Author: alohawild

Going backward, I was reading until I went to sleep before midnight. I finished as much as I wanted of a book on Becket. I read that his chapel was the most valuable in Chiristdom and ordered a large book from AbeBooks from a show about Becket in England; it was the museum book with all the pictures of the items put on display for the show about Becket. I learned from the book that all that is left of this chapel, Henry VIII destroyed it, and Cromwell finished the job, is just a piece of pink marble found at Canterberry Cathedral.

I had watched part of the movie Becket, but it was so inaccurate I could not finish it and wanted to know the truth. So I ordered a book from the show at the Cathedral. Now that I have finished as much of the book I am going to read, I will send it to GoodWill. I don’t need another picture book, but reading and seeing all the pictures were good.

Before this, Glenda, Susan’s Aunt from North Carolina, was vacuuming my Turkish rug and cleaning up the area that is now clear of books and games. She found more dice and my copy of the new rules for Twilight Imperium, a massive 4X board game that had fallen behind something. I will print a new copy of the living rules; even the versioning of the rules for TI4 is complex!

Before this, I completed moving the last stack of books to a bookcase.  I still have some smaller piles, but the books are mostly put away. The games are put on shelves and not on the floor. The board game Root, which is now four boxes and a rolled map, is still a bit messy, but I will soon find a better home for it. Root finished a new version just before the pandemic, and we did a lot of play before the lockdown. This is one of the asymmetrical games where everyone plays by different rules. It is hard to master as each of the factions, I have lost count of how many there are, is a different set of rules and game experience. This the game even more exciting by playing with four or more players, running mostly different rules. As one can imagine, the game has had some issues, and I have the updated rules and boards. In addition, I have a corrected set of rules and parts.

I forgot to mention that the lawn service people and I chatted on Tuesday, and we are replanting part of the back lawn. I want less mud, carefully edged by my lawn service, and more grass. The fallen apple tree had killed part of the back lawn, and I now want it back. Also, grass will better drink the water and reduce the wet back there. They agreed and even replanted a more extensive section than I had seeded. So I am watching the grass grow, quite literally.

Before this, we had Chicken Cordon Blu for dinner. These are frozen, uncooked, and from Schwann’s. I made a slightly unsmooth buy tasty Hollandaise sauce to go with this–I have not found the secret yet to make this sauce. Glenda cooked more asparagus and reheated the leftover couscous as sides. It was a lovely meal. Corwin had some a bit later.

Continuing the backward narrative, we were at Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center in the later afternoon. Susie was in bed and asleep when we got there; I was manually checked in (the person who let us in did not know how to use the new computer system), while Glenda was checked in by the computer screen.

Susie was a bit talkative when we woke her and reported that she had multiple rehab sessions that day. Good. She and Glenda chatted for a bit, and then we connected with Leta, Susie’s mother, on my iPhone. We all chatted for a while.

Susie had a cut on her head and blood on her pillow. We had the RN look at that and will keep an eye on it. We are not sure how Susie cut her head, but it did not look like a bump from a fall. Again, we will monitor it.

We left Susie after a short visit, but she was sorry to see us go as she was fully awake now. It is always heartbreaking to leave. I was too tired to stay much longer.

After writing the blog and getting ready in the morning, we headed to the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland. I asked Glenda to pick something she wanted to do, and walking in the arboretum was her choice.

We did 5,000 steps in the morning, and I was breathing hard a few times when we hiked uphill. It was a gray day, and we got some Oregon Mist and a few sprinkles. We saw the bamboo and ginkgos collection and many other less exotic groupings. I have not been there for years, and it was pleasant to walk.

We got there after nine, and there were few parking spots available, but we got one and then paid Parking Kitty for the spot. We were headed back then just before it would expire; my phone started to meow to warn us our time was running out. It is a friendly app.

Also, we did get a bit mixed up on the way back as the trails look different when you turn around. We found a different path back after asking for some directions from a guy running the trails.

