Author: alohawild

With limited plans for Saturday, I rose with the sunrise to a gray day wtih only a hint of blue in the broken clouds. The Oregon Mist and some light rains had returned to the Greater Beaverton Area. My legs hurt a bit, and all the dust had me sneezing and taking my inhaler more. There is no game at Richard’s, and I will miss Tuesday because Deborah arrives on Monday. It was likely a quiet day with me picking up things and cleaning this and that all day.

I found the coffee made, liberal fair trade from Whole Foods. I haven’t seen any fair-trade coffee at Costco, but I keep looking (they carry it in pods, and I am thinking of switching to that when I decide to slide to one cup of coffee a day). I ordered more Equal Exchange brand coffee on Sunday.

With coffee and a banana, I headed into the office, the window now cleaned of streaks, and wrote the blog, did a few tasks, and managed to publish the blog by 10:30. I folded the laundry and got it put away. I did the dishes and then headed to BJ Brewhouse to meet Joan S. We met there for appetizers, and Joan gave me a pass to the Columbia store for Deborah and me to use. We talked about computers and our experiences in AI. We talked about house items (we both have paid for work on our homes). We spent a few hours talking and eating.

We went out in separate directions, and I headed to the bagel store, but they closed mid-afternoon, and I had crossed that line. Hmmm. Next, I headed to Costco on a Saturday. Not a pretty or calm sight. Soon, I was being hustled here and there as folks rushed and pushed to get what they needed. I find few smiles at Costco from the customers (the staff is always friendly), just intense get-it-over looks. I found sandwiches for tomorrow (for those headed to RRR with me at 2PM and three hours long). I pick up a few other items (too much cream cheese and lots of bacon). Two bags of bagels. I escaped Costco for less than $100!

I take my single box in Air VW the Gray back to the house. I unloaded and headed back out. It is after five, and I’m driving to Great Clips for an update to my look. I am looking shaggy. They remove that, leaving me looking more organized. It is even shorter than I usually get, but still, it looks better.

I am tired, and it has been a wacky day. I decide to break a rule and watch a SciFi show on the stationary bike. I am finishing the episode from last time. I also chat with Deborah before she goes to sleep. It is always good to start and end our days together.

I collect the end of the ham, just four slices, and three of sharp cheddar, and slice a bagel, toast it, and then broil the bagels (and this time not setting them on fire or carbonizing some of the bagel). I enjoy my broiled bagel, ham, and melted, slightly browned cheese. I read more of Hail Mary and really enjoy the split of the storytelling.

I head to bed early, and now I have trouble sleeping, so I read for a while. I decide not to assemble the coffee as I might sleep in with this crazy staying awake. I have to admit, I am too excited to sleep. Deborah is visiting soon. Yay! It has been six weeks since we saw each other.

At 11:45, a car alarm goes off. I hop out of bed. Grab my flashlight (the extra heavy one), turn on the lights, and walk out of the house with the light and flash it at all the cars and the street. Nobody, but if there were any shenanigans, they saw me pop out and look for them. I have two cameras still in the boxes. Hmmm. Air VW the Gray is in the garage.

I finally sleep and dream about AI and programming with Joan S giving me input, but Deborah in my dream pulls me for a walk in dream forests, I think. The dream is all blurred now. But I like this version.

Thanks for reading.

The day started with me rising with the sunrise. I was sure that when I got my pills last night, I was again recording when I take them to avoid missing a dose, and that I assembled the coffee. Nope. I made coffee. Collected the chocolate croissant I made a few days ago, a banana, and headed to the office. The cute Raspberry Pi 500 with its matching screen and mouse awaited me. So strange to be running off an SD Card. The new 500+ version, besides having, like this one, the computer board built into the keyboard and all the ports moved to the back, also includes a solid-state hard drive. It seems so extravagant after all these years of SD cards, at about $400 for everything! But mostly out of stock as folks like me cannot resist them.

