Author: alohawild

I rose at 7ish and soon started my day. I put on my slippers to protect my toes. I have some neuropathy in my feet from the diabetes and/or chemotherapy, and I must protect them from cuts and walking them into things. I remember that during chemotherapy, I would have to rise, ignore how I felt, and put on my slippers. It was that most challenging part of the day as the bed felt good, and I knew I would have to take more chemo and feel awful in the morning. I looked at the slippers and did not love them. Now, I am happy to put them on and relish starting my morning and making coffee. Compared to those hard days, the kitchen seems only a few easy steps away on Thursday morning.

Babka bread, a chocolate-swirl bread, defines breakfast today with a banana and locally roasted coffee. I start on the blog and keep my focus. Jeff is returning at about 10 to continue the updates and repairs. He will rewire the outdoor porch light and add matching lights to the garage. The rest of the job will be finished on Friday.

Jeff starts on the fan replacement as I finish showering, shaving, and getting dressed. I texted him to come in and start if I was dressing. I finished the blog and chatted with Deborah. We miss seeing each other and will be reunited in California on the 18th. I plan to take two days to and fro the LA area in my EV. Hotels are all booked. I am excited to drive long distances again. I will get an audiobook, I think, to listen to on my iPhone. Or some excellent podcasts. I am leaving early on Sunday, 16 March. Corwin will check on the house and water the orchids and the pitcher plant.

Covering the area I have left of the the springs, on flowers inside, two new orchids are failing; another seems close to failing, but a vanda orchid is happy and growing, the other is not dying, and the oncidium orchid seems content. The roses outside are budding, having all been aggressively pruned by my lawn service. The tulips are starting, but fewer than I planted–I believe the rains and light flooding killed a few, and the leaves of the tulips are twisted, showing stress. Susie’s one daffodil is still lovely and bright yellow. The lawn is green and filling out again, but moss has invaded. My lawn service sprinkled the lawn with some pellets; we will see what happens to the moss. But generally, it looks excellent.

Air VW the Gray was fully charged and ready for me. I left Jeff to continue to work but warned him that the area between the garage and the rest of the house is closed off and difficult. It contains the electric, cold air exchange and fireplace. There is some lost space there, but adding the space to the living space would require a light remodel of the fireside room. I rudely call it Grandma’s vault. Jeff later told me it surprised him, and yes, it is surprisingly open and deep. He reported with a smile that no hidden treasures (or bodies) were discovered. My version of “Oak Island.”

I met Scott at McMenamins Cedar Hills and took our usual table. Our friendly waiter soon poured Hammerhead beers and served them. Today was one of their whiskey anniversaries, so we both ordered the special chicken sandwich with fries to celebrate. It was excellent. We spent an hour or so there. Scott was timeboxed today; we would stop at 12:30.

We talked about money, the economy, Trump’s impact on the markets, and the best strategies for us. Scott is working with his family to develop a well-defined plan for the older folks. He wants to validate that they are financially prepared and have a balanced risk/reward in their debt and investments. My joke, learned from an acquaintance from Nike, is not that your investments go down but that your horizon to make your investment goals is now longer. Scott and I, and others retired, must keep the cash flow working for our bills, daily expenses (a kind of bill, but more like spending money), and those wonderful trips. With the market doing flip-flops because of Trump and the election-year chaos, my investments are reduced to last July’s balances! My horizons are extended! Moving a tax-efficient amount of cash from the investments and earning 4-5% interest in cash investments seems prudent, but not without risk and tax implications.

Aside: Trump supporters, stop hyperventilating. I know you are cheering him on, but I am not enjoying the process. This is not a political statement or debate, just my observations.

Trump’s possible redefinition of the currency and the end of the Federal Reserve have caught my attention. Returning the US to the Bank of the USA would be returning to a politically controlled currency that caused the US to experience multiple banking disasters in the 1700s and 1800s (fascinating reading). Cryptocurrancy is the buzzword I keep hearing, but it is just another version of a floating currency, much like the old Bank of the USA (find the history here). I shared my concerns with Scott, and we both know it is nearly impossible for American citizens to hold cash in foreign banks; it is assumed you are a criminal and the money is dirty. Often, there are fees and little or no interest on the money. The tax paperwork is complex and can delay your filing for six months. I will follow the current administration’s currency moves and consider a Canadian bank. Yikes!

