I was exhausted yesterday and decided to sleep in on Sunday. I managed to rise after 8:15 and make coffee, liberal coffee, after attacking the invaders with bleach spray. Unfortunately, the ants were back, requiring a more organized response. I did the dishes, moved the unwashed dishes into the machine, and ran them–nothing left for the pests. Now that the chaos was over (ants everywhere), I made breakfast. I heated unsalted butter in a non-stick pan. I scrambled three eggs, added them to the pan, and covered them with chopped ham from Olympic Provisions ham and some shredded cheddar. While I could have tried for a polite-looking omelet, I instead scrambled it. I made a toast with a light spread of butter and jam to accompany my breakfast. I took this to the office with coffee and started writing Saturday’s blog–always a long story. I also did some repairs to the wood box for the police radio. I discovered that the inside is peeling away from the plywood underneath, likely water damage from over fifty years ago, and glued the broken parts. I also replaced one piece of veneer on the front. First, I cut a dark brown piece from the veneer kit I bought at the woodworking store, and then I changed to grey oak as I thought that would stain better and match well.
I showered and dressed. I was a bit off and had to grab the shower wall once–I am always ready to catch myself, but I was surprised to do that today. I finished with great care, was soon dressed, and headed out in Air Volvo. The first stop was Safeway, where I acquired flowers for Susie. Next, I got a Whopper Jr., a guilty pleasure, with onion rings (never again) and a diet drink. The mini burger was excellent.
I reached Susie at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Susie was deeply asleep, and she had trouble waking. Susie was exhausted from Saturday’s movie and, until she saw the flowers, did not wake. Anassa was checking in as Susie was so sound asleep that she worried the nurse aide.
Susie was good, and we soon called Leta, her mother, and they had a short pleasant chat on my iPhone using FaceTime. Susie was excited as I brought her Bunny. She has had this little stuffed toy rabbit for years, and it was always on her pillow at the house. I said it was visiting for Easter, and Susie, after saying goodbye to Leta, fell asleep with Bunny and even held Bunny when sleeping.
Aside: I did sleep holding Bunny a few times for hard nights with chemo. Bunny is very comforting.
Susie was tired and slept while I tapped away on my Apple computer. I spent hours looking at electronics and code for running microprocessors. Finally, Susie woke up a few times and asked if everything was OK, and I told her it was, and she went back to sleep with Bunny.
Anassa rechecked Susie before heading out on shift change, and Louis took over. He was cooking baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn for dinner. All things Susie will like (even blended), and I left at 3:45ish to return to the Volvo Cave. The first stop was Ace Hardware off 185th on the way home. There I acquired steel wool to gently remove the stain from the radio’s wood, ant baits to commit insecticide, and a small can of stain and poly from Minwax (antique walnut). While there and resisting buying any cool tools, I received an update from Mariah that dinner could happen at the Gold Valley Brewery (GVB) at 4:45: excellent.
Air Volvo arrived a few minutes early, and I ordered a beer mixed with coffee (not again) and their Morocco-styled sweet potato fries. Mariah soon arrived and ordered red wine (I should have gone that way) and a cobb salad; I had the appetizer. fried oysters, as I had plenty of food already on Sunday. I did have a slice of cheesecake and coffee to finish.
Mariah and I talked about work and some reading we have done. We both love the American writer Emerson. I have a Kickstarter for a new solo role-playing game (RPG), and I have thought that Mariah, Corwin, and I could produce an excellent solo RPG. I have the solo RPG, The Thousand Year Vampire, and that got my focus on this. While a bit dark for me, especially with my health issue, I still like the idea and love the presentation, but I can’t imagine myself as a vampire so far. Also, the new Lampblack, a comic book I supported via Kickstarter and gave a copy to Cat Smith for Christmas, is now producing a matching solo role-playing game. This idea appeals to me, and I wonder if I could write some stories and make a matching Fantasy RPG to match the story. Just a daydream so far.
Mariah agreed to play my adventure with Corwin. I have invited Corwin to help me work on the adventure after he plays it (it needs a map and some editing), and maybe Mariah can help. So she will play (It should be three sessions to play). This is the one I wrote I wrote about before, When Your Heart’s Desire is Offered, which I wrote for 10th level 5e Dungeons and Dragons. I hope to see it for sale on Drive-Thru RPG someday for a few bucks.
We talked about the writing we hope to return to soon, the usual. There is never enough time to write. Soon it was getting late, and we left our separate ways. It was no longer raining, and the sun was out for one last peek and evening showing some blue sky. It was a lovely drive home.
I returned home without incident and returned to my radio–the glue dry on the repairs. I took steel wool to the surface out on the deck and removed more of the finish without removing much wood–better. I wiped off the dust, found a few more spots of sticky finish, and removed it (more repainting from fifty years ago) with the steel wool, better. I found more damage inside and glued and clamped more fixes.
I ordered more parts from Sparkfun for the next radio. I should have the wooden radio box repaired soon, and the casting kit is coming. That will allow me to make a fantastic color show with clear buttons. I am thinking of mixing some tiny watch gears in the new buttons to look more steampunk. Instead of station setting buttons, there will be a light show with six neoPixies from AdaFruit.
Aside: The 8Mhz Arduino cannot sample the microphone fast enough to match real-time using standard functions. The cycle of the Arduino is just too slow. According to Lady Ada, you can run a direct feed to get the information, but this is outside the usual coding for these microcontrollers. So I can’t produce a fabulous live display of the music spectrum.
The screw connectors that arrived today are too large. So I went back online on Amazon and ordered a smaller set. A minor setback.
Well, it is getting late, and I need to stop writing. It has been a busy two days. The data conversions are done, and the project restarted with the next test cycle this evening (India’s Monday morning). Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 