Author: alohawild

Monday is my weekend day. Everyone is back at work, traffic is lighter when I drive, and restaurants, shops, and other services are quieter as crowds fade in a migration back to work. Last week was full of events and challenges, mostly related to church, and my laundry from last week is in a basket next to the laundry machines, ignored. I spent part of Monday adding to the piles, and I stripped and washed the bed sheets and towels, then did a mixed load of clothing. Not enough to split up into separate loads.

An inexplicable buzz fills part of the kitchen, and even killing the mains to the house doesn’t stop it. It is not a fan spinning with an issue. It must be a thermal-caused vibration. I even kill the power near 11, walk outside with a flashlight, and find no source outside. It was gone Tuesday morning when I wrote this. I spent ten minutes with the power out last night to make sure it wasn’t a fire or a spinning part going bad. Nope, it did not change with no power. As I wrote above, inexplicable.

I woke and got out of bed at 8 and walked, more zombie-like than I would like to admit (“Coffee!” I growled). I made coffee and toast from wheat bread I made in the bread machine, carefully sliced it, bagged it, and put it in the freezer. I do not eat bread fast enough; I freeze it. It is also why I pay a premium for shelf-stable milk. It will go bad before I get close to half used in its usual, and cheaper, form.

With toast, peanut butter, and fresh coffee, I return to the office and write the blog. I also do the usual things of checking my transactions in Quicken, reading emails, and checking the news. I tried to focus on the blog as I had things to do in the early afternoon.

I was soon done and headed to First United Methodist Church in Air VW the Gray after showering and all that. There, Wendy had four box lids full of cards for me. Jeff and Wendy helped me get them into the cargo hold, and soon I zipped over to the post office, dropped them off, and waited in line. After a few questions, I left them with the post office. Done. One more set to deliver on Tuesday.

Next, I headed to McMenamins Cedar Hills for a BBQ chicken salad, a beer, and a reservation for Thursday’s Theology Pub. I played with an AI site while I was eating lunch. They produce paintings from photos. I loved it. I bought one (and have a license to the image, now). With lunch inside of me and the reservation done, instead of heading home for a nap and to fold the laundry, I headed to VW mothership.

There, I learned I wouldn’t get a deal to purchase the lease-out for the EV, and yes, my perception was right: I would pay over Blue Book to keep the ID.4 SUV. Hmmm. And there was no deal, except maybe a $3,000 loyalty discount. Also, my belief that any lease would be much more than I am paying now was correct if I leased a new one to replace mine, plus the down payment.

I headed to the local Nissan dealer a few miles away, and after they challenged me to email a pic of my insurance card, I drove a Nissan 2025 Leaf around the block. Too tiny for me, as I barely fit. Also, this one had a range of 213 miles, or what my VW range is at a 62% charge. I thanked the salesperson, Joel, and said I might be back in January for the new models.

Later, Deborah pointed out to me that I was in the small SUVs and that there are other models in the mid-range size. She pointed out a cool-looking Mustang EV SUV. I will try a Ford dealer next time. I am thinking of a lease for two years again. I have enjoyed the Fords I have rented over the years.

I returned home and chatted with Deborah a few times. It is about ten days until my trip to see her for her birthday. Details are still being worked out, but we will be going to the Whitney Mansion for dinner and a ghost tour on Saturday.

I find an unexpected letter from the US Treasury in the mail. Thinking it is some note about my account, I open it with little expectations other than some note about logging in using ID.me, but no, it is from the President. I buy my insurance through Oregon’s website, and the feds know that. The President decided to refund me $500, as I get no help with the bills (I pay the full ride). While I appreciate the cash, I think this is a strange choice given such a large deficit. Before something happens, I quickly use my online banking to deposit the check!

Dinner is baked cod (frozen from Trader Joe’s), pasta with butter, and jarred peaches. I watch For All Mankind season three and watch the clever writers move all the troubles for the Clinton Administration onto a fictional Republican administration. The mix-and-match of technology and rewriting a mining accident to Mars is quite good. I am liking it better.

