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Yesterday, Thursday, was a bit of a blur of activity and bizarre weather, which I will try to relate. I was up later, after 7:30, and did not rush and had a bagel, a bread like local version, with cream cheese with liberal Equal Exchange coffee. I read my email and wrote the blog. Then, before I knew it, I was late to see Susie. Rick from Providence and physical therapy re-assessment is scheduled for 11 Friday. Because Susie missed her four weeks of PT due to Covid-19, they have to redo the assessment–frustrating.

I finally managed to board Air Volvo and get to the hummingbird house after 11. Susie was in her recliner and was delighted to see me in the morning. It was overcast, humid, and already 84F (29C)–we never get rain in August, but it sprinkled in the late afternoon. So Susie and I headed to Metzger Park next door to the hummingbird house.

The park was busy. School is starting, and a bus full of kids, each with a pullover identifying them (an intelligent teacher got those), was playing on the swings, monkey bars, and other various kid things. There was a group of folks playing basketball on the courts. A dad and one older kid were playing against him, smaller younger kids. Dad threw the ball to smaller kids who often made a basket, and I could see the older kid was learning not to hog the ball.

Our favorite swallowtail butterfly was fluttering among the cedars, but the kids had our favorite bench in the shade with the cedars. With the new high numbers for Covid-19 infections and the start of school, it is no time for Susie and me to hang out with a random sampling of school kids! So I found another bench, sat, and called Leta on the phone. Susie and Leta chatted for a while.

Soon, it was getting hot, but I took Susie for an extended walk through the neighborhood. We also explored one of the short roads to look at the houses on a flag pole lot. The heat and the humidity finally drove me to take Susie back to the hummingbird house, and we sat on the porch for a bit. Jennifer, the nurse aide, brought water for both of us.

Susie was getting sleepy, so I left with a kiss while Jennifer took Susie to her room. Air Volvo took me straight home. I had a late lunch of left-over Jambalaya, which I ate while watching some history videos on YouTube. I like the Battleship New Jersey‘s channel, with the head curator for the battleship now presenting an excellent video. He has been watching the other channels, and I can see how his editing has improved and echo other historical video channels.

I rested for a bit but could not stand that I had not finished the IKEA assembly and went to take on The Desk. Just opening the giant cardboard was a challenge. I tore it open, not wanting to damage anything with a box cutter (which I did not have anyway). It is a big desk! I then followed the instructions and only got hit in the head once when trying to assemble the legs for the table.

I put the wrong part on, but I had only set it in and slightly tightened the screws, so I soon had that corrected. I was already sweating. I wonder if there is an IKEA workout program, “Come to IKEA and assemble things and lose weight! ‘I lost ten pounds on my first table with chairs.'” There are a lot of screws to be put in with a slippery wrench, supplied, of course. After an hour of doing the IKEA mind and body stretching yoga, I had a new desk. It is lovely.

The next undone chore was to get to the Beaverton Employee Store, the dreaded BES. Yes, I know everyone loves it, but having worked for Retail IT, it just seems like going to work when I visit the BES. I try not to notice the missing product that the staff should have replenished and the price tags not nicely arranged with the price not facing the consumer. It is hard for me to enjoy the shopping experience.

My Air Force One (women’s as they had no men’s due to the usual excuse of supply chain issues) had broken apart. The material is not the same in the men’s shoe (I was shocked), and it just came apart. On the other hand, I am not exactly the target consumer for a women’s shoe, so maybe we can forgive the failure.

I found a new pair in black and white (men’s) that appealed to my IT binary thinking. I have been wearing all white for a while, so it is time for more color, well, just one. I bought them after being in a long line with BES adding cashiers as the line got very long, and put the shoes on. I tossed the box.

Next, I recycled my broken shoes and sadly got out my even older AF1, which made it through the start of the pandemic and the unexpected five-week New York City trip. “Thank you, old friends,” I thought as they were added to the regrind box at the BES. The next stop for those shoes is to become a running or play surface at some park. Not a bad ending.

