Y11 D340

I don't have much to say this morning. I'm tired, annoyed, and just over everything. I want to sleep. I don't want to deal with people but I hve a webinar with almost 500 people signed up today. I have salespeople trying to submit my name for things I don't want to do. Fuck all of it. Only good news is I should close on the refi next week. That will give me the month of June without a mortgage payment. That will be nice. Use that to pay off another account. One more done and gone. Just paid my electric bill. Like most folks, it went up from last month. Almost $50 higher. Bah. When I was young we had songs like Girls Girls Girls from Motley Crue. They need to make an updated version Bills, Bills, Bills for all of us old people. Every day it's something. I have to go to the grocery store today too. Not excited about that. Have 6 more modules worth of demos to record too. Tired. Just tired. Like to my core.

Y11 D339

It was finally nice out yesterday. Got all the way up to 70 for a brief time. I even went and spent some time outside. Not too long but enough to feel partially human again. The best part of yesterday is lawn care restrictions have been lifted and our guy was able to come. Both the front and back look so much better. Plus he is coming next week to do some clean up work for us. Gutters, grind out a stump, haul away the trash from the power company. Our backyard will be looking much better. Glad he came yesterday as this morning it's raining. Not cold rain at least. But I have to go outside and get rid of a little friend we caught in the ceiling:

Yes, he's cute, but I don't want him living in my basement ceiling thank you very much. He must leave.

I did get quite a bit accomplished yesterday. I started work early and managed to get all of the slide audio done for this class I have to record. That's quite a bit. I finished around 12:30 and then at 1 I did a dry run of the webinar I am doing tomorrow. It was a busy day. Afterwards was all the outside stuff. Then I made dinner. Some nice sausages and rice.

Today more recording then a 1-5 class with folks. Making a slow cooker pot roast today. Got to start that in 2.5 hours.

Y11 D338

Don't you love when you go from having just a bunch of random things to do for work to all of sudden having to get an entire class recorded ASAP because the sales guy didn't bother to check if it existed before invoicing a client? Oops. I could have been working on this days ago at a normal pace but now I am going at a million miles per hour to get it done. Hence why I am up at 5:15am. I have to do the pre-webinar today for internal folks so there's 2 hours of my day chunked out. At the same time I have a full day's class that has to be prepped, sliced, and recorded to be handed off to B for delivery hopefully no later than Monday.

Oh and the real shitty part? I didn't get the email until 9pm. I had all fucking day to work on this but because our stupid sales guy does all his emails in one shot at night, I lost the whole day. Son of a bitch.

We did almost get a free lawn service yesterday. Seems no one bothered to tell the old crew we weren't customers any more. B caught him as he was about 20% done with the backyard. Oops. Our new yard crew is coming today as that's one of the 'relaxed' stipulations in this new SIP. Good. Our yard needs a cleanup.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go record a class. Ugh.

Y11 D337

Had a rough sleep last night. Woke up multiple times. Little out of it this morning as a result.

Yesterday's big project was the big tank. What should have been a simple thing turned into 5 hours of my life. Not counting the hour to go to the pet store, realize they weren't open, wait in the parking lot for 30 minutes, and deal with other humans.

We were supposed to just do a simple water change but one thing led to another, the filter stopped working, water got everywhere, yadda yadda yadda, finally done at 5pm. Oy.

Made chicken tikka masala for dinner. It was okay. B liked it more than me. I made it at her request. Tikka masala is not my favorite style/flavor of Indian cooking so meh. But she was happy.

After dinner, we dyed my hair. I now have violet hair. Yep. Her green dye is coming tomorrow. We will be a couple of fucking troll dolls. Yay us.

Talked with the kid. She is adopting a dog. It's a good dog. I approve of my furry grandchild.

Today I have to record some stuff, tomorrow give an internal training session, wednesday teach Prudential, Thursday give a webinar. Stuff to do all week. Tis good.

Y11 D336

I've been 'up' since 4:30. Spent an hour tossing and turning before finally getting out of bed. Why so early? Because that's when B went to bed and between her and the fucking cat, they woke me up. I tried going back to sleep, I really did, but it was a fruitless endeavor. So fuck it, I am up. Good times.

Got a few little projects done yesterday. First was realigning the pan drawer on the oven. Ever since we moved in, it's been wonky. It didn't close all the way, was hard to open, etc. I took the whole damn thing out and found the rails were bent as well as the drawer. Of course, by pulling that out, I discovered the immense amount of dust and everything else under the stove. So fixed the drawer and that led to an insane cleaning spree on the kitchen. Every inch of that kitchen is now spotless. Cabinets, appliances, under appliances, etc.

Then I worked on laundry. Mostly towels. But still, laundry to get done.

Then I cleaned the floors. When you have OCD like me, one thing leads to another which leads to another which leads to another. Next thing you know five hours have gone by but damn if your house isn't spotless.

