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As usual, I had trouble sleeping when traveling the next day, even when traveling late. I slept poorly and was awake at 5. I finally accepted my lack of sleep and rose at 6. There were my usual traveling tasks, now that I travel mostly alone, that needed to be completed. I plan to wash the sheets and remake the bed; it will feel fresh on my return. I put away the dishes in the dishwasher and would wash all that was left in another dishwasher run, and even hand wash the few I missed. Clothing and towels were put away. I washed my robe and all the towels I used. I started these tasks and did some while writing the blog. Today would be a blur of activity.

I downloaded the Quicken transactions and looked up the interest paid on my CD investments, as it is not updating. I checked my rate of interest, and it could pay the mortgage for a year if I locked in more cash. I moved some later to reduce the 0% interest in checking. A first step.

I packed my grey suit, dress shoes, underwear, socks, PJs, and so on in my folding luggage. It can be carried on and has wheels but barely closes. I will check it and not be that guy. My meds, spare clothing, laptop, cables, Kindle, and battery pack are in my gym bag, which I will carry on.

I spaced it was Thursday and headed early to the sushi track nearby in the Aloha Mall, a strip mall within walking distance of The Volvo Cave, but I took Air Volvo. I got my first pieces of sushi and miso soup and saw Scott’s text that he would be at lunch. Oops. I paid for my tiny lunch and gave them a 30% tip with apologies. They were happy to get paid. I headed to Elephants Delicatessen in the Cedar Hills Crossing, ten minutes away.

I beat Scott by a few minutes. We both passed on the unique slow process of the deli salads and had tuna melts. I discussed possible travel plans with Scott, thinking more travel would benefit me. Scott is thinking of easier (cheaper) travel in the US, where he could meet his kids for a school break. We talked about money and my reshuffling my 401K to slightly longer horizons but still in the same types of investments. We need to get cash working for us, not in low/zero-interest accounts. High dividend equities were also in our thoughts, with Scott mentioning some mining companies and Verizon. Scott also told me that he is still trying to get used to not working. It is a weird feeling.

After Scott and I said good day and planned to meet in two weeks, Air Volvo took me back to The Volvo Cave. I set the timer for the orchids’ light, and they now get 14 hours of lighting a day. I finished the laundry, made the bed, and replaced the towels. I tried to watch the next episode of “Murders Only in the Building” on Hulu but woke after I nodded off. It was not a problem with the show. I put away the last of the dishes and washed the rest by hand.

I decided not to sleep but instead get some steps in, and I walked about 3,500 steps in the neighborhood between downpours. I have switched to the brown wool cowboy hat. I got some Oregon Mist and talked to the neighbors, who were all happy to get the rain back.

Next, I called Hilton and, after some long waits, got my hotel room assigned to my rewards number. I updated Expedia, and this should not happen again. I have not been able to fix my Alaska miles reward program. I often call when they are closed or don’t have an hour to wait for them.

It is time to move, which means I take a shower (while waiting on the call, ready to kill the water when they return—but I finished before they did) and dress in my traveling clothing. That is a dress shirt under a floppy sweater and nice dark-colored pants (in case I spill something). I shave, which results in me looking cleanly shaved on Friday until the early evening, and other things to keep me fresh while traveling. All learned tricks and skills from many all-nighters.

I put the last power cables into my gym bag and my laptop. I load that and my checked bag into Air Volvo and spend ninety minutes crawling across Beaverton and Portland on Thursday night (the worst) traffic. There is no reason to describe it—it is just slow. I park Air Volvo in the economy red lot near a light and take the first picture of the trip: “Where is Air Volvo parked?” picture. I chat with folks on the bus who explain that Chicago ruined my minorities and leftwing politics. I smile. They point out that things worked when the Daleys were in charge. I do not supply a different opinion as these observations were stated as a form of truth. I have heard the same claims made about Portland (different mayors). I later saw the same guy in first class on my plane to Chicago; he said hello when I greeted him.

