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There are days when the universe looks over, sees you, and says, “Hold my beer.” Yup, it wanted a piece of me today. So I had a setting out of wack, and my WiFi was a bit slow, but it looked broken. I contacted Ziply Fiber, and the helpful people had me acquire a complex device, a bent paperclip, and push the button of Router Death (reset). Now nothing works as the name of my network is now hex codes, and the password is impossible to remember a collection of letters and numbers (I take a photo of it). So now nothing works. I must reset Alexa, Amazon Fire, and even my printer to use the new hex codes. And WiFi is still slow until I find the setting. I cancel the truck coming to the house. My morning is not very happy.

I have some breakfast cereal and milk with liberal coffee. Next, I read about some issues at work, and next, I get showered, dressed, and ready for the day. Then, I decide to eat lunch of leftovers, pasta in spicy red sauce, and a salad I put together. Finally, I head to see Susie.

The universe is not done with me yet; I have gas. I have lots of gas. It is not gas–I leave it at that. I have to turn around, and everywhere there is slow traffic; I am in a hurry to get back. My face, I am sure, is showing moments of great concentration. I manage to return without spillage. I called the hummingbird house I was not making today and called Leta, too–Susan’s mother. I did spend some time being emptied in multiple rounds.

I did have to lie down for a while after that. I then had chills. And this led me to take a Covid-19 test (I also, at first, had a temperature), but that was negative. And then the temperature went down to normal.

I had one more meeting, it was too important to miss, and it went well. My colleagues mostly handled it, and it was a successful meeting. Wow, something went right today!

I then wanted to order dinner, but I just could not spend that kind of money and made myself a ham and cheese sandwich, finishing the bread. I used the excellent ham from the German Deli in Metzger. After putting in the hex codes, I then watched Andor on Disney+. This is their new dark series set in the Star Wars times between the sets of movies. The episode was unpredictable and well done, and the endings were very well. While dark and bouncing strangely from laughs to tears, I liked this more gritty version of Star Wars–more like I would imagine.

I am still reading The Lost Apothecary while resting and in the restroom for long periods. I am not sure I like the book, as the main character seems to think a lot about her philandering husband, which does not move the story. The writing is plain and without interesting words or fascinating descriptions. You want to be the main character in adventure stories or imagine meeting them and liking them. It is hard to love the main characters in this book. Colorful and/or dramatic language is the de rigueur, and that is missing. But, often, these books take a while to grow–so I am hopeful.

I saw that the universe relented, and my Mister Lincoln rose was about to bloom in the wet that now our weather. It looks great with all the raindrops.

Lastly, I went to Wildwood Taphouse and started to write. I wanted to get out, and my insides seemed to settle down.

Thank you for reading.

 

I awoke at 6:15, knowing that I had failed to do something important; further, I knew it was Monday morning, and I had to get going for work. I just knew it. Of course, it was still dark, overcast Sunday, and I had to write the blog and get to Susie at 10AM so I could get her, like the song, to church on time. I tried to go back to sleep but kept waking up, thinking I had missed something important. I had gone to bed after 1AM, and it was not helping to be back awake at 6ish, irrationally thinking I was missing something important.

So before 7ish, I was up making coffee and preparing a small breakfast of the last of the croissant bread and a banana with liberal coffee. I then dived into writing the blog as I was time-boxed. I needed to be at Susie’s at 10ish. Thus I wrote fast and furious.

I managed to get the writing done only a few minutes over time and jumped in the shower and dressed, and I was out the door by 9:40ish and crossed Beaverton, a slightly faster route than driving over Coopers Mountain. However, I did see three police cars along my path, using Allan to avoid Old Town and its 20 mph sections.

I reached the hummingbird house, and Susie was ready. Unfortunately, I did not have a blanket in the car, and though Susie was warmly dressed, the church was cold today. I find the church is finally warm in the mornings after daylight savings ends (for all the silliest reasons). Next time I will have a blanket for Susie.

I did the lift for Susie into Air Volvo, the front passenger seat. Susie could not help, so I had to struggle just a bit, but she was safe, and we managed to reach the church, me unloading her, with Evan looking on and putting the wheelchair in and out of Air Volvo for me. Evan was off from work for the day–he has an acting job at a haunted house, and apparently, his voice was hoarse from that. Thus, his call center job gave him a sick day.