I started the day with my alarm at 6:30.

 

 

The morning started with me waking for my alarm, again sleeping through the night. The sun was up and shining in complete ignorance that the weather report said it should be missing while we instead should enjoy unrelenting rain. The microclimates that make up the small valleys here make it impossible to predict our weather in Aloha (now Beaverton and once Reedville).

My approach is to always assume it is raining and will rain all day until the rains stop in July (and now, due to climate change, the rains may halt in June). It is pretty surprising, but once the rains stop, they are done for about 90 days, with thunderstorms being the only rain in the summer in our new climate that is only five years old. Before the significant climate change, we did not even get thunderstorms. Now we also get hit by tornados too. The tornadoes rip the US flag off the house and drop it on the roof or somewhere in the yard. The same is true for the progress and pride flags at the church–we find them a few months later.

Aside: During the summer in Death Valley, a heat-low forms when the low spot reaches about 120F daily highs. This heat-low then pushes all our rain away for the summer–Seattle still gets the rains. This continues until Death Valley cools, usually in October.

Returning to the narrative, I spent the morning writing the blog and having a breakfast of a banana and 1/2 a muffin that Corwin bought and left out. After that, I started to sort all the remaining books and put some in the repaired bookcase. There is no room for everything, but we did dispose of a considerable number of books, and so there is more room.

I will not miss most of the books we gave away to GoodWill as I found I was reading the primary sources. So I seldom enjoyed the Time-Life books on ships and encyclopedia-like books as the information there was already in Wikipedia, more complete there, and had better pictures.

Glenda, Susie’s Aunt from North Carolina, continued the archeological dig in the pantry and organizing and cleaned the kitchen.

Also, I have kept all the books on the Battle of Jutland, as I have been fascinated by the narrative change to a hundred-year-old battle. You would think we would have had a correct story on this battle, but the true narrative is just coming out. The 100th anniversary of the 1916 battle brought out quite a few new and highly researched books, including a careful study of the wrecks of the ships lost in the encounter of fleets. These books contradict the official narrative, including one official American written definitive (less so now) account.

I have a collection of books from around 1926. These books help write Call of Cthulhu Role Playing Game adventures, and I even use them as props for the game. I have, for example, the Green Book, Volume 1, 1925, which was an annual list of driving routes on the US East Coast. It was used by drivers who needed to visit towns before the interstates existed. Most of the books are hard to find; those I have kept are close to being primary sources.

Back to the story, I started to reload the bookcase, more work than I expected, and we then had lunch from the leftovers. I remembered the other half of my Ruben sandwich and reheated it. It was still delicious.

We soon were going to Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A, to find Susie in bed resting. Apparently, she had multiple therapy sessions that morning. Excellent. Terry, Susie’s roommate, said they worked Susie hard. We chatted with her for a while and then called Leta, Susie’s mother, on my iPhone. Glenda and Susie talked while I checked in with the nurses; Susie had constipation again the night before and was in some pain. Once the obvious was done, the issue was naturally solved.

We headed out as Susie started to yawn. She was reassured when we said we would return on Wednesday. Susie is still scared she will be left there for multiple days without visitors. I can’t blame her; it can get pretty lonely in those rooms.

When back at the Volvo Cave, I continued to put books away, and Glenda started dinner after cleaning and organizing some more. Lentil soup with the ham and ham bone from the ham we baked earlier. We then covered it and went to the movies.

