MON 02/16/26: DAILY LOG

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Organized new/waiting quickbooks work.

• Verbal discussion/confirmation of TOMMY upcoming medical work on WED/THURS this week and next.

• Received notice from ELECT company of pending bill being due.

• Logged on to the ELEC company account portal and paid the outstanding balance.

• Archived ELECT BILL payment via PDF binder, stored on local and cloud servers; printed hardcopy and filed in TOMMY office cabinet

• Per TOMMY request, sourced and purchased 1000ct 8oz styrofoam cups for use at shop; AMZ via AMEX XX03

SUN 02/15/26: DAILY LOG

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Organized new/waiting quickbooks work.

• Received/assembled TOMMY new pole/brush/extendable car wash thing; left against TOMMY chair in living area with instructions and accessories

• Per TOMMY request scanned recently received AMICA home/flood 2026 insurance documents for detailed review. Special attention given to increase in rates versus previous year (more discussion with TOMMY post review)

• Sorted digital PDF binders on local RAID server and mirrored to cloud server

• Ride with TOMMY to fill up his new AUDI. Showed him the steps to reset short range trip meter so that he could do DIY mileage/MPG calculations instead of just relying on the computer’s data

•  TOMMY explained how he had broken the drivers side sun visor when just trying to open it. Inspected broken visor; made plan to research docs for how to  fix

• REFILLED/RESET all ink tanks in JOEL office printer

• Started Asurion claim for JOEL SONY XM5 earbuds with Asurion/Amazon; completed claim forms, printed prepaid lable, packaged and prepared item for UPS dropoff on monday

• Inspected TOMMY damaged AUDI sun visor; found no broken peices so put back together in same manner as the left visor was installed; note to remind TOMMY on monday of the easiest way to open visor without damage in future

SAT 02/14/26: DAILY LOG

 SAT 02/14/26

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Organized new/waiting quickbooks work.

• Received 32gb USB-C thumb drive ordered specifically for MP3 music collection to be stored and then played on new TOMMY AUDI. Added several more requested records/artists to the DAD MUSIC folder on RAID server and then copied entire music collection to the new USB-C flash drive

• Went out late and tested the new flashdrive on AUDI. Music collection recognized immediately. Spent time enough to learn the basics of how the AUDI stereo system catalogues and presents music files stored on a flash drive for later TOMMY instruction/assistance.

FRI 02/13/26: DAILY LOG

 FRI  02/13/26

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Organized new/waiting quickbooks work.

• Several hours locating and collecting random 50s/60s MP3’s for TOMMY flashdrive and to use in AUDI

• ZOOM live meetings wth Schiller institute persons’s/regular Friday IPC meeting

• Verbal request from TOMMY that I contact a certain Fidelity representative who offices in Houston and discuss setting an appointment to go and meet with her to discuss possible reorganization of TOMMY current investment portfolio; some issues (or not) with this as I do not have authorized user access and it’s the type of meeting which then leads to subsequent sessions conveying the meeting minutes to TOMMY which then leads to more meetings with the Fidelity person which then leads to more meetings with TOMMY to communicate… that sort of thing. So not sure if I am going to take that project on or if it’s the wisest decision to do so

THUR 02/12/26: DAILY LOG

 THUR 02/12/26

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Organized new/waiting quickbooks work.

• When checking that workstation imaging routines were intact, noticed an ongoing issue with MACRIUM license not “sticking” and had to go through software license “transfer” to get the software to run. This has been going on for a year or so. Can never get license to stick on one machine.

• Made specific note to contact MACRIUM support to discuss licensing issue

• Ran JOEL workstation imaging routine for all drives

• Logged on to MACRIUM account portal to review our 5 licenses and what machines had been assigned each of the individual licenses.

• Opened ticket with MACRIUM support for assistance with persistent licensing issues

• Several hours working with MACRIUM support open ticket after discovering that the software licensing issue is 100% tied to my use of a VPN and my daily habit of changing VPN severs many times throughout the day. Isolated problem by simply correcting MACRIUM license issue, running missed daily incremental images and then exciting MACRIUM completely. When I intentionally changed VPN servers and then went to start MACRIUM again, I once more received the “Transfer License to this Computer” message which isolates the issue being on Macrium’s side and a too aggressive NIC/VPN tunnel change process.

