Author: alohawild

I rose around 7:30, wanting to avoid losing the day and get the blog done in the morning. I started to write about 8ish after making coffee (liberal coffee made in my French Press) and having a banana. I wrote, with some interruption, until 11ish. I also activated my Alaska Air Miles Visa and started replacing my US Bank Card with my checking account. I want the miles and, more importantly, my checking account further away from daily transactions. I just want it to pay repeating bills and transfer (the type of transaction I record in Quicken) a single payment each month to the credit cards. This is what I do with AMEX. I now have the Alaska Air Miles Visa downloads working for Quicken and transferring money from my checking. I am also replacing AMEX with the Alaska Air Miles Visa to get the miles.

I got a note from Jenny that she, too, uses eye grease and is having trouble buying the OTC product. She must order it and pick it up when they get it in. I found it on Amazon, and I will see if that works. I am always surprised by how difficult it has become to obtain anything medical, even OTC, these last few years. If Elon Musk wants to impress me, forget Mars; he needs to run a pharmacy in Beaverton and fully stock it. That would be a worthy and near-impossible task.

The blog was longer than I expected, and I made lunch. I got out a frozen salmon burger from Trader Joe’s. I used the tiny non-stick pan and soon covered it with a plate and added some water to steam and cook the salmon fully. I had some nice buns from New Seasons and toasted one. While not good for me, I also baked some tater tots (also from Trader Joe’s). I cleaned up and dressed, ate my lunch with care and no choaking, and watched some videos on YouTube. ShipHappened has a new episode involving repairing a piston spring and reassembling the ship’s engine. Next, I watched a fascinating description of the history of AC on Battleship New Jersey. Apparently, sailors baked in the ship in WW2. AC came later with an all-volunteer force starting in the 1950s. Lastly, I am enjoying the Lady K Sailing channel, which is about learning how to be a sailboat owner. The channel’s producer sails on the Great Lakes, and his drive is to get as many people sailing their own boats as he can. This is not for the rich, he tells us and finds ads for boats you could buy and sail.

I ordered more XIAO hardware and will soon return to the miniature submarine/diving bell project. Some of the material from Seeed (not the band, but the China-based hardware company) will come from China. You can order it on Amazon, too, and after shipping, the hardware may be cheaper on Amazon. I have been enjoying the hot sunny days and will likely be more interested in indoor projects when the rains return.

I decided, after discovering I could not donate Susie’s dress, that the Peal District in Portland was a good place for walking. It is a slow but not terrible trip into Portland as the Pearl District is on this side of the rivers. I park in the garage under Whole Foods. I take the elevator with my parking ticket (and lose it) and head to Powell’s.

Outside Powell’s City of Books location, a man is selling his book, and I pay $20 in cash for a copy. He signs it for me. After that, I headed into the temple of printed paper knowledge, reportedly slightly haunted by the previous owner and former angry employees who can’t quite pass on. I saw no ghosts, but I did recognize that the old occult section had been revised to crime, and the occult books were away from the haunted corner near the religion section. I was looking at Greek bible books and found an excellent concordance that I decided I could pass on now (the Internet is an excellent concordance), but this one did cover the Early Church Fathers, which I seldom see referenced in my Google searches. I might be back (sold ‘as-is’ for $20).

(Notice that AI is now near Hobby stuff–I agree)

Lately, I have found myself reading more Greek New Testament writings. I gave my Hebrew stuff away as I seldom used it. I have my Greek-English books and various translations (KJ, RSV, NRSV, Tyndale, Philips, and some others). The Internet makes this work easier now, but it is hard to know if your search shows you everything you need. And some jokers could mess with a source, and few would know. I find that I agree with NRSV most, but sometimes it tries to recall the KJ, and this can make it, I think, miss. I had to translate my own Revelations once, as I thought the KJ translation was just plain wrong.

Rev 22, according to Wild: “And he, the angel, points out to me a river of living water glowing like crystal sent forth from the throne of God and Lamb.”

