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It was my first day without a job since the 1980s when I spent about six months between jobs. I rise slowly and don’t get started until after 9. I spend the morning out of focus and just keep getting distracted by the Internet, correcting some finance transactions in Quicken (all fixed now), and doing dishes. The blog I write has lots of asides and commentary. I’m not really focused, but I think the extra writing improved what would have been a short blog.

I am not six weeks out of major surgery, and I still tire easily. While I am never close to a fall, I do feel myself misstepping a few times. I am not ready to travel or pound through every day like I did before the surgery. I will forgive myself, go slower, and wait before I start flying red-eyes and doing all-nighter trips.

Corwin has started an unorganized move out of the house. I would prefer he go faster, but now he told me it will take a week. He did not have boxes or anything to move his stuff. He did sleep in his new place on Monday night. I want my bedroom back. I want my garage emptied so I can start to clear out some of my stuff so Air Volvo again fits. I want the Volvo Cave back in order.

Breakfast was a banana and coffee. I had been snacking (not good for my weight, but it helps me feel better), so I was less hungry. I was thinking of repeating my trip to Portland and the Chinese Garden, but decided on a less difficult trip, walking in Hillsboro Old Town. It also let me look at the antiques and look for something I could use. I table or an old book from the 1920s, the time of Call of Cthulu Role Playing Game (CoC) and H.P. Lovecraft writing. I look for technical books, travel books, and other documents that provide a glimpse of that time period.

Lunch is reheated pasta from a few days ago, and leftover salad from lunch with Dondrea and Z. It was good, but I heated too much and left more than half of the pasta and sausage for Corwin. I headed out to Hillsboro in Air Volvo and found finding a parking space was complex as there were no parking signs everywhere for the holiday, but I couldn’t tell which ones were for today and for later. I noticed one a block away that was not marked, took it, and soon, I was walking in Hillsboro. I want to get some steps in but not overdo it like on Saturday (just short of 5,000). I walk through the antique stores.

I found a 1945 US Accounting Handbook and then one, unpriced, for 1923; perfect. The lack of price means they cannot sell it to me. The antique store, like most, is a collection of vendors in a shared space. Sales are done by the collective, and the money is later paid to the vendors. This means the item needs a price, and a call to the vendor does not get a response. The Accounting Handbook is placed back on the shelf, with my name and phone number, with the hope that the vendor will respond. I have no immediate need for a 1923 Accounting Handbook, so I searched the store for other items, and nothing else got my interest.

I walk through downtown Hillsboro to Le Stuff, the other antique store and also a collective. This store has excellent furniture and often an excellent clock if you like those. I have bought some multi-drawer items from Le Stuff to hold my gaming figures and some old wooden crates that I use to transport gaming items. A crate that says “American Embalming Solutions” is perfect for CoC, and who does not want a crate that says “High Explosives: Dangerous” to carry gaming dice and other supplies? I am still looking for a desk, but so far nothing has interested me.

I stopped by the book exchange. There, they have a used Complete Dorthy Sayer for $9, which adds to the things I am carrying. I have been meaning to try her, and for this price, I can do all of her stories (of course, I could add this to my Kindle for likely the same price, but I still love physical books). I took my laptop with me in case I got tired and then could just write or surf at the coffee shop.

Hillsboro has an excellent Hobby store that focuses on model building and train stuff. I buy some brass parts I need. My feet and legs are beginning to feel less happy, so I walk back to the first antique store. No, the price is not set, and I will not be taking home the 1923 book today. There is a bakery on the way to Air Volvo. I find that some scones (poppy mango) and a slice of carrot cake are required.

Air Volvo whisks me back home without issues, and I will soon be making an early dinner: Trader Joe’s Orange chicken. I add frozen peppers (also from Trader Joe’s) and some frozen green beans. This is in a non-stick frying pan, but it is not making much progress. I get a lid, add water to the pan, and steam everything cooked. I then take the lid off and let the water evaporate, and the items brown a bit. My usual trick with stove-top cooking. I also make rice (also from Trader Joe’s) and manage not to burn it (I pour cold water on the bottom of the pan before I stir it–this prevents sticking and burning- another stove-top trick).

