Blog

Let’s start with some issues. The Grammarly ticket returned that it was not a mistake but a feature I was unhappy with. They have made the WordPress editor nearly useless for me. I am not very happy with Grammarly, and since I was using the legacy non-Java editor already, I am not sure what options I have. I will have to look for a replacement.

I will write the day from tonight back to the start. I was, as I said, just updating the support ticket with Grammarly with unhappiness. I was just checking my new Jupiter 3D Printer, and it is happily printing the test file of two chess pieces, rooks. It will be done soon, and I will try to print something from Space Race, the board game next. They make very tall models that I could not print before. It will be a good test.

Aside: I discovered that the first printing failed. Not a happy start. Looks like I did not correctly set the base. I failed to push the set to zero button.

I put the coffee cup in the tank for size.

Before returning home, I was at First United Methodist Church, Beaverton, for choir practice. I don’t sing but play board games with Zophia while she waits for her mother, Dondrea, to finish. Tonight we managed a few new ones. We played the basic version of the Istanbul board game. It is a unique game of resource collection and management. You can also get some valuable superpowers. Zophia beat me by two moves. I spent too much time upgrading my cart instead of collecting items. She liked the game.

Zophia hoarded all the gems after winning.

I had picked up a used cheap copy of Pandemic (yes, there is irony all over that statement). This is the original cooperative game that started me back into games. The second edition came out with corrections, but I had an old copy and never updated it. I gave it to Goodwill as we were not playing it very often. I saw the new version that was cheap and picked it up.

The game starts easy and then starts to build pressure on you. Zophia and I were not removing infections from cities, and soon we had outbreaks, and explosive growth nearly ended the game for us. We just managed to cure the last disease and win.

Next, we played Azul and Zophia slipped by me by just a few points. It was a good night for Zophia! Azul is a pattern-matching game with some competition and meta-gaming that can hurt your head: Trying to find the right choices for yourself while not giving away too much to your opponents.

It was a fun night, and I got a cupcake too.

Before being beaten by Zophia, I was at the house and got the new 3D printer to start and print (with the zero set wrong, oops). First, I had to assemble the printing surface and remove all the packing. It is a huge printer, and I was happy it was alive and working.

Moving back further, I had lunch at BJ’s Brewhouse at the bar. There was nobody there, so there was no chance of getting Covid-19. Kate, the bartender, was friendly, and we chatted while I had lunch and wrote a bit. She is 23, and this is her first gig as a bartender, and she likes it. Kate has been in the Pacific Northwest for less than a year, but she loves it here–she enjoys the outdoors. I had a burger because I was tired and thought some protein would be good.

Before lunch, I saw Susie at the hummingbird house. She was having a slow day and eating breakfast when I arrived. She can feed herself, but she easily chokes.

We went into the park to enjoy the sunshine and the cool breeze. The park was primarily empty today as school had started, and it was the middle of the week. I was happy to see a swallowtail butterfly again near the entrance. Summer is still going.

We then watched the new Lord of the Rings (LOTR) show in Susie’s room, The Rings of Power. Susie was only good for two episodes, and I could not blame her. The story moved strangely, and the actors were all rather stiff and not sympathetic. I am hopeful it will improve. Tolkien is hard to write and make real (I wrote one adventure in the setting for a special version of Dungeons and Dragons made for LOTR, and it is an exciting process to write in such a constrained setting). I am hopeful.

Moving back further, I wrote the blog and more of my Naval Institute fiction. I have to 15Sept and have managed 1,500 words so far. I will try to get to 2,200-2,500 and polish it.

I started at 7AM and had only nectarine for breakfast with liberal coffee.

 

I took off Tuesday and Wednesday to extend the holiday.

I was up, as usual, at 6:15 to write the blog and get some liberal coffee into me to get going. As I had guests, I made a pot of coffee. The blog took me about an hour, and then I had a shower and got dressed, not having any sudden reason to shower, which was a relief. We then headed to the French place for a more complete breakfast.

La Provence at Orenco Station is back to its pre-Covid-19 hustle and bustle. A few folks with masks, but the tables are close together again. Nobody still really sits at the bar, and you can always notice how folks try still to stay apart. Some things are changed forever, I think. I had Risotto Cakes & Eggs, which came with squash and rosemary and a perfectly French croissant.

The food was perfect. The food was always a treat, even when delivered in the middle of the worst pandemic. I would always order extra croissants, which would come with a slice of Brie and some jam. 

After breakfast/lunch at La Provence, we headed to the employee store. There I found a sweatshirt with a zipper in Susie’s size from Jordon (boy’s large size) and some socks for me. My guests found a few things. Unfortunately, the store was nearly empty of soccer and NFL items. Even the NBA and WNBA items were scarce.

