1/30/22 Football Banquet At Crockett?

     Last night was a fun evening, put together by the booster club, to recognize the Cougar family and celebrate how far we have come together.  Up until a couple months ago, we were involved and going to the meetings which occur weekly, but then they announced that the banquet was going to be on a night when the wrestling team was going to be at a tournament, so why would we bend ourselves backwards for this celebration when we wouldn't even be able to attend or enjoy its fruit?  Some things happened, maybe the coaches realized that the initial date was a bad one and things were moved to this weekend, which is one of the few ones lately we weren't stuck in a gym all day.

    Things like this always catch us by surprise, even if we know they are coming.  I had at least gotten Mijo to show me some nice clothes he could wear the night before, or we were going to have to go to the mall, a place he does not like at all.  He managed to pull out a nice jacket and dress shirt, the jacket still had the tag, he had never worn it, I think we bought it for him his freshman year, he actually weighs less now than he did then, but he was softer, now he is more compact and stronger than ever, either way, we didn't have to leave the house.  He decided on jeans and then some dress shoes he also has maybe worn once.  He had talked of dressing up for school at one point, like Boy, but then this guy is strictly a hoodie and t-shirt kind of guy, so all his dressy stuff has just sat in his room.  I went with a black dress shirt and jeans, with some dress shoes as well.  Wife dressed up like she was going to work, no problems there.  I did lend Mijo one of my nice watches, which was quickly noticed by his friends who complimented it as "very nice and expensive looking."

    Mijo is funny, because he showed up to win.  He mentioned at the house that if they were recognized, he should win the offensive lineman award, so he was there, much like when wrestling.  He was not interested in eating, he was just pacing back and forth, joking with his friends a bit, but then sat on the edge of his chair.  He was called up and recognized twice, once for Offensive lineman of the year and then for earning 2nd Team All District honors again as a lineman.  His coach went on and on, mentioning "this young man comes every day with a positive attitude, he inspires and motivates the kids around him, has a phenomenal squat (525lbs), and is versatile, didn't complain when we moved him from guard to center two weeks before the start of the season."  Every time we approach the coaches, they go on and on about what a great kid Mijo is, it is such a nice feeling to have our boys always talked up like this, tells me our efforts are worth something.

    The head coach talked about the falling short and that it was a bit disappointing, but then talked about a lot of positives, we are only losing 6-7 seniors, compared to schools like LBJ, which did go far in the playoffs, but are losing 29 seniors.  Marble Falls and Liberty Hills, two monster programs, will no longer be in our district.  We have a good chance of winning the district next year, based on where we stand, so it gives the team a reason to go forward.

    The banquet itself was great, we were served brisket and sausage, after thinking we were going to eat enchiladas.  They also had some silent auctions to raise money for the Booster club, which we kicked in and I bought a cool basket with some nice mug and glass combo that I thought were ceramic but ended up being aluminum, with the Cougar logo.  All in all, it was a great night.

1/29/22 The Truman Show Revisited?

     Last night was a nice relaxing night, other than Wife getting home and being a bit of a pain in the ass.  She came home revved up about going and helping to decorate for tonight's football banquet.  I had been taking a nap prior to her walking in the door and I think Baby A is just a little burned out about being at school such long days all the time.  We both whined that we would prefer to just chill, but then we put on our shorts and got going.  Luckily, halfway there, she got a text back that they were done decorating, so we dodged a bullet.  We came back home after swinging by a couple of restaurants and seeing how crazy, long the lines were to eat, and we just ended up making the burger patties I had bought to make Thursday night.  Along with our burgers and Funyuns, we enjoyed a movie, The Truman Show.

    I hadn't seen the movie since I saw it probably ten years ago, but it is the kind of movie that leaves an impression on you.  I thought it would be something Mijo would enjoy to a certain degree.  We have figured he doesn't like lame rom coms, or raunchy college bro movies.  They have to have some depth to them and this one is weird one, really.  The idea of being recorded every minute of the day is both creepy and cool.  I think after watching it we all have gone through periods of thinking "is someone watching me for entertainment purposes, does my life have a unique spin that makes me somehow special?"

    Jim Carrey has been doing this kind of work for a very long time.  I think we lose appreciation for him because he is characterized as a crazy, funny comedian, but this was a very good portrayal of someone who is just trying to be a good guy in a world where he is tragically the center of a great big conspiracy, his life is a lie.  I think Carrey did an amazing job with the role.

    After the movie, our boy had the thought that realizing and proving he was in a fake world was akin to taking the red pill in The Matrix, which he wanted to get out of living in a fake world, and instead wanted to live in what was real.  I had a similar thought when he was being "hunted" when he disappears, "is it better to remain in a false world where everyone around you supports and loves you artificially, or do you do the brave and courageous thing and fight off the false world around you and then see their true faces, which in the end are only pretending to like you because in the real world, you have been a paying job, as most people around you have been acting like they care about you for their net benefit. 

1/28/22 Wings Think They're Prime Meat Now?

     I don't know who gave them permission, but wings are trying to run around with royalty, based on what they think they can charge.  Last night, I had to pick up Baby A from school, they did not have wrestling practice after school, they just spent 45 minutes or so taking team pictures.  He asked me earlier if we could go have wings after school and my initial response was "No!", I am a hard-working responsible man, that has to stay at work all day long and half the night.  I mean I thought all that, but I just said no.  After sitting at work a few hours and realizing I had about an hours' worth of work left and five more hours to kill, I decided, people do get lunch breaks, so I told him we would stop and eat some wings.  In my head, this worked out differently than reality.  First off, his pictures too longer than I thought, then he had a straggler friend join us, not that I mind the boys, I generally like all of them, but I also like having my son to myself to hear his stories at the end of the day.

    All this was fine, I didn't even mind sitting with them while they giggled like schoolgirls while going back and forth with the rest of the wrestlers in their chat, I think he likes a girl wrestler or at least there is some flirting going on.  All that is cute to watch, so I just sat back and took the ambience in.  Even the waitress was perfect for the moment, she asked what we were up to, and I can't wait to tell anyone my son wrestles and they had just done team pictures.  She chimed in that she had wrestled in high school, had gone to state back in the day, and even started talking moves and shoes and the lingo that made me believe she wasn't just saying stuff to sound cool.

    My knuckleheaded son got me to take him here because he wanted wings, but when he saw burgers on the menu, which is what I had defrosted to make at home, he and his friend both ordered burgers, which kind of bothered me.  I guess they did me a favor, not knowingly.  The waitress did mention that the prices had changed and pointed to the wall.  I would have had to get up to look around the bar, so I just nodded, figuring the prices were $2-$4 dollars more, right?  I got a dozen wings, thinking the boys can eat a couple, it is a wings restaurant, after all.  The big shocker was the $75 check.  I noticed my wings were $26.99.  On the menu, they were listed at $13.99.  Come on, that is a bit of abuse.  I assumed it was a mistake, and told the waitress "I think the price is wrong on the wings..."  She came back with "uh, I mentioned that the prices had been changed and again pointed to the wall.  I wasn't going to argue, I just said a sheepish "wow!" and handed her my card.  She said she was sorry for the confusion, and she would take some off.  She came back and did give me a $10.26 discount, but she had been so nice, and she did talk about wrestling, so I basically gave it back to her with a $15 tip.  I mean the 15% tip would have been $11.

    It sucks but there is no way we are eating wings outside the house any time soon.  I was trying to tell Wife that "Little Shit wanted to go eat wings and then didn't even order wings..." to which he casually added "you would have wanted me to order wings, at those prices?"  Well, we didn't know the prices were that crazy, so I guess it was good that they both ordered $10 burgers, but still.  Dammit, it's bad enough we hardly eat out anymore.  Prices like that are not helping anyone.

1/27/22 Can't Cut A Break For Pity Around Here?

     I took a half day of vacation last night from work, so I could go to the wrestling meet.  All that was fine, the event was great, we even enjoyed Whataburger afterwards, and even Boy came down and we actually sat like a family and ate at the table, something we rarely do anymore.  While eating, it dawned on me that even though I was done for the night, Wife was going to bed for work, I couldn't just stay up and chill.  Baby A had practice at 7:00am this morning.  Usually, for wrestling, they have the option of going to practice in the morning or after school.  After school works for us perfectly, because we benefit from Wife getting home in time to pick him up after practice, sometime between 6:30-7:00pm.  When everything is working. I drop him off at school sometime around 8:30am, then I am free to do whatever I do, and go to work, not worrying about my boys until I get home.