Leaving the haunted floor, I found a book about moving from London to live in Casablanca, and a follow-up book continued the story. I bought the first one (used) and a book on Absinthe. I resisted any new cookbooks; there was a coffee table-sized India-style book that I dared not open the cover. I will stick to my 666 Curries by the late Raghavan Iyer. I would send pictures of my attempts to his X account, and he would praise them. I miss him! His colon cancer spread as it was detected late and ended his life. As I survived colon cancer (so far), his loss hurts.

I headed to Deschutes down the street, stopping by the Armory to get next season’s flyer. Yes, they are doing Sweeney Todd, and maybe they can set it in the protests for 2020-2022 in Portland. “The Worst Pies in Portland” would get me singing along. Likely, they will follow the usual London setting.

I had a Black Butte Porter and deviled eggs. That was more beer than I am used to. I read for a while and then had a nice chat with a tourist who sells roofing supplies. We were on opposite sides politically, but we agreed about the lack of service and caring, the drive for profits over the longer-term survivability of a business, and the loss of pro-customer thinking. It was nice to chat about anything that does not include the words Biden or Trump.

I needed to walk, and the hot sun felt good. I walked the tourist areas of the Pearl and back. There was some shade here, and it was from buildings. I was surprised by how the food joints had changed and that some of the high-end but not necessarily good places still survived. I will have to be back, maybe with Z and Dondrea, and try some of the less-dressed places. I managed to hit 3,000 steps and was at Screen Door as they opened at 4:30.

I took a stool at the bar at Screen Door and told folks I was not in a hurry as they continued to open. I ordered coffee and pecan pie. The pie was excellently made with a little chocolate and homemade whipped cream with a hint of vanilla. I ate it slowly and watched. The seat I took looks into the kitchen, and all the food must pass by it (I take one seat as I then avoid dodging the food). It has a great view and is perfect with pie.

I watched the waitstaff get their items and then wait impatiently for corrections and additions missed by the cooks. The cooks are flying, and often, the manager inside has to make a few fixes. I noticed the manager point out which direction to point the plate at the customer to the waitstaff. Excellent!

I headed home and realized I did not have my ticket for Air Volvo. I asked security, and they told me to head past the gates and reach the next set where a person could help me. I followed directions in Air Volvo and was surprised that parking was free. Nice!

I returned home to the Volvo Cave without incident or much traffic, except for the short bit to get into the 26 tunnel. There, I watched two episodes of Season Two of House of Dragon. It picked up where it left off in Season One. I like the special effects and the grand vistas, but the plot is brutal and dark or, in other words, usual for the show. While I can’t recommend it, I could barely stop at two episodes! It is very addictive.

I finished the dishes that had languished in the washing machine and sink. I also folded and put away all the laundry that had accumulated for too long. The depression had faded, but it might have held on to me longer than I thought—I do not usually let laundry and dishes languish. Again, I feel for those who face depression for longer episodes.

I took out graph paper, read through my Dungeons and Dragons adventure, and finally drew a first draft map. I will use the draft to create a map I can scan and put in the finished document. It is the last thing remaining to complete the initial work. I am considering contacting some artists to draw a cover and add a few images to the text. I saw that AI-generate art has to be called out in DriveThruRPG now and appears to be a handicap for sales.

I went to bed after taking a shower. I read until late. When I finally decided to sleep, I used the last of my eye grease, squeezing out the last bits.

Thanks for reading!

 

Monday started with me rising after 7. I had slept all night and woke early as I had to get Air Volvo to a local auto repair shop within walking distance of the Volvo Cave: TV Highway Automotive. The local Volvo dealership could not provide service until September. I would need to try the locals. The shop was highly rated online (meaning very little). They had run a diagnostic and said that the Air Volvo was driveable and said to bring it on Monday.

I quickly ate a banana and had half a cup of coffee. I checked the news, which was mostly political and uninteresting. My Quicken setup downloaded all the transactions, and I saw that my Ford (F) stock was improving. Ford’s regular stock pays over a 4% dividend (as the price goes up, the dividend percentage reduces) and is appreciating (finally!) as I think Ford has finished finding new ways to screw up. However, Tesla’s ugly silver truck was reported to be out-selling Ford’s electric truck, and I also read that Michigan reduced its corporate welfare (my words) payments to Ford after Ford announced that it would reduce the output of its new battery plant. Be warned, if you are enchanted with Ford stock after my summary, it is not a risk-free investment by any measure.