I think right now there are two types of people on that front. Those who are keeping their houses immaculate because they have time to clean things they normally wouldn't notice and those who notice but get overwhelmed by it and it ends up getting worse.

Leftover night because we needed to use shit up. That always makes for interesting meals. Little of this, little of that.

Today's big project is big tank. Nitrate level is way off which is going to require a massive cleaning. Fun times.

Y11 D335

Okay. It's Saturday. But yet I am still up at 6am. Whee.

Worked on more marketing shit yesterday. Plus did an upgrade on one of our VM images to the latest version of one of the tools we teach. Exciting. No, not really. I don't understand how people get excited about this stuff. We had a 'lunch and learn' yesterday (which was 3-4 my time so no, I didn't attend) about using powerBI in an Azure environment. OMG can you have a more boring topic? But my boss sends a message saying how everyone should come because it's SO exciting. Dude. No, it's not. How do you find shit like this exciting? It's a job. It's a tool. A shitty tool at that. None of this matters in the real world. We have a president who's telling people to figure out how to get UV light and bleach inside the body, I've got people at grocery stores violating mask rules and trying to stand right next to me, a SIP place order extended until 5/15, and you want me to get excited in setting up powerBI with Azure? Seriously? I don't think there is anything on the face of the earth less interesting than that. PowerBI is the modern day Java. It's going to fix all of our problems, clear my skin, and make my crops fertile. Too bad it sucks ass.

In other news, we ordered pizza last night. I know. But we are just so tired of cooking. I can't do another dish dammit. I need to get some paper plates or something. I am just so tired of washing and putting away dishes. Needed a break.

I went to the store for a few items yesterday morning. Had to go to the big store. It sucked. But I survived.

Not much else going on. Fish tank cleaning day today. Oh boy.

Y11 D334

Did you all inject yourself with some clorox or lysol this morning? Spray yourself down with housecleaner? You know it kills bacterias! How can one person be so moronic? How can one individual be so completely stupid? I don't understand it at all. No, that's not true. I do understand it. He's a 72 year old. Sometimes people forget he's the age of your typical grandpa baby boomer who doesn't understand none of this new-fangled science and techno-ology stuffs. He can use the twitter! He knows how to clickie on the icon! Uses the google too! For fuck's sake. So tired of the lack of leadership and intelligence. Then there's McConnell. What a piece of fucking work. 78 years old. Alabama. Yeah that's a hot bed of smart folk. We have age minimums for things, why not maximums? 78 fucking years old. What a joke. Making laws and decisions on things you don't understand and can't comprehend. Good job people. Are we great yet?

I worked on some material yesterday. Ready to do a presentation next week. I know have three days next week booked solid. I can handle that. Better than nothing at all. Haven't heard anything further on the refi either. Hopefully today.

Made steaks inside because the weather still isn't cooperating. Freezing rain all day. Had to take a drive to the pet store. We were out of worms for the weird fish. Picked up three dozen. Hopefully that will last a while.

Not much else going on. But then again, for whom is much going on anywhere?

Y11 D333

I was massively depressed last night. Why? Marketing people. Sales people. They are just such inefficient communicators and don't know when to stop pushing. I was asked to help on one thing and it's now snowballed into 10 most of which have no clear objectives or direction. I don't think like that. I just woke up to 9 emails still in a thread that contained literally zero new information. People have accused me of talking just to hear myself talk but these people take the cake. People who were cc'd having to comment even though their comment adds zero value. But hey "I'm part of the team!". Go fuck yourselves. I have almost 5 weeks of vacation sitting there. I even offered to take some of it if it would help the company. No response on that though. All those emails and the one I want a response on has nothing. Fuck me.

It doesn't help that it just won't fucking stop snowing. It was a mix of snow, hail, and freezing rain yesterday. Jesus fucking christ let up already. Give me a couple of days over 65 so I can feel like I am not freezing. Not 35. Which it currently is. Our high today is like 43. Seriously. With rain showers which means hail at these temps. It doesn't get to 60 (predicted) until May 2nd. Fuck is April almost over? What the hell is going on with this world?

I spent yesterday completing the one task I agreed to do for these bastards. 1700 word blog post. Took me all day. This is why I don't like doing this shit. I can't focus well enough. It takes me all day to write one thing.

Made mexi-chicken for dinner. That was the highlight of the day.

Today starts nature day in animal crossing. At least there's that to look forward to. Whee.

Y11 D332

Sales and Marketing people are annoying AF. Period. They have no concept of how to interact with humans without sounding like giant slime. Gah I hate how things are right now. Al lof our customers have started slowing down their business, which incidentally is stupid in my opinion because right now is when you need the most insight into your data and operations, but that's beside the point. But now after a good run, I am relegated to working with these people to 'create content'. What the fuck does that even mean? Go away.

