I rose at 6:30 with my alarm. It is dark and I have to turn on a light to find my way. We have had no sun, stars, or moon for a few days now as the gray takes over the Pacific Northwest. Sunrise is now a color change from black to shades of gray. It is not erotic (like the books), and again, is Trump sure he wants to send young troops here to experience this part of living in endless rain and gray? We are not just crazy here because we live in the vicinity of multiple volcanoes (part of Portland is made up of ash cones and lava flows). The weather requires a certain level of acceptance of challenges and a willingness to let go of control, which can be difficult for some. Portland and Seattle are as wacky as the US gets (though Asheville, NC, manages to be quite weird too, see this video).
Putting aside the weather, the city ‘cleared’ the camps near ICE (here), and there was more tear gas, from what I read from the Feds, and it was pretty upsetting to the local police. For those who wonder, you cannot sue ICE agents and other federal agents protecting ICE (the US Supreme Court rules that they can only be held accountable by ICE leadership). I have read that there have been fights between the usual Portland protesters and counter-protesters. Again, this is one block in Portland.
I wrote my blog in a rush as I had a 9:30 board game at Richard’s in Portland with James. We are still playing the cooperative Tainted Grail board game, and today we reached the 6th Chapter. We recovered the true grail on our third try in a maze with a timer. We fought a few battles, took on diplomatic challenges, and won them, though we took a beating in one.
The blog done, and I running about ten minutes late after a shower, dressing, and all of that, I boarded Air VW the Gray. The traffic was better in Beaverton and less congested in Portland. Why, I do not know. I arrived just as James, who had come from Washington State, arrived. We got into the details of the game. I am finding it increasingly immersive, and some of the dream cycles are starting to help. Jim and Richard comment that I am forcing them more into the story and less to gather goodies and explore every possible combination. This is my natural Dungeons & Dragons play. Get to the story center before the timer runs out. There are also 14+ chapters, and we are only 1/3 of the way. It seems reasonable to jump the story for a while.
I enjoyed the session, and we started on the new quest with the real grail. We stopped before 2, packed up the game, which has a physical save process, and I headed out to Broadway Grill. We are headed south in the game to explore new areas, as the storyline, which is interesting to me, leads us there to discover new mysteries. Excellent.
I had a Mr. Toad’s Wild Red Ale and a Ruben that likely could increase my cholesterol alone. I ate the whole thing. It was sooooo goooood. And the beer was so smoooooth. And while the Broadway Grill no longer, in our health-conscious and Vegan-centric city, mentions that they make their own award-winning corned beef, it was as good as anything in NYC (gasps, I am sure from some readers).
Well fed, I stop by the Broadway Books (yes, the bookstore is near excellent food, feeling even more like a larger city) and collect more cards, including one that says “Book Banners are never on the side of history” and did mail that one to the so-called Secretary of War, Pete H-something, at the Pentagon. Some of us wear frog inflatables here; others, like me, send things.
I spoke to the bookseller, and we talked about our favorite cookbooks; she saw I had the newest issue of “Cook’s Magazine.” She shared that she owns over a hundred cookbooks; I have only three feet of them. She carried to me something special —a book that looked at earlier but resisted:
The gray was more white now, and I crossed Portland and found some traffic on the bridge (I hate to stop 100 feet above the river), but soon I was flying the EV through the tunnel and reached home without incident. Back to paperwork.
I discovered that my checking account had jumped a reserve line to cover a check. Well, puke, my $4500 transfer that I manually booked into Quicken was missing. I must not have hit save or something like that. Damn. I undo the damage and see, with a smile, that my huge balance has reversed all the fees. My retirement IRA is handled by US Bank, which provides me with all sorts of protections and fee reversals. I often feel terrible as I think I could actually afford these fees, while others with fewer resources would be crushed by them. It takes a while to connect all the transfers and pay off the reserve line.
New lesson, don’t put the transfer in manually! Let them download so that Quicken better represents the balances. I later revised my pro forma 2025 Tax statement, added more transactions, and corrected the property tax numbers. I also guess at a Kicker Check from Oregon (now a tax payment credit). I meet with Sam at US Bank for year-end planning and think I will extract $70K in value to harvest tax benefits for my giving this year (over $40K). And then what to do with the $70K? Shall I put it away in a Roth IRA and lock it up for five years, or do I put it in CDs or treasuries for around 4% or less interest (don’t get me started on Trump and the Fed–interest rates should be 5.25% for a healthy economy, not bouncing them crazy up and down)? I will ask Sam at US Bank for his thoughts.
Deborah and I connect. It is a workday for her. We watched Only Murders In The Building’s new season and enjoyed the new characters—murderous, nuts billionaires—and the show seems to be flowing again. We both were laughing through the episode.
Remember Glenda’s admonitions, I looked at what I had in the fridge, and planned dinner to finish up the leftovers. I made green beans (frozen) with garlic. I made couscous with India-style spices and butter. I reheat the chicken in the microwave until it is hot again, but not rubber chicken! Couscous North African sauce-in-a-jar is heated and liberally used. It is wonderful. I make only 1/2 cup of couscous because I love it too much. I watched the newest Slow Horses episode. I do enjoy this spy show; the opposite of Smiley’s people, set in the present. I recommend the series, but it is hard to start as the characters are reprehensible. The story is about how a bunch of f**k-ups can save the day when the better-looking, approved spies keep failing. I like it, but it may be an acquired taste. I could not read the books.
I sent out some emails on hotels for the upcoming trip. I talked to Deborah about cutting out the Florida visit this time and just flying in on Christmas Day. There is a 7PM arrival flight on Christmas and a Jan 2 flight back for just about $650 with seat selection and all that. This would let me enjoy some Christmas stuff in the Pacific Northwest and New Year’s in Michigan.
I worked some more on the adventure for New Hampshire and am getting much of it in my head now. Less in a Word document still, but it will come in bursts in my experience. I read more about 5E creatures and then sleep.
Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 