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The morning started with me with a sore throat that did not get worse or better during the day. I was awake at 6-something, proved my hydration (twice!), and checked on the data conversions (all done!). I managed to roll over a few times, but the sore throat kept me awake. So before 7:30 on a Sunday, I was up and reading emails and starting my Monday. I had cereal with milk for breakfast, thinking back to the nausea of the day before, and that cereal would not bother my sore throat. It seems to be an allergy and not a cold, as I am not constantly blowing my nose.

I read about the project in emails and Slack Channels updates, and all data conversions were completed and ramp-up running without incident. We were done early. I was free for the day!

I wrote the Saturday blog and considered doing some work on the radio project, but I decided to rest a bit and read. I found it hard not to fall back to sleep; not helpful. I got dressed and headed out. I stopped by McDonald’s and got Dad’s favorite, two cheeseburgers, plus fries and a Diet Coke (I did not finish the Diet Coke–not sure I should order them anymore). I ate that while Air Volvo took me to the local Ace Hardware (I want to get new hoses and coiling things for them), but I discovered it was not open until noon on Sunday (old school). Monday’s task now.

I reached Susie’s place near noon. It was now overcast and no warmer than 65F (18C), which was quite a change from the previous days. Unfortunately, it is too early in the year for heat lows and high-pressure heating events from the Coastal Mountain Range. This is a thermal process where the air is compressed against the Coastal Mountains by an inflow wind and decompressed over the valley (here). The decompression causes heating (it is how AC works, actually). We will see this in August and get those 110F (43C) days.

I arrived at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116. The traffic was light, and Susie was napping in her recliner in the shared living room. Another resident had a birthday, and more family was visiting. Susie and I decided on John Wick as a movie for today (being too cold for Susie to head into the park today) in her room. The new film, unimaginably called John Wick 4, is not yet available on cable, so we watched it (rented for $3.99).

Susie likes these comic-book-styled violent movies with Mr. Wick wearing an expensive Italian-made bulletproof suit (He holds up his coat to resist bullets–pure fantasy). We both like the series, and Susie enjoyed watching it again. I nodded off a few times but saw the majority of the movie. Susie then asked to be moved from her rocking chair (her butt hurt) to her bed and, like this, curled up and slept while I sat next to her.

(with the roses from Linda Wild sent to me–Susie has them now in her room)

I got my Apple computer and read stuff and managed not to buy anything excellent for board games from Etsy. Susie was dead asleep soon. She slept for about an hour.

Susie woke and, through her broken words, managed to ask to go home with me tonight–she did not know where she was and was worried. I reassured her that she was safe, and she said she felt safe there and was happy to be there. Susie showed signs of confusion, and I did not know if she was awake. It broke my heart as I told her she should stay at the hummingbird house. I explained that she could not walk and care for herself, so she was good here. I pointed out the decorations in the room, and she began to recognize them, and I could see her suddenly feeling relieved. I tried to remember all of the calming techniques for memory-challenged people. Susie calmed down and accepted that she would rest there tonight and that I would be back on Monday. I left with a kiss, and Louis promised to check on her a few times so she was not alone for very long. They will get her up for dinner at the table.

I headed to McMinnimums Oak Hills Pub and had soup, coffee, and some fries for a light dinner. Dungeons and Dragons is at 5:30 tonight. I wrote the blog this afternoon/evening and will finish it late tonight. My throat is sore still, but I think it is not worse, and I was not coughing.

Next, I headed to Cory’s house. We play the Dungeons and Dragons 5E version from 5:30 to 9PM Spell Jamming campaign. We are a low-level group of five 6th-level characters and Matt as DM. We are flying in spaceships that resemble steampunk versions of flying sailing ships to horrors from outer space crossed with Tolkien at his darkest. Our group of adventures is heavy combat focuses (previously, we played a group that was skirmishers and thieves), and we fought and overcame some large bad guys in this play. We also failed almost every social encounter, and that was really funny. So it was a fun night.

Some updates on my roses:

 

Mister Lincoln has bloomed, a hybrid tea from the 1960s and still available.

The Cardinal Richelieu has also bloomed. It is showing less stress. The watering and fertilizer helped. An near impossible-to-find once-blooming rose from the 1840s.