After that, I tried to make dinner, Ivar’s Clam Chowder, but it tasted strange to me, and I dumped it. I had some Spanish Bar Mix and decided dinner was covered by lunch. I found my fav mix at the new grocery store Basics.

I wrote more Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure encounters in my new partially set up office in Corwin’s former bedroom. It is nice to have a workspace again. At Nike, we gave up desks unless you are a Senior Director or higher. So my only workspace is at my house. I often feel at work; I could be at Starbucks instead of at work as most meetings are still Zoom or include a Zoom contingent. The shared desk space seems to say, “work from home.” But, Nike leadership has required a return to work for most. I am trying to make it work, but mentally I find it harder to work at the office at a loaner desk on Zoom meetings all day.

I ordered a replacement service Internet service, Ziply Fiber, to replace Xfinity (Comcast), as my Internet access has again collapsed to slow speeds. I hate to change and discover how much pain a new service will bring, but Comcast is known to throttle access, and I constantly see this happen since they upgraded our local hardware. One visit from service is all I am willing to do. I tried to have the automatic reset of my modem to solve the issue, and that did not work. Time to move to a service that wants my money. Sorry, it has been twenty years with all the companies that were bought out to make Comcast. Once Ziply Fiber is installed, I will cancel everything from Xfinity–I am keeping the local phone number for now.

I read some more WW2 and hoped to have no nightmares from the mass deaths, stupidity, and lies that the book reminds me are the currency of war. A currency that was well spent in the 1930-40s.

I turned off the light and the radio; I had Alexa play Kink.FM for me while I read. While I like Kink.FM is playing increasingly oldies, and I am looking for good new Alternative Rock.

I sleep soon after the yoga of IKEA workout. I dream my usual dream of having to travel somewhere and trying to get ready. While I am glad the nightmare did not come, sometimes I get some excellent Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu (another role-playing game focusing on horror) encounters from my nightmares.

“Yes, the encounters were pre-played,” he says with a haunting look.

Some details, I continue to read the darkness that is The Second World War by Anthony Beevor. I have reached the Nazi invasion of Russia and the beginning of the mass killing of Jews, about 20% of the book, and the desire of the Nazis to starve the Slavs. The account clearly shows the intentionality of the mass murders with the Nazis planning the deaths, their numbers not later estimations, of millions by starvation. It is hard to read. It does echo our times with war, and the false rumors spread to blame Jew and spies for everything going wrong. The use of media to create violence through fear and anger is nothing new I see when reading this story of eighty years ago. 

The book is a story about the people who endured WW2. The author is also clear in his writing and documentation that many folks who committed atrocities understood what they were doing–he footnotes that. The story is about heroes and villains–a sadly human tale. 

Feel free to call or send cards. Susie resides at:

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Thank you for reading.

Going backward, I was in bed early and managed to sleep until fourish and then back to sleep. Before going to bed, I finished the project with the final protective spray of Mr. Hobby’s Mr. Super Clean Clear Gloss with UV protection. I use this expensive clear spray on figures and models when using oil paints to highlight or even show wear. It protects the underlying paint and decal work (the decals must be treated with a decal setting solution before being exposed to a solvent-based glaze).

I also finished another encounter in the Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure I am writing. ‘Encounters’ are literally where the player characters encounter a challenge. I have continued to model the structure after the Egyptian tombs I have read about and added a little Hollywood movie stuff with the D&D magic and monsters. I have avoided stealing from previous adventures I have played or written, but I put in one classic 1970s trap because it fit the theme but placed many ways to avoid the full damage and thus making the trap more interactive. When playing D&D, you have to avoid long sections where the person running the adventure, the Dungeon Master (DM), is talking and handing out damage. It is a roleplaying game, and you need to allow roleplaying.

I wrote more here and there all day when I had a break at home. I want to finish the first part of the adventure so I can start on the next part. The Egyptian theme is just the start of a quest.

Before that, I stopped by McDonald’s and got a hot fudge sundae and fries. I had skipped dinner, and it was cooling down to just 95F (35C), so a sundae seemed to fit the day, and well, the fries are always good.

