Clarification

Sorry, but Tuesday was chaotic, and I could not find the time and place to write. Today, I will combine Monday and Tuesday.

Starting with Monday

The morning began with me waking with maybe six hours of sleep. Mom Wild had called me at 2, and it was hard to get back to sleep. Time change Monday sucks! After fueling with some locally roasted beans that I ground in my small electric grinder (and brushed with my little coffee brush to loosen the dusty bits), I started on the blog. I wrote until about 10ish and showered while Jeff began another work day at the house. It was not terribly cold or raining, and thus Jeff selected the powerwashing for today. I showered, shaved, dressed, and continued on the blog. Jeff found the deck resisting, and it took him most of Monday to strip it and get it back to wood. In the future, Jeff will seal the wood with a protective coating. Jeff then cleaned up some of the walkways and the house, which showed some moss or other streaking. He will return later in the week to finish a few other items.

Lunch for me was reheated pasta and Italian-style sausage in a red sauce from a jar. I ate it while I watched more YouTube videos. I tried the Epic History video on The Battle of Trafalgar 1805. There was also a commercial for their videos commenting that they do not use AI to create false histories. They showed ‘Napoleon at D-Day’ and other examples of ‘AI’ generated videos. “Are you tired of AI-generated history?” This had me laughing.

Jeff was still cleaning, so I decided to head to Wildwood Taphouse and write there. I talked to Deborah for a while and sent her some of the text for my story. I met JR at the taphouse, and we caught up. I am headed to California on Sunday, and he is headed south to watch some racing. I had a heavy and dark beer, “As dark as my soul.” This was followed by more beer samples, which kept coming. I wrote a few more items, and the tamale woman was there. I got dinner and dessert from her, paid her, and put that in Air VW the Gray.

I paid my bill and headed home. I reheated the tamale (they were just warm now) and talked to Deborah, ending her day as she rang off to sleep. I read more, but I was tired and tried to sleep after going to bed early. I could not fall asleep. Time change! I tried a few things and started. After a while, I read more Elric, and Benadryl finally got me to sleep.

Tuesday

Tuesday started with me finding my phone to tell me it was 8, and I knew I was forgetting something. Mom Wild called at 2AM but must have hung up as I would have woken if the phone rang for a while. There was only one call. I found the coffee, locally roasted beans, that I ground in my small electric grinder and poured into my French press using my coffee brush to loosen the finely ground coffee. I have English Muffins, and I toasted one and added jelly. The jelly expired in 2023; I should replace it, but it tastes fine. I had a banana with that.

Then I remembered I had a 9:30 game at Richard’s at 9:30. I jumped into the shower, skipped the shave, and soon dressed. I boarded the EV with a plate of my breakfast. The traffic in Beaverton was slow and seldom was near the speed limits. It was safe to consume my breakfast while driving, such as grabbing something from the plate or a swig of coffee at red traffic lights. Breakfast was over before I reached Highway 217.

I drove to Portland and found myself having to change lanes in the tunnel (extra legal) to get to 405 and was twenty minutes late. Today, James had us playing The Plum Island Horror, a newish zombie-attacks, worker-placement, and resource-management board game. I have played a dudes-on-a-board types of zombie board games, but this was a cooperative attempt to save folks and hold off the zombie plague. We each played five characters, represented by standees, and used our faction to save people and slow the march of the zombies (represented by a stack of counters).

James is hosting the game at Gamestorm, meaning this is a how-to session. We have never played it, but James has read the rules and watched the instructional videos. We spend time on James covering the rulebook to his memory and then start working our way through it by playing. At first, the game seemed clunky and starved for resources. But as we learn to play the game and keep shooting and blasting zombies and other infected creatures, it becomes more and more fun. Playing multiple characters is a favorite of mine (Frostgrave, for example). I had the mayor and other leaders of Plum Island and started to rescue folk. Richard had the National Guard and was enjoying blasting things and rescuing folks. James had the mad scientists and blasted and got crunched by the zombies (the scientists have to get close to try out their inventions).

I had to leave early, but before I left, I saw we had just about rescued the minimum number of people to win. After that, it was just a survival mission. I would like to play it again.