Note: With me traveling about 1 out of 4 weeks last year, I have found less interest in things and more in experiences and people. Also, seeing places where history unfolded, or shipwrecks, has been a focus. I have missed some boardgame updates and some improvements in computers and AI, but I have no regrets, quite the opposite. Climbing wet and insane steps to waterfalls with Deborah in Iceland is certainly better than a new Raspberry Pi. Really.

I wrote the blog and was mostly done around 9:30, but then got distracted by doing laundry (it is Friday, laundry day), picking up a few things here and there. Deborah is coming to visit for a week on Monday (delayed by family events). Deborah, who was beset by family events, did call me before things got going, and we agreed that an upgrade for the flight was a good idea, as her week had been tough with family events, rescheduling, and even a broken doorknob.

I finished the blog, got the mail, and published it. I also watched the next installment of ShipHappens as they continue to fix up a small WW2 wooden-hulled warship. I stuck to short videos, though those geology lectures are fascinating. Makes you want to walk out to some rocks with a hammer and sign up for another degree in local geology. But that would mean giving up traveling; I will just be an armchair geologist (in the same way I climb mountains, in books).

I received the written denial of my CT scan to ensure that the colon cancer has not spread. I used to get these from UnitedHealthcare, denials of service (that is a computer joke), and I will now apply for an exception with Regence. It is frustrating as the return of the cancer, if it comes back, if quickly spotted, will likely be a quick fix or (more likely, unfortunately for those who have colon cancer) an opportunity to enjoy a quick spend-a-thon with the few years I would have left. Colon cancer once spreading is hard to fight as it responds poorly to chemotherapy; at least that was the story four years ago. There has been a ‘moon-shot’ spending from Obama, Trump’s first term, and the Biden Administration on cancer, and the treatments have drastically improved in the last five years. But not getting a CT scan seems a bad plan. My doc and I will see about getting this approved (I believe they may have mis-coded, too). The spending is being cut now by RFK and Trump 2. Hmmm. Growl.

Lunch is more fish sticks (“Fish fingers” in Doctor Who) wtih potato pancakes. All frozen products from Trader Joe’s. It just required some parchment paper on a sheet pan (technically, a 1/2-sheet pan). I had this with tarter sauce and sour cream. I read for a while. I finished up the laundry and organized a few more things.

Somewhere in the afternoon, I bake a pumpkin pie using my family’s off-the-can recipe. It is perfect and familiar. I have a warm piece and then one after dinner. Corwin has one (as does Hank the Doggie, as pumpkin is OK for them).

I also have a liberal fit and joined the Justice Department’s Freedom of Information process (you have to have a user) and filed a request on a clearly improperly redacted image from the Epstein Files (Jack had the image on Facebook). I am not good at protesting, but I can file paperwork and run tickets (ask anyone about my gate-keeping at the shoe company). My request, with the image attached, is now a FOIA request: FOIA-2026-01756. This is not my first one. I declassified some records about a relative of mine who expressed disaffection with WW2 (he was pro-Nazi), but was cleared by J. Edgar Hoover’s investigation (before he became head of the FBI and served in the Army) that he was not a spy or traitor. As a family member, I paid the cost of declassification, copies, and processing, borne by the agency that took over for the now-historic Army Counter-Intelligence Group that conducted the investigation. For the new request, I pointed out that the law already required them to release the information, but I was willing to toss in $100 if they needed it. So yes, I am raiding a tiny bit of Pam Bondi’s budget. Hee Hee. I might have more requests soon. I am retired, but I still love a good ticketing processing system (thinking of you, Tim, and your protests).

