Today 28July2023

Sorry, I missed taking a picture today.

Friday started with me sleeping into 7AM, and then numb I located the kitchen (it has not moved). I made liberal coffee and moved to the blueberry Organic yogurt, having finished all the strawberry versions. Next, I did the usual exploration of emails, Slack channel updates, and online news (CNN, BBC, and New York Times being the three I read to get a balanced account with a slight left lean but with strong fact-checking). At 8AM, I started my first meetings, Zoom, and fortified with food and liberal coffee, I was ready for the questions and issues.

The morning went on with hours of status meetings on Zoom, and a few crises of the moment surfaced. I also reviewed and approved some design fixes; I did the easy ones for our team. This filled the early morning, and I popped out to shower and dress. I was ready to present at the engineer and architect briefing meeting I run every Friday at 11AM. Still, there was a request to cancel Friday’s meeting and postpone my presentation–I was already preparing but accepted the postponement.

With 11AM suddenly free, I headed out with my Nike and Apple laptops and took Air Volvo to Beaverton. I stopped by Paris Baguette for lunch, having a fantastic turkey club with avocado. I then found a small cheesecake, a strawberry soft cake (something new), and some breakfast items to take to the hummingbird house. Air Volvo took me into some slow-moving traffic; folks were starting their weekend early on Highway 217. I finally arrived at 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.

Moving backward, I interrupted my return to the hummingbird house and stopped at a Credit Union. As part of my retirement planning, I wish to move to a Credit Union to be insulated from the bank mergers and corporate shenanigans we now see with too large-to-fail banks. Time to run for cover and get local–not that I am afraid of bank failures or currency issues, but I do not want to find that I have accounts I did not agree to or to see that there are no services now unless I have super premium something. I need something local and safe.

Rivermark Credit Union’s office was strange. There were two humans there. A gentleman asked me why I was there, an odd question, and I asked about their services. He then created an appointment with someone (who was the other person, I soon realized) and had me wait until she was ready. I was then taken into a generic office and discussed their services. The gal then printed out their information (available online, I was told). Also, the gal shared that their tellers are working from home, and you stand at a video screen to do banking, and I was told they are proud that soon all their locations with be using tellers working from home. Yes, I found a Credit Union with all the personality of a vast bank and almost no services (except for some high minimum balance accounts)–not what I expected. When I left, like a volleyball team, the two people changed positions; the gal that helped me now was the greeter. I was not expecting a CU so over-the-top corporate. I am tempted to join because it is so cutting-edge and West Coast.

Back to hummingbird house, I still had to work Friday afternoon; Nike summer hours do not apply to our project (growl), so Jennifer moved Susie from the recliner in the shared living room to Susie’s bed. I connected my two laptops and continued to work, sitting next to Susie at a little table. I put a movie on so Susie would have something to watch while I worked (and I would sometimes watch): Ratatouille by Pixar. This is one of my favorite animated movies; a modern fairytale about discrimination with cooking representing making correct choices–recommended.

Susie tolerated my meetings and my having to read and review some documents. Susie has gained two pounds reaching 70 pounds now. Today she was uncomfortable with some gut issues and showed some signs of confusion. She asked to go home today, but I could tell her she was safe at the hummingbird house, and she agreed that they take good care of her. Susie was unhappy when I left at 4PM but accepted it. It is heartbreaking for me.

I do not remember the drive home as I was upset, which is not unusual for me. Air Volvo found its way, and I was soon home. I explored the freezer and discovered a package of ground beef from 2020! It was pushed against the back of the wall. I also identified another that was two years old. Both were taken out to the trash. Finding more current versions, I made tacos for dinner. I had a box of shells that was opened before and a packet of taco spices also open (I made something that needed just a few bits, and I have been meaning to finish these open ones). I watched some old The Avengers (1966) episodes for fun while cooking and eating.

Done with dinner, I decided to see Oppenheimer at 7:10 at Regal’s Movies on TV theater (just a few minutes away). The manager was happy to see me when I arrived and helped me get some popcorn (free as I used my Regal Card) and a small drink. The manager was visibly relieved to see many folks attending the movies.

The movie. three hours long, seemed to me to be a new way to tell a story with film. The storyline bounces around a bit, but I liked how they did it. The film managed to get across how many people were involved in making the atomic bomb and personality conflicts, and how war makes you align with the war goals. I would recommend it–get a small drink (kids sized).

After that, affected by the movie, my mind was spinning. One of my fears is that the work at the shoe company and the demands (weekend work and covering 7/24 for weeks on end and over holidays) are wrong for me. The movie brought this back to my mind. More to think about.

I went to bed and soon slept. I slept until 3AM, when my arm hurt and woke me. I have injured my right arm, it hurts when I stretch to reach. I might have damaged it when lifting Susie a few weeks ago. It started the next day. I did lots of lifts. I slept, after some ibuprofen, until the morning.

Aside: I have The Describer’s Dictionary by David Grambs on my desk. I recommend it when you are tired of using the exact words. Recommended. It is my few old-school tools. I also have manuals of style and American usage, but I seldom open those books. I find that dictionaries are no longer needed with Google. I also read the NYT, as it is the best writing I have discovered from a daily source, and they don’t use the Oxford comma.

Thanks for reading.