Story 13Aug2022: Games Saturday

Going backward, I was home about 11:30 from Portland, was in bed before midnight, and fell asleep without much tossing and turning. Before turning in, I made a bagel with cream cheese when I got home as I had skipped dinner, and my night meds are best with food.

I had taken Air Volvo from Portland after dropping Kathleen at her house just outside of Portland. We had played together at Richard’s house not far from Lloyd Center Mall in Portland with Shawn. We played two four-person games tonight–we had the old group of four back.

We first played Vindication, my copy, and Rickard managed to win over Kathleen by a few honor points, with Shawn outpacing me on honor (victory points). I was teaching, so I was not always focused on winning, but I enjoyed the game, and it was nice to play with four people again. Vindication was designed in the greater Portland area, and I had some input into the design years ago. It is a worker placement and resource management game. It is a fav of mine.

We played Edo next, a worker placement and resources management with some competition and engine building. This was new for most of us, and Richard had some relearning. This was one of the hundreds of games that Richard owns, and he had replaced the paper coins with real currency; we got to use real metal coins–always an improvement. Richard is trying to play every game in his collection, so old favs are now hitting the table. Edo reminded me of a faster version of Concordia. This game has you pick three actions from cards you have and apply a certain amount of support for the action. You then move meeples, Samari, on a map to collect resources. You receive a payout for where your buildings are built and must pay rice (a white wooden marker) for workers, stone and wood for facilities, and so on. Edo was a fast game once you got the rules down and used interesting mechanics that were quickly learned. I scored at the bottom, but it was closer than I expected.

Before taking Air Volvo without events in light traffic to Portland, I was with Evan in Beaverton. We had a quick lunch at Pepita’s, a Mexican joint off Cedar Hills. Sadly, my food was just average today. But, on the other hand, my beer was cold and fresh.

From there, we drove over to central Beaverton, parked Air Volvo in the Beaverton parking garage, and took a few games to Central Taps, where Evan and I had another beer while playing the board game Pax Pamir with Evan. We used the automated player as a third player and then lost to it. I have tried to play this a few times, and this was the first time with three with the automata. I did not enjoy the play and just can’t find any love for this game. I will Pax Pamir to other games in my garage that are not played much. Unforently we did not have time for another game.

On the way back to the car, I said hello to the Beaverton officer who gave me a ticket for using my phone while driving. That surprised him, but I told the group of Beaverton’s finest that I never again touched my phone in the car again, and we all laughed. It was nice to see the police smile–the pandemic and protests have been hard on them.

Before Evan and I were in Beaverton, we were at Hummingbird House to be with Susie. I arrived there first in Air Volvo. The trip across Beaverton was uneventful. Susie was thrilled to see me, and we were soon outside, touring the park and the local area. Susie seemed to have recovered more from Covid-19 and was sitting up in her wheelchair and more responsive. We passed the magnolia tree we love and looked at all the repairs to fences.

We then headed into Metzger park, which was not as busy as yesterday, but there was more serious cooking with smoke rising from a BBQ that would have loved to have joined. We went all the way to the end and circled back. Susie likes the cedars.

We did not go four-wheeling on the path to the ravine with the salamanders and other protected dampish small critters.

We stopped for a photo that we sent out to folks.

Next, we started the old 1956 musical, High Society, after returning to the hummingbird house and got set up in the activity room. While a nice musical for its time, it has aged poorly in my mind, but Susie was singing along, and this is Grace Kelly’s last film, so it is always good. Grace Kelly even wears in the movie the jewelry from her engagement to the Prince of Monaco. She leaves Hollywood to be a princess.

We paused the movie about 1/2 way and talked to Susie’s mother, Leta, for a bit.

After the movie finished with a sudden resolution you often see in musicals of the 50s-60s, Susie was tired and was going to have lunch, so I and now Evan, who showed about 1/3 of the way into the movie, headed out. I got a kiss goodbye as Vanessa, the nurse aide for today, took over. Vanessa helps to make the transition easier by asking Susie questions about lunch and a nap when I leave. This stops Susie from getting sad and gets Susie back into the routines of the hummingbird house.

I started about 7:30ish and had breakfast, a bagel, and a banana with liberal coffee. I had managed to sleep until my alarm woke me. Better.

Thanks for reading. I have to make hot dogs and burgers at church this morning, so I am a bit rushed–sorry if I was not verbose enough.