It is approaching 9PM, the sun is down, and the sky is darkening tonight. It was a cool day with the clouds clearing, meaning a cold, clear sky night. The clear sky will let the heat escape, so it will be very cold tonight, low 50sF (10C to 14C). Wednesday will be warm in the afternoon and start warming up. We will likely be in the 90F (32C) by the end of the week. No chance of frost now here at 210′ altitude.
I started the morning planning exercises at 6AM and managed to get going in a few minutes. No water. The shutdown had been extended, so I went outside in my robe and slippers and found a Water District guy; they had just finished replacing the main and were turning on the water to each house. By 6:30, water was running in the place. I had reserved some water for coffee and drinking, just in case, and was able to have coffee. My plans for morning laundry and exercises were ruined, so I headed to the home office with toast with low-sugar jelly and a cup of yogurt with fruit. I need to complete making breakfast and my exercises by 6:35; I am time-boxed.
I read emails, Slack channel updates, and the news to prepare for my day. I next showered with the shower head making strange noises as it blew air out of the water lines. The hot water in this house uses a conventional natural gas water heater with a huge tank which would not have the air issues. Thus my shower is comfortable.
When I remodeled the bathroom after the water leak while we were in NYC, I did not change to a small electric water heater in the room–the new green design (and in use in Europe). I am not sure I have electrical service for that (220 and a few amps are needed), and I was already into redoing the floor, shower, toilet, sink, and flooring–I decided to stop there. Now, were I to take that up, I would get tax credits for all of the work (currently endangered by the cuts demanded by certain congressional members for a deal on the debt ceiling–yes, congress is thinking about removing tax credits, ugh). Currently, our medical bills are too much, over $8,000 a month, to start remodeling again. Someday. Hopefully, the tax credits for making my house more energy efficient will remain in place so I can make the improvements in the future!
Returning to the story, I took Air Volvo to the office without issue and saw that most local flooding had receded. Work was the usual Zoom meetings, but with most of our work completed, I was a tourist for most of the meetings. I left about 11AM to see Susie at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.
Susie was deeply asleep in her room when I got there. I had to shake her to wake her, and she had trouble staying awake. Today she was exhausted. The cold seems gone, but Susie is worn out by it.
We called her mother, and they briefly chatted while Leta was getting her lunch/dinner at Panera Bread. Susie could wake up enough to talk to Leta for a few minutes. Soon, after ringing off, Susie was sleeping while M.A.S.H. played on her TV in her room. I stayed until noon as she likes to sleep with me there–it makes her comfortable not to be alone.
Susie was sad when I woke her again to say goodbye, and she got a kiss (risking the cold), and I left. I headed to Panera Bread and had the Strawberry and chicken salad there while reading the news. President Trump had been found responsible for assault and defamation, and I was reading the details to understand what all this meant. No comments here.
I returned to work and continued to help here and there and do some more Zoom meetings. I was able to answer some design questions and present some options informally. After one more status meeting, the afternoon was over, and I headed home.
The water still works; I checked. Then, I turned on the oven and baked the bratwurst. I had the sausages with the leftover couscous. I found 1/2 a can of peaches also leftovers, put them in a bowl, and had them instead of making a veggie. I missed the charcoal taste from grilling the bratwurst, but I could read and rest while they baked, and they came out perfect after about an hour at 350F. So easy!
I wrote the blog after reading some more. I also did two loads of laundry and did the dishes.
Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 