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It is approaching 9PM, the sun is down, and the sky is darkening tonight. It was a cool day with the clouds clearing, meaning a cold, clear sky night. The clear sky will let the heat escape, so it will be very cold tonight, low 50sF (10C to 14C). Wednesday will be warm in the afternoon and start warming up. We will likely be in the 90F (32C) by the end of the week. No chance of frost now here at 210′ altitude.

I started the morning planning exercises at 6AM and managed to get going in a few minutes. No water. The shutdown had been extended, so I went outside in my robe and slippers and found a Water District guy; they had just finished replacing the main and were turning on the water to each house. By 6:30, water was running in the place. I had reserved some water for coffee and drinking, just in case, and was able to have coffee. My plans for morning laundry and exercises were ruined, so I headed to the home office with toast with low-sugar jelly and a cup of yogurt with fruit. I need to complete making breakfast and my exercises by 6:35; I am time-boxed.

I read emails, Slack channel updates, and the news to prepare for my day. I next showered with the shower head making strange noises as it blew air out of the water lines. The hot water in this house uses a conventional natural gas water heater with a huge tank which would not have the air issues. Thus my shower is comfortable.

When I remodeled the bathroom after the water leak while we were in NYC, I did not change to a small electric water heater in the room–the new green design (and in use in Europe). I am not sure I have electrical service for that (220 and a few amps are needed), and I was already into redoing the floor, shower, toilet, sink, and flooring–I decided to stop there. Now, were I to take that up, I would get tax credits for all of the work (currently endangered by the cuts demanded by certain congressional members for a deal on the debt ceiling–yes, congress is thinking about removing tax credits, ugh). Currently, our medical bills are too much, over $8,000 a month, to start remodeling again. Someday. Hopefully, the tax credits for making my house more energy efficient will remain in place so I can make the improvements in the future!

Returning to the story, I took Air Volvo to the office without issue and saw that most local flooding had receded. Work was the usual Zoom meetings, but with most of our work completed, I was a tourist for most of the meetings. I left about 11AM 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 deeply asleep in her room when I got there. I had to shake her to wake her, and she had trouble staying awake. Today she was exhausted. The cold seems gone, but Susie is worn out by it.

We called her mother, and they briefly chatted while Leta was getting her lunch/dinner at Panera Bread. Susie could wake up enough to talk to Leta for a few minutes. Soon, after ringing off, Susie was sleeping while M.A.S.H. played on her TV in her room. I stayed until noon as she likes to sleep with me there–it makes her comfortable not to be alone.

Susie was sad when I woke her again to say goodbye, and she got a kiss (risking the cold), and I left. I headed to Panera Bread and had the Strawberry and chicken salad there while reading the news. President Trump had been found responsible for assault and defamation, and I was reading the details to understand what all this meant. No comments here.

I returned to work and continued to help here and there and do some more Zoom meetings. I was able to answer some design questions and present some options informally. After one more status meeting, the afternoon was over, and I headed home.

The water still works; I checked. Then, I turned on the oven and baked the bratwurst. I had the sausages with the leftover couscous. I found 1/2 a can of peaches also leftovers, put them in a bowl, and had them instead of making a veggie. I missed the charcoal taste from grilling the bratwurst, but I could read and rest while they baked, and they came out perfect after about an hour at 350F. So easy!

I wrote the blog after reading some more. I also did two loads of laundry and did the dishes.

Thanks for reading.

 

I am in Portland after a thunderstorm that flooded areas with the sudden hose down. Highways are covered in sand and stones from the sudden inundation of the storm. It was loud, full of thunder and flashes. Excellent storm. I was at Susie’s for the storm. 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. I had joined her after eating lunch, a cold roast beef and cheddar sandwich with a pickle and potato chips (I love potato chips–I figure heaven is where you can eat potato chips forever). I spent the afternoon in a chair beside Susie with my Nike laptop and my Apple and worked the afternoon keeping her company. I have dinner plans with Mariah here at Von Eberts in Portland’s Pearl District at 6:30, so I stayed with Susie until after 5PM. I then traveled to Portland through the damp.

