Y9 D35

One week until my birthday. My present has been ordered and will be here in the next couple of days. I got more stuff on my list done yesterday. I am down to three things. Two of which would be nice to get done but it won't be the end of the world if I don't. I was up early yesterday in order to get one thing on my list done. Recycling. While they have attempted to make it both financially worthwhile and convenient around here, there are still some issues. First, most places don't open their machines until 7am. By that time there's usually some homeless person already waiting with a full cart of stuff. Or, at the ones with large outdoor machines, there's just crazy homeless people hanging around and it's not a clean or fun place to go. I have found ONE that opens at 5 and keeps their homeless in check. The drawback is if you don't get there at 5, it's packed. They only have one machine of each type (glass, plastic, can) and you can wait forever. I got there at 5:05 yesterday and some guy was already ahead of me. Luckily he was just doing bottles and finished while I was doing cans. But him being there proves my point that you have to be totally on top of it. Regardless, I got it done, made $15 and spent it on groceries for dinner. Peppers.

Got back home and worked around the house on some other stuff. Adjusted my desk to make some more room. It's easier to work now. I went to a tattoo shop yesterday and made an appointment for the 16th. Getting some new ink. I have given up on the whole tattoos must have meaning thing. If I like it, fuck it. I am getting it. So in two weeks I am getting the 12th doctor's sonic screwdriver complete with UV ink so it will glow under blacklight. Why the fuck not?

We went somewhere else and I am blanking on where right now. Oh, the pot shop for B. She was out and need a new cartridge. I knew we went somewhere else. We also made a reservation for a trip to Salem. We are going next week to check out the area. Get away from all the tech in this area. Go somewhere different. Just two days, one night. Enough to get out of town but not enough to hurt us financially. I have to pay bills today and I am already stressing.

She made dinner, we watched some tv, I worked on one of my other list items (fixing my music library), and went to bed around 11. This morning btw I woke up without an alarm. I let my body get as much sleep as needed.

Now to pay bills. Whee.

Y9 D34

I got so much accomplished yesterday. But I also found myself with a ton of excess energy. Without an outlet to pour it into, I was a bit much for B yesterday. I was go go go all day. I ended up draining her quite a bit. For me it was nice to be able to funnel my attention into multiple things and feel a real sense of accomplishment for my work. I donated stuff to Goodwill, rearranged the outside storage, rearranged a unit we have for B's craft stuff, got her name finally changed on all the bank accounts, picked up a prescription for her, went to the grocery store, almost finished cleaning my entire music library, picked up and made steaks, worked on problems for three different clients, and like five or six other things I can't remember. Most self-productive day I have had in a long time. But, I was a ball of energy and as some of you know, that can be draining to be around all day. And yes, I am up before 4am because I have more things on my list I want to get done, one of which I want to do at 5am. I will try to contain my energy today to be less annoying, but no promises.

Not much else going on. It's 8 days until my birthday. Going to order my gift today to make sure it's here before Friday. I am worried about the weekend/holiday. This holiday is one of those weird Tuesday ones this year and I don't know who is working on Monday and who isn't. I want to make sure it gets shipped out by Friday at the latest. Given the weird week it should be here Wednesday at the latest. That's my hope.

Okay have to shower now because I cannot miss this 5am timeline.

Y9 D33

I am officially done teaching until July 10th. I can finally rest my damn voice. I have needed this break like crazy. So excited to be doing nothing. Well, not true. I have a list of about 20 things I want to accomplish while I am "on vacation". More on that in a minute.

Got up at 4:40, taught my class. Class went okay. We had some server issues before lunch. I managed to get through them okay, but it was a little rough. Then there were a couple of small demo issues. I haven't taught this class in months and totally screwed up one demo. I couldn't find where the option I was looking for was hidden. I knew it was somewhere but man I couldn't find it for the life of me. I felt like such a dunderhead. But we got through it. Finished around 2:40 and called it a day.

After class the urge to nap was strong but I resisted. B was having an earache and had lain down around 1:30. I instead started tackling things on my list. I have about 20 items on there ranging from simple stuff like "Rehang B shelf" to "Clean up music library". I managed to get about six of them done after class. "Clean out under the bed" was one of them. B has an issue with the cats going under the bed because her anxiety causes her to freak out in the case of an emergency. We had clothes bins under the bed and her issue was if something was going on, she wouldn't be able to fish them out fast enough. So she constantly keeps the bedroom door closed and goes nutty when the cats go in there. We reached a compromise. I like the bedroom door open to allow it to air out in there but it was only going to happen if I found a new home for the bins. I cleaned out some stuff in our patio storage closet, moved the bins, and voila. Everyone happy, especially the cats. Then I rehung aforementioned shelf. Took down the recycling. Couple more small things. Today I am hoping to knock off about 4 or 5 things on the list.

