Y6 D249

Okay, it's after midnight so I can post.

We are off to Disneyland in a few minutes so this will be a quick one.

Worked on docs, new mic came - it's really fucking cool - made chicken fajita soup, slept so I am not tired, and that's about it.

Nothing of any major consequence is going on. More tomorrow.

Y6 D248

Had some trouble staying focused yesterday. I didn't get much done in the way of work which I am going to pay for today, but I did get one thing done that has been a problem for a while. I FINALLY got that network extender I bought 2 (3?) months ago working. I now have 100% cell signal in here. Funny thing, the way these things work, so do some of my immediate neighbors. It's basically a big field so anyone in range will reap the benefits. Took me over an hour of chatting online with Verizon to get it to work. They had to register the mac address, push a firmware update, and I had to get it just in the right location. But once I got it turned on 35 minutes later, bam, it worked. The shitty part is I have to shut it off in a little while. I am right in the middle of once more moving the office around. I hung another shelf yesterday and with the removal of the chair we just redid, it changed the available space in here and is going to allow me to rearrange. I have it half done because I didn't feel like shutting everything off last night. I wanted to do it while B was asleep. So it will happen in a little while.

We also ran a couple of errands yesterday. Got some groceries to keep B while I am gone the next few days. Tonight the kid and I are off for a father daughter Disney weekend for the kid's birthday. Fri - Sun. Buh-bye.

Not much else going on yesterday. Other than B telling me that I need to get out of the house because if I rearrange one more thing she will set me on fire. I know where she's coming from on that. I am a bit antsy right now. I do need to get out of town. This weekend Disneyland, then a week at home then a FULL week in Texas, then 3 days in Monterey. Yeah, the next few weeks will get my brain back in shape.

Time to shut everything down and rearrange.

Y6 D247

Let me rant about a couple of things first this morning:

1. Facebook has become the most useless trove of crap ever. This morning there wasn't a single original post on my feed. It was all "Dumb ass shared this from KRQR 93.1" or "Stupid shallow girl shared this video from Stupid Grrrl Products Inc". Do you not realize all you fucking people are doing is providing free advertising for corporations and websites that give exactly zero fucks about you? Do you have original thoughts in your head any more? If I want to look at nothing but reblogged shit, I will stay on Tumblr. At least there it's visually appealing.

2. The fucking cat is either an idiot or really finally heading down the slope. She just walked into a wall. Then yelled at me about it. Fucking cat.

We did a project yesterday which I would recommend to all of you. We had my yellow chair - it's a very nice chair with 1930s woodworking. I am sure I have mentioned it before. The issue was that the upholstery was at least 20 if not 30 years old. While I loved the chair, even I hated the fabric and B more than me. I learned about this product called Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. It's designed to paint over anything essentially. No primer, no sanding, no prep. Including fabric! I was still waiting for a server yesterday so I found the one retailer in town that happens to carry that paint, picked up this purple color called "Emille" and the wax you use to seal it and bam - our project was born. It took us a while to tape and paint, and then a second coat, then the wax, but in the end, the chair was reborn. It actually looks like something straight out of the Haunted Mansion from Disneyland. We are thinking of painting the wood black to finish off the feel. For $75 we gave a chair new life. It would have been 2 or 3 times that much to have had the chair redone. It was such an improvement that we ended up rearranging the living room to make that chair out front instead of hiding it away like we have been up until now.

While all that was going on, we prepped more meat to go in the dehydrator, planned out dinners, and threw a corned beef in the slow cooker. It was a very home body day yesterday and that's okay.

