Author: alohawild

The morning started as the usual rush at 6AM, and I was up late writing a blog and reading, so it seemed that 6AM was only a few minutes from when I closed my eyes. Mourning sleep by passing through all the phases of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, and final acceptance) in just a few moments, I raised much like Bela Lugosi and started my day.

I made it to the kitchen, started the coffee water, and made toast. I then did all my stretches and exercises and could have closed my eyes (they are done chiefly lying down) and could have found myself dreaming of going to work. But, no, I completed the work and made coffee. I used the liberal Equal Trade Brand packed in Portland in my French Press. I used an extra large cup!

Returning to my in-home office and reading emails, Slack messages, and my personal email. I got caught up with what was happening and even approved some messaging for one computer system undergoing a data correction. I read the news to understand what is happening. Finally, I head to shower to get ready.

I exit the Volvo Cave and board Air Volvo by 8:30 and make it to work at about 7:45. I beat the school buses, and the traffic was unusually light near Nike World Headquarters. MLK day is Monday, so we might have more many folks doing an extended weekend–Thursday traffic is usually awful in the USA.

My first meeting is at 8:30, so I have some time to read more news, and there are more details on crises of the moment I dealt with yesterday to familiarize myself with. After that, I read emails, new ones, and Slack messages until the Zoom meetings start, three hours with just a short break.

The status and information-sharing meetings go on until 10ish. I have many queries about the crises of the moment and admit I paid less than my usual careful attention to the Zoom discussion. On the other hand, I hate to be that guy who has to ask them to repeat the question, so I try to follow along. Today I was multi-tasking but was not called out of the status meetings. Just lucky today.

I picked up more to-dos and spent the morning and afternoon covering those items. I drove to the Nike World Headquarters and parked in the New York City garage (it even has bagels worked into the artwork in the elevators. I always park on the 4th floor and take the elevator down. I then walk for fifteen minutes across campus to the Serena Williams building. There is an excellent cafeteria on the first floor, and I meet Scott to chat about software. We have a wonderful working lunch–both getting a salad from the salad bar. Unlike the traffic and parking, the cafe is packed, and we have to share our table. My Covid-19 defense trip is as I sit next to strangers, and it is hard for me to keep eating and talking. We managed to have a nice lunch and chat, but I was a bit uneasy.

I walked back; the walk was somehow uphill both ways (Nike magic). Air Volvo takes the ramp out of the parking garage (when you drive it, it looks like a giant skateboard park opportunity–too bad there are speed bumps) and drives to the hummingbird house. Susie is now (I am later than usual) having a small lunch. I wait, but I have only a limited time. Once Susie is done, we manage to call Susie’s mother, Leta, in the social activity room. We chat for a while, but time, seems to fly away like the hummingbirds the house is named after, and I have to leave. Susie is visibly upset as my visit seems to have just started, but she recovers and lets me leave with a kiss and a smile. M.A.S.H is on the TV in the shared space, and Susie loves that show–Hawkeye and the cast will keep company this afternoon. Leaving is hard, but I must return to the office.

I finish the day about 5ish after getting a coffee from the barista on the first floor to make it those last hours. I am dragging a bit. Before heading out, we review some progress on performance issues that are becoming critical. I am, like years ago, working on performance issues on new SAP systems–seems so 1990s. But, the solution is one I have done before.

Traffic to the Volvo Cave is light, and I take the regular path without incident or construction issues. I have tamales for dinner warmed up in the microwave. I bought $20 worth from a local gal at the bar a few days ago. I will freeze the extras soon. They are great, and I could eat tamales every night–they are exotic to me.

I have Theology Pub tonight on Zoom. We used to meet, before the pandemic, at a local bar and discuss theological issues while enjoying drinks and food. Now it is DIY food and beverages and Zoom. Tonight’s passionate discussion was about compassion and if compassion makes poverty worse. The usual zero-sum game arguments followed about helping someone or helping them help themselves. I do not see this as a zero-sum game, but that helping and then finding a fix both must be done. Stop the bleeding and not argue about how the person was stabbed and how we can prevent stabbings–save them first. We can do both. So the argument that it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish is rewritten by me: feed the hungry, know them, help them, and never count the costs–it is always better for them and for us. The zero-sum game being applied to the homeless is a lie. Making my argument, we see the same in the conservative process of cutting taxes. When you stop taking folks’ money, all for good causes, and let them use it–they will make more and even pay more taxes from the new surplus. Giving people more is not a zero-sum game. This is simple economics and humanity. I also mentioned my friend’s book on her life on the streets: A Fish Has No Word For Water.

