Author: alohawild

Again, today will be a short blog. I am tired today.

Going backward, I spent the early evening with Z playing board games and then wandering the park by the church in Beaverton by the fountain. I taught Z a new game today, Furnace, and she loved it. You buy plants by bidding and then running your updated collection of plants. You then transform various resources into cash. The player with the most money wins. Richard taught me the game, and I bought it with my birthday gift card from my sister, Linda, and Jesse (her husband-to-be).

After that, I returned home and started some laundry, and watched the start of season 3 of Max’s Warrior series, which finally got a third season. I reheated some pasta and sausage I made yesterday. I needed some food to have with my meds. It was hard to get back to the blog tonight.

Moving back in the day to work, at 3PM, we had a party with finger foods, beer, and wine to celebrate our successful installation last weekend. The two presidents that run much of Nike came to talk about it and other leaders of IT. It was, despite my complaints about testing, an excellent go-live.

Before this, I headed out after a pulled-pork lunch from the trucks (free for us) 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. Susie was awake in her recliner in the shared living room and waiting for me. I remembered this time to bring the flowers. Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, said the flowers in Susie’s room were fading, so these would go there; Susie agreed.

Next, after Jennifer popped Susie into her wheelchair, we headed outside; it was a warm day–just starting to get hot. I pushed Susie into the park, and we stopped in the shade at a bench to call Leta, Susie’s mother. Leta was in her car when we called, but she parked in her driveway and talked to us for a while. Everyone is excited that Barb, Susie’s sister, will be here tomorrow.

The park was not too busy. I saw a hummingbird be challenged by a dragonfly; it sort of just stopped in the sky like it was pulled over for speeding, then seemed to spin and say, “Are you crazy,” and then flew away fast from a very confused dragonfly. I am tempted to think that Beaverton’s Finest has moved into dragonflies–but that is silly, but I still like the idea.

A child screamed in a very high pitch, and I saw every dragonfly and large flying bug halt and then fly quickly away at full speed. Strange sights today.

After the call, we completed, at Susie’s request, to finish the park and tour the area. Soon, it was time to leave after I reached the hummingbird house and left Susie with Jennifer after a kiss.

Work was full of status meetings and a few crises of the moment. I was shocked to approve five fixes into production and QA today–I usually just get one or two. So I was asking questions and busy in the status meetings. I also reviewed some designs. One I did sitting at a picnic table in Beaverton Park when waiting for Z and Dondrea. I used my phone to get a network connection to Nike and then updated the design document with my approval and replied to the email. I was busy today.

The morning started in a rush at 6AM, and I had a pastry and a banana with my liberal coffee. I was ready and had no new colon issues made my morning more exciting.

Sorry for the confusing blog, but I am tired and have much to do at home. More laundry and dishes.

Thanks for reading.

 

I have been cleaning the house and other items, so the blog will be short today. I will cover the essential details.

First, Susie had a video meeting with the nutritionist from Legacy at 1:30, and we had a good meeting. Kathy, the nutritionist, will recommend swallowing testing for Susie to ensure that nothing is worse or even better. Next, she thinks using Ensure (with protean, one with each meal plus as a snack) is excellent. She also recommended that Susie’s food be fortified with butter, cream, and oils. Creamy desserts are also a good idea, and maybe a pumpkin pie made with extra cream and cream cheese (or just cheese) will add up fast for Susie. It was a positive meeting, and the goal was to reverse the trend of losing weight by adding more calories to Susie’s food.

I started the day at 6AM with a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) and a banana. I was not rushed and read emails, Slack messages, and news reports to prepare for my day. And then, my colon decided that it would start to work again today and started releasing at a quick rate. I managed to avoid any accidents, but one is constantly amazed by volume! One moment was nearly a clean-up, and I thought I would miss work today, but I had to do the meeting for Susie, so I thought clean, dry thoughts and boarded Air Volvo.