I boarded Air VW the Gray, retraced my trip earlier, and soon was home. I found that the IRA rollover check was at the house. I need to get this to US Bank Wealth Management; it is a lot of pre-tax funds. I drove immediately to US Bank at 185 and Farmington Road. I got there, and they had no idea what to do (“No, do not deposit it in my checking, that is illegal”). They asked me to take back the check and call Wealth Management. I thought it was US Bank, but no. After a frustrating time on the US Bank phone tree, Wealth Manangement called me, and Samuel and I agreed to meet on Wednesday morning to handle this. Done.

I am late for Celik from Morocco, Casablanca, at the house. The carpet folks drive carpets in a truck all over the USA to sell them. They shipped them in a container, imported them, and then brought them to former customers in the USA. I told them I am retired and not buying nice carpets, but Celik still wanted to stop by. I met him at the house, only a few minutes late, and we had glasses of water (he already had coffee and turned down my offer of mint tea), and he saw the house and my carpets. He was sure I needed at least one carpet for the living room. Something less colored from goat, camel, and sheep wool. I climb into the truck to see it, but demurred. Celik could not hide his disappointment, but I did give him my business card. He drove off to the next place.

With Celik gone, I had twenty minutes before Corwin visited for his math lesson. I made morocco mint tea (a black tea with mint, not an herbal mix). I was sleepy.

Corwin was on time, and we spent an hour on math. Corwin got many right in the workbook. He was having trouble with the order of operations and was careless when copying from the book, reading the problem, and then dropping a sign or other important item in his steps. I redid some of the problems for him and showed him my slow approach of simplifying by unwrapping the static values. Thus, 3² is 9, and 10-3² is 1, not 19 (to get 19, you would need 10+(-3)²). Corwin will rework the problems he had operational order issues with to ensure he gets his mind locked into the correct order before we head to another topic. Corwin’s graphing and geometric problems were good. There were some copying errors, but nothing required reworking.

Corwin enjoyed all but one tamale and finished the flan. I sent him away with a bag of frozen beef stew and some frozen ham. I made tortilla soup from a King Arthur Flour Company package while talking to Deborah. It did not come with tortilla strips (?!). I shredded two chicken thighs after defrosting and boiling them. I added the water from the boiling and half a box of chicken broth to the mix. The chicken went in with 1/2 of a container of medium salsa. I let this cook in a boil and simmer for a while. I had purchased strips to add to the soup. I forgot the avocado; next time.

It was excellent, and I finished a few bowls and had some while Deborah and I chatted. Soon, Deborah, on Eastern Time, was sleepy and rang off. I then sat down at my Apple and wrote this blog.

It is now a quarter to 10, and I am tired. I am posting this now. Thanks for reading.

 

I rose with my alarm to a darker morning as it was a time-change Sunday (only time-change Monday is worse). I had about six hours of sleep and soon found the coffee and was drinking that quickly while writing the blog. I have stopped using CNN.com for news because they have too many pay articles. The New York Times works for me, and I am visiting BBC or Jerusalem Post website for another perspective.

I noticed that the State of Oregon had deposited my tax refund. I am waiting for the IRS to deposit my payment to bring 2024 to a close. The deposit takes another day to download to Quicken for US Bank. I am usually two days behind on US Bank, but I make it work by putting any checks I write into Quicken to be matched later.

I log into my Federal Reserve Account to ensure it still works. I have $10,000 in old-fashioned savings bonds booked on account in the Fed; these are inflation-adjusted. You can buy a maximum of $10,000 a year. So far, I have not bought more savings bonds as the bonds have a minimum holding period of five years without penalty. The site requires a user (supplied by the Fed), password, and one-time-password (OTP) they send you. All was good, and I was tempted to buy some treasuries, but I resisted. This costs nothing as it is with the Fed and does not use a brokerage, but you must hold them. You would have to sell them on a secondary market (somehow) if you wanted your cash back early. These are all complexities that keep me from using the site.

I wrote the blog for most of the early morning. I was rushed because I had church at 11, and the time difference was dragging on me. I managed to finish around 10, and soon, after a shower, I was dressed in a pride tie, blue sweater vest, gray button-down colored biz shirt, and gray slacks. My weight loss, still at 234 pounds, means my pants are very loose, and my belt is pulled tight. I unplug Air VW the Gray, and head to First United Methodist Church and arrive in surprisingly heavy traffic for a Sunday morning in Beaverton without issue.

There are no ushers, and I take on that responsibility and stand mainly at the back. I walk one person to their car as they are dizzy. The person drives home, and I hear they made it safely. I also did the offering routine by passing the offering plate and was happy my pants did not fall off at the altar when I presented it. While this was not likely to happen, it crossed my mind that it would be the worst possible thing. All was good, and no unplanned exposures.

