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Again, the morning is smokey, and the air smells of burning forests. Cool nights, 50F or less (10C), and warm evenings with temperatures approaching 80F (26.7C). The desert style is happening, and the temperature crashes when the sun goes down. A light breeze from the high desert is cold and brings smoke from the east. I wear a sweater now.

Rains start on the weekend and will continue until June-July 2023. We all will be happy to see the rain back. But I suspect we will miss the sun by March!

The day started with me working from home as usual on Mondays. The work for the weekend is over, and folks are switching to regular hours again. We used to have a joke, “Thank God it is Monday–we can just work a regular day!” I see a bit of that.

I started at 7ish and was online reading emails, texts, and slack messages to get caught up. Nothing was severe, and I went into the first status meeting without too much concern. The next release has some data issues, as we are in the first extensive tests, and the data relevancy is again an issue. The 70% accuracy for each data type has excluded a consistent set for running the transactional conversions. This happened last time. I heard the same consultants give me the same statements as the last time. So I left the channel a bit early. I returned to things I could control.

After a few more items, I was dressed and went out, and cut roses (this was more productive) after the third try to load some software. Enjoying the extended Sunlight and lack of gray pouring rain this October, my roses are still blooming and growing. I deadheaded, trimmed, and cut roses for Susie. Wedgwood, a David Austin English Rose, was still going strong and covered with pink blooms. My Mister Lincoln was also in bloom. The rose that is older than me that came with the house (having been transplanted from the previous owner’s mother’s house) I cut back and got two good tea roses for Susie. The thorns on Wedgwood are impressively sharp, and I wrapped the flowers for Susie with care in some paper.

I am seeing powdery mildew on the leaves for the first time–the extended lack of rain is likely the cause. Black Spot is also showing, which I seldom see. Unfortunately, the extended dry and sun are also extending some of the usual pests.

I then took the roses and headed over Coopers Mountain. The construction on the roads surprised me, and I took a different way back to avoid the mess. I soon reached the hummingbird house.

It was cool still, as the smoke and mist blocked the sun, so we only visited inside. We called Leta, Susan’s mother, and chatted with her for a while. My sister also called; she returned my call and chatted with us for a bit–Linda has the new non-Covid-19 wicked flu (get those shots). But soon, it was time for me to return home.

As I said, I went back by a different road to avoid trouble (like the wise men). I stopped by the Rite Aide to get my prescription for my upcoming colonoscopy. My prep stuff is lemon flavor (I asked for whiskey or margarita flavor)–December 22 will be party time for that.

The line was six deep, and it took thirty minutes as Rite Aide closed our store, moved us to the old failing Farmington store, and added no staff. I am sure this store is cheaper to run and is run down and that the long-term lease in the failing strip mall was affordable. But, it means they are always behind by days in filling prescriptions. I have switched most of my stuff to mail now. Hummingbird house uses a mail-order pharmacy for Susie that bills me about $250 a month with insurance.

I finally managed to return to the Volvo Cave. I spent the rest of the afternoon helping with a few leftover issues from the weekend and trying to install more software.

I did rest for a bit. I am trying to slow down a bit as I think that is part of my issue–trying to do too much all at once. Not to mention I have a bit of stress.

I also ordered a pizza for my mother in Michigan using GrubHub. My sister has been too sick to ensure Mom Wild has food and stuff. So I supplied a pizza and even a salad. Next, mom asked me about cigarettes. No idea you could order that to be delivered in East Lansing, Michigan, from Oregon. But yes, you can, as long as the credit card name and the delivery name match. So Mom Wild gave me her credit card number over the phone, and I had that delivered too. I even talked to the delivery folks in Lansing, who was happy to help. So food and requirements are done, and Linda, my sister, does not have to take care of that.

Aside: The stock market went up 550+ points today after losing about the same last week. I am shaking my head as folks try to manipulate the markets and public opinion. We have a tremendous over-revving economy right now. Try to enjoy that.

I got one of the smoked 1″ thick pork chops from the Metzger German Deli. I cooked it in butter with some Herbs de Provence and cayenne pepper to give it just a little kick. I added no salt as this is a smoked product. Next, I made corn niblets (frozen) with a steamer basket adding butter, salt, and lots of ground pepper. This plus a salad I made, chopping celery and carrots to go in it.

