Author: alohawild

Again, I delayed the blog writing until the following day–I went to bed early but had trouble sleeping. I also woke up with the sunrise and just kept rolling over. I finally managed to fall deeply asleep two minutes before my alarm. I started at 7AM.

I made liberal Equal Exchange coffee and found my last banana and a slice of breakfast pastry (almost gone and from Wholefoods) that I carried back to the office. I started pounding out the blog for Sunday. Barb, Susie’s sister, was staying in the spare bedroom and was up drinking coffee soon after I made it–Barb is from the East and has a three-hour time difference (I find it takes folks about two weeks to adjust to the local time–Barb will be here just a week). Barb dressed and headed out to see Susie at 10ish while I continued to do various tasks in the house. I manage to get the games and books put away on Monday, and now I can see my Turkish rug again! The feeling of being overwhelmed by the mess is fading now.

I started rereading and reworking my Howard story “Howard’s Lockdown.” Howard is my version of H.P. Lovecraft, who lives in Portland and is a time traveler. He is also known in our Dungeons and Dragons game as Crazy Howard, where I played him as a 4E version of a warlock, and now he is a non-player character who appears when we need some help or to be rescued. The story, set and written in 2020, is about the lockdown for the pandemic and how that could bleed into the Lovecraft Mythos. I have now cut it to under 7,000 words, the limit for submission, and I am editing and finding typos that are years old. It also surprises me when I find more. A few more hours and I should have this ready to submit, I hope.

Next, I boarded Air Volvo and crossed Beaverton without seeing any of Beaverton’s Finest–but it was Monday, and I suspect the police know that traffic is slow and light on Mondays. While open, Nike and other local employers have most folks working from home on Monday and Friday. Thus, I arrived after 25 minutes of travel 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.

The weather today was overcast but not raining. It was hot and dry but never reached 80F (27C). A good day for an outdoor adventure.

Susie was in her recliner in the shared living room, watching shows with Barb. With my arrival around noonish, we decided to journey to Nike WHQ and try the Hollister Trail, available only to Nike Employees (I wore my badge while on the trail). The trail is cut through a large square of regrown forest (clear-cut years ago and left to return to a forest) that Nike owns but never developed. It used to be the hangout of the homeless, and Nike now patrols it, and the running areas are covered by security cameras. Nike Security has buggies with big tires to quickly check out things. You are quite safe in these quiet running and biking trails.

I unloaded Susie from Air Volvo without incident. WHQ parking spaces are regulation-sized, so there is plenty of room even when parked next to another vehicle. We then headed to the Hollister Trail in what was called Nike Woods and enjoyed the quiet walk. The forest is overgrown with poison oak and other prickly bushes, with signs saying to stay on the trail to protect the natural area and avoid the poison oak (I have seldom seen such healthy-looking poison oak). Barb said it made her legs itch just seeing it. We did about 1/2 of the Hollister Trail–I was ready for a break. Susie loved the new trail.

Next, after loading and unloading Susie, we did the McMenamins Cedar Hills Pub. Barb had a sandwich, and I had a salad (I had a 1/4 pounder with cheese at McDonald’s on the way in–it was actually good). We had some refreshing adult beverages, with Susie getting a sample too. The ice cream was unavailable, so we got Susie cheddar cheese soup with bacon and potato (it might be called loaded baked potato soup). Cheese makes Susie happy, and she managed to eat 20% or so of the soup, some sipped water (with thickener), and an adult beverage sample.

After that, we retraced our travels across Beaverton, not wanting to enjoy construction delays on Highway 217. Soon, I had Susie deplaned from Air Volvo and back in Jennifer’s hands (Jennifer is the weekday nursing aide). I said goodbye with a kiss while Barb stayed for the rest of the afternoon. My trip, once again across Beaverton, was uneventful.

