It was dark in the house last night because I had been reading and had not turned on all the lights. It was quiet with light rain, and I suddenly was quite lonely. It sneaks up on you. Also, some grief for Susie slipped into my thinking as I put her name among the saints to be read at the All Saints service.
Still, it was a good day, and I am reaching the end of the American Civil War (ACW) book, The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. The shelling of Fort Sumter was just covered, and Lincoln’s call to arms was made. The ACW has started. It’s a marvelous book, with footnotes to back up the story (I even bought one of the books referenced in the footnotes).
I read until the fort’s surrender, then rolled over and slept the night. I did not wake except for the return of leg cramps, which I have not had for weeks. I had a beer for lunch/dinner, and I must admit I had not drunk much water. We will see if they return. A friend also suggested that a medication change would help.
Starting at the beginning, the morning started with me wondering how it could be 6:30 and why I wanted an alarm to get up at that time. It was dark enough that I first turned on a light. I then remembered I had a board game at 9:30 at Richard’s, ISS Vanguard. I reheated my coffee and had a banana and yogurt with it. I wrote the blog with some speed as I wanted to get out onto the roads before 9.
I finished the blog, showered, applied all my psoriasis creams, and was in the Air VW the Gray by 8:45. I was headed into a mess. The traffic in Beaverton was backed up, requiring two to three attempts to pass a light on TV Highway. I talked to Dondrea, who told me that a fire had closed Highway 26, and I was on the rerouted mess. A usual 35-minute trip was now over an hour, according to Nav. I sent an updated ETA to Richard and told him to start without me.
It was slow going, so I took TV Highway (and then Canyon) to Highway 26, which was empty because of the fire. I made fast passage and was there before 10. Nav was correct with its estimate of an hour-and-change travel time.
I arrived, and Robin, James, and Richard had proceeded into the ship management and had a plan to return to the same planet we played before. We had decided to run and return with a fresh away team, using Star Trek terms. It was a difficult quest, and we wanted another chance.
Robin was time-boxed, and we were rushing. It took the morning to get the ship management done, but this time we finished before 11. We did complete a research project. Many players, I have read, love the ship management part of the game. This involves choices and picking destinations for away missions. It is very much a game inside of a game.
We were soon off to the planet, and the trip was rough. James character was wounded in the first play (!). The planet setting has two versions, one of which is undersea. We had explored the surface, and this second visit was for ocean exploration. At the last moment, James (and only James had three wounds and would die, ending the mission in failure with a fourth, but we found the solution to the puzzle and could leave. We had also defeated the monster, but it just returns. “We got it, but we don’t know if there are more,” was the message from the App. This game runs on an App, though there’s also a book.
With the mission done and Robin out of time, we follow the ship management for recovery and various assignments for all the discoveries. Robin and I then headed out, running a bit over.
I had no traffic and was surprised that, with clear lanes, drivers were still driving below the speed limit, but not that surprised. I reached the house without incident, checked the mail, and took care of things (my colon was messing with me, but it is best to skip that description).
I learned there are multiple FLOCK cameras in my area and shared Violet Blue’s update on security, or the lack of it, with others. I will have to look at them. Hmmm.
I found lunch at BJ’s: chicken breasts in lemon-butter-mushroom gravy with mashed potatoes and asparagus that seemed so thin; it was more like grass than a veggie. It was delightful, and I was hungry. The red ale was excellent. I read my ACW book there while eating.
With dinner/lunch inside me, I returned home, read more, and puttered around the house and on the Internet. I did do some work on the Brazil trip and got the insurance paid. Deborah and I connected later for her, and we watched a show together: Elsbeth. We enjoy the characters and the way the show flows. Deborah then said good night. It is good to start and end our days together.
I read more, and Deborah discovered I had messed up my April flight with her to New Orleans. Deborah had noticed that there was nobody next to her on the flight. I reworked the flight for more $ and was now sitting next to Deborah on the correct flight (Detroit to NOLA on Friday)! I needed to start on Thursday to make the morning flight in Detroit to NOLA. I had, on my original flight, missed Deborah by a day, as I started on Friday, not Thursday (for a red-eye to Detroit). Fixed!
And I think that takes me full circle. Thanks for reading.