I took my Apple computer and, unknowingly, dropped the earbuds with a mic in the driveway (I found them this evening). After being exposed to coffee, my Apple laptop mic is kaput, so I have to plug in a mic. I arrived a few minutes late for the status meeting as the traffic was light.

I forgot the coffee I meant to carry and Susie’s flowers (still in water on the counter). My colon suddenly had me in the restroom a few times, but there were no accidents, and I felt better by late morning. Work was the usual crisis of the moment, and me approving access for my boss, who is on sabbatical until August. Lunch was free, and trucks again. I had the chicken, olive, and mushroom strew African style. It was good. The chicken was a thigh with bones. Excellent.

As I described, next, I traveled to Susie’s place without issues. I stopped by Target and got a replacement earbuds and mic when I discovered I had lost mine. I got Susie some flowers too. I then headed to 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. Susie was in her bed, ready for the meeting. With a bit of trouble, I set up the Apple and found the sound settings, and then it all worked.

After that, I returned to the office for a while. I presented my next project at work, Archiving (boring stuff). I then left after 4 to get some housework done.

I cooked pasta, pasta sauce from a jar, and Italian sausage (cut into cubes–it is better that way) and watched the rest of Good Omens. I also mopped the kitchen and the main bathroom floors. I vacuumed the carpets. I finished washing and drying blankets for Barb. While the house is still dusty and messy, it is better. I will continue to work on it during Barb’s visit. I have yet to make it to GoodWill to eliminate lots of stuff. Soon!

Thanks for reading. I am happy about the ideas on food, and we will see if we can stop weight loss.

 

 

I have been cleaning, buying groceries, cleaning more, doing laundry, and finding things I did not know we had or had seen for some time. I am trying to get the house ready for guests. Mostly, I have had little time or strength for the home. I found Susie’s pill collection from the Europe trip and my carry-on for our NYC trip. We never unpacked in some ways as the pandemic, cancer, and strokes happened one after the other. I am just now feeling strong enough to clean. Until recently, work, visiting Susie, and writing the blog exhausted me. Now I can keep going. There is so much I want to do: Machine Learning in Python, model building, electronics, robots, rockets, painting figures, writing adventures for Role Playing Games (RPG), playing RPG, playing board games, roses, travel, travel writing, horror, movies, and so on. I am feeling better and starting to do more than just make it work. Cleaning will allow me to get to my next items!

The morning, today I am working a required shift in the office, was me up at 6:00AM, finding a bagel, NYC style (thanks, Joyce), and quickly read emails, Slack channel updates, and news updates. I also enjoyed liberal coffee made in my French Press. Soon Barb, Susie’s sister, will be here to share a pot of liberal coffee–Barb arrives on Thursday afternoon staying a week. Next, not rushing, I showered, dressed, got coffee into my thermal cup, and boarded Air Volvo to fly over to the office at 7AM. No traffic, and school out means a brief trip.

My first hours (yes hours) at work are status meetings, and today they seemed endless (until 10AM). I had a comment about work here that I deleted–I can’t put that here.

I left early after reacting to some more crises of the moment and quickly was 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 in her recliner in the shared living napping. Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, told me that Susie was not interested in eating that morning, and she had to help her eat some of her oatmeal. Susie did drink her Ensure (with protein). Susie woke and was delighted to see me, but I could see she was not awake and never really woke up. We did call Leta, Susie’s mother, from her recliner in the living room. Susie and I agreed to skip the park today; it was an overcast, damp day (no rain, just mist).

Susie managed to stay awake for the call, but she slipped back into dreams when that was over. I stayed with her until noon and then left with a kiss. Susie looked confused that I was going so soon (she had slept through most of my visit) but was reassured with a kiss and a promise to return.

