Author: alohawild

My first full day in Michigan was nice, but my sleep was incomplete as I had trouble falling asleep in yet another time zone. I would be tired when I hit my pillow early around 9:30 at night. I would wake at midnight, and have some trouble returning to sleep, but I would drift off, and my dreams, now forgotten, were kind, and I remember a friendly darkness, and I slept well.

I rose at about 7:30, having slept through my 6:00 alarm. I started my day feeling sleepy. I dragged through my usual process of reading email, updating Quicken (including the purchase of $40K in Treasury Bills for a short-term interest rate), and doomscrolling as Trump and his folks continue to try to grab headlines. It appears that inflation has cooled, and an interest rate cut may be in the cards. I was against raising rates (the most blunt of tools for slowing an economy, in my opinion, and should seldom be used), and now I am opposed to lowering them (again, to stimulate a slowed economy by increasing borrowing and stock market investments); I am against financial chaos. Having rolled my eyes so many times, I now just say ‘Hmmm.’

Coffee starts from the Keurig pods; I am granted only two regular pods. I have one, and then I have the other while writing. Deborah will be over in the mid-morning, so I’ve time-boxed, but not rushed — I have plenty of time to write the blog and get dressed. Soon, I am dressed in a dress shirt and sweater vest, and have breakfast in the lobby.

I write and complete the blog, and then grab a spare coffee for Deborah, and she shows up in a borrowed Mini Cooper. Her’s was getting its brakes updated. We spend the rest of the morning together and then head to Lansing in her loaner car.

We met Leta there for lunch at Panera Bread at the Lansing Mall, or what remains of that now-sad structure. We talked about travel and Deborah and Leta about teaching, both retired teachers, and had a good time connecting. After seeing Leta off, we headed to Horrocks Farm Market.

It is a wonderful place and I had been there once before; it was Deborah’s first time. We got some coffee and wandered the place. We found flowers and a baked good for Mom Wild. We got some scones for the hotel room (I like to have food in the room in case something happens), and extra coffee pods. It was fun walking through the whole place.

Next, we crossed Lansing to Haslett. Mom Wild was happy to see us. We had to give regrets that dinner out was off as Linda (my sister) and her husband, Jesse, were down with food poisoning. Yikes! We discussed our travels and schedules for returning (both in October and Christmas), and Mom got to see pictures, learn Deborah’s sons’ names, and view their photos. One regret was that Mom Wild wanted some vapes, and I was unprepared for that. I contacted Linda, and we got a vape for Mom Wild from a liquor store down the street. I delivered it to her when she was having dinner and got to meet her fellow diners at the table.

Deborah headed back in the borrowed Mini Cooper, and we decided on the Silver Spoon for dinner. It is a top-of-the-line Italian place in Rochester. It took us a while to find the place, as it is tucked near the river behind many buildings. As it was the Labor Day holiday weekend, the place was not busy, and we were able to get a table without a reservation.

Jesse was our waiter, and we had fantastic food with even the salad standing out. Our pastas were terrific, with freshly made pasta in an excellent sauce. The tiramisu was light and bright, and the perfect ending with coffee (though Deborah would regret it, as it was hard for her to sleep).

(notice the spoon shape in the powdered chocolate!)

Deborah dropped me off at the hotel, and I soon crawled into my bed in room 327 and was asleep.

And that takes us full circle! Thanks for reading!

The Grand Tavern is located next to my usual IHG when I stay in the Greater Detroit area, and Deborah and I had a late dinner there, trying out their version of prime rib. While it was okay, Luck’s is better. The bartender was happy to see us, and we shared a bread pudding and ice cream finish. After that, Deborah went home with one more task to complete for work, and I had to unpack and adjust to once again living in the Eastern Time Zone.

Note: I was in NY just over a week ago, and my body and mind are still confused about what time it is; I slept through this Friday morning’s alarm. Six comes relatively too early for me. I managed to rise at 7:30.

I started Thursday by waking up minutes before my 7:00 alarm, and then popping into the shower to get ready. I also remembered to put my coat, swimming trunks, and shorts in my luggage. I had realized I had forgotten them after I was in bed on Wednesday. I switched the AC to vacation mode and the hot water to the same setting. My habit is to leave the network up, still protected by a UPS, and I left the new Raspberry Pi 5 computer in sleep mode.