I had a few bowls because I was hungry, and they were good. I do have enough left that Corwin has it for dinner, too. Corwin begins his move out. I am restricted to lifting only 30 pounds and do not wish to risk balance issues; Corwin has to move out without my help. The walking, food, and just feeling well put me to sleep as I read. I wake up at about 7ish, make some tea, and do some laundry and dishes (again).

The wound leaves a tiny blood mark on the bandage, but the scab is still forming, and it is not quite closed. Almost.

I take a late shower and fall asleep within minutes, despite the tea and earlier nap. I wake later, proof hydration, and then climb into the covers. I wake again, repeat, and sleep the rest of the night this time.

The AC is on and set to 70F (21C) at the house. I will raise this to 73F (23C) soon as we are facing just short of three-digit temperatures (37C).

On investments, I rebalanced my 401K and dropped all the Nike stock holdings. I looked at rolling over the balance to PAX funds but could not find a link for the forms and process on their website (!?). On my eTrade account, I purchased enough Ford (F) to get to 500 shares ($12.55 a share) as I like the high dividend (4.7%) payments and the chance the stock will not fall much more (how much more could they actually do wrong after these past two years?). I also hold JP Morgan’s preferred D shares for the same reason (JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 5.75% SHS PFD DD). The JP Morgan is callable, but interest rates have to fall before they will call it. These are the boring and uninteresting investments, perfect for someone retired. I will likely move more cash to boring equities as time goes forward (feel free to share your most boring, low-risk investment tips).

Thanks for reading.

Sunday was a strange day as I was up late, after 8, and was going not slow but unhurried speeds. On Saturday, I purchased items at the Vancouver Farmer’s Market to make a nice salad to take to Dondrea, and Z. Dondrea would make her pizza (pesto and various cheeses and meats), and then we would teach Dondrea how to play Wyrmspan. Dondrea would text me later, asking to start at 1 instead of noon. It was a lovely and lazy morning.

I made liberal coffee, which I have been drinking almost every day when home to remind me that liberals must be vigilant from the day Trump was elected President. Yes, liberal coffee, including Fair Exchange-certified coffee, often supports the rain forests—anything to help after the challenge of seeing Trump win. The price of freedom, as written on the National Archives building in Washington D.C., is being ever vigilant (my memory is that the quote was written on this building, but I could not find a site on the Internet to verify this), and I take this warning seriously all my life since seeing the words in Washington D.C. The coffee is a good reminder.

Aside (with respect to both sides of the politics): with the exception of Jan 6th and the document fiasco, I would say that, though I do not agree with most (maybe all) of Trump’s policies, he was effective. He cut taxes for corporations, gave trillions of dollars to people for COVID-19 and to support the economy, ensured that high-tax states would no longer get matching federal tax write-offs (see above link; costing me over $2,000 and more a year), and used that savings to cut taxes for high earners (California, New York State, and New Jersey homeowners took quite a tax beating). He improved the lives of all real estate investors with changes to expense handling. That is pretty effective. Again, I cannot say I enjoyed any of this and would love to see it repealed, but it is the new tax world in which we have lived here in the USA for almost five years now.

(Yes, I am in a more thoughtful mood this Monday morning while writing this).

Returning to Sunday’s outline, I wrote a long blog as Saturday was busy. My legs were sore from the long walks on Saturday, and my weight was circling around 234 pounds. My incision stopped bleeding and appears to finally heal, and I am hopeful that the Bell’s Palsy is starting to fade (I still can’t wink my left eye, my test for improvement). My tastes are still off, and the thrush damage is still there, making eating more of a chore than a pleasure.

