I slept all night and was up at 7ish to start my day. I dreamed all night, and my sleep was strange, but I did rest. After that, I did the usual coffee, email, breakfast and wrote the blog.
Evan wanted to stop by, and then we would head out together in Air Volvo to see Susie. This delayed me until later in the morning. We got to the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center about 10:30, and Susie was awake and dressed in her shared room, 44A.
Susie was more animated and tried to talk more than yesterday. She seemed to be better. She did understand me.
I did FaceTime with Susie’s mother and sister so they could both chat with Susie. Susie managed to get a few words out to Leta (her mother) and smiled when she saw Barb.
I arranged for the nurses to put on ice skating on NBC for Susie in the afternoon.
We, Evan and I, stayed for about an hour with Susie. Then, I started to get tired, so we left about noon. I drove Air Volvo to the house and then picked up a game, Concordia, and drove the very short distance to The 649.
Evan was fighting with the phone company about transferring his old number to a new phone. So I went into The 649 with the game and ordered some soup, Hungarian Mushroom, and chips while Evan talked more to the phone company. I had a tiny smoky-tasting beer too.
Evan continued with his adventures while I ate and waited. I was just resting; the 649 is not very busy in the afternoons and is strict on compliance to masking and distancing. There is even a note on the entrance that if you can’t follow the rules, then head to the bar across the street. They mean it!
Evan got a drink and ate most of the chips. The salsa was too fresh made for my 1950s styled no-fresh-anything diet. He had to use my phone and, after 90 mins still did not get his phone fixed, but did learn that the newly purchased SIM card was not usable and he needed a new one. Apparently, the phone people improperly activated it. I am not sure how that is possible by I stay away from telcom!
Evan was distracted as we played the board game favorite, Concordia, just the base game. I received from Kickstarter the new meeples painted with images on them for the colonists, and this was their first use. The new meeples looked great, and I found I could spot them now with ease. I was much more aware of where Evan placed his colonists. It was exciting for me to play with my new look Concordia.
A short description of the play for those who know the game: this was a simple two-person game on the Mediterranean map using the basic rules. As usually happens in a two-person game, I ended the game by building all my trading houses. Evan had acquired the top cards of Weaver and Vintner, while I had the lesser Mason and Farmer cards. I remember Wills’s admonishment to get the Mars cards and got out my colonists. The Farmer card and my focus on farming got me the game as I spread out building farming trade houses, and the food was part of what I needed to get more cards and more colonists. I have been crushed by a Farmer focused Kathleen in games at Richard’s house. So I remembered, and Evan was surprised when the game ended so fast. I won with over a fifty-point advantage as Evan was having trouble remembering all the game’s tricks to get efficient turns. Evan had not yet built up his wine and cloth cites and did not have his extra colonists out. He was just about to break out. I lost to Jason and Natash in New York City in my last game of Concordia when the game went on long enough for them to build out their wine and metal empires at the end of the game. Instead, I went with a hurried finish by using my Mason and Farmer card to supply resources for building more and more farm outposts.
Concordia is the game I played the most in 2021, and I recommend it, but there is a learning curve to know how to win. The rules are easy, but the interactions and scoring are complex. Therefore, I won’t repeat my game description from past blogs, but the link above will cover it.
I headed home and took a nap. Evan borrowed our landline to try to get his phone issues resolved while I slept.
I got going again in the evening but just sat in my chair with a heating blanket. Marianna from Nike offered me a fine dinner from The Thirsty Lion, and I decided that Fish and Chips must be on my diet. And it was delivered within 30 minutes and was still hot!
I watched the first X-Man movie with Evan, still trying to resolve his phone issue, and Corwin, who ordered extra Chinese for dinner. Unfortunately, I had the volume down and could not hear the movie well (my hearing is not what it once was), and I did not like the movie that much–it seemed dated to me (2001). Evan and Corwin were scandalized that I did not love the film. I may have to try it again. Evan and Corwin enjoyed their dinner while watching.
I went to bed after that and read. I was trying to keep everything slow.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 