Author: alohawild

Grammarly is not working properly today, so please forgive any mistakes…There appears to be an outage. I have copied this text in…

I rose late on Tuesday, having rolled over a few times. I seem to wake up at 3AM now. Mom Wild called me at 8ish and we chatted for a while. She was lonely and wanted to just talk for a while.

I started on the blog and wrote much of the morning. I texted back and forth with Deborah. It was a relaxed morning. I meant to start some laundry but did not finish it until later. I showered, shaved, dressed, and was out of the house in Air VW the Gray with an older model HP printer in the cargo hold. I drove to the SurplusGizmos to see if they would take the printer (and ask them about other items) but discovered they are not open on Tuesdays. I was hungry and received some replies on some church items that left me disenchanted. I needed a beer and a burger and stopped at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. I tried to find my focus, eat, and enjoy my burger. I ordered my favorite, Captain Neon Burger, a bacon blue cheeseburger with the fixing and fries. It’s not a good choice for weight loss and health, but stress and a light breakfast of just a banana and coffee made me ravenous.

I returned home, soon napped, and read some of a Kickstarter-published New Edge Swords & Sorcery Magazine issue 3. The art and the writing were excellent and focused on Fantasy, with me thinking some of the themes would make an excellent new adventure. I am always thinking about writing a new adventure for Dungeons and Dragons. Corwin stops by, grabs the ladder, and cleans the leaves from the gutters. It is still cold, and Corwin is surprised that the bottom of the gutters is frozen water. I have a church Zoom meeting at 6:30, meaning I have no plans for dinner, and Corwin and I share the smoked salmon I got from Costco. I have some chips with the salmon but am still full of burger.

Corwin is not driving food deliveries today. Tuesdays are slow days, and sunny days are poor days for food delivery. Corwin and I discuss his motor bike, and he says he has not been able to sell it. I will donate it then. He is OK with that.

Pastor Ken calls me after he reads my emails and is concerned for my disenchantment, but the beer and food worked, and I am still willing to try to make some of the church project work. We agreed to try to continue the refresh of the fireside and entrance way, but I was concerned that the report I read had asbestos in the floor in the entryway. I told Ken that I believe we should pay for past errors before refreshing, but I will address that through the regular church committees. Also, the refresh may encapsulate the problem, which is a solution often used in older buildings. My focus as vice-chair of church (lay leader with an administrative focus for those who speak Methodist) council is more important.

The meeting followed and clocked in at more than two hours. Yikes! The meeting was about process and there was a little axe-grinding that was unsuccessful. I was trying most of the time not to say anything as meetings like this will just spin and go on forever on old topics long resolved. I did object to one change, but tried not to have it spin. I respect the person who was trying to fix the issue related.

I was happy that the meeting finally closed. I was only slightly disenchanted now.

Soon, tired, disenchanted, and cold, I decided 10 was OK for a shower, PJs, and more reading of Fantasy. I enjoyed a couple of stories. I felt that Tuesday was a failure as I did so little and went soon slept. I woke at 3ish for proof of hydration, but then managed to sleep again.

Thanks for reading.

At 10AM Monday, Matt (M@) showed up at Château Wild to lead the cleaning and reshuffling and to get Air VW the Gray inside and safe from local bird artists. I started the work a few days ago for a few hours each day to get some of the junk out of the way. I also threw away lots of chargers, transformers, and cables. Like many involved in USB equipment, I had a different set of cables for every older version and matching chargers. All were now in tangled messes and just clutter. I decided if I needed one, I could always buy one. I also found the Octopus A USB cable to other (but not C) types. That will do.

I found where The Ring was for all those years; it was lost in Sauron’s Garage. That is where I found my precious. I suspect the orcs accidentally took Sauron’s ring to Goodwill, and an enterprising hobbit bought it there. The hobbits, who love a good story, later made up a more interesting version.

The goal was to eliminate the accumulation of stuff with the realization that much of it had not been used in five years (before the pandemic), meaning it was not really needed and should be tossed or taken to Goodwill. We took two loads of stuff in the EV to Goodwill (they would not take the office chairs that were peeling). Among the items were more of Susie’s clothing, which always makes me sad when we find it.

M@ commented that he, too, has many 28mm figures he has not painted (I have piles of unpainted figures in the garage), but then he remembers all the ones he has painted and played with and just smiles (and I have painted hundreds? or thousands?). I will consider painting again as I find it relaxing and enjoyable.

