Author: alohawild

It is not true that there is a Minions Titanic Movie. But the new movie Minion is at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), as is the current version of RMS Titanic Inc.’s display of Titanic artifacts, VR experiences, and information. Though it is easy to imagine the Minions crowding the famous movie or, more Minion-style, the older black-and-white version, A Night to Remember.

Instead, I rose around 7 to start on the blog and make coffee. I was time-boxed because Corwin was coming by at 10 (he was twenty minutes late, but I had included a thirty-minute buffer in my planning). I managed to write a short blog and get it published before 9ish, and was showered and dressed by 10. I loaded the EV with coal from the wreck of the Titanic, a model, plans, and some other items. Corwin appeared, getting only a protein bar for breakfast, and we soon crossed Beaverton and picked up Dondrea and Z after covering some of the material.

While we drove in, I covered many of the facts about the ship and the wreck. Dondrea directed me and arrived with twenty minutes to spare, parked easily, and paid Parking Kitty for a day at OMSI. We got in line, and a few minutes later, we were given paper bracelets and boarding passes. Each had the name and information on a real passenger. We carried our coal with us.

We enjoyed the displays with part of the ship’s whistle, steering gearing, and many passenger belongings recovered from the wreck. I read that the tanning process, which used many noxious chemicals back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, had lessened the deterioration of many items, including those packed in leather and even paper. Even the china recovered from the wreck and used for only a few days aboard the Titanic showed deterioration after over 100 years of exposure to saltwater and high pressure.

I learned that the water on the Titanic was not potable, and that a steward would provide you with a glass flask of water upon request. This is a time before water was drunk from taps. There was a lovely glass flask with the white-star flag cut into it. This was not something I had read anywhere and might be one of those things that would be obvious to some in 1912, but not to someone in our time.

The big piece was not in the collection, but the models and VR displays were good. It was worth the couple of hours we spent. We skipped additional costs for pictures or VR goggles and found the restaurant and soon had an excellent repast. I had the Captain’s bowl (lightly battered shrimp over steamed rice), Engineer Fries with extras for Dondrea, the First Class Burger (extra patty) for Corwin, and the Over the Side Burrito for Z. All good and not that expensive.

We were soon standing in line in a crowd for the Minion Movie on the huge screen at OMSI. We stood for about twenty minutes and entered just after the time on the tickets. We found my favorite seats mid-screen, where most of your view is the screen without moving your head. We were still stuffed and passed on popcorn.

The movie was fun, and the crowd was filled with kids who cheered every time a minion appeared or did anything. I thought the beginning was good, but the monster part dragged for me. Still, it was fun, and the credits were full of fun too. Recommended just for a laugh.

With that, we headed home. We dropped off Z and Dondrea and then returned in Air VW the Gray to home. I made dinner of steamed broccoli, lemon zest and ricotta stuffed pasta (with just a little butter), and bone-in pork chops. Corwin watched The Agency while I cooked. I read, started some laundry, and caught the show here and there (I had already seen season two). After dinner, I went to the office and worked on some church paperwork.

Corwin headed out at 10 after the conclusion of season two. I was working just short of 11. I also got a text from Richard and agreed to 9:30 in the morning on Saturday while working on the church stuff.

I completed the laundry (except the towels were still damp and let them spin in the dryer for an extra thirty minutes to be extracted on Saturday. I will fold it and put it away later. I did all the dishes and stacked many in the dishwasher to be run in the morning after my breakfast dishes are in.  I read more and soon was asleep. I woke early, 5ish, and had trouble going back to sleep but managed just before my early alarm. Hmmm.

Thanks for reading.

 

Yes, woke late, closer to 8 than 7, and coughed and sneezed my way through the morning. The pollen is harsh this year. Wow! I may have to add to my pharmaceuticals.

I skipped breakfast again, feeling that I had had enough food the night before. My weight, even with a Shake Shake caloric disaster, was down to 230. Better!

I spent the early morning paying bills, looking at bills, reading email, and all of the day-starting stuff. Since I have retired, I have used Quicken to create a daily balance of my worth. This allows me to ensure that nothing has been intercepted by unsavory people and that my money has not been raided. Retired people like me can easily be robbed of everything or a large pile. I am protecting my checking account, savings, and IRA balances with care.