I collected my walking gear and laptop, boarded Air Volvo, and took the short trip to the repair shop. I filled out a new customer form, and Alex took over Air Volvo and landed it in a bay to work on. I found a chair in the tiny lobby, took a stool that was not in use and planted my laptop on it. I used my phone as a hotspot for Internet access. I prefer to use that than acquiring some Wi-Fi, which may be a hacker’s paradise. My phone signal was weak, so I did have a slow connection, but I could make it work.

Aside: Get the hotspot technology working on your phone when you travel and use it instead of hotel or other friendly Wi-Fi connections. The risk of grabbing some fast, unknown Wi-Fi and being hacked is too great now.

The repair shop’s staff let me know that they were having trouble isolating the issue and would need to start charging me for the diagnosis work. I agreed. They went on to say that getting parts for the Volvo was hard and may take some time (another supply chain issue) and that the parts were expensive. I smiled; they did not want to charge me for high-cost repairs and parts, and I told them if you own that, pointing at Air Volvo, you pay a lot, and I agreed and understood. They laughed with me.

They next did a smoke test, looking for an air/exhaust leak. They pumped smoke into the engine. The staff told me to see this. Smoke was whispy and coming around a round cup-like item on top of Air Volvo’s engine. It was the first time I had seen under the hood–I am not a car guy. We talked about it, and a new part would be ordered for the leaking cup, new spark plugs would be installed, and an oil change would be done. This should cover the unlikely problem that a bad plug was a secondary cause (65K miles on the plugs was enough). Two hours later, the engine light was gone, and the problem was solved. The o-ring on the oil fill cap was the problem, f**k. TV Highway Automotive staff apologized for the $43 charge for the new oil fill cap, as the o-ring was a precise size and could only be acquired with a new cap. I escaped with less than a $700 charge–a light bill for Air Volvo.

I drove to Carl’s Jr and had a celebration Western Burger, but I could not finish it. Next, I headed to Reedville Creek Park and managed to put three loops in. I was stiff from sitting and also tired from all the standing yesterday when I cooked the hotdogs for church. I could not do the last loop in the heat and back pain. I tried walking a loop, reading a chapter, and restarting the walking. The heat and back pain had me stop. I would reach 4,000+ steps for the day.

I did travel to a nearby Lowe’s and walked through it to find tankless water heaters. I want to convert the bathroom, which is far from the natural gas water heater to something fast and efficient. I have to run the sinks and showers for a while to get hot water. It seems a terrible waste (the Machine and new dishwasher are not far from the existing hot water). This would mean getting 220V lines there and revising the plumbing. It is not that I have drunk the EV kool-aide (which is what my Republican readers are thinking), but I hate to waste water, and I like the showers hot. I am aware that there will never be a payback for this change. I believe that the tax credits have expired. This was a “just looking” moment on house upgrades.

Tired but enjoying having Air Volvo back and feeling that it was running slightly better, I returned to the Volvo Cave. I rested and read for a while. Depression rose.

Depression, for me, is the feeling of deep sadness that has no source and, thereby, no fix. My mind becomes deeply sad, and everything is now discolored or colorless by this deep sadness. Many people suffer from this much more often and may be facing depression every day. And while I do not welcome it, I am now blessed to understand depression and why it has devastated so many lives. My depression started after cancer and may be the result of the drugs or just the stress. Brain surgery and the trauma of healing are also likely a cause. It is transitory and soon fades. It leaves me frightened as I can’t predict it, and I am terrified it will stay.

I understand that there are certain self-made chemicals (dopamine comes to mind) that help us stay balanced and happy. People (and now possibly myself) develop a deficiency in the production of these chemicals, and depression comes. If my condition worsens and the sadness becomes part of my days, I will get help. Please have sympathy for those who face their own personal darkness.

