Author: alohawild

Today started with my alarm on my iPhone at 6:00AM and with me wanting to sleep for another thirty minutes, but I found the will to proceed. I reached the kitchen, which seemed further away today, got the kettle going, and headed to the living room. Once there, I climbed into the Schwinn stationary bike I got for Susie just before the pandemic and did a mile or five minutes for my first excursion. I will increase the time and miles as I start up this again. Next, I did the basic stretches and exercises I learned from physical therapy. Likely, I should do those first; next time!

Stagger more now, I found the coffee and poured it into French Press in the kitchen. I also found a yogurt with organic blueberries for breakfast. I took the coffee in an extra-large Star Wars black cup resembling the Death Star–perfect for how I felt. “Your lack of exercise is disturbing to me–choke,” went through my mind as I drank coffee.

I did the usual things in the morning: reading emails, reading Slack posts on our current project at work, and reading some news. I consumed my coffee and breakfast. The half-hour disappeared in a puff of reading.

I hit the shower, dressed, and found a thermal cup for the rest of the coffee–forgoing the Star Wars cup. I boarded Air Volvo and was happy to see no school buses or any other blockers. I arrived with time to spare and then started my two hours of status and update meetings. I helped with some issues and a crisis or two. I also approved access for some folks and discovered that my boss, Brad–who is on sabbatical, slipped in and approved my access requests. Excellent.

I managed to leave mid-morning to see Susie–the best time and had to dodge a VW bug that did a U-turn without warning and nearly enjoyed causing a three-car pile-up. The auto braking did not see the exciting move, and I had to stop the Air Volvo in time! I also saw Beaverton’s Finest represented as two motorcycles on Highway 26 measuring car speeds with a radar gun; I guess it was a lovely day for ticketing. Once through that–not drawing any police attention–I arrived safely at Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

Susie was just finishing breakfast when I arrived, and I waited until she was done. Next, we headed out to the park and saw the park manager, who stopped to tell us he had found two more nests of yellow jackets that were now treated (kaput). He said one of the nests was gigantic and near the parking lot. We saw fewer yellow jackets today. Again, I am sorry to see some wild killed, but a child could easily walk into the nest–it can’t be there (next to some swings).

Susie and I went off the path, and I pushed Susie to new parts of the park. It was warm but still early, and only 72F (22C). I saw my first grasshopper–fall will be here soon. We watched an Oregon Swallowtail butterfly dance in the trees. I was looking for more nests, but the Park manager thinks he found all the ones that need removal. We called Leta and Barb (Susie’s mother and sister, respectively) at a bench, but Barb was unavailable, and Leta called us back–she was having lunch with friends. Leta and Susie chatted from the shady bench near the cedars and redwoods. There were runners, humans being walked by their dogs, and folks walking on the trail in front of us–the park was busy at noon.

After touring new areas in the park, I took Susie back to the hummingbird house. Next, I said goodbye with a kiss and a promise to return on Wednesday. Susie was sad to have a short visit, but I am working. I returned via Chipotle; I had a salad with chips for lunch–next time, no chips.

The rest of the day was busy as I had lots to talk to folks about. I was starting some new work and got an expert assigned me to help; excellent. I did a few more status meetings and thought about how to do the new work. I headed out at 4ish and arrived at the Volvo Cave via Air Volvo without issue or witnessing any more extra-legal driving or experiencing new events to test the auto-braking system on Air Volvo.

At home, I was tired and tried to read, but soon I was unaware of anything. I rose at 5:45 and found the kitchen again and chopped and chopped some more to make a salad for dinner. I had carrots, celery, cucumber, and lettuce as my main ingredients. I chopped lots so I could use the extra for the next salad.

Next, I found a cheap animated remake of a lost Doctor Who episode from The First Doctor. It is terrible but familiar and once cutting edge. The film version is lost, but a recording exists, allowing for a recreation. This one is in color (the original missing film was black and white) and uses software to animate the characters, and is a bit puppet-like. It was not expensive, and I have seen most of the reconstructions–I find it fascinating to see what can be done with basic animation and how dated it all still is.

After that, I rested again and then started on the blog.

Thanks for reading!

On this last day of July, I had meetings into the evening. I meet twice a week with India, and there was an all-employee meeting repeat at 6PM local time. Thus it is almost 9PM Monday before I can start this blog. I am also tired–working six days a week for nearly a month is beginning to affect me–I tire easily now. Plus, my day was also chaotic as I had a doctor’s appointment with my regular doc that I had forgotten until it popped up on my calendar–the end of July seemed so far away when I scheduled it! I then picked up my suits, and they needed to correct the pants (they forgot the buttons for the suspenders, so I will be back there soon) and had me wait for them.

