Y9 D188

Yesterday was rough. We dealt with a lot of stupid little issues. First the versions of the document didn't match the environment. Then the machines being older had issues. Then there problems due to security on the machines. Then there were network issues. It was just one thing after another. I was very frustrated and exhausted by the time the day was over. I went for a walk at lunch with the group and because of all these little issues, I ended up not even eating my lunch. I had a cold steak sandwich and fries for dinner. Wonderful.

It was just a long tiring day. I did the best I could given the situation but I felt like the day was not as valuable as the first two. I have one more day of formal material to get through, then a half day of just talking about things on Friday. Then I can go home. Thank goodness.

Other than eating my lunch for dinner, didn't do much at night. I am having some issues post-surgery I am dealing with right now. My right side is not healing the same as the left. There's a little piece of stitch buried under the skin and since I have been wearing real clothes this week, it's rubbing and causing me pain. I was able to speak with my doctor last night and he did give me some suggestions, but short of coming back in to have the piece of stitch removed, there's not much else he can do. I may have to go in after work next week and get things looked at.

Watched some tv, went to bed at 10. Got one upgrade already. Surprisingly on my second flight and not my first. I can't believe there's that many people going out of TN ahead of me. But this is why I don't like taking midday flights. Every other business person is trying to get home by Friday night too. We are all competing on a very small plane. Hopefully it will come through but seeing as it's a 2 hour flight, I am not worried about it. It's the longer one home that's more important and that one is already confirmed.

Next week is all over the map still. I wasn't able to nail down any solid times on Weds-Fri yet. I know what I am doing Mon - Tues. Solid 5:30 - 1:30 classes. Easy enough. It's the rest of the week I am worried about. We'll figure it out today hopefully. Tomorrow's the first and that means bills bills and then some more bills. Fun stuff.

Y9 D187

Got my official email from American last night letting me know I hit Platinum for another year. Came close to the wire this year. I was worried I might have to take a quick random trip somewhere to make that last $128 I needed. Fly to Seattle or something to rack up the points. But luckily this trip pushed me over the top. I should finish the year with about 175,000 miles available. I need 160 for the ticket to Australia. Looking good. That trip is at least 5 months away but I am getting excited. I haven't gone anywhere good for fun like this since my 2009 adventures. I need a good fun trip. Soon baby, soon.

Day two went without incident. Got through everything and finished around 4:45. Walked back to the hotel, ate my leftover pizza, and watched some tv. The hotel got very crowded last night. Some kind of convention or something must be going down. I am very near the convention center here and it looked like people knew each other. I should look that up real quick. Don't see anything on their website. Must just be a lot of people in town. Odd.

That is about it. I dealt with my boss and calendar changes for the next few weeks. People moving things around on him means moving things around on me. Sometimes we go too far out of our way to accommodate people in my mind. But whatever. I would rather have stuff to do than sit around stressed out about an empty calendar. It's just that next week for example I have some days starting at 5, some days at 7, and some at 8:30. That's the part that drives me nuts. I can't plan for things when shit gets turned upside down and is different every day. Sigh.

Day three. It should be a light day today. Finish by 4 if all goes well.

Y9 D186

Another group of students who can't seem to be bothered to show up on time. This time however I didn't let it stress me out. When it was apparent that over half the class wasn't going to get there by 8:30, I said fuck it, we're now going from 9-5. Can't show up on time? Fine, we stay late. Your problem, not mine. Let me tell you, half the class was pretty pissed off. Blame your co-workers people, not me. For the record, the missing students? All fucking Indian. Plus they all were bathing in cologne and I ended up with a splitting headache before the day was over. Why are they so rude and impossible to work with?? Drives me nuts.

Other than not being able to respect the time, the rest of the day went fine. We managed to finish up a little past 4:30 which wasn't horrible but still, I didn't like getting on site at 7 and having to wait. Plus they have the most rude security procedure. Full metal detector, bag scanner, AND wand after going through the metal detector. What the serious fuck? You're a power company, not fort knox. Punk ass bitches.

Took a shuttle over, walked back. Not a bad walk in the afternoon. Took me about 20 minutes to walk back as I did it at a leisurely pace. Didn't rush. Stopped at a cupcake shop and got a strawberry ice cream cupcake. That was my dinner. I'm an adult.

Watched some tv, went to bed at 10. I did manage to get credit for the first half of my flight on my AA account and I hit my numbers for next year. Another year of Platinum status. If I could score one big trip in December to like the UK, I could even hit the next level. Technically I have until January for it to roll over so who knows, it could happen.