I had come from the hot First United Methodist Church in Beaverton. Somehow the church sanctuary was warmer than the air outside! The choir was practicing for Sunday, and Zophia, Dondrea’s girl, was there to hang out. I brought some board games and taught Zophia two new games.

We first played Azul, an enjoyable game with actual miniature tiles and one of the best games available according to BoardGameGeek (and running about $35 or less, it is one of the cheapest too). The game takes a play-through to learn, and Zophia had it down by the completion of the first game, only thirty minutes including the teach; again, an excellent game. I was not playing well in the second game, and Zophia smoked me. She got two rows of five in the last scoring, yikes. She liked Azul.

Next, I learned that young folk like Zophia only know Star Trek from the more recent movies. The board game Star Trek Panic is set in the original TV show. The iconography, challenges, and pictures were lost on Zophia as they all refer to ancient (to her) TV reruns. But, the panic system has a cardboard model of the USS Enterprise that gets cardboard explosions put on it when hit. It looks spectacular. It is also cooperative with Zophia playing Spock and I playing Scottie, and we barely survived the two practice missions.

The game is from 2016 and was a big splash when it came out as Paramount supported the game’s creation and allowed photos from the TV show to be incorporated into the game. Star Trek Panic is a remaking of Castle Panic, where the players defend a cardboard castle from invaders, and like the Star Trek game, the Cardboard walls come down as the castle is damaged. I also discovered, as I said above, that the theme is aging poorly as younger folks do not know the original 1960s TV show.

Aside: The movie Dune had produced one new game and reprinted the original (and somewhat insane) Avalon Hill Dune board game, even with a special version incorporating art and pictures from the new movie. Dune Imperium is an excellent balanced board game. And the Dune board game is not, but its insane system is a treat to play for a few hours with the right six people all plotting to win and to ensure that “the spice must flow.” As you would imagine, the only complaint is that Dune Imperium is too good of a game, and the theme is lost in the play, while Dune is all theme, and good strategy might not mean you will win and even includes a crazy betrayal mechanism.

Returning to the narrative, Choir practice finished in the sweltering church, and we packed up. Azul was a hit, and so was The Forbidden Island last time.

Moving back in time, I had lunch at Abhiruchi Indian Cusine. They still do not have their buffet running, but they have a special that is cups of what you would find on the buffet. It was delicious and brought back many pre-pandemic memories. It was too much for lunch, and as I said, I skipped dinner. I had unsweetened hot chia.

Skipping mundane details such as traffic and remembering to not use my phone when sitting in traffic next to a Beaverton Police car, I spent an hour with Susie at hummingbird house. I cut my visit short as I did not want to stress my back. Susie was in her recliner when I reached there. She was ready when I arrived and decided she would love a visit to the park next door. She loves getting roses, and Mister Lincoln, a hybrid tea rose I planted last year, had a nice bud that I cut for Susie.

We enjoyed the park and stopped by the cedars and saw the same, I believe, swallowtail butterfly still fluttering around the trees. I have seen the butterfly for weeks now. But, according to my research, it is a Methuselah now as it should only live two-week.

We called Susie’s mother, Leta, Zorida, and my mother, Barb. Susie had an excellent time chatting with everyone while we enjoyed the last cool of the day (it would be over 100F/37.6C in most of the area by 4PM). Susie had a happy time and truly loves going outside. Jennifer had Susie on the porch the morning before Air Volvo arrived, and she had just put Susie in the recliner before I came.

Moving to the start of the day, I was up late at 7:30, finally sleeping in, wrote the blog, and was late seeing Susie after 11ish. I had liberal coffee and a croissant I bought at Basics yesterday. It is a bread-like industrial product that would scandalize a Frenchman.

Thank you for reading. It is nice to finally unwind this week from work and many of the travails that have been my life for the last year. It is tough when the pandemic is just a background issue compared to the other issue. Sleep is finally returning, and the back pain is fading. It was a good day.

Tuesday started out without much back pain at about 7ish. I had an appointment with a CPA today to better understand my tax situation. If there were tax efficiencies, I could incorporate into my paying all of the medical bills totaling over $8,000 a month. So it was a leisurely morning with me writing the blog and working on a project for a gift. The project is mainly done and just needs a few treatments of decal solvent to finish the look.

