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Mondays lose their sting when you work through multiple weekends, and Mondays are now more of a bookmark than a back-to-work day. Sleep also seems strange as you sleep to work, not to rest. “I need to sleep so I can be back on at 6,” goes through your head. When you look at the clock, you calculate India’s time to determine if you should expect some replies. There is no real rest. You are on, like everyone else, 7/24 and ready to serve. On Monday, your regular job rises like Dicken’s ghost to meet your 7/24 work, and now you are doing both. Usually, everyone is on for the workday, so the stress is a little less as others step up, but the meetings start (every problem and issue seems to generate 1-5 sessions), so there is little free time to do your own work, you can hear Marley’s chains clang.

It is called the meat grinder, the rat race, Just Do It, and less polite things. The cycle seems endless while leadership pushes and then backs off and next praises. Software failures, mistakes, incorrect data, and missing data generate tickets, often creating meetings and talking points for status meetings. Each ticket is pronounced critical, high, next build, or another arcana status and becomes the focus of progress. To have a critical path issue is the highest sin as all wait for its resolution or downgrading. Status meetings are where you discover that you have a ticket you did not know about, and now leadership wants to know what you are doing about it, “We will huddle and get back to you.” I support the master data engineering team, and we must get the one thing that must be perfect, perfect, timely, and accepted. F**k.

So my day starts with me waking with my alarm for the first time in a while. I had awakened before it and went back to sleep. My arising was more of a crawl than something a Dracula movie would show. Yes, no stately rises from dust to sit proudly in my coffin, the stake no longer in my chest. It took me three times to find the arm holes in my robe–they kept moving.

Coffee was assembled in the kitchen after checking the phone for calls (none) and important Slack channel updates that required me (nope). Meetings started at 8AM via Zoom, with me not using the camera. Hours passed, and I was multi-tasking as none of our team members were needed. I found that the vendor had answered some inquiries with new fixes, creating more Zoom meetings.

Breakfast was again cottage cheese with pepper, smoked paprika, and sea salt, plus the remains of the can of peaches from yesterday. I find this meal means I am not very hungry in the morning. I had soup from a can, chicken with noodles, for lunch which I rushed through.

My back hurts at my shoulders, a cutting pain. I do my exercise and stretches, and the pain returns to my lower right back–the weak spot we are working on. Yes, the pain moves and needs to be recalled back to the source. Until I sit too long, there is no pain. The PT is working, and my next session is on Tuesday.

More chores: I also blocked my calendar for my doctor’s appointment and colonoscopy (soon) and called the nurse to get the revised instructions (drink this stuff, don’t leave the house, and clear the bathroom for use). I did learn that they will call Radio Cab to get me home on 15 March (Next Wednesday), so I just need the cab there. Better.

Next, I drove Air Volvo to the DEQ center only to learn they are closed on Mondays (!?). So I drove to the hummingbird house. Despite my starting from DEQ, the highways were not busy, and I was soon at Susie’s place, the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

Susie was resting in her recliner in the shared living room. Her favorite show, old Blue Blood episodes, was on the TV. Susie was delighted to see me and seemed more alert today. Jennifer, the live-in nurse aide, said Susie had an unexplained bruise on her arm but was not complaining. Susie is on blood thinners, and we will watch this. Susie’s next appointment with her cardiologist is in May.

Susie and I called her mother, Leta, and I let them chat for almost a half-hour. I had chores, but Susie seemed alert, so I let them burn my spare time. Leta is still working on her house; pests have moved in, and she hopes to return to normal in the next few months.

Susie was sad to have me leave but knew it was needed. No tears on either side today.

Next, I stopped by the bakery, had a quick slice of cake, and picked up bread and baked goods for breakfast. Lastly, I stopped by the cleaners and brought five more pairs of pants to be shortened. So, I am replacing all my pants with new ones–physically getting rid of some of the past.

I arrived at the Volvo Cave without issue. I had twenty minutes before the meetings started again. I had new meetings from today’s items and some carry-overs from last week. So non-stop in the later afternoon. Every meeting overran.