Returning to the story, I am out of eye night grease (yes, grease) that keeps my left eye safe when I sleep (it may not close completely). I head to the nearby Walgreens, and they are not restocking their eye items, f**k. I find something like what I use and pay too much for it. The cash register guy suggests I join their club to get a better price. I do. I saved three dollars (or I would say I was being overcharged by $3 to keep my privacy–f**king evil corporations). I grab my stuff (including old-fashioned graph paper to draw a map of one of my Dungeon and Dragons adventures), and then the clerk runs out after me and hands me my phone. In our current world of corporate overreach, we humans need to look out for ourselves, and I thank him. It makes his day, I think, to help someone.

The Aloha Carts are there in the drug store parking lot, and I stop by Bombay Chaat House, and the gals are happy to see me. “Michael, we have missed you,” was their response to my order. I explained that I was trying to lose weight and that eating out was not good for that. They agree, and I learn that they, too, are fighting weight gain. We chat about walking and traveling and walking.

Soon, I had all of the veggie Indian-style food with a chai, which was so hot I could not hold the cup without a napkin. I let it cool and then enjoy it. A pair of forty-something women are loudly discussing job interviewing and layoff issues. I try to ignore them (wishing I had brought noise-canceling headphones); I want to give them their privacy. I eat, start writing, and stay for a few hours. The food, the friendly humans, and the work make the depression fade and then disappear.

I head to the Wildwood Taphouse and soon order a beer “dark like my life.” JR is there, and he suggests the best of the dark–not sweet. JR and I catch up, having not seen each other in months. This is my second visit to the taphouse since my surgery (it is hard to lose weight if one is enjoying their excellent beer products more than once a week!). I share some of my experiences and learnings from certain events that JR shared. I don’t tell other people’s stories here.

I wrote more, found my groove, and made some improvements to my Dungeons and Dragons adventure. I also changed the version number and saved a new version. I do this to protect myself from loss and to recover anything I decide later was a poor change; an undo button, if you like. I am no longer just editing and fixing mistakes. In a 19K word 30-page document that is quite technical, the mistakes are manifold and require long hours to find them all and correct them (and correct the fumbled corrections), and it took long hours to get the document this clean. I am improving and clarifying the process of running the adventure. I include boxes of text that cover how the adventure played and suggest changes for the Dungeon Master (DM, the person who runs the adventure as opposed to running a character in the adventure). I need some drawings of the complex to finish this. I might contact an artist to make a cool cover for it and maybe a few scenes from inside.

I wrote and revised it for a couple of hours. When I am running, I can handle the complexity, but it does not really add more to the player’s experience. I dropped the complexity from the text, and this will make the adventure easier to execute.

I paid my bill after having some chips and salsa and a glass of water. I am not used to heavy beers, and the water and the chips help. I headed out after chatting with JR some more. Air Volvo got me home without the engine check light reappearing. Excellent.

I read Maisie Dobbs, the final book of the series. I noticed the author reintroducing the past for those who have read the previous fifteen books and providing one more mystery for Ms. Dobbs after her retirement (now Mrs. Scott in the stories) to solve at the end of WW2. I am apprehensive while reading as the author, Jacqueline Winspear, has killed or wounded her supporting characters in previous books, and one of them has already expired in this book. Will Maisie pass like Hercule Poirot to end the series with the last words being in an explanatory letter? What will happen to her adopted daughter? It is hard to read when you know there is a sword hanging above–this is the last book.

I do like the execution and the mix of characters. Ms. Dobbs’ stories, while often telling what she is thinking, are not completely in the first person. I would carefully look at these books if I started to write a detective novel. The mix of narration and self-reflection seems perfect to me. The use of many and varied supporting characters is more true to life and prevents the creation of a superhuman-powered person like Sherlock Holmes or Poirot with his “little gray cells.” Recommended (some books more than others).

Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache’s murder/crime novels, set in the present, are my current favorites.

Later, I discovered that the new eye grease at Walgreens is not the right stuff–more drops than goo. I used it anyway, and it helped some. I will visit other, hopefully restocking pharmacies for more of the correct product.

My plans for Tuesday were to donate Susie’s wedding dress to Brides for a Cause, but they no longer take older dresses. I know Susie would have loved the idea that her 1990 wedding dress and hats were headed to people who would reuse them, but alas, that will not happen on Tuesday. I will look for other solutions.

