I am no longer rising with the sunrise, which has slid to 6, and I have not. I did wake at 4, then had trouble sleeping, and then woke to my alarm at 6:30, suspecting I had slept only a few minutes before it went off. I got out of bed, made a full pot of coffee, and did not start on the blog as I had a CT Scan at 9. Body truck ending at the chest to ensure that the colon cancer remains cured. Hate to waste that surgery and chemo that got me this far, only to learn that it has spread; colon cancer that spreads is difficult to cure. The results, released before noon, show that nothing has changed. I enjoy this scan every six months (and maybe annually soon); it is always an incredibly happy moment when nothing is found.
It is hole-implementation season here in the Greater Portland Area, and many holes have already been implemented in various roads and streets. Navigation suggests a wild path through Forst Park and local roads. Legacy Good Smaratin is near the park. I find myself on switchbacks and speed-bump-blessed streets and inside Forest Park. Some of the usual roads are washed out (even with the limited water, it seems to come all at once and then not at all this year), and Navigation bypasses the lot on even more obscure roads. No out-of-state plates on this trip; strictly local.
It is a sunny and soon-to-be-hot day, and I enjoy the drive. In these times, an EV is a worry-free, affordable vehicle. Oil changes and $5-a-gallon gas are not things I think about anymore. I cannot find the impact of my EV on my electric bill. It uses the same power as the dryer for about the same time when doing a week’s worth of clothing. The charge is split into 80%. The power required to reach 80% charge is the same as that required for the last 20% (a feature of physics, and is also true of capacitors). In other words, the first 80% is 4x cheaper, by percent of charge, and also happens faster (by percentage gained). When buying a fast charge (I calculate that at $2.50 a gallon), if you stop at 80%, you are saving $$$. A purchased charge to 100% on a Fast Charger takes about an hour for Air VW the Gray (an ID.4) and costs about $35. Charging is faster on Tesla, and their self-driving, when purchased as an add-on, makes them attractive to many.
BTW: Having an EV in Texas with their insane electrical grid would make little sense. In the cold, charging is reduced by 20% or more; thus, cold-winter locations are better for hybrids or well-maintained gas cars. Most of the gas infrastructure is already a sunk cost, and I am not for abandoning it.
I park the EV, and learn that I can’t open the door, and repark. The parking spots in the garage are non-standard, and you have to be careful. I walk by the place where I had my breathing emergency, always stepping on the part of the garage where the EMTs found me. Not a happy memory.
The process is a blur of efficiency, and soon I am back taking the main roads again. I return home. I pick up the house more, and then start on breakfast. I make hash browns from a box and poached eggs. I can never get the poached eggs right. I will have to watch a video or something. I take a bowl, pack it with potatoes, add the eggs, and then some ketchup. It is good. I mop the floors, clean the kitchen (to a limited degree), and bring more order to the chaos of my home. More Star Trek DS9 happens.
I decided that I want to look at dinnerware (I am thinking about replacing my everyday items) and head to the antique shops in Hillsboro. This will also get me moving. It is a short, though, construction-filled drive. I take Main Street in, park just before all the spaces are taken, and walk an extra block. I find more sign letters for the church and buy $20 worth, but I am at a loss for which letters to get.
I am always interested in clocks and mechanical stuff. I know that geared clocks require maintenance, the friction will wear out connections, and these require significant work. Not ready to start a new hobby of clock repair and brass work, and I look at the clocks, but none come home with me. Some items are spectacularly overpriced. For example, I thought I could buy a nice translation of Faust on April 30th, but at $78 for the folio version, it remained there.
I found some china, some possible for home use, but all excessively expensive, and much of it looked like handwashing. Goodwill looks like the next place to check. I want something nice and brightly colored, but microwave- and dishwasher-safe. I would prefer to well-used, as a chance to recycle it and get it out of some store. More to come.
Pizzario was open and offering various specials. I had never crossed their door. I was feeling off as I realized I had missed lunch and was working from coffee, a carb overload of hash browns, and a dose of protein from two poached eggs. I ordered a glass of their heavy red wine, a Main Street Pizza (the Hillsboro specialty), and a half salad that was just pulled from a bag of higher-end greens, adding shredded carrots, and five slices of cucumber to suggest it was more than a pile of greens. I was hungry, and I had only two pieces of pizza left when I paid the bills and took them home, and left a whole side salad. The price was Beaverton-like (a bit high), but the wood-fired pizza, with smoke I could taste, was good. I will try more on another visit.
Jim’s Ice Cream is back (a car crashed into the shop in the winter), and I stopped and found that a toasted almond and pistachio cone was a good idea (the crunch with the pistachio flavor worked). Next, deciding it was too hot for housework (temperatures broke 82°F/28°C), I headed to the new location, now in Beaverton, for Rune & Board, a locally owned gaming store that was at 167 East (my interview for Nike in 1996 was at 167 West, and my first nine months at Nike were there). The store had remodeled some old offices and looked great. The shelves were focusing on very expensive miniature-based space and fantasy games. Not my focus, but still, walls full of figures, kits, brushes, and paints just make my gamer and modeling building heart race. Yes, LOTR kits are over three hundred, but it would be so great to have a whole army. I resist and buy just a box of skepeton figures, which are about five minutes to paint. I talk to the owner, who barely remembers me, and we talk about a Darkshadow play. He would love for me to start a group, but first, I agree to try the existing D&D group on Fridays ($10 a play; I did my RSVP online). I will start something once I participate in what they have.
I return home, do more cleaning once the sky is dark (I do enjoy more DS9), and soon things are looking ready. I managed to make the shower in the main bath work, but the drain is an issue I forgot about. I think I just need one of those old-school rubber caps. It is also a small-ish tub (I remembered the monster one in St. Louis’s 21C Museum Hotel).
It is still early, but I am tired; I read in bed until some time before 11. Surprisingly early, for me, until I remembered that I started this day early. I leave the windows open. I leave the ceiling fan spinning fast. I wake and slow it down. I ignore sunrise and wake later on Friday.
Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 