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The day started at 6:15 and, being Wednesday, was a work-from-office day. Rushed morning! I was soon late after having a slice of pastry with a banana combined with French Press liberal coffee. I tried to read my email, text, and Slack messages while reading the news and getting caught before I was late, but not today.

Air Volvo got me to work at 8ish without incident in surprising light traffic. I started my following along and status meetings via Zoom. It was then announced by Jim, our senior director, that Brad, my boss, was celebrating his 30th year at Nike, Inc. today. Emails followed, and Brad was congratulated often.

I slipped out at about 10:30 to see Susie. I hazarded highway 217, often called the Devil’s Bowling Ally, to quickly reach Susie’s place at 9925 SW 82nd, Portland (Tigard), called hummingbird house. I was passed on both sides by speeding trucks and cars. A piece of construction equipment pulled on a trailer by a truck decided it wanted my lane at 60 mph, and I could slow down and not change the structure of Air Volvo by sudden deceleration. I was happy to arrive intact.

Susie was finishing her breakfast as I got there. So I waited for her and got ready to take Susie out to Air Volvo!

Jennifer, the nurse aide for today, helped me do the lift to get Susie into Air Volvo. We managed to be safe and get Susie unhurt and unflustered into the passenger seat of the XC60 Volvo. The leather seats helped Susie to slide into place.

I then took Susie for her first drive in Air Volvo since early November 2021. Next, we drove to the mall and made a small circle. Susie was very attentive. She has tried to understand where she lives now. Now she gets that she is near the Washington Square Mall.

We called Susie’s mother, Leta, and her Aunt Joyce to have them hear Susie in the car. They were thrilled that we had managed to get Susie in the car without issue.

I soon returned, and Jennifer monitored while I got Susie out of the car. No issues, except we changed Susie to place her hand on me instead of trying to reach the wheelchair. No problem. I kissed Susie goodbye and returned to work.

I stopped to get some gas and a burger from Burger King that I ate in the car. Next time I will order a Junior as I need a nap later! Next, I was back to work and continued work on the same crisis of the moment from yesterday. I left about 4ish, logged in from home, and followed along some more.

I made a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner. Wednesday is when Zophia and I play board games at the church during rehearsal and choir practice. I was at the church on time, 6PM, after dropping off some mail for Corwin that is still coming to the house.

Zophia was game, so to speak, to play Scythe again. This steampunk 1900s-themed 4X game ranked as the 16th best on BoardGameGeek’s website. It is not hard to learn but hard to master. Zophia soon recalled how to play but had trouble scoring as the strategy was opaque to her. A few more plays, and she will soon be pushing all over the board. I enjoy winning while I can; she will quickly crush me.

We finished with Azul, a favorite, and we hate-drafted and played cut-throat. Nothing like being crushed by an 11-year-old! One time she stuck me with the maximum number of dropped tiles! We played two games, each winning one.

Notice all the negative points on the pretty blue star tiles Zophia stuck me with!

After the games, choir finished, and I headed home. I stopped by Safeway and got a piece of cheesecake and some flowers for Susie on Thursday. Aws is a checker there from Iraq, and we are friends, and he was happy to see me. He always asked me about Susie, and I showed him a picture of her in Air Volvo. He was glad that Susie was better. He prays for us at the local Mosque.

I got home, started the laundry, and am getting ready for Thursday. The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival’s first events are Thursday night!

Thanks for reading!

Today the pain has receded, and I am not as tired. I worked with Tracy today from PT, and she helped Susie and me get Susie safely into Air Volvo and out twice. Susie can likely travel for a limited time with me. I can get her in and out of the passenger side of Air Volvo. We tried to first put Susie in the back seat, which is lower, but the door does not open as wide, and the space is larger in the front seat, so that is a better fit.

The morning started with me waking, as usual, before my alarm and falling asleep a few minutes before it went off. I am then shocked awake–unpleasant. Remembering it was Tuesday, a work-from-office day, I rushed to breakfast and checked my email, texts, and Slack messages. I had a request there, and I answered it.

