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I am writing Friday’s story on Saturday morning. When it was Friday, I had a few beers and was already a bit tired, so I was dead asleep by 10 something, which meant I was wide awake at 5:30AM. I do not sleep more than 7 1/2 hours, period. I am a working fool–I would instead write a blog, write a Dungeons and Dragaon adventure, write an easy, build a model, paint figures, play a board game, or anything except sleep away time. Time is all you have, and I want to use every moment. It is also what drives this blog; I am unwilling to forget this valuable thing, what I spent my time on.

Turning back my memory to Friday, I, as usual on Friday, working from home, waking at 7 and deciding that 7:30 would be better. I started thus thirty minutes later and had only enough time to make breakfast–just a banana and liberal coffee–and then sit down in front of my Nike laptop (you are where your laptop is) and start my work day. I was out on paid time off on Thursday (Thursday, I was exhausted and showing signs of flu or just bad allergies, and took the day off to rest), so my reentry, as we used to say, was rough. I had a pile of emails that I had to understand (usually, there is a complex trail, and soon, I learned I was not yet needed to review anything). I also checked the Slack channel to see if any messages need to be actioned. Nope.

My first meeting was the weekly Zoom meeting with my team for master data, and today, we were continuing to review how some of Nike’s data works. Details cannot be here. It was a great discussion; I shared some of my knowledge from years working on SAP software for Nike, especially in data and the data needs for international trade.

The work day went on as usual for Friday, and I had a few more hours of Zoom meetings. I slipped out of the meetings at 10ish, showered, and dressed. It was a quiet Friday as the next big build practice is at midnight Sunday (12:30 afternoon in India, IST) PDT, and pre-meetings on Sunday morning PDT.

I received news Bishop Minerva Carcaño, our former district superintendent, was acquitted in her Methodist trial. I wrote her a card, converting an An Oregon Christmas into a congrats card. I signed it for Susie and me. We in the West were shocked that during the pandemic, we heard that she was suspended on charges–we all knew her (she is the kind of person who owns the room when she walks in). The charges seemed minor to suspend a Bishop and were related to personnel and smallish money items (this was not a sex case); we learned this only during last week’s trial. Having worked directly with Minerva, she has a strong personality and can be pushy, and I can see how she could upset people. But to suspend her for two years and then do a trial is too much.

Aside: I used to work with Minerva on what is often called the Oregon Methodist Bank. While clearly wanting her own way, Minerva listened and was respectful to others. I remember voting against a loan she backed; she got her way, but I did not think she was wrong, and it was not risky. I disagreed with supporting a church that was not paying apportionments. The pastors and DS voted yes, while we finance guys grumbled; we know it was an outreach. I check the Conference Journal occasionally, and the new congregation in their new building still struggles to pay apportionments, but the congregation is functioning. Thus, I would conclude we were both right. I like the Bishop, and if they move her, I hope she returns to us–but the American Southwest is closer to her heart.

Leaving Methodist stuff and returning to the narrative, I made a lunch of reheated gnocchi I made the previous day. I had that with some buttered bread. I watched ShipHappen on YouTube as they continued to fix their boat. I also found plans for building a model of a Gearing class destroyer. I might build a model of Dad Wild’s ship, DD-840 (I think). I need details as I don’t know this destroyer class (it was eclipsed by the WW2 Fletcher class and Destroyer Escorts, which fought in all the important battles), so there is less modeling information on what became an early Cold War ship class. They were only replaced in the 1970s! I have to have Linda Frankovich (nee Wild and my sister) send me a picture of the picture of Dad’s ship we have.

After missing sending someone for a month, the bug people finally arrived. Jason, the bug guy, told me he saw only a few spiders, and I pointed out the considerable increase in wasps this year. The wasps eat the spiders. He was unsure which he disliked more.

