Author: alohawild

Today started with me going to work on a Friday for the first time since February 2022. After the pandemic, Nike decided to have us work Tuesday-Thursday; thus, today was the first Friday I worked. We had to work our shifts on Friday. It felt strange as about 1/2 the folks were still working from home on Friday.

I started at 6:30 and rushed to be in the office by 7:30 for my first defect meeting. I was a few minutes late, but I was clean and dressed. I decided to wear T-shirts this week as the temperatures were 80F+ (27C) in the forecast. We had low clouds, which were not in the forecast, making it 65F (18C) until the later afternoon.

My boss Brad came to work and stayed the morning writing emails and doing other preparation for this six-week sabbatical starting today. It was good to see him so happy and relaxed. I am tasked to ask Rajani any questions and approve access, which Brad usually does. We will miss Brad, but it is great for him to have the summer for his break!

We had the staff meeting, and I helped with a few crises of the moment and approved some designs and even bug fix approvals to production, something l have now done in years. We learned there were no food trucks today, so lunch was where you find it. I already made coffee and found stale donuts and mystery vegan pudding in the frig for breakfast–I think it best to find my own lunch!

I headed out 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 and feeling better today. Jennifer, the nursing aide for the weekday, said Susie had eaten well and seemed back to her usual self. As it was cold outside, we agreed to stay inside today.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and opened a T-shirt from Barb, Susie’s sister who is visiting next Friday, that had Susie’s fav sayings like “Too soon, baboon,” and “See you later, alligator.” Excellent.

Soon it was time for me to return to work, and I left Susie with a kiss. I could see on her face that she wanted me to stay, and she accepted my promise to return on Saturday. No tears today, but it was close (for either of us). I reached work without issue, stopping by Burger King for a decent cheeseburger and lousy onion rings. I listened to Oregon Public Broadcasting while eating. The discussion was about the support for farmers in drought conditions. According to the report, Oregon is unique in the USA; we produce over 200 different types of farmed crops. Farmers can pick drought-resistant alternative crops, but farming, like many places in the country, is now a complex process with hard choices, with droughts happening more often.

I returned to work and did various status meetings and even a design review (like the good old days). Our Senior Director, Jim, texted me dinner was provided. Brad had left by then, and already I was getting texts from Jim. Excellent Indian food was supplied in large trays for dinner. I ate that for dinner while I finished my last status meeting for the week at 4:35.

After that, I headed home in Air Volvo, and the traffic was light, and I was soon at the Volvo Cave. The clouds had burned off, and the AC in Air Volvo took a while to get me comfortable–it was very bright and now very hot.

I spent a short time at home. I signed up for the new board game Evolution of Ideas by Vital Lacerda on Kickstarter and then sent a note to Richard, my PDX gaming guru, and he reminded me that this is not my favorite type of game. I just good not resist the FUMO. He thought it funny as we discussed how we would resist another brain-burning game from Lacerda. He said we could work on how to play together. While getting texts, I could hear Richard laughing in my mind.

Next, I had some popcorn while I watched ShipHappens on YouTube. They are rebuilding a WW2 ship, and it is interesting.

After that, I headed to WildWood Taphouse, had a beer with JR, and chatted for a while. After JR left, I finished the blog, writing for a few hours.

Thank you, JR, for the beer. Thank you for reading!

Today the hardest item was to learn that Susie is down to 69 pounds and was not interested in eating today. Ask Susie, and she will not remember breakfast (or the lack of it). We have added Ensure and upgraded to Ensure Plus Protean, and Susie is still losing weight. Michelle Nixon and her staff at the hummingbird house need a working care plan for Susie, which may mean moving to hospice or end-of-life care for Susie–just options now. Barb, Susie’s sister, is coming next week, and Susie may bounce back. Also, Susie got better and graduated from hospice care last time. It is not unusual to see this. A new set of medical folks focused only on comfort and care often brings someone back from the edge–it is the nature of these things.

It is a lot for me to deal with, as you can imagine, dear reader. And while it is best not to indulge in beer and food as a solution, I might try some to help here at BJ’s Brewhouse with my usual waiter Eric. I did change my order and went with the chicken. Someone else ordered it, and it looked so good. Eric and I agreed to go that way tonight. I listen to experts (unlike many people) and find their advice often the best.

