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I rose before 7 as I woke with the sunrise near 6 and had to prove hydration a few times. I had the XIAO ESP32S3 SENSE delivered yesterday and put aside the whole morning to see if I could make it work. While maybe not the most interesting blog subject, it is the base for having a mini-camera in my next project. I spent the morning trying to get the XIAO ESP SENSE to work.

The tooling is the Arduino IDE, as the device accepts a version of Arduino compiled C code. The device is tiny, about the size of a stack of three American quarters, and has many non-standard names and ports. For example, the 13-pin is not the LED on the board, and I found that the ESP Blink sketch supplied was wrong (!?). I revised it to use the name for the correct pin, LED_BUILTIN; later updates to Arduino established names for these items, but older timers, like I still think, 13. My copy works now.

It took me two hours to get the XIAO ESP32S3 SENSE to be recognized by Arduino IDE. I had to find the correct URL and set the IDE to see it. Next, then load all the required updates and libraries. Some of my stuff was outdated, and ESP hardware requires current as most of this hardware is only a few years old or earlier (part of the Internet of Things tech). Once I got the board information loaded, I could run the usual Blink sketch and see the friendly LED blinking on the board. Then, I found the incorrect ESP Blink and loaded and fixed it. This meant I had the basics working and could now try to do something interesting.

I attached the SENSE part of the XIAO ESP32S3, which is a tiny camera and an SD card that stores photos and videos. I also discovered that the extra memory, PSRAM, must be turned on in the IDE Arduino, which was a new item for me. Apparently, the setting allows the compiled code to use more memory and moves the camera photos to this extra memory.

Next, I took my Take-a-Photo sketch, code I copied from an example, and managed to compile and load it on the XIAO Sense, with some more updates to various libraries and adding one obscure ESP library (Arduino has a strong Stack-overflow-like site and Stack-overflow even picks up Arduino questions sometimes) after searching the Internet for a fix. It takes two pictures.

Then, my next delivery of items, including well-timed SD readers with USB-C connections for my MacBook Air M2, arrives. I pull the SD Card from the device and put it in the reader. I have not removed the protective lens-covering film on the camera, and I get to black photos. These are the last photos that work. After this, every photo is corrupt. Hmmm.

I spend the morning searching the Internet for information about photo processing and the XIAO SENSE. I found an article that says that moving a captured frame from the camera to a file is useless as it is a binary image and not a usable format. I revised the code all morning to try to get the frame to JPEG format, but I saw so much code strongly suggesting the frame should be in JPEG format already. I do finally get a working file (not corrupt), but the image is just a repeated set of color lines, and each photo is exactly the same. I wonder if the camera (SENSE part of the device) has died. I did buy two, so I am tempted to see if the problem exists with another device, but I keep working.

It’s time for a break and lunch (breakfast was an NYC bagel with cream cheese and capers—thanks, Joyce—liberal coffee and a banana). I get out some celery, onion, and seasoning. I chop things tiny. I added the leftover pasta from a day or so ago, a can of good tuna, capers, and real Mayo—cold tuna salad. I have a bowl, just one with the pasta (I can’t do the carbs and keep my A1C down).

I decided I needed a walk and some fresh air. I watered the roses on the front lawn, as there will be no rain in the forecast for ten days. Summer weather came early this year, about three weeks early. I went to use the hose coiler, bent over, and turned the crank, and when I went to stand, I was unsure where the up and down were. I walked over to the house, leaned on the house (knowing the house knew where up and down were), waited for my mind and body to settle up with gravity, and looked hard at the horizon. Soon, all was right. I was careless, and the f**king hose can sit on the ground next time.