I wanted to see the new Harry Potter world movie, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. We got tickets and drove to Movies on TV Regal Theater. The film was about 2 1/2 hours with the previews. I liked it, but the movie’s start was difficult for Glenda and me as we had to reconnect with the new characters and plot. Usually, I would read the book and then see the movie for Harry Potter and would already know the story and the characters. With this movie, you have to reconnect instead and remember the plot from the previous movie. Eventually, the characters become familiar again, and this movie had some entertaining moments involving moving like a crab-scorpion to be less threatening. I also liked the ever-expanding donut trap, which harkened back to the trap in a vault in a previous Harry Potter movie. Glenda liked the movie. I would say that the critics are wrong; it is a fun movie–but the reconnecting is hard and distracts from it. It is also running a checklist of things that need to be covered from the previous movies, which also distracts a bit as you have to remember the connection from a few years ago. Again, I wish the books would come out (I miss reading them), but as a fan and having seen every movie, I recommend it, but you have been warned about the reconnect issue.

We took Air Volvo to get home, reheated the soup on the stove, and cooked some veggies in the new microwave. All of it was excellent. After that, Glenda started cleaning, and I went to read as if I was tired. We went to bed about 10ish, and I was asleep before midnight again.

 

 

 

I started the day at 7ish with the alarm waking me to a sunny morning in Oregon. I am very conscious that this is my last Monday on leave and have started to worry about returning to work and making it to Susie every day. It is important to her (and to me) to see me, and, as it is, unfortunately, true, Susie gets better service and care by having me show up each day. Also, with the dropping of masks and many people believing, or at least trying to believe, that the pandemic is over and social distancing and masking is a thing of the past, return to work will include more risks for Susie and me. It would be a near disaster if I was exposed to flu, cold, or Covid-19 and had to stay away from Susie. So I worry.

Glenda is cleaning the floors and has her flight back to her home in North Carolina. She, Susie’s Aunt from North Carolina, is returning on Friday night via a redeye flight. I have taken these flights often, as getting up on a dark morning and rushing to an early flight are the pits. The time difference of three hours makes the flights back to the East Coast, and the timing for arrivals is quite messy.

Returning to the narrative, I wrote the blog, and Glenda continued to clean and organize. The old microwave oven was in the car as my old Apple laptop, propane tanks and bottles, and various old electronics. Once I was done, Glenda and I took Air Volvo, loaded up like a cargo plane, and headed to SBC Recycling. Glenda picked up the $18 recycling fees (including $5 for the microwave). Finally, the old propane tank and bottles found a home, yeah!

We stopped by the UPS Store and learned that bubble wrap is not recyclable here in its various forms and goes in the trash. That was disappointing as Glenda had collected it and hoped to find a happy home for it. But, nope, it is headed for the garbage.

I forgot I had a nice Ruben sandwich in the frig and instead made a sandwich, ham and cheese. Glenda found more leftovers for lunch.

We then traveled to the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A, without seeing any extra-legal antics from our fellow drivers. I am still using the traffic light and turning into the back streets to reach the facility, which seems safer.

Susie was in her Wheelchair when we got there and was just finished lunch at the tables near the nursing station. One of the other residents is taking all the nurse aid’s time as the resident tries to wander but will fall–they have to have someone with her all day.

It is cold and gray in Oregon on Monday, so we stick to pushing around Susie in the home. I also got Susie’s vax card, now updated, back from Pre. Susie had, finally, her third shot nearly a year after the last one–I had my third one some time ago and am headed soon to shot number four, 50 being long ago in the rear-view mirror.

I also ensured that paper copies of my letters were received and put in Susie’s chart, with the phone number hand-corrected. For example, one letter states that Susie is leaving in May for a new place. I like to state my intentions in letters, but I do not make demands in these notes. Implementing my preferences is left to the facility’s staff as they often have forms and processes that I am unaware of. We also check that the DNR for Susie is still in place and corresponds again to yet another paper letter; it does.

Susie, Glenda, and Leta (Susan’s mother) have a friendly chat on FaceTime using my iPhone. We chat for a while and even cover some less exciting topics. Soon, Susie is getting tired and tuned out for some of that. But, we notice that and soon say goodbye.

Susie had speech therapy today and had more treatment scheduled in the afternoon. We finally are getting Susie some services at Forest Grove! I will sign her up for “In-Home Care” when she moves to Tigard in May.