A long-term member, Pam, gave the traditional sermon on Revelations 2, the letter to the Ephesus church. She reminded us that we must live our beliefs and not leave them at the church service. Like the letter demands of Ephesus, she called us to repent and remember the love we had. Pam’s delivery was excellent and clear and included a few fun stories. Pam is always a pleasure to listen to.

I did not stay late; next, I boarded Air VW the Gray and returned home. There, I made lunch from reheated pasta and Italian-style sausage I had made yesterday. It was excellent. I watched an excellent video on the Battle of the Nile. Deborah called, and we talked for a while.

Aside: I still write ‘Volvo’ here and there and miss the old XC60, which unexpectedly left me with flooding damage. Life’s familiarities are comforting. I then replace the word with ‘VW the Gray’ and am grateful such a suitable replacement was available and inexpensive. I still miss one Air Volvo and spot a Volvo before finding the VW in the parking lot. I did love traveling in Air Volvo. It is missed (the broken car was donated to OPB).

Next, I started Scrivener, created a novel-style project, and began to write the framework for a story I have been thinking about. I wanted to write a fantasy story of a Dungeons and Dragons-like wizard story, using my own thought-up fantasy world and magic system. This would require more organization than my usual Howard story or SciFi writings. I also wanted it to be longer, which meant I would need new tooling or notes.

I did not start with the story, taking my usual approach of starting with some stream-of-consciousness writing and then editing it over and over until I pounded it, blacksmith-like, into a good story with good grammar and not run-of-the-mill descriptive words. Instead, I let Scrivener guide me. I started with character and locations.

Moss and some high-up missing mortar suggest the tower is not new, but most of the cut blocks are in place, and the door, while strongly built, is new and in good repair with new ironwork. The windows are shuttered, with some open, all looking solid, painted green, and well-maintained. A chimney pipe is suspended out a window, and a wisp of smoke suggests it is occupied. Not far away, a privy and a well suggest this is a home, not a defense construction. A garden of vegetables and three fruit-bearing trees support this conclusion. A brook is nearby on a path with a small stone bridge covering the brook, which is overbuilt for the current stream, suggesting spring brings floods.

I am not sure it will help to have this kind of tool, but I am willing to try it. I have been tired this week, and finding the focus and energy for a new project is challenging. Getting tools and starting with the supporting material always worked on figures and model building. I think this will work for me.

I located my 5E Player Handbook on a shelf, got some dice—the ones I bought in New Hampshire for the D&D game I ran in January—and put that in Air VW the Gray. There are new 2024-2025 books. We will likely change to the new rules for the next campaign.

The new rules change some basics, mainly in the D&D 5E style. There is no falling back to 3.5 (super powered min-max’d) or 4 play (paper and pencil video game play). Most of the changes are to prevent combinations from creating min-max’d characters and monsters again (more 5E and less 3.5). There are a few eye-rolling moments from some changes from us long-term players, but it’s not terrible.

I head to M@’s place, and after talking to Deborah, who is headed to bed then, I spend some time catching up with M@. The game board was set up and covered with spiders the size, in scale, of SUVs. Ick! We, being our usual brave selves and down one person (a player was ill), climbed the tower or flew or were dragged up there (my character does not fly or climb in plate armor) and went to fight the main bad guy without stopping for the others. I deleted the details as others will play this…sorry…it was fun!

We rested and then headed to the next challenge. As this is published material, I will not cover much of it. We found the bad guy but still have more to do before facing the would-be ruler of everything, Venca. Venca is a bad guy who appears in the initial release of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the 1970s. So, yes, we want to defeat him. Something to brag about over beers at a gaming convention.

We face a lower-level challenge that nearly finishes us. It is something that, as a DM and player, I learned: Most adventurer groups have strengths and weaknesses. Some should-be-easy encounters can crush a group while a heavy-hitting bad guy falls in a few rounds. It is hard to predict, and often the DM has to keep a blank look as the players are crushed by something minor. More chances for the DM to tell stories over beer later.

I had switched out a spell that undoes some of this and instead had to rely on other, more expensive spells to fix a few things. I am the cleric, and I undo things and heal things. I am less about blasting and more about making things better for us to win a battle. It was close, and I used up most of my interesting spells. I called to my god as a cleric to return us to full fighting power, made the 18% roll, and zap! We were back.