After feeling cold after getting a bit emotional, a leftover from chemotherapy, I put on a sweater and soon wished everyone a good night on Zoom.

Going backward, I just arrived home in the pouring rain. The mail was almost soaked just from the mailbox and back to the house. The trip in Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave was hectic, and then 209th was closed at its connection to TV Highway, meaning I had to drive past my cross street and come back (growl). I was in a hurry to call India, but that was delayed, so I managed dinner while chatting with my India-based co-worker.

Before this, I was at First United Methodist Church for choir and band practice. I am in neither, but Zophia and I play board games, hard ones, while others practice. Today we started at about 6PM, and Zophia was willing to try a new one, Ostia. This is a Ronda-based Euro-style board game. Something new to Zophia and something I am not that good at. There is a circle in the game, the port in this game that schedules your actions based on some logic. You need to manage this to be efficient–Zophia got the hang of it and crushed me. She was producing what she needed next and then doing an action for which the previous turn had supplied the resources. I was always on the wrong action. Zophia also bought the goals, and this really got her ahead. We enjoyed the game, and Zophia smoked me with more than seventy points in her first play!

After that, we played Azule, the tile-matching game, with me managing to win two, tie one, and lose one. Zophia hate-drafted on me, with me returning the favor a few times. Azule is a favorite, and we enjoyed the chance to play over and over.

Before the church meeting with board games, I worked for the shoe company at the Clubhouse building until after 5. This meant I would enjoy heavy traffic, and it took me thirty minutes to reach Old Town Beaverton. I was busy most of the day and happy to feel better. Physical therapy and all the rest have me feeling more normal. I worked through a few crises of the moment and a few other required items.

Moving back in the day, I visited Susie at about noon. Susie had just finished breakfast and was waiting for me in her wheelchair. I pushed her into the social activity, and we called her mother and chatted for a while. Susie was delighted to have me there and to chat with Leta.

Susie is always disappointed when I have to leave, but she understands it is a work day.

I am happy to report that the reimbursement money from my medical reimbursement account hit my bank account today. While it covers less than half of the expenses for just one month, it is before tax money, so it does help a bit.

Well, it is nearing midnight while I write this (my meeting with India and the gaming all forced this to be a late-night blog), so it will be brief.

The morning started with me getting going at 6AM and doing all my exercises and stretches. I also had an NYC bagel and a bowl of canned peaches and cottage cheese for breakfast. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the liberal coffee in a thermal cup, so I had only one large cup of coffee today–something I regretted in the later morning! A tragedy to later find the coffee, cold and bitter, on the counter waisted.

So thank you for reading, and please forgive the short story as I am falling asleep as I write.

The morning started too early, at 6AM, and me waking up five minutes before my alarm. I managed to stay awake and avoided the shock of being re-awoken (not good). It is a work-from-office day (is that WFO instead of WFH), so I was in the kitchen getting the water hot for coffee and my NYC bagel out to defrost. Next, I got on the floor in the living room with blaring music and did my twenty-five minutes of stretches and exercises. Once completed and dragging myself off the floor in the living room, I made coffee, toasted my bagel (after defrosting a bit in the microwave), covered it in cream cheese, and got out the cottage cheese and the remaining peaches from yesterday in a can. I put pepper and just a pinch of sea salt on the cottage cheese, poured liberal (not something served in the House of Representatives, I am sure), and took breakfast to my in-home office. There I read email, text, and slack messages for the shoe company, read my own email and caught up on the news on CNN, BBC, and New York Times. My usual Tuesday-Thursday info packing before I dress.

Time, as usual, runs out, and I am in the shower (Alexa blaring Don Mclean hits at my request) and, next, getting dressed. I use Utterly Smooth 20% Urea (cow pee) every day to fight neuropathy caused by chemotherapy impacting my toes and hands. I believe it works to cancel the metallic poisons of the nerves just below the skin; chemotherapy uses the metals to kill fast-growing cells. I have also heard that ice baths work for hands and feet, but check with your oncologists–they will know what is suitable for your treatments.

I am out the door and at work before 8AM and then enjoy 2 and 1/2 hours of Zoom meetings sitting in a conference room. I get to talk to some of my colleagues, and Jatin has returned, and I get to shake his hand. So being in the office is not too bad. Also, our VP provides coffee and baked goods as a welcome-back treat. So not a bad start to WFO.

Soon I am out the door, I arrive at the hummingbird house a bit early, after 11, and Susie is still eating her breakfast. She slept poorly and was up late. But soon, she is done, and I take her to the social activity room and call her mother, Leta, to chat. They have a friendly chat, but I forget to take a picture for today. However, I did get a photo of her flower.

