Today 2Dec2023

We are in a slow, areal (new word for me) flood, and the waters around the house are rising. The water in the corner of the backyard is three inches deep this Sunday morning; I am writing this blog on Sunday morning. I am working for the shoe company on Sunday and watching the rain from my in-home office. It rained overnight and by the morning, was about 2.25 inches, with more coming. Yes, November is damp in the Greater Portland Area in the Pacific Northwest.

Returning to yesterday, I started on Saturday by waking at 7:30 to be ready for my first meeting at 8:05. I had enough time to make coffee and an NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce and Smiths-Kramers). The sky was blue, and we were drying out from a windstorm and rain that blew hard all night. Most of my trees are now just empty sticks pointing at the clouds.

It is Mom Wild’s (Barb) birthday. I managed to reach here while doing some crafting with my sister and then at dinner. Happy birthday, Mom! — Actually, her birthday is the 3Dec2023. I always am too early as I want the gift to get there.

I also reached Leta, Susie’s mom, who is bored and frustrated in The Willows in East Lansing. Leta is making some progress, but also some setbacks. She was happy to get a call on her cell (these calls connect to her hearing aids), and if you know Leta, please connect with her if you can.

Leta can be found at The Willows, 3500 Coolidge Road, Room 302A, East Lansing, MI 48823.

The morning was following along on email and Slack channels. I have no tasks, so I am primarily a tourist–I cannot change the outcome. I filled in for approvals occasionally, but nothing came up on Saturday.

So, in between steps, I did laundry and dishes and had a pear (thanks, Kathy and Martin) for a snack (remembering my A1C numbers). I showered and dressed and continued to follow the activities of the project by using my Nike laptop and my phone. At noon, I headed to a local Mexican place, Tapatio: Mexican Restaurant, and had a bowl of soup and a small beer (again, remembering my A1C numbers). I then returned in Air Volvo, in light rain, carried me back to the Volvo Cave and my home office. I discovered that Doctor Who special number 2 was released on Disney+, so I watched it.

This new special with the return of David Tennant was a bit more scary and had lots of running. It did feel a bit nostalgic, and the story seemed, at first, very shallow and repetitive, but it was a surprise, and I liked where they went. So good, I think.

Aside: Disney+ has taken over the distribution of Doctor Who in the USA.

I spent the afternoon online following along. I also planted a cedar tree that Susie and I got together and have been waiting in a bucket to plant. It was not looking too good, but I hope it will make it (currently, it is in the puddle that replaced the backyard’s far corner. The rain was light. My new coat did not appear and seems looping between trucks and sort facilities. I could speculate that the coat was pilfered, but I hope it appears soon.

Sadly, I am not sure I will keep the coat. I have to check the fit and whether it is what I want. It is hard to tell from the photos. This is the usual issue with buying clothing on the internet/Amazon. Then, trying to get it delivered adds more challenges.

I forgot that on Thursday, I stopped the leak in the shower handle by using plumbing tape. It is back to a minor drip, which, while not perfect, will do.

I warmed up some India-style chicken I made a few days ago for dinner while the 4:30 Zoom status meeting spun up. This is the end-of-shift meeting. When asked for an update, there was a kerfuffle when our lead answered truthfully we were waiting. This created some consternation, but soon, it was determined that everything was in progress.

I had some time to watch a How-to-Play video on Nucleum, a new board game that Richard has acquired. This one promised to be like Brass but kinder, with all the scoring options that have flooded newer Euro games. In the dark and damp, with the next storm starting (and later causing flooding), Air Volvo headed to Richard’s house in Portland. I was on time and found everyone already there. A three-person game: Richard, Kathleen, and me. I scored last but I was with twenty points of Richard. Kathleen nearly lapped us!

Aside: Players usually like a certain color. Richard is always red, Kathleen is blue, and I am usually yellow.

The game is a non-mean resource management and worker placement game. It also energizes buildings that look much like Brass’s trading system. The most exciting idea is that the track is the tile that lets you do an action. Thus, if you lay track, you have fewer options until you buy them.

Aside: a mean game is one where every move removes options and may interrupt other players’ plans. While mean games are not always welcomed, their play and style are excellent and can be a joy to play once you get used to the constraints. Thus games like mean games Brass and John Company can be quite enjoyable.

I was not completely thrilled with some of the scoring processes, but Kathleen told me you must direct your actions to update your technology track and score. Generally, like Concordia (a simpler game), the points are in building things, especially buildings. I see Kathleen’s point, and we all look forward to another game of Nucleum, a new favorite, and I will push to build. Despite being complex, the gameplay was smooth, and we had only a few dives into the manual.

When we finished, I drove Kathleen home; she is headed to Germany for her holiday and may or may not make the next game. So we made a point of chatting for a while and sharing Christmas wishes.

The flooding had not started, and the puddles were their usual size. I had no trouble on the bridges and reached home without issue in Air Volvo.

I went to bed after taking my meds and a few trisket crackers. You can’t take these meds on an empty stomach without nausea. I managed to sleep through the storm without waking.

Thanks for reading.