Warning, liberal statements: BJ’s Brewhouse has changed some staff. The gal from Philly is no longer here, and the assistant manager has left. The bar staff is the previous waiters for the bar, a couple. But Eric is still here (and Mo on other days), and the food is still good. The bar, while you won’t get rich in Oregon, with a high minimum ($14.20) wage (plus tips), a good crowd, and high-end items on the menu, will make it worth your time. Now if I were in Idaho, the food would suck, and the service would be terrible as the wage today is $3.35 (with tips). The entree would be $5 less (from what I can see on the menus on the Internet). If you believe that folks making $3.30 an hour are who should bring you food (remember, the wage covers the cooks and most of the staff), then you are braver than me.

Aside: A tipped minimum wage is $7.25 an hour nationally, with the employer having to make up the difference. Thus, in Idaho and other states with low payments, the worker must do multiple tables to reach the minimum. So when you are at a pancake place in one of these low-wage states, please tip the poor staff, even when they are so rushed they can barely talk to you. They have to work to break breakneck speeds to crack their nut.

Returning to the narrative, I started the morning tired, and I woke before 6AM and rested until 7AM, skipping breakfast (and my pills in error). I cleaned up and dressed. Next, I boarded Air Volvo and rushed to work. Traffic (school is out) was light, and I was early. I did my first Zoom meeting, found some breakfast and coffee (Starbucks tasting of capitalism), and continued my day. My boss brought me a crisis of the moment, and I had to work on that issue until lunch. There were other crises of the moment that I explained (a miss on data conversions) and continued to identify the absence of testing as new tickets (software bug fix requests) showed that integration had never been run end-to-end until go-live, ugh!

I was distracted by my task, but soon I had jambalaya for lunch from one of the trucks provided for us. Excellent. I sat with the master data governance engineering team, the central team I support, and had a biz director join us, Scott R. It was nice to see him–we go back to the beginning of Nike’s use of the software SAP.

After lunch and hanging out with our team and Scott, I saw 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 arrived without issue or much traffic and woke Susie in her recliner in the shared living room. Susie wanted to see the park, so Jennifer moved Susie to her wheelchair, and we headed out into Metzger Park. The smoke has stayed to the East (with the Columbia Gorge blowing most of the smoke away), and the warm temperature (nearing 90F or 34C) was comfortable in the shade.

Susie seemed to wake up and feel better once we got to the park. She watched the people and dogs with interest (lots of dogs with most on leashes). Susie chatted with Leta, and we saw the butterflies spinning in circles again. Soon, I needed to head back to work, so I took Susie back to hummingbird house and then kissed her goodbye with a promise to return on Friday.

Work included more crisis of the moment and discussion of standard approaches to error recovery. Nothing to cover here (boring). I did the last status meeting at 4:35 and listened to more tickets of avoidable failures (thinking: f**king test the integrations!), wisely making no comment about the obvious.

My trip home was fast, and soon I was headed to BJ’s to have a meal and try to find my calm. While I did poorly on calm, the food and booze were excellent.

Thanks for reading!

Just a short story today, as it was a typical work day. I started by waking with my alarm at 6AM and then sleeping in until 6:30. I rushed to be in the office at 7:30 for my first meeting. So no breakfast or even liberal coffee, and Air Volvo left a few minutes late, but the traffic was light (school is out), and I was in my first meeting without being late.

After the meeting, the status of defects meeting for the following software install (in late December), I found coffee (with cream) and a muffin and fruit for breakfast. The project provided breakfast and lunch today.

My lunch today was a spicy chicken burrito from a food truck. This time you had to supply a meal ticket from the front desk to get lunch for free lunch. The burrito was excellent and made my mouth burn. I had lunch with the BASIS team (the platform team for SAP software).

I found myself free as there were no issues for our team and left 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. Again, the traffic was light, and I was soon there. Air Volvo’s instruments said it was 104F which is wrong (40C, it is over by ten degrees when the Volvo sits in the sun), but it was very uncomfortable until the AC cooled the interior of passenger spaces.

Susie has lost more weight, down to 69 pounds, and this is concerning as we have taken action to increase her calories. But Susie is not in pain and feels safe at the hummingbird house, and I visit every day. Susie had trouble staying awake with me today, but she did better when seated in a wheelchair and staying on the porch, which with not too bad with the warm breeze at 90F (32C). We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and chatted there. Susie started to show signs of the hot air putting her to sleep (I, too, was feeling relaxed!). I went back into the AC with Suse and kissed Susie goodbye; Susie was headed to a nap. Air Volvo, hot again, took me back to the office without incident and little traffic.