Next, we saw Susie after trekking across Beaverton in Air Volvo. Unfortunately, physical Therapy was there at 12:30 and not at 2:30 as I had in my appointments. So I missed helping at the session. Susie was visibly worn by the workout but was happy to head to the park in her wheelchair.

We spent some time hanging out with Susie in Metzger Park. She was her Marvin the Martian sweatshirt and soon was a bit warm. The park was full of dogs and smaller kids. The gentleman pushing the baby walker with the small dog in it always brings me a smile.

Susie was soon ready to return to the hummingbird house, and we said our goodbyes, with me getting at least one kiss. We returned to the Volvo Cave for a few moments, having only seen a few exciting drive techniques; we picked up a game, then headed back to Beaverton and parked the car outside near Central Taps.

We all grabbed a beer and played the board game Azul until it was time to leave for the airport. I won a game. My opponents had learned that you needed to take tiles in Azul that gave you points and ended the game when you wanted it to end. You do this while disturbing the plans of your opponents. It can be mind-bendingly difficult to know which tile color to take when you are playing the meta-game in your head! We played three games while enjoying locally brewed products.

The trip to the airport was with some traffic, and we saw the mountains again from the bridge. Mount St. Hellens and Mount Hood were a bit grey from smoke. The traffic required me to not sightsee while driving (always a problem with such lovely views) and keep Air Volvo moving and safe.

Aside: Grammarly has revised its feedback process. Instead of giving me a list of issues and a means to sort them, it is now just popping each one willy-nilly and demanding I fix it. Not what I am used to, and I can find no means to return to a better workflow. Ugh! Grammarly is also making incorrect suggestions now; sad to see a good tool ruined. I repeatedly have given feedback and have a support ticket in for this.

I had to gas up the Volvo. The prices keep falling about five cents a week (or faster in the non-Metro areas). This time it was only $82 for a fillup.

I dropped off my guests to their fate as they entered the transportation system. They found dinner at PDX and then got on their first flight. We wish them well (and luck) as they head back home.

Evan contacted me, and I met him for dinner at Arrowood Tap House in Portland, a few minutes from PDX. Initially, I was going to stop by IKEA at PDX and have some meatballs, but I was already too late (closing now at 7PM for food). I had a nice beer and a cheeseburger with fries. I was hungry, and dinner was good.

I then drove once again back to the Volvo Cave. I wrote for a few minutes and did some laundry. Finally, I was in bed early as I was tired but had trouble sleeping as I was thinking over my Naval Institute story; instead of sleeping–I dreamed some of it.

Thank you for reading.

I started this morning awake before 7 and moving before 7 too. I was dressed early and was writing the blog before 8ish. I will leave out some details, but I had to get cleaned up before and was happy it was a minor clean-up!

Breakfast was later; I had written the blog first and was picked up at McDonald’s. It was cheap and straightforward, and soon, we were on our way to the Columbia Gorge and our first day stop. No church today as we have a full day planned.

Vista House is still quite dramatic, even after years of going there. The last time I was there, Susie got a ride in the special hidden elevator to reach the downstairs bathroom. The people that ran the place were very kind and helpful. I thanked the current folks and told them how happy I was when their peers helped last time. They were delighted to hear an optimistic story about Vista House.

The Columbia River is low; I could see the bottom and the channel! Usually, it is too deep to see those details. I was told it was over fifteen feet low. Hood River, which we saw later, is primarily snow melt and flows into the Columbia; it was more a stream than a river on Sunday.

There were many tour buses, more like vans, at Vista House. The sights are now protected, and limited availability tickets are required to visit the falls and the historical highway; none were available to me. Next time I will have to plan more and use the tours. I understand that this cuts down pollution, traffic, and wear and tear at the Gorge and is now mandated to some degree.

Hood River was next on my plan. We did pass by Multnomah Falls but just took pictures from the car on I-84. The Gorge is its usual impressive sight, and the fire damage from 2020 is fading, but some parts are silver with the killed pine trees. Unfortunately, the trees grew on the side of the gorge cliffs, and there was no known way to put out a vertical fire–I remembered and had to be left to burn. It was an awful year, 2020.