On returning to the Volvo cave, I rested for a bit as the moving Susie and the long walk was more than I usually do, and I was feeling a bit tired. Once I recovered, I returned to the house chores and sorted through the books and games on the floor. My friend in Michigan will be surprised to learn that I recycled the handwritten adventures from the 1980s Dungeons and Dragons play on Monday–I still had them. I have carried them from Michigan to Maryland to Oregon: The Test, The Haunted House, and The Steiber Caste (and others) are now going away. I felt good getting the space back, and I have written thousands of pages (all digital) since those were scrawled on notebook and graph paper. I kept only the old Dragon magazines (and like material) and the last paper issue of The Dragon. I also retained D20 versions of Dungeons and Dragons as that version is not far from the current version–but I suspect they are unusable as monsters will be a mismatch.

The Call of Cthulhu stuff was also put away. Unlike D&D, CoC is easily converted to a 7th Edition, and, more importantly, there is no desire for an 8th edition (D&D 5E is rumored to be replaced soon with an all-digital version, One). I have thus retained my original CoC stuff (some might be valuable as collectibles) and added more to my play options. I put all that away–none was recycled.

The Lord of the Rings books for 5E were also put away. Yes, there is a special reworking of Dungeons and Dragons for LOTR. I gave my original LOTR set away to GoodWill, but I still have three versions now (including one non-D&D version). I did see my mint set of LOTR 4E maps was for sale at Powell’s for $250! I often dream of playing again as DM (Loremaster) in this setting, but I have never found a group or time to make it work. Having a character in the Tolkien world is a very dark experience as the Dark Lord has filled the lands with despair, and there is little healing or D&D-style superpower magic. It is more like what Aragorn looks like in the movie after falling off the cliff. Some day–back on the shelf. Someday!

The mail came, and I was surprised to find a new 2600 Magazine. I have been waiting about a year to be published and have heard nothing from the hackers running the publication. I opened the table of contents, and my thumb was over the last few entries, and I saw no sign of my piece; I thought I would have to check if they decided to pull it. I flipped through the paper copy and noticed my name. Yes, page 57! Rechecking, I found my piece, “Turing’s Battle,” near the bottom of the table of contents. Finally, I am published! The hackers will not have the new 2600, Volume 40 (number two), in finer pro-hacker bookstores for a few more weeks.

I reread it, and the editing, if any, was light, and the whole story was there. I originally wrote it for the Navy Institute, was rejected, and then sent it to 2600, who accepted it almost immediately. It is a story about Artificial Intelligence (AI) written a year before the panic you see now. This 2600 issue has an editorial about AI, and I suspect that is why they moved my story to this issue–there are quite a few AI items in this quarter’s version. I was excited and happy to finally get something out.

Returning to the narrative, Barb returned from Susie’s, and we headed to Von EBert’s in Portland’s Pearl District for dinner with Mariah. Once again, crossing Beaverton in Air Volvo, we had no issue and only saw a few Washington County Sheriff’s SUVs. The traffic was light, and soon we were hunting for cheap parking in the Pearl. No dice. We disembarked from Air Volvo in the parking garage, took the elevator to the surface world, and walked a block to meet Mariah, already at table #13–the best one for viewing the sports screens.

There we enjoyed the various brewed products, Mariah and Barb exchanged dog photos and stories, and Mariah and I had the world’s best chicken wings (rumors are that the chickens volunteer to be the best). At the same time, Barb wondered why anyone would eat that. Barb had a pizza (pineapple and ham that did not cause any pizza purists to run screaming from the room). We had a good time and fine food. Mariah got to see the 2600 copy with my name in it–all good.

Barb and I returned to the Volvo Cave without issue. We both were tired and decided it was best to sleep. I still had trouble sleeping, and I did reread my 2600 story.

Thanks for reading!

I am writing again in the morning for the previous day. This Monday morning, some clouds hopefully will keep us under 80F (27C).

Yesterday, Sunday, started with me waking with my alarm at 7AM; I woke up from the bright morning light a few times but rolled back over and slept some more. I found the kitchen and made liberal coffee and cut a piece of pastry, and broke open another banana for breakfast. I carried these consumables to the office and started on the blog for Saturday while eating. I also read my email and took a peek at the news.