While this was happening, my mail showed. This included four packages: A cookbook, high-energy circuit components, gaming items, and my replacement paints. All on Monday. The cookbook is Raghavan Iyer’s newest and likely last, On The Curry Trail. He is one of my heroes and writes delicious and easy recipes. His 660 Curries cookbook is his best-known book (already on my shelf and my go-to for Indian food). I can’t wait to read this journey-based cookbook. The high-energy parts could build a Tesla Coil–we will see (but having a 20,000V rated capacitor is just cool anyway). I found in Esty 1/3-sized dollhouse coffee cups with coffee for a marker replacement in the board game Arc Nova. I will give one to Richard and likely use one when I buy a copy someday of this fantastic game (I play Richard’s copy so far). My Army Painter 50 paint set and some brushes arrived. I hoped to start painting figures and wanted new paints–mine are thick and turning to goo. So quite a load of fun on the mail today.

Meetings went on and on. Finally, I was free and decided that I had eaten enough of my own cooking (from cans) and headed to BJ’s Taphouse. Near Quatama MAX Stop, the apartments across from the MAX station, Arbor Crossing, was filled with flashing light police cars. I hope it is not another shooting. I checked, and nothing is showing in the news.

Eric was here in BJ’s (where I am writing tonight), my usual waiter, and I had my favorite pork chop with a baked potato and veggies. I added a salad tonight. My dinner was delivered a bit too fast as I was here early, but all was great. I started the blog as I drank coffee after dinner.

I must admit that work, health, costs, and being alone can get me down. Until I remember that I have so many incredible people I work with to keep Susie well, to keep me well, to do the impossible every day at work (Doing Impossible Every Day: DIED), playing incredible games, building amazing things from excellent shops online, and learning so many beautiful things. But, it is also the time to help others, like buying the last cookbook from a great man telling one the last story while he is dying from cancer.

There is so much to do and so much good to try. I am glad to be on this strange, often impossibly difficult journey, but I know I am never alone. You are here with me, and we have so much to do.

To me, Ghandi’s best line, which I loosely translate as: Be the Future you want Now.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

I always feel I should call someone or see them on Sunday. I used to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Wild on Sundays and would always speak to dad too. All of them are gone now, and I miss talking to them on Sundays. Today I skipped church as I had meetings and had to be attentive to the project data conversions. This is the fourth weekend I have worked.

Sunday started with waking from a deep sleep and turning off my alarm to sleep more. But that was a dream, and my alarm woke me at 7, and I was up twenty minutes later. Funny to dream about waking up.

I logged on to work and started my Apple computer. I read the emails, Slack channel updates, and the news. I did this while having liberal coffee that I made in my French Press. Breakfast included cottage cheese (small curds) with pepper, sea salt, and smoked paprika. I opened it and had half a can of peaches to go with it. I did not suddenly get hungry this time after taking my meds and/or exercising. My back hurt, and I was staggering a bit, so I passed on the stretches and exercises today.

The Zoom meetings started at 8 and went on for an hour. During the boring parts, I wrote some of the blogs for Saturday, which is always a long blog. The issue that happened yesterday had resurfaced, and I spent part of the morning following along while I wrote.

The source system for the data conversion has the issue, so once the source is repaired, we can load the revisions and resend the updated data to the targets. There is nothing we can do at the moment. Thus, I finished the blog in a few hours.

I cleaned up, dressed (in a white dress shirt), my new cotton green pants, and loaded into Air Volvo. I carried all the computers and placed them in the cargo hold. Air Volvo traveled to the hummingbird house at Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

Susie was comfortable in her recliner chair in the living room, a shared space. Anassa, the weekend nursing aide, had everyone up, and their day started. Susie had finished her breakfast. Susie decided to head to the mall.

I could not find the lift belt and had to grab Susie with her. I did good the first time but not the second time. Soon Susie and I were in the mall. The automatic door to Macy’s is still not repaired–it has been six months, so I got someone to open a door for me. Susie was excited to see people again.