On my way back to the office, I stopped and ate at Jimmy John’s. I had a sub (Spicy East Coast Italian), read emails, and thought about the crises at work. A few moments of peace allow me to clarify computer problems and possible solutions in my mind. I returned to work and had some direct discussions about the issues and fixes. I headed out at 4PM, and the light traffic had me home, the Volvo Cave, soon. I rested for a moment, and at 5ish, I went and bought groceries at Whole Foods and brought those home. There I also got a spicy sandwich for dinner. Next, I put the stuff away and started the laundry. While I ate my sandwich and had some nectarines, I started over Good Omens show on cable TV; the new season started at the end of the month.

After that, I cleaned the toilets, did even more laundry, and swept the floors. I also tried to get more things off the floors. I found more items for Goodwill and memories from our trips.

I found the cookie we received (Cat and I) when we were there for the reopening of The Phantom of the Opera in NYC. I found Susie’s pill bag for our Amsterdam trip that ended on the day that Patient Zero arrived in Europe. These were all good memories.

I tried to organize the bedroom for Barb and to put things away that had just piled up over the last six months.

Finally, I returned to writing this blog. I have some more laundry running. I will not be done when Barb is here, but I will take the time while she helps with Susie to get things better at the house.

Thanks for reading!

Sunday started with me resisting the 7:30AM alarm, and I lollygagged in bed until 8AM. I ordered a locally-made bagel-like product with Nov Lox to allow me to order smear for my NYC bagels. The product was good and delivered to the house. I consumed this with liberal coffee I made in my French Press.

I tried to write the blog for Saturday this morning but kept getting distracted. I kept working on my 500-word horror piece–just one more read-through and a few fixes, I kept telling myself. Time flies. Soon I have to rush.

My Apple panics. The hard drive (2T of expensive fast storage that came with the system back in 2020) seems to be faulting. The Apple TimeCapsle locks up, and it cannot locate the usual backup–time for me to panic! I hard shut down and rebooted the machine. Everything returns to normal (except the internal mic, which is still dead). A replacement Apple with 1T (I have only used 1/2 T) and a new M2 processor cost about $3,000; an upgrade to 14″ and other improvements cost $3,600. The warranty is good until April next year for my still working, I think it is still working, Apple–so I will wait a bit longer.

Finally, I finished a decent recap of Saturday, cleaned up, dressed, and boarded Air Volvo. Traffic was light on Sunday 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 just finishing lunch when I got there before 1PM. I had stopped by McDonald’s to get chicken parts for a quick lunch–I think I needed an antidote for that–never again.

Susie was happy to see me and seemed alert and happy today. She was ready to head out to the park. It was sunny in the high 70s (25C) (the morning clouds burned off). The park was full of kiddie birthday parties and folks playing volleyball and kiddie soccer. Everyone was happy, and burgers and hot dogs were being prepared. A nearly perfect day for this, and the nasty yellow jackets are not out yet, so food is safe, still, outside.

We called Leta on the shady bench near the cedars and redwoods. Leta, Susie’s mother, was happy to hear from us, and we chatted on my iPhone using FaceTime to see each other. Susie was much more present today and reacted to events in the park and Leta on the phone. Susie and I were both comfortable and enjoyed watching the folks for a while.

I moved Susie to the porch and called Barb, Susie’s sister, and we talked about Barb’s upcoming visit. I thought she was coming on the 14th, but she will be in on the 13th afternoon. I will make some minor changes to enable that. Barb will be getting a rental car and staying in the spare room in the house. I took time off, but Nike started another testing cycle simultaneously, so I might be needed.

After Barb rang off, we retired to Susie’s bedroom. Anassa, the weekend nursing aide, got Susie comfy in Susie’s bed. I put on Disney+, and we found Cinderella, the old animated movie, to watch with the singing mice and the Fairy Godmother singing “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo.” Susie was singing along and was feeling better, I think. Next, we played 1970s rock from Alexa (called “Echo” on our account) until 4PM–me nearing falling dead asleep.

