Author: alohawild

Today was full of unexpected happenings.

I woke, and it was dark, but still it was 5. I tried to roll over, but then I had to prove hydration. I returned to bed, and sleep would not come. I was about to give up, and then it was after 7. I must have slept, but it felt more like the clock had advanced. I climbed out of bed, put on my slippers and robe (with slight numbness in my feet from the combination of diabetes and chemotherapy, I always wear protection on my feet). My weight is 225 +/- three pounds (mostly plus). More exercise, less good food (quantity, not quality), and a focus on veggies and protein would be better (but potatoes, in any form, are soooo gooood). Deborah is suggesting less beer and fewer naps, and she is right. I will try to do the iced tea thing. Also, beer is less interesting (I have been mostly an Old Fashioned guy now).

Instead of starting the blog, I turned to Pastor Ken’s write-up on the possible Thanksgiving-timed trip to Brazil for the church. I hate the timing, but our friends in Brazil, Teca and Gordon Greathouse, tell us this is a good time to visit from a weather perspective. I made an effort to revise Ken’s text, but instead wrote a supporting letter after being inspired by my notes from the 2025 Southern Trip.

With a draft done, I returned to the blog and invested the morning in recalling Friday’s events and trying to record them in some order. Later, Deborah asked me about the blog; it was not broken by weird Grammarly stuff. Well, Grammarly has been calmer, and also I am not pressing the ‘Accept’ button very much. Yikes! I have returned to my process of viewing what is being suggested and next revising the sentence to better fit, and then Grammarly goes away (usually). I go with that if the AI is wrong, I am missing a word or need a different order, not that I should let it make my text different.

(That looks like ChatGPT has taken over fortune cookies; that is not a fortune; there was an ad and a scan QR code on the back)

I headed out for lunch and picked Happy Panda and their lunch special of “Fresh Mushroom Chicken (white meat)” for lunch. There, I read the Cahokia Mound Tour Guide I downloaded (for $1) and printed. I did not know that the large pyramid is over 100 feet tall, and from the top, there is a lovely view of St. Louis. I added a leg to St. Louis to my upcoming trip to see the Cahokia Mounds. I am staying at the 1C Museum Hotel (here), a new chain for me to try. Sadly, parking and breakfast are NOT included. I may decide on seafood paella for one night at the hotel. Hmmm.

I received a request from Dondrea to revise my supporting letter (revised while Happy Panda), and later Ken suggested putting the letter in the bulletins on Sunday (removing the more detailed write-up and giving that to those who ask for it); this was quite unexpected.

Next, I headed to Barnes & Noble Bookstore and looked for my usual magazines. I found that Strategy & Tactics had a new quarterly out (I let my subscription run out) on Dark Age Armies, a subject I am not that strong on, but these armies often serve as the model for Fantasy Armies. I put away my books and Kindle to enjoy the usual insane level of detail. And it also covers the First Crusade, yay!

I passed, for the moment, on a newish biography of General Robert E. Lee, by a favorite author, Allen C. Guelzo, who, I think, is an excellent chronicler of the American Civil War (ACW). I read the first chapter while getting a cookie. I will be back for it someday.

Note: Guelzo’s Gettysburg book is the best I have ever read (having read four or five plus it being included in overview histories of the ACW), and I am always shocked when I read other versions (e.g., the wonderful storytelling of Shelby Foote in Stars in Their Courses) that miss the start of the battle and the Union’s early losses. The first Union general at the battle does not survive the first day, but manages to salvage the forces to Cemetery Hill. 

I returned home with just the magazine and another cookie (buy one, get the second for 1/2; “Why yes, I will take another cookie”). The rains had halted, which allowed me to fix a downspout that my lawn folks had knocked apart (who did not notice) and to review the roses and other plants. The pomegrante tree, planted late summer, has tiny buds and is not a $60 dead stick. Yay!

The apple tree is now in full bloom, and I am happy to be here to see it. Some of my neighbors’ trees are so heavy in bloom that they are leaning. Many trees are nearly in leaf. I have noticed that the birds and squirrels are now in pairs. The squirrels are still extracting from their vault, my backyard, their treasures, as Spring still had not provided enough.