I joined a new program yesterday. I was invited by Hilton to join Hilton Select Premiere. Essentially it's their travel agency division. It's $549 a year but I get:

• $200 Cash Back on Hilton Stay
• 10,000 Bonus Hilton HHonors Points
• 10 % Premier Cash Back on Travel for Hotel 
• Cash Back on Travel for Car and Cruise
• $500,000 Flight Insurance
• Checked Baggage Rebate
• VIP Services
• VIP Travel Assistance
• VIP Personal Helper
• VIP Pet Assistance
• Shore Excursion Rebate
• In-Flight Food and Beverage Rebate
• $25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates
• Dining Discounts
• Roadside Assistance
• Retail Discounts
• Recreation Discounts
• Services Discounts
• Show Ticket Rebate
• Condé Nast Traveler Magazine Subscription
• Coupons Powered by Coupons.com
• Wi-Fi Rebates

Not a bad list of features eh? It's meant for the casual traveler who will take advantage of some but not all of these things. I plan on milking it for what it's worth. Especially the 10% cash back. The $25 a month in food too. Between those two I will get $500 worth of services without even trying. I did call them last night before signing up and asked a LOT of questions. I am a little apprehensive since it sounds too good, but we shall see how it goes.

With that chair done and this service purchased, we did some cleanup and then I went to bed around midnight. She came to bed shortly thereafter around 2.

Today is another day where I am waiting. I plan on doing some more office rearranging today. We shall see how that goes.

Y6 D246

Today, I slept in. It was wonderful. Didn't get a whole lot done yesterday. I waited for a server most of the day. I spent the day learning new stuff and getting ready when and if I have a server available. I knew it wouldn't be early this morning which allowed me the luxury of sleeping in. While I was waiting I helped B with some cleaning and moving some furniture around. We made even more room here in the office and today I may rearrange it once more. We also did our first round of dehydrating fruit yesterday. We did apples, bananas, and pineapple. Took about 6-7 hours for all of it to be done. It's not a difficult process, but you have to really get things sliced evenly or you'll be checking one layer, then rearranging, then checking another, etc. It is fun though.

Neither of us felt like a full dinner and instead we snacked. We decided to watch a movie last night that I have never seen but B has - Taken. No good reason why I have never watched those movies. But it was pretty enjoyable.

After, cleaned up the kitchen from all our drying, and went to bed around 11.

All in all, not a bad way to start the week. Three more days and I am off to the park.

Y6 D245

We spent a large portion of the day out yesterday. We wanted a book called the Dehydrator Bible and the closest place where it was in stock was a town 27 miles away. I fucking hate living out here. Where we drove to get the book was no picnic either. But we ended up wandering around the city as we didn't want it to be a wasted day.

The best part was the drive gave us a chance to talk about things. She has been frustrated with some stuff in general lately and we talked about it. She knows she should be working but it gives her anxiety. She has been wanting to take classes from us but the scheduling just hasn't worked out. We agreed to see what we could do to make things happen.

We went into a number of stores where we meandered around with no real purpose. We did find the book we went out there for so at least that goal was met. I ended up getting a book on FileMaker Pro. One nice thing about my company is they will let us pursue learning something technical if we can show that it can apply to our business. Anything database related is always a plus in my world. I also found a dancing baby Groot. He now sits on top of my other monitor. Hello Groot! We also spent a few hours looking at model homes while we were out there. We know it's not in the immediate future but by looking at them we are getting a feel for what we both find acceptable in a home. The bottom line is we need a 3-4 bedroom preferably with loft, 2300-2500 square footage. That will give enough space for both of us to have a room plus one more. Some of the 2100 sq ft places are okay, but they just don't have quite enough room for the closet and bathroom space we want. That little bit more gives us the extra stuff like dual walk in closets, master bath suite, etc. Plus looking at the upgrades has been fun and educational for both of us.

Got home around 5:30 and B cooked dinner - spaghetti squash and pork meatballs. Very tasty and healthy. Since we started eating differently a couple of weeks ago, I am down six pounds. While she was doing that, I re-hung the closet door in the office. It was swinging in which was stupid. Now it swings out as it should have in the first place.

We watched a little TV, then I went in the other room and did some file organizing and started reading my new book. B worked on a project of hers. I headed to bed around midnight. According to twitter her last message was 1:30 which means she came to bed around 1:45. I always use that as my gauge for when she came to bed.

