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Friday was a work-from-home day, and I got to sleep in until 7ish, but I did wake before my alarm and got going early. In the kitchen, still, where I left it, I started the electric kettle and boarded the stationary bike and road for ten minutes or two miles. I plan to get to thirty minutes this weekend. I found the last yogurt, blueberry, and took that and coffee to the office to start my day. I was not as wobbly as yesterday–better.

I did the usual reading of my emails, Slack channel updates, and news updates (trying to find any exciting news buried under Trump-related updates). Nothing very interesting happened. I also updated my Quicken books as I am preparing to close the July books. Work was hours of Zoom meetings and me updating various folks on issues. My new project is also heating up, and I had to politely tell some folks to do some work.

Lunch, the morning highlight, was reheating the jambalaya I made a few days ago. No seafood in this version. I enjoyed that while we did another emergency discussion that included my new work (yes, getting even hotter), and when that was done, I watched YouTube on the ShipHappens channel. Another update on their effort to rebuild an old small wooden-hulled WW2 ship in the UK. I also watched an interesting video on damage in the shower in the USS New Jersey and what they learned; this is available on the Battleship New Jersey channel.

I am floored by how much better the Internet makes the interchange of information on history. Now, there is much that is false or poorly researched, burying the Internet, but professional historians and curators are great, and it does not take much digging to find the good stuff. Cody Carlson, Ph.D. WW2 stuff and the historical ship people (USS Texas, USS New Jersey, USS Midway, SS United States, and so on) are great. Drachinifel channel is the ultimate in facts and pictures for navy ships of any country in modern times (before 1400). Ocean Liner Design is all things for all liners with incredible video work and reconstructions. Youtube is a library for me, and often the list of the books you can buy to get the best permanent reference for ship geeks–My Bismark book is a treasured recommendation from the curator of USS New Jersey! I have resisted the 20+ books for the Tolkien perfect library; yes, there are many goodies for Lord of the Rings and related material.

Returning to the story, work was not interesting, and I packed up my Nike and personal laptop, my Apple M1 13″ 2020, and boarded Air Volvo. Traffic was light, and soon I crossed Beaverton without entanglements from Beaverton’s Finest or watching the unique use of lanes. I stopped by Target to buy flowers; I always buy two bouquets, so there are flowers in Susie’s room and on the shared dinner table. The little plastic sheets were missing, so I had water dripping on me while I waited in the cashier line. Target had three cashiers and two working DYI sets–better than usual. I used a human. Oddly, Target had ziplock bags at the endcap, and I got a box. I was surprised it was something useful–usually, magazines about Aliens or strange toys for some forgotten movie–but today, it was just helpful stuff.

I finally reached 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 waiting in her recliner in the shared living room. Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, popped Susie out of the recliner and into the wheelchair with enviable nonchalance. Susie and I then headed into Metzger Park next door to the hummingbird house. It was a warm morning, just hitting 80F (27C) then, and sunny but with lots of high clouds.

The park was busy; it always seemed busy around lunchtime, with some corporate warriors taking an extended lunch break with a book and a blanket on the grass or finding a bench or picnic table and families with smallish children using the swings and other devices of childhood delight. We found a bench and were visited by one yellow jacket that was not interested in us (not the usual three unwilling to leave that we previously experienced). Once the pest left, we called Leta and Barb (Susie’s mother and sister, respectively) using FaceTime to do a three-way call on my cell phone. Everyone was available today, and we soon had a friendly chat. We talked for a while about various items while Barb did laundry. Next, we rang off, finished the park, covered a bit of the neighborhood, and completed a large circle at the hummingbird house.

Susie was then placed on her bed by Jennifer. I connected my two laptops. We listened to music for a while, and I did some reviews for work (you are where your laptop is), my first code review in years, as one of the leads was on paid time off (PTO) today. I also did a work Zoom meeting that Susie had to listen to. Soon, Susie was asking for something on her TV, and it took me a while to understand it was M.A.S.H. I found season six was ready to resume–Susie was happy to watch that. I also got an Ensure for Susie, and she finished it while watching M.A.S.H.

Jennifer weighed Susie, and she was 70.5 pounds on Friday. No loss, but also no improvement. According to Jennifer, Susie refused to eat breakfast again and finished 3/4 of her dinner, at best. Let us recall that Susie was a victim of the newer version of Covid-19, and likely her tastes were lost or altered (other impacted folks at hummingbird house have reported this loss–Covid-19 is not flu; it is much worse from our experience). Susie will no longer drink the chocolate flavor Ensure (before the favorite) and now enjoys the vanilla version. I am sure that the changes in taste have impacted Susie’s eating.