Next, Evan joined us at First United Methodist Church in Beaverton for Sunday service. Everyone was happy to see Susie make three Sundays in a row. Karen Wilson, the church treasurer, gave the sermon and did an excellent job. She talked about the salt of the earth, how salt can be reclaimed, and that salt penetrates, preserves, and makes things better. Karen said the same is true of the Gospels. She described how salt is understood in various cultures and how it binds some folks together in rituals. It was a nicely done sermon. Pastor Ken, who had to follow Karen, said it was a very thoughtful discussion and liked how she brought the basic ideas together. Bravo Karen.

After church, Susie tried some coffee, but most of it spilled on her sleeves. She was also cold and was getting tired. So after loading her again into Air Volvo without much help from her, I took Susie back to her house in Tigard.

We called Michelle S on the way back to wish her a Happy Birthday. I do not know how old Michelle is; she keeps it a secret from me; I always wish her a Happy Birthday, and she never tells me which one it is. It is a thing.

Michelle is in New York City seeing Cat, her daughter, the daughter that still lives in NYC now on Roosevelt Island. They were headed to the Met via Central Park and had watched Wicked the night before. They had won $30 seats in the lottery held for leftover seats. It is a local NYC thing. Having spent five weeks there when Susie had a stroke, Cat kept me company at many dinners all over NYC. Cat and I went to the reopening of the Phantom of the Opera when I was there.

I got Susie in the wheelchair one more time on Sunday at the hummingbird house and then rolled into Anessa’s care, today’s nursing aide. I left with a kiss and headed to Portland.

I had planned to head to Ebert’s for chicken wings; they have the best I have had. I invited Evan, Kathleen, and Richard (plus Shana) to join me if they wanted. No pressure. I planned to hang out for a while and eat and drink–folks were welcome.

Evan found me first, followed by Kathleen and Richard with Shana. We all got food, and folks who drank got beer. After that, we just chatted and had a good visit. I enjoyed my wings, ordering extra to share. We hung out until 3:30ish, and then the group broke up.

It was nice to see everyone out for food. After that, I headed to Powell’s, bought a new book–The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, and went to the Starbucks across the street after giving up my seat in Powell’s coffee bar when I saw a gal with disabilities needed a chair. So I could sit outside with my hat and sweater.

I wrote the blog there until the sun headed down and, burr, it got cold.

I headed back to the car, but the new Southern American place, Screen Door, beckoned to me. The place recently opened and is popular. It was not as busy Sunday night as the folks were heading home. I got a seat at the bar and a sort of bartender and waiter gal with nice vampire fangs that she was willing to display after I noted them and asked, “do they only appear with the moon or if there were other causes”–quite dead-pan as if asking about the weather. She smiled fully, and I complimented them and got an even bigger fanged smile. Yes, I am in Portland, and my waiter-bartender is more “Interview with a Vampire” (which was set in the Southern US) than Chicken Waffle slinger. I asked for a recommendation, and we settled on the veggie plate of tomatoes and cucumbers (she said the tomatoes were perfect and were what she had). I had that with a cream soda, also flavored with fresh strawberries.

Yes, the vampires recommend vegan meals in Portland. It was smallish but excellent, and I am not a strong tomato person–small is even better. So I read my new book, liked it, drank my cream soda, and ate my veggies with my friendly local vampire checking on me and smiling when I told her it was perfect–a disconcerting sight, I am sure.

Not sure what to do, but pay the check and head home. I managed to pay for the parking and reached home without a genre-appropriate sudden appearance of the local vampire to finish me off in the dark lonely parking garage. I suspect I am being groomed as her Renfield, starting with very fresh veggies. I expect great things!

I was tired and cold. I put on the electric blanket and watched the season-ending episode of House of Dragons–which I thought was predictable and less enjoyable than Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. But I will watch it again and see if I like it better the second time.

Next, still cold and coughing, I rested and read more of my new book.

Thanks for reading. Good Evening (I had to say it).

Going backward, the night ended on early Sunday morning with me arriving in Air Volvo after 1AM from Portland. I took my pills and just collapsed in bed. The drive back was a bit hard when it got to be so late. However, the rains had halted, and there was no rain until Monday, so the roads were easier to drive than I expected.

I had come from Kathleen’s house in Milwaukee as I dropped her off after playing at Richard’s house. We three, Richard, Kathleen, and I, met at 6PM to play board games at Richard’s Portland home. This is my usual Saturday night routine: head to Richard’s and play a few board games. I used to play more often, but with the changes in Susie’s condition, I do not feel safe scheduling more than a few games a week, and with the blog, seeing Susie every day, and working for a living, there is just not enough time to fit in more board game play.

