Story 9June2022: Thursday

I am starting a bit late. I took Corwin to Sherry’s, and I had pie and decaf coffee with ice cream. I just wanted pie. I am running late with today’s blog. I also had to write yesterday’s blog today, so I am writing a lot today.

Going forward (but going backward is often more fun), I started the morning with my alarm waking me at 6:15. I woke at 5ish and went back to bed after proving hydration. I closed my eyes for just a second, and it was 6:40. Oops.

Knowing how the day was going, I popped out to the kitchen and made coffee. I have changed the liberal coffee, Fair Trade Brand, to their kinder and gentler Organic Mind, Body & Soul, which I like for two reasons. 1) It is a lighter roast, and 2) The name does not include the Oxford Comma. Yes, less bitter and less comma–perfect for a liberal like me.

I rushed the morning and had some granola bars to go with my coffee. I have to get more bagels and fruit–I have not found time to fit in shopping this week. Shower and dressing were all rushed, and I managed to grab my Nike laptop and charger, jump into Air Volov, and arrive at the shoe company office at 8 and make my first meeting. And the next and more email, text, and Slack messages until 10ish.

Then I slipped out to see Susie. Again, I am running late, but I have no meetings until lunch–A lunch meeting with Scott–so I could stay a bit longer. I managed to get to Hummingbird House without incident. I did pass the motorcycle cop with his radar gun out that I have seen every day I travel to see Susie from work. I believe they are giving out many speeding tickets near Murry Road as I see them with their lights on, usually at least once. You are warned!

Susie was finishing her breakfast when I got there. She drank milk and seemed to eat about 1/3 or more of her foo–not bad for her. We called her mother, and they chatted for a while. It was cold out, so we stayed inside. Jennifer helped Susie get into her recliner, and I stayed for another twenty minutes. I then headed to a Chinese place to have lunch with my colleague and friend Scott.

We chatted about life and a new project we are thinking about. It was a pleasant lunch, and we are starting to plan some work. Exciting.

I returned to the office, and Gary was there talking to my boss Brad–I was happy to see him. I don’t think I have seen Gary in a few years–I am his hiring manager. We were glad to see each other. I hired Gary telling him he would never be bored and that so far has been true (both good and bad, but I believe primarily good).

I later met with Subha, also one of my hires, and we chatted about work things. It was also good to see her.

I headed out after a few more updates on Slack messages. I had to explain some of our plans for data conversions now and in the future. Folks were happy to see that I replied and was back in the saddle. I received some very kind comments.

I arrived at the Volvo Cave without incident or raising crime rates in Beaverton by using my phone. I started dinner while listening to the last status meeting today. I made Chicken Cordon Blue with corn and mashed potatoes. The chicken and corn products were from the freezer. I found I had no milk to make instant potatoes. I took the slightly expired powdered milk(I only keep some in the pantry in case of a disaster–at least we can mix up some mix), washed out a two-quart milk container from the recycling, mixed up some milk, and then made instant potatoes. Yes burning through a lot of pantry and frozen items!

I wrote the blog for yesterday while I cooked dinner. I made enough for two. Corwin enjoyed it. It was a bit plain, but still not bad.

I then read for a bit. Next, was the Theology Pub Zoom meeting at 7PM. This is a monthly meeting, before Covid-19 it was at a bar, where we discuss and try to understand Theology. Today’s topic was Redemption. Which is a word we mostly associate now with returning cans. But, it does have importance to theology. We talked about how Jesus has redeemed us, but there may be a price for this. We need to live a good life to be fully redeemed. Some of us are uncomfortable with this idea and thought the idea that there is a price is not Biblical. We also discussed that Redemption seems to be missing from the more extreme beliefs. Folks in the extreme groups focus on end-times and punishment and not redemption which seems more aligned to Jesus and later apostles’ writing. Redemption, without price, appears to be missing in political discussions.

Also, I described my experiences of the last six months and how to me it seemed more like a journey, not one I would have picked. I admitted that it was not faith but my trying to just get to the next day that got me through it. I knew people were pulling for me (and praying for me) and I would not let them down. I would get Susie and myself to the next day. It was very hard to talk about.

We Zoom’d for about an hour. I then took Corwin to Sherry’s to get pie and more food for Corwin. This takes me to now.

I took some photos of my roses today; please enjoy the following.

This is an unknown English rose I planted years ago near the deck. It could be Mary Rose, but I am not sure. You can see that something has been eatting the leaves. Growl.

The new Wedgewood climbers are almost ready to bloom! They grow 10′ tall! The leaves are nearly perfect–no pests here!

The stressed-out Cardinal Richelieu is trying to put on a once-a-year show.