Blog

Yes, the blog returns after a short break.

Going backward, I just arrived home at half past midnight, safely in Air Volvo from Tigard. It was a bit of a challenging flight as I am not used to staying up late anymore. It is always funny when I am tired as I don’t recognize where I am, and then pop my mind, tired, puts it together, and I know where I am. It is best to be home before 1AM to be safe.

I decided tonight to catch one of the last shows of the latest Indiana Jones movie. I liked it last time and wanted to see it on the large screen again with all the sound. It was good again, I thought, and I laughed at many of the jokes. And I agree that “More ice cream is always good.”

The showing was at the Bridgeport Mall in Tigard, and I was sad to drive by Susie’s exit. I miss just deciding to do something, and Susie and I just did it, not something I can now do with Susie. But, we will head, I hope (my shoulder was pulled or something) I can lift here for a visit to the theater on Friday to the record-breaking movie Barbie.

Moving back, I made dinner of pasta and homemade pasta sauce, a garden veggie sauce, with good sweet Italian sausage. I picked up a Wholefoods last week. I wanted to cook the sausage before it went bad. I discovered I did not have a premade sauce in a bottle but had the ingredients. So I sliced and cooked onions with garlic and chopped celery. I added a can of whole cooked tomatoes that I then crushed (trying not to be sprayed by the juice). To that, I added generic Italian seasonings and tomato paste. I cooked the sausage in a frying pan until browned and added it to the sauce, and cooked that for an hour on med-low heat. I made the pasta I had, macaroni. I washed pasta with cold water to stop the cooking so it would not congeal into a blob of starch. I then scooped the pasta into a bowl, poured two or three helpings of sauce into that, and dropped some leftover ricotta cheese. Excellent.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the original Swedish version, was the show I watched while cooking and eating. It is a great version if you don’t mind reading the words. While I like the Hollywood version, the original is a kick and much darker; it is a much more human story. I recommend it.

Moving back further, I was in Portland. I left Susie’s early to see the Portland Art Museum (PAM), which I had not been to in years. I had heard I needed to see Guillermo Del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio show, and I wanted to see the regular collection. PAM is famous for its graphic arts collection. Unfortunately, the building is being rebuilt, and only the Toro show and the Impressionism to Modern Art collection were open.

The Toro show was terrific. It had the models and sets for the stop-action work for the film. The work was incredible to me, a model maker and figure painter. The amount of work and the attention to detail on the puppets, especially the clothing, just floored me. Some of the painting techniques are familiar to me, but the scale is nothing I work in. I enjoyed the displays and took a few pictures.

After that, I did the art by descending to the basement, taking the tunnel, and climbing back to the impressionists. As I climbed the stairs, I saw the familiar pond from Monet, blue with lily pads. All the favs were represented by a few paintings and some bronze sculptures. Van Gogh was represented by a small brown painting of a bull. I was missing Toulouse-Lautrec, but he is likely heavily represented in the graphic arts displays that are closed–too bad. It was a pretty collection, and the modern stuff seemed to be selected for its beauty, so I liked the selection, not knowing most of the later most American artists.

I purchased a membership as I liked what I saw and could return for the impressionists alone. I also found a book on the Toro show (on special) and a scarf that I think Susie will like (Pacific Northwest Nations design in red and black on wool).

Next, I stopped by South Park’s bar–A place Susie and I used to visit after symphonies in the nearby Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The place has been remodeled (I learned that the art pieces are at the former wine bar director’s wine shop), and the menu is a bit less friendly, I thought. I managed to order an excellent red wine–but the bar no longer focuses on wine, I could see, and instead had the usual endless spirit collection. The bartender was not that helpful. I had to pick it without recommendation (I miss Will, the aforementioned wine bar director). I had their board of cheeses and some fish dip for their house-made crackers. The mains ranged from low thirties and up to $60+, but they still had fish and chips and a burger for a reasonable restaurant price. No special bar menu with special appetizers like olives or stuffed dates. Still, it was good, and the bartender, Matthew, ensured I was happy.

Next, I traveled across town with me, enjoying a small traffic snarl with a stalled car. Once through that, I soon pulled into the best parking spot (!) at Guardian Games. Madison, a gal I thought I remembered from previous visits, helped me a few times. I did not find the add-on for the board game Furance. They were out of stock. Madison checked for me, breaking her away from shelving hundreds of Warhammer figures in boxes. I suspect she was not too focused on that task as she also checked me out with an adventure book for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess Role Playing Game (RPG): Green Messiah. Because I bought it there, they also sent me the matching PDF, a service for buying RPG stuff at Guardians (it does not cover 5E D&D).