I head to The 649 for my usual late haunting of the bar, and Lindsey is closing tonight. I get a beer, put in my earpods, and write. I revise my adventure, clear out the initial rewrite, and start reworking 4E stuff into 5E and 5.5E rules. I am on page 20 of 50-ish, so I’m reaching the 1/2 point. It is about ten pages a shortish game session, I find when I DM. I spend the night there, finishing with a coffee and Amaretto. Lindsey gives me a glass of water when I breathe instead of sipping the liquor. I make my place with some asterisks so I can find it again, and pack up.

I return home, try to find the buzzing, make the bed, read a new Sherlock Holmes story instead of the American Civil War, and soon nod off; I turn off the light, sleep, and do not wake until morning.

I am often tired and coughing, which I believe is due to the pollen levels. I decided to take most of Sunday off and relax after church. Sorry, it will be a less interesting story, dear reader.

Erik Larson writes history with footnotes and quotes that become page-turners, and that is true of this American Civil War book, The Demon of Unrest, which covers the causes and start of the war. I decided to read at the end of Sunday, and I read about three hours of the story. And while I have read this story before, Shelby Foote’s version comes to mind — this one, with the footnotes, quotes, and fast pace, is excellent. I stopped a few times and went online. The ten-volume history of the Lincoln administration published within a few years by John Hay (here) has my attention, but a smaller book of John Hay’s writing is now on its way to me.

I also started a wheat bread in the machine to run overnight. I make one loaf, slice it, freeze it, and then use it for a month. I do not buy bread. Instead, I make it in a cheap but functional Amazon bread machine. I have learned to toss and buy new yeast after making a brick once.

With the bread machine running, I added a bit more water, as the wheat flour seemed to drink it all up. I returned to reading, and as midnight neared, I put the book away. My sleep was difficult until I took my inhaler. I then drifted off.

The day started with me rising closer to 8 than 7, my new time for waking after waking first at 6ish, falling back to sleep, and rising later. Gravity, unlike the previous day, was not overly strong, and I was able to assemble the coffee and use the last of my frozen French Bread-style loaf to make toast without issue. With the toast cut into small squares —never triangles — and covered with peanut butter — smooth, not the abomination that is crunchy — I enter the office to start my morning.

US Bank refuses to send transactions during its Sunday window for limited access, but I can get a few other updates done from other banks and credit cards. The house payment, insurance payment, and my payment to AMEX from all the travel cleared, emptying my banking account, as planned. I prefer to make money on my money, and my old checking account, opened in 1996, is a no-fee, no-interest checking account. A good deal from the days of high fees, failing banks, and paying to deposit a paycheck. They also pioneered connections to MS Money (which was discontinued in 2009) and Quicken.

I manage to check my finances, read my email, and check the news. I also read the political polls on a right-wing MAGA website, RealClearPolitics, as it has a good list of polls. I ignore the articles, as it has collected more strange sources. I do notice that their polls are missing many that I used to read with care. It is becoming an echo chamber, and I will have to find a new site. Hmmm.

I skipped the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival again and saw some notes about it. I hope it went well. I did see that some gaming is back, and I might fit it in next year. The first weekend of October has many claims on it.

I wrote the blog and rushed the last bit (later I removed the boring section about car prices), and soon was dressed in a dress shirt and vest (I forgot the tie and had to turn around and get it) and headed to First United Methodist Church. I reached the church in Air VW the Gray on time, at 10:30 for the 11:00 service. I ushered for Dondrea.

We had some chaos, as Pastor Anne could not make it for communion and Pastor Ken was out on leave for a family issue. Dondrea declared a love feast, and the regular service words were not used; Dondrea did not, as the lay pastor, participate. It was a volunteer come-and-get informal process. Michael showed up late, but took over the sound and graphics, freeing Z and Dondrea to do what needed to get done. Z was the liturgist and also ran hospitality.

Dondrea was a solo act again and did the sermon on the difficult Philippians 3:4b-14. Paul words in his letters are often harsh. Dondrea took the text to mean that the past haunts us too much, and that good work remains to be done now, with people who need us. That past failures, and Paul, then Saul, had a long list of failures, but he had to focus, he wrote, on the future and the goal. Dondrea took this to mean that we must not forget the past, but we cannot let past traumas control us. That we are forgiven, and each day is a new chance to be in the present and walk into the future. The past is garbage — failures or accomplishments — according to Paul (and Dondrea said that translation was too kind; Paul’s word in Greek was much more brazen); the present matters.

