Story 12Aug2022: Friday

Another morning on paid time off (PTO) started with me getting up at 6ish as I could not sleep through the morning. I did roll over a few times, but sleep would not return. I was up and made corned beef hash (from a can) and scrambled some eggs to go with it. Today the IKEA office furniture was coming between noon and 4PM, so I was stuck at the house for the morning.

I then wrote the blog for the previous day but completely spaced our Theology Pub Zoom church meeting.

At Thursday’s Pub, we discussed the great commission to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We discussed how we are uncomfortable with how many have used this over the years to excuse cruelty and even genocide. The group talked about it, and some of our move creative speakers went with the direct message of Christ was for folks to not be douchebags–not a word you would use at church, I am sure (if you are familiar with this slang, I have linked to the definition). Generally, the group agreed that the great commission comes with the additional requirement that true Christians are not going to do harm and need to be an excellent example before trying to spread the gospel. Also, we concluded that the creation story where God turns over domination of the earth to mankind was not meant as a license to exploit but to care for the world. We should be using science and technology, for example, to improve the air for us and the animals and plants of the world. We need to do the job that God started with, the creation and care for the world and become good stewards. This would mean mankind finally grew up and became the adults God expected. Finally, the great commission is not just about spreading the Word: Don’t be a douchebag, don’t exploit people or the world, and be a good steward; then spread the words of Jesus Christ.

Moving back to the narrative for Friday, I did some more creative writing for my new Dungeon and Dragons 5E adventure. I built another custom monster and made some corrections on the previous encounters. For those interested in adventure building, I started another encounter and decided that each level would have only a few rooms (I often make the map last as most of the work is the writing, and I don’t like the change your writing takes when you are just filling rooms on a map–instead make some good encounters and skip the time-wasting mapping in play).

I still had the salad from the pizza and salad I ordered on Thursday. I had a large salad plus a bit of cottage cheese later for lunch. I stacked the dishes and went on to the next thing while waiting for the IKEA items’ delivery.

I started to clean up the deck and repair the gas grill. I had ordered replacement parts and pulled out the ruined grill plates, and put new ones in their place. Unfortunately, someone left the grill on for a day and a half, and the heat ruined the grill plates (the oxidized and rusted to pieces–getting metal into food), so I finally paid for replacements. I have another part to replace as the bottom of the grill is falling out.

I moved the cooler back into the garage and took everything out of Air Volvo. The cooler was at the entrance, so when folks brought food over when I was ill with chemotherapy, they good put it in the cooler. Time to move on, and I was sort of proud that I got this far that the cooler could go back into the garage.

I checked my roses and trees.

I don’t know the name of this rose which is washed out by the heat but is still nice.

This is a rugosa rose originally from Japan and is often found on the coast as it is salt resistant.

The new climbing roses, Wedgwood, and English rose from David Austin are happy.

An unknown rose that came with the house back in 1996 and reportedly was transplanted from another house is doing well. It is grafted rose and likely as old or even older than me.

The Mountain Ash tree is full of berries making the birds very happy.

And a pioneer apple tree from the original farm is happy even after falling and being cut back. These are cider apples from the old days.

I texted Mariah, offering her a steak dinner if she would come over and help me deliver my gas grill to First United Methodist Church, Beaverton. I had told the church I would not wish to go through the hassle of moving my grill. I am more brittle after the cancer treatments, so I avoid straining my muscles again (Last week, I was almost to using a cane after I strained my legs too much). But, the church folks did not get it, so I moved my grill anyway. Mariah knows my condition and is strong too. So, I will be cooking on Sunday morning for the church BBQ. Not sure I even agree with the rate of infection from Covid-19 that this is OK. I would typically avoid something like this.

The IKEA delivery is here and over with. The guy put all the stuff in the new office, once Corwin’s room. I am now free.

Air Volvo reaches Susie without any incident. Susie is happy to see me, and we are soon out in the 85F (29.4C) sun with a cool breeze. The park, it being a Friday without school, is packed with kids and dogs. One little pug plays soccer with his head and runs the soccer ball all over the grass. The park requires leashed dogs. The pug owner lost the hold on the leash and just stood there watching the dog push the ball all around–quite funny.

Susie is feeling much better; last week, she was laid up with Covid-19, one of the new versions. We chat with Susie’s mother, Leta, in the park using the iPhone FaceTime. Susie was more communicative but kept getting distracted by everything in the park, including the soccer play pug that we even let Leta watch via the iPhone!

After we ended an extended call, Susie and I toured the park and got to the cedar trees, Susie’s fav, and even chatted with a few folks. I thanked the trustee of the park for putting gravel by the cement sidewalk. Apparently, he saw me popping the wheelchair onto the sidewalk, and he put down some crushed rock to smooth the way. It is much better now. We went to the exit of the park and then turned around.

We returned to the hummingbird house and sat on the porch for a while. I got Susie a glass of water from Jennifer, the nurse aide working today, and we sat there while Susie drank it. She did choke a lot. Susie forgets to go slow once in a while.

With the water drank and Susie looking sleepy from the warm air and the excitement of the park, it was time for her to have a nap. I left with a kiss and a promise to return on Saturday morning. Another reason I needed to deliver the grill on Friday. I also got a text from Richard about playing board games at his house on Saturday night–more reasons to get the grill moved today.

I went home, did some more organizing, and got the seats of Air Volvo down. Mariah appeared in her purring Challenger. I had her park it in front of my house, adding to my street cred, and we loaded, without incident, the grill into Air Volvo, now set for cargo flights. We delivered it to the church with me only slightly scratching the cargo area.

Dinner was fine New York Strips at Golden Valley Brewery. Jennifer (another one) was our waiter and knew Mariah. We had a great dinner, spending my new bonus money with abandon and enjoying a fine Malbec (red wine) with the steaks. Malbec is a fav of mine as it is excellent from South America and grows in adverse conditions–higher altitude, hot, and dry. I find a good Malbec is better than a good anything else–making it cheaper and still good.

After dinner, Mariah headed out with my extra corn starch–corn starch is used to stop pet birds from bleeding–who knew? I decided to build my chair. I bought a sort of expensive gaming chair from IKEA as I again seem to be more brittle and a good chair is needed for all the writing and computer stuff. I also have floor mats from IKEA for the wheels.

Unlike most IKEA stuff, this went together quickly without me needing two extra arms and five hands to put something together. IKEA is DIY furniture for aliens as far as I am concerned. The chair is comfortable and stiff–I think it is worth the investment.