Skyrizi, the injectable med for psoriasis, arrived today. I put it in the fridge and checked that paperwork. My next injection day is Friday. All set.

I wrote the blog. I was time-boxed as I had lunch with Scott W at 11:45 (it would be noon as he was running late). I talked to Deborah in the morning; it is always a pleasure to start my day with Deborah.

I managed to finish the blog, the dress, and all of that (skipping the creams since I planned to get a haircut, but that did not happen). I was soon headed to Cedar Hills McMenamins for lunch, and a beer wtih Scott W. Brad J was in Central Oregon and sent us a picture of him hiking at Maxwell Butte there, and thus would not join us.

Scott was late getting back to refuel his Jeep; I offered to pay for lunch after he had made such a large investment in gas, but he said he was OK. We talked about travel, my trip, and his adventures at home. We talked some about the market and AI. I am reading a new book on AI and, depending on what I find, may suggest it. It seems DIY-style, and that is interesting to me. I have started to skim some of it as it spends a chapter on one or two concepts, but the introduction is complete, and I admit I had forgotten some of it. I am also reading Deborah’s gift, The Humans by Matt Haig, and it is delightful. It reminds me of Douglas Adams’ stories (Matt Haig is also British). We talked about investments and our strange experience of being liberal but harvesting gains from the market. We find the AI-centered run-up unfathomable, but enjoy our returns. Bonds with the new Fed appointment and the strange rulings from the US Supreme Court make us nervous about hiding in bonds. Basically, harvest and hope.

I also arranged for the next Theology Pub next Thursday at 7 (the reservation starts at 6:30) on the 8th.

I returned home, went back out, got some more veggies, and started on the chopping for dinner. I meet Sonsee out at the 185th Veggie, and we talk a bit. She is the wife of Michael G, whom I used to work with at Nike. She is enjoying retirement. I give her one of my cards. It was good to see her.

I am making golash from a cookbook that Michael G’s family gave me for Christmas many years ago, but more stew-style with veggies. I recipe wants as many onions as there is meat. Three and a half onions (I had a half left from the chicken), carrots, potatoes, and the end of my celery are all chopped. This time, I take out the knife sharpener and run the knives through it. Better and safer!

Corwin shows up as the cooking starts, with 1 1/2 pounds of chuck cooking reduced to one-inch (or so) bits. I add the onions and garlic once that is brown. Trying not to burn anything, I add spices, tomato paste, wine, and various other goodies. It is a wonderful recipe.

Corwin puts on The Agency season two and starts binge-watching while I cook, then mostly just stirs for an hour once in a while. I even set an alarm for the stirring, as I can be easily distracted. Hank, Corwin’s dog, is there and wants to be close to me all the time. I don’t have doggie treats at the house (that will have to change), but Hank gets some food later and is happy.

I ordered tickets for our fun day with Dondrea and Z, with Corwin free to join us. I also sent my sister, who is turning a birthday this month of July, a gift (I sent a matching gift today while writing this).

I read more AI and more of the novel, and then went to bed. I fell almost immediately asleep, woke just before sunrise for the usual-you-are-older-and-have-diabetes reasons, and went back to sleep. The dreams, all faded to mist in my mind, were pleasant.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

I woke around sunrise, soon fell back asleep, and did not rise until half past seven. I found yesterday’s coffee and decided to use it for today via the microwave. I was not hungry (from a late dinner the night before) and skipped any morning food. Yes, going corporate warrior with just a cup of old coffee and a morning on my laptop.

Deborah sent me many texts and welcomed me to the morning (she is three hours ahead in Michigan). I am always happy to have someone say “good morning,” even if I type it. It is glorious to have Deborah as my girlfriend.

