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Friday continues for me as a pedestrian. Air Volvo is at the mothership with the parking brake failure, shutting down the Volvo for safety reasons. Thus, I will not visit IKEA, the various tree-lighting celebrations, or the Chinese Garden today. I will stay home, and that is good as I am not feeling quite right anyway.

It was cold on Friday, with a stagnant air warning, but the air quality was good (no small particulates).  I was coughing, and my nose ran, meaning the poor air quality (humid with extra CO2) impacted me.  I stay inside and let the air filter help as much as possible.

The blog was short as Thanksgiving filled the day before. As usual, I spent time downloading and updating all the transactions from my bank accounts, reading all my emails and news updates, and making liberal coffee. The coffee, Equal Exchange brand, reminded me of Justice, Compassion, and love for Community. Hope is always in the cup when one focuses on these three things. I had reheated quiche for breakfast that I made the day before. It was good reheated.

I spent hours ordering fruit cakes from the monks at Gethesemani Farms in Kentucky. The prices are higher, and shipping is very high—I once paid $27 for shipping for one gift! I got a few address checks by email and messenger and made the updates on my list to ensure the bounty would arrive soon. I had one broken cart and one that was addressed to me (I sent one to myself for high shipping costs–Kentucky is not near Oregon), but with one exception: the cakes and fudge are outbound. Yes, ‘Release the Fruit Cakes!’ followed by evil laughter was running through my mind.

Deborah and Barb are not fruit cake folks (and likely others are too polite to tell me), so I will arrange other mailings for them. Some younger folks (who would find a fruit cake a strange and likely unloved mystery) would get cash instead, but I worry about that as it is now weird to hold US currency and is not taken in all places (even in the USA). Until I get a better option, Dead Presidents and Dead Postmasters portraits (college and post-college get Franklins) get sent. I will also send gifts to the Heffer Project to honor various folks who need nothing more and resist fruit cakes. More to come.

I kept thinking I should go somewhere, only to remember that Air Volvo was in the shop, so I chatted on the phone and did laundry instead. I made dinner of baked chicken with a microwaved (and then baked) potato with sour cream and some green beans I managed to overcook. I also overcooked the chicken. I was watching the long Director’s Cut of the movie Napoleon and let some things drift. The chicken was well done, 175F, and not great, but I accepted it as the movie was good, and I was enjoying the film on my Apple computer for free on my Apple+ account instead of paying attention to the cooking.

I used a curry spice for chicken I brought back from Morocco, which was good on the overcooked chicken thighs. I have always been worried about undercooked chicken and successfully avoided that mistake today!

Returning to the story, I decided to read. I changed books. While Graham Greene’s The Penguin Book of Victorian Villainies was fascinating, I think shorter works would be better. I found this book in The Curious Books store in East Lansing and thought it would be intriguing. Three hundred pages for one complete story is too much for me, with each chapter obviously being a section of a series, and the writer paid to keep going. The story moves, as would be expected, at a glacial pace. However, the language and word usage are unfamiliar. It would be interesting to try to use the words and sentence structure. More to come. I will likely return to the serial.

I nodded off and soon slept for hours. It was a nightmare. Something was chasing me in the house. I heard it tell its master it would search the bedroom for me. In my dream, I jumped out of bed and quietly walked down the hall, trying to hide in the kitchen, which seemed safe to me, following the illogic of dreams. It jumped out of the bathroom, and it got me. The arms grabbed my legs. I shouted for help.

I woke, and my leg was in a cramp where it had grabbed me. The cramp soon passed. I decided on some lighter to read.

The new book is a translation from the Greek of a fictional story about three girls growing up in pre-WW2 Greece, Three Summers. The English is modern, and the story, told in the first person, is idyllic. It is a good break from murder mysteries and Victorian writing. I read about ten pages before sleep started to overtake me.

I had to use some Benadryl cream as the lousy air had me breaking out in hives. I was soon comfortable again. Soon, I was falling asleep, and I thought I had left the music to sleep by running on the Amazon Echo device, but when I woke up this morning, it had stopped. I slept into a dreamless sleep, and nothing chased me.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Air Volvo is at the mothership, and the machine will not likely begin to spend my money until Monday. Like many modes of transportation, you make them work by pouring money into them. The parking brake failed on my previous Volvo without so much drama; this looks expensive. This change meant that Thanksgiving was my first full day as a pedestrian. I was trying to enjoy it. Lyft was my access to travel.