I went back inside and decided I had recovered, and then I boarded an Air Volvo. I flew over Cooper’s Mountain via 170th to Roy Rogers Road and on to Al’s Garden and Home. I love walking in the place and used to take Susie there just to walk, look at all the plants, and, during Christmas time, see all the lights and trains. The parking lot and greenhouse are flat and easy to transverse for people who use walkers or are just prone to falling. Today, I thought it a good place to get some walking in. I did go out into the rougher plant area (having no issues) and saw a rose tree with Angel Face blooms (an old favorite that I was not able to grow–mine died in Maryland–and I had not seen it in Oregon before). Tempted, but the price did not include installing a hole, and I resisted. Here is the information on the rose for those interested: Angel Face (local Oregon source). I did look at hats, and they had exactly the summer hat I was looking for, and medium, while a bit loose, fit well enough. I purchased it and wore it to the cashier, who approved of my new look.

Aside: When I would buy flowers for Susie in Maryland, one florist specialized in exotic roses. I spent extra on a set of roses for Susie, Angel Face. I bought the bush later, but it did not thrive.

I returned to the Volvo Cave after Air Volvo flew back over Coopers Mountain. I rested briefly and decided dinner should be at BJ’s, and a pork chop sounded good. My usual waiter in the bar, Eric, had tables full, so I got a less skilled waiter. Soon, I had my favorite beer, a house salad with Thousand Island dressing, and a double pork chop and baked potato. It was all perfectly assembled. I could not eat it all. I got 3/4 of the pork shop and about the same for the potato (with sour cream and butter) and could not go on. I am down to 230 pounds (headed to my goal of 220, with breaching 200 being the impossible-to-imagine future moment) and obviously am used to eating less now (except for jambalaya and absinthe-based drinks). I got a dessert to go. I did re-write more C while at BJ’s.

I reached the house in Air Volvo, not noticing that my phone was not connected to Air Volvo. I put the ice cream in the freezer and drove back to BJ’s. They had my phone and stuff, and soon, I was back home.

I rewatched the last two episodes of Doctor Who for this season, still liked them, and went to bed.

Thanks for reading.

I woke with the sunrise and enjoyed two proofs of hydration, too. I managed to roll over and sleep until 6:30, knowing I had to rise early and write the blog to make church this morning. I finally ordered a replacement for my pride tie, which had worn out—something to be proud of, I think. It was a less bright print but a better-made and likely longer-lasting tie. I planned to wear the new one today.

I finished the blog around 9ish, and breakfast was also assembled (a banana, some cheese, and liberal coffee). I replaced my bandage and took my meds, which included antibiotics. The incision is less angry but still weeping. As I said yesterday, heal, damn it! I took a shower and started my laundry. I also did the laundry, which I mis-timed, and I had to rewash the totally wrinkled shirts and pants (stripping the bed in the afternoon to make the load worth running) when I returned in the afternoon.

I discovered I reached my next weight number, 230 pounds, and am slowly heading to 220, my next goal. I would not suggest recovering from grief and brain surgery as a weight loss strategy. I intend to keep the weight off and try to build up some muscles once I feel better. I still tire easily.

With the chores done, I headed to Beaverton’s First United Methodist Church. Michael was preaching today on James 3:1-12. This passage is not often quoted by pastors, and it talks about how the tongue can create a firestorm and the same mouth that prays reverently to God curses others. Pastors can find it uncomfortable for them and their listeners. Which is the James’ point. Michael’s message was that when God scattered people in the story of Bable and then returned a single language in Jesus’s message. According to James, the tongue, while small, can do great evil. Michael suggests that if we follow the teachings in the New Testament (I am thinking of the Sermon on the Mount), this is the new language to unite people, a new language for us all to learn. His sermon reminded me of the law in Louisiana that puts the Ten Commandments in every classroom (launching a thousand memes and court filings) when other words I think it would be more comforting and useful to children. The Golden Rule and “And every tear will be wiped away” comes to my mind. We do, as Michael suggests, still suffer from a form of Bable instead of hearing the clear language of kindness and responsibility that Christians are called to. It was an excellent sermon and had me thinking.

After church, I headed to The 649 in Air Volvo for lunch and a beer. I had my laptop with me. Kyle opened today, and I mistook her for her sister, Avery, at first. Kyle was my bartender before the pandemic. She told me she cares for her daughter now and does not work that often. It took me a moment to realize I had the wrong name, as Avery is taller, and Kyle has colorful body ink with her sisters on her arms. Kyle was kind when I corrected it and asked her for her name, as I could not recall it. I am never shy about asking folks their names.

