Friday Movie

I rose slowly on Friday with the hot California-like sun bleaching everything, found the kitchen (it had not moved), and started my day. I noticed that the dark blue in the sky was gone as the smoke added grey to the blue. The air quality has not become dangerous, according to the Internet, as the fires are in the Cascades and the Oregon high desert (and California and Idaho).  So far, the population in the valley has appeared to have learned that fireworks and lighting fires in tinder-dry fields and forests is not only illegal but stupid, and unmonitored children are not given matches and fireworks (unlike in 2020). While temperatures reached 100F (39C) on Thursday, Friday would be kinder, with heat around 92F (33C) with almost no humidity–desert weather. I also have the AC set at 73F for the Volvo Cave that filters the air. I am cool, and my allergies are less in the house.

I wrote on Friday a blog of over 2,000 words and was not done, with many interruptions, until just before 1. The blog had many asides and many musings. This blog records and shares my experiences and thoughts, those that are appropriate to share in a public setting, with you, dear reader. Some days, it is a task to get through it; others, I want to linger, think, and share. I have been writing for years now (yes, years now) and have over 1,600 posts. Writing the blog is now part of my life, and I think it is a duty (yes, almost a religious duty) to remember each day. With my retirement from the shoe company and the funding from my layoff (it was a s**t-load of money), I am not rich, but I think I have enough to avoid returning to work–unless I want to. I can spend the morning writing and drinking liberal coffee.

Breakfast was a banana and toast with butter. I have not stopped by a grocery shop to get some cream cheese for all those NYC bagels waiting for me (thanks, Joyce). As I mentioned, I made liberal Equal Exchange brand coffee in my French Press. I wrote, read the news, and explored the transactions for the last few days in Quicken. Folks texted me, and we texted for much of the morning. I wrote a few asides and musings and removed ‘so’ from my writings and from Grammarly updates that put ‘so’ in my writing.

My usual sequence is to clean up, shave, and dress after I finish the blog. But I don’t like to cross the imagined line of noon unprepared to face the day, so I left the blog unfinished while I prepared to face the day. Dressed, shaved, and presentable, I finished the blog just before 1. I reheated some of the blackened (just the skin) chicken I grilled on Thursday with a potato with sour cream and butter. The chicken was good, and I only finished 3/4 of the potato. I eat smaller meals now–another success and necessary for weight loss.

I got a text from Kathleen, and we are meeting in Clackamas, Oregon, to enjoy the new Deadpool movie. This means a 27-mile trip across Beaverton and Portland, which Air Volvo Nav says is a twenty-minute trip. I expect an hour with early afternoon rush-hour traffic. I do a few chores in the house and then board Air Volvo. First refueling and then a car wash as the windshield is sprinkled with tree sap (a hazard here in the summer). Next, I head to Beverton and park in Old Town near my church, First United Methodist Church, still flying the Pride Progress flag that Z and I put up a few weeks ago–nobody has taken it (I have replaced many and have a spare flag and poll ready). The new poll allows the flag to flap more. I head to Beaverton Library (a function of Washington County).

I signed up for a library card there (it is good for Washington County), as I am retired and have time to check out books instead of buying them for my Kindle or at a bookstore. I do like to own history books and other heavily footnoted books. I check the references and often will order a copy of a referenced book or article online (Abebooks.com).

To get a card, they point you to a library workstation with a browser set to let you create an online account. Once my online account was created, I took a photo of that information. I took this and my driver’s license (proof I was me and my address) to the main desk and completed the process. I also received a fast explanation of the services and a physical card with my true account number.

This was done within my time limits, and I headed to the movie with an hour available for travel time. Traffic was heavy and stopped often. The highways included many stressed drivers making risky and extra-legal lane changes and exits. I was careful, conservative, and watchful as it was more likely they would hit Air Volvo than Air Volvo hitting the imaginative drivers. Being retired, I would prefer to keep Air Volvo for a few more years.

I had to cross Beaverton and Portland and hit separate traffic snarls for each transition. Kathleen texted me to let me know that her bus was missing and she was having trouble connecting. It is not good to text and drive, so I tried to keep that to a minimum and instead called Kathleen with Handsfree phone access. I reached my target after an hour of enjoying weird driving with stressed-out folks from Oregon and Washington State (Sprinkled with shell-shocked visitors. “How can they be so polite, slow, and terrible drivers simultaneously,” I imagine visitors think). I arrived at the theater, took Air Volvo to Kathleen’s house, and picked her up; she never connected with the buses and returned to the theater.

