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I am getting tired as this is the second weekend I have supported the data conversions for the shoe company’s test computer systems. I started by sleeping into 7ish and going slow and a bit unsteady. I had coffee and a banana for breakfast and enjoyed the 8:30 status meeting. It being Sunday morning, I had to write the blog for Saturday, and I spent much of the morning writing. I took a few breaks picking up my work table in the office and the big table. I continued to be careful and skipped the stretches and exercises after nearly falling yesterday–I was still sore.

I had some work issues that kept me busy while trying to write. I finally got dressed and then decided to get something more to eat. I chopped up the last of the first Olympic Provision ham (I bought two) and fried that, and then added Egg Beaters and cheese. I ate the scrambled eggs while I caught the last 1/2 of Dondrea’s sermon online. I was not planning to watch it, but I discovered it was running and watched it. It was great.

At closer to noon than 11 is when I boarded Air Volvo and traveled across Beaverton. I dodged a Lexus that decided that Air Volvo was trans-dimensional and they could cross three lanes into my space on a five-lane portion of Hall Boulevard. I saw them coming and changing lanes instead of trying to find the dematerialize TARDIS control. Another car decided to drive in the wrong way, which was easier than appropriately changing lanes and turning left again. Then, the Lexus was cut off by another vehicle that waited in the turning lane and then decided to take the lane that I gave up not seeing the charging Lexus. Oh my! No unfortunate contacts occurred.

Amazed to not be speeding through place and time using the TARDIS controls on Air Volvo, I reached the hummingbird house intact and still in this time stream. Susie was in her chair in the shared living room and we quickly moved to her room and rocking chair to watch a movie with me. We found the old Disney Pinocchio (1940) on Disney+ with Susie’s fav, Jimmy Cricket. This is an RKO production, which surprised me. Susie sang all the songs and stayed awake the whole time. I managed not to nod off.

We then sang along with the short, Lava, released with Inside Out, another Pixar film. It is a fun little song, and I enjoy it each time I play the short movie. I just happened to see it on the Disney+ selection and played it.

We also connected with Barb, Susie’s sister, who used FaceTime to allow us to chat with her, Leta (Susie’s mother), and Emma (Barb’s daughter). It was a nice chat and fun to talk to the folks in Michigan. Emma uses an electric bike instead of a car and said she was still able to use it in Michigan despite the cold and the snow.

Susie had lunch and some care, and I headed out for a short lunch at the nearby Red Robin. Nadile was again a tending bar, and I had an ensalda platter with two chicken breasts and a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, my colon decided to cause me some issues, but I was able to handle that without an accident. I finished a quick lunch and said goodbye to Nadile–we did not have much time to chat.

Aside: Susie cannot be left in her room without putting up the railings, arranging her crash pad, and lowering her bed over it to lock in the pad and reduce the distance of any fall. Something I did before I left and was rechecked (I don’t mind them double-checking me) by Louis or Jennifer.

When I returned, Susie was finishing her chicken noodle soup (blended and thickened to prevent choking), and then Louis, the other live-in nursing aide married to Jennifer, put Susie to bed to rest. I stayed with her in the rocking chair, arranged the room, and did a work call at 4:30.

Susie was resting and sleeping happily as I had just stayed for another thirty minutes. She likes it when I visit, and she falls asleep when I am there and wakes up when I am still there. It feels a bit like home to her.

I headed home at 5:20 with a kiss from Susie, who was still resting. Louis took my suggestion to offer Susie a snack for dinner as she had a late lunch, which usually worked for me. Susie will eat if not given too large of portions to start. I used to cut her grilled cheese sandwiches into quarters–Susie loves grilled anything with cheese. She could easily eat a quarter and often save one quarter for an hour or two later.

On the way home, I stopped and got gas at $3.95 a gallon (up twenty cents from the low), and then stopped at Safeway and picked up some items I missed last weekend. I have garbage bags, cream cheese for my bagel-like locally-made bread products, and a few other things I needed. Also, I bought flowers for Susie–I left them in the cargo bay of Air Volvo so I don’t forget them (it will not be below freezing tonight, so the flowers should be fine).

