Author: alohawild

I woke just before my alarm, and I woke a few times. I was not ready for it to be 6:30. I sat up in bed until the alarm went off, put on my slippers, and found my way to the office. I logged into Nike and my Apple computer. I read the emails and Slack messages and looked at the news. Trump, again, entertained the press.

I padded to the kitchen and made liberal coffee in my French press and a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce). I made breakfast after emptying the dishwasher of a few dishes (I ran a small load last night) and then loaded the few dishes into the machine. I quickly washed a pan and sharp knife, which I dried and put away. I have been removing the mess in the house here and there, and I now have counter space again in the kitchen. It looks empty and strange, but I will happily get used to it.

I eat the bagel and get half a cup of coffee. It is an extra-large coffee cup that Mariah gave me to celebrate the Deathstar. She thinks I am a dark defender, which is likely more true than I would like to admit.

Soon, before the coffee is done, I am out of time. I clean up and dress. I collect my Nike laptop, two phones, and other items. My pants are now falling off all the time. I am still 252 pounds, but my shape seems to have changed, so my pants fall off. I would be much more pleased to reduce my weight below 245, which means I am going up to increase my steps; I am just getting 3,000 a day. Maybe this weekend.

I spoke to many friends from Nike who are here to work on the next go-live, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA in Nike speak) go-live. They are from the office in Holland or the Laakdal warehouse. I have just a few meetings, all Zoom.

I had lunch at the cafe, and I had the red curry chicken on rice from the pop-up chef. It was excellent. I read alone at lunch, I was grumbling after a meeting, and I was bad company. A few friends did wave.

I returned to the office to learn I had a huge box delivered to the house. Nothing I expected. I then got a call from my sister, who said she heard about my birthday present from her family and Mom Wild. Rain was coming, so off to the house for the rest of the day.

It is a heated massage chair for my 60th birthday. I’m also getting surgery, so it might be an excellent recovery item. Finally, Linda is taking over the bedroom when she is here, and the chair might work for Corwin, too, when he sleeps in the living room. It’s all good. Thanks!

While I waited for Corwin to help put the chair in the house, I ran my few laundry items in the new LG machine. It worked flawlessly, and the items were ready early in the dry cycle. I logged into my accounts, printed out the beneficiaries, and put that in my “I’m Dead Now What” book. It is best to be ready. I also transferred the money for the stock purchase program that I sold. This will cover the new appliances and my trip to Michigan. I did the last meetings while I was cooking dinner. I defrosted some ground beef and then browned it in a pan. I heated sauce from a jar while I did that. I made the little ear pasta, orecchiette, from a box, which is my favorite. I added the hot sauce to the cooked beef and let it heat up with the meat. I drained the pasta and retained 2/3 cup of the hot water that I added to the sauce as I poured over the drained pasta. I made a salad from a bag and added cheese, croutons, and unsalted roasted sunflower seeds (not the shells).

I ate this after the last meeting was completed. I must admit I might have had more than one bowl. It was a bit plain. Corwin had some; after it cooled, I locked what was left into a glass container (thanks, Glenda) with a tight lid. I suspect it will be better reheated. I then did the dishes again, unloading the ones I did this morning and adding new dirty items. I then ran that.

I put out all the containers. I am unsure if it is yard waste or recycling this week; both are full. I put them all out. I carried out more recycling later. It was just starting to mist, and later, it became rain. The sunny days ended today. The cold, clear desert nights and cloudless cold days will begin again on my birthday, Tuesday, sixty years.

At 7, I had another Zoom meeting, this Theology Pub meeting, and a church meeting. I had suggested the topic of God’s Will. We talked about the Catholic Church’s recent declaration that gender fluidity is against God’s will. We talked about AI and whether that, too, is an affront to God’s will. We were very unclear on how humankind can define what is and what is not God’s will and were uncomfortable with the statements that such and such could be an affront to God. We thought that declaring something an affront was man defining God’s role and not the other way around. It was so pointed out that gender is not declared in the bible as a gift from God but seems to be part of being human. Thus, how could gender fluidity be an affront as it is just a part of creation? Nobody in the discussion could defend, even when playing Devil’s advocate, the position that God’s Will could be defined by humankind, let alone determine that something is an affront to God. We all enjoyed the conversation.

As is the tradition, some of us had some adult beverages. I found Susie’s port collection–I used to buy her all different ports. She liked the sweaters and the cheaper ones. So, drinking some slightly past-it port, I talked theology with church friends.

