Tuesday Quiet

I woke with the sunrise again, and I woke previously when I was cold, requiring me to climb under the covers. Off to my workspace, I have the last of the plums and artisan bread with butter and a sprinkle of sea salt (I use unsalted butter) with my usual coffee. The coffee is made in a French Press, as it is just me in the house.

I have drunk liberal coffee nearly every morning since Trump was elected as a reminder that I must stay focused on what is important to me; today, it is the Equal Exchange brand packed in the Portland facility. A rather liberal location, and the coffee is fair exchange (farmers got a living wage payment). What is important to me as a liberal? It is justice–not what you expected, dear reader–but I mean justice for the widow, the orphan, and the poor. God calls out in the Hebrew scriptures that the greatness of a kingdom is not measured on its wealth or power, but how it brings justice to the widow, the orphan, and the poor. Jesus echoes this call in the Greek scriptures. Justice can be found in a cup of coffee, and I can tell you I taste the liberal and the justice–no sugar needed.

I write most of the morning, but I rose at 6 and am done before 10. It is still a long blog. I am retired and can just write about my whole day and some other topics as ‘asides’ and explore the events of the day I am describing. I also enjoy discovering new words and trying to align them with Dreyer’s instructions (there are no ‘so’ in my writing if I can help it) to not overly use the same words and eliminate words with little meaning (like ‘actually’).

Tuesday is a day I have no plans. I was thinking of the Zoo, but I put in over 5,000 steps, my legs hurt, and I was tired. I also lost five pounds, 234 lbs (despite a few exceptions to eating well), and this showed that the impact of brain surgery and my increasing activity was impacting my weight. I cannot give myself full credit as the brain surgery undoubtedly made weight loss a forgone conclusion. Before the surgery, I could walk 10,000 steps and often did. Now, 3,000 is a struggle, and 5,000 leaves me sore, but as surgery was only ten weeks ago, I should be happy with my progress (and not to be dead, brain damaged, and able to live in my home). It is hard to slowly improve.

I put on my newly shortened pants with a 40-waistline, and with my belt tight, they stay on. Excellent. Someday, I may reach 38! My goal is 220, and I no longer have my gut overhanging my pants belt. A dream.

I put away my electronic project in the wooden cigar box I recently purchased and reset my working table for model building (and soon figure painting). I was unhappy with the progress (it is too nice to be working on this stuff in our summer) and the instability of the hardware I used. I returned the 1/700 (small) SMS Derfflinger 1916 model on the table. I think I will also do some figure painting. The advantage of these things is they make progress that you can detect, and I don’t have to struggle with wiring and incomplete information. I have books and plans on SMS Derfflinger 1916 (the ship’s look changed after the Battle of Jutland; this version is what was seen at Jutland). I could build it from scratch if I wanted to. I think I will enjoy this more.

But before I put it all away, I got out the tiny wire wrap wire, attached it to an SMD LED with my soldering iron, and lit it with a coin-cell battery. SMD technology, surface mount devices, is attaching reduced tiny electronic components to an etched board by baking. It is one of the main reasons electronics are so cheap now. Instead of drilling holes, putting large parts in holes, and then soldering them, we use tiny parts and machines to place them and then bake them in place. For my work, SMD means tiny work with steady hands and 3x bifocal lenses. I was happy to make an LED work as the tiny version better fits my model work. I don’t have to buy prewired ones; I can do it myself. I have not moved up to baking yet.

With my table ordered for models and the blog finished, I decided to check out the gaming store. I boarded Air Volvo and returned to get my phone; it was a short, aborted flight. Guardian Games opened at 11, and I was early. I headed Air Volvo to Old Town Beaverton. I stopped at Tammy’s Hobbies, found some early 1900s car models in the correct scale for 28mm figures (1/58 or so), and bought them for ten bucks. I can build them quick when we need them.

Tous less Jours is a French-style bakery in Beaverton Center, and I stopped by to get some croissants and fresh bread. I was out of bread and had not gotten out of the bread machine to try again. I now had breakfast for a few days and bread to make a grilled cheese!

On my return, Air Volvo headed to Guardian Games in Aloha (it was previously Rainy Day Games) and soon found the extension to my copy of Expeditions. Richard told me that this improved the original game. Expeditions was a disappointment for me; an excellent game but nothing that made you want to get it on the table again. The start-up was slow and predictable (much like Scythe, its predecessor), and the play was easy, but repeat players could find combinations and focus on them. I did not feel like it was that fun, and I hope the $29 add-on improves the game (otherwise, it will likely find its way to GoodWill).

