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The day started with me waking up at 6:30AM with no alarm. I had a meeting at 8AM, so I was rushed with me starting late. I managed to find breakfast and made coffee. I then rushed to take a shower and dress. I was out the door on time.

Air Volvo delivered me before 8AM to the office at the shoe company building, Clubhouse. I managed to get to a desk and then a conference room for the first meetings. I was doing OK with the stairs and moving in the morning.

I got a break in my schedule after 9 and headed to Susie’s place at about 10:15AM. I saw none of Beaverton’s Finest on the roads and reached the Hummingbird House.

Susie resides at:

Allegiance Senior Care
Adult Foster Care Home
9925 SW 82nd. Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97223

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Susie was still working on her breakfast when I got there. She had a good night, and her speech was clearer this time. Susie now feeds herself and picks up her drinks, usually without choking. Oatmeal today with apple sauce.

When we managed to take a break from the food, we then called Susie’s mother, Leta, who was still headed home when I reached her. She called us back once she was home and chatted with Susie using FaceTime. I was still feeling OK, and after Leta rang off, I took Susie for a short tour in her wheelchair outside. We did the porch and then out to the street. It was still cold, so I did not head to the park, Metzger Park, next door.

I ran a bit long, as Susie was sad when I left yesterday, and so we had a forty-minute visit. I then rushed, but not speeding, back to work. I was there only for a few minutes. After that, I had a lunch meeting on some new ideas and work I was thinking about. None I can cover here. It was a productive lunch.

Next, I returned to work. And I soon felt terrible. I managed to walk into a wall. I was not sure if it was lunch, exhaustion, or the Covid-19 shot I had on Monday (likely the cause), and I told Brad I would head home. “Are you OK to drive,” Brad asked? I told him I thought I was OK. I did take the elevator. I made it home without incident, with Air Volvo seeming to know the way without my help. I sent Brad a text that I was OK.

I rested and slept for about two hours. I was still woolly-headed, but I felt better with some rest. Feels like a Covid-19 shot reaction and also suffering from allergies (pollen numbers for grasses are high).

So I decided to make dinner.

I found the frozen precooked salmon from WholeFoods. I microwave it until it is thawed, cover it with local seasoning, and bake it to get it hot. Comes out nice. I made corn, also biscuits, with both being frozen Schwann’s products. So I reduced more frozen food and had a nice healthy meal of salmon. Corwin liked it.

I saw that the furnace controls wanted the filter replaced. So I climbed on a chair and replaced the filter. It takes no time. When I was taking the ash-gray-stained old filter (they start white) to the trash, it is trash, and recycling on Friday, I met the neighbors, Harper and Chris (Chris is Harper’s mother) who live next door, and they asked about Susie and my health. We then toured all the roses at the house. Chris loved the roses and the new ones she could see from the fence between our houses. I am sure they will want to see them when the new roses bloom in about a month (or less if the rains are gone next week).

I then went inside and wrote the blog.

Here are the roses now much more in bloom.

Mister Lincoln has another flower and is likely to bloom all month.

Pink moss has a lovely scent that fills the air. I have the window open next to it. It will bloom all month but only blooms once.

David Austin’s Herbalist, nearly impossible to find now, is a continual blooming rose that hints back to the Rose of Lancaster it is named after, which only blooms once.

The painted rose, an impossible to get rose with call letters are “MACpic”, is repeat blooming and looks like a white rose that has been painted red, like in the Alice in Wonderland story

The day started with me waking on time without my alarm on. I was sure I put it on, but I woke anyway. So off to make coffee and breakfast in the morning, yogurt and peanut butter toast. After that, I read emails for a brief few minutes and then went off to the shower and to get dressed. No time this morning for going slow as the first meeting is at 8:00AM.

Next, Air Volvo made a short trip of it, with some traffic on TV Highway due to a stalled car. Arrived with no incidents, and I soon was in a two-hour demo. After that, I had a short break before another two-hour planning meeting. I will not share any details of either meeting, but I say presentation skills at Nike have slipped. Yikes! I did manage to get a coffee, still free, between the meetings.

After the long meetings, I managed to snag a free lunch–still celebrating our return to the office. I had an excellent Cubano sandwich with thin-sliced baked pork and sliced pickles. Nearly perfect, but I wanted a nap an hour later.

But, before the Cubano made me sleepy, I headed out for my daily trip to see Susie. It is about twenty minutes there. So I get twenty minutes with her. Susie was pleased to see me–I was much later as all my meetings took the whole morning. Jennifer let me know that Susie was worried she would have to leave the Hummingbird House. Susie was worried that the fall disqualified her from staying or there was a time limit. But, she is very happy there, and Jennifer and I told her she lives there now and can stay there. Susie was much relieved.

