Author: alohawild

Monday started with me rising around 8, having rolled over a few times when I saw it was still dark. I finally rose with the sunrise. Coffee, new liberal coffee (fair trade), was waiting for me as I had remembered to assemble it the night before. Its bitter taste reminds me of how far we have to go to re-establish law for ‘We the people’ with Justice and Compassion. And that ‘due process’ is losing its meaning in my country.

I find myself without my address lists and certain passwords as the documents are on my broken Apple laptop (still not in repair but in requested status) and cannot be read by a Linux-based system. Hmmm. I will revise my copy process and store these documents in iCloud or another accessible location.

I contact my dermatologist and learn I have refills, but soon I learn I cannot fill them because it is too soon, according to my insurance. Moreover, I have learned from past experience that corporate pharmacies will not fill a prescription, even with an offer to pay $59 (this is not expensive). I spent two hours on the phone with Regence; they approved an override, and I can have them (insurance down to about $12). By 6, I manage to refill my prescriptions and discover that QVAR, my twice-daily inhaler (sometimes $120 a dose at UHC, is $0 on Regence). The people on the phone are friendly and helpful, but it takes hours. I spent 15 minutes on the phone getting Walgreens to refresh the Rx and discover that they can refill it.

I spend the morning writing and trying to get some medical paperwork done. I cannot work on my taxes as my Quicken information is on my broken laptop, and Quicken does not run in Linux, and my version is not browser-based. Hmmm. I did not think to take a current backup of it when I copied my files, an oversight. I paid all the bills and have kept a higher checking account balance. US Wealth Management (after fees) has more than 14% return, despite the chaotic mess that is the markets under Trump.

Lunch is a Trader Joe’s frozen entree of Butter Chicken with turmeric rice and naan. I slip on the pan holder and grab the 350°F metal tray required for these. I got a blister for that. It has been a while since I burned myself. I could hear Susie admonishing me. I was much more careful after the reminder. There were no more direct experiences of 350F.

I had a video doctor visit with my primary care doctor, and we went over the results. He agreed with my decision to send the results of my neck scans to an ENT. We were both disturbed by my weight gain (he said, “Check my scale”). I later discovered the scale was misadjusted, and once corrected, I am back to 240, with only 5 extra pounds for Christmas, at worst. Doc has ordered the updates on blood tests. The tumour in my salivary gland is meeting with the ENT surgeon next week.

I finished this season of Pluribus after wishing Deborah a good night. I liked the show and was always surprised by how it unfolded. Dark, but recommended. I look forward to the next season.

I picked up my prescriptions for $12. For all the trouble, it seems a small charge. I applied the cream again later and can see signs that the rash is fading. Better.

I found the fish sticks and potato pancakes and baked them together for a lighter dinner, just one serving. No burns were experienced. I returned to Foundation on Apple+ for the start of the second season and used the stationary bike for 15 minutes while watching the show. I decided to ride for this show, but I need to get back into it. My legs hurt and did all the next day. I liked the second season and the first two episodes.

Instead of cleaning the house, I headed to the movie Dracula, now playing (yes, there is a new version released in January). It stole and rewrote every bad movie, even some makeup and costumes. Even dipping into Anne Rice. It was played seriously, but there were moments that were insane and funny. It moved the story to France (I guess BREXIT includes Dracula) and turned it into a fight movie. I laughed through the whole thing. It was fun. Dracula decides not to kill one person because he made him laugh. I loved it. Perfect with popcorn.

Still laughing and smiling (no fangs), I returned home and soon was sleeping. No bad dreams, and my neck unmarred.

Thanks for reading!

Sunday was dominated by the loss of my Apple Laptop and thereby a change in plans. I could not use Quicken to start on my taxes as that is based on my laptop’s local version. But iCloud enabled me to use my email and to provide a camera and screen for any online meetings. I am making it work. The keyboard for the Raspberry Pi 5 I am using is taking some getting used to. Having a mouse back is interesting after years of using a trackpad. I do like having a mouse again, and it is a USB-A mouse made for a Raspberry Pi. I have better screens, but again, this one is designed for this machine and works.

The $130 machine is built into a keyboard and boots from an SD card running Debian Linux on a Raspberry Pi. The 8G Memory, four-core ARM processor, built-in separate processor for network and WiFi connections, and a decent, no-frills HDMI screen. I have noticed the screen refresh can be slow, and clicks can take a moment. And somehow the screen text is smaller than my laptop, so I have to keep my glasses (new to me) in the right place to avoid blurry text.

