Author: alohawild

Today, we were expecting an ice storm with possible high winds. Nothing happened in the morning.

The morning came sooner than I wanted. I had been asleep for a moment after reading and looking at the clock. How could it be already six in the morning? Apparently, I had slept the night away, and I soon managed to put my slippers on and found my robe. In the kitchen, I switched the slippers to the correct feet and checked, and the robe was at least correct. I found a banana and an almost dried-out corn muffin to go with the coffee, Rwanada Fair Trade (thanks, Kramers!), I made using my French Press. I found the office–it had not moved. The nearly disabling pain in my foot is gone, and the distance does not seem far today- better!

Nike WHQ did not open as the weather threatened an ice storm. But, after reviewing the various sources, the storm was rescheduled to mid-afternoon. Schools were closed, and everyone was looking outside with fear. The bad weather did not really start until late afternoon.

I did my first meetings and helped with a Try/Except/Catch coding issue. I do not usually get to stop a software install due to an unresolved risk, but I must act–it is part of my role. Today, I acted, and appropriate mitigation was put in place. The defect was logged into a backlog to fix the issues soon. Nice to see that I can still step in.

We also had a planning meeting, as new plans will be required after the project was stopped last month. While incomplete, confusing, and designed with minimal impact on folks’ lives (unlike the previous plans), the team welcomed these plans. We are starting to move again–excellent.

I slipped out next in Air Volvo, still empty, to Safeway. I made a list of items to have in the house for the storm and Corwin when I am out. I arrived at Safeway, and the road and parking lot, in places, were polished ice and quite dangerous. I got meats, pasta, veggies, canned goods, and other basics. I went to check out and discovered that my list did not include remembering my wallet, and I did not have it. I also had untied shoelaces, which could have made the walk more exciting. Hmmm.

I quickly made the 1/2 mile round trip to get my wallet and soon had everything safe in Air Volvo. I got the bags in the house with only one small slip, remembering the ice skating judge’s statement to walk flat-footed and put one foot down before lifting the other. I put everything away.

Last week, I got some tuna with crackers, so I tried that for lunch. I was surprised that the small can contain prepared tuna fish salad with celery, onions, etc. No assembly was required. Quite good. That was my lunch. I did have a snack later as it was light.

I had some more meetings. I stripped the beds and found sheets for the guest room. Corwin will be staying there for a few months. Corwin will have to move to the couch when we have visitors. I washed everything and my outstanding laundry. I suspect the laundry will move to the suitcases and not the drawers.

I got a note that Nike WHQ is closed on Wednesday, too.

I made dinner from a potato cooked in the microwave and added chicken and some roast beef to the butter and sour cream. I added olives, too, thinking of Instanbul and their potato bars with a slice of olive sitting on a mountain of sour cream. It was good and settled well–my bad gas attack has faded.

I read some WW1 naval scenarios and watched more of Sean Munger’s YouTube channel story “1872: The Strangest Presidential Election,” which I can stop on chapters. It is too long to watch all at once. I like his approach to history and how he assembles the information. Unlike another channel I try to like, he does not recycle his lectures for classes he teaches. Instead, he covers that topic to bring forth its relevance and interest for the viewer. His videos are composed and have chapters that work like actual chapters. Also, he deals with any confusion and covers the misuse of history he is covering by various groups. I also recommend his channel as a model for others who wish to do their own channel. I watch and learn the history and how he presents and uses the media to improve his topic. Excellent.

The rains are here, the ice is forming, and the water is flowing. The usual ice storm adventure.

My trip is on Friday, and I hope to complete some preparations before Thursday!

I am always surprised when we reach a date that seems so far away. MLK weekend is the traditional end of 7/24 support for a major software update at the shoe company. According to the now-aborted go-live plans, we expect to get our first day off in 2024 this weekend!