It was a fun evening, and I felt we had done well, except for the one “easy” encounter. I returned home and upgraded my cleric to his final play form, 20th level (we will play a new campaign soon). We will face the super-charged bad guys in the next game (April 6th).

I also looked at the latest 2024-5 rules for a new character to play. I am torn between returning to warlock with the other pact (Lovecraftian stuff) or a wizard with a healing focus. Both I have played before. The stealing and trap-finding kind of rogue hobbit also interests me, as I have not done that before. We might also play Call of Cthulhu, but M@ has some new material D&D to play (here).

With thoughts of writing a fantasy story and new stories for characters for D&D, I finally turned off the light (how could it be so late? Oh, time change), and I quickly fell asleep. At 2 PDT, I got a call from Mom Wild, who was having a tough night. I tried to talk her down, and I think she calmed down enough to sleep. I had trouble falling back to sleep, and 7:30 rang on my phone too early. It is still dark!

Saturday started with me waking up with my alarm, but I had already rolled over as the light was rushing in one last time before daylight saving time. Yes, it is back (think Poltergeist movie). We must now purchase the Spring (20 March) with an hour of sleep.

I find coffee and the last banana (I will stop by 185th Corner and get more on Sunday) and have some babka to go with it. Jeff will be back on Monday for a few more items, but I am alone in my improved house this morning. I write the blog and enjoy writing it. Today, I am sharing more about depression and my thoughts on donating some of my 401K when I write. I have no plans and just write.

I also updated my settings in Quicken. I have a new investment IRA account at US Bank. I transferred the balance of IMPAX as shares and adjusted the 401K balance in and out to move it to the new account. The money is coming as a physical check made out to the account (not really me) without withholding. I will likely hold this as a cash balance in Quicken and adjust it monthly as I did before for Fidelity.

I showered, shaved, and dressed to start my quiet Saturday afternoon. I get out a jar of pasta sauce, Prego, a box of bowtie pasta, and defrost, shred, and fry sweet Italian-style sausage for lunch. Yes, more than I needed,  but it was fun. The pasta water, boiling hard, spills its saltiness on the stove, but it is not an issue. I do manage to burn the sauce, but I manage to save it by pouring it into the fry pan, and the burned bit, not much, stays with the pan. I finished the sauce in the frying pan (the sausage was not too fatty, so there was nothing to drain off). I drained the pasta and then combined it all. I have to admit I had a few bowls.

I watched the first half of the first John Wick movie while I cooked and heard, “John Wick…is a man of focus, conviction, and sheer will.” I am a fan. And the evil hotel, The Continental, also. So good. Here is the same scene from the first movie.

With lunch inside me and the rest in the frig, I cut up and freeze the ham still in the frig for almost too long, and then head out. I needed room for the pot of pasta. It is a lovely sunny day, and Mount Hood appears to be just beyond the turns of TV Highway. Mount Hood is about a two-hour drive of 85 miles away, nearly a straight-line drive on 26. The pioneers seemed to have placed Highway 26 (the Sunset Highway) from the mountain to the sea in a roughly straight line. TV (Tualatin Valley) Highway parallels it down the middle of the Tualatin Valley, my home.

I spoke to Deborah in the morning and later when I headed to Big River Coffee. There, I tried to get organized to write another sci-fi story focusing on a fantasy Dungeons and Dragons-like setting. I purchased Scrivener to help me manage my fantasy world I plan to create and write a longer story. I do well at SciFi at 2,500-5,000 words, but I wanted something longer this time. I spent the afternoon looking at various offerings, but the support and tutorials got me to risk $59 (less than the price of an add-on for my board games) for Scrivener. Later, I learned that Grammarly works inside the Scrivener editor. Yay!

I return home. The Air VW the Gray is fully charged and barely registers the trip. At home, I watch video tutorials and play with Scrivener. The food and yesterday’s grief seem to weigh me down, and I steal a nap for thirty minutes. I then jump out of bed and make dinner. Just an over-easy egg (from a blue-shelled egg) on a reheated biscuit with a melted slice of cheddar. Excellent. I even washed the pan and ran the dishwasher.

Aside: I noticed that one of the failing orchids appears to be coming back. It may have been dormant. The cattleya orchid has a green leaf, and I see another one rising from the roots. These orchids are two to four years from being large enough to flower. Orchid growing is a hopeful process.