With my dark coffee and my laptop, if I were still employed, I would be in various Zoom meetings, reading endless emails, trying to help direct a project toward clarity and away from the usual chaos, and generally swinging unpredictably from boredom to horror to anger and back (sometimes all at the same time as multiple projects and issues would be happening). Instead, I begin with the electronic house chores and download transactions, review and file them correctly in categories in Quicken, check the status of my IRA (seemingly connected to the Straight of Hormuz status as stated by the White House, with some sudden drops as truth happens), which (for now) shows an insanely easy rise to new highs. Faith in AI, the White House claims, and strange exuberance keep stuffing my IRA with more money.

On money, it is July 1, and all the July expenses hit. I have moved them to use the Platinum AMEX instead of checking (except for the mortgage). Yes, I earn miles, and I can choose how I pay the bills. The health insurance bill is paid on the due date, car insurance is covered, and support for Mom Wild is sent. I still marvel that my max was reached with Regence (health insurance provider), and I pay almost nothing (except for the bill, which, at over $1,000, is nontrivial—$40 for dental—for the cheap plan for one!). Still, it gives me a little pleasure to be independent of any corporate entity and to keep on my PJs until lunchtime!

I have not been focused on church matters and upcoming travel, and Deborah has started asking me questions. We will have a planning moment on Sunday for the upcoming trip to Michigan. I feel a bit guilty for not being heads down on many things, but it feels good to write, play, and find my way again at home. But then I realize I have only been home for five days, including a travel day! I have medical things to take care of these days.

Which moves us to an unexpected change, the dentist’s office wants me in today for my tooth work. Tooth 12, the first bicuspid, has an old bimetal filling that needs to be replaced, and the tooth reworked to cover a wear spot that is slowly progressing toward the root. With allergy season, the idea of trying to breathe with my dentist sharing the same space that enables breathing is not thrilling to me. We agree (after a call back) to 3.

I finish the blog with many distractions of my own making, and still in my PJs, and shop veggies for my soup. I had taken the chicken bones and other remains and boiled them for hours (it was still too watery), then headed to the shower. There (having not yet heard from the dentist), I forgo some creams to allow for a haircut without exposing the cutter to the medications. Ready after all that, I head to Safeway. There, I get some items for other food projects (new yeast, for example), herbs, broth-making concentrate (to add to the soup), and noodles. I return, having tossed the veggies into the watery broth (after passing them through a screen and paper towel) and added my purchases to the mix. I cut up most of the chicken and add it. I let that get hot for 20 minutes (until it reaches a slow boil), then add the noodles. Still not great, but lots of veggies, noodles, and fresh chicken. I might have had three bowls. The rest finds its way into plastic bags, and some will likely be in the freezer soon.

I watched more old BBC shows from the 1980-90s, David Suchet’s Hercule Poirot, while I ate. I tried to relax and nodded off in my chair, but rose in time for my few-minute trip in Air VW the Gray. While it is unpleasant and the thirty minutes or so seem like hours, I focus on the fact that I like my dentist, who combines skills, humor, and a touch of cynicism that makes me comfortable (we often talk about his costs relative to his pay from insurance). I spend most of my time trying to remain calm, counting backward, and seeing how many times I can count from 100 to zero. It is important not to think about what can go wrong (someone is in my mouth with a carving tool, and an advanced Dremel) and to remember that I pay for his expertise (which is excellent), with tough moments having me try to go backward by three. I also imagine the mist and roar to be the sea and I close my eyes and think of Deborah and I walking a Caliornia boardwalk. It is the sea, not a drill, that I hear and enjoy the inner image of the waves crashing in the Pacific. The water is sea mist, and I can almost smell the salt.

And then the drilling is done, and the strange resins are applied and shaped (a bit more light drilling). All done, twenty minutes (or a day, in my experience — time runs differently in a dentist’s chair). I spoke with someone else who still does bimetal. I have discussed this with my dentist, and he believes these resins are better. He understands the use of bimetal and why it is still popular, and I agree with his opinion to use resins. He is a skilled professional, and I will follow these recommendations accordingly. In the same way, I would not let him tell me how to code or load an AI model.