I headed to Portland in the moment of no rain, and I was surprised by the low traffic and the decent speeds traffic was going, but just as I got to the tunnel, brakes slammed, Air VW the Gray exploded in red lights and alarms, and I braked and steered for the shoulder. The car behind me managed to stop in time not to hit the car in front of me. Yes, I had pulled completely out of the lane, nearly parking, and then pulled back in. Not bothered in the least, I headed back and was happy it was near the tunnel, since there is no shoulder there!

BTW: There was no cause for the braking. No road hazard or accident. More like muscle memory. Hmmm.

I arrived, parked at the Lucky Labrador, and had a Czech-style pilsner and a bowl of peanuts. There, I continued to read about St. Louis. Somewhere in the day, I had finished my first re-reading of The Book of Revelation (no plural, please). I am still trying to arrange a class of four 45-minute sessions to cover the book and its impact on Hollywood, social media, and modern Christianity. I often stop, sip my beer, eat a peanut, and try to assemble my thoughts for the class.

I ordered the BLT after asking what was good, and it is wonderful and simple. I eat only 2/3 of the potato chips (see the previous statement on potatoes). The bread was fresh, toasted, and flavored with some mayo; the tomatoes were fresh; the lettuce had large leaves; and the bacon was crunchy but not burned. Perfect.

With my bill paid, and folks ready to take my parking spot, the gamers are arriving in mass at Lucky’s. I saw a group of six playing a block game, Alliance by Columbia Games (a local gaming company). I would love to learn and play that, but I have not tried to connect with another gaming group because I am busy and traveling (I am already committed to games three times a week and to Dungeons & Dragons every other week or so). Still….

I arrived at Richard’s a few minutes early, and my left knee started to not work well, and the pain was considerable. I continue to ignore it. I managed down the steps and removed my shoes, as is de rigueur at Richard’s (the carpet is white), and soon learned the Lovecraft Mythos game Cthulhu: Dark Providence. It is not an expensive game (and a re-working and reskinning of another game, I was told), but new. We had four players, Laura and James (this is New Orleans James, not the retired doctor James I play on Tuesday). 

This is not a cooperative game and uses parts of various game systems, but only partially. You build your deck, but you cannot thin it. You can attack other players’ characters or their minions (attempting to kill a player character may end the game). There are hidden alliances. It is a crazy, possibly insane mix of systems (even a pull bag for sanity checks, allowing for press-your-luck), but it seems to flow well, and I liked it. I was surprised to win the first play by one point as a cultist. I was shocked to win the second game (we reset and played again) when Richard made his usual last-minute points under obscure rules, but then he lost. The rules say that the lowest-scoring player also eliminates the score of anyone in the same alliance (James, who made it four players, scored just one point under Laura and was also a cultist like Richard). Richard’s win was erased by James’s last place, and I, the only Investigator for that play, won.

I said good night after that and soon was home without any events. I read more about Dark Ages armies and soon fell asleep. I had more of the cookie, but was shocked by the amount of crumbs I saw in the morning; I washed the sheets.

Thanks for reading.

Note: The spell check is only sort of working now…I fixed the ones that Deborah pointed out…Panada instead of Panda got me especially laughed at (A new type of Canadian Panda)…

As I wound down my Friday, in my PJs (recently washed), I could hear the rain in the downspouts. I had to top-dress the unhappy roses with some mint compost and bone meal. The rain will deliver that treat to the plants, and rain is welcome after a week of unrelenting California skies. With climate change significantly curtailed our precipitation, we are low on snow in the mountains, and any rain now is considered a blessing. It also washes the pollen out of the air (I saw the pine trees were smoking with pollen). It is better here with gray and rain and Oregon Mist.

I am still reading DarkShadow TTRPG stuff and offered to play this light-rules Fantasy game (a mix of DCC and Old School Dungeons & Dragons, but with minimal rules) with Z and others. The rules (all of them) fit in a $59 hardcover, but the starter rules are free or printed for less than $20 printed (including starter characters and basic GM rules) or free in PDF. Yes! I bought the hardcover at Guardian Games Aloha today.