I was busy and only heard some of the sermon. We had multiple visitors during the service, some to just use the bathroom, and others stayed for the whole service. During the Lord’s Prayer, I walked one child over to get some donut holes before they left. I am always watching for trouble, as the US is in an election year and both extremes are attacking the middle, which is where United Methodists are found. So far we have been safe.

I leave after most folks are gone after the service. I return home, take off my tie, and heat up Costco Irish Stew, which is somehow tasteless (Deborah and I both agree it is missing something), and watch a bit more of For All Mankind, and then rest for a while. I nod off but can’t sleep for long.

I rise and start editing my Dungeons & Dragons adventure I want to play soon. I convert it to 5E. I am making my second or third edit (I have lost track) of the first part. It is over 50 pages (and I shortened it). I invested the evening in this work until I tire of it and start to read.

And that takes me full circle. Thanks for reading.

 

I was at Richard’s house at the usual time of 6, but there was no answer. I finally called Richard 10 minutes later and discovered, as I had suspected. that my text saying I would miss next weekend was taken to mean I meant it for now. Oops. Laura and Richard had the board game The Lost Ruins of Arnak (the basic version, but with the final components from all the updates) set up for a Sunday game, so we played it. This is a favorite of mine, but I played poorly and didn’t gobble up the resources available on cleared sites like Ricard and Laura. I reached the top of research first, but then stalled there. Richard’s play was masterful, and he doubled my score at the end! I was seven points behind Laura. Still, it was an enjoyable game, and Richard schooled me again on how to win (I have won this one before).

The Lost Ruins of Arnak is recommended, but it is not an easy game. It came out just before the pandemic, and many played it throughout the pandemic. I played it at Richard’s as the pandemic started to fade and got my own copy. We played for about two hours in a three-person game wtih no misplays or any significant take-backs. It was just a joy to play.

Next, we played a fast and fun game of the card game CATAN: On The Road Card Game. This is loosely based on the board game but is fast and easy to understand. I won my first game, but this time my hand was filled with sheep cards instead of a useful mix (Deborah is laughing, “sheep!”). I managed, like Laura, to get three points in buildings, but Richard, like my winning last time, got the roads built fast and used that to build more and more.

We chatted for a while, and then I headed home. Traffic was light, and I was home soon. I watched some late-night comedy shows for my news updates. I did not get to bed until almost midnight. I also did the dishes and looked at more car information. Air VW the Gray lease is over in Jan 2027. The last payment is in sight, and I have to decide.

I looked at Car and Driver magazine recommendations, and it is a GM Bolt, but it can’t do CarPlay, which rules out all GM vehicles. The Nissan Leaf is their second choice (it has longer range!). It is cheaper and fits my price thinking. A nice two-year lease would be great; I wonder if I can do that again. Hmmm.

It was nearing midnight when I returned to my latest book, The Demon of Unrest, on the American Civil War. I love the short paragraphs and complete a few before I discover I am not reading but dreaming words. It is really strange to realize you are asleep and not reading. I sleep through the night, and while there are dreams, none are remembered. I wake early, prove hydration, and can’t sleep for an hour. Just as I’m about to give up, I wake up closer to 8 than 7. Again, surprised that I was asleep when I woke up.

Saturday starts with me realizing I blew off laundry yesterday. Laundry will be Monday, I guess. I reheat yesterday’s coffee, have the last banana, and start on the blog.

I call Deborah all day and often talk about cars. Deborah is more detail-oriented than I am when i t comes to large purchases and has strong opinions that I respect. The car discussion goes all day.

I get the blog done late morning, having been less focused on writing and investing more time in cars, expenses, reading the news, and getting my Quicken correct. I am hungry.

The day is already into the afternoon by the time I have got all this done, plus dressed, and boarded Air VW the Gray. Traffic is a bit snarled into Portland on the main highways but not unusual, and it seems we are not used to having I-5 South closed in part of Portland. I was unhappy to see that the OMSI ramp is also closing, but I can circle back if needed.

There is parking at Lucky Labrador off of Hawthorne, always a nice surprise, but it is not a good sign for downtown Portland. I have not had to park on the streets so far this year. Hmmm.