Which leads to this wonderful thing; last night B wanted to set up the Christmas tree. What the fuck? According to her nothing matters and she can have Christmas now if she wants. No. No you can't. Long ago when I was seriously unemployed, I worked with this group that helped you not just in searching for a job, but how to be a better candidate. One of their things was that you had to get up, get dressed, and go into their offices every day. No sitting around in sweats. You showed up looking like you were going to the office, we worked on mock interviews, polishing resumes, making phone calls, setting up networking, etc. The point was to keep your energy and mind where it needed to be to keep you motivated. I am using that same technique now. If I start wearing pajamas all day and sleeping in, and setting up fucking christmas trees, it's just going to send me into a depression spiral. I need to have the stability of getting up, getting dressed, and going through the motions. Things have to apear as normal as they can so I don't lose my mind.

While we're on that topic, I want all of you to know, I am thinking about you as well. I hope everyone out there is doing their best at holding on right now. I know it can be tough, but we'll get through. Know that I am thinking about all of you.

Spent the morningworking with on eof my clients in TX, then the rest of the day on a class. That finished up around 4. Made dinner (pork roast), watched some tv, went to bed. Again, trying to keep a normal schedule so I don't go crazy.

Today I am working on 'content'. Let's see how that goes.

Y11 D331

Basically a month to go and I hit year 12. Thank goodness for technology. Without it, I would be some creepy guy with notebooks filled with tiny little writing. 11 years of doing this I would have bookshelves filled with these. It would be like 7even where they go to John Doe's apartment and find shelf after shelf of his writing. Here it's all nice and neat and organized. Ah, taking insanity and sterilizing it for consumption. Bless you internet, bless you.

Spent the first part of the day waiting for one of my students from last week to join a meeting. Then I switched over and took a half day class. My coworker has a new class she has created and we are doing a dry run internally to knock out the kinks. It's a very good class but unfortunately for her, the other three students are idiots. Not paying attention, bad network connections, asking questions about things they profess to already know, aka the usual bullshit.

Along those same lines, I sent a very long email to marketing and sales last night. Around 6pm I get like 7 emails at once asking for all this vague, undefined help with blogs/webinars/marketing stuff. I replied back that I don't work that way. I need clear definitions of tasks. I am not very good at thinking stuff up like that. "Oh do a post about something cool!" What the hell does that mean? What topic? How long? What key points? I need direction, not free reign on stuff like this. Let's see what they come back with today.

We had breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, brown sugar bacon, eggs, sausages. Was quite satisfying actually.

Today is a repeat of yesterday. Then the week gets fuzzier. I don't have formal classes until next week so this should be interesting. I do have over 5 weeks of vacation time still if they need me to take some, I will. Not like I'm going anywhere any time soon.

Y11 D330

I have honestly lost track of what month we're in. On one hand I know it's April, but April what? But then the internet reminds me it's Snoop Dog Day. Yep. It's 4/20/20. In the middle of a pandemic. That idiots want to keep going apparently by their blatant disregard for other people's safety. Good job.

Didn't do much yesterday. Played video games. Baked bread. Went to the store quickly. Had italian suasages for dinner. A boring day. Like most of them.

I do have two 1/2 day classes this week. 11 - 3 so not horrible. Plus some mentoring with some of my students from last week. I can handle that.

Look, I want this to end as quickly as the next person, but I won't risk my life to have that. So let the boredom continue.

Y11 D329

Let's start today with a reminder that I was supposed to be seeing Pearl Jam tonight. Not happy.

We did a lot of little projects yesterday. So much I didn't go to bed until 12:30 and B, well, I am not happy about this, but she went to bed at 4:17am. Yeah I know. Part wanting to get shit done, part depression. But she did get things accomplished as did I.

Here's the list of things we got done:

- Took care of the mess of tree limbs DTE left in our backyard
- Multiple loads of laundry
- Rearranged and cleaned all the fish tanks
- Made cookies to dead drop to people (more on that)
- Cleaned the house
- Timesheet for the week
- Cut some slate we want to use for a project

There was more stuff but I can't remember it all. It was all just stuff that 'needed doing'. Made burgers for dinner, took a break from tasks, kept at it. It was an oddly satisfying day. Too many people on the road outside.

I saw TX and OH got hit with MI stupidity and more protests. I love the picture of the dumb woman wearing an American flag shirt and a sign that says "Stay at Home = Communism". WTF? Seriously? Life saving is the same as communism. Um. Ok. Do you think these idiots know these protests are being coordinated by tea party groups and greedy billionaires? I doubt it. But hey, they can all die if they want. Less stupid people the better.

I do have to get a couple of things at the store today. Let's see how that goes. Not looking forward to it.

B is going to do a dead drop today to her friend's house. Why is she risking it? She needs the pot. She is picking up an ounce though so she doesn't have to do this again for a while. Hence the cookies. She wanted to also do something nice. She promises to be safe. She'd better be. She's at a much higher risk than I am. We'll see how that goes.

