Author: alohawild

Jeff appeared later this morning and continued with his upgrade work on the drainage here at Cheatu Wild. The block roots and muck were removed from the pipes installed years ago to direct the roof water from the gutters to the street. Some fittings were replaced. The front pipes are ready for use.

My day started with me sleeping in until 8ish and rising to the end of the Mexican coffee that was locally roasted and ground. I will use Trader Joe’s instant coffee for the one day before I travel. The Mexican coffee was good, and its bitterness, along with the Trump Administration’s attacks on Portland, reminded me of how important it is for us liberals to be vigilant. Mostly, I know, this is to fill the press with anything but the truth and Epstein news.

I write the blog and complete it by ten. Jeff appears around the same time and resumes his tasks. As often happens, every pipe and fitting resists, with some becoming warped due to the pressure of being buried. Jeff gets a trip back to hardware suppliers, but manages to get all of the initial fix-it work done and fills in the holes. Ready for the rains! Next, he is building a rain stone flow, like a small creek, in the backyard to take the water to the French drain. A partial load of river rock is inbound!

I am talking to Deborah on the phone (we try to start our days texting and talking, and end them the same way) when I open the fridge door and the cottage cheese (small curds) falls out and platters a serving on the floor. I make jokes about the whey finding a way as I clean up the mess. Most of the curds remain in the container, and I decided to have a bowl, as it seems to have insisted. The whey way (for our Mandalorian chefs).

Deborah had some folks to meet and tasks to complete, and rang off. I had some reheated pasta, because a small bowl of cottage cheese was not enough. I then connect with Joan S and head to her house.

I provide a taxi service for Joan S, taking her to her appointment. She sits in the back as her leg is in a brace. And we have a fast, surprisingly fast trip to Portland. We take the Steel Bridge and soon park at the Moda Center. Her appointment is there, and soon we are waiting. I have a few hours to kill and manage to get back to 6,000+ steps as I walk the Rose Quarter area.

There are many folks here, and I learn that Sleep Token, a hard-to-qualify band, is playing today, and a goth-like fan base is here in a long line. This is the merch line I am told. This is where official band T-shirts and other expensive items are available for purchase. I did not remember the band name, found them on my phone, and played some. Yes, I have heard them on KINK.FM and liked them.

ICE is on the other side of the river, approximately two miles away. Portland looks excellent on a cool gray day. I know some officials are touring the building, but there is nothing happening in Portland from my view at the Rose Quarter. The concerts are ongoing, as is the symphony, and Dracula is playing at The Keller.

Joan gets updated instructions, and soon we are returning to North Plains, her home, and I to Beaverton (though really Aloha and Reedville). I am waiting for a friend to update me on dinner plans. And while I wait,  rewatch the season three finale for Wednesday again. It was better the second time.

I also located an old adventure I wrote in 2012 for the 4E version of Dungeons and Dragons, it is meant for three plays, at least, and is 60 pages, 23,000+ words. It also uses all existing monsters, spells, and treasure, resulting in a larger number of encounters than the page count suggests. On Thursday, I will check with Clint, and he thinks that would be a good choice for their Thanksgiving gaming. I will extract a group of encounters to make a single play adventure and rework them for 5E.

I find I am alone for dinner and head to the Golden Valley Brewery as I cross Beaverton again. I sit at the bar and recognize one of the bartenders, and Devan, a new face, waits on me. This is not a cheap place, and I visit less now that I would rather spend my money on travel (and the caloric impact is unnecessary). I have a glass of wine, Merlot from Argentina, and the steak salad, and I add dessert with coffee. It was all good and familiar; they make excellent food here.

I return home in Air VW the Gray, plug it in, do the dishes, and read until 10. I am tired from walking, driving, and the season change. I sleep and wake a few times. I managed to sleep better this evening.

Thanks for reading.

 

Again, my sleep was poor, and I was up at 6:30 to write the blog and head to Richard’s for a game in Portland at 9:30. I needed coffee, and later, I had some protein waffles for breakfast. I am near the end of the Mexican locally roasted and ground coffee. The bitterness reminds me how far we liberals have to go. I have made liberal coffee since Trump won his first term. A daily reminder of how important it is to remember who we are.

The morning was a blur as I tried to record Monday in a blog and be ready to face the traffic in the so-called war-torn Portland. I managed to get started a few minutes late, headed to Portland after rushing to take a shower and all that. It was a lovely day, and the mountains looked beautiful over Portland. I had plenty of time to look at them, as the traffic was slow. I was ten minutes late.