I forgot to run the dishwasher until it was too late; I unloaded it. I put my laptop and my last few items into my carry-on red Nike gym bag and left. The keys for Air VW the Gray I remembered to put on the hook and not take with me.

I also decided that the rescheduling of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival to September did not work for me. I passed on paying $350 to play an adventure for the Call of Cthulhu game and be a VIP. I will miss this year. The last chance for that was this morning (it is now sold out). I did not want to overload September, as I was planning to focus on housework, teaching classes, writing, and coding during that month.

I rolled my bag and carried my gym bag on top of the luggage to the bus stop. I prefer to use public transit for my trips, save money, and utilize existing transportation. I caught a bus in a few minutes, TriMet’s 57, and then the MAX towards the airport.

I sat in the folding seat, and when a gentleman arrived in a powered wheelchair, I folded up the seat, moved my belongings, and stood for the last few stops. We also got to experience a reboot of the train. We were told via the announcement system that the train was being turned off and back on to fix an issue. I am for fixing issues on trains! Everything worked, and we were on our way. I had time to check, and I could have ordered an Uber for $22+ to get me to PDX from the Gateway station. A group next to me agreed to share the cost of a larger Uber. All good.

I arrived, tagged my bag, walked back to the printing machine, grabbed my phone, which I had left on the machine, and then dropped off my bag. Yikes! It is so easy to do that. It is the third time I have done that.

The usual hawking of Clear and PreCheck was provided and ignored. The wait was short (not much longer than Clear), and I was soon patted down for the sin of wearing suspenders, but this time the machine did not ask to check my junk like in JFK. Just checking two places where my suspenders had metal (I do wonder why it never gets all six locations).

Free coffee with Breakfast (they were wrapping up, and the coffee was near the dregs) was again at Grassa. I was wearing my hat, and they remembered me. I got one of the last breakfasts. At 10, they switch to lunch and start serving pasta. I was tempted to get some meatballs and/or garlic bread for lunch on the plane, but the memory of many spilled and dropped items on planes had me forgo the challenge of keeping a meatball safe in turbulence.

I wrote a quick, rushed blog there while at a table in Grassa. I had less than an hour. I also had some bids on some stamps (I lost all the bids) that would have gone for less than a quarter of the usual price, including one that’s rare to see for sale at all, for under $100.

The rest of the flight is not that interesting. I watched the horror/comedy The Menu, which is a fantasy of foodies getting what they deserve. I loved it and was laughing through it, though I was shocked a few times. I also watched The Big Lebowski, which I had never seen all the way through. It was fun too, another fantasy.

My flight was put in a circle pattern for twenty minutes due to a thunderstorm. I looked at the in-flight map, and it went right over Laingsburg, my old hometown. We arrived the usual way, and soon Deborah and I were hugging and were so happy to be together again.

We landed with another flight on the other runway. I have not seen that in Detroit before.

The trip out of the airport is always more complex than the rest of the journey. Deborah discovered that the valet is about $12, plus a tip. Perfect.

And that takes me full circle.

Thanks for reading.

 

I am in PDX and have less than an hour until my plane boards. I was too tired to write last night, and now I am rushed.

Events on Wednesday were reduced as everything was canceled. No game with Z and dinner with Dondrea ZZ also did not happen. Instead, I managed to clean the house, getting the kitchen and bathrooms looking cleaner with mopped floors, and generally picked up things.

I finished the blog in the late morning, paid my bills, and even placed bids on stamps on Hipstamps. I showered and ran the laundry. I stripped the beds, washed all my new pants (now shortened and slightly longer to break in more), and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher (I had forgotten to run them until the evening and ended up putting them away in the morning just before heading out).

I charged the car the night before and now boarded it to get a haircut. I also received my books from NYC, and I am now reading my used copy of How the Irish Saved Civilization for my class. It is about an hour, and then I head to Carl’s Jr. for a Western Burger. I take this home and watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Sadly, my insides care not for the burger, and everything leaves quickly, and I am running to the restroom often while trying to clean, pack, and get ready. Ugh!

Happy now to have the extra time and avoid making the same runs elsewhere, I get the house looking better and smelling better. I remake the beds. I fold and put away the clothing. I packed most of the clothing I needed for the trip in my luggage, and remembered the coat and swimming trunks on Thursday morning, so I added them before heading out.