I did bring my laptop, but no books. I spent the afternoon updating a Dungeons & Dragons published adventure I wrote to the new 5E and sort of 5.5E version. I want to DM again, and I need something to start with. This is the same adventure I used in 4E (it was published after I played it in 2009). Here is the original version for sale on Amazon for more money than I ever charged for it. I have seen a signed copy for sale at Powell’s.

The wording is old and stilted, my write-a-manual style that is mostly gone now, and I do let Grammarly loose on it, as it is not how I would word it today. Still, I often undo what it does, as the gaming context is unknown to Grammarly. I am about 1/4 done, and when I reach 1/2, I can try to get a gaming group together and see if it works for them.

As I covered, I look at cars too, get a BLT after my bowl of peanuts, and a beer infusion for me for editing the D&D stuff. It is a first-level adventure, with this one trying not to kill too many nearly helpless adventurers.

And that completes the circle, dear reader (I saw this in capitalized again, but the standard manual says no), thanks for reading!

 

I woke up tired, and it seemed gravity was turned up on the earth, at least on my part. It was closer to 8 than 7, and the mix of blue and clouds allowed a few sun rays through.  I felt like the whole day ran slow, and I was with it. The previous two days had been busy and full of events and challenges. And today I was paying for that.

I also hit dense math in the Quantum Computer book and felt lost; frankly, I worried I wasn’t up to the task, which was depressing. Interestingly, I did understand the underlying reasons and structures. The book focuses on mathematical processes; I haven’t seen some since the 1980s, and others are new to me. I never took math for quantum mechanics in college. My cough also started back. Ugh!

It was not a very exciting day of lounging and reading. Sorry, dear reader.

I transferred money and paid my AMEX cards, which were full of past and some new travel expenses. Some hotels are pay now, cancel until two days before, and save. I also booked a trip to Seattle next weekend, alone, and picked the State Hotel for too much money. I am riding the new train for Amtrak. I plan to later take it for an overnight in Eugene.

The morning started with me making coffee from Equal Exchange. It is already ground and missing a few flavors, but it works and is easier than grinding (though honestly, it takes no time to grind beans). With this, I had a bowl of a nut-filled crunch cereal with no-fat milk (from a shelf-stable container in the fridge after opening). I remembered to slice the banana into the cereal this time. It is better with fresh fruit.

I did the usual steps of uploading all my transactions into Quicken and making sure nothing was going astray with my money. I have to make this last for the rest of my life. So far, I am living off my investments. It is part of the discipline, or Kung-fu, of being retired; I check my transactions every day.

I read my email, again mostly deleting things I won’t read and have not taken the time to remove yet. I read the news, and today I watched many of the late-night takes on the news on YouTube. I get the blog started and realize I have an eye check in Tualatin. I need to rush and stop. I get into Air VW the Gray with my laptop and head south. I am only one minute late, with Nav timing it perfectly.

Beaverton driving was slow, and I was careful around those photo lights, having already paid over $170 for a self-portrait from the City of Beaverton at 160th and TV Highway. I watch the light turn green, count to seven, and then a car moves when I am five or so cars back from the light. Hmmm. I tried to wave my arms like a spell and use words, not profane (this time), involving requests and pleas to my fellow users of TV Highway to drive when the light is green.

The eye exam, an annual $250 cost (without insurance), showed that my diabetes, controlled, has not impacted my eyes. My right eye prescription has slightly changed, but not enough to replace my glasses. My cataracts do not need surgery and seem unchanged, and if I am not having trouble at night (which I admit seems slightly darker now, but to a point where I am worried), then it is best to wait another year. Excellent.

After that, I tried Famous Dave’s BBQ across the street, but the $27 plate of two types of meat just didn’t do it for me. It seemed almost boiled. No browning or smoky flavors. Now I have been to St. Louis, Nashville, and Detroit for BBQ, and my standards are high. This was awful. I ate it, and I enjoyed the sides and the cornbread. I had a Blue Moon beer with it. I finished my blog and left my usual 20% tip. I will not be back.