Lamentation of the Flame Prince is a strange RPG based on the original version of D&D, often called OSRIC, but set on an alternative history Earth in the 1600s. Magic is unholy by definition and banned by the church, but it works much like in OSRIC. Cleric powers are through the church. I have yet to play it, but I have acquired the books as they interest me. Maybe someday I will get to try it. The books and system are from Finland and published in English.

Before all this traveling in Portland, I was at Susie’s in the morning, arriving before noon. The weather was overcast and humid. The 80Fs (27C) should not feel cool, but anything felt cold after three days of 100F+ (38C) days. Jeniffer popped Susie into her wheelchair from her recliner in the shared living room, and I soon pushed Susie into Metzger Park next door. Susie was happy to again be back to our park visits.

We called Leta and Barb (her mother and sister, respectively) on a three-way call via FaceTime. We had a lovely short chat as the sun surprised us, and it appeared and was baking us. We headed back, and Susie was surprised it was a quick visit, but today I wanted to see the PAM; I did not take Susie with me as I did not know what to expect, and I wanted to chance my hurt shoulder on a nearer location first. I kissed Susie goodbye, and she was OK with me leaving–I had spent the last three days staying with Susie until 4ish.

Before this, I started my day again, sleeping in until past 8AM. It is my mission to rest more this week. Nike is closed for a week for Rest and Recovery Week. I made an omelet for breakfast with three eggs and some already-cooked spicy sausage I usually use for Jambalya. I had that with liberal coffee made in my French Press, but as I was busy with laundry, dishes, and trying to research microprocessors, I only drank one cup of coffee. I boarded Air Volvo and headed to Susie’s after 11AM.

Well, that is full circle for Thursday. I will try to add a catch-up entry for the missing week. It is almost 2AM, but I wanted to finish the blog tonight. Some nights I just don’t feel like stopping even when my eyes droop, and I could just sleep on my keyboard. Some days just want to hold on, a good day.

Thanks for reading.

I took the day off, slept until 7:30, and woke to a day of clear skies and sun. Another day when climate change has moved us to Nothern California–every day a wonderful Golden State day here in the Beaver State. The fruit trees are loaded, and the roses (not just mine) bloom brightly, telling you you are in Oregon. We have also made it through five days without mandatory full-service gas without some Oregonian blowing up the gas station. For all these reasons, it seems like a different late summer.

I managed fifteen minutes on the non-moving bike (today, Saturday, my legs were tired, and I managed five). I made breakfast of a banana and yogurt with liberal coffee and ate that while writing the blog and getting caught up on my emails and the news. I was on vacation and left the Nike laptop out of the office, so I would not even look. Once the blog was published, I had to prepare the items for celebrating our 33rd Anniversary.

Susie loves carrot cake, especially my homemade version from King Arthur Flour’s recipe. I had baked the cake (with roasted walnuts) the night before in 9″ pans lined with rounds made of parchment (the pans and the paper were purchased from King Arthur Flour’s website during the pandemic). I did not remove the paper when I removed the cakes from the pan, and it was stuck a bit–next time, I will remove it when the cakes are warm. I placed the first round of cake on my Tupperware cake holder. I made the frosting in my mixer, having set out the butter and cream cheese soften. I then used my frosting knife and soon had a nice-looking two-layer cake ready.

Aside: I, like many folks, ordered baking supplies during the pandemic, and King Arthur Flour was my go-to. Now, I have to admit that after a week, I let my sourdough stuff move to the next life after learning how to care for it. Not something I am going to do. Somewhere in the blog history are the baking photos I sent out like the rest of us stir-crazed folks in the pandemic.

Once I had that done, I dressed and loaded up Air Volvo with the wedding photo album, Susie’s wedding hat (I found it in a closet), and the cake and another backup cake for anyone who avoids nuts, a small tort I found at Trader Joe’s. I stopped by our local party store and got some plates and matching napkins (silver and gold, as 33rd, is about 1/2 way between 25 and 50). I learned that the store, while it survived the pandemic, could not get helium and so lost its primary source of revenue (ballons) and is now closing. I will miss it. I stopped by Target and found some flowers to bring too. Soon, without loss to the cake, I arrived at Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

Susie was excited to get her party in the early afternoon. We looked at the hat and flipped through the wedding photos. We shared the cake, which everyone liked, and I helped Susie slowly eat the cake without choking. Everyone who wanted some cake had some; even Jennifer’s son, who thought it was a birthday party. Leta’s balloons arrived while the party was starting. Susie had a card for me which she even signed.

