Friday with Rain

It is an overcast, grey, winter-like day in the Greater Portland Area with rain (which never happens in August). I rise early, 6:30, and write the blog. It is Hood-to-Coast weekend, and I get an occasional update from Dondrea, who is running with three others as the “Super Delegates” team. I updated Quicken by downloading all the transactions including all my payments clearing.

I fight with Grammarly, which constantly changes my sentences to mean something different but more straightforward. The AI part of Grammarly (some of it is rules and pattern matching, not really AI as most people understand it) seems to want me to experience the world in a simpler and easy-to-follow way. It also has no grasp of transactions and gaming terms. It wants to make my life less complex. I resist being simplified, but I appreciate the correct use of commas and the spelling and plurals corrections.

I turned on the heat as it was freezing, but the orchids looked happy. I let the heat run all day and night. This visit from winter is supposed to only last a few days.

For breakfast, I had locally ground and roasted coffee from Hillsboro. I also had a NYC bagel toasted and smeared with cream cheese. I finished with a banana. My weight has popped up to 338.

After publishing the blog, I returned to the SMS Derfflinger 1916 model. I cut the thin poles representing the torpedo nets deployed when these capital ships were in the harbor before and into most WW1. It was believed that the risk of a torpedo attack at anchor was so high that building these net systems into large ships was thought necessary. I understand they can be used when moving at a cost of speed from the drag. Derfflinger’s net system was damaged in Jutland (I believe it was this ship, but an Imperial German capital ship did have this issue), nearly tangled the propellers, and would have made the battle cruiser an easy kill for the British. The nets as a protective system were abandoned by the Imperial German Navy and were removed during her repairs after Jutland (and her masts were revised to tripods, creating her distinctive post-Jutland look–my model is Jutland look with the nets and pole masts). For the model, each boom for the net system has to be cut from the sprue, I broke two, and there are no spares provided (always my complaint with ship model plastic kits–can’t you put in a few spares!).

I painted the hull first, and the holes to set the poles at an angle, creating that unique WW1 look, are too small–likely the paint caused the issue. I have to drill each one. I have a pin drill for these challenges. I redrill all the holes: thirty. I managed to cut off all the parts without losing any.  I mounted 13 on the port side without losing, dropping, or breaking anything. I carefully put the model aside and let all the glue dry. I am using CA glue as it will freeze the parts in place. I use a fresh bottle I bought yesterday. This is a Max-Cure version of CA, and it allows me to dip a part in the CA, place it in the drilled hole, move it to the correct angle, and let it dry. It will be locked in a minute, and then I cannot accidentally move it while installing other parts.

After putting the model aside, I made a terrible lunch. Instead of boiling the pasta, I decided to bake it with extra water and sauce. When done, tt tasted of starch, but it did cook–I will not do this again. I added 1/4 pound of fresh mushrooms I sliced (from the produce stand at 185th and TV Highway) and mixed in torn mozzarella cheese. This added lots of flavor but could not cover the starch flavor. Next, I poured on a jar of pasta sauce on the uncooked pasta. Returning to an old family recipe, I brown two pork chops in a pan and put them on top after searing them. I added more cheese on top. I baked it covered with tin foil (sprayed so it would not stick to the cheese). I finished the baking uncovered for another fifteen minutes. As I said, the flavor was off for the pasta, but the chops were good. I saved the pasta and a chop for a later meal. I will check if the pasta gets better over a day.

The day continued to be cold and grey, almost dark, and sprinkles were evident. I tried more of the Lord of the Rings, Rings of Power series. The story jumps around strangely in these early episodes, and Galadriel is driven nearly insane by her desire to find and destroy Sauron. Knowing the ending, it is fascinating to see her miss what is obvious now.

I look forward to the release of season 2 of the Tolkien-inspired show next week, and Sandman, too, is returning next week. I did the other side of SMS Derfflinger and dropped one of the plastic pieces. I will find it and lose it again.

I did the usual Friday laundry, which ran in The Machine. The Machine finished in a few hours, but I thought the laundry was damp. I didn’t mind and set it out to dry more in piles, hangers, and folded, depending on what it was. I had run the light mixed load. Towels should be run alone, I believe. I should try the AI option to see whether it can help guess the drying time better: Better laundry through technology!

