Story 23March2023

The day started with me waking with my alarm at 6AM on Thursday; Thursdays are work-from-office, and so it means rushed. I struggled with my decisions and finally rose. I found my slippers and headed out to explore Thursday–I did not have a machete, but I did find it a bit of a jungle as I tripped over laundry yet-to-be-washed and a sweater that somehow was on the floor. Ugh!

I managed to handle creating liberal coffee and finding yogurt, leaving both to contemplate being consumed. Next, I recovered a plain NYC bagel from the freezer, lightly serviced it (15 seconds) in the microwave, and left it to finish defrosting. Next, I climbed down on the floor (it seemed further away today) and had Alexa play the best of Imagine Dragons. I then performed all of my stretches and exercises for twenty-five minutes. I know I will feel better in a few days, but it is always hard to start this again. I have only done two days this week.

A bit breathless and various things now hurting, I reach the home office with coffee. My breakfast (the bagel is now toasted and wearing a coating of cream cheese) without incident, I quickly ate everything, read emails, Slack channel updates, and new feeds (CNN, BBC, New York Times) to be prepared for the day. The news is not terrible, with no mass shootings or another bank failure (Republic Bank is holding on by just its fingernails, from what I have read). But today, the USA Central bank, The Fed, raised interest rates by a quarter point–I could hear the sound of bonds losing value (pop, pop, pop).

I boarded Air Volov after rushing into the shower, dressed in the last clean work-acceptable t-shirt (the H.P. Lovecraft-centric ones are not really shoe company ready), and grabbed the Nike laptop. I pushed through and managed to avoid all of the school buses and arrived before 8 at my table in my project’s building known as Clubhouse. We don’t have assigned workspaces, desks, or even lockers. When you arrive, you just sit in a chair at a table and use it. We have team areas, and folks settle into a location after a while. I always sit in the same place. It is strange to be homeless, but I am where my laptop is. Most meetings are Zoom anyway (I have one meeting a week with a conference room which we then sign in to the Zoom meeting with the AV equipment). I am a corporate gypsy.

Sitting with my colleagues (all having picked and settled into their usual place), I spend the morning in some meetings (there is a tiny room nearby where I do sessions–I am not that guy talking to a screen next to everyone) and then try to help with a few crises of the moment and a data issue. Morning disappears fast.

I travel next to see Susie in Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. I see, despite the light misty rain, that the Beaverton motorcycle cop is out shooting his radar gun at Highway 26. All of us send up prayers for a sudden downpour. Without more adventures other than improper prayers to God, I reach the hummingbird house and soon see Susie. She is napping in her recliner in the living room with a blanket, and some 1990s movie with supermodels is on the screen.

Ignoring the TV, we call Susie’s mother, Leta, and quickly reach her. Susie and Leta chat for twenty minutes until Susie starts nodding off. Susie looks good, and her arm seems better, but she is sleepy today. For her, because she nods off a few times, it seems like only a few minutes before I have to leave. She does not want me to go but relents, a bit confused (but not crying), and I manage to kiss her goodbye without crying (where she can see). Jennifer tells me that despite the healing, Susie no longer uses her right arm to feed herself. Susie has stopped using it–we would hate to lose the functionality and will keep working at it.

I return to the shoe company, and there are some questions about how our data works and why I answer. I also work on a presentation about GitHub I am giving the team, just three slides. I also update the example repository for our group Read.me file with example code (Read.me has its own mini-programming language).

It is a bit frustrating at work, but it is the last in-the-office day, so I am happy to leave at 4:45 and arrive at the Volvo cave in heavy Oregon mist. I rest briefly, offer Mariah dinner (she turns me down), and nap. I am back up after 6PM and make dinner by reheating the no-seafood jambalaya, having had my offer rejected once more.

I rewatched the last episode in Season 3 of The Mandalorian and still liked it. I then caught up on Quicken and paid Susie’s monthly bill. Susie’s monthly expenses are about $8,000, including Rx, OTC, supplies, care, and room and board. A lot of money, but nothing compared to nursing home costs, and I think I can manage it. I will request that the IRS and Oregon return much of my taxes to help cover this (all medical expenses over 10% are deductible) in 2024.

I then drove to the Wildwood Taphouse, where JR paid my bill ahead of time using the Pay It Forward program. Thank you, JR! I had a small dark beer and wrote this.

Thanks for reading. I will likely play a game of Captain Nemo (solo game) tonight.