At 5ish, it was time for me to go; I was starting to fall asleep–Susie was sleeping too. I had sent my 4PM end-of-shift message to work (only to learn that there was excitement at the 4:35 status call), which I cannot detail here. According to him, Rajani got his usual SEC Friday events and was working until 8PM (sorry, Rajani!). I set up the crash pad and kissed Susie goodbye–I could tell she wanted to go home with me. It is always hard to say goodbye. The staff always then checks in on Susie after I leave, so Susie never feels abandoned.

While Rajani was suffering the new issues, I was driving back, stopping for gas and dinner at Don Carlos to get some excellent to-go Mexican food (at less than $15–good and cheap for Oregon). I stopped by the local gaming store, Rainy Day Games, and bought card sleeves–I have never used them before. I was surprised that six bucks got me 200 (in two packs). The new board game Expeditions cards were showing damage from just one play. Playing cards use a white margin around the cards that do not display any usage wear (also allowing magicians to easily alter cards without much notice and allowing other shenanigans from less fun people). Still, the printed black border on the cards for Expeditions shows white flashes that could identify a card. I wrote a report on Board Game Geek and got a response that others are seeing this. Thus I bought sleeves to protect each card. Much like the plastic covers, you see on sports cards for sale. I was relieved that the bins to place the cards were sized to allow for sleeved cards–not all games storage trays are correctly sized for sleeved cards.

I watched the new season of Good Omens on my TV via Amazon Fire while eating my dinner. I binged five episodes before heading into the office–I recommend it (but it is not the same as Season 1). There I sleeved the cards for thirty minutes and updated more month-end information on my books in Quicken. I use Quicken to download and centralize every expense, payment, and investment and to capture tax information as it happens so I can survive any audit. Again, I plan to write off a considerable part of my payments for medical items (OTC medical items and equipment costs, even when prescribed by a doctor, are not accepted in most cases–like Ensure Susie gets). While I should not qualify for an audit (makings less than 500K annually), I will be ready.

I read, finished the laundry (Friday being laundry day), and wrinkled my dress shirts which might need another trip through the process to fix. I should have split up the laundry but instead just hefted everything together. I downloaded the Killing Joke, an animated Batman movie, one of Mark Hamil’s versions (yes, he was the Joker’s voice for years), and watched it while I had some cheese and crackers to go with my meds.

After the show, I went to bed, read for a bit, and finally slept before midnight. I did not wake until the sun rose. It was nice to sleep.

 

 

Today started at 6AM with my alarm. I found the kitchen and started the electric kettle with fresh cold water (In the USA, we use cold as the water has not passed through the water heater and thus still mixed with air and tastes better). I climbed aboard the stationary bikes and road for 2 miles for just over ten minutes. This left me a little wobbly as I had not done that much before. I want to get to thirty minutes this week.

I used the hot water to make liberal coffee in my French Press and found another blueberry, organic yogurt. I took the coffee and yogurt to the in-home office and ate and drank while reading emails, Slack updates, and news updates (overly focused on Trump and not enough on the world markets and events in Ukraine, from my point of view). I then looked at some work items and lost track of time, and soon was running late.

I rushed into the shower and soon got dressed, picking a dress shirt, even with all the outdoor items I had planned for today. I then, still running late, found my thermal cup (still in Air Volvo), washed it, and then recharged it with liberal coffee. I took Air Volvo to the office with my Nike laptop in the cargo hold. There were no issues, and I witnessed no extra-legal driving and arrived just in time for the first meeting.

I spent the next few hours doing Zoom status meetings and updating Slack channels. I also met with folks now working on my newest project on Zoom. I did meetings and updates for the morning. I also recharged with more Starbucks coffee, free until 10AM, at our in-building coffee bar. I then rushed to Nike World Headquarters in Air Volvo, landing in the NYC garage on a nearly empty third floor.

I walked across WHQ to the Serena Williams building to meet Scott for lunch; we often meet on Thursdays to catch up. Scott was early, and we started lunch early and sat outside, having each enjoyed the salad bar. We talked about the current projects and Nike in general.

After lunch, Scott walked me to the extreme end of the campus to show me the cornerstone of Nike WHQ. Cool! After that, I headed back (an even longer walk) in the now heat of the afternoon. Next, I reboarded Air Volvo and headed 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.