We will meet again next week. We saw a group of Nike folks having a corporate lunch together. Scott knew them from the Nike financials. I knew a few, as I had worked on many items for them, and others knew my name. They wished us a happy retirement, and we could see the longing in their eyes for our freedom. Soon, we headed out and went our own separate ways.

Europe is cutting interest rates. The US job reports (this Friday while I am writing this) were surprisingly good. The chances of a rate hike are vanishingly small, and a cut is in the cards. Prudence is hard to define this Friday.

After lunch, I returned to the house, and Jeff was finished with the problematic crawls through pink insulation, Grandma’s vault, and then the garage ceiling. He will finish up on Friday, and we will settle up. While it is not cheap, it should be less than a trip to Europe, and it was a long list of items that have accrued since before the Pandemic.

I made beef stew and again tried to enjoy Severance on Apple TV+. Deborah is right; the characters’ emotional pain may be too much for me. She was concerned for my grief, and the show’s acting and writing are excellent. You believe it to be happening when you watch. I stopped after episode 4 and will not likely return. It is a terrific show, but it seems too real to me.

The stew needs more salt, which is my usual failure as I don’t use much salt. Also, the beef broth I used was not excellent. The leek I cut up and added was great, though. I had three bowls. Yes, one too many, but still, it was good. I bagged and froze the remainder. One large bag and two single helpings are in the freezer now.

I had the pleasure of texting Deborah good night and reading and talking to Joan S about house fixes. She is working on a remodeling project that grew, as they always do, and hopes to find an end to it soon. She works at an independent Federal Agency (yes, there are things like that), and we talked about how the chaos is impacting her and the folks she works for.

I read more Elric stories, did the dishes, and put on my PJs. I read until after 11, turned off the light, and immediately fell asleep. Thanks for reading.

I could not sleep and woke at 4ish. I tried to roll over and sleep but rose at 5:30 and started my day before sunrise. I do not have sleeping curtains over the windows, and when the morning moves earlier in the Spring, I begin to wake with first light. I made coffee, had a banana, and chatted with Deborah, who was delighted I was awake during her time. We got to talk on the phone while she drove in to work.

I wrote the blog all morning and updated my transactions in Quicken. I am especially checking US Bank as I have moved money into new accounts for higher interest earnings. While 3-4 percent is not great, it is more than the less than 1 percent I was earning. US Bank had me move to ‘high interest’ accounts and cut their rates. Let us hope this time they leave it alone for a year.

I collected statements from every investment account. I printed out my Year-To-Date Net Worth statement from Quicken, which is now updated with the new accounts and updated balances (a few items are not automatic). I meet with US Bank’s Wealth Management team on Friday. Later, I added three years of 1040s, Susie’s Death Certificate, and our marriage license.

With all this done and the blog published, I showered, shaved, and dressed. I had finished the coffee before 10, and Jeff was visiting to make house repairs. I hopped in Air VW the Gray and used an ATM to get some cash for Jeff and also some for Corwin. I paid Corwin to plant roses. Jeff showed up at 10:20, and I began to cover items for him to work on. It soon was clear it was a two-day operation.

I read and helped where possible for the rest of the morning, and we soon had a list. The fan in the dining room was pulled down, and the electronics showed scorch marks. It was dead. Jeff, who has good taste, will pick a replacement and send me a photo (I agreed to it later). He will replace the connections with a more substantial setup and also to code. The front screen door was removed. It was not necessary and just in the way. The lighting outside the house will be rewired to code, and fixtures will be replaced. New lighting for the garage will also be put in place. The bathroom fan is dead and will be replaced. The bathroom faucet will be replaced; it can’t be repaired and was cheap. The front door will be painted a red-like color.

I had reheated ribs and mashed potatoes for lunch. Jeff was out getting items and lunch. When he returned, he started on the bathroom. It took longer, and Jeff was up and down the attic so many times that I lost count. We agreed on a color for the door, more brown cranberry than red, which better fit the woodwork and the dark gray on the house. Jeff will get paint and more fixtures and finish on Thursday.