Same schedule and game plan for today. I moved the start for the rest of the week. Let's see if these fuckers try to come in after 9. I am starting without them today. Don't have time to play your fucking games.

Y9 D185

While it was busy for a Sunday, it wasn't the hell I was expecting at any of the airports. It was definitely more busy than an average Sunday for sure, but not horrible. I even managed to get my first upgrade at the last minute. I was first on the list when I got to the airport and cleared right at boarding. Works for me. DFW was more crowded than PDX had been but it was tolerable. My flight to TN was maybe 80% full. Funny enough, while I waited for that flight I was looking around and I managed to pick out 5 out the 9 of us who would be in first. Two I would have never picked because they were college kids looking like they were flying on mom and dad's dime. The other two I just didn't see in the waiting area. Overall my arriving in TN was pretty uneventful.

When I landed I was shocked at how small the airport was. I turned the corner from my gate and poof, I was past security. I had to do a double-take to make sure I was really out of the secured area. I then went to find the taxi line and there wasn't one. Just taxis waiting at the curb. I picked one and boy was that a mistake. My driver was a former radio preacher who played Jesus music and quoted scripture. Sigh, okay buddy, you keep that to yourself. Luckily it was only a 15 minute drive and he agreed to pick me up on friday. Hey, sometimes you deal with shit because it's easier that way.

My hotel is good. Once again I am at a Doubletree and they are consistently good. Quality room, good layout, proper amenities. The internet has no issues and I am happy. I ordered a pizza for dinner to have food for the week. I don't know what the lunch situation will be like this week and I wanted to make sure I have a plan.

Watched some tv and went to bed around 10. I have a shuttle lined up for this morning so I don't have to walk there. I will walk back, but this way I won't arrive all sweaty and nasty. Breakfast in 75 minutes and then I am off. Four full days, then I head home and 10 days later B is off to MI. Then? Then it's fucking Christmas bitches!

Y9 D184

Of all the days I have to travel, the Sunday after thanksgiving? Really? Fuck me. I am leaving in 90 minutes even though I don't board until 5:30 to allow for extra people on the road, extra people at the airport, etc. I didn't get my upgrade so I am stuck in the back for 5 hours. I have a tight layover which is good? It means I have to haul ass off the plane though. That's the part that sucks. I have a ton of people in front of me that need to MOVE. ugh. My day in a nutshell.

Yesterday the kid came by and said goodbye around 7. Here bf finally said thank you for everything. I just think he is severely socially awkward. A perfect fit for her. They got home around 3. Other than a trip to the pet store, I didn't leave the house. Stayed in, had leftovers for dinner. Finished last minute packing.

That's about it. Nothing exciting. Tomorrow will be all about my adventures traveling today. Fun stuff to look forward to tomorrow.

Y9 D183

I just saw I typo'd yesterday in the very first line - Firday. Oh see, now spell check catches it. Where were you yesterday? Huh??

I had a rough day. I woke up with back pain which set the mood. I made everyone waffles and both B and I noticed that the kid's bf doesn't seem to know how to say thank you. This bothers me. We studied him throughout the day and it seems that overall he doesn't have quite the right social skills. He seems genuinely grateful for things, but doesn't know how to express it. Interesting.

We took the train downtown, went to Powells, had lunch, shopped, came back, and they went off to the hotel for a while and B went and laid down. The whole day had put her on sensory overload and I was having a hard time dealing with it. While she slept, I dealt with a USPS fuck-up. They mis-delivered three packages and while I know where they are, I can't do anything about it. They gave me the wrong parcel locker key. I need them to give me the right one but I have to somehow catch them today. It's going to be rough. I need to stalk the mailbox all day. Fun times.

They came back and we went to the zoo for zoo lights. That was fun. Crowded and almost not happening, but it was fun. On the way home we stopped at Freddies so he could take home a growler of Oregon beer.

Went to bed around midnight. Today I stalk mail. Then I go to TN tomorrow.

Y9 D182

I swear to fucking god if I get one more "BLACK FIRDAY STARTS NOW" bullshit fucking email I am going to lose it. Oh wait. Already did.

Had a great time with the kid and her bf yesterday. They got here around 11, we hung out until 3 when I took them over to the hotel and checked them in, then they came back around 5 and we ate. We played games, we did early Christmas. Everyone (including us) was happy with their gifts. They brought us shirts from the kid's work INCLUDING one that she designed. I will proudly wear that around. I also got the poster she designed for a charity event she worked recently. Going to have it framed.