Susie was happy to see me when I walked into the shared living room. Michelle Nixon, the owner of Allegiance Senior Care, was there with her grand-babby, and Susie got to hold the little person. I arrived just as they were leaving and visited with Susie on the porch as it was hot, and I already had walked much in the heat.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and Barb, Susie’s sister, in a three-way FaceTime on my iPhone. Leta was outside watering, and Barb was at her house. We updated each other, and then, as it was a workday, I had to ring off and head out. No walk in the park today, but we had a pleasant visit on the porch and chatted with family.

I returned to work, and after a few more updates on Slack and email, I headed out to the Nike party to celebrate our software installed on July 4th. I had a beer, a hot dog, chicken wings, and macaroni salad. I chatted with old friends, many of whom were there when we installed the software in 2000 for the first time–we are replacing the software with a better version that requires a green-field install (i.e., start over). It was a lovely party, but it was outside and in the parking lot. Hot!

There was a dunking tank, and leadership was provided as a target. Information Technology groups can never hit their targets, and it was nearly the same for those trying to hit the target to dip leadership. Some folks went for a manual override after too many misses! There were few hits.

I was tired and left at about 5PM from the party and took Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave. The trip was slow, as Thursday is always the worst traffic, but soon I was home. I then drank water and laid down to read. I woke at about 7:30 and started on the blog, having nodded off.

I also got an update that my short review of the board game Expeditions was accepted on Board Game Geek’s website. BGG is where I track my games and my first source of information on board games. I have been a member for years (2009) and pay a small annual fee to improve my experience each year. I recommend the site if you play board or war games.

I ordered a plastic cover for Expeditions (like what I have for other games) to prevent some of the components from being accidentally moved. I have found several games (i.e., Terraforming Mars and Instanbul) difficult to teach or play without these editions. Scythe uses a two-layer cardboard mat with cutouts to prevent the pieces from getting jumbled, which I was missing in Expeditions.

Well, I hope my day and my visit to Susie were interesting to you. Thanks for reading!

 

I will cover just the exciting bit today…I have one more meeting tonight at 10:00PM.

Going backward, I just left Beaverton Central Taps with Dondrea and Z. We learned how to play my new board game, Expeditions, together while I had the obligatory beer for the table (yes, I sacrificed and drank the beer). This is an engine-building game with some exploration and interaction between players. It is not like the board game Scythe, the inspiration for the game, except it uses the same art and some themes. It took us a while to get all the rules clear and right, but once we got into the game’s groove, it played fast. The cards you collect control how you played were quite interesting when you interacted with other cards or the board. We thought it a good game, but those looking for a Scythe-like play will be disappointed (it is closer to Wingspan).

Before we reached the bar, we met at the Beaverton Central Food Truck Park, and we all got dinner from a different truck. Z went for the waffle sandwich, me Greek, and Dondrea went with crawdads. We all loved our food which we took to Central Taps to eat. After that, we played the new game as described above.

Moving back and skipping work details, Susie was happy to see me around noon for a short push through the park in her wheelchair. The park was busy, and it was hard to find an unused bench. But, I did notice the absence of yellow jackets, and while it is sad to kill something wild, it was getting unsafe.

Without me having to brush away a wasp, Susie and I could do a three-way call on FaceTime to Susie’s sister, Barb, and Susie’s mother, Leta. Everyone was good, and Leta was happy to report she has switched her insurance to AAA with a significant cost reduction. The same for AAA coverage for her house. I will have to check for a AAA agent in the Beaverton area. Leta also discovered that the coverage is more complete while less expensive. Barb was fine. We chatted briefly; it was a work day for me, and I could not stay long.

Susie did not eat much for breakfast, Jenifer reported. Susie was not focused on eating this morning, I was told. I will check tomorrow on how Susie did for the other meals.

Before this, I started the day at 6AM and did seven minutes, 1.2 miles, on the stationary bike and some stretching exercises. Breakfast was a yogurt and 1/2 a donut. Lunch was a chicken strawberry salad at Panera’s. Trying to start the weight loss and exercises before retirement, as suggested by my doctor.

It is a short blog, but just good bits today. Thanks for reading.

Aside: We are moving to a new building at work, but the building will not be ready by our move-out time, and thus we will work from home for the second half of August–I might like that too much.

