Y11 D219

Talk about rough fucking days. That memorial was hard as hell. I have been to a lot of funerals over the years. Old people ones are easier to get through. Ones for like my brother or my friend's brother are a lot harder. But fuck, burying a 14 year old? Yeah, I thought she was 15. She would have turned 15 in March. A child was remembered yesterday and it was damn hard. The dad did his best when he got up to speak but he lost it hard halfway through as did most of us in the audience. I don't wish that pain on any parent. It was a couple hours at the church followed by a couple of hours at a hall for food after. All in all, we left the house around noon and got home at 5. Long day of emotion.

The snow has come. It's white outside. Starting the year off in a blanket of pure white landscape. Appropriate I guess?

Tonight ends a decade. It's been one hell of a decade for me. From divorce, to dating mishaps, to finding new friends, to losing old ones. From making mistakes and learning from them. To finally starting to come to terms and be happy with who I am, what I have, and where I am going. To learn to be grateful, and patient. To holding on to the ones I love and keeping them safe when I can. 10 years. 10 years of life changes. Ten years of growth, backsliding, and growing some more.

To all I have hurt in the past decade, I am sorry. To all I have loved, know I will always love you.

May all of you be blessed in the decade to come. May you find your place, your space, and your contentment. Be safe. Be happy.

Happy new year.

Y11 D218

Yesterday turned into a very uneventful day. We drove home, B took meds and fell asleep for like 6 hours.

Me? I went to the grocery store to get a couple of things, like more meds for her. I spent the majority of my day taking down Christmas. That was a big chunk of my afternoon. Putting all the ornaments away, packing up the tree, rearranging the storage area, etc. Took a few hours before everything was done.

Made leftovers for dinner, went to bed.

Today is the memorial service. Not looking forward to that one bit.

Y11 D217

No, I'm not dead. Just late. We came home early this morning because someone wasn't feeling well and didn't sleep. So we had a quick breakfast and drove the 2 hours home. I just finished unpacking and such and am now sitting down to do my normal morning stuff.

Had a pretty good day yesterday. B got up late so we missed breakfast, but had lunch at the Wolfgang Puck Kitchen Counter where they have sandwiches and the like. I had a smoked salmon sandwich with a cup of butternut squash soup. Quite tasty. From there we went to the spa and had massages. Man I needed that.

After we cleaned up and rested it was time for drinks and dinner. I do remember now why I stopped drinking. Had a bit too much last night and I am feeling it now. We went to the secret bar before dinner. Then with dinner I had more. I did have an incredible 40oz tomahawk steak. Sweet bejeebus it was good. I brought the bone home to gnaw on.

After dinner went back to the secret bar until about 10 and then bed.

Not very exciting but still, what I needed to recharge.

Y11 D216

I am in love with this hotel. THIS is what I needed. Where it's not about the destination but about the property. It's a registered historical landmark; I know this because there's a book of histroic hotels on the coffee table and it's in there. We are on the 24th floor in the added tower section with views of the river, the Apollo Space Museum, the Gerald R Ford Presidential Library/Museum, and the rapids themselves. It's pretty freaking cool. But more in a moment.

Got up at 4am, again, to take the friend to work. She is staying at our place while we are gone this weekend so fine, doing us a favor, I do you one. But damn if I wasn't up earlf AF yet again. Note it is 7:30 here as I finally slept in. Got back, putzed around, waited for B to get up. Made sure everything in the house was ready for us to leave and we headed out around 1:15.

Arrived at a little after 3, checked in, and explored the hotel. Found the hidden door. It really is a door with a keypanel and a plaque that says "for those in the know". Went inside and found the coolest, funkiest bar with patio area. Was very impressed.

For dinner we ate in the room and watched multiple episodes of the mandalorian. Yep. That was our big exciting night. I then took a bath in the whirlpool fancy ass tub. Needed that too.

Today is a spa day, followed by dinner at Ruth Chris. Ahhh.

Y11 D215

Before 9am I did:

-- Went to the car wash. Ran out of time before I got all the soap off because the stupid machine didn't beep. Had to wipe it down with paper towels from the trash. Fun.