I was happy to get some of the small items done. There are things like tiling the kitchen and the fireside room, but that cost will be more than a nice trip to Paris, and if I did the kitchen counters simultaneously, it could be close to a business-class flight! I will only do those things that are broken, out of code, or improve the curb appeal or value of the house. I will enjoy my older floors when I am here, knowing I can fix them when I am too sick and old to travel. Or just sell the place and move to a community!

Dinner was in Air VW the Gray. Yes, I ate in my new car. I stopped by Taco Bell and waited thirty minutes to order and get my food, which was once considered fast food. I ate my Mexican Pizza—no tariff on that—while driving, making a mess.

I have heard nothing from Oregon Public Broadcasting that picked up the Volvo wreck. I expect some paperwork will follow in a month or so. The old 2018 XC60 is now headed to an auction. I suspect someone will buy it and a wrecked Volvo and combine them into a working one. It is just time and materials to bring it back.

I sent my “Chat Holmes and Watson” story to 2600 The Hacker Quarterly but have not heard back. However, they did publish my last story, and I am optimistic. Waiting…

Jeff left about 3 to pick up his daughter from school. As I wrote above, he will return on Thursday. Some tile grout work is all that remains in the bathroom. The EV gets me to the church about 6ish, and by 6:30, the Ash Wednesday service was over. Shawn and I were offered to read the scripture. I pointed to a Shawn who growled but did it well, primarily disappointed that I was faster at avoiding it. Retirement training.

It was a lovely service, with mostly a reading script and singing old hymns. I have done the hour-long collection of people’s sins and things they wish to give up on paper notes, burning the notes, and then using those ashes. While elegant when it works, many things can go wrong, including someone filling out endless papers or setting off fire alarms and the appearance of the fire department (yes, both I have experienced). This was nice, had a good spirit, and above all, was simple and fast. It was very Methodist.

I returned home, made babka bread from a mix, used my bread machine to mix and rise the dough, assembled it, and let it rise again. I almost threw it unrisen into the oven, skipping a step, but saw the error, dumped the bread, making it a bit messier, into a cold pan after I retrieved it (yes, I did put it in the oven first and then releasized I was out of sequence–sequence is critical). I chatted again with Deborah as she was in bed, ready for sleep. It was nice to start and finish her day. She rang off and slept.

After it was finished, I let the babka rest; you eat it after it is cold. I read more Elric stories (back to the 1960s original but newly edited stories), did the dishes, showered, put on my PJs, and soon turned off the lights and slept. I slept and did not remember my dreams, but I suspect I traveled with Elric on the seas between worlds.

Thanks for reading!

I started the day at about 7:30, rolling over a few times and rising to prove hydration before finally rising. I was well-rested when I started my day. I soon found the liberal coffee and read the latest news soaked in Washington D.C. politics. Later, I would read posts on Facebook about the reaction to Trump/Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public dispute. It was interesting to read a positive viewpoint of Trump and his dealings with Ukraine, though I failed to agree with any of it. I like to see what people are thinking. And this included some of the World War 3 threats being explained, and again, I think it is plainly wrong and without merit; it was interesting to see how this was justified. I heard echoes of “Peace in our times” in the explanation.

I wrote the blog and showered. I stripped the bed and washed the sheets in The Machine, trusting it would not flood the house today. It did not. I would later remake the bed with the sheets in the linen closet. The sheets did not fit; they were the wrong sheets–I have new sheets for the standard-sized bed too.

I showered, shaved, dressed, and headed to US Bank for an appointment via Air VF the Gray still at 80% charge. I met a younger man, Taylor, who helped me roll over my CD to 4.22% for five months. We then talked about money, and he said he had worked at US Bank for three years. Taylor explained that US Bank’s new savings account was paying 3.5% for large balances, which includes my CD in its calculations. I growled that this was my rate when I set up my first savings account, and then US Bank cut the rate. I was not instantly approved, to Taylor’s surprise. With no income or job, nothing is instant for me anymore. The account was approved overnight, and on Wednesday morning, I transferred the money and finished setting up the account using US Bank online banking. Nick and Sam from US Bank Wealth Management will meet with me on Friday morning to see what they can offer. Nick called me to set it up after getting a note from Taylor. I am looking to roll over my 401K to an IRA and begin slow withdrawals that are tax efficient.