I am tempted to rewrite an adventure or two using this system. But we will see. I will remove the dice rolling for character creation, which implies running the gauntlet/funnel character creation, and make magic rolls two failures to get the punishing result. Some folks like this stuff, but I find there is only so much time to game, and it is best to use it on adventuring rather than character creation or other gaming paperwork.

All interesting to me. We will see if we ever get to DarkShadow. I read more and loved how simple the spells (usually packed with exceptions and rule-busting powers) were.

Before this, I had dinner with Dondrea and Z (and Donna dropped by to say ‘hi’). Dondrea made her Midnight Pasta a quick, delicious dish (with the spaghetti perfectly al dente). That was included with some store-bought excellent artisan bread (I had too many slices), and a Caesar salad was an excellent meal.

The board game Raiders of Scythia has hit the table often. Z likes the resource-building nature combined with a race (like Istanbul and Concordia) and the rolling of dice during raids, which includes planning and pushing your luck. Do you get another crew member, or is it off to Persia to raid and take potentially cripling damage and loss? Or will the other player rush off early, risk it, and get the rewards before you are ready? And which city to raid? Gold? Food? Metal? Wagons? Wise but not foolhardy seems the correct play. The game, while appearing simple, can start to have blood dripping not just on your crew but from your brain as you combine all of this.

I managed to pull ahead about halfway as Dondrea and Z raided with smaller crews, took more damage, and recovered more slowly. I managed to add crew that made raiding easier and safer. Z and Dondrea were only a few points apart, and I was only ten ahead. Anyone’s game. We failed to end the game until we had only two cities left, but that would not impact the scoring.

They enjoyed the game, and Dondrea is always a bit intense learning a game, but lightened up as she started to get the raiding and resourcing model. She was ahead much of the game, and Z’s plans kept getting broken (the difference between two and three players).

Before this, I was at the house, and my Skyrizi (after hours and hours of calls) was delivered. Corwin stopped by with his lunch and watched the self-injection process. I have not had any side effects (so far). I also talked to various medical folks who explained that my insurance plan requires me to drive 43 miles north into Washington State for a CT scan. I will talk to Regence about this on Monday. This is crazy, and I am not doing it.

I stopped by Guardian Games, saw Ron and Jeanne getting a gift, and got more DarkShadow stuff.

Before this, I reheated the chicken thighs and potatoes I had left over from a few days ago for lunch. I ate and watched YouTube videos. Including Battleship New Jersey’s weekly updates on Naval Technology for the new battlecruiser that the Trump administration has started on. This time, they covered the toilet issues on USS Ford and their experience with these new systems on USS Eagle, and what the issues are compared to the systems on ships (still in use) on Battleship New Jersey. It seems that the new system, when it fails, knocks out a whole set of toilets, not just one. This explains, to me, some of the issues in the press.

Before this, I wrote the blog, dressed, and all that. I top-dressed the roses and again learned that when you reach into a rosebush, you will only get about halfway before it stops you, and you bleed through various holes. Every year, this reminder seems necessary. I am not allergic and managed to only be stabbed and not raked by various thorns. My compost is usually from plants, as I do not enjoy covering the rose thorns with various terrible animal germs and infections from the compost, and then injecting myself via those same thorns. I am not dying for a perfect rose! Mint compost today.

I rose with the sunrise and reheated the coffee from the day before. I did discover a cup of now-cold coffee in the microwave, hmmm, and reheated it again and drank it. I hate to throw it away some days.

Thanks for reading.

Note: Scythia and Cyrus the Great are here for those who want to read the ‘Histories’; I am so glad they are now online. Enjoy! The story is made-up, but it’s still soooo gooood.

 

I woke before sunrise, finally gave up, and rose with it. I made coffee and started the blog in the office. The apple tree (older than the house and likely dating back to the original pioneer family, and possibly Johny Appleseed) is starting to bloom (Michigan’s State Flower is the Apple Blossom). The dawn redwood is all green now. The China Rose has started to flower and is always the first and last to bloom. I see that there are more roses in the front that could use some attention, too. I will get out the compost for them, too.