I again watched the newest episode of the House of Dragons to see what I missed. I did see this time that the gal needlepoint was a spider–she is one of the spies of the unknown spider–look for it. I loved the episode, but not as much as the final episodes of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power which has finally found its footing in the last four episodes (I am not sure the first three are watchable).

I then decided to head to WildWood Taphouse to write. I am tired of staying home.

 

I sort of gave up resting today and could not do it. I was lying down and reading, and then Mariah chatted with me about her IKEA adventures, and I decided to head to Portland. I stopped at the Pearl District, not getting very far inside Portland, and did Powell’s. My leg, my right leg started to hurt again from standing and looking at books. I could not resist, despite the pain, getting a new cookbook. I used to say it is not how many you have but how many feet of cookbooks you have. After removing the most unused or uninteresting ones, I still have a few feet left. I could not resist An Unapologetic Cookbook by Joshua Weissman with his “Better than Popeyes Chicken Sandwich” recipe.

So I parked Air Volvo in the garage and headed to Powell’s. The crossing to Powells uses a unique diagonal crosswalk–no, really. I walked around, resisting a few exciting SciFi books, but the cookbook was what I took with me. As the pain grew, it was time for other options. Next, I went to Von Eberts and ordered a beer.

There I read the hilarious entrance into the new cookbook and the recipes to make your own pickles, cheese, and sauces (ketchup included). This is based on the author’s belief that you must understand how your food is built to properly understand how and what you want to cook. A premiss that the basics matter is very close to my heart.

The beer was good, but Mariah was busy, so I enjoyed the book and drank a few beers slowly over a few hours. Then, at 6PM or so, I order; all of this is online (the waiters just deliver and take questions). They are the best wings there are (at least, I think so). I had medium, which is still spicy, with a vinegary hot and salty mix that mixes well with the smoked flavor and slight char. Previously, when it was FatHeads, there were signs that chickens lined up to be wings here–they wanted to be the best. I believe it.

I enjoyed my six wings; I was hungry. Four is really enough–they are huge (only strong and large chickens should apply).

Before all of this, I was starting my morning in a rush to write yesterday (Saturday’s blog), dress, eat breakfast, and get to Susie on time. I managed to wake before my alarm and tried to get going, but time just seemed to run faster this morning.

I was dressed and out the door at 9:45 and made the trip without speeding in record time. But I saw that the police were closing down many roads, and it was impossible to reach the church using the regular roads. At least Beaverton’s finest was busy, so I was unlikely to get their attention.

Susie was running behind as my request to be ready had not been heard, and Anessa was rushing with other care items for the other residents. No matter, being late for our church was rather normal for us. I saw some imaginative use of lanes with the pressure of all the traffic being pushed here and there by the street changes.

I managed, once Susie completed breakfast and her teeth were cared for, to get Susie into Air Volvo by pivoting her when she stood and lifting her onto the passenger seat in the front of the SUV. I adjusted her without too much trouble, as the leather seats let her slide easily.

We had to take the highways and reach First United Methodist Church only twenty minutes late. Everyone was happy to see us, and we had some coffee, just sips for Susie, and then headed out to the park near the church.

I resisted the urge to drive through the fountains with Susie in the wheelchair (It was 83F today–28.3C). The library was not open yet, and we headed back to Air Volvo.

I lifted Susie again into the front passenger seat with her helping more, and that required less adjustment–better. We returned to the highway, risking 217 and arriving legally and safely at hummingbird house. I unloaded Susie; no exciting ice skating moves this time, just a stand, pivot, lift, and in-wheelchair move (Air Volvo Death Drop with no revolutions). Anessa took over, and Susie had lunch and a nap in her plans. I left, as usual, with a kiss.

I reached home later, driving around some of the closed roads. I had an excellent ham and cheese sandwich with imported German mustard, locally made potato salad, and red cabbage (all from the German Deli in Metzger). I watched the rest of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power last episode for the season and really liked it. Recommended. And that is where the story started with me resting…

So that was my day, ending here in the dark in Portland, drinking and eating in the Pearl District. I am still checking my messages, emails, and Slack updates, and so far, I have no issues. However, it is getting desert cold now that the sun is down. Time to head out, I think.