Breakfast was liberal Fare Trade coffee made in a French press as it is just for me. Next, I had cereal with a sliced banana. I wrote the blog while eating. Next, I showered and dressed. Lastly, I collected the notes, expenses summaries, copies of bills, all my statements, a copy of my 2021 tax return, and questions I wrote last night. I had arranged all of this in a notebook punching the paper to stay on the three rings.

Air Volvo had me in Hillsboro twenty minutes early, and I spent the extra time walking the streets looking at the changes. A building was lost to fire and is now just an empty hole; another building is gutted–the former food joint. Also, the old bank building is gone and is being replaced by an apartment building–urban living. It appears that food joints are not that well as Subway closed and the other food places are missing. A group of food carts shows that Hillsboro is following the new food trend.

The CPA, Darren, had me stand behind a glass shield after I arrived on time. I felt it was more of a bank transaction than sharing what I was looking for, but I went with it. We discussed tax issues, and Darren clarified that he was not licensed for financial planning, so I left the retirement questions unasked.

He discovered missed local 2021 taxes, after looking at my 2021 forms, that I had missed paying the Tri-Met tax. He could file a correction for me for $55, and the tax would be about $1,000 with penalties, ugh. He will do that for me, and I will pick it up next week. Darren also checked my pay stubs (I had those too for the last three months) and saw that Nike was withholding the Tri-Met tax, so there is no issue for 2022.

We also went over the main issue, and he said I could make some changes to write off my medical expenses after excluding those I paid with the 125 before tax saving program at Nike and after excluding 7.5% of my income worth of expenses. I was unsure if this was possible as there are strange limits now in place after the Trump tax cut (which increased my annual taxes by $3,000 after I reached the new limits for writing off local taxes called SALT). Darren was sure there were no limits and that I could improve my tax efficiency. He agreed that I have to be careful selling stock and options to pay for medical expenses as this increases my income, which moves the amount excluded higher.

I have a burden of record keeping for the medical expenses that I had already taken on. Therefore, I must carefully document the expenses and those paid by the 125 programs. Previously, I covered over $15,000 a month in medical expenses with Susie in a nursing home and me in cancer treatments; I will have to get documentation for those expenses when I was down with chemotherapy in the first part of 2022. Busy. Busy.

I thank Darren for his help. We also discussed and dismissed the idea of renting the house, and he will check if the electric car tax rebate is really extended–nobody is sure, he told me. No rush for me as I am still only dreaming of replacing the gas-using Air Volvo with the VW Van Electric in 2023-2024. I will have Darren do my taxes next year as we enjoy this new set of deductions together.

After that, I was tempted to have lunch in Hillsboro at their carts but instead headed home. Zorida was not available for lunch or dinner, so my plans were dinner in. I had the last of the Mediterranean pizza for lunch. It was still good.

While eating on the deck, I spotted yellow jacket wasps flying in and out of the ivy patch near the deck. I have a nest near the deck, yikes! I had bought a wasp trap earlier for when the wasps became an issue and followed the directions and hung it up on the pine tree in the far corner of the backyard. I also threw a sizeable spare tile over the ivy, and the yellow jackets swarmed- definitely a nest. I then watered the nest for ten minutes. Spraying when any of the venom-carrying nasties got close. I will continue to water them and hope to make them go away.

I am not allergic, but I managed to walk over a nest as a little kid and have disliked them ever since. So I will try not to go Ahab on them, but I do not want them near the deck!

I headed to the hummingbird house have checked that one wasp, a dreaded yellow jacket, was in the trap. It was working. The swarm was still a buzz after their washing. The traffic was not as bad as yesterday, and I was soon at the facility, parking in the seldom used parking for the basketball and tennis courts of Metzger Park.

Susie was still in bed. Jennifer said that Susie was not feeling well and went to bed after eating breakfast, and Susie also skipped lunch. Susie had a hectic day yesterday and seemed worn out.