I have a Theology Pub at 7 and discover that I am too early to check my bags (this will be a theme for this trip). I found a bar near the Alaska bag check (all new and shiny, as is much of the remodeled entrance hall at PDX). There, I have a gin and tonic and a chicken sandwich (no pet meat, despite rumors to the contrary) and then connect to Zoom for the church meeting. It is well attended tonight, and Z even speaks with her grandmother. The subject is simple and impossible. What is Truth? How do we use it?

While we covered all the obvious items, I think we determined that truth is a process or journey. It is crucial to talk, push against weak arguments, and learn what others think and say. This ability to calmly and clearly discuss allows us to find the truth. Things we believe are true need to be tested and measured. The process is critical and must be fair and transparent.

I paid my bill and moved to baggage check, which is now a do-it-yourself process. I managed to get the sticker on the bag and place it on the scanner, but it refused to scan. I got help, and some careful placing of barcodes made it work. Next, my ID had to be on a plate simultaneously—oops. Once that was corrected, everything went, and my bag was accepted and disappeared on a track.

I misread my boarding pass. I was now assigned seat 8E (an upgrade to premium), but I read that as gate E8. I did security for E, the line was short, and the new equipment was fun. The crew running it was smiling and talking a lot to make us feel more comfortable. Excelllent.

I took the long corridor to C7, which lets you reach other terminals, like C, my actual gate location. I found coconut shrimp for a snack and started this blog. I wrote until twenty minutes before boarding. I was happy to be upgraded (and not pay $108 for the seat). My seat was between two gals who were quiet for the trip. I learned at the bag pick up in Chicago that one was headed to a funeral and the other to see her daughter (one in DC, one in Chicago, and none on the West Coast) and had reservations at Alinea, the greatest restaurant in the USA (and maybe the world). I looked at that and decided not to pay the $700, but I have read the story of the place and have their drink books (I gave them away for Christmas). I was happy for her.

It was a 3:20 flight, and I slept about an hour. It was comfortable, but I was itchy from the dry air, and my feet hurt until I removed my shoes. I read and slept. I also texted Deborah, who was up early, to catch a train to meet me in Chicago.

I will stop there. I made it to the hotel, but that will be in the next blog.

 

Wednesday started with me sleeping past 8. I was catching up on my sleep after staying up late to help with a friend. I also had my flu and COVID-19 shot the day before, which may have slowed my start. As I suggested, it was a sluggish effort to make a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) with liberal coffee and a banana. I got all that together and looked outside to the gray and dampness. It is raining! Finally, we leave the high 90s (36C) and return to wet low 70s (22C). We had massive downpours, not the usual Oregon Mist, but we should return to normal. Air Quality is improving, but I cough and use my inhalers often. The rain should improve once the pollen and irritants from the forest fire smoke are washed out of the air.

Earning interest for my cash is working, but not as hard as I would like. After the US Bank changed the rates, I am earning only 2% on my high-interest, high-balance requirement savings account (I did not know they could do that), and the CD is making more than twice that, 4.6%, but I am unwilling to lock in more money for seven months. My small amount of stock is still crashing with the general instability of the current equities market, but my recent purchases are breaking even and paying dividends at over 4%. I am tempted to buy more Ford (F) and JP Morgan Preferred shares (JPM-D). Unfortunately, the bank’s shares are callable, and I expect when the rate cuts start (soon), the bank will call the shares after the second or third cut. Other boring companies that make good dividends that are cheap in the current instability may attract me. More to come, but I am in a buying mood with so many low prices and planning for medium to long-term horizons on these investments.