Susie was happy to see me at 1:30ish when I got there. As my new habit on Mondays and Fridays, I then set up my office in a chair in her room while she rested in her bed. Today, there is no movie, just music from Alexia (we have the music everywhere service); Susie’s has an Alexia (and cable) on the house accounts. Susie can listen to music and watch Hulu, Amazon, Disney+, HBOMAX, Peacock, and a few other cable services from her room. Before I left, I started M.A.S.H. for Susie, set up the crash pad, and kissed her goodbye.

I was online and even did one Zoom meeting with Susie resting next to me. This time I did not have her say hello during the Zoom meeting. Instead, Iread and approved one design document while Susie chatted with her mother, Leta, on FaceTime on my cell phone. Leta was happy to see Susie feeling better. I heard only a few minor coughs.

Susie has bleeding in her right arm again. The huge bruise is back but on the bottom of her lower arm this time, just past the elbow. I took a photo of it and attached it to a message to her doc. It does not appear to be life-threatening; we will monitor it.

Before this, the weather turned sunny with another nonsensical forecast of 59-63F with a current temperature of 69F. It was in the 70sF (21C) when I left for Susie. A thunderstorm, as mentioned above, came through and created local flooding, and knocked the temperatures down. There is no more rain in the forecast except for a thunderstorm next week–summer has come early this year!

Back to the start, Monday is a work-from-home day, so I slept in after 7AM. I dragged myself out of bed, having read too late last night. I am enjoying the brain cookie Raven Stratagem (Machineries of Empire Book 2) on my Kindle. This is space opera, and I like the suggestion of high mathematics changing the universe’s rules. I could not stop reading and even read it while eating my sandwich for lunch.

Once I dragged myself to the kitchen, I made coffee and toast. After taking my pills and reading so late, I had microwave popcorn as a snack and was not hungry. I then started my day with two hours of Zoom meetings. I also did the basic exercises and stretches between meetings. Afterward, I showered, dressed (in a dress shirt), and got ready to face the day. First, I read emails, Slack channel updates, and news reports to keep up with work, my personal stuff, and the world. Next, I downloaded the Quicken updates and got them squared away. I have completed April 2023 and have it in a folder already.

I received an email tonight from the Lampblack RPGzine that they agree I am missing a copy of the RPGzine and will send it to me soon. CM Anderson, the lead for the project, sent me an email apologizing. I am happy to get a spare copy. I plan to box up the game bits; I have two copies (once the zine shows) and will mail one to Cat Smith in NYC.

Thank you for reading!

I was not happy to awaken early to prove hydration but managed to sleep until my alarm at 7:30 which I turned off, and managed to sleep, sort of, until 8:30. I staggered. This morning I was not hung over from too many board games or other excitements, and soon everything started to work again. After stopping in the office to check my email, I head to the kitchen–nothing pressing.

I found a can of corned beef and soon was poaching two eggs, frying up the hash, spooning out some peaches from another can into a small bowl, and toasting some toast. All of this matched with liberal coffee made in my French Press while I sat at my office, read the news, and started on the blog. I made enough hash for some on Monday morning.

Saturday was a busy day, and I felt good about writing, so the blog was extra long, unlike this one. It took me hours to write it, and I have to admit I did some exploring on the Internet a few times while writing and also unmolded the acrylic casting I made for the radio.

On the casting, I had to destroy the clay mold, and sadly the clay pieces allowed leaks meaning I will have to use the Dremel on the casting to clean it up, but it looks fabulous even with the flaws. I think my liquid rubber molding works better but is far messier and slower. Using that process, the rubber captures the tiny details better. But for larger items, this clay works if applied to the original with speed.

By noonish, I was ready for lunch, finished the long blog, and reheated the pasta I made last week. It was still good, and I ate it watching YouTube videos on the exciting findings on the wreck of the Titanic from Ocean Liner Designs. I was soon fed, showered, dressed (in a dress shirt–my new look), and aboard Air Volvo, 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. It was still damp and cloudy, but there was blue in the sky with a unique forecast of 68F current and a high of 63F (?!). Later, I would see a topless gal walking her dog headed to Metzger Park–the rain stopped, and it was a lovely day. Remember, nudity is not illegal in Oregon, only lewd behavior (this goes back to the Old West when the cowboys cleaned up outdoors).