I read and soon was asleep. I dreamed of being back at Nike, and all the family folks, including Susie and Dad, were there for a BBQ at the WHQ. The food was awful, but everyone was still having a good time.

Thanks for reading.

I had to get going early and rush the blog writing. I was tapped to grill hot dogs for First United Methodist Church in Beaverton next to the fountain and the Farmer’s market. I was up with my phone alarm at 7AM. I am retired, and I have no need for alarms. I usually just rise when I feel it is time to start my morning. Often, the sunrise wakes me, but then I go back to sleep.

Coffee and a slightly aging berry and cheese Danish was breakfast. I had purchased the Danish from La Provence Boulangerie & Patisserie at Orenco Station, an unequaled bakery, and even older, it was still better than most. I ate those while banging out another blog entry on my Apple. With limited time, I stayed to the events and skipped any boiler pieces and commentary. I was still over 800 words as time was running out. I published it all, overflowing my time limit by fifteen minutes. It was a conservative every-thing-breaks planning time limit. As my grill was already moved to the church, my only concern was that the grill still worked, the gas tanks were there, and folks actually had hot dogs to cook. Any of these failures would require at least an hour to recover. You, dear reader, may think I am overthinking this, but I have seen these challenges at church events. The only fix is to be early and have enough time to overcome the issues.

I cleaned up and dressed in Air Force Ones and my usual LL Bean pants, but now I have added a white dress shirt, pride tie, and sweater vest. I also have my blue-striped cooking apron and brought a bright orange Zbar’s apron that came in a gift box (I think it was from the Smiths) for Z. Z agreed to help cook.

When I arrived after nine, the Praise Band was practicing in the sanctuary. Z (Dondrea brings Z to church, usually early, as Dondrea is the worship leader) was frustrated in her attempt to make coffee because the filters were missing. We found the grill and tanks, and I dragged them outside and connected everything. Lemonade was made so the church members would get a chance to decaffeinate with lemonade.

The moving process knocked about the splash and grill plates. I put them back and lighted the grill, and everything worked. Now, I was just too early. Z and I saw that the church service was going by unusually fast. I lit the grill and set it on to the maximum to burn off any oils from previous food.

We found the pack of hot dogs, two packs of 24, and opened one. We also had two packs of Polish dogs, 12 to a pack. I turned down the grill, and we started the process. Z learned that you just roll the dogs. Z also learned that reaching over a very hot grill with metal could get hot fast! She used a long-handled flipper after that. We pushed the dogs to get grill marks on each side and some small burn marks here and there. We did not cinder anything or drop any.

We got the Polish dogs and started rolling them. Soon, those were cooked. Pastor Ken had spent some time covering the attempted assassination of former President Trump and America’s painful history of assassinations. There are so many assassins that Off-Broadway did a musical of the presidential assassins: Assassins. The church service finished later than we expected.

Z and I grabbed the hot dogs already cooked and returned them to the grill.  We sent them to the now crowd hot. Z got the next batch of hot dogs (we did not cook the second pack of Polish Dogs as there was plenty already). The grill was now cooler, and Z did not experience hot-handed moments; it was more comfortable cooking. Z rolled the dogs until the grill marks and a few burn marks made them extra delicious, and soon we were done. I turned off the grill and left it open to cool. I detached the gas tank and moved it inside (a tempting theft target, and it best not to have them where crazy people could find them).

I had a hot dog and enjoyed chatting with Ashley, Andrew, Dondrea, and Z as we sat together. We had dinner and games the day before. The grill would be returned after it cooled down. I cannot lift it due to restrictions from my brain surgery, and my balance issues are best not tested by lifting a heavy gas grill anyway.

I returned home, changed into cooler clothing, and rested. That evening, I woke up and started preparing for my Dungeons and Dragons 5E game. My character turned good and to the domain of light, which meant all new abilities and spells. I had to learn them. I thought I had a handle on it, but I still had to look up some things.