I then finished a breakfast of a slice of pastry with a banana and a cup of liberal coffee–Fair Exchange. I then rewrote the entrance text for my website for the blog figuring four years out-of-date was good enough. This kept me from leaving early. I felt like writing for a moment, so I just went with the feeling.

Traffic was much worse around 7:45 than at 7:20, which I usually aim for. At one point, the auto-braking took over with the cute chime, followed by the loud sound of the brakes locking. Nothing paint-scraping happened, and I thought the Volvo was a bit oversensitive (I suspect Air Volvo has another opinion of my driving this morning if queried).

Arrived intact at the shoe company’s Clubhouse building and was soon online and listening to a meeting about issues. I had only an hour of in-person meetings today–so strange to drive in to sit in a conference room by myself and call in.

We had a crisis of the moment that went on all day as we could not move changes into an upgrading system, oops. This was discussed all day and will be addressed more on Wednesday.

I slipped out at 11ish to drive on 217, which was surprisingly not loaded with traffic, and I witnessed no extra-legal driving. I reached Susie’s place and parked the car near the house, using two parking spots to give us plenty of room and options.

Hat and glasses off for safety.

As I described before, we got Susie into Air Volvo with Tracy moving Susie three times and I doing it two tries. It was a workout for all of us. This is also our last chance and, in effect, graduation for Susie. The PT sessions run out this week and the last one, growl, is mostly paperwork later this week. But, we managed our goal, I believe, and I will be able to get Susie loaded up and safe in AIr Volvo now.

After Tracy left, I took Susie for a short spin in the park; it was only 62F (16.67C) this early afternoon. It was overcast, and the clouds were white and low, spilling over the hills and burying the mountains. The sun, not even a bright spot, was missing as the cloud diffused all the sunlight.

Aside: At 3ish, the skies cleared, turning into a cool perfect day.

In the park, one mother was trying to put a child in a small swing, more like a bucket with holes. The kid did not put his legs in the holes but sat in the seat with his legs pointed up. It reminded me of our first attempts to get Susie in the car. I laughed with the mother, who thought it a hoot. After the third time, the laughing mother tried to get the child into the swing seat. the child realized there were holes when a leg fell through the hole and sat. It was fun.

Susie and I, Susie getting cold, quickly called Leta, Susan’s mother, and told her we got Susie into Air Volvo. Leta was happy for us–it has been three months of PT to get here. We finished the call and headed back to the warmer hummingbird house. I left with a kiss.

I returned by way of a sandwich at Jimmy John, not going with a lettuce wrap and having an East Coast Spicy Italian. I ate it in the not as clean as it once was Air Volvo.

I returned to work without incident and continued to work on the crises of the moment. I drove home at 4ish and then was online to 5:30, working on the crises. It will be worked more on Wednesday.

Dinner was cutting up the last slice of the pork roast and adding to a salad. I had leftover chopped salad veggies from the previous salad. It was more of a meat salad, but it was good.

I finished watching the House of Dragons’ newest episode and understood the ending unlike last time; this time, I got it, “Oh, that is better.” Watching this intermixed with the Lord of the Rings has given me an interesting perspective. I think Matt Smith is having a much more fun time being the bad guy than the LOTR actors all trying to fit into Tolkien’s world! But I like LOTR better as it seems to be reaching for something higher than the blood lust for power that is HOD–but Matt Smith is so good it makes up for that. All recommended, just not on the same day!

Thank you for reading. It was a good day!

The pain in my right leg got worse as the day went on. I am tired from the pain. I will try to write the blog with some flair, but it is hard to find joy in writing tonight.

I started the Monday as usual at 6:15 but then luxuriated in bed until 8ish as I had no meetings or issues until later in the morning. Nevertheless, I managed to get a breakfast of a banana and a slice of Brioche cream cheese swirl from Whole Foods bakery. That was matched with Fair Exchange liberal coffee in a French Press.