I wrote the blog for the morning and began getting updates from Dondrea about my need to play taxi. Our friend in OHSU got a room after spending the night on a gurney in the hallway of the Emergency Department (ED, but the ER to me). The plan was for a 2-ish release from the hospital, but Dondrea thought it would be later. I finished the blog just before noon, cleaned up, and dressed. I was going to have sushi, but I got a text from Dondrea, and I headed to Portland, getting a Whopper Jr with cheese for lunch in a drive-through. After facing some traffic, Air Volvo arrived in Portland, climbed the hill to reach OHSU, and headed to patient parking this time. There was no parking, and a security person explained that to me and sent me to Physician’s Parking. I found a spot open that said it was virtual permit-only parking, but I was already frustrated after twenty minutes of searching and decided f**k it and took the parking spot. I then found the entrance to the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital and asked for help. Where am I? Where is OHSU?

I learned I was a short walk from OHSU hospital and that my parking was correct (really?). I walked out of the Shriner’s area and up the hill, and there was a set of confusing signs, poorly arranged walkways (this is a drive to the hospital setting), and a tiny sign for OHSU. I found the Portland Tram (yes, we have one) that connects OHSU here on the hill with the building on the river. I was tempted to take it. But that was not OHSU on the end of that. I climbed more hills, walked in the street, climbed steps, and found myself in a lobby that showed signs that it might be a hospital. I asked the greeter why, yes, this is OHSU hospital. There being a gift shop should have convinced me.

I took a tour and did not know I was on the 9th floor at the entrance (yes, that is right). I took a down elevator and got to see the depths of the place. Then I reached the 10th, asked for help, found 10A, used the intercom to get the entrance, and there was our friend ready to leave. We then located the Rx place (another hill) and filled that. We then carefully walked back to Air Volvo. My friend wanted to get some fresh air and move a bit.

Air Volvo returned to Beaverton, and I delivered our friend to her home. It took only a few minutes for Air Volvo to reach home, and soon, I was packing and organizing for my trip. I also looked deeply into the Python code and was confused by how to get the Unicode chess characters to display.

Next, I texted Deborah and shared plans for the weekend in Chicago starting on Friday. We have a sketch of a plan. We plan to see The Book of Morman on Friday night and go to good pizza afterward. I fly all night and arrive too early on Friday. Deborah is trying to get a train. I will try the Art Institute near the hotel until we connect. All is hopeful that trains, taxis, and planes will all work.

Next, Corwin arrives, and we board Air Volvo to head to Portland to meet Mariah. I offer Corwin work to break down my old garden and restore the lawn. I also plan a small tree in the same area and will want a hole and tree installed later. Corwin will also eliminate the fallen and broken cement birdbath (it came with the house). A price for services rendered is accepted.

Traffic is still heavy even at the later hour, and Air Volvo misses the exit and drives through SE to reach Hopsworks on SE Powell, which is only a few minutes late. Corwin, Mariah, and I chat; the beer is good, and my sandwich, a Muffuletta, made cold, spicy, and huge, was fantastic. I give Corwin the other half for later.

Air Volvo gets us back; I am out of sorts after the chat in Portland. Corwin heads home after a chat about role-playing rules at The Volvo Cave, and I return to Python as more of a distraction from my unease. Corwin will mist the orchids for me once and refill their water trays.

I found the code for turning a virtual chess board into a print string online. I can now see how the internals of Python Chess are organized, and that helps. My Python is slowly returning to me, but I need examples of how to use this stuff.

Feeling more balanced, I shower and try to rest. Coughing and the coffee (I have a coffee after a beer if driving in the dark and rain–you need to be alert here) keep me up. I return to Louise Penny’s murder and crime novels set in French Canada and soon find myself dreaming up new text when holding my Kindle. It is time to sleep.

I wake often and sleep is hard. I finally enter deep sleep nearing 2. I wake at 5 and rise at 6. It is a travel day and it is always hard to sleep (the excitement).

Thanks for reading. Thurday includes an all-night flight so it will likely an early blog will be delivered from PDX before the flight. Friday and flying all night will likely be written on Saturday late.

