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Our leader for games on Saturday is camping, and Kathleen was unable to join me in Portland. It was a quiet Saturday.

I rose at 6, with the sunrise waking me at 5. I tried to roll over and return to sleep, but the hives drove me to get up and treat them. I was itchy all day. I was able to control most of the hives with some skin cream and taking a morning shower. Something in the smoke is making me sneeze and react. The air quality is good, but something in the air is irritant. I must have walked through something and carried it into the house. I will wash the bedding as that usually helps.

I wrote a long blog, but as I started early, I was through before 11. I had the usual distractions, but I wrote more than 1,800 words. Again, there were many asides and musing and a few rewrites to remove ‘so’ and then to re-write the re-write from Grammarly, which is out of its AI’s mind. I still use the service as it finds missed plurals and other basic mistakes that I find difficult to spot. Grammarly attempt to rewrite a paragraph often requires me to correct its updates. I often reject its more invasive recommendations.

I’m happy to publish the blog before noon; I shower, shave, and so on to be prepared for Saturday. A text updates me that Dondrea has already done her run, which motivates me to put on my Air Force Ones and head out. The air has a hint of pine and smoke, and the sun is not yet burning hot. There are some clouds in the sky, and some of the blue is dark, meaning the smoke is not heavy; it still feels cool from the evening. Air Volvo takes me to Reedville Creek Park and soon I am walking the loops.

The group of Asian men, now one with a girlfriend, is there again, sitting at a bench and doing something on their phones. They are intense and then walk, looking at their phones the whole time, to another bench. They go back and forth on the benches. The girl is as intense as the others looking at her phone while having an arm around one of the men.

Another couple was running and walking the same loop. I told them that I measured that loop at 725 steps or thereabouts. Later, we stopped and chatted, and they said that steps are a function of heights and that the loop is about 1/3 of a mile. The world is literally smaller for taller people. We both continue with our loop. The park is busy and at least four groups are on the loop this Saturday morning. I managed to complete five loops, with the last one being hard, but I feel I might be able to do six soon. Better.

I stop by Sonics and commit a lunch sin, but a favorite lunch. I have a foot-long Coney Island dog with chopped chili, onions, and cheese. I have a Coke Zero for the first time–not terrible. The onion rings, extra, were not worth eating. I listened to the end of “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me” and some of “Live Wire” on Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). Having a Coney Island and listening to my favorite shows on OPB was nice.

After dumping the trash (and most of the onion rings) in the supplied container, Air Volvo headed to Big River Coffee across from the car wash, which I did not need, having washed Air Volvo on Friday. I had no pen in the car to mark Post-Its arrows with notes. I opened the Annotated Sherlock Holmes to “The Musgrave Ritual,” which is sort of a treasure hunt story, and found the footnotes quite interesting (this is the older 1968 book, not the new and more expensive annotated copy). The footnotes were about the streets, buildings, and living costs.

This caught my attention, and soon, I was on my laptop searching Abebooks.com for an 1887 London travel guide–the year the telling of “The Musgrave Ritual” by Holmes to Watson, according to the experts. These older travel instruction documents are often inexpensive and can be found in good condition. I have a whole collection for the 1920s. There were few choices for London, but there is a special version for Americans: Charles A. Gillig’s guide to London and important suburban districts: specially compiled for the use of American travellers, 1887. I could not find an original for cheap, but the book reprinters and binders in India offered a $40 leather-bound copy of a print from a digital copy. What the hell, I thought, and I ordered one (it takes a month). I have two other reprint books the same way and like them. I like to be precise when writing about the past.

I return to the Volvo Cave after finishing my coffee and finding reading not what I want to do. Then I sit down with my new Strategy and Tactics Quartly Fall 2024: Grant’s Overland Campaign. I have played these battles and Grant’s earlier chaotic victories in the West (back then, the Ohio Valley was West), and I find I was wrong, and I can read. I finish the prologue. This issue is written by a retired General Bell (no relation, I think), and I enjoy his writing style. I have a subscription to these quarterly military history publications as they are current-thinking and colorful, and I often read 1/2 of the whole magazine.

I do some more research on investing. I discovered that the Treasury’s short-term instruments, as their quality is unquestioned, pay low rates for inflation-protected options. I can get the same rate in my savings account without locking in for years.

I managed to put down Grant’s story. I head to The 649 for a beer and a light dinner. I brought my laptop, hoping to do some more writing. Natalia is bartending, and I have not seen her in months. We catch up, and I have a lighter summer beer and find a seat that points out the window. Most of the tables are already in use, and no smaller tables have proper light.

I wrote for a while and then started back into my AI story of Holms and Watson as AI creations. I found an ending with Holms refusing to accept a poorly created client interface. I thought having an AI refuse to work with its creator over bad software was fun. I was able to finish the first draft and will return to editing it and smoothing it out soon.

I also discovered a 4.6% interest for 100K CDs at US Bank and locked in one for seven months. I will leave much of my money liquid, but getting some good interest on 1/3 works for me. I also ordered a coffee while doing high finance and a hummus platter with mostly veggies, some cheese, and some pita bread.

