At the end of Thursday, after reading for a while, I tried to sleep. My legs seemed tired and hurt. I must have nodded off a few times, but the pain woke me and reached new levels, maybe a six on the scale. I could not sleep, and the pain would not fade. I rose and got two ibuprofen and one Tylenol, a combination that works for me, and the pain receded, and sleep came. I still woke a few times, once for a cramp, but I managed to sleep enough. Not a good ending to Thursday, but with some sleep, Friday should be OK.
I will drink more water and move more on Friday and hope this stops. It has been two nights of disturbed sleep now. I have also spent many hours reading and working on my computer over the last few days. I suspect that is the cause. Not drinking enough water or moving enough.
Returning to the beginning of Thursday, I woke again with leg pain and rose very late, as I had trouble sleeping after 8. The day then got away from me, and I wasn’t ready for lunch until after 2. I managed to get the blog out at 11-ish and handled a half dozen items for the church and the Brazil trip. Both of them tried to fill my day.
Two books filled my day: one on customs in Brazil from Culture Smart!, and The Sugar King by Peter M. Wolf. The first reminded me to carry more dress clothing to Brazil, and the latter is a family-told story about the late Sugar King: Leon Godchaux. I learned from the author’s opening that Leon Godchaux bought up the sugar plantations, but those who bought out the family later sold them, turned them into suburbs and chemical plants, creating Cancer Alley. The author is clear that the family had nothing to do with the destruction of the sugar fields.
I have to admit, I only started The Sugar King because it was larger print than most books, but I was disappointed it did not offer footnoted references; it does name its sources as it goes, and it has an index and bibliography. The story was magical and clearly drawn from family sources, most of which are named as the story goes on (and many are recorded and available). Also, I know the area well and can imagine the streets and places as the story goes on. I also know the plantations and the River Road covered in the story.
The story also covers the American Civil War and its impact on the Godchax family, including how Leon moved to New York City to establish a firm there (which they will eventually close) and to place the family wealth in NYC and in gold at the start of the war. Leon and family survived the war with minimal losses, unlike many who ended up with their wealth lost in valueless Confederate money. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution forbade adopting the debt or giving the currency any value. It was interesting to finish reading Erik Larson’s story of the start of the war, The Demon of Unrest, yesterday, and then read the same story from the family’s perspective in the South, but not from the elite’s perspective. I have already finished 1/3 of The Sugar King. I am halfway through Brazil: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture.
The book describes the details of slavery as the family buys slaves to rescue them and also as a necessity to help the family (getting freedom for all). It covers the exact laws, how they apply, and what they mean for the family and the slaves. That alone is almost worth the read. Recommended.
The family is Jewish, from France, and came to the US with little more than a few letters of recommendation. The story is told in the first person by Peter M. Wolf, who often comments on how he is connected to a person in his story. This is very much a family member retelling the family history and not willing to cover the dark processes like buying slaves. He also corrects the record of previous historians and published stories. Again, Sugar King is recommended.
I complete all my tasks, finally get dressed, and head out to find a nice lunch. After all the noise of paperwork, calls, church items, and blogging, I felt that a nice stop at the wine bar in Beaverton was a good idea. Alas, it was closed and not open for lunch. Lots of places in Beaverton only open for dinner. Hmmm.
Loyal Legend was my choice, and there I read more and had lunch. My food, ordered at the bar and then delivered, wasn’t memorable, and the beer was strange (seldom is there bad beer, but this might have been it). I also thought fries and one brat with the house beer for over $30 was really pushing my tolerance; maybe if it were two brats and the fries were included, it would be more reasonable. I will not be back except for drinks, something with whiskey, I suspect, or gin.
I returned home, feeling the pain and strange exhaustion of late, and sat down and read more. I also arranged for the new car payment, via OnPoint Credit Union, for Air VW the Gray to be included in Quicken. A new asset of the ID.4, too. I valued it the same as the loan (rounded up to the dollar). I also get an account with OnPoint and may transfer some cash there (once I figure that out, and their website does not, like US Bank’s, allow for direct connections to transfer money). I tried to set up a payment on the US Bank side, but I had trouble with the account number, and then I manually set it up. Hmmm.
Aside: I have avoided Credit Unions over the years, since they are never as flexible as US Bank, which is not great with technology but tries to improve over time. For example, US Bank gave me my first copy of MS Money for free (a long-forgotten product when MS thought it could be Quicken too). I looked at CUs then, since US Bank still charged high fees, but the connections to CUs were all manual uploads. I stayed with my bank. Over time, US Bank has improved, reduced fees, and even sorted deposits before presenting checks, stopping random check bouncing. Don’t even take me there on that one.
I returned to the new season of Ted Lasso and watched the first episode. It is marvelous. I had a snack of some favorite chocolates and then later some cheese and my fridge pickles. It was all good.
I decided not to spend hours sitting and writing and just enjoy Ted Lasso. I found again that time had slipped away from me, and I was in bed nearer to midnight than I like. The rain was heavy, and the gutters were loud. I seemed to be trying to sleep next to a brook!
Sleep was rough as I covered before. Thanks for reading!