Chris, next door, said hello while we kept our distance. She was facing her first COVID-19 infection, and her little girl, Harper (not infected), was with grandma while Chris fought to get better. She caught the infection at work; she worked for Nike like me, and said the company was being swept by COVID-19. She has kept her smell and taste and is not showing the depression some folks are getting. She explained that the loss of smell and taste causes or includes depression, a version of long-term COVID-19. She was happy she had a pizza delivered, her first food in days. I offered, from a distance, any help she needed. Lucky for us Nike folks, our company gives us 40 hours of time off just for COVID-19, and our co-workers will help as needed. Many folks do not get this kind of support. Please pray (or send happy thoughts) to folks suffering in this new breakout.

My rose, Mister Lincoln, looked exquisite, and I had to include a picture.

After taking a break and checking I was not needed, I headed to the hummingbird house after 1PM. I wanted to get there after the clear skies and sun had warmed up the park. The traffic was light as I was between the morning and lunch traffic and the soon-to-be after-school crazy driving. I soon arrived, without incident, at Susie’s place at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Susie was in her recliner, napping, in the shared living room. I had stopped at Safeway to get some flowers. I used the self-check as I had two bouquets of flowers, but I did see that Safeway at least had two human checkers available today, and there were no long lines. I hate to go there now as I hate to stand in line for ten minutes to reach a human checker. Maybe Safeway wants customers after all. Hmmm.

Susie was happy to see me and the flowers. I have not seen her since Monday as I was exposed to COVID-19 (negative tests), and then Susie was in partial lockdown for cold and flu at the hummingbird house. Jennifer explained that Susie is down to 67.2 pounds, having lost 2.8 pounds in the last two weeks (4% of her remaining body mass!). We will try to get more caloric foods, but we are already pushing protein Ensure, and Susie has been eating well.  She had already eaten most of Leta’s (her mother) supplied no-bake cookies I brought back from Michigan!

We headed out to the park next door, Metzger Park. Luke, the park manager, was pulling out more plantings. We asked what was happening. He explained that the park is being replanted with more sustainable and less maintenance plants. While digging up some more items being replaced, Luke discovered a cedar tree germinating in the garden, put it in a bucket, and sent it away with me. He learned that my Dawn Redwood had failed to survive the hot days and sent the cedar with me to try again. “Fall is a better time to plant trees,” he suggested. Smiling, “Maybe you can keep this one alive,” he told me. Susie laughed. The cedar is outside the house, waiting for me to plant it.

Susie and I enjoyed the high 70s (25C+) and found a sunny bench. As we ran later, the sun was no longer in Susie’s eyes. It is the last day of summer 2023. We called Leta and Barb (Susie’s sister) on the iPhone using FaceTime to do a three-way call, but Barb was not available (doing yoga class, we understand). Leta and Susie had a friendly chat. Luke, who was digging nearby, said hello to Leta. We learned in the call that Leta is enjoying the bird using her deck with a new bird feeder (squirrel proof) and bird bath (and apparently squirrel drinking area). These are attached to the railing on her new deck. After the call, we did our usual loop and met Luke at the maintenance building at the park, and he gave me my new cedar tree in a bucket. Excellent.

I could not stay and saw I was being searched for, so Air Volvo soon had me directly back to the Volvo Cave and the home office. I had to read some designs and approve them. I had other pressing items that I reviewed and acted upon. Soon, as has on Fridays, the day quieted.

I printed out two old Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) adventures I wrote in 2023 and another one from 2004 and in the now defunct 4E version of D&D. I arranged to have dinner with Corwin, who was not busy tonight. I picked him up at 5PM and ended up at The 649. The crowd on a Friday was filled with twenty-somethings that resembled the models collected for background on a bar scene on your favorite cable series. The bartenders were lovely, with two guys and a gal who all seemed to have walked out of a magazine ad for some beauty product.