Susie was thrilled to see me and woke up for me. She talked to her mother on my iPhone for a while, and I also covered the tax plan with Leta. Susie repeatedly apologized for the expenses–I reassured her that it was OK.

Susie decided to get out of bed, hop into the wheelchair, and go for a spin the Metzger Park and the local area. Jennifer, the live-in nurse aide, got Susie arranged, and we headed out. Susie loves getting out.

I took Susie down the street and through Metzger Park from the rear entrance. We soon reached the cedars that Susie loves. There is full shade and the peaceful. We watched an Oregon swallowtail butterfly fly through the area. This is not the same insect in the east, but a special Oregon-only one–likely somehow weird. However, it does feed on dragon wormwood in caterpillar form, suggesting it fits here.

We spent about an hour outside and then returned to the hummingbird house. Susie decided to still skip lunch and rest some more. So I left with a few kisses.

My back was beginning to hurt. I usually don’t have these problems. I suspect the strain of moving the grill did something, and I have not slowed down all week, and I may have been stressing my back more than I know. I stopped by Rite Aide, now the one miles away from my house as our local one closed, to pick up a prescription.

I tried the new Basics grocery store next door to the Rite Aide. I picked up frozen shrimp, some locally made sausage, and some Malbec wine on special. I returned home with the pain growing. I could just cook the sausage and some thawed sausage on the grill–the yellow jackets stayed away from the smoke and heat. I then painfully cut up the sausage and made jambalaya from a box. I added the shrimp and green beans (from the freezer) and let it all cook while I rested, trying to get my back to stop hurting.

While eating dinner, I watched most of the newest Matrix movie on my Apple. It was good. When I started to cook, the wine was opened, and I had a few more glasses, and between the light painkillers, the excellent food, and the wine–time for a nap.

The pain faded as I did, and I was not back awake until 9:30, having rested for a few hours. I could work now and did some writing and a few items on the project that needed a minor fix. I went to bed after midnight.

 

 

Monday started with me sleeping to 7:30ish. My first appointment with Susie’s physical therapy was 1PM, so I was not in the least rushed. I had yogurt and banana with liberal coffee that I have been drinking since President Trump’s election. I tried to not be too depressed from the news, but I am reading about people wanting to kill people after the search of the former’s president home. That politicians are threatening revenge if their political party rules. It all sounds so 1930s to me. Ugly.

Putting aside the politics of frightening words, I continued with my leisurely morning by writing some more on my Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure. I am over 6,000 words and have about six encounters done. I have started the second level.

The theme for this part of the adventure is Egyptian mummies–the 1920s movie version. I have remembered the KV5 tomb while building my imaginary complex found in real Egypt, and I recommend The Lost Tomb and various Internet sources on KV5 by Kent R. Weeks.

Time, on your day off, just flies by, and soon I was rushing. As I was leaving, I met one of the new neighbors next door, Lauren. They moved last week and told me they wanted a single-level house, I understand, and that her husband, Jason, will be home most days; he is a partially disabled veteran.

Of course, construction slows my travels to a forty-five-minute trip instead of my usual twenty to get to the hummingbird house. Susie is already with the new PT person, Tracy, and Tracy comments that Susie’s legs are strong and was surprised that she is not doing more standing. Tracy and Susie do six stands, and Susie can carry her weight on her legs. Susie is unstable standing, but she can do it. Tracy suggests a small standing frame (I have seen these at the gym for PT and OT) and a peddle for Susie to work her legs and also to better connect her brain to her movements. Tracy thinks Susie can get better with lots of work and time. All excellent news.

Jennifer, the nurse aide, also listened to some of the suggestions. We all agree to do what is best and safe for Susie. Tracy left, and Rick will be by this week to re-evaluate Susie after the Covid. I was unhappy with the non-visit with Rick as we have only so many visits as I would prefer them to focus on PT and not paperwork. Medical paperwork stuff is always frustrating.

Susie was ready to visit the park, Metzger Park, next door. The park was not that busy, with only one picnic on a Monday morning; back-to-school was getting going. The usual runners and dogs on leashes were out.