Thanks for reading.

 

Bad air continues in the area; winds came yesterday and helped for a while, but then the winds stopped, and the smoke, pollen, and smog all resettled in the valley. I could not slow down on Saturday as I tried to push a whole weekend into a few hours on Saturday.

Going backward, I went to bed at about 12:45 after putting the sheets in the drier. It could have been sooner, but I forgot to dry them before I left for the day. I got a snack of potato salad and red cabbage salad with a pickle to take my pills–they are unpleasant on an empty stomach and watched 1/3 of the new Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power final episode but grew tired, made the bed with dry sheets, and then went to sleep.

All night and the day, I followed along and sometimes sent out suggestions for the software upgrade that was running. There were no issues, and, as often happens on heavily orchestrated computer events, it ran twelve hours faster than planned, and all the work was done on Saturday instead of being spread out over the weekend. I will not narrate that I was constantly checking and interacting with folks on my iPhone.

The morning started at about 7:30, with my breakfast which consisted of a scone, a banana, and liberal coffee. I wrote the blog for Friday in the morning. After that, I started laundry and then showered and dressed. The pain in my leg and feet was mild, and my breathing was not labored.

I took Air Volvo over Coopers Mountain, and the mist and smog were still heavy, but nothing like yesterday. Today, I was earlier, so there was less mist. The mist burns off by the afternoon, so the air is better if fewer clouds cover the hills. I avoided any police entanglements during my thirty-minute journey and seldom traveled above the speed limit, and I have to admit I slammed a few times to prevent a slightly warm yellow.

I arrived there, and Susie was ready to travel, and I managed to get Susie in the car. She was not helping much, so I had to lift her back inside the car to get her properly in the seat. More practice. We traveled the very short distance to Washington Square Mall and successfully unloaded the wheelchair (heavy) and Susie (light). The parking lot, I don’t have a handicap sign yet, is aging, and Susie bounced a bit in her chair as we crossed over the less-than-perfect surface.

Once inside, we toured the mall, and I walked most of it, pushing Susie. Susie enjoyed all the sights and seeing so many people. It is my first time there since the pandemic, and I noticed that the dress styles were comfortable but expensive jeans and pull over, showing as much skin as possible–mostly younger gals, or expensive soccer wear–primarily men. This trend was also for the clerks in the store. Few masks, but I did notice nobody was close to each other as the habits of social distancing appeared still to be in place.

At noonish, I headed to the Cheese Cake Factory and put in for a table. Evan joined us, waiting a minimum of fifteen minutes (usually thirty) for a table there. Once at the table, we ordered a diet coke for Susie, her request, and some pretzel bites with cheese–some food that tiny bits Susie can manage, just a taste. Evan and I shared an egg roll sampler (not recommended).

I shared a tiramisu cheesecake with Susie. It is a lighter cake with ladyfingers instead of the graham cracker crust and a hint of chocolate. Recommended if you want to avoid the cheese heaviness of the usual cake. Evan had a Boston (!?) version with fruit. We then waited ten minutes for a to-go order for Evan and me for lunch.

Susie enjoyed some tastes of cheesecake and Diet Coke. I took Susie back to the car, had to pull out the car a bit, and then loaded her back into the front seat of Air Volvo with more success this time. I brought her back to hummingbird house without incident, but the traffic was much worse. Apparently, President Biden’s visit had snarled traffic in the wider area, with people flooding the backroads to reach their destinations.

Susie was always sad when it was time for me to go, it had been the longest travel for Susie in months, three hours out and about, and she looked done in. I certainly had my workout. I left with a kiss, and Susie was headed for some more lunch and likely a nap.

I drove, with care, but not traffic, across old-town Beaverton to Central Taps near the Max station and City Hall Beaverton. Evan had trouble finding his car in the parking lot and was there after me. He brought me the famous Cheese Cake Factory’s Oriental Chicken Salad (lunch sized and highly recommended) and had a spicy tuna appetizer for himself.