As I wrote in Monday’s blog, Tuesday started as a continuation of Monday with only a few fitful hours of sleep. I was with a friend in the OHSU ER on the big hill in Portland at 6ish. We remained there until about 10AM as the hospital put a gurney in the hallway in the ER (called the Emergency Department or ED). Before this, I chatted with my friend, relieving Dondrea at 6, and found comfort in the vending machine. My friend got some cold, bubbly Sprite, cheesy popcorn, and strawberry pop-tarts (I had one of the two provided). The machine allowed you to tap with your credit card. The water was sold out.

When my friend was napping, often head dropped in a chair in the lobby, I would write part of the blog. This stop-and-start did not improve my writing, and there were many typos (most missed by Grammarly). By the end of the morning, I had most of Monday in story form in a blog yet to be posted.

With my friend safe, breakfast served, and resting, I headed out and found Air Volvo as I left it in Portland in a parking garage (street parking for Air Volvo has not always been successful). I soon returned to Beaverton. Air Volvo reached the edge of Beaverton to discover that the pharmacy address now entered into NAV was in mod-Beaverton, and I headed back into Beaverton. It was not a precisely efficient trip.

Five Guy Burgers was on the strip mall, and I decided that a burger was a good answer after no meaningful sleep for the night. I ordered their cheese and bacon burger (what the hell) but racked up $18 for lunch. Hmmm, it was a double patty, and I did not finish it. It was dressed up with fresh onions, lettuce, tomato, etc. The small fries were freshly cut and cooked in peanut oil. Perfect. The place offers free peanuts, salted, in the shell. A favorite.

While enjoying my repast, I wrote more of the blog. I finished lunch, left 1/3 of the burger unfinished, and walked across the parking lot to Walgreens. There, I discovered that vaccine appointments were just the time when to arrive, and there was another hour or more to wait. F**k. I found a chair and watched as the line of mostly grey-haired folks who thought lunchtime would be a great time for a shot slowly reduced. I found the complaint site for Oregon pharmacy licensing on my phone, but it was an hour wait and, while annoying, was not worthy of a full complaint.

With my insurance, I had a flu shot in my left arm and Moderna’s newest COVID-19 (number 8) in my right arm at zero cost. The flu arm was painful already. I took Air Volvo home to The Volvo Cave. My neighbor’s cat was once again enjoying the cool cement of my driveway, and I drove around the cat. It is scared of people and slowly rises and walks away when I de-Air Volvo.

A shower and new clothing make me feel more normal. I have some items on my list for today. I try to stop by my friend’s house, but her spouse is on the phone and does not hear the bell. I decided to return and try again later. I cross Beaverton and reach Cornell Farm, an excellent garden store and nursery. I managed to get 4,000+ steps by walking a few times through the stores and nursery. I am tempted by a brilliant orchid display. I looked at some exotic plants and trees, but with my trip to Chicago this week, I resisted getting anything that would require digging a hole. I got Dondrea a birthday present and a card.

I was reluctant to leave such a peaceful place, so I got coffee and a pastry. After 3, the baked goods were 1/2 off, and then the barista decided I should get two, doubling the deal. I heard a call for “Emily” for more goodies. I thought about showing up and claiming I was Emily. I seem to channel Monty Python after all the Python programming (The programming language Python is not named for the snake but for the show). While I didn’t do this, I mentioned it to the barista, who laughed quite hard, and Emily (who could hear the discussion) thought it quite funny.

I finally posted the blog while enjoying the quiet near a massive Monkey Puzzle tree. The sea captains would bring these Asain trees home, sell them, or give them to friends. You see them all over the area, as they are now a popular tree with nurseries, but some of the large Monkey Puzzle trees came from the old sea captains.

I took an indirect route home and stopped at The Laughing Planet for dinner. While not fast, it is always good. I had a Sante Fe, but as a bowl, not a burrito. I also had their mushroom soup, which came with corn chips. I updated some typos in the blog that Grammary missed (growl). I watched the start of the debates without sound and could not stand it after a few minutes. I enjoyed my dinner, thinking Laughing Planet was ironic for a debate night, more Monty Python thinking.

