Today 28Sept2023

I am tired, and it has been a busy night. I have done figure work and collected Dungeons and Dragons terrain and figures. Corwin, Kathleen, and I plan to play. I seem to be running out of time today as I rest a few times.

I managed to drill pins in the bat wings and get the figure mounted on its base. I might use this one if we take two sessions to play the adventure, as the text is not done for the Incarnation of Death encounter.

I printed off character sheets and the adventure and packed everything I needed for Friday night.

Before this, I was at the 25+ Year Employee Annual Party, where all of us long-timers and some retired employees had drinks and some food. This year, they had food trucks. I had an excellent slice of pizza made in the truck! The CEO, John Donahue, comes and gives a short speech and then just hangs out with us. It is one of the few meetings where he does not command the room. We, the folks with 25+ years, have gone through many CEOs, and he seems to find pleasure in just being John in a party. He was wearing some cool kicks (Jordans), and I complimented him on them, introduced myself, and shook his hand like I do every year. He thanked me for my years of service and for introducing myself. Like I said, he gets to be just John.

The party was at the Nike Department of Archives (DNA), and they had some displays of how Nike stuff has changed over the years and some archivists to talk to. My boss, Brad Jones, who has thirty years of service, told stories about being the first employees in some building at WHQ to an archivist who enjoyed the story. So John, DNA, and all of us were happy to spend time together and share memories.

I had walked to the party with a fellow long-term IT guy, Jake. We have worked together for years and even met when Jake did a gig for Nike in Australia. It did rain on the way back, and, having left my hat in Air Volvo so I would not lose it at the party, I did get quite damp. It is Oregon, and I enjoyed the wet and cold. Susie’s old joke was that Satan sends all the Oregonians to Heaven–we are too wet to burn.

Going backward some more, I finally managed to get to Susie’s place at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Before that, I had a nice lunch meeting with my friend Scott at WHQ, and then Scott, a tour guide, showed me some of the updates to WHQ. The open Boston Deli and other old hangouts are now entirely changed. I made a whole circuit of Nike WHQ before getting into Air Volvo and reaching Susie. Thanks, Scott!

Susie was tired and nodding off in her recliner when I arrived. Jennifer, the weekday nurse aide, popped Susie into Susie’s kid-sized wheelchair, and I took her to the Social Activities Room–it was cold and damp, and Susie would rather stay in the warm house. Once arranged, I called Leta and Barb (Susie’s mother and sister, respectively) and had a three-way video call. Leta was home and told stories about squirrels unsuccessfully trying to breach her bird feeder. Barb was taking her dog to the park and was driving and soon had to ring off. It was a pleasant, short visit. Susie was falling asleep today during the call. When we were done, Susie and Jennifer decided Susie would nap in her bed for a while–Susie often sleeps in the afternoon.

Moving to the start, I was up at 6AM and said, “No.” I reset the alarm to 6:30, and what seemed a second later, the alarm went off. I rose and quickly made an NYC bagel (I still have a bag left, thanks, Joyce) and my last banana. I took this to the office with a cup of liberal coffee–Equal Exchange. I then rushed through the emails, status, and other updates. I read some news, too.

I went into the shower before dressing, which is not usually something to share. The shower rod has gone wonky and loosened and fell. Twice. Then, I picked it up, and the unbalanced length swung and hit me in the head. So yes, the vision is me, naked, wet, water spraying everywhere, and hitting myself with the shower rod. F**k. I was laughing so hard I, yes, hit myself again. Many folks have said I am one of the smartest people they know–maybe.

Slightly delayed by my shower issues, I arrived at WHQ and just made my first meeting. Folks are getting used to me leaving my cube and sitting by the window in the atrium and looking out into the rain while doing the status meetings. My hearing is mostly gone in my left ear now, so headphones are translating the left side into a jumble for me–not helpful, so I have to use just a speaker and talk back. I moved to the Swift Atrium to not bother anyone. The sound does not travel far if you speak into the window. There is some sound muffling material that works for the window seats.

The rest of my work was the usual and obvious stuff. I did have a friendly chat with my boss and a few other folks.

It was a pleasant and busy day. Thanks for reading.