I needed one grey suit for Linda, my sister’s wedding on September 10, assuming I can make it. If Susie is well, I will take a quick weekend trip to be part of the wedding. Air flights, suit, rental car, and hotel are all done (all flights are refundable and changeable), so I can jump on a flight, get there, and fly right back if needed. Just a few days away from Susie if it all works.

Again, a crazy busy day filled with lots of ad hoc events. Let us start telling the story from the morning…

I woke to the alarm at 7AM and stumbled out of bed. It is Monday, so it is a work-from-home day, and I get to sleep in until 7AM. I started heating the water for coffee in my electric kettle and headed back to the home office. I logged on to work on my Nike computer and started my Apple; I use them sitting next to each other. I read emails and Slack channel updates on last night’s events at the shoe company; the project runs on a 7/24 schedule, and our data conversions are running. Everything seemed, for our part, to be going well with our colleagues in India turning over to us on Oregon’s morning. I found a donut to go with the liberal coffee I made in my French Press.

I spent the morning doing status meetings and reading documents. I approved a few changes and objected to some that were then clarified. I had a break in meetings at 10AM and then showered and dressed. I watched another review meeting at 11AM for a while, but once it started running over, I stopped it. I also reheated some chicken and veggies I had made a few days ago for lunch.

I got an offer for lunch from Mariah in Portland at Von Eberts, but I could not swing it and the doctor’s appointment. Not to mention that consuming beer and the world’s great chicken wings just before a doctor’s visit is poor planning and will likely not please my Doc. Mariah could not manage it for dinner, so we will miss it on Monday.

As I said, I then headed to my doctor’s appointment. There I learned that my blood pressure was perfect, but my A1C was creeping up. The new allergy med we started after the last visit slowed the coughing and controlled my asthma. I am feeling much better, I told Doc.

Next, we talked about retirement planning, and the Doc strongly suggested I start to include in my retirement planning an exercise plan and lose 10 pounds every six months or so. “Your life will be much better losing some weight,” Doc said. Doc also wanted to check that I knew what I would do when I retired–Yes, I can keep busy with all my hobbies!

My new plan, I will start exercising again (I stopped when the asthma–breathing seemed more important at the time) and will start back now. I will be back in four months to check my progress on my A1C and weight. Health plans are now to be included in retirement planning. Excellent.

After the medical stuff, Air Volvo took me via the highways to Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Susie was waiting in her recliner in the shared living room when I arrived. Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, lifted Susie into her wheelchair, and we headed outside. It was a warm day with a light breeze, another perfect sunny day with clear skies, and the temperature in the high 80s (about 30C). We found a safe picnic bench (yellow jackets were swarming some dropped food at the other picnic bench), and we made some calls there. The area is shady, and the breeze runs through that part of the part, making it lovely for a visit.

I used my iPhone to call Barb (Susie’s sister) and Leta (Susie’s mom) and connected everyone in a three-way FaceTime call. Barb was in her car driving, and her connection was weak. We could see each other and chat briefly before Barb had to ring off. I left Leta and Susie speaking while I talked to the park manager.

He is concerned about the wasps too. Luke, I think that is his name, said that at another park, they had to deal with six nests. So far, he has not found the ground nests in Metzger Park. The wasps get aggressive in the fall, and the bugs were now a dangerous pest in the park. He will keep looking for the nests, and I told him I would look for them. I think I found one not far from our favorite bench, and he will check that out. Later, he found a nest and treated it (killing it with a powder). While I frown on killing things outdoors, I make an exception for local ants or yellow jackets in public parks or my backyard.

I pushed Susie to some new areas in the park, going off the path, and watched with care for wasp nests. We found one possible nest, and Susie enjoyed the new places. We saw the butterfly dancing in the sun. It was a marvelous walk.

Aside: There is a butterfly now in the backyard at the house. I am seeing the hummingbirds in the mornings too.

I had to head home, and I left Susie with Jennifer with a kiss goodbye and a promise to return on Tuesday. Susie needed a nap. I took Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave. The traffic was light–but I did stop for my suits, as I mentioned, so I was quite delayed.

I rested for a bit and then made jambalaya from a box. I did chop some onion, garlic, celery, and a not-so-fresh green pepper to add to it. I sliced up the sausage leftover from last week’s jambalaya, one smoked and the other cajun sausage. I opened a large can of tomatoes, took half, crushed them, and added them. All of it was then mixed with my usual box of jambalaya makings.

It was good. I ate it while watching the Nike meetings.

And that takes me full circle.