The drive into Portland seemed to be in rush hour traffic, which I seldom see on a Saturday night. Drivers were making many extra-legal lane changes.  With Spring Break approaching and the time change this weekend, the local drivers seemed more desperate than usual. I had to brake and give way a few times. Yikes!

I arrived early and helped set up the board game Carnegie, which I had only heard about. Richard’s copy was the maxed-out Kickstarter version. The game uses a strange mix of components, iconography, and color usage, making me almost dizzy. It mixed freely with a shared board and individual boards. Actions were shared each turn, allowing all players to play the full set of actions (in order from first player, who picks the action, and then around). This was a resource management and worker placement game with progress tracks (which did minimal) and some meanness (meaning that some significant resources were limited, and you needed to scoop them up). I had never played it before, so I made quite a few mistakes as the process and icons confused me. Only 3/4 through the game did I begin to understand it. Kathleen got it right off and nearly took the game from Richard, who had twice my low score. Lauren scored just below Kathleen.

I can’t say I liked Carnegie, but it is highly rated. I would like to play it again to see if I like it better. Kathleen and I talked about it on the ride to her house after the game, and we think the game felt unfinished. Some of the elements did not score enough points to be done—why include them? It seems to be the first draft of a better, more streamlined game that dropped many less essential items. The board game Grand Hotel Austria, which covers much of the same mechanics, is better, I believe.

The EV got me home with much less traffic on Portland’s roads. The VW was already on the new time, warning me how late it was. The new lights on the house welcomed me. I was soon in bed reading, as I could not fall asleep. I took half a Benadryl as I broke out in a rash from my allergies. Ugh!

Thanks for reading.

I rose at 7ish, and Jeff was scheduled to appear around ten to work on repairs and updates to the house. I found the kitchen; it had not moved, and I was happy to see the dishes done. I made coffee by washing out my French press and loading it with locally roasted and ground coffee. My nose was full, and my ears were full too. Yes, pollen has started, and my allergies are in full bloom (pun generated by Grammarly–I suspect the AI is unaware of it, making it doubly funny to me). My eyes are stinging, which is the giveaway that it is pollen time.

I rushed through the blog but still managed more than 1,000 words. Sorry that the blog is mostly about living day-to-day, but the next trip, California by EV from Oregon, starts in two Sundays. Yay!  Today, Jeff (I have his business card if anyone local in Oregon needs someone to do some work) will finish the lighting outside, paint the door Twinberry (here if you want to see it), and do a few other small clean-up items. Jeff will be back next week to paint the back of the door white and finish repairing the main bathroom floor. He will bring his power washer and clean the deck and cement of moss and algae. He will cut the deck (he built it) to give the mountain ash more room. He was amazed at how much the tree had grown. We talked about replacing the cement driveway and walkways as they are starting to break up (1978 was a long time ago), but the cost will be a trip to Paris, and thus, we will wait. There are a few large items I am ignoring: replacing the flooring in the fireside room and kitchen, updating the kitchen, replacing the cement, taking down the large trees, and redoing the sewer and water connection to the house before they break (like I said, 1978 was a long time ago).

On the subject of money, I was dressed and so on just after Jeff arrived and then headed out to US Bank to talk money. Nick and Sam from US Bank had an appointment with me. I brought all my paperwork with me, including Net Worth Statements, copies of statements from all my investments, Susie’s death certificate, and our marriage license. I explained my finances, and Nick and Sam complimented my organization and clarity.

They offered to handle the investments and arrange a risk-appropriate model for me, including socially responsible investing. They could handle the movement of all the funds and later help me roll over some IRA to Roth to enable more liquid access. In general terms, we also discussed my wish to donate from the pre-tax amounts instead of the usual taxed withdrawal, and they were familiar with the process and outlined how this could be done. This would remove more funds but give me the ability to make tax-efficient gifts. I will need to set up new beneficiaries for my accounts at US Bank to align with my previous decisions, but these can wait.

None of this is free, as you, dear reader, can imagine, but I wanted to leave Nike’s management, and US Bank local folks appealed to my support for your neighbor’s belief instead of some phone tree. It is one of many options. Sam called Fidelity, and we arranged the movement of funds. The 401k  must be moved by check. Susie’s old IRA and PAX funds can be combined and moved using simpler processes. It was about two hours of work to arrange everything. I returned with less paper and will take the check to USB when it arrives to begin my next financial adventure.

Sam did inform me that US Bank investments do not connect well to Quicken, but I was already just tracking the balance at Fidelity by manual adjustment at the month’s end; it will be the same work for me. I am not interested in tracking the details; otherwise, I would have done it in eTrade and not used an investment team.

