Sunday Thanks Linda

I rose about 6 and started writing the blog. We made liberal coffee, Equal Exchange, and I had a muffin and a banana. Linda rose, got cleaned up, and soon was ordering an Uber. At about 9ish, Linda was on her way home via a first-class ticket on Delta PDX to Detroit. Thank you for all the care.

I watched more Dark Sails episodes and switched to the online YouTube church service. The sound was missing (I sent a text, and it soon cleared up). The music was good, and the message was excellent. Today, Pastor Ken continued with his review of the Book of James. Many Methodist preachers I have known say it is the best letter in the New Testament. Today’s passage, one you will not see quoted on Sunday morning or in most self-focused churches, was a simple instruction that if you honor the rich instead of the poor, you are doing wrong and need to stop. It is quite clear in the second chapter of the text, today’s scripture. Pastor Ken admitted that when he was planting churches, he was guilty of this and that we needed to guard against it. To that end, he asked to serve bagels before and after the service (according to Ken, donuts cause a sugar crash, and bagels are better). He wants something that will be a good breakfast for people coming to our church. He sees this as a way to honor the folks who need breakfast (the poor, in a sense). I have always loved James and have taught the book in Sunday School, the preacher’s gospel, as a minister once called it. Strangely, the class, back in the 1990s, was called the Breakfast Club, and we served bagels. Hmmm.

I dressed and had my leftover gnocchi from dinner last night. I ran it twice through the reheat cycle, and while it was more food than I had eaten in weeks, I found I was hungry and managed to eat it all. I am still losing inches as I heal and grow stronger, and I think some good food will help.

I caught up with the YouTube channels I watch. Battleship New Jersey is in drydock, and there were many interesting discussions, including the vibration issues with American Fast Battleships like New Jersey. It was nice to have the focus back to watch these.

Joan S stopped by and dropped off a pair of grabbers as I am not to bend over for another four weeks, minimum. We talked about work possibilities for me (Joan S is a consultanting Biz Analyst) and some plans for travel coming up. It was a nice visit.

Corwin rose and asked to get to the auto parts store, but I was out of time as Matt V was coming to get me. We will do that on Monday. Corwin’s truck has a transmission fluid leak and needs more fluid to be usable. Corwin is also becoming quite enamored with older model Ford Trucks. I, owning Ford stock, told him that I agreed with him that Ford could have been great if it had fixed its long-term quality issues, but still, that has not succeeded (causing the stock price to seldom reach the $13.05 I bought it at). I do, I told him, enjoy the 5% dividend it pays.

Aside: Those investors who locked into 5% or lower on CDs and treasuries missed the chance to get some excellent dividends instead. I also have JP Morgan preferred shares paying 5%. Unlike CDs and other banking instruments, I can sell when I want. I get 4.5% in my premium US Bank savings with almost no restriction.

Matt V took me to a Dungeons and Dragons game at his house and discussed our upcoming trip to California. Matt is driving me to Natasha’s and Jason’s wedding near San Jose. We will leave on Friday morning and stop after a long drive into California and then finish the drive on Saturday for the 4PM wedding. We will then head out and either take a lazy but lovely drive back up the coast or a quick return, depending on how we both feel. Matt and I have enjoyed meeting at gaming conventions, so it will be good to travel together. Likely the beginning of many trips to come as we both are retired.

We were early, so Nikki (Matt V’s wife) was happy to chat. Matt made burgers on his grill for everyone (some actual meat and some buns of alternative Keto make-up). We ate as the other players arrived, all happy to see me having recovered enough to play today.

I play a lawful evil (often called lawful-effective as you are unbothered with niceties–the ends are justified by the means), but found myself healing and even bringing back a slain enemy–not my style. But, being evil allowed me to turn over the enemy to be magically enslaved and forced to surrender various secrets. That was more like it! The battle we fought went on for about an hour, with my evil cleric of War (not surprisingly named War) using every spell slot except for a few minor slots.

The view from my seat on the gaming table.

Scott took me home. I had some cheese and crackers to go with my pills and stayed with one Tylenol for the evening. I showered, climbed into bed, and read for a while. I was asleep soon, but I did wake often.

Linda arrived safely in Michigan.

Thanks for reading.