-- Went to Target for batteries, a better towel to wipe off the rest of the car, rockstars, and eggs. Why Target? Because it's right next to the car wash.

-- Police station. Dropped off alarm permit form. The nice ladies there even opened 10 minutes early for me.

-- Pet store for cat food.

So yeah. I did a lot in the morning. B woke up. She went to her other grandparents while I relocated a piece of cabinetry in our laundry room. We have this countertop that was too low for me to put my wine fridge under and I have been wanting to raise it up. Carefully unassembled the framing for the counter and successfully reattached it three inches higher. Boom. Wine fridge moved. Which gave me more room for my Pops allowing me to rearrange those.

B is still in and out of good moods. She went to her friend's house to smoke herself into not thinking. Okay.

I had chicken and fish combo from Happys for dinner. Yay me.

Today we leave for Grand Rapids. But first, the bills.

Y11 D214

Oaky to recap the last two days:

Tuesday:
Got up and took the friend to work. She's gone finally btw. We took her to her mother's yesterday afternoon. But having to get up and drive someone on Christmas Eve. Fuck capitalism sometimes. Seriously. I had to take her to her drug test thing first too which sucked. But she's almost done with that. Only two more weeks.

Got back, got ready to go out, and headed over to B's grandparent's around 11:30. Stayed there until about 4 being overwhelmed and frustrated. Frustrated because I don't like stupid Christmas gifts. On one hand, B did all the shopping this year for her grandparents and from "them" I got something cool. I got a puzzle storage board from my wishlist. Perfect. Just what I wanted. But from other family members? Ugh. Slippers that don't fit and I would never wear. I did get some Pops but again, B bought those and labeled them from her sisters. B knows what I want. The others, not so much. Plus there were too many kids, too much noise, and just ugh.

Got home, B got the friend from work, then at 7 we settled in for TV. Watched our Xmas Eve stuff and went to bed.

Wednesday:
I still hate that the holiday was on a Wednesday. Annoying. Took the friend AGAIN to her drug thing. At 6am. Fuck me. Got back, eventually opened presents. Approve of all gifts. Got our SimpliSafe system. I spent about 2 hours getting it all configured and set up. We are now protected. Also got some clothes and things from my list. Nothing that makes me bounce off the walls, but nothing disappointing either. I opened my heater from my client and that's pretty sweet. It heats up the entire house in like 10 minutes. This thing is powerful. Got 8 shirts total from the kid - 4 for me, 4 for B. She even made a custom Britney one for B.

Speaking of B, she's having good hours and bad hours. If she slows down and has time to 'think' she goes off into her head still. I fear it will be like this until the memorial on Monday but it is what it is. She went over and saw the family on Tuesday and said the dad looked like the life had been drained out of him. The siblings (all older and already out of the house) were all just beat up and tired looking. I can't imagine. Sucks.

Went for Chinese food as is the rule. Found a new good place that we want to go to under normal situations later.

Today nothing is planned other than washing the car. Then tomorrow it's off to Grand Rapids.

Y11 D213

Merry Christmas Bitches.

Y11 D212

So fucking tired this morning. Have to drive our 'guest' to work and bullshit this morning. Had to do the same yesterday. Gah. People. Annoyed.

I had something planned to write this morning but now I have completely forgotten it.

Oh yeah, I remember. It's about being over stimulated which I was yesterday. Way over stimulated. Just too many people, too much noise. Had a hard time coping.

Everything hurts this morning. Shoulder. Neck.

In good news column, all presents have arrived including a $130 gift from my client in PA. They sent me one of their nice ceramic heaters. Can't wait to use that!

Only 18 hours until Xmas. Thank god.

Y11 D211

B isn't doing well. The shit with her cousin is causing her anxiety to spike. She didn't sleep at all the night before and had to take drugs last night to get to sleep. There will be a memorial on the 30th which means even if she gets it under control in the next day or two, it will come back again after the memorial. Fun times.

Still four presents out there scheduled for delivery some time in the next 48 hours. We shall see which ones get here in time.

I dislike holidays in the middle of the week. In 10 years I know I have bitched about this before. It's just confusing. No work gets done around the days, it gets hard to remember what day it is, etc.