Tonight we went for mad games. We first played my copy of Cthulhu Wars, finally getting it out after years and enjoying the insanely huge pieces and rules that simply are mere guidelines as the game keeps breaking all the rules. Kathleen, naturally pedantic–her own assessment, had to embrace chaos playing the Creeping Chaos. Richard played the Black Goat and started spawning everywhere. I played Cthulu and just wanted to devour and kill everyone. My master gaming friends, for Halloween, had to embrace their inner child to play with the massive pieces and their inner cultist to join in with the theme. And the Creeping Chaos and Black Goat made an alliance and beat the crap out of Cthulu, rightfully so, and managed to win the game. Kathleen scored the highest, but their cultists can argue that for all eternity, both won according to the rules.

Cthulhu Wars is a five-year-old game filled with giant pieces and a crowded map. A player plays a faction and usually (there are exceptions to everything) has a Lovecraftian Great One, including Hastar, Cthulhu, and other of the Mytho’s great hits. Your cultists give your faction power, the currency of the game, and you have a magical gate to summon, now that the stars are right, horrors from the worlds of Lovecraft. Spells books, unique powers, game interrupts, and built-in rule-breaking are features of the game. It plays three to whatever expansion count you bought (going to nine (!) if you bought that add-on). I would not recommend the endless add-ons, and the game is costly (with its ten-inch tall models), but if you can find a cheap copy–it is the only totally themed game I have played that even breaks its own rules for the theme.

Next, staying mad, we played Wonderland Wars. I picked Alice this time. Kathleen was the smiling cat, and Richard was the Mad Hatter. This is a resource management and placement game with a showdown mechanism. You collect resources at the Tea Party and then use them to fight over Wonderland’s various locations. You can call in an endless number of randomly available characters from the stories to help you in the battles. The system is mad as it uses a bag of pulled tokens from your bag of resources–you don’t pick. Richard crushed us, and I lost to Kathleen by a few points. Next time!

There is a new Kickstarter for Wonderland Wars, and for $180, I could get this mad game in all of its deluxe glory. ‘Curiouser and curiouser.’ I enjoy playing it, but so far, I think I will enjoy Richard’s copy. I am not ready to paint more figures.

Here I will break the narrative to cover some items I received today. I received more figures from a Kickstarter: The Arcane Academics figures from Pulp Figures of Canada. These are a set of 1920s-styled 28mm figures with a hint toward movie versions of professors and include a grail setting and a Crowley figure. I also received my plant book for role-playing systems from Exalted Funeral: Hernalist’s Primer. This even comes with a system-neutral role-playing adventure focused on plants. Nice to see some things break through the logistic issues.

Returning to our story, before heading to Portland to go mad playing mad games, I was with Evan playing a less mad board game, except I lost, which is maddening, Scythe at The 649 taphouse in Aloha, Oregon. I played the Scotts, and Evan went for the Norse, and he crushed me. I could not get the production to work efficiently and soon fell behind. Next time.

Scythe is a steampunk 1900s game themed in an alternative history where WW1 never happened, and Tesla (not the cars) discovers an alternative power source that runs a steampunk-like technology revolution. The game is 4x, so everyone is against each other, rushing to build up as fast and efficiently as possible. It is a fav.

At The 649, I had soup and then shared a charcuterie board with Evan. I stayed with one beer as I had to play mad games in the evening–I would have to teach the insanity of Cthulhu Wars, so it was best to limit my drinking to one beer.

Before this, Evan met Susie and me at the Washington Square Mall. It was still damp and threatening to rain, so Susie agreed that the mall would be a better choice for today. I had loaded Susie into Air Volvo. Susie did not stand for me, so I did most of the carrying. It was better when she got out of the car.

Susie seemed to enjoy the different experiences in the mall. She picked out some flowers to take back with her (which we forgot and are still in Air Volvo) and enjoyed some ice cream and a sip of a cider product. I took her to the second floor’s food court and got myself a hot dog and ice cream for Susie. We watch some of Oregon against UCLA American football game in a little beer garden area. Evan found us as we finished up the light snack for Susie.

We toured the mall and enjoyed the sights. I stopped at a cooking store, resisted a new cookbook and supplies for cooking, and turned away from all the naked cookware. So shiny! French, American, or stainless is everywhere. Resist!

Susie was still showing exhaustion from the flu shot, I think. She was reticent but enjoyed the ice cream.

