Author: alohawild

I managed a bit more sleep last night, and I was feeling much better. The dizziness and exhaustion were gone. I slept into 9ish and managed to read some emails and news. I made a bagel and took my meds more early (again worried that the timing of the meds might have been the problem on Monday).

I called Texas Randall County Clerk’s Office and found how to get Leta Guild, Susie’s mom, a replacement copy of her wedding license. Apparently, to get RealID a woman must prove the name change with a wedding license. Even having lived in Michigan for most of her life, voting, and having a driving license Leta cannot get a RealID with her name. For $13 two copies are on their way to Leta. She cannot prove her name change.

The folks in Texas at the Clerk’s office walked me through the website to pay for the document and read me the document number of the phone to type in. It was a very friendly process.

Aside: There is no means to convince me that RealID is not a scam to suppress women and minorities. I had to bring a bank statement, a birth certificate (certified), and pay $70 to get mine. I had to read the website with care to learn that I needed a bank statement for proof of address! I imagine if I change address I will have to pay $70 again.

Returning to the story, I did the dishes and started back on the laundry. Nothing more fun than that! I also loaded up Air Volvo for a cargo mission. The old bike and books, fan, and a few odd ends were ready to find their next adventure. So I delivered them to Goodwill.

As I was still feeling good and got Susie her breakfast, I loaded up the old coffee table and a few more items. The coffee table I bought from my dad’s store in 1990, Wild’s Furniture and Appliances. It was hard to let it go. With Susie using a walker, we needed to remove the coffee table in the living room. I have moved it so many times it is an old friend. I am happy that someone new can get dad’s indestructible table (it still looks new). Dad said, “I sell them to folks with kids.”

The enormous pots for rice for the old India Night cooking were included in this load–they have been used only once in five years for a church dinner Corwin, and I put on. I hope that Goodwill will send them on to some starting chef that needs them. They are perfect for cooking rice and braising for 100 people.

After that, I headed to lunch and discovered that a fav Thai place was gone, so I drove over to the other side of Beaverton. Finally, I saw the Thai place and pulled into the parking lot. There I found a jacked-up pickup truck blocking traffic trying to park. It tried three times to finally get mainly between the lines. I was wondering how it was possible and then saw where the truck was parking, Cannabis Depot. Hate to say that it was a stereotype, but it was.

Another car pulled alongside the truck with a lurch. Then a Tesla was then headed for Air Volvo somehow in a head-on collision driving on the wrong side of the parking lane (again, all at parking lot slow speeds) after pulling out of the same Cannabis Depot parking. I was able to avoid any scratched paint; I was laughing the whole time. I circled around and parked Air Volvo away from the Cannabis Depot parking!

I had the Massaman Curry with beef, as I love the stew-like taste of potatoes and carrots in Thai food. The whole uncooked peanuts surprised me; usually, the peanuts are cooked into the curry. The curry was a bit bitter and less finished in flavor. I still enjoyed it, but I have had better.

I was reading the Internet and looked up, and the lights were off, and they said they were closing. So I left and headed home.

It has been raining for three days, and we had only two days without rain in the week. The grass is green again. As usual, I passed by many places with their sprinklers on. Only in Oregon have I seen the sprinklers running in the pouring rain.

I reached home only to discover that my headphones were gone. I have not needed them for a year. I then headed back to the mall and bought earbuds with proper connectors for iPhones; I don’t know where I put my converter). I also bought reasonably priced noise-reducing headphones that cover the ear as that works better for me.

I have charged them and have learned the usual mysteries of pushing buttons to make BlueTooth do its thing. I usually play music on my phone to the headphones while flying. I am also happy that they have wired access, and thus I can use them if I want to watch something on the plane.

I made a salad with meat and cheese for myself for dinner and made Susie cheese and crackers. We both had late lunch. I got Susie a Happy Meal (with Apples) on my way back with the headphones.

I think we are getting ready. I washed all the towels and had laundry to put away. I will do a few items and check into our flights in the morning. I will be up early, I think, on Wednesday.

I hope you enjoyed my story for today. More was happening today.

I slept into 8:20ish and then remembered that Susie has Zerida at 9! So up we went; I made coffee and remembered what one does on a Monday when not logging into work. I managed to get the coffee to Susie and a few cookies. I need to make some scones (according to Susie) and have them ready for Monday with Zerida.

