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Wednesday started with me sleeping until 7ish and knowing I would write all day. And for the most part, I did get much writing completed. I resist many of Grammarly’s suggestions but somehow misspelled Davy Jones’ Locker (thanks, Deborah). Artificial Intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly artificial, but I wonder if we should use another word to describe it when using ‘intelligence’! Maybe our-current-untested-pattern-matching-algorithm (OCUMA) is likely not going anywhere with their marketing department.

Putting away my concerns about typos and wooden wording from the previous day, I fought my way through and spent much of the morning writing the blog. I delayed dressing and made lunch, a kid’s meal of fish sticks and tater tots (sprinkled with Tony’s Chachere’s Orginal Creole Seasoning. One has to be careful with Tony’s as it contains 5%+ salt; don’t add more salt if using it without letting it cook in. It was excellent on the tater tots.

I had tarter sauce, which is soon expiring, with the fish and tater tots, which were all baked. I had strawberries from the 185th for my dessert—likely the last of the regular crop. My weight is still stable at 230. Someday, I will break into the 220s again!

Finally getting dressed, I return to my computer and more writing. The sermon starts to form. It has taken me weeks to think this through, and now the words flow as patterns and colors in my mind. I have thought of all these words before, but now they appear and seem better and more organized than I expected. While interesting to me, I ignore some paths that will not add to my message or the alignment to cooking, New Orleans (NOLA), or AI.

Aside: Grammarly has a new update that offers to replace my paragraphs with its version with a simple acceptance. Then, Grammarly’s usual editing notices the change and offers to re-edit and return it to what I had to begin with. While this is quite amusing, it is a time-sink. Also, to reject its correction, I have to drop down on options and then reject. Hmmm.

I decided on tip and crackers for dinner as the lunch was heavy. I stopped about 4ish on the writing with the sermon, now 1400 words, and 3/4 of the first draft is done (and much of the editing is done as I write and fight Grammarly). I read more of the Vampire Cookbook and realized that tomorrow is Halloween, and I have no candy or light decorations. Poo. I will have to rise and focus (having an excellent distraction today) and be early to make my day work.

Dondrea reminds me (!) that I have lunch with Scott as it is Thursday (I am such an air-head now). I rest briefly and then head to First United Methodist Church. The traffic was light, but the Oregon had left the mist behind, and it was wet and raining. Local flooding was back, with large puddles everywhere and the leaves melting off the trees. I splashed and drove across Beaverton and was just a few minutes early. My coat was still in the car, and I grabbed an umbrella; it’s not that accepted in Oregon, but it was still early. In the winter, we wear hats and coats and pretend we are expected to be soaked. Eventually, we will love the rain again and soon not even notice it (much).

I discovered that my new shoes are not waterproof; I must purchase an alternative soon. My sweater was a poor choice for the wind and sideways rain. The barista saw me with the umbrella and sweater and acknowledged that neither was ready for a winter day. I get a mocha and walk it back from the local coffee shop to the church.

Z and Dondrea appear, and Z and I decide on the board game Istanbul today. I grab and put on my coat, always in the cargo hold once the leaves start to change, and now I feel warm. Andrew is also there, and we will soon set up the game with the Mocha and Baksheesh add-on for three. Z remembers most of the rules; Andrew soon needs no help as he remembers it from our last play. This is an efficiency-styled game where the players collect and invest resources to get the best and quickest payoff (rubies in the game). The Mocha and Baksheesh add-on creates new options and complexity. Z heavily invests in these new strategies and manages to win the first game; we had to stop early to let Andrew sing in the choir practice (his wife plays in the Praise Band that practices first).

(The strange device on the table is used to bleed air out of the church’s hot water heating system; Jack took the picture and was working on the heating).

Andrew played a conventional game and blocked me repeatedly, and Z bounced me off of Andrew, too. With just a bit more luck, that strategy would have worked. I expect Andrew to take us next time!

We have time for two more fast two-person games. Z continues to call out her “evil plans” and tries to block me a few times while achieving her goals. This is impressive, and she blocked me in the first game. However, my goals are more complex and varied in the second game, and I soon score the game-stopping ruby, but Z matches me. I have a pile of cash left, so I win on the tie-breaker (Z winning the last tie-breaker).