Before this, I started as usual on a Saturday by writing the blog from Friday and having a banana with some croissant loaf and liberal coffee.

I was also contacted by a long-lost relative from the Bell family. Andrew Bell is a distant cousin (using that word loosely) from another line of my family. He was interested if I was his relative–I went to his parent’s wedding (I think), yes, and if I had information on the vaudeville acts of the 1920s. I do. He has some of the stuff too. We agreed to connect more soon. More to come on that.

Thank you for reading.

 

 

I was tired Friday and slept in until 8ish. Friday is a work-from-home day, and I also do laundry in the morning. There is only me, so it is usually one mixed load.

I was amazed that the no-meeting policy for the program had finally started to take hold; I had no meetings!

I finally got to some things at work I had not been able to find some time to learn and do. I had to start using Office.COM instead of using the faulty copy installed on my laptop. This I looked to as a challenge and might be how I remain working.

The air was improved; the rains started as everyone across the Greater Portland area collectively screamed, “Yes!” Winds from the ocean pushed the lousy air away over the day, and the rains became gray and heavy–just like they are supposed to be. It rained about an inch. Usually, and with the current state of climate changes, who knows, once the rain starts, we have rain every day until into summer. We always welcome the gray. Early this year, the rains left early in June.

The air is safe and clear if damp.

Work continued on with some crises of the moment. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, using the fine German-style ham from the German Deli in Metzger, and my usual banana and a scone (store-bought) for breakfast with liberal coffee.

The rain was starting now, moving passed the Oregon Mist stage, and we were in for a soaking. I decided not to try Coopers Mountain in the first rain. I will let the rains wash the oil off the road without me. I saw a half dozen police along the way.

I reached the hummingbird house without incident and saw some imaginative driving from the Beaverton traffic. I managed to avoid any contact. Beaverton driving with all the construction forcing folks into local roads and having to follow sudden lane changes is a bit stressed out. On the other hand, I was in the post-lunch traffic, which is lighter.

Susie and the whole hummingbird house folks were a bit sedate. The flu and Covid-19 shots had everyone running a bit slower, including Jennifer, their nurse aide for today. Susie was sleepy in her recliner.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and Susie, and she chatted for a while on my iPhone using FaceTime. It was raining, and the rain increased its intensity, which meant a pass on the park today. So I stayed for a while just to sit with Susie, and then I left with a kiss and took Air Volvo home.

I crossed Beaverton using Allan to avoid Old Town Beaverton and found even more police patrolling the streets. I reached the Volvo Cave without issue. The rain was getting heavy now, and the last bits under the trees were starting to get wet.

I went outside to look at the roses and take some pictures.

 

The English rose, Wedgwood, is still blooming full out.

The Japanese-style rose is also looking good in the rain.

I continued to work online and tried to work out some issues with the next significant upgrade. Mostly read and tried to understand some documentation online.

I wanted to use up some more food in the freezer. I found some stew beef frozen, and I defrosted that in some water while I worked. I salted and peppered the meat and roasted it for a few hours. I added some wine later, which is not recommended (messy). I boiled the large pasta tube and heated a sauce from a jar. I cut the hot meat into pieces and added the pieces to the sauce. I combined it all, reminding me of ravioli without the meat inside when I stirred it together.

I finished the last of a leftover Ceasar salad and heated some french bread to go with it. I ate that while entering season three of Lucifer on NetFlix. I learned this is the season after the show was canceled and brought back on a different network.

I used the cookware from Gene and Glenda to store the leftovers. I spoke to Gene and Glenda on the phone and wished Gene a happy birthday.

I then rested after having some breathing issues. My allergies were back. I used my inhaler, and I was better in a few minutes. Next, I made a pot of tea and stayed up past 11 writing my new Dungeons and Dragons adventure. Finishing off two encounters and starting on another. The tea helped with breathing and the work.

At about midnight, I went to bed and only woke once to prove how much tea I had drunk.

Thanks for reading.

I knew it would be a crazy day, and I was tempted to just throw in the towel, stay home, and hide under the covers. But I had a few meetings I should attend, and Susie needed me. So I struggled with the bad air, the headache, and coughing and started to rush my morning. Then deciding the air was too awful for me, and I emailed my boss to this effect; I would come to work in the afternoon after the winds had cleared some of the smoke/smog/mist.

