Author: alohawild

The day started with the iPhone waking me at 7ish and me rolling over for a bit. The morning was then rushed, like before my surgery, with email and coffee and then writing the blog. I was not tired this morning which was a new feeling.

I logged on to the shoeccompany, finding my password on a piece of paper, and reset my out-of-office and doing my timesheet. I was relieved it took only a short while to get this done.

I managed to be dressed and left about 10ish. My first time driving Air Volvo since my surgery. I had planned to wait for the whole two weeks after my surgery, but Susie was reported fading at the nursing home, so I had to start a day early. I found that I had no issues getting into Air Volvo and starting the trip.

My incisions did start to be pulled a bit from driving until later and on the way back. I had no issues getting to the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center about 11ish and made my way to Susie’s room, 44A; I did have to follow all the procedures, including getting my temperature checked.

Susie was sleeping, and it was hard to wake her up at first. She was delighted to see me, but she was clearly not really able to wake up. She tried to speak, but only a few words, and those were not clear.

I checked with her nurses, and she told me that Susie is not eating any more; the nurse cried. She also told me that Susie is staying hydrated by drinking water and is comfortable. The nurse went on to say with damp eyes to say that Susie was very sweat and would say, “I can see you” when sitting with her but Susie did not eat for the last few days.

I checked Susie’s vitals, and they are normal.

I brought Susie some of her mail. She got some little gloves and a small dream catcher from the American Indian kids she supports. I put the gloves under her tree, still lighted, and hung the dream catcher on the wall. Then, I watered the plants and stayed with Susie for about an hour. I was very fatigued by then. I called using FaceTime so Susie could see and chat with her mother and Dr. Peter Koper.

I managed not to cry, except for a few damp eye moments with the nurse and when saying goodbye.

I was distraught in the car sitting in the parking lot, cried, and got calm enough to drive. The visit brought back all the pain of Susie’s illness. I had moved Susie’s challenges to the back of my mind while I endured the prep, surgery, hospital stay, and recovery. Now it was back and painful.

I drove home. I chatted with Anne Weld-Martin sitting in another parking lot, and we agreed to visit Susie on Tuesday. I would be there about 10ish, and Anne would be there about 11ish. We would likely overlap.

I did drive-through and got Popeye’s fried chicken and coleslaw. However, I did eat only 1/2 of the coleslaw. While chicken is on my food list, I’m not sure that meant fried chicken, but I felt like I needed more calories of late. So, I watched some YouTube videos on shipwrecks (recommended video on shipwrecks)  and from Nerd of the Rings while eating.

I finished the book Certain Dark Things this morning. I highly recommend the modern vampire story. It is the best story I have read since the first book of the Twilight books (I only liked the first one).

I fell dead asleep in the chair.

Groceries were delivered, and I put them away. Trying not to lift too much weight, 20 pounds being my limit. But, Safeway did not have celery or eggs noodles. So, I text Corwin to get some.

After waking, I put on the rest of the new Matrix movie (I watched the first 1/2 a few days ago), available for no additional cost on HBOMax, and fell asleep again (turning off the film before I slept).

Corwin finally appeared with the supplies after I awoke and finished the Matrix movie for the second time. It is still good, and I recommend it. It is the movie that should have been the third film.

Corwin takes over for me in the kitchen, cleaning it up, chopping stuff. I boil the noodles (Corwin filling the pan for me), cook the celery and onion in a frying pan before mixing all the things together to make an old-style Tuna Noodle Casserole. I even crush potato chips over it. Dondrea inspired me to make this after a chat last week.

It is bubbling after 40 minutes at 350F, and we have some. It is a bit flat to my taste, but I have three bowls as I am famished. Again, the effects of the healing process.

From the same director as the new Matrix movie, I watched a favorite of mine while eating that is considered one of the worst made movies, Jupiter Raising. However, I still like it, and while Corwin panned the acting, I still thought it fun (but overly predictable).

I am tired and a bit sore. The incisions now hurt, and I am stiff. I managed to get to bed about 11ish, not sure where all the time went, and fell asleep quickly. I awake at 3ish but decide against pain killers, getting up just does appeal, at 4ish and sleep some more.

Again, this is really just a short note as I spent most of the day resting.

I decided that I could stand the non-New York City bagels and was up early as I could not sleep. My feet hurt from cold, but this was not really the case. Since I had cancer-caused anemia, I had found myself freezing when I was perfectly warm. Only movement can change fix this. So I, not really wanting to do it, was up early, 5:30ish, on Sunday. I can tell that the slow bleeding is gone as I do not have that strange feeling of suddenly freezing and getting tired–sort of freezing to death in a warm house–from worsening anemia.