Before joining the beautiful people of The 649 (during the day, the bar is a mix of age groups and does not have this over-the-top vibe of the 1980s sitcom bar), we ate Mexican food and had a large beer with a full plate of Mexican food. Corwin was not surprised when the staff knew me at Tapatio: Mexican Restaurant. I had my usual chile relleno and a chicken enchilada. Corwin had a giant burrito.

Returning to the story at The 649. Another smaller beer, and Corwin and I talked about D&D. I wrote the one adventure thinking of him, yet he never got a chance to play it. I offered my hard copy to Corwin, titled “When Your Heart’s Desire is Offered,” or he could play it. We agreed to try to play it somewhere with him next Friday, playing a party of four adventurers (I might find some players–but it is also good to try it against one player). I have some corrections to make after the first play in my usual gaming group for D&D (they are maddeningly efficient). I underestimated the firepower of a 5E six-person party of adventurers. I also overpowered the final encounter–the last creature had too many hit points. There are the usual first draft wooden language and typos. All easy fixes.

I also brought something else: my first self-published and 4E D&D adventure (here is my Amazon entry), “Finding a Broken Sword.” It was also our first 4E play, showing some of the 4E issues that eventually had 4E being abandoned. I offered this to Corwin to help rewrite it as a 5E adventure and republish it. I had started on the conversion already. Also, I have developed a new format for 5E in my new adventure. I can, with care, copy the 4E text into the 5E format. Corwin will read the 4E, maybe draw some maps, and see if we can make this a revision and self-publish in Drive-Thru-RPG, the new place to self-publish. I am willing to share credit with Corwin on this one and any spoils (last time, I got about twenty bucks).

Next, Corwin was happy to play his favorite game, Vindication, which I have in Air Volvo’s cargo hold. Corwin claims I have never beaten him, possibly, but that night, the beer, food, and the distracting clientele put Corwin at a disadvantage. Also, I have played a lot of Vindication lately, and Corwin faced an eight-point loss. His last gasp to get monster cards with huge points stopped it from being a route. He did get his only companion slain by his last monster card (-3 points).

We had some more food and then left after 9ish, with Corwin taking the hard copy of “Finding a Broken Sword” with him and my newest Swords & Wizards copy. This is a D&D 1E rewrite of the rules, but they also published a solo and starter adventure. S&W just did a Kickstarter to get their rules and, interestingly, an open license to use the material–they want to succeed. I am not interested in 1E gaming, but Corwin likes this stuff.

After dropping Corwin off at his house, I finished the laundry, made the bed (once the sheets were dry), and then used it. I was, as I said at the start, tired and sleepy.

Thanks for reading this too-long blog.

 

 

I took the day off from work as I was feeling strange and tired all the time. I managed to sleep in just an hour to 8something. I had just a banana for breakfast with liberal coffee made in my French Press. I was still out of sorts and could not decide what to do. I read a lot of news and looked at polls for the next presidential election. This is a non-political blog, so I will comment only on a few things. First, someone ran a poll on VP Harris as a replacement for Biden, which got some interesting results (but not happy for us liberals). I also saw that Biden still seems to have Michigan locked in–someone ran a Michigan-only poll, which I am sure will not be believed by my friends in Michigan, but it was interesting. It is too early to look at these except to see how things change as we get closer to the election.

After reading, getting my Quicken updated (I track every buck), and not logging on to work, I showered, dressed, and headed out. I took Air Volvo to the dry cleaners and picked up my suit. I planned to wear my new suits for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and had the one I took to Michigan cleaned. I am also having some of my dress shirts pressed, and I have a new Homburg hat.

But, before I could head out, the Volvo fob was failing. Thus, I have to take it apart and replace the battery. I do one at a time and ensure that the fixed one works before taking the second one apart. I have two, and they fail at about the same time.

Next, which is unusual for me, I stopped by Beaverton’s Stranger Things comic book store and bought two issues. I got one Sandman special issue–which looked interesting. I enjoyed it and might get the next one. I also got Murder by Mail, which looks like a solve the murder file presented in comic book form. I will get to that soon.