We headed across the mall and towards the food court. Susie had a snack of strawberry ice cream, and I had a classic hot dog. The cook, an older man, slit the dog and grilled it, leaving tasty black lines on the meat. This is sprinkled with red diced onions and the usual red and yellow, but this time some mayo too–it was a perfectly classic hot dog, and the bun was even toasted. They had fries that were the usual industrial product. Still, an old-school hot dog (with mayo) with onions is excellent.

My back still hurts today. I will see if the exercises make it better on Monday.

I pushed Susie all over the mall, and we found a rainbow cake kit at Williams Sonoma and got that for Dondrea and Z for Easter. Susie picked out a huge bunch of flowers from the cut flower seller, now repositioned at the mall’s center. The Easter Bunny area is half the size of Santa’s, so there is room for the flower seller. The EB was not there yet (March 10th).

We met Ashley at the mall; she was there after church. Susie was holding onto her huge flower bundle.

We managed, despite the challenges that I had to move the car to make enough room to load Susie, to get Susie back in the car (as I said, it was a bit harder this second time). Then, we stopped by Dondrea and Z’s place and dropped off the cake kit.

We then headed back to Susie’s place, and soon Susie was safe in her chair again. I stayed a bit longer but was tired and needed to rest a bit. So I said my goodbye with a kiss and headed back to the Volvo Cave. I reached home without incident or seeing any extra-legal driving. I unloaded the computers and took some rest.

I had to check that I was not needed, so I did not rest well and opened a can of New England Clam Chowder for dinner. I managed to only burn it a little while listening to the 4:30 Zoom call, but it was still good (and also good to use something from the pantry). I had a few cookies as dessert while watching a video on the New Jersey Battleship–a walkthrough of the existing areas in the ship–interesting. They have Admiral Halsey‘s bed, as New Jersey was his flagship in World War 2.

I rested a bit more as the back pain, which was there before moving Susie, was still bothering me, and I finally started towards Wildwood Taphouse to write.

Thanks for reading.

 

I forgot to take pictures today.

Working backward, I was home before midnight and made a ham and cheese sandwich as a snack. I did not get dinner. I had that and took my pills which are best on a full stomach. After that, I crashed as I was tired. Bur, I ran all the dishes in the dishwasher before heading to bed.

Air Volvo delivered me from Richard’s house in Portland without incident. I took the tall ramp onto the Freemont Bridge; the ramp roadway was more elevated than the bridge’s (200 feet in the air), and I was worried that there would be puddles up there. No issues.

Richard and talked about taxes for a bit after the games. Mike, Caroline, and I played with Richard tonight. We taught Mike and Caroline the board game Vindication. This time Richard ran away with the game while Mike and Caroline were still learning the game. I tried to catch Richard, managing three masteries to his none, but his ownership of tiles pushed him beyond where I could catch him.

In the game, I never had a knowledge-based companion and found that a disadvantage. Early in the game, you need at least one strength and knowledge companion to get Vindicated and improve your movement speed (new learning for me). Richard got some of the best companions, and I should have gone back for more. That gave me a second-place score. Next time.

Next, we played War of Whispers as a light game. Ricard found a correction in the rules, and we played the game correctly this time. The game uses a unique set of processes, which has been hard to learn. This is a game loosely based on the spies of the Game of Thrones TV show. You place agents, and they control part of the kingdoms, and you have a randomly assigned victory measurement. The number of cities controlled by the Kingdoms is the factor. Thus one player will secretly want the red kingdom to do well, while another need red to fail. And this is hidden. The game has four rounds, and once you get the rules down (which we still have issues with), it plays fast. It is a chaotic secret motive game, fun.

I won by having my three top kingdoms hold on to most of their base cities. I was lucky to have overlapped with three players for the kingdoms that I did not want to succeed. So mostly luck and Richard misunderstood the rules, and that hurt him. Still a learning game.

It was nice to play a few games today. My trip from the Volvo Cave was without incident, and traffic was just stopped-and-go for just part of Highway 26 on Sylvan Hill. I was at the house as I had two packages delivered. One, Utterly Smooth 20% Urea for my hands and feet (to help with nerve issues from Chemo), and micro-controllers from SparkFun.