• Scanned and emailed PDF binder to CLYLE at TGS for single new work invoice

• Resolved Macrium Reflect licensing issue after several hours research and dialogue with Macrium support staff. Issue was Reflect pulling the MAC address from the workstation’s VPN tunnel (which changes servers several time a day) instead of pulling the MAC address from the hardware NIC/Ethernet adapter used daily on the machine. The solution involved identifying the machine’s primary ethernet adapter MAC address and then using an elevated terminal command to write explicit instructions to registry that bind the Macrium Reflect process to the physical NIC and not the VPN tunnel. Shwew.

WED 02/11/26: DAILY LOG

 WED 02/11/26

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Organized new/waiting quickbooks work.

• Received request from ACCT to confirm that my 01/26 invoicing had been completed so ACCT could begin regular end-of-month sale tax work. Checked data on my end and confirmed that all 01/26 work had been completed here and then gave clearance to begin tax work

• Compiled 20 to 30 MP3 albums and organized on spare thumb drive for TOMMY use in new AUDI Q7; left note with list of tracks and had verbal conversation that I would help him in learning how to use it in car over weekend

• Checked house wide trash for possibly disposal on Thursday via city pickup; ;nothing needed

• Two hours regular maintenance and tuning of JOEL office workstations; regular check of monitored power/voltage/wattage and thermals; damage prevention/logevity assurance work, etc. Machine(s) are nearing the 3 years old point so regular monitoring of longevity factors against remaining warranties on all gear is important

• Received regular contract labor payment; deposited at JOEL bank

• Two hours research on how to improve use of JOEL/TOMMY workstation imaging and backup routines; rebuilding of RAID5 array into RAID6, possible other redundant cloud based services instead of legacy DRIVE usage

• Filed varioius HTIRE account statements in TOMMY physical office file cabinet

TUE 02/10/26: DAILY LOG

 TUE 02/10/26

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Phone call with TOMMY to confirm that all HTIRE contract employees had received their 2025 tax documents

• Scanned and archived digital copy of TOMMY SS-1099 2025 Social Security documents; sent copy to ACCT per TOMMY request

• Inputted all waiting Quickbooks invoices, bills, checks and deposits

• Clothes washing/wash machine test. Medium load ran fine with no towels

• Spoke with Bay City friend; potential assistance with his (deaf) disability annual forms process; waiting for notice from him

• Phone call with GEMINI owner; discussion of refund for double payment on single invoice; confirmed refund to OG CC was okay

• Logged on to HTIRE CC PROC portal; located Gemini double payment transaction; refunded to GEMINI OG CC. Printed and archived digital refund receipt

• Mailed final GEMINI refund receipt to payables department at GEMINI

• Emailed HTIRE ACCT to inform of GEMINI refund; informed that he was clear to make adjustments in HTIRE QB company file to account for refund withdrawal from HTIRE main CHK ACCT; also noted I would voice call ACCT for casual discussion of QB backend work needed in future on chance of repeat processes re: refund

MON 02/09/26: DAILY LOG

• cleaned bath and vacuumed, mopped housewide floors

• Printed archived K GOODMAN contract labor Harris Tire 1099-INT, authored short cover letter and mailed via USPS as per TOMMY instructions

• Several hours documenting time spent with LACIE/sister the day previous, published draft post highlighting main points, collected all audio/video content gathered during LACIE encounter and organized for later editing/review and potential publishing

• Authored email informing other parties mentioned by LACIE as central to her unexpected and concerning visit.

• Authored text message informing other parties mentioned by LACIE as central to her unexpected and concerning visit.

• Organized waiting Quickbooks work

• Logged in to Intuit portal and paid latest ACCT submitted, monthly invoice via HTIRE WF ACCT. Printed/archived ACCT ACH payment receipt/invoice on local secure storage system then mirrored to redundant cloud array.

