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Just reading and relaxing tonight, so started on the blog late, 10ish. There are a few inches of snow now, and more are coming down. It will be 25F (-4C) tonight. The homeless people sleeping on the steps to the church, the side door, were taken to a warming station. I left them one of my emergency blankets from Air Volvo. I did not know what to do, so I left them a thermal and waterproof blanket. I will buy a new one for Air Volvo. I am relieved that they are safe.

It is Ash Wednesday, and snowing and cold. The roads are not plowed, and the salt is slowly melting some snow here and there. So folks are driving at 1/2 speed or slower. I had to pass folks as I did not want to stop suddenly when they panicked. Using all-weather tires that are well cared for, good alignment, and automatic four-wheel drive made it an easy night in Air Volvo. The braking is also computer controlled to prevent a spin-out.

I had dinner, for the first time, with Dondrea and Zophia, Z, on tonight’s snowy night. We had come from the Ash Wednesday service, which managed to fill two tables of folks and was pleasant and traditional without a sermon. We applied ashes to each other’s foreheads under the direction of the Revs. Wayne and Anne Weld-Martin.

Returning to the food, dinner was Mexican and excellent, and the place was busy despite the storm (or maybe because of it). Dondread and I both had Chili Verde Pork. I believe Z tried a Chili Relleno and an enchilada (cheese). I had a beer and then coffee finishing with flan. Z tried fried ice cream shared with Dondrea. It was a fun dinner.

Before this, I stayed at work until the snow started, as I had a 4:30 meeting. The afternoon was quiet, and I was doing some research. I had lunch at Jimmy John’s, a Night Club sandwich–A version of a grinder. It was good, and I listened to an Oregon Public Broadcasting interview at Lincoln Highschool in Portland with writer Patrick Radden Keefe, a reporting and writer at The New Yorker. He writes about true crime and describes how he writes to keep your interest. Often starting a new piece in an unexpected direction and slowly bringing the real story forward to keep the reader interested and focused. It was an interesting interview, and I will try to read more by Mr. Keefe.

Before lunch, I visited Susie, who was back in bed after breakfast. I called her mother, Leta, and Susie, and she chatted for quite some time. Leta is focusing on the pest problems in her house. Next, we called Barb, Susie’s sister, who works for a school and had a Snow Day in Michigan today. She and Susie chatted for a while. Soon, I was out of time and left with a kiss. Susie was visibly sad to see me leave, but no tears today. Always hard.

Before this, I was at work doing hours of Zoom meetings. A few crises of the moment arose. A typical Wednesday for me.

I started at 6 and did all my exercises and stretches.

Sorry, I am getting tired. I will stop there.

The backyard with snow at 10ish.

I should have called Dondrea earlier, she was already making dinner, so I am at BJ’s Brewhouse alone tonight for dinner. I have a beer and ordered Jambalaya already. Today was a trying day as performance issues in another system have the project on hold. We also have four production breaks that are in the process of being fixed and/or investigated, which also distracts us. Rajani has returned to work today, remote from home–I am back to architecting software solutions again. There is chaos in Nike IT, which is in the press, and I will not cover it here. So a chaotic, messy day.

The night was brutal, with breathing issues returning. I was tired and slept at 10ish. I dreamed I was at the bottom of a stony ravine and could not escape. The walls of the canyon are close and yellow and brown sandstone. I cannot see the sky; the light defuses down from above. If I tried to climb out, I could get stuck and not breathe. The area was in danger of collapsing, and I would be buried alive and not breathe, or it is clearly made from water action and could flood. The air is close and poor. Folks were calling down to me, and I would yell back.

I am at an airport in Europe. I want to go home. I am alone. I keep looking, and every time I do, the airport changes, and the desks and entrances move behind security gates. I keep trying to use my ticket to get to the following process. They seem endless and keep resetting to being further every time I blink. I am with the rental car now, starting over. Just arriving now, I am trying to find the door to the airport.

I woke up at 11ish and took my inhaler, could fall back to sleep and had no more nightmares. These dreams are harsh and occasionally happen when I sleep with asthma issues. I did wake at 3 to prove I was hydrated. I woke refreshed at 6 with my alarm.

I found the new bagels in the kitchen and a banana. I started the ritual of coffee (filling and turning on the electric kettle). Next, I did a short set of exercises and stretches as I did the whole set on Monday. After which, I completed the ritual of liberal coffee using my French Press. While not as great as an NYC bagel, the bagel was still a bagel, and I enjoyed it with cream cheese. Who would expect Hillsboro to produce such goodness!

