Thursday Back and Forth

I woke before sunrise, finally gave up, and rose with it. I made coffee and started the blog in the office. The apple tree (older than the house and likely dating back to the original pioneer family, and possibly Johny Appleseed) is starting to bloom (Michigan’s State Flower is the Apple Blossom). The dawn redwood is all green now. The China Rose has started to flower and is always the first and last to bloom. I see that there are more roses in the front that could use some attention, too. I will get out the compost for them, too.

The blog goes surprisingly fast and is done before 10. I seem to have found my focus and just keep writing and writing. I publish it, then shower, dress, and all that. I boarded Air VW the Gray with a 60% charge and headed across Beaverton.

I was a few minutes early at McMenamins Cedar Hills, and then I got a text from the Skyrizi pharmacy, Accredo, which has so far impressed me with its incompetence. This time, their computer tried to deliver my self-injection pen while I was traveling. Eventually, I got a person who, after I had contacted them three times and still did not have my dose, said they could deliver it on Friday (after saying I was missing a dose—it is due on Thursday), and I agreed to wait for it. Only a day late and close to on time. Brad and Scott had arrived while I enjoyed this process with Accredo. Lastly, they informed me that my dose was $5K and I would be responsible for that, which Skyrizi and Regence did not cover. Hmmm. I was under the impression I was covered by the Skyrizi program, but more to follow, I am sure.

Brad, Scott, and I chatted about travel, the usual house repairs, and other things retired people do. The cars of children and their replacement (something I don’t have to do) covered much of the conversation. Brad and I had both recently done repairs to our respective homes, and we complained but were happy to update and fix things. It was nice, and we will meet again after all of our trips in mid-May.

Scott and I headed to Tualatin Hills Nature Park and walked for about an hour, covering a mile. We talked and enjoyed the walk. We used to do the same walk when working for Nike, and trying to resolve some complex software/transactional issue. It was nice to return.

When we parked, we saw multiple school buses parked and later many small people on the trails, led by aides, volunteers, and teachers. It was a school trip to the park, and I remember going to one when I was small (I am a former little boy). Nice to see the wide eyes and interested children, and remembering doing similar trips in middle school. It beat endless dittos of math problems doing long division and multiplication (which I also recall from this time).

After this, we both went our separate ways. I went home, read, and nodded off. I rose, did some Dungeons & Dragons paperwork, read 2/3 of The Book of Revelation, and wrote the flyer for my Sunday School Class in May at my church, First United Methodist Church, Beaverton. I also received information that my CT Scan was not approved, and then a note saying it was approved, but only if I drive 43 miles to St. Helens, Washington. I will call my insurance with some pointed questions soon. This includes the count of CT Scan Machines I will drive past as I drive in and out of Beaverton, Portland, and Vancouver, Washington, to find the only insurance available machine in my “area.” But I digress.

Dinner and drinks are again at McMenamins Cedar Hills for Theology Pub. Tonight’s discussion was Intolerance, with some folks calling out that our call-out of intolerance toward some might be a form of intolerance. This caused a lot of discussion as we tried to identify that maybe hate speech was what we were calling out as intolerance. That we might be mixing up different political views, but what we all agreed on was that hate was the real intolerance (maybe the bitter fruits of intolerance).

Our conclusion was that hate has replaced some dialogue and that it seems difficult to get past it. Folks tossing around hate speech seem to believe it is long past time to talk and instead to act with harm. We did not find any way to breach this other than by continuing to help people and accepting the sick, hungry, and downtrodden at our church. A good example seems better than an argument.

With that done, I dropped Jack off at his apartment and then headed home. I returned to my book and was happy that it was going a different way than I thought, and I was laughing here and there. Next, I picked up DarkDark TTRPG (here), a sort of mix of Old School Dungeons & Dragons, DCC, and Mothership-style books and cost (cheap) that I bought some time ago. It is a light fantasy role-playing game with a low startup cost, and I might try it out, though it takes me back to two lines of text at most, and the DM has to invent everything (or ask ChatGPT for a description).

With those thoughts, I soon nodded off, wandering my own adventures and likely casting a few spells in my dream world, though I remember nothing other than a vague feeling that I walk many dark and dusty hallways in some lost complex in my dreams. I might have heard Eric “Elric’s” laugh.

Thanks for reading.