Saturday has left me sad. Susie was upset when I went on Saturday at 2ish; this breaks my heart. I know that, for Susie, it will fade quickly, and she will be fine. With her short-term memory issues and a nap, she will be fine again in less than an hour, not remembering the emotions. But I remember, and it hurts, and it is hard to start again and do yet another day, but I must remember for both of us. This is a journey, यात्रा, and I must accept that and keep it sacred. In Christain terms, I am in the wilderness for forty days–I must remember my faith. It ain’t easy.
But I push on and find the strength to keep going. Routine, like writing this blog, is my best defense, as the resting and distracting things like board games. I read emails, the news, and dress. I find comfort in the familiar.
I rose on Saturday morning feeling a bit better. I have the AC back on, and that clears the house of pollen (I replace the filters often). It is the weekend, my team has completed all data conversions, and even the updates are flowing–we are just monitoring and being available. To that end, I am still attending the morning Zoom calls (I begged off the evening calls) all weekend. I started writing the blog (I decided to let Friday’s story wait to be written on Saturday). The meeting is short, and I drink liberal coffee from my French Press and eat the remains of the tamales for breakfast (a poor choice as I am feeling slightly off after that). I also edit the 500-word horror story I have been working on for a week. I do not find time for my radio project. I am looking at a short visit to Michigan around the weekend of 10Sept2023 as my sister is getting married that weekend. I will have to make everything refundable as Susie might need me then–I can plan nothing in advance while on my journey.
I travel to see Susie by boarding Air Volvo. I nearly take the trip over Cooper Mountain, but I remember that construction might be there too, so I cross over Beaverton as usual. The traffic is light until I find that Hall Boulevard is closed again (ugh!), and I am forced into a significant backup in an industrial park that circles around the closure. Thus, after an additional ten minutes touring an industrial park (nicely filled with trees and green lawns) and building below three stories (we have strong building codes now, and the earthquake reinforcement for taller buildings is quite expensive–so most facilities are kept low and wide), I finally reach 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. I did have to go in the wrong direction to get beyond the lock-up and U-turn to get back on track.
I make a stop before reaching Susie at Target. I picked up some Ensure with protein for her and another brand in her favorite flavor, Strawberry. I added some Frappuccino in bottles from Starbucks Company that she used to love. I also acquired two sets of flowers as the roses I cut and brought are fading. I deliver these, and Susie is delighted to get new drinks (she is worried about her weight loss), and flowers are always welcome.
Next, Anassa, the weekend day nurse aide, pops Susie into the wheelchair, and we head outside into the hot, warm Oregon weather. Butterflies are everywhere, yellow bright Oregon Swallowtails, with an occasional Monarch or smaller moth also zooming by to add more colors. I roll Susie down the street for a short direction and then through the tennis courts, missing the bumping crushed stone that now fills the parking area, and then back on to the paved trails through Metzger Park.
Many of the benches were in use, but we found one in the sun and enjoyed the warm sun. We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and chatted on my iPhone using FaceTime. Susie started to fall asleep in the warm sun, so I rang off, and we toured the park and left the way we came, the tennis courts. Next, Anassa set Susie up in her bed so we could watch a movie. We did the animated version of Aladdin (I like the newer one better as Jasmine becomes Sultan in that story, and I like Will Smith’s character). Evan appeared about 1/4 into the film and argued it was better than the new one). Susie enjoyed the movie but was unhappy when I left at 2ish (I delayed lunch until after our visit), as mentioned above.
Evan and I headed to Portland, and after some light traffic, we found a train again blocking our path. I drove to the end of 99N and took it back to SE (it is built over the industrial area and the train tracks) and was soon in a very busy Rogue Brewery. Richard was free this afternoon and joined us a bit later at Rogue. I got a beer and a BLT with avocado (very west coast) called a BLTA. Evan showed up after a while as the train and found parking (I parked two blocks away).
We played the board game Vindication adding in Loot and Pets for the first game (nobody used them, so we removed them in the second game). Evan managed to take the lead and keep it in the first game. I unthinkingly ended the game early while behind. While not a blow-out, Evan was more than seven points ahead of me.
I will not describe the game in detail. It is a Kickstarter game from 2018, and I was involved in the game design and recommend it as it is easy to play but is hard to master–my favorite type. It has a substantial discovery and map-building mechanic combined with resource management. It is not a brain burner and plays fast.
We had time for a second game, and in that one, I took the lead early, playing with more care (except at the end when Richard pointed out a mistake that I corrected). I managed to keep my lead. Evan unexpectedly ended the game and found himself in last place, with Richard almost catching me. It was a close game, with it being anyone’s game and Richard’s slow engine-building skills showing by his sudden point growth. He agreed with me later that getting companions instead of buying all the movement at once (for a sudden 10+ point scoring) might have been a better plan (you get some superpowers with some companions), might have worked better. It was nice to play a three-person game.
I paid the bill at Rogue and headed to Richard’s early (he said I could come early and invited Evan to a game tonight, but Evan demurred). Once there, we set up a new game (for me), Darwin’s Journey, a recent Kickstarter game I did not support but is by the same designer as a favorite, Grand Hotel Austria. I found Darwin’s Journey a smooth-running and intellectually easy-to-follow game. Unlike other games, there is a limited set of clean-up and between-turn mechanics (Weather Machine and Grand Hotel Austria are harder to play as they have complex between-turn processes), but those that exist are clear and can’t be missed or done wrong. It does use bonus titles that are competitively acquired that I don’t like, but it includes a worker improvement system that I like (meeples need to do more than just be markers). The price, under $50, makes it an easy recommendation. The upgraded Kickstarter versions are selling for $150, the usual buy-in price for the upgraded games.
I played and took the lead early, but my lack of focus on the bonus tiles set me back to third place, a distant third place. Shawn scored high for a first-time play. Richard scored a new high score lapping me twice! Still, I liked it and would play it again (warning, my second play is usually worse until I work out the rules). We played the newbie set-up; excellent, the game has that too.
After that, I headed home early and took the high-flying bridges and on-ramps I had never enjoyed in Portland. I arrived at the Volvo Cave without incident in Air Volvo. I stopped by Popeyes, got some chicken, paid too much for coleslaw ($4.99–more than a gallon of gas), and ate the chicken breast and sides while I rewatched episode three of Wednesday on Netflicks. I have to play it loud as my poor hearing misses some of the character Wednesday’s side comments. Paraphrasing: “I thought I was going out of my mind, and I am not enjoying it as much as I thought I would.” I still miss some, but I like it on the second take. Recommended.
After that, I went to bed but could not sleep, and instead read the rules to my newly purchased copy of Furnace. This is a lighter (and cheap at under $50) board game for 2-4 players that involves bidding and scheduling that I find quite appealing (and I am good at it). One of the few games I have beat Richard at.
I look forward to playing it in the future, and once I read the rules and looked at the components, I could sleep.
Aside: I play board games (and Role-playing games–RPG) not so much as to win; winning is always fun, but to play to understand the mechanics and flow of the games. The strategies are interesting to me. I get to forget everything for a few hours and immerse myself in an artificial world and see its wonders and incredible mechanics. I have had to get better at the competitive parts (especially the engine building) to understand more and explore the wonders.
Thank you for reading.
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