After the surgery and reaching the immediate intervention of anemia, transfusion, I had additional electrolytic imbalances that required lots of pills and infusions when I was in the hospital. Some are solved others are improving. Being a computer expert, I managed to survive the year primarily by using the magical brews universally known by computer people to solve most health issues: Coffee and good quality tea.

I ordered a bad breath bagel, smoked salmon with capers and veggies over cream cheese, and a dozen bagels for later use this week (like this Monday morning) with smear from our local Einstein Brothers Bagels delivered by DoorDash. I did see that the bagel folks, likely due to the pandemic and the resultant worker shortage, changed their hours to be open at 8AM. So I did wait for bagels.

Now awake, email processed, and pain gone from anemia caused cold, I turned to BBC America for entertainment. Top Gear with the new hosts was on–a catch-up on Sunday. I watched three episodes of the revised show while waiting for DoorDash. Years ago, I would slip out of bed and watch Top Gear on Sunday morning while Susie would sleep in. Bagels arrived in the second episode.

I tried, thinking my turn to add more live veggies to my diet, left the onion and tomato on the bagel. Unfortunately, the red onion did not work for me. I did manage the thin tomato slice. It was terrific, but I still missed NYC and Zabar’s near 79th Street Station.

Top Gear was not as funny, nor was the hosts willing to risk their lives like the previous now fired and off-air hosts. I also missed running different car models on the track and getting a proper reading of the worth of multi-million dollar (pounds in the British show) cars. But, once I got used to the new format, I did like it.

I edited another Howard story, his Christmas 2016 story. I was surprised by how harsh and forced the writing was. I wrote it mainly as a Christmas Card to my fellow Call of Cthulhu Role-playing game players. I remember that I wrote it after taking Amtrack to Michigan from Oregon–a total fail as far as I was concerned (no more long train trips for me). I wrote it between the Michigan 2016 Christmas events and our return by train (almost worse than the trip out).

Mariah called, and she wished to watch some football and then maybe visit Powell’s. So I dressed and got ready. Removing the bandage in the process and discovering no bleeding and thus just a clean shirt. Excellent!

I took a short nap while Mariah traveled. It is still a lot of work to get going for me. This Sunday morning, I could skip the blog as I had done two days the night before, staying up late to finish it (make the early morning more painful). But, I still was tired out by dressing and getting started so early.

We watched football with the sound off; Mariah does not care for the commentary. Mariah played professional women’s football and does not need the analysis of the TV hosts. As Portland’s soccer team fans would call Seattle, the northern small fishing village unsurprisingly won again a clearly weaker team. I do like the Seahawks and cannot help but cheer for them softly.

We left before Mariah, who used out washer and drier instead of rising Covid and wasting a vast amount of quarters on the supplied machines at her apartment, put her clothing in the drier. So off to Powells, my first excursion in more than a week.

It was busy, being the last holiday shopping night, and I did wander through the SciFi section looking at what was labeled as new. Unfortunately, the fatigue returned, and I had to sit for a while, and the magic of the books failed to get me to buy, unusual for me. Some new cookbooks, drink books (Death & Co.), and Pacific Northwest culture books might get purchased in the future.

I was happy to travel again. I was tired after that. Mariah collected her now clean clothing headed out.

I called about Susie at Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center (room 44A) and spoke to her nurse. Susie is having more trouble eating and drinking and seemed distracted today.

I felt terrible that Susie was so alone, but my exhaustion was back, and other events (details about some of my recovery do not need to be discussed here) made me sure I should wait another day. Mariah offered to drive me to see Susie, but I was sure it was unwise. I needed another day.

I ordered two pizzas for the game, Chicken with some veggies on a white sauce for me. After that, I was stuffed and had a cupcake and later peanut butter toast (white bread only) for dinner.

I called Kate Rosenburg from Nike, and we talked about Nike politics and what I should expect from the short-term disability payments and process. Messy would best describe the process as Kate explained her experiences.

I finally went to bed and read. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s  Certain Dark Things (English) is hard to put down. It is predictable, but the vampires, Mexico City, and the Neon Noir are just fun. Highly recommended!

I had trouble sleeping, as usual now, but slept sometime after midnight. Kink.FM is back to playing two hours of Afterdark music on Sunday night. So I rested to that music and then turned off at midnight.

Again, I am just resting, so it is hard to find a story to share.

Today, working backward, was the annual (or so) special for Doctor Who. Jodie Whittaker is leaving the role, the first woman to play the Doctor, and there is still no information on the next Doctor. This is her full last episode, and thus I could not miss it.