I left Susie’s place at about 4:20 and called into a status meeting at 4:30 while driving home. I would pull over if it got interesting, but the project still awaited a substantial single-threaded data conversion. I had to help with an issue in the morning, but there was nothing more for my team at 4:30. So it was a short meeting, and I had no problems getting to the Volvo Cave.

Going backward, I arrived at Susie’s place after 11AM. Susie was in her wheelchair (already falling asleep) with her coat ready for her. I offered to take her to the March 4th opening of the Portland Saturday Market and then lunch at Kells. I could see in her eyes that the idea of being in the wet and cold in Portland (windy and colder by the river where the market is held) did not appeal to her. So I offered the mall instead, which was not something she wanted to do. So Susie got her favorite: sit in her rocking chair and watch a movie with me in her room.

Louis, the live-in night nurse aide (and Jennifer’s husband), had watched the first Wakonda movie with Susie. So today, we would both get to see the next one. No popcorn, but it was still fun to do that. I got a chair that was comfortable and sat next to her. Susie held my hand for some of it and nodded off a few times, but soon she was closely following along.

Susie was tired but still talking and only slightly leaning to the right. So not too bad on Saturday. After the movie, I left Susie with Anassa, the weekend nurse aide, and headed out for lunch. Susie had lunch at the hummingbird house. I went to Chipolti’s for a chicken bowl with extra guac, chips, and a drink. I eat it with a fork and dip the chips. I was surprised when talking to Evan (he had a flat tire, so he would not make it over, and I thought it best to just hang out with Susie today, so no board games today with Evan) that the stock price was so high. I checked, and the food chain matched the general market and had a significant run-up, like most stocks in 2019-2021, and crashed back to the previous highs with the Ukraine War, inflation fears, and general Wall Street market grumpiness.

BTW: The market had a run-up after being grumpy most of the week. Churn and more churn. I have changed nothing.

I returned after my late lunch, and Susie was in her chair in the living room (no nap today) and was happy to see me. So I stayed with her, watching the movie Big (with a young Tom Hanks) in the shared space until I needed to leave before my 4:30 meeting. Susie was sad to have me go but was glad I had stayed so long.

Moving back to the start, I woke before my alarm and managed to sleep the night, except for one proof of hydration, and discovered there was no alarm, oops. I made liberal coffee from Fair Exchange branded coffee from Portland in my French Press. I had a yogurt for breakfast and later a cookie.

The meetings started at 8, and I was in my office eating and drinking coffee during the meeting. As is my habit, I read all the emails, Slack Channel updates, and news headlines to prepare for the meeting and the start of my day. I had to rally some team members as we had a critical defect, ugh, and soon it was being worked on and completed. This delayed my blog writing, of course, and made me late for Susie. But, I get paid for work, so I did the needful.

This is the fourth weekend I have worked in a row, and thus I have had no day off for a month. Life in the new world of IT.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

I am writing the blog on Saturday morning between work Zoom calls and Slack channel updates. Of course, I have a new high defect this morning, making a mess of my usual quiet Saturdays.

Recalling yesterday, Friday is a work-from-home day for me, so I could sleep in until 7ish, but I did wake before my alarm and had to prove hydration at 3AM, but generally, I got enough sleep. So I made liberal coffee and the last packet of instant oatmeal, adding dried cranberries and walnut pieces to jazz it up. I carried these consumables to the home office. I ate and read the email, Slack channel updates, and news to prepare for the day.

The first status meetings, all Zoom calls, started at 8 and continued until later morning. It is Friday, and the crises have begun to settle. The political items all cooled a bit. Thus, I was able to slip out at 10:40ish to see Susie.

The drive-in was low traffic and low drama–the best drive in Beaverton. In the damp gray, Beaverton’s Finest did not appear on the roads, the police liking sunny days (like all of us). Only a few grey piles of snow were left, and sad collections that once were snow people.

Metzger Park, next to the hummingbird house (Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116), was green and empty with the constant rain and Oregon mist. But then, the sun appeared momentarily, and everything was dazzlingly bright and cheerful. I toyed with the idea of taking Susie out in the park; the 41F (5C) conditions would not be happy for Susie.