With the interest from the CD moved to my checking account and waiting for my new account with better interest, I headed to Hillsboro. It was a pleasant drive, though traffic was heavy for lunchtime. I found a parking spot by the courthouse; Hillsboro is the county seat. I walked in sunlight after an Oregon Mist-filled morning to Cornerstone Tax, paid my bill, and picked up my finished taxes. They will transmit the results, and I need to pay Fed just under $1000, get a few grand back from Oregon, and a mysterious $125 from Portland.

I returned home, found an Acererak stamp (US Postage did a Dungeons and Dragons set of stamps, and the villain Acererak is one of the images), wrote the check for the taxes, and sent the payment (and Acererak) to the IRS–done! I called David S and wished him a happy Mardi Gras, and then he said, “What did you really call for?” and told him my taxes were done. “I knew it,” he said with a laugh. I have done this to him for years. I finish before he starts and call him. We laugh, and I wish him good luck with his family’s taxes.

I reviewed The Dummies Guide to Pre-calculus and prepared to meet with Corwin for math teaching. I reheated the jambalaya, and sadly, it was not as good. As warned in my classes in The Big Easy, the spices had changed. It was hotter, but the flavors faded against the heat. The New Orleans Cooking School recommends making their dishes flavorful and letting folks add the heat. Still, it was Fat Tuesday, and jambalaya still worked for me.

Corwin showed up while I was talking to Deborah on the phone, and they exchanged greatings; the phone was on speaker. Deborah rang off, and I started on math. Corwin had no lunch, so I warmed up my leftover couscous, chicken, and couscous sauce. It is delicious, and Corwin is then able to focus. We cover functions and transformation of the parent functions (i.e., f(x)=x², f(x)=|x|, and so on). I gave Corwin the problem text I found, and we reviewed which ones to do. There are about fifty. Corwin will work them this week and bring back any problems or failed ones for me to see if there is a pattern to any mistakes and to explain anything.

Corwin heads back home, fed and ready to do math, and Deborah and I chat (I call her back) while I dress for dinner. After discussing and checking various prices, we decided to stay in the same hotel. It is not much more, and it was a nice hotel. I will later add my driving hotels in Mount Shasta and the Fresno area for my trip to and from in my EV. Yes, I am going to drive an EV from Portland to LA!

I rang off from Deborah when Corwin arrived. I put on my gold vest and NOLA tie, find my pocket watch, and get that on, too. I use a summer hat to finish the Mardi Gras look. Corwin gets a tie, too, and sports a dress shirt. We headed to BJs Brewhouse (Mariha was ill) for drinks and a celebration of NOLA and me finishing my taxes. Eric is our waiter, and they work out a Sambuca Sazerac (they have no Absinth) for us. It was wonderful.

I had the full rack of ribs (and brought some home for lunch), while Corwin had the ribeye steak. My dinner was remade as somehow the ribs were cold (Eric and the manager were shocked). The second try was perfect. Coffee followed the drinks (one was enough!). It was a grand celebration.

We returned home, and Corwin, stuffed, headed off to the gym. I read and soon was in bed early, reading and falling asleep. TripIt was updated with my plans. I looked at possible events but could not understand how to connect to them from our hotel in Long Beach. I thought it best to wait and schedule items there. Deborah has four days of conferences that I can use to learn about the area. I will become her personal trip advisor in consultation with the locals.

With hotels, trips, and driving in my head, I soon stopped reading and slept. Thanks for reading!

Going backward, the soy sauce bottle crashed on the floor, the bottom broke off, and the floor was covered in salty brown stuff intermixed with broken glass. This was not my plan at 11:30ish at night. I do not remember why I opened the frig and reached in and knocked it off the shelf. Dripping with soy sauce, I stripped off my PJs and cleaned the mess. I threw the PJs at The Machine, returned to the bedroom, put on a clean pair of PJs, crawled back into my covers, and returned to Elric stories. I soon was sleepy and put away the book. I slept and dreamed forgotten dreams, none including Elric’s soul-destroying sword. I woke twice for proof of hydration.