This week Monday through Thursday is course work, then Friday the kid and I are off to fucking Disneyland!

Y6 D244

I found an outlet for my - I don't know what to call it, anxiety? frustration? - yesterday. I decided I was going to hang shelves and essentially build my own closet organizational system. You can now walk into the closet in the office without tripping over shit, my clothes are organized, and the rest of the room looks less cluttered as I made room for things. It took me until about midnight but I did it. I did other things during the day which is why it took until midnight, but still.

I got up, went to the store to look at something for B's birthday. She wants an instamatic camera and they had one at the CrapMart pretty reasonably priced. But it's a 'mini' in the pictures it produces and I wasn't sure if that was really what she wanted. I ended up not buying it, but I now have a better understanding of those cameras and was able to ask her the right questions. She does in fact want a mini and I will probably go back this morning while she is sleeping and get it for her.

Once she woke up I was able to start my projects. First up was moving my large speakers out of the living room. This place is just too small for speakers like I have. I already gave up the rears because of the room size, and I finally caved in and disconnected the floor speakers. Instead I swapped them out with what were my rear speakers. I don't know if I want to sell the big ones or not. I am still debating that. If I do sell them, I will use that money to buy a new soundbar and get rid of the other speakers too. They are really nice Klipsch floor speakers which is the problem. Finding a buyer. I paid $2500 for all 7 of them and the floors are probably $1200 of that. I would want at least $800. Try finding a buyer in this town.

I wanted the speakers done first as I planned on storing them in the closet. With the speakers ready, I then tore the closet apart. I hung a shelf over my desk to start as there were some things I wanted to 'put away' first. With that, I then hung three shelves in the closet and rearranged like a mad man. I am really happy with the results.

In between all that, B and I ate and watched Lucy. I also grabbed Deadwood yesterday. Because of watching Justified earlier this week and then seeing Ian Mcshane in John Wick, I wanted to go back and rewatch Deadwood.

We also produced our first batch of beef jerky yesterday! It came out pretty darn good actually. 4 hours of drying time. We could have scaled that back to 3. Going to get some more meat and try again, but today is fruit day. We have pineapple, apples, and strawberries we are going to do.

So you see I had a focused day where I didn't just sit in this fucking chair all day. That's what made the difference. Focused my energies. Got me doing things. Tangible results. Felt good.

Y6 D243

Up way too early. Especially seeing as we didn't get home until a little after 1am. Nothing crazy was done though. We managed to stay out until 1 in the morning without alcohol, drugs, or even spending more than $30 for the whole night.

Taught all day. Ran into some issues with the instance but it was to be expected as we were rolling out new material in the class and this was the first real time use. The students were cool with everything and I didn't trip out too much. We managed to finish around 2:40 which is pretty normal for this class regardless. I took a brief nap after class and then we pinged some friends and made plans for dinner and gaming.

Before we left started marinating meat for drying. I did my reading on that and it is going to take anywhere from 6-15 hours to do a pound of meat! I mean okay, I spent $4 on the strips of meat instead of $20 for a pound of store jerky, but man, that's some time.

While I was doing that, B was assembling a gift for our friends. They recently had a baby and she made them a 'build your own fort kit'. It's pretty cool.

We met up for dinner, had a nice time, headed back to their place where they gave us a gift - one of the classic book like parker brothers games. They gave us Clue which is probably my least favorite of any game ever but I was polite and smiled. They loved their gift. We sat around talking and playing CAH until about 1 (B won).

Getting out helped. I needed the interaction. Now just make it through the week and Friday I will be in the park.

Y6 D242

Still not where I want or need to be. I was able to verbally communicate my feelings to B last night and she understood why I have been cranky and moody lately. She also understands my need for wanderlust or social interaction or whatever you want to call it. The way she put it was - while I don't like you being gone on the road, I am at the point where I need you on the road. We both get it. I can't stay locked up like a rat in a cage. She's looking forward to next weekend as much as I am. Just have to make it to next weekend.

