Story 21May2023

The morning started with me with a sore throat that did not get worse or better during the day. I was awake at 6-something, proved my hydration (twice!), and checked on the data conversions (all done!). I managed to roll over a few times, but the sore throat kept me awake. So before 7:30 on a Sunday, I was up and reading emails and starting my Monday. I had cereal with milk for breakfast, thinking back to the nausea of the day before, and that cereal would not bother my sore throat. It seems to be an allergy and not a cold, as I am not constantly blowing my nose.

I read about the project in emails and Slack Channels updates, and all data conversions were completed and ramp-up running without incident. We were done early. I was free for the day!

I wrote the Saturday blog and considered doing some work on the radio project, but I decided to rest a bit and read. I found it hard not to fall back to sleep; not helpful. I got dressed and headed out. I stopped by McDonald’s and got Dad’s favorite, two cheeseburgers, plus fries and a Diet Coke (I did not finish the Diet Coke–not sure I should order them anymore). I ate that while Air Volvo took me to the local Ace Hardware (I want to get new hoses and coiling things for them), but I discovered it was not open until noon on Sunday (old school). Monday’s task now.

I reached Susie’s place near noon. It was now overcast and no warmer than 65F (18C), which was quite a change from the previous days. Unfortunately, it is too early in the year for heat lows and high-pressure heating events from the Coastal Mountain Range. This is a thermal process where the air is compressed against the Coastal Mountains by an inflow wind and decompressed over the valley (here). The decompression causes heating (it is how AC works, actually). We will see this in August and get those 110F (43C) days.

I arrived at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. The traffic was light, and Susie was napping in her recliner in the shared living room. Another resident had a birthday, and more family was visiting. Susie and I decided on John Wick as a movie for today (being too cold for Susie to head into the park today) in her room. The new film, unimaginably called John Wick 4, is not yet available on cable, so we watched it (rented for $3.99).

Susie likes these comic-book-styled violent movies with Mr. Wick wearing an expensive Italian-made bulletproof suit (He holds up his coat to resist bullets–pure fantasy). We both like the series, and Susie enjoyed watching it again. I nodded off a few times but saw the majority of the movie. Susie then asked to be moved from her rocking chair (her butt hurt) to her bed and, like this, curled up and slept while I sat next to her.

(with the roses from Linda Wild sent to me–Susie has them now in her room)

I got my Apple computer and read stuff and managed not to buy anything excellent for board games from Etsy. Susie was dead asleep soon. She slept for about an hour.

Susie woke and, through her broken words, managed to ask to go home with me tonight–she did not know where she was and was worried. I reassured her that she was safe, and she said she felt safe there and was happy to be there. Susie showed signs of confusion, and I did not know if she was awake. It broke my heart as I told her she should stay at the hummingbird house. I explained that she could not walk and care for herself, so she was good here. I pointed out the decorations in the room, and she began to recognize them, and I could see her suddenly feeling relieved. I tried to remember all of the calming techniques for memory-challenged people. Susie calmed down and accepted that she would rest there tonight and that I would be back on Monday. I left with a kiss, and Louis promised to check on her a few times so she was not alone for very long. They will get her up for dinner at the table.

I headed to McMinnimums Oak Hills Pub and had soup, coffee, and some fries for a light dinner. Dungeons and Dragons is at 5:30 tonight. I wrote the blog this afternoon/evening and will finish it late tonight. My throat is sore still, but I think it is not worse, and I was not coughing.

Next, I headed to Cory’s house. We play the Dungeons and Dragons 5E version from 5:30 to 9PM Spell Jamming campaign. We are a low-level group of five 6th-level characters and Matt as DM. We are flying in spaceships that resemble steampunk versions of flying sailing ships to horrors from outer space crossed with Tolkien at his darkest. Our group of adventures is heavy combat focuses (previously, we played a group that was skirmishers and thieves), and we fought and overcame some large bad guys in this play. We also failed almost every social encounter, and that was really funny. So it was a fun night.

Some updates on my roses:

Mister Lincoln has bloomed, a hybrid tea from the 1960s and still available.

The Cardinal Richelieu has also bloomed. It is showing less stress. The watering and fertilizer helped. An near impossible-to-find once-blooming rose from the 1840s.

Souvenir du Président Lincoln is also blooming. The first time for multiple blooms, and planted last year. This is a bourbon rose from 1865. You can see a little of the black spot stressing it. It needs more watering.

Well, thank you for reading!