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Today I started at 6AM and did all my excises except riding the stationary bike first thing this morning. I then read my emails, texts, and Slack messages for home and work. I was rushed as I had to be at work at 8AM. I was doing OK initially, but my Nike work account was locked. I had let the password expire, which can only be reset when directly attached to a Nike network. So I closed my work laptop and finished getting dressed.

I had yogurt and a banana for breakfast with liberal coffee that I then put in a travel cup. I managed to find one school bus on the way in, but the traffic was light, and the buses had not quite flooded the areas, so I made good time.

I cleared all the locks on my Nike laptop in twenty minutes of frustrating logging and re-logging as the password change filtered through the Nike network and my Nike iPhone. It took four tries to get the laptop to get the password changed and usable. I did make my Zoom meetings starting at 8:30.

I wear a mask at work, but usually only in small rooms. I am less worried about Covid-19, but RSV and all those particular colds and flu versions I just don’t need. I wash my hands often. I also remember my physical therapy request to stand up every thirty minutes.

Work was a lot of remembering what we do, what we need to do today, and what is upcoming. There were lots of “Happy New Year,” and folks were happy to see each other. After years of pandemic isolation, it is always good to see people!

I headed to Susie’s place in Portland (Tigard), the hummingbird house. The traffic was light, and I witnessed no imaginative driving. When I arrived, Susie was still eating her breakfast. Jennifer, the live-in nursing aide, said Susie was tired and started later.

Susie was delighted to see me, and I sat at the dining table while she had her breakfast. Susie was able to feed herself today. While her freshly made oatmeal cooled, we called Susie’s mother, Leta, and chatted with her for a bit. I held the phone while they chatted and answered many of Leta’s queries. Susie continued to eat. Leta rang off after a bit, and I had to leave as it was a work day. Susie was a bit distressed that my visit was short, but it is what I can manage on a workday.

Susie’s Orchids from The Smiths (plus Jason).

I returned to work after getting a Carl’s Jr. Western burger, a guilty pleasure and listened to Oregon Public Broadcasting on Air Volvo’s radio while eating. They interviewed the gal in charge of the new paid-leave program in Oregon. Anyone working for a usual employee (not Federal or self-employed) now, starting October, gets paid leave. Having been on paid leave for my cancer treatments and caring for Susie from Nike, I am a supporter of giving this same benefit to everyone. The tax is 1%, and I hope it is enough to help folks.

After listening to the radio and eating my burger, I returned to the shoe company and did some admin work for myself and others. I followed along and tried to get back into the flow of things. I left at 3ish and then logged back in at the house in my office there.

After 5ish, I called Rev. Anne Weld-Martin and checked in–her husband is moving from the hospital to a rehabilitation program at a yet-to-be-determined facility. I offered to meet her a Matzalan for Mexican food at the nearby strip mall. She was delighted with a chance to dine out with a friend.

We met at 6:30ish, with me getting their first and enjoying a large margarita (on the rocks with salt) with chips and salsa. We both ordered a Chili Relleno and an enchilada (mine cheese, and her’s meat). We shared a scoop of ice cream for dessert.

Rev. Anne and I talked about the current political kerfuffle in Washington, the Speaker of the House was not elected on the first vote (that has not happened since 1923). We also chatted about how God is not found in the experience but really in the written word and the spoken word. What makes us human, at least what I believe, is writing and reading–we transmit words into the future by writing them and copying them. Anne reminded me that God was not in the wind or the mountain but in the quiet voice. It was a fun chat.

We had a delightful dinner, and we both headed off to do our tasks, me to write this blog and Anne to get some music ready.

Thanks for reading.

And for those who wonder what is wrong with the USA: Goof Gas.

I tried to start the day a bit early, then rolled over and started at 8ish. I wrote the blog the night before. I spent much of the morning organizing my accounts and papers for November and began on December’s accounts. The new year starts with me using my new tax-efficient processes and preparing to try to reclaim money I paid to the various governments. I am hoping that I can reclaim a few months of payments. This level of organization prevents a fault in an audit or a denial of deductions.

