Wednesday Games and MRI

I keep busy enough with writing, the MRI, gaming with Z, and then starting another game at home. Fitting in eating, and the day disappeared.

I have no results on Thursday morning (when I am writing this), but I have heard from orginal surgeon for my brain tumor, and the tumor in my salivary gland is outside of his work, but he has sent my CT of my neck to another doctor who does this work. I have also heard from friends that they have enjoyed the same tumor. All good. I have a video appointment with my primary doc on Monday.

There was damage on the right side of my brain identified in the previous MRIs, and the MRI will hopefully show no changes in that or any issues in the area where the tumor was removed. Damage is likely old.

I have a CT of my abdomen on Sunday morning to validate that the colon cancer has not returned. It is highly unlikely that it has returned.

The treatment for my rash is working, but it is fading only slowly. The doc said four-weeks to kill it.

I had to make coffee (I’d forgotten to assemble it again), and I was coughing a lot from allergies (the coughing faded as the day went on). I ate the last banana and forgot to put out the chocolate croissants to rise (and forgot them the next night again). The dark liquid (thanks, Jeanne, for the coffee) and the dark comedy of the late-night comedians reminded me that only light can overcome darkness, and we have a long way before our land is known for Justice with Compassion, enlightened. It is hard not to be depressed when the comedians struggle with the darkness.

But one has to go on, and I started assembling a narration of Wednesday. I was not rushed, as I had an appointment at 1 for an MRI at the OHSU Mathew Knight Cancer Center. I wrote a longish blog with a few thoughts and musings. I wrote it not in my usual linear style but assembled it more as a stream of consciousness. Grammarly was on a tear and out of its AI mind, again, and I had to be careful with its improvements. I reread it, and it wasn’t terrible.

Aside: To write a blog every day, you have to accept a certain level of mistakes and wooden wording to get it done in a few hours or less. After years, I am better at it, but still, there are mistakes, and I notice boiler-plates slip in and need to be resisted. I need to tell a story, not demonstrate a format.

I managed to get the blog done, shower, enjoy treating the skin rash (which is responding to the treatment), and all that. I was soon dressed in a T-shirt and headed out. It was already near noon.

Off to Beaverton and headed towards Panea in the general area. It was a short drive there, and soon I was sitting with a half sandwich and soup, the same I had when with Deborah (Deborah later learned that the squash soup has 900 calories!). With soup that should be a dessert and chicken salad, I was ready for the MRI.

I figure that a heavy lunch with drinks was a bad idea before being squeezed into an MRI. I arrived, and soon a tall man in a casual denim sports jacket took me to the MRI. I dropped off my stuff in a locker. I was soon locked into a fence on my head and IV’s. I was about to experience what it was like to be toothpaste, with a cap on and stuffed into a tube. I tried to design a new Dungeons & Dragons adventure, and since I was imagining myself in a diving bell, an underwater adventure. The banging was loud even with earplugs and headphones. It is hard not to panic, but I endured it. The fast-moving air in the tube makes it feel, if you keep your eyes closed, that you are in fresh open spaces. It was only twenty minutes this time; I have done an hour.

With a new design in my mind, slightly dizzy and tired from the stress and relief, I headed back to the house. Air VW the Gray had confused its location and only charged to 80%; it should have charged to 100% at the house, since it has low-cost power there. But I wasn’t headed out on a long trip, and that would work. I believe it only goes to 80% when it is low; I have had to override it before. A charge at higher values goes to 100%. I think it prevents long charging times (I have a mid-level powered charger). I suspect ChatGPT or the manual would tell me that, but I am not that interested.

I rest and have an early dinner. Deborah, who also enjoyed some medical tests, had gotten Taco Bell for dinner, and that made me think I have not done that for a while, and the Mexican Pizza is back. Perfect. I get there, and the screens are the only way to order now, and for a while, I have some trouble as the screen demands a code I do not have (I spot, at the very top, a ‘Skip’ and then it worked), but soon I have a combo with two supreme tacos, Diet Pepsi, and a Mexican Pizza. Yum! And a Time Machine back to the 80s would have you find the exact same flavor at Taco Bell. I ordered a Dorito-based taco to try it. It was sinfully salty and spicy, exactly what it promised, a Dorito taco.

I headed in the EV to the church and was early. I called Deborah, and we just chatted until Dondrea and Z arrived at First United Methodist Church in Beaverton, Oregon. It was nice to just talk.

Z decided on Raider of Scythia, a new favorite. This is a resource management and race game with luck management. Will you risk that raid, its cost, and absorb the damage from the raid? The thrill of beating your opponent to that excellent raid and picking up the dice and throwing them is excellent fun. Next, applying the damage and additions, will you break that 30 point and score nine, or will it be six? Instead of raiding, sliding into two goals, gaining the same points as the raid, and collecting resources while less dramatic, let that Euro-game feel raise. And I forgot to say “Drink deep, Cyrus” when I played a woman leader during my raid on Persia.

Z ended the game with a raid on Greece and missed by two points from winning. We did mangle a few rules, but next time we will get it better. We enjoyed the thrill of throwing the dice and the race to collect resources to raid or to complete a goal. The risk-reward calculations make this an exciting game. Concordia, our other favorite, is a slow build with no real risk management.

The game publisher Gaphill, based in New Zealand, offers other variations of this theme, including one set in Britain with Brits raiding Romans and another set in Asia. All possibilities for a future purchase.

We had to get out a table, kill ants (there back!), and then we put the table and chairs away. Cleaning supplies and bug stuff will be acquired.

We said good night, and the EV had me home soon. I then set up the solo board game Plague of Dracula and played a few turns. I used a piece of plexiglass to flatten the map (I bought it years ago for games with unmouned maps). I like solos lush with rules and complexity, which this game isn’t, but the theme is working, and it seems gothic. I was surprised by how often I went back to the rules with some exceptions (e.g., “if you get a ride in a carriage, was that your turn?”) and found no answer. But on the other hand, three games that cover a similar process or theme have two rulebooks, which made me decide maybe I could work it out. The designer is quite active on Board Game Geek (BGG), and I can get an answer if I wish, I believe.

I did upload my photos of the game to BGG. I printed an updated copy of the rules yesterday.

With a few turns done, I headed to bed, but thought it unwise to play a vampire board game at night and before bed. I was soon asleep.

I woke the next morning, unbitten, no strange dreams, and happy for the sunrise.

Thanks for reading.