8-18-12
I wake up at 8:20 to bots standing in our bedroom. He’s
taken the child lock off his door and maybe it is about time he did. Proud of
his genius, enough to figure out a child lock. He’s earned it I figure. I get
up and feed the critters and then get to work on my comp. It boots up very
normal and seems to be working okay. Maybe the night’s long rest helped it. I
update blog and then get to work on the drawings for Bruce and his digital
book. I want to get him pencils for his approval ASAP. As I work, the computer
starts acting sluggish again. (sigh) I check the mail and I get my check for
the Star Wars cards from Topps! YAY!
The wife comes home early and I gather up all the recently
expired bread so we can feed the ducks if we get time. We head to Walmart for
bots food and cat food (well, JAKE food). Then I drop the wife off at the
thrift store cause its 75% off all baby and child clothes for the day. Bots and
I head to Best Buy and I get a Seagate 1TB backup hard drive. Finally, after
promising and promising I’d get one, I got one. So if I do crash, I’m safe!
YAY!
We head to Arbys which is next door to the Thrift store and
I tell the wife to meet us there. Bots eats fries and I get a RB sammich. After
that we head to the river and feed the ducks again. I film a couple videos for
the next video blog for the youtube channel. Bots has fun with the ducks. We then
head to Dairy Queen where everyone eats Ice Cream. I have a baby sized cone and
only eat half of it. I’m not much of an ice cream guy.
We then take off to East Lansing and stop at the Hobby Lobby
there because I read online that pads of artist paper are 40% OFF! We get there
but no signs indicate that they are on sale at all. Defeated, we go to 21st
Century Comics and I get my comics pull for the last three weeks. I observe a
woman yelling at her poor little kid and it takes some will power on my part
not to tell her whats what. But I keep to myself. I get my comics and we head
back to West Lansing. We hit the Hobby Lobby there and again, no signage to
indicate the sale. I decide to chance it and grab some anyway and the people at
the counter confirm that its 40% off. I get Bristol Paper and bots gets a
stuffed Scooby figure. He’s Scooby crazy lately. Then we go next door to Disc
Traders where I get SIN CITY used on Bluray, and bots gets a Clone Wars disc.
We get back home and I plug in my new backup hard drive and
Time Machine launches and starts uploading the almost 200GB of stuff I got to
save. I update blog and read comics in the mean time.
After a time, the Time Machine backup froze at 18.07GB out
of 168GB and stayed that way for about 3 hours. So I abort and restart it. The
wife and bots hit the bed and I work on pieces for the Lansing gig I was hired
for. I shoot pics of my progress to the client and he suggests changes and
accepts the good ones. So after a while, its 1:30 and I decide to stop for the
night. I watch an episode of BLACK DYNAMITE on On Demand. Then decide to watch
the extras on JAWS BR. The BR will not load at all. In fact, none of them do.
So I take apart the Blu Ray player and clean it all out (bots puts toys and
food in it all the time. Sigh) After a while, I re-assemble it and try it
again, to no luck. I give up for the night and check on my time machine backup.
Its stuck at 18.07GB again. I decide to let it roll overnight and pass out
around 3:00am.
8-19-12
Bots comes in and wakes us up at 8:20 and the wife gets up
with him a bit. I get up and check on my comp’s backup progress. And its still
stuck at 18.07GB. No progress at all! So I stop it and restart the backup. I do
this till about 3pm over and over because the time machine backup goes so far
and then stops. Then restarts and adds the new stuff to it. In between I take a
break and head to Mcds for the family. The wife heads to work at 2pm, and I
continue on my backup efforts. Finally it works and I am happy. I run a scan
disc utility and it starts to work real nice. After a while, it goes back to
acting up. So its racing toward its inevitable crash. But hey, at least I got
all my files backed up! YAY!
Before she leaves, the wife discusses that our apartment
complex has a rule that no more than 3 people can be in one of their
apartments. And now that with the baby’s upcoming arrival, we’ll have four
people, thus we cannot renew our lease. So in November, we’ve got to move…
AGAIN! Fifth time in 7 years!!!! At first I am bummed. But then I start to
think of the benefits of a nice move and bigger space, and I get sort of
excited about it. Plus with our current set up, the baby would be in our room
and we’d have no privacy. So why not go for it? Rent would be higher, but what
the fuck, eh? So I start to sort through books, magazines, comics and art that
I no longer want. After a couple hours, I got a nice huge box full of stuff to
either toss or give away. I text with the wife and my parents in between all
this going on.