I believe the kids are out getting supplies and clothing for school. I hated it when I was a kid, except I would get a new notebook and often a new briefcase (I was never a backpack kid) with all sorts of pockets and interesting separators. Then, towards the end of my school years, I would start turning in my assignments printed off a dot matrix printer using a new thing called a Word Processor program. It had a spell checker, which was close to a miracle to me, but I soon learned (the hard way) that you really need to know that a word is correct before adding it to the dictionary!

Returning to my story, Susie and I enjoyed the park for nearly an hour. There, we called her mother, Leta, and chatted. We also connected with Zorida and talked to her for a short time. We will try to connect with Zorida, who is moving to Texas soon before she heads to the Lone Star state.

Evan, who left work early, showed up at the park and kept us company for the trip around the park.

Susie was tired after the PT and the trip to the park, and I said my goodbyes with a kiss. Then, Jennifer took Susie to her room to nap.

Feel free to call or send cards. Susie resides at:

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Evan found himself volunteering to help me return my grill to the house. It was still at First United Methodist Church in Beaverton, and we stopped there and loaded it up. Unfortunately, I got caught in a traffic jam, and a train blocked progress on my way back. Evan waited twenty minutes for me. We then managed to unload the grill and get it back on the deck without injury or scratching the paint on Air Volvo.

We headed to The 649 Taphouse in Aloha. We had not been back in months. It was unchanged. I had a BLT and shared some chips and guacamole dip with Evan. We had a few drinks as it was still early, and Evan did not want to face rush hour traffic on his return to Portland. Evan resides in Portland.

I needed to start back on my project for Natasha’s graduation present at the house, so we headed there. Evan watched NetFlix while I worked with decals; my new decal paper was delivered today, as expected. I failed on my first attempt as the design was too light against the wood background. I reprinted the map, and this time I was more successful. It looks nice.

Decal paper is a coated paper that an inkjet printer, like what I have, can print an image on it. You must then spray a sealer on the surface to lock in the color as the ink is water soluble. If you over-manipulate the decal or do not use enough sealer, the broken coating or decal material will let the water reach the ink. Your design will literally begin to float away. I had a bit of that, but it seemed to make the decal look older, which worked for me.

Also, there are two types of decal paper: clear and white. I use clear, but you must remember that my inkjet does not print white; that is the lack of ink. Thus, I paint a small dot of white on figures and other items and cover that with the decal–you don’t even know there is paint. White decal paper requires a white background, careful trimming to just show the design, or some paint to cover the unneeded white. As I am always doing tiny work, I generally use transparent.

Next, and I know I am going on and on, is the solvent. There is a decal setting fluid that you carefully apply according to instructions. This will cause the decal to resolve into the surface and follow contours; it looks like it is painted and not a film. Lastly, you need to coat the surface with a clear protective spray. When done well, it takes a look to a new level.

Besides all of this insanely detailed work, I was organizing my paper and questions for the CPA I am visiting on Tuesday. So a detailed evening for me. Evan headed out after it got later. I grabbed a chicken sandwich from Popeyes later in the evening as I had forgotten to eat, and my pills are not friendly on an empty stomach.

I got to bed about 11ish; where did the time go? I rolled over maybe once and was dead asleep. I dreamed a lot.

Thanks for reading.

The morning started with me waking at about 6:15, finally being able to sleep through the sunrise. Also, we are on the other side of the solstice, so dawn is moving later in the morning. The alarm woke me, and I started on a rushed, if not crazy, morning. I started writing the blog as I was not home, as usual, on Saturday night until late. I also had to be at the church, First United Methodist in Beaverton, at 9ish to help set up the barbeque today to celebrate our new pastor, Pastor Ken, joining as the new 1/2-time pastor. So I was rushing through the writing, breakfast of yogurt with liberal coffee, and getting ready. I was at the church in Air Volvo without incident, carrying a propane tank.

I am brittle from the chemotherapy, so I must be careful what I carry and do. It was strange to have folks over 70+ telling me to sit down while they moved things, but it was the right thing to do. I did carry chairs and opened doors. I recruited some more help here and there, and Zophia helped me with the cooking.

