I rose early on Saturday, after 6, found my French Press, made coffee, grabbed a banana, located yogurt in the frig, and started on a short blog (Friday was not a busy day). Read the news (f**k, are we liberals in trouble after the debates), did the dishes to feel like I have something I can control in this world, and finished the blog before around 9. I cleaned up and dressed (I returned to showers at night to prevent pollen from being carried into my bed; I woke on Saturday feeling much better). My bandage showed only a small amount of blood. Just one little bit needs to heal. I finished my antibiotics. I am feeling more like myself.
The anesthetic issues are fading. I still have some issues with basic mathematics, but I am slowly getting that back, and I can use my phone calculator, so it is not an issue. I could not calculate 20% of 80 yesterday, for example (I can now–it comes and goes), but it was listed on the bill. I can code C for Arduino again. My language issues are gone–I am using the correct words when speaking. My writing has not been impacted. Some existing health issues are improving with the weight loss (234 pounds again) and increased exercise. I did just short of 5,000 steps on Saturday!
I contacted Dan at about 9:30 and checked that he could meet in Vancouver, Washington (not Canada), just across the Columbia River. He thought that would work out, and I was soon on my way. And took about an hour to reach him with light traffic on Saturday morning, but many roads were shut down for construction in Portland. I got the address in a text about 1/2 way and used navigation in Air Volvo.
I parked at what I learned was the back door, and Dan gave me a tour of the 24-hour service retirement facility. Like many I have heard about, Dan told me this facility was a set of similar-capability retirement homes created by a family. The family discovered there were no facilities that would work for their family members, so they created one and then went into the business of building more. I have friends from work who have done the same thing for their family members. They rebuild their home into a medical facility, hire staff, and collect payments from the state, federal government, and provide excellent care. I looked into this for Susie, but I was working full-time for Nike at the time and could not manage it. It was the middle of the pandemic, and medical stuff was insane then. I was blessed to find the hummingbird house, and I had the financial resources to afford it. Dan’s new place was an excellent facility; it was clean (no urine smell) and looked comfortable.
Janet was still getting ready, and Dan was free; we headed to downtown Vancouver in Air Volvo. The farmer’s market parking was full (wow)! I had to park about three blocks away in a public park for a few bucks. I had to download the app and then set up the car and purchase a two-hour stay. I would overstay that, but there were no consequences so far from that.
Dan and I followed our phone maps to the farmer’s market (three long blocks away), which was quite expanded since I was last there and included much more food ready to eat. We walked the whole thing looking at everything to eat and buy. I had left my bags in Air Volvo, so I would limit my purchases to just some veggies to make a salad I was taking to Dondrea and Z on Sunday (our church service is canceled on Sunday as the church building is surrounded by the Pride Parade and events and no consideration was made for a church service by the City of Beaverton or the parade organizers).
It was lunchtime, and while the food was interesting, Dan and I were thinking of a drink with lunch, so we walked out of the farmer’s market and stopped at the first restaurant that looked like it was sit-down and likely had drinks: The Sedgwick. It was a plush place priced at the hipster level. I had a beer, and Dan got a glass of wine. I ordered Duck Fat cooked steak fries, which was a thing created from a John Wick movie (see it here). Dan was not that impressed. I had brie cheese melted with bread and shared that with Dan. Dan tried the most excellent soup, and we split it. The bill was a stunning NYC-does-not-charge-this-much $80 for three appetizers and wine and beer drinks. Yikes! I bought.
Dan stayed with the veggies while I walked back to get Air Volvo. I was able to quickly negotiate the streets and crowd without any missteps, dizziness, or drifting to one side. The crowd was a mix of older folks, often walking a dog (and wondering, I imagine, where all these new folks came from), and the young, tightly dressed, and sexy who had recently moved to the area, some with dogs of various sizes. The younger folks often had food or bags of recently purchased produce. It was a good day for the vendors! I paid a premium for my two small bags.
As I said above, Air Volvo was not noticed when I overran the two-hour parking I purchased. Air Volvo soon negotiated Vancouver’s confusing streets and found Dan. We took the highway back to the facility, and I dropped Dan off. I managed to return to Beaverton and found that 205-84-5-405-26-217-8 would get me back without hitting any significant traffic issues. I called Dan, who would drive to Beaverton on Sunday morning to give him the magic combination of highways and streets.
I put the precious veggies away, rested, and read briefly. I did have some crackers and cheese as a snack before heading out again. Air Volvo drove a bit insane today as it enjoyed the traffic to Richard’s place in Portland, mostly caused by drivers reading the warning about road closings this weekend (and Monday?!).
Today, five people and another train game, Railway of the World. This is not the dreaded 18xx but an engine-building and resource management game closer to Brass than A Ticket to Ride. This is an Eagle-Gryphon Games game. They are the same folks who brought us Lisboa and other insanely complex games. This one is complex and can be mean, but we mostly enjoyed it. I never led the pack, I did catch Richard (who won by just a few points) at first, but he and Chris blew us away by twenty points at the end–Chris led for much of the game. At the very end, Kathleen caught me for third place–I picked the wrong end-of-game condition. Loren was having my usual new game experience and finished last–I felt for her (she took on too much debt at the start; I did, too). Lighter rules and kinder than Brass, and easy to learn, I would recommend it for a friendly group. Chris and Kathleen’s strategy of slow growth by building small, easy railroads was excellent. Chris crossed the mountains, built long lines, and collected huge points. Richard ran his railroads in the US south. I would recommend Railway of the World over Brass as simply more fun.
We played a card game, No Thanks, and Kathleen won; I fought hard but did not win a single hand. I like it and recommend it as a quick, easy game. We use these to decompress from the harder games. Air Volvo delivered Kathleen to her home. We had not seen each other for months, but we caught up. We will meet for some Wyrmspan games on Fridays. We will try Lucky Labrador Brew Pub off of Hawthorn and see if it works. I am retired, and I have only a few plans.
Air Volvo took the more messy roads back to 26 from Milwaukee, Oregon, to avoid construction and closed roads. Air Volvo faced fast, light traffic, with the frustrating 26 traffic flying over 70 and then slowing to 50s without warning or apparent cause.
The weather had changed from high clouds and hot sun in the morning to Oregon mist in the late afternoon and rain in some areas. Air Volvo arrived without issues, even with slick roads. I heated some pasta and had a late dinner, showered, changed my bandage (still a tiny bleed), and went to bed after remaking my bed. I had washed my bedding before I left for Portland. I soon slept.
Thanks for reading.
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