I returned home, did more For All Mankind, and found the focus on personal relationships distracting from the storyline, but the point, I think, is that science and exploration are human endeavors and must include those elements. The use of solar sails almost had me cheering, as few things inspire my imagination more than sailing a ship in the stars.

I read more about quantum computing in the last section, Measurement, before the second half of the book on algorithms. I am not surprised by this; after some very dense mathematics — even the author says it’s dense — it shows that a matrix operation makes Measurement possible. Thus, the gates and measurements are just matrices that combine with the initial state to produce a result that is outside of time.

And I wondered what could be in the other twenty pages, and soon learned–more like read, as my head is now exploding with matrix operations–there is a less-than-wave-collapsing measurement, a projection, that lets you get a handle on the probability of states and thus allows for some decisions, but to do these decisions inside of the no-time of quantum, it would need to be done by gates. Hmmm. Still, this would be interesting.

I also worry that there is a percentage of failure from noise, and not getting to 100% on some values would accumulate and make the solution useless. I have read in less technical sources that an error-correction process uses multiple qubits to produce a reliable answer. It has been my experience (Nike processed a billion updates in an hour) that even a small error chance, when exposed to real-world workloads, can happen and happen often.

I spent part of the rest of the evening in Python, writing code using a quantum computing simulator via QuTip. I read the documentation and managed to add measurement and display my circuit design. I tried to run it, but creating an initial state left me confused. Hmmm.

I went to bed and read more of Erik Larson’s excellent American Civil War book, The Demon of Unrest. From what I read at the beginning, it seems the author tries to understand how people could imagine going to war against each other. What emotions, fears, and events drove this war? I read a few of his short chapters and soon fell asleep.

I had trouble sleeping and kept waking up after wandering a dream airport trying to find my flight and check my bag. After walking around for a while and getting lost, I would find out my flight had been called, and I couldn’t catch it. This dream repeated over and over: I’d wake up somewhere else, fall asleep again, and still be lost in another part of the dream airport. I never caught my flight. I remember thinking I needed to remove any items that wouldn’t go through security now that I had to take my bag with me as a carry-on.

Thanks for reading!

The main event of my day was helping get the second speaker for the Beaverton Lecture Series: An Evening with Nicholas Kristof off. We resolved a few last-minute challenges: a goofy mic and the obvious need for a QR code so people could donate. I helped put together a backdrop, played usher, as usual, and walked the late folks to their seats.

Nicholas Kristof (here) covered many topics. I wished I had brought a notebook to take some notes. I remember him saying that someday, after the current Chinese government fell, a monument would be placed at Tiananmen Square (he and his wife won a Pulitzer for their report on the 1989 protests there). He looks forward to visiting it. He also said that he is a liberal and grew up in Oregon, but that Oregon ranks near the worst in education, housing, and mental health assistance. We may spend more money than many states, but Nicholas says that with careful, evidence-based execution, these dollars make no difference. Liberal good intentions are not enough.

In his reporting, again, from my memory while ushering, he visited many states in the USA South that scored higher or even at the top. Mississippi, a state he says has huge problems with race and poverty issues, is near the top with high school graduation rates. He told us he didn’t believe the numbers the state was telling him, but when he investigated, he found the schools were focused and making a difference. Students could read by 3rd grade; glasses were provided to kids (an issue I didn’t even know about); absenteeism was followed up; dropouts were identified, and actions were taken to help and find solutions to get kids back to school and graduate. This, he says, is true in many southern states, all with other issues not resolved, but not here in progressive Oregon.

Nicholas Kristof then points out that the blue states will not take advice from red states. And he also says red states never promote their success because the politics of school vouchers (which he says do not improve schools, according to his research) make it impossible to show solutions working in public, run-of-the-mill schools. He repeated over and over (having once run for governor of Oregon) that Oregon still hasn’t found the focus of the southern states to apply what works and get results. Again, he claims the solutions are out there, and we just need to get past intentions.

I cannot cover everything Nicholas covered, as I was busy at the time and didn’t have notes to help me remember. Dondrea told me on Friday morning that she has some video and notes. She will incorporate some of this in her sermon on Sunday.

I was tired after standing for hours and helping. Dondrea told me to head home (she said I looked exhausted), and I complied. I then took Air VW the Gray back to the house; it has a 94% charge, and I was happy again that the car reminded me it was still plugged in when I left earlier on Thursday!