    With the early practice, Mijo said he was going to bed immediately after we ate, Wife went to bed because she has to get up early for work.  It occurred I should do the same, and I tried whining to Wife that I hate going to bed early and I especially didn't want to get up at 6:30am to take him to school.  I forget, Wife has to get up at 5:15am every day and be out the door by 6:00am to get to her campus in San Antonio on time.  She just gave me a sarcastic "poor baby, you want me to wake you, when I pass San Marcos, it'll be about 6:30am by then."  What can I say to that, I just grumbled under my voice and headed to bed.  I don't know if it was the meal right before laying down, but usually I have a hard time falling asleep, but I couldn't even remember what happened.  I know I went and brushed my teeth and that I was cold when I got in bed, but I went down hard.  I then woke up a few hours later to pee, and my phone was still on but laying on the ground next to the bed, repeating a Tik Tok over and over.

    At this point, I thought to put on an alarm for 6:30am, which I managed to beat, again I woke to go pee at 6:15am, so I figured do what you gotta do and start the day.  Baby A was also dragging butt, we didn't get to his school until 7:10am or so, but once he gets off, I can go back and chill at least until I get to work at 1:00pm.  It is about 10:15am, and all I am thinking is finish writing this and go lay down for another hour or more.  Since I already worked out and ate my little leftover lunch, I think I will enjoy me a little downtime.

1/26/22 Last Wrestling Meet Before District?

     Last night was a lot of fun, watching the Coogs go out and have their last Quad Meet (four schools facing each other off).  I was a little saddened that our own heavy, Baby A could not participate, Wife and I still showed up, provided snacks and drinks, and cheered for the other, really for all the kids fighting.  I have to say, it takes guts to go out and do something like that, which seems so out of the ordinary.  The main focus in high school sports is basketball right now, but there is soccer going on too, and wrestling.  We could extrapolate and look at other activities, band is in the middle of their individual competitions now, as well, so I guess there are all sorts of activities that these kids get to participate in, and that's a good thing.

    Surprisingly, when we have gone to big competitions, our Crockett program seemed small, we had a hard time filling all 14 weight classes for boys and 10 for girls.  There seemed to be a lot of time wasted qualifying and doing the proper paperwork and other logistical stuff, consequently, we would show up with 4-5 boys on the varsity team, and a handful of girls.  Last night, we were the big-time program, Crockett had a whole side of boys and girls, I think everyone that has been on freshman through varsity dressed out and showed up.  Not every weight class was represented, but in the end, there were a few exhibition matches between Crockett teammates.   LBJ had maybe 4-5 total wrestlers, Navarro, who hosted had at most 8 total wrestlers, and Travis had maybe 3-4 wrestlers.  I don't know if a lot of kids have quit or did not participate because of grades, but Travis had a lot more wrestlers last time we met with them.  Crockett, as a team, looked very good.  It is easy to see that a lot of wrestlers have improved over the last few months.

    I have to say, I told Mijo that last night was a lot of fun, mostly because he wasn't fighting.  I love watching him compete, but as a parent, I am always holding my breath that he won't get hurt.  It is also hard to watch him lose, but he keeps saying he might be upset in the moment, if he is beat, but he is also okay with it and doesn't hold a grudge, he knows there are kids with superior skills, and he just enjoys the challenge of competition.

    The team was more or less upbeat, I would say the Coogs won about 80% of their matches, so we looked very good overall.  Certainly, our kids have been taught to be gracious winners and losers.  In the first match, one of our freshman kids, who has become very friendly with us, he is one of Mijo's buddies, beat a Navarro kid and the other kid refused to shake hands after, as is custom.  The referee forced him to shake, but as they passed each other afterwards, our Coog tried to say, "good match", and the other kid was rude and dismissive about it.  I like our son's attitude, if he loses, he will go out and talk to the other guy, congratulate him, and try to pick up pointers on whatever move was done on him.  That is the sign of a good competitor.

1/25/22 Gonna Be Hard Going Back To Being A Good Boy?

     I got a good spanking last week, and as a result, I am supposed to be working a full shift again, no more worrying about Covid killing us, that part of life is done.  Since we had been told to go home and preserve ourselves, I had gotten awful efficient at working and with looking at my mail at home, skipping coffee breaks and lunch, running both tools at the same time, I could get all the work required in about 4-5 hours most nights.  I have to learn to work slower once again, which starts by giving my Wife more than a few seconds on the phone.  I didn't even want to slow down to have a conversation with her, figuring if I hurried up enough, I would see her before she goes to bed.

    Sure enough, I walked in last night and my mind quickly figured out if I split the work between the tools, I had about 3-4 hours of work, even less than usual, and that's doing work that isn't even due until Friday.  Instead of rushing into the work, I went and found my coworker and got a pass down, which means we shot the shit for a good while drinking coffee.  After this, we went in the lab, and I got to work at a more leisurely pace.  I even decided to make new solutions to use.  Being in a hurry, I would use whatever was available and always hesitated on being the one to make new standards.  I made my own stock solutions, made my own curve bottles and even spent another hour washing bottles, something I have always hated doing and just see as busy work, but it does need to get done.

    I did find that our tool is acting up, so I did end up technically running both tools, but it was more to trouble shoot my solutions to see if I had made a mistake.  All was well, the work due today, 2 jobs, and the one due Friday, all got done by 9:00pm.  I then sat and did the report for last week to prove that I am indeed a good boy and do in fact do some work, not just collect money like a leech.

    Ultimately, if they want us to be there a full shift, they should make it their job to get us more samples, that will increase our revenue and not just keep us marching in place for a predetermined amount of time.  I was told to maybe go help, like the imaging group, but I can't be running from one lab space to another, they are physically spaced down opposite ends of a long hallway.  I don't mind going over and doing imaging work, if that is what I am going to do for a night or more but running back and forth is just begging for mistakes.

1/24/22 Shit Drivers?

     I never worry about my driving out on the road, it's the shit birds that accompany us that make the roads unsafe.  One of my more regular series of videos that I watch are driving fails on Youtube.  These consist of car accidents, and I don't look at them because I enjoy watching people get destroyed, I watch to try and understand where the accident occurs.  Most of the time, it is one of the drivers not paying attention.  A lot of them are when people are driving too fast, and the traffic starts slowing down.  It is so easy to gauge this, slow down and just figure somebody up front messed up, we'll get past the accident and get back to normal speeds.  A lot of people are either not paying attention or get in a trance and don't read the cars piling up.  I am always surprised when you see a car coming in at twice the speed of the rest of traffic, like, where is your head?

    Anyways, I just went to Target a couple minutes ago.  On my way back home, I am only about 5 minutes away, there are 2-3 STOP signs, nothing fancy, and at this hour the traffic is very light.  I went to STOP when it was my turn, the guy on the next lane turned, and then I started to take my foot off the brake, but a third car came up to the STOP 90 degrees to my right and even though I was already in motion, he/she just slid right through without so much as slowing down or a little hand wave indicating "my bad".We weren't driving fast, so there was no chance we would hit, this was just the driver being a douchebag, not really dangerous.  I then was behind them, and they did it again at the next STOP.  The car that turned in front of me properly did the stop, then went but this car, being behind that car didn't even touch their brakes and went through.

    I don't care, if you are not putting me in danger, do whatever.  Wife hates it when speeders zoom past us, I prefer them to pass us and keep getting distance from us.  If they are going to crash, better they move along and make their mistakes away from me, so I have time to react.  These people, if they don't change their driving habits, will at some point be T-boned at an intersection and it might cost them their lives, but I guess if it saved them 2-3 seconds every time they didn't stop, it will be worth it?  I guess I learned it the hard way myself, in high school, I got stopped once after band practice.  I was dropping off a group of kids and I may have slid through a STOP sign without stopping completely.  A police officer happened to be there, with his daughter also fresh from band practice, and he gave me a ticket.  Sometimes, that is the best lesson.

1/23/22 Finally Tore My Pellet Grill Open?

     I was being as useless as usual at home, taking my nap around 1:00pm after eating some pretty good tacos Wife made with some corn tortillas, eggs, cheese, and some avocado slices.  It was all fried together and became a sticky crispy mess.  I then got up at 3:00pm, just in time to hear Wife saying she was going to nap.  I thought this would be a good time to mess with my grill, being that we had nothing else to do and once I nap, I feel good for a few hours.

    The problem with my grill is that all the wires have become the same brown color from all the uses, so I went and tore off the old circuit board when the new one came in, not thinking that the wires have to be installed a certain way.  I played around with them this time and figured out all, judging by the lack of error codes.  The only error code I got after a while was the ignitor coil was not being read.  Without installing it, just laying it on top of the grill, I replaced the old wire connector with this one and the error went away, and I could feel it getting hot immediately.  I thought this was awesome, all I had to do now was remove 3-4 screws to get inside where the ignitor is, and I have basically a new grill once again.  For all my tools and ideas, I could not get those screws removed.  They have rusted and I could just not get them to turn over.