I reached Susie after 1PM nearing 2PM, and spent the afternoon (until 5PM) with her. Her coughing has stopped, and we are all hopeful she is better. She looked and sounded better. I put on Will Smith’s version of Aladin, I like the music, and we watched that for the afternoon. We paused to call Leta, Susie’s mom, and talked to Leta while she sat on her new deck attached to the back of her home. It was hot and sunny in Michigan. Leta enjoyed relaxing outdoors and seemed to love her new outdoor space. We talked for a while, there being no reason to hurry. Finally, we rang off and started the show again. I got Susie to sing along to a few songs. While the original one is nice, I like the changes to this one, and the music is better.

After the movie, I put on M.A.S.H., starting with the pilot (which I barely remember)–which was interesting as the start, the familiar song Suicide is Painless and video, and the cast changed after the pilot. I watched it with Susie. It was now after 5PM, and I talked to Louis (he is on duty for the Sunday evening meal). He was getting Susie a snack before dinner–she had skipped lunch (as usual).

Susie nearly cried when it was time for me to leave. She has been alone most of the time this week due to the cold and did not want me to go. Finally, she relented with a promise to return and a kiss.

I find my emotions very close to the surface these days. I cry easily. With Susie getting better, I should feel better.

After leaving, I headed to McMenamins’ Cedar Hills Pub for a burger (Captain Neon Burger–bacon and blue cheese), a beer (Ruby–made with raspberries but not sweet), and a cup of coffee. There I wrote this blog.

Thanks for reading. I will try to get some rest, and Monday should not be a challenge. I may work from Susie’s room in the afternoon to keep her company. It appears that the rains are stopping early this year on Tuesday. We may have a week or more of the sun with temperatures increasing to over 90F (32C). I might have to take off some time, leaving my clothing on, and take Susie to the park more often!

 

 

Saturday, I spent most of the day playing board games. The games require me to forget everything and focus on the mechanics, positions, and status that make board games work. It is not the rules or the need to win in what is a created contest, but the execution of fascinating procedures and the immersive nature of the difficult games. While I neither own nor know most board games that I play at other folks’ homes, there are some I know well enough (and own a copy) to plan play two or more turns ahead, and thus I enjoy them more. Now monster-complex and crazy art and graphic games, for example, Weather Machine, is a struggle as the game’s flow is hard to understand, but I still enjoy the strange mechanics. It is a thrill to find that I can play them and not totally fail against my expert gaming opponents (who eat these things up and have a dozen more plays than I have). I scored much better last game by asking for help, following the process rigorously (others were rushing), and reading the more obscure iconography (the game is so complex each player gets a little handbook!). Richard and I talked, and we are not sure we need another Vital Lacerda (designer for Weather Machine and Lisboa) in our collections. Richard calls these brain burners, and he says they take dozen of plays with various numbers of players to learn all the subtle design elements.

Aside: Wargames (some now looking more like board games) simulate a military (historical, fictional, or SciFi) or political situation. Often wargames are just two-player and are immersive and try to get the players to relive the critical decisions of battle and try to recreate or do better than the actual events. I enjoy getting out my tiny battleships and refighting the Battle of the Denmark Straits (Hood vs. Bismark). We are moving away from the inaccurate but playable model of the 1960-80 and now have more exciting games. Solo wargames allow for the recreation of historical events without asking one player to have a disadvantage or strait-jacket rules to force historical alignment. There is good stuff out there!

Starting the narrative, I started the morning at 7ish as I had a status meeting at 8:30 which lasted only a few minutes. Rajani strongly urged me to skip the rest for the weekend, and I aligned with that. While waiting for the meeting, I made breakfast (a banana and a cup of yogurt with fruit) and liberal coffee, Equal Exchange, and ate it while listening for anything for any issues assigned to our team or myself (nope).

While I was in the office, a healthy-looking squirrel calming walked into my best tulips, reached up, bit the flower off the stem, and then daintily picked off the petals from the blossom and consumed them. Then, seeing another flower, the squirrel dropped its current repast and pulled down another one. I banged at the window; I might be willing to feed a squirrel a tulip, but I would not have a gourmet squirrel try each one!

Aside: Today was Naked Gardening Day, and apparently, here it is celebrated (I did not participate), and I knew it best to now stop at a nursery today for squirrel repellent (made from an editable oil, rotten eggs, and cayenne pepper).