The blog goes surprisingly fast and is done before 10. I seem to have found my focus and just keep writing and writing. I publish it, then shower, dress, and all that. I boarded Air VW the Gray with a 60% charge and headed across Beaverton.

I was a few minutes early at McMenamins Cedar Hills, and then I got a text from the Skyrizi pharmacy, Accredo, which has so far impressed me with its incompetence. This time, their computer tried to deliver my self-injection pen while I was traveling. Eventually, I got a person who, after I had contacted them three times and still did not have my dose, said they could deliver it on Friday (after saying I was missing a dose—it is due on Thursday), and I agreed to wait for it. Only a day late and close to on time. Brad and Scott had arrived while I enjoyed this process with Accredo. Lastly, they informed me that my dose was $5K and I would be responsible for that, which Skyrizi and Regence did not cover. Hmmm. I was under the impression I was covered by the Skyrizi program, but more to follow, I am sure.

Brad, Scott, and I chatted about travel, the usual house repairs, and other things retired people do. The cars of children and their replacement (something I don’t have to do) covered much of the conversation. Brad and I had both recently done repairs to our respective homes, and we complained but were happy to update and fix things. It was nice, and we will meet again after all of our trips in mid-May.

Scott and I headed to Tualatin Hills Nature Park and walked for about an hour, covering a mile. We talked and enjoyed the walk. We used to do the same walk when working for Nike, and trying to resolve some complex software/transactional issue. It was nice to return.

When we parked, we saw multiple school buses parked and later many small people on the trails, led by aides, volunteers, and teachers. It was a school trip to the park, and I remember going to one when I was small (I am a former little boy). Nice to see the wide eyes and interested children, and remembering doing similar trips in middle school. It beat endless dittos of math problems doing long division and multiplication (which I also recall from this time).

After this, we both went our separate ways. I went home, read, and nodded off. I rose, did some Dungeons & Dragons paperwork, read 2/3 of The Book of Revelation, and wrote the flyer for my Sunday School Class in May at my church, First United Methodist Church, Beaverton. I also received information that my CT Scan was not approved, and then a note saying it was approved, but only if I drive 43 miles to St. Helens, Washington. I will call my insurance with some pointed questions soon. This includes the count of CT Scan Machines I will drive past as I drive in and out of Beaverton, Portland, and Vancouver, Washington, to find the only insurance available machine in my “area.” But I digress.

Dinner and drinks are again at McMenamins Cedar Hills for Theology Pub. Tonight’s discussion was Intolerance, with some folks calling out that our call-out of intolerance toward some might be a form of intolerance. This caused a lot of discussion as we tried to identify that maybe hate speech was what we were calling out as intolerance. That we might be mixing up different political views, but what we all agreed on was that hate was the real intolerance (maybe the bitter fruits of intolerance).

Our conclusion was that hate has replaced some dialogue and that it seems difficult to get past it. Folks tossing around hate speech seem to believe it is long past time to talk and instead to act with harm. We did not find any way to breach this other than by continuing to help people and accepting the sick, hungry, and downtrodden at our church. A good example seems better than an argument.

With that done, I dropped Jack off at his apartment and then headed home. I returned to my book and was happy that it was going a different way than I thought, and I was laughing here and there. Next, I picked up DarkDark TTRPG (here), a sort of mix of Old School Dungeons & Dragons, DCC, and Mothership-style books and cost (cheap) that I bought some time ago. It is a light fantasy role-playing game with a low startup cost, and I might try it out, though it takes me back to two lines of text at most, and the DM has to invent everything (or ask ChatGPT for a description).

With those thoughts, I soon nodded off, wandering my own adventures and likely casting a few spells in my dream world, though I remember nothing other than a vague feeling that I walk many dark and dusty hallways in some lost complex in my dreams. I might have heard Eric “Elric’s” laugh.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

I sat here looking out my window in my office on Thursday morning, drinking liberal coffee, trying to recall Wednesday. It is an interesting moment as your mind first produces a blank page, then little flashes appear, connect, thread if you like, and soon the net of yesterday’s memories forms. I can imagine that folks with memory problems just cannot find those threads and then pull on them to not unravel but to assemble the memories. I find it difficult at first, and then it all comes back into my mind, and I find myself smiling. Connecting again to yesterday seems to be a pleasure. “Yes, I was there, and it still exists for me,” I think. And while I find, of late, that certain words do not come as easily as they did only a few years ago, and I walk into a room and forget why I walked into the room, but the exercise to recall the previous day every day seems to keep me sharp.