    After a while, I even called Boy to look at the problem and he suggested some oil to get the screws to release.  If that doesn't work, we both came to the conclusion I should just beat the screws off.  If I can't fix it, I am going to have to buy a new grill, so this is a last desperation attempt.  By this point, it was after 5:00pm and of course, Wife, right on cue, came out with her passive aggressive "guess I'll just put the chicken in the oven..."  I pissed and fumed a minute as I had stopped to see the last few minutes of the Rams/Bucs game, it was a close exciting end, but then I told her to chill, and I got the charcoal grill going.  I'll get those screws busted off another day, I need it to be light outside, it is too hard to do this in the dark.

    It is now 6:30pm and the chicken is about halfway done, I am about to go throw some steaks on there and the pack of sausages is ready to go as well.  Charcoal works for this type of grilling on Sundays, but it doesn't feel the same.  I miss my pellet grill, which would run for hours at a consistent temperature.  Charcoal, even a bag at time gives you a tight window in which everything needs to be cooked in.  You can't wait too long to start chicken, especially this one, which was still a bit frozen internally.  I put it on the grill, but away from on top of the fire and within a few minutes it felt like it had defrosted completely.  We should be eating by 7:30pm, while we maybe watch a movie.

1/22/22 Things Are Shitty At The Stores?

     I really hate that the consumer has lost his advantage, if that is what we used to have, pre Covid-19.  I loved it back when one could go to Maxwell Ford or whichever car dealership and find hundreds of choices of trucks, or whatever their highest selling vehicles used to be.  Nowadays, we are lucky if they even have any representation of the vehicle you might be interested in.  I mentioned going to Maxwell Ford and the low volume of cars on the lot.  Looking online, they are advertising great deals on their trucks which you can order now and have for the spring, like that is some sort of win.  Fuck, we used to complain about going to the dealership, wasting a day there, but at least coming home with a new car.

    We drove around today and went to RideNow Powersports, which sells Seadoo products.  It used to be Seadoo made personal watercraft (PWC), but now they are also offering pontoons.  The pontoons look really cool, but they seem to be made exclusively of plastic.  I am curious as to what they look like in person and if they even feel like a quality product.  I asked and the sales guy said, "we have two if you want to reserve one."  I said no a little frustrated telling him "I want to at least see one and touch it with my hands before deciding if it is something I would even want to buy."  The sales guy actually told me he has sold a couple and he still hasn't seen one live, but they should have one to show in a few more weeks.

    I guess I should be happy that at least for now they did have a few different PWC sitting all over the showroom floor.  Last year we couldn't even find any.  They also must have had a couple dozen new ones still sitting in crates, as we could see the big boxes outside, which I take as a good sign.

    The last bad thing I noticed was at Bass Pro Shops and their boats.  They did have a few boats on the floor, which again, they could not get anything to show a year ago.  The thing that caught my eye was the pricing.  This store has had the best prices on boats, but what they had seemed more expensive than necessary.  A boat I have really liked from Tahoe, with a center console setup was over $50000.  The monthly payment, which usually looks good and did, at $338/month stopped looking good when one noticed the months of the contract.  They expect the payment to go on for 240 months.  That is a solid 20 years, which is a long time to pay that amount.  I get the 10–12-year commitment, but I wouldn't want to be stuck with a payment for 20 years, there's a good chance the boat wouldn't even be in service by then.

    We may never come back to the days when choices were plentiful, and prices were competitive so it becomes even more doubtful I will be buying a boat or even a large truck.  At this point it just seems like a fantasy that we used to own a large truck, the Excursion (new), a boat and an RV.  I'm still wondering "what happened?"

1/21/22 Spanking 2.0?

     It wasn't enough that my manager gave me a firm talking to, I had already gotten the message, but yesterday, our Director of Operations pulled me in and gave me another talking to, and I guess made the necessary adjustments.  I really wasn't expecting this to get so big, and honestly, I haven't been the only one taking advantage of the whole rule of "get the work done and go home to protect yourself from Covid-19."  Shit, when the pandemic started 3-4 people were given permission to just work from home for months, don't bother coming in, keep yourself alive.  I was on the other end of that spectrum, because I was an hourly, so from upper management's mouth "leave the work for Mando (save yourselves, my little addition here), he has to be here twelve hours, all you exempt people go home and be with your families in this time of so much unknown."  Of course, that email pissed me off and I went in there about ready to quit, but my manager said to ignore that and do as the others "get the work done and go home, don't worry about the time constraint."  It was then put in motion to make me an exempt, so that I wouldn't be breaking the law, although that sentiment is complete bullshit.  Why do we keep calling it our company and saying we are independent and capable of forging our way, but then insisting on using antiquated rules and techniques to keep operating?  Our lab spun off from the giant that was Spansion, and we are supposedly an independent lab consisting of about 18 employees now.  About 9-10 of us actually touch product and produce data, which means we make the money, yet we are still being treated like we belong to a company with 1000 employees, and we revert to rules that don't have to apply to us.

    The problem, in a nutshell, I figured out how to produce the same amount of work in half the time by using both analysis tools in the lab at the same time (we share the lab space with another companyand they also have an analysis tool like ours), so in 5 hours I could produce the same amount of work that it would have taken me 10-12 hours.  This worked out great for all, I thought.  All the work has been getting done, I was then free to get in get the work done and go home and enjoy my time with my family.  I never once left just because I felt like it and ignored work that was due the next day, my conscience wouldn't allow that.  

    This proved to be too efficient, the higher ups found out I have been doing this, they did announce sometime in August we were to go back to working our full shifts, and now want to close Pandora's box and expect us to all go back to the way things were.  This is a small microcosm of what has happened with letting people work from home, they have found a better way to get the same work done and they don't want to go back to the way things were.

    My director now wants me to be back in there for the full shift, which I argued that I won't be working in the same way of running both tools and prepping samples manually for a full 10-hour shift, that pace is too much to do continually.  Her fantasy is that I would now have an extra 5-6 extra hours a day to do more work.  I have to say no.  I literally leave work in a sweat because I don't sit down. I don't turn on the computer to look at videos or anything that wastes time, I even read my email at home, so when I walked in the door, I hit the ground running.  I was even turning down coffee time with my coworker because it is so easy to sit and loose an hour in our delightful conversations, he is one of the few guys who doesn't seem to get tired of my shit, and we can argue a point to death, it's fun.

    For proof that I am not being hyperbolic, I just have to mention the one guy who did die at work a few years ago.  He literally ran around like a chicken without his head on.  He was a great guy, he would show up at 6:00am, and hit the ground running, no coffee, straight to the work, I could barely make him sit down to bullshit, he was always being driven by the managers.  Well, he had a heart attack and collapsed on the ground one early morning between me leaving and the other coworkers showing up, back then I was doing an honest 12-hour shift, I left when I was supposed to, but he collapsed out in some hallway by the bathrooms and was found later.  

    My point is you can have it one way or the other, not a mix of both.  I could continue to work as I have, and I take the hit when more work than usual comes in and I stay late, if I have to, knowing that I'll make the time back on another day of the week when things go back to normal.  I can also go back to dinosaur days and just be an honest employee and put in my ten-hour shift, but I am only going to run one tool and what gets done, gets done.  There is a reason we work in a group, I guess we can rely on the group to get the work done.  I don't see there being an extra 5 hours of work coming from me, who is going to support my family when I collapse in a heap from a heart attack because I was trying to keep up with a rate no one else even thinks about doing?  

1/20/22 Should People Be Having Kids?

     I was listening to the radio this morning and a guy came on talking about people shouldn't be having kids, because the planet already has too many people.  He was trying to get a second date with a girl he had met, so he calls the radio show after she doesn't respond to him directly and they do a "1st date follow-up".  The girl did not want to do a second date because she said he went off on his own talking about not wanting kids and the planet and on and on.  Everyone can do what they want, I'm not here to say who is right, but even when she came back on and they talked a bit, he was still super aggressive trying to get her to see his side.  She was not having it.

    I can see his side and even agreed back before I had kids of my own.  Boy is currently kind of talking like that too.  I am glad I was wrong, and that Wife got pregnant (I still don't know how that happened, 😀 ), and now we have our two boys, who have been everything for us these last 20 plus years.  I can't imagine deciding to go the other route, it leads to an easy life, when you are young and want the freedom to do as you please, but who will be there to celebrate with you as you get older?  Boy likes to tease us (I think) that they will just get pets and they will be alright.  Great plan, get some cats then when you die, they'll have no problems eating you.

    I think we exist to procreate, if you don't then you aren't leaving anything on the planet after you are done.  The notion that the planet is getting too full just means that you have to raise competitive kids who will strive to get ahead and thus be able to provide for themselves.  What is the harm in raising 1-2 kids, when there are people out there still cranking out 10 kids or more and living in poverty and mayhem?  I think that is a harm to the environment, not to mention when some of these wild-ass kids grow up and don't respect the people or environment around them.  I'm all for people having kids, if they are going to raise them properly.  Assholes spitting out kids because they don't understand birth control should be sterilized, unloved kids are a burden on society, as ugly as that sounds.