Susie had finished breakfast and was comfortable in her recliner chair in the living room with Judge Judy on. Susie still had ankle protectors on (fuzzy partial slipper) and was no longer in pain. Her tummy issues had also been resolved. Susie was bright and happy to see me. So I resolved to get a to-go lunch and eat that in my office, so I could spend more time with Susie, seeing her clear-eyed and happy.

We called Leta first, Susie’s mother, and chatted with her for a while. Leta was waiting to see how the snowstorm would play out. Would it miss Lansing or dump a massive pile of snow? Leta was ready to enjoy a few days at home, reading and resting. Leta asked about Susie’s pain, and Susie said she had no pain and “I am fine” was her answer.

After Leta, we called Barb, Susie’s sister, and talked more about the storm and her kids. They were ready for another storm. Next, we called Susie’s Aunt Joyce, as Susie was worried about her. Joyce was thrilled to hear from us and happy to tell Susie she was well. They are getting lots of rain, now snow, in North Carolina.

I called after 5PM, and Susie was still without pain, and the redness was gone on Susie’s ankle. So it looks like the good folks at Aligence Senior Care (the hummingbird house) had stopped the issue before it became severe. Thanks!

Returning to the narrative, I left Susie with a kiss; Susie was sad to see me go, but the visit did not seem short–excellent. My next stop, using the highways to reach 185th, was Happy Panda. On the way, part of a minivan fell off (!?) and caused me to dodge large debris on Highway 26. There was no time for cars to brake, and instead, everyone was diving into the roadway’s left shoulder. Exciting. Air Volvo, with good tires and alignment, easily missed the mess.

Arriving safely at the food place, It took about five minutes to get Mongolian Beef from Happy Panda (in a strip mall on 185th). But I would say that I have never seen this with cabbage and slabs of beef. It was still good, but nothing I recognized. Finally, air Volvo arrived at the Volvo Cave without further challenges, and I ate my lunch while catching up on work items.

Evan stopped by, did some work on his taxes, cleaned up, and then headed to his next Pickle Ball game. He was just between appointments and needed a place to park. So he stayed at the Volvo Cave for a few hours.

Work continued, but I had time to plug in my new volt meter and Bluetooth speakers (yes, I had to have that). I managed to play toons through my meter. One strange item is that the meter is powered by USB B, not a power cord. I could not find a wall plug for a USB A (legacy), but I know I have some. I used my Windows laptop to run it for a while. So cool and so ridiculous.

Back to the story, I had a design session for one of the constant crises of the moment, and I think we understood the constraints better. One person just wanted to code it, but we explained the real constraints, and I think they were finally accepted. More to come. It was nice to talk about something technical and complex.

I finished my day with another short status meeting. I did check my phone for the rest of the night for issues–nothing.

I reheated the rest of the Goan Pork Vindaloo I made a few days ago. The spices are incorrect, and it is more of a Vindaloo and Kung Po cross. Still good. I grabbed some magician decks and a magic book. Time to return to magic, as I feel I should get that skill back. I had stopped most of that before the pandemic, but I liked it and should do it more.

I found that I had dozen card decks but was missing the type I wanted. So I found a new one and decided I could open it (it is so much better to open a deck on stage to establish legitimacy). So, while headed to read, write the blog, and practice at Wildwood Taphouse, Mariah asked to meet at Von Eberts in Portland; my plan changed–magic will wait.

So I headed there and still managed to beat her to a table. Traffic across Portland and parking were both troubling for Mariah (yes, I can get to Portland Pearl District from Reedville (Aloha-Beaverton), sometimes faster than folks in Portland). There we had some smoked wings and a few beers. I just had three and nothing else (having already eaten once) but beers.

I am happy to report that the wings are good again. So good are the wings that there are rumors that chickens volunteer. They are delicious.

I tried to stop by Powell’s after dinner (again) and beers, and Mariah let me try. Closed. I remember when they were open all night and then open late. Now they close at 9AM. Sad.