There is enough time for one more game. Z flies ahead and stays there on some lucky combinations. Z’s “evil plans” are working in this game, and while Z has not mastered the evil laugh, I expect it soon. I am crushed by one ruby and lose to her master plan. Excellent. Next time. Three games, two won by Z. Z is delighted.

Istanbul is a unique and complex game to learn. I would recommend it, but make sure someone can teach you or watch a few videos on how to play. It is an excellent game and plays well, following the extra rules for two players in the manual (!) for two or more.

When I returned home, I had some more crackers and dip and watched the new episodes (7 and 8) of “The Legends of Vox Machina,” but I only started the next episode. I was surprised by the storyline direction (no spoilers) and decided to put off more until another day.

Setting the alarm to rise and get going sooner on Thursday, I showered and dressed in PJs, the red plaid making me look like a Scottish nightmare, and soon turned off the light. I only flipped through a few books on drink recipes for absinthe. I turned off the light nearer to 11 than 10 and slept through the night.

Thanks for reading.

Our weather in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) has been sunny, with blue sky in the clouds instead of endless rain and gray skies, with the leaves melting more than falling. The weather is returning to rain today, and it will rain through Halloween for the first time in years. We used to have soaked Halloweens, and this one appears to be returning us to that pattern.

I will try to decorate a tiny amount today.

The day started with me sleeping in until 8ish. I am slowly aligning to the PNW time, and my weight has stayed at 230 for a few days—just two extra pounds from The Big Easy. I have not got back to walking as every day seems to be filled with distractions, excellent distractions.

The morning starts with liberal coffee and pumpkin spice with pecans instant oatmeal from Trader Joe’s. The coffee makes me dream of a world without threats to aliens, a new world that follows the basics of human decency towards strangers and remembers God’s reminder (slightly updated), “You were strangers once–not garbage.” Hope is in the bottom of my cup along with grounds, tired and worn but still ready to jump into the world. Unlike the Greek story, my coffee releases Justice, Compassion, and Community with Hope. Drink liberal, and release Hope for the world.

I managed a few more words to my sermon during the day. Much is yet to be written, but I have been thinking about the words. I often think for days and then just capture the best, or maybe after NOLA, I should say distill these thoughts into a clear discussion-style speech, stirring it with a wash of emotions and a bit of bright orange rine for structure.

I write a short blog about Monday and then add a section about my options for driving to Michigan and maybe buying a used car for the trip. I’m asking you, dear readers, for input. I’m looking at used vehicles, especially Tesla Model 3.

With the blog done, I have tasks to complete; the small amount of laundry I generated is clean. I clean up and put on my pants, which, despite the weight being stable, seem to be falling off more. Crazy. What is my diet, you ask? I eat less, avoid fast and overly processed foods, have few snacks, travel, have much less stress (I am retired), and walk. I am also a guy, and it seems that older guys can lose weight more quickly than gals. Sorry, gals–an unfair advantage.

I received a book from NOLA; The Dauphine Street Books store mailed me a copy of the new edition, “revised and expanded,” of Guiding Spirits: The Haunting Experiences of a New Orleans Tour Guide. The store owner (I think he owns it), Steve, said it was from a local he knows, signed, and recommended as well researched. He mailed it to me for a few bucks.

Later, I get the board game extension Davy Jones’ Locker. It is shipped from Aloclek, the street I used to work from, and is only ten minutes away. Another Kickstarter fulfilled!

I board Air Volvo and head across Beaverton. Due to the lack of rain and the fact that I am between school opening and closing, the traffic is light and well-behaved. I get to Tous Les Jours and get a baguette with ham and cheese and a few croissants for breakfast. They have a microwave, and I heat my baguette with a sweat garlic wash and eat it. Still not that good. I will try to find something better (their croissants and bread are good).

I rush through shopping at Trader Joe’s and get my usual supplies and many frozen foods. While processed, they seem fresh, not over-processed, and thus fit my diet. I got four bags and a bill of nearly $200, $50 a bag. This is about three weeks or more for me. Yikes! I stopped by the 185th and TV Highway veggie and fruit stand and was shocked not to break $20 for fresh items that fill a bag. The contrast gets my attention.

I put this away and then called Deborah. We watched the last of this season together on a call for the whole show. We have become adept at sync-ing the show on our respective TVs, Deborah in the Midwest and me here in the PNW. The season was, I think, one of the best, with running jokes and even some physical comedy. We loved it.