Going backward, I brought two plates of food from Scott and Michelle’s Thanksgiving Party in disposable containers and contacted Corwin. Corwin had told me he would not join the feast this holiday; he had to repair his truck. Instead, his roommate took him to a feast with his family, but Corwin still appreciated the extra food and plans to enjoy the gift of Thanksgiving meals over the next few days. Corwin is broke; he can’t get paid as a food delivery person when his truck is broken, and is still recovering from an ER visit. Corwin is now living a healthier life after nearly coding.

Corwin and I shook hands and wished each other happy holidays as the season started the rush to Christmas and New Year’s.

Next, I showered and dressed for bed. I read for a while and soon, after midnight, turned off the light. I rose, looked at the list of fruit cakes I sent out last year, and asked for address updates on Facebook. I then went to bed and slipped into a slightly boozy, dreamless sleep. I did not wake up until late.

Going back, I rode a Lyft ride to Scott’s house on the other side of the smallish Bull and Cooper’s Mountains. I was early, but the wine was open, and a booze-enhanced fruit mix was ready. Scott told me that food and booze would be plenty, and thus, I brought flowers. It was a pleasant group that grew and grew, and the wine flowed. At one point, the room spun for me after a few glasses of wine, but that soon passed. I did not know if that was breathing or my balance issue, but it passed and did not reoccur. I remembered not to rise too fast and to walk slower. I did have another glass of wine and two heavy beers, but I could still function later. Another Scott was running late, but once he arrived, he carried excellent beers into the kitchen to share. Dinner was served, and a vast amount of food and items were in piles. There were two vegetarians in the crowd, but there was plenty for them, too.

(At Scott’s and Michelle’s house with family and friends)

We had the crackers, soon wore silly paper hats, and read terrible jokes. Everyone wrote what they were thankful for on paper and put that in a vase. These were drawn and read, and people guessed who wrote them. Once that was done, the author told a joke. It was fun and lovely.

I had trouble getting my Lyft as my app was broken, and it seemed like I never finished the last trip in the app. Later, I learned that the driver had been paid and had gotten a tip. Scott restarted it on my phone, and I ordered a ride home. It was over $30 this time, but it was Thanksgiving, and the driver should get something special for tonight; I thought it fair. Ten minutes later, I said my goodbyes and thanks and boarded the Lyft ride. Though the app seemed to work, no tip was collected that night. I added it on Friday morning!

The morning started with me waking to texts on my phone and enjoying my new East/West time zone. Deborah and I spoke briefly before she had to prepare veggie and fruit platters for a Michigan-based feast. We were joking about Mr. Burns, and I renamed my laptop Smithers, which got Deborah laughing.

Aside: I often do not explain allusions that can be easily Googled.

Next, I focused on the blog and finished it early. I read and rested. I read some religious items online as I am teaching Revelations next year. I watched more YouTube videos, and soon, it was time to leave. The Lyft arrived, and I boarded. Soon, I was whisked away to Scott’s place.

That brings me full circle in this story. Chatting with folks of different age groups was fun during Thanksgiving–I was in full social butterfly mode–but I realized I was on one side of the spectrum now and treated like one of the old guys by the young folks. But I was able to keep up with both extremes of age groups as I traveled, could cook, and understood complex beers and wines enough to be, at least, included in the discussion. Loki, the only dog present, was also happy until he was ignored. He then licked or hopped up to get more pets and attention. Unlike the dog, I was content to listen mostly and only interject here and there.

It was a great evening, Thanks Scott and Michelle for inviting me!

The morning started with me rising early, which has become my new habit since I began seeing Deborah, who resides in Michigan. Mom Wild also called at 8ish in a panic. A medical bill or hackers, we are unsure at the moment, called and demanded payment (likely a con). Instead of hanging up and ignoring it, she panicked and called me, demanding I move back to Michigan and help. Not happening. Linda is checking in on it.

With some drama and a pleasant early call from Deborah, I returned to writing and enjoyed liberal coffee. The coffee was leftover from yesterday and was easily microwaved. More liberal coffee was still inbound from the Portland Equal Exchange warehouse. I skipped breakfast as I had a dentist appointment that morning.

I did my usual reading of emails—lots—and then updated my Quicken. I had many transactions from my unplanned trip to Michigan, hopefully, the last ones and the payments for the next trip. Delta Airlines arranged all the hotels and flights on the next trip (19 Dec to 5 Jan), and I paid for them. I transferred enough money, logging on to US Bank, to cover the mortgage and the Visa Bill (I don’t carry a balance). I use the Visa as it gets me miles instead of the bank card (it gives access to my checking!) and the American Express (no miles).

