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I slept until after 7 and was going slow as my first item was the church service at 10:30. No reason to rush. I had breakfast, peanut butter toast and apple sauce with coffee, and just went slow. I read my email and work email. I also have a doctor’s appointment with my chemotherapy folks on Monday afternoon, and I did the online paperwork for that. I also wrote a note to Susie’s doctor about her move to the new place and her need for a smaller wheelchair (her feet do not touch the floor). Finally, I shower and dress in a white shirt and tie (picking an old school banker’s tie).

Air Volvo and I travel without incident to the church in Beaverton near the fountain, First United Methodist Church, though I would suggest there is nothing “United” at the moment with the Methodist. The church is about to break apart over gay rights: see news article here.

It was nice to see the folks and attend a worship service. Unfortunately, the coffee hour did not happen after church, as the infection rates for Covid-19 are climbing in our area.

After church, I did join Dr.Rev. Wayne and Rev. Anne Weld-Martin for lunch. Red Robin was my choice, but it was a bit chaotic. The staff is critically short, and there is only one waiter, and that gal is in training. I managed to order a burger, thinking that anything else was asking for a challenge for the cooking staff, as did Anne and Wayne. We had lots of fries and salads. It all was good.

Next, I waved goodbye to Anne and Wayne and headed to see Susie in Portland (really Tigard, just outside Beaverton). It was only fifteen minutes to the new place from Red Robin. Susie was in her room watching some animal program on her new TV. We are still trying to figure out the cable for her.

We spent some time calling Susie’s mother, Leta, and her sister Barb. I moved Susie outside, and we spent some time just sitting and enjoying the 70F+ temperatures (21C+). The porch overlooks Metzger park and has a nice small lawn with many bird feeders. It was pleasant to just sit outside. Oregon is seldom warm and dry in May!

I left as they moved Susie to a recliner; apparently, Susie has one to use now. I kissed her goodbye and headed to Safeway. There I picked up a few items we needed. There are a few masked shoppers in Safeway, but most folks were unmasked.

I returned to the Volvo Cave, unloaded, and then rested. I also worked on my balloon model a bit. I was wrapping model-sized rope around the basket. I still have quite a ways to go on the basket.

I made a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner and ate it on the deck; it was a lovely day. I am, of course, sneezing, and my eyes are burning from the pollen. The clouds started to come in as the sun went down. I told Corwin that the clouds were Monday coming towards us. He laughed.

I nearly finished the newly published book on the loss of the steamer Sultana. The author has been correcting the story of the wreck from original sources and it has been a very interesting book; a page-turner for me who loves Civil War and shipwreck history.

The wreck, surprisingly buried in a farmer’s field, was identified a few years ago. The wreck has been left alone after the initial investigations in the 1860s and the river slowly buried it and then changed course away from it. It is one of the shipwrecks I wanted to find when I was in high school, but I would never have guessed it is buried under a soybean field in Arkansas.

I have been reading and writing the blog for the evening. Not a very interesting day, but maybe it is nice to have an easy day for once.

Susie resides at:

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Going backward, I enjoyed a rest after saying goodbye to Evan and Mariah at the Bargarten Bavarian Social Haus in Beaverton. Evan and I had dessert there and another drink. Mariah, who joined us late for dinner, had dinner. Evan and I met Mariah at a Mexican place and then skipped over for German.

Evan and I had Mexican food for dinner after visiting Susie for just a short time, my second visit today. I dropped off some socks for her (somehow, we had no socks for her), and we saw her for a few moments as dinner started. I helped feed Susie a bit and then gave Evan a tour of the place. Again, it was just a short visit to drop off socks and for Evan to see Susie and the new location.

I had been ill from lunch. I had to stay by the toilet for a bit as I had the same problem I had last Saturday. Lunch, kebobs, had no settled, and I was soon emptied out. Ugh!