After chatting and sending Deborah my 2600 Magazine article (PDF of the back issue), I rang off and soon headed to the Regal Evergreen Theater to meet Jack. We watched Conclave, the new non-Dan Brown movie about electing a pope. This is a slow political thriller with sudden revelations and twists that are unexpected and an obvious ending, but missed by the viewer as, like a magician, the show only hints at what is happening until the final reveal. I loved it. The actors make everything seem real, and the camera work is excellent. It reminds me more of the BBC than Hollywood. Recommended.

I drive Jack home and then return home. There I am, hungry again. I open a can of baked beans and the 1/2-sized cans and heat them on the stove. I have that with some potato chips. It’s an excellent meal.

I shower, get in my PJs, and read more of the Vampire Cookbook. The story turns against the vampires, and the recipes become more complex. It is not even 11, but I am falling asleep. I sleep the night except for waking to prove hydration at 2.

Thanks for reading!

I arrived at the house with Corwin after dinner and drinks at Hopswork in Portland with Mariah. There, I had a burger and a German-style beer, followed by a second smaller one made from rice and Japanese-style. I brought Mariah a cooking class kit from the New Orleans School of Cooking (NOSC). It has some spices, a roux whisk, a hot pad sporting NOSC in embroidery, and their class cookbook. It also has a large bag of grits.

Maria had a business trip to Chicago and liked the town, but not more than NYC. She visited the art museum and lots of places to eat. We talked about Chicago and what we enjoyed there.

I also wrote a few more lines in my Sunday sermon and talked to Dondrea about the scripture, hymns, and set up for All Saints Day, celebrated this Sunday at First United Methodist Church. Dondrea says it gets easier to work on a sermon as the date gets closer. Focus will come. I also looked at the translation of the scripture and validated it in Greek.

I read more of the Vampire Cookbook from NOLA. I am midway through the book, and it continues with the story of a not-so-honest bartender and murderous vampires that have escaped the Ursuline Convent and loose in the French Quarter, with a recipe after each Penny Dreadful-style story, now chapters (the chapters were initially printed as single magazines). I scanned and printed a copy of the lamb meatball recipe, which uses not bread but instead shredded onions to hold the meat together. I have to try this new technique. Expect some Google searches about how to do this. Exciting. I am defrosting some ground lamb I purchased in Vancouver’s Farmer’s Market  (the city across from Portland in Washington state, not the BC city).

I showered and dressed for bed. I read more Vampire stories and recipes, which made turning off all the lights and leaving the door open more thoughtful. I slept with forgotten dreams. I woke in 66F Orchid-loving temperatures at 5ish, rolled over, and slept until 8, getting back to my own time zone.

But let’s move now to the beginning of the day so we don’t miss the rest of the day; I rose at 7ish and was happy it was later. I was not tired, and my sleep was packed with forgotten dreams that left me neither scared nor breathless (from an asthma attack while dreaming) but happy. Susie and Dad were (I only vaguely remember the impressions from dreams) in my night. Coffee and liberal were made, and text was exchanged, including ‘good morning’ with friends nearby and more distant. Being Monday, most folks are working, so I get only a few replies here and there to text.

I did my usual long Sunday blog as Sunday was quite busy, with almost a whole weekend fitting into just one day. I also updated my Quicken transactions, checking for suspicious activity, updating some transactions not automatically attributed to an account, and correcting some imaginative assignments—about a 40% hit rate, meaning I have to check everything.

I reheated the frozen eggplant parmesan I made a few weeks ago for lunch. I also made a roux and tried to make homemade mac and cheese with New Orleans spices. While the spices were good, the pasta was not great, but next time, I will look for a better plan. It was just fun to play.

I planned to just put around the house, write, and then head to a movie, but Mariah and Corwin said they could meet in Portland, and I was welcome to join them. I accepted. Soon, Corwin was at the house, and we talked about Dungeons and Dragons. I described the insane game I played on Sunday, falling back into Old School patterns (smash-and-grab and avoid anything, not the goal) and not the video game take on D&D (fight everything and take every treasure) while driving in. Traffic was still slow, and lane changes were shocking in their risk-taking or maybe trust in fellow drivers not to just crash into them. One Tesla changed three lanes through fast-moving traffic to make their exit!