Thanks for reading!

 

It is already late, and I wrote a blog this morning. I will just cover the good bits.

I managed to find my way to Susie in Air Volvo before 1PM. This time we stayed in for the early afternoon. We called Leta (Susie’s mother) and Barb (Susie’s sister) after Susie was comfortably in bed to watch a movie with me. We did a three-way call on FaceTime with my iPhone. We hooked up with Emma (Barb’s daughter) as Barb was driving Emma back to her place. Barb and family (plus Emma’s new man in her life) had taken Leta out to lunch after church for Leta’s 95th birthday. Leta also had a cake after church in Lansing, Michigan–Grace United Methodist.

Next, we selected The Transporter with Jason Statham for the afternoon entertainment. Susie managed to stay awake for most of it. Anassa, the weekend nursing aide, said Susie ate most she had seen her eat. Excellent. Susie had some coffee as a treat during the movie.

Next, Anassa popped Susie into her wheelchair so we could visit the park. The park was still excellent, under 80F (27C), and we parked at a bench and just watched the folks for a while. The yellow jackets were willing to be waved off today. We enjoyed just relaxing in the park. We did tour the roads and looked at the roses, fruit trees (now loaded with fruit), and the magnolia tree (one big white flower near the base). After that, it was time for me to go. Susie was happy to be placed in the recliner (Louis, the evening nursing aide, did pinch his hand in the recliner–I did not warn him in time; it is tricky).

I found a burger and headed to Cory’s house to play Dungeons and Dragons. My paladin died in the game, sacrificing himself to save a world by blowing up a sun. I brought my replacement character and started to play my Lawful Effective (evil) cleric of war called War. My character War helped rally the people when the shockwave from the blast hit our spaceship and tried to keep them safe. More details cannot be added here, but I started to find my way with the new character. For D&D 5E folks, I enjoyed playing a good paladin and recommend the class. I have not played a cleric in years, so it is something new to try out.

Lunch was sushi at Sushi Hanna in Beaverton. It is a track place, and I had a great lunch there.

Well, I am already getting tired. Please forgive me if I just stop here under 500 words.

 

 

I was relieved at 10:45PM last night by the India-based folks–so I am not as tired as last Sunday morning. I am trying to remember what happened on Saturday. That is the problem with waiting until the following day to write the blog. Yesterday is already fading as if Somnus claimed the memories.

Let me try to remember…

The morning started with me waking at 7 from my alarm on my iPhone, surprising me to have actually slept the night. I did not have to prove hydration that night. I rose and made liberal coffee in my French Press and marveled at another bright morning with clear skies (i.e., no smoke or clouds). I located yogurt, blueberry marked Organic, and an NYC bagel (frozen to keep them over time). I used the microwave, toaster, and whipped cream cheese to produce an excellent Saturday morning repast. I took this to the office.

I wrote Friday’s story and consumed my consumables. Friday being a work day, the blog was short. I exclude the details of work as that would be, first, boring, and second, the non-boring parts would require clearance that is not likely coming. I focus on my emotions, if any, for the workday. I would say that the number of face-palm emoji per hour would be a good measure of how work is going (as poo-based icons are considered unhelpfully critical, and we resist them, especially the flaming poo ones; the face-palm cover a lot of emotional territory). Friday was a three-plus face-palm day.

I finished 10ish with the blog and breakfast and soon was cleaned and dressed. I almost forgot my prescriptions (Metformin for low-level diabetes, a daily inhaler for asthma, and blood pressure meds). I took them just a few hours late and then watered the roses, tiny new redwood, and other flowering plants. I managed to not get soaked or muddy in the process. I also knocked on the window when a local cat, doing its cat patrol through my backyard, found a mouse or shrew in my backyard, and I scared the cat–I like my shrews–the bite of a shrew is toxic too. After rodent rescue, watering, and pill-taking, I boarded Air Volvo.

But, I forgot, going backward, that I also spent ninety minutes on Saturday creating my new cleric for Dungeons and Dragons 5E. We were warned by the DM, Matt, that the finish of the adventure would require sacrifice. My current character on the Sunday game is a paladin named Rath, a good guy and a follower of Death, the Egyptian concept, not some evil scary death. My character is not afraid of death; he knows where he is going (living forever on the true Nile in the lands of the dead with his late family members) and is thrilled to be going out in some huge D&D moment. Thus, I had to spend time creating his brother, War, a lawful evil follower not of death but of war. War believes that the means justify the ends, unlike his good brother, if applied brutally and quickly. It took me a while to remake Rath into his brother War. This took a lot of the morning. I am ready for Sunday now–huzzah!