We reached Hood River in less than an hour, with traffic moving near the speed limits and often faster, so not Portland-Beaverton. I parked near the river, and we went to look and, in the case of my guests, play in the river. The new surfing thing at Hood River, the galactic center of river windsurfing (no sharks), was a kite (a sail on a post on the board is no longer done) to pull you. Smaller handheld kites for the newer and less invested and larger ribbon kites for the strong and talented. Huge rigs for the well-invested, competent, and from what I could see older folks. I noticed the vast and fantastic windsurfing was done by a gray-haired community. I pointed that out to one of the surfers as he walked by with a 12-meter wing that would look good on a dragon, and he smiled and said, “yes, it takes wisdom.”

We next headed for a late lunch at Trillium Cafe. It was understaffed, as was everywhere, and soon turned away customers. Our lunch took a while, and I had some over-hopped sour beer called Viking, but I was calling it Viking Piss. I had a BLT, which was perfect.

We returned to the road and soon headed over the hills on highway 35 to the volcano, Mt. Hood. I did stop a few times for photos and at a fruit stand and got some stone fruit. The valley between the mountain and the river is the prime place to get stone fruit–I have some beautiful peaches and nectarines. Twenty years ago, I remembered them having issues with cold weather, but not anymore. The Hood River supplies the water for the vast acres of fruit trees.

We finally reached Timberline Lodge, one of the WPA 1930s-built lodges, and had a light dinner/snack there. It is always lovely to sit and relax in the lodge. I did an overnight stay years ago, and I would recommend it.

Oddly, price increases and inflation seem to have skipped Timberline, and the food and beer were not more costly than a Tap House now. There will likely be an update soon. The room rate was still reasonable too.

I managed a view from the lodge photo. The gray line of clouds is smoke.

We drove back from the mountain on Highway 26, completing my usual tourist loop.

We reached Susie’s place, hummingbird house, late–after nine. She was in her recliner and was delighted to see us, even late. We chatted for a while in the living room. Soon, it was time to head home.

I got us home, and we unloaded the car. I wrote for a bit on my story for the Naval Institute contest hoping to finish it to submit it. It is a lot of work. I got to bed at about 11PM.

Working backward, my guests and I returned from Portland in the early evening and rested for a bit. I also made popcorn and turned on House of Dragons, episode 3, and we enjoyed the romp of the bloodthirsty and power-crazed medieval-like plot (without the dirt and disease). We also opened one of the bottles of wine from yesterday. After that, my guests rested, and I wrote some more SciFi for a Naval Institute story contest. If I understand the directions, three-thousand words of fiction based on technology in the future or that past. I thought I would try out for it. I have to 15Sept to submit the story, so it is a bit rushed.

To leave the Pearl, I parked Air Volvo in my usual parking garage in the Pearl near Powell’s Books and had to descend and get the car. We were stuck in a huge line of cars on the way out, breathing car fumes. Next time I may pick an above-ground parking option!

I then popped us over for a short visit to Guardian Games to check out some new stuff. There is no Spelljammer single book for sale for players–my role-play gaming group is considering using Spelljammer for Dungeons and Dragons 5E, which was just released. I could be a space hamster! Also, they did not have the solo version of Concordia, a fav board game, and thus I left empty-handed. My guests were surprised by the size and depth of the Guardian Games store. This is not some hole-in-the-wall store–it is impressive.

Before getting Air Volvo, I sat on many benches while my guests toured the Art in the Pearl show in the park off of, as you might guess, Park Street in Portland. My back is more brittle since the chemotherapy, and I can stand about an hour before I get uncomfortable, but sitting stops and resets the discomfort. At the show, I bought one print that fit my horror writing, and I just wanted to remember the artist’s name if it came up again: Tai, so I got a print. I have a print of “I’m Not Strange, I’m Just Not Normal.” The color one is nice, but I got a small (cheap) black and white print.

The Art in the Pearl covered two small blocks with folks with stop signs to halt traffic as needed. The artists had a tent and usually a chair with all their goods well displayed. The quality of the items was a surprise to me, and folks were buying from what I could tell. There was plenty of live music, and food was available. The crowd was older and looked like they could afford the art. The artists were often younger with the more craft-looking items. The glass, jewelry, and more expensive pieces were older artists who seemed to have a following and nicer tents and displays.

I had to sit a few times and did miss a bit of the show. Only the art of Tai spoke to me, but there were a few really nice glass and pottery items that were beautiful and expensive. I managed to resist.

We were at Von Ebert before our walk of four Portland-sized blocks (short blocks in New York City) downhill. This is the replacement for Fatheads that failed. The food is now less complex and less huge and strange midwestern-styled food (brisket sandwich with cheese and a fried egg called “heart attack” has vanished). The beer selection is still vast and much made there. I had an excellent ale and the smoked chicken wings and shared a rather industrial-looking hummus plate, but the hummus was fresh, covered in some olive oil, and the pita was baked in the pizza oven, making it crisp and less chewy. My guests had pizza and shared some of my hummus.