I did some laundry, and time seemed to fly away. I reworked my Howard story, my fictional version of H.P. Lovecraft, about his imaged lockdown to under 7,000 words–it is much improved by the reduction. I am thinking of submitting it to a local publication. I ate the rest of the leftover pasta for lunch, showered, dressed, boarded Air Volvo, and headed 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.

Barb, Susie’s sister, had started earlier at the hummingbird house and had taken Susie to Metzger Park before I arrived. When I came, without much traffic on Sunday, we decided to head to the local mall, Washington Square, only a few minutes away. We boarded Air Volvo with Anassa, the weekend nursing aide, getting Susie into the co-pilot seat and Barb taking First Class behind us.

We soon arrived, and I had no problem unloading Susie, and soon we were in the mall. We used the Macy’s entrance, and the handicap door has finally (after two years) been repaired. We pushed the button, and both doors opened like normal. Excellent!

Barb made a bee-line for the Made In Oregon store and bought a few small items. We managed to resist the siren call of Sock Empire’s colorful socks. We settled at a small table in the food court, using the lift to get to the second floor (why the lift has buttons for three floors is a mystery). Once seated, Barb had a veggie sub and a scoop of strawberry ice cream for Susie. I found a side salad to increase my veggie intake.

We then toured more of the mall. We did almost the entire circle passing through Nordstrums to connect to Williams Sonoma, which we visited but resisted getting a new fancy and bright-colored spatula. You can collect them all now!

We found the flower truck (a VW bus turned into a plant stand), and Susie picked out more flowers to take back. I had a challenge loading Susie and had to put her back and try again. I thought I had enough space, but I was wrong. Susie seemed unimpacted by my redo and was safely in the co-pilot seat. She is so fragile now I am worried I will bump her into the car and we will have a new problem. But you have to keep going, so I do.

Susie, now sleeping, seemed fine as we popped over to Beaverton again and stopped at Paris Baguette. Barb jumped out once I parked and got some desserts for Susie. While we waited for Barb, a gal parked a Subaru next to Air Volvo and could not get out (she is a big girl), so I heard the Sabaru car door hit Air Volvo. I winced but did not react. A later check showed no damage to Air Volvo.

We reached the hummingbird house without incident. I unloaded Susie, and soon Susie was back with Jennifer and Louis, with Barb staying for the rest of the afternoon. I returned to the Volvo Cave and arrived quickly as there was little traffic on Sunday afternoon. I sorted and put away some laundry, rested, and edited some more. Barb came nearing 7PM, and we headed to the local Mexican place for margaritas and dinner. We talked briefly and then returned to the Volvo Cave in Air Volvo–a short trip.

Barb and I spoke for a while, Barb managed to stay up past 10PM, and I went to bed a bit later.

A busy day. Thanks for reading!

Barb, Susie’s sister, who is visiting and staying in the spare bedroom, has had to correct me multiple times when I get the day of the week wrong. I am on paid time off (PTO) from the shoe company and have lost my framework for the day of the week–work. It has been nice to place Nike IT in the background for these few days (since Thursday afternoon).

The weather, more typical in August in the previous decade, has been blue skies and hot. Yesterday we reached the 90s (32C) with no rain in the forecast and a brief low-cloud day starting this evening that will keep only Monday under 80F (27C). We are not under the dreaded heat dome (we did that in 2020) that is troubling the Western USA and will peek at just crossing 90F on our hottest days. I will continue to water the roses, dawn redwood (which seems to thrive in this weather), and other plants. The apple tree (from the original pioneer farm and likely one of the John Appleseed trees), while lying on its side, is covered with green apples (cider apples) and survived the pruning to make its new truck from a large branch, now, growing straight up. It seems pretty happy to just lie there.