Work continued with me watching a few more crises of the moment, but it was not my shift, and there was no call for me to help, so I just stayed informed.

I did the dishes and moved a few more things around in the office. My radio, the one I built, stopped working right after I moved it, which is annoying–I fixed it by turning up the volume (a software issue on my volume control and had nothing to do with moving it). I have been listening to it for an hour and it is working well. Excellent.

I had reheated pasta and meatballs (Glenda is smiling somewhere) for dinner. I finished the last of the leftovers.

I rested a bit and read. Qiu Xiaolong is a new American-based author I am reading. He has revived the Judge Dee Tang Empire stories, and his books are originally written in English. I am enjoying the first part of his Shadow of the Empire, The (A Judge Dee Investigation Book 1), and it reminds me, to some degree, of the previous books I have read: the old Robert van Gulik’s version (translated from Dutch) which I recommend and likely acquired cheaply from Thrift stores now. I also ordered Qiu Xiaolong detective stories and more when I got to it.

Well, it is getting late. Time to stop. Thanks for reading.

Going backward and writing this Sunday morning, I was in bed after midnight, having finished a late-night spicy chicken sandwich from Popeye’s, a guilty pleasure. On the drive back from Portland, I ran into construction moving roadblocks, never seen one before, and coasted on 217 for twenty minutes at 10 mph  (16 km) until the Beaverton exit. It appears the construction folks were reopening 217.

I reached the Volvo Cave in Air Volvo in nearly non-existent traffic (usually Saturday night is full of fast-moving racing cars, but I had heard that there finally was a push to eliminate on-street illegal Portland drag races–during the pandemic I have driven by quite a few near the river). It was an easy trip.

Before this, I played board games at Richard’s, my usual Saturday night gaming in Portland. We were three: Richard, Caroline, and me. I taught them how to play the Portland Area-created board game Vindication; Richard had played once before but needed a refresh.

Richard’s copy of the game, which just arrived last week, contained everything, but Richard left out the promotional additions. So we were playing the most basic version–my copy includes all the promotional items. I exclude the Academy location, which we played with for this basic version. So with this fresh copy and all the cards sleeved in nice plastic protectors, I taught the game, and we played a longish three-person game.

Vindication is an excellent resource management and exploration game with the theme that you are a wretched person, thrown overboard for your sins, and found by a helpful companion on the beach. Deciding to vindicate yourself, you choose to improve yourself, fulfill your potential, explore this island, and find new paths to honor. The player with the most honor wins (victory points). There are a lot of rules; as I taught the game, I understood the volume of information I was sharing, information overload! But the game is positive and uses bright colors, and I enjoy doing the mechanics. Everyone liked it.

I won the game by about ten points, even trying to help. I thought I was second, but we split the end-of-game masteries evenly, a surprise to me, and none of the monsters and other end-of-game points from my fellow gamers were enough to overcome my lead. On the other hand, we had very high scores as the game-ending trigger was late, I had one of everything, and that was one of the conditions (Vindication, when I was involved in its early development, had no way to end, and we suggested to Marc–the designer–he consider random conditions and that is what happens now).

Next, we played Wingspan, which I have been playing a lot lately. Richard’s copy includes the Europe and Asia extension and these bring into the game some extraordinary new powers and requirements. And Richard seemed to get every one of them this game. I struggled with a weird mix of bird card options and adjusted and pulled out a second-place score below my best score (Richard using Board Game Geek’s site to track plays by player). Caroline had not played Wingspan for a while and was getting tired. Still, she scored just a few points below me.

All uplifting and pleasant games tonight. Caroline is looking for a group to play Dominant Species, a favorite for Richard a few years ago. So I expect to return to that one, not my favorite, soon. I only started to pass on word games as I am so terrible at them. Everything else I try (Well there is an EV game not on my list as it seems like work to me).

Before this, more Vindication with Evan. At The 649 Taphouse, we grabbed a table, got out the now giant box for Vindication, set it up, and started into the two-person game. My copy, upgraded multiple times and now in the final organization in the vast white box, has all the promotional content added in; I have removed the Academy location and replaced it with a location that gives more Sacred Quests–I think an improvement and provide a chance to use the Sacred Quests cards more. Also, the promotional cards include more cursed and treacherous cards that make taking random cards more risky–I like that.