Now, for a long aside, with input from readers welcome, I am wondering about buying a used Tesla Model 3 and driving to Michigan for the holidays. I was thinking I needed a second car, and the cost of a rent-a-car in Michigan for about a three-week stay will be high, and the flights will not be cheap. I could also pack the car with some family items to be given to Barb and Susie’s family (some old rifles from Dad Ben, jewelry, and some art items). It would be a great adventure. And using a Tesla would be exciting and trying the self-driving would be fantastic.

Now, trying to charge a Tesla in the winter and driving on snow and ice would scare many, but can it be done? I have no information that it is impossible or worse than a gasoline car. But I can say that car rentals and flights are expensive, and I get nothing for them. Pay more, and I get a car. I want a self-driving car to try that.

I had hoped that the VW bus replacement would be for sale and that it would be the full version, but it is not ready, and the prices are headed to an insane 50K+ rate. A $20K used Tesla is looking good. There are Lincolns with low milage at this price and some excellent Mercedes (and lower prices).

A decent car rents for about $60 a day, and total coverage is the same (plus garbage fees they always find to add, and it is a good idea in winterly Michigan to have total coverage) for $120 a day. So, with gas, it is $3,000 for the rental for three weeks. The flights, getting the cheap ones, will be $1500 for the holidays. So that is $4500 or 1/5 of the cost of a used car (plus insurance). The hotels will be the usual mix of overpriced but comfy ones I pick.

For this trip to Michigan in December, I plan to spend some time in Detroit with friends and then in Laingsburg and Lansing for family during the weekdays and holidays—the holidays are mid-week this year. I may also take some long-distance trips to see the sights of Michigan on weekends.

So, dear readers, should we rent or buy and travel? Tesla? Mercedes? What are other good choices for winter in the Midwest and Oregon? Your input is welcome. I am leaning towards adventure, as usual.

Thanks for reading! You are welcome to reply by email, in reply to this post, or on Facebook.

 

The morning started early on Sunday, but this time, my iPhone alarm woke me instead of rolling over and over until I gave up. It was better. At 6:30, I started the blog, and it took me a few hours to write and find my focus. I get tired around 9 at night, but rising early is starting to fade as I align to the Pacific Northwest time (PNW).

Cold pizza was again breakfast, sticking with one of Susie’s favorite breakfasts. I have not heard when my friend’s memorial (if there will be one) is planned, but I intend to return to Michigan for it. When there are plans, I will name him and include a link to the information now that it is on the Internet. But my thoughts are with his family and friends.

Sunday morning, I was writing, reading, and chatting on the phone. I made liberal coffee in my French press, as I have done ever since Donald Trump won the presidency. It reminds me every morning that vigilance is required to resist darkness. In this daily writing, I will not be critical of him or his policies. But I am liberal, and every morning, when I sip my coffee, I think of justice, compassion, and community. I have hope for the future.

The blog was finished around 9, and soon, I was cleaning up and putting on my gray suit. I have lost enough of my waistline that I need the suspenders to hold up the pants, and the suit is beginning to look like a wool bag. I will have to replace them in the spring for my birthday in April. Much like the drinking song from George Thorogood (“One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer–the long version“), it will be one blue, one gray, and one black. Plus shoes and a belt.

I put on the New Orleans tie (see picture) I purchased in the French Quarter on the last trip for too much money. It is silk and reportedly from Italy (though I imagine that the only thing from Italy is the spelling of Italy). I put on my golden vest (now a bit large) and added the cheap but good-looking pocket watch and chain.

My new belt (already with holes added to it), my Cole Haan plain black shoes, and my black Homburg hat finish the look. I boarded Air Volvo, put the Apple in the co-pilot seat, and crossed Beaverton in the Oregon Mist (with a bit of rain). The leaves are red and yellow, melting and slowly leaving the trees. The vacuum trucks are out on the street sucking up the detritus of summer green. This prevents the mass of fallen leaves from choking the drains necessary to prevent local flooding.

I arrived not early for church and watched the switch from Emmaus Church to our set-up for First United Methodist Church. Our church now shares (rents) our space with a younger community. We are happy to help them; they find it better than a school gym. The central church for the United Methodist approved the change and has published a note that other churches should be bold. It has its rough edges and some of the usual sharp elbows from the older Methodists, but most think it a good solution for us and them.