Saturday was an early day for all of us. Barb and I were up around 7AM and enjoyed liberal coffee from the Mr. Coffee’s pot. I had some food as my prescription must be taken with food; Barb just does coffee with 2% milk. We took separate cars while I stopped to refuel Air Volvo ($4.79, f**king oil companies! Remember, there is no sales tax here).

The hole installation process in Beaverton was mostly stopped on the weekend. Hall Boulevard Highway 217 overpass bridge has been broken open for construction. The edge of the bridge cement has been smashed, and the metal bars exposed–not something that is reassuring when driving on the roadway. The bridge will be expanded by one lane to improve the flow to the 217 on-ramp, and the metal bars will be recast into the new concrete for the new lane. Still a bit strange to see!

Susie was still finishing her breakfast when we arrived, Barb arrived before me, and Susie was ready for her next adventure. Michelle Nixon came today and met Barb and was happy to see us. Anassa, the weekend nursing aide, got Susie prepared with sunblock and shoes (Susie’s yellow shoes were too tight, see we changed to her flower design Nikes) and popped Susie into the copilot seat on Air Volvo. Barb was in First Class just behind us. We traveled from 217 to 26 to Portland, and then I parked in the Burnside parking near the Saturday Market. Another car pulled out from a large spot next to the trash bin, so I parked there. I pulled in 1/2 way and unloaded Susie after reassembling the wheelchair from the cargo hold. Once Susie was safe, I pulled in the whole way, scanned the QR code, filled in the information, and paid for parking, even on Saturday.

We crossed the street into the party atmosphere of the Saturday Market with a DJ playing tunes and saw all the tourists in line for or taking photos with the pink Vodoo Donuts boxes. The tourists are usually identifiable as they move in packs, have a pink box, do not have that many (if any) tattoos, and sport more clothing than the locals. It is a hot day, even in the morning; the locals had exposed much skin, often covered in ink, while wearing huge shoes (and no pink boxes). Naked Day in Portland is in August this year–the locals were not nude yet.

The man with some of his art (Barb and I both bought a print)–www.jrslattum.com.

Barb shopped and found items for her kids to take back. Together we explored the slowly heating cityscape of tents and booths selling various edgy handmade or printed items. The smell of pot was only in a few places, and the bongs and other drug items, with the decriminalization of almost everything in Oregon, seemed no longer edgy, were missing, and indeed not central in any display. Instead, food products, soap, and cat toys were more pronounced, with rainbow colors being the most used decore for stands. There was a booth to buy a dart to throw at a picture of Trump and DeSantis, pride project funding booth. Portland has mostly moved much that was radical to the mainstream.

Once we had a few treasures, we headed to Kells and learned we were too early, they open at noon, but they let us in any way (it was getting quite hot). Evan found us there and joined us for lunch. Barb and I had some drinks (Barb a cider and their local red ale). Susie has water with thicker. Barb ordered a burger, and I had shepherd’s pie, and we got Susie some Ensure we brought and mashed potatoes with a touch of gravy. Evan, arriving later, had bangers and mash with an adult beverage.

Once most of the repast mainly was inside us, I paid the bill and headed back to Air Volvo. Susie was wiped out and leaning in her wheelchair. She was like a sack of wet noodles when I moved her into the copilot seat; saying goodbye to Even, we headed back to the hummingbird house.

Without issue, we soon landed at the hummingbird house, and Ansassa deplaned Susie for us. Barb then remained with Susie for the afternoon and early evening while I did chores. The first was to drop off the books for Dondrea and Z (just a few miles from the hummingbird house) that I picked up at Powell’s cheap. I also included one of the Gray Mouser and Fafhrd books I have had for years but now use my Kindle. I have carried the book from Maryland to Oregon, but it is time to let go of stuff (and introduce these rogue characters to others). Next, I got some big binders for papers at Office Depot. I also took a picture of the No Tonic Press note calling for locals to provide stories for an anthology at Powell’s. I might decide to edit a Howard story for that–I have to 1 August to submit–and I thought the current version drags a bit, so it might be better to cut it to fit the 7,000-word limit, just a little side project.