I returned home after paying the bill. I returned to my model building now that it was dark and beyond 9. I finished painting the hull of SMS Derfflinger 1916 by adding a thin black line to the bottom of the waterline model. I started to read the etched brass instructions and removed the plastic that brass would replace. I primed one sheet of brass and then discovered that the parts were scattered across multiple brass sheets. I will have to prime them all before I start on the full build. With this kind of model building, you ignore the plastic model instructions and follow the new instructions with the etched brass. You build the model in sections and assemble it all at once. This will prevent you from breaking and smashing up the brass you built previously.

At 10, I decided that I was not going to open, clean, wash, or prime ten sheets of brass. I returned to reading about Grant and soon showered and headed to bed. I have to wait for The Machine to finish with the sheets. I remake the bed and soon sleep.

(the bourbon rose is reblooming!)

Thanks for reading. Sorry, the last section was rushed as I ran out of time.

I rose slowly on Friday with the hot California-like sun bleaching everything, found the kitchen (it had not moved), and started my day. I noticed that the dark blue in the sky was gone as the smoke added grey to the blue. The air quality has not become dangerous, according to the Internet, as the fires are in the Cascades and the Oregon high desert (and California and Idaho).  So far, the population in the valley has appeared to have learned that fireworks and lighting fires in tinder-dry fields and forests is not only illegal but stupid, and unmonitored children are not given matches and fireworks (unlike in 2020). While temperatures reached 100F (39C) on Thursday, Friday would be kinder, with heat around 92F (33C) with almost no humidity–desert weather. I also have the AC set at 73F for the Volvo Cave that filters the air. I am cool, and my allergies are less in the house.

I wrote on Friday a blog of over 2,000 words and was not done, with many interruptions, until just before 1. The blog had many asides and many musings. This blog records and shares my experiences and thoughts, those that are appropriate to share in a public setting, with you, dear reader. Some days, it is a task to get through it; others, I want to linger, think, and share. I have been writing for years now (yes, years now) and have over 1,600 posts. Writing the blog is now part of my life, and I think it is a duty (yes, almost a religious duty) to remember each day. With my retirement from the shoe company and the funding from my layoff (it was a s**t-load of money), I am not rich, but I think I have enough to avoid returning to work–unless I want to. I can spend the morning writing and drinking liberal coffee.

Breakfast was a banana and toast with butter. I have not stopped by a grocery shop to get some cream cheese for all those NYC bagels waiting for me (thanks, Joyce). As I mentioned, I made liberal Equal Exchange brand coffee in my French Press. I wrote, read the news, and explored the transactions for the last few days in Quicken. Folks texted me, and we texted for much of the morning. I wrote a few asides and musings and removed ‘so’ from my writings and from Grammarly updates that put ‘so’ in my writing.

My usual sequence is to clean up, shave, and dress after I finish the blog. But I don’t like to cross the imagined line of noon unprepared to face the day, so I left the blog unfinished while I prepared to face the day. Dressed, shaved, and presentable, I finished the blog just before 1. I reheated some of the blackened (just the skin) chicken I grilled on Thursday with a potato with sour cream and butter. The chicken was good, and I only finished 3/4 of the potato. I eat smaller meals now–another success and necessary for weight loss.

I got a text from Kathleen, and we are meeting in Clackamas, Oregon, to enjoy the new Deadpool movie. This means a 27-mile trip across Beaverton and Portland, which Air Volvo Nav says is a twenty-minute trip. I expect an hour with early afternoon rush-hour traffic. I do a few chores in the house and then board Air Volvo. First refueling and then a car wash as the windshield is sprinkled with tree sap (a hazard here in the summer). Next, I head to Beverton and park in Old Town near my church, First United Methodist Church, still flying the Pride Progress flag that Z and I put up a few weeks ago–nobody has taken it (I have replaced many and have a spare flag and poll ready). The new poll allows the flag to flap more. I head to Beaverton Library (a function of Washington County).

I signed up for a library card there (it is good for Washington County), as I am retired and have time to check out books instead of buying them for my Kindle or at a bookstore. I do like to own history books and other heavily footnoted books. I check the references and often will order a copy of a referenced book or article online (Abebooks.com).

To get a card, they point you to a library workstation with a browser set to let you create an online account. Once my online account was created, I took a photo of that information. I took this and my driver’s license (proof I was me and my address) to the main desk and completed the process. I also received a fast explanation of the services and a physical card with my true account number.

This was done within my time limits, and I headed to the movie with an hour available for travel time. Traffic was heavy and stopped often. The highways included many stressed drivers making risky and extra-legal lane changes and exits. I was careful, conservative, and watchful as it was more likely they would hit Air Volvo than Air Volvo hitting the imaginative drivers. Being retired, I would prefer to keep Air Volvo for a few more years.

I had to cross Beaverton and Portland and hit separate traffic snarls for each transition. Kathleen texted me to let me know that her bus was missing and she was having trouble connecting. It is not good to text and drive, so I tried to keep that to a minimum and instead called Kathleen with Handsfree phone access. I reached my target after an hour of enjoying weird driving with stressed-out folks from Oregon and Washington State (Sprinkled with shell-shocked visitors. “How can they be so polite, slow, and terrible drivers simultaneously,” I imagine visitors think). I arrived at the theater, took Air Volvo to Kathleen’s house, and picked her up; she never connected with the buses and returned to the theater.