I got my scissors today (I needed good cutters) and will start cutting up the t-shirts for Susie’s quilt soon. There is a service to turn t-shirts into a quilt. I held back Susie’s T-shirts from being donated. The instructions are to cut the fronts and back off of the t-shirts you want to use. You need 14 inches of material. I tried one and made a mess of it. It was one of mine I did not need anymore–so no loss. I need to go slow with more light on a flat surface. I will try to get this done this weekend. It is one of the many things left to do.

I am still updating Quicken with all my transactions. I am preparing for a business meeting with Dondrea in the next few weeks. Only five weeks are left until the surgery begins to become real. I managed to create a Google Doc and share it with Dondea. If that works, we will put updates there and share the link to the document so folks can track my progress by just reading the updates. Cool, yes?

I got an email from the Volvo Mothership, and they would like to see Air Volvo for the 5-year maintenance. I will likely do that in August. That corresponds to Nike’s bonus month. The car usually wants the money.

Thanks for reading.

Going backward, Wednesday’s gaming ended with us not finishing a board game of Furnance with Z and Corwin at First United Methodist Church in Beaverton—we ran out of time. We did complete a board game, Blood Rage, which is a dudes-on-board and resource management game. It was one of my first Kickstarter games, and I painted all the figures for the game and have most of the expansions also painted. Corwin was insanely lucky and remembered how to play the game and crushed us by nearly lapping my score of fifty and Z behind twenty points. Z seemed to enjoy the chaos that was this board game. I was teaching and managed to score at the bottom, which usually happens when I teach.

Corwin was not going to the gym or driving, so he joined us tonight. We were early and got a slice of pizza at Sizzle Pizza in Old Town Beaverton while we waited. The pizza was great, and the staff was friendly. Recommended. I should not have had that, but it looked so good. I saw another customer with a salad, and that looked great, too. Next time!

Before this, we had our first dinner at the Aloha carts. I had my usual at Bombay Chaat House—all veggie curries and garlic naan—with hot chai to drink. It was sunny and a lovely day, but the air was cold, suggesting the desert cold. So the hot drink was good. Corwin had a spicy noodle and pork soup.

Before this, I ran the new LG Laundry with one towel for the whole cycle. The install went sideways because my connection is too 1970s, so I need a plumber to upgrade it. I have called, and Crown Plumbing will come out and evaluate and plan the work on Monday. Yikes! I was hoping it was not that complex.

The old appliances are gone. It took the delivery men only a moment to clear the old ones. I then, at their suggestion, cleaned out the mess while they prepared the new one. They used a harness and strapped the appliance between them, raised it on the straps, and walked it out. Amazing! I had never seen anything like it. They said it was a new way, and I was impressed. It was simple, easy to control, and just walking. Wow!

They then refused to finish the installation and called in the incident, saying that my connection was old-school and showing some signs of rust. As this had worked for years, I was not expecting it to fail, but I did agree we should upgrade. When they left, I connected the hoses, but there was some leakage until I used a wrench. I then ran a test.

I am an IT professional, and this is a WIFI and computer-controlled device. I just booted it, added laundry soap and conditioner in the tanks (it handles how much to use), and started it. I then stopped it, put in the towel we used to clean up the mess, and ran it. I watched it the whole process. I did return to work a few times when it got boring. Having come from a family that sold these, I do actually find them interesting. The sale pitch comes to mind as I use it–sorry, old family habits. I look at the manual and stop the process a few times, cool, and restart in the same place, fun. There is an app, hmmm.

The newest WIFI-controlled device at the house also washes clothing.

Before this, I make a grilled ham and cheese for lunch, thinking about Susie as I fry the sandwich and then steam it–her favorite way. Also, I found Susie’s lost glasses, which she had replaced with her last blue-cool-looking glasses. They were under gloves and hats. I cleaned out the draw as I continued to clear areas and make the house more organized. Years of illness, COVID-19 isolation, and plain messiness have filled every space with stuff. I also found Susie’s passport, which took her to China. I will send that to Michigan with some other items next week. More stuff to Barb’s house.

I have another minor $61 account still in Susie’s name and SS# that needs to be closed and cashed. I had to call twice and work with a customer service person for twenty minutes to have them send me forms in the mail to close the account and send the cash. This was a leftover when we cashed out the account. The earnings from the mutual fund were paid after we cashed out the account years ago and left a tiny balance. Sometimes, it seems impossible to close out these investment accounts. As I inherited this investment from Susie, it will reset the value to the value on Susie’s passing, so it should not be an accounting challenge to cash it out. Just short-term earnings on the change of the value since 13 Oct 2023. It is a lot of work for $61, but it is the only way to make it disappear.