Next, we played a special version of the board game Concordia, Solitaria, which lets you play two players and an automated opponent. This was a learning game, as we had never tried it before. I messed up the setting using the wrong III cards, but that did not influence the game much. Evan and the machine called Contrarius soon had most of the specialist cards. So I was busy building and filling the Mediterranean (we played the original map of the southern European landmass and the Mediterranean Sea). I then changed tactics and started purchasing cards, combined with running provinces to pay for the cards. I got the 7-point card for buying the last card and ended the game. Evan was disappointed as I had stopped the game before he had built to score better on his specialists, and I had also picked options that would not trip Contrarius from building. I ran away with the game as I had the most cards I have ever had in a game. The larger map, as usual, let me build in a little corner away from everyone else. It was an interesting way to play a two-person version of Concordia. There is a cooperative version closer to Venus Concordia‘s re-creation of Concordia, where the players work together to defeat Contrarius.

After that, and paying for my one low-alcohol beer at Central Taps (more and I would need a nap), I headed to Portland. Richard had scheduled a game at 6PM, but all but me had backed out–so off to play two-person in Portland. I stopped by McDonald’s after passing through light traffic (there are some events in Portland besides the President’s visit) and tried, for the first time in years, chicken McNuggests–on a lark. Chicken bacon was what I thought with BBQ sauce–I had six. Excellent finger food and not a bad appetizer, but on my is that fat infused. I could not finish the french fries I ordered with it. While interesting, I am not likely to return to this chicken product.

A Richards, we looked at Cthulhu Wars that I brought, but it requires three players. We picked Endless Winters, a new game in Richard’s collection. It is another well-made Kickstarter game, with Richard with more premium parts. I had not played the game before and tried to focus on just a few strategies and see if I could make that work. Unlike the board games Scythe and Architects of the West Kingdoms, this game needed you to run a balance of strategies, oops. Interestingly, my focus caused Richard to try some different ideas, and he found them highly successful–he played differently than any other play. I was crushed by a score below 100.

I would recommend Endless Winters; it balances work placement and resource management well. It has three systems running simultaneously: a map, an investment board (monoliths in the game), and deck building. All of this runs smoothly, the play is easy to understand, and the rules were only reviewed for scoring during eclipse turns (a type of intermediate scoring turn). An excellent game that reminded me of Arc Nova in its smooth execution and thematic solid play.

We chatted for a bit, and soon the time had run to 11PM, and I headed back and returned home without issue.

Thank you for reading.

 

The morning started with a slow start as it is Friday, and I can sleep in as I do not need to be in the office for an 8AM meeting. We are also installing an upgrade over the weekend, and I will be working all weekend–likely just monitoring and a few texts. So I was ready early and waiting. The status meetings went as usual, and soon I was showered and dressed. Breakfast was coffee, Fare Exchange liberal, and cereal with milk. I checked in a few more times and tried to install some software on my laptop. Nike has the machine locked down, so simple things are usually hard to do.

I put aside the installation for another day; I made lunch. Another ham and cheese sandwich appealed to me. This time with cheddar cheese.

The afternoon arrived, and I boarded Air Volvo and headed across Coopers Mountain. The mountains were covered with morning mist and smoke, mostly smoke. The air smells like a campfire, and my throat is always irritated. The coughing and breathing issues return here and there. I am trying not to focus on it, as worrying about it makes it seem worse. Unfortunately, the maps show it getting worse in the valley. Smog and smoke.

I reached the hummingbird house and spotted Beaverton’s Finest had moved to a small section of my travel through their jurisdiction. A motorcycle cop with the cutest radar gun hidden at the base of a hill. This seemed hardly fair play, and he did cause a traffic jam. I ignored him and drove the speed limit at +/- 5 mph.

I reached the hummingbird house without any police entanglements, and Susie was waiting in her recliner. Jennifer, the nurse aide for today, popped Susie in her wheelchair, and we headed outside. We traveled through the park and called Leta, and after some re-calling, we managed to chat with Susan’s mother on FaceTime for a while.

I felt exhausted and did not understand how bad the air was until I could see the smoke in the light in the park. You cannot usually see the light in the trees. I needed to stay indoors!

Susie had a pleasant visit in Metzger Park, next door to her house and adult foster care, and saw some of the usual suspects. We also saw a few more vans that were gypsies stopped at the park between driving trips–not Roma but folks who seem now to just work where their laptops are. They travel from park to park and rest in their vans.