While writing this, I wanted to check an address, but my copy of my Apple files is in Apple’s file system format, which is unsupported by Linux when encrypted. Ugh! I did not think about it at the time I formatted the drive. Hmmm.

Sunday started with me having coffee waiting for me, liberal coffee (fair trade), and I then used my laptop to write all morning. I did my usual things, including downloading Quicken transactions, reading my email (mostly deleting), and viewing the news, but avoiding any details, as it hurts too much. The screen on the laptop was fine. I would carry it with me and not see the break until later. I have no idea why it took a day to be pronounced.

I wrote for most of the morning. I got about 3/4 done before I hit the time box for church. I showered and all of that. Skin rash is slowly improving. I need to re-up the prescription, but the dermatologist had multiple refills.  My other long-term prescriptions were handled by UHC and now need to be filled locally, and that is requiring intervention by the doc. Someday, the paperwork will slow. I sent the doc a message to get the first one refilled nearby.

The church is bustling, and I arrive 15 minutes before the start. The tables are set up, and any invasion is handled (though we did see one scout who did not return with new directions to the donut holes). I ushered and listened as Michael R gave the sermon, drawing on Joseph’s being sold to Egypt and his later acceptance of his brothers as an example for us to follow. He covers the terrible American use of convicts for labor, a still legal form of slavery in the US (now banned in Oregon and other states, but not all). Michael R shared that this is a billion-dollar industry and leaks into the American supply chain in agricultural products. US slave-labor products are difficult to identify, and the process is opaque.

Pastor Ken expanded on this, noting the people we met on the southern trip who had been exonerated after more than a decade in prison. He then called me up, and I described, witnessed, to use Methodist words, my experience in a jury in Oregon that convicted 10-2. This is a Ku Klux Klan law that was overturned by the Supreme Court later, which allowed for 10-2 convictions, and I, at the time, did not know we were using that. I would never have been party to this had I known. I apologized for unwittingly using a Klan law to convict someone (the guy was a bad dude, and he went away on other charges). Here is the video of the service with me about 43 minutes in.

We sang songs I knew, and the choir did some Bach. A nice service.

I was out at 1, talking to Deborah while driving, and soon home, where I discovered, as I covered yesterday, that my laptop was dying. I made a quick salad for lunch. Backed up my laptop by hand. Corwin found the leftovers (he stopped by). I got it to Best Buy, then off to Apple service ($99 fee for breaking a laptop while under warranty; the $700 repair is covered by AppleCare). I returned home and finished the blog on my Raspberry Pi 500 setup.

I watched another geology lecture on YouTube by Nick Zenter. Deborah has rebooked her trip to 16Feb. I am so looking forward to having her here.

I made dinner/lunch with a New York strip that I had drying and salted in the frig over a day. I roasted it in a cool oven (200°F), and when it reached 120°F internally, I finished it in a smoking-hot cast-iron pan. I made polenta with some cheese and steamed carrot slices for sides. It was excellent. I remembered to cook 1/2 of the recipe for polenta. It was still a lot.

Deborah was in bed early as she has an early morning on Monday. Corwin stopped by, raided my leftovers, and brought the new dog, who seemed to like to hide out under my legs and chair. The pug-like stray was still scared and jumpy, but it seemed to enjoy the house and my company. We watched the next episode of The Agency (the second time for me), and I was picking up things I missed the first time. I saw the first three episodes on a plane and then watched the rest later. I was a bit confused a few times, but now I am getting it. It is a dark (really dark, a few times) and slow-moving spy story. Recommended if you liked George Smiley stories (this is not that and set in the current world).

I did the dishes, ignored the laundry folding, watched more geology (started to nod off), and got into my PJs and read. Using my reader and turned to Hail Mary as the movie is coming out soon, and Deborah loved it. She thought it was better than Martian. I manage to read for a while, but soon sleep takes over.

I remember no dreams, but I did prove hydration twice.

Thanks for reading!

 

I am afraid Saturday’s story will not be very interesting. I was feeling blah on Saturday, with signs of a light flu. I fought nausea all day, but managed not to re-experience any food by reverse. Subsequently, little of interest was done on Saturday. We also learned that Deborah has new family obligations, and her trip here to the Pacific Northwest (PNW) will be shortened; we are still working out the changes.

The rains returned, finally, on Saturday, and the morning was gray. The sunrise was only recorded by the gray getting brighter. My neighbor’s lights were on by 3:30 as the sun approached setting. At least the periods of bright gray are getting longer.

