A Different Kind of Roll

5/27

I woke up in the middle of the night practically choking on phlegm. I'm finally succumbing to Elder's bugs... When I got up for real not long after, I seriously considered bailing on work. I decided to stay in my PJs, take Elder to school. and see how it goes on my way back home.

Honestly, I hope what happened at Chick-fil-a isn't a sign - Somehow my order got mangled, so that I did not receive my hash browns, and I got Coke instead of Coke Zero. I went inside and got the tots and declined to swap drinks as I'd already started drinking. The cashier was ever gracious, not accepting payment for the tots. I tried to insist and was rebuffed.

Back home, I still felt ill but decided to go in - I really want my time off for the summer. So I got ready and headed to work, about an hour behind schedule. Work was
uneventful and I struggled to find stuff to do prior to leaving. The small roll loomed ahead however.

And it almost didn't happen - Ape wanted a neck rub and I wound up falling asleep. She tucked me in later, thinking I'd already done my work. And she left Friday morning without realizing I'd never set my alarm. Thankfully, I woke up on my own before 8, checked the roll (all good), sent my notifications and got myself to work.

Wound up having a great convo with several people about lots of topics: Political ideologies, IP, tech, music, more IP, and stuff.

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5/26

This morning was much smoother. Not blissful or perfect, but smoother. And pretty good, considering we're still talking abut a teenager. Work was total meh. I'm between major projects and don't have anything meatier than custom rules in Outlook VBA to keep me challenged. I did get some good feedback on my cosplay from one of the crafters. I need to get that page up and running soon.

The plan after work was for Arby's - as much for Elder as it was for me. I like their dollar menu. But Ape asked me to come directly home instead of meeting up. She had a bad day at work when a mom yelled at her without justification. Thankfully there were witnesses and they know of this mother's history so there's no doubt who stands where.

So, I dashed home and we chilled for about 20 minutes as she retold the day's events before we headed out. At Arby's, two interesting things happened: I tried lettuce on my chicken sandwich, and, we played with the "drive-thru duck". There's a duck there that seems to live next to the restaurant mooching off drive-through delights. He's extremely docile and ate out of Younger's hand even. We pondered relocating him to Mimi's (as she has a number of "yard ducks") but didn't.

From there, it was a "clearance check" at Toys R Us, and both Clones found something to buy cheaply. After that, gas, and a quick stop at the site of yesterday's bus crash. There were flowers up and a sign, apparently posted by her co-workers, praying for safe driving in her memory. Back home just after 8, I did a quick check for hours on a nearby men's suit store and headed back out. Ape didn't believe me but I need the measurements soon. I don't think she was too happy.

At the tailors', I got a quick set of measurements and tried to tip the girl who took them but she wouldn't have it. I think there was a general bemusement among the staff when I told them why I needed measurements. One fellow seemed nonplussed, thinking I was getting fitted to then buy a regular suit elsewhere. He relaxed when I told him what I was really afer.

From there, I made YET ANOTHER trip to Target, as Ape needed a couple of things. I also grabbed a cute card with a hedgehog on the front, to commemorate "Half My Life Day". This little-known holiday is celebrated at different times by people, depending on when their spouses/partners have known them half their lives. I knew Ape for half hers on her 34th birthday, as we met on her 17th. My day was a little harder to calculate but thankfully I was bored Tuesday because I would have missed it! I thought I needed to get to 40 but nope. Today's it!

Back home, I kicked off the Ubuntu install on my unused PC. This one will replace the laptop on my gaming table so I can have a proper monitor and get familiar with a modern Linux desktop at the same time. I'm also going to see if XI will run on it!

Somewhere in all this, we heard the announcement that Lee DeWyze had won Idol - I knew it was going to happen, although I find Mamasox more appealing as a person. I expect both will do well, given their talent and appeal.

We also saw news of the BP "top-kill" attempt to staunch the oily flow in the Gulf. Immediately I thought of that "un tss un tss un tss" "club sound" as the mud-clouds pushed up by the pumps looked for all the world like dancing coral or algae. I'm weird, I know!

From there it was chill out time and a quick chore run before bed.

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5/25

Had a rough morning with Elder, who had disobeyed and stayed up late playing games after lights-out. He was completely unprepared for school despite his claim to the contrary last night before bed. Plus, his attitude was horrible. He keeps saying he mouths off as he does because that's how they all talk in school.

I keep reminding him his mother is not school and he isn't to talk to her (or me) that way. And to highlight my point, I did something I'd hoped never to do. I deleted a game save from his PSP. Dissidia, in fact. A game he was enjoying greatly. I didn't say anything in the morning, knowing he'd act out at school. The plan is to chat after work.

Also, after dropping him off, I checked the air pressure in my new tires. Once again, the shop did not set them all the same. About a four-pound variance across the set... So I fixed them prior to leaving, setting all to 35. The tires are still clearly not as grippy and stiff as the BFG's but airing them to the same pressure helped quite a bit.

At work I looked into them and most opinions were along the lines of "cheap Chinese crap". Cheap?! Depends on your definition, I s'pose. They were the cheapest I could find, but cheap they were not. They'd better last at least as long as the BFG's!

Had a pretty interesting convo about Twilight and romance in the afternoon with my "nemesis", our other dev, and another team's analyst. Apparently I'm alone in appreciating Bella's desperate and reckless love for Edward... But the analyst and the dev mentioned "The Host", also by Meyer, recommending it highly.

I was able to leave work on time and just before arriving I passed what looked like an interesting accident. A car had rear-ended a city bus. Things on the scene looked calm so I hoped nobody was seriously hurt.

Got home and thought I'd have extra Vana time as Ape was off to her school's 8th grade graduation. Nope - Younger still had to get to TKD. So I ate (waffles for dessert - yum!), had my chat with Elder, and then we headed off. I ground XP in FF1 whilst Younger did his thing.

Back home, I jumped on XI and checked in. The Diabolos fight was still on but we had to wait for folks to arrive. Younger and I checked on DWTS and found out the first hour (of 3) was a repeat of last night. He called Ape to let her know not to rush but she wound up home almost in time anyway.

As Holy and Kym went to eat, I decided to run to Target for blank CDs. I'm going to toss the laptop and put the desktop at my gaming table. But I'm going to run Ubuntu on it rather than Windows. I'm going to try for fun to see if XI will run under Wine on that box. Plus I've been wanting to get used to a proper Linux desktop for some time and that PC's just sitting there. Aaand, it has a 19" monitor!

Anyway, I got back just after 9 and we began to gear up and move out. I outposted once word came down and was killed by a nearby Evil Eye. I don't remember the last time I got aggro at an outpost. Thankfully, Safira was right behind me and I got a raise. Ktulu joined us and the three of us waited by the Pso'xja tower for Nut, killing things to pass the time.

Inside, things went smoothly, except for my DC on zoning one time. It took too long to get back on but they waited for me :3 Soon, we were at the overlook, targeting Diabolos. The plan was for lots of stunning while I tanked. Saf was on nukes and Kym on heals.

The fight started out well and was progressing smoothly until about the 20% left mark. Diabolos knocked me off the rutting platform! I didn't even know he did that! Of course, the load of diremites below ate me alive. Thankfully, Nut and the others were able to hang on and we got the win! And none of them died!

After the lengthy cutscene I bailed as it was now 11. During the fight, Ape graded and made end-of-year certificates for her students. DWTS was on and we both kept tabs on it. Erin was out first (sad but expected) and the showdown between Nicole and Evan was fantastic. Nicole won, but honestly, it could have gone either way.

At one point, some of the others who were eliminated got to strut their stuff one last time. Buzz danced to the Star Wars theme. Poor Buzz. He still can't really dance. And in an illustrative moment, Kate danced to "Paparazzi" again. Her lack of skill progression versus the finalists' was super-evident. I feel for Kate, who really seemed to be trying to enjoy herself. But she can't really dance either. Would that she stayed the full length, who knows what her steps would be like.

During all of this, Ape was also checking FB and news. That bus crash I saw earlier? The driver, a young woman, died. /sorrow They said she completely failed to react to the stopped bus and plowed into it. The damage to the bus seemed minor, although her car's front end was toast...

Thought before bed: How the heck does my sis-in-law get away with almost never wearing her seatbelt? Rarely, when her kids choose to needle her about it, she will. But not for long. Year after year we hear the "Click It or Ticket" message, yet she never gets fined. I don't really want her to have to pay a big fine, or worse, get hurt, but it's so aggravating!

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5/24

Not much going on... This week's code was done last week and my pet project is on hold pending formal scheduling of the work. About the only thing interesting from today was my trip to the tire store. Shiroma's been riding on the carcasses of the rears. Not good! And rain was forecast for the afternoon, meaning if I was unable to get the tires done, I'd have a handful getting back to work.

Things went well, if a bit slowly at the shop. I was able to read quite a bit of "Child of the Prophecy", book 3 of the Sevenwaters series. Yes, I picked it up again last week and want to get on with it. I'm annoyed with the story though - watching Fainne insinuate herself into the Sevenwaters estate on Granny's orders is maddening. She feels compelled to act because her father is held hostage by that same Granny. But the things she does in her desperation make me nuts.

Tires and alignment finally done, I returned to work. First impressions? The tires are softer and give more, affecting handling. Shiroma's more darty and floaty and I expect these tires will give up earlier in hard cornering and braking. /sigh

Later, at home, it was chicken and rice and DWTS and blogging. Not much else...

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5/13 Addendum

Forgot about this stunning blog post.

Why My Skinny Jeans Don't Give You the Right to Rape Me