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Susie’s sister, Barb, flew in today and drove herself from PDX to the hummingbird house, arriving at about 1PM. Navigation worked until she got close as she was sent to the wrong street; use Metzger Park instead of the address to find Susie, as the hummingbird house is next to the park. Susie was pleased to see her sister, and we stayed with Susie until dinner time around 5PM, cheeseburgers being on the menu tonight–we demurred when offered dinner.

Susie was resting when we got there, and Barb woke her when she arrived. Taking a moment to awaken, Susie was so happy to see her. Jennifer said it was the best smile she had seen on Susie. Barb called Leta, their mother, and did FaceTime with Leta so everyone could see each other. We moved Susie to a wheelchair and sat on the porch as it was already hot outside (88F or higher–31C) and just chatted and enjoyed the warm sun.

Susie got her bottom sore when sitting for a few hours, and we retired to Susie’s room with Jennifer putting Susie on her side, and I started M.A.S.H. We chatted and watched M.A.S.H. until dinner time.

Barb and I then headed to Beaverton Central, having to dodge construction and find parking. Barb had trouble with the rental, a Jeep SUV, as Nav wanted to use the highways in rush hour, and she remotely started, but the Jeep needed some mystery process to allow it to drive. She had to restart the Jeep. Next, Barb was stopped at the parking garage. The touch screen, built to be used underground, was over 98F (body temperature), and the screen did not work as it could not detect touches (using temperature differences to detect touch). Barb was stalled. The machine would not take her credit card (out of state), and I had to walk to the entrance and give her an AMEX to work. Barb felt that the universe was selecting her as a new test bunny! Once we sorted the parking garage, we headed to the carts. Barb found a gyro, me noodles, a picnic table in partial shade, and beer. Barb found a German product fresh from the keg and me, Red Zepplin Ale, to drink.

Next, we headed home with Barb stopping at Safeway to get some items. We chatted until 9:30ish, and Barb rested as the jet lag and time difference started to weigh on her. I was up until 10:30ish doing bills and laundry. Susie’s Rx bill was over $500 with the addition of Ensure. While it is doctor-ordered, I still marked the over-the-counter (OTC) expense in my books. While technically, a medical professional has ordered it for medical reasons, the IRS agent that reviews my taxes could disallow it as OTC; if I sue the IRS, I will win as it is medically necessary as determined by an independent professional, but it is not worth the time and risk. The same is true of the gloves I buy every month.

I was in bed a bit early for me, felt good, deciding to write the blog on Friday morning.

Returning to my start of the day, I was up at 6:30AM and enjoyed a pastry and liberal coffee while I read emails, slack channel updates, and news articles. I cleaned up, dressed, boarded Air Volvo, headed to Clubhouse Nike Building off of WHQ, the office, and arrived before my first hours of status meetings.

Work was busy with me setting up my out-of-office, the production fixes, and last-minute fixes for the testing of our next release (yes, the final testing of the next version starts two weeks after installing the current release–the life of software engineers is to be constantly working on the next release), and approving access now that my boss, Brad, is on sabbatical. I also started on my new project and created the design of access–the first step of installing new software after the actual build is to design security and access. It was a busy day.

I then headed to WHQ to have lunch. I got a note that my lunch with Scott was canceled, so I headed to the closest food, the Lebron Building, and got a bagel sandwich. I read my emails as I was about to start lunch and discovered that Scott was wrong and we would meet. I had my bagel wrapped, headed to the Serene Williams building, enjoyed the salad bar, and talked to Scott about software and work items for a working lunch. While there, I got updates from Barb that she had reached PDX without issue.

And that brings us full circle in Thursday’s story. We did get good news, Susie did not lose any more weight in a week. That brings us hope.

Thanks for reading.

 

Again, today will be a short blog. I am tired today.

Going backward, I spent the early evening with Z playing board games and then wandering the park by the church in Beaverton by the fountain. I taught Z a new game today, Furnace, and she loved it. You buy plants by bidding and then running your updated collection of plants. You then transform various resources into cash. The player with the most money wins. Richard taught me the game, and I bought it with my birthday gift card from my sister, Linda, and Jesse (her husband-to-be).