Evan had some trouble getting organized in this play, I have had that problem before in two-person games, and I won by more than ten points. The random nature of the placing of locations can be tricky in some games. Evan could not get vindicated or increase his movement rate and struggled then. In both games, I pushed using a Monastery and thus moving my Potential to Influence early to stop having sequencing and travel issues later in the game. Luckily in each game on Saturday, I was near a Monastery, so my plans worked.

Before this, we had Mexican food and a beer (which I did not finish). My chicken taco was great, and the food at Tapatio, Mexican Restaurant, seemed to have improved. Recommended.

Before this, I spent part of the morning and the early afternoon with Susie. Susie was sleeping in her chair when I got there, and she decided to stay instead of heading to the mall. We then moved Susie, Anassa doing the moving–the nurse aide for the weekends, to her rocking chair and watched two episodes of Poker Face on the Peacock network. Evan was with us and was first concerned that the episode spent twenty or more minutes without the show’s star, but then it took off. The character representing the detective in the story has lines that are almost quotes from the old detective show Columbo (I laugh when I hear them). The last episode was more aligned with the movies Kill Bill and was a bit dark for the show–a dark comedy. It was good. So an exciting mix for this remake of The Rockford Files and Columbo. Susie stayed awake for the show and seemed sharper and more responsive.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, from Susie’s room at the hummingbird house. Leta was happy to hear from us; I was a bit late calling as I first watched the shows with Susie. Leta was happy to see Susie on FaceTime and that nothing was wrong.

After the call, I headed out with a kiss from Susie. Susie was not happy to see us go, but she was getting hungry and needed a nap. Anassa took over as we left. Again, Susie seemed to speak with a clear voice today and seemed to be following along. All a surprise and started on St. V day.

Before this, I was working online, getting dressed, and doing all those boring things that I sometimes include in the blog–not today. I am also picking up the house and organizing the messes I created during the pandemic. I tripped and barely caught myself from taking myself out by crashing into my work table in the office! I was perfectly aligned to have my head connected, breaking my neck. As poetic as it would be to have my body discovered buried in a pile of modeling, electronic components, and figure painting supplies, I am happy to have another day. I skipped my exercises after that as my body did not enjoy the prevention process. I will be more careful wearing my slippers.

I woke, as usual, thirty minutes early, fell completely asleep minutes before my alarm, and then was blasted into Saturday morning.

Thanks for reading.

As our old director used to say at Nike, “Thank God it is Friday; there are only two more working days to this week.” Yes working the weekend for the second one in a row. Data conversions are running on 7/24, and our team has been loading the critical path master data from the project for weeks. This is our last practice (it is followed by a Dress Rehearsal where production support starts to take over for us). I am doing the 8-4 shift, covering the status meetings, and approving things.

I was thus busy all day as various approvals, emergencies, and some crises of the moment arose. This all started for me; Friday is a sleep-in and a work-from-home day, at 7:30ish, with my first meeting at 8 on Zoom. This is followed by an hour more of various status and update meetings on Zoom.

I made breakfast sausages in the oven, nearly forgetting them, and I forgot to put them, cooked, into the frig and had to toss the rest later (oops). I got coffee made and had only a cup in the morning. I was approving and reading things. There were a lot of questions today. Odd for a Friday.

I got to my stretches and exercises, today the basic ones, around 10ish and finally showered and dressed after 11 when things settled for a bit. Next, I boarded Air Volvo and headed to Susie’s place. I stopped by McDonald’s and got dad Wild’s fav (two cheeseburgers meal with fries and a drink, $7.50–no sales tax here)–It reminds me of Bob WIld. From there, I headed into the slightly heavy Beaverton Traffic, taking twenty-five minutes to reach the hummingbird house. I witnessed no imaginative driving, but construction was shutting down lanes randomly; at least, it seemed random, so there was always something to watch out for.