Y11 D328

I watched it snow for 9 hours yesterday. Just all fucking day long it snowed. But the temperature stayed around 34/35 all day so it just landed on the ground then melted away. There was a thin layer of white but it never really took hold. After 9 hours it turned into freezing rain for a while. WTF is up with that? You know where I was supposed to be right now? In the bay area getting ready to see fucking pearl jam. But no, I am trapped in this hellscape watching snow and rednecks with machine guns being stupid. What fun.

Didn't do shit yesterday. The most exciting thing I did was move the couch and clean under it. Have you moved your couch lately? Man does a lot shit end up under there.

If the weather gets above 40 I might go outside and chop some tree branches. The other day when DTE was here they left behind all the tree branches they trimmed. Gee thanks guys. Leave me a mess to clean up. It would be different if I had real tools to use to clean up this mess. But I don't. So now I have to figure out how to chop up massive tree branches by hand. Oh boy.

I miss city living. I miss intelligent humans.

Y11 D327

To be honest, the fact that I live in MI has really been this kind of a nebulous concept. Yeah, I live here, but I don't "live" here. I don't associate myself with it or feel integrated into it. For the most part, I don't really think about it. Until yesterday. How bad do things have to be where you live when you have friends in Los Angeles sending you messages of sympathy for where you live? But wait, it gets worse. Our friends IN AUSTRALIA saw the reports from here and send their condolences that we live among such fucked up stupid people. Yeah. They all saw the video of the protesters bitching about the SIP order. It would have been one thing if these people were saying things like "I will lose my business" or "I can't make my house payment" or "I have people counting on me for support". If those had been the words coming out of their mouths, then maybe we could have seen some empathy for them. Instead it was "I want to buy a lawnmower" and "I need to get my hair done". Seriously? Do you realize how shallow, stupid, and idiotic you sound? Do you realize how much the WORLD is laughing at you and us right now? This is why people have such low opinions of Americans. Go home people. I have never been more embarrassed to live somewhere than I am now. Ridiculous.

Went to the grocery store yesterday. Went an hour later than I have previously and it seemed to make a difference. I did notice the shelves a little more stocked than they have been which is great. Still not fully shelved and back to normal but definite improvement. The lines weren't bad either. I think it helped I went on a Thursday instead of a Friday this time. Got what I needed and got out.

Spent the rest of the day just chilling. When B got up we did some cleaning and really that's about it. Same for today. Laundry, bills, and nothing else. It's supposed to snow most of the day. Yes. I know.

Day who the fuck knows inside. Really tired of this shit. But not so tired I will risk it like other idiots.

Y11 D326

My coworker yesterday sent me a message asking how far we were from Lansing. When I asked why, she told me that there were portests happening there. Protests about CANCELING THE SIP. WTF? These assholes were out there violating the SIP, not keeping good distancing, gathering in a group, gridlocking roads, all so they could send their employees back to work and open businesses. Seriously? The kicker is, how much you want to bet not a single one of THEM would go back to work but send in some poor hourly employee? People's lives are not worth you getting more money fuckers. These people disgust me. Hard to say you live in a free country when that freedom comes at such a high cost. This isn't about protecting anything except people's pocketbooks. WW2 was about protecting freedom. From there it's all been about money. Vietnam, Korea, Middle East, and now COVID. At least in those others we sent soldiers who to some respect knew what they were getting into. Now we're asking teenagers, the sick, the elderly, the poor to fight for nothing more than money and greed. Go fuck yourselves.

Finished my last group yesterday. So done. Now I have two days of peace. No expectations, no emails, no nothing. Privacy and relaxtion. Heck, I even slept in until 7. Look at me go.

Made fish tacos for dinner. We now have 10 lbs of hamburger, an eye roast, and a pack of steaks courtesy of B's mother. She went to Sam's club yesterday and sent us pictures of meat. We now have enough meat to get us through a good 14+ meals plus ton of leftovers.

Oh and they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here's what things looked like here yesterday:

I got 1000 words for you and none of them nice. Tired of this shit. Tired of everything. The only upside was I got confirmation finally from American and National that my status will be extended one year. Even if I don't fly again this year, I am good. Also found out the kid got her money. That will get here 2 months rent so that's a positive.

Here's a random one for you: during class yesterday the question of whether the new Edge will work came up. I said I didn't know but what the heck, let's try it. Well guess what? It actually does work. Partially though because it really is fucking chrome with an edge sticker slapped on it. So yeah.

I think I will go take a nice soak now.