Corwin stopped by with his new dog, who seems neurotic (more cat than dog-like). The doggie ran around the house, mostly panicked that it was loose. It became happy and relaxed when on a leash. Corwin washed the windows that had been splattered when he cleaned the gutter for me a few weeks ago. So for $70, I had the vacuuming done, the toilets, sinks, mirrors, and floors mopped, and the windows are clear again. Not a bad price. Corwin, who needs $, has been hired to repeat the inside housework for $50 a week. I needed this done, and I am not finding the focus (or the desire) to clean. Corwin has asked that, at some point, I will withhold the payments and invest them for his future. Corwin, reading some investment literature, has learned the effects of compounded interest and reinvestments. He even used DRIP in the correct context. Berkshire Hathaway’s fractional investment DRIP seems to be his thought. Now there is a theory I can get behind!

Somewhere in the day, Air VW took the Gray to the local US Bank machine, got out $ for Corwin, and paid him. It was the only time I left the house, except to visit the mailbox. Corwin then dusted while I cooked. He dusted for his dinner.

Corwin looked hungry, and I had two NY Strips that needed some cooking. I had not planned this, so they had not spent the day in salt and drying in the fridge, but I could still give it a spin. I baked them at 200°F until they reached an internal temperature of 120°F. I, smoking-hot, cast-iron skillet finished them (next time I will add more salt, as a salty crust works well). Frozen green beans (again from Trader Joe’s, as I was running out of veggies). I also had frozen, oily, and lovely garlic bread from Whole Foods that I reheated to a gooey, happy mess. I have a recipe for focaccia bread and I will have to make that next time when I have better planning. Alton Brown’s NY Strip process was excellent, and no grills or broilers. I don’t have a smoker, but I am slowly leaning toward it. Alton Brown suggests smoking at low heat and to an internal temperature of 120°F. He also uses a remote sensing thermometer (my birthday is coming up; hmmm).

(NY Strip ala Alton Brown, gooey garlic bread, and green beans)

Dinner was lovely and deep into meat and protein, but I did raid the bread multiple times, ruining a high-protein diet, but it was soooo gooood. There was actually some left over. We watched, with Hank the Dog in the window on a heated blanket, finally calm but watching from his perch, more of The Agency. Corwin is not that attentive, and I call Deborah and we say good night and I let her know (after a second call) that I have a romantic hotel room in Astoria (for $75 not the $320 St V-hiked price, a nice reservation at decarli’s (always in lowercase), and even tickets to tour the only Wright House in Oregon, Gordon house in Silverton. Yes, we have a plan again.

Corwin heads out, and I do the dishes. After reading more Hail Mary, I like where this SciFi goes, and it is within known science. I am back at the Raspberry Pi and watching YouTube, and somehow it is 11!

Another day that ran away like sand through my fingers. It is strange that days when they were filled with Zoom meetings at the shoe company seemed like pages of a book that just turned (sometimes it felt like a wind of events was blowing the page turns instead of me turning the page). Now each day is real and full of things, and runs by so fast. But I find meeting with people, playing games, writing, and living all seem to melt the day like warm, melting butter running through my fingers: Delicious and comfortable and ready to bake some nice memories. Still, it seems very pleasant, even the health stuff.

I read for a while in bed, but it is later, and I soon nod off while reading and put the Kindle away and sleep. Dreams come, but are now forgotten or just fragments. I believe I was in dream Portland with Deborah, walking the streets, and considering places to eat or visit.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

I rose to another sunny sunrise and frost. Today, I noticed that the tulips I planted a few years ago have about a 50% survival rate. The flood reached them, and the soil isn’t great in that area. All bad for surivial of tulips. But that means I will have to pick out some new ones! The pomgrante tree looks dead, but it may be too early to look.

I made liberal coffee as I again forgot to assemble the coffee last night. I returned to the Raspberry Pi and kept my open browser session down, and I did not stall, and Grammarly worked. Though it is still trying to rewrite my words to something clearer and simpler, but also wrong. I resist the blue underlining updates, which are about style, not correctness. I write all early morning, and I am surprised it is not yet 10, and I have already done over 600 words with pictures. I published the blog and posted it on Facebook. I also send out my usual email for those who don’t subscribe to WordPress or use Facebook.

