Author: alohawild

I managed to rise around 8 and have liberal coffee and a banana. All the driving and gaming yesterday had me a little worn. I then cleaned up and dressed and headed out to Reedville Creek Park and walked about 2,200 steps on the track there, three loops. I felt better after the second loop and could have done one more, but I thought it best to stop before I started to hurt. I posted on Facebook and received quite a few positive comments. I am not doing this alone!

I returned to Air Volvo and soon was writing for hours as Friday was a busy day. I also was texting friends and surfing, so my focus was not on getting anything done at any particular time. Much of the discussion texting was about the 90+ (and soon 100+) temperatures (23C and 38C). It is hot, but my house-wide AC is working and keeps the house at about 73F (22C). I set it a bit lower at night, or the house just cools as it is still cold at night. We don’t have much humidity to keep the heat here at night, and the sky is cloudless, so the heat radiates out at night.

I stayed inside and putted around the house. I did dishes and laundry (The Machine dries using an energy-efficient approach and does not need to be vented). I read more of the 70+ page introduction for Homer’s Odyssey. I watered the roses in the back; I got out the hose I bought in the winter and uncoiled it. The roses were showing some stress and burned leaves. Susie’s little tree, a dawn redwood–I think, looked OK. Last year, I thought we lost it in the heat. It turns brown in the winter.

I went out in the heat, and Air Volvo took me to Great Clips. I waited for fifteen minutes, and then Maggie got me. She told me she had been cutting hair for forty-two years. She saw the uneven growth as the surgery had shaved some of my hair and made it work. She left some longer hair on the left side to hide the scar and short hair. She managed to shorten and clean up my look, and I paid her an extra tip for managing the unbalanced growth. I had her shorten the sideburns to draw the eye away from the scar.

For dinner, I had tacos. I ate too many. I defrosted the hamburger by putting it outside. The sun did the work in an hour or so. I browned it in a non-stick frying pan (thanks, Steve), added the low-salt packet of seasoning, and when that was cooked for a while, I added a can of salsa-ready fire-roasted tomatoes. This added kick. The mix was spicy. The damage from thrush and the nerves have reduced my ability to taste. It is slowly getting better. I think it was good. I heated the shells only for seven minutes with the cheese already in them. The assembly was non-complex, with some chopped lettuce and sour cream. They seemed good. I could not stop eating them. I managed to put away about 1/2 of them in the frig later, with more than 1/2 of the meat left.

Air Volvo took me to Richard’s in NE Portland. The traffic was light (everyone was avoiding the heat), and I arrived with less than thirty minutes of travel time. The speed often hits 70 mph (112 kph) on 26, which never happens. Of course, the tunnel had its usual sudden braking-fest.

Today, we had five players: Kathleen, Loren, Chris, and Richard (plus me). We tried Obscurio, a ghost and traitor game. I was unsure if including the two competing themes would work. The rules were simple, unlike Mysterium, the ghost game I have played before, and that got my interest.

The game has one player play the ghost, or in this case, the Grimoire, a magical, non-speaking book that can give us hints on what picture we should pick. The Grimoire has a colorful picture representing the exit door. The book player then gets two random pictures to show with little pointers to help find the correct picture representing the exit. Then, the traitor player (the non-book players, called wizards, closes their eyes) sees the book’s helpful (by opening their eyes in secret) images and markers and then picks two new images from a portfolio of other images to confuse the issue. Three more random images are added. Everyone, the wizards and the unknown traitor get the six choices and then try to pick the correct image. Of course, the traitor picks the wrong one and urges others to pick it.

I am not good at these types of games, but I like them because they require different skills and push me out of my comfort zone. I see my fellow gamers overthink and miss. I, too, miss often. We lost, having been fooled by the traitor to waste our resources. We wrongly picked Kathleen as the traitor the first time. We correctly guessed Chris the second time. I liked it, but I thought the traitor and other features in the game made it hard to win.

We played two games of Planet Unknown, which is a tile-laying game. I managed to not have the lowest score twice. Richard crushed us, but Chris tried to catch him. In this game, you get tile pieces that you must use to improve your planet. There is a lazy Susan tile server. You rotate it on your turn to what you want. Everyone gets what is set in front of them. This means everyone plays every turn and has an excellent mechanism, which makes me recommend this game. My second play was better. Island of Cats may be a better game, but not having to wait makes this a good game for four and five players.