B went to group and I just kind of hung around until she got home. When she did, we headed off to the store. I got a new toolbox to clean up all of my tools floating all over the place (one of my list items). Now today I am going to swap where the tools were with one of her craft bins. While at the store it was dead and I could actually hear the music playing. Bad Company Run with the Pack. This naturally got Bad Company stuck in my head. Had to come home and update my library. Man that's good music. Some of it at least. Anything past Rough Diamonds with the exception of Rock N Roll Fantasy is meh. They're still touring. Original lineup and all. Would love to see that show. I miss having all my old concert t-shirts. So many shows seen.

Went to bed around 11:30 because I am on vacation dammit. In a little while heading out to knock list items off. I am going to do some work today, but on my schedule and at my pace. This will be nice.

Y9 D32

I tossed and turned a lot last night. Not sure why. I woke up at one point with no blankets on me. B did one of her tuck and roll jobs and took everything. But I don't think that was the issue. I was just all over the place in my head. Weird snippets of dreams. Nothing that makes sense. Being in an airplane that was driving through a terminal. Weird shit like that.

Taught my class. 14 students. 2 were late. Of course. No real issues. Most of them seem to know what they are doing. We finished up around 2:20. A little early but whatever. One more day of them and I will be done with classes. I have some work to do on Wednesday but I can do it at my own leisure.

After class I stayed out of B's way as she decided the kitchen needed a full cleaning. Made chicken for dinner. Of course I kept the kitchen clean. Not that dumb. We watched some tv and relaxed. Went to bed around 10.

All around unexciting day. Don't foresee today being much different.

Y9 D31

I shall start today's missive in pure old man fashion; it was too fucking hot yesterday. Today is to be 20 degrees cooler, but given how hot yesterday, it will still be awful. At one point it registered 103 here. Fuck. That. Noise.  The worst part is we had to be out of the house. We went to a social thing yesterday. We went to a garden party. Yep. It was hosted by the two gentlemen who run B's group at their house. It was quite nice but unfortunately it was way too hot and everyone (10-15 people I would estimate) stayed inside. We all at some point in our arrival, toured the garden but then came right back in.

In the morning we prepped food to bring. I made cucumber dill sandwiches, chicken curry sandwiches, and the madeleines I made on Saturday. B made her banana bread. Everything went over wonderfully. People loved all the food and I'd say we had the best food there. But of course I am biased. We were there from about 1 until 4:30. Weird going to a party that doesn't involve drinking or last until midnight.

When we got home B was drained and ended up falling asleep from 5 until about 7. I watched some tv and played some games. We picked at leftovers for dinner and I went to bed around 9:30.

I have 2 more classes to teach and then I am on vacation. I agreed to start the meetings on Wednesday and Thursday since they are already under my account, but otherwise, I will be free until the 9th of July. Boo-ya. I have 14 students the next two days and will probably lose my cool with them at some point, but whatever. I will make it through.

I decided on a birthday gift for myself. B and I discussed it and we figured out how to fit it into the budget without killing us. I am going to get a Fiio X5. Look it up. Now I just need to figure out what we are doing for birthday dinner.

Y9 D30

I have a headache this morning. It's a sinus pressure headache. It's 6:30 and it's already hot in here. I managed to stay inside all day yesterday with the exception of one time where I went and took the garbage out. That was it. Mail checking, garbage. Otherwise we stayed inside all day. I made madeleines in prep for the garden party we are attending this morning. I am not sure what to wear today and may go look at a shirt this morning. I know it's dumb to leave the house, but I really don't have anything to wear.

We worked on the fish tank yesterday. It's been a month and we have running with the filter off to cure a case of ick. As a result we had to a 25% drain yesterday. I got us a good suction pump vac for the tank. It worked really well. Less than an hour after we started it was all back together, cleaned up, and done. I was rather impressed with us.

We watched some tv, read a little, played some video games. Inside day. I did a pork shoulder in the slow cooker for dinner. Came out really nice. That was about it. Went to bed around 11.

Garden party today, have to go make cucumber sandwiches and chicken curry.

Y9 D29

I started 36 file conversions before I went to bed last night. I woke up this morning and it was 70% done on the last file. Nice. It just finished. Timing. And yes, I just woke up a little after 6. Man it was nice sleeping in without an alarm going off. It's been a while.

Like yesterday for example. Up at a little before 4am, out the door at 5:20, on site at 5:45. We only did a sort of half day yesterday. We finished up around 12:30, but then I did some follow up work with on my former students from the same client. I got out of there around 1, was home about 1:40. 25 minutes of that was on the damn surface streets because of fucking Nike. Their campus is way too large for the area it's built around. It causes way too much traffic, backs things up immensely, and the people they hire has distorted the landscape of this area. Not only has it destroyed the housing market, caused additional crap houses and apartments to be built, but it's also made store anywhere near them to be extremely over-crowded with a certain type of person. I fucking hate it.