While concluding the paperwork, I heard some banging on the house. My neighbor Mike had negotiated to clean my gutters. I was concerned that he under-evaluated the level of effort, and I increased the payment to twice the amount. I was willing to pay a lot to not have to climb on the roof with a hand shovel and empty the goo that is this year’s end leaves!

I drove to the bank, withdrew some cash, and returned and paid Mike. He cleaned up the mess and removed branches from the Japanese Maple that were touching or over the roof. Mike offered to spray for ants and repair my gate, but I demurred as I wanted him to finish what he promised. Mike is not known for being reliable. But today, he did an impeccable job, and I will ask him to fix the gate.

I left Mike to the gutters. I finished the giant scorpion for Dungeons and Dragons. I had reworked a plastic lobster into a monstrous D&D scorpion. I used modeling clay to complete the forms yesterday. I painted the clay and other areas with primer and let that dry. Next, I painted the whole thing, Chaos Black, from a spray can that is Games Workshop brand. After that was mostly try, I over-sprayed straight down with Desert Yellow from a can from Army Painters. This creates a weak 3D look. Once that dried, I painted Nuln Oil straight from the bottle with a large-ish brush. I will stop there, as the figure is just for gaming use.

Aside: This monster is my own creation and is not found in the current rules, but there was one in the previous versions (4E as vermin).

If I wanted the complete look, I would have to cut the claws and arrange them in a triangle shape closer to a scorpion, but the tail, stinger, and color are enough to get the basic idea.

I did all my exercises except for the bike. These are to unlock my lower back and strengthen my knees. There was no pain after the exercises.

When I opened the door to the garage, a cat jumped. Yes, the same cat got itself trapped for days in the garage. I left the door open for it for a while. I checked, and some things were knocked over (cat panic), and it seemed to have escaped again. This is the second time. This cat likes to slide into the garage when I forget to close the door and rest between the furnace and the water heater. Very comfy. I will have to check when I close the garage door, somehow for cats.

I reached Susie before noon (the traffic was more than I expected, but there were no shenanigans), and she was in her chair. I missed the nurse aide’s name for today, but Susie knew her. She got Susie in her wheelchair while I got Susie’s coat. I then loaded Susie into Air Volvo, and Susie was weaker than I was ready for, and I had to stretch to get Susie in the Air Volvo co-pilot seat. My back and legs would later complain.

We headed to Washington Square Mall, the last shopping day of the season. The mall was busy. We found some colorful socks for Susie at Sox Empire (I did not know there was a sock store)–owls and koala bears. Next, we found a red Bugs and Lola Bunny “Happy Year of the Rabbit” t-shirt for Susie. Lastly, we got a large arrangement of flowers to share at the hummingbird house.

While wandering, we called Leta, Susie’s mother, on the iPhone. She was happy to see us out and about in the mall. It was loud, and we had just a short chat. Next, we headed to the food court and hit up the USA-style food place for ice cream, strawberry for Susie, and an All-American hot dog for me.

I reloaded Susie with our loot into AIr Volvo, someone had just pulled in next to us (growl), and I politely asked them to move to the next slot (it was a huge Lexus SUV), so I would have room to load Susie into Air Volvo. They kindly did as I asked. Susie actually started to fall when I began the lift instead of standing, but I was ready, and we had no opportunities for stunts (or worse). It happened again when I unloaded her at the hummingbird house. We will need to consider some standing exercises for Susie soon. Despite the price, I may also ask for PT for her (It is a new year, and all the co-pays and out-of-pocket minimums reset). Strengthening and safety would be the goals to make transfers safer–use has to have goals to get this covered (even partially) by insurance and to have a doc prescribe it.

