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Monday is a work-from-office day and the start of the meetings to restart the project and begin planning to execute the July Go-live. Yes, we need to start this early to make it work. I was happy to attend some planning meetings.

First, I rose with my alarm at 6:30 and thought the night short. Nonetheless, I found my robe; it took me longer than I would admit to find the right way to put it on, as well as dawning my slippers. Coffee, back to liberal Equal Trade coffee, was assembled using my French Press. A banana joined the coffee and was carried into the home office. There, I read emails, Slack updates, and the news. Time disappeared, as it seems to in the morning, and soon I was rushing to clean up and dress. Air Volvo returned me to get my phone, ugh, and then I headed to the Nike WHQ Swife Building.

Traffic was heavy for a Monday, and I picked an alternative path to prevent me from waiting at traffic lights to play through three times. I parked Air Volvo and headed into Swift.

I spent the morning in Zoom meetings, listening to details about installing software and the required prerequisites. While almost as exciting as watching paint drying, getting this stuff wrong is deadly to a project. Everyone was taking it seriously, and the plans were improved.

My new work reached a significant milestone; we finally got the software to work! We are now working on plans to expand our work and clean up data on many systems. Sorry if this is vague, but I cannot share the details. We were all excited, and tomorrow is the planning meeting. We can incorporate this into the next quarter’s plan and tie it into our Agile process. Excellent.

Two days ago, I should have put this in the blog before SparkFun finally sent me my new Raspberry Pi 5 8G computer. This single-board computer costs less than $100, and this latest creation, version 5 sort of, is quite powerful. I am looking forward to having some time to boot this and seeing what cool things I can do with it. But that will have to wait until the fall as I have enough booked for the year’s first half. These single-board computers are more powerful than some of our early servers Nike acquired to run SAP software to run the company’s account and fulfillment systems!

Returning to the narrative, I had lunch with Tim from the Nike Biz, who I have known for years. We met at the local cafe, and I mistakenly had a salad. Time had a burrito that looked good. We talked about my upcoming surgery and traveling. We both take interesting trips and follow along on Facebook.

After saying goodbye to Tim, I returned and held some more change control meetings. I also talked to some folks about our plans. Also, our critical path interface for master data has been asked to be replaced, and I will be involved in that. So, I was busy.

The salad did cause me to run to the bathroom. Salad passes right through me now. Ugh!

I headed home at 4ish, after ensuring that the salad-impact was done, and took Air Volvo to be refueled and washed. During the weekend, I forgot to fuel it. The local crows have begun the artwork on Air Volvo again. The local cats were also leaving paw prints on the hood. So, I went back through the car wash again. Air Volvo looks better. I will do it again later this week to keep the poo and cat from damaging the paint. I really need to get the garage back to properly store Air Volvo. Someday!

I returned and read and checked with Dondrea, as this Wednesday is St. V, Ash Wednesday, and choir practice. The service is at 6PM for Ash Wednesday, and then practice, so Z, Andrew, and I play board games during and after practice. This is my usual board gaming with Z. The board game Scythe needs to get in the cargo hold of Air Volvo! 4X for St. V!

Corwin had received dinner from his employer. They sometimes send him home with excellent food after a day of cleaning dishes. This was Kimchi-Flavored Pork Ribs, and there was enough for two. As you can imagine, there was no such item on my food app, so I assembled it from various ingredients. I still managed to not blow my calorie count–delicious!

I finished my NOLA history book, Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans, and I can recommend it. It has references and even suggests listening and NOLA-based fiction. Some recreate the colorful characters in the book and the feel of the long-lost NOLA. I plan to return to NOLA and find the remains of some of the buildings mentioned. I also have a 1926 atlas that includes NOLA.

I wrote my blog after nodding off once reading NOLA. Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

I was playing Dungeons and Dragons 5E in our spell jammer campaign when the Swiftees won the Super Bowl. Tonight, my evil cleric and our bard had to negotiate an alliance between the humans, mind flayers, and space Drow (evil dark elves). While we would have enjoyed playing our usual combat-centric approach, it did not look like we could win. Instead, we roleplayed creating an alliance and were successful at that.

As part of the game, we also worked with a mind flayer (just ick), fought a dragon for a treasure, and acquired a new base. So, at least we got some combat in. It was a fun evening, and we will return to the story in late March, as many of us are traveling these coming weekends.

