Thursday with Doc

No coffee or breakfast for my start at 7:30 as I quickly read emails, doom scrolled the latest disappointing news from Washington, and the atrocities in Gaza, wrote a postcard to Mom Wild (which missed the mail and I later drove to the post office), and did not start the blog. I instead hopped in the shower, shaved, dressed, and popped into Air VW the Gray and headed to Beaverton. I had my three-month check with my regular doc.

Thursday traffic is disappointing, as the streets are flooded with people going to work. This Thursday was the same. I arrived near the Cedar Hills Mall, where the office is. It is part of the same complex with its own small parking garage. I was only a few minutes early.

I checked in and we learned that my credit card had not gone through. It was a number that the software used and might need to be replaced. I lost the cards a few times and still am finding these things. Oddly, the website said it was approved, so I thought all was good. Hmmm. We got the $20 co-pay covered, and I waited only a moment before I was called.

My doctor was happy to see my A1C at 5.2, blood pressure measured low in the office (no ‘white coat’ misreads), and labs showing nothing concerning. My weight, while not going down, was stable at 234 pounds, showing that the change was likely to stay. We discussed my adventure with the EMT, and Doc agrees that I show no signs of stroke after a short exam. We decided that it is just a flare-up of impacts on my brain surgery on the facial nerves. It is already fading. My doctor was surprised that I was not searching for diabetes and weight-loss drugs–it is popular with his patients. We agreed that we would pick that discussion up at our next meeting if I still cannot lose more weight. Slow and easy is best. We left all my meds unchanged, as it was nice to have everything look normal; no need to experiment with removing the meds. The next appointment is six months out. Doc was excited, almost cheering, that we got here after everything, and happy to put off the next check-in in six months, not three.

Next, La Provance is nearby, and I grabbed a table. For breakfast, I had a corned beef hash and croissant, and I ordered croissants to go (I ate one while writing this on Friday). I read, relaxed, and was happy with where my health has reached. My activity level needs to increase, but many of my favorite hobbies involve sitting. But I will try, back to the house in the EV.

I returned to writing the blog and printing items on my 3D printer. I found WW1 gaming models for ships in the Battle of Jutland (1916). I have metal cast ships from Figurehead scale 1/6000. These were printed, all the German Battle Cruisers, in thirty minutes. I popped them off (not easy) from the printing plate, washed, and cured them in minutes. These models are 1/5000 and about 10% larger than what I use. I can print these, make cards to attach (they’re easier to use when connected to a card with the county flag and name on the back), and have them cover the ships I don’t have. It is about $500 for the metal versions of all the ships. This is a good option. I prefer 1/6000 as they are easier to store, and the surfaces for play are not the size of rooms. A table will work, and hexes can control movement instead of movement sticks (used for 1/1200 room-sized play of Jutland, which you see in colleges and gaming conventions). I was happy that I could print the models and use them.

I left the printer idle for 1/2 the day. I admit that I did nothing interesting for most of the afternoon. I found an Enigma plate STL file, the name plate for the famous encoding machines from WW2, to print, and wanting to try some large, I expanded its size to the printer bed. Alas, it puddled on the tank’s film and jammed the printer. It was jumping and banging until the stuck down print broke, leaving 1/2 on the bottom of the tank and the rest on the plate. I did not know this at the time, but I thought it was bizarre behavior.

I opened a can of chili for an early dinner and late lunch at 5ish. I watched the Apple+ movie Greyhound again. This is Tom Hanks as the captain of a destroyer in the Battle of the Atlantic and is not stop action. The story is from C.S. Forrester, one of my favorite naval writers. This one is excellent if you want to see an excellent WW2 movie. Though it is a bit unbalanced and could include more on the U-Boat side, it is still fun and gives you a feeling of what it was like to be an American crew on combat patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic.

I discovered the print mess. I had to use a rubber mallet and scraper to get the print off the plate. Despite this, I also pried the puddled letter ‘Enigma’ off the tank film with my gloved hands. I got the toxic resin on my sweater (it washes out). Overall, it was an unpleasant experience. I learned I still have a puddling issue and must tilt print and add supports to avoid repeated flat layers. We will see if this happens again. If this were a filament printer, this print would have been fine as it was set up.

I cut my hand on the printer. I had missed once with the scrapper, caught the bed, and raised a small sharp ridge on the edge. It cut through my gloves and into my hand. Yikes! I will use a metal file to remove the flaw in the future. Eek!

There were no treats in the house. I checked the Cake Bible and am not ready to make complex cakes. I am missing some ingredients and was looking for something simple to fit in a loaf or bundt pan. Yes, another pound cake (a 1/2 recipe and about a pound finished) was soon in the oven. It was excellent. I then did the dishes and enjoyed my cake, two small slices.

After that, I read more of Tom Mead’s book and fell asleep. It was a dream-filled night, and I woke at four with a sore throat. Likely, I was overexposed to the alcohol I used to clean everything. I got some painkillers, and soon the issues faded, and I fell back into a restless sleep after proving hydration. The bad dreams, my usual ones, were about losing control and driving somewhere lost. This time, not in the Volvo but some strange mix of my EV and late Volvo. Nobody would go with me when I left to return home, and I ended up lost and alone, wandering in exotic locations, trying not to crash the EV, trying to get turned around and back on track to go home. I knew it was hopeless, but I must try. I had to keep a small pet healthy at the same time. I woke as I managed to halt the travels. My usual nightmare.

Often, at least for me, life is a voyage I did not pick; I cannot control the flow of the journey, and all I can do is hold on and try to control my reaction, often called finding grace. The dream echoes my hardest travels. I saw the cancer, death, brain tumor, layoffs, and even the loss of my favorite Volvo in the dream.  It ain’t easy and the dream represents my mind saying, F**k!

Pound cake helps!

Waking at 4, 5, 6, and finally rising at 7 (the dream picking back up each time, though slightly changed), Friday started. I needed coffee, lots.

Thanks for reading.