:30 - 5:30 but I expect to be finished by 4 at the latest. It depends on the skill level of my students. We shall see. Two weeks until FL. Whee.

Y11 D113

We spent many an hour outside yesterday. Yesterday was a big community day for Pokemon Go. Today is a new release so yesterday they had a special event. We met up with one of B's friends who plays too and we spent hours outside walking around. I now have 3 torterras. Suck it!

We were out from 10:30 until 3:30 in total. Stopped for a late lunch early dinner on the way home. B napped. I started cleaning the new fish tank. Just the stand. That took forever. We managed to get it downstairs which led to rearranging art and other furniture. This thing is 6ft long by 2ft wide. It's huge.

We're going to do live plants in this one. But we know it will be a while before we add any fish. A long while. Next we have to clean the tank with vinegar, flush all the filter tubing, set up the cannisters, and let it develop an ecosystem for like a week. Fun stuff.

Not much else. I have two classes this week, more recordings, and then I go to Florida. Then SF. Then Canada. I could in fact hit the elusive next tier on American. We shall see.

Y11 D112

Fucking a my bank is stupid. I wake up to a message saying a kickstarter transaction has been declined. Why? Because it was for an international kickstarter. Even though I have backed many an international one. Fucking stupid. They block the stupidest things. Their system is the worst for that. If it was using trends or patterns, it would obviously see I have backed multiple kickstarters including ones in England. (B buys a lot of her pins from kickstarters. It's how they are able to make them. They get the money up front based on the designs, then produce. We're not talking a lot of money - $20 - $40 - but we have done enough that the bank shouldn't be so fucking stupid).

We picked up the fish tank yesterday. Jesus it's huge. And filthy. We had to get 3 gallons of vinegar and today we will be scrubbing the fuck out it. But I got it for $280 for stand, tank, two cannister filters (not just one as expected), all hosing, decorations, etc. Not to shabby. Now just to clean the fuck out it.

The sky went crazy for a while during the day. Luckily it went away and I was able to grill a couple of steaks I had been marinating.

Visited B's grandparents as we had to borrow their truck for the fish tank. I swear we need our own truck living here. Next major purchase I guess. Sigh.

Going for a walk today in Heritage Park. Cleaning a fish tank. Big plans, look out.

Y11 D111

Spilled rockstar on my mouse yesterday. It killed it. It's a logitech 502. I loved that mouse. Ordered a new one off amazon with the promise of same day delivery. Didn't get it. Having to use my backup bluetooth mouse. Hate it.

Recorded all day. Booked Florida. Able to book in first because prices are cheap for that time of year. Right now it's 90 with 70% humdity where I will be. Fun.

Fucking hate that state.

Canada is still looming too. That I am looking forward to doing. May have two Canada trips before the end of the year.

Getting a new fish tank this weekend. B found one on Craigs she wants. 90g. $300 with stand, canister filter system, and accessories. It's a good deal. Just fuck me. Another fucking fish tank.

Whatever.

Eddie Money is dead. I saw him. The kid saw him. Got his sunglasses. Put them in a frame I told her.

Who's next?

Y11 D110

Our entertainment center was scheduled between 1:15 and 4:15. It showed up at 5. Sure, that's within that window. Whatever. I am happy with it. For those interested:

It's nice. It does what I want. On the top you can't see is a built in powerstrip and USB ports. Useful.

Did more recordings yesterday. Had chicken with rice for dinner. Went for a walk. Played Pokemon.

Not a very exciting day but that's okay.

Y11 D109

Went back to the doctor's yesterday. They found something and wanted more blood to do another test. Hey there is something wrong with me and now I have medical proof! I am not going to say anything until the second set of tests come back. No, it's nothing like cancer or shit like that so don't spaz out on me. The simple answer is I am too fucking fat. No, no diabetes either. But my weight and lack of exercise are causing issues. I will give you more when I know more details.

Spent the day dealing with bullshit. Did finally get Florida confirmed. I should be able to book today. Heading to Orlando for the mouse. Teaching their HR folks. Bleh. I hate Floridians and hate that place.

September gave us six different weather shows yesterday. Hot. Cold. Storm. Nice. More Storm. Hot. Stupid month.