Moving back further, lunch was with Wayne and Anne Weld-Martin at Tom’s Pancake House. We met there after church and talked a bit about Susie’s concert. I have started on the plan for the service and concert. Anne was happy I was looking at the United Methodist Book of Worship but agreed that I could reduce it. I had most of a Denver Olmet with a pancake. I did not finish either. I am still trying to keep my calories under 2,030 each day.

After saying goodbye to the Weld-Martins, Air Volvo returned me to the Volvo Cave. There, I dropped the tie and dress shirt and did laundry. Corwin did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Later, Corwin had a bucket of KFC for the Superbowl, “a tradition,” he told me. I rested for a bit.

I rose at 7:30 and spent the morning writing the blog. It took me just over two hours of clock time, but there was a break in there to make coffee and eat my banana for breakfast. Unlike tonight’s blog, it was a long story.

I was surprised to be ready early, cleaned up, and dressed. Today, a sweater over a dress shirt and a gay pride tie worked. I have lost weight, and my clothing is fitting again. My weight and this will happen, has stabilized at a new number. More walking or exercise will be needed to move to a new number. At least it is headed down.

For my brain surgery, I need to lose any weight I can. The pressure of your brain fluid is affected by your weight–who knew. Thus, it is good to have three months to have the surgery to cut some pounds.

I was early, so I started on the plan for Susie’s concert and formed an outline for the service part of the concert. As I worked, my emotions became impossible to control. I was crying while typing and working on the plan. I managed to get started. I will pick it up again on Monday. It was too hard to keep going today.

Air Volvo left at 10ish for First United Methodist, Beaverton. When I arrived at church before the service, I pulled up a chair in the back next to Rev.Dr. Wayne Martin. I helped him get up a few times. Others were there to help, too.

The service was the usual, but Pastor Ken Wystma’s sermon was long. He continued using Acts in the New Testament to argue for justice and doing the right thing. It is not OK to work just to better your condition without regard to others. While Pastor Ken had many examples and stories, his point was that focusing on our singular success, especially at the cost of others, is not following Jesus. It is important to keep listening and to understand other points of view. It is not about manipulating the media, people, and the law to realize our views but trying to understand what justice requires to get the best for everyone. Not you, y’all.

And that is my short blog for today. I am tired. Thank you for reading!

I am writing this Sunday morning. Saturday was another day of mostly isolation. I usually try to play board games, head to Portland, and do something, almost packing a whole weekend into Saturday. Not this one. It will be a short blog as I mostly read alone on Saturday. I was exposed to COVID-19, and all my tests were negative, but I wanted to give it one more day.

I rose at 7:30ish and found the kitchen without incident. I assembled coffee using Mexican Coffee (thanks, Kramers), and the banana supply was restocked yesterday by grocery delivery from Safeway. In my robe and slippers, I took this bounty to the home office and wrote for the next two hours. I completed the daily blog around 10AM.

I cleaned up and dressed. I remembered to put Utterly Smooth 20% Urea on my feet and hands. This habit is leftover from recommendations from my oncologist and the oncology pharmacy. They strongly urged me to use this product to help prevent neuropathy in my hands and feet. I have very little numbness in my hands and feet and can still paint figures and do detailed work with my hands. My balance issues are not related to my feet but to a brain tumor and being out of shape.

In the kitchen, I chopped 1/4 of an onion, the onion was leftover from yesterday, a green pepper making three slices for decoration, and one andouille sausage cut length-wise and into squares. I added four eggs, some whole milk, and shredded cheddar cheese and stirred it together. I poured this into a baking dish and decorated it. I backed this for thirty minutes. It was still gooey but was excellent. I had a few bowls and took my pills.

My meals had near zero carbohydrates, and when I took my meds, including MetForman and an antibiotic, my stomach and blood chemistry seemed to go sideways. I was out of sorts and just read instead of going for a walk.

I was a bit shaky at 5ish when I started making dinner. I made pasta with sauce from a jar and baked the meatballs I purchased from Safeway’s meat case last week and froze them. I had set them out to thaw and baked them on a foil-wrapped half-sheet pan. I baked them longer as they were mostly defrosted.

I had the other episode of Tom Baker reprising his role as the Fourth Doctor. These are audio-only works and are quite well done- sort of radio theater 1970s-style Doctor Who. I listened to this as I cooked. Corwin heard some of it and was impressed by the voice work and quality. I listened to about half an episode.