    As for the guy on the radio, I think he just has to find the right person.  I am pretty sure it wasn't the lady he went out with, but there have to be some females who might be open to that idea.  Maybe he needs someone like Wife to just get herself preggers on him, then he might come around, who knows.

1/19/22 Another Disappointing Trip To Maxwell Ford?

     I love a good Ford vehicle, but I cannot believe what they are doing with the prices nowadays.  There seems to be no shame, and I guess they don't need to show any when people are still obviously buying into whatever they are doing and getting away with.  I like to walk the lot every time I go in for an oil change and it was time again for our Escape, which we bought a year and a half ago for $11,000.  This car has been great, other than buying new tires for it, all we have had to do is change the oil.  We bought it with 73,000, and it is about to go over 100,000 here in a month or so.

    I decided to go today because I know there is a strong cold front coming tonight and I don't want to feel like I have to be doing this in the cold or on the weekend.  Since I like to walk around, today was perfect.  The weather outside right now (11:00am), is probably 68, so I took my time.  It still turned into a shit show.  First of all, the section of the lot that used to hold a couple hundred trucks in the past is now just parking for the employees.  They only have a handful of choices for each model.  I really only saw one used F-250.  They had maybe 20 new F-150 trucks, but the nice Platinum was $73,000, might as well get an F-250 at that point.

    I then walked over to the two new Broncos they had outside, I assume they were for sale, although they have been making a stink that one won't be able to buy one for a year unless we ordered them when they were announced.  These two could be ones that were canceled on by other customers.  Either way, the price looked good on the 4-door model with a soft top, at $48,000, but then they have the balls to add $30,000 from the dealership.  Maybe I have the prices flipped, but they are both over $70,000 (just checked online).  At least put a big V-8 engine we can brag about for that money.  I refuse to get a new car for more than $50,000 with a dinky 4-cylinder engine.

    I then kept walking in disgust and didn't really see any used F-250 trucks.  They had a good-looking Ranger, not that I want a small vehicle, but they are nice to get around town and park anywhere.  It was used, with 6,000 miles, it had a sticker saying, "No Warranty", but they were still wanting $43,000.  This is a small truck, no leather, no sunroof, WTF!

    At this point, I just went back inside and drank the shitty coffee.  At least they are throwing a little pastry offering with the coffee as we wait.  Maybe I should just learn to sit in the waiting room and stop looking.  At this point, I am just going to keep driving my Excursion for the rest of my life.

1/18/22 Do I Have The Balls To Start Over?

     I really felt insulted with the crap they came up with this week to get after us.  I would understand if we had gotten lazy and we were letting our customers down, but I swear, at least the chemistry group, we are right near 100% completion rate on any work requests for the stuff I work on.  Sure, there are sometimes weird experiments and that is handled by our manager or the more experienced people, and with having to discuss the work with the customer, those type of jobs may occasionally fall through the cracks.  The stuff I work on is always completed, and there are 24hr jobs, ones that need to be done by the next day coming in at least 3 out of the 4 days I am there, they are very common.

    I know that a lot of the reason I haven't tried looking for another job is because I am comfortable most of the time, but maybe this is a sign that I should shop myself around.  I just hate the idea of starting over and having to meet new people and proving to a new group that I am useful.  Boy has been encouraging me, as well as Wife to apply to Tesla, or Samsung.  Both of these companies especially are investing big time in the area, Tesla is building a new plant in Del Valle, and Samsung is also putting in a new $17billion dollar fab in Taylor.  Just looking at the cost of housing in the area, and the median house selling for $500,000, salaries have to be climbing to keep up, yet here we are with no raises in over 10 years.  We got a lump sum of money about three years ago, and we were told that would be a more regular thing, but it only happened once.

    I don't think management did us any favors by also telling me (not sure if they told this to the others), you can be replaced if you don't like it.  I was also told "If you want to continue working your current time, you can become a part time worker."  I don't think they could have said it any clearer that I am not really a valued employee, if anyone can come in and replace me.  Never mind the years of loyalty I have given them, and it was their stupid idea to let us be so fluid on our schedules.

    Like Boy has told me, in today's environment, where people can productively work from home, can conduct business through the computer, and so many other ways, we stumbled on a method that was working for us, I wasn't even minding not getting raises, if they were going to keep looking the other way on our time.  Wife says the first step is to write up a new resume, that might be enough for me to get the ball rolling.

1/17/22 Spanking At Work?

     Well, I guess fun time's over.  I got the proverbial spanking at work for leaving early hundred too many times.  I still call bullshit on the whole thing.  Back in 2020, when things were at their worst with Covid-19, we were told that in order to reduce exposure, we had permission to come in do as much work as was required to keep things going and just worry about what was going to be due the next day, maybe prep the upcoming stuff so it would get done in time.  The important part was to keep up with customer demands, still meet our deadlines on getting the data required to our customers and still feel safer because we didn't just have to sit onsite to meet our time demands.  I was even converted from an hourly, which I had been since I started there in November of 1995 to an exempt.  Since it had been years since I had made any extra money from over time, it seemed the smart thing to do.  By doing this, it allowed me to come and go as I pleased, provided the work was done.

    I thought we had become very efficient at working in this manner, I even got in the habit of running both analysis tools, which essentially doubles my work output and allowed me to do double the work in half the time.  Prior to this, we could only use the other company's tool if ours was down.  Since we were qualified and allowed to run our product on that tool, it just seemed like silly human rules to not use the tool, the other company only works 8-5pm, so the tool is empty and not used in the evenings, which is why I've been the only one to get into this habit.  You could say on any given day, I was only at work for 5-6 hours, but in that time, I was not taking coffee breaks, I stopped watching shows on Netflix, all I was doing was focusing on getting whatever work done, and then leaving.  Trust me, I may be only there 5 hours, but nobody else's lab coat has sweat stains, I hardly sit down, and really enjoyed working at that rate, with the understanding that my reward would be a short shift most days.

    For whatever reason, the dinosaurs in charge have decided we should all be back to full time on site, I guess we can ignore Covid now, it has lost its star status as the disease of the week.  We were told this sometime around August to go back to normal, but none of us really wanted to, and why should we, the work was all getting done, and we were as happy as idiots who haven't seen a raise in over ten years can be, given the circumstances.  We were all given a sheet which showed the door data, funny enough, they had said they would not be looking at this data when I brought it up before.  This shows how long we are in the building because we have to scan in and out.  My time was pretty much what I thought it would be, I have been onsite 49.1% of the time I am supposed to be there.  I don't think it was quite right, I only showed 8 hours of vacation in the months between August and December.  I know I was off for a week in November for Thanksgiving and the last two weeks of the year for the Christmas holidays.

    There is no fucking way that I will go back to ten hours a day and work at the rate I was working before, I'll stay the full shift, if I must, but I will only run one tool, like everybody else.  I also asked about bringing my hours down some more.  I can't go back to working the true night shift anymore, it has left my internal clock messed up.  I am writing this right now at 1:00am, I really should be asleep, I have to get up in the morning to take Baby A to school.  I am going to try to work something like noon to 10:00pm, or maybe if I put my lunch on the end of the shift, get out at 9:00pm.

1/16/22 Dealing With Covid Boy?

     Baby A came down with Covid-19 last week.  We tested him on Thursday after he woke up looking like he had the flu.  I would have left it alone and believed it was just the flu, maybe the cool Flurona, but after hearing six other wrestlers also were positive pretty much told me he had caught it.  I hate to say the name, but Victory Medical is my new favorite place to go for our medical needs, specifically the one in Bee Caves.  This location is so clean and quiet, I just feel relaxed being here, as compared to going to other places which always add a waiting component to the visit.

    Anyways, by the time I took him, he was full into his sickness, but as bad as he looked, it was over pretty quick.  His biggest ailment was muscle soreness, he was moving like my dad, just missing the ooh ooh ooh every time he sat.  Since he had overdone it in the weight room, he had thought it was this Tuesday and Wednesday, when he started going downhill.  I was pretty sure I was going to get it again; we were at the wrestling meet with them, and he spends all his time at home with us, when he is awake.  I thought it was funny when I called to work and they asked me "well, have you been close to him?"  My response was "we are currently touching elbows in the car (the Ford Escape is rather small), so yeah we have been close, but he will be quarantined in his room when we get home."  I can't say he was quarantined all that badly, like I was a year ago.  We let him come down and sit with us on his end of the sofa and watch a movie while we ate.  This has been our routine for lunch and dinner all weekend.

    He woke up Saturday happy that he could squat almost normally, and he said his chest was not feeling as congested.  It is now Sunday and Wife and I still feel fine, I can't think he is still as contagious as he might have been on Wednesday or Thursday last week.  He was pretty much back to normal today, but I think he is enjoying the "having to stay home and not doing anything."