I returned Susie to Jennifer’s care, and with a kiss, I headed out in Air Volvo. I turned the wrong way and decided that the German place needed a visit downtown, if you can call it that, Metzger. There is a German-style deli, and I got some sliced ham, potato salad, port chops–smoked, and some sausage for dinner. It was my first time there, and the prices matched Whole Foods–not cheap. I put my new acquisitions in Air Volvo cargo area (the floor in the backseat) and started on my way back.

Ignoring Beaverton’s finest, trying to increase compliance with hill management, I drove on to the pharmacy. Only to find a long line, and the wait made my right leg hurt again, and when I reached the cashier, I learned that they still had not filled my prescription after two days–they were eight days behind. The corporate decision to close the nearby Rite Aide and move us to the smaller facility on Farmington has not improved service. I picked up some other items, including toothpaste, and headed, limping, to BASICs, the new grocery store next door.

I picked up some bananas and items I had run out of, such as milk and some scones. I then drove the rest of the way back to the Volvo Cave without issue. I remembered to take the back way as 209th is in construction.

Work continued, and I fought with the installation on my laptop a bit more and then rested a bit. The travel, standing, pain, and bad air required me to slow down. I made a few suggestions at work that we agreed upon, and soon it was time to consider dinner.

Mariah was busy unpacking, so I was free on Friday and happy to stay home and make dinner. I had collected the ingredients for a sausage, not seafood-based, Paella dish. I had the pan. Never made it before. So I chopped onions, the crying seemed to clear my head and green papers. I found fresh garlic and chopped that. I opened cans of tomatoes and artichoke hearts, and that, too, was chopped (and unneeded, I think).

I baked three types of spice sausage in the oven. I would stop and check work here and there. I heated two boxes of chicken broth with saffron in a deep pan with a ladle at the ready. I cooked the onions in the Paella pan. I had trouble controlling the heat level (more practice was needed) and had to be careful not to burn anything. Next, I added the green peppers. I followed the instructions on the bag of rice and added the artichokes. The garlic was added to the can of tomatoes, but I think it should have been cooked with the onions and its green flavor was in the final product instead of being in the background. The grain was next, and the pan was nearly overflowing. This I ladled with the broth, hot and seasoned with saffron. The pan started to burn or stick, so I had to drag the ladle over the pan, and this spilled a bit, but not too bad.

I pulled out the hot sausages, let them cool a bit (temperature of 170F+), and went back to the work laptop a few times to check and follow along. I had my iPhone, and it would report on any messages in Slack channels I follow. I cut the sausage, put them in, and let everything cook more.

I added some fancy peppers as garnish (also on the recipe on the bag) and removed the Paella pan from the heat. I covered it, again as instructed, with foil for 15 minutes.

It was mainly cooked. The rice was not entirely done, but that changed in about fifteen minutes as the rest of the chicken broth was absorbed. The flavors were not quite balanced, and the salt level was too low for most tastes (unless you have high blood pressure like me and refer to salt as white death), but the sausage was good, and the flavors were more balanced as the rice finished cooking.

Next time, some salt–maybe, and no artichokes but green beans, the garlic cooked more, and two cups (not 2 1/2 cups) of rice. Maybe more saffron. The heating will have to be better watched, but with less rice, I think that will be less of an issue.

I watched the final episode of the season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The reveals were finally done, and I was surprised and happy, crying and laughing with the main characters. I expect the next season will skip forward in time. I recommend the last four episodes, or if you really love LotR, you can do the whole season.

After that, I finished the laundry I had started: Friday is laundry day. I then wrote more of my adventure, drinking some tea to keep going, but at 11ish, I was falling asleep while trying to write even with the tea. The day with the air and the pain was hard on me. But I remember my friend telling me to slow down, so I stopped instead of drinking more tea and pushing on to the early morning. I took my pills, including some painkillers, and went to bed. I then got up and got out Cthulhu Wars rules, the Omega Book–yes, there are so many add-ons there is a 1/2 think hardcover rule book now and reviewed how to play. I hope to play at least one game in October–while the stars may not be right, the calendar is for spooky board games.

