Day 81: Tuesday Resting

I managed to get some sleep, but I knew the cough suppressant would make me loopy, so I decided to stay home and get a bit better before returning to work. This also allowed me to delay writing this blog until the morning.

Monday started slowly, and I wrote the blog a bit later. I had yogurt for breakfast with the last fine coffee from the Kramers. The cough is much reduced, and the choking has stopped. I kept a glass of water nearby as I slipped some water when my throat felt uncomfortable.

I read often today. I am reading a strange 1972 book on Lord Nelson, The Great Gamble. The book was written after papers from various European monarchs were opened. It is three inches thick, written in a pro-British, unrepented colonial style, and extensively quotes sources with notes. It lists sources in various languages, and the writer, Mr. Pope, thanks his various translators of these sources. I am on page 133, and the war has yet to start; it covers the details of Nelson’s life (including his failing) in detail for the covered time. It covers, almost word for word, the political process that created the war–fascinating but slow-going. To compare it to some current, it is a BBC mini-series. I enjoy the writing but cannot recommend this book, a lesson on how NOT to write history. A guilty pleasure, if you like, along the lines of Doctor Fu Manchu, so terrible it is actually fun (But Fu Manchu books were never accurate). An excellent source and fun if you are immune to strong-willed authors.

Aside: I have found all nautical writers romantic, and the characters’ stories are often larger-than-life. Writers like C.S. Forester seem to be the models. Even when the techno-wizard Dr. John Brooks’s books describe how every shot was fired in the Battle of Jutland after he reconstructed the British gun aiming systems for WW1, it was a love story. It is a romantic attempt to recreate the times and people of the battle. You can almost smell the cordite and the machine oil when you open his books.

Returning to the story, I had some chores that needed to be handled. I cleaned up and dressed. The pain and coughing were much reduced. The wheezing remained and was so loud I thought someone was calling me. My loss of hearing on my left side due to the brain tumor makes my hearing a bit unstable and undirectable. I often cannot understand what I hear or locate it.

I boarded Air Volvo and headed to Walgreens, where they had my prescription filled. I take just one of the cough suppressant pills—it is harsh stuff. I am tired the rest of the day as the pill, a light anesthetic, slows me down, so I cough less. I refuel Air Volvo and then run it through the car wash as the local murder of crows has made another homage to modern art on Air Volvo. I returned to the Volvo Cave and ate trisquet crackers and hummus for the last GrubHub order. I watch some YouTube videos on ShipHappens, watching how they built a shed to work in the wet UK while eating.

I head out at about 2:30 to my first appointment, the lawyers. I use the local lawyers Schmidt and Yee, PC in Aloha, Oregon. I am pretty pleased with them and their associate Scott’s work. Today, they have my revised will, changed now that Susie’s passed, and then powers of attorney for my upcoming surgery (20 May) and the required Oregon Advance Directive for Health Care. You can do the last without a lawyer, but I wanted everything completed and ready. All the health care stuff expires on 31 Oct 2024 or is changed by me. There was a minor fix (they printed out the old copy), and then everything was notarized and done. Dondrea and my sister Linda must sign the directives to accept the responsibility.

When I returned home, I turned down Mariah for dinner because I had a previous engagement and grabbed Corwin for a quiet dinner at the local Mexican place. I skipped the beer and had just the soup, chicken tortilla soup, with chips and salsa as a free appetizer. Corwin ordered soup, an entree, and drinks. I ate slower because the cough suppressant was working. I was feeling better, going slow, and letting the world flow over me.

Ernest leads Hillsboro Python Machine Learning Meetup, which restarted this Monday and every first Monday at 6PM local time. We had an hour of online discussion, and as usual, Ernest talked a mile a minute as he had all these cool Machine Learning Applications in Genomics Life Sciences he has published in the last four years. We are still measuring time before and after the pandemic. I promised to try out one of Ernest’s how-to papers and reproduce the same results using a Linux server at Amazon Cloud. Ernest is interested in seeing how fast and cheaply I can do this. It was fun to geek out with Ernest again.

After that, I crossed Beaverton to Dondrea’s place. Z was there not doing her homework (we both reminded her to do her homework). Dondrea, Z, and I talked about the papers I brought. It was a biz meeting, and I covered my new will, the power of attorney, and Oregon Advanced Directives. Dondrea had to sign the last one. All of this and more will be put in a briefcase I have and given to Dondrea before 20 May 2024, hoping it will not be needed.

I returned home, now very tired but happy to visit (despite the topic). I read, then showered and went to bed. I did manage to sleep at first, but I woke coughing, and after that, I had broken sleep. The banshees were no longer screaming; they were just repeated yelping. I am slowly improving.

Thanks for reading!