Susie, as usual, spoke to her mother, Leta, on my iPhone. We then sat and held hands for a bit, and then I was out of time. Susie’s face fell slightly when I told her I had to leave, “so soon?” But, I get only an hour during workdays. I will be back the next day and every day after that. I come every day. I forgot to take a picture as Susie was sad to see me go. It is hard some days.

Back to work, more coffee, and a few crises of the moment to make it more interesting. I was working on understanding some cloud operations this afternoon on Azure. I know Amazon’s cloud and have my own account and servers in the cloud, but I felt I needed to learn more about Azure, Microsoft’s offering for cloud services.

So far, I like Amazon better, but I am sure there is something in the Microsoft cloud, called Azure, that I will like–I will keep digging.

I left after the last status meeting. I returned to the Volvo Cave without incident.

I made a salad for dinner, but Corwin eating cold pizza got me to enjoy one piece of cold pizza too.

I noticed that some of my other roses have finally bloomed. Also, the new climbers have buds on them, so we should see the Wedgwood roses soon! Mister Lincoln is starting on some more huge blooms.

The rugosa rose is a Japanese rose that does not mind salt. It has dark green leaves, pointed blooms with dark hair-like fibers, and plain thorns.

Years ago, Heritage roses sold some lost roses. Literally, the roses lost their names, and so they would sell them cheap as “lost.” This is one of them. It is a beautiful modern rose–likely a floribunda rose of some name:

And the damaged and struggling Cardinal Richelieu put out a flower finally. The dark wine-red reminds you of the Cardinal, the bad guy for the Three Musketeers, His Grand Eminence:

I hope that is enough. It was a sad day for me to leave Susie after a short stay (the sadness stayed with me today), but I hope she is less worried now. Susie asked me to have more people visit her in her new home.

Susie resides at:

Allegiance Senior Care
Adult Foster Care Home
9925 SW 82nd. Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97223

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

You park in front of the residence or at the basketball court parking nearby. Do not use the front door, but walk around to the back door, the entrance to Allegiance Senior Care (follow the signs). Ring the bell. Someone will let you in. Fill out the screening form and ask for Susie.

Lastly, watched the first episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+. I liked it and thought it was a good continuation of the story. No spoilers, but it was good and fit the accounts you already know well, at least so far.

Today I started feeling like I had a hangover from a party I could not remember. So my alarm went off at 6:15, and I moved in five minutes. My first meeting was at 8:30, so I did not have to rush, but I could not go slow. So I read some emails, had breakfast, and then ran to the shower and out the door at 7:40ish. Only to get out of the car and come back in and get my phone. So yes, it is going to be a Tuesday-Monday combo day.

Aside: I corrected the email from yesterday. Hope it was fun to get an anti-drug message from me instead of a link to the blog. It was not my plan nor do I need law advice for drug charges. It was just a mistake. I was looking to reply to a FaceBook post and forgot to redo the copy for the email. Sorry for the mistake!

I am feeling off as I had my Covid-19 cocktail booster (adding Pfizer to Moderna) on Sunday, and it takes two days for me to feel terrible. I had trouble sleeping last night (like before) and found my body not running right on Tuesday morning (like before). Ugh!

Thus Tuesday morning, I had a few meetings that I managed to find a conference room and share with some folks. I headed off to see Susie at 9:45ish as my 9:10 meeting ran short. Air Volvo arrived without incident or raising the crime rates in Beaverton by me touching my phone while driving (for a $265 fine). Susie was up late today as she had fallen last night and then had trouble sleeping (finally sleeping at 2AM). Susie was going slower this morning. Jennifer was caring for her this morning. So she started breakfast, paused, and then we called her mother, Leta, and they chatted for ten minutes.

While they chatted, Jennifer and I went over what plans they are executing after the fall. Susie now has a crash mat next to her bed, and they have lowered her hospital bed when she rests so that if she falls to the mat, it will be a short distance. They are also moving the table away from her at night. This will prevent her from colliding with it in a fall. All good plans.

Susie continued breakfast after finishing her call with her mother. I checked out the crash mat, and it looked perfect. I could only stay twenty minutes on a workday, so I was soon off again with a kiss and back to the shoe company without any events.