Sorry, boring day inside, primarily working to get the house better. I prefer to return to a clean (or cleanish) home.

My bids fail, and I discover that the same stamps were for sale for less and in better condition than the ones in the auction. I ordered those instead and let my bids go. I do increase some bids on some hard-to-find items. I also notice that many items I listed as-yet-to-be-in-my-album are thousands of dollars. Well, that may explain the open spots, but I have often filled a slot at 1/10 the price if I wait a few years. I just bought an 8A for 1/5 the price.

I finish my day on my new Raspberry Pi 5, doing some basic Python coding and loading additional libraries for my use. I email myself some code and add it to my work. I will post it to GitHub, I think, as an improvement. This is my silly calculation of the value of Pi by one of the more indirect (and slow) means. I include my usual headers and run time calculation. I like my Python well-documented.

I also updated the Python chess example I made. I am not sure I will explore writing chess programs, but I have a start.

And with that, I was too tired to go on. I was soon asleep, but like most travel days, I woke a few times.

Thanks for reading

 

 

 

I was surprised to roll over and discover it was already 8. I rose and found the coffee was already cooling. It would be another warm day, reaching into the 80°F+ range. The end of August is our usual worst month here in the Tualatin Valley, as I experienced a smoke-choked 113°F heat dome many years ago.

Makes you want to move to a mountain!

Breakfast was Zabar’s coffee, which I carried from Manhattan, thinking of Joyce, whom we all miss. I found her published study on Brazil for the United Methodist Church yesterday. Joyce came to our church in Beaverton and spoke, delivering the sermon on the challenges faced by the poor. I had hosted the study for Sunday School.

I did the usual, but I still found myself feeling tired and went at a slow pace. Finishing the blog late. I headed off to see Michael R for lunch. I also brought a board game, Raiders of Scythia, which is a reskinning of the Viking raiding game, but this time it covers the raids on Greece, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia. More biblical, if you like. I love the art, and the system is a resource management (i.e., raiding and plundering) and worker management. The game includes some push-your-luck as dice are rolled and damage assigned. Michael R and I did not find time in our discussions to play this.

We went to Happy Panda, one of my favorite places, and spent a couple of hours talking. The place was not too busy, so they didn’t mind the extended visit. We discussed my class; I will be teaching the New Members Class in September. We discussed the lessons I have taught over the years. We discussed the current state of Christianity, as well as less philosophical topics such as church budgets, pledge campaigns, and the reduction of funding to local food agencies.

We moved to Wildwood and had a beer. I picked a lighter one, and Michael R took one “dark as my soul,” as I described the usual three dark taps. These are heavy, dark, and flavorful beers and barley wines. We talked, at least on my side, less formally and enjoyed the beer.

I took Michael R home in Air VW the Gray and returned to the house and made dinner. I soaked some chicken thighs in teriyaki sauce for an hour, then baked them. I made couscous to go with it. I ate this while watching the old Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I have forgotten most of them and wanted to try them again. I finished number two and started three.

I managed to get my new computer, Raspberry Pi 5, working. The screen is small text, but I have found the fix for most of that, and worked out how to build a Python virtural enviroment using the Thorny editor, something I have not used before, and managed to load Chess into the virtual enviroment. I managed to get a few programs to run. My Python is rusty and I need more practice.

I finished my book by Tom Mead and I guessed right and also on another death. I thought the initial solutions were too complex and when the story teller retells them I find that I was thinking in the correct direction. After finishing the book, I could barely keep my eyes open. I did wake at midnight again and then at four, but after that I slept the night.

Thanks for reading!

The remains of the migraine haunted me all Monday. My vision seemed to work, but my head still felt like it had a metal band wrapped around it. I was sloppy in my movements, not quite drunken-like, but I had to be careful to hold things as my balance would, based more on sight now, be less effective. I survived the day, ending exhausted and sleeping early and not waking until nearly 8 on Tuesday when I write this! Worse, I thought it was Wednesday and I had to pack! Not quite.

