Author: alohawild

Already, I must warn you, dear reader, that this blog will be a bit mundane. It’s a travel day to just the airport, but packing and cleaning are the primary focus. I have learned that I-84, MAX, and 216 will all be partially shut down to do, among other things, painting over graffiti. Getting to a 7:40 Sunday morning flight might become complex, and starting at 3 or 4 in the morning does not sound like an enjoyable start for the trip. Instead, I have a room at Aloft at PDX this Saturday night; they offer a 24-hour shuttle, and the MAX (if it is running) is also available just a block away.

Also, the mail never came while I was at the house until about 2:45 in the afternoon. Hmmm. Mom Wild’s card was still in the box with the flag up; I wrote it last night. I brought stamps in my luggage to keep up the daily card to Mom Wild while on the trip.

I rose at 7, having rolled over at 5 and 6 from the bright sunlight. Today promises to be hot, dry, and sunny, with temperatures expected to exceed 90°F (32°C). I started the laundry with the limited clothing and wore just the robe and slippers to wash everything. After making toast with butter and orange marmalade (not a good choice for a diabetic, but it is so good) to go with a banana and coffee already included in my breakfast. The coffee was started the night before, and then the timer started at 7:15. I immediately had a shower instead of waiting until the blog was done. I rinsed the shower of the Scrubbing Bubbles cleaner I had sprayed on the night before, before entering.

By ten, the blog was published, and the sheets from the bed were now in The Machine, and I was wearing the clothing washed after making the bed with the other sheets. I switch them every week.

I also cleaned the sink after finishing my usual morning routine, including shaving. Dressed, I also ran all the dishes and put them away, leaving the dishwasher slightly open to dry out while I was out. The AC was off, and when the Machine was done with washing and drying, I turned down the water heater to low. I killed the fan to be auto (meaning it will not run without the AC and heat, both turned off).

I ordered lunch delivered from Gyro House and had a massive lamb gyro with enough garlic to make me vampire-proof for the day. I could not finish it. As the dishwasher was done, I hand-washed my plate and delivered the wrapping to the trash outside.

I sent a text to Jeff, my fixer guy. He will stain-protect the deck while I am out on the upcoming cooler and dry days. He will look at rebuilding the gate and the locking. The wind is pushing them open and damaging one of them. I also suggested he place a ceiling fan and lights in the two bedrooms (not the office, which will not be improved with swirling papers). He can find time next week, and we will connect later on this. The deck was washed by him in the spring, and I noted that the wood appears to be more open and needs a preservative this season.

An Über came for me at 2:45 and for just over $16 (with a large tip) to the MAX stations, and soon I was riding in a train car headed to PDX. The headache returned with the pollen and my continued reading of Elric stories, as well as doom-scrolling on my phone. Though the news is more interesting of late and less depressing as Trump’s hold on the press and the realization of many that he is not working in their best interests (i.e., an inexplicable $2.7 trillion deficit budget, endangering civil rights for limited if any poltical gain, and nationalizing the National Guard against run-of-the-mill domestic protests). Things are looking up when Fox News was at a loss for how to spin it.

On the MAX was a gentleman dressed in all black, in a steampunk style. I commended him and got an old-style bow. He got off in Beaverton. Later, a woman in a steward outfit got on and we talked about travel for a bit. She told me she has been everywhere in the USA, but only to the airports. Kind of funny. Told her to try to get to the Richmond, Virginia Art Museum (she does mostly East Coast), as it has an extensive collection of Russian Fabergé Eggs.

Soon, I arrived at Cascade Station, got off the train, and rolled my bag to the hotel. There I got a comfy room, and the pool looks lovely. I rested and then came to the bar, got a beer, chips, and salsa, and wrote this blog.

Thanks for reading. The following blog will likely be combined into two days.

Thanks again for putting up with a more mundane blog.

 

I rose on Friday feeling tired from all my broken sleep. Leg cramps (which did not happen today when I did only one beer and lighter food) entered my dreams, and the pain woke me as the pain moved from dreamed suffering to actual waking discomfort. Ugh!

Aside: It does feel like one of the ironic moments. “Please stop the headache,” I ask. Poof. Now leg cramps.

I am just too busy getting ready to be out for two weeks in California with Deborah. We get there the day before the conference begins and start at Disney on Friday. I fly back on Friday, the 20th.

I write a short blog that shares my stories from mundane days before my travel days. The EV is down to 70%, and I try not to be concerned that I have 200 miles of driving until Air VW the Gray. It is still hard not to strive for a 100% charge at all times. After showering and all of that, I board the EV and travel to Beaverton and Cedar Hills McMinamin’s. Scott has a table outside, as it is sunny and warm (with temperatures over 90°F/32°C for the weekend!), and soon our usual waiter brings us our usual beer. We ordered the lunch box, and both of us enjoyed their homemade-style clam chowder (with Pacific clams) and a salad, along with half a sandwich (turkey for me this time).