M@ assembled the wheeled storage shelving (the same I used for the orchids), and we put the board games on that. Matt also organized the unplayed games (some less than loved Kickstarters). We found places for stuff, and I slowly but steadily cleaned up a work desk I had put in place years ago. It is where the charger for the EV will go and was blocking access to the electrical panels. The desk was Susie’s from college, and it had become unsteady (it never was very steady), and it was time for it to go. It took me a few hours, but I found places for stuff on it and under it. Much was trashed or recycled.

We moved Corwin’s motorbike outside and put the cover over it. We must find a solution for it (he does not need it). Through the magical powers of M@, the garage found order and was once again large enough inside (unlike the Doctor’s TARDIS, the garage is smaller inside) to hold a vehicle, and Air VW the Gray now sleeps in the garage. There is also access to the power panel.

The panel was replaced some years ago when I learned that the panel was recalled and was not safe. F**k! Again, I am always impressed when you buy a house, have it inspected, and later find out it was not-to-code and that certain safety items were missing/failing. I replaced the natural gas hot water heater early, and they had to rebuild the connections, redo the exhaust, and put a safety tank on it, but as it was a fixed bid, I did not pay extra (for once). Previously, I was informed that I had to strap the one that came with the house and cover it with a blanket (I did), that the house had no ground faults (I installed them), and that the garbage disposer was directly connected to the power as was the stove (I spent $1200 fixing the stove connections). I replaced the furnace, added AC, replaced all the windows, sliders, roof (and 3/4 of the plywood underneath–again, a flat bid, and they ate that), deck, and fence, and updated or replaced much of the landscaping. I refreshed the bathrooms with the master damaged by a toilet leaking while I was in NYC with Susie as an accidental tourist for four weeks.

I will consider, in the future, an electric tankless heater in the bathrooms and something for the kitchen. The newish natural gas one was high-efficiency and lowered my gas bill, as did the new furnace, which was moderately efficient. The trees keep the house cool in the summer with their shade and also eliminate the option for solar panels on the house.

I will contact the recommended contractor, and I should get a discount for installing a charger at the house. Richard offered to do the electrical work, but I think that was covered. If not, I will likely take him up on that.

It was late, and I had received some more strange items from the church and was upset. I also spent some time just chatting with Deborah (it was her day off), and we are excited that she will be here in less than four weeks. I finally found focus again, finished the blog, published it, and decided it was time to get something to eat; it was already after 7:30.

BJ’s Brewhouse was my choice, and it was a pleasure to get Air VF the Gray out of the garage, but the garage opener is still in the old Volvo. I need to stop by Volvo anyway to update them on the status of the wreck (waiting for a title replacement). I will likely donate the wreck and the motorbike to Oregon Public Broadcasting; they will likely need money once Trump gets going and tries to sell PBS to Elon Musk–sounds like a joke, but I am not sure it is.

I sat at the bar and had some fill-in bartenders, Taylor and Chris. Taylor was busy cleaning and working. Chris sort of just made drinks and wandered (I was not impressed that he let Taylor clean). The previous bartender, who I knew, was happy to see me. I had not been back in a month or two. First, I have been traveling, and second, their food adds pounds fast! I had the chicken soba noodles and a salad. I did have a red ale that the manager, happy to see me, brought me before the bartenders even spoke to me. I saw their wide eyes, as that was an unusual occurrence. I had good service, and Taylor, already dressed for home, got me coffee and a shot of amaretto to go with my coffee.

I saw that they are back to training folks on the basics. This was on the bartender’s screen.

I took the EV home and had to get out and open the garage, but still, it was nice to park inside. Soon, I was reading in bed in my PJs after a shower. I was asleep after 11, work at midnight, three, four, five, and six, and rolled over each time. Coffee late wakes me up at night.

Thanks for reading.

The morning started with me rising with my alarm at 7:30 and trying to find my way on a Sunday. I find Sundays are often busy for me. I wrote until about 10 and published the story on Friday. I drank liberal coffee on this inaugural weekend and later charged my EV car, the first peaceful transition of power in the USA since people died on the last one. While along with the grounds, I find Hope in my cup, the bitterness reminds me of how much work liberals have yet to do.

I am running out of time this morning, as I have a visitor at 10, so this will be a bit rushed.