Made my first car reservation of 2020. The prices are going to go up slightly on 1/1 so they told me to make sure I made my reservation before the end of the year to get the old price locked in. It's exactly 4 weeks until my next trip today. Although I still have hotel nights coming up this Friday. Looking forward to getting out of town for relaxation instead of work. Will be a nice change of pace.

We didn't do much yesterday. Ran a couple of errands including breakfast. Happen to see one of B's bingo ladies at breakfast and she picked up our check for us. That was nice. We left the waitress a ridiculous tip in exchange.

Made steak and tails for dinner. Was very pleased at how everything came out. Yes, I grilled in 53 degree weather. Hey, there's no snow, so what the hell. I am becoming one of them where 53 degrees doesn't bother me. Ugh.

B's friend is back through Christmas. I am driving her to work this morning hence the early rise on my 'vacation'.

Only 42 hours to go until presents!

Y11 D210

Dad Joke levels:

Told at 11:59pm 12/31;
- See you next year - weak
- See you next decade - better
- See you next century - alright
- See you next MILLENIUM - pro level

I've lived long enough to tell all of them. Dad level 1000. Boom.

Just a random. I freakin' slept in like crazy this morning. It's 8:40am. I went to bed around 11:30 so this is some seriously sleep time. I am still not 100% because I haven't really taken any more meds since getting home. Not enough at least. My body still needs to recuperate. Okay. You can have all the sleep you need.

Finished my downstairs project of rearranging all the storage area yesterday. That was the majority of my morning. Went to the grocery store to get stuff for mexi-chicken bake for dinner. They had a special on steak and baby lobster tails so guess what we're have for dinner tonight? A little sunday treat.

B's still having a rough time from her cousin. Found out some more. She left a note and has been planning this since September. Even her own therapist was shocked. She was showing no outward signs.

Remember gang, as you've read here many times, depression can hide. Hide so well no one knows about it. You can smile on the outside but inside be ready to pull that trigger at a second's notice. Don't blame yourself if you don't 'see' something. Hiding is what depression does best.

Watched all four episodes (so far) of the new Harley Quinn. Weird. But in a good way. Downloaded some old games from GOG for the hell of it. Winter sale and all. Played Civ IV for like two hours last night. I forgot how much I loved that game.

63 hours until Christmas. MULTIPLE presents still out there. All of the ones from the kid, SimpliSafe, Google, Amazon. All out there in the void. I am expecting one today but the rest are all scheduled for Tuesday. Make me nervous much?

Nothing planned for today thank goodness.

Y11 D209

Before I get into my trivial bullshit, I have to share some tragic news. B's step-cousin killed herself last night. She was 15 or 16, I'm not sure which. We just saw her last Saturday at the family Christmas party we attended. She seemed fine. I unfortunately don't know a whole lot about her having only met her one time last year. She overdoes on pills. That is all I know as of last night but wow, it sure does put all the minor stuff I whine about into perspective. It's all not that fucking important. Her parents must be suffering like crazy today and I can't bear to bitch about stupid shit like FedEx being late on one of my packages. Life is short, tenuous, and everything can change on a dime.

B went over to her friend's house to hang out and take her mind off everything and I don't blame her. She needed to just forget for a while and I am okay with that. While she was gone I worked in the basement rearranging shit keeping my mind from wandering.

I am very sorry for this family and the struggle they are facing given the time of year. I can't even begin to imagine the heartbreak and stress this is putting on them. Such a tragedy.

Y11 D208

It was weird being officially off yesterday. I still check emails of course. Sent quite a few. I will try not to send any today but you know how that goes. I think somewhere in my psyche is the fear of out of sight out of mind. I know I don't work for conglomocorp but still. I worry. I only sent a few though. Not like micromanaging anyone or being intrusive. Just stuff that was immediate.

We did take a nice break and went to the Henry Ford museum. They have a cool Lego exhibit going on that I wanted to see. Nice thing about being members is going anytime. It's only like 20 minutes away and so we had lunch, saw the Legos, came back home.

Had leftovers for dinner, watched some tv, went to bed.