Y11 D325

I'm a very happy camper right now. Okay, mostly happy. I am typing this on my new monitor. 28" Samsung 4K. I can see things without my glasses. AND I am running at 3840x2160 at 125% zoom and I can still see things. So much real estate. It came yesterday during lunch and I was able to use it for the second half of class. Wow, what a difference. Here it is:

Now as far as the rest of the world goes. Meh. There's snow outside (no really, there's fucking snow) and I am still seeing too many people on the road. I can't just keep whining about the same shit, so yeah it is what it is.

B made chicken parm for dinner. Was really good. I was very impressed. We watched tv, played games, went to bed. Well I went to bed. She's been staying up until 3 due to anxiety and depression. Fun times.

This is my last class with this group. All I have to do is make it through today.

Y11 D324

Yesterday was really rough. First off, my morning group was awful. I mean like horrible. 10 people were scheduled. 4 showed up more than 10 minutes late, 2 just dropped off without telling me, one was completely rude and insulted me then left. I called them out on it though. I told their bosses that I don't need to be treated this way. I have taught over 100 of their people already and this was uncalled for behavior. The afternoon group had 14, 2 of whom were late additions, and they were great. The only problem there was a technical glitch during the last hour. I had to reboot my demo server which meant they couldn't do the last demo with me. They had to watch. I felt bad for them.

The real fucked part of the day was the power people. We opened a case to have our neighbor's investiagted because of their 4 AC units and the draw on our power. Well, they came out and found there was a problem with our line. Good news, I guess? Because the next thing I know, there's a crew of 10 guys trimming trees and preparing to shut off my power to run a new line to the house. Oh boy. We managed to get dinner cooked before they shut off the power, but from 7:15 until 8, we were in the dark. Then we had to go around the house and reset everything.

In the middle of all that, I got the preliminary paperwork for the refi which needed to be reviewed and signed. We will save about $300 a month with the new loan. Pays for B's car basically. Not too shabby. We managed to get an appraisal waiver given everything going on in the world right now. So that's good.

I broke down and ordered a monitor which is coming today. It's one thing to look at a laptop screen while on the road, but these last few weeks of staring at it while at home has been killing my eyes. Even though it's 17.3, it's still rough. So I have a 28" arriving today. I am excited about that.

And for the record, you can't "re-open" America you cheeto looking twat face jabba the fucking hutt. If you people don't vote for Biden I will personally come to your houses and shit on your front step because I can't take another 4 years of a DICK-tator. The entire premise of the republican party was less federal interference, more state control, and this slithering blob of flesh is trying to say that states don't get to say when they are back to normal? You idiotic piece of shit stuck to the bottom of my shoe. Die already you sleazeball. Any human being I encounter that supports this life sucking gelatinous cube is automatically on my do not communicate list. Period. I will cut all ties. I am done with anyone who thinks this is leadership.

Okay, 2 more full days classes. 26 people. We can do this.

Y11 D323

I finally made it to tarantula island last night! I now have 129 of those little fuckers. Some of you know what I mean by that. Others are like WTF? In Animal Crossing, the most valuable thing you can sell is tarantulas. They are not easy to catch or find. Except on one random island. On most islands it takes 2 hours to fill your bag, there it takes 15 minutes. But it's a random get. So I was very happy to hit it last night. This is what I am reduced to, being happy about catching bugs. Whee.

Calm day yesterday. Did go to the grocery store (the little one) for eggs, bread, and a couple of other actual neccesities. Not a screw around trip. B was talking to her mom last night and they number of people she knows who are still going to walmart to just "walk around" is ridiculous. We're never getting out of this at that rate.

Made sloppy joes for dinner.

This is my last week with the TX folks. 3 days, 4 classes, 50 students. I can do it. If I make it through, I get Thursday and Friday off. Yeah baby. I can make it. I swear.

Y11 D322

I better start paying attention to the date on these things. Given the current situation I have to make sure to switch to Y12 in a bit. Otherwise we will end up with Y11 D1000. April is turning into another never ending month just like March. Definitely feels the same outside. We are scheduled for severe weather starting late tonight and going through all day tomorrow. 55 mph winds. I have to make sure to get outside today and put some stuff in the garage so it doesn't blow away.

Stayed inside yesterday as planned. Did some more cleaning. Played Animal Crossing. Went to a virtual birthday party for a friend. That was a mess. I fucking hate Zoom. There's a good reason we don't use it for our classes. It's a cacophony of people. There were 12 sessions connected and my god what a mess. No one knows how a mic works, how to mute themselves, etc. If that were one of my classes I would kill someone. But we made an appearance, made our friend happy, and that's all that matters.

We did start to setup our last remaining fish tank. This gives us a 90, a 50, a 36, a 30, and a 20. Jeez we are the cat and fish people. Something wrong with us for sure.

I did brave the cold to grill some steaks last night. They came out wonderful.

That was about it. Don't know what I am doing today. It's Jesus Lich King day, but meh. No one cares. He probably stayed in the cave this time. Don't blame him.