I started working on some older stuff I used to do. I was trying to get my mind back to coding and building software. I spent the rest of the day trying out things, fixing old code, and remembering how Amazon cloud servers work. I was proud that my Linux came back to me. My Python was doing OK, but my old code includes items that have been deprecated. I use Python and some of its best libraries for Artificial Intelligence and heavy math routines, but the libraries have made many changes in the past years (Covid-19 did not slow down change)–I have to figure out how to make my code work again. It is hard to keep up!

I stayed through the second status call at work at 4:30. I was exhausted but wanted to be on the first call status with China. It felt good to be back on Zoom calls with 100+ people.

Except for the exhaustion and the getting cold, I felt more like myself today. But, I also took the elevator as I did not trust myself on the stairs. So, I need to be careful!

I ordered a pizza on my phone, not while driving, from Papa Murphy’s. These are take-home and baked pizzas and are a bit cheaper, and they are often better than the delivered cooked pizzas. I also ordered a chicken Ceasar salad to go with it. I picked them up when I got to the strip mall by my house. And arrived home in Air Volvo without incident.

One of my more spectacular Kickstarter items arrived. A new version of a late 1800s art book: Pater. This is a subscription to the new book about Alphonse Mucha‘s work called Pater. I have a few Kickstarters I do just for art, and Art Nouveau is a style, which Macha is known for, that Susie and I both like. Our wedding invitations were in that style. I have two copies and sending another out, soon.

I watched some news; it was depressing, and then I enjoyed pizza and reading. But, that is about it as I am so tired.

To begin with, I got a call as I was going to the new Top Gun movie, Maverick, that Susie had fallen at the Hummingbird House. According to Michelle Nixon, the owner of the facilities, Susie was not seriously injured, and I did not have to come and agreed not to transport Susie to the ER. Apparently, Susie decided to get out of bed on her own and fell. Michelle and the staff at Hummingbird House are closely monitoring Susie for a concussion, but she seems OK.

Moving in sort of a swirl from that, I am suffering from cold sensitivity again. It is not too bad in my hands, but I find 70F to be like 55F with a wind. I am shivering. Likely this is caused by the worry from Susie’s fall and the Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer, that I had yesterday. I am also fatigued now, wearing my sweater and robe and still freezing.

I had just yogurt for dinner as I had a large lunch, and I had almost nonstop flatulence from the Mexican Food. Evan, who came over today to hang out with Susie and me, suffered through Top Gun: Maverick sitting next to me. Oh my!

So before the movie and after seeing Susie, we had drinks and Mexican food at Pepita’s in Beaverton. I had a large beer, a Mexican pizza, and a Chili Relleno that was temperature hot it could have set the table on fire. I was diving for the water.

Next, Evan and I headed to the local tap house, a few blocks away by walking. We grabbed my copy of the board game Architect of the West Kingdom with all the expansions and excellent roll-up map that I kept in the car. We played a relatively fast game for two people, and I won by just a few points this time. I saw the end of the game approaching and then made plays to maximize my end-of-game scoring. Still, I only won by a few points, and this after building a wonder using the new rules.

I found the walk back hard, and I need to be more careful. I am still not very strong.

Before lunch and a board game, we spent more than two hours watching the next Harry Potter film with Susie: Harry Potter and the Wizards’ Cup. Unfortunately, my screen was too dark for a lot of the movie, and we had to switch to just my 13″ screen on my laptop as it was bright enough to see. I remember this being a problem before with this movie. However, the sound was better, and my Bluetooth speaker worked well.

While Evan likes this movie, it is my least favorite. I thought the book was much better at describing the events than the Hollywood version. Also, I remember thinking the special effects were weak, nothing groundbreaking at the time. The film has sections that use dark and dank lighting, but while projecting a menacing feeling, this choice makes the film hard to watch on digital copies.

Evan had come over at 9:30, and from the Volvo Cave, we tool Air Volvo to Susie’s new digs. I was up about 7:30 and did some work on my ballon model this morning and part of last night after finishing the blog.

Susie resides at:

Allegiance Senior Care
Adult Foster Care Home
9925 SW 82nd. Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97223

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Sunday morning started at 7:30 with me getting going as I had a busy day ahead of me, including my fourth shot for Covid. Yes, more bolstering is required for those over 50 and are part of house Moderna. I certainly qualify. Thus, the plan is to go to church, see Susie, watch a Harry Potter movie with Susie, grab a quick lunch, get shot, and get home and relax.

I managed to do two loads of laundry by starting the minutes I was up. I washed a set of towels that were already in front of the washer (from Corwin), adding extra towels used in my bathroom. After that was on the dryer, I washed one load of my stuff. I often can do two loads if I want to split it up, but it is smallish today, and I needed my dress shirt, and it needed a wash.