I was going to get Teriyaki to go, but Aloha Teriyaki was gone. I hope they retired, and it was a happy ending as they were here as long as we have been. It was one of Susie’s favs. Instead, I stopped by the Chinese place and had Almond Chicken (average–but I saw everyone else was eating the noodles–hmmm) and read my Sandman comic (it was really good, as I said). I got a text that Susie was ready, and I paid and rushed home.

I got to the office and called Susie on Alexa using the video device. This is plan ‘B’ when I shouldn’t or could not visit. The hummingbird house is partially locked down for flu and colds. As I was not feeling myself, it was best to respect the lockdown today. Thus, Susie and I saw each other on a video call that Jennifer, the nurse aide for the weekdays, arranged. We had a lovely short chat. Later, Leta, Susie’s mother, could also do a video call. I carried an Alexa to Michigan, and Barb (her daughter) and I got it working. I used it to call Leta later on Thursday. Leta likes it as it shows Oregon time and weather.

After that, I read the rest of The Shortest History of the Soviet Union, concluding with a description of Putin with some of Putin’s interesting quotes and the author’s thoughts on Putin. An excellent book.

Next, I cleaned up the deck and recycled metal items from Corwin’s metalworking. They were rusted and abandoned, and I was tired of the mess. I found a few things, not ruined; I put them back in the garage and emptied a huge glass jug. I will put that in the garage when it dries out. I was happy to see things back to usable again.

Aside: That feeling of being out of control or trying to find my way in my nightmares is related to these messes. I feel much better now. One more thing is done.

I made tacos for dinner and watched more LOTR extended version, The Return of the King. There are a few good lines in this movie and book. The hobbits eating and drinking after the cleansing of Saruman’s fortress is one of my favorite in the book and the movie. The book version is better, but it is still great in the film.

I try to fix a mason jar with blinking lights–like fireflies at night, but it is gone. I ordered replacements.

I did some more junk tossing and then headed to Wildwood Taphouse to write. It was almost too loud tonight, and I could only find a spot on the bar to write, but it was the break I wanted. I wrote there.

Violet Blue, an Intenet personality and a friend, sent me back thanks for the birthday gift.

I ordered my stuff from the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and hope my 500 words made it to at least the publication this year. I won two years ago and hoped this one was good. We will not remember last year’s failures.

I plan to work from home tomorrow, as usual, for a Friday; I will visit Susie in the afternoon, visit the park, and then return to the Volvo Cave (I will not stay as they are still locked down). BYW, Linda, and Jessi are back in Michigan after an enjoyable visit to the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks for reading.

 

It has been a hard day, but my luck has held, and I have a negative COVID-19 test. Yay!

But, at Susie’s place, the Alliegence hummingbird house, they are partially locked down as the residents are coughing and showing cold or flu symptoms. Susie, specifically, is exhausted and sneezing all the time. I am having muscle aches, exhaustion, and sneezing too. Pooh! Today has been a struggle to focus and do the usual stuff while working from home.

The day started with me climbing out of bed, which took five minutes; oh my! I filled the electric kettle with water and turned it on. I boarded the Immobile Schwinn bike and could only do fifteen minutes and 3.3 miles. I am trying to get back to thirty minutes. All day, I was struggling–likely a cold or light flu.

I composed a breakfast of a cinnamon roll I made last night. I used the hot water to make coffee in my French Press: Liberal Coffee. I consumed this bounty while reading my emails, Slack channel updates from work, and the news. I started my usual battery of hours of Zoom status meetings that paused at 9ish. I then slipped out of the home office and got a shower. I am still trying to get used to the new shower head and only once washed the bathroom floor! After being presentable, I had more Zoom meetings and even used the camera.

I made lunch early as the sugar high, not a good thing for a diabetic, faded, and I was hungry. I reheated the Swedish meatball I made yesterday, got an apple (store-bought), and cottage cheese (small curd) with pepper, sea salt, and smoked paprika. I added a spoonful of the lingenberry jam to go with the meatballs. Quite nice and soon gone as I was hungry.