Work was not exciting, which is a good thing when installing software. I did some research and talked to some folks about my new work. Soon, it was past 4:00, and I was tired, so I headed home to Air Volvo. Everything was fine at the Volvo Cave (I had set the AC to 85F to save money and not to waste power), and it was still comfortable in the high 70s. I microwaved yesterday’s dinner and overate BBQ chicken with couscous. I finished the science show Order and Disorder, which covered Information Theory, and covered Alan Turing’s contribution to science–the definition of a computer and computability.

I ate my dinner and then took a nap, I was feeling weak, and breathing was difficult. Then I saw the sky–grey from smoke, and I checked: lousy air. I had not checked, and being outside in this stuff is not good for me. I rested for a while and then wrote this blog.

Be safe. Thanks for reading!

The night/morning of the holiday was filled with events. Without any discussion or planning, my colon decided to empty every few hours. My sleep was interrupted, but I did avoid any early releases and managed to clean up (my supply of precious commodity–tp–is reduced) and return to an exhausted sleep. I repeated this adventure at least five times. The last event, at 6:30AM, was more jet-powered, and luckily, I had already started the shower and could easily clean up. Breakfast was an NYC bagel eaten untoasted in the Air Volvo on the way to work at Nike’s building (not on WHQ) Clubhouse. With hopes that my colon was done with a different kind of zoom meeting that I usually do!

The building was open, and coffee and breakfast were now available. My colleagues doing the 6AM starting shift were unhappy as coffee and food were unavailable until 8AM. I was fortified with coffee and food and relieved that my colon was done with its unannounced antics, and I could do a few more usual Zoom meetings. It was a dull day, perfect for go-live on a holiday, and the main issue was the discovery, as often happens, that the converted data does not look like the test data, and maybe some of the integration should have been tested end-to-end before putting it in production. But, hell, we now know what works and what does not, and the fixes are flying in fast. As we say, the data is always better in production to test our software! The stuff that our group is responsible for seems to work as it was carefully tested, tested end-to-end in quality (not production), and tested with real conversion data. It also went live two weeks ago.

Our developer leads from our partner visited, and we discussed one program fixed thirty-seven times since going live six months ago. He said the program was sexy. He explained, “How else can you describe a program everyone has their hands on”! He pulled that statement off without smiling. We were all but falling down laughing. For a dollar, I offered to show the source code to folks. More laughing. Yes, we are going a bit silly–but it was funny. It is not broken code, but sexy.

Our senior director was relieved to see we were silly and bored. I learned that others have been a bit silly–This install is extremely important, and we are all happy that it is not crashing (yet).

Lunch, skipping other work details, was from the supplied lunch trucks. I had the spicy reindeer sausage with grilled onions deciding my colon needs to be taught who is boss. Take that!

After that, I headed off to see Susie with clear skies on July 4th (which never happens here), hot and dry. Susie was awake and waiting for me. I picked up on the way in a July 4th bouquet of flowers for Susie, a card, and more flowers for Jennifer, the usual weekday nursing aide, for Jennifer’s birthday. Anassa, the weekend nursing aide covering the holiday, too, put Susie in a wheelchair, and we visited on the cool porch. We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and talked to her on my iPhone using FaceTime to see each other. Susie was awake and happy to just visit for a while.

Aside: I found Susie’s Harry Potter Trivia cards when cleaning the house and brought them to her. We tried out a few. They are hard.

I soon had to return to silly and boring at the office and kissed Susie goodbye after getting her back in the main room 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 soon, in no traffic, was back at the office.

By 3:30PM, I was falling asleep from lunch and the lack of sleep, and I said goodbye. Often it is the third day, tomorrow, when the fertilizer hits the fan on these huge installs–so best to get some rest now. The senior director visited and suggested folks head out to rest. He, too, is waiting for day three.

I reached home without incident and found my nicely made bed and AC keeping the house 75F (24C) slept until 6:15. Evan called me to play games at a bar, but I demurred and went back to sleep. I woke up and decided to broil some BBQ chicken.

Defrosted some chicken thighs (skinless and boneless–which is not a good choice for BBQ, but I had that). I boiled the chicken after defrosting it in the microwave to cook it. I then salted and peppered it on a rack over a cookie sheet covered with foil, baked the chicken at 350F for ten minutes, brushed on some BBQ from a bottle, and baked some more. I then turned the thighs over, painted them with more BBQ, and broiled them for five minutes. A bit dry (bones and skin were needed), but still good.