I made my usual mistake of asking questions at the status meeting, which increased the meeting’s length, and I got no real answers. I try not to ask the questions, but I know I am not the only person wondering the same things. I just cannot sit on the benches and have to get on the game floor–in Nike speak.

I also had a few crises of the moment on the upgrade. However, we did find our way, and I updated the documentation to cover the issues and solutions.

I am also getting ready for the weekend H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. So far, I have not heard if my 500-word microfiction was accepted. Last time it was announced at the last minute. I wrote two stories and hope maybe one will be accepted. Last year I won; we will see how these rushed stories do.

I reheated the wonton soup leftovers for lunch. Then, I watched some videos on YouTube, as is my habit. I like to learn while I am eating.

Next, I drove to the hummingbird house by crossing over Cooper’s Mountain. The mist (or smoke) made the hills look dramatic. Folks were speeding, and that surprised me.

Susie was in her recliner when I got there. Susie’s chair’s motor has failed, so she has to sit, not recline. That should get fixed soon. Jennifer, the nurse aide for today, got Susie in her wheelchair.

Susie with some flowers I picked up yesterday (Sunday) grocery shopping.

The park was much more empty on Monday early afternoon. School is on, and folks are also at work. We managed to get the bench in the cedars, and my leg hurt, so it was about as far as I could go away. The skies were clear and blue. There was no sign of smoke, and the crows were shouting for reasons only they understood.

We called Susie’s mother, Leta, and Susie, and she chatted for a while. Folks waved and said hello. It was an enjoyable visit. But, it was a work day, so I soon had Susie back at the hummingbird house and said goodbye with a kiss.

I made an error returning and did drive through part of Beaverton, but I think I avoided any more issues. I saw some extra-legal driving with lane-changing safety being open to your definition of safe. To recall Douglas Adams, I am unaware of this new definition of safe driving.

“Ah,” said Arthur, “this is obviously some strange usage of the word safe that I wasn’t previously aware of.”

I arrived home with Air Volvo still having all its paint, and the brake pads were not smoking–a safe return. I followed along at work and had another crisis of the moment that was quickly resolved.

I started dinner at about 4:45 by frying a defrosted pork chop from the freezer. I made some couscous to go with it. I cooked in butter almond slices, cinnamon, ground white cardamom, some ground cloves, and raisins. I added the couscous to that and hot boiling water. I made too much and bagged it later, which is also a leftover. I had that with a nectarine.

After dinner, I collected the board game Concordia and the new solo add-on and headed to Central Taps. There I set up and played a game drinking a beer. The game took about ninety minutes to play. The solo play worked well, but I missed the game’s social aspect. Still, it was an excellent application of solo play.

The whole set-up is for one player.

The final board shows yellow just ahead of black. For those who know the game well, I nearly choked when the random card it took was the Weaver Card.

I drove AIr Volvo home and picked up a messy hot fudge sundae at McDonald’s.

Not a bad day. The pain in my leg started from just stiffness to me grabbing for the Advil after walking a short distance carrying Concordia at the end of the day.

Thanks for reading. I will see a doctor if my right leg does not improve soon.

The morning started with me getting going at about 7:30 this Sunday morning. Another perfect fall day here in Oregon with 85F (29.4C) sunny and rain free. I managed to write the blog in just about an hour and was ready in time to drive to church. Dan was ushering and wearing the same guy pride tie I was wearing.

The service features a sermon by our new pastor Rev. Ken Wytsma. But, what got my attention first was the hymn we sang, “Fairest Lord Jesus,” number 189 in the United Methodist Hymnal, translated from German by Joseph A Seiss. Rev. Seiss, a Lutheran in the late 1800s, wrote on the apocalypse and believed that bible study would reveal the modern beginning of the end times. He is among those scholars who influenced the movement now known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I thought I had read about Rev. Seiss before.