While still in my pajamas, I cut up heirloom tomatoes, carrots, lesser-pedigreed lettuce, and celery. I tore the lettuce and used the whole head of iceberg (my favorite, coming from the US Midwest of the previous century, where we did not even know there were different types of lettuce). We even grew it (unlike Oregon, where all you are doing is feeding slugs if you try to grow lettuce unless you take extreme protections–copper tapes, poison, and traps). I added croutons (Olive Garden brand) and wrapped the salad for transport.

I dressed, changed the bandage, and was ready to cross Beaverton in Air Volvo. I checked that Wyrmspan was in the cargo hold and put the salad on the floor of the business class seats. While I did see Beaverton’s Finest, I took Farmington to Hall to avoid the Pride Parade-blocked street and soon was at Dondrea’s house without any opportunities to help offset the cost of running the City of Beaverton.

Dondrea finished the pizza on the grill while Z and I chatted about their trip to the old West (in the strange history of the USA, West can mean the USA Midwest and states in the same column (as it was West in the American Civil War) or the Old West in the Dakotas and Utah (and other states in that line), or here in Oregon, Washington, California, and Nevada, but usually we are called the USA West Coast. Z liked the Old West reenactor city (the name I forgot). Pizza ala Birdie (Dondrea’s nickname) was excellent.

Dondrea was overwhelmed as I went over how to play Wyrmspan and was not sure she would like this game. Z and I reassured her that the game flowed and that, soon, the turns would work for her. And they did, and Z and I watched as Dondrea filled her dragon caves with high-value dragons (wyrms, if you like) and needed little direction for the three remaining rounds of the game. The score was harsh; Dondrea pulled a 113 to our matching 54 scores! We were crushed by a newbie. We split the remaining salad and I headed out at 4:30; Z had youth group.

Air Volvo drove to Matt’s house, and after a moment of drama, I found my character sheet in my Player’s Handbook. Oops. We completed our Spell Jammer campaign today with the final battle against the slaver lord. We first had to unlock the access, and this required us to face a petrification monster. Before we could act, two members of our four-person group soon were statues. I prayed to my god of war and was granted back spells to undo this after our fighter, who is hard to kill or petrify, had done away with the monsters. It was a close thing!

As a writer of adventures in Dungeons and Dragons, I know that some encounters will hit a group of adventures in their weakest areas. It is hard to predict which ones will do that. I write various encounter types when I create an adventure and know that each play will be different. I am surprised when I play my adventures when encounters do this, and often, you only see it once. Matt was surprised that he nearly took us out with a minor encounter. It happens. We recovered and went on to the big boss.

We went with the strange tactic of splitting up and attacking different targets, usually a recipe for disaster, but we correctly guessed that the bad guys had blasting area spells. My evil cleric was targeted over and over as I had used up my high-level spells blasting. I managed to draw off a large group of bad guys. I even called down a fireball from a party member on myself. I lasted with one hit point (actually recovering from a death save), and my high armor class (I am wrapped in plate and shield and shield spell from a ring) saved me for a while. I was killed and dismembered.

Our efforts slew the mage and redirected the ship from our allies. The slave lord was taken out by the plainest of spells, Heat Metal, on his armor. With the mage slain, he had no allies to save him, and he cooked. The rest was the usual run-away exercise as the bad guy ship fell apart. My cleric was brought back and was given new armor (slightly discolored from heating) from the slave lord. Other items were distributed by need.

We are now starting a new campaign, and we said goodbye to one character while my cleric turned good in the new setting (it fits better for the next adventures and gives me more to do). Scott is now a bugbear scout, and I am a good cleric of light (not an evil cleric of war). It was a good finish and restart for some of us.

I returned home after coming back to get my wallet that I had left on the table. I had a snack and went to bed late after reading for a while. There was no bleeding! Yay! I showered and slept.

Thanks for reading.