New entertainment center arrives today. My anniversary present. I am excited about that.

Y11 D108

Oh dear goodness. I just looked at the date. It's that day again. Never forget! The tragedy! Blah blah fucking blah. Repercussions bitches. All actions have consequences.

Spent the day recording. Went and had blood drawn in the morning. Man oh man. How people commute is beyond me. It took me longer to get out of my driveway and get to the doctor than it did in the doctor. Fucking manufacturing mindset in a digital age. We must all work 9-5! For the good of the country and the economy! More blah blah blah.

I am in a mood this morning apparently. Good.

B went to her concert. I rearranged my office. Went to bed at 10:30. Have no idea what time she got home.

Got my package from the kid. Cool stuff from Thailand.

Nope. Nothing else today.

Y11 D107

Went to the doctor yesterday and had a bunch of shit checked out. Have to go back this morning to get blood drawn because I had something to eat 7 hours earlier and they want 12 hours of fasting. Bastards. The good news is a bunch of the stuff I went in there for are either 'don't worry about it' or 'here's some exercises you can do to help that'. Okay cool. It's the blood draw info I really care about though. I am having a FULL panel done to check for everything that might be wrong with me. That I should know hopefully later today.

Spent the first part of the day recording. Got through 3 out 7 modules. Should finish the rest today. That will leave two more of our classes for me to do this week. And mean more money for B.

Speaking of B, this is her summer o' concerts. Tonight she is going to see Lil' Wayne and Blink-182. Oneo f her friends gave her two tickets for $35 because they couldn't go. I wouldn't have minded going with her, but it's a work night and I can't be out until midnight. Especially not for some bands I don't care about it and moderately wouldn't mind seeing.

Nothing else going on. Waiting to hear about a FL trip still. I should know more today hopefully. Have a package coming from the kid. Stuff she got us while in Thailand and from Korea. I am excited about that.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom.

Y11 D106

Very tired this morning. Insufficient sleepage. Ugh. I want to go back to bed. But I have a shit ton of recording to do today and I have a doctor's appointment at 2:15 so I have to get cracking.

Had a decent day yesterday. As expected, B didn't get up until after 11. I was up early and at the store as planned by 6:30. Bought ALL the groceries. Always feel better when there's food in the house.

Once B was up we went to a cider mill. Yep, it's that time of year in the midwest. Cider mills and corn mazes. After we went downtown Northville and walked and hung out. Bought some stuff from a spice shop.

Later in the evning we went to IKEA because I want to move things in my office which required me getting another leg for my desk. Right now one side is held up by a filing cabinet but I want to move the cabinet and I needed another leg to replace it. We had dinner at IKEA because it is the law to have meatballs when there.

Got home, relaxed, went to bed around 10 but had a rough time falling asleep. Didn't fall asleep until almost midnight. Hence why so tired.

Should be booking a trip this week to FL for Disney. Fuck FL. But I need one more flight to make life good for next year so here we go.

Y11 D105

Sleepy. Up early to hit the grocery store before the masses. It's a weekend you know. That means DO EVERYTHING IN OUR TWO DAYS OFF BEFORE WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO OUR M-F 9-5 JOBS! AAAAAH! Fun. I go grocery store at 6:30 in morning when empty and alone. Come back, sleep more. B didn't get home until almost 1 and I am sure she didn't go straight to bed so I am not worried about her waking up for a while.

Ran a few errands yesterday. Target for a prescription. Vape shop for some stuff for me (you know, before THE BAN goes into effect).

Had pizza for dinner so B could get food in her before leaving for the show. I spent the night copying files and playing Fallout. Not very exciting, no, but I enjoyed myself.

That's really it. Sorry to be boring.

Y11 D104

First things first:

Suck it bitches.

I am so excited for this. Believe it or not, I have never seen them in concert. I have seen APC which while similar is not the same. When I loaded up the website to buy the tickets I was 340th in the queue. I was afraid I was going to get shit seats. We will be at a slight angle, but so what. The kid already booked her flight so I get to see her too. And I paid less per ticket than B did for her concert tonight (Jonas Brothers. Yeah, I know.). She paid $180 a seat, I paid $145. Score. I also am excited to see the poor kid deal with November in MI. A little snow never hurt anyone.