After considering squirrel-directed corrective action, I dressed and did some coding on my radio project. I might be able to read the transmission of the song and other information sent by the radio station inside of the music. I also mixed some extra acrylic and poured the tiny amount into the mold that had flowed onto the table instead of staying in the mold. I would say that I have learned much about clay molding and acrylic casting. A small level is needed, and you must mold it into how you plan to pour the new item. The clay hardens in less than ten minutes and is completely done in an hour. That means you need to get the clay into a tiny bit fast and apply it fast. My mold (which I destroyed getting the cast out) has issues, and the Dremel will have to be used in a few places, but still, it looks good (after the other acrylic dried and filled in the missed bits. I have used other materials (liquid rubber and then a heated dry material) for making model parts, which is easier if you want to replace a lost gun on a ship model, but to make clear cool-looking stuff, the acrylic is the way to go. But, if you are going to light it, the glitter will just look like black bits in the acrylic when the lights are on, which surprised me.

Returning to our story, I then packed up 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. It was dry today but grey and overcast, 64F (18C). I cut some flowers for her from the house, including some apparently delicious tulips, so Susie and the folks at hummingbird house could enjoy them. In addition, I included apple blossoms; the historical apple tree (from the original farmstead) is still going (it fell when the soil was so wet the tree roots could not hold up a massive load of apples that year, but we were able to trim it back into a good tree).

Susie was delighted to have more flowers and a visitor, but she was disappointed that I would stay for only a short time. We could not afford me to catch her cold. Mask on the whole time, and no close contact. Like Covid-19 all over again!

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and had a friendly chat. I then found the Kentucky Derby on TV for Susie. Sadly, I headed out as I needed to curtail my exposure to Susie’s cold. She was still coughing.

I headed to Rogue Brewery in Portland. The only event was me looking at a sign “Long Load” and missing that the lane was ending and the semi needed my place. I quickly accelerated and got out of the way. I am sure the trucker thought Air Volvo was flown by an idiot. I was fascinated by the three loads connected; oops. The area was busy, but I found parking off SE 9th Street. I was expecting nudity, but instead, folks were dressed in flashy formal wear for a Kentucky Derby party.

Evan arrived a bit later, I had my first beer just after noon, and the place was busy but not packed. I found our usual inside table (I wiped raindrops from the box of my copy of the board game Concordia) and ate a recommended special grilled cheese (it was ok) while Evan started setting up Concordia. We spill into two tables to play, which does not bother folks there.

Soon we were heads-down on Concordia, the staff at Rogue were happy to welcome regulars playing games, with me wanting to not repeat the crushing I had from Evan’s last play. The setup for cities and, to some degree, cards are random, so this invites some strange initial conditions. However, this board looked like the usual random setup (nothing extreme), and we were playing the usual board–no special rules other than including Forum.

The game went its usual seesawing of buying cards and building trade posts in cities, with Evan heading in one direction and myself headed in another. I acquired the metal and food cards, with Evan getting the others. I used the cards to build up and get my colonists out, making it easier to expand (in the last game, I failed at both tasks). This sent me into a fast build mode and the ability to acquire cards as needed, thus giving me the game by more than ten points (I built all my trading posts and ended the game). Better!

We played the short game (for two players who know the game), Wingspan with the European and Asia add-on that I would recommend,  twice, with me winning both games. It was the usual victory; I just got the bird cards I needed. I have also learned that balance is good, and I build the first row (food) first to two birds as soon as I can and then build the last row (bird cards). I try to find birds that gain food or tucked cards in the first row as you often play that row. I played to match the round goals to at least score and tie or better. Again, more straightforward in a two-person game. Fun.

After that, I paid the bill and headed to Richard’s. Shawn and I played Weather Machine, Ricard was surprised by my request, and I got a lot of help to remember all the mechanics. We found repeatedly we had to redo something because we did not adhere to the game process (all printed on the board in iconography that takes me a while to follow), but we enjoyed the game. Richard won with me, surprisingly ahead of Shawn. I also took the Noble Prize (the first scientist to run the corrective weather machine three times) in the game, a first for me.

We then tried Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (cooperative version). It was late, and we rushed through it. I like this rework of the well-loved original Terraforming Mars board game, and the cooperative version was fascinating. Again, it was late, and I arrived home after 1AM. I crawled into bed after taking my meds and slept in.

