Today 1Sept2023: Sept 2023 Starts

September has always been my favorite month in Oregon. It is often warm, even hot, but never the 100s (38c) we see in August. The rains reappeared and put the green back into the Pacific Northwest, ending the fires. A long weekend or weekday in a hotel room on the beach in September is lovely. The attractions, stores, and restaurants are no longer jammed, and the locals are happy to see you and get a few more dollars before the long wait for the tourists to return more than six months away. Time to watch the whales!

The day started with me waking a few minutes before my alarm and knowing, unlike yesterday, that it was Friday and the last working day of the week; we had the weekend off and even the holidays. There was no testing this weekend, and all the data conversions were completed. I was thinking of taking the day off, but someone else had beat me to it, so I stayed with it today. Before starting, I climbed into the Immobile Schwinn and did not travel 6.4 miles for 30 minutes. Today, the day for the release of the job information for the Fed and Wall Street’s consumption, Bloomberg froze and would not start. I asked Alexa and got essential news while I pedaled. The job news was OK, and the Market moved up just a bit.

After that, I found a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) in the freezer, still breathing heavily from the exercising, and heated and toasted the bagel. I covered the bagel with cream cheese (salmon flavor), washed the remaining local strawberries I bought at the 185th Market nearby, and had them with the bagel. Liberal coffee made in my French Press finished out breakfast. I took all the food to the in-home office and ate while working. I read emails, Slack channel updates, and the news to start my day.

Work started with a friendly staff meeting, with everyone happy to be free for the weekend. We also are moving to our new building this coming Tuesday. We are a bit disappointed as the pod assigned is a bit dark, and we will be squeezed into a smaller space. I started in a repurposed airless closet on campus the first time I moved to WHQ; this appears to be better.

I was finished with Zoom meetings at about 10AM. I then started to check my flights, hotels, and car reservations for my trip next week. I logged on to the Delta Airlines website, and my hotel and car reservations were gone from My Trip screens–f**k. I checked, and I had no emails of updates and nothing from Delta–more f**k. I then redid the hotel, thinking this was likely a double reservation, and I managed to complete it and was shocked at how cheap the hotel was (not what I expected). This was saved to my Delta-Expedia Itinerary, now showing two reservations–puke. I canceled both and then, again, redid my reservation, and it was even cheaper–oh my! I kept it.

Next, I called US Bank after my test of my Bank Card in Amazon failed to clear–f**k. After ten minutes of security checks, both computer and live, US Bank told me they had killed my card as there was suspicious activity, and they asked me about “ADT Hope” for $20.28, not mine. Yes, that was it. I will get a new card in a week. I must drive to a US Bank branch for a temporary card. Ugh!

While listening to a meeting, I write my usual mail-hold letter to the mail carrier. I just write them a letter each time, and that seems to work better than trying to fill out a card at the mail center. I put that in the mailbox–The mail will be held for Friday, Saturday, and Monday and delivered on Tuesday.

I showered and dressed after that, having three reasons for being sweaty! I was ready to see Susie after visiting the bank. Air Volvo flagged a warning message that the start-stop had a battery issue and needed service–F**K!

Aside: At this point, I imagine Crowley in the Good Omens series, a demon, deciding he needed a break from trying to save humankind from the latest apocalypse, and decided to ruin the faith of some random human to relax–my name came up, “Excellent job with completing the Oh-My-God checklist.”

I called Volvo, connected with service, and told them I was headed in and hoped the battery would hold. I  did not know, until later, that Volvo’s start and stop system has a separate little battery, like a motorcycle battery, that restarts the car and that the vehicle was safe as it had just disabled the start and stop until I got it repaired. I arrived, and Montana, the service person who helped me on Wednesday, listened and agreed that it was strange to break two days after service and would have the folks check the cables and find the issue. They soon learned that it was weird, but it did happen; $220 later and ninety minutes of drinking Volvo coffee and using their WiFi, I was back in Air Volvo with no warnings, headed to US Bank. Better.

US Bank helped without new issues, and all of it could be done at the teller. I tried the new temporary card out after setting the PIN number. All working. Better.

I traveled to Susie’s place at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. This is also known as the hummingbird house, as Allegiance has two houses in the area. Susie was happy I finally made it, and we headed out to Metzger Park next door. Susie commented it was not cold today; it was above 80F in the sun and comfortable in the shade. It was a school day, and the kids were missing. The park contained mostly older folks and dogs walking their humans. The park manager was on his tracker pulling up the telephone pole-like wooden barriers they used as edges on the gardens; most were rotten. It must be time to replace and redo the garden edging before the rains become non-stop (late October).

We found the shady bench by the cedars and redwoods free, and I sat there with Susie to call Leta, Susie’s mother, and Barb, Susie’s sister, on my iPhone using FaceTime to form a three-way call. Barb was at Home Depot purchasing new laundry appliances (Labor Day Sale). Leta was at home enjoying her chair and the excellent weather in Michigan. We chatted for a while, but I had to get back to the house and log in to work, so soon we rang off.

Aside: While I don’t blame Barb and Gordon for getting new working laundry, the economists are unhappy with this spending. Many of my friends are buying new appliances as the pandemic delayed replacement, followed by pricing and supply chain issues, and only now do they get what they need. Yes, I know the economy is overheated and inflation is rising, but damn it, we must run our households. So f**k-off economists while we try to get back to normal, sheesh.

I followed along at work, and we debated how dark it would be at Nike next week in the new WHQ building. I sent my usual work picture to describe our new location in WHQ.

Susie and I watched two episodes of season 2 of Only Murders in the Building. Susie nodded off for the second, and it was after 4PM. I pulled out the crash pad, put up the gate for Susie, and left with a kiss. Susie sleepwalks, so it is essential to always have those in place when she is alone. When I go, I tell the nurse aide, Louis, in this case, that I have set this up and ask them to check. They have to know it is safe when I leave.

The traffic was heavy, the school-load traffic in fall-winter Beaverton. I stopped by the 185th farm-direct store at the corner of 185th and TV Highway to get some veggies. I was out of celery and carrots and lovely fruit. There, I passed on the seasonal hatch chilis (fire roasted as you watch) but was tempted (I just don’t know what to do with them).

At home, I made Jambalaya for dinner and re-watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition 2001). The ‘you will not pass’ sequence always fits my computer design process, and the ‘you don’t just walk into Mordor’ launched a thousand Memes. I do love that movie. I had too many bowls of Jambalaya, but it was good–I included some Trader Joe’s seafood mix besides the two types of spice sausage and some ham. I also included a can of Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, chopped celery, and carrots.

I took a nap, a food and stress-induced coma, and woke before 9 to write the blog.

Thanks for reading, and it is nice to get this done on Friday night.