Well, thank you for reading. I am trying not to overdo it now and let my strength return on its own. I cannot make myself better.

 

 

The morning started in a rush, with me not sleeping after 4AM. I had pain in my left foot (not my right !?), and the application of painkillers let me maybe sleep an hour, if at all. However, the pain throbbed and, while not great, was enough to prevent sleep. I was up before my alarm and started staggering through my usual morning. I managed to find breakfast and had a cup of coffee. I was running late as I was slow this morning and found myself just beating the school buses and being on time at Clubhouse at the shoe company.

And then, and this would be a theme all day, my laptop refused to connect to Nike’s network as it had to perform an update. So I rebooted the laptop and then watched as the laptop slowly reconnected to the Nike network. Finally, after four tries, I managed to get Zoom to start the meeting for me and enjoyed the last minute of the status meeting. Just frustrating.

The next status meeting was the usual, but I needed coffee. I forgot to bring any coffee with me; I still have a French Press full of today’s coffee. So I got some free Star Bucks coffee after the meeting finished. For the program I am on, we get free coffee until 10AM–leadership pays for the coffee. So I got my usual, just coffee with cream–I stopped using sugar in my coffee when I started on diabetes meds years ago.

Next was another meeting, which was in a conference room with a Zoom meeting for more distant folks. I updated my status in Jira, which finally worked on my laptop. After that, I headed out.

I reached Susie in record time, as 217 (usually a mess) was running well. Susie was feeling better and was even a bit talkative. I always struggle to understand her, but today I got the general sense of what she was saying–a hopeful sign. I pushed Susie to the nearby bench in the park–there was sun and no wind, thus warm. Susie was already commenting on it being cold, but the sun worked.

We called Susie’s mom, Leta, on my iPhone and used, after a few tries, FaceTime to see each other. Leta had apparently unplugged something on her TV and was unhappy. She might have unplugged her network as her phone connection was initially troubled. Leta told us she had put away her music boxes and was decorating for Halloween.

Leta, during the pandemic, decided not to take her tree down and has redecorated for each holiday instead. She then shares pictures on Facebook with the family of the tree decorated for the season. It was a way to connect during the pandemic, but now she just likes it, and she has stuff for every season and gets a few new things each time to add. It is fun to see each season. She is a fan of the Dollar Store.

I had to return to work, I had a lunch meeting at noon, so I returned Susie to hummingbird house and Jennifer’s care and headed out in Air Volvo. I got to lunch and found that my lunch meeting was canceled. I then saw an acquaintance I had seldom seen in years, and we agreed to have lunch together. So that worked out.

Next, I took Air Volvo to the newish campus and sat at a shared deck in the Nike building Victory with the group that runs my old system, which is still running much of Nike’s supply chain and financial reporting. Always nice to be back and see friends, and I had a meeting about an application I worked on before. So it was great to be back for a bit.

I continued to install more stuff on my laptop and drove home. At home in my office, the Nike network started having issues again, and I could not schedule meetings. Growl. I followed along for a bit and rebooted my laptop multiple times.

I made dinner after closing my laptop and taking a rest. I was going to cook something, but the ham and cheese looked good and made a perfect sandwich.

Next, I wrote a bit about my Dungeons and Dragons adventure. This was followed by Theology Pub, a monthly church event. Tonight we talked about groupthink and the blind following of charismatic leaders. We agreed that things become dangerous once a leader calls out another and claims to be repressed by this other. Then, a call to action for violence often follows. We drew the obvious parallels to Hitler and the cautions of Mark Twain (if you are in the majority, you should reconsider). A group that harms others to protect something is something to fear and avoid.

After about an hour, we wrapped that meeting up. I wrote this blog. I am hoping tonight to sleep better and that the pain will stop.

A friend of mine, Michelle, admonished me when I said I was getting old at work today. Do not call yourself old, she said, as others will then do that too. Be young instead.

Mariah will take many of the tulips and plant them at her new home in Portland. I have about a hundred bulbs. I will keep a few and hope to plant them on Friday. I have decided to plant the bulbs between the new climbing roses, creating a lovely little flower garden. I ordered them when Glenda was here, and we visited the tulip fields.

So be young, like me! Thanks for reading!