By the time I finished making dinner, I was uncomfortable and barely ate. But I started to recover once I got that lovely carbohydrate-laden pasta into me with a few meatballs. Low blood sugar. It has been a long time since I have tipped over my blood chemistry to this level. Usually, I overeat; I will be more careful now.

After I recovered from the low blood sugar, I went to the Apple laptop and started on my travel plans. After multiple tries and calls to Michelle, I booked a trip to NYC on March 13-17. I also booked my travel for Susie’s Celebration of Life in Lansing, May 15-18 (flying out late on the day of the service to give me one day between travel and my brain surgery on the 20th–the travel was cleared by the surgeon). The flights are in place, and a hotel room in NYC, The Graduate, and the only hotel on Rosevelt Island in NYC where Cat resides.

Both flights are overnight, and I will arrive the next day. I will leave work, shower, and drive to PDX. This is my new travel style. I decided to try cheap travel and picked the economy option.

Michelle was traveling to a conference in Florida and asked me if I would like to travel with her. Michelle and I often traveled for Nike before she retired from the shoe company. I have frequently met her with Susie in Florida for a bit of Disney. This time, I thought NYC would fit me better, as I did not enjoy my last time at Disney standing in line for hours. Thus, Michelle will fly to NYC from Florida while I travel from Oregon, and we will hang out with Cat, her daughter, who lives in NYC. Maybe we will find a show or a boat ride, but I love NYC, so it should be great. I see my MyFitnessPal app drowning in cheesecake!

On booking, I found it challenging to find the exact flights Michelle saw on Google Flights in Expedia’s search results. I find this booking process difficult as you have to be perfect not to get nailed for costs for fixing a mistake later. Also, the hotel did not show. Michelle texted me photos of the results, and I then searched Expedia for the flight. It was two pages down and cheap. I am not sure what corporate evil is affecting the search results, but I will check Google next time, too. Ugh!

The rest of the evening was spent reading and breaking out of isolation for a beer with Corwin and his friends. The dive bar, Dr. Feelgood, is their haunt. I had one hefeweizen, surprisingly available on the app, and thus recorded, and I returned to the Volvo Cave. With only 300 calories left (three cookies worth), I still made my goal of 2030 calories or less a day. Why that number? I don’t know, but MyFitnessPal is using it.

I showered and slipped into the blankets. I could not sleep because I had napped after dinner and made a pot of tea because I was not interested in sleeping. I read after midnight and was sad to read about the end of the red-light district in New Orleans after World War 1. On my next visit to NOLA, I will retrace the district (it was not the French Quarter) and see what I can find. I tried to sleep and found some aspirin, and that helped. I slept slightly and woke up often. I was awake hours before my alarm but managed to roll over and sleep.

And that brings me to the end of Saturday and Sunday early morning; thanks for reading.

It is Saturday morning while I write this. My COVID-19 test is running. I have had no symptoms I would attribute to the infection. I have mostly isolated myself and put all the weekend gaming on hold. Friday, by necessity, was a quiet day.

Yay! The test is negative. “What does not kill you makes you stronger,” Conan said.

I will isolate myself until Sunday afternoon- five days.

Yesterday, Friday, started with me waking at about 6:00 and rising without my usual “WTF, it is morning already” moment. Friday at the shoe company is still a work-from-home day at Nike WHQ, but I have heard some managers/directors are now coming to work on Fridays. I have been told that many managers and directors find comfort in seeing people and sitting at their desks and offices. During the pandemic, many were in basement spare bedrooms as make-shift offices, which were unpleasant and lonely.

We have moved the weekly meeting for our master data group to 6:30AM on Fridays to allow the folks from India to make this important meeting more efficient. I managed to perform the coffee process using my French Press and expending some excellent Mexican coffee (thanks, Kramers); thus, I had coffee and a banana during the meeting. The folks from Bangalore are bright, while we in the USA are markedly slower. It was a good meeting, and we in the USA were mostly awake throughout most of it.

The morning was mostly spent following along and approving a few changes; there was nothing I should share here. All this was done via email, Slack channel updates, and Zoom meetings.

My title is now Principal Software Engineer, but previously, I was a software architect, and thus, I am still invited to the weekly SAP software architect meeting. This is a weekly hour-long meeting where we discuss issues and share designs, important software-related decisions, and how-to notes. Problems and challenges are raised and discussed. I try to participate, and my past positions give me the history to help me clarify many items.