The day started with me rolling over at 6:30 and rising at 7AM. I then rose and started my day. I made liberal coffee in the French Press and had some of the corn muffins I made yesterday for breakfast. It was ridiculously sunny and nice outside.

Thanks for reading.

I decided to work from home today, Tuesday, as I had too many things to mail and take to GoodWill. I also had to get ready to replace the washer and dryer with an expensive LG gizmo that can do both. I am looking forward to having the space back and to a more efficient appliance.

I woke just before my alarm from my dreams filled with forgotten vistas and events. I cannot recall a moment of the dreams, but I did have a nightmare. I woke at 1AM and then went back to sleep. Too much coffee before bed! I did sleep well the rest of the night. I cannot remember the nightmare, but it woke me, and it took me a moment to know who I was and where I was. Nasty. But someone who writes Dungeons and Dragons and horror stories can dream something unpleasant!

I finally rose just before my alarm. I sat on the edge of the bed, looking at my slippers. I must have fallen asleep sitting as my alarm brought me back to the task at hand. Oh my, that’s not the way to start. “F**k” was my first word for this day.

I attended a few meetings, and missed one as it was added to my calendar after I stepped out. I made a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast (thanks, Joyce), as I have quite a supply available. I made liberal coffee in the French Press, my usual drink in the morning, lots and lots of coffee.

I had assembled the boxes of stuff for Susie’s Concert the day before, plus a duplicate cookbook to send back. All this was to be done at the US Post Office. I loaded it in an Air Volvo. My pants are too loose now, and I struggle to carry the boxes without losing them. I managed to succeed without any unplanned exposure, making two trips. I have clean and stripped underwear under my pants–for you wondering.

I stood in line and brought up my stack of boxes forward (I stacked them in the back of the room while I stood in line), which overwhelmed the mail clerk momentarily. Still, we worked it all out, and she was happy to help when I said I was having a second memorial for my wife in Michigan where other family members could attend. While the ice skates cost more than $900, I insured each box for $500 as that does not require a signature. Barb, Susie’s sister, should get all these on Monday.

Next, again, with the pants issues, I took some more clothing and other items to Goodwill. I also finally took Susie’s brown hat off the hook (the last one I have in the house and her backup hat) and put it in the closet. I am slowly starting to put things away.

I opened some boxes from Ben’s house that had not been opened since we sent them here–Ben was Susie’s dad and had been gone many years now. I tossed the things that were just not meaningful; I will take some of the more commercial items to Goodwill. I found all of Ben’s photos we kept. I may send them soon to Barb. I also have his WW2 metals and every letter Susie sent him. Not sure what to do yet. I found our wedding program in Ben’s stuff and some saved napkins. It made me cry; he had kept it and taken it back to Alaska and kept it with Susie’s letters.

I found a box of our stuff from Maryland that has not been looked into since we moved here. More photos and a few strange items like my Employee of the Month award as a consultant in Baltimore. I will have to dig in more on that one.

I stopped with the closet archeology and made lunch. I found a can of tuna, chopped celery, and onion and added stuff to make a good tuna fish salad. I spread that on another NYC bagel, toasted it, and covered it with cheese slices. Next, I broiled all of this. It was hot and cooked on the bagel. Sadly, I flipped it on the plate by accident and made a mess of it. Nonetheless, it was a good lunch.

I continued to follow along at work. It was a quiet day. I did the dishes, washed everything I could in the existing laundry machines, and put it away. I cleaned off the shelf above the laundry machines of old stuff and made room for the replacement.

I found the steaks (ribeyes) I bought last week and partially defrosted them just enough to separate them. I also made a Caesar salad from a bag and corn muffins from a box. Due to making dinner, I cleaned the kitchen a third time today. Laundy, doing dishes, and putting things in recycling, trash, or away seems constant today.

The recycling bin is stuffed, and the trash is stuffed—five glass things are in the bin. Yes, lots of stuff is getting done.

I held the last Zoom meeting for Nike on Tuesday on the deck, and everyone liked it. I had just finished grilling the steaks, which were beyond medium rare but not yet overdone. It’s my favorite way to cook a big steak. I imagine my neighbors, none of whom were out grilling on a perfect sunny April afternoon with me, smelling those steaks cooking. They need to get to grilling!

I eat while I rewatch the last Mission Impossible movie. I like this one. The driving chase stuff in Rome is fun. The food was great, but too much.

