Wednesday Charging

I rose at 6:30 to finish the blog before the 8:30 appointment to install the ChargePoint EV charger in the garage. I wrote the blog and published it as the EV Charge PDX arrived. I had left the garage open with the EV pulled out so they would have plenty of room. I had already had a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) and started to use the rest of the IKEA coffee. I found it in the pantry when I went to get more coffee. There were two folks to install the connection in my house’s electrical panel (updated a few years ago), and Rob, the official who sent me the emails and took the payment, helped me understand the workings of the charger. It is an Internet device, which surprised me a bit. I need an Internet connection to charge the car, which is interesting. Once again, I am happy I updated my connection to be faster. I was surprised that the main was not pulled to install (my laptop battery is usually charged to max), and I have a UPS for the Internet access point via ZippyFly. I get about 90 minutes once there is an outage. Instead, the breakers are slid into the still-hot box and set off, and the wiring is completed. As standard, the exposed cable is in a metal conduit.

Rob and I spent an hour trying to add the charger to the ChargePoint app. This failed, and Rob left as I knew how to do it. About an hour later, the app managed to add the charger (and their help desk also called), and I could charge Air VW the Gray. I checked it often as I did not want to find a fault in the new equipment or wiring (fire, explosion, and simply not working). Everything worked for a short charge. I could later charge 100%; in total, I spent six hours charging. All good.

I sanded and did some more work on the boxes to contain the giveaway costume jewelry from Susie’s (my late wife’s) vast collection. I also have a special box for Barb, Susie’s sister, for the gold and other lovely items. I will mail the family there next week. Part of the process.

I looked at many of the pieces and remember Susie wearing them and how excited she was for some more unusual pieces. For example, the ivory from the mammoth bones in Alaska from Native Americans was one I remember and saw again. The Looney Tunes earrings she would wear when she was feeling off or facing a hard day at work will now head out to family members and maybe get a smile for them. The gold hoops for more formal days when hosting a dinner or other event when she was a manager for Marriot. Time for these to go and find another life, but it is a treasured memory to see them one last time.

I decided on PF Chang’s for lunch and had their Hot and Sour soup, a glass of 14-hands Merlot, and their broccoli beef with lo mein noodles. I am unsure if it was the noodles, but I thought it was not as good as last time. I will try it again with fried rice and see if I still like it.

The wine, cough, and cleaning have worn me out, and I will admit I went slow and cleaned only a bit. It is not depression from all the items for Susie; somehow, while sad, the plan to send them on had been good. I go slow.

I am short any fresh veggies, out of paper towel rolls, have no Kleenex (see previous), and have no toilet cleaner. Time to take Air VW the Gray out. I stopped first at the local gaming store and found a copy of the expansion for Pandemic (this is a game Deborah and I played in Michigan), On the Brink. I am painting figures for Pandemic from Kickstarter, and I wanted to get the role cards with the person’s picture so I can match them to my painting. My original copy, which I gave away to my regret, had the expansion. My copy of Pandemic is the second edition without the expansion, which I found used at a considerable discount. I bought the expansion, including the Petri dishes for the cubes, another set of cubes, dish, and outbreak in purple, more roles (what I was looking for), and interesting expansions, including a terrorist play (including the unique role card for a terrorist). Interestingly, the expansion is designed to replace the original box with all of the items fitting in the box. I am not ready to recycle the boxes until I have played it once. I punched and combined the games later (the original game is still playable after the expansion).

Next, I stopped at 185th Market and was happy to spend only $20 on fresh veggies and bananas. They were happy to see me, and we talked about all the places I went to during my absence. I pay cash to reduce their cost (about 3% for using a credit card). Finally, I stop by Safeway and get cleaning supplies and some steaks, chuck NY strips (a bit tough), and paper products. Aws is my checker, and we are happy to see each other. We shake hands and smile. Good to see him. He is here legally; his family left Iraq during the war.

When I return home, I unload my bounty, plug in the EV, and charge it until 100%. I do this not late, as I want to be awake when I first charge the VW. I will set the charging to later and consider the hourly usage variation program from PGE. As I am retired, much of my limited electrical usage is during the day and peak hours, but I am trying to be reasonable about this.

I make dinner by blackening some Brussels Sprouts, sliced in half, and steaming them in a frying pan with some water and a lid. I like to ensure my veggies are cooked. I bake and then microwave a yam. I will eat it with just butter and Vietnamese cinnamon. I get out my cast iron fry pan and fry my NY strip-style steak. It is chuck beef; it will be tough. It might have been better if I had salted it over the day. Still, I fry it and then bake it to finish it. It is more roast than steak but still good.

I have moved on to season 2 of Babylon 5. I found the story was a bit confused with the cast change, and some themes that were only hinted at in the first season are now rising. I still enjoyed it, but please don’t start there!