I wrote for more than two hours while eating a hummus platter and drinking a Red Zepplin beer. I was editing and fixing my newest Dungeons and Dragons adventure. I plan to publish it soon. I felt off, almost nauseated. Likely the result of the antibiotics, and I finished with coffee. Kyle was happy to see me in my church outfit (and pride tie); she said my Methodist was showing. Excellent.

I returned in Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave and rested, trying to keep the hummus, beer, and other things inside. Within an hour, I was feeling recovered enough to return to my laptop. Soon, my newly purchased Seeed XIAO ESP32 Sense arrived from Amazon. I spent the afternoon updating my Arduino software and following directions (mostly) to be able to program and run software on my new devices. This is a tiny device and camera used in the project to make an RC and video experience from a normal-sized Hot Wheel car. With a price of $13, I got two! I assembled the first device (which can connect to WIFI and Bluetooth) and attached the little camera.

It took me all afternoon to get Blink (which just blinks a light) to run on the device. I also discovered that the supplied Blink for the ESP32 device was miscoded, and my corrected version worked. Hmmm. Yes, this is going to be a challenge. I managed to crash the device and worked out how to recover it. It is my idea of fun and exciting.

I took a break and made dinner. I took one of the Trader Joe’s frozen meals, Butter Chicken, and heated it in the top oven. In the last seven minutes, I heated a piece of garlic naan, also frozen and from Trader Joe’s. Dinner was great.

Next, I watched the end of the new Doctor Who season, which saw the completion of a two-episode adventure for the newest Doctor and his companion, Ruby. It was a good finish and links to Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, in a favorite group of episodes. While I thought the singing goblins were just too much in the first episode of the season, I did like much of this season. Even the totally bizarre babies in space which left me shocked that this was good idea for a show. It does feel this time like an update of the old series and less the crazy we have seen over the years.

After watching Doctor Who, I returned to my work on the Seeed XIAO ESP32 Sense and managed to get more to work. I managed to get the camera to take a photo, but I have no reader that mounts the mini-SDHC on my Apple to view it. Puke! I ordered two different types that will be delivered on Monday. Hopefully, one will work. It took me hours to discover that the code was broken and I was not having a library or access issue. I added a header file I copied from an example project, and the code ran! I no longer believe the code examples work out of the box.

I finally stopped coding at 9:30 and started this blog. I might get distracted by code tomorrow, so I thought it would be best to write tonight. I’m getting more parts for my version of the Hot Wheels project—a submarine for an aquarium.

Thanks for reading!

Going backward, I changed the dressing on my incision, and it was still weeping around 11. I went to bed being tired from the trip to Portland.

My incision is unchanged today but not getting worse. I still have days of antibiotics left to take and cream to put on the wound. I am trying to just let this heal, but I want this over with. Heal, damn it!

Before, I was at Richard’s in Portland playing a new game, Ultimate Railroads, which is a worker placement and resource management game, not a Euro train game. Michael, Chris, and Richard (who won by a hundred points) all played well and were flying up the points. I was slow to start and never caught up. I liked the game and would recommend it to anyone who likes board games. Unlike some worker placement games, you start with five workers, which gives you plenty of options each round. But like many mean games, most options can only be taken by one player, so you are often forced out of your best plays by other players taking the option. There is also an option to buy first and second place, thus allowing you to get the best options. I liked it, and once I was about  1/3 through, I had a good handle on the rules and process and look forward to playing again.

Air Volvo had no trouble with the light traffic headed into Portland and the high bridges on the way back (including what I call the space shuttle launch super high on-ramp that is taller than the bridge). I was not tired and managed it all. I left Richard’s after one game at 9:30-ish, which was a bit early for us.