I write, and around 10, I finish a short blog. I dress quickly, shave, and all that. I board Air Volvo. I notice that every idiot light is on. The parking brake has failed. F**k. Air Volvo locks down for safety and informs me that I must perform a ritual to unlock the gear shift. F**k. Even turning off the vehicle requires holding the nob until it finally shuts down.

The dentist was ready for me, and teeth 5 and 12 were repaired. The old fillings had failed, and it was time to upgrade. I panic easily now since the ER trip for breathing was caused by the chemo, meaning I had to count backward and also imagine events happening that would interest me so that I would not panic. Beaches and drinks with umbrellas were included in those thoughts. It was not easy, but I managed. The painkiller worked well and faster than I remember. The modern dentist uses light-activated and tooth-colored material instead of mercury-silver, which he smooths and finishes with some drilling. I was done in less than forty-five minutes, and my part of the bill was $105.

I returned to Air Volvo, which still had six lights on (I usually find it costs $1,000 per light in repairs–I was not happy). I searched the paper manual and then went to the one built into the display, searched it, and found the override process for the shifter. Take out the rubber mat in the drawer next to the shifter. There is a hole. Use a screwdriver and push the button in the hole. (I always carry a small toolbox in the cargo hold of Air Volvo for these cases and retrieve the screwdriver). It unlocked! I put the screwdriver back and reassembled the drawer.

The car would not move. The disabled brake was still locked. I read the instructions for unlocking the brake. Did not work on my first try. The vehicle would slam when I tried to move it, but it was still locked. I calmly turned off the car (having to hold the button like an old PC), put on my safety belt, and started the car (this is in the directions). The brake then unlocked. F**k, it is connected to the safety belt!

Air Volvo with most of the lights on the dash, I drove the car to the mothership. The warnings included the tires, brakes, traction control, and lane assist warning, but not the collusion warning (I checked the tires, too—all good). I left the car running and explained the issues to the Volvo service manager. I could tell they had no idea and certainly did not understand why I left it running (it will relock the shifter and parking brake when turned off). I was informed that it was a busy season, and with tomorrow being Thanksgiving, it is unlikely that they would get to diagnose the issues until Monday. Still, an hour of diagnosis was $250; they suspect it would be $750 for that alone. I did not blink, but depending on the repair cost (I am guessing $6,000-$9,000), their sales folks may call me (they will anyway). Deborah reminded me I am a Costco member, so I should get the Costco price. I told them to put that in the notes. I called Deborah to let her know I was OK after the dentist and got the Air Volvo working (sort of).

I took a Lyft home, paying for it myself, as the service guy said I needed to use the app, and the connection did not work (until later). My driver agreed that these expensive cars are expensive to fix and that his son’s experience with Audis was the same. He also told me he moved to Portland two years ago and still owned a house in Louisiana with more than 2,000 square feet worth $100K. He was shocked to learn the same house is over a million in Oregon. Yes, housing is expensive on the West Coast.

I spent the afternoon doing laundry and making a quiche with what I had in the frig. I cooked onion, added smoked pork and venison sausage, sliced some potatoes (Costco precooked and frozen ready-to-heat small potatoes), and mozzarella cheese. I added some green beans for color. I beat four eggs and poured them on. All this is a frozen pie crust. I baked it after adding sliced tomatoes on top for more color for about 35 minutes.

I had two pieces. It was lovely and delicious. I also had a candy bar, Equal Exchange.

While eating, I watched more YouTube videos from the USS Kidd and Battleship New Jersey museum staff. I learned that the USS Kidd is a revised Fletcher-class WW2 destroyer being repaired and restored to its 1945 look. The battleship is in a Cold War configuration of 1990 or thereabouts. USS Texas, another battleship (but over 100 years old), is set to its 1946 look and received spares from modern battleships when they were upgraded in the Cold War. USS Texas is still being repaired and homeless; hopefully, a city in Texas will soon volunteer to be a home for it. USS Texas’s staff knows how to clean and repair some WW2 guns, so some of the USS Kidd guns are now with USS Texas to be refreshed and sent back. New Jersey is back from repair and open again for tours. USS Kidd is still in drydock being repaired.

I did three loads of laundry and dishes and generally rested between loads. I am still tired and enjoy reading. Between the dentist and Air Volvo, I was ready to pull up the covers and hide!

I watched an old spy movie, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and enjoyed it. It is a slow Cold War British vs. Soviet story with the strange George Smiley and Control characters that define spymaster in the old stories. If you can do slow stories, it was excellent. I saw it years ago in the theater, but it was good for a few bucks from Apple.