Air Volvo took us across Portland to take Kathleen home (using 205 this time instead of the street trek I took on Friday). Next, Air Volvo retraced its trip on 205 and soon reached the Volvo Cave without incident. Surprisingly, it was often above 70 mph (112 kph). Air Volvo reached 75 mph (120 kph) on 205!

I had a taco to go with my pills, which are not always pleasant without food. I then showered and went to bed, reading more of Homer’s introduction—there were ten pages left of it! I then slept and did not wake until just before sunrise to prove hydration.

Thank you for reading.

I find it strange that Friday, while it still gets me going, I no longer work, and Friday is just another day, so different.

I rose later than I had planned, surfed, and did some lazy things. I had liberal coffee and just a banana. For the holiday, my diet was full of cheeseburgers, hotdogs, and chips, and my weight was now 235. Hmmm. Just a banana. I cleaned up, dressed, and boarded Air Volvo later than I planned. I had stayed up late writing the blog, allowing me to start early on my walk in the cool morning air. I blew up that plan! While Reedville Creek Park was not busy, the cool was long gone. I was determined to get that third loop today, and my body (unlike Friday) felt better about this walking thing. I started and tipped my hat to the other walkers.

The Panther Marching Band, the local school across from the park, was practicing while the morning was not burning hot. I got a drum marching cadence to walk to. The rest of the band was elsewhere. But I remember days of marching and playing for the Wolfpack Laingsburg Marching Band, two things I was terrible at. I remember we would practice marching the streets of the town with the band leader, having us play when we passed enough startled residents. Even though I was terrible, it was still fun and a good memory.

I managed my third loop, and the rest of the band then showed up. But unlike Laingsburg’s band, they did not strike up with an audience. I left with them, still marching around the park. I got gas and had the car washed (I have a monthly pass that lets me wash the car once a day if I was so inclined).

I returned home and started on my electronic project. I am planning on trying to build an aquarium-sized submarine with video and remote control. But for my first version, I will use a diving bell version—just lowering a camera into an aquarium by remote control. I hope the small space will not attenuate the video signal enough to make it fail. A surface ship (not needing a water-tight container) will lower and raise the diving bell and drive around the surface. At least, that is the plan in my head for the first iteration.

But even before the construction of those items, I need a test platform to create the motor and servo controls. I have a space XIAO Sense (with a camera) and will use that to test. I might also go with this as a WiFi-connected device (then not having to learn Bluetooth controls), but that is a later decision. The main check for this morning is to make the power work for the XIAO, as that is a concern. According to the Seeed website, the XIAO can charge a 3.7V 750 mAh lithium battery via the C-USB connection, but I have 400 mAh and decided to use what I have. The C-USB is also a modem connection for the XIAO for the Arduino IDE, and my Apple M2 Airbook makes this work. I had trouble with the M1 and previous versions of the OS (I use 14.5).  I love this Airbook!

Aside: I checked that to match my current machine (upgrading to M3), an Airbook with a 15″ screen costs about $2,000. A 14″ screen Pro matching the Airbook costs $2200, not the previous $1,000 difference. But a 16″ screen system is $2,000 more and more to get the top line (a f**king lot more). I priced a newish Airbook 15″ at OWC with too low of memory and drives for $900. So I will enjoy mine, which is still worth $1000; I love the 24G memory with M2 with the extra cores. My M1 one struggled sometimes.

Soldering leads on a lithium battery is not without hazards. I managed that without issue. I also added pins to the holes in the tiny XIAO. This required switching to my Hako solder iron. I also got my spare hands rig to hold things. Then, I added wire strippers, wire, cutters, needlenose plyers, shrink tubes, and a heat gun, and soon, I was working my way through attaching wires to tiny pins and putting XIAO in a breadboard. I was extremely happy that my skills in soldering 5mm areas still existed. I did not burn myself, and I did not short anything. I did have to add a loop to check the tiny attachment of a lipo to the XIAO (why not an easier connection n!?) and redid it to ensure it was not shorted (a bad thing to do even at 3.7V circuits). Yes, the tooling is impressive. I used shrink tubes to prevent any shorting, which can be bad when working with Lipo batteries (fire, boom, poison gas, and very colorful).

