Thursday Going Fast

I rose early, before 7, and made coffee on a gray, misty morning. It was cool again, and I would wear a coat and a hat when going out. I made some Fair Trade coffee, a whole pot, and forgot I made scones the night before. I had just had coffee. I did the usual and uploaded my transactions, and it seems my checking account is tracking an extra couple of hundred dollars less than my balance suggests. It appears that PayPal purchases need to be watched more closely, as they come from my checking or credit card. I removed the AMEX as it was too confusing; I wanted the miles, but it was too messy.

I was surprised that I finished the blog early and was at loose ends for an hour in the morning. Nice. I talked and texted Deborah; she is still working.

I showered, shaved, and all that. Dressed, I enjoyed the morning with more coffee. Somewhere in the morning, I watched a new update from Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial’s YouTube channel about the battlecruisers the Trump administration has been talking about. The museum releases a weekly update on the new ships (originally, there were rumors that the USS New Jersey would be reactivated for active service, but the cost, a lengthy refit timeline, and the obvious aging systems dissuaded the Navy from returning the battleship to service, and thus the museum follows this with interest). The annual build plan was released, and three battlecruisers are listed with more information, including an upgrade to nuclear power (Rick, the curator for the battleship, who does the videos, shared that another source suggests the first two will be conventional power until the US can increase its capacity for building nuclear ships). And I would call it a heavy missile cruiser. Currently, reports indicate that all Cold War Soviet-built heavy missile cruiser ships are not in service (with only one likely to return to service). The reports say they are very expensive ships to run. Hmmm.

I met Scott W and Brad J, and we also found that Clyde was having lunch at McMenamins Cedar Hills, and he joined us. We all got caught up (we had not all met for about a month). Scott was diving with his oldest daughter. We all agreed that retirement was great, and none of us was going back to work (though I have agreed to help David S with some work issues if he can fit it into my schedule). We talked about Nike, the latest stock price (in the $40s now), and the recent layoffs. We agreed to meet again next week (Brad J will be in Eastern Oregon and will miss).

I headed out and back to the house for a few minutes, enough time to check the mail, and then headed out with the board game Age of Steam in Air VW the Gray. I also printed some player aids. Doug and David were the players, and Doug had made us chili, along with veggies and other items to enjoy. I taught the game, and we soon were playing it. I pulled ahead as I knew how to play. David and Doug soon were chasing me, building a track, and carefully counting their cash. I had warned them not to be short. I think they liked the game once they figured it out. We made a few mistakes, but it was a learning game. Track-laying and moving goods are how you improve your income; you run your railroad. After riding a train last week, I wanted to play a train game, and this is my best one, but it took the whole afternoon.

Next, I headed to McMenamins Cedar Hills, and there we had Theology Pub. Ken, a few minutes late, mostly drove the conversation about sleep and rest. Ken, whose book was just published on this subject, covered that we need to treat rest and sleep as a right. Too many times, people are giving up rest for work or other activities and slowly wrecking their health and their nervous system. It is important to treat the bedroom as a place for recovery. Others and I related stories, most from working, about giving up sleep or having to regulate sleep with drugs, and how this left folks not rested. Ken also notes that this is part of the call for the Sabbath in the Bible; rest is necessary for health.

We also covered the new speaking series at our church. On June 4th, we will have an excellent speaker. I will try to get the poster in one of these blogs.

After that, I returned home, watched a couple of Star Trek DS9 (it was a two-parter, and I decided, even though I was tired, that I wanted to know how it ended). After that, I put on my PJs and read more about the American Civil War. I soon put that down and slept.

Thanks for reading!