Monday MLK 2026

With my weight changing from the 240 that I was working on to 270 (F**k!), I woke in the cold morning before 6, dressed (more like threw something on), made coffee, found my hat, coat, sweater, gloves, house keys (just in case), and left the house in the pre-dawn darkness. With the polar vortex slamming south, we have high pressure and clear skies here in the Greater Portland, Oregon Area. I cannot remember a January where the rains halted for more than a week.

(The Reedville Presbyterian Church HOPE is back)

The walk was cold, so I returned to get gloves and a hat and started again. More practice with my new locks. I managed just under a mile without going out of my way too much trouble. Better.

I get more coffee and make some toast. No maramlade. I will make bread again as my bread is almost gone.

I use my cheap Amazon Basics bread machine, follow the French-style bread recipe, slice it with my sharp bread knife without cutting myself, stuff the slices in a ziplock, and freeze. I do not eat it fast enough to beat the mold. If I follow a milk-bread recipe, which I enjoy making and involves cooking flour in milk first, that stuff lasts. Milk powder versions also last. I don’t buy bread because mine is better and cheaper (compared to higher-end breads). I recommend it to you if you just want bread and don’t mind assembling it (Under $70 here).

Aside: I have resisted the more expensive bread makers; my cheap one works. Having had the cutting-edge tech recently (a dead Washer/dryer from LG and two safety recalls on Air VW the Gray), I prefer making no time or financial investment in more complex tech that may produce a perfect loaf (or not). Basics work for me.

I listened to MLK: I’ve Been To The Mountaintop! and I recommend the whole 43 minutes. I think the stronger message is in the middle. He points out that folks must unite and though poor can cause change by boycotts and turning to locally sourced services like Savings and Loans (something we don’t have now after the S&L crisis during the Reagan Administration), insurnance and remove their united spending away from powerful companies that should force change, but enjoy the status quo. He also uses the parable of the Good Samaritan (here, for those who do not know the source and meaning of the story) to remind folks that they must now help their fellows with protests and support. Not later, or join community services that will slowly make improvements. He describes that, like someone bleeding and lying on the ground, action must be taken; it should not be avoided.

Aside: There is a law that makes it a crime for a US person to support a foreign boycott against an allied country (Israel being the usual target). More information here. These laws were enacted during the First Trump administration in 2018 (with later updates). Many consider this law to be in conflict with the First Amendment, but it has not yet been ruled on. So far, local boycotts like those MLK mentions in the speech above are, from what I have read, not enjoined by this law or by other state laws (though I am not a lawyer).

I wrote the blog all morning and spoke to Deborah a few times. I also posted, as it seemed to fit, the Schoolhouse Rock song about the Preamble of the US Constitution (here). MLK saying, “They put them down on paper,” or words to that effect, in the Mountaintop speech (he also refers to the US Constitution as an uncleared check in “I have A Dream”). The song says the US Constitution was created for freedom.

The morning soon disappeared, and I chopped carrots and toasted French-style baguette slices into croutons. I boiled eggs, peeled them, and added one, sliced, to a pile of lettuce. A salad for lunch. I also went for a second walk and reached 5,600+ steps on Monday. Better.

I watched more of The Umbrella Academy; I am not sure I like it. Corwin stopped in, and we put on The Agency, which I did not mind watching again, but did fall asleep in mid-episode. Corwin finished off my baked croutons, which also worked as crackers, for Trader Joe’s Pub Cheese spread with horseradish. He headed out, and Deborah and I then connected and watched two episodes of Elsbeth from season 2.

Deborah finished some laundry between episodes. I cooked and assembled dinner. I had some smoked salmon from Costco, home-made pickles I bought at the UFO festival that I recently opened (buying some green and pickled seemed the right choice), boiled some noodles as a starch, and some canned baked beans from Trader Joe’s.  I buttered the noodles, not too much, and added some salt (I use unsalted butter).

Dinner was consumed while I waited for Deborah, and during the second episode.

Deborah was sleepy after that, and we said good night.

I grabbed my Apple, did some more coding on Kaggle, and tried to work out how to add parser information to my runs. I could not make it work. I am still thinking about it.

I read for a while after heading to bed early. I fell asleep quickly but woke at 3ish to prove hydration, then managed to sleep until early Tuesday.

Thanks for reading!