It is Tuesday, and so it is a work-from-office day. I quickly absorbed all the information from the cornucopia of messages and emails that the shoe company provided this morning (and using the fancy word had nothing to do with improving my score on Grammarly–I really wanted to use it, honestly). I also assimilate all the news from CNN and the New York Times (same note) so that I am enamored (really) to persevere (alright, that was gratuitous). I next take a quick shower, dress, grab my laptop, and board Air Volvo in time to arrive without incident at my office building, Clubhouse.

Two hours clock time of mind-numbing meetings begin on Zoom with me in a small room listening, primarily, to status and making a few comments. The issues are ongoing; thus, the status, defect meetings and planning meetings all spin on the breaks and problems. Our building is empty of our colleagues as there is a planning meeting elsewhere. Just us working on the data conversions are still in the building calling into Zoom meetings.

I head out to see Susie and find lunch nearing 11. I reach her using the highways without incidents or witnessing any imaginative driving. I am careful not to run any pink lights as the traffic is heavy, and cars are caught in intersections, “smile for the camera.”

My sister Linda contacts me; I cannot arrange delivery for Mom Wild in Michigan as I am traveling, and my Apple Computer is home. I don’t like to do personal work on my Nike laptop (see comment about chaos), but I offer to cover the cost; another crisis resolved!

Susie is finishing her breakfast when I get there. I wait while she eats; she is handling the spoon and glasses without help today. She does choke a few times, but not seriously. She finishes everything, including a glass of Ensure. We move to the social activity room at the hummingbird house.

Susie is happy to connect with he mother, Leta. Leta is in her car talking to us, parked at her church. Leta just finished a Bible Study and was happy to chat. Leta has mice issues and possible raccoon issues in her house. She will need to fix the attic and the area between the floors. Time to evict the unwanted pests. We talk for a while, but it is time for me to go. Susie is sad that it is a short visit (she is not counting the time I waited) but understands. Jennifer, the live-in nurse aide, takes over, and I say goodbye with a kiss.

Aside: The Saturday Market returns on March 4, so we will have to plan a morning trip for Susie and maybe a stop at Kells for lunch.

My trip back includes some half-melted snow on highway 217. The rain comes down heavily, and there is some local flooding. Air Volvo’s connection to the road becomes more tentative. But, I arrive intact at Carl’s Jr. and have a Western Burger, a guilty pleasure, and listen to some Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) show on folks poaching muscles at the breach from Haystack Rock–it is a sanctuary, so it is illegal. I also heard a discussion about thinning and controlled burns to protect our Western forests. A very Oregon lunch.

I return to work and have more meetings. At 2ish, I head home as I have some medical items to schedule that I need to get on a calendar at work. I discovered I have a doc appointment on 9March and 11March Colonoscopy (rescheduled from Christmas time due to a bad cough). Susie’s appointment is in 11May (not March), and I am relieved. I scheduled a hearing test in May with new doctors for myself.

I do the last meeting at 4:30 and head here to write and enjoy a Fat Tuesday dinner.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

It is another Monday after working the second weekend in a row. The 7/24 adventure is still going full-on. There was new chaos for IT today that is in the press–I will skip over it here. There were many breaks in the project and production, so I was busy all day and even into the night. I am still getting updates even as I write this here at 7PM at the Wildwood Taphouse!

The morning started with me sleeping into 7ish and resisting getting dressed until sometime after 10. I found a bagel-like bread product, toasted it, and put cream cheese on it. Next, I opened a can of peaches, added 1/2 to a bowl with minimum sauce (peaches in their own juices), and some cottage cheese dressed with pepper, sea salt, and smoked paprika. Liberal coffee was also summoned using a ritual involving a French Press, which was quite diabolical (well, on a Monday, it is). I consumed this breakfast while enjoying two hours of meetings and many excitingly written posts in Slack and email. Unfortunately, a few things were going pear-shaped.

I found a break and did all of my exercises and stretches. Then, I showered and dressed, and boarded Air Volvo. Our tax documents and flowers for Susie were already in the cargo hold. The flight was headed to the west and not east as usual. First, tax documents are being delivered to my new CPA in Hillsboro.

When Susie was in Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center, I would have to drive towards the west every day, so the drive was familiar. Parking in Hillsboro on Monday morning was difficult, and I ended up parking a block from the CPA office. I dropped off the large envelope and answered a few basic questions–excited to get this process going. My last document, eTrade’s consolidated 1099, was available last week. I had to summarize the medical expenses and the donations for the accountants and tax preparers.