Before that problem started, I stopped by the gaming store Rainy Day Games and picked up the Castle Amber re-write for the current 5E version of Dungeons and Dragons. This Castle Amber publication is an old Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) adventure published in the 1980s by TSR that I have run a few times; I still have the original version. The last time we tried out the old school system, maybe five years ago or more, which is based on the original Advanced D&D of the 1970s (often called now OSRIC), the adventure Caste Amber ended the experiment–I, as the OSRIC Dungeon Master, killed the whole party. The adventure is unforgiving, like many of the old stuff (and not always logical or internally consistent), and we ended our experiment with OSRIC, as we wanted something that did not waste playtime by killing off the adventures.

The new version of Castle Amber is part of a republication scheme for the old adventures; the inch-thick book contains the AD&D original work and then expands it to fit the new rules and makes some minor corrections. So it is strange that the old AD&D adventure now expands into hundreds of pages to align with all the new rules and requirements for fluff text now the standard.

Aside: Despite the name “Amber,” this is not related to Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber books.

I purchased the revised Caste Amber as I have signed up for the first Judges Guild publication to be done the same way, The Dark Tower Accursed By Set. I wanted to read how they handled the conversion to 5E. For the most part, they kept the story and chaotic nature of the adventure intact. They did suggest the DM play the Amber family members as partially insane and that fits better I think. I am thus looking forward to seeing the new Dark Tower and applied for the top version on Kickstart, including matching miniatures (that have to be painted).

I plan, someday, to play the Dark Tower again in a 5E setting, having owned the original and played it once. It is a campaign sized adventure now. Someday I will find the time to prepare it and play it for six months or so. Someday!

Returning to the narrative, I was at Susie’s new place at 9:20ish, the first time on Saturday. It is only a twenty-minute drive if I drive through Beaverton using Hall Boulevard. I took my laptop, a screen, popcorn, and various cables and dishes. Susie was just finishing breakfast when I got there and I had a cup of coffee while waiting, Michelle and Jenifer were there in the morning. I set up in the Activity Room and Susie and I watched the whole of SInging in the Rain film. It is a fav for both of us and is just under two hours long.

Leta called and I paused the movie, and Susie and she talked for a while on my iPhone using FaceTime.

Susie seemed happy and comfortable with her new place.

I also dropped off the payment for the rest of the month. It is $7400 or so a month for Susie, including some extra care she will need. This is not covered by insurance. Home Health, which is covered by insurance, should soon be coming to help Susie with some Rehab. Now that Susie is “home,” she can have more home-based rehab.

It took only twenty minutes for Air Volvo to reach the new place, Hummingbird House:

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

The morning started at about 7AM. I had breakfast of apple sauce and some peanut butter toast with coffee. I was tired when I started and, with the toilet trips, and still run down today.

Thanks again for reading.

 

Today I started at 6:15 with me getting up a few minutes after the alarm. I had taken the day off from the shoe company when I learned that Susie could move on Friday. She leaves the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center and starts in adult foster care at Allegiance Senior Care’s Hummingbird House. I planned to be there in Forest Grove at 9ish to assist with the transfer by packing and doing whatever paperwork they had for me.

I managed coffee, some food, and my pills. Next, I read my email and even my work email and texts. So far, there were no issues for me at the shoe company, and I then got a shower and dressed. I was out about 8:45ish.

The trip to Forest Grove in Air Volvo, with our red-colored transfer wheelchair in the back. I stopped by Safeway, bought two bouquets of flowers, and used the DIY cash registers without issues, was uneventful. I brought some bags to hold any items I needed to pack–like the second vase for flowers I forgot was in Susie’s room.

Sarah with Susie in Forest Grove.

Soon I was packing Susie’s room and carrying her clothing to Air Volvo after bringing in the transfer wheelchair. I got three bags and two loads of clothing into the cargo area of Air Volvo. We got prescriptions and even the unfinished drugs to take with us.