Once Susie was successful at dressing and being ready for her driver (I forgot her mask, but her driver had one for her), I had a bagel and coffee. Corwin left a mess in the kitchen, so I cleaned up. He usually does not leave a mess like this. Later, I learned that his eyes are all puffed-out, an allergic reaction likely to the dog at a friend’s house.

I was coughing and fighting the nice weather too. I felt tired and weak. My sleep, filled with dreams, was not restful.

Mariah and I met for lunch; she had the day off. I picked the same Mexican place I usually eat with Evan. We talked about many things, but we also set the final details of our trip to NYC coming up. Mariah is coming with Susie and me to NYC.

I will see Mariah next Wednesday at 7:30 when we head to the airport for our red-eye to New Jersey.

I am reading a newly signed book I bought at the H.P. Lovecraft Festival, The Ettinfell of Beacon Hill: Gothic Tales of Boston by Adam Bolivar. I am really enjoying the mixing of pre-Christian Britain tales and the Mythos. The poems and the legend-like stories are a new way to write about the Mythos. The stories are page-turners, and I find it hard to put down this new book.

I did do all the dishes, picked-up a few items for the trip to NYC coming up, and washed laundry to be ready for the trip. So I am getting there.

Tomorrow I plan to find the headphones (where did they go?) and start packing.

Dinner was from Happy Panda today. I was still a bit slowed to do cooking today. I felt much better after eating.

I spent the day thinking about writing and stories and writing adventures. My head felt like exploding with all the things I can do now. But instead of starting down those paths, I did the chores and rested.

I will start on more tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Sorry, this is just a short story. I rested much of the day.

I managed to sleep in a bit on Sunday morning. I was up and doing dishes and cleaning a bit at 8:30. I was going slow and decided not to return to watching movies at the film fest in Portland. I instead purchased the original The Mummy movie and watched that while doing the dishes and making myself and Susie breakfast. I thought I had seen it before, but this was a surprise to me.

The movie story was sexist, shows the East in a poor light, and was badly put together even for 1932. Still, I did see hints of greatness in the character of the mummy played with chilling looks by Boris Karloff and the laying of the story for the recent Brandon Frazer version (1999) that I liked. In addition, I was surprised to see how scanty the lead women’s outfits were. Also, like in the Dracula of the same time period, the ending is abrupt and without much more than a few seconds of the film before the credits start.

After doing some reading, I learned that this movie was made before the censors came into power. Soon after making this movie, the scanty clothing and the powerful bad guy would be removed from Hollywood films. Boris Karloff would not return to this role again. So the sequels have no connection to this first movie. It is unique.

After finishing the old movie on my Apple, I took Susie to lunch at The Olive Garden. I wanted to get her out of the house, and I also wanted a good salad. So we enjoyed a hefty lunch, and the day was sunny and even warm.

I then took a nap and was ready for Dungeons and Dragons tonight at Cory’s house. We are playing a campaign based on the D&D 5E version of hell. We were traveling all over hell today as we sought to free the good people of a city that had fallen to hell.

So just a quiet day with a bit of gaming and learning about movies today.

Today is the first day of my sabbatical, and the first day in months I have not opened my Nike laptop. Yesterday (Day 0) was a working day with me finishing up about 3ish and headed to the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival at the Hollywood Theater in Portland. This is my fourth fest, I think, and my third in person. Last year was only online.

On Friday, as I was checking in, I was invited by the directors of the film fest to record reading my microfiction so they can include me in the online or streaming version of the event that will be released in a few weeks. I at first demurred. My voice is not that good for these things, but I wanted to support the Festival, so I will do it.

Friday (Day 0) was a set of horror short movies and a long full-feature film. I enjoyed all of them and was happy that none scared me. One was a comedy, and it was perfect. I drove home at midnight.

I started the first day of my sabbatical by sleeping into 8:30ish. I managed to do the dishes and have some fruit for breakfast. I made Susie something and then drove Air Volvo back to the Hollywood Theater.

I captured my fav seat; I was 30 minutes early, so it was still available, near the front but to the side. I got a beer and pizza from the “pie hole” to Sizzle Pizza. I had the pepperoni pizza, skipping the vegan version, and enjoyed real cheese and meat.

I went up to the vendor area and met three authors and the publisher of Jackanapes Press. I bought the books of the authors that were there at the both, and they signed copies. It was a pleasure to meet them, and I have already started reading one of the books.

The movies were longer and much more intense this time. The shorts were dark and cosmic-horror-filled. I only watched the first block and then headed out. I will miss the new full-length creations, but I can only sit so long and watch.

