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The cold is still bothering me. The pain in my right leg is not as bad as yesterday, but it still makes standing difficult. I can not find the right word sometimes–a leftover from being 59 and the infusion drug–the drug sort of makes your thoughts and muscle control go down different paths than you expect. I find words that sound like the word I want.

For example, I have been trying to remember Taylor Swift’s song Cardigan, and all I could get out was corduroy–not the same thing. Going deeper, she has a new album, but I liked the previous one better–Swift is better, I think, in a pandemic. But the pre-Covid song Shake it Off was fun, and I saw a marching band do it on the Thanksgiving parade show–it is really fun to see tuba players doing this song. So, yes, finding words and getting all the muscles to fire in a useful way is still a fascinating experiment.

For those worried, I liked some of Taylor Swift’s music before the chemo and Covid-19; it is not brain damage. I also like, gasp, Katy Perry too. I like her beat. I like clear song lyrics and a fascinating rhythm, not over-mastered (Ms. Perry is often over-mastered). The best newish song for me is Train’s Drops of Jupiter.

Wednesday night, I also wrote more of my Dungeons and Dragons adventure until about 11PM. I am trying to get enough done so we can play it in a few weeks. I like some of the ideas I have come up with, and I think it will be fun to play. I write by creating a set of themes and seeing where these ideas take me. For example, I wrote a previous adventure on alien mind control in a Dungeons and Dragons setting. Another one was a dream, and if you die, you just re-spawn. Interesting when you can just kill player characters without worry. It is 25 pages long, with more than 17,000 words so far.

Picking up the narrative for Thursday, I woke with my alarm at 6:15 and started into the usual Thursday rush. After finishing the blog on Wednesday night, I made corn muffins for the potluck lunch today at work. After getting dressed and having breakfast, I ensured I brought those with me. I managed all the usual things, including my pills.

I hit the road just as the school buses started knotting up the traffic, but I still managed to make it before 8AM. I did a few meetings and prepared for a meeting at 1:30ish. Today was the last regular working day before Halloween, so there were mimosas and donuts, costumes, and the joint lunch. I did not wear a costume this year. I usually wear a hacker mask with a top hat.

Next, Michael G collects my wine at Purple Cow, and he had a whole case for me. So we moved the wine from his car to mine. Purple Cow’s Tempranillo is some of the finest in the world.

After that, my meeting went well, and then my 2PM was canceled, so I headed to the hummingbird house. Susie was awake and in her recliner drinking her Ensure (that is why she has the bib). She was thrilled to see me–I was late.

There, we called Leta, Susan’s mother, who was concerned about me being late. Work just kept me busy all morning. Leta and Susie chatted for a while using FaceTime on my iPhone. They talked for a while.

The doc has written an order for Ensure, so it will now be delivered from the pharmacy–I still have to buy it, but it will be on a medical bill. I might be able to include that in my write-offs next year (now that there is an order and it is part of a medical bill). It is also just good to get it on a bill, so there is independent documentation that it is getting purchased and used.

I had to get back, so I kissed Susie goodbye, and Air Volvo took me home. I decided to cross Coopers Mountain, and I was dodging dump trucks the whole way. I even went an extra bit west to avoid the usual 15 mph curves. I had cars behind me riding my bumper, with me having a slow dump truck before me.

I finally reached home and checked back into the shoe company. Nobody needed me, and I rested a bit and checked in again. I can fall asleep in minutes now–an interesting change–and then wake in fifteen minutes (sometimes thirty).

I made dinner at 5:30. I heated a North African Couscous sauce and boiled mini gnocchi until hot. I made couscous by heating butter and cooking almond slices and spices like cinnamon and cardamon in the hot liquid. I put the tomato sauce with olives and spicy with the gnocchi. I just pour the sauce and gnocchi over the couscous–it is wonderful.

I watched Beatlejuice, the old movie, as I could not remember it. It was cornier than I remembered and I think I liked the town model too much. I want one!

I then put out the trash and wrote the blog. Thank you for reading.

 

 

I am catching up as I was not okay yesterday, and the blog was a bit short.

Just finished watching a very chaotic Doctor Who special. This was the end of Jodie Whittaker’s run as the Doctor, and the showrunner brought in many of the surviving cast members for a final send-off, including the former actors who played the doctor. So it was quite a send-off for Jodie.

I cried, as always, when the current doctor gave her last speech. The episode was terrible in the same way that many new episodes seem awful to me, but at least they stuck with it. I look forward to the next season, and we will see where it goes, and I will rewatch the last season or so and see if maybe my judgment is too harsh.

I still suffer from being cold all the time, maybe a leftover from the cancer treatments, and I had to rest for a bit this afternoon after coming home from the office early. I am trying to make this work, but you cannot make yourself better–you have to find it. So I rest and search some more for better.

I finished The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner last night and liked the second half or even the previous quarter better than the start. The primary character starts to become someone you want to know, and the story changes from victimhood to taking control and directing. I would say I am pretty happy to have read it, and I would recommend it with the warning that the storyteller has to find her way–that is part of the exciting development of the character. Also, instead of having recipes for drinks or food found in the story (like in an old Rex Stout book), there are recipes for poisons at the end of the book–somewhat disconcerting.

