Today 17Jan2023: Tuesday on PTO

The morning started too early. I could not sleep and did not finish yesterday’s blog until nearly 1AM. Susie had a doctor’s video appointment at 9AM, so I had to rush a bit when starting at 7AM. I had just a banana for breakfast with some liberal coffee that I also put in a thermal cup and drank while taking Air Volvo to Susie’s place. I remembered to log on to work and put my out-of-office message on my email; my calendar was already blocked, and various other updates were done to ensure folks knew I was out today. I took paid time off (PTO) using my floating holiday for 2023 (I always use it first to remember to take it).

Traffic was heavy and slow-moving, and some folks, impatient with the slow speed, enjoyed the attention of Beaverton’s Finest motorcycle cups in a 20 mph school zone. I was attentive to school zones and drew no attention from the local police.

I was called by the doc’s office while still in slow traffic on Hall Boulevard. They wanted to review Susie’s meds. So I called them back after arriving at the hummingbird house, and Jennifer, the nurse aide on for today, had written them out for me (I called her from the car after the doctor’s office call–using Air Volvo voice hands-free option and thereby not breaking any laws). So I did not have much to do going ten miles an hour for a while.

I had the laptop ready, but we did have a sound issue that took me a few minutes to fix, and soon the cardiologist was happy to see us. We were pleased to meet her (she is also my cardiologist, and I saw her last in 2018) as Susie’s newest doc. Doc C had reviewed Susie’s history, even the Mount Sinia West events, and clearing understood what was happening. She was pleased when Susie’s speech today was understandable, and Susie’s vitals were good. Susie had gained twenty pounds since November.

Doc C agrees to continue the heart meds and blood thinners, believing that the strokes were caused by heart issues; the drugs prevent another stroke. We will meet Doc C in May 2023 and do a new echocardiogram and labs. The drugs are powerful, and side effects need to be monitored. Doc C said Susie was doing well and was happy to reconnect with us. Doc C reviewed my (Michael’s) chart too.

After we finished the call and Susie was happy with the good news, I connected Susie’s TV to Hulu (M.A.S.H is on Hulu), ESPN, and Disney+ without ads (We already had Disney and got credit for that). Next, we spent the morning watching the 8th Season of M.A.S.H. (When the writers reduce the jokes and tell more stories, and Radar leaves the show); Susie has seen the first couple of years of M.A.S.H. over and over and was pleased to see these episodes.

The movies Breakfast Club and Pearl Harbor were playing on the TV in the central area. Susie was happy with M.A.S.H. in her room, resting in her bed with a blanket. Susie stayed awake for most of the M.A.S.H. in the morning.

Susie headed to lunch at 1PMish, and I drove to the nearby Red Robin for a burger and diet coke. I was feeling a bit off and had some colon issues later. Likely the result of not getting enough sleep. I returned to the hummingbird house and spent a few more hours with Susie and more M.A.S.H. Susie liked the 8th season (one of the best with more emotion and fewer jokes). At 3:30ish, I headed out with a kiss back to the house. I was tired now, and everything was hurting- a sign to rest.

When I got home, I had a package waiting for me. Darkest Dungeon, the board game version, was delivered after a three-year plus late Kickstarter. I supported the original video game as I liked the art and theme, and when a board game version with all the art turned into 28-32mm Dungeons and Dragon-sized miniatures showed up on Kickstarter, how could I not sign-up? But, the Kickstarter project is a legendary failure–only 2/3 of the promised content has been delivered so far (that is what is in the boxes). I also had to pay an add-on of $50 for shipping after already spending hundreds of dollars and shipping. Few, if any, Kickstarters have 20,000 comments, most negative, and I have to use their Discord to communicate with the supplier–there are too many responses to get an answer now. Still, I loved the miniatures and the game, while interesting, is less interesting to me than the art.

Despite being tired and in pain as every muscle and joint hurts, I opened all the boxes of Darkest Dungeon and looked inside. So cool looking and got out the rules and started reading. It plays much like the video game with a 3D structure now added (the video game, well-loved as so retro, is 2d primarily).

I rested. I read. I opened the boxes a few times to look at more parts. I updated Discord with a picture of the boxes and got jealous comments. All good.

I reheated the Orange Chicken leftover and made more fresh rice to go with it. I ate that while watching Battleship New Jersey videos done by the curating team on the museum ship. They discussed today if the damage done to a cruiser in the Falkland Conflict would sink NJ. Yes and no was the answer. If three modern torpedoes hit NJ, they would expect it to be lost. However, the torpedos in the Falkland Conflict were WW2 designed and would do minimal damage to NJ (the curator said that NJ was expected to take up to six WW2 torpedos).

I rested more and finally wrote the blog. I am being careful tonight as I seem out of sorts. I did not work on my model today as I did not want to make mistakes because I am tired today. It is just a few hours of work.

Thank you for reading!