Day 104: Wednesday

Going backward, I was home from First United Methodist Church at 9ish. Gaming had gone sideways, so I spent the evening chatting with Shawn about Dungeons and Dragons. We have both been playing for years. I also spoke to Andrew about his upcoming honeymoon in Florance, Italy, and his job as a Federal employee. They were good talks. There was also a thought to plan a gaming night for the other choir members. I think there will be more on that after May.

Before this, I had stopped at Guardian Games Aloha (formally, Rainy Day Games) and found an old friend still working there. We talked about the games we have played. I was there for Army Painter’s Blue Tone ink to paint water on the 1/6000 scale ship models. I painted the sea blue (Wolf Grey), brushed on some white for foam, and then covered that with a Blue Tone to darken the blue and make it look more like the sea and 3D. I saw a few new items but left with just the Blue Tone.

Moving back to an early dinner, I roused Corwin and headed out for food. Air Volvo took us a few minutes to the Aloha Food Carts. Corwin had been doing Uber Food deliveries today to earn money, and he made one delivery from the same carts. Corwin said it was hard to find if you did not know it existed.

We got two three veggie-only curries from the cart called Chaat House. We had chai to go with dinner. The wind picked up, and rain pelted the tent with the food tables. I had my coat but forgot my hat–I was cold, but the food and chai warmed me. Eating outside under a tent and being pelted by sideway rain might be taking the Oregon thing a bit far, but still, I told the gal at Chaat House, “If you don’t love rain, you can’t live in Oregon,” which I believe is true. What rain?

Before this, I used my tiny (one called insane detail by Army Painter) and best paint brush to bring color to the tiny-scale ship models mentioned above. I used Uniform Grey for the hull, stacks, guns, and other structures, Mummy Robes (a very light brown) for the decks, and Black for the top of the funnels. I painted the seas blue and white, as I mentioned earlier. I had to let this dry. You cannot use the Army Painter Tones unless the paint is quite dry (it will dissolve any freshly dried paint).

Later, I could not sleep, so I sat down and carefully painted the ship with a Dark Tone as a wash to bring out the tiny ship’s 3D lines. I had done the Blue Tone before going to bed. All this needs a few hours, at least, to dry before being handled. They look good, and I will finish them soon with flags and names pasted on the models.

Before this, I spent hours on paperwork. With my surgery approaching (May 20th) and Susie’s Concert done in Oregon, it is time to prepare the paperwork. I spent hours writing up all the accounts I use for handling money, paying bills, and running the financial part of my life. It took hours as I found account numbers and checked passwords, PIN numbers, and beneficiaries for my monied accounts. I recorded it in a Word document, despite all of my security Spider-man senses saying “no” to using an unsecured document for this. It needs to be simple if bad things happen to me, so I accepted the risk.

I also found the official birth certificates, marriage license (Susie and I called it The Cow, as the seal has a huge cow), and other essential documents. I already had my lawyer update my will and provide proper, signed, and notarized Power of Attorney and Oregon Advance Directives forms. I located my leather briefcase and will fill it with these papers and other essential items. This will be given to Dondrea before my surgery. If I head to the great gamers in the sky, this goes to Matt V.

While depressing and taking hours, it is best to plan for emergencies, and the best way to prevent them is to plan if they will happen. Or, to remember another moment from a John Wick movie, “Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum,” which, when translated into English, means “If You Want Peace, Prepare For War.”

I slept into 8ish and rose feeling rested—for the first time in weeks. I made the last of the liberal Equal Exchange coffee in the French Press. I ordered a new case, and it arrived today. The Kramer sent more good coffee, and I will use that starting Thursday; thanks. I also had a bagel with cream cheese from my NYC supplies stocked by the Smiths and Joyce; thanks.

Lunch worked somewhere above between things, and it was cottage cheese and a 1/2 can of peaches.

Leaving this for last, last night, the grief and anger surfaced again. It circled like a dream-shark and bit hard repeatedly. Tears. I painted. I ordered some rules on Amazon for WWI tabletop ship models. I am better this Thursday morning. I was warned that grief was a thief. Facing the surgery adds to this pain. Sucks.

I included that bit, not asking for help or sympathy, but to be true, and this blog is about my experiences.

Thanks for reading.