We decided on dinner after the movie and went to Deadpool and Wolverine 3D, which started in a few minutes. We were in a nearly empty theater (the movie’s big opening was a week ago) and seated with the previews already going. The movie was entertaining and funny. Kathleen and I laughed through the whole movie. It does strongly reference the previous Deadpool and Wolverine movies, and seeing them helps you understand some of the jokes, but it would not degrade your experience if you missed them. I actually hated the last Wolverine movie, but I thought it was well done. I thought this movie, Deadpool and Wolverine, was surprisingly good, and all the action scenes looked great in 3D. 

Dinner was at the Margarita Factory. I bought a pair of Texas Taco salads, one each (beef for me and shredded chicken for Kathleen), which, while not looking large, were surprisingly filling, and neither of us finished one. I stayed with iced tea; avoiding alcohol, especially mixed drinks, seems to help the weight loss. Our appetizer was delivered late (almost as dessert) and mostly untouched. While the staff was friendly, the crowd was young and dressed (or, more correctly said, slightly undressed) for the heat and happy, the food was expensive, and the drinks not cheap. Thus, it is hard to recommend the place. I would call it an expense report joint.

Air Volvo took Kathleen home in the First Class seat (and co-pilot seat). Before saying goodbye, we planned a possible game on Saturday night (but that would not happen). My return flight across Portland and Beaverton in the early evening was uneventful. I arrived in Beaverton after sunset and twilight was surrending to night.

My model was ready for more work, and it was dark, signaling no reason to go outside. I put on my nitrile gloves, which prevent me from getting fingerprints on the model of SMS Derfflinger 1916–a new process for me. I am hand painting the model, and I painted the XF-66 Light Grey on the port side of the ship model. It will take two coats, so each is light and dries fast. I also painted the deck XF-78 Wooden Deck Tan, which I think is a bit dark but is the recommended color. This requires painting around the plastic-modeled deck furniture and structures. I use my figure painting brushes for this work. I have my 3X bifocals safety glasses, but I steam them up a few times. I actually paint some tiny bits without them. While neither is a perfect paint job, I find I can make smaller and smaller mistakes on each pass. Next time, I will correct the deck painting and paint the deck items XF-9 Sky Grey to match the superstructure.

(The model with some of the parts and deck overlays set in place. You can see a section that is missing, as it has to be assembled from brass-etched and plastic parts. All the gun barrels, I think, are replaced, meaning I have to start reworking the plastic parts to include the brass bits and then prime and paint them Sky Grey. The darker deck color paint can be seen in the piece missing.)

The Imperial German Navy’s (1871-1919) capital ships operated generally in the misty and often rough North Sea and calmer Baltic. The ships are painted to match the darker water and mist, making them harder to range. In the age of coal and harsh oil black smoke, the smoke would give away a ship’s position long before they were spotted. The paint was to make it harder to measure the range for firing. Getting missed by a battleship was preferred to being easily ranged and hit. History records that the British overshot in their first rounds of shots at SMS Derfflinger and other German Battlecruisers in the only large fleet engagement in WW1, Jutland 1916. It is thus important for a modeler to repeat within reason the same scheme–it is part of the history of SMS Derfflinger 1916.

Aside: The lovely wooden decks cannot be seen from the side and thus did not help the enemy range the ship. Only when planes and radio communication became effective in the late 1930s did the bright wood become a liability. In WW2, the US Navy overpainted much of the beautiful teak wood with dark blue. IJN Yamato, the largest battleship every made, decks were painted a dirty grey towards the end of the war. Model builders often will build a WW2 ship with bright decks, as making them dirty and dark is a shame. I have seen a blue-painted wood overlay for American WW2 battleship models!

Here is IJN Yamato with overpainted decks in one of her last battles: IJN Yamato.

I discovered a small section of SMS Derfflinger is now wood covered in the latest 3D drawings. I do not have an overlay for this tiny bit. I looked for a generic 1/700 scale deck for sale. My eBay account is blocked as eBay security (all AI-controlled) decided I was hacked–nope. F**k. I talk to their AI-controlled phone tree and chatbots. My old phone number is still associated with the account. There were no humans to rescue me. Thus, I cannot use eBay. I try to create a new account, but you cannot use the same email on a different account. F**k.

It is past 11, and I decide I can manage without eBay and make my own deck tomorrow with a pencil, ruler, and some leftover unused wood overlay decking. I head to the shower, get in my PJs, and read. I am soon nodding off, so I get up, take my pills, use some eye grease, and head back to bed. I am soon asleep. I wake twice for proof of hydration. My allergies have me waking with hives at 5AM. I rise early and deal with it. Yikes!

Thanks for reading.

Thursday started with me rising just before 8. It is another hot summer day, with the winds dropping and smoke in the valley. Many forest fires, including a few large ones, are burning, especially in California. The temperature for The Volvo cave deck (outside) reached 97F (36C) on Thursday. I stayed inside most of the day and forgo any walking until late.

I spent the morning with a banana and the last croissant from Beaverton’s Tous Les Jours bakery. I made liberal coffee and could taste justice all morning. Justice is not revenge, as most people believe, but the right things happening for the right reasons for widows, orphans, and the poor.