While we were playing, I explained the surgery and related events to the gamers, and then Chris, Michael, and I (all IT and, in my case, retired IT) discussed AI and its impact on IT and corporations. This was after Richard asked if it was true that AI was reducing IT departments by 20% or more. We agree that AI is just the latest buzzword, and much of what is being attributed to it has been going on for years, and the press is just beginning to understand the changes. One change was that natural language and image processing have recently improved (i.e., AI-generated art, document creation, AI story writing, and so on), making AI more visible to the public. We covered that there was unthoughtful hiring after the pandemic, and the layoffs are the usual reaction from management. Hiring has stopped as most companies are still trying to understand AI and what they need. It, to us IT folks, is yet another set of changes in a field that is about change.

Before heading to Portland, I spent the day at the house. I did not want to get overly tired and have to skip gaming with Richard. I did not do any writing as I wanted a break after writing for three days and getting Howard stories published. I just read, surfed, watched YouTube videos, and tried to be careful.

Aside: If you want to buy a Howard story (the price is zero or pay-what-you-want), you can find the stories here: AlohaWild Publisher. This is a shameless plug. I would recommend Howard’s Lockdown as my best story and Howard in Florida for IT folks, especially SAP folks.

Go backward more; at the house, I reviewed the current issues of Make Magazine’s story about turning Hot Wheel cars into RC-controlled racers. The story includes a video transmitted in real-time from the car–yes, tiny work. I discovered that the maker, MAX Imagination, on YouTube produces excellent videos, parts lists, and even plans for builds, including converting a Hot Wheel to RC. The Maker uses a new style of soldering iron that heats and cools fast and has a temperature reading on the iron. It is also USB-powered and can be run from a battery. This is safer and easier to use than the excellent one I got from AdaFruit years ago and better than the battery-powered one I use when I need quick work.

I ordered using the link for the maker, so Amazon will credit MAX Imagination, the soldering iron, and then many of the parts the maker used to make the RC Hot Wheel. I am thinking of a tiny submarine for an aquarium. The maker used SMD (surface mount devices) parts to reduce the footprint of the build instead of the old-school through-hole electronic parts, which is out of my experience. The use of WIFI to control and receive video is also out of my experience, and the use of two different phones to control and view is not something I would want to do. However, the Arduino-based work, the wiring, and the model-building reworking are all within comfort level. The maker had power issues with an H-bridge, and then the use of a transistor to control a motor is all in my experience (including the failure when building/using an H-bridge). So I bought $200 in parts, with the soldering iron being a third of that, skipped the SMD for now, and will see if I can make that submarine with video work. It is great to be retired, and I love that something this crazy costs only a little over $100 (excluding the tool upgrade).

I made lunch by cutting up the locally made German-style smoked sausage, browning it a bit in a non-stick pan (thanks, Steve), adding leftover pasta from yesterday’s soup making, adding water, covering, and letting the steam get everything hot. Next, I finished it, first cooking out the excess water, then adding some tomato sauce, dried oregano, and some capers and cooking until thickened. It was good. Corwin ate most of it, and I had one bowl. It is prepared food (the sausage) and carbs (pasta), and I keep all that to a minimum. I do like the taste.

Later, I had cheese and crackers for a snack. I skipped dinner because I was full after a bit of cheese.

On returning to Volvo Cave, I had a bowl of lentil soup I made a day ago. I like to have something to eat when I take my pills.

Breakfast was the usual: liberal coffee, a banana, and yogurt with fruit. I rose late after 8, wrote the blog until almost 10:30, and dressed after 11.

I woke wide awake at 3 (?!) and finally went back to sleep and woke late.

Thanks for reading.

Sleep was a bit harder as we passed through the summer solstice, and sunrise was so early. I don’t have curtains in the bedroom so the sun lights up the blinds in the summer. I manage to roll over and sleep some more. I rise at 7ish. I have my usual liberal coffee made in my French press, yogurt, and a scone, which I made a few days ago; the scones are still good.

I started writing the blog, and this went on for a few hours. I had a few distractions, but I also had no need to rush; I am retired. I finish about 10, including eating breakfast, reading the news, and updating my Quicken books. After finishing the blog, I went through my June transactions on Quicken, made corrections, and then printed off June transactions. I must print off US Bank and the other accounts to finish June. After that, I will take all the documents, punch holes, and put them in a binder. I think I did not finish May, and I will check that off soon, too.