We talk about family and travel. Scott is headed to dive in a few weeks, and thus we will meet only a few times in the next four weeks (I am headed to Michigan and Iceland just after the 4th of July). We also discussed my discovery that now Boost Solutions for Artificial Intelligence classifiers (for supervised training) are part of the Open Source offerings, and that the examples include Jupyter Notebooks, where you can run and modify them. Things have certainly progressed since the pandemic, and my previous reading and classes, which I taught before the pandemic, have also evolved. I shared with Scott that I have not heard anything from HOPE_16 regarding my offer to give a talk on the same topic. Just a single beer (which was fine with me), we headed our separate ways.

Pastor Steve saw me and invited me to join him and his partner, AJ, to chat. I ordered an iced tea and sat down with them as they placed their order. They were in town, living on the Oregon Coast, and grabbing lunch before charging the EV and heading back. We discussed travel and some changes in their lives (which is their story to tell). They were well and happy. It was nice to get a bonus lunch meeting!

Next, I headed to the Columbia Employee Store; Joan S gave me a pass. It was a short drive, and as I identified myself as a first-time visitor, they gave me a map and instructions on the fitting rooms and other interesting areas. I picked out some shirts and a coat, but they did not fit, so I replaced the shirt with a larger one. I got help and have too-long waterproof pants that I will get shortened before the Iceland trip. I also have waterproof gloves. I also got some socks.

I took my loot home and began the cleaning after having some roast pork. After that I cleaned out the frig and started sweeping and getting ready for some mopping (using swiffers) and then vacuuming. I spent the next couple of hours, as the sun was setting, doing light housework. I restarted the AC for the house for the first time in 2025. I have central air with an oversized unit, which helps prevent it from overstraining or incurring higher costs.

For the reading wondering, while I, a liberal, have not gone solar. I have too many trees that would block a set of hot water or electrical panels. I am also concerned that there are too many con offers, and the life expectancy of the panels is too short. However, I have friends who have managed to make it work. The trees make it a moot point for now.

I collect clothing and pile it next to the suitcase, knowing that it is part TARDIS, and this will fit in there. My carry-on is also a pile of items to be placed here and there. I try to layer it with useful items on top.

I take a break and head to Beaverton’s Salt and Straw, a locally made and slightly weird ice cream shop. There, I try a short-lived tart cherry pie version, which is precisely what it claims to be. Turning tart Oregon cherries into pie and then somehow making that ice cream. Recommended.

I thought about doing the blog at night, but the vacuuming, washing the toilets, shower, and sinks, plus mopping, has me ready to sleep. I read more Elric, continuing on the stories involving the Sleeping Sorceress.

I head to bed and can sleep. There were no leg cramps. The smell of Scrubbing Bubbles filled the bedroom as I got on the dream bus and visited dreaming Portland and other lands. But my memories fade before I can write them here.

Thanks for reading.

If you want to read about my version of Dream Portland, here is my Pay-What-You-Want (including $0): here. The reader can visit my Dream Portland, where bookstores merge with the best bar scenes to serve only the finest drink-stories. But do ask what is in a drink-story before ordering!

While it may be self-serving to recommend your own story, it is still recommended: here.

It is Friday morning as I start recalling Thursday, and the steak dinner, dessert, and beer seem still to be with me. I am up at 6 after a night of leg cramps and multiple opportunities to prove hydration and attempts to remove the leg cramps and headache created more hydration, a vicious circle (or at least a sleep-losing circle). I have only a few days to clean and pack now. I’m headed to PDX on Saturday for a hotel stay, as my flight on Sunday is early.

Thursday started with me rising without a headache to another gray Oregon mist-filled morning. I rose after 7 and started the blog, but I knew it would be a tough day to complete it, as I had church meetings every couple of hours. Additionally, most of that will not be a story for this blog; there is no need to overload this blog with private matters, such as hiring and church staff items. I managed a few paragraphs before I had to shower, shave, and so on. Air VW the Gray was ready for me with an 80% charge. Traffic was still heavy, but I arrived a few minutes before my first church meeting.

We spent an hour talking about paint, flooring, colors, and other refresh items in the fireside room and entranceway of First United Methodist Church in Beaverton. We covered some of the outstanding issues and challenges (such as water leaks) in these areas. We agreed to a general plan and colors (specific tiles and flooring samples will be reviewed later).

Next was an interview for a church position. I cannot cover that here. That took me to about noon.

Dondrea, who was in the two meetings, joined me at Red Robin in Beaverton for lunch. I had the ensalada chicken platter (with one chicken breast) and replaced the salad with fried. I meant to have fries on the side, but it worked for me. I stuck to iced tea as I had yet another church meeting on Zoom at 2.