I rose early on Saturday, after 6, found my French Press, made coffee, grabbed a banana, located yogurt in the frig, and started on a short blog (Friday was not a busy day). Read the news (f**k, are we liberals in trouble after the debates), did the dishes to feel like I have something I can control in this world, and finished the blog before around 9. I cleaned up and dressed (I returned to showers at night to prevent pollen from being carried into my bed; I woke on Saturday feeling much better). My bandage showed only a small amount of blood. Just one little bit needs to heal. I finished my antibiotics. I am feeling more like myself.

The anesthetic issues are fading. I still have some issues with basic mathematics, but I am slowly getting that back, and I can use my phone calculator, so it is not an issue. I could not calculate 20% of 80 yesterday, for example (I can now–it comes and goes), but it was listed on the bill. I can code C for Arduino again. My language issues are gone–I am using the correct words when speaking. My writing has not been impacted. Some existing health issues are improving with the weight loss (234 pounds again) and increased exercise. I did just short of 5,000 steps on Saturday!

I contacted Dan at about 9:30 and checked that he could meet in Vancouver, Washington (not Canada), just across the Columbia River. He thought that would work out, and I was soon on my way. And took about an hour to reach him with light traffic on Saturday morning, but many roads were shut down for construction in Portland. I got the address in a text about 1/2 way and used navigation in Air Volvo.

I parked at what I learned was the back door, and Dan gave me a tour of the 24-hour service retirement facility. Like many I have heard about, Dan told me this facility was a set of similar-capability retirement homes created by a family. The family discovered there were no facilities that would work for their family members, so they created one and then went into the business of building more. I have friends from work who have done the same thing for their family members. They rebuild their home into a medical facility, hire staff, and collect payments from the state, federal government, and provide excellent care. I looked into this for Susie, but I was working full-time for Nike at the time and could not manage it. It was the middle of the pandemic, and medical stuff was insane then. I was blessed to find the hummingbird house, and I had the financial resources to afford it. Dan’s new place was an excellent facility; it was clean (no urine smell) and looked comfortable.

Janet was still getting ready, and Dan was free; we headed to downtown Vancouver in Air Volvo. The farmer’s market parking was full (wow)! I had to park about three blocks away in a public park for a few bucks. I had to download the app and then set up the car and purchase a two-hour stay. I would overstay that, but there were no consequences so far from that.

Dan and I followed our phone maps to the farmer’s market (three long blocks away), which was quite expanded since I was last there and included much more food ready to eat. We walked the whole thing looking at everything to eat and buy. I had left my bags in Air Volvo, so I would limit my purchases to just some veggies to make a salad I was taking to Dondrea and Z on Sunday (our church service is canceled on Sunday as the church building is surrounded by the Pride Parade and events and no consideration was made for a church service by the City of Beaverton or the parade organizers).

It was lunchtime, and while the food was interesting, Dan and I were thinking of a drink with lunch, so we walked out of the farmer’s market and stopped at the first restaurant that looked like it was sit-down and likely had drinks: The Sedgwick. It was a plush place priced at the hipster level. I had a beer, and Dan got a glass of wine. I ordered Duck Fat cooked steak fries, which was a thing created from a John Wick movie (see it here). Dan was not that impressed. I had brie cheese melted with bread and shared that with Dan. Dan tried the most excellent soup, and we split it. The bill was a stunning NYC-does-not-charge-this-much $80 for three appetizers and wine and beer drinks. Yikes! I bought.

Dan stayed with the veggies while I walked back to get Air Volvo. I was able to quickly negotiate the streets and crowd without any missteps, dizziness, or drifting to one side. The crowd was a mix of older folks, often walking a dog (and wondering, I imagine, where all these new folks came from), and the young, tightly dressed, and sexy who had recently moved to the area, some with dogs of various sizes. The younger folks often had food or bags of recently purchased produce. It was a good day for the vendors! I paid a premium for my two small bags.

