Tuesday Finding Focus

I was late rising again and did not write the blog until 9ish. It was another atypical, overcast, and rainy day, which we usually see in mid-September. This will contrast with the 100F (38C) temperatures later this week, which are also not seen in September. Ugh! I tried to find focus but spent the morning writing with little focus. I kept starting and stopping.

Breakfast was a not-ripe banana from Safeway with liberal Equal Exchange coffee made in my French press. I also downloaded my transactions for Quicken and corrected the categories assigned to the expenses and income. Quicken tries to learn and automatically assigns them; it gets about half right. Most of my costs flow through the miles-earning Alaska Airlines Visa instead of my ATM card Visa for US Banks. This hardens my checking account from hackers and thieves. All of my monthly expenses now use direct payments through US Bank.

I finally finished the blog and soon cleaned up and dressed. My hair is becoming unruly. The shaving of the left side of my head for the brain surgery made my previous haircut uneven. I had to wait for some new growth.

I decided to make dinner for lunch. This is a new habit, and I will stick mainly to what I know works today. I am also excited that the Paul Newman pasta sauces are back in Safeway, and I got an old favorite, Sockittome. Rigatoni is a favorite pasta form and the cheap box works. I find that for other forms of pasta, I need more expensive versions to avoid over-undercooking them–I can’t time them, and the recommended times are wrong. I included a small selection of mushrooms for pasta on yesterday’s trip to Safeway. These are chopped and fried in butter (no salt butter) until just starting to brown. I put them on a plate so as not to overcook. I also get Johnsonville’s sweat Italian-style sausage out of the freezer and defrost it in the microwave. This is loose, and I break it up and fry it in my non-stick pan (thanks, Steve). I use too much water for the pasta and do the usual boiling until it is just cooked. I remember to reserve one cup of the salted and now starchy water. I add the mushroom to the now browning sausage on low heat. I carefully pour out the pasta into a strainer and then recombine everything. The Paul Newman was heating on the stove on low, bubbling softly, and I added the reserved water to it. I pour the sauce over the pasta. I add the meat and mushrooms and mix it all together.

Paul never fails me. It is great. The reserve water helps the sauce flow, adds salt I don’t use in most of my cooking, and the starch thickens the sauce. I saw this new trick in one of the NY Times recipes, and now I use it when I remember to reserve the water.

I get the mail, primarily catalogs with Susie’s name and some mail for Corwin. I send him a text to consider some of my dinner-lunch cooking and get his mail. Corwin appears after I have completed three bowls. The sink, empty when I started, is now overflowing with pans and dishes–I am proud of that. Corwin says it is excellent; I still have some remaining taste issues from the nerve issues from the brain surgery or leftover from a Thrush infection (again, from the surgery), meaning I always have doubts.

Corwin and I talked about the new version of Dungeons and Dragons, the 50th Anniversary version, or what it may be called 5.50E (I play 5E and was calling the latest version 5.1E, but now it is 5.50, I think). Corwin heard that the changes were more invasive than I had heard. I try to look up some content, but it is still unavailable online. I have pre-purchased my copy and an electronic version, too, but they have not yet been delivered. Frustratingly, you can pay for an earlier release, but I have resisted that so far.

Corwin heads out to make money delivering food, his new second job. His truck is running better and getting better mileage. He used some fuel additives recommended on the Internet, and then his mileage improved. He believes he needs a new starter and fuel filter, but at the moment, it starts and runs.

I take Air Volvo across Aloha, Oregon, to Great Clips and wait about thirty minutes for a haircut. The gal manages to get my hair off my ears and straighten the imbalance. I go from unruly to boring but nice-looking businessman cut. The cuts are cheap, and I give an excellent tip.

I returned to SMS Derfflinger 1916, added the anchor chain, and tried to update the capstan with a brass etched bit. Despite the jewelry cement, one falls off, and I cannot find it. I am very frustrated, and I am not sure anymore that 1/700 tiny f**king parts are fun. I would instead paint figures or build something with wood. I am considering putting this back in its box and painting figures. I have American Civil War armies to paint that seem more fun than endless tiny bits. It may be an emotional reaction, and I will wait a few days to see how I feel (I have a spare set of brass bits that I use to replace the lost part). I have four more 1/700 to follow this one!

Dinner is leftover ribs and fresh corn on the cob. Bob emailed me an update for my church meeting on Thursday, and I thought about it all day. I may not share any details here, but I am focusing on my reasons for thoughts about this meeting’s content.

I take a walk as the sun starts to set. I return to the house to get my phone before leaving my street. My back is not a problem during the whole walk, with just a few aches near the end. I do the long walk of over 4,000 steps and rack in over 5,000 for the week. My app lost all its information for Tuesday! Since I pay for it, it is annoying. I got a strange request to log back in and suspected something went wrong. I checked the count when I got home to ensure I knew it; my usual paranoia with computers paid off.

I am not ready to do anything and put on an episode of Space 1999. While not that good, this show was an attempt to recapture some of the magic of Star Trek ten years later. Still, it cannot resist some of the pessimism of the 1970s about the future of a world facing nuclear war, pollution, race issues, and the perceived decline of the USA after the loss of the Vietnam War. It is dark. It also uses the top-down WW2 single-white-guy who makes the decisions hierarchy, disturbing to a viewer in 2024. The show made one season. I still like it, but there is one nightmare-causing horror episode I will skip.

I have some potato chips, and then I remember I have a veggie tray and skip to better-for-me food. At 9, instead of returning to the model, I return to my Dungeons and Dragons writing. I enjoyed that, and I managed to improve the adventure’s start and find where I stopped. I re-read the stuff I have already edited, and return to it and improve it; it is not ready. The start of the adventure is now working for me.

Feeling better after editing, I head to a shower and bed. I try to sleep after reading more of the Player’s Handbook for the 5.50E and notice the game changes are not impactful, and the flow of play is unchanged. The book does not cover the details of the game anymore (like the previous version), and I find myself in the new “glossary of terms” to discover that many of the terms, now defined, have the same meanings. There is a strange revision that has weapon definitions now determine what extra effect an attack can cause. Halberds are now an important weapon. Totally strange, as before, the weapon selection was more of a role-playing decision and not a min-max alignment.

My head swimming with D&D, I try to sleep and cannot rest until after 1. I get up and have some pumpkin spice bread and that seems to help me find sleep.

Thanks for reading.