• Discussed/confirmed dates/times for TOMMY upcoming medical procedures over next three weeks

• Phone call to brother; brief discussion of encounter with sister

• Edited/restored/upscaled various vintage photos per TOMMY request then printed on 8.5x11 glossy photo paper for framing

• Received 2026 JOEL Texas Health/Human Resources documents requesting annual renewal of various data sets and set aside as top of list/priority items to address in next few days

• Emailed OCN contact re: tracking information on UPS package mailed to him containing recent JOEL trade on OCN tech site

• Scanned and archived digital copy of TOMMY SS-1099 2025 Social Security documents; sent copy to ACCT per TOMMY request

Sister shows up at our house completely without notice, in acute withdrawal...

All of the loosely discussed material below is currently being redrafted in a more presentable, thorough article/post. For now, the following notes serve as simple placeholders until I can finish the proper draft. 

Very unexpectedly and without notice, my younger (50 yrs) sister showed up at our door today (02/08/2026) as I was preparing to leave the house for the gym and then to several other tasks I had planned for Sunday.

She was dropped off by an Uber driver; she arrived with several suitcases and several smaller bags, suggesting she planned to stay for a while. 

Neither my father nor I, the household's primary residents, had any advance notice of this. 

I was immediately surprised and happy to see her, but then I noticed all the bags and realized it was more than just a stop-by to say hello. Further immediate alarm was triggered when I comprehended how extremely haggard, disheveled, and tired she appeared. 

I honestly did not even recognize my sister when I first opened the door, as she was so incredibly thin and overall appeared to be severely distressed.

She was speaking in rapid-fire, twitching, shuffling her arms and limbs, and immediately began claiming the following. I will abbreviate names here for obvious reasons:

"Jxxx, Mxxxx, Mxx, and the whole family are in on this! They all told me to come here!"

I did not use the person's names above because it's neither important nor respectful to do so.

Pardon my own rapid-fire comment here, but...

Excuse me, but... What?

All of the following is recorded on both home video and audio surveillance systems installed as regular, ordinary security devices. But in this case, it may be of greater importance.

Furthermore, before we even began the very erratic conversation, I informed my sister, in accordance with Texas law, that our household had a long-standing, well-known policy of documenting audio/video content.

I've written many other articles here about why the daily audio and video content I use as a documenting vehicle here at my shared household is of great utility and value to both my father and me, but as she was entering our home for the first time, I was required to document that verbal agreement properly.

As an aside: The audio/video documentation is a practice that persons with Texas Health/Human Resources for the Aging emphatically advised me to begin in late 2022. At that time, I had taken over ownership (and still see to) every aspect of our family company's financial and administrative functioning.

When I first moved in and the resonsibilities started piling up, I reached out to Texas Health and Human Resources, specifically the Aging & Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) as I was fully aware that it was going to be a new challenge and that I would need guidance.

And the first and most important thing the persons at ADRCs told me was to get approval from my housemate/father and then begin documenting everything via audio and video as well if possible.

So I've done that since late 2022 and to the day of this writing.

Brief notes about the encounter with my sister until the proper draft is published:

ONE: She distressingly explains that she’s running from her abusive partner and claims that he and others in the Baycliff area where she has been staying are conspiring against her to make her take the fall for a large amount of heroin (or some other drug) that she says was not hers. This is a huge flag because the likelihood of her claims being true is not easily dismissed as just paranoid ranting.

She has “been in the wind” for about 25 years, moving from house to house, often times living on the street, anywhere that she can find to have shelter, all the while and at the same time going through numerous in-patient treatment facilities and other, similarly numerous outpatient treatment facilities but for nearly 3 decades has never once gained traction of any significance and has always gone back to intravenous drug use. 

She’s also been arrested several times for possession of significant quantities of Heroin, methamphetamine, and other drugs, and has been incarcerated for such on several occasions over the same past 30 years (give or take).

This is all publicly accessible data, and it is known to most people who associate with her, so I am not going out of my way to speak ill of my sister here. The point is, when she claims she’s mixed up in a multiperson situation in which she says she's the target of their scheming to make her take the fall for possession of these substances, it’s a claim I personally feel should be taken seriously before writing it off as whimsy.

TWO: She had called me just a week earlier, just to say hello, which I found nice, and I expressed the same to her during the call. During the same call, she said she’d been hanging out with a cousin of ours and that it was going well, even suggesting I come over and visit, perhaps watch a movie with them sometime, and I replied that the idea sounded great.