I plugged the USB-C into the now-lipo battery-connected XIAO with an off/on switch and a spare line to power other devices at 3.7V. The used voltage is 3.3V for these devices. The four volts are used by a regulator and other protection devices. The line off of the Lipo battery cannot be shorted (back to fire, boom, etc.).

Aside: Clean, fresh water (tap) has a high resistance to electrical use: 1-5K ohms. Thus, drowning a low-voltage DC circuit in clean, fresh water will shorten but will not likely cause a battery to explode. The by-products of the short will be oxygen and hydrogen but at a non-dangerous rate. A marine (ocean or saltwater) environment is a totally different picture and would likely be unpleasant.

Everything worked (no sudden heating), and I let the XIAO run the uninteresting Blink program loaded from the Arduino IDE. I then turned on the battery (no sudden heating) and let it charge the Lipo battery. I left everything running for a while. I read more introductions to Homer (a 70+ page introduction covering all the topics I could imagine about the text). There were no issues, and after the workout of assembling all this, I decided to stop and read.

Kathleen and I revised our plans as it was too f**king hot to not have AC and selected Guardian Games to play some games. Air Volvo in the 90+ weather soon, with just some traffic, at Guardians by 2:30. There was plenty of space in the cold AC’d gaming area. I set up the solo game, Ottoman’s Sunset, with the extra time (we planned to meet about 4). This game simulates running the Ottoman Empire from 1914-1919, trying to avoid its fall. So, Sultan Wild began his odyssey of trying to hold off all the would-be invaders and keep the morale up. I had some trouble remembering the rules and suspect I had a harder time than I should have. Strangely, the Germans won a great victory on the Western Front (Verdun!), increasing morale. I managed to reach 1918 before the British and Russians took the Middle East and Caucasians from Ottoman control. The Germans sent a battleship as a gift (a true historical event) and saved me for a little longer. The morale of the Turkish people finally collapsed, and Sultan Wild was driven from the palace. Next time!

Kathleen appeared just as Sultan Wild lost. We played two Wrymspan games, with me getting lucky and getting all the end-of-game scoring dragons (and high-value) and placing them; I won by about ten points. A second game, having to move our play to a shared space as a collectible card game tournament started, was crushing for me as Kathleen scored twenty points higher than me. I made some mistakes, and Kathleen landed some excellent combinations in the last few dragons. Next, we got out Kathleen’s upgraded Quacks of Quedlinburg, and we played the two-person base game. This is a press-your-luck game, and I did blow up twice and Kathleen once. It is a fun game, and I recommend it. You need to upgrade the components to make it great (Kathleen’s game was wonderfully upgraded). I can’t claim more than dumb luck and scored a near-perfect final play, reaching the maximum with only a count of 2 for exploding and winning by just a few points. My first win in this game.

We had not had dinner, and it was approaching 8. With the hot weather, Kathleen was thinking of an ice cream shake. A local chain, Burgerville, was only a few minutes away and makes shakes by hand. I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries; Kathleen tried their excellent chicken sandwich with fries and a shake. I have played board games on their tables before; it was before the pandemic when I was last there.

Air Volvo flew us across Portland to Kathleen’s place in Milwaukee. There were no construction highway shutdowns or other events to close a bridge, so Air Volvo took 205 back (to 84-26-217-8-209-Clarion to reach home). I was soon back at the Volvo Cave.

I was tired and not willing to stay up beyond midnight to write the blog. I read and soon showered, went to bed, and then melted. I got up and set the AC to 71, and the change let me sleep (the air moved when the AC cools). I woke at 3 to prove hydration and to climb into the covers; the night was cold now.

And that takes me to now. Thanks for reading!

I woke early and before my alarm. I was up by 7 and had a simple breakfast of coffee, yogurt, and a banana. I did not have the blog to do as I had done it the night before. I headed out in Air Volvo, with my summer hat not forgotten this time, and reached Reedville Creek Park without incident. My legs and body, in general, were still reacting to the extra exercise, and I managed only two laps on the track at the park. I stick with the less risky practice to stop when it hurts.

