Author: alohawild

Saturday ended with me pulling into the driveway in Air Volvo. I took my meds and finished the small portion of hash I had made that morning to have some food to go with my meds. After that, I went right to bed after midnight. The day had been more typical of my current life options, a relief.

I had dropped Kathleen at her house on the easter edge of Portland in Milwaukie. My trip from her home to the Volvo Cave was uneventful, and I used the usual roads, with the traffic speeding at 70+ and slow at 55- making for some exciting lane changes. And it sounds cliché, but the minivans are in the right lane going slow while pickups and more sporting cars are flying by in the left. I only see this at night in the Portland area.

The weather today, not what was in the forecast, was dry and sunny in the seventies (according to a wildly inaccurate reading in Air Volvo). A near-perfect day with the daffodils almost ready. My tulips, still an undiscovered country for the squirrels, are a week away, at least.

The flooding in my backyard continued through the day as one of my neighbors was likely pumping out the water under their house. The pond was headed to a lake but was nearly gone when I returned home late, the flow finally stopping. The backyard has rocks and a French Drain (i.e., a shallow open ditch, if you like, lined with stones), and thus the water will flow to the next house and through the backyards until reading the creek. Unfortunately, my neighbors have built structures in the path of the water and get unhappy when Oregon does wet.

Somedays, I get an irate neighbor who explains that their stuff is getting water. I show them my little flooded corner, three or more inches deep with water with nothing built on it, and tell them, “the water must flow.” I try to say it like I am in the Dune movie or story (“The spice must flow!“). I remind them that their land has a drainage right-of-way in the deed. I strongly suggest they learn to live with the water and let it flow. I did try to plant cranberries in my flooded corner once–the heat burned them up. I might try again.

Continuing the narrative backward, I was in Portland at Richard’s house to play board games. It was just the three of us (me, Richard, and Kathleen) who took on the Kickstarter game On Mars. This is not a favorite for Kathleen or me as the game is loaded with a dozen scoring systems, all different. It also provides five or more (I lost count) resource types that all work and score (!) differently. Thus you need some stuff you can build on mars (represented on the play map), but you need the tech to do them and the blueprints. Then you need to run your factories. Then the workers, yes, worker placement, too, are required. Then the game is bifurcated by you either running in-orbit options or being on Mars and doing work available only on the planet. There is a rocket taxi you have to time right to travel between. The game is an excellently combined stew of about a dozen worker placements, card systems, and resource management–but a bit heavy and hard to learn. In other words, an overbuilt Kickstarter game like TimeMachine, Lisboa, and Scythe.

Richard’s score buried us. Kathleen understood the scientist mechanic and crushed me as I purchased no scientists, but Richard, who tracks this, said it was my best score. It took us the whole evening to play, and we left near 11PM (having started about 6:30).

On Mars theme is that we are different groups (players) trying to help build a station on mars, thus the name. The player wins who runs the group that best supports and expands the stations and technology. The end of the game happens with the various events caused by the players thematically finishing the station.

Richard wants to play the On Mars add-on (more Kickstarter) with the Martians fighting back, Saturday’s game being a practice to relearn the game. Next Saturday, we, Kathleen not available, will try On Mars again, but with Martians.

Before this, I was at the Aloha, Oregon, taphouse, and food joint, The 649. Evan joined me there, and we had a few drinks while playing a game of Vindication. I have described this game often in this blog, so just a short note. This worker placement and resource management game has a randomly discovered board and wildly different resources collected and constantly interacting to build a Eurogame-styled engine. The theme is that you are a scumbag thrown overboard for your sins, washed up on a beach, and found by your first companion. You will try to vindicate yourself and gain honor. The player with the most honor wins.

We had to revise our play after I discovered we had been too loose with a few things, and Evan chafes from missing his favorite choices. Richard has bought into Vindication, and he and I relearned the rules together and discovered some restrictions I was not using. I also have reset back to the basic game except using the promos in my set of cards (Richard plays only the original set of cards–no promos, and it is interesting to play his game as I feel like I am in a time machine).