Glenda and I took Air Volvo home. There Glenda continued with her archeological work in the pantry. The granola bars were from 2010! Next, I started to repair the bookcase. I drilled and re-enforced the shelves with cabinet screws. Many central shelves can no longer be moved, but they also cannot fall. One of the too-short shelves got a 2″ screw to ensure it would handle the weight of books. Unfortunately, there are a few extra holes in the bookcase as I have to find a 1″ plywood board while balancing it on books. I have also countersunk some screws and discovered that they looked worse than just leaving the screw heads visible. I also first drilled pilot holes but soon learned I could, if the drill is set correctly, just drive the screws in with the drill without a pilot hole. It was at the limit of the drill’s power, but it saved a lot of time.

I was pretty tired out by all that, and I recycled a twenty-year-old set of dull drill bits. I had a new set of bits that I had forgotten, and it worked better until I realized I could manage with just the screws. But going into a plywood shelf sideways with a screw was again at the power limit for my battery run drill.

Aside: The old bookcase is made of plywood with a veneer of hardwood, making it look like an old-school plank-built bookcase. The plywood will not warp but is more rigid and heavier than plain wood. A few shelves were 1/4″ too short, which caused them to wear against the metal pegs used to hold the shelves up. Now the shelves are permanently set in place. I did just the middle shelves as the bottom and top seemed to have no issues.

I rested a bit and then made dinner. I used the defrost on the new microwave as the chicken thighs for dinner were still frozen after being left out for a few hours to thaw. The new appliance worked perfectly and fast. I had the chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, baking with just Herbs de Provence on a rack. I used the spice bag we bought in Holland at the Van Gough Museum (the spices are made in the same location as Van Gough painted in France) to remember my last trip with Susie to Europe in 2019 (the herbs are fading, but my memory is still bright).

(2019 photo)

I made couscous to go with it. I cook spices (cinnamon and cardamom) in hot olive oil with almond slices and raisins. I then toast the couscous, it absorbs all the oil, and then add hot chicken broth to the very hot pan. I stir and add water or couscous, depending on how the absorption goes. I remove it from the heat. You must service it immediately, so add the liquid at the lost moment and, if you have to, remove the pan from the heat if your timing is off and reheat the pan a bit then later before adding the hot liquid (I warm the broth in a microwave sometimes).

We also opened the last can of Freestone peaches and discovered plain peaches again, not the wonderful stuff I had last year. So no more Del Monte Freestone cans, sad.

I watched a bit of PBS news after dinner. Corwin had some dinner too. It was plain but good: nothing too dressed up and all easy. After some news, I went into the bedroom and chatted with some friends on the phone and learned the latest goings-on at Nike IT. Glenda read her book, and I read too. After that an early bedtime, I was soon asleep and never saw midnight on the clock.

 

Going backward, I went to bed early and read for a bit. I was freezing again, which seemed to happen when I was tired. I was asleep by midnight.

Before this, I relaxed under my electric blanket in the living room. I had tried to watch the movie version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe movie, but it was just as terrible as I remembered it, and I turned it off. It was recommended by my Amazon access to cable.

Glenda, Susie’s Aunt for North Carolina, made dinner of scalloped potatoes with ham using the ham leftover from yesterday. We opened a can of my favorite peaches for dessert, but the product inside was not as good as last time, Freestone peaches. I might not buy them anymore, sad; these used to be the best-canned peaches I ever had.

Before dinner, and while it was still sunny and warm, Corwin placed potting soil under all the roses and the rhododendron. I had already done some fertilizer. Unfortunately, two roses bushes are still showing stress, and I hope this will help.

While Corwin did the potting soil, I grabbed a grass seed bag and covered a spot where the apple tree had fallen and killed the lawn. My lawn service was happily edging it now and ignoring it, so I seeded it and removed an old weather station that was also being edged nicely, to my frustration, and dowsed the area with grass seed. I would prefer more grass than dirt.