Susie is better today and even talks a bit; she is still hard to understand, but she is trying. She also feeds herself today. All good. But, soon, my thirty minutes are up, and it is time for me to go. I am time-blocked today. Susie is a bit sad, but Jennifer comes in and distracts Susie and Susie is happy to wave goodbye.

I went to Bethany to have Physical Therapy with me, arriving on time. Michael is my PT guy, and we go over my status; he then adds more exercises to help me bend over and lift Susie. I get to bend over against the wall lifting 3 and 5-pound weights. Susie is 98 pounds, and the exercise is about properly positioning my back to lift Susie, not strength. I also do my usual stuff, and they (Leo comes to help Michael) add more, as usual, and now I have a leg kick exercise with a rubberband on my legs to provide tension.

I am done about 1ish and head, slightly tired, to Bethany Public House to have a bowl of chili and diet coke at the bar. The bartender remembers me and asks me, “you want the chili?” “Yes, a bowl,” I say with a smile. After that, lunch is excellent and fast. I managed to get back to the shoe company by 2 and start back on a few crises of the moment.

My team, the master data engineering team, managed to dispose efficiently of the latest crises of the moment, and I headed home after 4:30 and logged back on after Air Volvo delivered me at the Volvo Cave without incident. So I sent out another challenge for Wednesday morning and headed out.

BJ’s Brewhouse is my dinner for tonight; Mariah was busy, so I am on my own. My usual waiter, Eric, suggested the small pizza for 1/2 price (Happy Hour) when I said I was thinking of pizza. I have that with a house salad. Of course, their red beer is my favorite, and I have one. I also have coffee and dessert.

I did write the blog while doing this. Thanks for reading.

The day started a bit better as I slept the whole night until five minutes before my alarm. Then, I got out the iPhone, looked up my meetings, saw I could slide in 30 more minutes, and reset the alarm. Of course, I got up before the alarm, but it felt better. It is Monday and a work-from-home day, so there is no rushing. I got the hot water started and then made breakfast.

I got out one of my dwindling supplies of NYC bagels from the freezer, dropped it in the microwave for twenty seconds, then cut it in half and toasted. I got out the cottage cheese (small curd only) and added pepper (freshly ground) and sea salt (just a pinch). I paired that with peaches from a can in juices, not syrup. Just 1/2 the can. The coffee was the liberal Equal Exchange brand via French Press. An excellent choice for the first day of Republican control of the USA House of Representatives.

Work, being Monday, was just status meetings and reading emails. Slack messages also flowed as we are in the six-month of the corporate year at Nike. Reviews, feedback, and budget estimates season. I followed along.

At 10ish, I had a break and started on my stretches and exercises for my back. I had taken a few days off as I had started to hurt. I made it through the list without issue and later had only a tiny pinch in my lower left back.

I saw a bald eagle flying over the backyard this morning. All the squirrels disappeared for an hour. They reappeared after the all-clear and stole more apples. Quickly moving the apples to their trees (bunkers).

I then cleaned up and dressed. I collected my tax info and agreements for my new CPA in Hillsboro and headed to his office. The trip to Hillsboro was without incident, and I had only to circle around once to find a parking spot near Cornerstone Tax‘s office. I handed them my large envelope with stuff and told them there was more to come. I had printed off the release schedule from my various investment houses for tax documents, the last pay stub, interest paid on the house document, and other useful and requested items, including a signed agreement to do my taxes. The staff remembered me and were happy to see me in 2023!

Next, I crossed over Hillsboro to the cheap gas, cash, or debit-only station. I filled up with $3.45 gas. Next, I headed to the car wash I used this weekend. I asked them for the part of the license plate the car wash broke apart on Saturday. Yes, they have a “2” for me. They provided free license plate holders and installed one for me (also a free service), and we moved the unruined plate to the back, now safe in a metal plate holder. Then, primarily legal again, I headed across Beaverton to see Susie in AIr Volvo.

One car did pull out in front of me. They waved their apology (a funny Oregon thing–like in Soccer, you raise your arm when you make a mistake when driving here–unlike the rest of the country where they pretend to ignore it and get flipped off or get a horn sounded). I saw it before the Air Volvo autobraking started; we were never in danger. Traffic was heavy, the rain blew sideways, and the wind rocked the cars. Folks braked for rain. Construction (slightly flooding) slowed Air Volvo more.