I returned to the Volvo Cave in light Saturday traffic and began more chores after a short rest. I restarted the endless laundry task (I was rewashing a pile of clothing, I think that was a year or more old sitting in a basket) and finally sorted the accumulated papers for May and June. I keep records of every expense (even the receipts I remember to save) and then put them in 3″ binders every six months. If asked, I can produce proof of funds, medical expenses, and hobby expenses should the IRS or other entities need evidence. I did have to run through every transaction in June and found a few to correct. I try to do the assignment of transactions (I have every in-use account feeding into Quicken on my Apple) daily to reduce the workload doing a little each day is easier (and I might remember what the transaction was just a day later).

Sunset at Beaverton Central.

Time flies, and soon it is getting into the evening. Barb and I agreed to meet at the food trucks in Beaverton Central. Barb spent the day with Susie ending with dinner for Susie and, before that, watching M.A.S.H. while Susie rested in bed. Barb parked in the lot while I picked up the parking garage, and we met at the food trucks. I had a Peru-styled rice bowl with beef, and Barb tried a savory crepe. We then had a few beers and watched the sunset from the bar. We moved to another area, and the kids sent a ball into our beers and doused Barb. We finished what was left and headed back to the Volvo Cave. Arriving without issue, we chatted briefly, and Barb stayed awake until nearly 11PM. I had some trouble sleeping, going to bed later, but finally slept at about 1AM.

Thanks for reading.

 

Today Barb and I started with liberal coffee made in the coffee pot, and me baking a premade quiche, had a slice, and sent a slice to Susie with Barb. Barb headed out early to see her sister, Susie, and they were in the park for most of the morning. The quiche was saved the following day as Jennifer had Susie ready early today.

I spent the morning writing the blog and doing some housework items. I got cleaned up, dressed, and then loaded Air Volvo with items for Goodwill. I delivered them there and then headed to see Susie at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

I found Susie and Barb in Metzger Park at the shady bench near the cedars and redwoods. I pointed out the Dawn Redwood to Barb that loses its leaf-like needles in the winter; we planted one at the house, which is a few inches taller now. I ordered one from Amazon, and I am sure you, dear reader, are not surprised you can get mail-order redwoods from Amazon.

We headed back to the hummingbird house, Jennifer loaded Susie into Air Volvo, and we headed to Salt & Straw Ice Cream in Beaverton. It was hot, near 90F (32C), and I unloaded Susie from Air Volvo after reassembling the wheelchair in the cargo hold. Susie had Sherbert, Barb had two different cones (one matching mine), and I had the last chance at Day Old Bread Pudding with Ganache Chocolate.

We disassembled and reloaded the wheelchair into the cargo hold after Susie boarded with me (Michael) doing the lifting. Air Volvo then did a driving tour for Susie and Barb of the Nike WHQ. Next, we hit the highway, connected with Cornelius Pass Road, and headed to the Rockcreek Tavern. The wheelchair was once again whisked out and reassembled; Susie was popped into the wheelchair by me. We found a late lunch and beer products there, locally made beer. Barb had a lovely Clam Chowder, and I had a sausage plate with extra cheese dip sauce that Susie had as her meal. Susie loves cheese, and we avoided choking hazards with that. I did put a thicker in the water to keep Susie safe.

We spent a delightful warm afternoon at the tavern. After that, we took the highways back and again disassembled and reassembled the wheelchair and boarded and deplaned Susie from Air Volvo. Susie looked tired, and we left her with Jennifer and Louis for dinner and some rest.

Barb and I, taking separate cars, headed back to the Volvo Cave. We had heavy traffic in a few places, it was Friday evening then, but we arrived without issue. We then rested a bit. Next, we boarded Air Volvo and headed to Powel’s Books. Barb wanted to do a little shopping at the Beaverton store.

I found a few used books and some items for Z. I also noticed that the computer section is smaller, and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) section is now more story and less algorithm and coding. Next to the computer books is the new sex book collection, including prominently placed books on favorite kinks. All of this is across from where the AI section used to be. I could draw some conclusions, but I will let the readers instead draw their own. The sex books area is larger now than the computer book area-hmmm.