I put the kid to bed and sit down to watch the new Breaking
Bad. Kelly comes home and says she’s been having steady contractions every 25
minutes. She goes to lay down. After my show I keep checking on her and her
contractions are getting closer and closer. She keeps relaxing while I go draw
some more on current commissions. I check again and they are now 6 minutes
apart and increasing in strength. We make a couple inquiries to see if someone
can come and stay here with the bots while we head to the hospital to see whats
up. No one helps out. So I get the very sleepy kid out of bed and we pack up
and head to the hospital. They wire her up and for three hours they keep
checking her. We hear the baby’s heart beat the whole time, which is cool. Bots
is hyper active and continues to keep talking and playing in the room. I take a
walk with him to calm him down and get a drink. We come back and another check,
the wife’s cervix hasn’t dialated past 3cm and there’s not much else that can
be done at this point. False Alarm. So we pack back up and head home. The wife
pretty much has to live with the painful contractions until the cervix dialates
more or water breaks and all this stuff can begin. We get back home and I get
the kid to fall asleep again and then I hit the couch (to give the wife some
comfort room) and finally fall asleep around 5:10am. What a loooong day!
8-20-12
I wake up at 8:50 to see the wife heading out to her
doctor’s appointment. I pass back out till 10:05 when the bots gets up. The
wife calls and says there has been no progress, so she’s coming home with
McBreakfast. She gets here and we eat and I check online shit and update
everyone on the false alarm. Then I get to work penciling more on the
commissions I have to get done this week. We give a bit of talk about moving
and decide we can go look at a few places I have mapped out as potential new
homes for us.
The first place is really nice but they want $875 in fees
($500 non-refundable) plus $700 Security Deposit and first months rent ($930)
to move in! Screw that! The second place the girl who showed us the place was a
royal bitch. I asked how the neighbors were and she looked at me sternly like I
just told her she's a cunt, and she says "I can't answer that." I
looked at Kelly in total confusion. She started to show us the place but its
exact same layout as Westfield Club where we lived first here in Lansing. Its
EXACTLY the same. I told her that, and she sort of "took offense" to
the comment. She was a royal bitch. I said "yeah, I think we're done
here." and just left abruptly. HA. Now the third place is townhouses.
Either 3-4 bedroom. We were gonna move into one before but then Kelly got
transferred to Jackson about an hour and change away for her job, which
DESTROYED our budget so we had to opt for this current wayyyyyy tooo small
place. So with this new place I was anxious to see if they had something
available. They "might" but we have to check back. And of the three
places, they were the nicest. I'm anxious to go back and find out if we can get
a place there. If we can't get any of them, then I guess we gotta settle for a
different 2 bedroom place.
We get home and I get a call from Dean and he says he’s off
till Friday so if we suddenly go into labor, he can come out and watch the bots
for us. I thank him profusely and say I can meet him for a bit for some drawing
and chat. I pack up the silver surfer (our silver Jeep) and drive to Grand
Ledge and meet him at the coffee shop there. We talk a lot and he works on
pages and I write out a plot outline for the mini erotica story I am doing for
that anthology. Then I thumbnail out pages and get done in about an hour. We
chat some more about Breaking Bad and then I head back home. I attempt a nap
which doesn’t take cause bots is being loud. So I get up and draw a bit and
then eventually try a nap again, and I am out for a couple hours (still tired
from last night’s hospital hijinks).
I get up around 9:30 and draw some more and submit changes
to Bruce for his book. Then I photoshop some pics of a pal of mine on FB for a
gag. Then get to penciling some more. I move bots and check on the wife. I
decide to go for a late night Taco Bell run. I come back with tacos and a
Chicken Quesadilla for the wife, and get back to work. I stop around 1:30am and
decide to try my Blu ray player again with JAWS. It still won’t read BR discs,
so I put in the DVD version of JAWS to see if it has any extras on it. I watch
a documentary on that disc, but still want to keep trying the BR side. I try
several BR discs and no luck. I am guessing the laser on the BR side is just
shot. Years of abuse from the bots have taken their toll, or its just pooped
out. I think I paid $160 for the player. But I can get one for $60-90 now. No
big deal. I lay down in bed and watch a bit of Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS (The
Moroder version) on my Iphone and then pass out around 3:30am.