Two gentlemen were going in the opposite direction on the same track, and I tipped my hat on each passing. I was going fast enough to pass them twice in one lap. They also took a longer lap, passing through another paved track that went by daisies and a picnic area. It was not hot yet, and there was no humidity; it was a very comfortable morning.

Someone had built a model of a lean too in the grass using local items. I remember having to do this in school, but ours was full-sized, and we learned how uncooperative green branches and leaves could be. It brought back memories of 6th-grade school lessons on survival in the woods (yes, the Laingsburg Schools of my memory were not good in college prep, but we learned survival skills). I suspect we don’t do this anymore in public schools. I still carry survival stuff in Air Volvo.

I was disappointed to only reach 2,200 steps in the park (and 3,500 for the day), but I must avoid falling or pulling something. I will go slow for now.

Air Volvo had me back home without much effort. I then returned to my build project. I took a regular 90-degree servo, a tiny 9-gram one, and disassembled it. I then used my newly acquired TS101 Smart Soldering Iron and tried to remove the tiny motor from the small control board. I destroyed the motor when it came out in pieces. I have more. I repeated the processes and managed to be more careful and succeeded in desoldering the motor without damaging it the second time.

The new soldering iron was slow and hard to control. It is also very light, and you could easily burn yourself with it if you are careless. I used my USB battery to power it; the cable was too short, which made it hard to use and unsafe. I will consider a different battery next time and a longer cable. I am not sure I like this high-tech device. It seems slow to heat to me. It is very convenient, small, and light.

I finished Piper Kerman’s Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison yesterday and was now reading a new translation of Homer, which has a huge and interesting introduction covering what we know about Homer, the story, and other interesting subjects. I like Homer and Hesiod, both from ancient Greece. I read Robert Fitzgerald’s translation in college (known for capturing some of the rhythms of the original Greek poem), and now I am trying Emily Wilson’s version, a modern language translation. 

But Piper’s book ended with her story of being suddenly dropped into the US federal government’s Con Air system. I thought the prison was evil, and the transportation and holding facilities were hurtful and unnecessarily cruel; more evil. Pop Piper is free, and the story winds up. It is recommended, but it is hard on the reader.

I headed to Matt V’s place and arrived on time for the July 4th party; I was the first person there. I stayed for burgers, chips, and a beer and chatted with many Dungeons and Dragons players. We talked about the new version coming out soon, with us hoping for a consolidation and not a new version, 5.5E. I watched a game of Grizzled (a cooperative card game based on WW1 trench warfare–I liked what I saw) and headed home at 4.

Pablo, kitty-corner from the Volvo Cave, was setting up a BBQ and fireworks. He sets off a lot of stuff, as do many folks. In recent years, it has not been as bad as it was in the past when it felt like we were in a warzone. I took a short nap as I was standing for much of the time at Matt V’s and was tired.

I got a chair, soon headed over there, sat, and had a hot dog or two and chips. The explosives were pretty and very loud. Pablo shared that he is LDS, and the missionary guys came for food later, still wearing the Eldar badges. We had a nice time, and Chris, Harper, and Chris’s mother (next door to my house) joined in watching the fireworks. I stayed for a few hours, eating more chips and watching legal and extra-legal locally purchased pyrotechnics, but the smoke and the dry air started to impact my left eye, which was still not blinking and closing properly. I thanked my host. I picked up my chair and headed back to the Volvo Cave. I took another nap; I am tired this evening.

I rose at 10 to write the blog. And that takes me to now…thanks for reading.

Today was the go-live for the big project I am no longer a part of since 20 April 2024, and I wish my friends the best. I have spent many July 4 holidays working for many companies. It seemed to be a favorite day to upgrade systems, even when I was working on the East Coast.

I slept until past 8 this Wednesday morning as I woke tired and had trouble rising. I had woken twice for proof of hydration and had only five hours of sleep at sunrise at 6. I then tried to make up the loss for two more hours. I prefer to wake up earlier, but I read a book until late and did not sleep until after midnight.

I made poached eggs on toast for breakfast before starting the blog. I had this with coffee. I wrote the blog for the morning. I also updated Quicken and checked my accounts. I printed out statements and other documents that are becoming available for June. It took all morning to cook, write, and do various other tasks.