Usually, I find a Call of Cthulhu game or bring my own Cthulhu Wars board game. This year that is not possible with the pandemic. I decided to find a second lunch (lighter) and decide then what to do.

The trendy Nectar Cafe is in the strip mall just out of sight of the Hollywood Theater, and I have eaten there last time (2019!). Food is primarily vegan, and coffee is a science. So I have the soup, a bisque of veggies, and a grilled cheese that has well no cheese.

The two goth girls drinking coffee were fully decked out with bones and tall black hair. The manager had devil horns, a red mask, a red outfit, red tinted makeup, and demonic red contacts. She was friendly, and I asked about her eyes. She told me that the sinister contacts lenses are just like any contact lenses, and you can see through them just fine. They asked me about my Umbrella Corporation badge (a prop styled after Resident Evil movies). Apparently, that kind of made me fit in.

I enjoyed my soup, and the grilled cheese was filled with veggies and was almost a salad. The cheese-like product was overshadowed by the bread and the veggies, which may not be a bad thing. It was good. The soup was lovely.

I decided now that it was 4ish, it was time to head home. I drove Air Volvo home. I think that is enough for me this year.

Reaching home seeing little traffic, I took a nap, fell into a deep sleep, awoke dreamless (which is a blessing after this afternoon’s shorts), and started again at 6ish on house stuff. I made dinner (chops with corn on the cob and cornbread muffins) and have tried not to find anything to do and just read a bit.

The cornbread muffins are Bob’s Red Mill mix and are just terrible. Last time for that.

Mister Lincoln rose has finally opened. I nearly perfect tea-styled rose.

I decided I needed to start the blog for my break. Here we go! I hope you like it.

Working backward this time, I am just up from a nap and reading. I stopped by one of my fav places to have their beer: The Hair of the Dog. There Adam beer is some of the best beer I have found. It also has a high alcohol content, so it comes in smaller glasses. Thus a nap was often required. Again, I had their Brewer’s Plate, and this time it was terrible. They have not got the food working yet–if you are there, stick to nuts!

I preceded the drink with a visit to Guardian Games. They are still not renting rooms or having open gaming. I miss playing in their rented spaces and open spaces! I did purchase a 28mm scale siege weapon that was 25% off. A already painted and ready to use catapult for tabletop play!

Before, this was a medical test. I brought a picture of a cat with me. The operator of the CAT scan did not think it as funny as I did. CAT scans are quick and easy.

I enjoyed Portland traffic with Air Volvo from Beaverton to reach Good Sam hospital for the test. Traffic was slow, but I gave myself plenty of time. I was thirty minutes early and read my Kindle in the car until time for my appointment.

I should comment on that I am using a new app, Parking Kitty, to pay for parking. It means I do not have to play with the uniquely user-unfriendly Portland parking machines. The parking machine must have your plate numbers, and usually, you can not see your plates (I never remember it), and often I type one of the letters in my plate number wrong. I notice after it charges me, of course. Now the app avoids this.

Before this trip, I made Susie dinner and rested a bit. I also got some gas in Air Volvo and washed it in a car wash down the street. The winter dirt was showing a bit.

This morning, I got going at 6 to get Susie to her medical test in Portland and at Good Sam. So, yes, I had to take Air Volvo to Portland twice. Susie’s test was over quickly, and we got back. I picked up a breakfast/lunch for us at McDonald’s. Susie loves the apple fritter.

Moving to yesteray, Tuesday ended with us staying up late with the David and Michelle Smith seeing the new Marvel movie, Shang-Chi. This was the second time for Susie and me, and we still loved the movie. The action is still fun to watch. We went to Movies on TV theater and we were the only folks in the theater.

Before this, the Smiths surprised us with a text saying lets do a movie. We had then had to find one and agree to meet. We picked, actually David did, the one that was the best for the big screen.

I will then cut Tuesday a bit as it was mostly various status and align meetings for me at the shoe company. Just a normal day.

The change of the seasons are always a bit abrupt here in the Greater Portland Area. We were sunny and 85F+ just a few weeks ago. Now it is coats and hat weather. I am back to wearing my coat and hat. The giant slugs are back! This slug was twice as long when fully extended!

My roses are trying to get those last Fall roses out. Mister Lincoln is almost ready with a perfect red rose.

I think all the aphids froze or drowned! I usually don’t have perfect leaves and a bud with no dots on it from aphid feeding.

I will not include medical stuff here. I have more tests and follow ups.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the story of living during a pandemic in the PNW, USA.