James and Richard had already set up most of the cooperative board game Tainted Grail. We are on opposite directions in the game, I wish to push through and complete the tasks and goals, while James wants to experience everything. Richard, being his usual gamer self, wants to collect maximum loot and powers. I also have a better memory of the previously discovered parts of the story and find that James and Richard, not role players, tend not to remember as they play mostly board games and recall mechanics and processes more effectively. I have to be patient a few times as we retrace a few steps here and there. We have not lost a combat or diplomatic encounter in multiple sessions. We are obviously too strong for our point in the story, but I am now enjoying the story, and we have some new discoveries in areas that I thought we had covered. James felt vindicated.

I am happy we reached chapter 5, and there were some close calls. The game is rising to our point in the story, and the strength level of our characters. I would say, for anyone playing this strange board game, that chapter four was when I started to find the game interesting and not a procedural slog. I also believe that we have reached a level of familiarity with the rules, allowing us to concentrate more on play than on mechanics. In other words, it is becoming more immersive. Additionally, James purchased a complete, pre-painted version, and the ‘dudes-on-a-board’ look works too.

With another session completed (about four hours), I headed back to Broadway Grill and had lunch. I had their salad and chili special and thought it was good. The Caesar salad was almost spicy from the garlic. The chili was tangy and had beans and meat. I like it more complex, but it was still good.

Deborah, working for a living, spoke and texted me a few times while I traveled in light traffic in Air VW the Gray. Later, we were happy to do FaceTime and watch together the third episode of Murders Only in the Building. We both sync our TVs by time and watch me in Oregon and her in Michigan. I thought the show had found its magic again, and I enjoyed it.

Deborah, coming off a cold and a funeral for a friend, was tired, and I was missing some sleep, so we said good night. I watched the next episode of Slow Horses on Apple+ and thought it was well done. I made popcorn as a snack (and put out butter to warm for a cake on Wednesday), but burned the first batch. Only two minutes, not the supplied 2:40, when pressing the popcorn button on the microwave. I have noticed that the popcorn packages are smaller, and I suspect that is the cause.

Somewhere, I did a load of laundry to get ready to travel on Friday. I will try to find time to clean and pack in the next few days. I will do Monday’s and Friday’s usual laundry on Thursday. No need to leave too much for me on my return.

I then, unable to get sleepy, returned to my office and assembled a new Dungeons & Dragons 5E adventure. I am not ready to switch over to the 2024 version for my writing, as few are playing it. I created my usual document style and started searching for old 4E stuff that I still have. I wrote much of what we played in that version (though we used some material that was supplied, and discovered that much of it utilized the older 4E monsters; it required more work than it should have). I plan to raid it and incorporate some of its parts into my new adventure. I am thinking of three unrelated adventures connected in a framework; this is a popular way of repurposing older material. I also retained the rhyme to give hints to the players. I find this an interesting addition as it gives players something to think about between encounters. Three will fit a single play if Clint wants me to DM this Thanksgiving, though seven would make a couple of session 5E adventures, which is my usual style.

Note: 5E was replaced by 2024, and 5E was created from 3.5, while removing most of the stacking of abilities. The 2024 version changed the rules further and removed many of the exceptions found in the magic system, and again for combining abilities into unstopable stacking. It also rewrote many of the spells, monsters, and magic items and removed many of the inherited conflicts from earlier versions. I find I have to relearn everything. The rules for hidden and grappling are simplified, thus preventing unexpected stacking.

I read in bed once, now in my PJs, once I was done reviewing my old items from 4E and even 3.5. I have the originals for them and can see a few started attempts to rewrite them into 5E. I have reviewed them to identify items to include in my new version. I think I can extract a few encounters and possibly an entire fantasy tower as part of the framework. All good.

I read until after 11 and then rolled over after I turned off the light. I woke for proof of hydration and then for my leg cramping; a glass of water stopped that. I managed some sleep.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

It was another early rise, and my sleep was disturbed. I woke up cold and put on my robe to go back to sleep. I rose at 6:30 and stumbled out of bed, found my slippers, and turned on all the lights. The run rise is now after 7 as we head into winter. It was another clear night. I rose in the dark and turned on all the lights.

I am leaving for Michigan on Friday morning and need to pack and put the mail on hold (done).

I wrote the blog and had coffee for breakfast. I had to push the button as it is scheduled to start at 7. I made Mexican-grown coffee, locally roasted and ground. I searched my slightly fuzzy memory of Sunday on Monday morning. I assembled the events into a narrative, writing as I remembered.

I had a completely forgotten breakfast (having to walk into the kitchen and look around to remember it on Tuesday morning), consisting of waffles with sugar-free syrup and butter.

