First, I have seen my weight fly up 17 pounds from a low delightful 228, and is now disappointing 245. Ugh! Beer is out now. Back to salads, iced tea, and trying to get more exercise. Why did it increase? Well, I have been more tired of late and a bit stressed from church stuff, both a refresh project and teaching Sunday School. I have been drinking too much coffee, and that always makes me hungry. I also think some of the pain and slowing down is from carrying around nearly twenty pounds.
Richard, when I asked, said he thought I had put on some weight. I was noticing my pants were not falling off. I was seeing the bathroom scale kept tilting the wrong way, but I did nothing. I did cook some lovely meals and will be more careful with the portion sizes. But it was soooooo gooood.
Yes, dear reader, I know there are various drugs, expensive, and I qualify for them due to various health issues, but I will try to get back to 235 by October on my own. The heat is soon over, too, and the smoke is no longer nearby; I can go outside and walk without risk. I am relieved also that my weight is changing in more predictable ways; that means the usual things should fix this. I was stuck at 234 for a year with various fluctuations that were followed by a return to the same number.
Getting back to my day on Saturday, the day started with me rising around 7, as I woke around 4 and had trouble returning to sleep. Cold, pain, and proof of hydration all made the night end early. I had to get to Costco to get sandwiches for my Sunday School Class and play games at Richard’s in Portland in the evening. It was another sunny, but cooler than the previous day, Oregon end-of-summer day. Fall is endless rain. The hot days will be back, but the extremes are over.
I wrote the blog and finished the pound cake (see previous note on weight gain) with a banana and some coffee. I planned to read more Methodist theology, structure, and history for my class preparation, but never got back to it. I was stiff and uncomfortable. Even my fingers were stiff and sore. Ugh!
I found my focus and my voice and wrote the blog. I wanted to get back to my SciFi writing, too, but did not find time for that. I updated my transactions in Quicken, noting that the next payment for the Civil Rights trip in the USA South has cleared. All my travel costs for the previous trips have now been paid. My checking account seems relieved to not be burning through money at my usual rate from travel. I did buy a few books for my class and food, but nothing close to my burn rate in NYC or Iceland!
I headed, with the emails read, too, and the blog posted, to Costco. I picked the larger one off of Cornell near the Hillsboro Airport, and it was busy. Deborah, mostly heads down in starting her English as a Second Language Classes in Michigan, laughed at me for expecting Costco to be quiet on Saturday morning. We talked while I drove there and while she had a break between work issues. Deborah is the coordinator for the classes and placement. All the annoying issues happen now.
Dear reader, a year ago, she took the train to Chicago, and we met for our first date. We walked around Chicago and looked at the sights. It is the first anniversary of us connecting. I could not be happier.
I found sandwiches ready, all chicken, and got a few items I also needed. I checked out. I felt much better pushing the cart and walking. All the pain faded, and I was moving better soon.
Yes, I know, dear reader, I should do more of this. And I did. I saw in check out that I forgot the dishwasher soap (someone else had a box), finished what I had, put it in Air VW the Gray, and then returned. The soap is at the extreme of the store, and I walked quickly there and then out. Being polite and avoiding getting hit by carts pushed by stressed-out families that are late for something after picking up just a few things at Costco. I do not see many smiles at Costco. I checked out with my two items. I do not use the DIY checking as that looks even more stressed. I politely wait for humans.
I did notice something at Costco. All the cases were full of organic and higher-priced items. My pack of ground beef was more by the pound than what I bought at Market of Choice! I will have to look for the regular items, but for those who think prices are higher, some of this is due to the selection of higher-priced items in the cases at Costco. Interesting.
Back at the house, I unloaded the goodies and tossed the box from Costco. These boxes can carry various bugs and eggs for bugs. It is essential to get them out of the house. Don’t reuse boxes from food items.
I watch (again see above) more of The Rings of Power, which I am rewatching as I liked a dose of Tolkien (this is my fourth time). I have wanted to make Grand Marnier Cake in the cookbook The Cake Bible for years. I have all the materials. This is an orange-chocolate-almond cake that features a generous amount of dairy (butter and sour cream) and a complex recipe. I spent the next hour in the kitchen assembling the cake. I made only one mistake (I did not put the orange-flavored glaze into the cake when it was still in the pan), but I made many close calls as I missed some ingredients here and there, and got them in just in time. Unlike muffins, this cake you beat air into it. I scooped into a prepared (buttered and floured) fluted bake pan, a new one I got when my old one seemed impossible to clean. The oven was ready and set on Convection Air Bake, which makes an excellent cake.
An hour later, I tried, sorry to cut the cake, which looked excellent, and I tried it. It was bright and intense. It would fade to more cake and subtle flavors as it cooled. I had two small slices (see above) and cut two larger pieces to take to Richard and Laura. I wrapped those slices in a wrap and placed them on a paper plate.
Much of the mess was put in the dishwasher, but not all. I got in EV and soon was enjoying the Beaverton and then Portland traffic. And while it seemed heavy, I arrived at Richard’s thirty minutes early and helped Richard set up the game. I get a glass of water instead of coffee or any snacks. Chris joined us for the game, Luthier, my second play. I made three mistakes, at least, and Chris, who has a few more plays than I do, beat me by about ten points, and my score was less than my previous one. Richard lapped us, and we talked after the game to better understand what we did differently from his fifty more points.
Luthier is a resource management and worker placement efficiency race with reduced scoring opportunities as the game progresses (I described a week ago and will not repeat that; however, you can find the blog here). I learned I missed two sets of options in the game and will have to use them next time I play. Richard invested heavily in buying and increasing the various skill tracks, and this made the skill better and earned more points. I think that was the main difference; he scored two to five more points for the same tasks we were doing. I would say that my misplays cost me second place, and neither Chris nor I advanced those tracks enough, leaving us with a final score under 100. Next time! While expensive, it is an excellent game, and I am tempted. It is a fantastic alternative to Weather Machine and other costly and complex games.
I returned home and was tired and soon was in bed and trying to sleep. I have to teach on Sunday, and my weight issues were on my mind. It was hard to find sleep, but I did not see 11 on the clock.
I am now using the legacy Alexa as the new version, which was offered to me and some customers, stopped working, and the new Alexa could not find Kink.FM to play. I disabled the new Alexa and returned the familiar voicing and working features. I listened to Kink.FM while reading for a while.
Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 