We decided on dinner after the movie and went to Deadpool and Wolverine 3D, which started in a few minutes. We were in a nearly empty theater (the movie’s big opening was a week ago) and seated with the previews already going. The movie was entertaining and funny. Kathleen and I laughed through the whole movie. It does strongly reference the previous Deadpool and Wolverine movies, and seeing them helps you understand some of the jokes, but it would not degrade your experience if you missed them. I actually hated the last Wolverine movie, but I thought it was well done. I thought this movie, Deadpool and Wolverine, was surprisingly good, and all the action scenes looked great in 3D. 

Dinner was at the Margarita Factory. I bought a pair of Texas Taco salads, one each (beef for me and shredded chicken for Kathleen), which, while not looking large, were surprisingly filling, and neither of us finished one. I stayed with iced tea; avoiding alcohol, especially mixed drinks, seems to help the weight loss. Our appetizer was delivered late (almost as dessert) and mostly untouched. While the staff was friendly, the crowd was young and dressed (or, more correctly said, slightly undressed) for the heat and happy, the food was expensive, and the drinks not cheap. Thus, it is hard to recommend the place. I would call it an expense report joint.

Air Volvo took Kathleen home in the First Class seat (and co-pilot seat). Before saying goodbye, we planned a possible game on Saturday night (but that would not happen). My return flight across Portland and Beaverton in the early evening was uneventful. I arrived in Beaverton after sunset and twilight was surrending to night.

My model was ready for more work, and it was dark, signaling no reason to go outside. I put on my nitrile gloves, which prevent me from getting fingerprints on the model of SMS Derfflinger 1916–a new process for me. I am hand painting the model, and I painted the XF-66 Light Grey on the port side of the ship model. It will take two coats, so each is light and dries fast. I also painted the deck XF-78 Wooden Deck Tan, which I think is a bit dark but is the recommended color. This requires painting around the plastic-modeled deck furniture and structures. I use my figure painting brushes for this work. I have my 3X bifocals safety glasses, but I steam them up a few times. I actually paint some tiny bits without them. While neither is a perfect paint job, I find I can make smaller and smaller mistakes on each pass. Next time, I will correct the deck painting and paint the deck items XF-9 Sky Grey to match the superstructure.

(The model with some of the parts and deck overlays set in place. You can see a section that is missing, as it has to be assembled from brass-etched and plastic parts. All the gun barrels, I think, are replaced, meaning I have to start reworking the plastic parts to include the brass bits and then prime and paint them Sky Grey. The darker deck color paint can be seen in the piece missing.)

The Imperial German Navy’s (1871-1919) capital ships operated generally in the misty and often rough North Sea and calmer Baltic. The ships are painted to match the darker water and mist, making them harder to range. In the age of coal and harsh oil black smoke, the smoke would give away a ship’s position long before they were spotted. The paint was to make it harder to measure the range for firing. Getting missed by a battleship was preferred to being easily ranged and hit. History records that the British overshot in their first rounds of shots at SMS Derfflinger and other German Battlecruisers in the only large fleet engagement in WW1, Jutland 1916. It is thus important for a modeler to repeat within reason the same scheme–it is part of the history of SMS Derfflinger 1916.

Aside: The lovely wooden decks cannot be seen from the side and thus did not help the enemy range the ship. Only when planes and radio communication became effective in the late 1930s did the bright wood become a liability. In WW2, the US Navy overpainted much of the beautiful teak wood with dark blue. IJN Yamato, the largest battleship every made, decks were painted a dirty grey towards the end of the war. Model builders often will build a WW2 ship with bright decks, as making them dirty and dark is a shame. I have seen a blue-painted wood overlay for American WW2 battleship models!

Here is IJN Yamato with overpainted decks in one of her last battles: IJN Yamato.

I discovered a small section of SMS Derfflinger is now wood covered in the latest 3D drawings. I do not have an overlay for this tiny bit. I looked for a generic 1/700 scale deck for sale. My eBay account is blocked as eBay security (all AI-controlled) decided I was hacked–nope. F**k. I talk to their AI-controlled phone tree and chatbots. My old phone number is still associated with the account. There were no humans to rescue me. Thus, I cannot use eBay. I try to create a new account, but you cannot use the same email on a different account. F**k.

It is past 11, and I decide I can manage without eBay and make my own deck tomorrow with a pencil, ruler, and some leftover unused wood overlay decking. I head to the shower, get in my PJs, and read. I am soon nodding off, so I get up, take my pills, use some eye grease, and head back to bed. I am soon asleep. I wake twice for proof of hydration. My allergies have me waking with hives at 5AM. I rise early and deal with it. Yikes!

Thanks for reading.