I arrived safely to find Susie still in her recliner in the living room. Jennifer was playing oldies on a portable radio, and the vast TV showed ocean scenes–slightly surreal, but I liked it. Jennifer, to the Bee Gees, got Susie ready (no disco moves) for a trip to the park. While it was only in the low 50Fs (10C), there was no rain or wind. Yes, time to rush outside and enjoy it. Also, today is the warmest day in the forecast for ten days!

Susie also handed me, very happily, a Valentine she helped make. She wrote our names on it. I am sure they helped her assemble it. I treasure it.

Susie was in her heavy leather coat, hat, and scarf and wrapped in a blanket in her wheelchair. She was comfy for the trip. Metzger Park was dry, and we crossed onto the sidewalk with only a slight bump. The park manager put in extra gravel for us last year; it was very kind to make it an easy transition. The gravel has washed away, but it is still only a tiny bump.

The park was full of kids and people with their dogs. One gal was on a bench and threw the ball, and her dog brought it back. We learned as we laughed (the dog held all the balls and was trying to get her pet human to come and get the balls). The human had knee issues, and soon the dog relented. It was fun to watch.

Also, Homeless folks who live in their cars come to the bathroom at the park and clean up a bit. Everyone is friendly and happy to see each other. The pandemic has made nearly everyone glad to see other folks!

We called Leta, as usual, and soon connected with her (Leta is Susie’s mother). We talked about her day, and Susie was more responsive today, and I have noticed her voice is more substantial. St. V Day seems to have been good for her. But it is cold, and time is flying away from me. Time to get Susie back and head back to the house.

I leave with a kiss this time; Covid-19 be d**n’d. The cross-Beaverton traffic is not as bad; it is still before the end-of-school traffic jams. Back to the online stuff, and more crazy starts to surface–surprising on a Friday. I take a short rest and then pick up the last meetings, discuss a few crises of the moment, and help here and there. Finally, I stopped at 5ish.

I started on the paperwork for my 2022 Taxes. I managed to get a total of the medical expenses for 2022 (over $123,000) and assembled the information for my new CPA. I reheated the Tagine-styled chicken and had that for dinner with reheated coffee while working on my info. Despite President Trump’s tax changes to the SALT (State and Local Taxes) deduction (reduced it), I may be able to breach the standard deduction and get a pile back. Hoping for that. All the 1099s are in, and I have totaled everything I need. I have letters to Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center (Susie’s home Nov-April last year) for better documentation, just in case. Everything is ready, I think, for the CPA.

Got a surprise bill from last year, over $900, that I thought I paid, but it looks like they lost the check (it was never presented). This was in the middle of the mess that was chemo, and I was not paying attention very well then. I paid it today, again. I got a refund of $170 or so bucks from NYC’s Mount Sinia West with little explanation. All very strange.

So I am thrilled to reach the next milestone, Taxes 2022: Ready for CPA, so I went to Wildwood Taphpouse to write the blog. I also picked up the big table in the house some more. So I am slowly returning things back to order. I plan to get things back in order and start painting figures and building models again soon. And then there is that coding for the AI stuff. So many cool things to do. Despite the crap, like $123,000 in medical bills, life is still exciting and fun.

Tonight, I am still following along at work too. Always Available.

Thanks for reading and for all the help and good wishes you send.

I again forgot to get a picture of Susie today, sorry.

Someday I will sleep until 6AM instead of waking at 5:30ish and waking and falling asleep a few times until it is five minutes, too, and then the deep sleep comes just in time for the alarm to startle me out of bed. I grabbed my phone; no calls and no crises at the shoe company, and I contemplated skipping my exercises and stretches and sleeping another hour, but that would be more walking up and over and over, so it best to start Thursday.

Thus, I walked to the kitchen. I started by unloading the clean ones and replacing them with dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Then, I loaded the electric kettle for coffee with water and headed to the living room. 1990s Alternative Rock and Grunge playing on Alexa while I did the complete list on the carpet. This includes a rubber strip around my legs to pressure me as I side-step down and back from the bedroom. I did not think of this until now: Music.

I rushed through the exercises with all the fast-paced 1990s music. I made coffee, liberal, in my French Press and identified a banana and yogurt with fruit for breakfast. I was quickly caught up on the events of the previous night for our data conversions for the project, and my email (mostly junk) and even read the events–more mass shootings and the dead for the earthquake totaling more than 20,000–sad to have so many newish building crumbles. Corruption is deadly.

