Summary 12-16Aug2023

I have returned to writing the blog daily but took a break to see how it would feel without it. I found I had more time, but I soon felt more alone, but more importantly, I found I was updating Facebook instead of writing. I would prefer to own my own life and pictures and to provide context. My extra time seemed more of a function of not having to work every day. Nike is celebrating Rest and Recover Week and closed down for a week at WHQ and most locations (retail and logistic workers are allowed to schedule an alternative week).

So, in brief, the missing days…

Saturday 12Aug2023

This was my usual busy, if not maniac, Saturday. I worked on the radio project and puttered around at the house for the morning. I boarded Air Volvo, crossed Beaverton without issue, and I soon reached Susie’s place at noonish. Susie’s place is at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. We visited the park, I can barely remember this day, and called Leta and Barb (Susie’s mother and sister, respectively) on a three-way call and caught up. Next, Susie was sitting in her bed, and we watched TV (Only Murders in the Building, I think). I stayed until after 2PM with Susie falling asleep. I kissed her goodbye and boarded Air Volvo.

Next, I headed to Rogue in Portland and had a salad and a beer there; It was already past 2PM, and I was hungry. I had a salad with grilled salmon added–it was excellent salmon (not cage-grown Atlantic). Next, we got out the new game, Davy’s Jones Locker: Rise of the Kraken. This was the first time to play this, and it was rough going, but we liked it. This is a cooperative game where you spend the first half gaining superpowers for your pirate ship. Then you face the dreaded Kraken. There is a mechanism running the Kraken, and we tried to win. Evan lost his ship, but his crew swam to my ship and there fired extra guns–an exciting game mechanic. We likely missed more lousy news and finally slew the Kraken. It’s a fun game, and we will probably have it close after a few more plays. This is a new Kickstarter game, and I was happy with the small box size and the components.

Next, Air Volvo, after saying goodbye to Evan, to Portland and Richard’s place. There we played a game of Expeditions with four players. Richard corrected some play, and a few more things clicked for me, but I did come in last. Kathleen always seemed in my desired spot, and Richard took the game. It was Kathleen’s first game, and almost caught Richard. Shawn, too, almost caught him. We all agreed we liked this new game and would play it again without question.

On the way back, it was Naked Bike Ride Day in Portland, we did see a few naked and near-naked bike riders at various road crossings, but I managed to miss their main route this year. Yes, this year, I did not find myself in Air Volvo unexpectedly leading the parade like last year!

Nearly forgetting (I saw the photo I took), I drove by Aloha High School, and the sign suggested you could take an Advance Placement class there, but the word placement is misspelled.

Sunday 13Aug2023

Sunday was a quiet day. I reached Susie at 1ish after having lunch at the house. Reheated Jambalaya, which left me a bit uncomfortable in the afternoon. It was over 90F (32C), so we stayed in the hummingbird house. Jeniffer was the nurse aide (Anassa was ill), and she had Susie set in her bed in her bedroom. We watched more TV and just hung out until 4PM.

Monday 14Aug2023

Another quiet, boiling hot day! Again, I had lunch at the house. I spent the day with Susie in her room watching TV, more Only Murders in the Building. The show was getting interesting, and Susie did not nod off anymore. We switched to M.A.S.H. and then music for the rest of the afternoon. Soon, we both were nodding off. I headed home at 4:30ish.

I have dinner at The 649 Taphouse, a salad, and a snack of chips and salsa later. Their AC is working–I was there to check if the place would work for a game on Tuesday. I had turned mine off the AC at the Volvo Cave 4-9; PGE gave me a rebate of $6 for helping to reduce the power load on the grid.