I continued to change my bandage and managed later to damage my skin with the tape. F**k! I will be more careful and use a minimum of tape. The incision is still weeping. F**k. But it is not getting worse, and the attention and antibiotics seem to work. My face seems to be less frozen, and my taste is slowly returning after the Thrush. I still can’t close my left eye with the right one open.

I take a quick shower, trying to keep the incision mostly dry. Someday, I will get to take a long, relaxing shower without something bleeding! I dress in a T-shirt and long pants that barely stay on, but I have the belt pulled all the way now, and that keeps them on.

I board Air Volvo, but I feel hungry and a bit weak. Hmmm. I take Air Volvo to the car wash, and I have a monthly pass for daily washes (which breaks even on the second wash in a month). I drive to the dry cleaners and get all my suits. I then commit a diet sin. I have a Carl’s Jr. Western Burger with onion rings (which I can’t finish). Completing the outrageous calorie count, I start to feel better. I need to be more careful with keeping to my diet; I can’t afford to starve myself while recovering from brain surgery!

I am off to the Quatama MAX station, which, being the Geater Portland Area, even has its own Wikipedia page. Now, I try my credit cards, all rejected, to get a daily paper pass. I then load the Hop app and load $25 on my virtual card (which costs $3 to buy the card ?!). I watch one train go while I try to do this. I then cannot figure out how to tap to get my legal and paid access to MAX. As the train finally appears, there is still no tap–it is not connected to the train. I spy the green pole, wave my phone at it, and I tap. The train driver kindly waits for me before moving the train on (I am not likely the first confused user).

The MAX train contains one person who is having a conversation with themselves–sometimes getting into an argument with themselves, young people who could be models in a fashion magazine and ordinary folks. The train fills as we get closer to Portland, but strangely, keeping the proportions of beautiful, crazy, and ordinary people. MAX goes slower than I remember, but I am happy to not be driving.

My back hurts, and I am tired. I am surprised that I am running out of steam so fast, but this is a continuous process, and I realize it may be the longest time I have done something since the surgery. I try to relax and try to find a place to look where I won’t be staring at a beautiful person (being creepy) or making eye contact with a person talking to themselves (not wanting to add to the conversation) and find my phone very interesting (like everyone else). While I never feel scared or worried, it is less comfortable than I remember. This is my first time on the MAX since the pandemic.

I ride through Portland and get off at Skidmore Fountain stop (I should have stayed on for one more stop). I walk five blocks to the Chinese Garden. I managed to handle the uneven pavement of Portland (not as bad as NYC) and did not trip or even sway. Excellent. I suspect, with all the balance issues and PT over the last five years, that I have been compensating for the tumor-caused damage for years and have no problems walking in an urban setting.

I restored my garden membership, but it was a sad moment when Susie’s name was dropped from a family membership. I also have to align the phone number to my new number. I am not 62, so I am not a senior yet. It is hot, and my back hurts, but the shade is nice, and there are a few benches. Soon, I headed into the tea house and discovered that it had changed since the last time I was here. It is now run by the garden, I am told, and I like the menu now, which is light but has enough food for lunch. I ordered a tea service and cold lotus root salad (just something cold and light), and I picked a seat outside near the water. The service is delivered, and the process is explained to me (I remember much of this from previous visits). I have hot tea and a very spicy cold salad with various crunchy veggies and mushrooms.

I walk through the garden, and only once do the steps fool me. I was never near falling, but the step was further than it should have been. There is a man playing a traditional instrument, and he tells me about it. It has only two strings and is bowed. The amount of sound and range are impressive. The garden with all the water is humid, and soon, I am tired, and my back pain is back. I am near my limit. I left the Chinese Gardon after touring the shop and resisting the Year of the Dragon items (I was born in 1964, A Year of the Dragon). This time, I walk two blocks to the MAX. My train leaves as I reach the station. I discovered my original purchase on Hop App is still in time for a transfer to be offered to me. I wait three trains until I get one that will take me back to my starting point.