I finished off the coffee from Jeanne (thanks!) and needed to get more or go instant. I planned to do some grocery shopping as I was out of veggies.

I am headed to Michigan for my birthday, April 16, as shows are in Lansing (Liam, Deborah’s son, has a show there) and Suff is playing in Detroit, and Deborah, Jeanne, and I already have tickets. This is a long weekend visit, as Deborah is still working and will be busy. I am thinking of heading to St. Louis to see the Sugarloaf Mound, the nearby Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, and some museums. More to come (looks like a complex train trip or driving, as planes will only get me close).

I spent the morning writing, and it was a struggle to keep my focus and to find my way. I did more laundry after I spilled chicken stock all over the kitchen floor, and the towels needed washing. I made a simple lunch of bacon I had made a few days ago and a can of large beans from Trader Joe’s. I was dragging.

I sent a note to my primary Doc that one of the prescriptions is going to be out, but it is now coded to be refilled by my previous insurance, and that will not be good. This is more of the paperwork for the new insurance. My anti-rash meds are running out too, but Goodskin Dermatology is not open on weekends, and I will reach out to them on Monday to get that resolved. There is no end to medical paperwork.

The final bits of the 2025 Tax paperwork have arrived, and I will begin preparing the totals that my CPA at Cornerstone requires. I withdrew from my IRA but then gave the money away. This should count as income and then as gifts. I am hopeful. I paid for my medical insurance too, and that is after taxes and should also count (after an adjustment from a percentage of my income). Again, I am hopeful I got all this right in my mind, that the CPA agrees, and the IRA and the State of Oregon Revenue agree. This is also a year for the Kicker (a special refund of tax overage in Oregon that is returned every other year), and my Oregon tax payment from two years ago should be included.

Despite feeling unwell, I headed to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. I will switch out Whole Foods, where I buy mostly meat, to Market of Choice, as I am not happy to support the murders of The Washington Post. Liberals have long memories. I managed three bags, one from Whole Foods and two from Trader Joe’s, with my favorite frozen items.

(Broken screen)

And then my Apple laptop broke on my return to finish this post. Ugh! Yesterday I backed it up to a new drive, and when I returned from church, the screen was damaged (likely from a drop to the floor with a delayed impact). I soon had an appointment with Best Buy, and they sent it (after $99) to Apple to repair it. This is my Raspberry Pi computer (here, but not the + version). I have the official screen and mouse too. WordPress runs in a browser, so I don’t need an expensive Apple to do this!

(My new desktop set-up)

I am now picking up where I left off before church, and now that my usual laptop is in the shop. I am using a mouse and a tiny, unfamiliar keyboard, and I miss many keystrokes, but I am getting better at this.

I unloaded the bags (back to my narrative) and put things away. I then reboarded Air VW the Gray and soon picked out veggies and some coffee at 185th Corner Market. They were happy to see me, and I managed to find everything I needed. I returned to the house, picked a pork chop, and put it in a bag with teriyaki sauce. Later, I would cook mushrooms and onions in a cast-iron pan with the chop. I would finish it in the oven for 15 minutes. It was great. I microwaved a potato and steamed fresh carrots as sides.

Deborah and I watched another episode of Elsbeth and enjoyed it. I also watched before Deborah called another episode of Pluribus. We talked and started revising her visit. It was nice to just hang out together, even remotely.

I had informed Richard and Kathleen that I could not make the games. I was not feeling well, and it’s best not to expose them if it’s the flu or something else (I was better on Sunday).

Deborah rang off and went to sleep, and I read for a while and did the dishes, finished the laundry (except the folding), and assembled the coffee. I read more of Eric Cline’s book and then slept. I managed to sleep until 4ish and then rose to prove hydration, and then managed to sleep until 8ish.

Thanks for reading this multiple computer edition. This is about $130 worth of tech (plus screen and mouse) I am using, including 8G of memory on a four-core ARM processor running over 2G and even faster independent internet connection.

 

Friday started as a day with no plans. Also, I was called by the CT scan folks, canceled my appointment: an insurance SNAFU meant my current insurance rejected my CT scan (yes, another one), but it was somehow approved by my former insurance. Ugh! My oncologist’s staff has handled the appeals process for this test before and secured approval. My guess is that they miscode it, as it is approved without issue about half the time. More to follow.