Pastor Ken talked about how Jesus was calling people, young people, to him as folks to learn–we are covering the Gospel of Mathew, chapter 4. Pastor Ken pointed out that disciple can mean a learner. We must remember that we can only teach and help folks; we are not responsible for them accepting or learning. We must also remember that Jesus started his ministry almost like the first youth group–Hollywood often has 30+ folks playing the disciples, but most were very young.

I spoke to a few folks after the service. Most wanted me to send their love to Susie.

Next, I got a text from Mariah, and after waiting a bit, we met at Pastini near Powell’s (Mariah was selling back some books for credit) for lunch. I had a not quite hot pasta dish. However, the garlic bread is always hot and great. Mariah ordered a dinner entree and took some of it and the garlic bread for tonight’s dinner.

While waiting for Mariah, I bought the latest Cook’s magazine, which surprised me with the newest way to cook a Turkey–this year, you use a cooking stone under the roasting pan. Each year they have a new idea that is radically different than last year. This year they kept the baking powder rub for the skin recommended now for the last few years.

After lunch, I finally headed to the hummingbird house and was there just around 3PM. Susie was ready for a spin through the park–it was still a perfect day. Metzger Park was full of folks enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon. Again, the air was electric with the feeling of needing to exercise/play before the rains made it miserable in the park.

We called Leta, who was about to make her version of Panera’s poppy seed fruit salad. Apparently, you can buy the dressing and just then need the fruit. Leta and Susie chatted for a while. Soon the bright sun had us warm, so we said goodbye to Leta and headed back after visiting the cooler cedar area.

Next, we set up a movie in the activity room. Susie wanted a musical, and she picked Mama Mia Two. It has some good songs, one amazing dance scene(here is Waterloo), and some songs (here is Cher) that are unexpected and some that make me cry. It is an excellent conclusion to the first movie, so if you liked the first one, I recommend the second one. Susie was surprised as she could not remember the film (we watched it last month), but she had not remembered movies even before the stroke.

We finished the movie, and Susie was just a few minutes late for dinner. Anessa, the nursing aide for today, took over and got Susie ready for dinner. I left with a kiss.

I drove to Whole Foods and bought groceries. I was still in my tie and church shirt! I took four bags into the house and, after returning with Air Volvo to the Volvo Cave, I defrosted some ground beef and made Michigan (non-spicy) tomato-based chili. This was ready about 8:30ish, and I watched the House of Dragons’ newest episode. It was crazy and dark–I liked it.

Finally, I got to writing this blog with a load of clothing in the washer.

The morning started at 7:30, with me getting up after staying up late on Friday. Slow! I found one of the large yogurt containers (they look the same as small ones online, so I bought a lot of yogurt online!) and had that with a croissant and liberal coffee made in a French Press.

Next, I wrote the Friday blog. I usually write Friday and Saturday the following day. The Friday blog and getting dressed took me until about 10:15ish. After that, I headed to Tigard by crossing over Coopers Mountain. Strangely, the traffic on the back roads was worse, and folks were driving fast and furious. I was expecting something from a movie to happen a few times as pickup trucks swerved in and out of traffic, and SUVs (the new mini-van for soccer moms/dads) raced to get a coffee before heading into an all-day soccer festival for the little folks! Beaverton police did not seem interested in them, as pulling over a car full of kids and soccer stuff would be stressful for the officer.

Avoiding a paint loss from charging pickup and SUVs that telegraphed, “We are late,” I managed to reach the hummingbird house. Susie was in her chair, and Michelle, who manages the house, was in today. I had not seen Michelle in a while, and she and I chatted for a few minutes. Michelle put Susie in her wheelchair, and Susie and I headed out into a blue-skied warm morning in Metzger Park.

The park was busy with kids, and a wedding was being set up when we were there. One of the wedding party members drove an older model convertible (Cabrio) black Corvette. The mustache-wearing older driver used a walker to slowly join the party. He would not let mobility stop him from driving his classic American muscle car on a perfect fall Oregon day.