Jennifer loaded Susie into the co-pilot seat of Air Volvo, and I put the wheelchair in the cargo hold (in case we needed to get Susie out of Air Volvo), and then we headed out for a drive. We found the traffic, it being the Friday that Nike is closing for a week, and the roads were packed with folks leaving early and headed out for their vacations. I changed course, and we headed to the Columbia River using Cornelius Pass road to take the pass through the high hills near the river. Lots of curves and narrow roads. Soon we were on the road along the rivers and spotted the St. John Bridge (we were now on the Willamette River, a tributary to the Columbia). I had never crossed it, and we entered more traffic to use the bridge. It is not see-through, so I found it less scary. We drive through the town and found Cathedral Park. I have always wanted to visit the Park; the park is under the bridge, and the supports and towers remind you to have a classic cathedral. There is a safe beach (our rivers can be deadly).

Susie was uncomfortable, her bottom was sore from all the sitting, and she was exhausted from the party and the travel. I pointed Air Volvo back to the hummingbird house. We arrived there in thirty minutes, and Jennifer got Susie unloaded, and care was applied. Susie was soon lying down in her bed on her side. Susie and I watched another show, but Susie was soon sleeping. I woke her after nodding off, kissed her goodbye, and left after 5PM.

I arrived home without incident and made a complex jambalaya using a box for the rice and spices. I first cooked onions, garlic, canned peeled tomatoes, celery, and green pepper. I cut up some sausage and cooked that too. Once it started to stick to the pan, I added the rice and spices from the box mix. When that got sticky, I added enough boiling water from the electric kettle to cover it by more than an inch. It soon boiled, and I covered the mixture and set it on low. At 15 minutes, I added a bowl of frozen seafood from Trader Joe’s. After a total of thirty minutes and a stir, I had dinner.

I ate too many bowls. It was not spicy enough with all the extras–I will have to do some research. But it was good with a few bits of seafood and lots of cut bits of spicy sausages. I watched more animated Batman, which was quite good, and one was about an insurance scheme to bail out a billionaire who had spent too much on his casino. Seemed to echo the current times. Mark Hamill (Star Wars) voices the Joker and is terrific at it.

Next, I punched my new board game Davy Jones’ Locker: The Kraken Wakes. This means literally punching out the cardboard parts and putting everything in the box in some order. This game has trays and a chart to help you organize the game. A punched game is considered to be used, so if you are unsure about a game, it is best to sell it without opening and punching it. This game uses the new idea of supplying trays to hold all the components but also misses a bit. Instead of having a little tray for each player, the parts are separated into storage bins by part type, not by player; ugh! But this arrangement fits into the box and, as games go, this is a very compact box–so I think this is a wise choice. This is one of the smallest footprints for a five-person game I have seen.

Davy Jones’ Locker is a cooperative pirate game with the players preparing to face the Kraken in a battle to the death. There are also rules for your crew to survive and help another player should the Kraken sink you. You must swim to another player’s ship, or they can rescue you.

I am looking forward to trying it out.

This cooperative game fixes the issue in the board game Jaws. In the board game playing the shark is not that interesting. The human players have more actions and decide the direction of the game. The shark just tries to play hide and seek and then, in the final battle, tries to guess the players’ moves. This is more like Texas Holdem with a White Shark. It seems a more interesting game with an automated Kraken and everyone fighting.

After that, I went to bed early. I had trouble sleeping as I had drank some tea, and I had to prove that my kidney worked a few times. My shoulder also hurt, and I had to get some painkillers.

Thanks for reading. This is the last blog for a while. I will try a break and see how I feel.

I am writing this on Friday for Thursday, but I have limited time, so I will cover the exciting stuff. Thank you for reading, and sorry I did not write this yesterday, but I was tired and went to bed early.

So important things…

As reported on the stationary bike, I managed to simulate travel for over two miles for twelve minutes. I am riding the bike, so to speak, every morning and hope to break fifteen minutes this weekend. My retirement plans include financial and tax efficacy strategies and the Doc-suggested loss of ten pounds over six months or faster. This means exercising every day, and the AC and its air filters make the inside bike the best answer for my asthma. I am also changing my diet, but having the usual problem that I am a good cook–my food is delicious. Today, I managed to eat only 1 1/2 servings, which is an improvement. I also have less caloric snacks to help, such as dried mango and almonds from Equal Exchange.