Today is more of the same. I need to go to the grocery store this morning but otherwise no big plans. I may run to home depot to get a couple of things because B has a light she wants me to hang. I also want to start one of my big vacation projects - rearranging our storage. When we moved in we just kind of put things in storage to get them out of the way. Now we're settled, it's time to put things in better places, identify things that can go, etc. It's a big undertaking but one I want to get done.

Only a few days left until Christmas! Present time! Woo!

Y11 D207

I am officialy off! No worrying about work until 1/6. Two weeks of bliss. Of course I am going to check emails and shit because that's what I do. But I won't worry about doing any real stuff. I can tackle some of my at home projects. But first some needed time away from the computer. Today for example we are going to the Henry Ford museum. They have a Lego exhibit I want to check out. Boom.

Worked on more docs yesterday until it was time for the company meeting. Talk about insulting. Praise heaped on salespeople and project managers. WTF? How about the people who actually DO the work? Anyone can sell or push paper. I was very annoyed.

Our friend came over last night because he needed some help with Xmas shopping. He has been out of work for a little while now but he still had enough savings to at least get his immediate family some stuff and he wanted help. I respect this guy. He is in a rough place but he has his shit together, is doing his best, and is looking for solutions. Can't do much more.

We went to Walmart because that's within his budget. Bought some stuff, came back, and hung out until about 11. Headed off to bed.

Been sleeping great the last couple of nights. Much needed deep sleep.

The yard guy couldn't come yesterday because it snowed a bit overnight so he is coming Friday. I am looking forward to that for sure.

Y11 D206

Last night I finished watching Watchmen. Holy shit. That was hands down the best 8 hours of television I have ever watched. It's amazing what a good storyteller can do when given a full 8 hours to tell their story. I loved every single episode. Not a minute of it bored me or I wanted to fast forward through. It was so well done, well crafted, and wrapped up beautifully. I was in awe. Loved. Best way to end 2019 tv shows. In-fucking-credible. So yea, you think I liked it?

Spent the day working on new materials. Got a good chunk done too. I will work some more today and hopefully get the presentation side completed. I don't expect to finish the demos until 2020 but should have the core done today. I am on module 5 of 9.

After working, I decided to tackle one of my "Christmas Break Projects". I have about 4. One of them was to rearrange and clean out the pantry. Boom, done. I am extremely pleased with how that came out. I had a whole garbage bag of expired or stale stuff. Cleaned the shit out of the shelves too. Next on my list, which is a bigger project, redo the storage areas in the basement. Three areas that we haphazardly put stuff in when we moved in. It's all getting pulled out and rearranged. As part of that, I am going through old clothes and making a donations pile. I will keep myself busy.

Met with a new lawn guy yesterday. He's coming by today to do end of year cleaning on front and back. It's slightly snowing so I hope he can get done quick enough. Then in spring he will be back to do weekly lawn. He's $3 a week cheaper than my current guy.

B had bingo last night and I was on my own for dinner. Made mahi with some nice mac and cheese and peas. Was pretty fucking tasty.

Had some presents arrive so wrapped those babies up and stuck them under the tree.

Headed to bed around 10 and slept REALLY well. Good solid rem sleep. I needed it.

Y11 D205

Before I tell you what happened yesterday, I have to give some back info. B and I decided to take some money from my LOC (about 10k free) to knock down a couple of our other bills. We have a couple of bills that are about $300 which if we paid off/down would give us a little buffer while still letting us pay a little more to the LOC. In the long run, it's easier to have one than 4 going on each month kind of thing. The reason that's important is that one of the things we paid off was the note I had with my company. I had $1300 left (from $6500) and said screw it. Paid in full. Well...

The last few days I have been feeling like a pariah because I stood up for myself and told them I needed a break. I texted the big boss to ask him to please confirm receipt of the $1300 which he did and then said "we need to chat". Not good. Well...