We moved to one of the few open benches as we passed the same guy we often see that has his old dog in a baby carriage. There were a couple of picnics, and the courts were all in use. There was excitement in the air–school was back in session, and it was fall and time to get serious about this exercise/playing before the rains began.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and we had a lovely chat. There were dogs everywhere getting walked (on a leash). Everyone was happy to see us, and we had lots of waves from patients and kids as they walked back while we sat on the bench in the cedars. A joy-filled Metzger Park on Saturday.

We headed back into the hummingbird house and watched the newest episode of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. Susie was surprised that she was not bored and sleeping. This latest episode is more like Fast and Furious does LOTR. It reminded me of the Three Musketeers movie done by the same group that does Resident Evil and the Umbrella Corporation; just a hoot and over the top. You could almost skip the other slow Lord of Maps-styled episodes and move to this episode.

Susie was disappointed; I had to leave a bit early this Saturday. I got a kiss and headed to Portland. But, I needed to get something to eat before I started a six-hour board game. So I stopped by Jimmy John’s for a to-go sandwich, reasoning I could eat it in the near perfectly clean Air Volvo. They had no sub bread, only lettuce wraps, for a sub. I ordered a tuna fish, thinking it would stick to the lettuce, and had it cut into quarters. And it would have worked if I had told them to hold the shredded lettuce that they added (!) to a lettuce wrap, more of salad in a salad than a wrap. I was covered in lettuce while driving in the usual twenty minutes of traffic to get to Richard’s in Portland. I tossed the remains (including an uneaten quarter) when arriving ten minutes early at Richard’s house.

Today was War Room 2nd Edition and a long game. This is a massive six-person game with complex rules. Groups of allies leave to discuss their moves which have to be written and then are switched out for the other allies. This simulation of World War 2 at a strategic level fought across the whole earth. It is available on Kickstarter, and mine arrived this week. It took hours to punch and prepare it!

I played the US and had to handle the Europe and Pacific fronts. My ally Richard was the UK and had four fronts, and he, unlike the US, was weak on every front. We attacked only Germany’s submarines (the Battle of the Atlantic) on the first turn, and Germany attacked Russia. The game started in 1942, so Japan and Germany are at their full expansion. For the WW2 Axis to win (Germany, Italy, and Japan), they must hold two of London, Moscow, and Eastern USA. The allies plus the Soviets need Berlin (Greater Germany) and Japan to win. A very long game, indeed.

We struggled to play as there were constant rules discussions and thus managed only two turns. We misplayed the stress rules and crushed UK (Richard) into economic collapse instead of just being a bit stressed (next time, we will divide a second time). Overall I was impressed that the designer of the old game Axis and Allies had created a faithful WW2 match, which was brutal and full of exciting choices.

I look forward to playing again and maybe getting through four or more turns!

Aside: War Room 2nd Edition will play for a lower player count, and you can decide to play a smaller campaign, such as Europe only. Time flies, and you are through two hours without evening noticing. The same thing I experience with the vast board game Twilight Imperium.

After the game and around 7PM, there was a short debrief discussion. We (Richard and I) had started an invasion of Norway and possibly Greater Germany and wished we could have played just one more turn to find out how that would have played. Japan was also going to attack Russia in the next turn. The US (me) had a large invasion army pointed at Japan. It would have been an exciting turn. Next time!

I left Richard’s and returned for my computer I left, and then headed for Broadway Grill for dinner and maybe some writing. I had a Mr. Toad’s Wild Red Ale to drink and a Twilight Zone pizza. This was followed by a coffee to make driving easier (not falling asleep). The place was busy, and my waiter, Sahara, was hopping. I finally was able to leave; it took me ten minutes to get Sahara’s attention.

I returned home, worked out what was wrong with the stress rules, and went to bed early.

Thanks for reading!