2018-07-31
Busy day at work. Picked up Jack in the middle of the day to visit the
immunologist. Needed to talk about Eliza, but they won’t give you a follow-up
appointment unless you bring a kid along. Found him digging in the playground
with Eli and Josh. Appointment was good, happy to have a realistic action plan
for anaphylaxis, and not a knee-jerk of giving the epi-pen the moment Eliza
mentions a lump in her throat.
Picked up Jack after school and went shopping, then collected Eliza after
orchestra. Made mapu tofu for dinner, and second attempt at Japanese-style
grilled eggplant. Burned it this time. Hoping for third time lucky tomorrow.
Kids to bed, and I watched a couple of episodes of Handmaid’s Tale before
retiring. No HackTile.
2018-07-30
Walked Jack to school early for school banking. He showed me a map that he had
drawn with Eli and Josh for their Geology Club. It was a quite detailed map of
the school playground with measurements and everything, along with a description
of the digging conditions in the sand pit. Funny!
Returned the stools, then a work meeting and semi-busy day. Mark talking about
the new directory product again; got the creative juices flowing. Did three
repeats of the seven-minute workout. Watched Handmaid’s Tale at lunch. Walked
Jack home from school, then to the shops to stock up on some Japanese items.
Bought small eggplants to have another attempt at grilled eggplant for tomorrow
night. After shopping we picked up Eliza from quiz club.
Home to help Eliza cook the oven backed panko-and-parmesan crusted fish and
potato wedges. Turned out great, and enough food for us all to have seconds, and
save enough for lunch for all of us tomorrow. Value! Put the kids to bed, then
watched an episode of The West Wing. Nada HackTile.
2018-07-29
Up early to help Jack finish his North Shore homework, which we neglected
yesterday. Then Dzung took him in, and Eliza went to tennis. I did some
housework, then breakfasted while reading, and took delivery of the “You Plate
It” box for the coming week. Then some gardening out the back. Off to Van and
Kiet’s for lunch of vietnamese pancakes. Would have been perfect with a beer,
but still doing dry July.
Home in the afternoon to help Eliza clean up her room. Then read some more in
the sunshine before playing a bit of Elite Dangerous, as the VR was still set
up. Made dinner for the kids (leftovers of potato and leek soup, shepherd’s pie
and steamed brocolli with vinegar rice) before playing a round of “Takenoko”
before bed. Read to Eliza, then watched “The Lobster” with Dzung.
2018-07-28
No HackTile. Kids to karate with Dzung. I read “Kavalier and Clay” for a while,
after finishing chores, and then got to work unblocking the drain in my
bathroom. That worked, so checked other drains, and Jack’s needed some love too.
Worked on that, but accidentally pressed down the plug so it couldn’t be
removed. Ended up working for an hour, had to take everything apart and
reassemble, then repeat when my first attempt leaked. Next time I’ll call a guy.
Out in the afternoon shopping for stools. Found a couple we like; Hudson’s mum
was the salesperson and let us bring them home to try out. They’re not high
enough. Cooked dinner with Dzung; pork ribs, beans, coleslaw. Then played some
VR together before putting the kids to bed. Ended the night watching “John Wick
2” with Dzung, an abysmal film.
2018-07-27
Easy morning. Decided I’d take my foot off the accelerator at work until design
and requirements sort themselves out. Don’t want to rework any of the backend.
Planned an easy day of fixing a few issues and getting some chores done:
banking, cleaning, shopping and a blood donation. But they cajoled me to donate
platelets instead of blood—I was reticent to do so due to my bad experience
last year—but they were very kind and careful and it all went well. One of the
young nurses flirted with me, saying my arms were lovely and warm and that I
would “be a girl’s best friend on a cold night”. Flattering but awkward; this
all in front of a room of other donors. Didn’t know what to say. Ended up
taking a large chunk out of my day. Even worse, returned home dead tired, a
combination I think of deciding to work less intensely and the loss of blood.
Mooching around in the afternoon; mum and dad over with shepherd’s pie for
dinner. Yum. Too worn out in the evening to code; vegged out in front of the TV
before having an early night.
2018-07-26
Very busy at work, but blindsided by a design coming out of nowhere, with it’s
own user stories, in no way following the documented spec. Worked furiously all
day, from 7:30 to 17:00, with nary a break. Exhausted, cooked the salmon dish
for the kids while Dzung took them to piano lessons. Philae arrived after dinner
to mind the kids while Dzung and I went to “The White Album Concert”. Third time
we’ve been; other shows were in 2009 and 2014. Absolutely fantastic. Home at
23:00 to crash on the sofa and watch the last episode of “Sense 8”. Too tired to
finish it, I crawled to bed. Obviously no HackTile.
2018-07-25
No HackTile. Extremely busy at work. Frantic. Dzung not feeling very well.
Massive downpour at school pick-up time, trying to contact Eliza to tell her to
stay undercover at the school, but that only ended up delaying me in traffic
while she walked to the usual meeting spot in the park and got soaked. She
cooked dinner, following a recipe from “You Plate It”, using ingredients we
bought ourselves. Finished the night watching a couple of episodes of
“Handmaid’s Tale”.