Back in Air Volvo, I stopped by and was granted access, but my task was unnecessary as word of the accident had spread to the people I was to contact. I wish folks well and return to The Volvo Cave.

Somewhere, I ordered my tickets for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland on Kickstarter. I picked the Call of Cthulhu game add-on and VIP pass. I enjoyed it last time.

I showered (again) and headed to bed because I was tired and my thinking was fogging. It’s not time to cut code! I am not sure if it was the lack of sleep, exhaustion, vaccines, or just the continued impact of the surgery only 110 days ago. The answer is ‘Yes,’ I am sure. I read and finished one book and returned to Canadian murder mysteries. Navigational Entanglements is another Viet Nam Empire Space Opera (no, really) by Aliette de Bodard. It is not part of her other universes, but the setting is familiar with Vietnamese space culture and Space Opera themes. I enjoyed it, and it was short. I was happy to return to Canada-based crime with The Long Way Home: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Book 10) last night. I read this on my Kindle to avoid cluttering the house with non-technical, one-time-read books. I mean to use the local library, but I still have not taken the time to learn that. Soon!

I send a ‘good night’ text after getting the latest updates from Dondrea.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

It is Tuesday morning, and I am in the ER with a friend who was in a car accident. Many readers would know this person, but that story is for the friend to tell. Dondrea called me Monday night, and I stayed up and online with her while she helped in the ER. I put on my PJs at 2ish and slept for a few hours. At 5, I rose as Dondrea needed me to take over, staying with our friend until 6. I drove in after making liberal coffee, had a few sips, took my meds, and found where I was going on Nav. I was across Beaverton and climbed the hills in Air Volvo to OHSU emergency. I was there about 6 and took over from Dondrea helping out.

I’m sorry, there were no pictures on Monday; I forgot. Also, it took all day to get this out, as I was busy. 

With apologies for being so late…Monday follows.

Going backward, I watched another season, season two, of Slow Horses on Apple+ while waiting to see if I needed to help. Dondrea texted me with updates while I enjoyed season two. I finished the season and thought it better, in some ways, than the first season. Recommended!

Before that, I had a Zoom call with the Hillsboro Python Machine Learning group on Meetup. Today, we continued our study of biomedical Python and the use of DNA data to train and build models. Ernest ran the meeting and the presentation. He wrote a lot of code and ran most of it for us. The first was “classical,” which produced good results with my favorite AI classifier, Random Forest of Binary Trees. Ernest followed this with a neural network solution, Long Short-Term Memory, which trained quickly and produced good results, but not materially better than the “classic.” The newest method was slow and needed more work to understand. It claims to work for very large data sets, possibly identifying subtleties missed by “classic” and other familiar methods like neural networks. We need more work/information on this one. Ernest’s point was never to give up a classic for the newest trend in AI. FOMO should be ignored!

Ernest let me demo my Cloud9 setup for Python Chess development. I wanted to check and recommend the Python version it used (3.9.16). This version seems stable and well-supported. I suspect 3.10 may be good, but AWS picked this, and I saw it as a version often required as the minimum. Thus, Developers are building for it. In one of these meetings, I will do a full demo and how-to document for AWS Python Unix development.

Before the meeting, I made a BT sandwich. I am still out of lettuce, but I have bread from the freezer (toast it to defrost) and yesterday’s leftover sliced tomato and bacon. Excellent! While eating my sandwich (with organic mayo), I wrote more Python and added a few extra functions. I also discovered that the chess piece characters are supported in the editor for Cloud9, so I can put them in the code to print. I would like that better than the letters displayed in the default board print.

Going back towards noon, I met Steve in Hillsboro, running late as I rose late and wrote the blog for a while. We had lunch and drinks at Amelia’s with José as our waiter. We had smaller margaritas as it was lunch, and we both had things to get done. There was some hesitancy in that decision as partying in Hillsboro had some appeal. We caught up, and Steve listed his responses to various blog items over the past months. Sort of strange, we both thought, to do this asynchronously. We vowed to meet more often here and on the Oregon Coast, where Steve and his spouse, AJ, reside, thus avoiding asynchronistic issues (you know, dear reader, I wrote that to impress Grammarly and see if it would mess with it, nope). As the British would say, “That was over-egging the pudding.”