Turns out he was scared I was quitting because I paid the loan off in full. In the end after an hour conversation, all is good. Matter of fact, due to legal changes to our PTO time in 2020, he NEEDS me to take time off or I am going to lose some. They are forcing companies to split PTO into sick versus vacation. As of 1/1 all employees will automatically have 40 hours of sick time separate from the accrued vacation time. The total number comes out the same, but I would have seen 40 of my vacation hours gone. So in the end I am using about 72 hours to get my number down. I will start the new year with about 125 vacation and 40 sick. Okay.

Also he agreed to treat us to a Christmas dinner when we are in Grand Rapids. We made a reservation for Ruth Chris. Yeah. Suck it.

So overall I am feeling better going into these final weeks of the year and as of tomorrow afternoon, I am going to enjoy some needed time off. No emails, no phone calls, no customers. Have some stuff to finish catching up on today and tomorrow still, but that's about it.

Y11 D204

Didn't do much of anything as planned yesterday. Went to the pet store. That was our big trip out. B worked on the headboard she is building for us. When it's done I will take a picture. It's currently on my dining room floor where it's being stained and sealed.

Haven't heard anything from work. I don't know if I am doing anything this week or not. I may just officially start my vacation and say fuck it.

Maybe they fired me and didn't tell me.

Whatever.

Y11 D203

Had a surprisingly okay day yesterday. Got up, started baking for this party. Made that caramel apple pecan cake thing. B made green bean casserole. We headed out around 11 and got there a little before noon. It was decent. Small group this year with less tiny children. There were still a couple but better than last year. We socialized and chit chatted with everyone until around 4. Headed on home and B's dad came over to help us put plastic sheeting on the windows.

On the way there I saw a billboard for an upcoming concert at one of the casinos. Jonny Lang. I first learned about him 20 years ago while visiting North Dakota where he is from. I've always wanted to see him as I do like his music. B of course had no interest in going. When her dad was here I asked him if he liked Lang and he got real excited. Fuck it I thought - well then we're going! I sat right down and looked up tickets. The tickets for good seats were about $150 each which I could see him pause on so I offered that he only owes me $100 and the rest was his Christmas present from me. Done. On 1/12, we are going to see Jonny Lang in a 1500 seat venue from row 4. Not too shabby. Hey B is off to Billie Eilish and Alanis Morrisette next year so what the hell. I will have Jonny Lang and Ozzy.

The sheeting is all up on the windows and it's already making a difference at keeping things warmer. It's starting to turn to snow outside and we needed to get that up. The temperature is going to start dropping and our front windows are huge. Keep that air locked in the house.

Went to bed soon after he left as it was getting late. Nothing on the plate for today. Just going to relax and do nothing.

Y11 D202

I am home! For a while too. Thank goodness. I headed to the airport around 2 something, dropped the car off at 3, waited for security to open at 4:15. Got to the club and sat there doing bills until it was time to head home. No issues on my flight. Got home, did laundry, settled in.

Went to dinner, went to the grocery store, went to bed. It was a boring as heck day. Is good.

Started watching Watchmen. Pleasantly surprised. I was worried it was a reboot or some other bs but it's a true sequel of the universe and it's not bad. I am only 3 episodes in, but sill, am liking it.

Today we have B's cousins Xmas party. I need to bake a cake this morning. Must get my morning stuff done so I can go bake.

Y11 D201

My whining paid off. I was just trying to get Monday's class canceled but in the process I made everyone feel bad enough they freed the whole week up for me. So now of course I feel guilty like I'm not a team player or something. Fuck me.

Got through the day, headed back to hotel, ate leftovers, went to bed.

Leave her shortly for airport, then home by 11am. Timesheets, expense reports, weekend. We have a party Saturday I have to attend (which is why I was stressing about working Monday. I didn't think I would get enough rest).

Sigh. I need to find a new job.

Y11 D200

Fuck my company. I coughed so hard yesterday I had a bloody nose which led to blood in my phlegm. Fuck them.

Made it through the day, barely.

I did sleep well at least.

I just need to make it until the 20th. Fuck me.

Y11 D199

Dammit, it's snowing here. I am hoping it warms up and it doesn't stick, but damn. And I have two more days of this place before I can leave. According to the weather this should be a temporary thing. It should clear up by the time I leave on Friday. Thank god I have an annoying 4 wheel drive right now. I should be okay driving to the client this morning. It's scheduled to stop around 8 or 9. Let's see if it does.