Susie was sad that I was headed out (I was a bit tired now) and disappointed that our time together was over at 2:30ish. I left with a kiss, and Susie headed to lunch/snack and likely an afternoon nap. I recrossed Beaverton without incident marveling at the traffic for a holiday.

I reached home, Mike was finishing his work, and I started fixing my radio after having some leftover Pork Vindaloo. I removed the blown-out amplifier I killed a week ago by connecting 9V to the power. I managed to unsolder everything without issue–I am always surprised when my skills come back and happy that the chemo did not damage my dexterity and delicate movements.

I broke out the wood backing for the speakers and drilled holes for the new posts to mount the new amp. It uses screw attachments and a standard plug. This makes the look better with the amp mounted on the same board as the speakers and all the wires attached with screw posts. More importantly, I power the amp from the regulated and cap leveled 3.3V, which will prevent another loss.

Everything works and seems a bit more stable. The strange signals from standing are gone, and the radio plays without issue now. Something with the power or wiring has been corrected by my rework. The volume is not as loud at 5V, but it is plenty loud at 3.3V.

I was also looking at a newly purchased device from Sparkfun in Denver: Qduino. This is a tiny microcontroller with built-in recharging and charge measuring hardware on a mini Arduino format. I have some exciting ideas for these.

Mariah has headed to Beaverton again. Tonight Golden Valley Brewery is open. We met in the bar; I had appetizers and a glass of wine. This is followed by coffee and chocolate cake. Mariah has a sandwich and a few beers. Sadly, the NFL game we were watching was stopped–a player collapsed and is in critical condition. The game is postponed.

I returned home, wrote this blog, and looked at some more of the hardware I just received today from Sparkfun- so much fun, so little time!

I also contacted Cowin, wishing him a happy New Year. We are going to start a new D&D game for him and a few folks–The adventure I wrote was originally his request. He should get a shot at it.

Thanks for reading, and welcome to 2023!

I managed to sleep despite the explosions, but I was not asleep until 2AM again.

Because I could not sleep, I put the stamps I bought in 2022 and were delivered so far into my albums. I also located a Christmas present that was in the wrong place. So I placed the new stamps and checked that they matched the description. It was relaxing to follow old habits.

I went to bed again and managed to sleep this time.

I woke at about 7ish, got up, and logged on to Wageworks. I put in the new bill for Susie for reimbursement using 2023 money collected before taxed through my employer, the shoe company. While most folks spent the first moments of 2023 on something less bureaucratic, likely nursing the partying impacts from the night before, I was getting my first expenses covered according to the planning I did to make 2023 more tax efficient. Thus I would have more money to pay the medical bills. I was excited to execute the plans.

Next, I started writing the blog. I wrote a long blog and was done just before the church meeting. I got a shower, shaved, dressed, and was ready for the New Year Zoom-only worship service. Unfortunately, the process faltered, and I never connected.

I next received a text and call from Mariah–lunch in Beaverton was solicited. We agreed to meet at the Golden Valley Brewery, but it was not open today–we adjusted to BJ’s Brewhouse.

We split a full rack of ribs and had a beer to celebrate 2023. Our waiter was Nick, and he was a bit creepy and showed a lack of skill. Katie, another waiter I know at BJ’s, stopped by and was happy to share New Year’s wishes. The food was good, and Mariah had a good talk.

I headed to Susie’s place, the hummingbird house. There was no traffic with me using 26 to 217, but I did notice many of Beaverton’s Finest were everywhere. I did not touch my phone, watched my speed, and was careful not to have a hot yellow at stoplights.

When I arrived, Susie was delighted to see me. We moved to the social activity room, and I set up the screen for a movie. We watched the movie John Wick 3 with Susie nodding off for a few gunfights. We paused the movie called Leta, Susie’s mother, and caught up with her. Susie was up late with Jennifer getting up for the local New Year, so she was tired. I headed out as Susie was getting a late lunch/snack. Susie gave me a 2023 kiss, and I headed home.