I was walking back and saw a sign that said ‘Bagels’ and stopped at a shop and they, there was almost a light glowing from them, had NYC-styled bagels that they make for sale. So I ordered a test one and purchased six more for later.

While the bagel was a bit soft for me, it was boiled in caustic soda and tasted less like bread than a baked product. Close. I shall test more over the week and inform you, dear reader, if their Collective Market products are good bagels.

Aside: Collective Market, 173 NE 3rd Ave, Hillsboro, OR 97124.

I enjoyed the test bagel, definitely a bagel, on the way to Susie’s place. It is about thirty-five minutes or more from Hillsboro to the hummingbird house. It may be the magical properties of the bagel, but I saw no extra-legal use of the roads in Beaverton on Monday. I arrived safe and fed. I should wave bagels at Beaverton more often.

It is a work day, so my visit was short. I did have the flowers, and Susie loved getting them. She was delighted to see me after I woke her in her chair. She looked comfy, so I pulled up her wheelchair next to the recliner in the living room and called her mother on the iPhone.

Susie and Leta, her mother, chatted for a while. I had two issues while traveling, so I needed to return to the house. I also had one more chore today, so I was pressed for time. Susie was sad when I had to leave so soon but kissed me goodbye with no tears today. Good.

I stopped by the cleaners with all the paints I bought in 2021 and finally got them altered to fit. My usual routine with new pants needs; they need to be shortened. I bought more from LL Bean and Lands End. I will buy more dress shirts. Decided to change my dress style to more of my style.

Finally, Air Volvo reaches the Volvo Cave, and I am back online. I slice ham from the second Olympic Provision Ham, which is so good, and make a sandwich with on the side Reser’s Potato Salad and pickles. I watch a few YouTube videos on games and warships before continuing with the shoe company.

The crises and exciting messaging continue all afternoon. The last meeting for me today is at 4:30, and more plans are being made. I had an appointment with production support; even production is breaking, and I am making more plans to fix those issues.

At 5ish, I am finally back to reading and resting a bit. Judge Dee’s stories are a bit weird when words like f**k and references to Shakespeare are made by Tang Empire officials and poetics. I like the book, but its style is freer than I would expect again for Tan Empire times.

I headed to Wildwood Taphouse to write the blog today. I am tired but happy to get some chores done. The tax folks called me, and I emailed them a clarification on my medical breakdown and fixed (oops) an error. They expect me to get a refund of most, if not all, of my paid taxes. I will wait for the check to clear from the IRS before I believe it. But that was the expectation and the plan.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

I am getting tired as this is the second weekend I have supported the data conversions for the shoe company’s test computer systems. I started by sleeping into 7ish and going slow and a bit unsteady. I had coffee and a banana for breakfast and enjoyed the 8:30 status meeting. It being Sunday morning, I had to write the blog for Saturday, and I spent much of the morning writing. I took a few breaks picking up my work table in the office and the big table. I continued to be careful and skipped the stretches and exercises after nearly falling yesterday–I was still sore.

I had some work issues that kept me busy while trying to write. I finally got dressed and then decided to get something more to eat. I chopped up the last of the first Olympic Provision ham (I bought two) and fried that, and then added Egg Beaters and cheese. I ate the scrambled eggs while I caught the last 1/2 of Dondrea’s sermon online. I was not planning to watch it, but I discovered it was running and watched it. It was great.

At closer to noon than 11 is when I boarded Air Volvo and traveled across Beaverton. I dodged a Lexus that decided that Air Volvo was trans-dimensional and they could cross three lanes into my space on a five-lane portion of Hall Boulevard. I saw them coming and changing lanes instead of trying to find the dematerialize TARDIS control. Another car decided to drive in the wrong way, which was easier than appropriately changing lanes and turning left again. Then, the Lexus was cut off by another vehicle that waited in the turning lane and then decided to take the lane that I gave up not seeing the charging Lexus. Oh my! No unfortunate contacts occurred.

Amazed to not be speeding through place and time using the TARDIS controls on Air Volvo, I reached the hummingbird house intact and still in this time stream. Susie was in her chair in the shared living room and we quickly moved to her room and rocking chair to watch a movie with me. We found the old Disney Pinocchio (1940) on Disney+ with Susie’s fav, Jimmy Cricket. This is an RKO production, which surprised me. Susie sang all the songs and stayed awake the whole time. I managed not to nod off.