Moving forward, Air VW the Gray was plugged into charging near the church. In a dress shirt, blue sweater vest, Pride tie, and black shoes, I sat through church but was not listening. I was looking at the refresh area and the sanctuary and noticed a connection I need to consider in this work. Michael R gave a good sermon on the story of Joseph (of the coat of many colors) and how cities are both something we should help, but we can become involved in the interworkings of a city, and as a church, we need to remember who we serve. It was an interesting connection.

Jack and I had lunch at the local Thai place in Beaverton. It was overpriced but good. I was shocked to see that the lamb was not $39. I ordered a veggie dish (I had only a banana for breakfast, but I have been sneaking snacks at the house). It was with rice; I should have ordered bread instead. Rice turns to sugar too fast, and for a diabetic, it was a questionable choice. It is OK for an occasional food. After lunch, we got the EV, which was now charged 91% for about $3, and I dropped Jack at home.

I returned home, removed the tie and sweater, switched to a floppy sweater, and returned to cleaning the garage. M@ is coming over on Monday to help, but I wanted to finish some things. I work for a few hours. I spotted only a mouse spider (they grow huge) and thought it was the brown recluse, but no. They are not aggressive, and the smaller ones are not likely to break your skin. I will sweep the garage when we clean it up, which is the best way to get rid of them, and then spray insecticide to keep them away. I usually see a few substantial brown fuzzy mouse spiders that are freaky when three or more inches wide (including the legs). They make me jump when they run away, and you see that running in the corner of your eye. I try to chase them out of the garage instead of killing them. They are a wonder when that size.

I head to M@ for Dungeons and Dragons, 5E version (though we are reading some of the 2024-5 new version). Today is our first time playing in a month. We are now headed to the D&D version of Hell, published for Dungeons and Dragons without Dante. I don’t want to share too much as this is published, but my cleric character was hammered repeatedly. Luckily, my character has many hit points and magical armor. My character survived a pummeling, and we escaped. It was a close thing, and I had to use some of my best spells, and we ran. Tiamat, another D&D version, was about to rise as we left the area.

We had a new player, and everyone was well for our first game at the 18th level and our first time in 2025. I forgot my hat. Matt made us burgers for dinner. I was home at about 9:45 and watched some Classic Doctor Who until I headed to dress for bed. I soon showered, was in bed, and slept.

I woke at 3 and could not sleep. I got emails about church stuff and was very unhappy about it. It kept me awake for about an hour, and I finally fell back to sleep. I am not sure church committees were a good fit for me. Hmmm.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

I woke after 8 and felt like I could have stayed in the blankets all morning. Instead, I rose and soon started the blog. I wrote until late morning. I planned to work on house items this weekend. I spent most of the months of 2024 traveling, and the house is in some disarray. Some of the messiness predates Susie’s illness, when my focus became post-COVID-19 working at the shoe company for endless hours, caregiving, and facing cancer myself. Now, not traveling in January, it seems the period to bring some order to the chaos.

I wrote until about 10:30, with a few excellent interruptions from Deborah. She will be here in the Pacific Northwest in about a month, another reason to bring order to chaos at the house. For lunch, I had the cold pizza I baked the day before.

I cleaned up, shaved, dressed, and started my day in a heavy sweater. I entered the garage and began emptying the shelves over my tool chest filled with not tools but a supply of electronics, including various versions of Raspberry Pie computers, Arduino microcontrollers, sets of components (resistors, capacitors, diodes, ICs, coils, high-voltage versions of the same, and so on). I started emptying boxes and clearing shelves on which I had just piled items for the past few years.

For years, I would buy things thinking I would do such a project, and then caregiving, health surprises, and work items would return to my focus, and I would forget the items or just put them aside for the next thing. I now know that this was a defensive mechanism and a way to handle the stress and spend night after night and weekend at home. The idea of travel, seeing Deborah, writing, and mathematics excite me. Model building, electronics, and lighting projects are less interesting now that other choices have arisen.

I spend a few hours in the cold garage, fill the trash bin by 1/4, and add many small boxes to the recycle bin. I have made no real cubic improvement of clear space, the actual goal, but I am approaching the work desk I need to remove (it was Susie’s college desk for years, making it now over thirty years old) to get access to where the wall space will be for the charger.

I am cold now and sneezing from dust. I decided to head to Macy’s to get some sheets and rewash Air VW the Gray; despite being parked on the street, the local birds have colored it. I need a break from the cold and dust. I board the ID.4 and find a long line of cars packed into the car wash, including some huge and spotless trucks (obviously, this is how they are kept perfect). Despite this, the cement-colored vehicle gets two laps, the maximum allowed, to try to restore the color to the original. Two spots of ick stay on the windshield (I manually remove them later). Wet and clean, Air VW the Gray heads to Macy’s. I park at the Transborne Mall with all the shop entrances outside (an interesting choice for rainy Oregon) and walk down the steps to Macy’s.

