Tonight I am fatigued and a bit sad. When I left Susie at the hummingbird house, she looked so unhappy it broke my heart. I was falling asleep in the chair, so it was time for me to go, and she looked so scared and alone when I left; it was hard. I cried a few times. I have doubts; it is crushing.
I left Susie after 5:15 before it got dark, and I got more tired. When I arrived, Susie had tummy issues and was lying on her side toward the wall trying to be comfortable. I was there at 2PM, having run late all day. I called Leta, Susie’s mother, for a few minutes as Susie struggled to communicate, lying there with tummy issues.
Susie was feeling a bit better by 4ish, and Jennifer, the day nurse aide, got her resettled, resting on her back. I put on M.A.S.H., and we watched it together until I started to sleep more. I fell asleep a few times, and the clock ran fast–all day, I seemed to be in a race with it. Tempus Fugit!
I also read the rules for my new game, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, one I have thought of trying for years. These have been around as long as I remember looking at board games (1982!). With the birthday gift card, I bought my first one (there are four now) at Rainy Day Games (near the house), now owned by Guardian Games. These can be played solo or with a group. This game is cooperative; the group gets a case, you interview leads, from what I read, and can review the supplied newspapers. The group then decides to get Sherlock’s help, to solve the case, or interview more leads after talking to Sherlock. At the end of the case, you open an envelope and answer questions. Your score is based on your answers and how many leads you used to reach your solution. Sherlock then explains the case to you, it is written and read aloud, or an app can be used, and you find out how you did compare to Sherlock. That sounds like fun, and I will see if Susie can join me for a case one of the Sundays.
The game comes with ten cases. Once you do one, you can’t come back as you know the solution. I am interested to see how this is organized. I wonder if you could do the same thing with H.P. Lovecraft or vampires.
Before visiting with Susie, I stopped for lunch at a familiar Italian place, but the special was not that special, and I am sorry to have wandered away from my favorites–as is my policy–no names for a fail (I will not use social media to create an issue without a chance to reply). The glass of wine was great, as was the salad–perfect garlic bread too. Next time I will stick with what I know is good (usually in cream or tomato sauce).
I stopped by Powell’s in Beaverton and saw a few books that interested me, but nothing initially got my attention. Well, until I hit naval history and found a new book on a modern sea battle, while important, I don’t know: Tsushima Straights (1905). I avoid most older naval history books as the books were political and are versions of the winning side’s narrative. Now historians are reading accounts from both sides, footnoting sources, and multi-lingual sourced. A much better history.
I am already on page thirty of the book, plus I read the editor’s preface. Great Battles: Tsushima by Rotem Kowner appears destined to sit on my shelf of naval history. So far, recommended. Thirty-two-page bibliography and extensive footnotes–excellent.
For my birthday, I ordered the US Naval Institute Press giant book on Bismarck, which arrived today. It is wonderful, and unlike the book I have on Yamato, this one also goes through the findings from the shipwreck. It is heavy, filled with color pictures (mainly from the wreck), and forwards by the surviving crew members (written years ago while the book was still being assembled before they passed away). Amazing.
For a few dollars more, I also have the 1916 officers manual for battleships in the Royal Navy. Sometimes there is a first-hand account that uses unfamiliar language, and I hope the manual from 1916 will help. Postage was already free, so I thought I should grab it now.
While I am covering the things in the mail today, I bought some promo parts for Concordia from Board Game Geek’s store and only wish I had purchased a few more for gifts. I like the extra Forum tiles.
The morning was spent working after rising at 7:30AM and taking one meeting, the defect meeting. This overlaps the standup for our team, so I get this one. I was able to help a bit.
I spent some more hours writing my blog. I showered, dressed, and started back on the radio project. I put on my lab coat and took steel wool to the wood again. I was worried I would damage the radio box if I kept stripping it, and I did damage one area of the veneer. Time to stop! I changed to the spray-on varnish recommended online and purchased it online to ensure I had the same product. I lightly sprayed it on, and it was perfect. It also colored the wood and covered some of the old (and new) damage.
It rained sideways later today. I found the radio with water beading on it–it was fine. Lucky! Excellent finish–I will stay with one coat!
This evening I glued red felt to the old cloth that survived on the radio, preventing light from leaking through it, but I noticed that someone had actually glued that cloth to a silky gold original cloth! I looked at spending another fifty bucks to get something close to the original fabric (some websites provide period-correct patterned cloth) and decided to go with the surviving replacement–cloth likely taken from some long-lost amp. I cut the fabric to fit better (the replacement did not fit that well from the last repair) and glued it back into the radio with white glue. The vacuum tube radio parts held the cloth in place with a damaged speaker (fixed with electrical tape). I think it will work fine now, backed with felt.
Well, sorry, no photos today. Thank you for reading.
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