I am waking around 6ish and will have to start rising then as the sunrise is marching earlier and earlier and the night is getting shorter. After I retired, I found myself up past midnight and rising around 9. I have found a new pattern. I suspect it matches Deborah’s early rising, and that I often travel East, which puts me in earlier times.

I rolled over but did not sleep again, rose near sunrise at 7, and assembled coffee. The dishes were not done (I have been a bit lazier on this return home), and I managed to get water and wash things. The mess was not worse.

I was slightly rushed this Wednesday morning as I have a meeting with the Church Finance Committee; I have agreed to audit the books for 2025. I wrote the blog, updated Quicken, saw that the ceasefire knocked stocks up, and I recovered about half of my unrealized loss in my IRA (from 70K to 40K). I read some of the news and also saw right-wing family and friends crow about the war. So odd to me. Especially when Trump is talking about a 1.5 trillion dollar defense budget, all deficit spending; social, farm, and discretionary spending is only 20% of Federal spending and cannot, even if zeroed out, cover that. Hmmm.

I managed to complete the blog, hop into the shower, and get ready for my meeting. I brought my laptop, pens, a pencil, and a notebook. I was there a few minutes early, and we set up a room to work. The treasurer brought the records, and we went through the official United Methodist Church audit document and process.

I will not detail this here, but we found only a few issues, and all were explained and related to Quicken, not our treasurer’s work. Been there, as I used to do the books and the US and Oregon payroll requirements with Quicken and Peach Tree Accounting.  After 90 minutes, we had covered everything (I tested random expenses and every check written over the past three months). Jeanne and Karen were happy, as was I. I congratulated Karen, the treasurer for our church, on passing her 2025 audit.

As the church lay leader, I will review the 2026 receipts. Someone who is not one of the counters or treasurer needs to check them once a month. It is a control we needed to update.

With that done, I headed to lunch. Pastrini at Cedar Hills was my choice after changing my mind a few times. Ingrid, a retired senior director at Nike, was there with a friend, and we hugged and shared a few words. We follow each other on Facebook. My waiter served me overpriced wine (but excellent), but an inexpensive lunch made up for the cost of the wine.

I skipped Powell’s as I had a stack of books from various trips and two deep on my Kindle, too. I headed home, read, and even nodded off (but only for thirty minutes). I started on dinner at 4 and tried to get The Fourth Protocol movie (1987), but found it, like a few other movies, is not available in any form (except to buy a physical copy). Instead, I found The MacKintosh Man (1973) starring Paul Newman. It was awful, but still an interesting study in what could have been a great movie with better direction. 

Z was busy with Track so no choir board games.

While watching a flat performance of Paul Newman, I did the dishes, folded the laundry, and got the kitchen and laundry back into order. I baked potatoes, talked to Deborah (wishing her a good night), and then added Tuscan-style spices (something I bought in NC last year) to mostly defrosted chicken thighs (boneless and without skin). I baked everything except some fresh broccoli and cauliflower (from a bag), which I steamed in the microwave. It was an excellent meal (I salted everything, which helped with the flavors). Again, I overcooked the chicken, but not as badly as before. The potatoes could have used more oil, but I did not need extra calories.

I am remembering the book I am reading, The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastards, Book 1); I remember not finishing it now, as I can see the blood bath in the story coming. I do not like the author introducing sympathetic characters and then getting rid of them. I will try to read it and see if I am right. There are plenty of good books; I have no problem moving on (I don’t have to finish).

I soon turned off the light, reading in my PJs in bed, and went to sleep a bit early. I then woke at 5ish. Hmmm.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

Oregon continues to have Northern California weather instead of the usual gray and rain for the Pacific Northwest. My apple tree is blooming, and the pink cherries and other stone fruit trees fill the lower sky with color. My roses are (mostly) rushing to summer and will be soon. The dawn redwood has added a few inches. Leaves are appearing on the trees. The usual green at this time is larger moss!