Church is the usual, with the hymn being easy for me to sing again, and one of my favorites, Lift Every Voice and Sing, makes me cry. We sang this after Pastor Ken Wytsma recounted his trip in the South, overlapping New Orleans, where I was last week. While my trip was for cooking and being a tourist, Ken’s experience faced the past and existing challenges in the USA with violence and racism. There’s was a tour of a civil rights pilgrimage, and he recapped it and offered to form a tour from our church members and friends. The most powerful image, for me, was the lynching memorial, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Today’s reading was from UMCJustice.org and included The UMC Social Creed.

Ken mentioned his experience at the Witney Plantation while I did the Oak Alley Plantation, which has just begun its voyage to understand its connection to slavery. Still, as I said last week in the blog, I was impressed with their mix of focus on slavery, building all this opulence, selling a Mint Julep (with or without booze), doing weddings, and focusing on their plantings. At Oak Alley, I found it to be a strange mix of history and emotion with drinks.

I connected with Anne and Wayne and joined them at Red Robin, and we talked about my trip and my next trips. The Beaverton location was unprepared for the after-church rush and the number of birthdays that descended on Red Robin. We were not in a hurry and waited for our food. I had a Stella, sadly from a bottle, thinking of Susie. Red Robin was a favorite for her.

I returned home, changed out of the suit, which still looked good, and put on my LL Bean pants and sweater vest. I rested briefly and headed to First United Methodist Church for the 2024 (2025 Church year) charge conference in Air Volvo. There are enough of us to fill two round tables, and I sit next to Rev. Anne (who I had lunch with). Pastor Anne, an elder in full connection (for you, United Methodists, reading this), runs the meeting. I helped Anne with a few details. I have done over a dozen charge Conference Meetings in various positions and report-giving. We all completed the meeting without controversy (with a few explanations of why and what) in less than thirty minutes. Perfect.

After discussing church business, I headed to Matt’s place to play Dungeons and Dragons. We are playing a high-level published campaign and reaching the end of the Vecna: Eve of Ruin. The writers decided to create a story that tours all the major (and some minor ones) Dungeons and Dragons settings, with the campaign starting at mid-level and taking the players (hopefully) to the start of Epic level. I have played two characters in our Dungeons and Dragons games as someone had to be sacrificed in the previous campaign (my good paladin of Death, Rath, volunteered to die as death holds no mysteries for him). I am playing a once-evil cleric who is now good and follows Light. My character never focuses on one god but instead works to bring light and end darkness (it has nothing to do with my liberal outlook, he says when sipping his liberal coffee).

(Yes, Matt has the best toys)

Matt has two epic-level monsters for us before we start on the next part of the adventure. We are collecting and reassembling an artifact as we go. Being Matt, he has the giant pre-painted official figures for them, and I am surprised as one is quite expensive (Matt said he got a discount). We will face a high level of undead known to all long-term players.

Our strategy focuses not on collecting treasure or fighting but smash-and-grab, and only what is fast and easy to take and, of course, parts of the artifact. It is a very old-school outlook. It will not service us well in the old-school tomb raiding and dungeon crawl. I will be developing a new list of spells for my cleric. Hmmm.

When I return home in Air Volvo, I stop by Plaid Pantry, our take on 7-Eleven in the PNW, to get a few overpriced popcorn packets. I make popcorn (dropping the last twenty seconds as the ‘Popcorn’ setting on my LG microwave burns it now—I suspect they shrank the package a bit, explaining the burning) and watch more of my Kolchak: The Night Stalker first season (episode three), I bought on Apple TV (through my laptop, but available on my Apple+ Cable now on the larger screen). This is one of the better ones, as it is about a lost alien, and Kolchak is nearly slain twice and blown across the screen twice. The film work of this copy is too dark, but this is likely the result of a poor transfer, as I do not remember it this dark on the broadcast version. Someday, there may be a rereleased version like Star Trek that will clean this up, but seeing the late 1970s take on news and Chicago is still fun.

I shower and sleep soon. I manage one more story in the Vampire Cookbook. With D&D, Kolchak, and vampires, I leave the door closed (to keep it warmer, not that I am scared) and soon sleep. I sleep through with strange, unremembered dreams. I wake early in the dark, but not stupidly early, and I am relieved that I am aligning to local times.

Thanks for reading.

I rose after 5:30, as I was still aligning with the local time, and I got to the laptop and started on the blog. Liberal coffee was made in the French Press. The taste of Justice, Compassion, and Community floods into my morning, and the bitterness of the coffee reminds me how much more needs to be done.