    Boy was trying to be in a panic, as little as he has been here.  When he came and saw Baby A sitting in the living room, he started with his passive aggressive shit about he is supposed to be locked up, Wife surprisingly told him "Shut up!", something she never does.  He kind of got the hint, and that might have been part of the reason he went to go sleep at his girlfriend's house.

    I thought it was interesting that when we got home from the doctor and Baby A found out he was sick with Covid, Boy got home early from work because he went to go get his third vaccine shot, or his booster.  They were both sick for about the same amount of time, Boy woke up Friday with sore muscles and a sore arm where he got the shot.  Both were up and moving about fine by Friday night.  I am not saying the booster is a bad idea, but it does seem like the latest Covid is mild and it might spread faster, but with less devastating results.  In all, nine or ten of the wrestlers tested positive, but they are all feeling better by now, as Mijo heard through their group text.

1/15/22 Boy Is Moving On Up?

     Boy told us last night that he has signed a lease and will be moving out sometime in late February.  Although I am happy for him, if this is what he wishes to do, it is in total contrast to what we had talked about just a couple weeks ago.  During the Christmas break, we had a pretty good discussion of how he should work on saving money this year (for a house), after getting a nice bonus at the end of the year and thinking that would happen again at the end of this year.  He assured us he wasn't in a rush, which sounded good, if it were up to us, I'd like him to aggressively start paying down his school loans, but then again, he is now 27 and probably really wanting to start his own life.

    It is of course exciting to venture out, and we will support him on this (not financially, but still), but there is a yin and a yang to everything.  For the immediate freedom he will experience moving out and playing house with the girlfriend (I would prefer they get married first), there will also be a penalty of him losing his ability somewhat to save money for a down payment.  It is unfortunate, but houses in Austin are very expensive, the median price for a home in late 2021 is $498,000 and even saving up the down payment is rough when realtors expect 5% to 20% down.

    The apartment sounds good, it is in North Austin, he said about 15 minutes from his work.  It has 2 bedrooms, and a total of 1300 sq ft.  That is actually a big apartment, that sounds about the size of our first house.  The complex is gated, and they supposedly have 24hr security walking the premises, which makes me feel better.  The cost will be a pretty penny, at $1700 a month plus utilities but the unit even has washer/dryer connections.  With the 2 bedrooms, they'll have room to take some of his 3D printers and hopefully all the kitchen utensils which have taken over our kitchen.

    My only change if I could have anything to do with this whole thing, is I would have preferred he stayed down in south Austin, but I guess I should be happy he is still going to be in the same city.  I doubt we will see him during the week, we are sometimes too busy to see each other during the week right now and we live in the same house.

    I felt a big loss when he moved out a few years ago when he lived in San Marcos for two years while going to school, I don't deny that.  I didn't feel he was ready to leave us, he was still very immature.  I feel different now, he is 27, he has shown us to be very responsible and acts like a grown up most of the time.  He has had three different jobs now, each for a good amount of time, and what we hear is that he is appreciated and respected wherever he works, so at this point, I have to assume he will be alright.  We will certainly gain a bunch more room in the house.  We will keep his room as a guest room, but much much much cleaner.  I will gain the usage of the room next to his and probably move the weights in there.  This will then allow us to convert the room downstairs into another guest room for when my parents come and visit.

1/14/22 Black-ish Is Getting Worse?

     I loved the first few years of Black-ish, I thought Anthony Anderson personified the perfect modern-day dad, try as you might, your kids still own you and kick your ass, at the end of the day.  I loved the chemistry and I felt relatable, how his feelings would get hurt and he'd pout like a child when he didn't get his way, or his family didn't support him on some crazy idea.  Then they got political, and sorry but as Trump says "everything that goes woke, turns to shit."

    This is supposed to be the last season, and this is about the last show I am watching on TV with new content, but they are making it hard to stay with it.  I can accept the one episode where they are going to show us about Martin Luther King, or some other important black moment, but the show can't do this every other week.  This season, Dre, the dad, is starting work in the big time, he has been promoted from the "urban" department to the main one that does commercials for the Super Bowl, that kind of stuff.  Right off the bat, he turned me off with his assuming that white people just get there without working hard.  I think the company does well because it has the best people at the top spots.  His character has done the work and now he has arrived.  That is how life works.  We started on food stamps and in a shitty apartment, now we're here.  I think that is the way for most people.  He wants to whine about nepotism amongst the white people, yet he got his son into his job and already hovering around the talent as an assistant, sorry bro, but that is nepotism as well.  

    His wife has also been promoted to the board or something important at her hospital, yet she spends more time at home than even I do.  I doubt she is even working forty hours as much as she seems to be home.  I thought doctors got paid good money because they ignored their families and were always at work saving people.

    The lessons the kids have been learning lately are just plain horrible.  In the last episode, Diane, the younger daughter, is being wooed by a guy at school and there was a scene where the family is trashing the purse the boy gave her as a gift.  The bag was a Louis Vuitton backpack that new would sell for close to $2000.  Why in the fuck would a ditzy teenager need or deserve a bag like that?  Why would a teenage boy be gifting such a gift?  Why would her family shame him for buying a knockoff bag and call him trash?  I was thoroughly confused that the lesson from this scene wasn't "this boy is in high school, he doesn't owe you anything this expensive."  I guess these assholes are rich, with the executive dad and the doctor mom, so money isn't a problem for them, but fuck them.  That was such a shitty scene.

1/13/22 Covid Finally Got The Wrestling Team?

     I knew we were just waiting for it to show its ugly face, there was no way the team was going to go all season without an outbreak the way they all carry on.  Wrestling is kind of an intimate sport, as much as it is violent.  The team of boys and girls are pretty much forced to share an impossibly small space either while awaiting their turn to fight, while sitting in the bleachers because there are always way too many schools involved in the big tournaments, and then there's the fighting itself which surely involves the exchange of sweat and tears as close as they have to get to one another.

    Baby A just did not look right the past week, he had been blaming football class, which the head coach came out and pushed the boys to max efforts on their weightlifting abilities and this left our young beast almost crawling afterwards.  He said the wrestling coach was even a little upset because all the boys in football were hurting during practice, struggling just to move.  I then thought it was very weird that on Wednesday night he was still hurting, this is a 17-year-old that does nothing but work out, a hard day in the gym shouldn't destroy him this much.  Thursday morning, he didn't wake up on his usual time, 6:30am (he likes to get up early to have time to himself).  I went and knocked on his door and he was still in bed and sounding sick as he ever has.  I told him he would stay home, then Wife got me moving to go get him tested.

    He tested positive, by then he had heard four other kids on the team were positive, and while he called the coach to tell him, the coach said another kid just called him as well that he was also positive.  As of right now, there are 6 cases of Covid on the wrestling team.  I was sure that the meet this week would be cancelled, but I guess the show must go on.  The list of wrestlers was released, and the 3rd string heavy is taking Mijo's place.  The 2nd string guy, who wrestles on JV squad has a possible torn AC joint, the same injury our boy got playing football, he too landed weird on his shoulder during wrestling practice much like Mijo did on the football field back in October.

    I figure if this had to happen, this is perfect.  The meet this weekend is a small Tri-meet, with just three school participating, and there isn't a meet next weekend.  There will be another small Tri-Meet on the Wednesday the following week, but that should be past the 10 days our son has to quarantine from sports.  The district meet is then going to be the week after, on the 2nd of February, I believe.  Hopefully, all the wrestlers heal up by then, and Mijo can get back to doing what he loves.  He already looked better a while ago, he was sounding like his usual spicy self, and he said the soreness from his muscles was starting to go away.  I jokingly asked if he was worried about the kid taking his place, he said "nah, I can take him." with a smile.

1/12/22 The Downside Of Owning Too Much Stuff?

     Everything requires maintenance, and that is where stuff falls apart, literally.  I usually do a pretty good job of maintaining our vehicles.  Wife racks up the miles, I get the oil changes done when needed.  I got the bright idea of getting a backup car last year, just before prices got crazy, and got our little Ford Escape.  The car has been more than great, and Wife drives it a good amount for work, until it needs an oil change, then she'll drive the Telluride for a week or so.  Right before Christmas break, the Excursion suddenly developed a loud noise, and I thought it was simply the muffler had rusted through, the thing is like 17 years old now.  I didn't think much more than that and just jumped into the next vehicle and kept going.  It probably took another two weeks before I even discussed anything to do with it and that is when my dad put the idea of stolen catalytic converter out in the air.  Turned out to be right, so now I really didn't want to drive it, knowing it is going to cost me at least $1000, if I know the Ford place well.  Fast forward to today and I was sure it had been too long, and it probably was not even going to start.  I then thought well, if it sits longer other things might start going bad, and I do have a nice battery charger, if it gets to that.  I was happy it started after a few rough sounds.  It sounds horrendous and I can't understand how all those cool guys that take the muffler off on purpose can enjoy riding around with all that noise.  I just backed it up and moved it over in the driveway and it annoyed me so much.  How can someone willingly think that noise is good?  We need to pay down some of our Christmas expenses before looking into spending more money to get this fixed.