Y11 D321

I went to the store yesterday and damn near had a panic attack as a result. First off, I went to the 'big' grocery store because we needed about 30 items on our list. I knew that from a price and selection standpoint I would have a better time at the bigger store. But I also knew it would be a clusterfuck and I was right. They are open from 8am to 10pm right now. Down from 24 hours. Apparently everyone wants to get their shopping down right at 8am. I got there at 7:50 and was about 75th in line. Seriously. The line wrapped down the front of the building and then in a U back into the parking lot. That already set me on edge. Then as I am standing there waiting, I had to listen to these damn old white people talk about how "silly this all is" and how "it's the fake media hyping it all up". Half of them weren't wearing masks either. I wanted to scream at them so bad. It didn't help it was 31 degrees with snow. They finally open the doors at 8:08 and when I get to the door I get stopped because they are trying to keep the crowd down. I had to stand out there for a few more minutes. I get inside and it's a zoo. Fucking people not respecting distance, acting like it's a regular day. Stopping in aisles, walking in front of people and stopping, etc. My nerves and panic level were soaring. I got what I needed short 4 things. Not bad. The checkout process was great so kudos to the store for that. I was out of there in less than 10 minutes from the time I got in line. But man it was an experience. I had to compose myself in the parking lot for a few. I decided to hit the other, smaller, grocery store on the way home. Night and day experience. I was one of like 5 people in there and they had all but 1 of my remaining 4 items. Yes, it's more expensive and they don't carry as many brands, but I'll be damned if I go through that experience again. I have to find a better option.

Got home, put everything away, went downstairs to work. Took care of outstanding stuff until about 2pm. B was up all night so she didn't get up until almost 3. Must be nice. I slept in until 7am this morning and feel guilty.

Did stuff around the house. Cleaned up some things, did laundry, worked on fish. Had taco night for dinner. We watched some TV and I went to bed around 11.

NOTHING planned for today. Staying inside, staying safe.

Some good news; got the refi locked in. Went from 5.25 to 3.168. Over the life of the loan, that will save us $58,000. That's huge. I should get it closed in the next couple of weeks. Let's see how it goes.

Y11 D320

Could someone please tell me what fucking month this is? There's goddamn snow on the ground outside. Yes. Snow. Like an inch of it. Are you kidding me?OMG I am so tired of this. Just everything.

Taught and taught and taught. 27 people thanks to add-ons. Two sessions. 8am until 6pm. But thank goodness that was my last session for the week. Today I get to play catch-up on emails and everything else.

Someone in the governor's office must have heard my bitching. We've extended our SIP until April 30th. People are going to be stressing.

Gah, I am so tired and done but I have to go to the grocery store. Wish me luck.

Y11 D319

Well, you can now say you know someone who has been directly affected by COVID. Like in a bad way. Not just the job part or the grocery thing. Yesterday B's uncle died from COVID related complications. Add to that her best friend's mom is in ICU from COVID and her friend is on a mandatory 2 week quarrantine as a result of visiting and helping her mother. Both of them have comprimized immune systems and it may turn bad. Wunderground has an interactive map showing cases and deaths by county. As of yesterday, our county is at 4007 cases with 234 dead. We are the second worst county in MI. Now you all see why I have been so careful about leaving the damn house?

But it's okay right? Easter is coming and Jesus and the Easter Bunny are going to make everything magically go away.

Bernie dropped. So that clears the path for weekend at Biden's. Which means we will have four more years of this idiot. Too many childish fucks are already saying they won't vote for Biden. So instead we get four more years of death and destruction. Good job.

Taught 22 people yesterday. Some were good, some made me want to pull out what few hairs I have left. Didn't finish until well after 6pm. I am so beat and exhausted. 2 more sessions today with 25 people. Must make it through.

Was in bed nicely sleeping when at 11:15 I hear a big bang and our power goes out. Came right back on, but I had to get up and make sure everything reset properly. Fun times. How much you want to bet it was the drug dealer's damn AC units? They have been running 24/7 even though it's fucking snowing outside right now. No seriously, it is. It's 31 degrees with a high of 45 and rain scheduled for all day. So the next one of you fucks who tells me 'go for a walk' is going to get a foot up their ass.

Finished tales from the loop yesterday. B-. Some episodes really good. Some dragged too damn long. Some too much story.

Angry, tired, and my back hurts...

where are the kids? i don't know.
Maybe pregnant or on drugs
or on welfare on top of the world
on the honor roll, on parole, on reruns, on the dodgers
on the back of milk cartons
on stakes in the middle of corn fields
on covers of future history books
on old lady's mantles
walking on water naild on crosses

i think it's time i had a talk with my kids
i'll just tell them what my daddy told me
you ain't never gonna amount to nothin'

Y11 D318

Is this shit over yet? I found out one person in my company has been "reassigned" and another will be getting reduced hours. Now this shit is getting scary. I can't live off unemployment. Period. I need all of this to wrap up in the next couple of weeks. The world needs to calm itself down and get healthy dammit. I seriously hope none of you are out of work right now. This isn't one of those things where companies have a lot of choice and it sucks for everyone. I even offered my lawn guy some extra work in our backyard and he had to refuse because if he is caught working he can be fined. That's crazy but the situation as it is.