Got home, changed my clothes, and relaxed. It was getting hotter yesterday. Not as bad as this weekend is supposed to be, but hot nonetheless. It's supposed to get up to 100 either today or tomorrow. Of course it's nothing like AZ at 119 where even fucking planes can't fly. SMH.

Made chicken for dinner, well technically B did. After dinner I was filled with nervous energy and ended up cleaning. I cleaned the kitchen, the office, and vacuumed the house. It mostly helped. At 9 we decided it had cooled down enough to go grocery shopping. While the store was a little more crowded than I would have liked, we got out of there pretty quick and now I don't have to go anywhere this morning. Grateful for that much for sure.

Got back, put away groceries, putzed a bit, went to bed around 11.

Today we are going to prep stuff for a garden party tomorrow. We are bringing cucumber and dill sandwiches, chicken curry, banana bread, and honey madeleines. Speaking of tea and garden parties, I am still on the fence about what to do for my birthday. I looked up some tea places downtown, then thought about a spa day, but I feel bad spending any money. I would rather have something tangible if I am going to spend money. Does that make sense? I know experiences are wonderful, but a spa day will be like $300 and even a proper tea will end up being close to a $100. I don't know. I am not very excited about my birthday this year. It's two weeks from yesterday and the normal excitement just isn't there. Oh well.

Y9 D28

I have started to write three different things and deleted them all. Too tired to put words together this morning. Nothing is making sense in my head. Cloudy. Maybe with a chance of meatballs.

Decent group. Started late but managed to get through things. Way too many work emails from stupid people while trying to teach.

Left here at 5:10 yesterday. Arrived on site at 5:35. Getting there was no big deal. Same trip home? An hour. Fuck traffic.

Ran errands after dinner. Got tired and cranky.

Watched the finale of Fargo. DAMN!

Bed. Three more classes and I am done. I can make it.

Y9 D27

Woke up six minutes before my alarm. Mad skillz baby. Have to be onsite the next two days. Out in a weird location but not horrible. I just want to miss all the traffic so I am leaving here at 5:30. That should get me around most, if not all, of it.

Did my day two, finished at about 2:30. Went through ALL of the material. Usually I am running much closer to the time mark and have to cut some stuff out. But not this time. Did all the demos for once. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that this group was quiet. Not dumb in anyway, just quiet. I was worried about their skill level coming into the class, but they all managed to make it through.

When I was done with class I dehydrated some fruit. Made apple slices. B had a thing at some crochet place with one of her friends from group so she ended up eating early. She was gone from about 5-8:30. I ate salmon later. Watched some tv, relaxed. Took a long hot bath to soak my back. While I have slept great since getting home I sometimes worry my bed is a little too firm because I will have the random back spasms. B is dealing with that too right now. I had to use the vibrating thing with heat turned on for her back yesterday.

Got some awesome news from the kid. She had an in-person interview yesterday and has another one on Monday. She is doing okay. She may actually have a job in her field before the end of the year. That would be great. One is a part time and the other is technically a paid internship, but it will be real world experience and she will get the monies. Hopefully something will come of one or the other over the next couple of weeks.

Booked our Vegas trip. Got final confirmation yesterday. Going to be there for a full week in October. Staying at the Flamingo, flying on Alaska, and seeing Britney Spears. Plus I am going as an attendee and will actually get to learn things. I am excited about this. Now to book my October concert hotel and flight. I can't believe I have October locked down already. I remember when X1 used to drive me nuts about not having plans solidified for exactly this reason. Sometimes I would be planning months in advance like this and she wouldn't even know her afternoon. Ah, fun times.

Two days on site this week, then two classes at home and I am done for 12 days. Gotta make it through.

Y9 D26

Got my server finally yesterday. I had to call his house at 6am. Sorry, that's the breaks. Taught my class. They were alright. Kind of a dead group. Not dumb, just dead. I haven't taught this particular class since last year and forgot the personality type of someone who takes it. They aren't excited people. They are dull people a lot of the time. Oh well. We finished day 1 early at least. Probably finish today early too. I did get some good news about my classes next week. I only have to do Monday and Tuesday and then I am on vacation. Yippee! I am done until July 10th. Almost two full weeks where I don't have to use an alarm or worry about filling hours. Just guilt free time off. It will be nice.

I did have one frustrating moment while I was teaching. It got super hot in my office and I flipped on the AC. For some reason it was making things hotter! I forgot I had closed the window in the morning because of noise. The hot air return from the AC was bouncing off the closed window and coming right back into the room. Idiot.

Made chicken for dinner, B went to group. I worked on my app for a while. She got home around 9:40, we both went to bed shortly thereafter.

Day two, ironing for tomorrow and Friday, and that's about it for my big plans for the day.