I started on the year-end paperwork yesterday and continued. I closed out the paperwork for November, and I am waiting for the bank transactions to pass into Quicken so I can close the year. I already have end-of-year statements for my investments. I am using physical copies and notebooks as I plan to have a CPA and may face IRS audits–so everything is getting printed out, punched, and put in a notebook arranged by month.

Today I made a year-end copy of my files from my Mac unto my new (and expensive) drive. I discovered that the software library (which includes the backups for Quicken) is not being copied (!?). I did a manual copy of the Quicken file.

I made a salad for dinner. I have plenty of ham to add to the salad. I also have olives, pickled beets, croutons, and shredded cheese. It was close to a chef’s salad. I need to hard-boil some eggs for the next one. After the ribs and beer, a light dinner seemed perfect. I did have a slice of the pumpkin pie I made for Christmas–almost gone.

Next, I worked on my model of a monstrous scorpion for Dungeons and Dragons. I got the epoxy modeling clay and finished sculpting the stinger. I let the clay harden, then prime it in black, over-spray in lighter colors, and then finish with some ink to make it more 3D. I have reworked a plastic lobster you see on the walls of restaurants into a giant scorpion.

I then decided to write the blog as I had my cold symptoms back and could not rest. I am not sure what caused my distress, but I wonder if I am allergic to some tea flavors. I used the same tea when I was ill last time. Hmm.

Thanks for reading. Sorry if it seems just a list of items, but that was mostly what today was. Just stuff. Welcome to 2023!

The morning started with me fighting to get going. I was tired and couldn’t sleep before 2AM. That will suck on Monday night as I am up at 6:15 to travel to the office on Tuesdays. I will try to reverse that soon by getting up at 7ish.

I was a bit rushed in the morning as we had an all-Hill Family (Susan’s mother, Leta, maiden name is Hill) at 11 to celebrate Gene and Glenda’s wedding anniversary. With Joyce’s exception, all the kids and East Coast folks were in New Hamshire at Clint’s and Anika’s place.

I wrote the blog and had breakfast of an NYC bagel with a banana and liberal coffee, the Equal Exchange brand. I remembered all the pieces of my Apple and stuff to use the larger screen I keep in the hummingbird house. In light traffic, I crossed Beaverton without an issue. Susie was already done with breakfast (I had called ahead to ensure that Susie would be ready and completed her breakfast) and happy to see me.

We returned to the social activity room, and I got out my iPad, a gift from the big project I am working on–not a company device but actually mine (taxes had to be paid as it is a form of compensation)–so we could use a bigger screen and camera than my iPhone. Soon the call was active, and I set the iPad against my screen, so it showed Susie and me and required no hands.

The family meeting was pleasant and the first in about a year. Before the pandemic, the family would usually meet somewhere, usually in the Eastern Time Zone, and have a party (birthday, anniversary, and so on) and see the local sights. The pandemic has stopped that for years, so this was the best substitute. No Covid-19 surfaced for the travelers to New Hamshire, a relief. Everyone was now a floating bubble on a FaceTime multi-person call.

Susie was happy to see everyone, and the conversation included some planning for the next parties–with the hope that Covid-19 can be avoided. Maybe July and maybe Virginia near Williamsburg. Everyone wished Gene and Glenda a happy anniversary. Various folks in New Hampshire walked in and out of the camera. It was a good time. We all thought we should do this more often. I will try to remember to set it up.

Once the call was over, Anassa (the nurse aide for the weekends) put Susie in her recliner, and we watched John Wick 2 in the social activity room. Lots of shooting and chase scenes. Susie stayed awake for the whole film–there was a lot of action.

Next, Susie had her usual late lunch. I headed out for ninety minutes to get lunch for myself. The gals that are residents there asked me to get them coffee; apparently, I have been there enough to be considered staff. I did not know the routine for coffee, so I demurred but did learn what to do next time. I don’t mind helping with coffee.