I write yet another, it seems, endless blog about yesterday. I was slightly time-boxed as I had lunch with Scott. We both retired from Nike and agreed to meet weekly or at least a few times a month to stay connected. We both get busy and sometimes forget about the meeting. “When every day is Saturday, it is hard to remember it is Thursday,” Scott said once, and I agree.

Before lunch, I completed the transactions to buy $10,000 in savings bonds at 4.28%, a type that is adjusted for inflation. I also transferred much of the after-tax-deferred compensation lump payment to my savings account. I also signed on to ADP and printed out the paystub that covers this payment. All of this was done with Quicken transfers to align with these money movements. Neatness counts with money and dealing with the Fed and the IRS!

Aside: Deferred compensation is another higher-earner tool for tax avoidance. I stacked a percentage of my earnings after social security and medicare payments (matched by my employer as I was not an independent contractor) into a before-tax investment. These earnings would enjoy (or suffer) the index funds’ performance–I did very well. I would set a percentage and distribution method each year when I leave my employer (the shoe company in this case). In well-off and multiple high-earner families, 100% of an earning would often be shielded from State/Federal/Local taxes. At a later date, retirement, for example, the distributions would begin. Continuing the example, someone who moved to Texas would greatly reduce the State/Local tax burden compared to receiving the distribution while still residing in Oregon. Also, this is taxed as income, and usually, a retired person has a much lower taxable income later in their life. Thus, all these taxes are avoided or reduced. Meaning that the rich and wealthy pay less. Not sure I am a fan of this tax break for well-heeled families, but I used it, though my plan faltered when I retired this year and not two years from now.

I finished the blog after ten, dressed, and started to organize my work table more. I am going back to model building and figure painting. The tools for model building are much smaller, and few need to be plugged into the wall. I am not using my airbrush and not spraying much paint except for the grey-colored Mr. Surfacer primer. Hard plastic does not take Tamiya Color Acrylic Paint well without a primer. Also, when hand brushing, you also have to be ready for two coats and lots of tiny fixes unless masking (and then there is always something still).

I use a scalpel to make cuts and leave X-acto blades for limited use for heavy cutting. Scalpel blades cannot take the stress of hard cuts and are so sharp that a mistake could send you to the ER! I use the wickedly sharp English Steel Swann-Morton blades (like the movie, “So sharp that just looking at them, you get cut”). If you are cutting cardboard or curves, use an X-acto knife with a fresh blade. If you want to remove the micro bump, the scalpel is perfect, and the sharper, the better.

Returning to our story, Air Volvo boards and I take the next flight to Elephants Delicatessen in moderate traffic. My worst trips to Portland are Thursdays, and I seldom travel to Portland on Thursdays to play games or for dinner–it is messy in Beaverton. I arrive thirty minutes early, surprising me, and I walk through Best Buy as planned. I wanted to be at the Cedar Hills Mall, the location of the delicatessen, to look at headphones. None have the ability to send all the sound to one side. I find I only hear half the music as stereo technology splits the sound. I have no hearing on the left side and miss some of the sound; it appears the setup is on the source. Hmmm.

I walked in the heat, already over 85F (30C), and soon saw Scott in his red jeep. We found drinks and then ordered sandwiches and found a table outside. We saw some folks from Nike who were happy to see two retired guys, and we chatted for a few moments until our food was delivered. Scott and I talked about Scott’s lawn work, my health, and my issues with depression. Scott had just read “Howard’s Lockdown,” and he seemed to like it, but he thought it a bit chaotic (my words) and spotted a typo I know about and suggested a change for usage (“marked” to “labeled”). He found DriveThruFiction not easy to use and the AI generated art I put in the text interesting but strange. He had to guess how some of the art connected to the text; I might need some titles for the art.

I learned from Scott that I will have to be more careful with my transitions in my Sci-Fi writing. I have seen this in other sci-fi I have read. The writer gets too attached to the events and exciting words to describe them and forgets to be the narrator. I love feedback—thanks, Scott.

For those who would like to give my writing a spin: DriveThruFiction.

It was good catching up, and we will meet next Friday. I headed back as the smoke and heat grew. I spent the afternoon not doing much but reading, organizing my workspace, doing dishes, and making dinner. I had two Zoom meetings.

I started on the church committee S/PRC (Bob asked me to join, and I could not turn him down) via a Zoom call at 2PM today. I am retired and can make these times. This is the HR committee for a Methodist Church, and all of the meetings cannot be shared. I did manage to only have one takeaway task from the meeting.

An hour later, I had my Zoom call with my neurosurgeon, Doctor G. He was happy to see me, and we both agreed I was doing very well. He could not spot the paralyzation on the left side of my face. He thinks the taste and control issues in my mouth are related to his nerve work and believes it will take as much as a year to clear, but it will fade away. He told me that the tumor was not likely to return as the blood supply to the tumor was removed. I was excited to see the before and after pictures. The MRI also shows a non-dangerous lesion on the right side–always startling. I will have a follow-up MRI (I hate those) next May or so.