Next, I stopped at McDonald’s and tried their 1/4 pound burger with cheese again. Not that good this time. I am rushing with all the weekend work and am not eating right–I will stop that, I hope. I eat when I am stressed–a family trait. I have no snack foods or cookies in the house to help me resist this bad habit.

The traffic was light on Saturday, which is not always true, and soon Air Volvo reached Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Susie was asleep in her recliner in the shared living room. Anassa was making breakfast and was quite busy–Anassa is the weekend nursing aide. Soon, Susie was awake, and we agreed to head to the park; Anassa found a break and popped Susie in her wheelchair.

The park was busy with dogs walking their human, and the dress was for a hot summer day. While nobody was naked, some folks, it being the Pacific Northwest, were nearly undressed and sporting various body art. We, mostly covered by clothing and ignoring local customs, were not burnt from the sun (Susie is allergic to the sun, and I take meds that make sun exposure unwise), but we did forget the sun blocker lotion for Susie’s hands–We limited our time in the sun.

Sitting in the sun, we called Barb and Leta, Susie’s sister and mother, respectively. We soon reached them in a 3-way call on my iPhone using FaceTime. We had a short chat, with Susie nodding off in the hot sun. Susie enjoyed the warmth and needed a hammock to finish the summer experience. We soon rang off, and I took Susie to the end of the paved path in the park and then reversed back. We passed dogs with humans, little humans crying in their trams, and kids playing in the park. One dad and mom found a new way to swing. There, a little girl was pushed by mom, and dad would lightly throw a soccer ball at the little swinger, who would then kick the ball. There were lots of giggles.

We then sat on the porch at hummingbird house to enjoy the warm day. I was not ready to sit in Susie’s room yet. Evan showed up while we were on the porch. Susie was sleepy, and I was getting there. I rallied, and Susie was set up in her bed by Anassa, and we watched the new Elron John-based movie Rocketman in Susie’s room.

The movie was longer than the time I had, and Evan left early, and I had to say goodbye before the film was finished. Susie was surprised I had to go so soon but understood that my shift started at 4PM. I left with a kiss and left the movie running for her, and Louis, the weekend evening nursing aide and cook, promised to visit Susie and see what she wanted to do once the film finished.

I headed home in surprisingly heavy Saturday late afternoon traffic. I arrived before my shift started and found my new board game had come, Expeditions. This is from the same game company that created the board games Scythe and Wingspan (both amazingly good games) and was available as a pre-order, and I was thrilled to get my copy with metal mechs (Richard already had his copy and told me he lost his first game). During breaks on my shift, I punched the game (meaning I punched out all the cardboard, unwrapped the decks of cards, and organized the content to be ready to play).

Focusing on work, my shift got one face-plam emoji from me as there were a few crises and late running processes. I am forward-movement driven after working for the shoe company in information technology for over twenty-five years. I am just hard-wired for Just Do It. While it was a weekend, it seemed the processes were running strangely slow, and I often asked for status and wondered what was happening. I was happy at 10:45PM when India-based colleagues offered to relieve me.

Next, I read the rules for the new game. I watched the how-to video last week to understand the rulebook. While the game looks fun and plays in less than two hours, the publisher’s first printings often have some balancing issues (Scythe rules ban certain starting conditions now, and Wingspan early editions had some corrections too). I expect the game will have some issues when we learn it. My copy of the game is number 6158/7500 of the First Printing of the IronClad Edition.

I read to 11ish, moving to my new book on my Kindle after reading the rules, looking at most of the cards, and playing tiles in Expeditions. There is a solo mode that I might try on Monday night. I did mix up some epoxy to reattach the bottom to a mech; it looked like the base was just not glued on. Fixed.

I read, next, Silesian Station (John Russell series Book 2) and enjoyed the WW2 fictional account of a journalist/spy on my Kindle. I like the nasty names he calls that bad guys and observations–recommended.

After that, I managed to sleep and stayed sleeping until the morning.

Sorry, I missed taking a picture today.

Friday started with me sleeping into 7AM, and then numb I located the kitchen (it has not moved). I made liberal coffee and moved to the blueberry Organic yogurt, having finished all the strawberry versions. Next, I did the usual exploration of emails, Slack channel updates, and online news (CNN, BBC, and New York Times being the three I read to get a balanced account with a slight left lean but with strong fact-checking). At 8AM, I started my first meetings, Zoom, and fortified with food and liberal coffee, I was ready for the questions and issues.

