Daily - Feb. 16, 2026

Previously…

Today’s recap

Up and ready for work. Breakfast and hung out with Wife until I had to go. The gorls have a day off (President’s Day in the US), so they slept in and I didn’t see them before leaving.

Our new install job started and day one is all about prep and planning. The yard is big and we will be irrigating the entire property. It is a good mix of grass to beds, but the homeowner wanted us to cut the budget and we are doing a lot of overspray from the grass into the beds to reduce the zone count. I don’t typically like doing this because it means the beds aren’t going to get watered correctly. But, everyone has a budget and the grass is the priority for this owner.

After flagging out where all the sprinklers will be, measuring how much pipe, and planning our week, the homeowner dropped on us that she wants another section added. Fine with me and increases the bill. But, we are up against our timeline to get it done before our next job starts. It is tricky to plan projects this time of year. The weather makes it more difficult to dig and we are expected near freezing temps all week. This means the top 2-3 inches of soil will be frozen while digging and makes it all a pain in the ass, which slows us down. We’ve had a mild winter, but today we had a rain/snow mix fall while trying to get our hand digging done before bringing out the trencher tomorrow.

Once home it is time to dry everything. Rain gear gets hung up and a fan put on. Boots go onto the dryer. Tools get laid out to air dry in the garage overnight. I’m freezing due to working out in the weather, so a steaming hot shower and then start the recovery. Compression socks and gloves on, then run the leg massager.

Fun times.

Wife called around to see what it would cost to get one tire replaced on the van. It has been slowly leaking for weeks and I top it off every Sunday. All the responses were the same: Bring it in and if we think your other tires need to be changed, we won’t do just one. Sorry, but why the fuck would I approve replacing all four if I’m there to replace just one? I get it, tires are worn and should be replaced. But, I’m clearly there on a fucking budget. If I could replace all four I would. But if I go in to do just one, how the fuck would I afford to do all of them? Yes, instead of spending $100 I’m now spending $400. “Its company policy.” Shut the fuck up. You work at Walmart. You are in the same position as me. Who fucking cares what Walmart corporate says. Its bullshit and you know it. Now I’ll have to jack up the van, remove the tire, take it down so they won’t give me shit about the other tires, and then take it home and re-attach. Instead of Wife being able to drive down to Walmart and get this done, it is now a full day project for me. Who knows when the fuck that’s going to happen.

Before you reply with, “Its a safety thing. Tires are important to keep you and other folks safe” think about shutting the fuck up, too. No fucking shit tires are important. But, you know what? I got other fucking bills to pay, too. If its that important, send me $400.

Dinner was a bunch of different leftovers that were in the fridge. I had the leftover Italian Sausage Soup, Wife and son had leftover homemade pizza from Friday, and the gorls had ramen. Watched WWE Monday Night Raw and then time for bed.

Projects

No projects today.

Daily gratitude

• Grateful for our customers son who did the walkthrough with us. Homeowner is nice, but we always want to make sure that elderly people know what they are paying for and having a family member around helps.
• Very, very happy I re-applied waterproofing to my rain gear.
• Although it sucks to work in it, I like to watch it snow.

Tomorrow’s big thing(s)

Trenching at the job. Lots and lots of trenching.

Loose thoughts

If someone doesn’t speak a language, is it okay to use A.I. to make them appear to speak that language in a video. Not just dubbed. Like, makes their mouth move like they are speaking it? This came up in a wrestling event where a person who doesn’t speak spanish had a promo video where they used A.I. to make it appear they do.

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