We then sang along with the short, Lava, released with Inside Out, another Pixar film. It is a fun little song, and I enjoy it each time I play the short movie. I just happened to see it on the Disney+ selection and played it.

We also connected with Barb, Susie’s sister, who used FaceTime to allow us to chat with her, Leta (Susie’s mother), and Emma (Barb’s daughter). It was a nice chat and fun to talk to the folks in Michigan. Emma uses an electric bike instead of a car and said she was still able to use it in Michigan despite the cold and the snow.

Susie had lunch and some care, and I headed out for a short lunch at the nearby Red Robin. Nadile was again a tending bar, and I had an ensalda platter with two chicken breasts and a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, my colon decided to cause me some issues, but I was able to handle that without an accident. I finished a quick lunch and said goodbye to Nadile–we did not have much time to chat.

Aside: Susie cannot be left in her room without putting up the railings, arranging her crash pad, and lowering her bed over it to lock in the pad and reduce the distance of any fall. Something I did before I left and was rechecked (I don’t mind them double-checking me) by Louis or Jennifer.

When I returned, Susie was finishing her chicken noodle soup (blended and thickened to prevent choking), and then Louis, the other live-in nursing aide married to Jennifer, put Susie to bed to rest. I stayed with her in the rocking chair, arranged the room, and did a work call at 4:30.

Susie was resting and sleeping happily as I had just stayed for another thirty minutes. She likes it when I visit, and she falls asleep when I am there and wakes up when I am still there. It feels a bit like home to her.

I headed home at 5:20 with a kiss from Susie, who was still resting. Louis took my suggestion to offer Susie a snack for dinner as she had a late lunch, which usually worked for me. Susie will eat if not given too large of portions to start. I used to cut her grilled cheese sandwiches into quarters–Susie loves grilled anything with cheese. She could easily eat a quarter and often save one quarter for an hour or two later.

On the way home, I stopped and got gas at $3.95 a gallon (up twenty cents from the low), and then stopped at Safeway and picked up some items I missed last weekend. I have garbage bags, cream cheese for my bagel-like locally-made bread products, and a few other things I needed. Also, I bought flowers for Susie–I left them in the cargo bay of Air Volvo so I don’t forget them (it will not be below freezing tonight, so the flowers should be fine).

Work continued with me watching a few more crises of the moment, but it was not my shift, and there was no call for me to help, so I just stayed informed.

I did the dishes and moved a few more things around in the office. My radio, the one I built, stopped working right after I moved it, which is annoying–I fixed it by turning up the volume (a software issue on my volume control and had nothing to do with moving it). I have been listening to it for an hour and it is working well. Excellent.

I had reheated pasta and meatballs (Glenda is smiling somewhere) for dinner. I finished the last of the leftovers.

I rested a bit and read. Qiu Xiaolong is a new American-based author I am reading. He has revived the Judge Dee Tang Empire stories, and his books are originally written in English. I am enjoying the first part of his Shadow of the Empire, The (A Judge Dee Investigation Book 1), and it reminds me, to some degree, of the previous books I have read: the old Robert van Gulik’s version (translated from Dutch) which I recommend and likely acquired cheaply from Thrift stores now. I also ordered Qiu Xiaolong detective stories and more when I got to it.

Well, it is getting late. Time to stop. Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

Going backward and writing this Sunday morning, I was in bed after midnight, having finished a late-night spicy chicken sandwich from Popeye’s, a guilty pleasure. On the drive back from Portland, I ran into construction moving roadblocks, never seen one before, and coasted on 217 for twenty minutes at 10 mph  (16 km) until the Beaverton exit. It appears the construction folks were reopening 217.

I reached the Volvo Cave in Air Volvo in nearly non-existent traffic (usually Saturday night is full of fast-moving racing cars, but I had heard that there finally was a push to eliminate on-street illegal Portland drag races–during the pandemic I have driven by quite a few near the river). It was an easy trip.

Before this, I played board games at Richard’s, my usual Saturday night gaming in Portland. We were three: Richard, Caroline, and me. I taught them how to play the Portland Area-created board game Vindication; Richard had played once before but needed a refresh.

Richard’s copy of the game, which just arrived last week, contained everything, but Richard left out the promotional additions. So we were playing the most basic version–my copy includes all the promotional items. I exclude the Academy location, which we played with for this basic version. So with this fresh copy and all the cards sleeved in nice plastic protectors, I taught the game, and we played a longish three-person game.