That is right, you crazy right-wingers reading this (I love all my readers; I even understand the attraction of Trump–I really do); I am not only drinking liberal coffee but also investing in liberal and good-for-you snacks! Yes, I love my dried mango pieces.

The work at the shoe company was not interesting enough to share, and the details of how a globally known multinational corporation manages its world-leading software development are not something to share here.

We agreed to have a team lunch (and the local team members all made it), and our director, Rajani, surprised us all by buying everyone lunch. Thanks, Rajani. We next traveled to the new building we will occupy, according to the plan, on 5Sept2023. We looked at the new spaces, and, like most places on Nike’s WHQ campus, it was a bit cramped. I liked it. It will be nice to be in the WHQ even if our building is on the extreme edge and almost not in WHQ.

Next, I had to take some calls in my car and then do a call from the social room at the hummingbird house. Still, I managed to reach via Air Volvo, without incident, Susie’s Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. Once work was finished (but I did have to pull out my Nike laptop once and approve a security request), I spent the late afternoon with Susie. This included visiting the park and finding a bench. The park was busy with kids getting in that last park day (school starts in only a few weeks for most), and many dogs were taking their humans for healthy walks. Many dogs stopped by to look at Susie and me. Barb and Leta (Susie’s sister and mother) answered the three-way FaceTime call, and we chatted about daily events. It is always strangely reassuring to have a call about nothing–No medical emergencies or other disasters.

We returned, seeing the swallowtail butterflies today, to the hummingbird house. Jennifer set Susie in her bed, and we tried Only Murders in the Building on Hulu, now in its third season and highly rated. Susie was not that interested, but I was laughing through it. I returned the TV to M.A.S.H. and kissed Susie goodbye with a promise of cake, flowers, and a trip for our 33rd Wedding Anniversary on Friday.

Moving to the evening and back at the house, I made baked boneless and skinless chicken thighs dusted with salt, pepper, and Moroccan spices. I microwaved fresh green beans (before they fade) with almond slices, salt, and a dusting of garlic powder. I also made couscous with almond slices, dried cranberries, and some aging Garam Masala (long expired, but still smells nice). I watched while eating a few more animated Batman/Joker episodes and was still surprised at how good they are.

After that, I attended the Theology Pub via Zoom and finally connected after re-installing Zoom on my M1 Apple (the usual updates failed as the software requires multiple security overrides, not reassuring, to load). The discussion was about social programs and their value and the object of many to the same. Primarily a political debate, but we did recognize that many conservatives want to use non-government religious agencies to fill this need and to restrict government to minimal social impact. Thus, most folks realize there is a need in the USA for social services, but the process is vigorously debated.

After that, I shredded three cups of carrots, roasted 1.5 cups of walnuts, and assembled two 9″ round cake pans. I then followed King Arthur Flour’s recipe for carrot cake. Susie will get her favorite carrot cake, made fresh for her anniversary.

Thus I was tired and went to bed without writing this blog. I read for a few minutes, found myself dreaming about the book, and was asleep holding the Kindle in my hands. I rolled over twice and was ready to enter Morphious realms.

Thank you for reading. I will take a sabbatical from writing after I finish the Friday blog; thanks, MichelleV, for the better wording.

It is another busy day, and I can only cover the essential parts of the day. A reminder that I will close this blog with one last entry on Friday. Thank you all for reading and for all the kind words.

The morning started with my alarm forcing me awake. My sleep was troubled, and it was challenging to start the day. I was worried about ending the blog and losing all the connections to people; I was not sure I was doing the right thing. Sleep came with difficulty last night, and the morning seemed early. I found the kitchen (it still has not moved), made coffee, climbed aboard the non-moving bike, and managed to not travel 2 miles in ten minutes. I am trying to reach thirty minutes; I was sweating and will continue to build up to thirty minutes. I have slowed my beer intake and plan to eat more salads and lose ten pounds in six months (or sooner).

Work was usual, and I will skip most of those details. We learned today that we will be on the third floor of the new building against the windows. Thursday, tomorrow, is our last day in our office building, Clubhouse, and Nike will no longer lease it–so it will go away for us. We were packing up the last bits these days.

I was not feeling well; I had only liberal coffee, a banana, and yogurt for breakfast. I stopped at Happy Panda off 185th, near the office, to have lunch. They brought me Sweet and Sour Chicken (not a fav) instead of Cashew Chicken. Ugh, but I kept it and saw it had no veggies or pineapple (sad), but I tried to make the best of it instead of sending it back. I read the news on my iPhone and ate. I was nervous and even shaking. I realized how scared I am to stop the blog and try to return to my previous life before Covid-19, Susie’s terrible strokes, and my cancer. My hand shook a bit; no wonder I needed to eat. I eat when I am upset. I was also exhausted from the stress and lack of sleep.

