Wednesday with Check Engine light

A series of events defined my Wednesday, and I will forgo my usual format and describe these incidents instead.

I managed to walk the circle track at Reedville Creek Park and make four loops. I scored over 3,000 steps, but I was not expecting that to be the end of my walking as I usually can combine that with a few trips shopping to be over 5,000 steps in a day, but not today. I was up after 7 and had canned peaches for breakfast and liberal coffee made in my French Press. I had written the blog on Tuesday evening, so I was less rushed.

(Even the light posts in the Pacific Northwest have moss!)

However, I had a 9:30 appointment at Big River Coffee to discuss jobs and work with Mackenzie, which limited my walking time. I headed to the coffee place after 9:15, as it was only a few minutes away. Soon, I was discussing work experience with Mackenzie. Layoffs had caught up with Mackenzie (a shared experience), and we discussed our work experiences. We tried not to focus on our disappointments with employers, but we both feel that corporation people management is out of alignment with corporate long-term goals. I tried to share memories that could help with Mackenzie buying our coffees. One strong suggestion was to align the vocabulary in Mackenzie’s resume and interview with Data Cleansing and Data Science. Yes, the words used when discussing Artificial Intelligence are the hottest new thing. I think my advice and thoughts were at least worth the price of a cup of coffee (a medium-sized Amercano with a shot of caramel syrup). We said our goodbyes.

I returned to the Volvo Cave to notice that the check engine light was on. I could not find any code or cause. I turned off Air Volvo and restarted it. It returns. F**k. I headed into the Cave and chatted with some folks, and, after thirty minutes, tried again. The check engine light is still on. F**k. I called the local Volvo dealership and soon was talking to scheduling and discovered that their next repair opening was in September. WTF–it is a check engine light, not scheduled maintenance (I was polite on the phone, but I am sure they heard the WTF in my mind), September. I found a local place that can run the diagnosis on Wednesday morning and tell me what they think. Maybe it is just annoying Volvo’s demand for service. The accented voice whistled when I said 2015 Volvo–not sure if they work on the new ones (or that was related to the cost of the usual repairs; neither interpretation is reassuring). I will be there before noon on Wednesday. F**k.

Grounded now, the next event kept me in the house and watching Star Wars movies while I waited for updates. Mom Wild is in the ER with low labs and general fatigue. Linda (my sister) and her husband, Jesse, are with Mom, and generally, their job is to keep Mom Wild calm enough to stay. Mom often just walks out of ERs and hospitals. I called and helped explain that Mom would be admitted and that she needed to do this. Using my “the good son” powers to help her understand and accept. As usual, I started laundry and dishes and prepared for the next flight to Michigan (red-eye through Chicago for about $800 one-way at 11PM, arriving before noon in Lansing). I look at hotels as I do not have the time to plan an extended stay. Mom Wild stays in the hospital, and Linda and Jesse are there until 2ish, and then they go home to sleep. Been there.

Corwin comes over and collects more of his stuff. I even saved him a box. He collects his stuff and will clean up the house on Wednesday or Thursday now that temperatures are more normal (days are in the low eighties, 27C, and nights a cool high fifties, 14C). Corwin needs some knives, and I gave away my Chicago Cutlery, which we got when Dad Wild added it to our registry for our wedding in 1990. I send the block and all I have. It is time to have less stuff. Corwin will use them well. He gets the matching knive block, too. I find duplicates and items I have not used, but I am sure he could use them in the pantry, put those in the bag, and send them on, too. I went to Amazon, found a magnetic board (the new hot way to order knives in the modern kitchen), and ordered a plain, unbranded one for $39. It was delivered today. It needs to be assembled and comes even with a screwdriver and an extra screw: Done!

Before the events messed up my day, I was soldering a tiny linear servo to pins. I am still working on using a breadboard to build my prototype. The wires are tiny, and it took some care not to break or burn them up while soldering (I set my Hakko iron to 380F/190C). I have various colors of pins. I have a bag of these in the garage, along with various other parts; I have RadioShack in my garage. I match the pins to the wire colors. I can use the pins to insert into the breadboard or to attach female jumpers.

With that done and the servo now plugged into the breadboard, I needed to code a test program/sketch to run it. In my design, this servo will control the rudder for the service boat that will lower the diving bell with the video in it. I plan to build a tiny boat for an aquarium controlled by Wi-Fi. Once this works, I will go with the submarine. And the XIAO is not supported by the Servo code provided by Arduino; the compile fails. It appears that the servo libraries have been updated to check the hardware and fail if attempting to compile it over unsupported hardware.

While thinking about what to do, I broke for lunch, cut up the pork chop that I defrosted yesterday, stir-fried it with some frozen peppers, chopped onions, ginger (also frozen), and curry powder, and reheated some Trader Joe’s naan to go with it. The curry powder left a graininess in the food that I didn’t like, but the flavor worked. Next time, I will just add some spices like ground cumin.

I continue to follow along with events in Michigan. Mom Wild is seriously ill, not cooperative (the usual), and put up with it for now. Linda and Jesse update me when they can. I stay home with a coding Volvo and possibly need to get to PDX soon. I wash clothing and get dishes ready. No need for me to fly tonight.

I had defrosted a ribeye steak, and I cooked that on the grill. I cut it into slices. Covered a potato with sliced steak and had some peaches with it. The rest of the steak and another potato is in the frig as leftovers for another day. The calory count for Wednesday was 1,400. Better.

I managed two Star Wars movies and finished one I started. I really like the first and third movies in the last bunch. Other folks decry their failures to follow the logic and the established canon. I think the first and last find some comedy and tell an interesting story, with the last one threatening to tip to horror and even Lovecraftian creations but pulls back as it approaches that abyss. I like that. The failing emperor’s word “unnatural” says it all.

That was the last event of Wednesday, and I headed to bed a bit late. I did hear what I assumed was the temperature difference, making the house make noise. I was up with all the lights on and checking. I went outside and saw nobody. After that, I put on “sleep” on my Echo Dot. I slept well.

Thanks for reading. My weight stabilized and went down to 238. Better.