Note: I use Premium WordPress for about $100 a year. I use their tools to write and publish.

I shower, dress, and doom scroll the news. President Chaos-Battleship’s minions have been shouting at Congress while others withdraw ICE. Other minions are suggesting measles vaccines now that there are terrible outbreaks when we had nearly none for decades. Another minion suggests that we should stop the Justice investigation of the chairman of the Fed (as the Banking Committee has a hold on the President’s pick for replacement until the investigation stops). And that word that all this smoke is trying to cover, Epstein, continues to depress us with more depravity being exposed and, in the US government, ignored. Europe and US companies are firing people, and prosecutions may start soon in the EU.

I take Air VW the Gray and meet Scott W and Brad J for lunch. I have not seen Brad for a few years. He is now retired and, like Scott W, has a still-working spouse (my girlfriend, Deborah, still works). We mostly chat about travels and family. Scott W and I both do the plus-one thing when our wives/girlfriends travel for work. We talk about Social Security and Health Care, as I am the first to start SS and buy my own health care.

After lunch and two beers, I head home, and Scott W may take a walk before the next lunch. More to follow. I fall asleep, and it is a deep rest, and I do not hear Corwin, who leaves me to sleep. I wake and hear the microwave chiming. I deduce that criminals don’t know the combination of the house and would not be warming leftover coffee before committing crimes; it must be Corwin. And greet him as I walk into the living room.

Corwin needs work (and thus $), and I was thinking I needed to clean the house as exercise and was going to start after a nap. Instead, for $50, Corwin cleans the toilets, washes the floors, and vacuums. For an extra $20, he will return and clean all the windows. Corwin will never be called fastidious, and I do point out some improvements and requirements. In an hour or so he is done.

I take Corwin, and we enjoy the chaos of Costco after 4. Corwin is shocked by the low prices. I add a few items to the cart for him, my treat, and that should also make the money crunch a bit less painful. This includes the famously cheap and delicious Costco-cooked chicken, which I split with him (bagging it when I get home), a pile of pork chops, and a few other items. I hd acquired reasonably priced NY Strips, but then decided not to cook.

We unloaded and loaded Corwin’s car with various purchases and headed to the Axe Bar in Hillsboro. Now, maybe, dear readers, you think axe-throwing and drinking alcohol is a bad mix, but that is the new thing (and the Vikings were reportedly good at this). I was there for the food. They said they had smoked chicken wings, and that had my attention. While the prices were not low, the folks were friendly, and Scooby-Doo was playing on the big screen, along with other forgotten cartoons (Jackie Chan was once a cartoon). Who would not like a place like this?

The wings were smoky and not drowning in sauce, almost too light, and just celery was offered. Corwin also tried a taco, which he declared good. Food, while not cheap, is recommended, and I will be back. Maybe on a cheap axe night (though those words do not instill confidence).

The sign suggested that throwing children was free on Sunday. Yup, maybe I misunderstood that sign. But the idea of giving a child an axe to throw seemed somehow unproductive. But Corwin reminded me that Boy Scouts would do this.

Again, the wings and a side of beans were wonderful. I had a beer, breaking my weekly limit, and then paid $20 for Corwin to demo his throwing for an hour. QR Codes sent us to a waiver that we signed electronically. With three beers in less than four hours, I was not throwing an axe!

The axe spins like in the movies, and if the blade is in the right place when the wall is contacted, it sticks. I could count about 1 in 5 for this for folks without practice, which covers about the space in the spin of the axe to stick. I watched one man who had practice and he was always throwing the same strength and the same distance. That made sense to me. Still, it was fun to watch groups competing at different booths. I was careful never to be behind anyone, in case they slipped and threw it backward.

The place offers screened-in booths for throwing at a wooden board. There is a projector with targets that keeps score. There are even cartoon zombies. But from what I saw of the alcohol-infused throwers, we don’t have a chance against zombies!