Fortified with overly sugared deep-fried chicken, I took Air Volvo to Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. While the traffic was heavy, there was no sign of Beaverton’s Finest, and I arrived safe and without an opportunity to help fund Beaverton’s courts. Susie was waiting in her recliner in the shared living room. Jennifer was busy with lots of lunches, but she quickly got Susie in her wheelchair, making me envious of Jennifer’s nonchalance when she moves Susie.

Susie and I traveled to the Metzger Park next door, busy with kids and dogs walking humans. The sky was overcast, but the sun would slip out and bake us. We called Dr. Peter Koper, an old friend from college, and talked for a while. He may fly out to see Susie in the next couple of months. He was relieved that Susie’s health had stabilized (Susie is at 70.5 pounds).

After Pete rang off, we did a three-way call on FaceTime using my iPhone. We reached Leta, Susie’s mother, and Barb, Susie’s sister, and connected a video call to everyone. Barb was outside walking her dog Sophia and had to leave the call. Leta stayed on longer, and we chatted for a while, but my time was running out. I had to return to work, as I had a 2PM meeting I could not miss; we returned to the hummingbird house. I left with a kiss and a promise to return on Thursday. Friday is our 33rd wedding anniversary.

Work went on, and I had hours of meetings to attend. I was done at about 4PM and left. I headed to Powell’s to get a copy of Analog Magazine to read some fresh SciFi. I am thinking more seriously about writing after being published in 2600 Magazine. I took that to Panera and had 1/2 a sandwich and soup I could not finish. The over-sugared lunch was still staying with me. I read a good story.

After some food and a break, I headed to First United Methodist Church, and soon Z and I were playing a rematch of the new board game Expeditions. This is what I call WingScythe as it comes from the company that makes the Engine building and card-playing Wingspan and the light 4X (i.e., Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate game) Scythe. The game uses the Scythe theme and retains a few Xs (explore and exploit) with engine building via card play, reminding me of Wingpan. So far, we like it.

Z played well, scored 49 with only two refreshes, and pulled off three stars, while I panicked with just one. I started to vanquish to get the points and for a star and did many quests. I was playing the same faction and leaders that Richard had last weekend, and I was using his tactics. I soon managed three more stars to end the game and was relieved to have 62. We corrected a few mistakes from the last game and enjoyed the combinations once we learned the cards better.

So an excellent game. Z and I then walked into the park and put the game away. Next time I will put Furance or Azule in Air Volvo so we have a filler game.

Thanks for reading.

The blog started on 15March2020 with the Title, Day 0: Virus.

I will just cover a few events. I am considering ending the blog this Friday. So there are just a few posts left now.

The main event for today, a work day, was my visit to Susie. I left work at about 10:45 and then took Air Volvo to see Susie’s place at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. I arrived without incident, and Susie was still eating. I waited a bit for Susie to finish, and we headed out. Susie was happy to tour Metzger Park today. The skies were clear and the sky deep blue, showing little or no air pollution. The park was not busy except for many dogs walking their humans.

The butterflies seem to be gone as summer starts to be replaced by fall. The grasshoppers are more numerous now, but the bumble bees seem more lost. The temperature was below 80F today (27C). We stopped at my favorite bench, the shady one in the cedars and redwoods, and called Leta and Barb (Susie’s mother and sister, respectively). We spoke to them for twenty minutes until my time ran out. It was a work day, and only a short visit was possible. So, I was back at the hummingbird house and gave Susie a kiss goodbye and a promise to return on Wednesday.

I returned sooner as when I stopped for lunch, I discovered I still had the flowers I bought at Safeway for Susie still in the car. Air Volvo returned to the hummingbird house, and I presented Susie with the flowers. The flowers in Susie’s room had faded, so I bought some new ones yesterday. Suse was happy to get a second short visit with flowers.

I returned to work, and then Air Volvo took me home to the Volvo Cave after 3ish. I r sted there and was about to cook dinner when Mariah suggested dinner in Van Eberts. Sel cting to risk the traffic, I headed there, and Mariah and I had a good meal with the chicken wings that are so good, the chicken volunteer (at least that is what I have heard).

Thanks for reading, and I hope I am not disappointing many folks.