The game was that evening, and soon, Air Volvo, still with a check engine light, carried me to Matt’s. Matt grilled hamburgers and served salad with them. Matt had used his 3D dungeon-building skills to make a spectacular play area. We are now on the 14th level, and soon, we will face powerful demons represented by figures six inches tall. We are at the level where really scary-looking things are placed on the gaming table.

My character has a very high armor class and is a cleric of light and, thus, was mostly blasting things. We had to withdraw once (I was unconscious). We regrouped and got some help and went back and used better tactics for an all-out demon-filled dungeon fight. We found more bad demonic company; I will not cover the details as this is published material. We fought all evening and finally won.

I returned home in Air Volvo after talking to Scott about tactics and options. There are only four players in our group (five being the usual number), and we are not organized for dungeon crawls. We will see if we can make some improvements.

I was tired from a long day. After a shower, I read and fell asleep in bed. Thanks for reading!

I am writing this Sunday morning, and I am time-boxed as I am cooking for the church this morning. I will cover only some events, and I will go backward as there is less going on in the morning.

Former President Trump was shot today at a rally in Pennsylvania. I was following events of that terrible happening all early evening and night. I imagine nearly everyone in the USA was following.

I arrived in Air Volvo at the Volvo Cave as the clock told me Saturday was over and Sunday had started; it was past midnight when I quickly got into my PJs and tried to sleep. The excitement of playing Wyrmspan made it a little hard to find sleep, but I soon nodded off.

Ashley and Andrew had invited the DMZ (Dondrea, Michael–me, and Z) to dinner and games at their apartment in Slabtown, Portland. According to Ashley, this is “Little California” in NW Portland. I had not been in this area in years (before the pandemic), and the dive bars were gone. It was clearly upscale and gentrified. The crowd on the street looked young and reminded me of Hell’s Kitchen in NYC, an area that had changed from scary to hip.

Ashley and Andrew had made a wonderful Hawian-style dinner of bits of chicken cooked in hot oil marinated in a flour mix. Salad, a pasta salad, and rice finished this out. Spicy sauces were available for the chicken. Dondrea brought some sparkling wine and fresh pineapple. I bought the games.

We got out the board game Wyrmspan after dinner. This would be a five-player game, and Ashley had not played before, and Dondrea had only played once. I taught the game, and this made the game seem filled with complex rules and processes, but the play in Wyrnspan just flows and is easy to follow, and soon Ashley did not need much help, and Dondrea would pull ahead and become the person to catch. Z stalled and was not much of a threat. Andrew appeared to pull ahead like Dondrea.

I helped Ashley and others to make better decisions as the game was new to them. Z found (as I did) that with five players, those excellent cards on display seldom make it around to you! Dondrea, Z, and Ashley completed a row (the gold one) of dragons and used that to get many cards. I completed only one row, but I was the first player to complete three columns (unfortunately, the Dragon Guild scoring for columns was filled before I could get it, losing me nine points!). Andrew would do this for nine points, as he did get the scoring bonus. I learned that by having three good rows, but not complete rows, and not spending on the last excavation column, I could play more dragons, and exploring all my caves gave me a balanced set of resources and cards. This took me to first place, with Dondrea nearly catching me; Ashley was next in points. Andrew was ahead of Z, who had little luck in this play (that happens to me sometimes). Everyone had a good time, and everyone liked the game.

Moving to the afternoon, I received my COBRA paperwork from Nike in snail mail (instead of email!), and I immediately filled out the form to resume my medical coverage for about $750 a month. My severance package has Nike paying for the first six months of COBRA (June-December), and then I can pay the cost and get another year of coverage. I looked through the papers and read some. There is small print and lots of pages trying to say you might have better options on the Marketplace via what we usually call Obamacare. With me recovering from brain surgery, it did seem to be the best time to start shopping for insurance!

I used my new Epson tank color printer to scan my signed application for coverage (effective and backdated to 1 July 2024). I emailed the forms to Wageworks (now called HealthEquity), which is apparently running Nike’s Healthcare coverage purchases. I was distressed that my healthcare coverage lapsed while this process was running and then will be made effective without loss once I get these forms in and accepted.