Souvenir du Président Lincoln is also blooming. The first time for multiple blooms, and planted last year. This is a bourbon rose from 1865. You can see a little of the black spot stressing it. It needs more watering.

Well, thank you for reading!

Going backward, I reached the Volvo Cave at 12:30AM from Portland without incident, but it was difficult as I was tired. I had dropped Kathleen at her house at midnight on the far side of Portland and then crossed back and then crossed Beaverton to reach home, the Volvo Cave. The night was hot and dry; folks were passing me at high speeds, and some were having trouble staying in their lane. A mini-van decided to own more than its lane in the tunnel on Highway 26, but I saw it in time and took evasive action. After taking my evening meds, I was soon in bed and asleep.

The shoe company ran a data conversion all night, but it finished early, and I went to bed as it was wrapping up. So I followed along all Saturday. The official word was on Sunday morning that everything was done. Excellent!

Before boarding Air Volvo, we played the board game The Grand Hotel Austria, my copy. I have all the food in excellent 3-D printed models. Thus the strudel, cake, coffee, and wine are neat little models. I have the updated Kickstarter version. It is a rules-heavy resource and worker placement game based on placing guests in your hotel. Sounds simple, but the guests want refreshments before heading to their rooms. The room has to be prepared. The empire also wants you to support them too. All of this, and then you may hire staff to help. The game takes a play to get the basics clear, and competing elements make it a brain burner. Kathleen would take some time to find the perfect move. Richard won, but Claudia and Kathleen nearly caught him. I was lapped as I struggled to escape a mistake I had made. The game can punish you if you make a mistake. I still like it.

We also played an out-of-print card game called Zero. It has a simple set of rules, but no new cards are acquired after the start. So to get five of one color or five of one number (the cards are six colors and numbered one to eight) is mainly based on the hope that your fellow players will discard what you need. Nevertheless, it played fast and was fun. We played a few hands before and after the mind-bending hotel operations.

In the early evening, Corwin planted the rose bush I received from Dondrea and Z for my birthday. We agreed last week that he could plant it for me at his own time on Saturday. So I am happy to get that in the ground!

Before this, I was at the house resting and getting some early dinner, Popeye’s Fried Chicken. I was having issues again with nausea, and food seemed to help. I had left Susie at about 2:30 and went home to rest, eat, and decide if I was well enough to head out. I decided to push through, and I was fine for the games.

I spent the early morning and part of the afternoon with Susie. Just before noon, I found Susie sleeping in her recliner in the shared living room. There was no traffic going there (the traffic back and to Portland was heavy on a sunny day–Oregonians seem to migrate on sunny days). One of the other residents was having a birthday party, so Susie and I headed to Metzger Park to get out of the way.

Susie resides at the hummingbird house in Portland (Tigard) at Allegiance Senior Care LLC, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave. Portland (Tigard), OR 97223; phone (503) 246-4116.

The morning was warm and dry, and the sky was partly sunny, with many white cotton candy clouds covering about 1/3 of the sky. Today’s sky was a lighter blue as the air was full of pollen and other light-defusing particles. The smoke from Canada and Washington State forest fires is not blowing this way (the air quality in Idaho was bad yesterday). The air was fresh.

I saw a few large butterflies on the way in and one by the hummingbird house but found no larger ones in the park. Soon. I took Susie in the opposite direction, started on the road, pushed her to the back of the park, and then went through Metzger Park and back to our start. It was about an hour.

Susie and I watched the people out on Saturday with kids and dogs enjoying the warming, dry day. We called Leta, Susie’s mother, on my iPhone using FaceTime. Leta and Barb, Susie’s sister (also residing in Michigan), planted flowers and tomato plants and weeded Leta’s flower beds. Barb had found planters to place on the new deck’s railing. Leta can sit on her deck and look at her plants. Leta sounded quite pleased, and we got to wave (via FaceTime) to Barb. The roses are blooming in the park now.