Before this, Glenda and I were out shopping. We bought a new microwave at Best Buy, selecting a small footprint LG machine. We are pretty happy with the new machine, having used it for making dinner and heating beverages. Reading the manual, Glenda discovered that it includes an Internet-of-Things connection to check its health, which is very nice.

I passed on the larger footprint but the more helpful combination of the toaster oven and microwave available. Some can work with subscription food service to make easy-to-make meals avoiding the GrubHub higher costs for those too busy, ill, or needing more control on their intake.

Before this, we stopped by Ace Hardware to get some gardening stuff. I got the bag of potting soil (used up by Corwin) and lawn seed while Glenda got some work gloves. Glenda picked up this bill. Thanks!

After that, we stopped by Safeway and picked up potatoes for dinner and just a few other items. Aws, a friend of mine was working the DIY checkout and waved.

Before the shopping, we traveled to the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A in Air Volvo. I have started to avoid the turn from Pacific Highway and instead use the back entrance by turning at the light before the entrance on Pacific Highway. I just fly by the Adventist church, take a right into the local neighborhood, and the back entrance connects to the road. There is no traffic and no risk, but one needs to watch for cars pulling out as the parked cars sometimes block your view.

Susie was in bed when we got to her. But, again, the staff had not gotten Susie up that day. Terry, Susie’s roommate, suggested the facility was too short-staffed to handle Susie. And the staff seemed to be running around a lot, and Pre, the rehab nurse, was running the other wing on Sunday.

Glenda and Susie chatted and then contacted Leta by my iPhone using FaceTime while I wandered and talked to the admin. I wanted them to get a copy of the letter that Susie is moving and updating her DNR information with no changes. Also, Susie finally got her third vaccine for Covid-19, and thus I wanted her VAX card updates. This took some time as everyone was busy on a Sunday early afternoon.

Aside (slight rant): I have asked about the vaccine for months. Finally, Susie got her third shot. I am headed for number four next week (being two weeks out of chemotherapy). Why the home had not done shots earlier is a mystery to me.

Glenda and I decided to have Susie moved to the wheelchair as it was a lovely day, and Susie could use an outing. So the nurse aid got her dressed and in the chair, and Glenda pushed Susie. Off to Pink Spoon for frozen yogurt and other treats!

It is about a block away, a New York City-sized block, but still doable. We found the place busy, and we were the only folks with masks, but, it being a sunny day, nobody stayed inside for long, so I felt safe there. We got there three sets of goodies. We helped Susie between bites of our own frozen goodness; Susie ate about 1/3 of her frozen yogurt. We took one to go for Terry and packed Susie’s remaining goodie for later. When we returned, the nurse aids took Susie’s frozen treat and put it in the freezer for later. I gave Terry the gelato I got for her.

We left Susie in her wheelchair with a kiss and a hug; she did ask to go home–always heartbreaking to hear that, and we told her she would be staying. She was okay with that. The nurses would follow her directions if she wanted to stay up in the chair until dinner in a few hours or rest. I asked them to ask her and follow her directive–they were short-staffed so I needed to be a bit more directive.

Before this, we were at church. We had a guest laity preacher, and Carston also played the clarinet and did one song. So we were there on time, and everyone was happy to see us. We did stop at the Volvo Cave to change after church.

Moving to the morning, I wrote the blog, and Glenda started unloading my big bookcase. I was sleeping into 7AM, and Glenda was still rising with the sun. I had some breakfast and coffee. Lunch was some ham and leftovers.

Aside: Susie will move to Allegiance Senior Care at 9925 SW 82nd Street, just inside Portland mailing, but it is really Tigard in May.