Vindication is an excellent resource management and exploration game with the theme that you are a wretched person, thrown overboard for your sins, and found by a helpful companion on the beach. Deciding to vindicate yourself, you choose to improve yourself, fulfill your potential, explore this island, and find new paths to honor. The player with the most honor wins (victory points). There are a lot of rules; as I taught the game, I understood the volume of information I was sharing, information overload! But the game is positive and uses bright colors, and I enjoy doing the mechanics. Everyone liked it.

I won the game by about ten points, even trying to help. I thought I was second, but we split the end-of-game masteries evenly, a surprise to me, and none of the monsters and other end-of-game points from my fellow gamers were enough to overcome my lead. On the other hand, we had very high scores as the game-ending trigger was late, I had one of everything, and that was one of the conditions (Vindication, when I was involved in its early development, had no way to end, and we suggested to Marc–the designer–he consider random conditions and that is what happens now).

Next, we played Wingspan, which I have been playing a lot lately. Richard’s copy includes the Europe and Asia extension and these bring into the game some extraordinary new powers and requirements. And Richard seemed to get every one of them this game. I struggled with a weird mix of bird card options and adjusted and pulled out a second-place score below my best score (Richard using Board Game Geek’s site to track plays by player). Caroline had not played Wingspan for a while and was getting tired. Still, she scored just a few points below me.

All uplifting and pleasant games tonight. Caroline is looking for a group to play Dominant Species, a favorite for Richard a few years ago. So I expect to return to that one, not my favorite, soon. I only started to pass on word games as I am so terrible at them. Everything else I try (Well there is an EV game not on my list as it seems like work to me).

Before this, more Vindication with Evan. At The 649 Taphouse, we grabbed a table, got out the now giant box for Vindication, set it up, and started into the two-person game. My copy, upgraded multiple times and now in the final organization in the vast white box, has all the promotional content added in; I have removed the Academy location and replaced it with a location that gives more Sacred Quests–I think an improvement and provide a chance to use the Sacred Quests cards more. Also, the promotional cards include more cursed and treacherous cards that make taking random cards more risky–I like that.

Evan had some trouble getting organized in this play, I have had that problem before in two-person games, and I won by more than ten points. The random nature of the placing of locations can be tricky in some games. Evan could not get vindicated or increase his movement rate and struggled then. In both games, I pushed using a Monastery and thus moving my Potential to Influence early to stop having sequencing and travel issues later in the game. Luckily in each game on Saturday, I was near a Monastery, so my plans worked.

Before this, we had Mexican food and a beer (which I did not finish). My chicken taco was great, and the food at Tapatio, Mexican Restaurant, seemed to have improved. Recommended.

Before this, I spent part of the morning and the early afternoon with Susie. Susie was sleeping in her chair when I got there, and she decided to stay instead of heading to the mall. We then moved Susie, Anassa doing the moving–the nurse aide for the weekends, to her rocking chair and watched two episodes of Poker Face on the Peacock network. Evan was with us and was first concerned that the episode spent twenty or more minutes without the show’s star, but then it took off. The character representing the detective in the story has lines that are almost quotes from the old detective show Columbo (I laugh when I hear them). The last episode was more aligned with the movies Kill Bill and was a bit dark for the show–a dark comedy. It was good. So an exciting mix for this remake of The Rockford Files and Columbo. Susie stayed awake for the show and seemed sharper and more responsive.

We called Leta, Susie’s mother, from Susie’s room at the hummingbird house. Leta was happy to hear from us; I was a bit late calling as I first watched the shows with Susie. Leta was happy to see Susie on FaceTime and that nothing was wrong.

After the call, I headed out with a kiss from Susie. Susie was not happy to see us go, but she was getting hungry and needed a nap. Anassa took over as we left. Again, Susie seemed to speak with a clear voice today and seemed to be following along. All a surprise and started on St. V day.

Before this, I was working online, getting dressed, and doing all those boring things that I sometimes include in the blog–not today. I am also picking up the house and organizing the messes I created during the pandemic. I tripped and barely caught myself from taking myself out by crashing into my work table in the office! I was perfectly aligned to have my head connected, breaking my neck. As poetic as it would be to have my body discovered buried in a pile of modeling, electronic components, and figure painting supplies, I am happy to have another day. I skipped my exercises after that as my body did not enjoy the prevention process. I will be more careful wearing my slippers.

I woke, as usual, thirty minutes early, fell completely asleep minutes before my alarm, and then was blasted into Saturday morning.

Thanks for reading.