Before all this, I was at Wildwood Taphouse, delivered by Air VW the Gray, still charged over 80%, and had “beers as black as my soul. ” In this case, I must have had some cinnamon in my soul, as the beer was sweet and spicy, reminding me of Christmas and not of doomscrolling. I enjoyed the small glass (these are high-alcohol beers that are best to sip and enjoyed in small glasses). I revised my story “Chat Holmes and Watson” that I wrote as a distraction to grief and cancer recovery in 2023-2024. The copyright for the detectives has expired, and thus, I thought I should give it a try.

This was my fourth or fifth edit and writing, and I usually stop there. You got it by then, or it is best to forget it. I made a few updates and let Grammarly find things that Grammarly did not find a year ago, the last time I worked on it. Nothing that bad. I rewrote a few poorly formed sentences after Grammarly replaced them, losing their meaning. Yikes, the AI needs to come with an undo button!

I added more to the ending, which also was lighted up in red by Grammarly as it was new and had not been reread with much care by my year-ago self (red is bad and needs to be fixed, blue is suggestion, red for a paragraph means a subroutine of Grammarly wants to rewrite it all–all can be very exciting). I made corrections and then let Grammarly weed out some superfluous wording, though I retained some as the Holmes and Watson canon used more words we use now. I made a point of leaving in more decoration words at the start and then letting the story become more compact as it goes on. It is as if the chat version of the storyteller, Watson, becomes increasingly modern as he becomes more integrated into his new reality.

I liked the story and sent it to 2600 Magazine, The Hacker’s Quarterly, to see if they wanted it. They published my last couple-thousand-word SciFi story. According to professional writers, I am doing this backward. You should pitch a story, and when someone buys it, then write it. Being retired, I can write what I like and then see if someone will publish it (for free or, in this case, a year’s subscription or a T-shirt). I got confirmation that the PDF arrived, and I am being considered (with all the warnings that if they can’t read the text, you will get nothing).

Before this, I made dinner. I baked some chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, with Moroccan-style spices. I made couscous with spices, almond slivers, and raisins. I heated couscous sauce from North Africa from a bottle. I put the couscous in a bowl, covered it with sliced chicken, and then covered that with sauce. I had a salad to go with it, adding green olives to make it fit the theme. I might have had two bowls. Much was left over as I cooked four thighs and plenty of couscous. It makes a great reheated leftover. It looked like the kitchen had been blown up when I was done. I left the dishes for the house elves (sadly, I did the dishes on Tuesday morning).

Before this, I was at Safeway. I wrote a list and wandered from it occasionally but tried to be frugal. I am not very good at being frugal. Eggs were interesting. The excellent and heirloom eggs were $6.99 for twelve in a see-thru plastic holder showing 11 blueish eggs and one reddish. The regular large white eggs in the usual paper container that easily opens and dumps your eggs from the usual supplier were $6.99. Confused as to what to do, I picked the heirloom eggs. Why not?

With my list completed, plus a few extras, Aws checked me out. He was happy to see me. Aws, a legal immigrant from Iraq and a previous war, and I discussed the cost of eggs. He spoke of his hope that the new President would make it easier for the middle class with a tax cut or other help. While I let him know I am not for President Trump, I agreed that Trump kept his promises before (though I disagreed with much he did), and there was hope. It is hard for a liberal like myself to give support like this, but folks need hope, and maybe it will work out.

Before this, I called the towing company, and they picked up the Volvo, which is now the property of Oregon Public Broadcasting. I hope they can get some money for it. I had thrown on some clothing and dropped the papers off at the dealership that still had the ruined XC60. Everything was in order, and I will likely just get a gift receipt in the future.

I wrote the blog all morning and enjoyed coffee with a banana and a biscuit I made the night before.

And that takes us to the start of the morning at 7ish. Thanks for reading!

