I started the morning, as usual, at 6ish, and, as usual, I then went back to sleep for 30 minutes or an hour when there were no meetings in the early morning. I was back at it 6:30ish as I could not sleep anymore.
I started into my emails and missed text in Slack. I was caught up quickly, making breakfast as I read and then eating it.
Another busy, crazy morning of status meetings, but no progress on some pressing emergencies. I send out a few requests for updates and start back into the coding I was doing again. I am trying to restart the work I left back in February.
Instead of walking in the pollen-enriched air, I cleaned up some more stuff in the house for 30 minutes. I am slowly getting my working spaces back to the normal before Covid-19 look.
I make soup for lunch, veggie beef from a can, as I am trying to reduce expenses—much less GrubHub in the future and more sandwiches made at home. Before, I felt I needed to help as I was working, and many others were not working. But now, it looks like a lot of money that I could use. Again, trying to find the normal.
I managed a walk in the grass today, and some more roses are out. One more is now starting to bloom.
So far, two roses are yet to bloom. One is, I believe, 50+ years old red tea roses and came with the house. The legend is that the previous owner’s mom’s rose bush was transplanted here in the 1980s. The other rose that is yet to bloom is Mr. Lincoln, and it is the newest and looks like a stick with some sickly leaves. It may require some intervention.
Work went on for a bit. I was coding new scripts. Switching from the programming languages Groovy to BASH and back. I then run the revised and new scripts using the open tool called Jenkins.
I was working up to the moment I needed to leave for the Dentist.
The car would not start!
Air Volvo uses a fob and has no ignition key. A live working fob is needed to use Ait Volov.
The fobs’ batteries are 2032 coin cells. They are dead, both at the same time. I walk to the dentist for my cleaning. It is a mile.
The cleaning goes well, and there is no need for extra work. Another escape! I then walk back.
I take the fobs apart and replace the batteries. One is working now. Volvo wants me to bring the car in and check the fobs. If I can get the other one working, I will not need to visit them! I will take the one that is not working apart again and find another battery. I use the 2032 coin cell for electronic hacking. It is possible I just used a dead 2032 as I only had one in the packaging. That one now works.
For a moment, I had visions of having to have Air Volvo towed to the mothership. One fob is working well now, so I think I will avoid the mothership. Air Volvo had been to the Volvo Spa just a few months ago to do the scheduled 40,000-mile items.
The walk back, the pollen, dentist, and having to make dinner have left me tired.
Dinner was pork chops from Safeway, 1/2 thick and a nice size, that I prepare the same way I usually make chops. I fry them in a large pan with oil and sprinkle them with salt a spice, Herbs de Provence, and brown them just slightly on both sides. I finish the pork chops in a 350F oven remembering never to grab the pan’s handle.
I had some nice bread that I sliced. I made green beans from Schwann’s also the usual way. I put them in the microwave. I cook on the stove almond slices and salt in butter. I add the beans when done and finish them on the stove.
Around dinner time, I spoke to Cory, and we will play the board game Wingspan on Sunday night. He bought a copy about a year before the pandemic but never got a game in. Now that we are all vaccinated, I can do a teaching game on Sunday night. Exciting, more normal!
I am dragging tonight.
607 people in the USA died today from the virus.
I decided to go with a favorite, In The Garden, as I thought about flowers often today.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 