As I said above, Air Volvo was not noticed when I overran the two-hour parking I purchased. Air Volvo soon negotiated Vancouver’s confusing streets and found Dan. We took the highway back to the facility, and I dropped Dan off. I managed to return to Beaverton and found that 205-84-5-405-26-217-8 would get me back without hitting any significant traffic issues. I called Dan, who would drive to Beaverton on Sunday morning to give him the magic combination of highways and streets.

I put the precious veggies away, rested, and read briefly. I did have some crackers and cheese as a snack before heading out again. Air Volvo drove a bit insane today as it enjoyed the traffic to Richard’s place in Portland, mostly caused by drivers reading the warning about road closings this weekend (and Monday?!).

Today, five people and another train game, Railway of the World. This is not the dreaded 18xx but an engine-building and resource management game closer to Brass than A Ticket to Ride. This is an Eagle-Gryphon Games game. They are the same folks who brought us Lisboa and other insanely complex games. This one is complex and can be mean, but we mostly enjoyed it. I never led the pack, I did catch Richard (who won by just a few points) at first, but he and Chris blew us away by twenty points at the end–Chris led for much of the game. At the very end, Kathleen caught me for third place–I picked the wrong end-of-game condition. Loren was having my usual new game experience and finished last–I felt for her (she took on too much debt at the start; I did, too). Lighter rules and kinder than Brass, and easy to learn, I would recommend it for a friendly group. Chris and Kathleen’s strategy of slow growth by building small, easy railroads was excellent. Chris crossed the mountains, built long lines, and collected huge points. Richard ran his railroads in the US south. I would recommend Railway of the World over Brass as simply more fun.

We played a card game, No Thanks, and Kathleen won; I fought hard but did not win a single hand. I like it and recommend it as a quick, easy game. We use these to decompress from the harder games. Air Volvo delivered Kathleen to her home. We had not seen each other for months, but we caught up. We will meet for some Wyrmspan games on Fridays. We will try Lucky Labrador Brew Pub off of Hawthorn and see if it works. I am retired, and I have only a few plans.

Air Volvo took the more messy roads back to 26 from Milwaukee, Oregon, to avoid construction and closed roads. Air Volvo faced fast, light traffic, with the frustrating 26 traffic flying over 70 and then slowing to 50s without warning or apparent cause.

The weather had changed from high clouds and hot sun in the morning to Oregon mist in the late afternoon and rain in some areas. Air Volvo arrived without issues, even with slick roads. I heated some pasta and had a late dinner, showered, changed my bandage (still a tiny bleed), and went to bed after remaking my bed. I had washed my bedding before I left for Portland. I soon slept.

Thanks for reading.

I woke early and was up at about 6 writing the blog. I could not sleep after sunrise today. I had liberal coffee made in the French press, yogurt, and a banana. I was strangely hungry all day and snacked a few times. I finished the antibiotics, and the bleeding in my belly incision is now just a single dot of blood. I was in my PJs until noon as I had no plans and was not going out.

I did remember on Thursday to put out the trash and the recycling, so I did not have to rush out in my robe when I heard the trucks. I was right that it was recycling week. My neighbors had out the lawn waste, but I was sure (based on my full recycling bin) that it was a recycling week. |

I found the leftover beef-based goulash had not been consumed, so I heated it for lunch. I was careful to chew and not choke while watching recent YouTube Battleship New Jersey and ShipHappens releases. I had choked before when eating too fast while multitasking, so I was careful and aware. Battleship New Jersey is back at its dock and will soon reopen to the public after dry docking. The video covered why New Jersey is the lightest of the Iowa-class Battleships (less armor)–definitely a Battleship geek fest. ShipHappens has reached the point where they are about to rebuild the deck on their WW2 wooden ship (it was at D-Day). After my naval geek-out, I showered, dressed, and prepared for the rest of my day.

