Monday is my weekend day. Everyone is back at work, traffic is lighter when I drive, and restaurants, shops, and other services are quieter as crowds fade in a migration back to work. Last week was full of events and challenges, mostly related to church, and my laundry from last week is in a basket next to the laundry machines, ignored. I spent part of Monday adding to the piles, and I stripped and washed the bed sheets and towels, then did a mixed load of clothing. Not enough to split up into separate loads.
An inexplicable buzz fills part of the kitchen, and even killing the mains to the house doesn’t stop it. It is not a fan spinning with an issue. It must be a thermal-caused vibration. I even kill the power near 11, walk outside with a flashlight, and find no source outside. It was gone Tuesday morning when I wrote this. I spent ten minutes with the power out last night to make sure it wasn’t a fire or a spinning part going bad. Nope, it did not change with no power. As I wrote above, inexplicable.
I woke and got out of bed at 8 and walked, more zombie-like than I would like to admit (“Coffee!” I growled). I made coffee and toast from wheat bread I made in the bread machine, carefully sliced it, bagged it, and put it in the freezer. I do not eat bread fast enough; I freeze it. It is also why I pay a premium for shelf-stable milk. It will go bad before I get close to half used in its usual, and cheaper, form.
With toast, peanut butter, and fresh coffee, I return to the office and write the blog. I also do the usual things of checking my transactions in Quicken, reading emails, and checking the news. I tried to focus on the blog as I had things to do in the early afternoon.
I was soon done and headed to First United Methodist Church in Air VW the Gray after showering and all that. There, Wendy had four box lids full of cards for me. Jeff and Wendy helped me get them into the cargo hold, and soon I zipped over to the post office, dropped them off, and waited in line. After a few questions, I left them with the post office. Done. One more set to deliver on Tuesday.
Next, I headed to McMenamins Cedar Hills for a BBQ chicken salad, a beer, and a reservation for Thursday’s Theology Pub. I played with an AI site while I was eating lunch. They produce paintings from photos. I loved it. I bought one (and have a license to the image, now). With lunch inside of me and the reservation done, instead of heading home for a nap and to fold the laundry, I headed to VW mothership.
There, I learned I wouldn’t get a deal to purchase the lease-out for the EV, and yes, my perception was right: I would pay over Blue Book to keep the ID.4 SUV. Hmmm. And there was no deal, except maybe a $3,000 loyalty discount. Also, my belief that any lease would be much more than I am paying now was correct if I leased a new one to replace mine, plus the down payment.
I headed to the local Nissan dealer a few miles away, and after they challenged me to email a pic of my insurance card, I drove a Nissan 2025 Leaf around the block. Too tiny for me, as I barely fit. Also, this one had a range of 213 miles, or what my VW range is at a 62% charge. I thanked the salesperson, Joel, and said I might be back in January for the new models.
Later, Deborah pointed out to me that I was in the small SUVs and that there are other models in the mid-range size. She pointed out a cool-looking Mustang EV SUV. I will try a Ford dealer next time. I am thinking of a lease for two years again. I have enjoyed the Fords I have rented over the years.
I returned home and chatted with Deborah a few times. It is about ten days until my trip to see her for her birthday. Details are still being worked out, but we will be going to the Whitney Mansion for dinner and a ghost tour on Saturday.
I find an unexpected letter from the US Treasury in the mail. Thinking it is some note about my account, I open it with little expectations other than some note about logging in using ID.me, but no, it is from the President. I buy my insurance through Oregon’s website, and the feds know that. The President decided to refund me $500, as I get no help with the bills (I pay the full ride). While I appreciate the cash, I think this is a strange choice given such a large deficit. Before something happens, I quickly use my online banking to deposit the check!
Dinner is baked cod (frozen from Trader Joe’s), pasta with butter, and jarred peaches. I watch For All Mankind season three and watch the clever writers move all the troubles for the Clinton Administration onto a fictional Republican administration. The mix-and-match of technology and rewriting a mining accident to Mars is quite good. I am liking it better.
I head to The 649 for my usual late haunting of the bar, and Lindsey is closing tonight. I get a beer, put in my earpods, and write. I revise my adventure, clear out the initial rewrite, and start reworking 4E stuff into 5E and 5.5E rules. I am on page 20 of 50-ish, so I’m reaching the 1/2 point. It is about ten pages a shortish game session, I find when I DM. I spend the night there, finishing with a coffee and Amaretto. Lindsey gives me a glass of water when I breathe instead of sipping the liquor. I make my place with some asterisks so I can find it again, and pack up.
I return home, try to find the buzzing, make the bed, read a new Sherlock Holmes story instead of the American Civil War, and soon nod off; I turn off the light, sleep, and do not wake until morning.