Instead, I started MLK Day 2024 by getting up at 7:30 and writing the blog for the previous day. It took most of the morning as I was feeling like writing. I also did not want to do housework, buy groceries, or do anything else but sit in my robe and slippers and write. I managed to fill the morning with my creativity. I also called Zorida as I am headed to her house on Friday; my vacation planned during my last trip began flying to San Antonio and spending another weekend at her home. We have simple plans, and I will list what I want to see and repeat from my last trip. Zorida is working on Saturday (she is thrilled to be busy again–building her clients).

After that and having the jambalaya, made a few days ago, for lunch (reheated in the microwave), I heard from Dondrea that they are warming up and have power. They are charging everything. We have a windstorm coming Tuesday in the early morning and a late morning ice storm. Ugh! I gassed up the Air Volvo but had no specific plans for the storm. I have plenty of food and, more importantly, books and board games. I can light the natural gas fire if the power is out. Water will remain. I have a gas grill.

I dressed and then headed to pick up Corwin from work. We then stopped at the Volvo Cave and unloaded the board games from the cargo hold and biz class seats. Next, we traveled to Corwin’s house, and he loaded the cargo hold and biz class seats with his stuff. We carried that over to the garage and unloaded that, too. Corwin will use his truck to move the next bit, assuming the ice storm is a bust.

Next, I head to Gyro House and have a nice dinner/lunch with Corwin. I have kabobs and just some rice and lettuce–remembering to stick to protean. The rice, which I have some, is wonderful, but I sent most of the unattended salad and rice away–I don’t need carbohydrates and gas-causing salad tonight. Corwin has the halal chicken and a Turkish coffee. I had Diet Coke as it had bubbles–it helps. The owner was happy to see us and suggested a bread and humus starter, which I did risk. He was pleased to have us appear again on a quiet, snowy afternoon. He took his break to read the Koran while we ate.

After a wonderful lunch-dinner, I dropped Corwin off at his house, and Air Volvo returned me to the house. I tried dry brushing the purple on the Scythe mechs, and it helped a bit; I will repeat it after drying for a day, but I will mix white with purple to create a lighter look and then dry brush that just on the edges. I will also dry brush white on the last mechs yet to be washed.

The newest decals curled on with the solvent. I fixed that and retreated them. Hopeful.

I started reading the next murder mystery set in Canada.

I checked my flights, downloaded the Expedia App, and signed in. I can use it on my trip. I am getting ready for the long journey. I will do laundry on Tuesday since we are working from home. I will start to pack.

Soon off to the next adventure. I will plan the next one while I am traveling.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

It has been 32 days since I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor.

I finished the Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes novel, reading all day and much of the early night, and I thought it was an excellent mix of the two stories. The author weaved the known facts of bloody murders with the fiction of Conan Doyle–recommended: Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye.

More years than I want to admit, I started painting the Scythe mechs. I used a different painting practice for them. I paint the models with a black primer, Chaos Black from Warhammer, and then spray a white primer from the above to dust them. This gives the figures a ghostly look or even an x-ray look. I often dry brush the surface with white to make the side details more pronounced. The larger surface makes this unwise for models as the look will be unnatural–glowing. Next, I mix the army painter paints with an art store’s water surface tension release product. The paint is a wash and duller. The color of the paint on the model is seen in the white areas and suppressed in the black areas. I painted all the details with washed paints, and a few details, simulating lights, and shiny metal are painted in plain paint, with no dilution, to create contrast. This technique is more art than craft and is used to create figures and models with dark hints. It is a faster technique with good results, especially if you are looking for a steampunk look.

I painted a little today and spent some time applying the decals to some original faction Scythe models. I also hit the decals with solvent to get the decals to follow the surface of the mech models and lock in so they will survive the overcoat. I made only a few fixes on the mechs I painted years ago. They look finished.