I returned home, cleaned up the mess in the kitchen (it looked like the Swedish Chef had made chicken soup), sat in my chair, nodded off, and woke to a call. Corwin wants to visit, but we agree to Thursday afternoon. I get up and fold the laundry and put it away. I call M@, and we talk gaming stuff. I am thinking of running a Call of Cthulhu game at Rune & Board (if I can get a plan together and they agree) and needed to align my choices and retrieve a few items loaned to M@. We agreed to avoid the material M@ plans for early 2027 (yes, we do plan that far out), and I will pick up some Central American-based Kickstarter items I can use without covering the same area that M@ is using.

I headed to Shake Shack and had a single bacon avocado burger with fries and a Diet Coke, a caloric travesty, and watched the USA finally score the needed knock-out goal to move on to the 16. It has been a long time since the USA made it this far (2008). I was surprised to learn that Germany and Japan were out (I have been too busy to spend hours watching the games). Belgium and the USA are in the next knock-out game. Luck is all I see taking the USA forward, but the team fought hard in the game I watched, though the red card is going to hurt (f**k!).

With the crimes against my weight-loss efforts committed, I headed to First United Methodist Church in Beaverton and followed Dondrea with Z to the parking lot. Z, skipping over Scythe, Concordia, picked Raiders of Scythia (a new favorite) for today.  Z surprised me by raiding fast and furiously, remembering how I played last time and running on high-risk and reward. Z swept up the goals and raided until she ended the game with almost her whole crew “retired.” I had misplayed by not taking a wagon instead of provisions (I ended the game with a pile of provisions unused) on one turn; I knew I had done it wrong but lived with it. I could not then raid on my last turn and break Z’s point spread. I ended six points behind (I missed nine points on the raid). Lesson learned! Next time!

We finished the night playing Flip-7, with me able to be slightly more risky than Z, who had not yet picked up that with just a little more risk, Z would match me, and luck would split us then. I suspect this was my last win!

After that, we chatted for a while, and then I headed home. I had said good night to Deborah in the middle of the game with Z. It is always wonderful to start and end a day together.

I read more and soon slept. I managed to sleep through the night. I had dreams, all forgotten now, nothing scary or repetitive. I remembered waking up from a pleasant dream and needing to remember it for the blog, but alas, it is gone.

Thanks for reading, and I hope, dear reader, that you will wave to me as we pass in dreams, fellow travelers in the phantasmagoric worlds of sleep.

 

 

I finished the day in bed reading and completing the novel Radiant Star by Ann Leckie. I then started a technical book on AI for predictive processes, my interest, and will start The Humans, a gift from Deborah, as my next novel. If you like Ann Leckie’s space opera stories, this is a story that tells the results of the previous novels, and I liked it. I soon was too tired to go on and marked the start of chapter one of the technical book after reading all the “How to Use This Book” section, standard in coding and algorithm books, which this book covers both, Grokking Machine Learning.

Aside: Elon Musk appropriated the term “Grok,” and this book does not cover AI tools or large language models. Grokking is about the predictive model in AI shifting from overfitting (bad) to performing equally well on test and actual data (good).

I closed my eyes, got up, turned on the house fan to move the air (I forgot to turn it back on when I returned), and left the ceiling fan running. I slept better without waking with a headache and did not have to prove hydration, that I remember, nearly every hour like the last couple of days. The dreams came, and they were mundane wandering and traveling in locations I cannot remember. I woke late, after waking for sunrise and rolling over, and did not feel the allergy issues. Better.

I will replace the filter early and will dust and vacuum soon.

Returning to the story and moving backward, I cooked dinner late. I started around seven and had a whole chicken to cook. I sliced up onions to put on the bottom (my rack is long gone), peeled little carrots and added them whole with tops on (French style), cut up some celery (I like to eat celery cooked), and then sliced too many potatos (bad for me), and salted the 4-pound chicken and managed to fit it in the pot with all the veggies (and too many potatos). It was 100 minutes to get it done (and even then I thought it was just done). The carrots were perfect, retaining some crunch, and the potatoes were not mushy. I had mostly white meat. I have returned to watching Dave Suchet’s Hercule Poirot and tried his adventure on the Queen Mary (though I was disappointed that they did not film it on the ship, with their version being brighter than darker wood and without the thick smoke of the time period). I ate my dinner while watching the mystery, which I remembered, but it was still fun.