I woke before sunrise and rolled over. I rose and found the kitchen (it had not moved) about the time of sunrise (it was frosty, as it was a clear-sky night). I had not assembled coffee the night before, as there was coffee left from the night before. I reheated a cup full and then assembled the coffee, a gift from Jeanne (thanks!), and had coffee all morning. I had, again, forgotten to put out the chocolate croissants to rise from the freezer (someday!).

I started on the blog, and received a call from my next surgeon’s office, and will meet them on Feb 19th to talk about the small non-cancerous tumor in my left salivary gland, a YAMI (Yet-Another-Medical-Issue). I will fit that low-risk surgery somewhere between planned trips.

I made grits for breakfast, creamy with milk, and added some raisins and nuts, but decided they were better just plain with butter. Next time. I cooked only a cup and discovered I had enough for four. I will make 1/2 next time! Breakfast was great.

I still had no results from the MRI after 48 hours. I sent notes and called. By the afternoon, I finally got results. Perfectly boring results. No issue. No new issues. All quiet on the left-ear front, if you like. Looks like the best possible results. No need to start those end-of-life trips (like this around-the-world trip here). Looks like I will be here for a while. Excellent!

Aside: As I see 62 approaching, this was my planned early retirement date, April 17,2026. Nike’s exit package got me here instead. And while those Nike stock options are so far underwater that only an ROV can find them, originally, they would have gotten me here had Nike’s stock price broken $200 as we all expected in those crazy days (don’t look now). The exit package instead worked with my deferred compensation and paid-out vacation. Still, it is exciting to see the plan bear good fruit.

Friday stayed home, and I made lunch: baked chicken thighs (boneless and skinless, seasoned with just salt and pepper) with fried grits as a side, plus steamed green beans from the freezer (not that good). I did the Friday laundry, but again set the dryer on the wrong setting, and the towels were not dry. I ran it again, and within ten minutes I had warm, dry towels. Nice! I finished the next load, but did not fold it yet.

I take apart the first three shelves of the fridge and wash them. I toss old stuff and marvel at the amount of jams I have (most not opened). The oldest date’s expiration date was 2023; I tossed that and a few other questionable items.

Next, Deborah and I remotely watched more of Elsbeth together on Paramount+ and enjoyed the current story and the longer stories that span the season. If you like a brain-cookie version of a crime show and a great lineup of guest-star murderers, this is a good option. And the new villain, Judge Crawford, is actually the husband of the lead. Recommended.

I reheat the pasta and the leftover garlic bread for dinner. I read, decided I needed to celebrate my news, headed to Wildwood Taphouse, had a small black liquid, a brown ale recommended by the bartender, and wrote, taking small sips. I got some pub mix to go with it. But next time I will just go with pretzels.

There was a crowd of men, all likely of Indian descent, some wearing SEC Nike IT shirts and pullovers. I gave up my table as their group grew, and we shook hands. Nike laid them off in June (I retired in the previous year’s layoffs) as the SEC program was closed and outsourced. I wished them well; they were surprised I knew about the SEC (I had the same shirt—donated to Goodwill), and even more surprised when I told them I had been in master data and had done the early conversions. I went back to writing after that, and they kept chatting.

I finished my beer and managed to edit more of my adventure. I was surprised to find glaring typos and mistakes, and I will have to be more careful in my editing. I head out happy to have had the smaller one.

I arrived home without incident (nor was I illegal) and saw the chocolate croissants rising. On Friday, I remembered to put them out to rise. They will be great in the morning (and they were, I had one while writing this). I read for a while, but soon fell asleep early. All the stress for the medical stuff was gone, and I was tired and, as always, a bit let down. A normal feeling when a plan works, and now I am on the other side. But boring is better than a rush to the end. More time with all of you and more plans!

Welcome, dear reader, to the future. Thanks for reading.

Thursday was dominated by lunch and dinner at McMenamins Cedar Hills. The first was my usual lunch with Scott W and Brad, my former boss at the shoe company, who was planning to join us but then felt under the weather. There is a lot of flu going around now, and maybe next time for Brad. Dinner was the Theology Pub meeting for this month, typically on the second Thursday of the month, and now at McMenamins. There, we talked about ‘Acceptance’ and what it means to us.

I rose on Thursday with only one thing on my agenda for the morning: to get to Cedar Hills at 11:30 to meet Scott W. I rose just before sunrise for a partially cloudy day with no rain here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The snow pack is at an all-time low, and skiing is not happening this year. The summer melt of snowpack keeps the rivers full and the forests damp, and there is great fear that the dry conditions will soon lead to endless forest fires and smoke. Ugh! We need flooding and rivers of rain! Our prayer in PNW, “Dear Lord, please drop unrelenting rain, floods, and massive snow on us to protect us from a fiery summer! And Lord, we mean here in Oregon, not just Washington State.” Yes, bring it!