 

I started the day with my alarm waking me. I was not awake before the alarm, so I slept through the night and got a decent sleep. I was fatigued, but I shook that off and started my day. Glenda, Susie’s Aunt from North Carolina, was up with the sunrise, about 6ish. I used to wake up with the first light, but now I sleep through it.

Glenda cleaned up more of the kitchen while I wrote the blog and had breakfast. I had one of the scones we made a few days ago. I will have to make some more soon.

Once the blog was finished, I got showered and dressed, and though I was fatigued, I did not have to rest after all that. I later saw stars and had to lie down for the early evening; in the morning, I was doing fine.

We drove Air Volvo to the new place for Susie that Glenda and I had selected. We cross Beaverton and take Hall Street to avoid 217 (often choked with traffic to reach US 5 and Lake Oswego). Soon we arrived at Allegiance Senior Care at 9925 SW 82nd Street, just inside Portland mailing but is really Tigard. We meet Michelle, the owner, and go over Susie’s medical history and provide some insight into Susie and her condition. I sign the forms and pay the initial $1000 by check. All of this is post-dated to the first of May. Michelle will visit Susie next week and work with her staff to create a care plan for Susie.

We wanted to lock this in for May; this was our first choice, but the facility is not close to home. Without traffic, it is about 30 minutes to trip across Beaverton to get there. I will make it work.

Glenda and I then headed back to the house; I forgot my phone!

We headed to see Susie at Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A. We managed the new electronic check-in system, with both workings to do it right today. Susie was still in bed and had not been up that morning. That was unusual, and it appeared the home was short-staffed again on the weekend, or Susie told them to let her sleep. She will not remember that.

We had a pleasant visit with Susie, and we called Susie’s mother, Leta, on my iPhone via FaceTime. So we had a nice visit with Susie. Susie was sleepy, so we left after the second yawn. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a pic.

Next, we contacted Mariah, a friend of mine and a writer and photographer, for lunch. After a few texts, we settle on The Black Dog in Forest Grove for lunch. At the Grand Lodge–our previously agreed to lunch location, Glenda and I take Air Volvo west on the Pacific Highway and then turn east to get to the food joint. Pacific Highway splits into separate one-way streets two blocks apart, and so you have to do some switch-backs to reach some places on the highway.

We arrive, and Mariah, expecting us to take more time, is rushed to walk over from her apartment in Forest Grove. I have 1/2 of a Ruben sandwich and a light-ish beer–I boxed the other half of the sandwich. A burger for Mariah and the daily special for Glenda, battered fish sliders. All of it was good. We soon depart for home.

I am very fatigued now from the driving and rest and have to rest a bit. So Glenda and I decided to make the ham I bought last week for dinner. Glenda disagrees with my plan of cooking the ham in a glass dish, but we make it work. We cook the ham for two hours at 275F.

While the ham is cooking, we make a short trip to Safeway to get groceries. We are not the only folks masked, and everyone is still practicing social distancing from what I saw. Safeway now offers a Do-It-Yourself checkout and refuses for a while to open more checking as the lines for the two checkers were now five deep. Finally, they relent and open more checking, and we get Aws as our checker.

Aws is about my age and from Iraq and speaks excellent English–I assume he is a refuge, but I never ask. We became friends as I wished him well for Ramadan years ago and asked if he was doing OK. He was a newish checker then, and the lifting and bagging were clearly hard on him without food and much water during Ramadan, but he took it with grace. We have been friends ever since. We missed each other during the lockdown as I ordered groceries online, but we are happy to have survived and glad to see each other now. I look for him when I am checking out at Safeway.

We got a few items back to the house, and Glenda made a salad and sweet potatoes for dinner. We had dinner, and Corwin joined us. I was dizzier and fatigued.

I went to read and lie down and fell asleep and was freezing again. I could not get going as I saw stars and was dizzy, so I slept more. I did not get to putting away much more–my game stuff is in piles ready to be shelved, and Glenda read and went to bed. I was in bed at about 10:30 and was asleep before midnight.