As usual, I tried to fit a whole weekend in one day. I rose after 7 and soon made coffee (liberal in a French Press), toasted a NYC Zabar’s bagel (thanks, Joyce), and covered it with cream cheese. Wearing my new PJs and usual slippers, I carried these breakfast products to the home office and started writing on my daily blog. The writing was slow as there was much to cover for Friday, which was also a busy day. I wrote until 10:30ish and finally just published what I had without another re-reading. I try to time-box the process as it can just go for what feels like forever. I want it to be perfect, interesting, and accurate, accounting for my day while only sharing those things that are appropriate and often deleting or toning down any political statements. All of this in a set few hours. It ain’t easy.
I have a body note. My revised colon (I lost 25cm to colon cancer, and that was followed by a chemical chemotherapy party for three months) has started to work more like before the tumor, and that is quite welcome. While not getting anywhere near my friend’s suggested 10,000 steps a day, I seem to be losing weight or at least inches. My weird weight numbers suggest I am building muscles and continue to fix around 255, being the newest reading. While still deep, the grief has loosened its grip on my mind and heart, and I find myself able to have fun and think about the future. It may be these sunny mornings here in the Pacific Northwest that have helped, but I think it is all the friends who continue to include me in their lives. They make my life better. Thanks!
Returning to the narrative for Friday, I looked into the process for Family Leave for Oregon, created an account for Francis, and began to create a leave request. Oregon will pay someone with a major illness a replacement for wages. Paid Oregon Leave, the name of the choice of request I need in the online Francis system, is aligned with your employer. I put this on hold until after next week as it appears Paid Leave is connected to an employer. More to come.
I continued to stir and check on the bean soup I started yesterday. I soaked the beans overnight. I washed them again, put them in a pot with water to cover, and added the ham bone from the Easter Ham I had put in the frig. This would replace the need for broth. I added a can of Italian-style (not seasoned) chopped tomatoes, the season pack from the Women’s Bean Project who supplied the bean soup mix, brought it to a boil (in no time on the new stove, so nice!), and let it simmer all morning. After washing, shaving, and dressing, I got some ham bits (there was a lot of meat on the ham), chopped them into small bits, lined a baking sheet with foil, and baked them in the top oven (the new stove has two excellent ovens), and waited for the bits to roast and give up water. I find that store-bought spiral hams are wet. I removed the ham bones (they had broken up a bit and filled the soup with a rich flavor) and tossed them (others would want to do more with them, but the bones, morrow, and remaining meat gave them all to the soup and are spent). This is a trick to make good chicken soup–remove the meat/bones you used for flavor and add more baked meat later. Thus, I added more meat that was freshly cooked and browned to add more flavor in the last twenty minutes. The soup was lunch, and I had two bowls. It was good, and nothing tasted spent or flavorless.
With the soup done, I headed out in Air Volvo. The vehicle had 1/2 a tank of fuel, so Air Volvo headed to the car wash. Soon, I could see much better through the windshield. I headed to The 649 and found Crystal doing a solo and was buried with customers as the weather changed from desert to Pacific Northwest grey. Soon, the Oregon mist was back, and I saw Air Volvo covered in little puddles from the fresh wax application. More and more folks abandoned the outdoors for a beer or exotic drink, and nearly every table was full. Crystal had lines across the place for drink and food. The kitchen staff was not delivering food and clearing tables.
I set up the board game Wyrmspan with the new components from the add-on I purchased yesterday. It looked nicer, and the tactical feel improved, as you can imagine when replacing cardboard with painted wood and metal parts. Evan, my opponent for this afternoon, was busy in the early morning, and I sat until after 2PM. I had an excellent beer while waiting. I read FaceBook and the news on the Internet. I also looked for more third-party products for Wyrmspan on Esty.
Evan showed up, and we played. Evan knows the original game, Wingspan, so the teaching did not take long. Also, the game mechanics are designed to flow, so it is a much easier game to play than Wingspan, I think. Evan and I played the first game, and I crushed Evan as the random dragons (not birds like in Wingspan) seemed to go my way. We played a second game at Evan’s request. Evan flew ahead and stayed there. I was still helping and following along on Evan’s play to help him follow the rules and understand the game’s nuances.
Dear reader, while winning is nice, I enjoy playing the game more. As a computer nerd and would-be AI programmer, I enjoy moving through the actions and seeing what happens. I am not interested in resolving perfectly efficient turns but in why the game is built the way it is. What makes it good? I am also interested in playing with many players, and that means teaching and losing as you play to help, not to win.
Evan was ahead, and I was sure he had me by ten points and maybe fifteen. Then I saw the time, and I would be late for Richard’s game. Oops. Also, Avery joined the bartender crew at 5PM, and I had planned to pack up the game simultaneously. She had been there for some time. Mistake—I should have packed up then.
Avery was clearing tables and helping Crystal with even more rain-avoiding locals, adding to the Saturday early evening clientele. We chatted a few times, but the game was intense, and I fought for more points until I saw the time. We then packed it up, granting Evan 15 points.
Traffic was lightish, and I was twenty minutes late. Our third was a last-minute cancellation (COVID or something else), and it was just Richard and me tonight. Richard pulled out Arc Nova, and while I never won and often score poorly, it is a favorite. We are using new add-ons that include fish and aquariums in our virtual zoos (the game is about efficiently running a zoo that is also good for the earth) and special player boards, each unique. I never figured out how to use mine. Richard had a run-away game (this game has little player interaction), and I did better than usual. I enjoyed the game and recommend Arc Nova, but don’t move to the more obscure maps and add-ons until you have a good handle on the game. Richard, as I am not a threat, played new approaches and enjoyed a point bonanza from the strategy paying well.
We chatted briefly, and I was not home until after midnight. I did see some amazing extra-legal lane changes during my trips to and from Portland. A Tesla with a vanity plate was all over the road, and I suspect the driver was using the local intoxicants and chatting with their cat (who was not there). I watched as the expensive red Tesla SUV cut me off, then realized it was still headed to the wrong exit, then crossed three lanes to the other exit. Oh my. Also, the police in the tunnel did not understand there was no side for us to pull into, but we managed to now do a four-car pile-up to help the nice officer.
Thus, I was ready for rest and soon was showered, back into my PJs, and sleeping.
Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 