I talked to the staff, and they recommended their Discord site and Tuesday nights for a Dungeons and Dragons 5.0E game. I will see if I can raise some players for my tenth and first-level adventures and maybe try out the 5.0E update for the Lord of the Rings version. I have the Moria add-on and the Hobbit Shire adventures for this system. More research to follow. I would love to try out the LOTR 5E version again.

Returned to the Volvo Cave by Air Volvo, I found celery, onion, and tuna in a packet (I am done with cans) and sliced a new NYC bagel. Thanks, Joyce, for the new ones that appeared yesterday. I cut up a Wala Wala onion (more than half now in a zip lock bag) I bought at the 185th Produce Stand. I placed the sliced and toasted bagel on a cookie sheet with tin foil sprayed with olive oil-based non-stick spray. I mixed the chopped veggies with mayo and various spices together, and then I spooned it on the bagels. I then tried out the broiler in The Oven on the first oven. I managed to carbonize part of the bagels, but I added the cheese last and avoided lighting off the bagels; yes, 550F broilers would cause the cheese to catch fire. I ate these while watching more Battleship New Jersey stories on YouTube. I had no burns, fires, or choking; better!

I decided I needed a walk and took Air Volvo to the grocery store. I decided to start at Whole Foods, as I like their meats better. I got most of the basics there and paid the usual premium for what I hope are good items (Whole Foods was sued successfully by the US government for price gouging by selling plain items as premium items and Whole Foods promised to price items fairly). I then headed to Trader Joe’s to get some veggies and frozen items. While I avoid overly prepared foods (I did get some sausages this time), I find their frozen meals perfectly sized and taste fresh.

Air Volvo, crowded with board games and bags of various items, soon arrived at the Volvo Cave without incident. It took three trips to unload and some time to put away the items. I put on Sherlock, the recent BBC modern version, while I settled things in the kitchen and pantry.

I cut the boneless and skinless thighs from Whole Foods into three pieces each. I should have made them smaller. I then fried them in my non-stick pan (thanks, Steve). I cut up a new green pepper (no seeds) and added that to cook with the chicken. Once everything looked cooked, I added an Indian-style Tikka simmering sauce from Whole Foods.

I set The Oven first oven to 400F and reheated the frozen naan also from Trader Joe’s. I made two pieces and regretted the calories later. One would be enough. The Tikka-like food was soon ready. The spices were a bit understated from what I am used to, but I dipped naan in the sauce and ate with my fingers with just a little help with my fork, and that was great. The chicken was tough and needed to be in smaller pieces and maybe chicken breast would be better for this one. While my recipe is a better product, it takes six or more hours to make; this was not a bad shortcut.

Stuffed with naan, I put away more than half of the Tikka in a container for lunch on Wednesday. Next, sated, I went outside and walked under the setting sun. My legs complained, and I went only half the distance of yesterday’s walk. At the corner of 209th and Sandra Street was a stand with free peaches. Their tree was overflowing (as were many) with stone fruit and offered free fruit to passerbyes. I took four firm peaches for later. I returned to the Volvo Cave with just under 4,000 steps for the day.

I watched the last of the season of Star Wars’s Ahsoka on Disney+, which, from my reading, is a live version to follow the animated Rebels series, including my favorite villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn. While I am unsure how well-received this story was, I liked it. It reminded me of the Thrawn-based novels I have read. I’m not sure if I can recommend it; it seems an acquired taste (warning: the outfits are tight-fitting, and everyone looks like they have a gym membership).

I could barely stay awake. I took my meds and headed to the bedroom. After a shower and heading to bed early, I read until I started to dream. I would find that my eyes were closed, and instead of reading the story, my sleeping mind was inventing a story from the last few words. The book, iPhone, or Kindle then hit me in the face or fell to the bed or floor. I wake with a start.

I was reading the new Vietnamese-inspired space opera Navigational Entanglements by one of my favorite writers, Aliette de Bodard. Yes, Vietnamese-inspired space opera is a thing. So far, it is excellent, but it is a slight change from the universe of her other novels. Space travel and mind ships have not appeared in this story.

I am cold (the AC is back on), and I climb under the covers to be comfortable and fall asleep. I do not wake up until sunrise. Not Star Wars, but Vietnamese space travel for dreams tonight.

Thanks for reading.