The meeting at 2 was the S/PRC meeting (for those who don’t speak Methodist, that is the HR committee). We had multiple issues to address, and the meeting lasted two hours. Later, I called and talked to other officials at our church about some of the issues. It felt like I was back to working.

Mariah and I enjoyed a later dinner together at BJ’s Brewhouse. Eric was our usual waiter, and soon I had a few beers while Mariah had a nice red wine. We opted for steaks and even dessert, as I mentioned earlier. We talked about travel and writing. Mariah is interested in the trip in November.

Here is the Southern trip website: here.

Like most liberals, I began to follow the Elon-Trump texting pie fight with amusement—I usually ignore Elon and Trump news, it seems contrived to me. And while the dispute appears real, it has captured headlines, which is the standard operating procedure for Trump. I would not be surprised if we see a big make-up between them next week to create more distractions and control the headlines.

From what I have read, Tesla would do better without the changes found in the Big Beautiful Bill, and with liberals turning away from Tesla, might need those tax incentives after all (Elon originally suggested Tesla would not need them). I reviewed some of the updates related to carbon capture, and there are changes in the bill in the tax treatment of carbon capture. This is bread and butter for Tesla, and while I do not fully understand the changes, this bill is not friendly to EVs and carbon capture, and I expect this will hit Tesla’s carbon credit sales (generated by making EVs). It appears to be a serious effort to eliminate most tax benefits of EVs and tax carbon credit-generated income. I cannot imagine this is good for Tesla or Elon’s holdings.

I read more Elric, and the headache returned. I am not sure if it is the bright lights or the food and beer. I tried to sleep with more stories from reading “The Sleeping Sorceress” by Michael Moorcock in my mind.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

I was happy to rise at about 7 without a headache. The air was damp and cool outside as the Oregon Mist and gray skies replaced our California-like weather of the last few days. Coffee was assembled the night before and was waiting for me. I was slightly time-boxed as I had a church meeting at 2. We were interviewing new potential accompanists for the church; I serve on the S/PRC committee (think church HR if you don’t speak Methodist), and I planned to ask the non-music questions.

I spent the morning eating only a banana and a nectarine with my coffee and writing the blog. I also updated my Quicken transactions, ensuring that I know where every dollar is going. I pool PayPal, AMEX, US Bank, Morgan-Chase, and Bank of America into updates in Quicken and inspect the changes every morning. I am not willing to use just one of the Financial providers and trust them. I also find splitting this up gets me better service. Bank of America disappoints in almost every way, but it does earn Alaska Airlines miles. However, I regret paying $95 a year.  A Delta AMEX may make more sense; I am flying Delta more, and the AMEX website and processes are at least clear, directing you to pay off your balance (unlike the obvious ‘let us charge you interest’ website, which offers no prefiled balance payments, unlike Bank of America).

The blog, which is approximately 600 words in length, was completed and published around 10. I was soon dressed, though I did talk to my neighbors when I went out to post a card for Mom Wild earlier (I send something every day). They were in work clothing while I was still in slippers and a robe (definitely making that ‘retired’ statement). I took the too-large T-shirts to the clothing drop-off (all washed and in good condition) and then visited the SBC Recycling center to drop off the inflatable mattress that had been used only once in the last fifteen years. I missed my turn and had to do a Michigan-like left (a U-turn) to get there. They were happy to receive it, charged me nothing, and were sure they could find a good home for it (or recycle it).

I then headed to Panda Express and waited behind a family, each of whom was getting a separate meal. It took a while, but everyone was smiling as they had two bags of meals. This was then carried to a seat after an ocean of drinks was loaded into cups. I had the three-option combo with a glass of water and enjoyed some of my choices. Others were industrial Chinese-style food.

Next was a church interview, and I will leave those details out as it is private and not really my story to tell. It was more than an hour of listening and asking questions.

I returned home and soon a nap overtook me. I rested for more than an hour and woke, now with the same headache I had had for a week. However, drinking water solved it, and soon, skipping dinner, I was out the door and headed to the church. I was a few minutes early, and we resolved to try Concordia, but with the larger map, as Andrew was joining us. Z grabbed most of the personality cards, while I grabbed the Weaver card and saved my win. Z’s and Andrew’s scores were close, with Z just ahead of Andrew. We all enjoyed the game and know that the score we achieved was when Andrew had to sing in the choir, which would have changed. I believe I would have been in last place, as Andrew was ahead in building, and Z needed just to build to match her cards.

After that, I headed home and made a half sandwich with ham (Italian thin-sliced ham, similar to prosciutto) and cheese. I heated it in butter and added some water to steam the sandwich hot through. It cut it into squares (not diagonally) and enjoyed it for a late dinner or snack.

