Wednesday Back In Oregon

I managed to sleep, rising around 6:30, despite the time changes. I slept well and started my day with instant coffee from Trader Joe’s, since I have not been to a grocery store.  I collected the remaining protein waffles, popped them in the toaster twice (slightly burned), added butter, and lastly covered them with non-sugar syrup. I was somewhat time-boxed with a 10 AM meeting at the church on the Refresh project. Demolition starts next week. It will be a dusty odyssey for three months for our congregation and others who use the church.

I write about my travels back from Michigan and a busy Tuesday in the blog. The time change, the walking, flying, and endless, so it seems, laundry leave me tired. Just a reminder, dear reader, that this blog is written in WordPress’s ‘Classic Editor,’ and the site and updates are managed by their impressive software. I pay about $150 annually for my site. I use Grammarly to keep the basics correct, since this is often stream-of-consciousness writing and never gets beyond a first draft when posted. More investment would require not delivering this every day. I use my tools to load photos and videos and to manage comments, which must be done with someone with an account, thus preventing bots from ruining mine and your dear reader’s experience.

Returning to my story, I quickly finish the blog. Jeff arrives after I am dressed and finishes up the painting; it looks marvelous. Jeff Ashley is the owner of AllInOne Construction and is licensed, bonded, and insured. Jeff can be reached at (503) 896-8040 here in Oregon if you need some work done. He is not very busy in the winter, so I thought it was good to include his information here.

I left with my laptop and met the PinePoint Construction at the church. We went over the work starting next week and connected with Jack, the trustee for the church property, and covered what we need to complete before the work begins.

With that done, I return to the house, get the mail, which includes ten days of held mail, toss much of it, and open the stuff I need, including some bills to pay. I am exhausted, but I managed to finish the laundry and got Chinese-style lunch to go. I pay Jeff, and we talk about a few possible improvements, but it is hard for me to repaint and remove old wallpaper, as I do not see the changes as adding much to the house compared to removing something I can ignore. I would rather spend the cash on travel with Deborah.

I was tired; I had some tea to wake up. I still napped and tried to complete a few tasks, but I could not focus on them. I watched a recent Doctor Who episode and fell asleep in my chair for half of it. I reheated the leftover gyro meat from yesterday and had some bread and hummus with it, too. I tried to read the rules for a game I thought Z and I could try, but I could not focus. I made more tea.

By 5:45ish, I was awake again and ready. I boarded Air VW the Gray, still mixing up the controls with the rental, and soon reached the church. Z and Dondrea were happy to meet me there around 6. Z was finishing a fast-food dinner, and we started on our favorite version of Concordia using the Roma board with the Forum add-on. Z played an excellent game and used the new ship-based colonist features in the Roma board better than I did. I only gave Z advice a few times, as Z might have missed something. I scored the five-point Forum card and ended the game, getting me 12 points, but Z ship-based colonist landed her 18 points, and the six-point difference I had predicted would give her the game — after a mangled count we corrected — Z won by that many points. A most excellent game. I would also say that Z’s play with her Forum cards and card purchases kept her ahead of me as I slipped in using my usual tricks. Z played a near-perfect game. It was an excellent night!

(This is before we counted the end-of-game points, and Z’s red counter is ahead and would stay the same distance for the final count)

Deborah, tired too, back to work, and even having to do some fill-in for a night class, sent me a good-night text, and we sent back a picture. It is good to start and end our days together.

I shared the Raiders of Scythia (here)with Z, our next game to try. I

I took the EV home and am soon in my PJs. I do read the Raiders‘ rules and now remember how to play. It is another efficiency-based deck-building game like Concordia. It is a reskin of a Viking game, and I love the artwork in this version, though some iconography could be clearer, I think. You build a crew to raid, and I like that role-playing-like structure. There are elements of push-your-luck as dice are rolled, too.

I am looking forward to trying it out again with Z.

After that, I turned off the light and soon fell asleep. I did wake up too early, as is usual on my second day back in this time zone.

Thanks for reading!