I received my quarterly statement on Susie’s IRA, which is higher and doing well. This IRA uses the PAX fund (now IMPAX), which was the first socially responsible mutual fund. It was created by some Methodists in Washinton, D.C., to give folks a place to invest in small amounts and follow the Methodist Church’s traditions for not investing in guns or “sin” companies. It was also a balanced fund and included a mix of equities and bonds to reduce the risk (but often did not rise as fast as other funds and often did not fall as fast). The PAX was beat up by the double hit of the Great Recession that managed to crash bonds and equities prices at the same time. As it was in an IRA, we road out the pain, and now PAX has returned to the slow rise, and with socially responsible investing more popular, the rise is accelerating. I am tempted to roll over my 401K to PAX.

I managed to find time (but the blog was not finished until almost noon) to travel to Reedville Creek Park and walk four loops, with the last loop being hard to finish. I was late, and the sun was hot. The park was busy, with many folks walking or running the loop. I completed 4K steps.

One group was curious. A group of six Asian men was sitting on a bench (one was standing, as there was no room for all of them), all furious, tapping on their phones. They did not look up or talk to each other; they showed no emotions other than extreme attention to their phones. They would then rise as a group. Walk slowly on the loop, still looking only at their phones, and then sit at another bench with one guy standing. They would later rise and walk back to the previous bench, never stopping the tapping and only looking at their phones. I thought it was very Alice in Wonderland or The Matrix.

I rose later, around 8AM, and went slow with many interruptions.

And I will stop there as I am reaching my time limit. Thanks for reading!

I rose before 8 and ran my Quicken updates. It polls all my active accounts and downloads transactions. It makes an attempt to assign the transaction to a category (think of a GL account using names, not numbers). I then review them and correct the transactions; I then re-review all transactions at month-end and make corrections. There, in US Bank, was my severance payment of 48 weeks pay with taxes withheld using my W-4 settings. Excellent. I had set my W-4, after Susie’s passing, to “Single” with few deductions as Trump’s changes to SALT (State And Local Taxes) meant I would be back to the standard deduction. Trump’s tax cuts for corporations were paid for by putting limits on SALT deductions, costing folks like me, with house interest and medium to high local taxes, to lose the equivalent of $2,000 and more some years of Federal refund every year when filing with the standard deduction.

Aside: For my Republican friends who dismissed my tax information as political, SALT changes were made in a process called reconciliation that required no increase in the deficit. Thus, the SALT changes had to be made to pay for the corporate tax rate. This process, reconciliation, was used by Trump and his congressional allies as there were not 60 votes in the Senate to allow for a deficient increasing tax cut. As a taxpayer in a high-tax state, I was impacted, and I regret the loss, but I do give Trump credit for completing these campaign promises. Thus, I set my W-4 to assume the worst, and so far, there has been no repeal, and I will likely pay the worst case. Golf clap to Trump and his allies.

I wrote the blog slowly, read the news, and checked in on Mom Wild, who is in the hospital (I will keep her status private) in Lansing, Michigan. Linda and I chatted by text and later on the phone. We decided that I would remain here in Oregon and continue my recovery. Linda is rightfully worried that the travel would be too much for me; I am still only up to 5,000 steps (which is less than the usual for a flight and airport walking). I spent the day going slow and using Air Volvo (with a check engine light) for short trips.

Charlotte called, and I am tapped to cook hot dogs for the church this weekend. She were wondering about that (Charlotte was calling the wrong number and finally reached me on Thursday). I cannot move my gas grill (I have balance issues and limits to what I can lift). Charlotte will have her husband and someone else come and get it. They will deliver it to the church and return afterward. I agreed, but I was not sure I would be at the house when they came.

After the call, I washed the grill, disconnected the gas, and cleared a path for folks to carry it out. I did the cleaning in my PJs, dressed, moved stuff, and then tossed an old hose. I bought all the new hoses in the spring but did not have to use them until the summer.