I had much to say about Friday, even on a quiet day, and writing and publishing the blog took a few hours. Thinking of Susie, I had cold pizza–she loved pizza for breakfast. The New Orleans School of Cooking (NOSC) warning came to mind that we don’t spice up our food if they are to be reheated as the seasoning will be overshadowed by the hot as it will expand while the spices become more subtle and are lost in the burn.

I am distracted most of the morning and find it difficult to focus. I decide to head out and deliver Z a T-shirt from Preservation Hall. Dondrea gets one of the cooking kits from NOSC and a bandana from Preservation Hall.

Traffic across Beaverton, following the familiar trail that once took me daily to see the hummingbird house. Construction has another stop light that takes three tries to pass. Just a typical day on Hall Boulevard. With the traffic and construction, I only see some of the usual poor driving and passive-aggressive behavior. Yes, we will get in line and then try to block those who try to cut in. The usual.

I wait for Dondrea, who took Z to soccer this wet morning. It is more than Oregon Mist today, with rain bouncing off Air Volvo. I did take it to be washed this morning in the pouring rain. Being in Oregon, I was not alone at the carwash on a rainy day. Here, parked, the water is beading up on the hood and running off the windshield.

I read the rules for the last extension of my favorite board game, Istanbul. I have never played the Giant Everything version. Someday, but I fear it will explode Z’s head with all the options. The expansions provide more ways to gain rubies to win the game. Thus, new strategies are available when another player focuses on one, and you start to block each other, likely giving the game away to a third player.

Dondrea and Z and then Larry, Dondrea’s uncle, appear, and I join them to talk about cooking and various other ideas. Dondrea is thrilled with the recipes, and I discuss some additions from the class. Dondrea and Larry try the supplied spices with the Cajan Power (no fish) Worcestershire Sauce, likely to be used up fast.

I leave and face rain and traffic on a Saturday afternoon but soon arrive and find free parking at Lucky Labrador off of Hawthorn in SE Portland. There, I get a beer, try to work on my sermon in two Sundays, and manage only a few paragraphs of questionable value; the focus is hard to find. I have a bowl of salted peanuts and drink the beer for a few hours. The place is quiet for a weekend, but the rains are new, and folks in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) huddle down at home, likely working on homework, damp soccer games, school projects, or housework for the first few weeks of the rains. We then love the rain again, rake our melted leaves in our soggy lawns, wander-soaked corn mazes, and select slicken pumpkins.

(Lucky Labrador)

I find another beer with less alcohol as I have a game to play at Richard’s at 6 and a salad. I am distracted and notice I run almost late, which never happens unless there are traffic events. I drive the short crossing of SE to NE and arrive just in time for the game. Richard greets me and is concerned I am not early.

Today’s game is new for me, and I am crushed with a last-place finish. I was surprised that Lauren beat Richard by a few points, who was doing his usual come-from-behind point-gathering trick. Kathleen rises twenty points, past my low score. I stayed with my day job too much and did not focus enough on the final goals, which were my usual issues in a new game. I am more interested in the mechanics and how the game flows (sorry, forever computer guy). Drugs disguised as ‘candy’ play a prominent role in this game. The cards you can collect include the usual fan romances. The theme is definitely late 1970s Sex, Drugs, and Rock, and it is immersive from a resource managing point of view. Ultimately, it was fun and aligned well with the edgy theme. Recommended with some caution for content.

(I always play yellow as it is a color nobody wants and also the color of victory in some events like biking)

Aside: These end-of-game public and private goals provide variation in these games. Once learned, without them, the board game becomes stale and repetitive. These goals direct how to play and win (often countering the efficiency of regular play). Kathleen frequently lectures me after another poor score that I should pay more attention to and collect them (in games where they are a resource to collect and achieve). I try. I win only once in a great while.

I drive Kathleen home, and we talk about politics and concerns in Air Volvo. Soon, I drop her off, cross Portland, and arrive at the Volvo Cave in the pouring rain. With the rain, the traffic was lighter, slower, and, dare I say, a bit more sane.

I manage to get to bed before midnight and soon sleep. I likely dreamed of ‘candy,’ sex, and how I can’t play a single instrument or sing. Likely, I scored low in the dream, too. At least for my music…

Thanks for reading.