I put away my current SMS Derfflinger 1/700 work and carefully organized the table. I do not like to put away the model, but I want it out of harm’s way when they move the appliance on Wednesday. The model is now back in the box and in the office. Next, I slide in one of the extensions and push the table away from the laundry. Next, I fold and put away all my laundry and towels. Corwin’s clean clothing and towels are piled in a chair. There is now plenty of space to pull the laundry.

Corwin also made a path in the garage of his stuff so the new stuff could come through the garage. I wash the pans and let them dry. I finally finished everything I needed to do. I am tired tonight. I have worked non-stop.

I got a couple of items delivered today. I had to sign for one from the mailman. I purchased stickers for the board game piece of Stroganov, one of my newest games. It is an excellent improvement. I also got my new scalpels for model work. I bought 100 blades already. These came from the UK, and from what I have read, they are a pleasure to use. They are balanced and well-made. I will use them when I can get back to my models like SMS Derfflinger.

And that is when I collected the computers, moved to the office, and wrote this blog. I hope it was not too long or disorganized.

Covering some other thoughts…

A Kickstarter was delivered today, too. It contains maps of London and nearby areas in great detail, set in 1879, for the role-playing game of the same name: 1879. These maps are not sci-fi or historical fiction but an effort to redraw the London area in maps for 1879. I got a spare copy for a friend. They look great.

I still call Leta every day I can. We talked on Facetime, and Leta got to wave at the mailman. I also showed her the maps mentioned above. She loved them.

Thanks for reading.

It is 116 days since I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and I will face surgery to remove it on 20 May 2024. It is benign and slow-growing but must be removed. I have lost and will not recover my hearing or balance on my left side.

I woke just before my 6:30AM alarm on Monday morning. I had woken up a few times to vivid dreams that I cannot recall. Being Monday, I did feel more like a vampire rising than a human, starting another thrilling work week. I was not singing, “Everything is AWESOME.” I made coffee after locating the French Press disassembled in the dishwasher. Corwin thought it a good idea to wash it but did not run the dishwasher. I cleaned it, reassembled it, and summoned liberal coffee into existence by following the usual rituals. I was surprised my brain and hands could work so well together to perform these complex processes and rituals. I am a liberal cultist.

I read my usual emails (both my own and those supplied by the shoe company), read the Slack channel updates, and tried to absorb the latest news. It’s no surprise that Trump continues to dominate the news, but today, he was second to the eclipse. While I am a liberal and do not agree with his policies, the show he puts on certainly fascinates people. I enjoy reading all the legal decisions–Trump is like a legal class in obscure excuses.

I cleaned up and shaved with Harry’s blades (thanks, Steve). I was soon dressed and ready to board Air Volvo. My ride to work was uneventful, with no Flat-Earther blocking the roads and protesting the conspiracy that there was an eclipse. I was wondering if that would happen–Rep. Greene did say the eclipse was a sign from God about His displeasure with homosexuality (or something like that). So I was expecting more crazy.

Instead, all the European folks came to our building, Swift, and could not get in because their badges and passes were not working. That is right; they could not swiftly get into our building named after a product to make you go faster. Irony was going for sudtle today.

Most of my usual meetings have ended as we wait for the go-live to get closer. I am not working with the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) team this week, but I did get to say “hello” to old friends from the Laakdal warehouse, where I used to write software as a logistic coder. It was a quiet day. I researched how the SAP HANA database uses memory as it keeps surfacing in discussions.

At about 11:20, the eclipse reached 24% in our area, and the parking lot and building lights were re-lit. However, it was a grey and wet day, so we could not see the sun at all. A pin camera might have worked, but there was little light because of the clouds. Also, our eyes adjusted, so it was likely a dark time, but it was just another grey morning in Oregon to us. Again, the only hint was the parking lot and building lights restarting.

I returned in Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave to wait for some deliveries. They were there when I got there. A Kickstarter for the new board game Inventions arrived. Also, another load of NYC bagels from Joyce came; thanks!

Next, I looked at the food supplies at the house and discovered I had everything to make a good jambalaya. So I started on the trinity (onions, celery, and green pepper in equal portions) and then blessed the pan with the Pope (garlic). I left it to sweat in the pan while I cut up sausage, some spicy, and ham and raided the yet-to-bake Easter ham to get some bacon off the back. This may be an Orthodox Easter ham, and it will wait until May 8 to bake.

Once everything started to stick to the bottom of the pan, I added the out-of-the-box spices and rice. I cooked that in the oils and remaining water to get it all spicy. I added water, boiling hot from the electric kettle, and then simmered for 25 minutes to finish the rice and mix up the dried spices. I had two bowls—excellent and the closest yet to NOLA versions. It is a quest to get to an NOLA-acceptable level.