I brought Terry, Susie’s roommate for these past months, one of the sets of flowers and had her pick a vase to keep. I then placed the flowers for her in her new vase. Something to remember us!

We waited just a short time, and the cab was there to transfer Susie. The goodbyes and soon Susie has been whisked away. The nurses and nursing aides are sad to lose her as a patient, but I thank them for making this possible today. We will miss the Forest Grove folks.

Forest Grove facility.

Soon Susie is at the Hummingbird Home just in Tigard (with a Portland address). Michelle Nixon and Jennifer are there to receive Susie. I got to carry in her stuff and supply a vase for the other set of flowers I brought. These are for Susie for the new facility.

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Susie gets to see her new private room with a view of Metzger Park. She gets a tour of Hummingbird House, and Michelle and Jenifer make Susie comfortable. Susie gets to sit on the sofa, watch some news, and has a few swallows of soup for lunch before heading to her room for some rest.

Once Susie is resting, I head out with a kiss goodbye from Susie.

I head to Beaverton for lunch and for a break. I cannot describe the relief to have Susie finally in Foster Care. It is terrific that Susie can be safe in a home setting with 7/24 coverage. I was also exhausted from yesterday and all the packing and moving for today.

I pick up a magazine at Powell’s Books in Beaverton and then have lunch at Pastini. This one, while part of a change, often has better food. I ordered a glass of wine and chatted with the waiter about greek gods; apparently, the gal that is my waiter is still in college and thinking about being a nurse but enjoyed a class on mythology. I had commented on how heavy the plates were, Vulcanized, and we got on the subject of the gods. I suggested she could also consider international trade as she liked the idea of a traveling nurse, and she liked that idea too. I had a glass of their pinot.

The food was only average today.

I went home and took a nap. I later got pics from Alliegence with Susie up and about after her nap, and she looked happy. Later, I went to Wildwood Taphouse and had a beer and a bowl of spicy mix with nuts and played Nemo’s War, a solo board game. This time I was overly aggressive and got Captain Nemo killed and lost automatically, but I did better, I thought. It did not help that I rolled poorly and failed four tests in a row.

I usually play in Portland with friends on Friday night, but Covid-19 exposure has put that on hold for a week.

I am so relieved that we finally have Susie settled in her new place. I am tired and staggered but happy.

Today was a chaotic day, and I knew it would be that way. And as often happens when you face such a mess, you make simple mistakes that work out. I awoke at 6:20, wondering why my alarm on my phone never went off; it was not enabled. Oops.

I managed to read the emails and slack messages and then get dressed and to work a bit late, just after 8. As formal as I get now, I was wearing a white shirt with a tie covered by my sweater. I was invited to a memorial for Felicia Summerfield in the afternoon, a friend at work who passed away from cancer during the pandemic; we could finally meet and say goodbye. Sometimes, Felicia was a bit formal, so I knew she would love the tie and shirt.

Felicia designed Nike’s current purchasing and inventory systems, all of them for the world. Felicia was also an expert on Brazil. I miss her. I would wish to tell her how we converted her purchase orders to the new system using SAP’s Migration Cockpit for China and how we are handling inventory. It would be nice to demo the conversion for her and maybe have her see the fantastic work we did over the last five years to make it work. I miss hearing her voice on the Zoom calls, which I used to hear on the old phone bridges for our previous meetings before she fell ill. Her voice to me is Nike’s purchasing and inventory system, and I still listen to it in my mind when we discuss purchasing.

See Felicia’s obituary here.

I enjoy a few meetings in the morning and a few crises of the moment. I then head out to Forest Grove to see Susie. I have a few bags to carry in to pack away more items. I get there about 10:30 and start packing and talking to Susie about her move. Terry, her roommate, is sad to lose Susie as they have worked well together.