8-21-12
Bots wakes me up at 9:25 and I get up and check email and
online shit. I update blog, brew some coffee and get to work on artwork. I send
pics of it to Bruce for approval. I wait for the wife to get home and I cook
spaghetti for everyone. After that we all lay down in bed and watch the wife’s
new Man Vs. Food dvds and I take a mini nap. At 5:30, I take off and head to
work. I work a 6-2 shift and its uneventful. Couple rude customers and drama as
per usual. Not too bad though. I get home at 2:30am and see that a Fed Ex box
arrived with my Mars Attacks returns and comp box. I scan them and put them on
the scoundrel and FB boards and take a pic of the comp box to just sell on
ebay. Then pass out to AVGN videos.
8-22-12
I wake up at 9:22am to the bots wanting me to fix his ipod.
I do and get up and check online shit. Mike sends me a rough sketch of a cover
for MAYHEM, which is KILLER and I approve it. I then toss some thoughts and updates
about the project to him and confirm how far along I am. The bulk of the hard
work is started, now its finishing it all up and doing details. I get to work
on the digital design for custom sketch cards I am getting printed. I get that
done and send it to Karen at Iconix for approval and thoughts. Then I work on
changes for Bruce and shoot them off to him for approval.
I get some changes and work on those. The wife gets home and
I get ready and head into work, picking up my co-worker on the way. The night
is long and uneventful as always. I get home by 2:30, re-check email and shoot
a couple replies out and pass out around 3:30am to Nostalgia Critic on my
phone.
8-23-12
Bots wakes me up at 9:30 and I get up, brew coffee and check
email. Then I get to work on recording two “Morning Show” podcasts for the
site. I create a new show page and upload the files. Then take some pics of me
with my coffee and then photoshop a logo. Then I take the time to make a
youtube link for the Idiothead.com website (something I keep putting off
doing). I check Itunes and they approve the show for subscription, so I
announce that I am now doing a daily morning show! I get some messages of well
wishing and happiness at the idea. Feels good to know there’s people into my shit
enough to care. (THANKS EVERYONE!)
I finish inking on some changes for Bruce and confirm plans
to meet later on to exchange goods for money earned. The wife leaves work
around 1pm and heads to the doctors. The doctor says that a C Section is most
likely the way to go because our baby is at least 8 pounds. I put out the
announcement that by Sept 3rd, we should have the baby. Then I make
notes for future morning show podcasts. Then I play with the bots a bit and
finish watching the Nostalgia Critic from last night. Wife comes home and I
finish scanning the artwork for Bruce and upload it to save it. The computer
starts running slow again so I take it easy.
Around 5pm, I leave and meet Bruce and give him the art and
he produces a check once the contract is signed. I leave there and deposit it
at the bank. I swing by and pick up the kid and wife and by now I realize I
haven’t ate since around 7pm the previous day. My stomach hurts real bad! So we
drive to Grand Ledge Wendys and I scarf down some food and feel much better. (I
can’t believe I forgot to eat!!!) Then we hit Kroger for some groceries.
We get back home and I put away the groceries but then
decide I want to take the night off from art and watch movies. We head back out
to Family Video to rent something. Nothing ends up looking good, so we hit up the
Walgreens to get her some ice (she likes the crushed ice) and then back home. I
watch the last two quarters of a repeat of the Wisconsin/MSU game from last
year (The one where Kirk Cousins threw a hail mary with 4 seconds left and MSU
caught it and barely got it over the line for a TD, thus beating the undefeated
Wisconsin! Awesome game!) The wife puts the bots to bed and I move him shortly
thereafter. I try to order an Ozzy Osbourne doc on On Demand but my cable box
wants me to reboot it to try to work out a bug in the system. Instead I pull
out my DVDs and grab “Comedians of Comedy” and watch that and all the extras on
it. Then I go update the blog and lay down next to the snoring wife. I fall
asleep to AVGN by about 2:30am.