I won by twenty points and went with my primary approach to the game. Each companion has some superpowers, so I try to get four or so; usually, one or two of the companions will have something great. Next, I now (having been crushed by Richard in a game) always get Knowledge and Strength companions. The Knowledge attribute in the game can be used to improve Potential to Influence and to make other greater attributes for the acquisitions of Relics, for example. The Strength attribute allows you to increase your speed for a bucket of honor points, and this upgrade can be done multiple times with just one visit. I Vindicate soon in the game and then can generate the Inpiration attribute without a companion. On other things, I never fight a Monster without Conviction, and I use the empowered draw to avoid cursed items (I have all those promo black cards now).

I played carefully and stuck to my usual approach. The board was never thoroughly explored when the game ended when I took another scoring token. I won, as I said.

Before heading to The 649, Evan and I met at Susie’s place in Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Susie was just finishing eating as I got there a bit late, approaching noon on the clock. We then headed to Metzger Park next door, as it was a lovely day. We stopped at the first bench, sitting in the warm and bright sunlight, and called Susie’s mother, Leta, on my iPhone using FaceTime. They had a friendly chat.

I forgot to take a photo today, sorry.

Susie was getting cold, even with the blanket we got from Air Volvo, and soon we were back in the hummingbird house. Susie was placed in her bed to keep her arm safe and to ensure she did not fall from her rocking chair, the usual choice. We cannot afford another injury and more bleeding! I put on Disney’s Princess and the Frog, one of my favorites. I was the only one who stayed awake. I love the music.

I left with a kiss to head to The 649 (already mentioned), with Susie being sleepy but sad to see me go. Susie was slow, and her voice harder to follow. Susie was exhausted Saturday.

Moving the narrative to the start of the day, I started Saturday at about 8ish, still sleeping later from last week’s time change, and spent the morning writing the blog and making breakfast. First, I chopped up 1/2 a green pepper and 1/2 of the onion I had left from previous cooking. Next, I sliced up a couple of boiled potatoes from yesterday’s boiled dinner and cut up two slices (including the end piece) of corned beef. I fried this in a pan with just a dash of oil and made hash for breakfast (and later a snack, as I mentioned)–no spices or salt. I got busy writing and almost burned my breakfast, but I managed to save it, and the slightly over-browned onions worked.

The writing and cooking made me a bit late, but Susie was running late, too–so it worked out.

Before boarding Air Volvo, I discovered the pond forming (as described before) in the backyard and, just wearing my robe and slippers, went out to investigate. I found the pond was expanding, and the stream that was coming downhill from a neighbor. I was initially worried, but after forming a lovely pond, the water flowed downhill to the next yard. The water must flow!

I dressed and did the usual things, including finishing some laundry I started on Friday.

I am trying to find a normal again after the messy week. I am trying to slow down a bit.

Thanks for reading.

St. Patrick’s Day was also a back-to-work day for me. I started with the alarm waking me at 7ish and getting started with coffee, Equal Exchange, made in my French Press. I also had a banana and some slices of Irish Soda Bread I made the day before from a King Arthur Flour mix. I cut a few extra pieces and put them in plastic bags to take to the hummingbird house.

My first meeting was a staff meeting. As much is going on in the project, the meeting ran long. The status meetings have now halted, so I had no meetings until the afternoon. I was busy reading emails, news, and Slack channel updates to get caught up again.

This is Susie’s flower at the house. She looks for it every year.

I skipped excises and got dressed later in the morning after showering. I collected the bedding and got that in the washing machine–Friday is laundry day. I noticed light flooding in the backyard–one of my neighbors is pumping out their crawl space, the only reason to see this, into the French Drain in the back. This is new, and soon a small pond forms in my backyard. The birds like it. Yes, there are droughts, and here in the Pacific Coast areas, we have more water than we need.