All was good, and we both were smiling, and he was happy to see the weight loss, too, “That is hard to do,” he said to me. I replied that “death” is a good motivator, which got a smile. I thanked him for the good work and told him I would recommend him–he thought that funny. Unless things go strange, we signed off of Zoom and will not likely see each other again, maybe once after the MRI, but I expect to see a staffer instead, if the MRI is not interesting. Let’s plan for boring.

I got out the chicken quarters and soaked them in kosher teriyaki sauce I found at Whole Foods. It was now nearing 100F (39C) on the deck, and when I lighted the gas grill, it seemed like it was already lighted!

I might have set the chicken on fire a few times. It was still good, but it took a while to get to an internal temperature of 165F; yes, I checked. Inside, I reheated the couscous and cooked some green beans with almonds, butter, and garlic powder (just a small amount). The beans were from the freezer (it was too hot and smoky to visit the 185th Produce stand—and I forgot to stop on the way back from Beaverton), but they were still good.

I had my blackened-skin chicken, and it was quite good and just cooked–not overcooked this time. Dinner was good, but I was surprised that the cooking tools were hot to the touch just from being in the sun! It was not comfortable (to understate) on the deck at a hot grill.

Aside: I am still struggling with Grammarly rewriting my words to less correct or strange order. It is out of its AI mind.

I tried TV and some movies, but I was not tired and soon returned to my work area. I got my nitrile exam gloves; I am seeing more and more people using them for model and electronic work. I located my cigar box with my etched brass tools and related tools. I find old wooden cigar boxes perfect storage for tiny model-building tools.

I locate a large brush, mask the deck, and, with gloves, paint the side of my SMS Derfflinger 1916 Flyhawk model. The color, EF-66 Light Grey, dries darker than when it is brushed on, and while not perfect like an airbrush, the look works, I think. The ship (finally scrapped as an upside-down wreck after WW2) had no color pictures. Instead, modelers like me have to go with expert interpretations of the written record. With the advent of computer 3D modeling, ships like SMS Derfflinger have been recreated in full color in books and online with extreme detail and notes about how the author/artist came to certain conclusions (some that may be disputed or updates to previous incorrect interpretations). The details available are actually dizzying to a model builder like me.

It is hard for me to start a model as I see all the mistakes and to do is to risk. I finally began to paint more of the model, starting and stopping. I have used laser-cut wood overlays for decking for WW1 models. This avoids all the painting and trying to make the deck look like wood and all the lines that need to be perfect but are tiny. The masking to perfect these deck lines is very difficult and time-consuming (and not fun). I got out my best and unused 28mm figure painting brushes from The Army Painter: The Psycho and Kolinsky Masterclass. These are magic brushes that put paint where you want it. I cannot stress how good these are. I managed to paint the tiny deck bits and only paint in millimeters of the surface. When dry, I can correct the mistakes. I use 3X bifocal eye protection and lots of light. I have to hold the model in various positions to get the deck colors on the side of the tiny bits that are the capstones. I paint the anchor plates and the gun markings and over-paint a small amount. I stop there to let the paint dry, and when I make three mistakes, it’s time to stop. While the lines are not perfect, most will be covered by the overlay. I am just ensuring the colors will align (grey under wood is not a good look).

(Yes, that is a US penny on the model, and the wood overlay is just set on)

With that, my back and legs are sore from the intensity of the model work (it is a kind of workout), so I shower and read in bed. I return to a Star Trek book and notice how the transitions are done in the book. They are very intentional. Interesting.

I take my pills, put in the eye grease, and try to fall asleep. I get up and search and finally find the plastic that is near the vent and has been making an annoying crackling sound for a week. My hearing does not allow me to locate the sound. Everything is somewhere right as that is the only working ear.

With the sound gone, I sleep and wake twice to prove hydration.

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday started with me sleeping into 8ish and investing the whole morning writing the blog. I did have a croissant from Beaverton’s Tous Les Jours bakery and a banana for breakfast. This, combined with liberal coffee made in my French press, got me going Wednesday morning. I had no plans for the day, but my legs were stiff from three days of walking near or just over 5,000 steps. I was also wearing slightly smaller new pants and was hopeful that my weight was still headed down. I am starting to hear the siren call for more travel and will plan a trip, I think, in September.

I put away the electronics for a while and now have my Flyhawk 1/700 (small) SMS Derfflinger 1916 model out to restart. This special version has tiny etched brass and laser-cut wood veneer on the decks to produce an excellent display. I have a few other models to follow after it. I also have figures I want to paint. And then all the writing I want to complete (A Sherlock Holmes AI story, a tenth level D&D 5.0E adventure to play-test, and an initial adventure for D&D 5.0E). I might have no plans, but I have hobbies to get back to.

I wrote as I said above until the morning was gone. Today, the weather returned to our California-style weather. The hot sun and temperatures into the 80s (26C). My allergies are back as summer pollen levels soar.

I make couscous to go with the India-style leftovers. I have no rice, and rice is not so good for a diabetic, and it is just me at the house. Couscous goes better with other things. In a little oil, I toast almond slices, raisins, and Garam Masala (Punjabi Style) in a sauce pan. To this, I add the couscous grains and toast it too. I finally add water 2:1 of the couscous and take everything off the heat. I am careful; adding boiling water to a hot pan can be exciting. I remove it from the heat and put the cover on. The water will be mostly absorbed.