Aside: I did find the lost piece this morning while writing the blog. It was lying on the floor, exactly where I looked last night. I have not decided whether to remove the piece I made and try to use this part. For me, at least, part of the process of building a ship model is to drop and lose something.

I decided I needed to get some steps in, so I took Air Volvo with my laptop and a new board game, Crisis 1914, in the cargo hold and headed to Reedville Creek Park, only a few minutes away. The sky was full of dark clouds in the usual lines we see in the fall, but I had my wool hat and started to walk my loop. The parking lot was nearly full, and the park was busy despite the cold and sprinkles. The tennis courts were full, and a crowd was at the skate park. The pavilion was packed with a party that knew better to stand outside of the roof. Nobody was in the damp grass fields for soccer or other field sports.

I managed three loops before the wind picked up and the light became more fall-dark. I checked my weather app, which suggested a heavy shower was inbound to my location. The initial wetness would be followed by the tell-tale red color—a heavy downpour—but I had minutes, so I took my fourth loop. I made it halfway and watched a wall of rain slowly move towards me. Soon, I was walking in the rain, but the trees were deflecting most of the rain—quite pleasant.

(Me after seeing the weather map while walking on the loop–and forgot my eye protection)

Air Volvo was parked in the back of the parking lot; it was a brief, wet walk. I could not run as I still have balance issues and am not risking slipping in a puddle in a parking lot in the pouring rain. It is still early, 4ish, and I head to the nearby Wildwood Taphouse. There, while calmly walking in the pouring rain, I remembered that excellent waterproof jacket I had nearly bought when walking by REI’s window last night. F**k.

The rain went from wet to a roaring downpour. I was talking to Leta on the car phone system, and she could barely hear me over the sound of the water-pounding Air Volvo. The walk from Air Volvo to the taphouse was damp and again done without running and with all care.

Soon, the newest Octoberfest beer (the good beers were arriving now, I was told by the bartender) and some pub mix were helping me forget the rain and concentrate on Crisis 1914. I set up a two-person game and played both, trying to get the rules right. The game is a card game with unique cards representing people and events that led to the start of WWI. You represent one of the European politicians for a major power and try to gain prestige for your country while not igniting the war. You do this by playing cards to create diplomatic pressure for one of the original crisis’s five weeks (a week is a complete round). While doing this, you can raise the chance of war. The play is a balance of power, risk, and luck. Also, the cards from other countries can change things for you. Win by having the most prestige and not starting the war. I got most of it right and avoided starting the war.

My play revealed that it is easy to rack up points, but the more belligerence you gain, the fewer options you have in the later weeks. Drawing the card for war but putting it in my hand startled me.

I am not sure it is a great game, but I am glad to have it.

I had a second beer, read, and surfed the Internet. I was getting hungry (despite the pasta for a late lunch), so I paid my bill and crossed the drying parking lot to an Indian-style place, Biryani Express PDX. I got an order of butter chicken to go.

The Indian food and the naan with fresh garlic (undercooked but fresh-tasting) went well with the rice and butter chicken. I had 1/3 of it and most of the naan while watching more Rings of Power. It was delicious, and the spices had enough heat to make me remember India, where this was the tourist level (bland to the locals). Now I have leftovers for lunch and dinner on Saturday!

I picked up working on SMS Derfflinger and mounted the rest of the torpedo net booms. I lost one, made a replacement, and fixed one. I discovered I had mounted one of the special booms on the bow too far forward and managed to pull it off, taking the paint with it and correcting the mistake. I am always worried about painting plastic models first as the glue is holding to just the paint. It is hard to paint this scale of model ships, 1/700, later without making a mess of it or breaking parts.

With all the torpedo net booms on the model, I was ready to let that rest. I could not find the lost part. I knew it had to be somewhere. I checked a few times. As I said, I found it while writing the blog Saturday morning on the floor exactly where I looked. I did the dishes and ran them overnight.

I showered, and the house seemed warm to me—not a bad feeling. I read more of The Orchid Thief and soon became sleepy. I slept the whole night warmer than it should have been for the orchids, but it was nice.

Thanks for reading.