My legs are stiff, and it was a bit hard for me (my new workout seems to be pushing a wheelchair in 80F+ (26.7C). We were soon back, and Susie was placed in her rocking chair, and we watched the Disney classic animated Sleeping Beauty with Susie singing all the parts. I was tired, and the nausea revisited me, so I slept through about half of the movie. Susie did not notice. After the film, with the nausea rising, I headed out, and Susie kissed me.

Before this, I was up at 7:30ish and wrote the blog for Friday, had liberal coffee and an NYC bagel with cream cheese, and then read for a bit. The first bout of nausea hit in the early morning. I reheated some leftover pasta to see if that would help. It did not get worse, so I pressed on.

It was quieter but punctuated with nausea Saturday.

I am writing this Saturday morning as I wanted to relax a bit on Friday night. It is another lovely sunny day in Oregon.

The morning started at 7ish, and I can sleep on Fridays as it is a work-from-home day at the shoe company. I used a bagel-like product (I have some in the freezer and grabbed the wrong bag today) for breakfast with cream cheese sprinkled with cappers and liberal coffee. The cappers add a salty pine flavor that enhances the cream cheese taste. Then, I took the food into the office and started two hours of Zoom meetings. The first hour was our weekly staff meetings, where Rajani, our acting director, tries to make sense of the chaos and helps everyone ground on what is essential and what can slide (in multi-national company IT departments, there is unlimited work and not enough people or time to do it all–you have to keep focused on the goals with high priority). This was followed by a few status meetings.

I had a crisis of the moment and spent hours in meetings trying to find a solution and how to apply it. This went on all day, with the last meeting at 5:05PM with me calling in a while driving home. This crisis broke into multiple issues, and each was resolved. A crazy Friday.

As I had a meeting at 12:30PM, I heated up the last of the tamales in the frig from the tamale lady at Wildwood Taphouse for lunch. I ate it while listening to a crisis meeting.

With the crisis likely over (until another one surfaces), I headed outside and rediscovered why one should use gloves when cutting your roses. The English rose, The Herbalist, has hypodermic sharp thorns–I was reminded when I went to add the rose to my cuttings! The old rose pink moss’s (a lovely but once-blooming rose) moss had hardened from the hot days and stuck me a few times. China rose, a very old, continually blooming rose, had politely pointed down thorns. With a small collection (and a bit of pain), I boarded Air Volvo and headed 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.

Jennifer placed Susie in her bed with her head up, and I pulled a chair beside her. I set up my work and personal computer, my 13″ Apple M1 2020–yes, my previous Apple died in the pandemic, and turned on the TV for Susie. We put on Volume 2 of Guardians of the Galaxy, preparing to watch the new movie. Susie watched some of the show but mainly rested, but she often held my hand. Constantly letting go and doing something at work and then retaking her hand.

Somewhere in the early afternoon, we did call Leta, Susie’s mother, from Susie’s room. Leta was surprised we were not outside. Susie, Leta, and I talked for a bit about little things. It is not so much the words but just the ability to see each other (via FaceTime) and talk that is important.

I had one protracted crisis call that Susie heard and even said “Hi” to everyone. After that, I could mostly send updates, reviews, and emails for Friday afternoon. Then, finally, at 4ish, the movie stopped, and Jennifer got Susie ready to head outside to Mezger Park–Susie was a bit confused about a talking raccoon and a tiny talking plant in the movie.

The park was not overheated, and we were past the hot part of the day, so it seemed to be cooling off. There were more kids and many early dinners as the weekend was starting. There is no cooking in the park, and food waste is quickly disposed of in tight-lidded trash containers, so wasps are not an issue and are not a problem in the Spring, usually.

We found an unoccupied bench in the shade and looked for butterflies (I like the French better: papillons), but today I did not even see the flash of color of a wing in the light. I have not seen the big ones at the house either, so I suspect the caterpillars are still working on eating and will appear later as papillons. Susie and I just enjoy sitting and watching the people for a while. As I said, I have one last meeting, so I return Susie to the hummingbird house with Louis, now the nursing aide on duty, and cook for dinner (burgers tonight at the hummingbird house).