8-24-12
I wake up at 5am cause the kid is up and crawls into bed
with us. Eventually he is taken back to his bed and I am back out. At 9:30, he
wakes me up and I brew coffee and record a Morning Show. Then upload it to
Itunes/Talkshoe and make with the announcements. I check email and chat with
Shane a bit. I answer some emails and posts about sketch cards and other
things. Then double check with the Geek Love project to see that I am still
involved as I am not on their Kickstarter page. I get the confirmation that I
still am, so I get to work on penciling more pages for that, while listening to
podcasts. I call the day job and get the schedule for next week. Just two days
back to back, which works for me.
I fight some rising feelings of ennui regarding my day job
all morning until the wife gets home and we go out for a nice distraction. We
hit up the mall where she goes to JCP and I go to Legends sports and chat with
the guy behind the counter about all things football cards. He tells me the ins
and outs about what to get and I end up getting a complete Lions roster Score
set, and a pack of Panini and jumbo pack of Topps 2012. I chat with the guy
even longer and he shows me some of his artwork, which is a pencil style,
nicely rendered! I give him advice on getting into the sketch card world and
then depart. I meet the wife and bots at the Sbarro and we eat a couple slices.
I open my cards and check out all the cool ones I got. Then we leave the mall
and head to Grand Ledge to family fare to get diapers and cat food.
Then we get back home where I sort my old and new cards and
then play a round of bounce with the kid. He jumps off my back quite a bit and
I throw him around and I get tired. Then I go in to take a dump and I hear him
coughing and then the wife screaming “OH NO! OH NO! GROSS!” The kid worked
himself up so much that he started coughing and he puked all over her, himself,
our bed and the floor. The wife runs into the bathroom to clean up and she
starts dry heaving as well. I’m just sitting on the pot watching. Its one big
barf-o-rama! I get up and help clean up and then update blog.
The family go to bed and I stay up and pencil two pages for
the erotica comic while watching a Trek TOS episode and Joe Rogan standup on Netflix. I ink one of them and then take a break and watch the tail
end of the Rush R30 DVD and then toss in the Adam Hughes copic dvd. I decide to
join him and draw a piece of my own. I decide to copy his face style on it (hard to resist
when he does it so good!) and come out with a nice piece of art at the end of
it. By then its 2:30am and I pass out to AVGN on my phone.
8-25-12
I am woke up by the wife at 8:20am cause she wants to go to
the baby thrift store and get a swing, cause furniture is 75% off today only.
So I get up, record a new Morning Show, upload it and check online shit. She
returns empty handed on the swing, but a bag of other goodies. She announces that she is concerned that she hasn’t felt the baby move in a while. She
even bought a used heart monitor to check for it. It ends up not working
(natch). So I do a test of my own: I put the Beach Boys on the head phones and
set the ear pieces on her belly. In moments, the baby is rockin’ to “I get
around” and moving like crazy. Case closed! Music wins again! I should be a doctor.
We get dressed and head to Mcds for breakfast and then to
Kroger for cheap gas and bread. Then we head to the river and feed the bread to
the ducks. Then back home. I am tired as hell, but the wife vetos my chances at
a nap (once again!) and she takes a nap. I get up tired as hell and check
online stuff and listen to podcasts to keep me awake. I cook a steak and just
enjoy the quiet for a while. The wife then leaves for work. I toss up my six
Mars Attacks return cards on ebay and hope for some high bidding wars to come.
I get bored and start cleaning the kitchen sink really good.
And an hour and change later, I’ve taken apart the stove, soaked the burners,
scrubbed the hell out of it and the floor and the counters. Then I reassemble
the stove and it looks brand new! I then finish the dishes and make some mac N
cheese. I eat and listen to podcasts and then take a break and play with the
bots. Then I start to organize my overflowing desk catch-all drawer. Before I
know it, I’ve pulled out six storage tubs from various closets and I am
organizing them/tossing shit. I whittle six tubs down to two, leaving 4
completely empty! I’m proud of that. I really want to get rid of about 25-40%
of our stuff before our move. I’m just tired of lugging the same shit around.
The wife comes home and puts the bots to bed. He’s tired and
cranky and don’t want to go, but eventually does. Then I search for some banana
bread to eat and chat with the wife as she eats Lucky Charms. She convinces me
to take the night off artworking, as I will have all day tomorrow after she
gets out of work to get stuff done. I lay down, watching Netflix on my phone
and pass out around 1am.
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