I kissed Susie goodbye and headed out. Louis, the evening nurse aide, would check in on Susie and make dinner soon. On the way to Cory’s house, I stopped at McMenamins Oak Hills Brewpub and had my usual before Dungeons and Dragons quick dinner, soup, and an iced tea. Today, it was beef chili. Good. I did edit my 500-word horror story a few times there–almost perfect!

We played Dungeons and Dragons 5E at Cory’s house, where I play a 7th-level Paladin. We are coming to the end of the first storyline, and that means some desperate battles. We had a lot of folks down in the battles–As a paladin, I can heal and deliver lots of damage. I am also in plate armor and hard to hit, which is good in these battles. I was able to block some hits for my character and the elf warrior character that is my comrade-in-arms. Critical hits were flying tonight, and the damage was heavy. Still, it was fun, and we all had the spotlight here and there.

Here is the gaming table. We don’t usually use hexes for Dungeons and Dragons, but the map looks right. The wooden ship I built for us to use as a space jammer–I used transparent masts and sales to make it easier to use on a gaming table. Yes, we turned one of our characters into a giant ape. The pencil represents a ram we added ad hoc to the ship–it is held on with modeling clay.

After that, I returned to the Volvo Cave and wrote this blog. It is late. Thanks for reading.

There are no status calls this weekend, the first time in about a month. I woke at about 8ish and snuggled in my bed until nearly 9AM. I had written the blog at Wildwood Taphouse the night before, so I was not rushed.

I found my horror story while on my Apple, “Three Steps,” for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland. This is the micro-story contest, and you are limited to 500 words for a story that aligns with the cosmic horror that Lovecraft defined in the early 1900s (I agree with Mariah that many writers should write as if they had these limits–many writers pad their writing). When doing these micro-stories, I select words that carry the story forward without, which is funny for Lovecraft stories, repeating descriptive words–I have only space for a word or two. Punctuation is helpful as it does not count towards the limit. I use the first person as that cuts out structures that use many words to direct the story. I love to work on these!

After it took a while, I finished my current editing. I dress and pick up a few times and consign some to be taken, someday, to Goodwill. I board Air Volvo, and the traffic is light to the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Anassa, the weekend day nursing aide, updates me when I arrive. Anassa tells me that Susie suffered from confusion this Saturday morning. Susie did not know where she was and asked if she could leave and only ate 1/2 of her breakfast. Anassa had not seen, according to Anassa’s story, Susie this lost.

Susie was happy to see me; she was napping in her recliner in the shared living room. Leta, Susie’s mother, called, and we used iPhone with FaceTime. This brought Susie more focus. Seeing her mother and a short chat, Leta had a concert to attend and was rushed, which seemed to ground Susie in the now.

While overcast, the morning was starting to warm. I got a coat for Susie while Anassa, happy to see Susie remembering again, popped Susie into a wheelchair, and we headed to Metzger Park next door. The familiarity of the park and seeing folks walking and enjoying the outdoors seemed to wake Susie up more.

Max, the dog at the hummingbird house (who believes Michael is for chewing) ball was lost in the park after I threw it too hard; the dog was happy when Susie and I made a cross-country trip to get his ball and throw it back to him. He did not give it back.

Evan, who beat me to the hummingbird house, joined us for a park tour when getting Max his ball. Susie was getting cold and pointed to keep going, and we headed out of the park and headed to the now-blooming magnolia tree on a nearby street. The sun still had not burned the clouds away, so we returned to the hummingbird house’s warmth.

Susie decided to watch a movie in her room, and Anassa set her up in Susie’s rocking chair with a new pillow that seemed to work better. I tried to find Kung-fu Panda, but my Max access seems to have expired (?!), so we went for something easier to find, Disney’s original Sleeping Beauty 1959 animated film. Susie sang all the songs and even talked to the characters on the screen. Susie was back with us (she was better this Sunday morning–I just checked in).