The morning went on with hours of status meetings on Zoom, and a few crises of the moment surfaced. I also reviewed and approved some design fixes; I did the easy ones for our team. This filled the early morning, and I popped out to shower and dress. I was ready to present at the engineer and architect briefing meeting I run every Friday at 11AM. Still, there was a request to cancel Friday’s meeting and postpone my presentation–I was already preparing but accepted the postponement.

With 11AM suddenly free, I headed out with my Nike and Apple laptops and took Air Volvo to Beaverton. I stopped by Paris Baguette for lunch, having a fantastic turkey club with avocado. I then found a small cheesecake, a strawberry soft cake (something new), and some breakfast items to take to the hummingbird house. Air Volvo took me into some slow-moving traffic; folks were starting their weekend early on Highway 217. I finally arrived at Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

Moving backward, I interrupted my return to the hummingbird house and stopped at a Credit Union. As part of my retirement planning, I wish to move to a Credit Union to be insulated from the bank mergers and corporate shenanigans we now see with too large-to-fail banks. Time to run for cover and get local–not that I am afraid of bank failures or currency issues, but I do not want to find that I have accounts I did not agree to or to see that there are no services now unless I have super premium something. I need something local and safe.

Rivermark Credit Union’s office was strange. There were two humans there. A gentleman asked me why I was there, an odd question, and I asked about their services. He then created an appointment with someone (who was the other person, I soon realized) and had me wait until she was ready. I was then taken into a generic office and discussed their services. The gal then printed out their information (available online, I was told). Also, the gal shared that their tellers are working from home, and you stand at a video screen to do banking, and I was told they are proud that soon all their locations with be using tellers working from home. Yes, I found a Credit Union with all the personality of a vast bank and almost no services (except for some high minimum balance accounts)–not what I expected. When I left, like a volleyball team, the two people changed positions; the gal that helped me now was the greeter. I was not expecting a CU so over-the-top corporate. I am tempted to join because it is so cutting-edge and West Coast.

Back to hummingbird house, I still had to work Friday afternoon; Nike summer hours do not apply to our project (growl), so Jennifer moved Susie from the recliner in the shared living room to Susie’s bed. I connected my two laptops and continued to work, sitting next to Susie at a little table. I put a movie on so Susie would have something to watch while I worked (and I would sometimes watch): Ratatouille by Pixar. This is one of my favorite animated movies; a modern fairytale about discrimination with cooking representing making correct choices–recommended.

Susie tolerated my meetings and my having to read and review some documents. Susie has gained two pounds reaching 70 pounds now. Today she was uncomfortable with some gut issues and showed some signs of confusion. She asked to go home today, but I could tell her she was safe at the hummingbird house, and she agreed that they take good care of her. Susie was unhappy when I left at 4PM but accepted it. It is heartbreaking for me.

I do not remember the drive home as I was upset, which is not unusual for me. Air Volvo found its way, and I was soon home. I explored the freezer and discovered a package of ground beef from 2020! It was pushed against the back of the wall. I also identified another that was two years old. Both were taken out to the trash. Finding more current versions, I made tacos for dinner. I had a box of shells that was opened before and a packet of taco spices also open (I made something that needed just a few bits, and I have been meaning to finish these open ones). I watched some old The Avengers (1966) episodes for fun while cooking and eating.

Done with dinner, I decided to see Oppenheimer at 7:10 at Regal’s Movies on TV theater (just a few minutes away). The manager was happy to see me when I arrived and helped me get some popcorn (free as I used my Regal Card) and a small drink. The manager was visibly relieved to see many folks attending the movies.

The movie. three hours long, seemed to me to be a new way to tell a story with film. The storyline bounces around a bit, but I liked how they did it. The film managed to get across how many people were involved in making the atomic bomb and personality conflicts, and how war makes you align with the war goals. I would recommend it–get a small drink (kids sized).

After that, affected by the movie, my mind was spinning. One of my fears is that the work at the shoe company and the demands (weekend work and covering 7/24 for weeks on end and over holidays) are wrong for me. The movie brought this back to my mind. More to think about.

I went to bed and soon slept. I slept until 3AM, when my arm hurt and woke me. I have injured my right arm, it hurts when I stretch to reach. I might have damaged it when lifting Susie a few weeks ago. It started the next day. I did lots of lifts. I slept, after some ibuprofen, until the morning.

Aside: I have The Describer’s Dictionary by David Grambs on my desk. I recommend it when you are tired of using the exact words. Recommended. It is my few old-school tools. I also have manuals of style and American usage, but I seldom open those books. I find that dictionaries are no longer needed with Google. I also read the NYT, as it is the best writing I have discovered from a daily source, and they don’t use the Oxford comma.

Thanks for reading.