I rose late as my sleep was interrupted and stayed up until almost 1AM reading. I am really enjoying book five in the
I consumed my breakfast while reading the news on my Apple and surfing the net. It was another surprisingly clear and dry day with even blue bits in the sky. I was still fretting about my upcoming brain surgery. I found my will and started making changes. I have two copies with one stamped ‘COPY’ and meant to be used for revisions. I updated my will in pencil. Just a few changes as this will cover the house, property, and monies not already covered by their own beneficiary process (i.e., 401Ks, investment accounts, retirement accounts). I also updated the most money account, my 401K, to split up to various folks in case of my death. I started to move from ‘shock and awe’ to creating a list of to-do’s in my head before the surgery. I called my lawyer and have an appointment on Tuesday. More paperwork. I will soon have medical power, financial power, will, and other paper and legal things done.
When I have dates and tests started to clear the way for the surgery, I can start the leave requests. Yes, another joyful adventure with Nike HR and Sedgwick. When I have dates, I will start the list and begin to work on it.
Aside: While it may seem depressing to work on death stuff, it is the easiest way to work with fear. Take the energy of fear and reform it into a method and process. Yes, I am following my favorite detective, Hercule Poirot. It has worked for me through Susie’s long illness and my own cancer. While I have no plan to execute these plans, I want them in place as a comfort and a distraction. When doing method and process, I hear David Suchet’s Hercule voice. When I write code, I still hear all the code in a high-pitched Dehli women’s accent, my best professor in college.
I spent much of the morning doing method and process work and my usual accounting. Nike stock has slid from 124ish to 102 now. My plans to sell it all and pay off the mortgage on the house in 2024 (to even out the tax burden) are delayed. With the surgery coming soon, I have put off travel until I can finish enjoying the tumor removal process.
Reminder: The tumor is benign and slow-growing. I could be ignored for years. My thinking is to address it before I get older, and more health issues could make the surgery more of a risk or impossible.
Evan will meet me at our usual Mexican place across from The 649 in Aloha at the Farmington Road and 185th cross. I dress and leave late. Evan was waiting only a few minutes when I arrived. The usual crew meets us at Tapatio: Mexican Restaurant and they have a new menu. The prices have increased by about a buck, and we are directed to a lunch menu that is not quite as bad a price shock. I have a smaller beer, taco, and enchilada with beans and rice for a buck less than a salad or soup. I am reducing my beer consumption.
The waiter plays the part well with a big mustache, smile, and accent–more a tour guide of food offerings than a waiter. I asked about his family, as his son married into a family living in Israel. He thanks me for asking, and the facade drops, and we see a worried and proud father. He tells us they are safe and back residing in Israel as the risks have dropped. The family evacuated to Athens for a month, he tells us. The news becomes real when you hear his family’s story. All is safe now, and the facade returns.
Next, we return to our usual gaming table at The 649. We are the only customers. The sun is warm, and the bartenders are dressed for the summer. Natalia is cutting fruit for the rush they expect in a few hours. They will have three bartenders working full-out with all the indoor tables full when we leave after 5PM! Inflation? Pandemic? No sign of them here on Friday night.
Natalia forgets to pour me one small beer. Avary, an evening bartender, is shocked at 5ish when I cash out and have a low bill.
We have time for three games, one incomplete. We first go for the board game Vindication. Evan and I (the only customers for another hour) take an early lead in the colorful game designed for the Greater Portland Area. Evan does not like the board layout and plays some inefficient turns while I dance across the board, getting more and more points. I am used to changing tactics to match the board and play the longer game, as the end-of-game triggers are all unlikely to happen soon. Evan drives for mastery pieces, which I ignore as more end-of-game triggers are also long-game ones. We have reversed rolls as I play to grab Traits, Artifacts, and companions, racking up a twenty-point lead–nearly unstoppable. I also built up enough cards to ensure that we would split the awards at the end-of-the-game scoring. Evan gambles with Monsters, which costs him companions and shortens my lead, but not by much. Monsters have a 2/6 chance of removing a companion, but he has a re-roll but still is unlucky enough to take the loss. Ultimately, my plan for a long game works, and I trip the end-of-game with the last token. Again, I was running Evan’s usual long game plan. He was playing my short gameplay. An interesting game.
Next, I decided to play Unsettled, also from the same game designers, Orange Nebula and Evan, and I spent two hours relearning the game and playing the basic planet using the story ‘A.’ It is a cooperative game with the motto, “Don’t Die.” We knew those stories well and the choices we needed to make. We played well together and used our resources efficiently with time spinning fast–I never noticed the two hours. I did get my beer and Evan a drink, non-alcoholic. We won and did not think it was too hard.
We reset and played story ‘B,’ which we had never tried before. Oh, my! This was not easy, and we had bad luck too. My character was distressed and hallucinating soon, and Evan was burning through our supplies to keep his character going. It was beautiful and very immersive. I have to play again! We had to stop after 5PM. Next time!
We packed up, and I paid the small bill, as I said. I headed home and read until 6ish. Air Volvo then headed across Beaverton to a Capital Highway Thai place. I met my working friends, Subha and Shiva, who also work at Nike. They are trying to make a long-distance family work. Shiva, who works for Nike, is based in India, while Subha works with me in the same group, CORE ERP, at Nike WHQ in Beaverton. Shiva was here for a month, so we met for a holiday dinner. Subha, too, is on an unexpected two-week holiday with our project stopping its go-live. In the past, Shiva and Subha worked for me as a manager or acting manager for data conversions. Shiva is now working on testing. Subha and I have both worked in various positions in the CORE ERP space. We sit in the same area in Swift at WHQ.
While the conversation was great and fun to meet and chat socially (though work did invade that with Nike’s announcement of layoffs), the food was not great, and one dish was discounted as it was too salty to eat. Dinner was during their daughter’s soccer practice, and they got a to-go for her, and this bookended our dinner. I will not name the place as it is my policy to not evaluate food joints here.
On the way home to the Volvo Cave, Air Volvo had some trouble with some cement lane markers (which the auto lane enforcement in the Volvo did not recognize) until more precisions were made by the pilot. I soon arrived safely at the Volvo Cave. I read it again late and decided not to write the blog until the morning.
Thanks for reading.
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