I started the day late, with me rising after 10AM. The snow is still here, and the temperatures are still in the twenties (-6C) and lower (-10C). I have the chicken and pasta for a heavy and leisurely breakfast/lunch. I decided to return to revisionist history, but the better and crazier version than Dan Brown is Umberto Eco. I purchased (for too much for such an old film) the movie The Name of Rose on my Apple laptop and watched some of it. I am afraid watching this burns away my morning, and I stop watching to get dressed to read my book and keep working on the Scytle models. I have seen it before and know the plot, but still, it is fun.

I am not surprised that Corwin contacted me and asked me to let him rent a room for a few months. I agree, as recovering from brain surgery is best not done alone. Corwin was going to house-sit for me for a week while I was traveling, anyway. He promised to clean the house and to treat the house well. He will pay me $450 monthly to cover the utilities while he lives here. I called Linda, my sister, and she is okay with this arrangement. She plans to “nurse” me and will need the house, too.

I call Corwin and suggest dinner. I call BJ’s Brewhouse, and when they answer, I hear a loud fire alarm and the voice of a young gal trying to be the happy hostess. Yes, they were open. The fire alarm won’t reset. They have to close tonight. I wish them well. The 649 is open when I call and say they are busy, and I guess they are likely understaffed, which is usual for them on Sunday. I pick up Corwin, who has a tie and vest, a half hour later. I have a sweater. The snow is nothing for Air Volvo, soon we are drinking beer and having light food at The 649. Crystal, our bartender, is busy and also delivering food. The kitchen is running well and also helping to provide the food. It was working, and they are happy to be busy at The 649.

Corwin and I talked a bit about the arrangements, and he will start moving his stuff to the house on Monday. We talk about the current conditions. I am concerned that China will soon blockade Taiwan. I am also worried that North Korea may take that as a signal to try to reunify Korea and hit Alaska with a nuclear attack to slow the US response. Corwin thinks Japan will be the first nation to assist our allies while the US prepares a response. I see a dark future in the next six weeks. Corwin considers this a chance for the First US Bountiful Empire, my ironic name for this, with the US now running the world, assuming we win and the economic consequences of fighting a war with our number one trade partner are mitigated. In contrast, I am concerned that the US will now have to police the world in this situation, and our natural isolationist tendencies in the US will make a hash of it.

I then turned the discussion to other conflicts, and we will see what other weapons Iran and the Houthis have and if they will use them on the US and its allies. Corwin thought the drones would do, but the sea and its winds eat store-bought drones. That is why the attacks have been ineffective against modern US destroyers. They mainly give the sailors practice when a lucky drone makes it to the firing range. Military drones are different and more like missiles and pilotless remote planes. I wait to see what Iran, their allies, and Houthis do next.

I have a second beer, against my usual rules, and keep discussing the abovementioned things. Yes, let’s hope I am wrong. I am not a fan of the US Navy carrier-focused direction, but I am a fan of the current model of the US destroyer: Arleigh Burke class. I think the US can win, but the deployment of forces will determine the outcome- the right forces in the right place.

Aside: Some of my thinking on deployment has changed as I have been reading some new items on WW1 naval speculative writing–certainly an acquired taste. Did the Germans lose the battle of Dogger Bank (1915) because of a deployment error? Specifically, had the Goeben, an excellent Battle cruiser, remained, and the Blucher, a mishmash of guns and armor with a slow speed, sent to Turkey, the Germans would have had an equal force at Doggers Bank and won? Assuming the van der Tann was also included (in repairs at the time of the actual battle). But with the broken German naval codes in WW1, would the British risk an even match with German battlecruisers (I think Admiral Beaty would)? Instead, send the fleet to crush them. Revisionist history was on my mind all day. It would make a fun tabletop battle. I will have to get a WW1 Goeben in 1:6000 scale!

