Story 9Nov2022: Wednesday

I forgot to take any pictures today, sorry.

Going backward, I just got home and had toast with cherry jam with my pills and as a treat. I just started writing the blog after playing games with Zophia, Dondrea’s daughter, for a few hours at the church. Zophia played the board game Azul with me, the tile-matching game we love. She won only one of about five games. So I could focus and did not have to teach, just play. We tried the blank side for the first time, and while harder, it was fun to set your own path until you were dropping piles of tiles and starting to lose points. So that was fun.

Before that, we played a rapid game of The Lost Ruins of Arnak; Zophia has those rules down after one learning game. This time we managed to complete the game in about an hour. Zophia was almost six points behind me at the end of the game, very close. Next time we may try the more challenging version or the add-on with special leaders. Zophia and I both like the theme and the flow of Anak, the Hollywood version of archaeology in the 1920s, complete with monsters and treasure.

Both games are maximum of four players and so play well with two players. In addition, the games are newish games, so they flow well. Zophia likes to play fast, and these games enable that.

Before heading to First United Methodist Church to play games with Zophia while choir practice was going on, I had soup for dinner–tortilla soup from a can. I dressed it up with some taco shells I heated (and slightly burned) and some sour cream. I wanted something lighter after having a heavy lunch–An Italian sub sandwich from Jimmy Johns. I made the soup at home while finishing up at work online. I had a few items to review and follow after heading home at about 4PM.

I worked on some items at work and did some research today. In addition, I discussed some design ideas for data transfers. It was a busy afternoon for me after lunch in the car listening to election results. I usually eat alone these last few years (even before the pandemic) and listen to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) while I eat in my car.

Before the pandemic, I would read the magazine and travel sections of the New York Times (NYT) during lunch alone. I have the NYT delivered on Sunday. I could read the various extra Sunday sections at lunch for most of the week. Sometimes I would keep the biz section if I was busy on Sunday. I would spend the week consuming the paper. NYT’s writing is good, and I enjoyed looking at where commas went and their refusal to use the Oxford comma.

I will have to return to those pre-Covid-19 habits.

Before lunch, I visited Susie. She was sitting in her recliner and looked good. She was watching her fav, Bluebloods. Unfortunately, I could only hang out for a short time, and we called Susan’s mother, Leta, and they chatted for a while. Susie was sad when I had to leave for a quick visit, but it was too cold to visit the park, and Susie looked very comfortable in her chair. She told me how happy she was that I came to see her every day. I did have tears in my eyes on the way to Jimmy Johns.

I had meetings in the morning before seeing Susie. I had to run one of the meetings and work with folks to get some work done over the next few months. I got to work at about 8ish without any trouble with school buses blocking my way.

I was up at 6 today, getting some sleep last night and waking before my alarm. I start the day with a bagle-like bread product, toasted and covered in cream cheese. Then, I opened a can of peaches to have some fruit with breakfast and liberal coffee.

Aside: My eTrade account is locked as the linking of the account to my Fidelity account caused “unexpected activity,” and they have thus limited the account now. I tried to call them on the number they supplied, and after waiting forty minutes, I gave up. However, I did borrow against my 401K in my Fidelity account to continue to cover Susie’s expenses and any unexpected year-change expenses (the limits reset, and I will have to pay a few thousand out again out-of-pocket at the start of 2023). I planned to connect that money to eTrade, but I ordered a normal process instead. I picked a loan as it does not increase my taxable income as long as I actively start to pay it back.

More aside: A large amount of money in my medical reimbursement account that I paid back is now available to use again. I have submitted a new bill to expend that money again. Let us hope that this bill will be acceptable and that they don’t decide to rescind the reimbursement later!

Yes, I am busy with work, paperwork, seeing Susie, and playing cool games with Zophia. Thanks for reading!