I did a few more meetings and then rested. I had nothing on for work, and I was tired, so a food coma took over. I woke at 5 and started back to work on Susie’s Concert. I packed much of what we used here for the service, except the fragile items and large stuffed animals. It was three boxes, one somewhat heavy. I will mail that to Barb, Susie’s sister, soon. I also packed a duplicate cookbook to return–Susie had arranged for it to appear every year, but I, too, ordered one, oops. Next year, I will wait for her copy to appear.

I reworked the flyer, bulletin, and instructions for the service to match the new location and new pastor.

I sent all of that out. I decided I had enough and headed to The 649 to write and have a drink. Avery was the bartender, and she got me a bourbon and ginger (they did not have Southern Comfort) to remember Susie today. I had a hummus platter after the drink (I can’t do that many hard drinks without food). Later, Avery bought me bread pudding to remember Susie and for my birthday.

With tears and happiness simultaneously, that brings me to now. Thanks for reading.

Going backward, I just started writing today’s blog after returning from Matt V’s place, where we play Dungeons and Dragons twice a month. Or lately, when we can. Matt and our players are all busy, and getting a Sunday night free for role-playing is hard. We have met for over a decade, maybe two for some of us. Matt grills beef and no-meat burgers, or nothing in the case of our vegan players who eat at home. We have a meal and play 5E, the current version of Dungeons and Dragons. There are rumors of a new version, One D&D, but it appears to be more of an extension than a replacement.

We are playing the add-on Spell Jamming, which is Fantasy mixed with Sci-Fi and involves flying ships into space in an impossible bubble of air and gravity. Tonight, we fought a new threat to our space from void space. I play the evil lawful (often known as Lawful Effective) and help blast and fight our way through a massive collection of lycanthropes. I did have to use the Remove Curse spell to prevent my cleric from joining the lycanthropes! It was a fun game, and one of us was temporarily changed into a T-Rex!

It was a fun night of gaming. We will likely get one more game before I face brain surgery on 20 May. We discussed what I was facing, and help was offered. Let’s plan for a positive outcome.

Before this, I had a late lunch with Corwin at BJ’s. The bartender, Jillian, whom I have known for years, was our waiter and bartender. I had noodles, and Corwin, my suggestion, had the prime rib. I did have a beer and a few bites of Corwin’s dessert. I took Corwin back to the Volvo Cave and rested until 4:30 when I needed to head toward Matt’s place.

Before lunch, I was at Best Buy. There, I bought an expensive laundry appliance. LG makes a washer and dryer combo. There is only one door, and it does the whole thing in a few hours. Getting rid of an appliance forever and LG’s product and lower power consumption seems a total win. The new appliance costs more than replacing the washer and dryer, installing, and hauling away. It seems the right thing to do. Neal, the sales guy, and I managed to get that ordered, and it will be delivered and installed on 10 April.

I was disappointed when I tried to replace the stove (I am unhappy with the current one, which never stays clean) as none of the ones I liked could be delivered before mid-May. Neal and I looked again, and I found a GE two-oven stove for much less that fit all my requirements. I am still not going with induction, but I am going with a smooth top and convection. I also looked at dishwashers. I looked at one, but Neal suggested an LG, and I picked one out that was also 1/2 the price I was looking at.

In the end, the lesser stove and dishwasher could be delivered and installed on 15 April, and even with haul away, it was thousands cheaper. Neal was happy to write that up.

I put extended service on the laundry, but I am unsure of that item.

Before this, I was at First United Methodist Church, and our pastor gave a lecture as chairperson for an NGO that is trying to stop human trafficking in the East on what he saw and the terrible story of human trafficking in Asia on his last trip. It was a departure as it was more of a real-world and social ill, but I think the appalling human cost he described was worth the investment. He did the slides and storytelling and showed me how to avoid scam calls. The human trafficking was for call centers, scam centers as he called them, that are stealing vast amounts of money. People are forced into crime and calling. A terrible story.

Before this, and it seems to pale against Pastor Ken’s talk, I was driving on TV Highway and saw the donut shop, made a U-turn as there was little traffic on Sunday morning, and got a donut and fifty donut holes to bring to church. Z and others were happy when I put them out before the service (even Ken had a few).

You will find Ken’s story here in our recording of the service. Recommended.

I rose at 7:30 and wrote all morning long. I was able to clean up and dress in time to get donuts. I did have a banana and liberal coffee while writing.

I slept well.

Thanks for reading!