With that experiment done, something I wanted to try for months, we returned home. Corwin went home with his car loaded to his doggie. I read, then got on the stationary bike and pedaled for thirty minutes while enjoying more of season 2 of The Foundation on Apple+.

I read later and did the dishes. I forgot, again, to assemble the coffee, but did update my log of pills. I dress for bed in PJs, and I read more and liked where Hail Mary went with the story. It was again hard to put down.

I did sleep most of the night. I woke from a now-forgotten dream where I was trying to solve a computer problem. It was mathematical, and I kept getting it wrong. I suspected, my dreaming self, that the dream was changing the problem each time I tried a solution. Hmmm. I woke a few times and went back to sleep. My last dream was Deborah and I traveling somewhere, but the details are gone from my mind.

Thanks for reading.

I rose after waking a few times and rolling over. I think I still wake to head to work and roll over. I rise with the sun.

Coffee is waiting, now purchased coffee as all the gifts are finished (thanks). The dark, bitter taste reminds me that we liberals have so much work to do.

I spent much of the day reading Hail Mary. It has been a long time since I have found a book so engaging. I spent much time lost in its story. Excellent, and I look forward to the movie.

I started the blog. I am using the cheap Raspberry Pi system I set up as an experiment, and I have slowly learned that having multiple browser sessions open slows my response time. I also learned that Grammarly uses some local processing, which slows down and stops finding things as I go further into my text. Yikes! I believe I need to keep the browser count down. Still, for a few hundred dollars, it is impressive, just slightly slower than a $2000+ Apple and running from an SD Card as its hard drive!

I manage to get a few paragraphs down before I have to break and get ready. I shower and all of that and soon head out the door as Scott W sends me a note that he is already at Jenkins Estate with Loki, their larger and well-mannered poddle. I park next to Scott’s jeep after passing on the far-out parking, and meet Scott W with Loki. I thank Loki for bringing Scott W with him. The estate is owned by the local parks and was the home of a wealthy family from the Gilded Age. This is only my third time here, and it is green and damp, very Oregon. From the old photos, they know the hills were denuded of trees then. All this growth has occurred over the last 100 years or so. There is nothing left of the old forest in my area. It is still lovely; I can see the beginnings of the bulbs, and it will soon be bright in color, besides our usual green.

It is hills, and we climb and descend multiple times muddy paths, with only me once asking to stop. Next time, boots! We meet Michelle V’s husband, Jim, and I get a flyer for an art exhibition he is helping to assemble, March 21-22, at Jenkins Estate. I will be out of town (Salt Lake City with Deborah), but for the local readers, mark it on your calendar, as I am sure it will be great.

We chat and walk, and soon it is nearer 11:30 and time for Scott, also retired, to return to his main job, gardening his mass of now oversized plantings. We will meet on Thursday for lunch with my former boss, Brad J. Air VW the Gray gets me home, and soon I am doing a few chores and then reading again. I head to Happy Panda for lunch and miss Corwin for lunch. I read and have Sweat and Sour Pork with extra veggies, and have to admit, I only like the veggies. The hot-and-sour soup was not served hot, just warm. Hmmm.

I return home, and with some emotions in the wrong place and lunch not settling, I say ‘f**k it’ and pull up the covers and hide from the world. I rise again before 4 when Deborah calls.

My legs are tired from the walk and riding the stationary bike yesterday, and I decide not to do more. I watched some YouTube videos and learned more about marine aquariums, but I believe it isn’t for me. I see another fascinating video about jars used to keep mini environments, and that is fascinating, but while tempting, I will not start more projects. This contradicts some of my understanding of water-based systems, and I find it fascinating.

I have a salad for dinner later with a little cheese and ham to make it more than just veggies. I say good night to Deborah and read. Somewhere, I finish and publish the blog. I read more. I have a few salty peanuts in the shell as a snack. I remember to put out the trash, collect it all, and add it in. The old suitcase is in the trash. It makes me a bit sad, but its time is over, and it is falling apart.