Before this, I rose late and wrote Sunday’s blog post. I also wrote a note to the mail folks to halt the mail while I was on my trip and then to deliver it all on my return. I did this as a memo to my local mail carrier and put it in the mailbox. I did this in my robe and got whistled at by my neighbor. I yelled back, “This is what retired looks like!” I finished the blog and posted it.

I also read all the church Staff-Parish Relations Committee (think church HR) notes sent to me. I have two presentations to do for the church on two Sundays, and these emails came all day.

I rose late, around 8. I found the kitchen (it is still in the same place), made liberal coffee, and witnessed the orchids look unharmed by the lack of cold nights. To complete my breakfast, I added a slice of Celtic black gingerbread and a banana. I read emails; many were useless, updated my Quicken transactions, and read the news.

And that brings me full circle.

Thanks for reading!

With church starting later, at 11, I luxuriated in bed until 8. For the last time, I found the house cold (I set the AC to 68 at night now). After putting on my slippers, I found the kitchen (it is still where I expect it to be) and made liberal coffee in the French press. I located the last pumpkin spice bread and added that to my repass and a banana. I read my emails, some news (primarily political, ranging from sure Harris will win to the polls are wrong, and Trump wins by a few points in each purple state), and update my Quicken with the latest transactions. I then tried to recall the unstructured Saturday.

I finished the blog at about 10 and then cleaned up and dressed. I also got a reminder from Walgreens that I have an appointment for the 8th COVID-19 shot, yet another flu shot, and the RSV vaccine on Tuesday. Dear reader, there will be many COVID-19 and flu cases this year, as there is every year, and the cheapest and safest protection is vaccination. Please consider this.

Today, Emmaus Church is sharing our facilities with them, having an earlier service at 9:30. I decided to dress colorfully for church, picking out the gold vest for my blue suit and a Pride tie. This assembly takes some time (suspenders under the vest), but soon, I board Air Volvo and arrive at First United Methodist Church near Old Town Beaverton.

In our church everyone is dressed in the Oregon come-as-you-are slightly higher-end for church. Only Dan is in a suit. Paster Ken is in a shirt with a pattern, shorts, and sandals sporting the summer. To put it mildly, I stand out, but I don’t care. Previously, I saw one of the pastors for Emmaus Church as I reached the facilities, shook his hand, and congratulated him on their first service at our church. I am introduced to many young folks from their congregation dressed in Oregon come-as-you-are look, all young enough to be my kids or grandkids and all smiling and excited. Excellent.

Our service is an older Methodist crew’s usual slow and peaceful event. I was surprised to see some of the hymns I suggested to Dondrea (she texted me about trying to match Exodus and the Ten Commandments to music) in the list for today. I suggested picking a theme if you can’t match the scripture. I was happy to sing “We’ll Understand It Better By And By” and “And Standing in the Need of Prayer.” We sang it a bit slow and sleepy, and I thought Elvis would go faster: here. Still, they were good songs to belt out today.

My singing was as terrible as usual, with me off-key and ahead or behind on the verses, but I did sing loud enough that I could hear my words, which, with my hearing, might be louder than I think. Nobody turned to me or moved away, so I guess I must not have been too loud (though I bet Barb, Susie’s sister, would doubt that after going to church with me for a few years back in Maryland in the 1990s).

Ken’s sermon focused on one of the Ten Commandments, which included an explanation and implementation: the sabbath commandment. It was listed before the usual list called out by folks. This is the call to respect the sabbath day and to rest. Ken says he is terrible at this one, as most of us are in our modern world. While Methodists generally don’t do guilt at church, Ken was suggesting we need, as a culture, to find a means to respect and follow this commandment, which is the one that comes with more words and instructions from God than all the other ones. Ken also said he is working on this and has no idea how to make it happen. Sunday is always the catch-up day, he identified. More guilt.