Ben came with another grill, and we got that out of his pick-up. He had a new propane tank, and I had brought one that was at least 1/2 full. It was enough. We tested both grills after moving them (I moved mine to the church on Friday). Everything was working. I had replaced the grill plates on mine, and that helped.

The usual put the table there, no put it there, no back to over there, and put table cloths (plastic). We put up two tents that unfolded with a few lightly pinched fingers and hands. Tables were set up inside too.

We returned to our regular pews and enjoyed the church service. Pastor Ken and family were there, as were many folks I have not seen since the pandemic; over fifty folks came. Again, more than we have seen since the pandemic lockdown. Most folks, as is the habit at our church, wore masks.

Ken is a bible historian and has visited the Holy Land. He includes photos he has of the Holy Land when he presents. He shared his belief that Jesus’s stay in the desert and the temptations increased Jesus’s compassion for us. Pastor Ken sees suffering as making you harder or kinder. He also noticed that in Jesus’s quote from Isaiah, he left out the punishment phrase. Jesus, in Pastor Ken’s thinking, only focused on kindness and forgiveness.

After all the preparation, we left the service after the sermon and started the grill (which lit without incident) and began to grill. Ben did the hamburgers while I did the hot dogs. My cooking is just rolling the dogs over a hot grill to prevent them from burning on one side and being less cooked on the other side (these were already cooked all-beef dogs). The hamburgers were still frozen, so they took longer to cook (and did not fall apart or need to be pressed on the grill); I got to cook about six of those too when I finished the dogs. I had minor burns on the dogs, but nothing charred. Zophia showed up at the end, did a couple of flips of the burgers for practice, and then helped me unload the grill.

I got another friend to help with the logistics; he brought out lots of the food and helped fill in here and there. Once you get going, there is lots of help.

Pastor Ken with Anne & Wayne’s cake.

I had a test dog, good, and then later a burger and another dog with a bun this time. The sides were pot luck and a nice mix. Later a cake appeared with ice cream, thanking Rev. Anne and Dr. WayneWeld-Martin for filling in as pastors during the pandemic. Finally, as usual with Methodist things, we began the teardown, which went easier and faster with all the folks than the setup. I got some younger folk to help Ben reload his truck with his grill.

After most of the work was done, I left and drove the propane tank directly home; nothing I wanted in Air Volvo for very long. After pulling it out of the back seat–wedged between seats to prevent the tank (I have put them in the back and then open the gate and have the tank roll out and bounce on the ground–seeing a propane tank bounce, while very scary, is better than not see it).

I then drove Air Volvo to hummingbird house to see Susie, but it was the mid-afternoon, Susie’s usual nap time. So I called ahead; Rachel was the nurse aide on Sunday morning and said Susie was lying down. When I got there, Susie was relaxing and decided it was a good idea to just rest today. However, I was worn out, so I was going to object to a simple visit today.

I stayed long enough to call Leta, Susie’s mother, on FaceTime and to listen to some music. Then, I explained to Rachel how to run our setup for Alexa (you use the keyword ‘Echo’ to get its attention).

I headed home and rested a bit. I also started on my revisions of an old item for Natasha’s graduation present–now Doctor Natasha. I did some cleaning and repairs. I plan a few updates too. But no details until it is in the doctor’s hands.

I wrote until midnight on my Dungeons and Dragon 5E adventure. I had to let the glue harden on the upgrades I had made to the item for Tasha. I finally headed to bed and fell immediately fell asleep. I ordered one more thing that, luckily, is a next-day delivery from Amazon.

Feel free to call or send cards. Susie resides at:

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Aside: I was listening to the stage version of Moulin Rogue! while writing the blog, I am always amazed by the singing by Tony-nominated Karen Olivio (she is no longer on Broadway after a dispute with the allegations against a producer was not addressed). Last October, I saw her replacement, Natalie Mendoza, and she was excellent and owned it too. Here is the song where you can hear Katen own the piece from the original Boardway recording: Sparkling Diamond.