I was disappointed to see the ‘Store Closing’ signs that proclaimed it was just this store and that everything was on discount. I found the sheets on the second level, and the store still looked fresh (even with the signage) but now sad. To me, it seemed that the store was passing away before its time, and every inch still looks perfectly maintained. Disturbed by the dying vibe of something special, I quickly find three sets of ‘Full’ sheets and a pair of pillows. I checked out and got 25% off the regular price (in other words, the usual price at Macy’s and not a real ‘store closing’ discount). I get two bags for the sheets, and the cashier whips out an adhesive-based handle and attaches it to the pillows, giving them a handle; wow! For a moment, it seemed like Macy’s again with the smile from the cashier, waving her hands like a magician, but the retail magic faded when she said, ‘No returns.’ I see the lovely gals still at the perfume and makeup bars as I walk out, ‘I loved the store,’ I tell them as I leave. They thank me, and again, for a moment, it was Macy’s. I rush out before the magic fades.

I parked my purchases in the cargo hold, decided I needed a break, and headed to Buffalo Wildwings, remembering all the trips there with Susie, Corwin, and Mariah. I sat at the bar and ordered a regular Coors (remembering that I used to help sell it in the Baltimore-Washington-Richmond corridor). I have ten wings and poor-quality potato wedges, splitting ten traditional wings (with bones) with cajun and Asian Zing sauces. I ignore the fact that my wings are nearly cold when they arrive (the bartender forgot to get my order instead of the manager delivering the bar food to ensure the food is hot); I have had enough disappointments to pretend they are hot.

I watch football and eat the wings. The veggies are good but reduced in number. Hmmm.

Still, I feel happy even when I pay too much for the stupidly high salt, sugar, and high-caloric dinner. I walk back to my transportation. No fob. I walk back, looking for it. I find it on the bar floor! The VW fob is smooth and thus easily falls out of a pocket. I will have to think about attaching keys or something else to it. How strange.

I traveled to Richards. One player is a no-show; it happens. We changed to a better three-person setting and a cooperative newish game, Cthulhu Death May Die. I have not played it before, but it flows better than Mansions of Madness, Second Edition, a game with a like theme, and it seems to grant more agency to the players. But, my options are mostly to attack and fight, not matching the theme at all (Lovecraftian stories and games are about discovering a horror, running, and solving a problem), and it appears to be a reworking of a SciFi game.

I pick an older Asian-looking monk to play. We play the first time, and it is an unplayed scenario. The game board explodes with bad guys, and soon, we start struggling. We managed to hold on but could not find the last piece of the puzzle in time. We lose. We play again; the struggle is different (Richard and Lauren change characters), and we are all damaged. Richard’s character is overwhelmed, and we lose again. Lauren and Richard told me they had never lost twice in a row before. I enjoyed the play.

I had coffee from Richard for the second play. I take Air VW the Gray across Portland with almost no traffic. It is a moonlighted night, and the drive is pleasant. I wonder why so little traffic on a Saturday Night, as I am often bookended by fast-moving. The EV was now around 70% charged.

I watched some Classic Doctor Who to wind down for sleep. I have some painkillers and Benadryl to help me sleep. I get tired and make it to bed around midnight after a shower. I soon sleep and do not wake until my alarm at 7:30.

Thanks for reading.

I rose around 8 and had no plans for the day. I had acquired some new sheets for the queen-sized mattress at Costco and planned to wash and install them. I plan to clear the linen closet of all sheets and like items as many are mismatching, and I have not seen a bed in twenty years, more accumulation. I will buy full-sized sheets for the spare bedroom, reducing my collection to just two sets for each bed. The third bedroom is now my office (but in a shambles). I am also removing towels that are worn, stained, or mismatched.

I have decided to cut a square from the ruined quilts and name tags made by Grandma Bailey. The cloth she used was cheap (the norm in the 1980s) and has worn out, and the fibers failed after fifty years of use–they cannot be fixed. It is time to let them go; they have been folded in a closet for ten years. I will save a bit, frame it, and keep them with me for my time with them. I will eventually send them to a younger Bailey. More to come.