The Howard stories at DriveThruFiction have sold 35 copies, with one brave person paying $4 once. I am not looking to get paid; I just want to share them. I am so happy that somebody read them. They are here if you want to get one. You need an account, and then they are pay-what-you-want (including zero) priced PDFs. I would recommend Howard’s Lockdown. Again, feel free to take a free copy.

After finishing the blog and a few chores, I decided to head out to Reedville Creek Park for another walk. I forgot my hat, but it started as a cool day, and the hot sun was just beginning to heat up the air. The walk on the circle track of asphalt was still comfortable. I walked fast but without risk or pain and easily made the first round. I was starting to feel it on the second round, and following PT’s advice, I stopped when it hurt. I do not want to lose my balance when tired. I was disappointed stopping at 2,500 steps (I would add another thousand to complete the day with just short of 3,500 steps), but it is best to respect my limits. I returned in Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave, and Corwin was there taking more of his stuff and loading it into his truck. Corwin was unhappy as the diagnosis of his truck’s engine was going to need an expensive repair. Corwin left, and I headed out, having to return to get my phone (I had forgotten a lot of things today). I took Air Volvo to the car wash and then used the provided vacuums to clean the floors. I decided that I was retired, and it would be better if I cleaned the car instead of paying for detailing at the dealership. It was another low-impact workout for me, too.

Next, I tried Big River Coffee, which is next to the carwash. It is a pleasant coffee house with stairs to reach the second floor. The tables are wooden with hard chairs. There are some comfy chairs, but they are not combined with a table or desk for laptops. There, enjoying an americano with caramel, I used my phone to connect to the Internet (and their connection I tested, but I prefer a secure connection I provide) and looked into how to control motors and servo motors with an Arduino. I was looking for basic control for motors, not an H-bridge complete control, which will not likely work in low voltages and tiny motors I planned to use. I wanted a transistor control and found what I was looking for. I thought I had an old-fashioned transistor, TIP120. I also ordered continuous miniature servos this morning that were delivered late in the afternoon (priced at $5 each in a pack of five).

While daydreaming, I looked at the cost of two weeks in a furnished apartment in Chicago and New Orleans. I am thinking of spending a few weeks in some US cities, not in a hotel but in a furnished apartment. I think it would be a better experience in the city. I can use public transit or Uber to get around. If a few weeks work, then I might do a month somewhere else for a year. Six months traveling in the US and six months home in the Volvo Cave. It is one of my retirement ideas. Travel forever.

I returned to the house after I finished my $6 coffee.  I searched my parts and found a TIP120 still in a RadioShack bag I must have bought years ago when looking into motor control years ago–I always buy two! Excellent. I can build the basic motor control circuit.

I read more of Orange is the New Black until it was time to head to First United Methodist Church in Beaverton, next to the fountain, the park, and the library. I arrived early (even starting late), and when Dondrea and Z arrived, I suggested we consider the fountain. However, Dondrea reminded me that she plays an electric bass, and water is a poor match for that (zap!).

Z and I played our new favorite, Wyrmspan, and pushed our limits, with the last action deciding the winner. Z was one point ahead, putting in a last dragon as her last action and holding one coin for points (literally being the winning point) that sealed the last goal for her. I thought I had her until that last dragon as I had tied her in the last goal until then. Good move, Z! The final score was 75 to 74; that coin (unused coins count as a point each) was the win!

Z and I had a few minutes before the praise band practice ended. I got Concordia from the cargo hold of Air Volvo, and we went over the Roma map, which is a new addition with significant rule changes. We are looking forward to trying it.

We said goodbye, and I headed to East Harbor Restaurant for some dinner. I got their excellent wonton soup, cheese crab wontons, and sauteed lotus root with rice to go. It was soon ready, and I enjoyed it at the Volvo Cave. I had a few bowls of soup and a small amount of the lotus root. I will have this for a few days. I ate too many cheese crab wontons (I should not have ordered them, but they are soooo good).

I did some more reading on motor control, then did the dishes and started on the blog as time was running out. I wrote the blog. It is now late, almost midnight. I plan to be up early walking as it will be hot in the afternoon, and thus, I need to write the blog tonight.

The bleeding has stopped. Today, I did not use a bandage. Better!

Thanks for reading!