While eating, I watched some YouTube stuff on board games and shipwrecks and tried to wake up. I was drinking a lot of hot tea, and I was just dragging. Next, I called Susie on Alexa and talked for a bit. They are partially locked down, not from COVID-19, but from flu and cold–everyone is coughing or sneezing.

I read some more work stuff and sent out some questions and requests. I finally stopped about 4PM but checked in a few times (and have a 10PM meeting tonight).

For dinner, I boiled some gnocchi that was starting to age and heated a jar of pasta sauce. While inexpensive, the product is qulovelynice (I left that in as it was funny–Grammarly sometimes gets mixed up with the WordPress editor), more like freshly made. I drained the gnocchi and just mixed the two. I then got some Parmigiano–Reggiano cheese and broke off bits with a knife (I occasionally buy a piece at Whole Foods). That was dinner with buttered bread. It was excellent, and I was very hungry (also a sign that I was ill). I continued my rewatching of the extended version of the LOTR movies. Peter Jackson’s The Two Towers has the nearly perfect mix of tension and laughs. Peter is even in the film at Helm’s Deep throwing a javelin.

I decided to finally write this blog and take tomorrow off to try to eliminate this exhaustion.

I also have been reading The Shortest History of the Soviet Union, and I strongly recommend this book. It is so condensed it never feels boring or slow going. It is good to review all of this to get my memories checked.

I also had a snack of, yes, more cinnamon rolls.

Thanks for reading.

Today was my first day isolating as I was exposed by a friend who did not know he had COVID-19. I started the day at 7AM and was up and moving–still tired and, I must admit, totally stressed out when thinking about catching the virus–I have never had it. I put in 16 minutes on the Immobile Schwinn bikes–it was tough to make it even that far. I am again starting over and trying to get back to thirty minutes. I listened to CNN news on Alexa while peddling. Next, I made a bagel with cream cheese and had an apple (purchased) for breakfast. I had that while reading emails, Slack channel updates, and Internet news. I like to be ready for the day.

I spent the morning in status meetings and updates. I also had to make some medical calls for Susie–her cardiologist needs to see her. Susie is on difficult blood thinners, and we have to do labs and check every six months. Time again. I also order groceries to be delivered in the evening. I am running out of paper products and some other useful things. So the morning was chaotic, and again, I was tired and not running on all my cylinders anyway. “Is that COVID-19 or allergies,” with every sneeze and cough. So far, yes, no real symptoms. I test again in the late afternoon on Wednesday.

I decided on a nice lunch. I got the IKEA Swedish meatballs out, instant mashed potatoes, and frozen green beans. I got every made and watched the new videos from Battleship New Jersey’s YouTube channel. I did not know that another more scientific group has dived on the Battle of Midway Wrecks. I watched footage on the famous ships and leaved from the Battleship New Jersey channel what surprises they had. The spotted last minutes changes in Yorktown that were not known, “All the models you built are wrong,” said the curator for USS New Jersey. He was excited to explain all the new findings. I then watched some of it and it was a science based expedition and they were trying to scan the whole wrecks to help historians and scientist study the wrecks in detail later. Excellent. Also the IJN Akagi has never been been seen on the bottom before, so that was even more exicitn for us warship geeks!

I called Susie on Alexa video so we could see each other. She was happy we could at least talk and see each other.

After that, I continued on working from home. It was a bit of a quiet day. I was able to get some more information on my project and my boss sent out some items.

After work, still waiting for my groceries to arrive, I made special cinimon rolls from a King Arthur Flour recipe. It uses an Asian technique to soften the dough, a Tangzhong. This is flour cooked in milk. I made the dough and let it rise for 90 minutes, assemble the rolls, cut with dental floss (it works perfect), and then let rise again, before baking. I glaze them when warm. So good.