Today started with my alarm on my iPhone at 6:00AM and with me wanting to sleep for another thirty minutes, but I found the will to proceed. I reached the kitchen, which seemed further away today, got the kettle going, and headed to the living room. Once there, I climbed into the Schwinn stationary bike I got for Susie just before the pandemic and did a mile or five minutes for my first excursion. I will increase the time and miles as I start up this again. Next, I did the basic stretches and exercises I learned from physical therapy. Likely, I should do those first; next time!

Stagger more now, I found the coffee and poured it into French Press in the kitchen. I also found a yogurt with organic blueberries for breakfast. I took the coffee in an extra-large Star Wars black cup resembling the Death Star–perfect for how I felt. “Your lack of exercise is disturbing to me–choke,” went through my mind as I drank coffee.

I did the usual things in the morning: reading emails, reading Slack posts on our current project at work, and reading some news. I consumed my coffee and breakfast. The half-hour disappeared in a puff of reading.

I hit the shower, dressed, and found a thermal cup for the rest of the coffee–forgoing the Star Wars cup. I boarded Air Volvo and was happy to see no school buses or any other blockers. I arrived with time to spare and then started my two hours of status and update meetings. I helped with some issues and a crisis or two. I also approved access for some folks and discovered that my boss, Brad–who is on sabbatical, slipped in and approved my access requests. Excellent.

I managed to leave mid-morning to see Susie–the best time and had to dodge a VW bug that did a U-turn without warning and nearly enjoyed causing a three-car pile-up. The auto braking did not see the exciting move, and I had to stop the Air Volvo in time! I also saw Beaverton’s Finest represented as two motorcycles on Highway 26 measuring car speeds with a radar gun; I guess it was a lovely day for ticketing. Once through that–not drawing any police attention–I arrived safely 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 just finishing breakfast when I arrived, and I waited until she was done. Next, we headed out to the park and saw the park manager, who stopped to tell us he had found two more nests of yellow jackets that were now treated (kaput). He said one of the nests was gigantic and near the parking lot. We saw fewer yellow jackets today. Again, I am sorry to see some wild killed, but a child could easily walk into the nest–it can’t be there (next to some swings).

Susie and I went off the path, and I pushed Susie to new parts of the park. It was warm but still early, and only 72F (22C). I saw my first grasshopper–fall will be here soon. We watched an Oregon Swallowtail butterfly dance in the trees. I was looking for more nests, but the Park manager thinks he found all the ones that need removal. We called Leta and Barb (Susie’s mother and sister, respectively) at a bench, but Barb was unavailable, and Leta called us back–she was having lunch with friends. Leta and Susie chatted from the shady bench near the cedars and redwoods. There were runners, humans being walked by their dogs, and folks walking on the trail in front of us–the park was busy at noon.

After touring new areas in the park, I took Susie back to the hummingbird house. Next, I said goodbye with a kiss and a promise to return on Wednesday. Susie was sad to have a short visit, but I am working. I returned via Chipotle; I had a salad with chips for lunch–next time, no chips.

The rest of the day was busy as I had lots to talk to folks about. I was starting some new work and got an expert assigned me to help; excellent. I did a few more status meetings and thought about how to do the new work. I headed out at 4ish and arrived at the Volvo Cave via Air Volvo without issue or witnessing any more extra-legal driving or experiencing new events to test the auto-braking system on Air Volvo.

At home, I was tired and tried to read, but soon I was unaware of anything. I rose at 5:45 and found the kitchen again and chopped and chopped some more to make a salad for dinner. I had carrots, celery, cucumber, and lettuce as my main ingredients. I chopped lots so I could use the extra for the next salad.

Next, I found a cheap animated remake of a lost Doctor Who episode from The First Doctor. It is terrible but familiar and once cutting edge. The film version is lost, but a recording exists, allowing for a recreation. This one is in color (the original missing film was black and white) and uses software to animate the characters, and is a bit puppet-like. It was not expensive, and I have seen most of the reconstructions–I find it fascinating to see what can be done with basic animation and how dated it all still is.

After that, I rested again and then started on the blog.

Thanks for reading!

On this last day of July, I had meetings into the evening. I meet twice a week with India, and there was an all-employee meeting repeat at 6PM local time. Thus it is almost 9PM Monday before I can start this blog. I am also tired–working six days a week for nearly a month is beginning to affect me–I tire easily now. Plus, my day was also chaotic as I had a doctor’s appointment with my regular doc that I had forgotten until it popped up on my calendar–the end of July seemed so far away when I scheduled it! I then picked up my suits, and they needed to correct the pants (they forgot the buttons for the suspenders, so I will be back there soon) and had me wait for them.