Lunch is soup from a can. I add some extra egg noodles to the industrial product, Cambell’s. I have this while listening to the architects’ meeting and follow it with a cup of apple sauce (470 calories). Breakfast was just coffee and a banana (187 calories). I have cut out unneeded carbohydrates. I am not going Keto, but trying to get my A1C back to a good value. I would prefer to give up medication MetForman for all the obvious reasons, but I need to get this back under control before my Doctor will free me. My blood pressure is controlled with medications.

With Susie’s last illness, I just did not have the mind space or the physical strength to try to lose weight and exercise. Just getting through the day was my goal. I was out to dinner often, eating what would make me feel better. One f**king day after another f**king disaster day. As the preacher said, there is a time for everything, and now I am picking up those things that must be done. Diabetes is harsh. It is time.

To that end, I am using the MyFitnessPal app on my phone. I am recording all my food, and it connects to the iPhone to count my steps. It has many features, but these are the ones I was looking for. I paid for an annual premium membership. Again, I am not sure if it was the best or if it will work for me in the end. So far, it does what I want.

My old-fashioned scale was delivered for too much money (Jack was right; I should have found one at Good Will). I used it and discovered I had lost a few pounds, or the scale was out of adjustment. I recorded the new weights in the app.

I do one more Zoom change control meeting. The project has two meetings on change control every day, and I approve some changes for master data, help with the process, and ensure we adhere to the process. It was not an exciting meeting, but failure to follow these processes will harm production and could cause us to fail an audit. The Nike board of directors is informed when that happens–not something you want to have your name on!

I get cleaned up and dressed sometime in the morning, put on my Air Force Ones, and head outside for a walk to the little creek. It is colder than I expected, and I am walking about when school lets out, so many folks are walking with children. I keep my distance. I have no back pain during this walk, and I am not as winded as before. Better! This demonstrates, “Use it or lose it.”

I returned, and work was quiet as the project was still not restarted. I start to make an early dinner. Porcupine Meatballs, second try, was what I planned for today. I have the kitchen to myself as Corwin is headed out to dinner with friends and then a work-out.

I cooked the rice and mixed it in a long grain this time, but it was still wrong. I checked, and other recipes have it added uncooked. Hmm. The balls fall apart again and stick to the Dutch Oven when cooked over heat. Next time, I will use uncooked rice and a non-stick pan to cook them.

The sauce is a harlot sauce (at least that is what I have heard it called) of just tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and some brown sugar mixed in the oil and brown bits left over from the frying. This is baked with the meatballs (the meatballs were filled with onions and garlic that also flavor the sauce as they cook), and while not perfect, it was delicious. Through just willpower, I have only a bowl and maybe a little extra. No pasta or noodles. MyFitnessPal has, to my surprise, contains numbers for porcupine meatballs (407 calories).

I need a distraction while cooking and find that Tom Baker (The Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who) has done more audio shows recreating his Doctor in new 1970s-style Doctor Who audio-only episodes. While not inexpensive, over $35 for two long episodes, I purchase them and listen to the first one while cooking and eating. The writing reproduces the playfulness of Tom’s time as the doctor. The sound effects and voices are cheesy but fit the terrible special effects of the show in the 1970s. It feels like a lost episode that could have easily fit into the canon. I could, in my mind, see the show with all its cheap sets–I enjoyed it. While costly and an acquired taste, if you miss Tom’s Doctor and the 1970s Doctor Who, this is recommended.

I spent the evening doing dishes, laundry, and reading. I am enjoying my NOLA history book Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans, which I bought at the Frenchman’s Arts & Books just outside of the French Quarter (Frenchman being the street name) in New Orleans. It was recommended by the proprietor. I am on page 203 (halfway), and the story is about the loss of rights and the suppression of some appalling behavior. The establishment of Jim Crow in New Orleans came late but started to lock in 1907 and, according to the author, was a tool to suppress vice and interracial mixing. Folks do not understand that it took years to crush the rights of blacks, immigrants, mixed-race people, and women after the seperate-but-equal ruling. Jim Crow is really a twelfth-century creation. It is sad to read.

I had a snack of toast and jam (reduced sugar) to go with my meds. I am still on antibiotics for the ear infection. I shower and crawl into newly laundered sheets. I read for a while and fell asleep. I put the book away before nodding off and having the book hit me.

Thanks for reading.

 

I have no symptoms that I would attribute to a COVID-19 infection.