Returning to the Volvo Cave, I managed to mount the face plate and speakers in the radio project using white glue so it could be broken out if needed. I was frustrated as the project was a rat’s nest of wires, and some were still breaking loose from their connections. I also found the microprocessor slower than I wanted; 8mhz is too slow. I looked at the super special Metro M4 Grand Central Python-loving board from Lady Ada in NYC (3.3V logic). While I can’t use Python (there are no drivers for my radio break out in Python, and I am not writing my own), the Grand is more than 10x faster than the Pro I am using and has a built-in memory card slot (and built-in real number handling which is software implemented in the Pro). I found the ones I already have and started testing them. While it eats more power, it would be an excellent replacement for the next project.

Aside: The world has changed while I have played with microcontrollers and one-board computers like the Raspberry Pi. I started in 16mhz (still slow) but with 5V logic (0V being zero and 5V being one), with about 1/3 of my boards still using this. But most items are now 3.3V with some tolerating  5V logic, and some painful devices wanted 5V power and 3.3V logic. Next, I had to solder all the headers five years ago, but fewer and fewer people can handle a soldering iron with skill, so now everything has headers for breadboarding or other plugs. Today, most controllers are offered only with preinstalled headers, especially the faster microcontrollers. Thus when I want to build something that has some resilience, I can’t get a microcontroller that I can hardwire into my device. I have found a set of Pro that is still offered without headers, and Lady Ada offers Grand without headers (and even charges less for that version–excellent).

Plus: Grand uses the Mega Arduino layout. This was the first super-powered version, with the Mega appearing in many 3D printers and various takes on CNC-like machines. Mega was great, but Grand is outstanding and comes with Python.

Tuesday 14Aug2023

Another 100F+ (38C) day, I arrived at Susie’s place at 12:30ish. Again, we do the usual set-up in Susie’s room and do the usual calls. Today we binge watch the Hulu show. This time Only Murders in the Building is exciting and does twist after twist; Nathan Lane nearly steals the show. This was another day locked into AC for Susie. I left at 5ish.

I stopped by the house but headed to The 649 and met Dondrea and Z there. They loved the place, and Z got a non-alcoholic drink while Dondrea did a cider. I had some beers. We got out Furnace, an engine-building board game with a bidding mechanism. Dondrea was at first overwhelmed by the new iconography and process but soon was enjoying the game. Worse, she won both games we played. Z and I have created a monster!

We had a lovely night–eating appetizers, including great nachos–and the place filled up, and the AC was stressed to keep up. After 9ish, we headed out. It was a good night.

Wednesday 15Aug2023

Another 100F+ day, and I arrived later at Susie’s. I had stopped by McDonald’s to get an excellent 1/4 Pounder with cheese. It took the fast-food people fifteen minutes to make the burger. In the world we now live in, sometimes you just have to wait. I also got a chocolate shake for Susie. I ate my slow-arriving lunch in Air Volvo while listening to the local public broadcasting news. More news on fire and water issues in Oregon.

I soon arrived with a partially melted shake for Susie, and Jeniffer set her in her bed, and we completed watching the first season of Only Murders in the Building. I was impressed with the story and that they managed to bring the show’s first scene back to the end of the first season. Susie was happy with it too. Susie was enjoying her shake too. I serve Ensure most days to Susie when I stay with her for the afternoon, but today it was a McDonald’s shake. I left Susie with a kiss after doing the usual things.

I was feeling depressed on Wednesday night from having to stay inside in the heat. I decided to visit the local art museum on Thursday to break free of that feeling. I cleaned up the house, and the regular chores seemed to brighten my mood.

Dinner was a microwaved large potato with a can of heated chili added to it with cheese and sour cream. I worked on my radio project but broke the baseboard and had to repair that with strips of wood and let the glue dry. I managed to fix all the issues even with the break, and the microcontroller seemed fast enough to work. I finished my latest read (recommended), Titanium Noir. I went to bed early and did sleep.

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Well, that is what I remember from the days. I did leave out the waiter with the costume failure and lots of bad driving I witnessed, and I did brake a few times into the turning lanes when my fellow drivers decided to stop without brake lights (!?).

Thanks for reading.