I am still trying to get used to my Tuesdays. These were busy days at the shoe company. It was the first day back in the office after the pandemic (starting with three-day in-office weeks) and the day nobody took off. All the status meetings were more intense on Tuesdays (I felt). I noticed that deadlines were usually missed on Tuesdays, and emergency moves of software fixes always hit on this day (the testing of the fixes, installed on Thursday, took the weekend and Monday). Traffic was always heavier.
Thus, rising at 6:30, I will soon return to Easter Time. I got some coffee after starting the new coffee maker. Deborah was right; having it set up and running automatically is a great boon to wake to. I load it with liberal coffee every night and spill water to fill it. I clean the counter every evening now. It is becoming a ritual.
With coffee at hand, I started the blog, grabbing banana and lemon poppy muffins I made a few nights ago to munch as I wrote. I managed to pound out 3/4 of the day and resist much of the nonsense that Grammarly tried to insert. I then jumped into the shower, shaved, dressed, and was soon aboard Air VW the Gray. And that is when I hit Tuesday traffic.
Beaverton was crawling, and traffic lights were often two sets of lights to pass. Though the traffic suddenly lightened, I hit Highway 217, which was fast. But then Highway 26 (also known as the Sunset Highway as it points directly at the sunset) was more parking lot than highway. It took me 45 minutes to reach Richard’s place from there. I was thirty minutes late. Richard and James waited, and we soon returned to the board game Mansion of Maddess 2nd edition, playing a mostly cooperative game. ‘Mostly,’ as when you go insane, you get a card that may have you take action to ‘win,’ which includes sacrificing another player’s character!
This was a new, recently purchased scenario. Though the game is older, it is still being supported, and an excellent app runs it for you. I had the original manual version and junked it, keeping the figures and rooms for use in playing the role-playing game (RPG) Call of Cthulhu. While still clunky, and I like the RPG better, Richard and James make this fun. Also, the newer scenarios are better assembled and more immersive. This was a haunted house and Mythos combined, which is a favorite story of mine. I found it quite immersive. I went insane but did not become a crazed killer. When James took the sacrificial dagger from me, Richard (his character still sane) and I (my character was insane but collecting six items to win) ran from James, and soon the Mythos creatures took out James. Richard and I finished in time and won (James technically lost as he did not sacrifice my character). It was fun, and I was out by noon.
The rest of my day was spent with my colon. I had a lot of visits to the restroom as it emptied, and I was amazed by how much could be stuffed in there. Sorry to be graphic, but I would be surprised each time when I returned for another round. Yikes! This finally stopped in the early evening.
The colon cancer surgery removed 25 cm of my colon, the section that connected to the rectum, so most of the hints that I have to go are gone as my deeper colon is now the end-of-the-line. It is best to pick times and keep things regular. But I forget as I get busy, and now that I am retired, I have a less regular schedule. One CT scan got a lot of comments as I was fully loaded (constipated). I’m not sure they get to see that often. It is an educational shot I try not to repeat!
On returning home (the trip was easy in the EV with no traffic), I talked to Deborah and made a taco salad out of the leftovers of my tacos. I had acquired more lettuce at the veggie place at 185th and TV Highway. I cleaned the kitchen, sprayed the shower with cleaner, got more packing done, powered up my Kindle, and started another mystery. I like to have a story to read on planes and in airports. I find it best to start the day before so you are ready to start back in. Kindles use electronic ink and thus do not emit light into your eyes like laptops and phones. This is better for me when travelling and resting. I also ordered an Uber car to take me to the MAX station at 6:45 on Thursday. I will take the MAX to my 10AM flight.
Deborah texted me about the blog. I forgot to finish it! I returned to the laptop, finished it, and got it published late. I have also done more packing and laundry. Deborah calls, and she talks until she starts to fall asleep. It is good to start and end our days together.
I head out, thinking my colon is finished with me, to the local sushi place only five minutes away in Air VW the Gray. I sit there in a space at the track. It is after 7, and the evening rush is over (and the track is sparse), but still, I find my favorites (except for smoked eel). I read on my Kindle and slowly eat and drink hot tea. I have miso soup and then grab my dinner from the track.
I am a regular, and the waiter/cashier remembers me. I tell her about my upcoming trips. She seemed to want to hear about them (I hate to be that guy) and was interested in the California trips and Iceland. I am brief in my descriptions and head out.
I return home, charge the EV, vacuum the carpet, and collect more items to pack. I am tired, put on my PJs, climb into bed, and read more of A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Book 15).
The stock market is back up a bit, but individual stocks (Ford, for example) are still down. It still feels like a trip to see Niagara Falls by barrel!
Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 