    The pool is my original albatross, man do I have a love/hate relationship with that thing.  On the one hand, I love the idea of owning my own pool, but on the other, it is such a hassle keeping up with it year-round, that a lot of the time, I just don't.  Somehow or other, we accidentally repaired wherever it had been leaking for the last few years and currently, it has still been holding water since around August.  This has got me a little interested in not letting it turn green and we were doing okay, until I ran out of chlorine, which I had ordered a 25-pound tub in the spring.  I bit the bullet and went and bought a 35-pound tub last week (another $200) and filed the chlorinator hoping that would be enough, but I guess the algae is still trying to fuck with me.  I went out there a while ago, opened up the water hose (I had covered it for freezes), and primed the pump to run.  I was surprised it all started so easy, and I went ahead and brushed the walls loose of any algae and took out as many leaves and floating stuff as I could.  This, with some shock and running the pump overnight should clear the water up in a day or two.  I am hoping it holds water like it has, and I will start using it as soon as we get into a series of 80-degree days.

Wife just texted to be a dear, since I am doing stuff outside and take down the last of the Christmas lights in the balcony.  Like I said, there is a downside to having nice things.  There is always work to keep up with stuff.

1/11/22 Covid Today?

     We are still living with Covid-19 and trying to do the best we can.  I will admit I got vaccinated twice, which was the original recommendation, this was after I had gotten Covid last January.  I did not want to get vaccinated because I felt that already having been exposed, I would be safe, but that is not how the people in charge see things.  In order for Baby A to participate in sports, he would have to get vaccinated.  We had held off doing this, because he did home schooling the previous year and I didn't want him shot up with something that hasn't been tested and looked at for years.  All he cared about was being able to play, so he decided to get the shots.  I figured since I was the last one, I might as well do it too.  If something bad does happen to them, Boy had already done it and so had Wife, why would I want to be left out?  All for one and one for all, as they say.

    They still tell us it is super scary, but honestly, everywhere we go, hardly anyone is ever wearing masks.  Last week, at the wrestling meet, we were told we were at stage 5, and that everyone had to wear their masks, but still, once we were inside, hardly any of the spectators were wearing them correctly.  They might have their mouths covered, but few had it on properly.  I can't wear it, the humidity makes my nose run, then I have to constantly be blowing my nose, it just sucks.  I'll do it if everyone is doing it, I am not going to fight over it, but if the majority of people aren't wearing it, then I'll be a part of that group.

    The CDC director came out and said a couple weeks ago that if the mask wasn't N95, it wasn't really doing anything other than giving the allusion of helping.  This same director came out this week saying that at least 75% of people that have died have had at least four comorbidities, which is saying a lot.  I don't want to outright say that Covid is made up, but it is probably just a little worse than the flu, who quietly kills a lot of people every year.

    It just strikes me as odd that some colleges are going back on lockdowns, even Crystal City, our hometown, is back on a lockdown.  My mom said my nephews are back to learning from home for a week or two while the new Omicron variant does its thing.

    Is there an end in sight though?  I have heard that there is now Flurona, and even Deltacron, as the different strains keep mixing and matching with one another.

1/10/22 We Want This Weather Until We Get It?

     Year round, I keep hoping for cooler weather.  Yet now that it is cooler, I can't seem to function, all I want to do is stay in bed.  Maybe it doesn't help that we don't run the heater as we should, Friday for example, after we got home from the wrestling meet, inside our house, the temperature was 63.  Baby A was not feeling himself and asked for the heat to be turned on.  I would normally say "put some warm-us on, but since we are just being lazy and staying in the house, I figure it should be a little comfortable.  I turned the heat on to 72, and the house instantly felt better.  I even felt like I could be in the kitchen on the computer, compared to when we walked in the door, I just wanted to hide under the covers.

    On top of that, the weather has been sneaky.  It'll slide up to mid 70's, which even seems to require a little A/C, but then overnight, all of a sudden, we'll go back down to the 40's.  I know it's not really cold for the people who live up north, but it is cold enough for us.  Right now, it is 59 outside, not bad, while the thermostat says 69 inside the house.  I don't quite want to turn on the heat, it is a battle of saving a couple bucks in electric.  I also know the temperature for later in the week is going to crawl up into the 70's, so we shouldn't need heat, but even then, it can get chilly at night.  Well, never mind, I just looked at forecast, and we will be in the upper 30s the next two nights, so even if it is nice during the day, 30s sounds cold.

    Wife is really bad with this.  She'll complain it is hot in the house, with the heater on and open a window, then like Sunday, she'll turn on the heater in the bathroom, so she won't be cold during her shower.  I say if you're going to freeze us during the day, "Toughen up Buttercup" and enjoy the cold when you shower.

    Maybe I have just contracted my Dad's lazy disease.  All I want to do is sleep and watch TikToks all day, which is all he does.  Dammit, I need another 20 years before I can live the life.  It'll be hot before we know it, and that usually gets me out of my funk, even if it gets me complaining that it is too hot.

1/9/22 Are All Wrong Numbers Scams, Nowadays?

     I woke up to a weird text from a chick looking for a Ben.  She said she was back in town, and she wanted to reconnect, if he was interested.  It sounded legit, so I texted back, "I think you got a wrong number, sorry."  She then sends a pic, which could have been sent with original message, but it just took a minute to arrive, and apologized, but said since she was new and didn't have anyone to talk to if I wanted to text.  I like texting, and no, it wasn't dirty, I asked if she was here for work or school, she didn't answer correctly, like avoided and mentioned what is there to do for fun.  I mentioned some of the activities, like going downtown and the food trucks and all that, but that we never go out, we are consumed by our son's activities, wrestling right now.  Again, she didn't laugh or add anything to that, I mean, in a conversation, you respond to what people say.

    She then said she had just gotten off the treadmill and sent a nude, very nice pic, but what am I supposed to do with that?  I said nice pic, she then wanted me to start painting a sexy scenario, to which I said "sorry, you're not tracking very well, I think you might be a bot."  She then responded that she was not a bot and that I was getting weird.  At this point, I blocked the number.  I knew better, but I wouldn't mind the random text where you text with a stranger and give them recommendations on your city and things to do and stuff.  At least the face pic matched the body, and all the tattoos matched the spirit of someone who might send those types of pictures to a stranger.

    What is the end game to that, though?  If I already saw you naked (you sent a pic voluntarily), why would I pay to see more, if that was your angle?  If you want money from strangers and you aren't shy, set up an Only Fans page, she was attractive enough to get some suitors, I would imagine.  

    It has been a slow weekend, since Mijo was done with wrestling on Friday, we got Saturday all free, and we enjoyed it by sleeping the day away.  We saw a few movies yesterday, nothing to write home about.  We saw the new Ghostbusters, it was meh, saw some Love and Monsters that looked promising, but I fell asleep.  Then we watched From Dusk till Dawn and Mijo did not like that it turned into a vampire movie, he thought it was just a heist movie.  It got too stupid for him once the vampires showed up.

1/8/22 Jock On Campus?

     I enjoy when Baby A tells us stories of his day-to-day activities at school, after all, he is a student athlete, so he does spend time in school as a student, something he rarely even mentions, it seems.  We spend so much time focusing on him physically since he is at practice every day and we really do worry about him hurting his body the way they go at each other every day.  Since school just got back under way, his focus has been classes, and getting back in the routine of things.

    He told us since his ACC classes (he is taking college classes at the same time as high school classes) haven't started, they are supposed to stay in the library, which I guess is mostly to keep them housed somewhere.  He thought it would be a good idea to follow some of his friends to class, since it was one of the coaches (offensive line coach) he likes who teaches, he surely wouldn't mind.  As all his friends slide in, the coach stopped him at the door and pulled him aside, asking "what are you doing, did you just transfer into this class?"  Mijo trying to be slick said "no Coach, I don't have ACC class yet, I was going to hang out in your class and observe."  Coach apparently likes him enough, because he just told him "How do I punish you if you get loud or disrupt the lesson?"  Mijo says "I'll do 25 diamond push-ups."  Coach says "nah, I'll tell the wrestling coach on you, make them punish you."  Mijo kind of agreed, but he saw that his friends inside heard, and he could tell they were going to get him in trouble just to be funny, so he slithered back to the library.

    He then told us of two unintentional confrontations involving him getting hit in the chest.  On one, he says he was walking with his group of friends, walking and talking, not paying attention, all of a sudden, the guy in front of him swerves aside and as he looks forward, one of the smaller girl wrestlers tackles into him as she is almost running through the hallways, in a rush.  I find this cute, because Mijo is a solid big boy and I know she is one of the smaller 110–120-pound wrestlers (sorry, that's how they are measured) and she basically is just going to bounce off of him.  She is one of his buddies, so he just gave her a "get out of here..." swing with his arm.  His mouthy friend yells "Damn Baby A, always abusing women..." which embarrassed him a bit as other girls turned and looked at him.

