Friday with Baked Goods

As has been my habit all week, I rose late and started the blog late. My house is cold; the orchids like it down to 65F (18C) or lower at night. I have no plans. I have the last banana with my French press creating coffee from locally ground and roasted beans. All of this was enough for me.

After cleaning up, I was dressed. The new shower rod arrived from Amazon (they have an insane range of choices and prices for what appears to be the same thing). Later in the day, I installed it and discarded the old one without regret. I find the extending shower rods start falling down after two years. The timer is started.

Lunch was homemade and forgotten. It is not often that I cannot recall part of my day, but today (Saturday morning), I have no idea what lunch was on Friday. I checked the trash and found the “fish fingers” box. Yes, that was it. I baked some Trader Joe’s fish sticks and some tater tots. I had this for a forgotten lunch while I watched the next episode of “Lord of the Rings, Rings of Power.” I have Trader Joe’s tatar sauce to go with the fish.

Later, my tummy complained. This is a new problem for me, as I seem to get a reaction to most foods. I will have to try smaller portions, and maybe that is the issue. Ugh!

The second episode has fewer replays and more action as the story takes off in new directions. It is not great, but it seems more Tolkien-like this time. Better.

I boarded an Air Volvo with no plans other than to walk through Forest Grove’s Pacific University’s tree-shaded campus. But Air Volvo warned that less than 20 miles of travel were left in the tank. Gas is down in price again, and soon, the full-service Chevron station made Air Volvo happy and me slightly poorer. Next, I stopped at the car wash; I bought a monthly pass to get the Air Volvo cleaned–it is cheaper.

The traffic through Hillsboro was lighter than I expected, and soon after arriving, I found an easy parking space in Old Town Forest Grove. It is 99-100F (40C), f**k, and the sun has a burning desert feel. I find the walk under the trees not too terrible, though I even walked through the student union (and managed to ignore the books store) to get out of the sun and heat for a minute.

My back is hurting now. It is a newish thing that has been bothering me on and off, but never at 2500 steps. F**k. I do a few antique stores, but it is quite uncomfortable. I talked to Dondrea as I was Air Volvo, and she took me back, leaving my walk half-done due to pain. She recommended the Portland Running Company’s store in Beaverton. It is now on the shortlist of to-dos.

The traffic back is in the Highway 8 parking lot, and I head to the highway instead of taking the more direct route home. I am retired, have gas, and a clean car; I enjoy the trip. Soon, Air Volvo arrives at The Volvo cave, missing the Friday Beaverton School gridlock start.

Back early at the house, I made teriyaki chicken, which was just average. Grilling out in the 100F heat was OK, as I could pop in and out of the AC. I made mashed potatoes instead of rice, which is the best part. It’s not exactly diabetic food, but I haven’t had mashed potatoes in a while.

I am at loose ends, and the painkillers have worked. I am off to Cedar Mills Crossing for ice cream or baked goods. Air Volvo gets there in light Friday night traffic. Parking was a different story; there were many ins and outs, and soon, Air Volvo dashed to the other side of the parking lot and found a spot. The ice cream place has a wrap-around line in over 90F temperatures. I do not need heat stroke while waiting for ice cream. I am not dying from irony! Paris Baguette (a NYC bakery chain now in Beaverton) was open, had no line, and their cases were loaded for Labor Day. I get some croissants, palmier, and bread. I ordered a fruit tart and coffee, an excellent replacement for ice cream with no chance of fatal irony. I walked more, finally reaching 4500 steps, my minimal goal, with my back hurting again.

I boarded Air Volvo and saw that the 15th anniversary of Coroline, the stop-action movie, was on nearby. After a short trip, I was seated with popcorn and enjoyed an excellent movie by Laika, a local company created by the family that created Nike. While a bit creepy it was an excellent movie.

Air Volvo brought me home, and I watched the latest “Lord of the Rings, Rings of Power” episode, number three. This one was more confusing, and giant Middle Earth spiders are nothing I want to watch—ick! All three were released on the same day. I am looking forward to the rest of the season of LOTR material. While not as entertaining or executed as “Murders in the Building,” I like it and don’t judge it too harshly against the original.

I showered and read. I was rolling over and over until around 2AM. That coffee with the tart was a mistake! I finally took some aspirin to counteract the caffeine and slept.

Thanks for reading!