The Tikka Masala (made from a simmer sauce jar from Trader Joe’s) Chicken goes well with the couscous. The flavor is still a bit flat for my taste. I watch more Battleship New Jersey videos on YouTube. The discussion is about the roles the Iowa-class battleships would play in the Cold War had it exploded into a hot war. Ryan, the head curator for the Battleship New Jersey, seemed to suggest the ship was not able to defend itself from a Soviet mass-missile attack and that the attack would damage the pre-WW2-designed ship. He also refers to Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising and the use of the battleships for shore bombardment in the books. It was an interesting return to the past. I was in the Washington, D.C., area during the end of the Cold War and remember the fascination that we all had with the Iowa class back in service.

I began to prepare to return to my model building. I need the suggested paint for the model. I go through my extensive collection of bottles of Tamiya military colors. I toss the aging ones and at $4 a bottle, it was not an inexpensive loss, but I usually buy only one or two bottles at a time.

Aside: Tamiya XF-63 is German Grey, a very dark grey that I use instead of black when painting figures. This is almost black and can be shaded with black. I find it better to start with less than black and fill in with black instead of dry brushing a grey on black. XF-63 is called out for the top of the main guns on SMS Derfflinger.

I discovered that I had every color except XF-9 Hull Red, a red-brown color I could easily mix, but I decided it was an excellent excuse to head to Old Town Beaverton and Tammy’s Hobbies. I was there yesterday but boarded Air Volvo and soon arrived without incident or witnessing any extra-legal driving. Beaverton’s finest was out in force and seemed to be catching up on the ticket totals for July. Tammy’s Hobbies’ Tamiya Paints display was restocked, and the paints looked fresh. With some care (XF-9 is the target, and X-9 is not), I found the correct paint bottle. I was also happy to see Mr. Hobbies, another brand of paints, also restocked, and H-79, the same shade, was for purchase. I selected a fresh bottle of plastic solvent; it does not age well, and I soon purchased all my goodies.

Without bringing the attention of Beaverton’s Finest, I returned home. I looked over the model and decided, again, to brush the colors instead of masking and using an airbrush. I will do a little masking to keep lines straight and military looking. It is still a lovely day out and not really the kind of day to build WW1 Battlecruisers models.

Instead, I unwrap the updates to my board game Expeditions, which has not been on the gaming table often. The add-on, Gears of Corruption, is not inexpensive ($29), and the updates include new plastic mech models, enough supplies to allow for six players, rules for a game-controlled corrupted mech to hurras the players, and fixes and rewriting the start of the game. Later, I learned that a metal version (sold out and $50) would fit my all-metal game. I had purchased a set of plastic mechs and went through quite an adventure to get the matching color rings (having to make a PayPal payment for “replacing” the rings).

I followed the directions and began updating my version of Expeditions. I replaced the metal mechs and rings with plastic to match the add-on (the metal mechs are larger than the plastic ones!). I put the metal ones in the box that the spare plastic ones come in and set them aside. I forgot that I used plastic sleeves on the cards for this game, something I seldom do, but I saw the Expedition cards wear faster than normal and decided to protect them. I took a sleeved card with me and the new deck of cards from the add-on to the local gaming store, and Air Volvo soon had me there without incident. One of the staff opened a few packs of sleeves until we found the correct match, Standard American inner-card sized.

I updated Expeditions and read some of the updates. I think the publisher has fixed the issues that stopped this game from being played more often. The start of the game was a rush, and some players would miss out on important resources and this weakness would haunt them the rest of the game. I found there were always two players ahead and the rest behind by some distance. The start now provides resources to play a good first few turns without having to fight over limited resourcing options. I read the rules and watched a few videos, and I think I will put this game back in Air Volvo’s cargo hold and play it again.

Aside: I will have to paint the mechs. I am debating whether to paint them with a black undercoat, the usual choice for complex surfaced SciFi models (think Discovery in 2001 Space Odyssey and not Star Trek’s Enterprise), or go with a brighter, cleaner look. More to follow.

For dinner, I made a grilled cheese and heated up a can of vegan-approved lentil soup from Trader Joe’s. The bread was from Tous Les Jours, too.

Dondrea and Z will meet me at First United Methodist at 6:30ish for Praise Band Practice. Andrew will not be joining us. Z and I will play two-person. We played the board game Istanbul‘s basic game last time. I promised to add in the coffee and try the expanded board. Z was surprised by how much the game changed by adding in four locations and a new resource, coffee. The coffee extension to the game adds new cards to the basic game to include coffee and some other improvements. The Guild provides superpower options that cost you a turn. Z liked these and spent many turns getting new superpower options. Coffee supplies a few means to get rubies with coffee and small bribes, Baksheesh, or with lots of coffee. In the second play, Z started to understand all the fun new options.

Z had trouble grasping all the changes, and I was familiar with all the changes. Soon, Z was watching me gather rubies at a speed not reached in the base game. Istanbul is a fast and, I think, exciting race to use all the worker placement and resource management provided in the locations on the board to get victory points, which are rubies. When a player reaches the final ruby, they end the game and win; everyone gets one last play to tie.