After that, I returned home and started some laundry, and watched the start of season 3 of Max’s Warrior series, which finally got a third season. I reheated some pasta and sausage I made yesterday. I needed some food to have with my meds. It was hard to get back to the blog tonight.

Moving back in the day to work, at 3PM, we had a party with finger foods, beer, and wine to celebrate our successful installation last weekend. The two presidents that run much of Nike came to talk about it and other leaders of IT. It was, despite my complaints about testing, an excellent go-live.

Before this, I headed out after a pulled-pork lunch from the trucks (free for us) to see Susie 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 awake in her recliner in the shared living room and waiting for me. I remembered this time to bring the flowers. Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, said the flowers in Susie’s room were fading, so these would go there; Susie agreed.

Next, after Jennifer popped Susie into her wheelchair, we headed outside; it was a warm day–just starting to get hot. I pushed Susie into the park, and we stopped in the shade at a bench to call Leta, Susie’s mother. Leta was in her car when we called, but she parked in her driveway and talked to us for a while. Everyone is excited that Barb, Susie’s sister, will be here tomorrow.

The park was not too busy. I saw a hummingbird be challenged by a dragonfly; it sort of just stopped in the sky like it was pulled over for speeding, then seemed to spin and say, “Are you crazy,” and then flew away fast from a very confused dragonfly. I am tempted to think that Beaverton’s Finest has moved into dragonflies–but that is silly, but I still like the idea.

A child screamed in a very high pitch, and I saw every dragonfly and large flying bug halt and then fly quickly away at full speed. Strange sights today.

After the call, we completed, at Susie’s request, to finish the park and tour the area. Soon, it was time to leave after I reached the hummingbird house and left Susie with Jennifer after a kiss.

Work was full of status meetings and a few crises of the moment. I was shocked to approve five fixes into production and QA today–I usually just get one or two. So I was asking questions and busy in the status meetings. I also reviewed some designs. One I did sitting at a picnic table in Beaverton Park when waiting for Z and Dondrea. I used my phone to get a network connection to Nike and then updated the design document with my approval and replied to the email. I was busy today.

The morning started in a rush at 6AM, and I had a pastry and a banana with my liberal coffee. I was ready and had no new colon issues made my morning more exciting.

Sorry for the confusing blog, but I am tired and have much to do at home. More laundry and dishes.

Thanks for reading.

 

I have been cleaning the house and other items, so the blog will be short today. I will cover the essential details.

First, Susie had a video meeting with the nutritionist from Legacy at 1:30, and we had a good meeting. Kathy, the nutritionist, will recommend swallowing testing for Susie to ensure that nothing is worse or even better. Next, she thinks using Ensure (with protean, one with each meal plus as a snack) is excellent. She also recommended that Susie’s food be fortified with butter, cream, and oils. Creamy desserts are also a good idea, and maybe a pumpkin pie made with extra cream and cream cheese (or just cheese) will add up fast for Susie. It was a positive meeting, and the goal was to reverse the trend of losing weight by adding more calories to Susie’s food.

I started the day at 6AM with a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) and a banana. I was not rushed and read emails, Slack messages, and news reports to prepare for my day. And then, my colon decided that it would start to work again today and started releasing at a quick rate. I managed to avoid any accidents, but one is constantly amazed by volume! One moment was nearly a clean-up, and I thought I would miss work today, but I had to do the meeting for Susie, so I thought clean, dry thoughts and boarded Air Volvo.

I took my Apple computer and, unknowingly, dropped the earbuds with a mic in the driveway (I found them this evening). After being exposed to coffee, my Apple laptop mic is kaput, so I have to plug in a mic. I arrived a few minutes late for the status meeting as the traffic was light.

I forgot the coffee I meant to carry and Susie’s flowers (still in water on the counter). My colon suddenly had me in the restroom a few times, but there were no accidents, and I felt better by late morning. Work was the usual crisis of the moment, and me approving access for my boss, who is on sabbatical until August. Lunch was free, and trucks again. I had the chicken, olive, and mushroom strew African style. It was good. The chicken was a thigh with bones. Excellent.