I spent the morning doing laundry and writing the blog. The area near The Machine was full of piles of clean clothing and shirts and pants on hangers; I finally moved everything and put it away late on Friday, when all the laundry was done. I used the Permanent Press setting, as The Machine dries thoroughly in this setting. Funny, Dad Wild told me this setting works the best on driers when teaching me how to do my own laundry a long time ago, so I just use it for everything, even on this new combo machine. Thanks, Dad.

I had a pizza from Costco (well, two, as you can just get one—they come as a pair as Costco always loads you up) for lunch. It has a strong fresh basil taste, which is not a favorite of mine. Too bad I have two. I will eat them, but this is the last one.

With the blog done and the trash still not picked up, I shower, dress, and board Air VW the Gray. The locals, would-be bird artists, have executed their newest work on the ID.4 AWD Pro, and I pay $15 to have that removed before it becomes more permanent. I travel to Target and buy some supplies, including a quad rules notebook for working on math problems. I park the EV at a fast charge station and am disappointed that my ChargePoint app does not work (nor Electrify America), and I am stuck using AMEX to pay $11 to charge from 59 to 100 percent. The free charging seems to be over, but I will return to the target near Beaverton for a free charge next week. Free is a reasonable price.

For those EV questioners, the ID.4 AWD Pro covers about 200 miles before it should be charged (keeping a 20% charge for emergencies like I used to keep 1/4 tank in a gas car). This is about 3/4 of a tank travel on Air Volvo and costs 1/4 the price or less if I don’t use fast chargers and charge only to 80% (meaning about 1/2 the travel of Air Volvo). Part of the reduction is that federal and state gas tax has not been carried to electric vehicles. Thus, we drive on the roads for free—not exactly fair. This lack of fairness echoes the loss of taxes and ‘plate’ buying on taxis, now replaced by Uber and similar services.

Returning to the story, I traveled to Costco again. I searched for more sheets, but sticking to their ‘bigger is better’ offerings, there were only King and Queen sheets. I did get cheap bananas ($1.99 a bunch), some cleaning products (the only small sheets I found), milk in boxes, corn chips (in a bag so large that it will likely go stale before I can even show progress), and a pair of pillows.

I noticed the intensity of my fellow shoppers at Costco. None of the cart drivers talked to other people and were focused on going fast and furious. While there were no explosions or flipping carts, I felt the same intensity of Rush Hour and the loneliness that haunts our modern retail sales processes. The folks handing our food seemed to just stack it and then call out to anyone hearing where to get some. No attempt to reach out unless addressed, and then ‘just the facts’ with an artificial smile. I find myself reversing directions; I don’t know my way around the store and am attempting to go upstream. The aggressive ignoring I experienced dodging carts could almost transform milk into cottage cheese! Yikes! The rush for check out and leaving was even more intense. I tried to make way for a person unwisely using a walker in the exit way, and I was then passed and the hole plugged with intense folks leaving and giving me the ‘hairy eyeball.’ The experience seemed like something Darwin would expect. So far, I have no happiness at Costco; I just buy cheap oversized items there.

I returned home, planning to make dinner and continue to make order out of the chaos that is Château Wild (no longer named for autos). M@ is coming by Monday morning to help bring some order to the garage (he helped about five years ago, the last time it was ordered). I want Air VW the Gray in its hangar and not out being decorated by our wildlife. I move some items into the house and move some books. I order a cart to be delivered on Sunday to hold some of the board games and other items.

I baked boneless and skinless chicken thighs for dinner after defrosting them and soaking them in salt water for forty-five minutes. I steamed some green beans from 185th Corner Market. I mashed potatoes I got from Costco that I baked first. I have been unhappy with the product, but being from Costco, there were many of them. I am down to the last pile in the freezer. I will use fresh ones once these are gone.

I continued to move a few items from the garage around. I also watched more Classic Doctor Who: The Revenge of the Cyberman (1975). This series was less good than the previous one, showed less logic, and seemed more about running around in circles than anything else. Tom Baker, playing the Fourth Doctor, had no good lines. It seemed to just fill time. It closes the 12th season with the Doctor and companions taking off in the Tardis after getting an Emergency signal from the Brigadier.

As I said, I made the bed, folded the new sheets, emptied the old sheets into a bag, and went to bed after showering. I tried to read some math, but being tired is not a good time for math. More to follow!

I was asleep soon. I woke at 4ish to prove hydration and had trouble sleeping. I managed to return to sleep and did not wake until 8ish.