I finished the blog around 11 with all of these interruptions at 1,200+ words—more than I was expecting. However, Thursday (I was writing the blog in the morning again and getting to bed earlier) was more chaotic than I remembered when I started the blog (thinking I would be lucky to make 500). I begin to remember as I write. If I take my time, I discover memories of events of the previous day I missed and add them to the blog, going back to place them in the proper order. I try to make the story tell a continuous and well-organized tale, but often, it is a jumble in my memory, like a poorly edited documentary with parts missing. I next fix wooden and incorrect wording. Grammarly is good at this and then rewrites my sentences to mean something completely different. F**king annoying and hard to spot (for example, it wants to replace in this sentence “F**king” with “It is,” which is definitely not the emotion I want). I make a strong effort to remove Dryer’s forbidden words, which, sadly, the AI in Grammarly likes to use.

I headed out to Reedville Creek Park and walked my loop for 4,000+ steps. It was harder than the day before, and I struggled to finish the fourth go-around. As I was later in the day, I did not recognize anyone, and there was a mother and daughter practicing softball, with the daughter making some good hits. The park has tennis courts, a baseball diamond, and a large grass field for soccer and setting up other games. There is a cement curvy and wavy skateboarding area, too. A most excellent park. Sadly, I have not seen the county or city adding these parks to new areas. We are just building more and more houses with tiny lawns and miniature parks in drainage areas. Not enough.

After walking, I head to La Provence Boulangerie & Patisserie at Orenco Station. This was once a favorite, and I would take Susie or bring her back French Onion Soup if she wanted to sleep in. I would have a glass of wine and have some wonderful French-style breakfast or go for the most decadent sandwich, a Monte Cristo. It was no longer breakfast time, so I ordered a gin and tonic (it is my summer drink since the janitors of the Kronheim Companies told me it is the only proper drink in the hot Maryland summers back in the late 1990s).

I ordered a Monte Cristo from the bartender, Marko. He later brought me a box for a quarter of the wonderfully made sandwich, which I will keep for lunch on Saturday. I am sitting at the bar (most folks are outside) and watching a Thor movie while I eat (without sound).

I finished most of my sandwich, and Marko got me extra jam to take home. Yes, you put jam on the sandwich—if you are in, you need to go all the way! I stopped by after paying to get a croissant to take home and a cheese and berry Danish (breakfast for two days). This bakery is unmatched in the Beaverton Area. I next do some catch-up grocery shopping at the New Seasons. I get some sausage, freshly made, and non-cured bacon. I pick up bananas and a few other items.

I get this all home with Air Volvo still holding together (the engine light issue is OK to drive for a while). I put away the stuff and read. I nap. While I am asleep, the grill disappears, and my trash contains are moved back for me. I assume my grill is at the church now.

As I wrote, I woke up and discovered the grill was gone. I decided to make jambalaya from a box mix with bacon and two types of sausage I acquired at New Seasons. I also made a spicy rice and meat-only version with onion, pepper, and celery as the base (the Trinty) and garlic (the Pope). I bought the movie Twister on Apple for $4.99. I used 1/2 of the meats from New Season and cooked it all until shiny and good. I add the box mix with water and cook that on a simmer for 25 minutes.

I can taste the mix, and it is very hot and spicy. This is new, as the thrush infection from the effects of the surgery had robbed me of my taste. It is coming back (or the food is so spicy it can’t be ignored). I am grateful for dinner and for tasting it. I watch the rest of the movie. It seems dated and artificial–the love angle is not that interesting; the last time I saw it, I was flying in 1996 from Maryland to Oregon (for my move to Oregon). It’s not a film to watch with turbulence!

I head to bed early and read after a shower. I finish The Mimicking of Known Successes (The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti Book 1) on my Kindle. This is a strange mix of detective and sci-fi. It is a first-person narrative in the distant future in a colony of humans using a gas giant as a new home–the earth is unhabitable. The narrative assumes you know this future and its technology. I find I am at a loss to understand some events until later. I read this book on and off for six months. Reading three or more books while slowly reading this one. It was better in the second half, or my attention focused on it, so I would say it was OK, and my rating includes a tough time with brain surgery. I will try the next one in a few months and see if I like it; then, I will give a recommendation or not.

I slept after that, waking once for proof of hydration.

Thanks for reading.