I rose slowly. I did not have to travel to the office on Tuesday evening as I was isolated from exposure to COVID-19. My initial test was negative. I find the home office before 7AM and make Fair Trade Mexican coffee (thanks, Kramers) in my French Press in the kitchen. I opened a can of pineapple chunks and spooned out half of them next to the last of the cottage cheese that I sprinkled with fresh ground pepper and sea salt. I also sprinkled some paprika on the white surface for more color and flavor. I concumed this repass while reading emails, Slack updates, and the news.

I start my first meetings and follow along for the morning. I have paperwork from Sedgewick to do for my leave on 20 May 2024 for surgery and a two-month recovery. I find the package familiar, as I have done this a few times, and I print it out. I forgot to have the paper drawer out, and the papers spilled all over the floor. I have to collect them and put them back in order. I also signed the acceptance and the payback agreement (in case I get overpaid, which is not likely) and signed the form to grant access to my medical records. I put these in a letter envelope and put them in the mailbox. It will take weeks to get the basic approval, as I have learned, and I get nothing for rushing it. I found the doctor’s forms and mailed them to the doctor’s office. They have until 9 June 2024 (indeed, no rush).

My tummy does not like the mix of cottage cheese and pineapple. Hmmm.

Much of the morning is spent re-reading and assembling these documents. But something new: Oregon has its own state system of leave payments. Nike will pay me the remaining portion of my paycheck after subtracting my expected receipts from the State of Oregon. Oh, my, what could possibly go wrong with this?

Aside: If you are ill in Oregon, even for a part-time job, you can submit a leave request and be paid by Oregon. A 1% tax on large corporations pays for this benefit. This also covers family leave for sick children and spouses. There was strong opposition to yet another government program and tax that makes Oregon less attractive to businesses. Facing my second major illness and my wife’s long illness, you can imagine I have strong feelings about this. I will not cover them here, but I remind the reader that I paid over $180,000 in medical expenses, after insurance, in the last two years.

I found the site. It’s no surprise that Sedgewick’s link is 404. This is Paidleave.oregon.gov, for those wondering. I discovered I needed an account on Frances and followed the links on the checklist PDF I downloaded. I created an account that requires driver’s license numbers and various validations and checks. It’s pretty serious stuff, and I liked the depth of the safety of a government agency.

Now, with my Frances account, I started requesting Oregon-paid leave. I don’t get past the first page. I cannot make an early request but must wait until thirty days before the leave. I returned all the paper and notes on passwords and accounts to the medical folder. Sigh.

I order pasta and sausage in a spicy sauce and a large Caesar salad to be delivered by GrubHub. I would use the kitchen, but Corwin uses it, too, and I don’t want to risk spreading COVID-19. So, I ordered today. The food is excellent, but I nearly blew my calorie count. I only have 1/2 the pasta and some extra salad (to my regret).

I returned to work and made it through the next meetings. I approved some fixes and enhancements; I serve on the project’s change control board. After the meeting, I have a break.

I needed some steps and put on my Air Force Ones, hat, and coat; it was sprinkling. I walked to the little stream, about a twenty-minute walk there and back, and walked in to look at it. I was tempted to play in the water- I am a former little boy. Instead, I took a picture and walked back.

My walk became faster as my colon seemed insulted by salad again. I forgot I had been having an issue with fresh salad. My walk was almost a jog when I reached the Volvo Cave. I reached the bathroom without a Code Brown and was there awhile. I suspect that my calorie count was reduced the hard way!

My tummy was unsettled. I checked, and nobody is looking for me at work, so I rested. I decide to read more NOLA history and take it slow. There were no sudden, unexpected movements. I rose and did the group stand-up now at 5PM. The evening time is to help India make the meeting by calling from home at 6:45AM IST before heading into the office in Bangalore.

Leta called me to catch up. I missed calling her because I was resting from my colon excitement. She was happy I was still well and had no COVID-19 symptoms.

John Nilsen and I communicate by email as he sets up his flights to Michigan on 18 May 2024. I should also get my flights. John Nilsen is scheduled to play a concert for Susie here and in Michigan. A party for Susie.

Corwin and I got out the recycling and trash. It always sneaks up on me, but at least I am not putting it in my robe at 4AM!

I warm up the pasta and sausage, ignoring the salad, and feel better. I rested again, and everything settled. NO SALAD.

I wrote more of my Holmes and Watson story and read about NOLA history. Finally, I started on the blog.

Thanks for reading.

Aside: I can see some of the suggestions for Grammarly are wrong again, and the flow seems different. Another update. But I did get a nice note at the end to get a cookie: