JUL 03

2025

Thursday: still in Michigan. Seems like I didn't notice when Julie got up for her telemeeting this morning. When she finished, she came back in and lounged in bed; we didn't get up until 11 or 11:30.

When asked what I wanted for lunch, I advised that a sandwich would be welcome, as I didn't feel up for another burger after yesterday. Julie drove us to Ram's Horn, which was the diner we convened at after her mom's service. This time around, I had a club sandwich with fries while I played the Wild ladder in Hearthstone. We tried to go by the house, but nobody was there, so we went to 7-11 for drinks before heading back to the hotel. A bit of voicemail ping pong followed in which Roger came to the hotel but apparently left right afterward.

Eventually, we did go back to the house and met Roger there; I ended up back in the suspended lounger, and we mostly killed time while getting eaten by mosquitos. I had on jeans to keep them away from my legs, but I was still constantly swatting at my arms and head. Julie got some photos of a variety of deer and fawns as they foraged in the overgrowth around the property. Chris got home, but apparently he spent some time in the house with a cat lying on him, since it took him more than an hour to get ready for dinner.

When we finally left for the evening, we headed to HopCat, where Ciavattone gave us some guidance on the best entrees available. I ended up ordering another cheeseburger, but it was still satisfying, and the fries with cheese sauce were pretty good. I'd really depleted my phone battery at this point, so I spent half my time catching up on the Bronto discord and half my time people-watching. I would have made a bigger deal of the ducsk in the "preserved wetlands" around the entrance if Julie and Chris hadn't been making fun of my tell-tale midlife turn toward ornithology.

Our last stop for the night was the inevitable stop at Stables, where I had three small (but potent) white Russians. By the third drink, I was also nursing a big glass of water. (At least the Stables bathroom is better than the one in our hotel.) With my phone approaching 30% power, I spent most of my time watching the baseball games on TV and trying not to embody too many drunken cliches, to limited success. We soon brought Chris back to the house and returned to the hotel, where I prepared this update in a state of silent sobriety.

2024

Wednesday: had a productive work shift, punctuated by several naps during my breaks, and in the evening, Julie made pork with potatoes and cabbage for dinner. I finished up the fifth zone's storyline in Dawntrail until way too early in the morning.

2023

Monday: I expected calls, and I got calls. I took them one at a time, and I was glad when they ended.

For lunch: two chicken sandwiches, bag of chips, bottle of Ice-brand flavored water, and a breakfast bar featuring cashews. I still prefer hour lunches, but my routine has adjusted to 30 minutes. If a call goes long and I wind up having to take my 5 PM lunch break a little late, that makes the next segment go all the faster until my 7 PM workload period when I do my follow-ups and callbacks, and by 9 PM I'm done, assuming I don't get stuck on a call. I didn't get that lucky tonight, but I was finished by 9:05, so I have no room to complain.

Julie's Quizzo team cancelled, so she just went by Rite Aid to pick up a prescription, and she got me more mints since the Acme hasn't been carrying the sugar free Lifesavers I prefer. For dinner, I ate more of the chicken/sausage casserole, but rather than continue watching the Dave the Diver LP I'd been watching during my breaks, I played more Hearthstone, since a new event started to promote the Twist format they just added. I played an awful deathrattle rogue with secret support until I finished the daily quests, then spent some time playing my take on Casino Mage in Wild. It's great for "cast a lot of spells" daily quests; not so great for winning. Still pretty fun, though.

Julie and I spent some time just lying on the bed in the office and reminiscing about our earlier living arrangements. I'm not sure if it's a full or a queen, but that bed is too small, yet somehow we stuck with it through the apartments on 21st, on Rock, and on Tyler. It was only once we were renting the house on Evergreen that we finally sprang for a king, and we stuck with that when we moved to the apartment on Central, the apartment on Shade, and our current residence. She tried to guess what music I was playing a couple times: she thought a track from 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim sounded like "that Japanese time travel game" (by which she apparently meant NieR: Automata), and then later when a NieR track came on, she thought it might be a Metal Gear franchise track. Eventually the cats guilted another round of treats out of me, and she went to bed. I played a couple more games of Hearthstone, posted this update, and followed her.