After paying $7 for parking in the garage (the only parking I could easily acquire), Air Volvo delivered me home without events. I was in bed soon after.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

It is Thursday the pre-Friday as we no longer head to the office on Friday. I ended my attendance early at the office as I thought a package was coming–nope. Customer Service at SparkFun said it could be another week. So I did the last two Zoom meetings from my office in the house. I rested for a bit and woke (I could not believe I fell utterly asleep) a few minutes late, but they were not looking for me–no harm.

I checked the Slack Channels and email, nothing I needed to cover. I went into the kitchen, ate a Hersey Bar with Almonds to stop the sleep from returning, and warmed up my spicy Goan Pork Vindaloo. I make it with potatoes and carrots (instead of eating it with rice). I rewatched the first episode of the third season of The Mandalorian; I still loved it.

With the snowstorm dumping seven inches on us last week, recycling and trash were not picked-up. Today I added the current trash to last week and collected all the recycling. This includes the old boxes for Vindication; I was sad to say goodbye to one of my first Kickstarter original boxes and trays. Everything is now in a vast box and new updated trays.

The ants had found the trash, puke! I put the tr sh container on the deck (the ants can be cold). I will need o do some cleaning and set some traps. I emptied all the trash and recycling, and it now waits on the street for Friday’s pickup.

I was thinking of staying home tonight, but my back hurts, and I feel out of sorts from working every weekend for three (and now four) weekends. Thus, I am in Wildwood Taphouse writing with a dark beer, an 8-ounce pour of a dark beer.

Returning to the late morning, my meetings were completed, Zoom, and I went out to see Susie after 10:30. I reached the hummingbird house without issue. However, Susie was in pain and unhappy. Her right ankle has a skin issue (not broken open), and it hurts (5 on ten point scale). Jennifer has Susie in soft wrapping foot items and on a pillow, but Suse keeps yelping. She can’t help moving, and that aggravates the affected area.

Susie can be found in Portland (Tigard) at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and they chatted for a while, and Susie seemed to forget the pain for a bit. But she jumped from the pain a few times after the call. Susie’s mother was happy to see Susie and was concerned that Susie was uncomfortable. I was soon headed out as Jennifer agreed to let Susie rest in bed with a pillow and protectors for her right foot.

I called later, and Susie was resting and comfortable in her bed.

I had lunch at Red Robin, my usual spicy split chicken breasts and salad with a Diet Coke. I was back in the office before 12:30, and my boss was surprised. I did not have Physical Therapy today, so I was back early.

Moving to the start of the day, 6AM came unbidden by me, and it could have stayed away a bit longer. Instead, I was up and did a truncated set of exercises as I did not feel quite right. I did make liberal coffee and had a single cup (forgetting my thermal mug when I headed out), along with a banana and regular-priced yogurt (having enjoyed 1/2-priced expired yogurt for the start of the week). I read everything I could, work, news, and Slack channel updates, to prepare for my day. There were no emergencies.

My travel was easy, and I was at the office early and started my hours of Zoom meetings. However, more issues arose, and the items that had been pressing continued to pressure. The morning blew by without me noticing.

On the money front, Ford (I have stock) paid over $250 for 335 shares. While I am still on an unrealized loss (Ford blowing its quality promises and delivering the worst-made US cars again), they still are making money and paying a 4.8% dividend. While far behind Tesla on EVs, they are more successful than expected. There are thoughts of splitting the company (which would be great for a stockholder like me–I could sell the old tech company stock after the split and buy even more EVs), but I suspect the dividends would end with the split. I like free money. I might buy more F!

I could not help myself and ordered all the components to create a Tesla coil from one of my electronic magazines. I’m not sure I want the coil, but I want to try out the circuit to load it with a million volts. I ordered 4x of the components, which are all good items in my garage. I have the equivalent of a Radio Shack in my garage. Every cap, resister, regulator, and so on is in folders and cases. Ready for my mad scientist moments. I am waiting for some new microcontrollers too.

It is Bingo night and raffle night. I do not have a ticket or a card. I am just writing.

Thanks for reading.