Susie was yawning and looking relaxed now. Susie had managed only thirty minutes in the rocking chair. She looked at me and said, “Terrible,” I queried a few things until we agreed that her butt hurt and she had enough rocking. Anassa moved Susie to her bed, and Susie looked comfortable.

Evan had left 1/2 through the Disney film, and I left with Susie happy and back after the movie finished. Susie was OK with me going today. I headed to Portland and Rogue Taphouse and arrived soon as the traffic was light (the other drivers seemed to be all over the roads, so I was very attentive flying Air Volvo). I had to park a block away as we were there after 2PM, and the area was filling up. I walked by a woodworking place that looked like a DIY called IdeaWorks. While I do not need to add woodworking to my hobbies, this still looked interesting. Resist!

I opened a tab at the 1/2 empty Rogue bar; usually, the place is packed for good weather. I got the special, a huge Ruben with fries, and a beer, Deadguy Ale, and set up the board game Concordia for two players on the large Mediterranean Sea map, the basic setup. This is my favorite game, and I got to go last and start with my best movie, getting a cloth and a brick city on the first play. Soon, I acquired, at a significant cost, the personality cards for Metal/Tools and Farmers. Now I am set for my usual play. Evan is trying to build over my cities and providences as this strategy works if he gets his colonists out, but he has no additional ones. I managed to slip away and build on the edges–my usual trick. I select one-time-use Forum items (we are playing with the Forum add-on) as I remember to burn the one-time use to get a substantial one-time benefit. Ultimately, I built fast and furious, ended the game early, and finished with a significant lead. The Farmer card, building in 11 of 12 providences, and getting all but one colonist out paid me well (and getting the seven points for ending the game).

We had time for the smaller game, Furnace, and to use the new gears I found online for upgrades. I liked them better than the cardboard upgrade versions. Evan managed to beat me by more than ten, a crushing. I could not get my factories to run well.

I paid the bill and headed out. Air Volvo, now hot as the sun was out, was undisturbed. I am unsure if I could park on the streets in this SE area at night! I believe there is a parking garage nearby that I would have to use at night.

Evan, Richard, Kathleen, and I met next in Richard’s basement. Kathleen asked for easy games, so we started with the car racing board game Heat. A new Kickstarter game, and I managed to lead in my racing car, both races until I blew up my engine and ran too hot. It’s a great fun game; I recommend it once you get it. It uses the deck-building mechanic, and you need to slow down for curves (trust me) and not overheat (yes, I know) your engine, simulated by heat cards in your deck to run your car. I might have to buy this one. We did two races.

Next, the request was for Wingspan. Four-person Wingspan is almost a different game than two-person, my usual play, and I missed the early point raising bird cards. I also missed two end-of-round scoring (playing the hard scoring recommended for the add-ons). We were using Europe and Asia add-on that improves this game. Evan was happy to see me in the last place after ninety minutes of play (fast for a four-person game); Richard had a massive score that Kathleen could not catch this time. Kathleen is the expert knowing all the fantastic birds and combinations after hundreds of hours of play online and on physical games. Richard was thrilled to win this time.

I headed home and witnessed more crazy extra-legal driving on the bridges. A car behind me revved its engine and passed me. I was then shocked when Air Volvo had to stop on the bridge. The exact vehicle stalled at the top of the bridge, causing a nasty halt for a long row of cars. The hazard lights turned on, and Air Volvo passed the locked-up lane of cars and cleared. Next, we passed a couple of sets of cars on the shoulder–once off the bridge–that apparently smashed while trying to do an unplanned changing of lanes. Flashing lights were starting everywhere. Air Volvo swiftly and with great care headed into the tunnel finding slow-moving cars, some I recognized as cars I saw on the bridge–nobody was going fast anymore!

I managed to arrive at the Volvo Cave without any more adventures. I opened a can of chili, added cheese, and microwaved. That was a late dinner to go with my pills.

I managed to get to bed at about midnight and had some trouble sleeping. There was a lot on my mind.