I was happy to get the blog out, jumped into the shower, and did all the usual things to get dressed and be ready. I was surprised to be prepared early and headed out. I talked to Deborah for a few moments. She had a funeral for a friend today and was sad. I spoke to her later and she shared that it was a wonderful but sad funeral in Laingsburg. I had tears flowing as she described it when I was later driving to Beaverton. Randy was a good man.

Today I was meeting with my oncologist, and my weight came in at 240, damn, back up. More salads! Those last six pounds are not leaving. My tests, blood work, were good (only one weird reading, but my doctor was unconcerned), and my CT scan, as I said before, was better than hoped. Two more scans left, and we are done. I spoke with the desk staff, and they may not accept Providence’s Obamacare version. I will have to call once I have details of potential insurance options in November, the so-called Open Enrollment.

It is good news when your primary concern with an oncologist is keeping insurance coverage!

I selected, after spending much time in Portland last week, to just drive back in light traffic. The Monday inbound traffic was awful, and it took me an hour to get through. I then had to find a parking slot in the hospital-provided garage. The spots are extra small, and it took me ten minutes of circling to find a regular-sized spot being vacated. Air VW the Gray is a smaller SUV, but even it would not fit (and be able to open the doors) in most remaining spaces. All the on-street parking was already taken.

I found it still early, a theme I continued to enjoy all day. Our local Powell’s drew me, and I looked for a book for my trip. I found an Agatha Christie paperback published in 19661 of a story I do not remember. I resisted the candy bars and expensive new books, escaping for less than $10. Next, I stopped at McMenamins Cedar Hills for lunch. There, I had an Aztec salad with chicken added and an iced tea. I also booked the Theology Pub for Thursday evening.

I nearly cried at the ending of my Agatha Christie book while eating my salad, Elephants Can Remember. I knew the ending, but it is sad and terrible. More like a dark Louise Penny story than the usual polite British murder with tea.

Somewhere in all of this travel, bookstores, and lunch, Meijer’s from Michigan called. Yes, they have my cake order, and yes, the updates are good. It would be ready as offered on Sunday, Deborah’s birthday.

Back home, the travel was easy, and I checked, finding that my Pathfinder Game for Monday night was canceled. I have delayed my laundry day so that it aligns better with my packing and travel on Friday. Time ran fast, and soon I was making dinner. I decided on pasta with a spicy jar sauce and ground beef. Corwin appeared and washed the windows. I am supporting his new business, and I like clean windows. We shared my dinner, and then we both headed out.

I attended a church meeting with the DS for our church and others, as my gaming had been canceled. And while it is unwise to criticize the central church leaders here, I must say that I was bored and a little depressed by the meeting. My nearly thirty years of working for a multinational corporation have taught me to demand a more organized and clear process when it comes to meetings and procedures. I resisted the temptation to take over and run a fast, to-the-point meeting. Instead, I tried to support the DS and be friendly (and ask only a few questions so the meeting would end on time).

I did learn that there is an interesting First Nations Version: An Indigenous Bible Translation of the New Testament, which is a paraphrase version, and is my least liked translation type. I have been told over and over by liberals that paraphrase versions are better, as they include a modern understanding of words. I have been told also over and over that they are better as they are more accurate and avoid, according to my conservative Christian friends, the liberal word smithing and woke teachings. I have also been told that only the King James version is truly accurate and comfortable. I would say that the NIV is easier to teach from, while the NRSV is more precise (from my readings of the underlying Greek) and includes notes on textual issues that are glossed over by other versions. Paraphrasing versions are unwelcome by me as I like to follow the original, but I understand the comfort they grant. 

The First Nations text was interesting as it includes cultural items from the First Nations people and also claims to be revised to better align with the historical culture of two thousand years ago. I am unsure of that, but it is an interesting re-write of a translation. And while I would never recommend a paraphrasing or amplified version, this one has some strong appeal.

With the meeting over, I headed home after saying goodnight. I tried not to growl.

I read and went to bed early, as I have been up early and sleeping poorly of late.

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunday starts with me rising around 7ish and finding a cup of wake-up, Mexican-grown, locally roasted, and ground. I seem to be rushed every morning now, despite being retired for more than a year. I have no time to reflect and write with focus, enabling me to finish the blog before I have to head to church. But again, I forgot that church is at 11 and not 10:30, and thus some of the rush was well more rushed than needed. Grammarly mixes and matches my text here and there, and I find myself using the back arrow to undo the changes more often than I should. I do reread most of the next and make changes.