I needed one grey suit for Linda, my sister’s wedding on September 10, assuming I can make it. If Susie is well, I will take a quick weekend trip to be part of the wedding. Air flights, suit, rental car, and hotel are all done (all flights are refundable and changeable), so I can jump on a flight, get there, and fly right back if needed. Just a few days away from Susie if it all works.

Again, a crazy busy day filled with lots of ad hoc events. Let us start telling the story from the morning…

I woke to the alarm at 7AM and stumbled out of bed. It is Monday, so it is a work-from-home day, and I get to sleep in until 7AM. I started heating the water for coffee in my electric kettle and headed back to the home office. I logged on to work on my Nike computer and started my Apple; I use them sitting next to each other. I read emails and Slack channel updates on last night’s events at the shoe company; the project runs on a 7/24 schedule, and our data conversions are running. Everything seemed, for our part, to be going well with our colleagues in India turning over to us on Oregon’s morning. I found a donut to go with the liberal coffee I made in my French Press.

I spent the morning doing status meetings and reading documents. I approved a few changes and objected to some that were then clarified. I had a break in meetings at 10AM and then showered and dressed. I watched another review meeting at 11AM for a while, but once it started running over, I stopped it. I also reheated some chicken and veggies I had made a few days ago for lunch.

I got an offer for lunch from Mariah in Portland at Von Eberts, but I could not swing it and the doctor’s appointment. Not to mention that consuming beer and the world’s great chicken wings just before a doctor’s visit is poor planning and will likely not please my Doc. Mariah could not manage it for dinner, so we will miss it on Monday.

As I said, I then headed to my doctor’s appointment. There I learned that my blood pressure was perfect, but my A1C was creeping up. The new allergy med we started after the last visit slowed the coughing and controlled my asthma. I am feeling much better, I told Doc.

Next, we talked about retirement planning, and the Doc strongly suggested I start to include in my retirement planning an exercise plan and lose 10 pounds every six months or so. “Your life will be much better losing some weight,” Doc said. Doc also wanted to check that I knew what I would do when I retired–Yes, I can keep busy with all my hobbies!

My new plan, I will start exercising again (I stopped when the asthma–breathing seemed more important at the time) and will start back now. I will be back in four months to check my progress on my A1C and weight. Health plans are now to be included in retirement planning. Excellent.

After the medical stuff, Air Volvo took me via the highways 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. Susie was waiting in her recliner in the shared living room when I arrived. Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, lifted Susie into her wheelchair, and we headed outside. It was a warm day with a light breeze, another perfect sunny day with clear skies, and the temperature in the high 80s (about 30C). We found a safe picnic bench (yellow jackets were swarming some dropped food at the other picnic bench), and we made some calls there. The area is shady, and the breeze runs through that part of the part, making it lovely for a visit.

I used my iPhone to call Barb (Susie’s sister) and Leta (Susie’s mom) and connected everyone in a three-way FaceTime call. Barb was in her car driving, and her connection was weak. We could see each other and chat briefly before Barb had to ring off. I left Leta and Susie speaking while I talked to the park manager.

He is concerned about the wasps too. Luke, I think that is his name, said that at another park, they had to deal with six nests. So far, he has not found the ground nests in Metzger Park. The wasps get aggressive in the fall, and the bugs were now a dangerous pest in the park. He will keep looking for the nests, and I told him I would look for them. I think I found one not far from our favorite bench, and he will check that out. Later, he found a nest and treated it (killing it with a powder). While I frown on killing things outdoors, I make an exception for local ants or yellow jackets in public parks or my backyard.

I pushed Susie to some new areas in the park, going off the path, and watched with care for wasp nests. We found one possible nest, and Susie enjoyed the new places. We saw the butterfly dancing in the sun. It was a marvelous walk.

Aside: There is a butterfly now in the backyard at the house. I am seeing the hummingbirds in the mornings too.

I had to head home, and I left Susie with Jennifer with a kiss goodbye and a promise to return on Tuesday. Susie needed a nap. I took Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave. The traffic was light–but I did stop for my suits, as I mentioned, so I was quite delayed.

I rested for a bit and then made jambalaya from a box. I did chop some onion, garlic, celery, and a not-so-fresh green pepper to add to it. I sliced up the sausage leftover from last week’s jambalaya, one smoked and the other cajun sausage. I opened a large can of tomatoes, took half, crushed them, and added them. All of it was then mixed with my usual box of jambalaya makings.

It was good. I ate it while watching the Nike meetings.

And that takes me full circle.

Thanks for reading!