Author: alohawild

The morning started with me waking at 3:45 and finally getting going at 5:45. I then did the process to take the day off from the shoe company. Even with my sabbatical using 100 hours of my vacation, I still had just short of 200 hours remaining for paid-time-off.

I then had a blood test and managed to get there and back in just about an hour. I do not eat on blood test days. I was told that my current blood test did not need fasting. But, I still am never sure as often the doc has additional tests. I stopped by McDonald’s for breakfast.

I got home and finished eating. Susie was in a bit of distress. The pain was back, and she was too weak to roll over or even get out of bed. I was at a loss as to what to do. Susie finally managed to stand and get to her walker with me, taking some weight here and there. I caught her from falling.

We managed to get the bathroom, and we both had a workout getting Susie ready for the day. Details do not belong here.

I got Susie to the living room, and she sat in her chair. I brought her food and water, and she was better soon. It seemed that she was dehydrated and just needed food. That need was covered quickly by me.

I popped out to get her a fav, Happy Meal. This brightened her spirits, and she was much stronger. Making it to the bathroom without me once!

Not just a Happy Meal, but a commode was brought. I stopped by Beaverton Pharmacy, a local non-chain pharmacy, and they had what we needed. Susie checked it after I installed it. I made it lower, and it worked.

The arms and higher heights made all the difference. I suspect Thursday will be a more leisurely day.

Aside: I recommend Beaverton Pharmacy to anyone local that needs equipment.

Now that Susie was better, her pain was gone, and the toilet now adjusted, I again popped out and bought the new board game Unfathomable. This is what we call a re-skin of game. The Battlestar Galactica board game, in this case, was reworked into Unfathomable. I need a short break and the local gaming store, Rainy Day Games, while it can be expensive, is a good place for me to find my calm.

Focusing on the new game, I read about while on the plane home is a traitor game like the previous out-of-print Battlestar version (available only by buying a valuable and therefore expensive used copy). In this game, everyone plays passengers or crew members of the SS Atlantica, which is being attacked by the forces of the Cthulhu Mythos (instead of Cylons). The players must work together to get the ship to Boston while resisting the insanity and powers of the evil gods and minions. This would be hard as the game mechanic throws enemies and events at the players that damage and hurt. But, some of the players are secretly trying to sink the ship as they are not human or insane cultists. Can you guess who is not really helping? Why did the captain pick a slower passage? Saving fuel or trying, is he not human? The gameplay is full of paranoia and is a hoot to play.

I read the rules tonight and punched my copy. I can see that It is a reworking of the original game with some streamlining to make the game shorter. I can’t wait to play it.

I also hooked up with someone to look at the water damage in the master bathroom. I will have him fix it or maybe remodel it as we will have to replace some of the floorings.

I also called 1-800-got-junk and plan to empty out the garage next week and some other junk. I was going to help a neighbor out too, but I could not reach her today. I will try again. The junk folks will call me on Monday to schedule the de-junking. Exciting. I put this off until after the pandemic–this will have to be close enough, I guess.

I spoke to Bard, Susie’s sister, and she will cook Thanksgiving here. I suggest that we consider spatchcock turkey. I admit I just like to say the word, but it actually works. Bard and their mother, Leta, are coming in a few weeks.

I forgot to add I made dinner for Susie and I for the first time since before we left for New York City on 5October2021. Schwann’s Chicken Cordon Blue with corn niblets (also Schwann’s). It was kind of nice to watch the news together on PBS and eat dinner.

It was a tough start, but the day got better. Maybe Thursday will be easier.

Lastly, I should say I am human and want the SS Atlantica to get to Boston, no really.

This story is best done backward.

I finally slept at 9ish. It was an exhausting day, and I could barely think straight by then. Susie was safe in bed with some Tylenol for the pain.

Dinner was from Dasher. I ordered from BJ’s Brewhouse. I got a full rack of ribs for Susie to share with someone. I ordered noodles and chips with Hatch chili cheese sauce. You can only get fresh Hatch chilis in the fall, and I have learned to love them as they add just a slight burn.

Mariah stopped by to use the cloth washer. She watched a bit of Doctor Who, the new season, and finished off the ribs.

Before this, we drove home from the ER from Saint Vincent Hospital in the rain. The Emergency Room (ER) is called Emergency Department (ED) at St.V, but this has other possible meanings to men. I did smirk a few times when there was ED on some signs and equipment. When you are facing a crisis, often you find strange things funny.