Dressed, dishes were done, laundry started, and Zoom meetings attended–it was time to see Mrs. Wild. Air Volvo had no trouble reaching the hummingbird house on a perfect 63F (17.2C) sunny and dry day. One huge truck roars its engine from behind me, passes me on the right, then drives through a red light. I could not reach the speed limit as the cars were all going slow, which upset the truck’s driver. Unfortunately, there are no cameras at that intersection.

Reaching Susie’s place, I gave the soda bread to Jennifer, the live-in and weekday nursing aide, and discussed cooking corn beef for St. Patrick’s Day. This was a new experience for Jennifer. Susie waited for me to finish talking to Jennifer and was thrilled to see me. She agreed to head outside to the park. Susie was already in a green sweatshirt, and we decided that just a blanket would be enough.

The parking spots for the park had just been recovered with crushed stone, and the stone had not settled yet into the mud. I had to push Susie through the broken rocks, which was more accessible today, but I had to pop the wheels onto the park cement walkway as the light gravel settled, leaving me a slight 1/4-inch stop to jump. After seeing me pop the wheels, the park guy put lighter gravel there. I suspect he will get replacement fine gravel there in a few weeks once the heavy crushed stone settles more.

We stopped at the first bench because it was unused, and the warm sun covered the area. We called Susie’s mother on my iPhone using FaceTime so they could see each other. Susie and Leta chat pleasantly (I added a few comments here and there). The wind was not as cold or pronounced on Friday, making the park pleasant.

There were dog walkers and folks playing basketball. A mother and her small daughter were trying out using the tennis courts (not in use) for a game of frisbee. I noticed quite a few cedars are cut; apparently, they are dying, but many are still healthy, yet it is sad to see them go.

Soon Susie was getting cold, and I had to return to work at the house office, so we headed back into the hummingbird house that adjoins Metzger Park. Susie was sad to have me leave, but I went with a kiss and a promise to return on Saturday to watch a movie together (and to see the park as the forecast was wrong, and it is, at the time of the writing, another sunny day on Saturday).

I returned by way of Safeway. I picked up a corn beef brisket, cabbage, carrots, and other items. I started the boiling process for the corned beef and put a frozen pizza in the oven. I was ravenous. I had a Zoom meeting and ate a rushed lunch. I followed along as it was Friday; there are few crises of the moment on Friday, remarkably light when we are not running data conversions (they start again soon). I continued heading back to the kitchen, mopping up spilled water when I ignored the boiling pot during the meeting; oops.

By 5:30, I was baking the corned beef, fatty side up, and adding the cabbage to the hot water. Dinner was excellent, with the beef being less oily and ready for sandwiches and other uses.

After eating food and working for the first time in a week, I was tired. So I rested for a while. I did wash the heavy blanket too from the bed. After that, I read and nodded off.

It was too early to sleep, and soon I was back up, did more laundry, and returned to my electronics. My speaker set worked, but I needed to attach a microcontroller to complete my design. The whole is the set of electronics to do everything but the radio. I was considering using an AdaFruit Gemma. I had a few, and they were cheap and run in C. Unfortunately, I forgot I had trouble attaching to them from my Apple M1 laptop and re-experienced that frustration again. So I returned to my original plan: Arduino Pro.

I returned to the paper box and mounted stand-offs (I have a nice kit of brass ones) for the power board. The board provides regulated 5V from a LiPo battery and charges from a micro-B USB cable. I will let that run when plugged in to always have a charge in the LiPo; the radio that will match this design will thus work without power and will always be charging. I have to use a hard switch from the power board. I ran lines from the powerboard through the power switch (for power) to a mainframe board, a solder version of a breadboard (supplied as a gift for larger orders from AdaFruit). One side of the mainframe is 5V from the powerboard and ground. The other power is regulated 3.3V from the Arduino Pro (3.3V version) with a shared ground.