I speak to the folks at the facility in Forest Grove. They are finally getting organized and ready for Susie’s exit to Allegiance Senior Care, Adult Foster Care Home, 9925 SW 82nd. Ave., Portland, Oregon 97223. The house phone there is 503 246-4116. I learn later that the bed and wheelchair have arrived in Portland. Susie can exit on Friday–I select the time of 10:15 to transport Susie. I will have to be there and bring a transfer wheelchair that I got when it was apparent Susie would need one for our trip to New York City last year. I took the day, Friday, off.

With two bags filled and carrying a kite (a butterfly), I head out with a kiss from Susie. I am not headed to work yet. There is much to do. I drive back to Beaverton, stop at the Best Buy, and find a person to help me purchase a most excellent 32″ flat-screen TV for Susie and an Echo Dot.

I then meet Scott for lunch. We met for lunch once a week for years until the pandemic and cancer brought that to a halt for a while. While we caught up a bit, we also are always looking for new innovations to try at Nike, and we spent the lunch talking about opportunities (none I can write about here). It was good to talk.

I then drive, again not to work, but to the Portland address of Allegiance’s Hummingbird House–that is its name. Jennifer is there, and the residents are having soup for lunch. I unload and assemble some of the decorations and the electronics for Susie in her new private room. The cable is not set up in Susie’s room yet, but I unboxed the TV and got it running. I also programmed the Amazon Echo Dot to connect to my account and use the local WiFi. It took me 30-minutes to discover that you renamed Alexa to Echo just asking for the change. We use the word “Echo” at the house to talk to an Echo Dot. So Susie can just say, “Echo! Call Michael,” the device will then walk her through calling me. If asked, it will play music for Susie, and it has a good speaker. I hung up the butterfly kite using nondamaging hooks that Susie’s sister bought on her last trip here and a hung few other knick-knacks. The room is starting to look a bit homier.

I will likely check if I can replace the lights in the room later to be Echo controlled. That way, Susie can just ask Echo to turn on/off the lights or have them at 50%. This prevents Susie from walking in the dark to turn on or off the lights.

I left and finally returned to work. I then took Friday off and checked if I was needed. The build of MDG was moving forward, one of my systems, and they had worked out the sequencing issues from what I could tell.

I next headed to the Rock Creek Country Club for the memorial, and I was one of the early folks. The memorial was a dinner party of sorts with drinks. Sliders and high tea snacks remembered our friend Felicia’s favs. Friends and many retired Nike folks came, and I talked a lot about old systems. It was just a nice party, something Felicia loved, with folks just talking and being happy to see each other (some retired, others in new jobs, and some just separated by the pandemic). Just a tiny bit of sad but primarily happy stories of what folks are doing or memories of Felicia and her “high tea.”

The day’s stress and the standing for a long time, not good for me, had me staggered by 5ish. I tire easily and just had a bit of food and only water. Time to take Air Volvo home. I was soon home. Corwin came in and then let me sleep. I awoke about 7ish and made a simple dinner of potato skins with cheese and bacon and stuffed papers (poppers). All from the freezer (Glenda should be smiling in North Carolina) and easy to make.

I am still staggering, so I will be careful tonight. I just sat down and wrote the blog. Corwin put out the trash and recycling, again following all of Glenda’s updates on recycling.

I wrote a note to Allegiance on Susie’s food options and included a few pictures.

Here is one of the pics. Susie at Adult Nationals in 2008:

The morning started at 6:15, with me ignoring the alarm for 15 minutes. Then, I got going, had some food, and took my pills. I managed to reach my office building at about 8ish. I had a few meetings in the morning.

I then slipped out of the shoe company to Alliegence Senoir Care, LLC, Adult Foster Care Home, found at 9925 SW 82nd. Ave., Portland, dropped off clothing, some stuffed animals, and blankets and put them in Susie’s room there. There still is no bed, but there is a dresser and bed stand. Jennifer was happy to see me (I think that is the correct name), and I said hello to the residents who were still completing breakfast. The trip took less than an hour, and my boss, Brad, was surprised by how soon I was back.