I noticed that the homeless and people screaming obscenities and acting violently were more prevalent than I remembered from my other visits to Portland. I can see why people are disquieted about coming to Portland. I could hear some of the screams from inside the Chinese Garden, and there was now a metal gate around the garden’s entrance. I had to be let in. It feels less safe than NYC as there are fewer people, and thus, the proportion of would-be violent folks was higher, and I saw no police presence my whole visit.

My ride back was nearly the same, with about the same proportion of crazy, beautiful, and ordinary people. It seemed to go by faster as I read a book on my iPhone. I was surprised to see some folks who were on the MAX before me and went out beyond Beaverton. With the difficulty of filling hourly positions in the area, few would ride that long to a job, so it appears these were mostly students, with most getting off at 185th on the PCC campus. The Max train was mostly empty when I arrived back at Quatama MAX station. Air Volvo was there and hot as it registered 90F (it is inaccurate for air temperature). I returned to the Volvo Cave via the 185th Fruit and Veggie stand. I got items we needed and a few we did not need. I enjoy our local stone fruit and found ripe nectarines this time.

I rested for a while and then started to make Lentil Soup from a Women’s Bean Project kit. I added cooked celery, onions, and fresh tomatoes to the soup. I used boxed chicken stock (I am not a foodie enough to make my own). I also added a can of diced tomatoes with garlic and other seasonings. Despite my back again complaining, I continued on and boiled some pasta to add to the soup. I assembled this, and it was excellent (three smaller bowls). I cooled it and finally put it on a pad and put it still warm in the frig.

I headed to Wildwood Taphouse in Air Volvo, which I had not been to in months. The bartender knew my name and was happy to see me. I explained about the brain tumor and Susie’s service and was happy to still be able to have a beer. I picked “something as dark as my life has been,” and number 19, 12oz pour, as it is dark, not sweet, and boozy was provided. I sipped it while surfing on the Internet (I now use my own hotspot from my phone to avoid hackers). While surfing, I looked into using Python, or in this case, micro-Python, for the new Arduino Avik and found the Python lab to download, selecting the non-Intel Apple version (I use an M2-based Apple running Sonoma 14.5) and selecting a place to save source code. Without a device to run it, that was as far as I could go. My $140 Avik will arrive next week (free shipping does not mean fast).

I was at Wildwood for a few hours, and it was likely the slowest drinking I have done. The bartender only charged me for the drink, dropping the charge for the bar mix I also ordered (I ate only half of that). I left with a thank you to the bartender and an extra high tip. Air Volvo had me back, and Corwin gave the soup high marks. I soon took my pills and went to bed to read more of the newest Analog magazine stories. I went to sleep but woke a few times.

Thanks for reading.

I rose late on Thursday, getting started after 8. I made liberal coffee, Equal Exchange packed in their Portland location, and yogurt and an orange cranberry scone I made from a very out-of-date mix. It is perfect. I write slowly and am often distracted by the news and other items on FaceBook and YouTube. I take my antibiotics and change my dressing three times a day for the incision on my belly, covering it with an antibiotic cream also a prescription product. My sister sent me a few boxes of anti-dry month lozenges that seem to help, too. It takes me until 10 to finish the blog. I take my next shower, rebandage, shave, and so on, and dress for the day. Today, I picked the Empire State t-shirt.

For lunch, I find the frozen salmon patties from Trader Joe’s and fry them in a small non-stick pan with butter. I also cut up the last of the Brussels sprouts and heat them in the pan with butter. I cover the pan, add some water, and let the steam cook the salmon through. I remove the top and let the water cook out. I add capers to the pan and let that cook with the butter and the salmon. I turn the patties a few times.

I cover the sprouts and repeat the same trick. This gets them cooked through. Remember, steam can be very hot as water turns to steam at 212F (100C) and then can be hotter, so it cooks top-down while the pan cooks bottom-up. I then remove the lid to let the sprouts cook dry and let them burn a bit. I like them a bit burned.

I heated a hamburger bun for the first patty and ate the second one with a cold bun; I was hungry. The capers, butter, and heating them thru make them perfect. The Brussels sprouts, black in places, are done late, but I still get some with my second salmon patty and bun.