I returned after enjoying a Spicy East Coast Italian sub at Jimmy Johns. I eat it in the car and listen to stories on Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). This story was about the attempt to widen the appeal of the Mummer Parade in Philadelphia by removing racist and anti-gay material from the parade. Unfortunately, the report on the radio told the failure of the attempt. I did not know the story of the parade or the racist and anti-gay content, and the tale disappointed and saddened me.

I stopped by Kitchen Kaboodle (it is in the same strip mall as Jimmy Johns), a fav, and found a smaller whisk I needed while tempted by the 50% off good French cookware, the $250 price (!) after the discount was still too much for me. It is a good deal, but I only cook for myself now, and the French stuff, while tempting, was not something I really needed. So I settled for a whisk ($15).

After resisting so much at the kitchen store, I returned to the hummingbird house, and Susie was in her bed resting. I sat in Susie’s rocking chair, tried to be quiet with my laptop, and even slept for a few moments. Then, at 5ish, I pushed in the crash pad, turned on the light, and we watched a new show.

Susie’s TV is an extension of the cable at the house. Susie has Disney+, HBOMax, and Prime available to her. We put on Prime and found the new Glass Onion murder mystery show. Daniel Craig (of 007 fame) continued his role as a detective in the movie Knives Out. At first, the show was strange and slow-moving, but then it took off and was fun and a bit insane, much like the Hollywood movie. Susie watched from her bed with her all comfy–but she did not sleep as it was a fascinating episode. Edward Norton joined the cast this time, and he and Janelle Monáe, also new, almost eclipsed Daniel Craig. Recommended! 

After that, it was approaching 8ish, and Susie had a dinner of potato and cheese soup, something Susie likes. Susie needed help eating tonight. Anassa said that Susie has trouble feeding herself when she is tired. Her hands just don’t work right–I could see that. Susie finished dinner quickly and decided it was time to head to bed.

We celebrated New Year in Bahama time (8PM local time), and I left with a kiss. Louis met me on the way to my car. I returned to the house, and we had a drink of Wild Turkey and some rum, just a small amount for me, to celebrate the New Year in NYC (9PM local time). We chatted for a while, and I told the story of how rum is made and its crazy history. I also covered how bourbon and whiskey are made and the difference. I worked in the liquor biz in the 1990s, so I learned all of this. Louis thought it interesting, I hope. It is good to know what you are drinking!

I said good night, not staying for another three hours for the local New Year. I was tired, and Susie was worn-out and needed to sleep. The drive home was well covered by police, including three emergency vehicles charging down the street with lights and sirens, bringing in the New Year with some disasters for some endangered folks.

I arrived safely home, found some Pork Vindaloo I made a few days ago and microwaved that into a small snack dinner after putting away the dishes in the dishwasher. I soon went to bed, but sleep did not come. I read a lot in bed, got up, and bid on some stamps (primarily cheap ones missing from my album that I have followed up on) and a few more expensive USA Revenue stamps, with one I have wanted deeply discounted and free shipping. I managed to purchase another one and was shocked at the $10 shipping after I bid (usually price of shipping is one or two dollars and charged only on one order). Feedback for that purchase, once it arrives, will be less than favorable. I checked, and there was no cost warning until after I purchased it–not very friendly (the stamp is a damaged $90 retail-priced stamp and was at my cost limit, 20% retail, for that type of stamp–space filler–before postage; growl).

The locals set off loud fireworks for the New Year.

I finally got tired at 2AM after reading more in bed. I eventually fell asleep.

Thanks for reading.

I did hear from Rev. Anne Weld-Martin, and Wayne, her husband, is still at St. V hospital, room 663.

