Thursday Not busy

I rose early as I could not sleep and rose at 5ish. The house was cold and dark. I set the house to 72F and went to work. I put on my robe. But I was still cold; next, the coffee cup had to be warmed before I could put it in it! With the warming of liberal coffee, robe, and heat, I wrote the blog.

I miss rising early and doing the morning thing. Also, I can talk with Deborah during East Coast time while she drives to work. I love seeing a sunrise, but I stay up until 11ish or more most nights and sleep through it. Still, it was nice to be a morning person again on Thursday.

I wrote until around 10 and then published. I had lunch with Scott at 11:45 and was dressed and out by 11:30 in Air VW the Gray. I headed to McMenamins Cedar Hills to meet Scott. He arrived early and waited for me. Soon, Bob, the waiter we often get for Theology Pub, took care of us. I listened to Scott’s experience setting up end-of-life paperwork for his family. I had to do this for myself; it is an interesting topic (not depressing if you focus on doing it to prevent worrying; nothing to be emotional about). We also talked about my trip and experience with my EV.

My tuna fish sandwich and fries were good, and Scott had a burger. We will meet next week. Next, the EV took me home. I loaded the two worn business chairs, and the recycle folks took them for free. I also mailed a package to Cat in NYC. It’s another comic from a Kickstarter I follow—I get two and send one to her. While mailing it, I saw the Dungeons and Dragons stamps. The villain Acererak, from the original version and carried on even to now, was on a USA Forever stamp! He has finally reached godhood of a sort, officially: USA Forever. I got two sheets and will have to use some.

I next stopped by our local Ace Hardware and picked up furnace filters and vent covers. There are many different types, and it is always a strange experience to see so many types and try to find your perfect match. I picked the 1x16x25, my furnace size, because it was cheaper, and winter is not a time for pollen.

The covers mostly fit, and I did break one. I only had enough for half. I will get more on my next trip to Ace. The house was warmer on Friday morning. I have to remove them when it warms, or condensation will rot the floors, and mold may form (possibly making the house a total loss—it is vital to remove them!). This is another one of the Pacific Northwest things.

I also replaced the filter at the top of the furnace and put it in the correct direction. I cleared the message on the panel that the filter is new. It will count the 90 days to replace it.

I heat the meatballs and sauce I got from Costco. It is too much food, and the meatballs are well Costco-sized. I have a bowl while watching Doctor Who and wish Deborah goodnight. Later, while talking with Dondrea, I reached for the curio cabinet as the glass was leaning. The tape and other holdings failed, and the glass fell. I tried to stop it, but I was wise enough to let it fall and not arrest the fall with my hands (likely to be an ER trip); the glass broke a heavy glass shelf, and everything crashed from one shelf to another. I look at Susie’s ashes on top of the cabinet and apologize for not saving the cabinet.

I carefully gathered the glass and put the fallen items in the cabinet. I will have to work on this later. I am angry and sad. I glued a figure back together and suspected there were others I would need to rescue. The CMU glass was crushed, I can see. I will decide what to do later. I could not even look at it.

I head out. I see JR at the Wildwood Brewpub, and we have a drink and chat. I need to just unwind a bit after the crash. JR and I chatted, and soon, I was feeling better and returned home in Air VW the Gray.

The recycling and trash had to go. This included three heavy bags of trash items from M@ and my garage clean-up. The recycling was packed, too. I got that all, and it was collected on Friday. I showered, read, and glued Boris together; the chips still show.

I took pictures of the electrical stuff for the EV Charge PDX to get me an estimate for an EV charging station. From what I understand, they will get a discount from PGE for the equipment and a plan for usage. More to follow. Later, I got a request for more information. Service to the house is 150 amps.

For those who wonder about the impact on the electrical grid, charging is the same pull as a dryer —almost none. I use The Machine for clothing, and it uses a regular plug (an estimated 99 kWh a year) instead of the 468 kWh of an average American-style electric clothing dryer.

Thanks for reading.