It is not just Turkey and Syria, Portland is not ready, and all those unprotected buildings and bridges will come down on a large-scale earthquake; the last big quake was in 1799 and was so big that the wave hit Japan, and there was damage to cargo ships in the Japansese harbors (this was recorded in old accounting records recently discovered). With the housing crunch in Portland, nobody is talking about condemning buildings that are not reinforced. The library, Powell’s Books, and City Hall are all reinforced, but hundreds of older brick and iron-framed buildings are not. The loss of life in Portland will be huge when the big one hits (7+).

The Volvo Cave had to have an unsafe electrical box (!) replaced—it was cheap and faulty (yes, corruption is not just found in foreign lands). The water heater was upgraded (same). The foundation is not reinforced, and the corners are not bolted (same), but the house will likely survive unless it subducts in the clay (no way of really knowing if this will happen–too many variables). Earthquake insurance has been purchased for the Volvo Cave. The house will likely take some rebuilding (the foundation will fail, but not enough to destroy the house) as the flooring is 2x4s and will survive anything short of a fire. I would expect a $50,000 repair bill with insurance covering anything above that (yes, you must pay the first part).

Returning to the narrative, I showered, dressed, and boarded Air Volvo and was at the office before 8AM. My boss is still out ill. I started my day with a new challenge. Leadership had a recent crisis of the moment for me. I rallied my team, and we managed to work on the issue, but the next shift will do more work. I also read designs, approved various fixes, and tried to be helpful.

Lunch today was with Scott at the WHQ for Nike, Serena William’s building. I parked in the NYC garage, always near empty on the 3rd and 4th floor, and walked to the GOAT’s building (Greatest of All Time). It is a lovely walk through a forest with a brick path (grey-black bricks). The cafe in the building has a beautiful salad bar, and Scott and I both enjoy it, plus some excellent artisan bread. We talked about work and his newest work. It is always fun to catch up.

Next, I traveled on 26 to 217 to Susie’s place. I think she was just finishing lunch when I arrived; Jennifer, the live in nurse aide, had Susie ready when I got there for the social activity room. We connected with Susie’s mother, Leta, and she and Susie chatted for some time. Leta even had a call from Susie’s sister, Barb, while we were using FaceTime on my iPhone to connect. Leta and Susie like to see each other. After Leta rang off, I covered the plans for the next couple of days with Susie. I think Saturday will be the mall (I have to lift Susie into and out of the Volvo), and Sunday will be a movie. Susie liked the plan. Friday will be the usual quick visit during a work day. Nike will change to summer hours in May 2023, and I expect to watch a movie or like activity on Friday afternoon. Nike also closes for a week in August.

I returned to the crises and helped move them forward. We had a few misstep (none can be expanded here), but we recovered. The following shift folks will cover what we cannot. The big event is early this coming morning. I hope India has a good day (night/morning for us).

I headed home after the 4:30 status meeting. The traffic was usual for Thursday (slightly busy) in our area. I put out the trash as it is Thursday (Friday pickup). I rested for a bit, got turned down to buy dinner for some folks, and headed to BJ’s Brewhouse alone, but Eric, my usual waiter, was ready for me. I was too late for a porkchop; you need to be here by 5:30 to be assured of getting one, but I had the small steak with baked potato, beans, and beer, and it was perfect (the Tri-tip is on special for happy hour). Later, coffee with a shot of almond liqueur on the side. Finished with a single scoop of chocolate ice cream.

Full, happy, relaxed, and enjoying writing the blog tonight at BJ’s with Eric ready for me. All good.

I was planning on doing tax stuff tonight, but after a day of crises (that I cannot describe here), taxes were not going to be done tonight.

I have been reading Fritz Leiber’s the Grey Mouser and Fafhrd series by another author. The last book in the series. It is terrible, and the hack cannot find his voice and does not try to copy Leiber’s style (1998), but it is still nice to revisit this fantasy world. The heroes’ greatest story is early on in their tales: Ill Met in Lankhmar. I recommend you search it out for a true dose of Swords and Sorcery from the 1950s (yes, that far back). The other story, “Adept’s Gambit,” from 1947 (!), is often my model for writing Dungeons and Dragons adventures, with me rereading it when I need inspiration. In the strange world of comics, Grey Mouser and Farhrd work with CatWomen. Even a hack job is still great. I recommend the series.