(Z by my cart with all the rubies)

Z will want to play again, maybe slower. Z did like the new version of the game and started using my tricks against me—excellent. Once you understand the basic game, Istanbul with Coffee allows you to change your strategy when a player is blocking your move. Instead, you grab some coffee and stack your plans. This is how I beat Z twice. Also, the map is larger, so everything is a two-turn journey now, maybe three. You will need some virtual coffee to push that virtual cart so far!

Aside: This version we played is known as the add-on Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh. You can still find it for sale, often cheap. But the Istanbul: Big Box includes the base game and all the add-ons, and would be my recommended purchase. Usually, a gaming store has an old copy of Istanbul in their try-before-you-buy collection. Give it a try, but it is best to learn it from someone who knows it. Be prepared to lose your first couple of games until you better understand the twists and turns of the streets of the old city!

After that, we said goodbye, and I took Air Volvo home with Z, loading Istanbul back in the cargo hold. I read and did some updates to Quicken. My deferred compensation lump payment cleared today. I was tracking it before taxes and would now have to transfer it to my US Bank checking and adjust the balance to remove the tax payments (which appears like money that went puff, which is really what happened–taxes).

I felt I needed to walk a short distance with the sun already down. My street is not lighted, but I managed to return before it was too dark to walk. I am not worried about my safety; my balance is less when I cannot see the horizon. I am not good in the dark anymore.

I stayed up late, even making tea, and had some excellent cookies with my tea (thanks, Linda F). I soon showered, dressed in my PJs, and read until I started to sleep-read. I did not wake up until sunrise.

Thanks for reading!

 

I woke with the sunrise again, and I woke previously when I was cold, requiring me to climb under the covers. Off to my workspace, I have the last of the plums and artisan bread with butter and a sprinkle of sea salt (I use unsalted butter) with my usual coffee. The coffee is made in a French Press, as it is just me in the house.

I have drunk liberal coffee nearly every morning since Trump was elected as a reminder that I must stay focused on what is important to me; today, it is the Equal Exchange brand packed in the Portland facility. A rather liberal location, and the coffee is fair exchange (farmers got a living wage payment). What is important to me as a liberal? It is justice–not what you expected, dear reader–but I mean justice for the widow, the orphan, and the poor. God calls out in the Hebrew scriptures that the greatness of a kingdom is not measured on its wealth or power, but how it brings justice to the widow, the orphan, and the poor. Jesus echoes this call in the Greek scriptures. Justice can be found in a cup of coffee, and I can tell you I taste the liberal and the justice–no sugar needed.

I write most of the morning, but I rose at 6 and am done before 10. It is still a long blog. I am retired and can just write about my whole day and some other topics as ‘asides’ and explore the events of the day I am describing. I also enjoy discovering new words and trying to align them with Dreyer’s instructions (there are no ‘so’ in my writing if I can help it) to not overly use the same words and eliminate words with little meaning (like ‘actually’).

Tuesday is a day I have no plans. I was thinking of the Zoo, but I put in over 5,000 steps, my legs hurt, and I was tired. I also lost five pounds, 234 lbs (despite a few exceptions to eating well), and this showed that the impact of brain surgery and my increasing activity was impacting my weight. I cannot give myself full credit as the brain surgery undoubtedly made weight loss a forgone conclusion. Before the surgery, I could walk 10,000 steps and often did. Now, 3,000 is a struggle, and 5,000 leaves me sore, but as surgery was only ten weeks ago, I should be happy with my progress (and not to be dead, brain damaged, and able to live in my home). It is hard to slowly improve.

I put on my newly shortened pants with a 40-waistline, and with my belt tight, they stay on. Excellent. Someday, I may reach 38! My goal is 220, and I no longer have my gut overhanging my pants belt. A dream.

I put away my electronic project in the wooden cigar box I recently purchased and reset my working table for model building (and soon figure painting). I was unhappy with the progress (it is too nice to be working on this stuff in our summer) and the instability of the hardware I used. I returned the 1/700 (small) SMS Derfflinger 1916 model on the table. I think I will also do some figure painting. The advantage of these things is they make progress that you can detect, and I don’t have to struggle with wiring and incomplete information. I have books and plans on SMS Derfflinger 1916 (the ship’s look changed after the Battle of Jutland; this version is what was seen at Jutland). I could build it from scratch if I wanted to. I think I will enjoy this more.

But before I put it all away, I got out the tiny wire wrap wire, attached it to an SMD LED with my soldering iron, and lit it with a coin-cell battery. SMD technology, surface mount devices, is attaching reduced tiny electronic components to an etched board by baking. It is one of the main reasons electronics are so cheap now. Instead of drilling holes, putting large parts in holes, and then soldering them, we use tiny parts and machines to place them and then bake them in place. For my work, SMD means tiny work with steady hands and 3x bifocal lenses. I was happy to make an LED work as the tiny version better fits my model work. I don’t have to buy prewired ones; I can do it myself. I have not moved up to baking yet.

With my table ordered for models and the blog finished, I decided to check out the gaming store. I boarded Air Volvo and returned to get my phone; it was a short, aborted flight. Guardian Games opened at 11, and I was early. I headed Air Volvo to Old Town Beaverton. I stopped at Tammy’s Hobbies, found some early 1900s car models in the correct scale for 28mm figures (1/58 or so), and bought them for ten bucks. I can build them quick when we need them.