No updates on 'our neighbors are drug dealers' unfortunately. We have now submitted reports to the DEA, the local police, and crimetips. Our last ditch effort last night was to report it to DTE, the power people. Their 4 AC units are running 24/7 and we think it's affecting our grid as we have had a ton of light flickering lately. Maybe this will cause someone to take notice.

Another 14 people taught yesterday. My total for the last five weeks is a little over 100 people taught. I am beat up. Next week I am taking two days off to recharge. I need some time to heal. I am getting worn down teaching the same thing over and over.

Finished at 5:30 last night. Ate leftovers. Wacthed some tv, went to bed. Had a hard time falling asleep as there was massive thunder and lightning. Luckily no power outages. But man was it going hard outside.

Is this week over yet?

Y11 D317

Is Boris Johnson dead yet? Last I read he was in ICU. Haven't read the news yet today to see if he lives. Is that a mean thing to say? Maybe. But people like him aren't good people to begin with and I have no empathy over them being removed from the game. Like the woman in Texas who spent last month spouting conspiracy theories and refusing to take it seriously and is now dead. Oh well. No big loss to the world there either. Sorry for her family, but she was an idiot. Boomer remover 2020.

Work from 8 - 6 yesterday. Had add-ons bringing my total to 18 taught. Full day.We did order pizza and now I have leftovers so that works for me.

Played animal crossing, went to bed. Life and times.

Y11 D316

This is week five since I got home from Texas. A month I have been home and stuck in the house. A month since the first reports of people being isolated and told to stay home from workplaces. Oh how time drags when you're stuck at home. I hope some day people will look back on all this and learn something. I doubt it, but one can hope. B's little sister's great grandkids are going to wonder why she gives them toilet paper every Christmas. Or pasta. But those who lived through this will understand. I also hope history is not kind to the cheeto in charge. I hope he is remembered like Nixon and Reagan as the useless piece of shit he is. No glorification. No fondness. He needs to be remembered as the biggest mistake this country has ever made.

We went out once. We dropped off B's sister, visited one of B's friends from their driveway, and stopped at the fish shop for a filter. All while wearing a mask. A mask. I'd say god bless us all, but at this point I feel god has truly abandoned us for our own hubris.

Full week of training Texans. Mon-Thurs, 9 hours each day, full loads each day. At least I am working. At least I have something during the week to take my mind off things. 200,000 dead will be acceptable. Good job. I hope none of you have been affected by this in a rough way. I hope you're all safe at home, your loved ones are safe, your pets are safe. We will get through this broken and bruised, and changed. Hopefully for the better.

Y11 D315

The whole mask thing is sending me into a depression. I went out thrice yesterday. First time was to the grocery store at 7am right when they opened. Got some stuff we needed and was saddened to see the state of many of the shelves. I was happy to see some shelves fully stocked, but others were scary bare. Still. But it was the mask thing that got me. The majority of people, especially employees, were wearing them. I think those that weren't fall into one of two categories. Either they were people like me who simply didn't have any (yet), or they were followers of the orange one who says that he won't do it. That just depresses me more because what kind of leadership is that? Acting like you're above the needs of the people you're supposed to represent. That feeling got worse when I started reading later of where aid has been going. 17% to FL, 2% to ME. One day of supplies to CO. I mean come on. You overgrown twat. Everyone thought people like us were exaggerating 4 years ago when we said this idiot will kill people. Well, here you go. Took longer than we thought, but here it is. Walking death. Then I started reading about the flu pandemic of 1918 and how it lasted until mid 1920. Then I saw the unemployment numbers. Informtion overload sent me into a spiral.

The second outing was to the fish store to get some amoonia test strips. Unfortunately they have changed their hours and they were closed. I had to go back out a third time when they were open. That's when I realized that in three weeks I have gone exactly three places - 2 grocery stores and Petsmart. That's it. That's the extent of my world.

Add to that B and her sister spending the day sewing and making masks. It was like being in some weird war effort movie. It's really fucking with my head. I did get some new fish for the tank in my office:

I know it's dumb. But like I told the guy at the store, it's a distraction that's keeping me sane. I need all the help I can get right now. And if spending $30 is what it takes, then so be it.

I made ribs yesterday. Why so many ribs? The store had a special recently before all this shit happened of buy 1 get 1 free. I ended up with four packs of ribs. Now's the time to eat them I guess. Easy to cook, good for leftovers. So why not. Didn't do much else yesterday. Cleaned the house. Made crepes for dessert. Helped with the masks where I could.