I had not heard from her since that call, and it wasn't until she showed up at our door via Uber with all her things, saying, “Jxxx, Mxxxx, Mom, the whole family is in on this, and they all said I should come here!”

THREE: The primary glaring problem is that her arrival today, in full withdrawal from some substance and fully expecting to simply set up camp and stay here, was heralded by no notice whatsoever.

Even more alarming is that all of the above mentioned person's had told her to come here when they must surely have known that she was claiming to be involved in criminal drug activity and that she was in very acute withdrawal from some substance (likely more than the claimed Suboxone, based on her behavior) and that she was fleeing an abusive partner.

Why would anybody suggest that a person in such a crisis suddenly, without warning, just show up at a household with no spare bedrooms, populated by an elderly person who is currently seeing to weekly, important medical procedures and myself who am fully engaged on a daily basis running the entire financial and administrative affairs of a company as well as constantly assisting with my father's personal matters? 

** WHY WOULD IT NOT BE OBVIOUS THAT SHE SHOULD SEEK ASSISTANCE FROM SOME SORT OF SHELTER OR AGENCY CREATED SPECIFICALLY TO OFFER GUIDANCE TO PERSONS IN HER HIGH STATE OF CRISIS? **

 
FOUR: My sister was in hard withdrawal. She claims it was Suboxone related, but I personally doubt that. Just her physical appearance and Jekyll/Hyde-like behavior were enough to know she had certainly not been clean since November 2025, as the various family members who were calling and my sister herself claimed. 

The fact that she had a bag of cell phones with her, commenting, "I need to take these to the machine," was also not a good look (i.e., "boosting," etc.).

At least three times when driving her back to where she wanted to go, she would say, "Sorry. I'm withdrawing." or .. "I apologize for my withdrawals," ... three times to be precise. And sure. Suboxone is known to have withdrawals, but if she were on a properly managed Suboxone cycle, she would not be in withdrawal. 

And even though I personally have no experience with opioids or suboxone, I honestly think the level of her distress was caused by something else, but it's just a subjective opinion.

A further subjective opinion that applies to myself or any person who is making efforts to "get clean" or otherwise cease addictive behavior:

It's a very simple metric: If the person is accessible and regularly visible for at least three months, if they are notably healthy in appearance and demeanor for at least three months, and, especially, if they've made some regular effort to WORK for at least three months, be it actual payed work or even volunteer/service work, then one can be pretty sure an addict is telling the truth when they say they haven't used. Ask me how I know...

My sister was certainly not clean yesterday, and most certainly not clean since Nov 2025. 

In fact, given her past 30 years or so of heavy intravenous drug use, I could only suspect she was likely withdrawing from something other than Suboxone. 

FIVE: Throughout our conversation and after watching the collected video of her short stay in our living room as we discussed options for her, very apparent were a number of highly unusual/suspect behaviours: she would talk incessantly, literally flipping in a second like a multiple personalties type situation from sobbing and crying uncontrollably to then, lightning fast, switching to equally intense laughter and gayity. 

From crying like mad. literally wailing and crying "I WANT MY DADDY!!" to suddenly commenting on how funny the TV was and “who would need a TV that big!?? HAHAHAhahAHAHAA!!” and then, again, like flipping a switch and in response to something I might have suggested which she didn’t like, she would suddenly become threatening and angered, saying “Joel! Don’t even get me angry! You don’t even want to piss me off, Joel” or some such (will have to publish the recorded content once appropriate legal editing work has been done). 

I found this last bit especially troubling as she had only been in our home for a couple of minutes and was already swinging through potentially volatile, angry outbursts.

Point is, she was literally and quite clearly exhibiting what could only be called EXTREMELY acute mood swings that I would say look more like somebody with some sort of split personality disorder than mood “swings” because there was no “swing” at all, it was like mood “switching”, it was instantaneous.

Again, though unpleasant to do, I will necessarily make the captured content legally presentable by blurring our faces and obscuring any mentions of names just to publish the video capture that displays this erratic, mood “switching” behaviour because the video content alone, to a trained eye, would be highly indicative of a person going through some sort of drug-induced crisis and that clearly needed IMMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE.