I thought Ken found some of his answers when he talks about Sunday not being about production, and I see that as the best option in the modern world. Try to take a break from production and creating value for a day, and instead, find those things that bring you closer to family and friends and your connection to God or nature (if you are not religious). In my opinion, it does not have to be all day or include complex rules; just try to connect. Thus, cooking a special family dinner on Sunday fits my idea of taking a break as long as it is fun and relaxing. To me, stuffing some laundry in the machines and then going to something fun seems OK. My thoughts are to avoid guilt, as it is a poor solution to remembering God and connecting, and try to make what you can work. Methodists are always about moving toward perfection (it is a grace thing); we ain’t there yet.

After church, I chatted with folks for a while. I will miss the following Sunday as I travel to Chicago. My next sabbath will be on board U-505 in the Industrial Arts Museum.

Feeling that I needed to wear the bright outfit a bit longer, I headed to The 649 Taphouse. Natalia opened today and was dressed in a Little Black Dress and make-up as if it was a night for dancing (with practical boots for working as a bartender). We thought we should get a picture together.

I ordered a lighter ale and nachos because I felt like finger foods while working. I planned to write more code. I brought up my server in AWS and ran Cloud9 and was surprised at how much better it is working now. Yesterday, I updated the instance type to T2.small, which is not free but dirt cheap (2 cents an hour). The runs of Python were without slow updates to the source code I changed, as I have seen before, forcing me to use a command-line run. I updated how I handle ‘main’ to be more standard and added more moving parts.

Time flies, and hours have gone by. I get lots of positive comments on my outfit. Coding is like this; days disappear while you live in your mind and fingers as you run and adjust repeatedly. I am just about to start adding basic logic to play a game when I see my time is up. I have to update my Dungeons and Dragons character and then head to Matt’s to play D&D. I bring my new D&D 2024 books (we have agreed on this name instead of the 50th-anniversary name).

I arrived fifteen minutes early, and Matt and I talked about D&D 2024. We mostly did not like it. We enjoyed 5.0, which replaced the seldom-lamented 4E version. Matt did add some revisions from D&D 2024 to our game that improve hiding, invisibility, and the polymorph spell. We all sit in the kitchen area to eat. Matt makes burgers for dinner for us on his grill. Scott arrives later and has already eaten.

We are in the vampire Ravenloft setting on a quest. This is D&D gone gothic. The setting is part of the tour of the setting, which is this pre-made material. Matt was able to purchase the maps for this area separately. He is forgoing purchasing the prepared material as it is not worth the expense, in his opinion, and he has most of the stuff already. I have DM’d this setting often, including the original AD&D version and the 5E Roll20 online version during the pandemic. This is my first time as a player.

The setting is like an old black-and-white Dracula movie; the religion in the area is a TV movie version of Christianity or the worship of the ruling vampire. My cleric knows this religion and manages to fake it and perform strange rites, including communion, to reassure the locals that we are OK. We avoid the pitchforks and torches riot of the locals, a regular occurrence in this setting.

We are not coming against the usual bad guys, but new bad guys (and level-appropriate for us–challenging). I follow my usual plan of stopping loss by using up my spells before the final battle, leaving the other characters to finish the boss. I saved one spell for the final boss and was happy to finally use one of those super spells in D&D and destroy all the minions for the final battle in one word. We stopped there with the main boss appearing.

I head home and watch more of the second season of Slow Houses, and to my surprise, it is even better. I head to bed after showering and getting in my PJs. The house is not an icebox this time, and I will soon sleep. I leave ‘Music to Sleep By’ running on Echo, and someone thinks a sudden loud noise in the music is good. After being blasted awake, I order Echo to stop and return to sleep, not waking except for a text, and soon sleep again.

Thanks for reading.