Today 25Sept2023

It is a rainy, cold day, and the rain is becoming heavy tonight. We have certainly abruptly changed seasons! I am tired tonight after a margarita and Mexican food with Dondrea and Z, so this will be a short blog.

The day started with me waking a few times before rising with my alarm on my iPhone at 7AM. I found a banana to go with the liberal coffee I made my French Press. Thus victualed, I moved to the home office and began my work day. While consuming my recently prepared resources, I read emails, Slack channel updates, and the news on the internet. I needed to be ready for the 8AM status meeting, and I like to know what is happening before I start hours of Zoom meetings.

Also, I paid more of Susie’s medical bills, which total about $8,000 monthly. I still have enough money left without selling any stock. Nike slipped to $90 these last months with a downgrade today, so it is good to hold on to it a bit longer and hope the trend, as usual, reverses.

I updated Quicken with all this, keeping track of every dollar so I can manage this. I also started to send out my first Christmas stuff and got a new Advent Calendar for Susie (a musical one). I also ordered some gifts and cards for me to send out. Shipping was relatively high–like many things that have unexpectedly become more expensive.

The morning was a blur of Zoom meetings, with me slipping out after 9AM to shower quickly and be ready for more Zoom appointments. I saw my afternoon had two hours of solid Zoom meetings–my usual work from Susie’s room at the hummingbird house was not workable. I had lunch at home, cooking a premade frozen chicken fried rice from Trader Joe’s on the stove with some buttered bread (white bread and rice are a poor combination for me–all carbohydrates–I have found I enjoy bread and butter again). I had never had it before, and it was OK. After that, I boarded Air Volvo, the Oregon mist getting more like rain, and crossed Beaverton to reach Susie at her place at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. The puddles were still small, and I had no issues other than the unexpected lane closures from The City of Beaverton installing new holes before the winter rains makes this impracticable.

Susie was happy to see me. Michelle Nixon, the owner of Allegiance, was delivering supplies from Costco, and I helped to carry some in. Surprising Susie as she did not see me come in from the garage. I explained the change of plans (I could not stay), and Susie (finishing a snack for lunch) and I retreated to the porch. There, we talked for a bit and then called Leta, Susie’s mother, and Barb, Susie’s sister, on my iPhone using FaceTime to form a three-way video call. Barb was doing garden work at Leta’s and soon rang off. Leta stayed on, and Susie and she chatted for about fifteen minutes. Time flies! Soon, I returned Susie to the warm hummingbird house, and Jennifer, the weekday nurse, took over, and Susie was headed to a nap.

Instead of getting a nap, I boarded Air Volvo and retraced my path across Beaverton, noting that the puddles were unchanged–still small. I managed to return to the Volvo Cave and my home office to experience hours of more Zoom status and alignment meetings.

While between meetings, I learned that a COVID-19 booster was available and signed up to participate in this version of COVID-19 prevention on Saturday morning at Rite Aide. I let Michelle Nixon know I was planning to get my shot–the hummingbird house will determine if they want to do that.

After hours of meetings, including a surprisingly interesting presentation on properly creating a software change request ticket, this is proof again that a well-prepared and enthusiastic speaker can make something as interesting as soap bubbles worth experiencing. After that and one more status meeting, I was done with my shift.

Once again, I crossed Beaverton, in real rain now, to Si Señor Family Mexican Restaurant and met Dondrea and Z there. Z had tacos. Soup for Dondrea. I had the Chilli Verde with flour tortillas. We also had a meat and cheese appetizer that was wonderful, that you rolled up in tortillas. Z was sleepy when we finished, and Dondrea and I finished with coffee (decaf for Dondrea).

It was a nice meal, and Dondrea and I talked about liberal politics and if the folks in Washington would stop the up-coming government end-of-funding (1Oct2023). I shared my poem for my Dungeons and Dragons adventure I am playing Friday night and a design for an encounter in the complex. Z liked the idea, and Dondrea, not a D&D player, thought it interesting–what she understood. Soon, we all getting sleepy, so it was time to go.

I crossed, once again, Beaverton and passed a three-car wreck on TV Highway. People seem to have, again, forgotten to drive with some care on wet roads. I observed that the puddles still were not noticeable. Dondrea and Z arrived home safe.

I read briefly and fell deeply asleep, but I woke at 8ish. I arose more like Bela Lugosi, joined the night, and began my work. I need a cape. I wrote the blog while playing a long playlist on YouTube (ignoring the commercial breaks). I have some D&D writing to do yet.

Thanks for reading.