After that, Air Volvo returns Corwin without any issues on the snow and ice. Corwin talks about driving on ice. My approach is to remove my feet from the pedals when sliding and steer out. If I have to, I will use the accelerator to power out, but that is risky and more likely will put you in the other ditch than the one you were headed to. When flying Air Volvo (we did not discuss this), you can switch to manual mode, and you can then change the gears of the transmission. You can use this to handle hills and ice and avoid other drivers. Air Volvo was designed for snow and ice. When in dangerous ice and snow, use the manual transmission.

Once home, I painted a new Scythe faction at the house, which waited a long time to be painted. I did not notice, but the models are not dry-brushed with white and look darker than expected. I get out a plastic paint mixing tray and turn the paint into washes. I find my set of painted factions in my copy of Scythe in the cargo hold of Air Volvo to compare. It is a close match, and so I try the washes. The purple color is very light on my finished one, and I reproduce the look, but I notice other parts are not showing up. I may have to dry-brush these and use purple to get the same effects now. I am okay with that, as I am good at dry brushing. White, the other color, mixes with purple (ugh!), so I stop, and then the models dry. I found my original and saw I did chrome pen work. I found my old pen, and it broke. I ordered a new one on eBay and will wait until I return from my holiday. I will finish the washes but can’t finish the models until I get a new pen. I decided it was best to stop, as I had made too many mistakes and needed to try again another day. My rule is that when the mistakes start happening, to stop.

It was a very hobby-centric day with my usual navy military wargaming in my head running for dinner. Corwin and I have played the US versus China board game Red Dragon Rising from Decision Games. So, both of us have some tabletop experience with the battle. I wait for events and see if the wars explode–I pray peace will happen instead.

I read the last of the Sherlock Holmes novel but missed who Jack was; Ms. Faye gets me each time! I sleep and wake a few times to prove I am hydrated. I dream not of war or bloody murder but instead of fairies and small quests to recover magic. So not like me and so light I woke with a smile this Monday, MLK Day.

Dondrea, Donna, and Z are cold in their unpowered houses. The storm crashed giant trees all over Beaverton, including a power transformer. PGE has no replacement and warned us that power will be down until next week (!) until the replacement parts arrive from Texas! Apparently, we do not keep spares here in the Pacific Northwest. A large portion of Beaverton is freezing. The next bad storm is on its way. Pray for Beaverton!

Aside: While my mailing address suggests I am in Beaverton, I am in Aloha or Reedville–on the line. The winds and weather have been kinder so far. If the winds come from the south or southwest, we are blasted more than Beaverton. The damaging storm was from the north, and we had a light blast.

I am hopeful my trees will stay up–they are still standing. The considerable redwood (not a giant) nearby looks good.

Thanks for reading!

The strike-thru is false information that was widely reported. PGE has called it a hoax. Power was restore later this morning–Update 15Jan2023

I like my days long and my nights short. I rise before sunrise and rest long after the run disappears. It is my favorite day to rise at 5ish, wake up, never leave my house, and do so much. So Saturday was a good day. I am not for a party, but give me something to watch, read, play, or paint (miniatures or models), and I am ready to stay up.

I woke too early (unlike Sunday when I rose after 10AM and the morning vanished before it seemed to start) with plans to enjoy the day, and unlike today, I did not put the blog off but immediately wrote it. I also returned to buying individual songs instead of buying yet-another-service and creating playlists in iTunes of new alternative rock. I like a beat that moves. My mind runs twice as fast when a tune beats me forward, especially some tight and new. I give the young artists credit for my continued faith in mankind–humans who can make that are obviously something special.

Doing my best revisionist Dan Brown-style:

Prometheus did not bring fire; we figured that out; he taught us to sing, scales, and beat- something uniquely human. What else is the light of humans? Zeus was angry that the humans invented something new with his Titan’s help, which got Prometheus chained. All musicians push against those chains, trying to break the bounds of limits and find that perfect sound, words, and beat mix. 

