I managed some sleep, so the day started at 7ish, and I first felt I had beat the coughing and wheezing. Next, I finished the text of the revisions of my Dungeons and Dragons adventure, 24 pages and 15,000 words in its shortened form. I was planning to play this Sunday, so I had to finish up the changes and some model building. I started on the blog next, and slowly while I was writing, I began to wheeze and cough. Well, puke! While fading at first, the cough and wheezing were still going strong.
I wrote an email canceling the Sunday game, so I would not give the cold to anyone else as I was still coughing and sneezing. The coughing got worse as I showered and cleaned up. I took more cold/flu meds and knew now I would be sleepy all day–the meds make me tired and makes my thinking sloppy.
I headed to Susie’s place and arrived near 11. Evan showed up a little later. Susie and I decided we could do the park as it was sunny without wind (which seldom happens in November in Oregon). It was frosty still, and we had the park primarily to ourselves. Only a few dog walkers were out in the cold. The path of the sun could be seen on the ground as anywhere the sun had not been was still covered with a light frost.
Susie was bundled in her heavy leather coat, hat, scarf, and mittens. We passed through the tennis courts as the only paving into the park was a handicapped parking spot to the tennis courts. I opened the court’s door, with Susie’s wheelchair hitting me in the ankles as it rolled forward, and I kept on my feet (the PT is helping, I think). I will need to put the brakes on her wheelchair next time!
We skipped the benches (I was not interested in sitting on a frost-covered bench) and called Leta, Susie’s mother, from a sunny spot just off the paved track (we got off the path to let the dog walkers by). Folks still do social distancing in the park. We talk to folks from six feet. Everyone is happy to see each other, but we all have this now built-in six feet space requirement. Leta could not talk long as she was at a party with the new Methodist Bishop–a friend of hers. Yes, Leta was partying with the Bish!
We did the whole park and even took a short trip to the Magnolia tree, which was not flowering, but the bright red seeds were showing now. We were getting cold. So we returned to the hummingbird house. I took Susie into her room, got her coat off, and put it away. Anassa, the nursing aide on weekends, moved Susie to her bed and put her head up. We then found The Mask of Zoro to watch. We watched the movie, and my coughing got worst. Susie fell asleep for some of the films but was awake for all the good parts.
The sword fights and some of the jokes were good. The movie is dated with its treatment of women and race–but not terribly so, and it is still fun. So it might be a good choice if you find a dull moment over the holidays.
Susie was unhappy when we started to leave. “I need you,” were her words. After a while, she decided she would be alright, and I could go. With all my coughing, I have had to keep my distance and keep my visits short–Susie is getting lonely. I will (hopefully, this cough will fade) spend more time with her once I am on paid time off (PTO) next week.
Evan and I got lunch and played my new board game Ostia at The 649 taphouse in Aloha, Oregon. This is my newest Kickstarter-based game, and I have punched it, read the rules, and even played a bit using the solo system. This was my first time teaching it and playing it with two people.
Evan quickly picked up the easy rules, and we were soon generating resources and placing ships. The game theme is the Roman port of Ostia, and you run a trading business in ancient Rome. You have a board for running your port and a larger board to explore and establish trade routes across the ancient world. Every ancient city has benefits you can acquire by building a building from the city in your port. You get honor by exploring and other events that increase your potential scoring (the same system is used in the board game Scythe).
Instead of cards or available choices, you pick a section of your port, do an action there (usually gaining resources) and then redistribute the ships in your port, and the last place you place a ship is your regular action. This unique way to select actions can be quite a brain burner.
We completed the game and scored wrong, and I am not sure who won, but I gave it to Evan. He managed to complete two trade routes which increased his scoring. Next time I will read the scoring rules more!
I had the chicken rice bowl there, and Evan had the soup. We then shared a charcuterie board. I had a Spanish Coffee when I got there, which warmed me and stopped the cough for a bit. I had a few beers as I had no game on Saturday night.
As Evan and I were wrapping up, Mariah texted me about meeting up–but I was done for the night. So I demurred and headed home. I curled up with my now much worse cough and wheezing and read Violet Blue’s book, published through Kickstarter. The ebook is here for pre-order on Amazon.
That was about all I did. Then, I put away my serious reading for a while, The Song of the Cell, and got a brain cookie: The Poppy War. I have this on my Kindle and spent the evening sitting up in bed reading, ignoring the coughing. The book is fun.
I went to bed at about 10ish, after I fell asleep while reading and finally slept around midnight. I managed to wake at 6AM–a first night’s rest.
It is day 17 of Advent, and I thought Dean Martin would work for today: Baby, it’s Cold Outside.
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
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 