Our drive was 4ish, and the rain filled all the tracks on the roads cut by studded snow tires in the winter and spring. The usual Pacific North West rain for us even coming down with the sun out. The light seems to brighten in the rain and feels so happy, especially to someone who lives in the PNW. We love rain.

We left ER after Susie had passed the last blood test, and the scans showed no issues. We had spent the day in ER. We and all the folks in the ER were happy to get Susie home.

Earlier in the morning, Susie was having chest pain and started to have trouble breathing. We called the EMT, and soon the house was full of young, strong men (allowing for many jokes later once the threat was resolved). Quickly, an EKG ran right in the living room showed no problem, but it was agreed to send Susie to St. Vincent ER. Because of the state of Oregon’s pandemic issues, they had to check if St. Vincent ER was still open, it was.

I had to wait a bit once I got there until they had Susie checked into a room in ER. Then, a National Guard soldier and a nurse checked me for Covid (just a temperature check). Oregon has the Guard activated to help run the stressed medical system.

The initial tests showed no immediate issues. An IV was put in for contrasts for various scans.

They brought the cutest little X-ray machine to Susie’s room for a chest X-ray. Self-propelled and unfolds a bit like a transformer. The film is digital too! The tech told me it goes really fast too. So many bad ideas went through my head when I heard that.

Before this visit to the hospital, I was up and working at Nike and wrote the blog between reading emails and getting ready. As I used to do, I was all dressed and clean and shiny for the first Zoom meeting at the shoe company. I had to break out of a meeting to call the EMTs.

I was up at 5:45ish, still enjoying the jetlag. I woke at 3:45 too.

Yesterday was a bit crazy, but I will include the interesting parts here in the blog.

I was up about 6:30ish, having woken at 3, 4, 5 from jetlag. I am still on the East Coast time.

I started by getting my Nike laptop and trying to sign in. Nope. My strange passwords (the new requirements at Nike prevent the use of dictionary words, number strings, or anything you could possibly remember now) did not come back to me. I called the helpdesk. There is a way to reset your password online, but I figured I should get a human after a month of being away. A friendly human got online, and after a few missteps, we managed to get my laptop to connect to Nike’s network to allow me to use a temporary password. I then carefully wrote out a new password on a piece of scratch paper and put it in wrong (and matching wrong too).

So I was online at Nike long enough to clear out some backlog messages before I had to use the password again; four minutes or so of non-use requires a new logon, and I discovered it was not working.

Back to the helpdesk, but it is Monday morning, and the backlog on the helpdesk is forever. I try the online tool and do manage to reset my password. This time I carefully wrote down the suggested weird password after failing to create a password on my own for ten minutes that fit all the rules. No more problems.

Back to work. I managed to attend a few Zoom calls and handle one year-end item for retirement that I had missed. The last day was Monday, so I was lucky and made more annual elections on investments for retirement.

I wrote yesterday’s blog in the down moments and mainly before 8ish.

Susie was going about 9, and I had to help her get dressed as the master bathroom toilet was shut off because of water leaks. The main bathroom has no handles and is larger, and she has trouble dressing there. I helped her dress and kept her safe. Later, she used the master bathroom to get dressed without issue.

Susie cannot button buttons anymore. Her left hand cannot do it; we will see if there is any help from in-home therapy next week.

I order Mexican for lunch via GrubHub. It was good, and I was famished.

My current health issue is getting worse, and I am tired in the afternoon. I take a short break and nap for about 45 minutes. This helps.

I slip out before the all-project 5PM meeting today. I pop over to Safeway and get laundry stuff and various candies for Susie. I am out of clothing as much of my clothing was mailed to home and will arrive on Wednesday.

The meeting announces date changes for the project and that we have the week of Thanksgiving off. I think I do need a break after my last vacation!

Susie and I meet Mariah at Golden Valley Brewery for dinner. This is Susie’s first outing since her stroke on 9Oct2021. We had a nice dinner.

I am a bit mixed up on my emotions as I write this. I miss NYC and the flash and energy of the city that never sleeps. I am so happy to be home with the strange damp feel of the PNW. I can see that Susie has still a long path to recovery, and I will have to work with her to get better. I find myself looking to see Kat or Tasha or the nurses and staff I spent a month with. It is a strange feeling. The past, the present, and the future are all mixed up in my head.

I will get more sleep and try to deal with my health issues and be grateful for unexpected experiences.

Another short story and for a primarily restful day. I am rushing a bit so I did not get all the editing done. Please ignore the typos.