As I described, next, I traveled to Susie’s place without issues. I stopped by Target and got a replacement earbuds and mic when I discovered I had lost mine. I got Susie some flowers too. I then headed to Susie 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 in her bed, ready for the meeting. With a bit of trouble, I set up the Apple and found the sound settings, and then it all worked.

After that, I returned to the office for a while. I presented my next project at work, Archiving (boring stuff). I then left after 4 to get some housework done.

I cooked pasta, pasta sauce from a jar, and Italian sausage (cut into cubes–it is better that way) and watched the rest of Good Omens. I also mopped the kitchen and the main bathroom floors. I vacuumed the carpets. I finished washing and drying blankets for Barb. While the house is still dusty and messy, it is better. I will continue to work on it during Barb’s visit. I have yet to make it to GoodWill to eliminate lots of stuff. Soon!

Thanks for reading. I am happy about the ideas on food, and we will see if we can stop weight loss.

 

 

I have been cleaning, buying groceries, cleaning more, doing laundry, and finding things I did not know we had or had seen for some time. I am trying to get the house ready for guests. Mostly, I have had little time or strength for the home. I found Susie’s pill collection from the Europe trip and my carry-on for our NYC trip. We never unpacked in some ways as the pandemic, cancer, and strokes happened one after the other. I am just now feeling strong enough to clean. Until recently, work, visiting Susie, and writing the blog exhausted me. Now I can keep going. There is so much I want to do: Machine Learning in Python, model building, electronics, robots, rockets, painting figures, writing adventures for Role Playing Games (RPG), playing RPG, playing board games, roses, travel, travel writing, horror, movies, and so on. I am feeling better and starting to do more than just make it work. Cleaning will allow me to get to my next items!

The morning, today I am working a required shift in the office, was me up at 6:00AM, finding a bagel, NYC style (thanks, Joyce), and quickly read emails, Slack channel updates, and news updates. I also enjoyed liberal coffee made in my French Press. Soon Barb, Susie’s sister, will be here to share a pot of liberal coffee–Barb arrives on Thursday afternoon staying a week. Next, not rushing, I showered, dressed, got coffee into my thermal cup, and boarded Air Volvo to fly over to the office at 7AM. No traffic, and school out means a brief trip.

My first hours (yes hours) at work are status meetings, and today they seemed endless (until 10AM). I had a comment about work here that I deleted–I can’t put that here.

I left early after reacting to some more crises of the moment and quickly was 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 in her recliner in the shared living napping. Jennifer, the weekday nursing aide, told me that Susie was not interested in eating that morning, and she had to help her eat some of her oatmeal. Susie did drink her Ensure (with protein). Susie woke and was delighted to see me, but I could see she was not awake and never really woke up. We did call Leta, Susie’s mother, from her recliner in the living room. Susie and I agreed to skip the park today; it was an overcast, damp day (no rain, just mist).

Susie managed to stay awake for the call, but she slipped back into dreams when that was over. I stayed with her until noon and then left with a kiss. Susie looked confused that I was going so soon (she had slept through most of my visit) but was reassured with a kiss and a promise to return.

On my way back to the office, I stopped and ate at Jimmy John’s. I had a sub (Spicy East Coast Italian), read emails, and thought about the crises at work. A few moments of peace allow me to clarify computer problems and possible solutions in my mind. I returned to work and had some direct discussions about the issues and fixes. I headed out at 4PM, and the light traffic had me home, the Volvo Cave, soon. I rested for a moment, and at 5ish, I went and bought groceries at Whole Foods and brought those home. There I also got a spicy sandwich for dinner. Next, I put the stuff away and started the laundry. While I ate my sandwich and had some nectarines, I started over Good Omens show on cable TV; the new season started at the end of the month.

After that, I cleaned the toilets, did even more laundry, and swept the floors. I also tried to get more things off the floors. I found more items for Goodwill and memories from our trips.

I found the cookie we received (Cat and I) when we were there for the reopening of The Phantom of the Opera in NYC. I found Susie’s pill bag for our Amsterdam trip that ended on the day that Patient Zero arrived in Europe. These were all good memories.

I tried to organize the bedroom for Barb and to put things away that had just piled up over the last six months.