According to the longer forecast, the rains will return next week while I am in Michigan from 13-22. I should return to gray and damp and happy roses (maybe the old roses will recover by then). I am looking forward to seeing folks in Michigan next week.

I invested my morning, looking out my window at the unexpected sun and blue skies, and writing the blog. I also drank some Fair Trade coffee while enjoying a banana for breakfast. But it was Tuesday, and I had to stop at about 8:30 to play at Richard’s house in Portland.

I was soon in the shower, then all of the usual things, and hurried to the EV, at 85% charge, poured coffee into a car-safe cup, and tried to get to Richard’s by 9:30, but it was more like 9:45 today, taking nearly an hour to make the short trip. I arrived just a moment after James, who also had a long trip from the North. Nothing like Tuesday Spring Traffic when school is back on. Yikes!

(Tainted Grail back in its box and disassembled until next time.)

We returned to the TTPRG-style cooperative board game Tainted Grail and discovered that we were at the end of the campaign! We thought we had maybe three plays left, but no, the game asked us if we were done. We discussed this for a while (Richard was ambivalent) that our actions had previously been to save the villagers, not to restore Kamalot (yes, with a ‘K’). The game asked us if we wanted to settle with the folks we saved, and we answered yes. The game ended. We learned that had we continued, we might have saved more of the world of Tainted Grail, but we still succeeded, and we were surprised now to spend the next hour dismantling our hard-won character, good, and special secrets. It was strange to reset after 24 plays (each hour long) for the last nine months or so.

Note: TTRPG is an old-school tabletop role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, or Savage Worlds.

We returned James’s copy of the Mansion of Madness, which was still at Richard’s house. We set up a scenario, and I played a butler. Richard and James also picked characters they had not played before. This, too, is an app-based TTRPG-style board game, but the characters start each time anew. No campaigns. But if a character goes insane (I did), you receive a card that may give you an alternative way (including having a weapon and being alone with another character; yikes). In my case, my character was slain at the very end, but James and Richard found a way out. The rules state that the scenario can still be won if it is completed on the next turn after the death of a playing character. They succeeded, and my insanity card said that I too won as my special insane condition was met. It did not say I needed to be alive. Wow!

After that, we put away the game and decided to try ISS Vanguard, as James has a copy he has never played. This is another TTRPG-style board game with an app. Richard warned us that it is reportedly highly rated but difficult to learn (as it took us about three months to work out Tainted Grail). I am a bit concerned.

Next, after putting the game away and likely meeting again in May (we all travel), I headed to Broadway Grill and had their wickedly good three-chili dog lunch and a Mr. Toad’s Wild Red Ale. I finished and published the blog. There was a homeless person under a blanket on the sidewalk. They did not rise while I was there, but they did roll over a few times, exposing a leg and knee scabbed over from a harsh fall. There was a bowl of soup, likely from the Broadway Grill staff (it is tradition in the area to make extra soup and give it away to those who cannot afford it — often priced as a pay-what-you-can, plus a recommended price).

I reboarded Air VW the Gray and quickly returned home after 3 (the day was vanishing). I read for a while, nodded off, but woke immediately as I was not sleeping away the day. I called Deborah for a while and then others. Joan S and I arranged my delivery to PDX on Monday for my late flight.

At 6:30, another church Zoom meeting, and we talked about the possible Brazil trip in November. Our church has a connection with the Greathouses and their work in Brazil. It is estimated that about $2,000 for flights and $2000 for food and lodging there. The weather is not terrible in November, but other better times (from a USA perspective) are not good for traveling to Brazil. We agreed to get a clear statement together of who, what, when, and how for the congregation.

I had toast with jam (bread I made, sliced and then frozen) for dinner. I also had a bowl of ice cream as a snack. I read and did not do much more; I am still a bit tired and have to soon pack for my next trip. Time flies!

I went to bed, read in bed, and soon slept. I closed the windows before I slept to keep pollen out, and I still have the heat on (though set low at night).

Thanks for reading!