I made stand-offs for the Arduino, and as this is the thru-hole version, soldered it into the speaker box. Power from 5V and then lines out to create the 3.3V rail on the mainframe. Next, I attached a potentiometer (a nob) to read the settings with the Arduino using a 10K (I am testing whether I can use this or need a lower resistance version for 3.3V). I also attached the needle meter to the Arduino, and it read the hard code setting I put in the initial program for the Arduino–the RC filter is working!

I tested it all, attached all the boards to stand-ons, and grouped the wires to reduce the rat nest look. It tested out, and I used it to play music from my Apple. Perfect. I can use a standard audio jack to connect to these new speakers.

I need to write and upload the code to the Arduino Pro to read the nob and move the needle to match. Later I will control the needle by listening to a mic to make it bounce with the sound, but I have to buy a new mic breakout from AdaFruit in NYC.

With that success, I went to bed, after remaking the bed, and read until I started to fall asleep.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Today would be Grandma Wild’s 111 birthday.

(picture is from 2006 at First Congregational Church, Laingsburg, Michigan, Lee (Bell) Wild)

Here is a scanned 1965 Christmas photo with Linda (my younger sister and best sister) with Great Granddad Ed holding her, a young Lee holding me, Great Grandma Ruby standing over us all, and dad, Bob Wild, dressed as Santa. Linda and Ed have the same birthday and enjoyed joint parties for years.

The day started with me getting going at 8AM, waking just a few times and late. I was still exhausted last night. I felt better, but I was determined to go slow. I made a breakfast of liberal Fair Exchange brand coffee in my French Press with a banana and two corn muffins I made the day before. I spent the whole morning writing as I started over once. I had trouble finding my voice today, and my spelling and punctuation were terrible this morning.

After 11AM, I boarded Air Volvo to see Susie at the hummingbird house. The traffic on a Thursday was the worst I have seen this week. I managed to get there after noon, and Susie was delighted to see me.

We headed outside in the sunny and dry Metzger Park, which was unexpected in March in Oregon. Usually, the grey is so bad it seems like twilight all day, and the rain is constant–not this year. The park was lovely, and we called Leta from there. Leta has finished her repairs to her house; no more mice and raccoons. She hopes it will be warmer now that the insulation is replaced in the ceiling. Leta was excited to see Susie outside and enjoy the sunny Oregon day (with an icy wind).

Next, coming back inside, we watched the movie Tourist as Jolie got the last word. It is a fun movie and has some unexpected turns. Jolie is just perfect throughout the whole film. Susie stayed awake the entire time.

At 3:45 or so, I was ready to return home. Susie had missed me yesterday and was not prepared for me to head home, but she relented. No tears today, but concern. I promised a short visit on Friday (back to work for me). I tucked Susie in and got her safe (crash pad in place), and left with a kiss.

I stopped by the hobby shop, gray undercoat paint, and the cleaners to pick up my now-shortened pants. I arrived after 4PM. The mail contained a $1 refund of an overpayment to an Rx we used to use when Susie was at Forest Grove. I hate it when they send me checks back–such a waste when they should bill me correctly the first time.

Next, I headed to BJ’s Brewhouse and had a steak to celebrate my feeling better. There I wrote this blog.

Thanks for reading.

I am writing this on Thursday morning, taking another day off as I need to do more self-care and rest one more day. By the end of Wednesday, I was exhausted, still having some memory issues from the general anesthetic, and went to bed early and slept through until 7ish, which never happened to me.

I am having trouble writing today as I am still out of focus.

I spent the evening, starting at 2AM, drinking that unpleasant bowel prep solution, lime flavored with a strong soap taste, and then experiencing the effects. I had gone to bed at about 11ish and did sleep until my alarm woke me. I had no rest until about 4:30, when the effects slowed. I then slept for an hour. I showered, dressed, and just as I sat down, Uber let me know that my driver was early. A gal in a clean car took me to Portland, and we had no real traffic until we neared the tunnel on 26. My driver, pressed through by changing lanes occasionally, got me to the doctor’s office early. I rated her high and gave her an excellent tip on the Uber app. I checked in, and they commented I was early–I had a ninety-minute wait. While waiting, I used the restroom and was proud of my clarity–it was hard fought.