I woke to my alarm, rose around 7, and found coffee and a banana for breakfast. The coffee, liberal and Equal Exchange brand, was good. I wrote quickly and soon finished the story describing Saturday by 10 and published it. Next, I showered, shaved, and dressed for church. Seeing that Fat Tuesday is this week and missing New Orleans (NOLA), I stopped by Donut Day on TV Highway and bought a dozen donuts, half of which were very colorful for Mardi Gras (March 4th this year). The owner, whom I have not seen in years, was happy to see me. We both are a bit older now.

Armed with colorful donuts, I head to the First United Methodist Church near the park in Beaverton, sporting my NOLA tie. The cake donuts do not make it to the worship service, and the colorful donuts are much reduced by the time service is over. I see there was no usher today; I filled in.

I sit in the back as we have a homeless guy with a donut (just one bite) and some coffee. From his looks, he is on the other side of some substance that seemed like a good idea when he took it, but now he is rough. He is a young and strong man, so I stay back in case of a problem or if he needs help.

Pastor Ken, as usual, dives for the coffee and enjoys what is left of the cake donuts. The man heads to the restroom and then walks the long distance to the men’s room (I have no comment on how this church is laid out). The pastor for our other renting church, which has Spanish service (we host two congregations each Sunday, one in the chapel and one before us in the sanctuary), helps the man. The guy, stumbling, walks out of the church. I later checked (I had a question to answer) that he was not lying outside needing help–I did not see him.

Another person spotted me outside and asked to use the restroom. I escorted her to the requested facilities inside the church and waited near the door to ensure she was OK. “The library is not open until 1,” was the explanation. I agreed, as the library hours have tricked me a few times. Soon, gal was on her way. It was communion, and soon, I was walking to help. I also did the offering and put away the money. It was a busy day for ushering!

Pastor Ken preached on Revelations 21, a passage about the New Jerusalem. The passage includes the two famous phrases I think the best outside the gospels: “I am Alpha and Omega,” and “he will every tear from their eyes.” Ken described the passage of God, explaining that this is the model of a city and how God would have cities. A place of light that has no night. Where all the old things pass away and all is new. It is an extraordinary vision and one of the few in the Book of Revelations not prone to Hollywood-like imagination and strange interpretations.

Next, I headed to The 649 Taphouse in Aloha for lunch and a beer. Air VW the Gray was fully charged the night before; I did not park at the library chargers. I included putting the Apple in the EV in my morning execution. I got a red ale and chicken quesadilla and worked on my Holmes and Watson story. But it was missing. I spent the next couple of hours searching for it. I could not find it. I was unable to complete anything; I was unhappy.

I returned home, connected my backup device, and searched Time Machine for December 2024. Nothing. There, I noticed that it also covers iCloud storage. I discovered a later version in iCloud that had my revisions. Wow! My theory is that the iCloud was not connected when I was searching at The 649.

I renamed the document to include a version number and saved it on iCloud and Apple! Yay! It is over 2,500 words, reformatted as I remember, and ready for more work. Excellent!

Deborah and I chat on the phone while I make dinner. Tonight, I fry and roast a pork chop (slightly overdone despite the temperature readings, but still good). I steam fresh green beans and wilt them in butter, almond slices, and garlic powder (I am out of fresh garlic). Lastly, I boil and mash (with skins) potatoes with butter and some milk. I make a pan sauce for the taters. I should have started them earlier, and dinner waits for them to cook. Deborah rings off, and I enjoy a fine repast.

I read more Elric, reaching the end of the first ‘book’ in this composite version, which contains four previously published books. The second story, the Fortress of the Pearl, is not a favorite, and I manage only some of it before I am ready to find something else to do.

I decided to make biscuits with all the flour and powders I recently received from King Arthur Flour Company. I did not have milk, so I went to Plaid Pantry and paid too much for milk. I did not ask how much the eggs were. I suspect I would need a security escort for those. I mixed it all up to the recipe from King Arthur’s website. I baked them without brushing them with melted butter. They were good, but I would cut the salt by half (I do not use much salt and am overly sensitive to it now–most folks would be okay with it) and brush them. Still good.

With a few biscuits inside me—one on a plate on the bed that I tasted while reading—I shower and crawl into bed. I read but soon slept. I dreamed of travelling and Deborah joining me on strange trains and buses to places I did not know. Most of the dreams have faded.

Thanks for reading!