I bring my large (and expensive) prints of the images of the finished work of the church refresh work. I tape them on the walls along with the schedule. I have extra copies and share them also, and later, after church, explain a few changes. The main realization is that the entrance way may be closed, and the only access to the sanctuary on Sundays may be through the side doors. A consequence of redoing the entranceway is that it will be unavailable for a few weeks. While it is obvious, I can see, like many things in life, that when the events arrive, we are still surprised by them.

The music was uplifting, and we were clapping and even dancing to Eric K’s solo of the spiritual Wade Into The Waters (here is a version on YouTube). We were clapping for a song from the praise band, too. Pastor Ken listed a long list of scriptures, read notes from John Wesley connecting them to the Concept of Grace, and then covered the importance of accepting salvation and helping others, not just for salvation, but also to assist people. In the end, Ken said, despite our differing beliefs on means of salvation, we are here to help one another.

After church, a Harvest Festival was held in the parking lot next door. I had the lobster bisque soup from a food truck for lunch and later regretted it. I am not sure what was wrong, but I spent the late afternoon uncomfortable and resting. I did find a small item for Deborah’s birthday there. I am traveling to Michigan on Friday for Deborah’s birthday.

Back home, I try some peanut butter and toast, and that seems to help. I discovered that my peanut butter, which seems normal, is past its Best Use date by two years. I should replace that! It was still good.

I head to M@’s place for our twice-a-month Dungeons & Dragons game. We are playing the new 2024 version of D&D, and I am playing a sorcerer for the first time. It is an interesting class as the spell choices, while limited, are area effects and harsh single-target attacks, more like wizards. The subclass features I selected are Lovecraft-story-like powers, pile-on spells lifted from other classes, and I find it nearly as hard to run this class as the very endlessly deep wizard or cleric classes.

I rolled very low, managing to miss crucial social engagement checks despite playing a socially directed character, Carter, and getting 1, 2, 3 on a 20-sided die. Yikes! This creates some ridiculous moments, and even our rogue player, Betty, misses a roll when her thief slips up while trying to grab something. We managed a few essential dice rolls, and Betty, whose character was turned into a tree, made an important roll, and we were able to reverse the situation without serious consequences. It has been a low-combat and high-interaction game on Saturday evening. I will miss the next session while I am in Michigan.

M@ cooked burgers, and I felt better. I returned home, read, and had trouble sleeping all night. It might have been the coffee at M@’s or resting earlier. Monday arrived sooner than I had hoped!

Thanks for reading.

 

I started Saturday morning around 7:30 and found the coffee waiting for me. I had cleaned up the kitchen and assembled the coffee before going to bed. Excellent. I could use the coffee. I was feeling well, but the go-juice was still most welcome. Mexican-grown and locally roasted and ground coffee in my brew. I often pause over the cup and ponder the state of my country. Tears can come, and then I smile and remember that we have survived many crazinesses before. We will get through this.

Fortified and smiling at the goofiness (what else can you call it now), I started to raid my memory of Friday. I began assembling a narrative while Grammarly attempted to reword it. I appreciate its spelling corrections and reminding me to use Oxford commas (something I resist, but do anyway), but other changes are often rejected. I find Fridays easy to recall, and soon, a few hours are gone, and a story is fitted into WordPress, beaten into submission by Grammarly. Now, my thoughts are tamed and mostly accurate (both in grammar and story), and released into the world. Often, I notice something mangled or missing a few hours later. Some days I do fix them.

The mail shows. My medications for the next 90 days have arrived. I suspect this is my last bunch, as my COBRA insurance ends with 2025, and I will soon enjoy the embrace of ObamaCare and Providence local insurance, for about 30% higher cost and with much less coverage. I will also purchase, if possible, dental and eye coverage (very basic) on my own. A new adventure for me until I turn 65, I am 61.

You can be pissed off that the USA insurance is a mess, or look at it as an overpriced adventure. I choose to (mostly) enjoy it and record here what happens. Most of these kinds of things are just how you react to something you cannot control. I try to surf the chaos.

At noonish, I reheat the beef and veggie terakki I made a few days ago and have it over a potato that I microwave instead of making rice. And while it was delicious, my tummy was unsettled, and I think the huge sugar hit from the potato was a mistake. Something to remember.

I watch more of this season of Wednesday as I am enjoying a rerun of it and find it much better the second time through. I recommend it, especially for a second watch.