Sigh.

Decent class yesterday. I am trying out new material that I managed to get done on Monday in this class. So far so good. Decent group of folks. Plus I got some positive feedback from some folks in my other class on Monday and Tuesday.

One of B's birthday presents arrived yesterday and we decided to open it early. I got her a Nesco food dehydrator. She had been talking about drying our own fruit and jerkies to avoid all the sugar that is in commercial versions. We will try it out this weekend. Went to the store last night and bought some pineapple, strawberries, and thin strips of flank steak as our first guinea pigs. I am actually looking forward to it.

We also picked up the pieces for her to make a present for one of our friend's kids - a make your own fort kit. Basically it's a sheet with rope, clamps, and a flashlight, but for a kid, it's an adventure.

We got back, had some dinner, and settled in to watch a movie together. It was nice. We watched John Wick which we both LOVED. The reviews on that are funny. It's either a 10 or 1. No in between. We loved it.

Finished up a little after 11 and went off to bed. Was in bed by 11:30 but didn't fall asleep until midnight. So yeah, running on light sleep this morning, but it's Friday and I feel confident I can get through this class with no issues.

I am grateful to have someone I can talk through my mental states with openly. Look how much less manic I am right now. Getting it out there makes all the difference in the world.

Y6 D241

I thought my mood was getting better but apparently not. I really need to get out of this fucking house and have interaction with more than one person. Here's the one place where we are not compatible, where opposites balancing each other is bad - I am a fucking extrovert, plain and simple. I need social settings. I need to be out. I need to be able to sit at a bar and soak in the room. I want the noise, the chaos, the energy. But it has to be on my terms. Going to the grocery store at 4 in the afternoon while everyone is starting to come home from work and in my way, is NOT how I want to spend my afternoon. Nor sitting at home watching TV. I need something. Soon. Very soon.

I need to go to a doctor. My ears are bugging me. I have another, well probably the same one, infection.

Goddamn it. I just don't care. I am so pissed off, annoyed, frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned, and tired I can't see straight.

I did do something of value last night. I learned a new software application. Well, I started learning it. I grabbed a copy of FileMaker Pro 13 Advanced yesterday and started learning how to use it. I made my first database, created joins, and imported records. I want to make a web/mobile app for my spending and bills. I want to be able to just plug in a bill pay or plug in a receipt so I can keep track of everything I spend. Plus it's fun learning something new.

Two more days. New class starts today. 4 people. That's something else I am keeping track of and might make a db for that too - how many students I am training this year, what companies, onsite or remote, class, etc. I want at the end of the year to have some statistics.

I might build the foundation for that while I teach today.

Y6 D240

It's just a ride.

Don't forget that.

The only one stopping me from enjoying the ride, getting off the ride, or forgetting it's just a ride, is me. No one else. Just me.

When I got up yesterday at 4:45, I had to prep for dinner. We were planning on having beef stew and she told me she was going to slice the veggies before she went to bed (2 am) but apparently she forgot. So I had to spend the next 20 minutes prepping the veggies, letting them sweat for an hour, browning the meat, then finally assembling everything. In the end it all came out really well, I won't lie. But more stress in the morning than I wanted, that's for sure.

Started class, 11 students, went okay. Today is day two with this group. They are very inquisitive but in a good way. No one is really standing out as a problem - they are all okay. Finished up around 2:40 and then I played a little Lego Batman for a while.

We decided to finally catch up on Supernatural and had a six episode marathon. That was actually enjoyable. Ironically, when we finished, I said watch, there will be a new episode. Before I went to bed, I checked the streams, and yep, there that fucker is. Sigh. Grabbing it right now but at least we can watch it straight away.

Went to bed around 11. I am feeling better I think? I don't know. I do know I need to get back on the road. I booked 6 days in March yesterday. Over the course of the next 8 or 9 weeks I have at least three trips confirmed. I need a couple more and I will feel less trapped like a caged animal and that will help.