I head back to Beaverton and stop at McMenamins Cedar Hill Pub for a Captain Neon burger (bacon and blue cheese) and a Ruby beer. I am tired, and dinner does not sit well with me, and Air Volvo takes me to the Volvo Cave. I read and rest for a bit. I decide this is likely the last chance to see Dungeons and Dragons, the movie, on a large screen. So at 9PM, I was in the living room-like room at AMC Progress Ridge Theater with popcorn and drink (costing more than the ticket) and enjoyed the movie again. I recommend it as a good action film, and if you are a 5E and familiar with the official D&D setting, it is even more fun. Recommended.

I am reading Charles Stross’s newest book on my Kindle, and I like it but was surprised by some borrowing from TV. So I find that I will be reading along, and then the story will go in some strange direction and stop. The weight of the Kindle then falls on me; I am asleep, and when it hits me, I wake. Sometimes I invent a whole page before I wake up!

I get home without issue and take my pills, nearly forgetting, and then go to bed, read and fall asleep, put away the Kindle, and turn off the lights. I slept until sunrise.

Thanks for reading.

It was a good day. I was busy all day. My Physical Therapy (PT) appointment was with Connor at noon, and I agreed with Conor to graduate. I got to bang a gong, and everyone cheered. The shoe company also gave me some support (details cannot be shared), which was great too. Susie was feeling better today, and it was just 80F (26.7C), so our spin through Metzger Park was not exhausting.

Starting from the beginning, I slept part of the night but did get up twice to prove hydration. My alarm woke me from a dream (now forgotten) at 6AM, and then I decided, no, on exercises as I have PT today and slept until a new alarm fired off at 6:30. I managed to rise, remember how to make liberal coffee in my French Press, and made toast to go with it. I then took a pitcher of water to the 2″ redwood tree, watered it, and then watered the stressed roses in the backyard. They are looking better. I also watered the yet-to-be-planted gift rose bush from Dondrea and Z (a gift for my birthday slightly delayed). Corwin is planting the rose for me on Saturday.

As is my usual plan for the morning, I caught up on email, work, and mine, that came in over the night. Then, I reviewed Slack channel updates and news to prepare me to start my day. First, I cleaned up and dressed. Next, Air Volvo discovered a few school buses on my way to work but delivered me before 8AM for my first status meetings.

The project I am part of is installing our software, and I included in my status meetings today the hour meeting on how we will install it. An hour presentation after the status meetings (I did alert my colleagues to some issues assigned to them–some in error) covered that, and we discovered that 7/24 coverage is less required than the previous practice–excellent!

Soon I was leaving for my PT appointment, where we reviewed my progress from being unable to stand safely to now recommendations to start walking and getting outside more. Conor, my PT expert, strongly recommends I put some stretches and exercises on the back burner and instead get out and walk and enjoy the summer. Conor was happy to hear I was already starting this by pushing Susie’s wheelchair for at least a half-hour daily. Suitable for both of us!

Leo, the assistant I first used, covered a few more updates to ensure I was doing some exercises the best way I could and then held the gong for me to hit. It was loud, and folks cheered, as I said.

Afterward, I headed to Bethany Pub and had a quick bowl of cowboy chili and Diet Coke. I read my email and news on my iPhone when I am having lunch, and the bartender knows my order and just asks me about my usual. Good to be known. Then I boarded Air Volvo and traveled without incident or much traffic (a surprise for Thursday) 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.

I had called ahead, and Susie was ready in her wheelchair and excited to see me after I deplaned from Air Volvo. So we headed out, and Susie was happy to see all the folks and dogs in the park. We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and they chatted for a while as we sat by a picnic table in the shade. After they rang off, we took a long spin around the park. I saw flashes of the wings of a large butterfly, and Susie and I tried to find it. Next time. Susie was amused to be chasing butterflies in a wheelchair!

Susie was not melted this time, and I kissed her goodbye, and she was planning to sit in the shared space in the living room. I left as Jennifer was moving her to place Susie in her recliner. I promised to return and hang out on Friday afternoon. I work from Susie’s room some days.

I returned to work and was amazed that The City of Beaverton found some more holes to install on my way back–construction caused traffic delayed me ten minutes. Returning, work was a few more updates to design documents, and then I joined an emergency call. The primary system, not mine, had crashed, and I listened to the technical team diagnose the issue and helped here and there.