I was tired and went to bed early. I read some more Elric and liked this story too.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday was a busy day, and as I write this blog on Wednesday morning, I realize that I need to start packing and cleaning the house. I like to come home to a clean and ready house, as I am often tired when I return. Doing laundry and going slowly is my usual routine on the first day back (this time, I will have a game that evening and only ten days before my next trip). It looks like I have only Friday clear to clean and finish packing.

I rose at 7:30 and did not write the blog at all as I was in the shower at 8:15 and out the door at 8:45 to board Air VW. The morning was spent updating Quicken (I had to pay all my bills and monitor that), transferring dividend payments (Ford and JP Morgan Chase preferred shares had been paid out) to my checking account, and attending to various other tedious but necessary tasks related to my modern finances.

The drive was a chance to enjoy a California-style morning, with the sun bright and hot. It was more enjoyable than I planned, as it took just under an hour to reach Richard’s place, with all the usual slowing as I crossed Beaverton and was inbound to Portland. I don’t like traffic jams on bridges, as the bridges bounce a bit, but you really feel it when you’re stalled and not moving.

I arrived only a few minutes late. James and Richard were setting up Tainted Grail, a dark cooperative role-playing game with a dark fantasy theme and a hint of King Arthur legends. An app, like in Mansion of Madness 2nd Edition, runs the game. It is fiddly and complex, and I didn’t enjoy it much the last time, but it’s worth trying. James bought a secondary market version with painted figures and is sharing it with Richard and me to enjoy. We played the intro version and tried to learn the game. I had trouble last time with the iconography and all the complex interactions for combat, and we realized that combat alone is challenging.

We reset and played the intro game again. It went better as we had the rules down better, we had watched a recommended video, and I watched with care. I found myself playing the role of a rules lawyer, to my surprise, as James and Richard, as usual, rushed through things, and I insisted we follow the process. Also, despite being cooperative, Richard was driving to get resources for himself and upgrading his character’s abilities. But that meant I could move the stories forward, and since I was playing a druid, it just seemed right.

James and Richard started moving together and fighting many monster encounters. I mainly traveled alone. I did have to run away once, but I kept resting and exploring more, and soon was healed and well resourced. The redo, and this time following the gameplay, and I thought it was OK. To me, it is still slow and fiddly when compared to a role-playing game with a Dungeon Master (DM), such as Dungeons & Dragons or Call of Cthulhu.

We stopped about 2 when we had completed another quest. We will pick this up and play the following story when I return from my travels in June. After we put most of the game away (it has a save process that allows it to be picked back up at the point where we stopped), I headed out. I parked Air VW the Gray near the Broadway Grill in SE Portland. There, I had two excellent local beers named for the Disneyland ride, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I had the East Coast Meatball Calzone, which at first seemed like chicken instead, but it turned out to be actually sliced meatballs. No red sauce is included in the calzone (meatballs, green peppers, onions, and cheese), but it is served with hot red sauce in a soup cup, and I dipped my bready calzone in it. Excellent, but a caloric disaster.

I returned to the EV and, with the blog posted and my headache better (food, beer, and water helped), I headed home. I got to enjoy the bridge for twenty minutes and watched a navy ship moved down the river by tugs under all the bridges. I managed to take a picture of the bridges all up, but traffic started to move, and a pic of the navy ship was not possible. The bridge bouncing a few times when large trucks moved convinced me to keep moving!

I arrived home with Beaverton delivering heavy traffic, too. It was a ninety-minute trip back! But with bridges, ships, and sun, it is still enjoyable. Best traffic jam yet!

Home was chores and more headaches. I rewatched the Doctor Who episode; it may be the last. I made a salad with some roast pork added for protein for dinner. I read the “Sleeping Sorceress” by Michael Moorcock, one of the better Elric stories, and I would recommend it.

I received additional stamp mounts from another vendor in the US mail. I was finally able to update my US Revenue collection with new stamps, which had been kept in a mostly complete album I purchased at an auction years ago, already containing some stamps (it was a lucky auction and the price was very low); I continue to add to it. I also replaced some mounts that were reversed to fit stamps when I and the previous owner did not have the correct size. I replaced some of the mounts where the stamps were getting loose. Better. Some stamps I bid on are often 1/10 of the catalog value. I also buy some sets for the less valuable stamps. I have many spare battleship revenue stamps and frequently put them in a frame to give away, as they are fantastic-looking and from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.

And with that, I went to bed after doing the dishes. The headache had faded out, and soon I got on the dream bus and visited many pleasant places, but all are forgotten now. I did wake at 4ish to prove hydration. I slept until 6, as it was overcast on Wednesday morning, and the Oregon Mist washed the pollen away, and the headache did not return to wake me.

Thanks for reading!