Spent the WHOLE day working on stuff. We didn't finish until after 4pm. B worked all day too. She can invoice for at least 15-20 hours on this job. Not bad. Get her savings bumped up a little.

We had a lasgane for dinner and after dinner went over to her grandparent's to visit. I was asking B when we left if we were the only ones who visit and she said no, but we're the ones who go the most and don't ask for anything when we go. Good. I genuinely want to do things for them to make up for the shit way I was to my grandparents when I was younger. I never had the chance to be a good adult for them so this lets me set my internal karma meter.

Picked up two new 10tb hard drives yesterday. I had enough Best Buy rewards and they had a sale so btoh drives cost me $200. $200 for 20tb of space. Jeez. While B is at the concert tonight I plan on bringing the system down, moving shit over, labeling the current drives as backups, and putting everything on new storage. I should get a couple of years out of the new drives and deal with this again in 2021.

That's about it for me. The weather turned a little colder yesterday. Had to wear actual pants! First time in months. We shall see if this continues. Remember, it's September in the midwest. Which means it could be 100 degrees or 30 degrees. On the same day. Fun times.

Y11 D103

Ah, pay day friday at the start of the month. That means what? That I have been paying bills for the last 45 minutes. Whee! Here's your check and there it goes... Just trying to keep the man off my back.

Speaking of that, I did a job reference phone call for a friend yesterday. PLEASE let me know how it goes. I have my fingers crossed for you buddy. Everything went well on the call (I think) and the manager sounded excited. I am hoping you get to the end the week with a job offer. Let me know.

Worked on recordings all day. B started work on conversions. She should make 15-20 hours off this project. Not bad money for her. She will make more in 2-3 days of work than her friend does in a whole week. Sad but true.

We made tacos for dinner, and then settled in for a movie night. I swear, this projector and screen is one of the best gifts I have ever gotten myself. We watched John Wick Chapter 3. I won't spoil anything for anyone. I will say it was better than 2, not as good as 1, and there will be a 4. What gets me the whole time watching it, and at the same time I am watching The Americans (4 episodes left and I am done!), how oblivious the rest of the world is to these people's actions. You ever wonder how much of this really is going on around us? Sure, Wick is an extreme example, but The Americans is more realistic. Sometimes cops are involved and the FBI for sure, but all these little covert operations going on all around us. I mean right now, is someone being murdered, is someone breaking into a secret lab, is someone getting into a fight? You ever wonder? We sit with our mundane lives of paying bills and waiting for job offers and somewhere there's a guy on a rooftop who has been there for hours with a camera watching a hotel door entrance to get one picture of someone. Shit happens all around us every day and we are just sitting in our cocoons without any knowledge.

Fascinating.

Anywho. More recording today. B has a concert tomorrow. I am attempting to buy Tool tickets at 10am. Wish me luck.

Y11 D102

Down in the basement because I spent the day recording and moved my shit down here where it's quiet. Still very quiet down here. I like quiet. Quiet is good.

I made an effort last night. Didn't pan out. Never does. I tried to go out - ha go out, I walked across the street to the library - but it didn't work. There was a game night at the library but as I stood to the side and watched people show up, these were not my people. Dear lord I don't want them to be my people. Calling them cosplay convention magic the gathering nerds is an insult to all good cosplay convention magic the gathering playing nerds. These were at a whole new level.

I miss drinking. It was easy to go to a bar, drink, lower my inhibitions, and have conversations. Can't do that any more. Stay in my hole. Easier that way.

B on the other hand was gone all fucking day. From hanging out with her friends to bingo she left at 11am and didn't get home until 11pm. Lucky her.

I spent the day i n a basement to see nerds to back in the basement.

I watched The Dark Crystal last night so I could watch the new show on Netflix. My excitement was watching a 40 year old move with muppets.

Whatever. All that's going through my head:

he had a lot to say
he had a lot of nothing to say
we're gonna miss him

come down
get off your fucking cross
we need the fucking space to nail the next fool martyr

Y11 D101

What day is it? I think it's Wednesday. Sometimes I think of someone finding these posts 100 years in the future like finding old civil war letters. Twas cold this morning when I got up. My boots have more holes in them. Gee I miss my family.