Air VW the Gray had me home soon. Jeff had the lighting done and was painting the door. I stayed at home as the door had to be open to let the paint dry. For lunch, I reheated the chicken, couscous, and North African-style couscous sauce. While eating, I watched more ShipHappens and other YouTube videos.

Jeff returned and finished up, and I headed to Portland in Air VW the Gray. The school buses were on the road midafternoon, and traffic was mixed up. Nav took me off Highway 26, and I crossed the hills into Portland. It was a sunny, warm day and an incredible drive with many twists and turns. The view was excellent (when I could glance over; hands on the wheel and eyes mostly forward–there is no shoulder, passing lanes, or room for mistakes on these streets)! The EV climbed up 500 feet and then back down to Portland, and the EV then re-climbed 500 feet again to OHSU, a local hospital complex, on a different hill overlooking Portland.

Parking is always a question, but I parked in the physician parking lot because I know they don’t ticket it, and there is always a space free. Security last time sent me there when there was no parking in the usual places. I walked by Shriner’s Children’s Hospital and George’s Park. I remember George driving Susie and me through Columbia Gorge and buying us lunch when we were new to the area in the 1990s. I still look over to the place he used to sit at church and think of him.

His story is still available on the Internet: George. I thought of him as I talked to the bankers in the morning. I will try to give some of it away, remembering how George Ruhberg gave.

I reached the confusing hospital entrance starting on the 9th floor and elevator B and soon found imaging. I was an hour early, and they were behind. The person who checked me in offered me a free pass on the tram, and off I went back through the lobby to the nearby tram. Part of OHSU is by the river down in Portland city in the previous brown fields of ship construction (poisoned with lead and other harmful items) now covered in buildings and new soil for some plantings (it is impossible to undo the damage without exposing the poisons).

The ride is scary to me but fun and relatively short. I had a round-trip pass courtesy of OHSU. The mountains were visible, with Mount Hood floating in the sky, Adams (I always confuse it with Rainier) peeking over some hills, and the broken cone of Mount St. Helens clear. Here, you see the fractured mountain, not the open crater, as that points North.

I returned to OHSU, took the maze in the hospital, and found imaging. My wait was short, and soon I was being poked for a contrast feed for the CT scan. Instead of undressing, I just unloaded some metal items on a chair, lowered my pants, and lay down. A warm blanket was supplied, and soon I was popped in and out of the machine. The results are not yet published. This is my annual check that there is no cancer spreading from the colon cancer. Chemo and surgery should be enough. My odds are reasonable: 4 to 1 that I will be done with colon cancer.

Walking by the park again, I found Air VW the Gray and took it back a more regular way down High 5 to 217. Instead, I stopped at the hummingbird house. Jennifer was out, but I got a bill for “The Estate of Susan Wild,” and I vaguely remember agreeing to pay for some extra help for Susie at the end of her life. I will write a check. It was just $44.57 a day when she was in hospice care for that last week.

Between the bill and providing the Death certificate, a sadness came over me. Deborah noticed when I spoke to her after dinner. I went to Buster’s BBQ off of 99 for dinner. It was BBQ, but not that great, but not terrible. They need to work on their sides, and I would have preferred cornbread to garlic toast. But still OK. Others like it, and it is kid-friendly.

When I returned home, I did not know that I was sad. I felt like something was missing, and I did not understand. I was looking for Susie; grief can ambush you. I had been tired these last few days, but that was grief and depression. For me, Grief, not Death, rides a pale horse as all the colors leave the world for me.

But, I found my way as you must. I thought of a new SciFI story and began to see the colors in the world again. I fell asleep thinking of myself as a wizard in my tower practicing my craft in some fantasy landscape. I dreamed of magic, though none of it I can recall.

Today, while I write this on Saturday morning, I recall yesterday’s grief and embrace it. It is a friend, not an enemy. I checked, and 2600 has not accepted my story (or rejected it), but it took months last time. My Howard stories are out there (not selling, but I don’t care). Look here for my stories (paying zero is good). Friday was a good day, and the colors were bright.

Thanks for reading.

The house has new lights and paint, and the screen door has been removed. The red is too bright in the photo. Digital photos can only produce the colors they see (it dropped the shades of brown in the door), something folks forget. Color old-school film will get it right.

Again, the blog is about my day-to-day experiences. I am OK.

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.