Before dinner was made, I watched some YouTube on ShipHappens and managed to nod off for Battleship New Jersey’s long talk about the placement of AA guns after WW2 and into the Korean War period. Yes, I could not stay awake for that and woke up after the video stopped and commercials on YouTube were blasting me awake.

Before this, I spent the afternoon and early evening at the local gaming store, Rune & Board, and played my first full game of The Plague of Dracula. This is a solo game. And I set it up and played it for hours as I tried to learn the rules; solo games, by their nature, have many rules and processes to follow. I made some mistakes, and I think next time I will get it mostly right. I need to make some helpful cards on the process and a Dracula standee to represent the bad guys’ attacks. I learned to better defend Mina and Lucy in previous short tries, and neither was turned. Mina played the whole game with a pistol and stayed with Lucy.

I found it, as I often do with solo games, at one point repetitive, and then just advanced to the end. I almost got Dracula as I was down to one ‘bite’ and Dracula to one point, but the vampire won. Next time! I will try to find another day to invest hours and hours. I often find the hours pass by unnoticed.

I nearly missed a good night with Deborah as it was late for her when I finished the game, but we did connect and ended our day together.

Before the game, I was home. I made another sandwich with plain bread for lunch in the style of a muffuletta, and before that, I wrote the blog, made a pot of coffee, dressed, and felt better, but with a headache and allergy issues. I did the usual updates and reading.

I managed to remember to get a postcard out to Mom Wild and was delighted that Highway 405 had not sent me any more demands for payment. I was worried I might have slipped into the Express Lane in error more than once on my trip in California.

Thanks for reading!

 

I rose at 7ish and crawled out of bed feeling more animated than actually alive. I nearly dumped 2x the needed coffee into the filter (returned some to the bag) and made dark, black as the night that was still clinging to me coffee, a talisman to drive off the phantoms of night — liberal coffee brings light to the darkness. All the cereal came out of the box at once. I had to put some back, much like with the coffee. At least the milk did not make a mess. I sliced a banana into my cereal with a butter knife (sharper tools would likely have led to discomfort at this point).  Ugh! My body was resisting use and wanted to return to the soft bed and continue with a vampire Monday (raising only when the sun set). But soon coffee had dispelled some of the would-be petrification, and I stripped the bed, started Monday’s laundry (Friday and Monday are my usual days for this), and managed to start the blog.

Of course, I checked out all my transactions and balances using Quicken. I have a few minor, strange items from the trip, but nothing of high value, and most are now marked as ‘Coffee.’ I watch for repeated small amounts, because if I were stealing money, that is how I would do it. But nothing like that is showing.

I am always reminded of Sherlock Holmes when I think about crime, “The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton.” Sherlock talking to Watson about their caper:

“Well, well, my dear fellow, be it so. We have shared the same room for some years, and it would be amusing if we ended by sharing the same cell. You know, Watson, I don’t mind confessing to you that I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal. This is the chance of my lifetime in that direction. See here!” He took a neat little leather case out of a drawer, and opening it he exhibited a number of shining instruments. “This is a first-class, up-to-date burgling kit, with nickel-plated jemmy, diamond-tipped glass-cutter, adaptable keys, and every modern improvement which the march of civilization demands. Here, too, is my dark lantern. Everything is in order. Have you a pair of silent shoes?”

A distant aside: Sherlock Holmes is now fully in the public domain. I even have a text copy of the complete canon. These stories have always been favorites, and my latest AI story in 2600 Magazine features Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Having the text lets me check if certain words and phrases exist in the canon when I try to imitate Doyle’s characters. My physical, fully annotated hard copy version is full of notes. You can find the above story for free online, recommended, and one of their funnest (and shortest) stories I think.

I continued to drag through the day, having to will myself to move. I managed to talk to Deborha here and there and text often, a moment when my blood turned from molasses to normal. With the blog finally done (Sunday was a busy day), I managed to shower, add all the creams to my process, and all that. The laundry is done, some on hangers, but much of it is a pile on a rug, but clean and ready to use. I will get it folded and put away when I am not animated, but alive and moving, again. Maybe Tuesday!