I did not share my two huge chicken wings. There was once a sign, I remember, that suggested, “Chickens stood in line to be part of the wings here–they are that good.” The wings are smoked, brushed with a sauce of your choice, and baked again. The best I have had, and the size of the wings are twice what you sometimes get at lessor establishments.

For those who have eaten at Fatheads with me, we have the Pacific Northwest remake of Fatheads impacted by the pandemic. No menu. You order on an app that knows your table number and opens a tab by supplying a credit card number. Next,  order beer and food on your phone. No waiters. You can get a sample of a beer from the bartender. Sort of disconcerting at first, but it works.

Before lodging the car at the Pearl and finding the best wings, we were at the other side of the river near OMSI. Cargo is a store that the now-defunct Pier One always tried to be. I was looking for a shirt for Susie; their stock changes often, but nothing worked today. There are trinkets, toys, kites, paper lamps, Japanese items of all sorts, and even food. Here you could, in the past, buy a saint candle dedicated to Ruth Ginsburg and Robert Muller. Tarot readings were available, and I passed.

We went to see Susie before heading to Portland. Without experiencing any events, we took Air Volvo across Beaverton, paying close attention to the speed limits that constantly rise and fall without much warning. It was a perfect September day–Oregon is best in September and October, with the rains graying us in November.

Susie was pleased to see my guests and to visit Metzger Park. Rachel, the nurse aide for Sunday mornings, got Susie ready and in her wheelchair. We then took her to her favorite bench, the cedars, and chatted for about an hour with a call to her mother, Leta, included in that time. Metzger Park was busy with dogs and kids with their families. Tiny butterflies were close to the ground, and dragon and damsel flies were buzzing higher up. Crows were calling out at the tree tops. We did not see any rabbits or hummingbirds today.

Susie was thrilled to see us but was sad that she could not head to Cargo and Portland with us. “I am trying,” she always says. Susie tried to hold more of a conversation today, but the words were garbled, and she could not find the words she wanted. It is hard for her to not be able to communicate her thoughts and to be able to leave the hummingbird house. We have more physical therapy for her on Tuesday afternoon. There is hope for more choices in the future.

Before we visited Susie, we stopped at the food trucks and got some waffle sandwiches for breakfast. The carts were starting to open, but the waffle place was going strong.

After getting started, we opened up the crate with the 3D-Printer. It seems intact. I will test it on Wednesday.

Before heading out in Air Volvo, I started the day at 6:45ish and made liberal coffee and a bagel. Then, I wrote the blog and got ready to face the day. I need to take food with my meds, so technically, I had two breakfasts.

Grammarly says I have been writing for 191 weeks straight (since before the pandemic) for those keeping scores. It also rates my grammar which has improved to be 55% better than most (improving from sad but not unexpected 35%). My other numbers are very high, but most are because I write much more than most folks. Pumping out usually a thousand words or more a day.

I use WordPress, the advanced but not business license, for my very basic website, alohawild.me, and it updates the blog when I push the Publish button. I use their legacy editor (the Java-based one fails too often for me) after working with WordPress tech support (they all but begged me to use the legacy one). I have the paid-for license for Grammarly, and it thus edits some style items. Usually, I let it push me, and I accept the Oxford comma (wincing often).

I am delighted (previously ‘happy’ but Grammarly thought ‘delighted better…hmmm) with my setup but wish the download and upload for WordPress was not another $200 a year for a business account. I manage with just the editor. I hear that there is better stuff out there to replace WordPress, but nothing so far works as well as Grammarly. It plugs into Word, too, and in the same license. It is strongly recommended, but only if you can take the ego-bruising updates.

Thanks for reading.

Yesterday (I am writing this on Sunday), we made the big loop of Beaverton to Lincoln City on the coast, going south on the coast, watching whales on the shore with binoculars in Depot Bay, and finishing with a fantastic dinner in Newport.

I got going at 6:15 and made potato pancakes from a King Arthur mix, adding only finely chopped onions and cooking in neutral oil (next time, butter!). The non-stick pan was a must. I had a bit of apple sauce and plenty of sour cream to put on them. The cakes were hot and well received. I recommend the mix–you do have to wait twenty minutes when mixing it, so it takes planning.

I returned the safety equipment, tools, winter coat, and first aid medical kits to the car. I had taken them out when the car went to the Volvo Spa but would not feel comfortable without them traveling in Oregon. There are many sections of Oregon we would travel to, and there is no cell service and nothing for miles. So the basics are back in the car.

