It is 116 days since I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and I will face surgery to remove it on 20 May 2024. It is benign and slow-growing but must be removed. I have lost and will not recover my hearing or balance on my left side.
I woke just before my 6:30AM alarm on Monday morning. I had woken up a few times to vivid dreams that I cannot recall. Being Monday, I did feel more like a vampire rising than a human, starting another thrilling work week. I was not singing, “Everything is AWESOME.” I made coffee after locating the French Press disassembled in the dishwasher. Corwin thought it a good idea to wash it but did not run the dishwasher. I cleaned it, reassembled it, and summoned liberal coffee into existence by following the usual rituals. I was surprised my brain and hands could work so well together to perform these complex processes and rituals. I am a liberal cultist.
I read my usual emails (both my own and those supplied by the shoe company), read the Slack channel updates, and tried to absorb the latest news. It’s no surprise that Trump continues to dominate the news, but today, he was second to the eclipse. While I am a liberal and do not agree with his policies, the show he puts on certainly fascinates people. I enjoy reading all the legal decisions–Trump is like a legal class in obscure excuses.
I cleaned up and shaved with Harry’s blades (thanks, Steve). I was soon dressed and ready to board Air Volvo. My ride to work was uneventful, with no Flat-Earther blocking the roads and protesting the conspiracy that there was an eclipse. I was wondering if that would happen–Rep. Greene did say the eclipse was a sign from God about His displeasure with homosexuality (or something like that). So I was expecting more crazy.
Instead, all the European folks came to our building, Swift, and could not get in because their badges and passes were not working. That is right; they could not swiftly get into our building named after a product to make you go faster. Irony was going for sudtle today.
Most of my usual meetings have ended as we wait for the go-live to get closer. I am not working with the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) team this week, but I did get to say “hello” to old friends from the Laakdal warehouse, where I used to write software as a logistic coder. It was a quiet day. I researched how the SAP HANA database uses memory as it keeps surfacing in discussions.
At about 11:20, the eclipse reached 24% in our area, and the parking lot and building lights were re-lit. However, it was a grey and wet day, so we could not see the sun at all. A pin camera might have worked, but there was little light because of the clouds. Also, our eyes adjusted, so it was likely a dark time, but it was just another grey morning in Oregon to us. Again, the only hint was the parking lot and building lights restarting.
I returned in Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave to wait for some deliveries. They were there when I got there. A Kickstarter for the new board game Inventions arrived. Also, another load of NYC bagels from Joyce came; thanks!
Next, I looked at the food supplies at the house and discovered I had everything to make a good jambalaya. So I started on the trinity (onions, celery, and green pepper in equal portions) and then blessed the pan with the Pope (garlic). I left it to sweat in the pan while I cut up sausage, some spicy, and ham and raided the yet-to-bake Easter ham to get some bacon off the back. This may be an Orthodox Easter ham, and it will wait until May 8 to bake.
Once everything started to stick to the bottom of the pan, I added the out-of-the-box spices and rice. I cooked that in the oils and remaining water to get it all spicy. I added water, boiling hot from the electric kettle, and then simmered for 25 minutes to finish the rice and mix up the dried spices. I had two bowls—excellent and the closest yet to NOLA versions. It is a quest to get to an NOLA-acceptable level.
I did a few more meetings and then rested. I had nothing on for work, and I was tired, so a food coma took over. I woke at 5 and started back to work on Susie’s Concert. I packed much of what we used here for the service, except the fragile items and large stuffed animals. It was three boxes, one somewhat heavy. I will mail that to Barb, Susie’s sister, soon. I also packed a duplicate cookbook to return–Susie had arranged for it to appear every year, but I, too, ordered one, oops. Next year, I will wait for her copy to appear.
I reworked the flyer, bulletin, and instructions for the service to match the new location and new pastor.
I sent all of that out. I decided I had enough and headed to The 649 to write and have a drink. Avery was the bartender, and she got me a bourbon and ginger (they did not have Southern Comfort) to remember Susie today. I had a hummus platter after the drink (I can’t do that many hard drinks without food). Later, Avery bought me bread pudding to remember Susie and for my birthday.
With tears and happiness simultaneously, that brings me to now. Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 