The process is more assembly line than a medical procedure. But, there is close attention to safety and clarity of purpose with some required rituals of identification for each step. For example, I had to agree that I was me by stating my birthdate often, and medical folks, including the doctor, would say this is so and so, and we are here to do this procedure and then would read my bracelet to see that it matched what he said.

The general anesthetic, Propofol, was one I had experienced before, and I told the nurse I was interested to see if I had the same experience. I watched the nurse push the drug, and she said I would be asleep soon. I had felt a strange taste, and then I awoke again, and everything was over. The IV was gone, and I commented that I was surprised. I was awake when they removed it, but my memory is missing. I dressed and was happy but unable to manage with dexterity getting ready. I went slower, and I was able to dress. I moved slowly and was politely lectured not to drink alcohol today and not to make any important decisions.

I told the nurse I was fine as I had just turned over all my assets to the other nurse, who waved and smiled at that comment. Yes, my smart-ass was still working despite the anesthetic. After the eye-rolling from the nurse trying to be serious, they found me a radio taxi home and sent me home.

The results, I have, dear reader, made you wait for is the doc found three polyps and removed them. It is unlikely any being severe. Pathology will come in a week or so. The doc will see back in three years.

I arrived at the house in the taxi without issue and with no real traffic. I then chopped up 1/2 a fresh green pepper with 1/2 an onion. Next, I sliced up some good locally made ham from Olympic Provisions and heated all that in olive oil. Once wilted, I added egg beaters and cheese and made a Denver scramble. Next, I got out an NYC poppy seed bagel (frozen as I could not eat them all before the colonoscopy), toasted it, and covered it with cream cheese. I later added a cup of apple sauce to get a balanced meal. Finally, I made liberal coffee in the French Press.

I ate all this and watched another Battle Ship New Jersey video. The curator for the battleship is doing videos of the interior of the SS United States, the fastest Ocean Liner ever built. This is a ship I have often wondered about, and the last of her kind (SS France, later SS Norway, was scrapped in the 2000s after a boiler explosion). There is a small hope that the SS United States can be turned into a convention center (or like facility) and be preserved (the ship is in Philadelphia). Much of the interior was acquired by museums, and some parts are in private collector hands (a coffee press from the ship for sale for $200 on eBay).

After eating my eggs, bagel, and apple sauce, I went to rest. I managed to sleep until the afternoon, waking up a few times. One of the side effects of the anesthetic I was experiencing was anxiety, and I was full of nervous energy, so I tried to keep calm and do little things. I managed to make corn muffins. I reviewed the expenses in Quicken for the last two months, updated any uncategorized expenses, and corrected some automatic applications of categories. I went outside and took pictures of the roses and tulips, waking up for 2023. I ordered more electronics from Sparkfun, including replacing the amp I destroyed (blue smoked that last one).

I also learned how the new power boards I acquired from Sparkfun worked. I was planning only 1A 5V, but that might be weak as I was learning from my reading. I got out the board, found a larger LiPo battery, and plugged it all in. The power switch does not work when the micro-B USB is used (WTF!), and I will need to use a button like I planned. I plan to have the radio charge a backup battery and still play without power for about an hour or longer. I also found an AdaFruit version in my collection of the same type of powerboard and thus can use it if using the Sparkfun board becomes too complex for my simple application.

I decided not to connect anything together and just read–the warning about making decisions still being valid.

Dinner was with David and Michelle Smith at Swagarts in Hillsboro. They picked me up (no driving allowed) after forgetting I needed a ride. We had a great dinner, my lamb being just a bit spicy (this is mild!), and the Smiths getting an all-meat entree (not what they thought they ordered), but we mixed and matched, and it worked.

David finally received my Christmas present for 2022. I had acquired cheaply two US stamps and put them in a small plastic frame with a magnetic cover (the best for this kind of thing, I think), and you could see both sides of the stamps. The stamps are the US#1 Franklin (1847) and the CSA#1 (1861) Jefferson Davis stamps–only fifteen years apart and are the first stamps for the respective governments (Confederate stamps considered a subset of USA). It took me six months to find the frame in a store (ordering glass or fragile plastic from Amazon is just not wise).