Finally, I returned to writing this blog. I have some more laundry running. I will not be done when Barb is here, but I will take the time while she helps with Susie to get things better at the house.

Thanks for reading!

Sunday started with me resisting the 7:30AM alarm, and I lollygagged in bed until 8AM. I ordered a locally-made bagel-like product with Nov Lox to allow me to order smear for my NYC bagels. The product was good and delivered to the house. I consumed this with liberal coffee I made in my French Press.

I tried to write the blog for Saturday this morning but kept getting distracted. I kept working on my 500-word horror piece–just one more read-through and a few fixes, I kept telling myself. Time flies. Soon I have to rush.

My Apple panics. The hard drive (2T of expensive fast storage that came with the system back in 2020) seems to be faulting. The Apple TimeCapsle locks up, and it cannot locate the usual backup–time for me to panic! I hard shut down and rebooted the machine. Everything returns to normal (except the internal mic, which is still dead). A replacement Apple with 1T (I have only used 1/2 T) and a new M2 processor cost about $3,000; an upgrade to 14″ and other improvements cost $3,600. The warranty is good until April next year for my still working, I think it is still working, Apple–so I will wait a bit longer.

Finally, I finished a decent recap of Saturday, cleaned up, dressed, and boarded Air Volvo. Traffic was light on Sunday 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 just finishing lunch when I got there before 1PM. I had stopped by McDonald’s to get chicken parts for a quick lunch–I think I needed an antidote for that–never again.

Susie was happy to see me and seemed alert and happy today. She was ready to head out to the park. It was sunny in the high 70s (25C) (the morning clouds burned off). The park was full of kiddie birthday parties and folks playing volleyball and kiddie soccer. Everyone was happy, and burgers and hot dogs were being prepared. A nearly perfect day for this, and the nasty yellow jackets are not out yet, so food is safe, still, outside.

We called Leta on the shady bench near the cedars and redwoods. Leta, Susie’s mother, was happy to hear from us, and we chatted on my iPhone using FaceTime to see each other. Susie was much more present today and reacted to events in the park and Leta on the phone. Susie and I were both comfortable and enjoyed watching the folks for a while.

I moved Susie to the porch and called Barb, Susie’s sister, and we talked about Barb’s upcoming visit. I thought she was coming on the 14th, but she will be in on the 13th afternoon. I will make some minor changes to enable that. Barb will be getting a rental car and staying in the spare room in the house. I took time off, but Nike started another testing cycle simultaneously, so I might be needed.

After Barb rang off, we retired to Susie’s bedroom. Anassa, the weekend nursing aide, got Susie comfy in Susie’s bed. I put on Disney+, and we found Cinderella, the old animated movie, to watch with the singing mice and the Fairy Godmother singing “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo.” Susie was singing along and was feeling better, I think. Next, we played 1970s rock from Alexa (called “Echo” on our account) until 4PM–me nearing falling dead asleep.

I kissed Susie goodbye and headed out. Louis, the evening nurse aide, would check in on Susie and make dinner soon. On the way to Cory’s house, I stopped at McMenamins Oak Hills Brewpub and had my usual before Dungeons and Dragons quick dinner, soup, and an iced tea. Today, it was beef chili. Good. I did edit my 500-word horror story a few times there–almost perfect!

We played Dungeons and Dragons 5E at Cory’s house, where I play a 7th-level Paladin. We are coming to the end of the first storyline, and that means some desperate battles. We had a lot of folks down in the battles–As a paladin, I can heal and deliver lots of damage. I am also in plate armor and hard to hit, which is good in these battles. I was able to block some hits for my character and the elf warrior character that is my comrade-in-arms. Critical hits were flying tonight, and the damage was heavy. Still, it was fun, and we all had the spotlight here and there.

Here is the gaming table. We don’t usually use hexes for Dungeons and Dragons, but the map looks right. The wooden ship I built for us to use as a space jammer–I used transparent masts and sales to make it easier to use on a gaming table. Yes, we turned one of our characters into a giant ape. The pencil represents a ram we added ad hoc to the ship–it is held on with modeling clay.

After that, I returned to the Volvo Cave and wrote this blog. It is late. Thanks for reading.