I read, again, do the dishes, and read more. I laugh, enjoy the story, and feel better.

Thanks for reading!

I am reading Hail Mary and laughing as it introduces various characters, including a Dutch leader who is all about getting things done. The description has me laughing, as I have worked with Dutch folks and recognize the behaviors and even hear the accents of the various people in the story. And the glare for laughing too much as an American; been there, done that! With twenty-seven years at Nike, Inc., working on some of the largest IT projects done by a multinational, the characters and their mannerisms seem familiar. It was hard to put the book down when I was in bed reading.

Before that, I was in the office using the Raspberry Pi to finish a very late blog post. I am sorry, it was a bit more stream-of-consciousness than the tight text I try to produce. I was busy on Tuesday, and the new computer is still a learning experience. I am watching my bank balances and letting the lower-valued funds ride without much oversight. I really miss the safety of downloading daily balances and tracking cash against expenditure. I will look for a browser-based replacement for Quicken that offers import and export options. I want to be able to easily switch in and out of something. This is not encouraged by corporate-driven entities and may not exist. For example, banks make it very difficult to transfer large amounts for purported security reasons.

Moving further back, I was in Portland in Air VW the Gray and reading more Hail Mary on my Kindle in my car. There, I discovered I had mangled my meeting with Mariah, and she was not coming at 4ish to Hopworks. I was sitting in their parking lot. I misunderstood the offer to be for a late lunch at Hopworks, not an early dinner during Happy Hour. I then headed to Guardian Games and was tempted by a new 2024 Dungeons & Dragons book. But I was not sure what I would do with it, and I passed on the book. That does not happen often, but I am not DM-ing a campaign; the book, a setting book, was the home to my favorite characters, Howard (the D&D version) and Gray, and I did enjoy looking at it. Though I was never near Bard’s Gate with those characters, but instead near the Sword Coast and Silverymoon fantasy locations.

Before this, I was at Broadway Grill having a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride beer and a falafel platter for lunch (and thereby missing my chance to see Mariah). I had a window seat, and since I didn’t have my Apple, my Kindle provided a distraction with more of Hail Mary‘s text. I had reached the grill from Richard’s house by the revised angle parking on Broadway. A vehicle nearly backed into me. I skipped that parking spot, thinking it had a bad view or was unlucky (yes, bad Karma). I found another one and walked to the restaurant. Broadway Books is there, too, and I did manage to resist any new books there.

Before that, I was at Richard’s house, having arrived on time because the traffic in Portland was light and Beaverton wasn’t flooded with slow-moving cars. I did witness a few folks break for green lights (I do wonder what color they need to go) in the many lights on TV Highway. It was, despite the fog warning, a sunny and clear morning, and Mount Hood was lovely. I assume the drivers of the slow cars were admiring the view, since the intersection offered a clear view.

Note: Mount Hood is Oregon’s tallest mountain and an active volcano that last erupted during the American Civil War. There are just a few sketches of this, since it was a small-scale eruption with ash, steam, and smoke. May 18th is a free day to see Mount St. Helens. It exploded in 1980, and since then, it has not been visible from TV Highway.

I rose early on Tuesday. I was up at 7, writing the blog and having the last chocolate croissant (I made more that evening—opened the box from Trader Joe’s). I wrote for a while and then dressed and all that. I was soon at Richard’s house in Portland and playing Tainted Grail, my Tuesday game. This is a role-playing and cooperative game, and we had covered the board from one end to another. We had been stuck, and we learned that our decisions in the previous play had left the game deadlocked; we decided to revise them because we had missed one option. This finally granted us, with one more travel across the board, the next part of the story. Yay!

And before this, I was sleeping.

Thanks for reading, and sorry that the last blog was a bit wooden in its wording. I am busy, and blogs are getting done later and later. I always seem to be in a rush.