I arrived around 12:30 in Air Volvo at the hummingbird house. Susie, she was up late and was just finishing breakfast. Jennifer, the live-in and weekday nurse aide, was busy with folks. So, I slipped Susie from the breakfast table and moved her to the social room (letting Jennifer know I was stealing Susie). We called her mother there. Susie had slept poorly (she was up all night) and looked a bit out-of-sorts, but she could interact with Leta, her mother, and they talked about each other’s day.

I had to return to work. I was following along with work on my phone. So I soon had to leave. Susie was surprised but not sad–time comes by so fast. I was quickly facing heavy rain and traffic caused by construction–now messy with wet. But I did get to see huge rainbows between insane sideways rain.

I stopped by Wendy’s and got a chili with onions but did not pay 30 cents for cheese (I have some) and a large french fry. On arriving at the Volvo cave, I brought the damaged plate and the food into the house. I used gorilla duck tape, affixed the broken plate parts to the plate holder, and then mounted the plate and plate hold on Air Volvo–legal again. I took the chili (now with shredded local cheese–Mexican style) and poured it over the fries–yes, my Michigan heritage was showing. I had that for a late lunch.

I followed along with work. Finally, WageWorks aligned with common sense, and a ticket I opened with HR, and they decided to reimburse me for Susie’s car now. Apparently, I needed to use “Nursing Care” and not “Long Term Care” as the code for the request (!?). This was a relief as I looked at endless appeals to fix this.

Soon I was resting. Now returned to NYC, Cat Smith received her Christmas present, Lamp Black Comics #1-2. Excellent!

I made a ham and gouda sandwich for dinner with a dill pickle. I watched some YouTube videos while eating. The BattleShip New Jersey had a nice couple of new videos on fact-checking the Internet (folks have the armor thickness wrong as they seem to be basing their information on Soviet (!?) estimates) and another on a photo of a shell exploding (incorrectly) on leaving the barrel of the USS Missouri (sistership of NJ). I also watch a video of a model, in resin, of a sunken Nazi Bismarck and the original on the surface. The sunken model had a mistake and did not keep some of the paint as we see in the real wreck. But still, it was really a cool project–tempting.

I found some inexpensive wooden sailing ship model kits in 1/50 scale (close to 28mm figure size) that I can kitbash for my spacejammer projects. I wanted some sailing ship masts, so I ordered two, but they will take a few weeks to get here. More to come!

I then headed to Wildwood Taphouse with my newest board game and laptop. Here I wrote this blog!

I spoke to Dan and am cooking a pancake breakfast for the church for Easter.

I spoke to Dondrea, and we might do a Southern Dinner and maybe a show for Mardi Gras in February. I would cook Methodist (Bourbon) Chicken, some regular BBQ chicken, cheesy grits, and green beans. Dessert would be provided by folks. We will see if we can make that work.

Methodist Talent Show Bourbon Chicken

For marinade:

1 cup bourbon
(we use cheap Ten High—look near bottom shelf in store)

1 cup soy sauce
(recipe needs salt in soy sauce so do not use low salt soy sauce)

1/2 cup brown sugar
(packed down)

1 teaspoon paprika
(we used just normal off-the-shelf)

pinch hot red pepper flakes
(we used more than a pinch!)

1 tablespoon molasses
(Grandma’s Dark but not bootstrap)

3 cloves garlic, smashed
(used two tablespoons of already prepared smashed garlic in a tube)

2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
(used two tablespoons of already prepared in a tube)

1 1/2 teaspoons each onion and garlic powder
(we used normal off-the-shelf)

The rest:

6 or so split across chicken breasts (frozen, defrosts, salt washed off)

Large zip lock bag.

Non-stick spray

Foil

Broil pan

Brush for marinade that can handle heat

Combine all ingredients for marinade in bowl. Beat it so the sugar is mixed in good. Remember to set aside about 1/2 cup of this marinade in a clean jar (do not use to marinate on raw chicken; this marinade will be brushed on cooking chicken later). Keep the jar refrigerated.

Put marinade into a Ziploc bag with six or so chicken breasts and distribute evenly. Marinate chicken for 4-6 hours. Turn chicken every few hours or so (marinate longer and you will get ham like flavor—yuck!).

Remove chicken from marinade and say good-bye to marinade—down the drain! Allow chicken to sit at room temperature while you get oven on broil. Enjoy the smell of bourbon in the kitchen—something that does not happen often in a Methodist Church. Get out the jar of marinade and brush. Wrap broiling pan in foil and spray with non-stick spray.

Broil not too close or it will dry out. Cook until just about done, five minutes or so a side. Depends on oven! When a side is done, brush on marinade and flip. Do that on finish too.