I skipped dinner and enjoyed some mint tea (Morroco-style with caffeine) and potato chips.

I showered, read in bed, and then nodded off. I turned off the light and slept, dreaming of Cold War spies and wondering who could be the Soviet Mole. I woke early, now living in my new East and West time zone.

Thanks for reading!

I am writing this on Wednesday morning, and I have a dentist appointment to restore two teeth with failed fillings, which were likely done long ago in Maryland or Michigan. So again, this is a rushed.

Starting this story with Tuesday morning, I had one cup of coffee (shocking, I know); though it was liberal and tasted the resistance to stupid government stuff, I forgot to put some in a travel cup. Sadly, it was left unconsumed (and I had it Wednesday morning—reheated). I did get an NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) with cream cheese and a banana.

I wrote fast, skipped some of the usual boilerplates, and focused on events and putting them together from my memory. As usual, it took a while for me to remember what lunch was. I forget lunch because I have little emotional connection to it; science shows that you need to create an emotional connection to easily remember something. This is why we would play sports videos at Nike IT meetings; the response to the incredible video locked the meeting into your memory. I often read at lunch and surf the Internet as lunch is usually alone and blurs the memory of lunch.

Returning to the story for Tuesday, I boarded Air Volvo after publishing the blog. At 8:50, I was soon in light traffic post-rush hour (Portland runs early for traffic). I arrived, and Lauren and Richard treated us to beignets and Cafe du Monde chicory coffee. I had sent them the mix and coffee from New Orleans. James joined us, and Lauren got a brief explanation of the board game and app-run horror-based game Mansion of Madness.

This is an H.P. Lovecraft-based story, and the system is slow. It tells stories slowly, trying to build horror. This can be frustrating, and we were at it for five hours. While I like the theme and it is interesting, the other players are gamers, and they just want to win, and soon, there is pressure from them to rush and game the story and system. Some undefeatable creatures and threats can only be avoided, but that is an uncomfortable solution, and soon, we are spending resources fighting and not solving the story. The game, with its slow start and rising risks, resembles the board game Pandemic, and soon we are discovering connections, and we know the solution, but it is too late. Lauren’s character is rushed by three monsters, one undefeatable, slain, and we lose.

Mansion of Madness is a game I try to like, and it has some appeal. It is hard to play fast and furious, the usual board gamer approach, and it contains puzzles and other problems that, while interesting for some folks, never interested me. They stall play to me. If I were the designer, if you fail, there should be a light cost, and then the results are given to move the story forward. I will play some more and see how it goes.

That was my morning and some afternoon. Traffic was strange as 26 inbound was backed up by an accident, but soon, Air Volvo had me home. I reheated the pasta and ham I made and then tossed the rest as I would not get back to it again. I did the dishes and found I was tired as I was up at 6:30 and then played a mind-bending game for the morning.

I had no liberal coffee left (it shipped from Portland), and I was down to my last partial roll of toilet paper. Oh my! I headed to Safeway, bought many items, and spaced the need for coffee. I should have made a list—yes, dear reader, I know. Three bags and over $200; this explanation of the election in my mind and not all the anti-liberal conversations. Things cost more, and liberals did not talk about that and how they would help people, thinking that was too liberal, but is actually old school FDR-like and would have worked.

I spent the evening having a frozen pizza for dinner, reading, and talking to folks on the phone. After a shower, I went to bed early and soon could not stay awake.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

This Tuesday morning, I am time-boxed and started at 6:30. I will skip the usual formulas and boilerplates and cover the essential items on Monday.

Monday is my weekend-like day as everyone is headed back to work and is no longer trying to fit all the good stuff in the two days working people in the USA have off their weekend. I am retired. I set no alarm, rest, and do not hurry on Monday. After rising late, I spent the morning writing the blog. I also made a NYC bagel (finding I have cream cheese) for breakfast with my coffee and liberal coffee.

Aside: I am out of coffee, having used the last bits this Tuesday morning. I ordered more, but I must buy a bag of fair-trade certified coffee (with a few other items) or go without. I went to the Equal Exchange website last night and ordered more and some chocolate bars.

The blog, over 1,600 words, was posted just as it was noon. I had talked to Deborah a few times as she traveled to work. I showered and dressed and soon was ready to start my day. I looked at the Oregon Symphony’s website and purchased a cheap seat, $42, orchestra floor, row  Z. The music was billed as Shostakovich 5: Heroism and Hope. It also had Concerto by Prokofiev with soloist Vadim Gluzman, which, according to the notes in the program, was known for his playing of 19th and 20th-century pieces. The starting piece was a new work, composed in 2020 by Nina Shekhar, Lumina. I bought cheap seats as I am retired, but I managed to buy one between two open seats and suspected that nobody would buy the others. I was right.