I was expecting something great. I had some trouble loving today’s episode as I have seen much better work for the year-end with Matt Smith’s Doctor doing the best one, I think Christmas Carol. But, Peter Capaldi’s Last Christmas is creepy, and I remember on its release being scared and happy at the same time–this is considered the best one by more official sources. The one today was not even close in quality to these shows. Not sure what will be the future of Doctor Who. Corwin commented that their budget must have been cut when watching the episode. Not great.

Today, I read a bit of the rules to play a solo role-playing game, Thousand Year Old Vampire. I have had a physical copy of the game for some time. I was hoping to try it one of these days while I am just sitting around.

Before this, I taught Corwin how to play The Lost Ruins of Arnak, a fav board game of mine. Corwin scored well for his first game, but, as usual with this game, a play gets you to understand the process but not a win. However, Corwin did like the game, and it played fast and took less than 90 minutes to play.

The game is themed on a 1920s Hollywood version of archeology. The mechanics are a well-balanced mix of deck building, resource discovery and management, and a racing board to score most points (representing your research and capturing vital knowledge to discover the lost city’s secrets before your competition beats you to publish). Also, The theme is not too abstract, so you can imagine putting on a hat and whip and digging to find the secrets of Arnak!

I bought some replacement parts this holiday for the game while recovering, and they were delivered before Christmas. So my new coins and tiny compasses got their first use today. I was happy to finally replace the paper coins (I like the feel of metal coins when I play a board game), and I liked the look of the tiny compasses stacked in your resources (representing maps and location information). Cool!

This is the first game I have played since the surgery, and I was happy to not become fatigued while setting up or playing the game.

Dinner was grilled cheese (cheddar) on white bread. Something simple. Of course, I used the pan Rev. Wolff sent me and fried the sandwiches in butter. I cover the pan with a lid and add a bit of water to let the hot steam (remember steam is over 212F) heat the sandwich through and melt the cheese. Cut into quarters; it makes a nice bite.

Before dinner, I called the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center to see how Susie was doing. They told me she was doing fine, and I asked them to say to her a Happy New Year from me. They were a bit stressed; they are short-staffed (like everywhere), but they usually lean on the weekends and holidays.

I am afraid before this, I bored Corwin with the first Pirate of the Caribbean movie. I wanted to see if it was still good. I still liked it.

I also edited a Howard story today. I was feeling up to some mental work, so I corrected a few typos in the first story; it is always a surprise to find more typos as I wrote it on a plane back in 2017. My last edit for this story, not surprising, was early 2021. Apparently, I had some spare time last New Year’s weekend.

The first and last Howard stories are done, I think. There are four other stories I will have to fix up. I started a new story based on my time in New York City and hope to find the energy to finish it.

I got dressed in the afternoon, not wanting another day where I did not get dressed.

Before that, I had leftover lasagna from Rajesh, an excellent late lunch. Of course, Italian-styled food is always better the next day. Rajesh had suggested it needed more salt, but, as Corwin and Mariah can attest, I never cook with salt, and my food always needs salt. So for me, it was perfect.

I had slept until about 9:30, missing my usual wake-up at 4ish to take more painkillers.

Moving to the previous day, still going backward, I managed to sleep on New Year’s Eve after midnight, about 2ish. The locals like to set off loud illegal fireworks for the Year-End. The house was not quite shaking with explosions, but one or two did startle me–it was a lot of pyrotechnics.

I went to bed before the year changed and read more about Mexican Vampires. I love the book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Certain Dark Things (English). I showered just before bed and changed into sleeping clothing. I had to be careful as I staggered a bit. I kept my hand on the new hand bars in the new shower!

I managed to not dress the whole day, and Rajesh from Nike brought me lasagna for dinner, plus a dessert from B.J. Brewhouse (a giant cookie with ice cream). Before that,  I felt the exhaustion from my surgery and just sat in my chair and took it very slowly.

Lunch was leftover spaghetti and meat sauce from the previous order from GrubHub, and it too was better the second reheat.

I was up late after 10AM, with the 4AM wake-up for pain killers needed.

Today no story as I am tired again. I have spent Wednesday and Thursday not doing much and still being tired.

Zoraida visited Susie on Wednesday, and then we connected by FaceTime. Susie is looking better and managing a few words. I called the nurses on Thursday, and Susie had a busy day getting up and moved to the dining table twice.

After ten, I get up late; I don’t dress until near 4PM as I do not want to burn up all my strength in the morning. I overdid it a few times. I am now trying to go slow and let the healing happen. It is boring.

I have found a new channel on YouTube, Armchair Historian, that seems to do an excellent job on WW2 items, an exciting mix of graphics and voice-over. I also found some more Nerd of the Rings items too. Recommended reading or really a library for the Tolkien fan. The channel did strongly recommend the somewhat recently published The Children of Hurin, and I remember having trouble putting that down on a plane. I would recommend it if you have not read it and liked Lord of the Rings or just need a bit more Middle Earth after enjoying the movies.