Well, it is a good night. The project news is good, as some long-running jobs have been completed early. It has been fun to eat and drink in the bar.

Thanks for reading.

It was a frustrating day at work, and those happened. Had I not needed the pay and health insurance, I would have been out of there–but it is not possible to retire immediately, no matter how tempting (or driven to madness) I am. Thus I will remove all mention of the shoe company today; otherwise, my jaw will be sore from clenching while writing. The games helped me refocus on important things (fun with friends).

So moving backward, I just finished the season’s newest season of Vox Machina. I liked the ending, and the action was well done. This animated series was created using Kickstarter to fund the first season and is based on Dungeons and Dragons. It is profane and funny. I liked this season as it reminds me when our player characters move to a higher level, there are lots of changes and new powers.

For a snack, I sliced the ham from Olympic Provisions and some cheese I had with Triscuit crackers. I had a bagel-like product for a light dinner while I did not enjoy a meeting at work. The product is locally made; I thoroughly enjoyed and finished my NYC bagels–thanks, Joyce and Smiths (plus Jason).

Between these meals, I met Zophia (Z) at First United Methodist Church to play games while Z’s mother, Dondrea, and the choir practiced. Z picked out the board game Wingspan as our first game for today. Z has a birthday coming up, and I will let Z pick a game for the upcoming event as a gift. Z managed to play very well and win by three points. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of adding some low-point birds to my sanctuary, and I gave away one of the goals by not paying attention. Z was on top of it the whole time and thus scored the win. Next time!

WIndspan is a resource management game where you build and manage a bird sanctuary. Birds are cards you play, and then you run a habitat and get special abilities from the bird cards. For example, there are little eggs to put on bird cards. It is an elegant game with the only flaw of being a bit random.

Next, Z and I managed 3/4 of a Vindication game. I received my upgrade yesterday, applied all the changes, and even reviewed the rules in the new, better rule book. The game is now in a giant box about twice the size of the original swanky version. The new box fits all the parts and expansions and comes with new trays for each player that really improve the setup and put-away. The game is primarily unchanged by these upgrades, and Z can soon remember how to play and was soon fighting monsters and earning superpowers called traits. I was teleporting all over the board using a relic and collecting help from many companions. I also vindicated myself (no longer a wretched scumbag), gaining more abilities. We had about thirty more minutes (or maybe a bit less) to finish, but at least we got to try it out.

Vindication is an elegant game where you try to vindicate yourself and stop being a scumbag. You find helpful companions, explore, discover great powers, and overcome monsters. The resource management system is particular to the game and brilliant. It was fun to try it out again with all the new trays; I will finally paint the guild items and maybe even use them. Since acquiring the game in 2018, I have only played the basic game with only a few add-ons. Time to finally play all this cool stuff.

Moving back to the morning, I had a bad cough, and when learning a fellow employee tested positive for Covid-19, I was worried. I returned home and tested. Negative. Just asthma, again. I got a text from a friend, and she, too, had to use her inhaler. The valley was full of fog and stagnant air, which was my real issue.

As I did not have Covid-19, I visited Susie but kept my distance again (no kisses today) like it was 2022 again. We sat in the social activity room, called Susie’s mother, Leta, and connected. Susie and Leta talked for a while about Leta’s battle with mice. Her porch was removed from her house, and now they can block the place where the mice are getting in. Leta plans to have a nice deck and stairs built later.

After we said goodbye to Leta, I talked to Susie about our finances, saying we were doing fine and how I was getting ready for taxes. I told her we were good for 2023, and I think I can handle 2024 too. She was happy to chat a bit; it was a one-sided conversation, but it was still lovely. I left with just a wave–Susie was happy I made it and tested negative.

Before this, I was up at 6AM and did my exercises and stretches.

Well, I am tired, and it is approaching 11PM. Thank you for reading!