The day started with me up too early. It is the time-change Fall-Back day. I had managed to change all the clocks except for the one I use. So I was still jetlagged and enjoying the three-hour time difference between New York City and the Pacific Northwest. I falsely decided that 5:30 was early but not terrible. I discovered that it was 4:30! I managed to get back to bed, but sleep did not come, so I was up at 5:45ish. Ugh!

I took a shower and dressed. I saw a small flood by the wall in the bathroom. The toilet is spraying water when flushed in the master bedroom. The floor, I had noticed this and was trying to ignore it, was uneven in the bathroom. Likely the toilet leaked for the month I was away. I clean up the water and then reach to turn off the water to the toilet.

Now, this is usually where an actual disaster happens. The force to turn off the water breaks the nob off or even breaks off the valve and floods the house. Or the homeowner decides to “tighten” the leak. This usually results in a break off the valve too. My neighbors did that, and we had to turn off the water to their house (having to show them how to do that).

Nothing terrible happened, and I managed to shut down the master bedroom toilet without incident. I do not know if it is an insurance issue or me covering it. I will call Allstate this Monday morning.

Susie surprised me by getting going at 8:30 on Sunday morning. I had again made oatmeal from scratch with steel-cut oats. She had that, and then I shared a can of peaches with her. The stroke has made her left hand hard to control, and Susie dropped all the syrup and peaches on herself.

She got redressed, and I cleaned up the spill. Easy.

Susie decided to just order lunch delivered. Pizza! Dominos. I also spoke to Mom Wild and decided she could have lunch (dinner) too. So I ordered thru GrubHub a pizza delivered (with a salad) in Michigan. She was thrilled.

I called into Zoom meetings for church and said hello to folks. I was late for the first call, thinking it was at 10:30, but I got to say hello to a few folks. I then made the small group meeting, and again they were happy to see me.

I put on a movie for Susie, and she enjoyed some fav pizza, pineapple with ham.

Susie is being cautious with her new walker from NYC rehab. She still steps out of the walker, a bit unsafe, but she corrects it. So we are getting used to the carpet and the house with the new walker.

I read and took a nap.

Dungeons and Dragons gaming was at Cory’s house at 5:30, and we agreed to risk Susie being home alone for a few hours. She has her emergency button around her neck. I did pop out to McDonald’s and get her fav, Happy meal with apples. Corwin and I finished the pizza for our dinner.

I played my D&D character after driving Air Volvo (driving seems strange now instead of using subways) to Cory’s house, and, only missing one game while in NYC, I was soon caught up on the adventures in Hell. The campaign, purchased by our leader Matt with the miniatures and Hell machines, is about a city falling to Hell, literally. Our characters are in Hell trying to save the city and release all the souls trapped by a tricky deal that would fit a Faustian story.

I got tired as we played. We finished at 9PM, as usual, but I was sleepy. So I went to bed at 9:30. Corwin cleaned up the kitchen for me.

I hope you are enjoying the blog as I finish my sabbatical on Sunday. Back to work on Monday!

This was a very boring day to describe as I spent most of it resting and not doing much.

I started Saturday at about 8:30ish local time. I had tried to roll over a few times, but nope it was time to get going. Jetlag.

I made oatmeal from scratch by boiling some steel-cut oats. Then, I unpacked just a bit to enable me to get dressed and cleaned. I took a shower and noticed the bathroom floor was not even. I really was still too tired to care.

I ordered lunch from Happy Panda as Susie would like Chinese, I reasoned. Susan was exhausted and still sleeping into the early afternoon, and she was finally moving in the afternoon and had lunch. I was writing the blog. Susie enjoyed her lunch and went back to bed.

I stayed up and watched Star Wars movies with commercials on TV while writing and nodding off a bit. Corwin would do the dishes for me later.

I ordered burgers for Susie and me. Red Robin delivered them via Uber at about 745PM, and I stumbled off to an early night. I managed to make it to 9PM.

Before sleeping, I did manage to restart Alexa Echo in the bedroom so we could control the lights and have music again in the bedroom. Unfortunately, it stopped working and had to be reset and added to our local group. In the house, Alexa is called “Echo” and allows Susie to turn on the lights by voice and have music. The bedroom and living room lights are controlled by Alexa (using Philips lights and a bridge device plugged into the house network). It is a safety item.

I remembered after Leta (Susie’s mother) called and reminded me, to set the clocks back. Except for the one I use. This would have me up too early on Sunday.

A dull day as I said, but one with rest.