    The third one was a classic, jock versus band nerd (I only say that because I was one).  He knows there are territories and going into the band hall is not something he wants to do, but he was looking for a friend of his who is always in the band hall.  He walks in there, not looking for any trouble, he just had a message for his friend, and another kid, at seeing Mijo with two other guys stands in front of him, pokes him in the chest and tells him "Stop! you shouldn't be here, I'm going to tell the band director."  Who the hell does that, seriously?"  Our boy was left confused, like I almost felt angry enough to kick his ass, but I left, it was fine.  Telling on him is such a child move, I remember the band director recognizing me last year, she still remembers Mijo was in band his freshman year, she loves our boy and was still saying she wishes he was still playing, so I doubt she would have responded negatively.

1/7/22 Centex Invitational Wrestling Tournament?

     I was not looking forward to the tournament this week because of all the logistics involved.  The meet was held at Eastside Memorial High School, which is on the eastside of Austin, somewhere between 7th and 12th street.  The school looked fairly new to me, with walls of windows making it look very modern.  The only giveaway that it was a school from the outside was the football field on one side.  Even the gym was incorporated into the big main building, so it didn't really look like a gym.  It was an interesting layout, we walked into the gym on a second level above the playing field, then we could walk the stairs down to the floor, not that they were allowing that, because of the new stricter Covid rules.  The new rules also meant we were separated from the kids, which they were supposed to either hang out in a small side gym, on the floor or we could take some tents and have the kids outside.  I went and bought two large tents, in case that is what all the school were doing, but none of the kids ended up doing that.  It was really too cold to try and be outside for extended amounts of time.  I also ended up driving completely around the campus and only finding some parking on the opposite side of the school.  I then had to walk with a cooler full of drinks, and another package of water bottles on top of that all the way around which was kind of a pain in the ass.

    Baby A also had his worst outing of the season, he lost both matches, so he was done after one day of wrestling.  I had so many mixed feelings about this, but I don't think Mijo was that bothered, or he just processes things differently.  I worry he might have lost because he is injured or something else is affecting his thinking, he is usually lit up, maybe walks a little aggressively and I didn't see this.  Ultimately, this is his thing, we are there to support him, so if he says he is ok, we have to be ok.  ON the plus side, we get to sleep-in Saturday and Sunday, so I guess it's not all bad.  One point that did make me think was that he brought up that this will be it this year, as far as sports.  He will not be looking for track and field or powerlifting, he feels drained and like he hasn't been able to do anything else but be a slave to practice.  I guess with the two weeks off for the holidays, he sees that he could be spending his time taking it easy and not killing himself every day.  I understand this thinking, maybe his shoulder is hurting more than he is letting on, he did say it got tweaked again in the second match, as I was thinking I didn't believe a shoulder could turn back that much when the kid was holding him down.

    Last thing I want is for Mijo to walk away from this sport injured, so if he says he is done, that is fine by me.  He says he just wants to focus on getting stronger for next year, which I can appreciate, lifting weights is not a contact sport, and hopefully, he'll get a few months to heal any lingering strains.

1/6/22 Cobra Kai Season 4?

     I guess this might have some spoilers, but the new season has been out a week or two.  We love this show, it just comes together so perfectly, even with all the glaring problems we see from the parents.  In the new season, they are already doing prep work if they decide to continue the drama of fighting your problems out by showing the younger kid more and creating an enemy for him in the new kid, who honestly was just trying to fit in.  I really hated young LaRusso's friends more who kept taunting him to "do something about it", when there was nothing to be done, the new kid was struggling to make any friends.

    Overall, that is where I kind of have a problem, if this was a real family.  Daniel is a successful businessman, with a car dealership.  Why is he distracting himself so much from what he should be focused on?  Stop making life about you being the center of the goddammed world and remember you have kids.  Even when his kid does end up getting in trouble, his solution is not to engage with the kid, but to send him to his room and isolate him even more.  His relationship with his daughter is also dependent on her learning his karate, when he should be happy she interested at all.  She is a rich pretty girl, I can't imagine my niece lining up to take a kick to the face, just because this is what daddy is into.  He is actually upset when he finds out she has been learning different karate, not just his, until he swallows his pride and sees that it helps her win.

    For the drama, this show is perfect, in reality, it would be silly.  At one point, the old guard, Kreese and his partner get into it with Johnny, again, and a fight ensues.  The choreography was great, but I can't imagine a 70 something year old man taking a kick from someone thirty years younger and walking away.  A stiff breeze makes my dad lose his balance, and he is from the Vietnam era.  These old geezers are still performing round house kicks like they are 16 years old.  As I have said, I think I'm kind of strong and solid, until I try to grab my 16-year-old in a wrestling hold.  That is a beast I don't want to unleash, there is no way, these 70-year-old men can physically compete with the young people on screen.

    There seemed to be a new exciting development in every episode, each ending with an amazing new cliffhanger.  This stuff wouldn't fly in the real world, but as far as this world created by Daniel and Johnny, anything can and will be solved with some fighting.  As exciting as the All-Valley championship was, how can you top off the fight we waited for all season, the conclusion left a new cliffhanger that only leaves us excited for the new season.

1/5/22 Back To Normal?

     It took a couple extra days, but we are finally back to normal.  Baby A started school again today, so I dropped him off at 8:30am and it finally feels normal here.  I love having him home, but the last two days we also had to add wrestling practice, and it gets a little old because they are not long enough.  With football, he might be gone the rest of the day between weightlifting and running and everything else involved, I can do stuff, but wrestling practice is very focused and only lasts two hours.  I have to drop him off, come home, or like Monday, I went grocery shopping, but I have to stay mindful and pick him up when it's done.

    Normal means I drop him off at 8:30am and can plan the rest of the day as I need to.  I ran to Target to get some Texas toast for our spaghetti tonight, and I can take it easy, maybe work out, then go to work, knowing he will be busy until almost 7:00pm and Wife gets to pick him up.  

    I don't know if it was a lazy thing or that I just let Wife take over, but I have been planning and doing a lot of our dinners nowadays, but during the two-week break, I barely even washed dishes.  I think we are back to normal, I made chili last night. and already have the spaghetti lined up for tonight.  I also took the chicken from the freezer and put it in the fridge to start thawing for tomorrow night's dinner.  I used to hate the thought of doing any of the cooking, but now I kind of look forward to it.  I still haven't fixed the grill, and that is something we haven't been enjoying as much, but we are technically in winter, so it's ok.

    With the new year, I am planning to start a new workout regiment, I just kind of need to get off my ass and start doing it.  I haven't really started wasting time on YouTube today, so I think if I keep my YouTube time to the TV in the weight room, then I can at least do some light lifting, which I hope will spark my "want" again.  With that being said, I am using this writing as a crutch too, so I will cut it short and get off my ass.  We'll see how it goes.

1/4/22 The World Changed, I didn't?

     For the last two years or so, I have been calling myself a conservative and pretty much feeling good about it, but I was listening to some discussions, and it may be truer to say I didn't change, society decided to go farther away from center, and I was left looking more conservative than I ever thought I could be.  A big thing conservatives like to lean on is the bible, and I still think it is just a book, plenty of good stories to learn from, but I don't believe in everything in there.  I also don't care about abortion, the fewer unwanted babies on the planet, the better.  All those unloved, uncared for babies have a much higher percentage of turning into criminals and that doesn't do any favors for society.  If anything, the bible has guilted us into holding back on preventative measures which could reduce the need for abortions.  I have always liked the idea of putting birth control in the water or making teens with babies relying on government support to get on Norplant or whatever works to prevent more children.

    I have gone to the right on gun control.  I used to fear the idea of guns, but now I accept that if the criminals are going to have them, the good people of society should have them as well.  If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have them, as the saying goes.

    This whole trip was started by the media when BLM was made a thing, but I don't believe black people were looked at unfavorably a few years ago.  I grew up in a world where my favorite quarterback was Warren Moon, my favorite shows were The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, The Cosbys, Martin, all great because they knew how to talk shit, and it was funny.  Our music was permeated and made better with all the greats, from Michael Jackson to Prince, the talent was and still is non-stop.  I don't know where all this hate came from, it wasn't around ten years ago, in my opinion.

    I could not continue supporting the side that was okay with demonstrations, against the police, for a very minute number of instances where bad policing was maybe evident.  These demonstrations only helped to destabilize inner cities and make even more dangerous those places where poor people already live.  All we see as a result of all of this destruction is small businesses driven out, old buildings destroyed, rampant looting to the point where regular people will not visit or vacation to those destinations.  As things are right now, there is no way I would want to travel to Chicago, New York, Portland, San Francisco.  All those places are full of history and interesting in their own way, but because of what has transpired over the past two years, I just don't think it is safe right now.

1/3/22 AITA 2?

