The morning started with me again resetting my alarm to 6:30 and waking again, not knowing how the thirty minutes could be over in a blink or shutting my eyes. I found myself in the kitchen and had an out-of-body experience as I watched myself find a banana and make coffee, liberal coffee, in a French Press. Slowly, I become myself as I reassemble in my office with breakfast and read emails, Slack channel updates, and some news. The current emergency was solved, but a new one has been discovered, and the various recovery and defect process has begun. Nothing for me.
I shower, dress, and board Air Volvo with the rest of the coffee in a travel cup. The pollen level, while high, has me not coughing but sneezing all day. The drip-drip and the cough-cough have stopped, and the sneezing is only outside or in Air Volvo before the high-quality air filters restore normal air to the interior. When I get so many miles on Air Volvo, I purchase the standard fixes and updates, and the air filters are also replaced–it is always best for Air Volvo to return to the mothership for maintenance.
There were two school buses before me (there are only four school days left for Beaverton) on my trip to the office–usually, there are none, and I was not late. I think the school drivers are going slower, and more kids are likely getting on the buses for the last few days. I arrived before 8AM at work for my shift.
My day was meeting and Zoom rich. I also had a tummy issue, likely caused by my small breakfast and my pills. A bagel-like product at the breakfast table for testers (we qualify for the food, too) and more coffee got me back to normal. Today, I travel to Nike WHQ, which is lovely on a sunny clear day like today. I parked on the third floor of the NYC Garage (plenty of parking) and then walked across the Nike WHQ campus.
Serena Williams Building has a beautiful cafeteria with a great salad bar, and there I met Scott for lunch. Scott and I made our usual salad lunch and discussed software development and how Scott could get data to run reports for his biz. There (Nike IT mostly has returned to campus), we saw an old friend, Don, who usually works remotely from Florida–the world has permanently changed (he moved there to care for his late mother) from the pandemic, especially for IT. Don was visiting for a while and was working from WHQ.
It was a lovely lunch; the bright sun had us eating outside and enjoying the warm June.
Ms. Williams’s outfits and trophies on display in the lobby of her building.
After lunch, I returned to Air Volvo, rushing a bit and reaching Target not far from Susie’s place when it was time for my next meeting. I sat in Air Volvo, parked, and did the Zoom meeting on my iPhone. The meeting was about another data conversion with a late-discovered issue that must be resolved soon. The conference ran over a bit.
Yes, the fire extinguishers signs have swooshes, and the Nike WHQ NYC Garage wall panels have Morse Code “Just Do It” cut into them.
I drove a few minutes from Target’s parking lot to Susie’s place 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 in her recliner in the shared living room, sleeping. She was waiting for me and had fallen asleep–she smiled when I gently woke her.
Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, popped Susie into the wheelchair, and we headed to Susie’s room. We looked at the new hats that Barb, Susie’s sister, had sent her. One was a wool hat Barb picked out in Ireland, and another a straw summer hat. There was a note in a large script, so Susie could read it, from Barb suggesting new hats for summer and winter for Susie. Susie tried them on; they are adjustable, and we fitted the sun hat. We called Barb and sent her photos of Susie wearing the hats.
You can see the Moose Cross sign that Barb sent too.
Susie then sat and listened with me to my 2PM meeting, a change control meeting that happens twice a day. The questions are all about process and testing and having proper documentation to prove to any auditor that the software (initial install, fix, or enhancement) is adequately tested. While tedious, Susie did not mind just holding my hand and sitting together for thirty minutes.
Next, adorned with the new hat, Susie agreed to try out Metzger Park next door. It was filled, again, with kids, these older than yesterday but not high school age, and there was lots of running around and fewer parents. We found one unoccupied bench, and I sat there and called Leta, Susie’s mother, and we had a friendly chat on FaceTime. We use FaceTime to see each other. Leta approved of the new hat.
We did the full park tour and saw Bo, who lives in his car near the park. We said hello. We then toured the local streets looking at the flowers and trees. The magnolia tree had not yet bloomed.
The kids seem to have a Blair Witch theme!
I got Susie back to the hummingbird house, and Susie was now ready for a nap. I kissed Susie goodbye as Jennifer took Susie to her room. Susie had a good day.
I enjoyed in Air Volvo the extra, almost end-of-school massive Beaverton traffic. Finally, I arrived at the Volvo Cave, got the mail, picked-out dinner, and did the last 4:30 status meeting from my home office. At the end of my shift, I purchased the old Hammer Studios version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) on iTunes and watched the old, almost horror movie while making dinner. This one is with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee with the horror music soundtrack and the same sets you see in all the 1950-1960 horror pictures, ala Grindhouse. I loved the movie.
I used a new sauce from a jar, Puttanesca: Olive & Capers, from Seggaiano. It contained olive oil stuck to the pasta and mixed well with the Italian sausage I fried until just before it burned in a non-stick pan. I recommend this sauce and will repurchase it. I made Orecchiette boiling it until it was a bit overdone (sometimes it is too chewy for me). I mixed it all while watching the Hammer Studios film turned Sherlock Holmes into a series of horror set pieces. Fun. I had many bowls of pasta, meat, and sauce.
Having overeaten, I collapsed into a food coma, napped until 8ish, got some tea, and started writing this blog.
Thanks for reading.
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