I sat in my chair, removed my tie, and then watched the latest episode of Slow Horses. It was the sit-on-the-edge-of-my-seat spy thriller. First Desk is somehow compromised, and the viewer is unsure why, and things are going pear-shaped all over. This means the story keeps veering in unexpected directions. I was sorry when the episode ended, and I have to wait another week for the next.

Time was running fast again, and I was in bed at 10:30, reading about the American Civil War in Erik Larson’s book, The Demon of Unrest. The book’s short chapter structure makes it easy to pick up and put down. I like how Erik tells the story, freely mixing short quotes within his narrative, and I like his short-chapter design. When I return to writing my book someday, I may have to incorporate some of this style.

I soon fell asleep and dreamed of running more lecture series in a dream version of Beaverton. It was a busy process. I woke tired.

Before all of this, I started the day closer to 8 than 7. I woke up, as I had been lately, around 4, having trouble sleeping, then woke to discover I had slept. I think I dream I am awake.

The last of the chocolate croissants joins reheated coffee and a banana for breakfast while I write the blog and check my transactions in Quicken. I read (mostly delete) my email. I read some news and read about the President dancing for the press, with his steps somehow helping China and Russia. The loss of freedom of the press, personal rights, and information as this President swings and conforts on the press state, following some internal tune only he hears. I find tunes that please me, create a new playlist of new and older songs, and ignore the news.

I am not rushing; time moves normally, and I finish writing before I need to get dressed. Instead, I chat with Deborah, and we start talking about the upcoming trip. We are so excited to be together again; it has been months. It is Deborah’s birthday. I stay at my usual IHG hotel near Deborah’s home and rent a car from Hertz to avoid the Budget disasters that have sent my travels into a tailspin. I am surprised that Hertz is the same price as Budget. I add nothing to my rental, and the cost is not too high for the long weekend. Excellent. A leftover from Nike, I have Gold Plus status and can walk out and find a car instead of the usual mess of lines and missing cars.

I transfer some cash from my IRA to pay bills and all my excellent travel. I am still not into the principal, and I draw smaller amounts each month to let the investments keep growing. I am pleased with US Bank Wealth Management.

I showered, dressed, and all that, and headed to meet Scott, still running a bit early, at McMenamins Cedar Hills for lunch and our weekly meeting. This tradition goes back to when we did various projects together and had different viewpoints on our work at Nike. Now we talk about travel, investments, and planning for more travel. Scott has a substantial garden and plants, and this keeps him busy. “The lawn waste container is empty again; time to refill it,” he told me.

We talked about politics, and while I am skeptical of the reports I read, most suggest a blue wave is coming. To me, it looks like the Democrats will keep their Senate seats and maybe win a few, but Susan Collins in Maine is the hinge. The flub on the blue side in the Maine primaries means only low Republican turnout or a shift of centrists to blue could defeat her. Looking at the details, Senator Collins has started to poll lower than in previous months. Gas, food, and war are obviously impacting her chances. Scott W, a fellow liberal, seemed heartened by the shift in my thinking about a possible blue wave. As with what happened to Biden, Obama, and Bush Sr., “it is the economy, stupid.” Also, war sells poorly, even when won, to the electorate.

With lunch and one beer, we break up and head in separate directions. Scott W back to his lawn, and me to the church. Wendy is there waiting for me. I arrive at the church and soon carry the trays of cards for a mass mailing, the heart of our campaign to re-invite Beaverton to our church, and the 10,000 cards need to get out. I have the first 2,450 and need to get them to the post office, stand in line, and then turn it all over to be processed. Done. Excellent.

Dondrea appears before this, and we do the SPRC Zoom meeting on my laptop in the Pastor’s office. My phone connection is weak, and we switch to the church internet. I manage, as does Dondrea, to avoid any to-do’s.

With the cards out and SPRC done, time for an early dinner for me or a late lunch for Dondrea. Ava Roasteria has a two-person lunch special: two sandwiches, a coffee drink, and a slice of cake to share for $40. That works, and we have a marvelous lunch there.

With that, folks started arriving to help, and we began assembling the remaining items for the speaker event. And that takes me full circle.