I felt like myself again and was excited that the day was mine. My head all but explodes with all the options that I can do. I won’t rush to get ready, take Air Volvo to the office, and then sit in the window and do hours of meetings with my camera on and off. I wrote the blog the night before, so my sunny, bright morning had no plans. I received the email that my fourth Howard story was published. The day is mine.
Breakfast was yogurt and liberal coffee. I was soon dressed. I changed my bandage, and the incision in my belly was weeping still. It seems a little worse.
I have a doctor’s visit and hearing test in the morning, so I shower, dress, bandage, and board Air Volvo. The office is in the pavilion next to St. Vincent Hospital. It is a busy Wednesday, and I park on the 4th floor. The elevator doors can’t close; they try repeatedly to close, and all of us in the elevator have to take the stairs. I stay with one man who has some medical issues. We manage the steps and are safe.
I arrive early and wait about an hour before they test my hearing. As expected, my hearing is gone on my left side, and my right side is unchanged. Good. I wait again and finally get about ten minutes with my surgeon. I need new antibiotics and a cream to work on the surface issues, and I should be checked in two weeks. Of course, if it gets worse, get to an Urgent Care or ER. I ask the doctor to explain the changes on the poster of the inner ear on the wall. A bone was removed, as was the inner ear. A metal plate fills in the space where the bone was removed.
I drive across Beaverton and pass by Nike WHQ. I still feel ambivalent, but I hope to overcome that. I miss walking the garden-like campus and having a salad at the various cafes.
I stopped at a Thai place and got mussaman curry with beef to go. While there, I got an email that my prescription was ready at Walgreens (wow!). Air Volvo heads there next, and I get my two prescriptions without waiting (wow!). Air Volvo gets me home, and my new non-stick pads and less painful medical tape have also been delivered (Amazon). Besides enjoying an excellent curry (careful to chew and swallow), I rebandage it with a new cream, nonstick pads, and tape that is less painful to remove and take my antibiotics. The nonstick pads, I learned, let the blood through, and I need two to avoid having blood on my shirt (today, I just happen to be wearing a red t-shirt). I bought 100 so I can manage it. I also have a box of tape rolls.
Once the wound closes, I am cleared to start swimming. I plan to join a gym in July to help me lose weight and get my A1C back to normal. The swim club across from Nike will give me a free day in July to try them out. Also, I believe I can join Nike’s pool for something like $20 a month. I will see what works for me.
Mariah wants to meet for an early happy-hour dinner in Portland, and Corwin will join me after work at Air Volvo. I was hopeful that June 19th would be a light-traffic day. Better than usual, but still a 45-minute trip. We are outside at Hopworks off of Powell. We talk and laugh often. I have not seen Mariah for weeks. I have an excellent pilsner and a salad with salmon (local salmon, so not that overly fishy stuff, but the excellent firm stuff we catch here).
The trip back to the Volvo Cave is not memorable, and it is quick. Corwin heads out to the gym, and I watch another Dark Sail episode (XXV). The storyline seems to be twisted and losing logic. More naked scenes, Starz’s version of pirates, after all, were at first distracting but actually are used to move the story forward, which surprises me to see some excellent writing. I will have to watch the next one.
I work out a plot point in my head for my Holmes and Watson chatbot story. With Holmes and Watson moving to the public domain, I wanted to write an AI story with these characters. I just did not have something for them to do in the story, but I think I have something to finish the first short story.
To that point, I am not sure I will return to Howard to write a new story or even try something longer than a short story. My interests are turning to AI and computers from Lovecraftian horror. I am also always interested in writing or updating my Dungeons and Dragons adventures to 5E, the current iteration of the rules. I enjoy designing and then playing what I write. Seldom do I get to play one more than once, even when I write everything out, but still, I like to write them. Now that my time is mine, I will see if I can get some players at a gaming store to try one out. I have one first level (beginner) that I am converting from 4E, and my recent creation of “When Your Heart’s Desire is Offered” for advanced players (10th level or tier 2) is 26 pages with no art or maps.
And my Python programming desires led me to order a new device: Arduino Alvik. This is a micro-Python device from the Arduino family (I ordered it for $140 from Arduino’s website with free shipping, a whopping huge price for Arduino products that knock-offs can be less than $20). This device is more of a kit and more directed to kids. It is Lego-friendly, but it might make a fun presentation for the Hillsboro Python and Machine Learning meet-up. More to come.
With dreams of Holmes and Python robots, I fell asleep resting on my blankets as the house was still warm. I did have to prove hydration once just before sunrise, and then I climbed under the blankets as the house cooled.
Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 