I woke up again with dreams of travel, and of being lost in dream airports and train stations still in my head. But Wednesday night I slept well and woke up ready to start my day. An improvement over the more vampire feelings towards morning I have had these last few mornings: “Reinfield! Where is the good coffee?”
A huge nutria walked into the backyard and started munching apples and the grass. A South American rodent introduced to Oregon in the last century and now a pest, but mostly ignored by everyone, including predators.
I reheated the coffee. I am drinking not liberal coffee, but the 1972 version of Starbucks, and I grind it every morning. I saw it for sale and thought it would be fun to remember its days in Seattle, when it started at Pike Place Market. Now a holy site for tourists. I bought a mug there on a weekday when the crowds are manageable.
It was my usual morning, and I was practicing my discipline of protecting myself. I checked the transactions collected from all my banks and credit cards in Quicken. I reviewed and updated some. I read and mostly deleted emails; I found an email from Doc B, and I would also get a call from his office later. My letter to Regence and their persistence finally cracked the insurance company, and my CT scan was approved on multiple appeals. I would rebook Doc B’s appointment and have to book my CT scan; both the body and neck were approved. Blood tests have been negative, as have the scans. One last check.
I read the news, and the Blue Wave continued, with Mississippi falling to the Wave. I read many explanations, but most say that promising no new wars, lower prices, and giving away cash isn’t enough when you don’t do it; it’s bad for elections. Also, turning a previously unimportant agency, ICE, into something that kills and brings violence to Americans was not getting any votes. People voted for no war, better immigration controls, not violence, endless wars, and chaos.
Aside: For my few Red folks reading this, I wish you well and point out that the previous President made the same mistakes, and Obmana lost the Senate and House for making similar mistakes. It is always true that war (ours or allies’), higher prices, and, like the current President, telling the American people that the economy is good when it is harsh in places can get you un-elected. The American people want to believe that the President gets-it and connects with them, FDR-like. How modern Presidents forget this is a mystery.
Returning to the narrative, I wrote the story of the previous day until about 10:30. The threads of memory untangled easily, and the story appeared in text without much forcing. Grammarly, my AI editor, tries to rewrite my words, but I annoy it by leaving my words in place.
Deborah is at a conference in Michigan, and I connect with her mostly by text. I miss waking up to her on her phone, waiting for me to finally wake up. I would then climb out of bed, make coffee, and bring it to her. Coffee is always important!
My coffee is reheated 1972 and not terrible. I skip breakfast (I am out of cereal and bananas) and instead try to get my United Airlines (UA) app working again. There are many resets and codes from both my email and my phone to get everything connected again. But poof, I can see my reservation, and everything is tracking the trip to Brazil. Even Canada Airlines and Copa Airlines. I even added my UA SkyMiles account card to my Apple Wallet. Yay!
With all this done, I headed out with no lunch to US Bank. There, Taylor, one of the tellers who sometimes helps me with US Wealth Management items, got me Brazilian currency and money for the trip. This includes part of the trip payment (I will get a receipt from Gordon for it). My request for larger bills was honored for the Brazilian currency.
Next, I drove to AAA and saw Holly, our agent, and we talked about the trip and what to do if someone cannot make it. I also got a money holder that can go under my shirt for the cash. I laughed when I saw the converters, the same ones I ordered. I could have bought them there.
Lunch was at Taco Bell. A Mexican Pizza (which is neither) and some tacos that I will skip next time. I sat in the parking lot, ate them, and listened to Oregon Public Broadcasting. I listened to the news that President Trump is trying to give Putin what he wants and tried to keep the chips flowing to China from Nvidia. I am so beyond eye-roll.
I returned home to rest after getting a take-and-bake pizza and salad (naps are still taken when I can), read, and clean the house. All boring in a blog, but it still filled much of my day. Thanks, dear reader, for staying with me, even for the boring stuff.
I wrote an email to the group with information on PDX, including likely gates and food options near and on the way to our gates, Grasso for me. I urge folks to use the UA app, as it works and covers the whole trip. I also uploaded my travel documents by scanning my passport and dropping my visa file on my phone, and then uploading it. I now see in UA that my connections show that I have the proper documents. I included that to-do in the email.
Aside: I was concerned I would need all three apps: UA, CA, Copa. But the UA app and TripIt seem to have it working. I checked, and I can even change my Copa seats in the UA app. I left them unchanged. Excellent!
Also: I received a welcome from Copa Airlines on Friday (while writing this blog entry). I switched to English, and it was a great online experience. I checked that they also show my seats and that my documents are complete.
At 6:15, and then a bit later, my players arrived. Emma and Mariah arrived together. Joan followed, being a few minutes late. We returned to the Caverns of Thracia, a 1979 AD&D adventure, now converted by Goodman Games to 5E and their DCC system. We picked up where we left off, with the lizardmen having befriended the player characters instead of eating them. We managed to play three encounters in two hours, which is good for new players and lower-powered characters. Also, the adventure is from a time when DMs killed characters with ease, and players were happy to escape the complex alive.
The players discovered a secret door and a battle with classic D&D monsters, gnolls, and then discovered traps. Next, they discovered (making a 20 total) a buried door that warned them it was a magical and evil path. They felt that it was a good idea to take out some evil.
I gave the wight, an undead horror based on a Tolkien creature and also an original creature for the 1970s version of D&D, fewer hit points, as it was trapped in a lost chapel dedicated to death. The players, after we corrected the damage they did, were able to take out the creature (and I suspect my change was unneeded, but it was a CR3 and would, according to expectations, kill a character as they are first level — a CR of two levels above players is considered a deadly encounter).
It was fun, and we broke up with an ominous view of a 20-foot-tall robed thing in the next room. We will play again in December.
A picture from the next morning before I put it away. I keep forgetting to take a picture during the game. I didn’t have a 20′ foot cloaked figure, so I used a giant mummy I built from a Happy Meal toy. The scale is right.
With that done, I put away the food (sneaking one 1/2 slice of pizza) and put on the new season of The Rings of Power, which follows no known Tolkien canon, but I still like it. Much like Peter Jackson’s movies, they harvest a story from the text and make it work for the screen, and in this case, a TV series.
They managed to cover all the best characters in the first episode, and now it’s five years later. I enjoyed it and was on the edge of my seat a few times. The Ringwraiths (Ringservants now, as they are not converted to the undead yet) are introduced, and the three rings are protecting the elves. Sauron is failing to make the One Ring and is mocked by a dead Elven smith, Celebrimbor, and the slaughter of his smiths and destruction of his records. Burned on the orders of the Orcs in the last season. I like that they have kept the actor for Celebrimbor as a ghost or memory for Sauron only. Excellent.
I went to bed after that. I am always tired after playing DM for D&D. I slept through the night and was surprised to wake at 7.
Thanks for reading.