I was up late as I had trouble sleeping. I am starting to get my nights and days mixed up. Again, I wrote a long blog. This time I included some thoughts and many asides in the blog. I had a bagel, an NYC bagel, plus a banana for breakfast. To this, I added liberal coffee, the Equal Exchange brand. I also wrote a bunch of medical bills–I write medical bills using a physical check in case I have to prove the expenses to the IRS. I plan to write off medical bills for my 2022 taxes, which could attract an audit. I closed the morning with a lunch of ham (there seems to be an infinite supply of ham) and a cup of yogurt with fruit.

I plan on Sunday to file all the papers for 2022 and start on my taxes for 2022. I am hopeful to have a pile of money returned to me. The tax efficiency will be determined by my income, which unfortunately increased considerably by all the stock I sold to cover the unplanned medical expenses. I have thus paid massive withholdings already and will have to exclude a significant amount of my medical spending from the write-off, as 20% of your income is the exclusion now from write-offs. Plus, President Trump’s SALT changes limit, part of his so-called tax cuts, limit my tax write-off for local taxes to $10,000, which means I may still not be able to write off my medical expenses–it will be close.

I have revised withholding and started to borrow money, which I could quickly pay off by selling stock, against my 401K to prevent a repeat of the inefficiencies. I have maxed out my medical reimbursement account at Nike. I have increased my deferred compensation and my 401K payments. I can reduce the 401K number if I find I pulled too much money away. I have reduced my expenses by focusing on repeated costs.

After this tax thinking and paying bills, I head out to see Susie. I stopped by the post office and mailed Cat’s Lamp Black comics for Christmas. Cat will not have to pack this in her luggage. Traffic was not heavy for a Sunday, and I had no issues and saw no extra-legal driving.

Susie was “so happy” to see me (her words), and we moved to the social room to watch a movie. Susie picked the violent John Wick 1 movie (John Wick 4 will be out in early 2023). We got settled in the chairs, and Susie was moved to a recliner by Jennifer (she is the live-in nurse aide). We called Leta, Susie’s mother, before the movie. Leta was home, and we chatted about a few things before ringing off.

The movie is one of our favorites and is a crime-spy kind of movie. It has the assassin hotel, The Continental, in NYC and establishes all the themes that become the movie’s background for the following films in the series. In addition, I read a new spin-off movie with a new assassin, the ballerina, starting to film soon with the same theme and support cast.

Susie stayed awake for most of the film. After that, I found a playlist of old 80s and earlier rock videos and played those for Susie. She sang along for some. More than two hours of sitting is enough, and Susie was looking to lie down for a bit before her dinner at hummingbird house. So I headed out at 4:30ish with a kiss.

I stopped by Beaverton for dinner. I went to the cart lot near city hall and got a waffle sandwich and fries from the fry people. I took my bounty of freshly made cart food to Central Taps and had my feast with a beer. I brought my computer and the solo board game Nemo’s War with me. Unfortunately, the lighting was low, making it impossible to play a game.

I purchased some small kits of laser-cut thin plywood on Esty to make some spelljammer ships (swords and sorcery in space!). I plan to build my own ship, but these small ones were not expensive and would be interesting to assemble.

I was tired and took Air Volvo home. I did the dishes, rested for a bit, and had some trouble with my knees after working on them in physical therapy–stiff and painful now. I slept too long again in the evening, having nodded off reading. I got up and watched the new movie on HBOMax, Black Adam. The Rock is the star, and he tries to do the DC superhero routine, but, as often happens in DC movies, disbelief is never entirely dispelled, and I just saw The Rock trying to be DC. The movie was good for DC, but as usual, it was not as good as a Marvel TV show.

I went to bed just after midnight. However, I could not sleep and was back up at 2AM, took some pain killer to help me sleep, and finally fell asleep.

I am enjoying the book Nameless Serenade (The Commissario Ricciardi Mysteries). The series is recommended. When I could not sleep, I just read more. Each book is long, 408 pages for this one, so the story lasts for days or a week for me.

Thanks for reading.

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