All day, I listened online to Kink.fm, and when a song I liked, say “Wish I Knew You” by The Revivalists, I stopped what I was doing, find it on iTunes (each time rejecting Apple’s service for monthly service), but it for a buck or two, and add it to my 2024 Q1 playlist. This is how I used to buy music before being busy with all the events of 2022-23. Nice to focus on new music again–so amazing.

Yes, I am running lyrical this Sunday morning…

I returned to painting figures that morning. I am working on my Egyptian undead and a problematic figure. I care very little for metal figures that have to be assembled. Hard plastic works for me, but most metal figures break, and the parts fly in the carpet. Of all things, the lich (an undead spell caster) figure’s head is unattached. It has an extended neck, suggesting a snake-like origin of the creature. So I glue it on. I start painting and knock the figure to the floor. F**k. I have not dropped anything all day, but my robe, I am still not dressed, is not the best for working on detailed items. I cannot find the head. It flew five feet and was painted red. I spot some fluff and ignore it–it’s red. I return to it. It is the head on which I had painted the crown red (according to the archeological records, it is red and white). I then use a tiny drill bit to drill a hole through the head, exiting in the left eye and the neck of the figure. I place a hard brass deadeye from my wooden ship models, cut off the loop, and use CA glue to lock it all together. If you don’t drop the metal figures over three feet, about a table height, these will hold and, if loosened, require a drop of CA to lock them back in place.

With the figure rebuilt, I returned to painting it. It takes many hours to complete. I take breaks to do other things to get my focus back and let the paint dry, and I decide to use manual shading with bottles of ink. I use Strong Tone on clothing and Dark Tone on the undead features. The figure looks good to me, removing most of the stain from the crown, which stands out too much, but the undead are not known for their color choices!

The figure is dark, but again, it fits, I think. I used the bone color from Army Painter instead of pure white, which I often use for skeletons. I resist dry brushing on some bright colors to get stronger contrasts. It is undead and a gaming figure, actually a named creature, for The Dark Tower 5E version of the old Dungeons and Dragons adventure and time to stop. Done (except for the final protective coat of dull clear spray–very light coat).

Scythe mechs are my next back-logged item that has spent years on my workbench. I start them. I am using a different painting practice for these. These use washed-down paints. They are painted overly bright as the process will darken them. I have all but abandoned this painting style for Dungeons and Dragons miniatures. Returning to this process, I dilute my paints and start the touch-up process to finish these models. I have homemade decals of the Scythe factions and apply them to the mechs to make them more attractive. It really improves the look.

For dinner, I am watching Dan Brown films, thus my lyrical nature today, and made a pasta dinner with baked chicken thighs (skinless and boneless) with salt and Italian-style spices. I heat a spicy sauce from a jar as the pasta and chicken will be too flat-flavored. I use a large glass pan to bake the pasta covered with sauce and the chicken set on top. Dinner is good, and I rotate painting, reading, cooking, eating, and some housework all day.

I finally stopped with five of six factions. I have to paint some white circles under some of the decals as the film is only partially transparent and assumes a white background. I will complete the decals and the decal solvent treatments to lock the decal on the model. If I spray them without the locking, the decal will curl off and fall off when sprayed with a sealant. A frustrating experience for most modelers.

Aside: The SciFi models of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise involve large sheets of decals–I have thus avoided them.

It gets later, and the storm, having dropped only an inch of snow, shut down the area. The winds have taken down trees everywhere. We have power outages (Dondrea, Donna, and Z do not have power or heat) everywhere. Secondary streets are blocked by trees. There is limited plowing as power lines and trees are blocking access. Even the gas lines are partially impacted by the loss of power as a primary power grid is down. While Air Volvo has no issues with this snow and limited ice, there is no reason to try it. I stay home warm and comfy.

I read until late and finally sleep. I woke up a few times.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

It is thirty days since my diagnosis of a benign brain tumor.

It is also a work-from-home day at Nike WHQ, and I rose at 7:30 as there were no early meetings. I am suffering from an unlimited supply of gas, not constipation now. I hope it will, hmm, pass soon.