Next week is full for me. As is the week after. From there, who knows what the future holds.

Y11 D314

Awake. Not much more. Got up early to take care of things. Like get to the grocery store before everyone else.

Spent the day yesterday working on docs. B's sister stayed another night. Had pepper soup for dinner. They watched a movie. I did too but over the course of the whole day while working. I watched JoJo Rabbit. Good movie. Did a water change on the big tank. B worked in the yard. She is such a midwesterner. Oh look it's 55 degrees out! It's warm! Let's put on shorts and open all the windows. Never mind I am fucking freezing. 67. That's when I will acknowledge it's getting nicer. Not 55. It's still 31 out right now. That's below freezing. It's not nice weather yet.

Bah. Tired of the world and it's shit right now. Need to get out of here but I can't. Now we're supposed to wear masks everywhere we go? Fuck that. This needs to end soon.

Y11 D313

What's the world like outside? I haven't been out there in a while and don't know what it looks like anymore. I am only half joking. I really haven't been outside in a few days. Hopefully people are behaving better. I saw how it's a $500 fine if you are cited for improper congregation. But sometimes people need harsh penalties for being stupid.

Here's one for you - why do emergency vehicles feel the need to whine their sirens at 4am when there's literally no one else on the right road right now, they're on a flat straight road with a mile plus visibility, and they already have their lights on? What's the damn purpose? Fine them.

My boss got back to me. I stand corrected. Our offshore team is $15 an hour and we have a contract. Okay. I get it. Makes sense.

Taught 16 people yesterday. Some were okay, some sucked balls. Two sessions. Morning group was great, afternoon group was half there, coming and going as they pleased, unable to understand "mute", and a general pain in the ass.

Side note - I see people who are experiencing work from home and virtual meetings for the first time and the single most often repeated complaint is people not knowing how to mute themselves. Yep. Been dealing with that for a long time. It really is the biggest issue. It's not hard to fucking mute yourself people.

B's other sister came over. We had meatloaf, played video games, and hung out. I like the older one. Easier to deal with and keep entertained. Oh, speaking of video games, check out Humble Bundle. They are doing a $30 special for charity. 54 games, 18 ebooks, 2 audiobooks, and a music making software. Every penny goes to charity. Some of the games are shite, but there's enough worth $30 in there. All steam compatible.

Went to bed around 11. Nothing pressing on my docket today. I need to do some material updates for next week's classes, but that's about it.

Y11 D312

I swear this is the longest year ever. I can't believe it's finally April. I will say, one nice thing about people being inside is the shortage of April Fool's crap I had to deal with yesterday. I personally dealt with none, but I mean I didn't see the usual 10,000 stories or websites with changes that usually occur. People realized how silly that was. Bruce Campbell posted a single joke tweet (a revival of Brisco County Jr) that ended up pissing people off more than amusing them. He ended up apologizing for it. We all got excited and had some hope for a moment there. That was the most exciting thing to happen yesterday.

I spent the day answering emails erratically as I felt like it. Played a ton of Animal Crossing. Paid off my second Tom Nook loan. Tried to make tarntula island. Learned all the bunny recipes I could. Extremely productive day. Yeppers. Had food for dinner. Literally can't remember what I made. Oh yeah, soup and frozen pizza. Yum yum.

I do need to get out of the house. And no, taking a walk isn't going to cut it. Still 35 degrees outside. Let's see what today's high is scheduled to be... Oh boy! 58! Ugh. It's 34 out there right now. That's 2 degrees above freezing. Two. Just need to make it through this month and it should be nicer. Almost there.

Sent a message to my big boss last night. Our marketing team wants to use some fuckers in India to do some work and I sent a message asking if that's the best use of funds at this time and to consider how that looks morale wise to internal employees sitting on their hands. No response.

My sister is fine as I figured she would be. Earthquakes ain't shit people. We be pros at the ground shaking. I would love a good earthquake. See how many of these people around here think it's the rapture coming to take them away. Bye bye.

17 students, 2 sessions today. Fun times.

Y11 D311

I have the day off today. Not for funsies though. I was supposed to have a doctor appointment but guess who got a phone call at 2pm yesterday being told it was cancelled. Lovely. My appointment was at 1pm so I took the day as PTO because I couldn't fit a class in. Now I have a whole Wednesday to myself. Whee.

My day was spent teaching. 8am until 5pm. Not much else to discuss. That was my day. B wasn't feeling well and I ended up making shrimp and grits for myself for dinner. Watched some tv, played animal crossing, went to bed.

I need to check in on my sister. Apparently there were earthquakes in ID. Hope she is okay.

B's concert in May got postponed. That sucks.

This canister filter I got for the tank in my office is sucking. Literally. It's sucking in air and I don't know why. Sigh.

It's the end of the world as we know it. But yeah, I still feel fine.