Not a bad day yesterday. I am in the basement of a giant manufacturing plant but it wasn't horrible. About 10 people yesterday with 4 new ones today. We got through everything around 4:15. Traffic back was a little rough and I may stay closer to the client for dinner tonight. Take my time getting back. Last night I went to PF Chang's because it was close to the hotel. Horrible. Everything was burnt and bland. Never going back to that one again.

Stayed in the room watching some tv and went to bed around 10.

Please stop snowing.

Y11 D198

In PA. It was a bit of a rough day yesterday. Mostly due to weather. I got to the airport way too early. My flight didn't board until 12:30 and I got there before 10. I could have pushed my pickup out at least 30 minutes if not an hour. But oh well. I was there and I sat and waited. It wouldn't have been too bad if I didn't end up getting delayed. We sat on the tarmac for nearly an hour while they literally rebooted the plane. I picked the flight I did because it would have gotten me there right before typical evening commute times. But due to the delay, I arrived in the middle of rush hour.

Add to that I didn't realize there was a shuttle bus to the car lot. I saw it across the street and decided to walk over not realizing it was a lot farther than it looked. It would have been okay if it wasn't pouring rain. Then I get there and the only car they have available for me is a Jeep Gladiator. Never heard of it? Me neither. It's a Jeep truck thingie. Very weird, very 4-wheel monsterous. Although, given how flooded some of the roads were, I was glad for it by the time I got to the hotel.

I am about 20 miles away from the airport here and it took me over an hour because of weather and traffic. I was cranky, cold, hungry, and wet by the time I arrived.

Went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, came back, tried to shake off the day. Ended up going to bed around 9:30. I did sleep well at least. The room is quiet, the bed is good, and I was exhausted. So it all worked out that way.

Dealt with a bunch of bullshit emails last night too. I hate people more and more each day. Salespeople specifically.

Make it through the week and I am home until January. I can do this.

Y11 D197

Oh man it is so nice sleeping. Even though I am traveling today, my pickup isn't until 9:30. So I didn't have to go to bed at a ridiculous time. I went to bed normal, slept without an alarm. Neat!

I know this is going to sound crazy, but B and I planned a trip for the end of the month. Just 3 days two nights. A little getaway if you will. The catch is, I told B I wanted to stay at a nice hotel. No business hotel with a waffle maker. I have stayed in enough of those this year. When the destination is the key, the hotel matters less. In this case, the hotel is the key. I want to be pampered. I wanted a place with a spa and fancy sheets. So we are going to Grand Rapids. It's a two hour drive, but we are staying here:

Yeah. Fancy hotel. Calling tomorrow to make us a spa appointment. 6 onsite restaurants. Historical building and rooms. This is what I need. A get away. Not just another trip. We're going the 27th to the 29th. I now have something serious to look forward to after these work trips. Cool.

Ran a couple of errands yesterday but otherwise stayed in the house. Had Chilis for lunch because I have been promising to take B. Had leftovers for dinner. All worked out. We watched some tv, relaxed. I am still sick so not much else going on. I am hoping to clear this cold up this week. We shall see. I'll either day at this client or be healthy when I get home. 50/50 either way.

Ah now to go slowly get ready.

Wait, I almost forgot to tell you all something. We bought our "big" Xmas gift yesterday. We have been wanting a home alarm system since we moved in. We have been going back and forth between a couple of brands and when I got home there was an ad from SimpliSafe in the mail for 25% off. I decided to look yesterday and they had 40% going on plus a free camera. We sat down and put together a system. We got $900 worth of equipment for $500. So we will now be covered. 3 motion detectors, 2 cameras, video doorbell, multiple window and door modules, keychain FOBs, and glass break detectors. Plus 24/7 monitoring and recording. I am very excited about this. It should be here this week and then I need to debate if I wrap it or the empty boxes. We shall see.