I return to the office and invest hours creating a pro forma 2025 income and Schedule A to determine the tax impact of all my giving this year. Later, Richard reminded me that the kicker check (Oregon has a two-year budget, and if revenue from taxes exceeds a small percentage of the projected amount, the difference is returned to the filers instead of being used by the state government) is also this year. And while I had a limited income this year, I received two years’ worth of my salary back in 2024, for which I enjoyed heavy taxation. I need to include that in my final calculations (the amount of the kicker is declared in November of odd years, this year).

I checked all of Quicken’s transactions for the year. I often smiled as I reread the expenses for lovely trips and fun dinners. I laughed at the bar totals and enjoyed seeing all the airflights and hotels. It has been a kick of a year. A good investment, I think.

On the task, I am attempting to produce an amount of giving, taxes paid, and other tax deductions, versus my limited income in 2025. I will then work with US Bank Wealth Management to create a taxable event to offset all these credits, harvesting my donations for tax avoidance. I plan not to withdraw the money for personal use but to move it to a Roth IRA with US Bank. The money is parked for five years and then available for withdrawal without penalty. Earnings are pretax, like IRAs.

I figure I have enough money, barring events, for 2026 if I let the Treasuries expire in November. And while giving away money and matching the amount with withdrawals is less efficient than simply taking it as income, paying the tax, it is wonderful to give it away and helps those in need. One of the reasons I use US Bank Wealth Management is that they excel in this area.

You can do this in a self-managed IRA account, as many of my friends have, and assign the money to various low-cost indexes and funds. Balancing the risk with 30% bond-backed instruments to keep it ready for downturns in equities (or not). I instead pay a small fee to US Bank Wealth Management, and we have been learning a lot about bonds and tax avoidance while getting a good return after the expense. I am happy so far, but, as they say, you do you.

It took most of the afternoon, and I could not find one receipt for the donations, but I know I put it away, so I wouldn’t lose it (I donated the wreck of the Volvo and received a $5,000 credit for it). I have lost it. I can order another one if I cannot find it for my accountant. I use Cornerstone Tax in Hillsboro to do my taxes, and I need this in February 2026.

I will schedule a meeting with my bankers next week, or when I return from Michigan.

Deborah was busy much of the day, and we texted and talked only a few times. We are counting down to Friday!

Pausing for a moment in my narration, I would like to mention that Randy LaFountain passed away in Laingsburg, Michigan, last week. Although it is not my story to tell, I would be remiss if I did not share some information (here). The service will be held on Monday at the United Methodist Church, located off Crum Street in The Burg (Laingsburg). Deborah and I had lunch with him and his wife, Jeanne, on a recent visit. He worked for my dad years ago at Wild’s Furniture & Appliances, Inc. He will be missed.

Returning to my story, I assembled an early dinner by frying some bacon lardons in a pan. I steamed bok choy while I also boiled 1/3 of a box of pasta. I combined all of this, draining the pasta, and added the bacon, then cooked it for a while to dry it out a bit and let it settle. It was good (bacon always is), and I might have had a second bowl, reasoning the first one was small. This was a chance to use up some of my odds and ends.

I next took Air VW the Gray to Portland and crossed (slowly) through Beaverton, enjoying light traffic in Portland. There were no signs of violence or war, and I understand there is now an Emergency Naked Bike Ride being planned in response to the bad press and would-be invasion of Portland. I suspect they will circle ICE a few times. Footage, I suppose, that will not be on FOX News.

In other news from the Western Front, a Federal Judge ruled that the invasion was against the 10th Amendment (here) and was baseless. Not surprisingly, the Trump Administration has issued its own emergency declaration, likely not done in the nude. However, it may be naked in its aggression, as the appeal demands that the Supreme Court overturn the Trump-appointed judge’s ruling and allow the invasion to proceed due to the war in Portland. This will be via the so-called Shadow Docket. Bringing forward the idea that I may need to produce a supporting brief — so many jokes!

Putting aside chaos surfing, I arrived early at Richard’s, and we played another game of Luthier; this time, I liked it better. I was able to follow the process and got most of the rules right. Sequencing is critical in the game, and I managed to hold that together. Laura had some trouble this time. I understand folks are not using a notepad in the game. I again did not play aggressively enough to score high, only 70 points, but I was only a few points behind Laura. Richard, playing one of his luckiest games, doubled my score!

We talked about politics, investments, and travel for a few hours after the game. An enjoyable evening.

My trip home was punctuated with slow cars and things passing me at 100+ mph, as if they were shot out of cannons behind me (drawing on Charles Stross for those words). I arrived intact and assembled the coffee for Sunday morning. I tried to sleep, but the coffee I had at Richards meant some tossing and turning until about 1. Dreams are forgotten.

Thanks for reading!