I was stumbling and tired when the Smiths returned me to the Volvo Cave. I went to bed soon after that.

Thanks for reading.

 

I took the day off from Nike. I was tired from the events over the week, and I had to do the prep for my colonoscopy. Not a day to return to work for a day.

I slept until 7ish as the time change still has me not waking before 7ish. I then wrote the blog and remembered to not eat anything. I drank only a few cups of coffee, even liberal coffee made in a French Press is not that appealing when you can’t eat anything other than clear liquids. Later, I microwaved some chicken broth and choked that down.

I added the hot water to the bowel prep solution, shook it until all the powder resolved, and placed it in the frig after it cooled. I showered and dressed. I headed out around 11.

The first stop was Safeway. I got apple juice in small containers and broth (mentioned above) for today. I picked out some flowers for Susie, including a small bunch of daffodils, Susie’s favorite. I bought some items for later in the week (when I can eat) and got two one-quart containers of buttermilk. This is to make Irish-style bread, and I got one for me and one for the hummingbird house.

I called ahead and flew in Air Volvo across Beaverton, noticing the local flooding. The backyard has three inches of water again; another rain river is hitting the West Coast this week. I had to do a U-turn on Murphy Road as it was partially blocked by either flooding or construction. I also did that on our nearby 209th, temporarily blocked by utility work. Despite a few detours, I made it safe in Air Volvo to the hummingbird house at about 11:30 in Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

Susie was delighted to see me and was thrilled with the flowers, especially the daffodils. Susie had fed herself today, but with some pain. Jenniffer has Susie use the arm to prevent permanent loss of dexterity. Jennifer, the live-in nurse aide, was happy to get a quart of buttermilk from me. I provide an early gift of King Arthur Irish Soda Bread mix for St. Patrick’s Day.

Susie was watching a Hallmark movie, surprisingly staring Duchess Meghan. We called Susie’s mother, and they talked for a while. I was not in a hurry as I was not working today. After the call, Susie watched the show and nodded off a few times, she was still exhausted, and I soon said goodbye with a kiss.

The trip back was fast, but with moderate rain, the puddles were getting large. The sky was grey, and there were no signs of blue. The mail arrived, but no packages so far.

I started on my speakers-in-a-box project. I remembered that Arduino controllers cannot convert to analog signals–they use PWM (Pulse Width Modulated). So I googled how to filter the pulse to a voltage (effectively smoothing the square-wave signal to a single voltage) on the Internet. The RC bypass filter seemed to be the answer, and I found a website with a calculator that suggested a 330 Ohm register and 1uF capacitor. I found those (I have bags of these) and connected them into the filter circuit. I discovered I could make it work for low pulses (0-32 analog values on a PMW pin) and controlled a needle meter using a rat nest of jumpers and an Arduino Pro. I reworked the connectors for the meter. Now I can run the needle meter from Arduino; excellent!

I started my bowel prep by drinking 8 oz every ten minutes until half of it was gone. The bathroom trips began after the first hour. While this was going on, I worked on assembling my project. I connected the on/off switch, speakers, and powered to the amp. Here I made a mistake. I thought the amp took 9V and fried another amp. At this time, the prep was having its effects, and I stopped working and read and rushed to the bathroom until I finally slept for an hour or so once things got better.

I read book two of Grey Mouser and Fafhrd and started three.

I did laundry (I had to–best not to share details) and unloaded dishes. My next dose of bowel prep is 2:15AM, and I have an Uber for 6:15AM to take me to my 7:15 appointment in Portland.

My eBay purchase of another dead tube radio arrived later today. This is for my project. It is smaller than my previous build and needs some wood repair of the veneer–but I think I can handle that. The speaker cloth, while wrinkled, appears usable.

Thank you for reading.