Y11 D196

Best fucking sleep I have had in over a week. Even though I fly out tomorrow, I for once have a late flight. This trip is the equivalent of me going from Northern to Southern CA. Or Portland to Seattle. It's a 90 minute flight and it doesn't board until noon. Heck, my pickup tomorrow isn't until 9:30am. So not only did I get to sleep in today, I don't have to be up at crazy time tomorrow either. Nice.

Uneventful travel day. Sat in Sac for longer than I wanted to, but I did go to the club for a little over an hour. Had food, charged my devices. Quick trip to PHX where I had about 45 minutes. Luckily my gates were close and I once again popped into the club where I had a good 25 minutes to eat something, charge up, use the bathroom, etc. Got to my gate and there were 15 wheelchairs. I know this because the gate agent told some other person who was trying to board "oh sweetie, we haven't started yet, I have 15 wheelchairs still to pre-board". Damn. That's a lot. Luckily they were all in the back of the plane.

Landed, B was sick so I had car service pick me up. Got home, ordered some dinner, ate, then we decided to take care of as many of today's errands as possible. Target, grocery store, pet store. Done and done. Another reason why I can relax this morning.

So there it is. My big weekend. Now to do time sheet and expense report and my obligations will be complete. I already did laundry and repacked so I am good to. Next stop PA.

Y11 D195

Back to shitty sleep. Look, I know I talk a lot about my sleep habits these days but when you are spending as much time as I do on the road, and I don't drink any more, what the hell else is there to talk about? This is my fucking life now people. Boring nights in hotel rooms, caring about the weather (pouring rain outside for those who care), and how well I slept. That's what I got most of the time. You think it's fucking fun for me? Rest assured it's not. I am the poor son of a bitch who has to live it.

Final day of training. End result was over 80 people trained in 5 days. Plus I met with their boss and talked about who to fire. No, seriously. We agreed on 90% of who doesn't have the skills and won't make it. I defended one they had thought was a lost cause but in the end they are going to give that person another chance. The rest though we were in full agreement.

Got back to the hotel around 2, sat around watching tv, packed, ate crap in the fridge, went to bed at 7. Tossed and turned until 10 when B messaged me saying she felt sick and to see if I could get a ride home (unknown at this point). Went back to sleep until 12:10. Leaving here shortly for the airport. 5:30am flight, one hour layover in PHX, then hit DTW at 3:50. Laundry, food, bed, leave again on Monday for PA.

Y11 D194

FINALLY I had a decent night's sleep. Took all week but I managed to do it. Humidifier on, air conditioning on, sheet only. Of course my throat is killing me, but I slept. Yay me.

Yesterday's group was the toughest. It was the truly least technical and many of them struggled with even the most basic computer skills. They were friendly and kind enough, but they just couldn't keep up and this is a basic class. I am supposed to meet with their boss today to do a debrief and I have to be honest with them. Some of these folks just don't have the right skills. That's all there is to it. Not to be mean, just being honest. And not one of those 'be brutally honest' sort of things.

Grabbed Rubio's for dinner. Had fish tacos and a lobster burrito for dinner. It was good. While I was eating fuckhead the sales guy sent me a message confirming that next monday I have to do a private session for one of the worst groups ever. From 11:30 - 7:30 my time. Assholes. These people are notorious for being late, being rude, and being useless. Fuck them.

Went to bed around 9 and as I said, slept. Last day here. Leave tomorrow around 2am and get home around 3pm.

Y11 D193

It's only Thursday? Are you sure about that? Son of a bitch.

I haven't had a full night's sleep the entire time I have been here. Too dry and too sick. Just one night of sleep. Is that asking so much?

Day three yesterday. Day two of the same material. New group. Sharper group than Tuesday at least. We got out around 4:20 this time. That's not bad. I did get stuck in bad traffic again though trying to get back to the hotel. Traffic around here is just awful. Another situation where an area grew too rapidly to keep up with the demand of vehicles and now they're paying the price.

Had dinner at a family style restaurant. Corned beef and cabbage. Twas not bad I must admit. Got back to the hotel. Talked with B. She had bingo last night. The jackpot was at 7k. One little old lady won it and nearly had a heart attack. 7k is a lot of money for folks like that. Hell, 7k is a good chunk of change for us. Not going to lie. It would help immensely.