I wrote the previous, Saturday, blog in the morning.

So I did laundry and breakfast. This was followed by me getting dressed and pulling my white shirt from the dryer, mostly dry, adding a tie, and covering it with a sweater. Again, I went with a banker’s tie, not wanting to make a political statement or personal statement. And, I do genuinely love banker’s ties (these are old-style patterns you would imagine a banking VIP would wear back in the days of the film Wall Street). It clashes with my Nike shoes, but I would not wear any other shoes in Beaverton!

I only had time to stack the clean laundry on the floor, but I plan to fold it and put it away on Monday morning. Just too busy and tired today for folding and so on.

I leave with the computer, screen, Bluetooth speaker, and cable and head in Air Volvo to church first. I heard the trolly car alarm on the way as the Volvo auto-braked for a pickup that decided it needed to turn (and slow to a stop) without much warning. I saw and was steering around it when the Volvo panicked. No issues.

At church, the music included getting to sing, in my case poorly singing and losing my place multiple times, two of my favs, The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Navy Hymn: Eternal Father, Strong to Save. The songs, my emotions are closer to the surface now, made me cry a bit. I remembered all the kids and teachers in Texas killed when we sang.

My good friend Dondrea gave the sermon today; she focused on service as a calling and pointed out how service is often dismissed. For example, she quoted extensively from John Glenn; here is that text: Gold Mother Speech. She explained that we find our best selves in service, and even while many folks serve that are not Christain, all the tenets of Christianity are based on service. It was a good message, and I called later and told her that. Dondrea picked Galatians 5:13 as one of her scriptures, and I think it covers her point well (NIV): “My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful self. Serve each other with love.” Excellent.

I had to rush out. Off to Tigard to see Susie. I was careful to keep my phone out of sight and in my pocket. I managed to reach Susie in more rain without incident. I managed to park in a puddle and avoid a few to stop my Nikes from getting messy.

Susie was just resting after breakfast and was back in her wheelchair with me in the activity room. Rachel was on for Sunday (Jennifer had the day off). So we started with the next film: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I enjoyed this movie, and you can see the changes with the new director and changing the actor who plays Dumbledore. I think the action flows better, and the camera work much better. This movie introduces more and more characters and adds the talking voodoo heads that are not in the book. I remember liking the book when it came out, sitting in a bar reading half the book on the day it was published and loved the movie.

Susie enjoyed the movie, and we called Leta, her mother, about halfway through the film, pausing for the call. Leta was happy to see Susie using FaceTime on my iPhone. They chatted for a while, and then we went back to the movie. It is another 2 1/2 hour movie, and I had a hard stop as I had a 3:40 vax appointment at RiteAid. We managed to finish the film, and I left in a hurry with a kiss, and Rachel helped Susie get lunch, now late, after 2PM.

I drove to Popeye’s and ordered their fried chicken, spicy, and had a quick lunch of fried chicken in Air Volvo. I wanted some food in me when I got the Pfizer shot.

I went in and, after a short wait, got my shot from the pharmacist. I was still in my tie and church outfit. I had to take off my shirt as it was in the way (I had a t-shirt under it). I told the pharmacist that I was ready for CPR without my shirt, which she laughed at and then stuck me. I waited 15 minutes before waving and thanking them again. My card is now complete; number four is done!

I do not know if it was lunch or the shot or the rushed morning, but I was exhausted and freezing when I got home. I could not do much but read and take a quick nap.

I finally got going again, too bored to be this tired, and made dinner from the pork chops defrosted in the frig–Glenda should be happy as she always reminds me to eat what we have first. I first pan-fried the chops for this meal after dipping them in egg and bread crumbs with Middle Eastern spices added to the bread crumbs. I then fried the chops in olive oil to set the coating on the stove. Finally, I added preserved lemons, capers, and olives to the pan. I wanted something a bit spicy and salty for dinner. I finished it all in the oven, 350F, for twenty minutes. I made Spanish rice to go with it from a box but added a can of stewed Mexican-styled tomatoes to the rice. That made the rice so much more. I had some canned peaches for dessert.

After that, I read for a bit and then did the dishes. I got a note from Hummingbird House that Susie was back up and watching TV and a pic of Susie. So I sent a pic of me doing the dishes. I think that surprised them.

I decided to write the blog tonight, even though I am tired. I put on a lot of music to help me.

Thank you for reading. I am starting to get very tired, so I will stop here. Good night, dear reader.