     I probably will come out of this as the asshole again, but what can I do?  I went grocery shopping this morning after dropping off Baby A at wrestling practice at 10:00am (they don't start school until Wednesday).  I was not in any particular hurry, and I usually do the shopping nowadays, so this was as casual as I can get to do this chore that I will admit I don't love doing but I handle.  Anyways, I was minding my own business, getting things we needed and/or was requested, such as more toothpaste, Dr. Pepper, hairspray, cucumbers and on.  I hate going back and forth, but I do sometimes, like when I decide I am going to make chili later in the week.  I then have to go back and get the right cans of beans and cornbread mix.

    Eventually I made it to the meat section, and I usually get a whole chicken, cut into its parts in a big flat styrofoam pack.  I have compared the prices and I have found this is cheaper than buying the chicken whole or just split in half.  Again, I was not in a hurry, but in my way was one of those new carts being handled by an HEB employee for the ever so convenient lazy fuck who doesn't want to shop for themselves and she was at the perfect range where she could fit between her cart and the chicken and if I was 100 pounds, I could have probably fit in with her, but I am a gross 400 pound 50 year old man, I am not going to try and get anywhere near close to a 20 something twit chick in painted on pants.  I decided to wait, I was whistling whatever Billy Joel or soft rock song was playing over the intercom and thinking "well, she'll pack her one pack of chicken and move along... well maybe two since it is a big cart..." at what point does this become ridiculous?  She went and packed about 4 separate packages of chicken in plastic bags, like she was scanning and bagging at checkout.  The whole time I am staring at her in a "move your shit" kind of fashion.  She then decided it was the perfect place to bag the plastic bags into a paper bag, without moving.  I took this as a little passive aggressive, she knew I wanted to get to where she was at.  When she finally decided she was done, I continued whistling and whistled a little louder once she got her head out of her ass and acknowledged me, I motioned with my neck to "beat it" (moving it to the side).  Usually, people do an "I'm sorry" or "my bad, didn't see you", but this little Shit tells me "Use your words next time" or some shit like that.  I was like "huh?" and just said "yeah."  I proceeded to get my chicken and she came back to say something like "When we need people to move, we use our words."  I still barely acknowledged her and just gave her an up and down head nod.

    I guess me motioning with my head to "Scoot" was rude, but come on, she knew what she was doing, taking forever packing way too many packages right there, that was rude too.  I don't think I need to tell you to move when you have hogged the area for longer than a few seconds.  I am constantly aware of my surroundings and I don't want to be the guy slowing other people down because I am lost in my thoughts.  Save that shit for when you are home, out in public you should have your head on a swivel, as I always tell my boys.  So, Am I The Asshole?

1/2/22 Good Break To Reset For New Year?

     Today is the last day of our two-week vacation, and although we always wish we would have done more, I feel like it was a restful time to unwind and get our feet back on solid ground.  We saw my folks two days the first week and four days the second, which was nice since I am always being told I don't see them enough.  We spent New Year's Eve with my in-laws, I was surprised we didn't see them a bit more, but I leave that up to Wife.

    If there is something I wish we could have done more of, it would have been to stay up late and sleep in more.  It seems that because of Baby A and wrestling, we must be as disciplined as him.  The first weekend was taken over by the one meet, it wasn't until Monday that we got back to normal.  Then we went to Crystal City, which yes, we could stay up, but it isn't the same thing as doing it at home.  It was nice when we finally got home and were able to just run on our own internal clock, but that lasted only from Thursday until Sunday night.  By Monday, we were back to having to go to bed early for wrestling practice in the mornings.  I was glad to hear that he got the weekend off for New Year's, which means we got Friday through Sunday off too.  In total, we got about seven free days to do as we pleased, so I guess we can't complain.

    It is starting to look like Quintin Tarantino may be Baby A's favorite movie maker, he has liked all of his movies the best.  During the break, we saw Django Unchained and Inglorious Basterds and he really liked both movies, other than he thought they used the N word a bit too much.  We finally also got an out loud guffaw while watching Tropic Thunder towards the end when the Ben Stiller character is escaping the drug gang and he throws Half-Squat, the baby he decides he has adopted like a pinwheel into the jungle when he attacks him with a tiny knife.  It was a ridiculous scene, but I guess the overall effect got him, and he laughed out loud, which is very rare for our uptight young boy.  He was also left confused because he hated Tom Cruise for the Maverick character in Top Gun, but who can't love the Les Grossman show he puts on?   Cruise is almost unrecognizable as the heavyset bully, which Mijo kept saying he wants to be that guy when he grows up.

    It finally feels like the holidays with the cold finally deciding to show up as our break ends.  Mijo does have two more days, but Wife and I go back to work on Monday.  I don't know if we will have another freeze like we did last year, and if we do and we don't lose power, I am okay with it.  We never lost power or our water supply, so for us at least, it was just a week of taking it easy and staying in the house watching movies.  I'll do that for a freeze, or more Covid scares..., sounds good to me.

1/1/22 Last Night Of The Year Embodied What Was 2021?

     Last night was a concentrate of what we did all year.  I ate too much, napped, ate some more, made fun of some liberals, and hugged my loved ones.  We went and visited Wife's family for New Year's, we seem to do this because we can party with them and go home at the end of the night, where I prefer to wake up at.  It was a nice affair, all the important pieces of the family were there, unlike last year, when half the siblings were visiting with other people.

    The day started out slow, I got up maybe around 10:00am, drank my coffee and ate some of the cookies and cake that we've had around the house.  Wife then got up around noon and she made breakfast.  We ate together, which is always nice, Boy rarely joins us, but he was here.  After we ate, Wife said we would be leaving around 4-5pm, so I decided I should go lay down and maybe nap.  I laid down in our ghetto bed in the living room and was in and out of sleep for about 2 hours, mostly watching TikTok videos.  I then got up and showered, then we left around 5:00pm.  We got there around 6:30pm, the sun went down as we entered San Antonio, which was nice.  The traffic was packed but moving well.  We pulled into their house, just as the younger nephew came out to move one of the cars so we would fit better in the driveway.

    Wife's sister is a chef/cook, and her man loves BBQing even more than me.  I don't think we have stopped by when he hasn't just smoked a brisket, or some other exotic food.  Last night he was outside making "tripas", intestines, which I guess is a Mexican delicacy.  He said he started by boiling them for 2-3 hours, to soften them up, then frying them up for a good 30-40 minutes.  Apart from this, he had a separate grill and was making some "mollejas" (not even sure how they are spelled and saying the English word just makes it sound way more disgusting, but they are truly great, when cooked right).  I'm telling you; these people will fatten you up.  The other sister made a charcuterie board with all sorts of cheeses, crackers, and finger foods.  There were also empanadas with apple and pumpkin fillings, banana bread cupcakes that were still steaming when pulled apart, tamales, menudo, and so many other snacks.

    I had some fun, Wife told me not to get all political, but my in-laws gave me a sign which read "It's not my fault, I voted for Trump."  I thought that was awfully cute and I was having a good laugh when Wife's big liberal cousin walked in, with a blue mask.  I just reacted with a loud laugh and pointed, yelling something like "Ahhhh, of course you're wearing a mask!!!"  I thought it was funny because there was just a story I saw that says and the CDC admits that cloth masks are really just for show.  We should be wearing N95 masks if we really want protection, and come on, nobody is going to wear a mask like that, and then take it off to eat or drink.  If you are really that scared, stay home.  The cousin gave a lame "I'm wearing it because of the high levels of pollen outside, which sounded even weirder."  Wife had said not to get into it, so I just let it go, but it was funny for a minute.

    After eating a bunch of stuff, then taking about 6 jello shots and some coquito drink (some Puerto Rican alcoholic stuff), I was ready for another nap, so I went and laid down in my in-law's bedroom, which I have been doing the last couple years when we go visit.  This works great because I can nap, and Wife can talk all she wants with her people.  After about an hour and a half, I rejoined the party.  It was all good, the kids popped fireworks around 11:30pm (I am so glad my boys are past this, as I don't have to be out on the street supervising), then I helped Wife open the champagne bottles and poured the glasses right before midnight.  We rang the new year in right at the door running in and out trying to hand everyone a glass.  It could have been a bit cooler, I felt hot and clammy for a while after all the hoopla, I even thought I might actually be coming down with something, but I think now that I am fine, I just got uncomfortably hot for a bit.

    Wife helped to clean up for about 30 minutes, all the food had already been put away before while I was napping, so when we left the house was mostly back in order.  Honestly, with all the Jello shots and feeling hot and clammy, Wife drove and that was great.  I did stay awake most of the way, making small talk with her.  I-35 was surprisingly calm, and there was not much traffic, at 1:00am.  We got home at 2:00am and were probably in bed by 3:00am.  It is now 1:00pm and I can hear Wife stomping around upstairs, so let's see how this new year goes, it has to be better than fucking 2021.