We returned to the Volvo Cave, and both were tired from all we did. Barb is resting already as the time change gets to her.

 

Susie’s sister, Barb, flew in today and drove herself from PDX to the hummingbird house, arriving at about 1PM. Navigation worked until she got close as she was sent to the wrong street; use Metzger Park instead of the address to find Susie, as the hummingbird house is next to the park. Susie was pleased to see her sister, and we stayed with Susie until dinner time around 5PM, cheeseburgers being on the menu tonight–we demurred when offered dinner.

Susie was resting when we got there, and Barb woke her when she arrived. Taking a moment to awaken, Susie was so happy to see her. Jennifer said it was the best smile she had seen on Susie. Barb called Leta, their mother, and did FaceTime with Leta so everyone could see each other. We moved Susie to a wheelchair and sat on the porch as it was already hot outside (88F or higher–31C) and just chatted and enjoyed the warm sun.

Susie got her bottom sore when sitting for a few hours, and we retired to Susie’s room with Jennifer putting Susie on her side, and I started M.A.S.H. We chatted and watched M.A.S.H. until dinner time.

Barb and I then headed to Beaverton Central, having to dodge construction and find parking. Barb had trouble with the rental, a Jeep SUV, as Nav wanted to use the highways in rush hour, and she remotely started, but the Jeep needed some mystery process to allow it to drive. She had to restart the Jeep. Next, Barb was stopped at the parking garage. The touch screen, built to be used underground, was over 98F (body temperature), and the screen did not work as it could not detect touches (using temperature differences to detect touch). Barb was stalled. The machine would not take her credit card (out of state), and I had to walk to the entrance and give her an AMEX to work. Barb felt that the universe was selecting her as a new test bunny! Once we sorted the parking garage, we headed to the carts. Barb found a gyro, me noodles, a picnic table in partial shade, and beer. Barb found a German product fresh from the keg and me, Red Zepplin Ale, to drink.

Next, we headed home with Barb stopping at Safeway to get some items. We chatted until 9:30ish, and Barb rested as the jet lag and time difference started to weigh on her. I was up until 10:30ish doing bills and laundry. Susie’s Rx bill was over $500 with the addition of Ensure. While it is doctor-ordered, I still marked the over-the-counter (OTC) expense in my books. While technically, a medical professional has ordered it for medical reasons, the IRS agent that reviews my taxes could disallow it as OTC; if I sue the IRS, I will win as it is medically necessary as determined by an independent professional, but it is not worth the time and risk. The same is true of the gloves I buy every month.

I was in bed a bit early for me, felt good, deciding to write the blog on Friday morning.

Returning to my start of the day, I was up at 6:30AM and enjoyed a pastry and liberal coffee while I read emails, slack channel updates, and news articles. I cleaned up, dressed, boarded Air Volvo, headed to Clubhouse Nike Building off of WHQ, the office, and arrived before my first hours of status meetings.

Work was busy with me setting up my out-of-office, the production fixes, and last-minute fixes for the testing of our next release (yes, the final testing of the next version starts two weeks after installing the current release–the life of software engineers is to be constantly working on the next release), and approving access now that my boss, Brad, is on sabbatical. I also started on my new project and created the design of access–the first step of installing new software after the actual build is to design security and access. It was a busy day.

I then headed to WHQ to have lunch. I got a note that my lunch with Scott was canceled, so I headed to the closest food, the Lebron Building, and got a bagel sandwich. I read my emails as I was about to start lunch and discovered that Scott was wrong and we would meet. I had my bagel wrapped, headed to the Serene Williams building, enjoyed the salad bar, and talked to Scott about software and work items for a working lunch. While there, I got updates from Barb that she had reached PDX without issue.

And that brings us full circle in Thursday’s story. We did get good news, Susie did not lose any more weight in a week. That brings us hope.

Thanks for reading.