I wrote the blog for the next couple of hours. This was not a continuous process. My morning was punctuated by blogging, downloading, and updating Quicken, manually entering the transactions for the sale of stock in Quicken, watching some new shows via late-night comedians, and reading the news. The tragedy and crimes involving Epstein are manifold. The lies of the wealthy, not just Trump, are transparent now, but the consequences are few.

I drank a whole half-pot of coffee from Kalanzoon (a gift from Jeanne, thanks). I had planned to play more of the solo board game Plague of Dracula, but I did not fit it in the morning. I managed to hit the shower, do all that, board Air VW the Gray, and make the restaurant at 11:30.

Scott was there soon, and we had a nice chat about travel, plans, investments (strap in and hold on), and avoiding current events. We tried to stay in our bubble of travel, food, family, and investments to sustain it. It took two beers to stay on topic.

Aside (that game to why writing):

The President’s statement (I watched him say it in his interview) that 10,000’s of arrests should not be ruined by the murder of two people left me stunned. And I remember that thousands have been sent to countries I would have trouble finding on a map (after two beers), and that there are no records to show that they are safe and not murdered and buried in some pit. There is no evidence, one way or the other, that another Holocaust is starting.

Some dishwasher with unpaid parking tickets is now suffering in some unknown place in some foreign land, once our neighbor. They have no family to help them and no way to return to their original country. What would get them sent home, and who would pay for it? Or are they worked to death and then thrown into a pit? Slavery is reborn as deportation.

I cry writing those words, and my soul calls out, “How long?”

Will there be monuments to the folks slain in this process, like those I saw on my trip on slavery and racism? Will some relative of mine walk by this future monument, cry, and wonder how anyone could let this happen so long ago? 

I digress. Back to the narrative.

I returned home in the EV without issues. I read the mail and was going to take a nap (two beers) when Corwin, who knew the door code, walked in. I then made him lunch of pasta, jar pasta sauce, and some browned hamburger. He came early from work, hungry and unhappy. Food fixed that, and it always tastes better when someone else makes it. He went and spent the afternoon delivering food.

The afternoon is a blur of chatting with Deborah, medical things (still no results), and heading back to Cedar Mills for Theology Pub. We had arranged for 14 and got 10 (last time it was the other way). We had a nice group and Dondrea, and I tried their special take on an Old Fashioned. The topic was ‘Acceptance,’ highlighted by Jesus’ moment in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Take this cup away; but not my will, but Thine” (my version).

There was much talk about letting things go and taking the best course of action. That there is a Plan, and we have to remember that. I personally do not find that comforting, having read enough history (current and recent among the worst) and The Lord of the Rings. If it sucks, it does. I did not feel that, as my wife was ill and I was doing chemo, that somehow this was solving some cosmic plan. Again, sucks is sucks. But my lesson was that all I could do was what I thought was best at the time. I would not claim it was ‘right’; it was just available, caused less harm, and might help. That I had to accept my role was mostly to experience, witness, and control my reaction. Tears, anger, and robotic emotionlessness were all bad moments. I learned to accept it and discovered I was helping others who witnessed it, even on my bad days. Being present in the moment, passing through it, and trying to hold it all together was my best witness. To be seen, provide what little harmless help I could supply, and witness and be witnessed was my role.

Sad and disquieted by the topic, I headed home.

I played a few more turns of Plague of Dracula (once again at late night) and began to understand how to play. The rules are that if Lucy, a major character of the original book and movies, is turned into a vampire, it is an automatic loss. I should have rescued her (but having a pistol made her a hazard to Dracula or other fang-bearing threats) from her side of the board. I soon learned there was a card that would get her a bite, and I really needed her somewhere safer. Lucy is the default attacked character.

I had Lucy, well armed, take a shot at clearing her location, and that failed, and she was turned, and I lost. Like in the book, I need to get her to Dr. Seward to protect her. Next time!

I packed the game away. I have cleaning to start. Deborah is here next week (though we may have a change in plans, I learned on Friday while I write this). I head to bed. I read Eric Clines’ book for a while and then put it away, and I close my eyes. I soon fall asleep. No dreams that I remember and no vampires. Just rest.

Thanks for reading.