Unrelated, I resisted buying a translated cooking book from 10th-century Bagdad. Instead, I was reading and found information about old-styled food: Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens (Islamic History and Civilization). I might still order it.

Beginning the narrative, I started at 6:15 with my alarm waking me. I had awoken in pain, and my right leg ached. I was up at 5ish, taking some painkillers. I managed to sleep and then wake for the alarm. The pain in the morning is new.

I began the usual rush to be at work before 8AM. I managed a bowl of cereal with sliced fresh banana and some liberal coffee. Most of the coffee ended up in my Yeti cup to take to work. I beat the school buses and was at the office on time and without experiencing interesting driving.

I had only a few meetings in the morning and could do some research on some software most of the morning. I also chatted with some folks about some issues I am wondering about; I am still doing my computer architect thinking and asking questions. Soon it was time for a team lunch. We headed to Biryani Corner. We were saying goodbye to our director, Mariana, who is taking a different position in the project next week. My boss bought lunch for everyone, and the food was excellent. I had the Lamb Vindaloo.

From there, I headed to the hummingbird house, stopping by Target to get more Ensure for Susie. Jennifer, the nurse aide today, told me they had just run out for Susie. So I supply it; this is new as we want to increase Susie’s caloric and vitamin intake. I get Ensure Plus in strawberry and chocolate flavors as every medical liquid seems to come in an imitiation vanilla flavor, ick. Susie is drinking three bottles a day.

Susie was still resting when I got there, and I sat on her bed and chatted with her. I raised her head in the hospital bed. There is a “crash pad” on the floor next to the bed as Susie has fallen out of bed, which makes me have to stomp like I am in snow. Susie thinks it funny. I talked to Susie about her labs, and she agreed to look into the anemia and liver function. This means more blood draws and an ultrasound test that I will have to schedule and take Susie to.

We called Leta, Susan’s mother, and Susie and Leta chatted. We also discussed the tests with Leta, and she agreed we should do them. I do not want to be the only decider of these things. I am glad that Susie understood, and Leta agreed.

I headed out with a kiss. I drove across Beaverton and headed to the bakery, but alas, they did not have the bread I wanted. I next bought some foam board and liked architecture products. I hope to find time to build a model of the adventure I am writing. I am not sure I will have time for that, but I have always wanted to do that.

Air Volvo then flew back to the house without any incident before the school buses started to tangle up the traffic. Once home, I returned to my at-home office and managed to install more of the software I was researching. Unfortunately, my credentials did not work, but that may just be a password reset request. I will try again on Thursday.

Corwin stopped by to grab some of his hammers and buckets. On many weekends, he and his friends have a beach fire on the coast, and he needs his wedge to split wood. So I gave him some mail that came in too.

After Corwin left, I watched a global corporate meeting until it overran by thirty minutes. I was happy that our project was called out as needed for the future of Nike. I was interested in some of the discussions on Supply Chain as I have been involved in that my whole career at Nike (twenty-six years now).

After that, I made a nice salad with cheese and ham. I also had crackers, and the remains of the maza sauce from Gyro House delivered yesterday by GrubHub. I ate this while watching the latest Doctor Who special I found on Prime without cost. I was in Susie’s chair with a heated blanket while I ate and watched.

Next, I started on the blog. I have been writing with my sweater on drinking hot tea. That seems to work.

Just covering the events of today as I was tired and recovering a bit from the previous day. A short note today.

Aside: After I finished the blog yesterday at Wildwood Taphouse, JR paid my tab–a retired Nike IT person. Thanks!

I was up in the morning with my alarm at 6:15 and was severely chilled. I was also worried that my colon might suddenly try to empty like yesterday, so I decided to work from home and go easy. I tried to go slow and easy all day, wearing a sweater to stop the cold.

I ordered a maza plate from Gyro House via Grubhub for lunch. A veggie lunch with spreads and flatbread, falafel, and stuffed grape leaves. I wanted to go easy on the food. Breakfast was cereal and mile with banana slices added.

I felt up to visiting Susie. I tried to call ahead, but they were busy. Susie was lying down listening to music when I got there at the hummingbird house. I sat on her bead, and we chatted a bit. I called her mother, Leta, on my iPhone using FaceTime, and we all chatted for a while.

I read Susie’s labs to her; she is anemic, and there may be some liver function issues. Later today, the doc’s nurse called and said they want more blood work and a liver scan. I will discuss this with Susie and see if we will do any of these tests.

I left with a kiss and returned home. I rested a bit and followed along on some work issues. I had no repeat of any health issues today.

I got a text from Mariah that we could meet for dinner at Double Mountain, a pizza and beer joint in South East Portland. So I enjoyed Tuesday evening traffic and the Ross Island bridge. Finally, reaching the pizza place twenty minutes late. Mariah got to wait for me.

We had a nice dinner; I had a white pizza with mushrooms and dark Irish beer. Mariah had meat pizza with homemade peppers. Later, I gave Mariah the tulips I bought and realized I was not planting that many. I also had a spare metal rake and brought that to her.

After that, I drove home by way of Guardian Games, managing to resist buying anything.

I wrote the blog and was tired tonight.

Thanks for reading. Sorry, it is a short note today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for reading.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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