Tous less Jours is a French-style bakery in Beaverton Center, and I stopped by to get some croissants and fresh bread. I was out of bread and had not gotten out of the bread machine to try again. I now had breakfast for a few days and bread to make a grilled cheese!

On my return, Air Volvo headed to Guardian Games in Aloha (it was previously Rainy Day Games) and soon found the extension to my copy of Expeditions. Richard told me that this improved the original game. Expeditions was a disappointment for me; an excellent game but nothing that made you want to get it on the table again. The start-up was slow and predictable (much like Scythe, its predecessor), and the play was easy, but repeat players could find combinations and focus on them. I did not feel like it was that fun, and I hope the $29 add-on improves the game (otherwise, it will likely find its way to GoodWill).

I talked to the staff, and they recommended their Discord site and Tuesday nights for a Dungeons and Dragons 5.0E game. I will see if I can raise some players for my tenth and first-level adventures and maybe try out the 5.0E update for the Lord of the Rings version. I have the Moria add-on and the Hobbit Shire adventures for this system. More research to follow. I would love to try out the LOTR 5E version again.

Returned to the Volvo Cave by Air Volvo, I found celery, onion, and tuna in a packet (I am done with cans) and sliced a new NYC bagel. Thanks, Joyce, for the new ones that appeared yesterday. I cut up a Wala Wala onion (more than half now in a zip lock bag) I bought at the 185th Produce Stand. I placed the sliced and toasted bagel on a cookie sheet with tin foil sprayed with olive oil-based non-stick spray. I mixed the chopped veggies with mayo and various spices together, and then I spooned it on the bagels. I then tried out the broiler in The Oven on the first oven. I managed to carbonize part of the bagels, but I added the cheese last and avoided lighting off the bagels; yes, 550F broilers would cause the cheese to catch fire. I ate these while watching more Battleship New Jersey stories on YouTube. I had no burns, fires, or choking; better!

I decided I needed a walk and took Air Volvo to the grocery store. I decided to start at Whole Foods, as I like their meats better. I got most of the basics there and paid the usual premium for what I hope are good items (Whole Foods was sued successfully by the US government for price gouging by selling plain items as premium items and Whole Foods promised to price items fairly). I then headed to Trader Joe’s to get some veggies and frozen items. While I avoid overly prepared foods (I did get some sausages this time), I find their frozen meals perfectly sized and taste fresh.

Air Volvo, crowded with board games and bags of various items, soon arrived at the Volvo Cave without incident. It took three trips to unload and some time to put away the items. I put on Sherlock, the recent BBC modern version, while I settled things in the kitchen and pantry.

I cut the boneless and skinless thighs from Whole Foods into three pieces each. I should have made them smaller. I then fried them in my non-stick pan (thanks, Steve). I cut up a new green pepper (no seeds) and added that to cook with the chicken. Once everything looked cooked, I added an Indian-style Tikka simmering sauce from Whole Foods.

I set The Oven first oven to 400F and reheated the frozen naan also from Trader Joe’s. I made two pieces and regretted the calories later. One would be enough. The Tikka-like food was soon ready. The spices were a bit understated from what I am used to, but I dipped naan in the sauce and ate with my fingers with just a little help with my fork, and that was great. The chicken was tough and needed to be in smaller pieces and maybe chicken breast would be better for this one. While my recipe is a better product, it takes six or more hours to make; this was not a bad shortcut.

Stuffed with naan, I put away more than half of the Tikka in a container for lunch on Wednesday. Next, sated, I went outside and walked under the setting sun. My legs complained, and I went only half the distance of yesterday’s walk. At the corner of 209th and Sandra Street was a stand with free peaches. Their tree was overflowing (as were many) with stone fruit and offered free fruit to passerbyes. I took four firm peaches for later. I returned to the Volvo Cave with just under 4,000 steps for the day.

I watched the last of the season of Star Wars’s Ahsoka on Disney+, which, from my reading, is a live version to follow the animated Rebels series, including my favorite villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn. While I am unsure how well-received this story was, I liked it. It reminded me of the Thrawn-based novels I have read. I’m not sure if I can recommend it; it seems an acquired taste (warning: the outfits are tight-fitting, and everyone looks like they have a gym membership).

I could barely stay awake. I took my meds and headed to the bedroom. After a shower and heading to bed early, I read until I started to dream. I would find that my eyes were closed, and instead of reading the story, my sleeping mind was inventing a story from the last few words. The book, iPhone, or Kindle then hit me in the face or fell to the bed or floor. I wake with a start.

I was reading the new Vietnamese-inspired space opera Navigational Entanglements by one of my favorite writers, Aliette de Bodard. Yes, Vietnamese-inspired space opera is a thing. So far, it is excellent, but it is a slight change from the universe of her other novels. Space travel and mind ships have not appeared in this story.

I am cold (the AC is back on), and I climb under the covers to be comfortable and fall asleep. I do not wake up until sunrise. Not Star Wars, but Vietnamese space travel for dreams tonight.

Thanks for reading.