Let me recall Monday on this cloudy Tuesday morning…

Monday rose like some terrible patchwork golem, or like usual, with me thinking Monday would be better with a dose of Loony Tunes, Super Friends, and Thundar the Barbarian, or later Yu-Gi-Oh (“Trust the cards”). I wanted less pain and more cartoons! My Mondays feel like Saturday morning. I found the coffee I had assembled the night before waiting for me, the last of the locally roasted coffee from the 185th and TV corner veggie stand. I perform my usual updates to Quicken, read email, and continue with more doom-scrolling. President Trump seems to be randomly attacking anything to distract from the his setbacks in Ukraine (which did not end the day he took office), Tariffs (though he grabs headlines and then backs away, but the 10-30% remaining is beginning to bite consumers), his political opponents still rise against him (these people are not arrested, shot, or put in camps like he promised), Epstein, and now inventing redistricting as if we are on Jeopardy,”’ Which is Texas,’ for five more votes.”

Instead of focusing on this political mess, I wrote the blog of the previous day’s events, listened to Kink.FM, and caught up on my email. With my illness on Sunday, the blog was short, and I do not want to include spoilers in my description of Dungeons & Dragons play, which also kept it short.

Lunch was some good kielbasa links from Market of Choice that I boiled (it was too hot to grill), and I had them with reheated baked beans and steamed carrots from the day before. I ate the kielbasa with mustard. It was simple and good. Two of the links (more hot dog-sized than rings you often see) ended up in the fridge as leftovers.

Laundry and dishes were done. I tried to do some housework, but yesterday’s headache left me tired, and my thinking was disorganized. I answered some emails about the church refresh. Dondrea and I also covered some travel items.

I tried to rest, but instead of reading, I got to the finish of my current book, The House at Devil’s Neck: A Locked-Room Mystery (Joseph Spector Series), but held that off for another day. The author places a page warning you that the solution is on the next page. The book even includes footnotes when details are mentioned, helping you recheck anything you missed. This is my fourth Tom Mead book, and I recommend them. I have never solved them, but I got close some last time.

Once it was near 4:45, I headed out. Returned to get my Pathfinder version one book, and then my phone. I pulled out, and there was a box at the house. I pulled in and got the box.

It was like Christmas. This was a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB of memory, included in a kit that had everything needed to get it up and running, along with a matching monitor. It comes with a mouse, and the usual bare machine is instead enclosed in a keyboard. I opened the boxes to ensure everything was intact, and then reboarded Air VW the Gray and headed towards Portland.

I stopped by the US Bank ATM to get some cash for the trip and to pay for pizza. The traffic through Beaverton was thick and gooey like unbaked cupcakes (in my best Frank Drummond voice) and seemed to glue itself to your car like an ICE agent. I was able to break free on Highway 26 without being deported, and while there were sticky patches, especially around the Bill of Rights, there always were with police-like actions, I managed to arrive on time at Sean’s house.

I played an evil but lawful blasting wizard in this game, just out of school. My two relatively friendly rogues had joined me when we managed to lose a valuable scroll, and our characters are trying to acquire a replacement, hopefully two. We had learned that a lost ancient graveyard might be connected to acquiring replacements and headed that way.

I brought some figures and my graveyard setup, which is often suitable for a first play. This was a new campaign, using Pathfinder rules version 1. What I would call 3.5E, which the revision is based on. Lucky Sean is an expert on these rules, as I have juggled in my mind the five versions I know in my head. I looked up my spells in the book while we set up. In this version’s first level is weak and is more of a survival process.

We grabbed some pizza before the first battle. Thanks, Sean!

We found the location and soon discovered orcs had been looting (though much reduced as the place is clearly stuffed with undead and bad news), and we made short work of them. But before that, one of our rogues stumbled into a zombie that almost killed them. The half-elf no longer took risks after that (one hit point). We then broke into a tomb, I being evil, I thought it best that we retrieve the loot before the next orcs took it (I had written the orc mark on our handiwork).

We ended after all the dead we disturbed were promoted to undead, after we noticed a button to open the deeper vault. Yikes! Next time, we will try not to be recruited for permanent guard duty!

My drive was hard as I was tired. I arrived and had to boot the Raspberry Pi 5, and it was lovely. I let it update for twenty minutes. It is a fantastic amount of power for $220 (that includes the keyboard, mouse, monitor, and tiny SD card it uses for storage).

I set up the coffee, ignored the clean dishes, and soon was reading and then sleeping. I did not wake, but once, the whole night, and startled awake at 8!

Thanks for reading.