Wednesday Games and Cars

My cough, car news, and trying to play games dominated Wednesday.

I rose before 7, but I am still not able to sleep late as my body is still tracking on East Coast time. I, again, am easily transitioned as humans, I have read, are really on a 25-hour, not the 24-hour, clock, and we naturally drift later. I make liberal coffee from Equal Exchange brand coffee in my French Press. The exhaustion is still there, and everything is a little harder to execute, but I manage a banana with my coffee. My weight has fallen to 228, about five pounds lost on the trip. I am trying to return to the habit of recording food in my app and closing the month for accounting. But today was a bad day for habits and remembering the past, as you will see, dear reader.

I am now vice-chair of the Church Council (technically Lay Leader for those who speak Methodist), and Pastor Ken had Dondrea, Michael R, and me over for what I would call an alignment meeting. Ken reviewed what he thought would be a good structure for now and how to make this work. We plan to meet with a larger group on Saturday to introduce this structure, me as vice-chair, and to dream about the future. We will then try to coalesce the discussion into measurable goals for 2025 for the church and each group with responsibilities (committees for Methodists). My job is to help get the non-mandatory committees (Mandatory: SPRC, Finance, Trustees, and Nominations) back to order, have monthly meetings and minutes, and track against goals. I aim to help remove the pain of running these committees and communication issues.

Yes, dear reader, I raised my head and was spotted by the church leadership. That sermon on ‘Truth’ cost more than just time and effort! I should know better. I am now in meetings—an unlimited number! But it seems time to walk back onto the stage of life. Here I go, and as Douglas Adams wrote, “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

I felt slightly behind, but then I realized I had only been back in this time zone for two days (on Wednesday) and felt better. I finished the blog, put on damp underwear (!?), put the rest of the clean laundry back in The Machine, and set it to dry for 90 minutes. That worked. The permanent press setting works perfectly, and remembering what Dad Wild said, always use the permanent press and remove pants and shirts before they are cold. This prevents them from wrinkling, and they are wearable out of The Machine. No ironing is needed unless you want to look crisp. And then the ironing will be easier, too. The drying fixed the issue.

Dressed, I headed to First United Methodist, Beaverton, and enjoyed the meeting I described. Jack was at the church, and I helped with some electrical work. The screw-on that holds the ruined fixture was stuck; I slammed it with the side of the pliers (to Jack and Dondrea’s surprise), and then it was released (like a stuck lid or, more likely, glued). I also suggested we put some protective covers on the windows. I will order some when I get some measurements.

I had heard nothing about the vehicle once known as Air Volvo and dropped by the Mothership. The news was grim. The associate who was working on the endlessly increasing expense had been fired. The new guys said there was no reason to continue as the total repairs could reach nearly $20,000, and I am currently looking at $15,000 to complete the known issues. There are likely other items, and the Volvo has 71,000 miles. To be clear, “He is dead, Jim.” F**k! They don’t even know what to charge me for the work done. F**k!

I was unhappy and talked to Deborah, and I soon used Costco Auto to order a discount on a new leased Kia Sportage (priced, new, with discounts, at $29,000 to $38,000 or 1/3 of a new Volvo or other expensive import). I have a test drive on Friday (I moved the appointment from Thursday as I forgot I was booked).

Dinner was reheated chicken and potatoes I had made a few days before. It was good and I watched more Battleship New Jersey videos when eating. I headed in Air Ford (Escape) to the church. There, I met Z and folks, and we tried to remember how to play Ostia. It uses a Mancala system, and this took both Z and me a while to get this back into our heads. The game uses a Mancala to generate resources and select the next action. A bit crazy but interesting. Z struggled with the process but soon started to make it work. I won, but it was a learning game.

Ostia is set in the Roman Empire around the first Ceasars, like Concordia, and is about getting your ships across the sea to their final point-winning location. You build ships, port facilities, and make your turns more and more efficient. The game is a race like Istanbul and Concordia with efficiency being the most important support. We liked it again, having not got it on the table in a year or so.

I headed home in Air Ford (Escape). I need a brain cookie! I returned to Charles Stross’s A Conventional Boy: A Laundry Files Novel. This novel combines the Lovecraft Mythos with AD&D with homebrew updates. It is really fun for someone like me who has played Dungeons and Dragons since AD&D 1E. It is a good brain cookie.

While fighting the cough, I find Milano cookies and a bucket of caramel corn from Gaylord, Michigan (I think from Aunt Cathy and Uncle Martin) just as important as the antihistamine I am taking. The coughing slowed with the meds, treats, and a shower, and I soon slept early. I did not wake up and had a good sleep.