I decided yesterday to take today off. I have Barb, Susie’s sister coming, and the house is not great–so I will take some time to clean. I never seem to be able to prioritize the cleaning with everything I have to do daily. I have a considerable rate of paid time off (PTO) with twenty-six years with Nike, so I should use it. I am worried that I will need it if I need to care for Susie or if I get to enjoy some new health issues.
I have also realized that I can only do some many things a day and have to give something up if I do something. Thus, while I am writing my Dungeons and Dragons adventure (which I need to return to while on vacation from Nike), I cannot also build cool models, paint figures, or do something amazing with electronics. I also have to be watchful to not exhaust myself, so I gave up work today.
I managed to sleep into 7:45 and then logged back into work and put in my timesheets and out-of-office flagging in my email. I had already blocked my shoe company-based calendar and sent out no-blocking meetings to my colleagues, so they would see in their calendars that I am out on PTO. I have today, Friday, and all of next week on PTO for a short vacation.
The morning is windy and bright, unusual for November in western Oregon. I watched from my office window (formally Corwin’s bedroom) in the backyard as the local cats patrolled my backyard. The cats walk into the yard and walk the perimeter and then hop on to the top of the fence, look for a while, and next jump into the adjacent yard. One cat often sleeps in the grass for a time (I suspect the cat is hiding from cats and humans).
The robins are eating the fallen apples from my tree. It fell, but I had the yard service trim it into a smaller tree with one large branch acting as the new trunk. I see that the local woodpeckers like the apples too. Squirrels walk the top of the fence and hide various items in the yard. My Wedgewood roses are still blooming, but the buds are mushy from the frost and rain. Writing and looking out the window is a great day.
The ants are finally gone. The ant folks were here a few days ago, and “I will hose it down good” was the reply to my suggestion that the ants were intense. So the guy took a hose and literally, and as promised, hosed down the windows and base of the house with some water-like insecticide. It was dripping off the windows! I used to use a green service, which seemed like trying to live with the pests and just annoy them for a while. Now iI go industrial, as the ants are legions!
I have noticed that with the pandemic locking folks in their homes, the wasps are more varied, and spiders are missing (dinner). The owls are in the night skies again, and rats and small mammals (voles) are missing. On the other hand, the frogs are back, and the slugs are reduced in numbers (also dinner). While the hummingbirds are still here, the jays are missing–the heat may have moved them to higher altitudes. The bats are in the skies at night, larger (huge) but less in number now.
Yesterday I started at 5:30 and did my usual rush to work before 8. Unfortunately, I had trouble with asthma and was up before my alarm. My allergies are burning, and my eyes, nose, and lungs are all complaining. I had poor sleep for two days, and the start was difficult–I was staggered at first. I made liberal coffee, Equal Exchange, which I had with a locally made cream cheese danish and a banana. I avoided the school buses by leaving on time after a shower, dressing, and all that jazz.
When I dress, I still apply Utterly Smooth with 20% Urea (cow pee) to my hands and feet, reducing the chemo-caused numbness. I still have to be careful as walking and moving are not always going as expected. My muscles and nerves still seem to have a timing problem from the metallic chemotherapy infusion–I am aware of this and keep my hands on counters and walls if I am tired and the timing issue sneaks up on me.
Work was a bit busy as I had some items to get started on. Mostly I helped with a few things and did some research. I did have a meeting at the end of the day with my boss and others that went on until the end of the day. So a bit busy, but the lack of sleep made some dull moments hard. I went and got, unusual for me, another coffee and paid for it. I had also forgotten my coffee this morning, so I drank Starbucks all day.
Being in the office, I did have a chance, something you don’t get working from home, to chat with some folks and may help with some data issues. I also learned that another legacy system is being replaced, and AWS and other cloud solutions will be the replacement. It is interesting to me when computer software does not have an upgrade path, and the only reasonable choice is to reimplement–it happens so often, and it is hugely expensive.
I went out to find lunch, a whopper with cheese at Burger King, and then headed to see Susie. I had no issues reaching the hummingbird house, and Susie was waiting in her recliner with the news playing on the big TV. While I am not a fan of FOX News, the local folks are great.
She was delighted to have me visit, and she looked better today, and her speech was more explicit–no growl from allergies or a cold. We called her mother, Leta, and they chatted happily on my iPhone using FaceTime. After that, I just sat with Susie for a while, and she nodded off, happy to have a visitor and a chat with her mother, I think. Then, with Susie sleeping, I decided to leave, wake her to say goodbye with a kiss, return to work without violating any laws in Beaverton, I hope, and continue my meetings and research.
The coffee worked, and I was intelligible at the last meeting. I then wished folks a happy holiday, shaking a few hands (folks are never sure to fist bump or shake–I like to shake as I wash often). I wear a mask for most things at work (not wanting the RSV, Covid-19, flu, cold, and so on). I need my strength to keep Susie safe, visit daily, and pay the bills. I cannot get sick.
I enjoyed the usual heavy Thursday traffic and made it to the church a bit early, so I could rest in the car for a few minutes. Then, when the lights went on in the sanctuary, I carried in a favorite board game: Concordia.
Wednesday is choir and music practice night for the church. Zophia is there, and I bring board games to play while she waits for the practice. Today we played my favorite, Concordia, and I taught the game to Zophia–it is easy rules, but the choices are hard. The game is a resource management, placement, and deck-building game. It excludes engine building, which my gaming friends so love. The theme is that you are a trading family in Rome and need to expand trade and hire/train (buy cards) folks to help you. The best trading house wins. To build a trading house, you need resources (wooden tokens for cloth, tools, wine, food, and brick) and a colonist in the area (a meeple). Plus money. You need resources to hire (buy a card). You play a card (a personality) to take action for that card. You play one card for your turn. Again, so simple–but so hard to have a plan. I often plan my turns three ahead while other players are going. The conflict is between building trading houses, buying cards, acquiring resources, and getting money. Adding to this is the complexity of getting your colonists in place and more out ( you have six). It is a newer game and so it is pretty and had expansions (none we used tonight) in the form of new boards (maps) and some new rules (the salt expansion I won’t use–but I like the Forum).
Zophia picked up the rules quickly, and soon I did not need to help her much. She likes, as I do, the mix of simple turns and complex strategies. She enjoyed the game and only lost by less than ten points; she had picked up the specialist cards (growl) and tripped the end of the game by building her last trading house (ouch) and gained seven points. I had purchased more cards, was spread out, and had all my colonists on the board (as did Zophia). I just squeaked by her!
My plan on the larger baseboard is to run to the corners and build. Zophia copied this and made Italia her personal province, which, randomly selected, included cloth, food, and brick–a perfect combination. She always had cash and resources while I struggled a few times. I did have four Diplomat cards (these cards duplicate another played card’s effects), so I could duplicate her specialist cards over and over–to her frustrations. Zophia refused to play the powerful Weaver card until she counted all my Diplomat cards were played. She learns fast!
We put the game away and said goodnight. I returned home and had a bagel-like bread product with pickles for a late dinner. I went to bed early and read for a while. I managed, for the first time in days, to sleep better.
Thanks for reading.
Feel free to call or send cards. Susie resides at:
Allegiance Senior Care
Adult Foster Care Home
9925 SW 82nd. Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97223
The house phone number: (503) 246-4116
Susie’s 60th birthday is this Sunday.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 