The first Zoom meeting was an all-hands meeting with the CEO–he was playing to a small crowd in the new theater in Serina William’s building on campus. The presentations were good, and some had strong emotional content. I listened to most of it. The crowd got a Nike Forward hoodie for coming to the live version.

Next, taking them slowly, I did some status meetings. I also asked the usual questions based on the topic of meetings in the afternoon. I prefer that we have questions answered before the meeting to frame what we need to do–this did not happen.

I was ready towards noon as I had a lunch meeting, but first, I needed to finish a few critical path tasks that did not get done yesterday. I stopped by Safeway nearby and got some Ensure drinks for Susie (Plus versions in strawberry and chocolate flavors). Then, I headed towards lunch by way of Best Buy. The big box store is still impressive, with an insane inventory level. I asked the helpful store person in front for an uninterruptible battery supply (UPS) and got a blank stare. I tried battery backup, and that got a finger pointed at the battery display; finally, I said, ‘ the computer power supply when the power went out,’ and got a good response. The lower shelf, of course, and I lifted a heavy one that is the top UPS they sell at the store, $215 with 1500 VA. Enough power to keep my network up for two hours, including powering my laptop and lamp. I can disconnect stuff and make it run longer if needed (the light, for example).

I saw that the new Barnes and Noble was next door; Dondrea had told me it had re-opened near Best Buy, but I had forgotten. Stepping back into the store, It was like visiting an old friend. I walked through the new store with a wide, and thus Covid-safe, layout. It uses an arena layout with partial walls breaking up the view–an excellent look, I thought.

I stopped by the magazines, which were many, and picked out something on American Archeology. Before the old store closed, the magazines were reduced as various publishing companies went under during the pandemic. I noticed some old friends are still missing (Wargames Illustrated still has to be ordered on eBay), but others are there. I will be back to write on my laptop with headphones again. I miss working at bookstores with desks.

Next, I traveled a few miles to lunch. Lunch was with a friend on work items. We discussed some future items. I am less pessimistic about the future and might even see some interesting opportunities at the shoe company.

Next, I returned to the office and attended a meeting that was packed into a tiny space. Everyone was talking over each other, but we got a general plan worked out. I then had to head out to the hummingbird house. I was there late, but the pharmacist was late to give the Covid boosters and flu shots. Susie was signed up for both (all covered by insurance). I brought in her passport and vaccination cards (Covid and the old yellow style we used before the pandemic–yes, people used to carry a vaccine card and have required shots to go to places, including inside the USA). We will place the documents in the hummingbird house as I like keeping the passport near the vax info.

We waited, but the pharmacist played connect the school buses, and I had a 3:30 meeting I needed to prepare for. So I kissed Susie goodbye, moved my car as the pharmacists had just arrived, and parked at the park nearby.

In the car sitting in the park, I met on Zoom on another issue at the shoe company. My friends were sorry I was not at Clubhouse as they came up to see me for the meetings–next time! We worked out the details, and soon, that meeting was in the books.

I drove the Gadget/Junk store off Cornelius Pass Road and got a power code. I did not get one with the laptop power supply I bought for a spare personal-use Windows machine. It was $3 for two used ones. Check, another thing done.

Air Volvo is nearly out of gas. I managed to outlast the tick-up and am back down to $5.39 again. More than most pay in the USA, but we do not have a sales tax, so that is the final price. Also, instead of having a national cost of gas at the wholesale level, the oil companies price in regions, and thus the west coast pays more to the oil companies than the midwest–that is, as they say, just messed up.

Another task on the critical path is done; check.

I stopped by the old Kinkos (now Fed Ex) and used their copiers to copy legal papers that my mother-in-law gave me in 2001. These are important to her, and I have an original copy (Susie’s copy), so I made copies. Next, I stopped by Aloha Post Office and mailed the papers to Michigan. Check!

I was tired, but the air cleared, and the sore throat and breathing issues faded. Finally, I made it home with sunny skies.

I did the chores of putting out the garbage, recycling, and making dinner. I cooked the second smoked porkchop and had that with leftover caesar salad and red cabbage salad. I watched some episodes of Lucifer for some laughs reaching season 3 while eating.

I unboxed the UPS and connected all the network hardware and the office computer items. It needs only to cover 35 Watts and can keep things going for more than two hours–excellent. So now we are adequately protected. It is a lead-acid battery and is good for 3-5 years. A rather old-school solution, but a reasonable price for the coverage, and I can recycle the batteries.

I wrote the blog after that. I am tired, as it has been a crazy couple of days.

Thanks for reading.