In the backyard, we have a new bird, a Western Tanager. The jays are gone, likely forced into higher altitudes by the heat, and I was missing them. When I moved here in 1996, the Scrub Jays were everywhere, but we also had days of 12F, which were long in the past.

Thank you for reading. Sorry, it is so long. I took the whole morning writing.

I am freezing tonight and sneezing. I am sad. I watched a Nova special on Saving the Right Whales, which made me quite sad. I slept for a bit and then woke up with a start.

I decided to write. I noticed the writing, rereading, is a bit staccato today, sorry. My regular writing voice only appears here and there (it almost reads like a PowerPoint Presentation).

My day started, as usual, for Fridays, working from home and sleeping into 7AM. I was up and making liberal coffee soon after, having been awakened by my alarm. I slept to my alarm, suggesting I was tired or ill. It was going to be a tough start, but I had no hint of Susie’s terrible cold (just allergies controlled to some degree by taking prescription Singulair at night).

I did the ninety minutes of Zoom status meetings for our project. We approach the first code drop to production, and the project shows some of the stress of coming to the end of testing and actually going live with the software. I usually find it boring as we are on our third practice. You just have to install this stuff and move to the next code drop.

I spent Friday following along and helping with a few crises of the moment. Fridays are quieter as India is asleep and starting their weekend. So it was a calm Friday.

I skipped my exercises after completing a set on Thursday and my Physical Therapy appointment. My legs were stiff, and my back was sore from all the workouts. Breakfast was coffee, a banana, and a cup of yogurt with fruit. Lunch was reheated goulash I made a few days ago.

I enjoyed a presentation, yet-another Zoom meeting, on the future inventory model for Nike and how that will work after next year. It will start out small, but assuming the design will not need too many tweaks, it should be a real innovation when fully implemented (sorry, no details here). I don’t have many meetings on the core systems as I focus on master data and emitting data to downstream systems. However, it was nice to see my skills and knowledge are still working.

This morning my colon decided to empty. I had enough warning for the first load, but I decided to rest and read for a moment, and I was right. I managed to sequence everything without incident, but it was a rush to the bathroom! Glad I had not decided to board Air Volvo until I was sure my colon was done. I am trying to learn new habits since the surgery to remove the tumor and part of my large colon.

Next, after lunch and watching some YouTube videos, I took Air Volvo 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. It was dry today but grey and overcast, 64F (18C). Again, the trip across Beaverton was without incident or apparent lawbreaking by me.

Susie was awake and feeling better today. She could talk and seemed more awake. Jennifer, the nursing aide for the weekdays, had picked out the movie Speed, and Susie was enjoying it. I put it on pause while we called Leta. Leta was pleased that Susie looked better and was more responsive. Leta was enjoying the warm and sunny weather in Michigan and had sat on her new deck (not quite finished, but usable) in a lawn chair. She had to wear a hat to avoid sunburn–quite a change in the weather in Michigan (snow last week)!

I only stayed for a short time, and Susie was disappointed to have me leave so soon, but we both agreed that until she was better, I should limit my exposure to the cold she has.

I returned to the Volvo cave by way of Salt & Straw Ice Cream in Beaverton. I had coffee and nuts flavor. I would recommend it. The line was not long when I started, but out the door when I got my cone. It took me now time as I had only a few people in front of me. I was surprised folks would stand there and sample all the ice cream, but that is a thing at Salt & Straw. I put on my mask in the line; folks do not keep their distance in lines and are not wearing masks. I am less worried about Covid-19 than the cold and flu being shared of late!

Once at the Volvo Cave, I finished my day with two Zoom meetings for the shoe company. I then made a pork chop for dinner with couscous and steamed corn. I made the chop by frying it in butter and finishing in a hot oven (350F), but this time I put taco spices on it for Cinco De Mayo. It was more like a pork steak than a chop. I split up the remaining chops into individual bags and froze them. I watched the aforementioned Nova episode and cried for the whales while enjoying my repast.

I was also sad for Susie; she has been ill every month. I hope things settle.

The mail contained yet-another bill from my colonoscopy, $114 for lab work after insurance payments. In addition, I have a request for $80 for anesthesia, also after insurance. Just frustrating.

I feel better about it now that I have spent some time writing. Becoming a witness and not a participant when writing the blog is an interesting release. The sadness lifts, and I feel like I have done something by writing these 800+ words.