The weather was the most exciting today, as we got our first winter storm. Originally predicted for Friday, and we all were watching for the snow. I saw a few flakes but nothing more than a threat of snow. The temperatures crashed from our usual winter 40s to 20s (-7C) in a few hours, and we had clear skies promising a cold Saturday. I worked from home and did a few Zoom meetings. One meeting left me wondering why I even try–sad.

I took a shower and got dressed between Zoom meetings. I skipped shaving and other steps as I had to rush. The hot shower warmed me and the house. I left the shower door open. I was not leaving the house today, so shaving was optional.

My solution to the sad meeting for work was to make lunch. I sliced up the remains of my sausages and fried the cubes (slicing lengthwise to make cube-like cuts and not coin-like slices) with a green pepper I also cut up. I added a few gloves of garlic and fried that in a large pan I use for soups and stews. I then added a can of Mexican-style diced tomatoes and hot peppers. I use the acid and wet juices to deglaze the pan. Once that is hot, I add hot water from the electric kettle and pour in my favorite brand of jambalaya spices and rice. No seafood, but still good. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover for twenty-five minutes. Presto!

I also made a dozen corn muffins from a box. A simple task of putting paper cups in a pan, mixing the stuff together, and putting them in paper cups (sprayed to not stick). Bake at 400F something, according to the directions. Puff, you have lovely cornbread. Excellent.

I ran the dishes and started the laundry. Despite the temperature drop outside, the kitchen was warm, friendly, and delicious. I am feeling better.

More online status and process meetings. I provide snow reports to the master data engineering team. I detach the hoses and have to find a wrench to release one. I found, surprising me, the faucet covers in the garage and installed them. A bit late, but I asked other folks at Nike, and we all were outside installing them today. It barely froze last year, and I did not put them on the house in 2023. The forecast for Saturday is 12F (-11C).

I forgot to make or eat dinner–stuffed with jambalaya. Gaming was canceled for Saturday. I do get solicited by Richard for a Portland 9AM game, but I am not prepared mentally to get up in the morning and drive to Portland in a storm. Instead, I return to painting figures, my undead Egpytian warriors, and the undead priest of the Egpytian god Set. I have returned to using the long table in the family room, and with safety glasses with 3x bifocals and strong light, I use my special brushes to paint tiny things. I have only an OOO brush (from Reapers Miniatures) and not an OOOOO for tiny work, but it works well (it takes more paint, so I can paint longer before reloading the brush). I spend most of the evening remembering my skills on these relatively easy figures, with just the pharaoh-like headdress requiring some skill. For you painters reading, I decided to use dark tone from Army Painter instead of dipping or oils for shading. I use strong tone to shade the base painted desert yellow, also from Army Painter. Dark tone is shades of black, while strong tone is shades of brown. I take some green, the same in the headdress, add water to make a wash, and dull the bronze blades, already darkened by strong tone, to show green corrosion. I put a dot of red in the eye holes in the skulls as most descriptions of undead skeletons in Dungeons and Dragons mention the burning red dots for eyes.

I black-topped the base to get that pretty black look for figures on bases. I can’t finish them with a dull coat as 20F is not an excellent temperature to spray paint. I will do that later so they are still shiny from the wash in the photo.

If I wanted impressive painting, I could dry-brush on some bone to make the bones stand out. These are for tabletop gaming; I think they are good enough now.

After completing the first batch of figures, I worked on some Scythe Mechs I started a few years ago that have languished. I will try to finish the first factions soon and then the two added factions next. I want them finished so I can pick the next thing to do. I want to finish what I have started.

I head to bed and read. I have trouble sleeping as I made a pot of tea, and it is keeping me up. I try aspirin and Benadryl, which finally works, just a 1/2 of a Benadryl. It helps me breathe (allergies) and sleep.

I sleep through most of the start of the storm and wake to a dusting of snow and winds.

Thanks for reading.