My allergies are harsh. I sneezed for five minutes and had a coughing attack when I went to bed. Today, it was cold and overcast, but there was no pollen-removing rain. The impact is less as I take Montelukast at night, a generic of Singulair. I have been taking it for over a year, and it helps, especially in our winter, which is often full of mold. I no longer cough all the time.

The afternoon was spent picking up the house, doing laundry, and the dishes. Dondrea and I agreed to meet for lunch and the board games on Sunday for Birdie (Dondrea’s nickname), pizza, and salad. Z and I will teach Birdie how to play Wyrmespan. It is an excellent game, and we have played it over and over.

With no plans for Friday, I made dinner. I boiled salted water, found pasta sauce in a jar, cooked sweet Italian-style sausage, and cooked pasta in the water. The sausage was from Trader Joe’s and not bad. I fried all the links in a non-stock pan (thanks, Steve) and got them brown on two sides. I then added water that turned quickly to steam. I covered it and let the hot steam cook the sausage and also render out some of the fat. I then cut each in half, now cooked, and sliced them up. This is tricky as they are literally steaming hot. I managed to get it done and then browned the bits in the same pan. The water cooked away, and soon it was browning. I heated the pasta sauce in a pan and then poured that into the frying pan (my father would have removed the fat, but I don’t) and let it cook with the sausage. The pasta was cooked the usual way. I take a measuring cup and grab a cup of the starchy and salted water. I add this to the pasta sauce in the frying pan. I strain out the pasta using the usual way and then combine the now thicker pasta sauce with the pasta. I had a few bowls but never a full bowl. It was good; my tastes slowly returned as the impact of thrush was fading.

I read for a while and started clearing my table of figure painting items. I plan to start on my mini-submarine project, but I need some unclustered space. I also tried to make the Arduino Alvik that arrived a few days ago. I was disappointed as the device requires complex Unix-based updates (Apples are Unix/Linux-based machines, so I can do it on my Apple) that are only partially explained, so I gave up for now. There is an install.sh that needs to be run from somewhere, but it is unclear where (the name is popular, and I have many of these on my Apple). Arduino Alvik is Python-based, and I hoped to demo it at the Hillsboro Python and Machine Learning Meetup. Maybe they will update the instructions, or I will decide to invest the time to work out what is needed and do it. More to come, but I put the device in the garage; I was frustrated that the device was not better supported–I moved on.

Having seldom left the house and resting, Friday came to a close. Friday, I changed back to my revised practice of showering before going to bed to reduce the pollen in my sheets. This reduces the coughing. My bandage, as I said, showed only a tiny spot. Better.

I received my last paycheck from Nike. It included 102 hours of paid time off and my unused stock purchase money being returned to me. About 1.5 months of pay. I called HR and learned that the settlement of 48 weeks’ pay will be paid out in July. I am officially no longer part of Nike today. I was sent COBRA information, strong suggestions not to use it and to find my own insurance (no surprise there), and information on how to file for unemployment. The Oregon Insurance marketplace does not provide dental or vision care, so paying COBRA for 16 months makes sense to me now. More to follow.

A short blog today for a quiet day. Thanks for reading.

I was up too early because I could not sleep, so I started the blog and breakfast early. I had an NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) and liberal coffee made in my French Press. I ordered more a few days ago, and it arrived on time. I wrote until about 9 and started my laundry after putting Corwin’s laundry, still in The Machine, in a chair.

I forgot to include in Wednesday’s blog that Subha called me and visited. She was calling and texting my old number (503 277-3705 is not my number anymore–that was Nike’s phone), and she contacted Brad Jones and got my new number. We had a nice chat, and I again offered to take her daughter driving when she was ready.

Returning to Thursday, I dressed and was happy to discover that my bandage showed just one spot of blood and not much of that. The weeping has stopped. My antibiotics run out on Friday, so the timing is good. I should be healed soon. My Bell’s palsy is still freezing part of my face, but it is hard to spot. My left eye still does not close well, and I must take eye drops often. I use a night gel for sleeping as my left eye likely does not stay closed all the way when sleeping. I wear eye protection (when I remember) outdoors and in facilities as my blinking to avoid dust is also not working as well as it should. The pain in my legs and lower back requires some painkillers. I assume this is from more activity and will pass soon. My weight went up four pounds to 234 again.