My new shirt (don’t ask how much) from Disney.

The mail includes a gift from California. I saw in the USPS email that Highway 405 had sent me a letter. Yes, I used the express lane on Highway 405 without a transponder or an account, though I was under the impression (delusion?) that EVs were excluded. Nope. Pay! And because I had no account and no transponder to enjoy the pleasures of this highway, 405, that was another $25+ for failing to comply, and 405 mailed me a bill. I was bemused as I had checked the Caltrans and other websites to avoid the problem, but it did not dawn on me that 405 was a separate entity and that I would soon be fated to experience 405expresslanes.com. I paid my nearly $27 for the $1.80 toll on the website (before it doubled), wished 405 well, and hoped this special transportation entity could use my cash to pay for a better warning sign: “Don’t go ‘Express’ here, Oregonians!”

I boarded Air VW the Gray and headed to lunch. I selected Happy Panda off 185th for lunch, which serves Americanized Chinese-style food but still has a decent lunch special. They also serve hot tea and hot-and-sour soup with lunch (egg drop is the other option), and I chat with the server. We talk, her name escaping me today, about my trips and the options for Disney and Universal. The other server and she later were talking about RN vs. LPN, and I suggested to them, they did not mind me being included in the discussion, that my sister and Mom Wild were well served by getting an RN. I also suggested that a Nurse Practitioner is the next option. I suggested that RN provide more options, and that gig work might be a better choice in the future economy, which seems headed toward more gig work options.

The prices are higher, but the portion size is ridiculously huge, and I asked for extra veggies for Cashew Chicken, requesting more water chestnuts and bamboo (and less celery). It was perfect (for what it is). I read my book and now feel better with some food in me.

I next headed to Trader Joe’s off of 185th and filled my cart with many excellent items, including many frozen ones. Deborah lightened the work by calling and walking me through the store to find excellent pre-made protein pancakes (they were delicious this Tuesday morning—Deborah even sent me a picture to help find them), not frozen. I filled my cart with the components for meals I envisioned making in the next few weeks and added some goodies. I did resist the cheese spreads and wine. I left with three bags and then rolled my cart to almost the end of the parking lot. I then, once the bags were in the cargo hold, took my cart and another one from a stranger and walked them across the parking lot. Trying to work the animation off and return to the living.

Next, I went to Whole Foods, which is an Amazon entity and something I try to avoid, but this local one has excellent, fresh, high-quality meats at reasonable prices that last. Too many times have I had to toss meats from other grocery stores or had my purchases seem more like investment options than food. There, I matched Trader Joe’s cost, but with one bag (three from Joe’s). I also went with a whole chicken (raw) that is about the same cost as a cooked one at Costco, but I had not made a chicken in a long time, and I felt it was a good idea. I will also make some chicken soup with it for fun. Though Joan S is right, the Winco ones taste better (for about the same $).

Deborah suggested, and I agreed, that we could watch a show together, so I headed home, unloaded, and put everything away. I had bought some cold cuts for a muffuletta-style sandwich (with regular bread) as I had the olive/veggie spread. I got tired again, the molasses filling my blood again, and took a nap instead of watching with Deborah. We later said good night. It is excellent to start and end our days together.

I made my sandwich with good-quality cold cuts from Trader Joe’s, a slice of cheese, and olive-veggie spread. It was wonderful, but the fresh warm muffuletta bread would have been better (Deborah told me the bread gives the sandwich the name, after muffin, not the olive-veggie spread). I looked up the recipe and will consider it. I watched a show, napped again, read, watched more, and napped again.

Deborah, after being in bed, reminded me that a gift had been delivered. A book, The Humans by Matt Haig, which she recommends. I was thrilled to get a book.

I had it with the tiredness, went for a walk, and felt much better. I think the days of driving had turned me more undead than alive. The movement helped, and so did doing the usual tasks of dishes, making the bed, and checking on my Kickstarter projects (trying to resist more). I soon was reading in bed.

The day passed quickly, too quickly, and I felt better by the end. Less undead and more alive. Sadly, I drank lots of water to help me through the day and enjoyed returning to the same water about every hour throughout the night!

Thanks for reading.