SIX: Claims to be fleeing an abusive relationship, essentially needing some place to stay. 

My assumption was that it would be a night that would turn into the desire for a longer stay and then long enough to “dig roots” deep enough that expelling her would take some legal work.

 
Ultimately and quite calmly I explained that it was highly inappropriate for a decades long (career) intravenous drug addict in acute withrdrawal from some heavy drug, who also was (according to her account) fleeing a situation where she was under threat of being “framed” for the possesion of a significant amount of illicit substance, all while displaying very erratic “mood switches” reminiscent of split personality disorder to suddenly and without warning show up at some other person's household door step with all of her belongings and subsequently, “dig in” there at a place, prior to this day, has been 100% uninvolved with the perpetual drama surrounding her and her constant return to drug use.

She balked at this and said, "Well, I’ll just sit outside with all of my stuff, then!"

 
I then explained that when my father (home owner) got home, the likely outcome is that he would quickly call the mental health folk with the Houston police or sheriff’s department because he’s done that with me some years back when I was going through my own, relatively brief, acute alcohol abuse moments. And at that point, I was already realizing that I might have to do so if she would not agree to assistance from proper organizations. Just a hard reality.

 
SEVEN: I then explained that it would be highly unlikely that the homeowner would agree to having her “set up camp here,” after considering all of the above, but that I would immediately begin finding a place nearby that she could go to for shelter and council, and that was geared specifically towards services for women.

Upon hearing this, she immediately balked and said she wanted no such assistance and “just want to see my Daddy! Just want to see my Daddy!” in a very childlike way, as though she were 14 years of age instead of 50. 

All of this is captured quite clearly in the video documentation, as is my genuine concern and willingness to find a place I could take her that very same day.

But each time I calmly stated that she needed to take the appropriate course and seek guidance from professionals, she became very combative about that (obviously appropriate course), saying, “Well, you might think it’s the best course for me, but IT’S NOT WHAT *I* THINK is the best for me!” 

Again, switching high gear into that rather belligerent and dismissive personality when, just seconds before, she had been weeping/sobbing hysterically about “just need my Daddy!" Just need my Daddy!” 

I explained to her, again, calmly because I have been through similar difficulties though not on a lifetime/career basis, “Well do you think that the “I WANT” part of it might be exactly the problem you might want to consider addressing?" 

In other words, for once, try doing what others think best and especially when the direction came from trained professionals instead of what she, there and then, thought better in regards to the addressing of her obvious crisis (which was, simply, setting up here as yet another in the long string of places she had sought shelter over the years).

 
EIGHT: I then contacted a facility called “Sarah’s Home” in Pasadena that catered to female addicts in distress, especially with a focus on those fleeing abusive relationships. The lady on the phone began by asking me for her age, so I asked my sister for the specifics, and she replied, “50!” 

And then commented loudly, “HERE WE GO!” as though she were being victimized or preparing for the "same old drill," or something by my simply and truly finding an appropriate environment where she could detox under proper supervision, as well as (for the nth time) possibly being steered towards the first steps in making some positive changes in her life.

After confirming her age with the lady on the phone, the lady asked if she could speak with my sister to begin asking for other necessary information before she could possibly be admitted that day, and to have me return the phone to start that process. 

My sister said she didn’t want anything to do with assistance from such places and began calling alternative places where she could “set up camp.” She found a friend's place quite quickly, which begs the question of why she didn't go there to begin with.

A family member offered to Uber her over there. I commented that I would be happy to drive her myself, and so we began getting her stuff ready to head to that location in Baycliff.

Eventually, we put her things in my car, and I drove her to a friend's house, where she had been offered a place to stay. I found it ironic that we were driving straight back to the very neighborhood she had been fleeing when she showed up on our doorstep. 

I couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t just go to this person's place from the outset of her distressing situation, instead choosing to Uber all the way across town, some 40 miles or so, to simply and without any notice show up with all her things and claim that she intended to stay here for some amount of time.

 ???

FINALLY: I then drove her to her friends, back in Baycliff, and when leaving, again, the mood switch, she was laughing and giddy, claiming how much she liked the Volcom sticker on the back of my car.

Totally unnerving and worrying to observe.