While Bell’s palsy and bleeding are annoying, I am doing well and gaining strength. I can drive, and I drove Air Volvo to Portland and back. I should be able to walk and start at a gym next month (that is next week).

Lunch was reheating the gnocchi from Wednesday’s dinner. I could only eat about half of it. My stomach has been all acid lately, and eating something like gnocchi in a tomato meat sauce has not improved things. Eventually, I had a bit of bicarbonate in water to cool things off. This is likely the impact of almost two weeks of heavy antibiotics. I felt better after the bicarbonate. I am sneezing and coughing from allergies; it has not rained for a week, and the tree pollen is harsh. My eyes are burning.

I decided to get some supplies from the local hobby store and then buy groceries at Trader Joe’s nearby in Beaverton Town Center. I talked to the train guy (also the model guy), but they did not have the brass parts I was looking for, so I left empty-handed.

But I did not leave Trader Joe’s empty-handed. As Corwin moved out on July 1st, I restocked my fresh veggies and various frozen food items, albeit at a slightly lower rate. Five bags and $150 later, I had to unload from the cargo hold of Air Volvo on my return to the Volvo Cave. For me, this is a major exercise as it includes lifting and moving items (my weight limit is 25 pounds at the moment). Trader Joe’s sells nothing plastic (I asked), so zip-lock storage bags and plastic wrap will have to wait until a trip to Safeway.

After unloading, I found the five chicken quarters frozen and started to defrost them. I prepared garlic bread from some bread machine made white bread by cooking garlic in butter with salt (I use unsalted butter). I let that cool as I waited for the chicken. I finally got the chicken defrosted enough to bake, covered it in salt and pepper with some paprika, and baked it in The Oven number 2 oven. When it was almost done, I baked the bread slices with garlic butter and a little cheese in The Oven number 1 oven. I cooked fresh green beans (with the ends broken off and broke, not cut, in half) on the burner and added more butter, almond slices, and, yes, more garlic. Everything was done at about the same time and was good. The chicken tastes mostly like chicken and not spices. Sometimes, I just like chicken to be chicken.

I watched the last episode of the Acolyte available on Disney+ and thought it was good. Again, it was entertaining, surprising, and very dark. Again, I’m not sure about all the complaints about not following Cannon, the poor ratings, or that it ruins Star Wars somehow; I thought it was interesting and shocking. Again, it was like Star Wars meets John Wick and The Expanse. With the warning that it is harsh, I recommend it.

I returned to reading and not working on any projects. Piper Kerman’s Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison was hard to put down. I am now in the Prison part after her wild life of crime and her surprising turn to having a boyfriend, which then follows with her guilty plea and eventual imprisonment. I learned that letters, money in an account, and sending books to someone in prison were excellent support for people in prison. Of course, visits are the most important, but there is a limit to visitors, and they must be on a list.

I learned that there is a NetFlix version of the book. I think I will just read it. Lately, I have been able to watch only fantasy items.

Aside: I watched a few minutes of the debates. It appeared to me that Biden was mostly lost, and Trump was his usual self, making up one-liners. Not what I hoped for.

I haven’t done rose pictures in a while, and after the debate, here are some nice flower pictures.

This is Heaven’s Scent from Dondrea and Z to remember Susie.

This is a painted rose that is no longer available from Heritage Roses, Picasso.

This is David Austin’s Wedgwood from the plant that was poisoned by the floods. It is coming back this summer.

This is an impossible-to-find David Austin Rose, The Herbalist.

I went to bed, changed my bandage with just a spot of blood, and fell asleep after 11. Thanks for reading.