So the kid may be flying out here in November. It all depends on if I can get us Tool tickets. They go on sale Friday. Wish me luck on that.

Spent the day doing a bit of grunt work. I did some local installs, began learning a new product, and sat through a two hour team update meeting. Whee. B went and helped her cousin who is sick and needed a ride to the doctor. An hour away.

I have a doctor appointment on Monday. General physical checkup sort of thing. Let's see how that goes. Oh wait: you're fat. you're old. you're dead. Okay. Good to know.

Tonight I am going to the library to check out their game night. Might suck, might be okay.

Today I am laying down audio tracks for a new set of training. Which means work for B too. She can make more in three days than her friends will make in two weeks sadly. But not our fault and not our doing. Is what it is.

Y11 D100

One hundred days in. Damn. This time last year we were planning for B to come back here to start the house process.

Welcome to September. Which can be as hot as July and cold as October. All in the same day. Good times.

Did some stuff yesterday. Ran some errands before stores closed early. Then did some physical labor. We borrowed a pressure washer and washed all of our concrete. Holy crap that took a lot out of me. Spent the majority of my day doing it, then hours cleaning myself up.

I have an ear infection and it's bugging the shit out of me. I am going to try and make a doctor's appointment today. Good luck with that.

Had KFC for dinner because I was too tired to cook. Went to bed around 11.

Slow week. I have a meeting today but not much else going on. I am supposed to have two more trips and should find out about them in the meeting. Fun times.

Y11 D99

We're back home. No, it's not a problem, it's okay. First off, B took her meds late on Saturday night which caused her to sleep really late yesterday. It's supposed to be something she takes in the morning but she missed her time and ended up taking it before bed. I woke up late thinking I was behind but then she didn't wake up until almost 11. Add to that, both of us are cripsy critters right now so another day in the sun is not what we needed.

We ended up going to 'breakfast' around noon to this place everyone says is the best. Meh. It's just another overcrowded poorly laid out breakfast joint. It's 'good' because there aren't a whole lot of other options. We ended up waiting like 30 minutes for a table and my food was mediocre at best. Plus the noise level was overwhelming to me.

After we drove around town checking it out. It's actually a really nice town. Good sized with a proper number of amenities. A large "small town" if you will. We walked the river, saw the sights, and had a pleasant day. It was about 4:30 when we got back to the cabin and we just said fuck it. There wasn't much difference in leaving then or leaving at 7am today other than hopefully less traffic.

We got the cabin cleaned up, loaded the truck, and hit the road at 6:05. The nice part is we had no time limit and took our time. We made a few stops at jerky and produce stands that were still open. We got home around 10. Perfect.

Unloaded, unpacked, got situated, and hit bed around 11.

Today I am going to be pressure washing the backyard, hitting the pet store for stuff, and generally chilling at home. Some labor for my labor day.

I want to mention something about B's meds. She has been changing the cocktail up for a while and I think we've hit a combo that works. Something that works on the migrains, blood pressure, and anxiety. Especially that latter one. This weekend was a complete anxiety free trip and it was wonderfully suprising. She is doing more on her own, less tired, and less panic attack about everything. It's a really good thing and it should only get better from here.

Me, I have an ear infection and need a physical. But one thing at a time kids. One thing at a time.

Y11 D98

I just slept for like 9 hours and it was wonderful. All the sleeping. We have decided to stay until tomorrow but we're leaving early to miss traffic. Why the fuck not?

Went into town in the morning to go to this  place that makes homemade sausages, jerky, etc. In town is a beach which is called Thunder Bay. It's the inlet for Lake Huron. I have now seen and stepped in my first great lake. Neat!

We got back and took the boat out with B's dad and step mom. They are up here in the other cabin. B's grandparent's own three for the record. We were out on that lake from 11 until 5. In the lake, on the boat, brought lunch, etc. It was wonderful. Got bit by things. Not so good.

For dinnr I grilled steaks, we played scrabble, made a fire, roasted marshmallows, tried to see the northern lights, passed out a little after midnight.

One more day of this, then back to normal stuff.