Another Monday without Air Volvo

I was slow to rise after waking at 4AM to send a ‘good morning’ to Deborah, who started her work week early in Michigan and with a three-hour time difference. I then went back to sleep and rose late. Next, I heard from Dondrea that there was a Rainbow Incident at our church, First United Methodist, near Old Town Beaverton, and that the flag pole needs to be replaced. That was the story first in a lengthy blog I wrote on Monday.

I did not publish that until 1ish, as I was not rushing and had not heard from the Volvo mothership. I called twice and got no information. Finally, in mid-afternoon, I was told the technician was off on Monday, so no work was done. F**k. At that moment, I should have called Enterprise to rent a car, but soon the chance passed. Later, Richard reminded me I had a Tuesday morning game, f**k, that I would miss. I am unhappy with the dealership.

I made breakfast of eggs, overeasy, and bacon. I figured I should have something nice while I waited to hear from Volvo. I also did the usual things: paid all my bills, read the new stories, and watched some YouTube videos. I found another interesting channel, Maxinomics. The video explaining Chipotle’s business plan and why so many people are betting on it was an excellent story. Though I think it is BS, it is interesting to see the math. I believe you cannot be fresh (safe), fast, high quality, and well-priced (not necessarily cheap) simultaneously, but others differ. I also believe that the mix of complex food processes and minimum or just above-minimum-wage workers cannot work–failures will be ongoing. But…I am drifting…

I was running late and was dressing when Corwin stopped by to pick up some socks I had bought for him—he needed socks. It was late afternoon, and I had no lunch, but an early dinner sounded good. Corwin’s pickup was an engaging experience. It reminded me of all the old trucks Dad and Mom used to drive, with the shaking and noise. It is a manual shift with an engine for racing that is now just dreaming of going fast. Corwin was surprised that the ABS brakes started working when he replaced the thermostat in the radiator. It would surprise many that Ford was one of the first companies to offer ABS brakes. Before artificial intelligence, there were fuzzy logic and expert systems that allowed for handling real-world problems. ABS would now be sold as AI.

Dinner was with our new waiter, Mercedes, and she was happy to get Corwin an excellent steak (better than what I saw in Michigan when I last tried BJ’s Brewhouse’s version of a ribeye). I was still feeling off and tried a pasta and chicken item. Sadly, I could make better (even with sauce from a jar). My favorite is their pork chop, which is only available on Sundays now. But the beer was good, and it was nice to chat. Having been to the ER recently, Corwin was following a new food plan with close attention to detail. Better.

Aside: After two average meals from BJ’s Brewhouse (one here and one in Michigan), this moved it down on my list of places to eat. The ticket price is high. The one here is better than anyone I have tried, but as a chain, I will not start there when traveling. It is the way of corporate things.

Corwin returned me to the place once called The Volvo Cave, but at the moment (Tuesday), the ETA for Air Volvo is a week or more. F**k. I am thinking about Muscle Car Cave. I was told Air Volvo was unscheduled work and could not be done except as fill-in work. I need, I was told (and I have heard this from Health Care Insurance before–no, really) that I should schedule my emergencies in advance, provide estimates, and provide them insight into what types of work are needed so they can have the correct technicians available. No, they have no loaner cars available (see above). Yes, they recommend a rental car as they have no ETA. No, we don’t do that (see above). My expectation is that there will be no rental cars available, as I should have scheduled that ahead of time. I have been through this before in medical stuff: “It might be cancer, but as it is not known to be cancer, you will need to schedule, and our next appointment is in three months.” But at least my 401K (based on corporate profit earnings) is up. I could buy a six-pack of late-model muscle cars for the price of a replacement Volvo and just abandon them when broken. Leave them running with the keys in Portland.

I practice my irony-based wiring and deep breathing when the universe turns towards me and says, “Hold my beer.” Nicely done, and I have no real options but to experience it. I remember that I am on a raft in a river, and I have no control; I can only control my reaction. I laugh, jump up and down, and scream, “Bring it!”

I had a nice chat with Deborah in the evening, which made me forget the corporate mysteries. We plan on seeing each other in mid-December, and hopefully, the irony will be spent by then. After a text, “Good Night,” Deborah sleeps.

However, the corporate entities are not done with me yet; I got a letter from HealthEquity with a bill that says I owe zero for my December health insurance payment. I am told I can pay my zero bills on their website, which is suspicious. I tried it, and all the passwords that once worked. No. There is an offer to create an account, and I tried it, though I have doubts I should create yet-another-account (YAA). All my health care coverage is now available to me in this YAA account (with various codes to email and phone). Now I learn that I owe $782.34 for January and every month next year. I pay my bill for COBRA coverage with my Air Alaska Miles card (it seems so wrong and yet good) and then set up automatic payments from my checking account. I am disappointed that it will be paid at the start of the month, overlapping the mortgage payment. I will have to ensure I have a higher balance now. But all this is in place, including three security questions and answers.

I remembered to send Mom Wild flowers for her birthday on 3 Dec. They will arrive on Wednesday, but often, they come sooner. Given all the challenges with Air Volvo, her birthday slipped my mind this year, but I’m glad Linda, my sister, reminded me.

I took a stress break and looked at some video games and the history of an old one I liked, Masters of Orion. I found it on Steam and ordered a copy of the old game, but it runs only on PCs. I learned that Steam lets you buy games you can run because the account can be shared on different machines. Excellent, but I did not get a chance to play the new game. I return to Darkest Dungeon and spend a few hours playing this old-school adventuring game. I managed to lose one of my better adventurers, but it was still fun.

I soon showered, put on my PJs, and read until I started to fall asleep. I turned off the light and went to sleep without an alarm. Irony was not in my dreams!

Thanks for reading.