He's a good guy. I worry about their long term viability because he seems to have some plans for the future that I don't know if they will line up with what she wants/needs. But we shall see. She has never been one for the whole marriage/kids thing and maybe that will be okay. Time will tell.

I did have to go out in the morning for milk but otherwise stayed inside most of the day. We prepped things in the morning for the evening feasting. We had ham, turkey, rolls, green beans, gnocchi, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and for dessert a butterscotch bundt cake with rice krispie treats. A good feast was had by all.

The dishes are all cleaned already. Today we are taking them downtown on the train. Then tonight, zoo lights at the zoo. Should be fun time for all.

Got one upgrade confirmed for Sunday and unfortunately not the one I wanted. I got my DFW to TN flight. The whole 1 hour one. I don't expect the DFW one but I can hope.

Y9 D181

HAPPY TURKEY DAY! No, I don't really care that it's Thanksgiving. I didn't suddenly have some change of heart about one of the most bullshit days ever. BUT I am excited because the kid is coming, I get to meet her stupid bf finally, and tomorrow we're doing baby Christmas. So for all that, I am like WOOOO!.

Taught my class, finished hella early. Not my fault I finally had a smart group of people. Seriously, these two were the smartest students I have had in this class all damn year. They were great. I look forward to having them in future classes.

I was supposed to go to the store this morning to get something and I failed to write it on the list so now I have completely forgotten what I needed. Dammit. I am going to go to the store anyway since I need toothpaste and hope it jogs my brain.

After class we finished all our cleaning. We broke a glass jar we use to keep knives in (by 'we' I mean B) so I had to hit the store to replace it. That was oodles of fun. We did Mexican for dinner since the kitchen was clean and neither of us wanted to ruin that.

I made a cake for tonight. Butterscotch Bundt. It looks really good. Here's hoping it tastes good. Went to bed around 11. Now to enjoy the next couple of days before heading to TN.

Y9 D180

About halfway through the year. Only Another 180 or so days to go. Will we make it that long? Will things be so fucked up none of us WANT to make it that long? I just can't get over the shit this administration is doing. So much evil. Fuck Charles Manson. Real evil lives in DC.

Speaking of dead people, as expected we lost David Cassidy. That one was expected at some point.

I still miss Carrie Fisher.

Taught day two and finished around 2.

We started 'the cleaning' yesterday. Scrubbing tubs. All the laundry. Vacuuming. Food prep. The kid will be here in about 24 hours. B is going to do the rest of the cleaning while I work today. It shall all be done and we shall touch nothing for 24 hours. These are the rules.

B had group last night. It went well from what I could gather. I only saw her for about 15 minutes after as I went to bed close to her getting home.

Day three then let the four day weekend begin. Oh wait. I only get 3 days because I have to fly to TN on Sunday. Boo. But it will give me the last few miles and dollars I need so yay? Let's see if I get any upgrades. Not expecting any given the time of year but one can hope.

Y9 D179

Once again I am tired with following the news. I can't keep up with the shit this administration is pulling. Between late night tax approvals to Ajit "My fucking mug is too big and I am dick" Pai trying to once more kill net neutrality. It's overwhelming. Which is exactly how they want it. They want you to be so distracted and fed up that things can just slip on by. This shit needs to stop. Trophy hunting in Africa. Back door shenanigans happening all around us. Enough already. There has to be a way to stop it. All the sexual misconduct stuff going on too is just a distraction. A sad horrible one but it's all a distraction. How is it that Weinstein gets his fucking life turned upside down but the cheeto keeps going even when there are videos? How? Are these people that spineless? Or are they getting so many favors they don't care? Fuck em all.

Haven't checked to see who's dead yet today. Della Reese went yesterday. David Cassidy still alive?

Me? I taught. Two students both dead and boring. They're smart but not interactive. Don't know which is worse. Sitting there like lumps or not following along. Whatever. It's a short week. Just got to make it through.

Made hamburger helper for dinner. Yeah, I know it's gross and lazy but we wanted it. Leave us be.

Tried watching a new show last night. It wasn't bad but neither of us could really focus on it. It just couldn't keep our attention. Haven, based on the book "The Colorado Kid" by Stephen King. We will keep at it but it may be meh.

I was really tired last night and fell asleep at 9:40. I am old. Leave me be.

Day two of three. Sigh. I can do this.