Story 7July2023: Friday

Today started with me going to work on a Friday for the first time since February 2022. After the pandemic, Nike decided to have us work Tuesday-Thursday; thus, today was the first Friday I worked. We had to work our shifts on Friday. It felt strange as about 1/2 the folks were still working from home on Friday.

I started at 6:30 and rushed to be in the office by 7:30 for my first defect meeting. I was a few minutes late, but I was clean and dressed. I decided to wear T-shirts this week as the temperatures were 80F+ (27C) in the forecast. We had low clouds, which were not in the forecast, making it 65F (18C) until the later afternoon.

My boss Brad came to work and stayed the morning writing emails and doing other preparation for this six-week sabbatical starting today. It was good to see him so happy and relaxed. I am tasked to ask Rajani any questions and approve access, which Brad usually does. We will miss Brad, but it is great for him to have the summer for his break!

We had the staff meeting, and I helped with a few crises of the moment and approved some designs and even bug fix approvals to production, something l have now done in years. We learned there were no food trucks today, so lunch was where you find it. I already made coffee and found stale donuts and mystery vegan pudding in the frig for breakfast–I think it best to find my own lunch!

I headed out 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 awake and feeling better today. Jennifer, the nursing aide for the weekday, said Susie had eaten well and seemed back to her usual self. As it was cold outside, we agreed to stay inside today.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and opened a T-shirt from Barb, Susie’s sister who is visiting next Friday, that had Susie’s fav sayings like “Too soon, baboon,” and “See you later, alligator.” Excellent.

Soon it was time for me to return to work, and I left Susie with a kiss. I could see on her face that she wanted me to stay, and she accepted my promise to return on Saturday. No tears today, but it was close (for either of us). I reached work without issue, stopping by Burger King for a decent cheeseburger and lousy onion rings. I listened to Oregon Public Broadcasting while eating. The discussion was about the support for farmers in drought conditions. According to the report, Oregon is unique in the USA; we produce over 200 different types of farmed crops. Farmers can pick drought-resistant alternative crops, but farming, like many places in the country, is now a complex process with hard choices, with droughts happening more often.

I returned to work and did various status meetings and even a design review (like the good old days). Our Senior Director, Jim, texted me dinner was provided. Brad had left by then, and already I was getting texts from Jim. Excellent Indian food was supplied in large trays for dinner. I ate that for dinner while I finished my last status meeting for the week at 4:35.

After that, I headed home in Air Volvo, and the traffic was light, and I was soon at the Volvo Cave. The clouds had burned off, and the AC in Air Volvo took a while to get me comfortable–it was very bright and now very hot.

I spent a short time at home. I signed up for the new board game Evolution of Ideas by Vital Lacerda on Kickstarter and then sent a note to Richard, my PDX gaming guru, and he reminded me that this is not my favorite type of game. I just good not resist the FUMO. He thought it funny as we discussed how we would resist another brain-burning game from Lacerda. He said we could work on how to play together. While getting texts, I could hear Richard laughing in my mind.

Next, I had some popcorn while I watched ShipHappens on YouTube. They are rebuilding a WW2 ship, and it is interesting.

After that, I headed to WildWood Taphouse, had a beer with JR, and chatted for a while. After JR left, I finished the blog, writing for a few hours.

Thank you, JR, for the beer. Thank you for reading!