Yesterday Ingrid, now retired from Nike, sent me dinner from GrubHub. That was very kind of her.

Dan Gray brought some cookies and other goodies today.

Rajesh, from Nike, dropped off some more wound care items for me.

I watched the rest of the show Hawkeye on Disney+ and cannot recommend this Marvel special more. Set in New York City now for Christmas, it was better than some recent movies, and seeing NYC again and reading the signs behind the actors to see where they are was a treat. Again, recommended.

I also watched Into The Woods. While well done, I would skip it.

I finished the Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft mash-up book. It is a page-turner for me, I thought it better this time, but I will not likely do the following two books anytime soon. So I am instead trying another book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Certain Dark Things (English).

I sit in my chair, usually Susie’s, and rest. I fatigue easily. My thinking is better but still not near the top of my game, so less writing and more naps.

The blogger Violet Blue sent me a nice note today (@violetblue). I have followed her for a few years now. I discovered her just as we entered the pandemic and have been a Patreon support. She may not be your cup of tea, but I keep up with her and life in San Francisco these last few years of chaos.

Sorry if this is just lists. I wanted to write something tonight and hope I will be more awake soon.

I was too tired the last two days to blog. It takes a lot to spend 90 minutes writing and thinking while being clear and keeping the reader’s interest. So forgive me for skipping the last two days. Instead, I will just hit a few memories from these last two days.

Actually, Monday was a tranquil day with me just taking it very slow and trying not to have anything go wrong. I find getting showered and dressed with wound care makes me tired. So I delayed that until after 4PM. I am never that late getting dressed, but it seemed the right thing to do on Monday.

The Smith contacted me on Monday, and we used Disney’s watchgroup and phones to share the experience of the movie Enchanto. Kat is here in Oregon, staying with her parents’ home for the holidays. So we had a professional artist with us in our virtual shared experience.

Enchanto is a south-of-the-border modern fairy tale about a family that is saved by a miracle. They are given a magical candle that creates for them a magic house and hidden valley that protects them. Each family member is given a gift and a magical room. The music and art are bright. However, there are a few sadder songs that I just loved, one a whispered that is slight but powerful.

We liked it, but David did point out that the thread of the story gets lost near the end. A song then explores the ending and brings the movie back, but I agree with David it was a fumble, but the game was not lost. I will not flash any spoilers and recommend you enjoy the movie, especially the slower songs.

Changing subjects, I am reading the book Rev. Wolff sent me. I have read it on my Kindle before, but I thought I should try it again since I had a copy. The author freely, often too freely for my tastes, mixes H.P. Lovecraft horror and the Sherlock Holmes gas-light times. Holmes and Watson are presented as darker, more troubled versions of Doyle’s characters. Last time, being a fan of Holmes, I did not like the rewrite of Holmes–but now, re-reading it, I can see it works better than I thought. So I am more forgiving of The Cthulhu Casebooks – Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows, the second read. Thanks, Lord Protector Wolff.

The snow on Monday prevented anyone from seeing Susie. I did call to check that she was OK. I always have my phone nearby.

Tuesday was a hard day. I was picked up by Les Hopkins in their silver Air Volvo and headed to Portland. I was already tired from dressing, wound care, and all that. We left early because of the weather and arrived an hour earlier. We parked on the street using the Parking Kittie app available in Portland. It is a well-put-together app that lets you buy parking with great ease. However, you are limited to four hours in one spot.

We walked two blocks to Starbucks near the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital campus and had coffee, and I had a tiny scone. We chatted until it was time for my appointment. Les waited in his Air Volvo while I headed to the docs.

The doc was on call, and my appointment overran the unscheduled events. I waited an hour. The drain was removed, with there are no issues. Just the application of a heating pad was recommended.

Les gets me home, and I rest. I am almost staggering. I take a nap and read some more. The book is hard to put down, even when I know what will happen.

Dinner is provided by Rajesh from Nike. He and Jenny arranged for delivery; I have lemon rice and coconut rice for dinner. It was terrific, and I overate.

I have some challenges that are best not described here. I am fatigued when Cowin and I watch one of his favorite Japanese 1980s animated SciFi, Appleseed. The show is voiced over in English but was initially done in Japanese; oddly, the setting is a futuristic English-speaking city (?). So when the computer screen flashes a warning, it is spelled “Red Alart.” So that is a new thing, “it is a ‘Red Alart’,” is a new saying here.

I slept the moment the light went out, no “Red Alart” all night.