I wore a dress shirt with my sweater vest but decided to stick to the Brooks shoes. It was not raining, and Oregon has a come-as-you-are culture. I would not return home and switch to a suit today.

I stopped by PF Chang’s for lunch, having not been there for years. It was already past the lunch hour, and there was only one other customer at the bar. Electra was bartending and recommended a few items from their lunch menu, including a $5 beer. I had broccoli and beef with soup (excellent Hot and Sour with chicken and tofu) over jasmine rice. The broccoli was perfectly steamed, and the stems were removed. The meat was slightly crunchy and hot without the spicy sauce (I had passed on getting some on the side). It was a bit plain but well put together. Electra found my old membership and reactivated it, and now I may get discounts.

From there, Air Volvo took me to Barnes and Noble, where I found a table and mostly surfed the Internet. I started a Christmas Letter and started recalling the year. I was surprised how much emotion surfaced as I wrote about passing a year without Susie and being laid off by Nike in April. I spoke to Deborah on the phone and looked for Christmas presents and board games—my discount here applies to games, too. I left without even buying a cookie, trying to economize for retirement.

Air Volvo delivered me to Beaver Creek MAX station, and I soon scanned with my phone and paid my fare. The trip was uneventful, and I read most of the time. I entered Portland at the Library stop, which can have some street theater and be risky. I walked up the hill and found that the Southpark SeaFood restaurant’s bar would ruin my money-saving attempts. How can I resist Sturgeon Piccata? That and a good glass of red wine (I don’t drink whites with fish, sorry) with bread and butter as a starter (even free) made for a beautiful meal. I ended with coffee; they took the coffee off the bill to welcome me back. I needed the coffee as I did not want the fine food and wine to cause me to nod off in the music.

My seat was good, and soon I was comfortable again. It was a Monday night, and I caught some of the talk from the soloist before taking my assigned seat. As usual, the seats in the Schnitzer Concert Hall are small, and your knees hit the next seat. There are also sudden changes in the floor that can trip you. I managed.

The first piece, Lumina, stared softly and strangely. It would then grow in intensity and become complex. Then, it would slow, become quiet, stop, and start again. I thought of it as a fine wine glass you are afraid to use because it is so thin. You fill it with a heavy red wine. Soon, it is about the wine and not the glass, but then the glass is empty, and again, you are marveling at the glass. I thought of that while listening. Here, to avoid a Google search.

The next piece, Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2, was less approachable for me. Yes, it was amazing and haunted by the Soviet Union and Prokofiev’s return to Stalin’s oppressive times, and the soloist was spectacular. But I found my mind wandering, but it wandered down dark paths of repression and a lack of justice. It is nothing I would listen to, but it was still an excellent choice and piece.

I have never heard Shostakovich’s Symphony Number 5. I found it less complex and blatantly themed like later works by the composer. Still, it was haunting and created a contrast of a single or small number of voices playing a lament or wonderful song-like melody that is then faced off with terrible bombastic noise. I enjoyed it, but my mind did wander a bit, but not for long. The ending is brutal and famous. The strings play the same note over and over (200+ times), while the brass and percussion produce an almost frightful ending that goes on and on while the strings just hammer away at a single note. It is not lovely or happy but mean and harsh. Perfect music for Stalin. I will have to listen again.

I saw the bust of the previous conductor, Carlos, and I missed him. He retired during the pandemic. Susie and I used to buy him a beer at Southpark after a concert. He was fun and friendly, and his talks before the concert were full of laughter and his love of music. I also missed Jean and Orville, who used to attend the Oregon Symphony on Monday nights. Tonight, I remembered all the fun I had with music and Susie, Jean, Orville, and Carlos.

The trip home from the Schnitzer was mostly uneventful. Some drunk young men were talking too loud on the MAX and had my Situational Awareness looking for exits and options (there were few), but it was nothing. Once off the MAX, I found Air Volvo, where I had left it. The area was fog-filled, and the windshield was misting from the inside. I was driving with my head to the side to see out of the parts of the windshield clear of the condensation. Soon, it was fine again.

A few minutes later, safe at home, I was reading and finishing my murder mystery, but there were more pages than I was ready for. More on that in the next blog. I fell asleep, woke early, and managed to roll over.

Thanks for reading.