While driving on the messy 217 with construction everywhere, I was surprised on the drive when all the Volvo alarms went off. I was shocked to see other vehicles were diving to the shoulder. Someone had slammed their brakes on 217 and nearly caused a cascading pile-up. Air Volvo spotted the slowing cars and started to brake as I steered the car, now aware of the issue, to the shoulder and then slammed the brakes (with Air Volvo having started it), thus avoiding being rear-ended by diving into the shoulder. I had not seen the initial issue as the pickup in front of me had dim brake lights! However, air Volvo’s constant crash avoidance radar system detected the risk, sent out the polite trolly bell panic sound, and started pressing the brake for me. Air Volvo saved me from an unpleasant accident.

Returning to work without any more incidents, I grabbed the free lunch. Nike is still buying us lunch to celebrate us coming back to the office. I had the German food offered today, a brat with the works. I rationalized that I should have a brat as our software, SAP, is German.

After eating lunch and answering a few crises of the monument, I headed out to Forest Grove. I took the highway and soon was in Forest Grove and picked up some ice cream, getting three cups, one for Susie, Terry, and me. After lunch, Susie and Terry (Susie’s roommate) was still eating her lunch. Susie ate most of her ice cream. We did call Susie’s mother on my iPhone using FaceTime.

While Susie and Leta, Susie’s mother, chatted, I went and talked to Dan, the Administrator for the facility. He apologized for their recent miscues and promised to make the remaining days good and to have Susie ready to move and provide transportation when we have a final move day.

Susie and Leta were surprised by the length of my absence, but I explained that I arranged for Susie’s move with the Administrator. We said goodbye to Leta, and I packed up the loose items from Susie’s room. I will be packing her stuff each day until she leaves. Terry is sorry to see her go.

I kissed Susie goodbye and forgot to take a picture for today.

I returned to the Volvo Cave without any more trolly bells from Air Volvo. I decided to work from home for the rest of the day as  I had enough driving; also, I was on call for the Master Data Governance SAP system upgrade. So I watched for that and followed along on email and Slack for the afternoon at home.

I did rest a bit at 4ish as I still tire easily, and the driving and stress of Susie’s move had me staggered.

I got going again at about 4:45 and started dinner. Frozen meatballs, Glenda should be pleased I used another item in the freezer and used pasta and pasta sauce in the pantry. I baked the meatballs–slicing them up after they were hot and baking them again. I heated the North African style sauce (a fav). I boiled up some good-quality orcchiette pasta. As the flavors are intense, I put the meatball pieces in a bowl, then plain pasta, and then cover with the capers-containing non-Italian red sauce. It is perfect this way.

I got a pleasant text from the NYC Smiths + Jason. They are in a Turkish establishment for dinner and were thinking of me. Very kind.

I sent them a pic of my dinner and my laptop playing the movie The Lost City, Sandra Bullocks’ newest film. I bought it to watch on my Apple. I laughed through it as they made writer jokes; I still write stories and thought the quips were entertaining. At one point, Sandra’s character tries to insult the bad guy and has to yell out, “no, there is a comma,” when Daniel Radcliffe (previously Harry Potter and now playing an evil billionaire) repeats her insult back with a different meaning. I had to stop the movie as I was laughing so hard. Later, Daniel says, “Kill him, imaginatively,” I again had to stop the show as I laughed too hard again. Again, a writer thing, and this line is something I would write for a bad guy to say. Excellent!

I read some more and started the blog.

My roses are starting to bloom in earnest.

Mister Lincoln is almost ready.

David Austin’s Herbalist rose is starting to bloom.

Pink Moss seems to be waiting for a hot day.

Old Blush or the China Rose is just blooming with small flowers. It will soon be covered in blooms. It is always the first and last blooming.

Thank you for reading. I hope to get Susie to her new facility soon and start her next adventure: Adult Foster Care.