Tried to sleep at 9. Failed. Sigh.

Y11 D192

Still not feeling better. Passed out at 8pm, woke up at midnight, took more meds, tossed and turned until about 4:30. Unsure how my voice is doing right now, but don't have high hopes for it. I can feel the scratch in my throat which scares me. I have three more days here then 3 in PA. I can't believe it's only day three here. Feels like I have been here a month.

Moderately decent group. No real troublemakers. Some were struggling a bit but most got through it. Another group today. It's Friday's group I am really worried about. They're the ones that are going to give me trouble. I can feel it already.

Had Jimboy Tacos for dinner. They were pretty damn good. Nothing is sitting right anyway right now, but I managed to keep them down and in me.

At home, we apparently now have axolotls. Yep. Don't ask. It makes her happy.

Y11 D191

Yesterday was hell. Not because of the class, well some of it, but because this sickness hit me hard. I was floopy at a couple of points, could feel my temperature rising, vertigo, etc. Fun times. My voice is going to go before the end of the week. This morning I have flushed like 10 pounds of snot out of my nose. Good times abound!

My class was interesting. I had a small group out of 16 who were combative. The nothing is ever going to be fixed around here why are you showing us this kind of people. I ended up switching the class around midday to do things that I knew would shut them up. It worked.

Finished at 4:40 and tried to get back to the hotel. I say try because once again construction killed traffic and instead of fighting it, I went to dinner. Was just easier that way. I will probably do the same thing tonight.

Got back to hotel and held out as long as I could before taking meds and passing out. I made it until 9pm. Slept restlessly all night. But I slept.

5 more days until I can go home.

Y11 D190

I knew this was going to happen. I'm sick. Being in too many planes, around too many people, too many different climates. My body can't take it. I bought some NyQuil gel caps last night, let's see if they can do any good. Biggest concern is losing my voice. I have three more weeks of classes counting this week and I will probably be screwed by Thursday. No voice. Fucking salespeople. Speaking of them, ours wants me to work this week from the hotel after class. Nope. No way. Ain't gonna happen. I am too weak to even be doing the classes let alone additional work after. Suck it.

With the exception of one almost major issue, yesterday wasn't bad. I was stressed waiting for the car because I expected the airport to be a madhouse. It was, but luckily none of them were in my way. By that I mean, the airport was full of non-status people. Security for regular folks was 100 people deep, but my line had 2 in it. I was through security in under 5 minutes. Same when it came to board my first flight. There were three of us for group 1, but 200 for groups 6-9. The only almost issue was my connection. I only had 1 hour total before my next flight left, 30 minutes before board, 30 until take-off, and we were delayed 40 minutes from DTW. I RAN from A17 to C7. Like a mother. When I got to C7 they were already on Group 6. Luckily though, once again, I skipped their line and went around a couple hundred people all glaring daggers at me. Sorry bitches. When you hit 100,000 miles in a year (which I did yesterday thank you very much), then you can skip around the line.

Got to Sac and it was a torrential downpour. It hasn't stopped raining either. I had to stand outside while waiting for my car. Was very pissed off about that. I am thinking of finally switching to either National or Enterprise next year. They are one company so I need to see which is better for business travelers. I am leaning towards Enterprise. If they will tier match me, I will switch. Use up my Avis points for personal trips. We shall see.

Took about 40 minutes to get to the hotel because of rain. Stopped at the grocery store for lunches and snacks first. I still arrived at the hotel hella early and they let me check in. Decent room. No issues there.

Took a nap, ironed, went to Chili's for dinner. It was okay. Back to the room, meds, and bed. I tossed and turned because I can't breathe. Oh well.

5 days, 79 students. Let's do this.

Y11 D189

I did in fact, not go back to bed yesterday. Sigh. I stayed up and did a shit ton of things around the house including rearranging the laundry room for B. She has been using it for her own little hideaway now that it's too cold outside. I setup things to make it easier for her.

We also went to a place called Atomic Dawg and had the best fucking hot dog ever.

She took a nap, I didn't. Went to bed at 7, got about 3 hours of decent sleep. Now I go to Sacramento. On the busiest day of the year. Sigh.