We took the near direct angle through McMinnville and wine country to reach the coast. We passed the Evergreen Museum and water park that many folks love, and we visited with the family years ago. Yes, the one with the 747 on the roof that you jump out of and slide into a pool. Someday I will find the time to return there.

We reached the coast about noon and found Mo’s in Lincoln City, and I had the cannonball, local clam chowder in a bread bowl, while my guests had other seafood items. Next, we then headed to the beaches near Spanish Head.

There is a small river that opens into a saltwater march there. We walked about a mile to the ocean with the sea lions on the other side. Folks were spending the last Saturday of summer fishing in the sand. Crab traps were widespread, with one folk catching a huge legal Dungeness crab. Others were digging clams.

We reached the Pacific Ocean, and it was crashing three to four feet of waves on the beach. The tide was way out when we got there; there is a three-four foot tide there, and it started to come.

I was tired and sat on a log and watched the whales way out using the binoculars. I purchased them to look at the star and planets and night, so they are very strong and light. I could see the whales blow (I watched the whale-watching boats, and when they stopped, I knew I could see a whale as I focused my search in their area).

I called Susie from the beach, and she was happy to hear from me and that I was thinking of her at the beach. Susie loved our trips to the coast, but the sand was not something she could do anymore. I did push her on her walker for a bit on one beach. She loved the sights and the shops and watching the ocean from the warm and safe Air Volvo.

Next, we returned to driving, and after some planning (driving the wrong way), we managed to head south and stopped at Depot Bay. But before reaching Depot Bay, we stopped at the Devil’s Punchbowl, which is less impressive in a calm sea. I dropped off my guests and had to find parking. The area is the place for surfing, and folks in wet suits carrying boards were coming and going. I had to trudge with them up the hill. I saw about 3/4 of the way to a winery and entered. There, at The Flying Dutchman Winery, I had samples and bought two bottles of wine. I then found my guests, and they returned with me to the wine bar and had samples and were invited to drink samples in their garden with a few of the ocean.

A Depot Bay, we found a perfect parking spot, and my guest gawked, with everyone else, at the easy-to-see spouts and the backs and tails of whales. Again the boats hinted at the place to look. The whales spout and then drive back down for another five minutes to eat in the shallows (usually less than 50 feet). You usually see two spouts, with the last one usually including the must-take photo of the tail flip as the whale dives.

I stepped out of whale watching for the coast to the taffy place and got some to go. They do not have mixed bags, and I was a bit shocked to be grabbing them with my hands; I cleaned my hands with hand sanitizer to get the candy into a bag. So not a pandemic style, but still very good taffy. I then sat in the Air Volvo, AC on, and watched the whales eating taffy.

The day was hot for the coast, 72F (22.2C), and soon we had no coats on. The sun was out, and the sea sparkled at Depot Bay like a movie set. The sea was almost calm in the bay, not usual. The rolling seas are an interesting trip in a boat with the whale watchers often returning the recently enjoyed clam chowder to the sea!

We drove the lovely drive from Depot Bay to Newport, where highway 101 follows the beaches for a few miles. We found a parking spot in Newport by the tuna boats–not neat the tour section. The sea lions were there on a dock, barking and making a perfect tourist photo and annoying the local boat owners. The seals and sea lions are watchful as the waters are deep and murky in the harbor and can hide Jaws.

We do have Orcas out in the deeper waters, but the white sharks are the primary threat on the coast. Unlike on the East Coast, there is no tagging and buoy monitoring of sharks here. Knowing how many, where they travel, and sightings do not happen here on the Oregon Coast.

We discovered a top-quality restaurant across from the car, Local Ocean, and decided that we should just go with that. We were lucky and timed our request and got a table on the second floor in the corner looking over the harbor–perfect. The drinks were great. The food was perfect, and some of the best I and my guests have ever eaten. It was not inexpensive but top-notch.

I then drove home, forcing the nav to take us the more direct route of Philomath instead of reversing our course and crawling in the last weekend of summer coast traffic. We stopped at Philomatch to gas up and then drove home in the speeding traffic. Often being passed when flying Air Volvo at 75 mph! The extra-legal lane changes and folks seemly overly trusting pulling into traffic amazed my guests.

We arrived to find a crate delivered to the house upside down (the fragile makings were reversed). My guests and I carefully returned the create to proper alignment and placed it in the garage. My new 3-D printer from China has arrived! It may even be intact. I will open it on Sunday when I have a break from being a host.

I managed to get to bed at about 11ish and slept until Sunrise.

Thank you for reading. Again, my guests do not want to appear on the blog, so there are no pictures and little information about them.