 

Going backward, I went to bed near midnight as I was reading more of Piper Kerman’s Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. It is hard to put down, but it is a nearly week-by-week description of prison life, and the pacing is hard on the reader. I want it to end; it is hard to believe how broken the prison system is and how aware it is of this. Corruption is not the right word for the acceptance of treating people so cruelly; it may be evil. Dante’s version of Hell and evil becomes more clear to me. Evil may be the belief that cruel treatment must continue as there is no way to change, and thus, we must accept that as reality and participate. Awful. The book is recommended, and I assume the NetFlix show is good, too.

I showered and got into my PJs at 11, as I had been working on my project. There was no bleeding, and my weight remained unchanged at 234 pounds. My left eye still needs drops, and the left side of my mouth and taste, while improving, is still not working that well. The Bell’s palsy is slowly fading.

I was working with XIAO hardware from Seeed. These are easily programmed in my Arduino IDE, and I am very comfortable with the special version of C used in Arduino programming. I have one XIAO that uses WiFi and has a camera. This will be one XIAO with a camera that connects to WiFi to serve the video. I think I will go with the other Bluetooth one, which will control the motor, servos, and lights. Each has its own battery and charging. I am thinking first of a diving bell version. A boat above that can lower it, and this explains the two separate XIAOs. The idea is to build a smallish diving bell and lower it from a small service boat in an aquarium. This can then be rebuilt as a submarine once we get all the basics working. Due to power issues, the boat can do only one thing at a time, and likely, the boat motor can only run in one direction (using the most basic motor control with diodes and capacitors to prevent reverse power issues). There may need to be an extra power source for the boat, but that can wait.

I spent the last hours of the evening working on the project and thinking through the options (I ordered tiny 360 continuous servos while writing this). I made my dinner of a pork chop, the rest of Farmer’s Market carrots steamed, and corn on the cob boiled with butter and some salt. I made a pan sauce for the pork chop. I made dinner for one and apologized to Corwin when he showed up and smelled my dinner. I usually made him dinner, but since he moved out, I thought it would be dinner for one. He did not mind. He loaded up more stuff and continued the process of getting his stuff out of the house. The garage is mostly back to being my stuff, but the bedroom and living room still need work. Corwin surprised me by cleaning the bathroom and packing up his gear.

Before this, I cleaned off the table so I could start on my projects. I left the tools but put away the paints, figures, and brushes. I also collected various receipts and papers that have swallowed another flat surface. The paper blob is hard to resist as everything wants to give me more paper. I have most of my accounts set to paperless, but receipts and medical stuff generate endless paper. I put the paints and other items in small Amazon boxes in a space near the wall, out of direct sight. It all needs to be organized.

Before this, I headed to Reedville Creek Park, just a few miles away, and walked the walking circle twice. I wanted some safe and comfortable walking, and Susie and I used to love to visit this park. This park includes a skate park, and some young folks were lighting some loud fireworks in the fireproof cement of the skate area instead of skating (or doing fireworks in the woods and starting a fire). It being Oregon, nobody seemed to mind as there was no risk of fire, and the kids seemed enthralled.

After the walk, I went to Red Robin, thinking a bowl of chili would work. Alas, they don’t make that anymore, so I was stuck with an average Cobb salad with avocado and a half chicken breast (mostly dried out). I was tempted to order a side of fries, but I resisted (I should get golf claps for that). I gave the bartender (I had iced tea) a good rating as I paid the bill on their self-pay system. The salad was not his fault, but I regretted the $18 plus tip. I try to order things I don’t or can’t make, and I like their chili. F**k, I will make chili on Friday!

Before this, I rose at 8ish, having enjoyed multiple proofs of hydration, and sleep felt like a heavy blanket that one wanted to pull up and enjoy more. But throwing off the comfort, I rose and made a Denver omelet with frozen peppers (skipping the onions) and withholding the ham (I priced ham, and it skyrocketed in price); just the cheese, eggs, and peppers were good enough. I added to this coffee (liberal), toast with low-sugar jam, and a banana. I wrote the blog and finished before 11. Dressed and was ready for a walk.

And that takes us to the start of Tuesday…

Here is the Heaven Scent rose which was a gift from Dondrea and Z to remember Susie.

And here is the rose from Chris and Harper (next door) to remember Susie. You can see I don’t spray for aphids.

Thanks for reading.