Move to cutting board while hot. Cut and look—chicken should just be done. Slice into bite size and put in a pan—cover to keep warm. Juices will leak out of chicken and make chicken even happier. Slicing makes chicken go further too.

Dump unused marinade from jar down drain—do not put on cooked chicken! It is too bitter.

Based on a recipe found at Cooks.com “Cajun Bourbon Chicken”

Thanks for reading!

Today I am running late as Dungeons and Dragons ran over, and then I chatted for a while after. So I will only be covering a few events.

The morning started with me having little sleep as I had too much coffee while playing board games with Richard on Saturday night. Not his fault; I should have just had a caffeine-free herbal tea when I was cold. Next time.

So the 7AM start time for Sunday was hard. The coffee I made, liberal, using the French Press, made me more on edge, not more awake. I went to write the blog and wrote for about two hours. It was over 1,400 words, as Saturday was a busy day and included some events. I wrote until 9:10 and then jumped in the shower, dressed in a dress shirt and tie with my blue sweater over it. The rain was over an inch in the last two days, and there is water around the house again. A cold, windy, wet Sunday morning in Oregon.

I reached the hummingbird house without incident. The rain is constant. Susie, waiting for me and ready to go to church, would prefer to stay warm and dry today. I agree, and I had brought the Apple and cables in Air Volvo just in case we wanted to do remote worship. Anassa sat Susie in her wooden rocking chair, and I connected everything.

We watched the service on the Internet. The music at the start, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus on the organ by Howard, our Music Director, was beautiful. The hymns were mostly familiar. Pastor Ken gave the sermon about the difference between a cult, a great leader like MLK or Gandi, and what Jesus taught. He observed that cults are hiding, while great leaders like MLK and Gandi operated publicly and gave their lives for what they believed was right, not sacrificing their believers.

Susie slept through some of this. She looked very comfortable in her rocking chair, hearing familiar voices and having me there to ensure she was safe. She was happy to just hang out and nod off. She was stable, secure, and comfortable–the best I could hope for today.

When church finished, with the sound lost of the communion part of the service (not that important for us remote folks to hear people taking communion), the final music, again by Howard, was beautiful.

Bext, I played the 80s and some 70s rock videos on YouTube. Susie sang along to some of the songs.

I got the nail cleaner, paints I bought in NYC, and other nail stuff from previous health events. I had moved it to Susie’s room at hummingbird house. So while the rock videos played, I removed and redid her fingernails, including a top coat. It is about an hour of work. So with that dried, it was time for me to head home and Susie to get some lunch and maybe a nap. Susie had a lovely time and was not sad when I left (with a kiss)–we had done church, music, and her nails; a good day. I also introduced Susie to the Ketchup song, and she tried some hand movements; more practice is needed.

I went home and glued my stands together for my flying octopus monsters for Dungeons and Dragons. I got the miniature plastic figures from Etsy. They were a hit when the players faced the ghost-like astral killer octopus later that evening.

I also assembled the two spacejammer boats to use later this year. These are made from laser-cut wood, also purchased on Etsy.

Soon it was time to head to Cory’s house. I loaded up all my goodies and soon headed north to the edge of Portland. I arrived and soon unloaded. I was Dungeon Master tonight and had written a complex adventure for my friends–this is all my stuff. I tried to make multiple layers for every challenge tonight, not just a video game-like totaling damage. Further, I made damage do different things. The damage had to be applied to eliminate protections. Traps had to be avoided, and environmental threats avoided or overcome. Everything did lots of damage and some catastrophic damage–planning was necessary for the player to overcome or just survive. So not your usual 5E dungeon crawl, and I think everyone liked the mixed challenges and complexity–I try not to just build interesting traps and puzzles but to turn even the combat into puzzles to solve.

I had figures for everything I planned, including the octopus, and some threats were just thematic and not real threats to the player’s characters, but I had figures for that. Everyone seemed happy, but we ran late. We finally finished at about 9:30, almost four straight of non-stop adventuring.

In my adventure story, a Rath, Paladin of the Dead, was central. Scott suggested that maybe he returns or is reborn as a first-level adventurer. So I will play Rath the Reborn, Paladin of the Dead, Defender of the Buried, and Trail Blazer to Afterlife for the next game.

We will retire our old characters after tonight. They got an extended life in my dungeon crawl, but it is time again to start over and begin a new campaign. This time D&D in space with even space hamsters and gun-using hippos. Exciting.

I returned home, wrote this blog, and now it is 11:30. Time to stop.

Thanks for reading.