I made couscous with Indian spices (Garam Masala), almond slices, dried cranberries, raisins, and chopped dates (no pit). Cook until browning in butter–hot! Stir in couscous into hot butter, seasoning, and toast–turn off the heat. Add 1 1/2 cups of the water from the chicken boiling to finish; be careful, as it boils on contact. I made frozen beans in a glass dish in the microwave, adding butter, almond slices, and garlic powder and covering it with plastic wrap.

A great dinner. I watched Order and Disorder science show, costing me $1,99 to rent while eating. I finished the first half. I will watch the second hour on Wednesday (if I make it back from work). I started A Capital 4th on PBS but needed to write the blog, so I stopped. Mom Wild called; she was watching and remembering the year we, Bob and Barb, plus Linda Wild, did the Capital 4th on the West lawn in Washington, DC. Leta was there too. A great memory and a reason for anyone to do July 4th in Washington, DC.

Happy 4th! Thanks for reading!

I am tired this evening and will just cover the main non-work-related events.

I was up at 6:00 and in the office by 7:30. My colleagues had been there since 6AM for the shift start, and the first status meeting for the new software install at 6:05. Most meetings now are scheduled with a five-minute break before them. This allows folks to get to the next meeting, even online ones, and not be late. It also provides for a bio-break and maybe getting some coffee from a pot. A new politeness has stuck at Nike: five minutes between meetings.

I managed to read some of my emails and catch up on the details while eating a bowl of cereal and drinking liberal coffee I made in my French Press. I then showered, dressed, and quickly boarded Air Volvo. Today, 3July2023, is a Nike holiday (the board often uses a floating holiday date to extend a holiday on a Tuesday or Thursday; thus, 3-4 July are Nike corporate holidays at WHQ). Still, we are working to install our software while the USA is partially closed down for USA Independence Day.

A summary of the go-live does not belong here. Instead, I will cover that I did get a grilled cheese sandwich from the food trucks supplied for us for the project. The sandwich came with a unique side, a spiral-cut potato on a wooden stick that was deep fried, a cross between a French fry and a potato chip–excellent.

Next, having no issues to work, I headed to Air Volvo to see Susie after lunch at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Again, the holiday traffic was light, and I soon found myself there. Susie was deeply asleep in her recliner in the shared living room. She could not wake up for me and would fall asleep again. I called Leta on my iPhone and used FaceTime to see Susie’s mother (and she us). Susie could not stay awake even to talk to Leta.

I thought of leaving and letting Susie sleep, but Susie wanted to visit the park, so Anassa, the weekend nursing aide filling in for a holiday, popped Susie into the wheelchair. Susie seemed to wake up and was thrilled to see the park and the folks there. A little dog even licked her hand when the dog’s human allowed the pet to visit us. Susie was back to normal, and I even recalled Leta and Leta and Susie chatted and interacted, both happier. While I could only stay a short time, it is a work day, I did manage to brighten Susie’s day, and she seemed alert and happy when I had to leave. Better.

Fast forwarding work to the end of the day, I dropped off a  set of Raspberry Pi hardware at Subha’s house. She is taking them to India for a relative. I bought them just before I got ill, and Susie had her strokes, and with the chip shortage, these 8G of the latest models are impossible to find (now selling for $75). I also included an Arduino and a BBC as an interesting microcontrollers. I still have a Raspberry Pi 400 and a PiTop using an early model.

I contacted Dondrea and Z, and we met for dinner. The Mexican place had an hour wait, so we tried the local Sushi place, Banya: Japanese Restaurant, and sat in mini-tables where you put your legs in a box. We ordered a generic sushi order with a spicy tuna roll and added a Philly roll (raw salmon, cream cheese, avocado) and miso soup. Z got the spare salad. We managed not to embarrass ourselves with the chopsticks; Z went for more of a stab approach, and Z found the wasabi to be a bit harsh even when hidden in a large piece. Dondrea thought it was good, and I enjoyed the company and the food. We will be back! Recommended.

I returned home and read my newest book for a while. I put away the medieval set novel and returned a crime/detective novel: The Case of the Black Tulips (Caster & Fleet Mysteries Book 1) by Paula Harmon. It was cheap on my Kindle, and the books are light and set in the late Victorian times in London. So far, I am laughing and have trouble putting the book down–there are six in the series. 

Sorry that I skipped the work details, but I can’t put corporate stuff here. Thank you for following Susie and me on our adventures.

Susie’s Aunt, Joyce, sent me another three bags of authentic NYC bagels from Zbar’s. Thanks, Joyce!