Dinner was a salad I put together with some ham and cheese. After the large lunch and the rolls coming, I thought a salad would be best.

Well it is a short blog of mostly waiting and listening. Thanks for reading.

 

I am tired and a bit stressed tonight. I received an update from my Dungeons and Dragons group: Covid-19 has hit one of the players–we have been exposed. I took a test, and it is negative.

I missed an 8PM meeting with India because I was so distracted by the COVID-19 exposure and am very tired today.

But, I did see my roses are back.

Mister Lincoln decided to bloom again in the fall–a smaller flower this time.

China Rose, while never that pretty, is always blooming.

The Painted Rose, Picasso, is showing black-spot and has been chewed a bit–it is also sending out some more flowers. It often fails to bloom as the sun will fade once the skies are full of clouds.

Going backward from this evening, I am still reading The Shortest History of the Soviet Union and have just reached Lenin’s death in 1924. Before this, I made dinner: corn on the cob (a few pieces frozen and from Schwann’s), Trader Joe’s potato pancakes (also frozen and cooked in the oven), and a New York Strip (also from Schwann’s). I broiled the Strip after soaking it in teriyaki sauce. I sliced it across gain and ate it by the slice. It was a wonderful dinner.

I watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special: The Husbands of River Song. It’s one of the best Doctor Who shows, I think. Recommended. Before this, I was rushing home, stopping at the pharmacy, and testing for Covid-19. Negative, like I said.

Before this, I was sitting next to Susie in Susie’s room. I had M.A.S.H. on Hulu, and we had just restarted from episode 2 of season 1 (the first episode was the pilot and shows some cast change, and the start is different). To get to Hulu, I had to change the payment method by using my laptop to reach their website and re-authorize the TV in Susie’s room. I am glad I was there today to fix that.

I was reading emails and attending a few meetings. I was working on my new work when I saw the message that I was exposed to Covid-19. I stood up and explained to Susie I was exposed and must leave for three days. I walked out, grabbed my computers, and from across the room, explained that to Jennifer, the nursing aide for today, I needed to leave as I was exposed. She would take care of Susie, and I went.

Before this event, I arrived before 2PM and found Susie in her recliner in the shared living room. She was delighted to see me and liked the idea of traveling to Metzger Park. Jennifer popped Susie into her wheelchair, and we briefly visited the park next door.

According to the ten-day forecast, it is the last sunny, dry, and warm day this week. We found a bench in the sun and reached Leta, Susie’s mother, and Barb, Susie’s sister, on a three-way call on FaceTime. The wasps ignored us as they searched the grass for wasp lunch. Barb was back from Canada, and Leta had put up a new bird feeder, which only saw a few birds use today. I ended the call just before 2PM and rushed back to make my 2PM Zoom call.

Moving to the morning for the story, I was working from home on Monday, as usual. I started at 7AM and did 3.3 miles on the Immobile Schwinn for fifteen minutes, trying to get back to thirty minutes. I had an Apple and a NYC bagel for breakfast, toasted and with cream cheese. I also made liberal coffee in my French Press–today was difficult as I slept poorly again, and I could have made a pot and drank it.

I did the first couple of hours of status and alignment meetings. I then got to try the new showerhead, as the previous one spectacularly broke on the weekend, hosing down me, the bathroom, and even part of the adjoining bedroom. The new handle showerhead worked fine after I got used to a different model. I soon dressed and read more emails and stuff for my recent work.

Aside: I put in a bad rating for the showerhead as it is made of plastic and will likely not last.

I had a meeting for noon. I chopped a salad and was just a minute late for the noon meeting. We over-ran our time by ten minutes, and there will be follow-ups.

Once that was done, I loaded the laptops into Air Volvo and headed to Susie’s place at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. I arrived without issue, not knowing I was exposed to COVID-19 and would be walking out soon.

That brings us full circle for Monday.

And that is the story for today; thank you for reading!