Soon it was 4:45, and I headed out. But, first, I shook some hands as we were installing this weekend.

I then drove home, rested for a bit, contacted Dondrea (we are planning to attend Midsummer’s Night’s Dream in Portland, and we are still working on the details), and then headed to BJ’s Brewhouse. There I had a steak to celebrate the good day.

I also received some flowers from my sister as a long distant hug. I will share the hug with Susie on Friday.

Thank you for reading!

My worst loss in the board game Scythe was today; Z (twelve years old) beat me 93 to 29 in the second episode of the Fenris campaign. She hit all of the popularity increases on the encounter cards and spread out, claiming a pile of hexes. Even with me holding the Factory, I still could not break above thirty, ugh! Next time! Z enjoyed the win, and, with no AC in the church, we play board games on Wednesday while Dondrea, her mother, and others rehearse for Sunday. Unfortunately, it was too hot to play another game–we just made it through the first one. Z and I then walked in the park adjoining the church and talked about math, disasters, and theology while we enjoyed the cool breeze of the setting sun in Beaverton.

Before this, I was hanging out with Corwin, he needed a lift to the bank, and then we got some Sushi at Zen Sushi near the Volvo Cave at the Aloha strip mall. We ordered a Philadelphia Roll (too much food for one, so I was happy to get one with Corwin–excellent to match avocado, cream cheese, and salmon). We got some raw items from the track and ordered miso soup and hot tea. Corwin knows the place and ordered an excellent small calamari dish I had not had before. Excellent.

Corwin will plant Z and Dondrea’s gift, a rose, for me on Saturday. I also found some spare good unmatching towels for Corwin (I had meant to get them to him as I have too many) and a leftover ham (I accidentally ordered two hams from Olympic Provisions, and I cannot eat two before they go bad). So Corwin got to collect a bounty of house stuff today.

Before this, I visited 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. Jennifer said Susie had a rough night, calling out a lot in her sleep–I remember those nights, and she was exhausted. However, when I arrived, she was fighting to stay awake in her chair, and she wanted to go to Metzger Park. She can be stubborn. So despite being exhausted, she wanted a spin through the park.

It was at least 90F (32C) in the shade and more in the sun. We found a bench in the shade, not in use, and called Susie’s mother, Leta. Leta was happy to see Susie via FaceTime and was envious of our warm spring; it was cold in Lansing, Michigan. We had a friendly chat.

Susie wanted to spend extra time in the park–she was fighting to not fall asleep in her wheelchair. I did the whole park and stopped a few more times so Susie could get a more extended visit, but soon she admitted it was time to return to the hummingbird house. I told Susie I would be back in the afternoon on Thursday (I have physical therapy on Thursday) and kissed her goodbye. Susie was not going to bed for a nap but back to her recliner to start with folks. I know how that goes; surrounded by people, it is hard to have a nightmare. I used to fall asleep in the living room sitting next to Susie and not be scared when I dreamed.

Before this, I had lunch with Scott and discussed work things at the “Seb” on Nike WHQ. I had driven to WHQ from my office building, Clubhouse, parked in the NYC garage, and walked across the impressive Nike campus (it is hard to describe how beautiful it is–forget Microsoft or Apple–it is the best). Scott gave me the short story on the building; besides working in the biz, Scott is an official tour guide and does executive (C Level) tours. So it is always fun when we have lunch, and he explains the buildings to me. The salad bar was excellent, and we found a table and chatted. We have been working together for years and keep connected by meeting for lunch every week (but usually less as we both get conflicts with the timing).

Before the excellent lunch and walk and Scott’s spiel on the building, I was at Clubhouse approving updates to technical designs (mostly recording bug fixes) and attending status meetings. I started at 6AM and managed twenty minutes of stretches and exercises. I time-box it as I have too many exercises, and I am not supposed to do them all daily. I was at the office before 8AM for the first Zoom meetings.

I slept until my alarm woke me, waking a few times to vivid dreams. I still cannot sleep the night through.

Sorry for the brief blog, but it was a routine and lovely day. No tears. No pain. And pleasant meals and great weather. Thanks for reading.