I head to the Cedar Mills Mall in Beaverton. Air Volvo gets me there without any surprises. It is hot and sunny. When I left, I turned on the AC at the Volvo Cave (set to 70F), and it will likely be on for the next few months. The mall has been decimated by the Great Recession and the Pandemic, and Powell’s as an anchor does not bring in many shoppers to the Mall. The food court is empty, stripped spaces. There are a few hair and nail places and a Lego place. I walk inside, at least the AC is still in place, and find a table.

I looked up the rate, and I found a website that claims the rate is $2 a square foot a month for this mall. I calculated that a tiny shop of 5,000 square feet would then cost $10,000 a month plus the initial build cost of likely $100,000, with a break-even date of November. I imagine it would take six months to open. This means that starting in January, you would need $160,000 to open. Since 3/4 of sales are in the last quarter (holidays) and assume you can sell with a profit of 10% annually, a high expectation, it would take until the following year’s holiday to get into the red. Yikes! Deep pockets, indeed, for a small shop. I can see why so many shops are empty now.

Besides daydreaming about my electronics/gaming/history books/robot store, I returned to my laptop (which I carried into the mall and worked as a weight to carry) and returned to writing. The sun was on my table, and soon, my black Apple was almost too hot to touch. I moved to a more shady location and continued to edit and revise. I am working on my Dungeons and Dragons adventure for 5E, which I wrote and played a few times. I plan to publish it, too.

I managed to revise the introduction and align it with the shorter adventure. I had written a longer two-step adventure with a third part yet to be written. But when I went to play it, I was given only two nights, so I cut it to just the first part and a new ending. It is now 26 pages long and plays well for three gaming sessions. It can fit two sessions with some discipline on the DM to move things forward.

I headed to the theater and sat waiting for Jake and chatting with the ticket scanner (we don’t take and rip anymore; instead, we scan). They let me sit in the AC (it was over 90F/32C now) while I waited for Jack to join me for Fall Guy on the matinee prices (yay!). We talked about movies and how much we loved the new Mad Max movie and that it should have come out before the previous one as it leads directly to that movie. I did a bit more editing.

Jack arrived on his bike, and I bought the tickets ($9.50, senior). We found our seats and had E row to ourselves. The movie started after lots of content and previews. The movie Fall Guy dragged at the start, and I feared it was a loss, but it slowly dropped the long talking bits and turned to more and more action. You began to cheer on the show and the making of an insane SciFi movie that was the main plot point. At some point, you forget how silly all of this is, and you just cheer on the stunt people and the explosions. They even have Lee Majors appear–the original Fall Guy, and he gets a great moment. While not a good movie, I was laughing non-stop at the final trailer for the SciFi movie the story is about making. So, it is a good laugh if you ignore the first part.

Air Volvo reported 99F (it is not accurate) when I climbed back in after seeing Jack off on his bike. When I returned home, the AC was comfortable. I opened a can of tuna and added it to a romaine salad with cheese, croutons, and sunflower seeds. Amazon delivered an Amazon Basic Bread Maker, and I started it by making French bread that finished at about midnight. When I learned that you turn the basket to unlock it, I found melted packaging still in the machine. It was not a loss, and it came out without issue. Corwin pronounced the French bread good. Corwin plans to buy the bread machine from me (at a slightly reduced price) when he moves out at the end of June.

My new copy of the SciFi magazine, a real printed one, Analog, came in the mail today. I spent time reading the editorial article (I had to stop as I got depressed from the issues, valid as they were, were exposed) and then enjoyed a story of steam engines (nuclear powered) on a future colonized Mars running the new rails. I read and waited for the bread to finish, too curious to go to bed yet. I also needed to delay my bandage change as I had been late changing it. And it was a good excuse to stay up late.

With the bread done and approved by Corwin, my tastes were still off from the thrush and dry mouth. I rebandaged and went to bed in my PJs. I soon fell into a peaceful sleep that lasted until sunrise around 5. Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, and the sunrise was early.

Thanks for reading.