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The morning came too soon at 6:15, and thus I stayed in bed until 7ish. I was tired and fought fatigue all day. This is a work-from-home day; Nike has employees work three days a week in the office–Monday and Friday are working from home days. Thus, not using the video camera in my first meetings, I was dressed later.

The first status meetings of the day are at 8 and 8:30. I do laundry, two loads in the morning, and get showered and dressed mid-morning. I have only granola bars for breakfast and have two with coffee. This gains me a sugar crash late morning, not improving my day.

I slip out between meetings to Safeway and buy five bags of necessaries, all food. Safeway was not busy, but few people wear masks now, and they have DIY checking meaning that I waited for three people ahead of me to be checked out the usual way. Safeway used to ensure that you never waited, but now they are trying to force you into the DIY process. I am not doing DIY checking for five bags of groceries!

I regret this whole process and will likely return to online grocery purchases and home delivery. The car loading and loading would have been avoided if I used the online. Next time!

Returning to online, I follow along at work, there is a lot of work this weekend and I am on call. I help with a few crises of the moment, and so far, I am not needed over the weekend. I bought a salad and Pacific-style clam chowder while grocery shopping and have them for lunch.

I end my day at about noon and board Air Volvo after collecting some roses for Susie. I am surprised to find my Japanese roses looking trampled and other rose bushes to be a bit beat-up. The rain was so intense last night that some canes are broken! I cut some of the breakages away.

Susie is happy to see me at noonish after arriving in Air Volvo without incident. I put the laptop in the activity room and collect Susie for a video visit with her doctor. We start watching music videos after waiting more than an hour for the call to start. They called and let me know they are running behind.

We call Leta, Susie’s mother, while we are waiting. Susie and Leta chat for a while.

Even after I checked everything, we still had a sound issue when our doctor finally started the call and that took me a minute to fix. Doc was happy to see Susie and me. Susie had a mic that also controlled the sound and once accidentally started playing music in the middle of the meeting. Doc began to dance while I rushed to stop it. Funny!

Even though it is Susie’s appointment, the doc asks me about my health. Next, we talk about my XC60 Volvo as he needs a new car soon and was curious about what I was driving now. We often talked with our doc about trips we take and how to manage our life and investments. I think I give as much advice on that as I get.

Doc will arrange for some Home Health to see if we can improve Susie’s transfers. It would be great if she could get into the car. He is also retiring and we will need to find a new primary care physician. We wished him well and we agree on how much fun it has been over these years. We will miss him!

After the video conference, Susie had lunch, some soup, and a glass of milk. I hung out while she ate. Jennifer then set-up a comfy chair for Susie in activity room and moved Susie to the chair.

I also open the box that Leta, Susan’s mother sent her. A hummingbird wind spinner and night glow light.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 was the next movie we planned. I put up the big screen and we watched the film together, more than two hours long. I was now sleepy, but this is not the kind of movie you sleep through! I have seen this a few times and always liked it. The movie, again like Part 1, is better than the book, I think. However, the film seems better edited.

After I finished the movie, Susie had Vanessa as a nurse as Jennifer was on a break over the weekend, Susie was moved back to the wheelchair and wheeled to the dining table to join all the other residents in dinner. I said good night, got a kiss from Susie, and took Air Volvo back to the Volvo Cave.

I called Corwin and we agreed on making dinner. We had gnocchi with mushrooms and Italian sausage (from the freezer) in the sauce from a jar. Corwin had cleaned the kitchen before I got home and I did most of the cooking.

I tried to eat and watch a show on Netflicks, but now I was approaching exhaustion and took instead took a nap. I got up about 9:30ish to write the blog and take my last pills. I am still tired.

 

I am starting a bit late. I took Corwin to Sherry’s, and I had pie and decaf coffee with ice cream. I just wanted pie. I am running late with today’s blog. I also had to write yesterday’s blog today, so I am writing a lot today.

Going forward (but going backward is often more fun), I started the morning with my alarm waking me at 6:15. I woke at 5ish and went back to bed after proving hydration. I closed my eyes for just a second, and it was 6:40. Oops.

Knowing how the day was going, I popped out to the kitchen and made coffee. I have changed the liberal coffee, Fair Trade Brand, to their kinder and gentler Organic Mind, Body & Soul, which I like for two reasons. 1) It is a lighter roast, and 2) The name does not include the Oxford Comma. Yes, less bitter and less comma–perfect for a liberal like me.

I rushed the morning and had some granola bars to go with my coffee. I have to get more bagels and fruit–I have not found time to fit in shopping this week. Shower and dressing were all rushed, and I managed to grab my Nike laptop and charger, jump into Air Volov, and arrive at the shoe company office at 8 and make my first meeting. And the next and more email, text, and Slack messages until 10ish.

Then I slipped out to see Susie. Again, I am running late, but I have no meetings until lunch–A lunch meeting with Scott–so I could stay a bit longer. I managed to get to Hummingbird House without incident. I did pass the motorcycle cop with his radar gun out that I have seen every day I travel to see Susie from work. I believe they are giving out many speeding tickets near Murry Road as I see them with their lights on, usually at least once. You are warned!

Susie was finishing her breakfast when I got there. She drank milk and seemed to eat about 1/3 or more of her foo–not bad for her. We called her mother, and they chatted for a while. It was cold out, so we stayed inside. Jennifer helped Susie get into her recliner, and I stayed for another twenty minutes. I then headed to a Chinese place to have lunch with my colleague and friend Scott.

We chatted about life and a new project we are thinking about. It was a pleasant lunch, and we are starting to plan some work. Exciting.

I returned to the office, and Gary was there talking to my boss Brad–I was happy to see him. I don’t think I have seen Gary in a few years–I am his hiring manager. We were glad to see each other. I hired Gary telling him he would never be bored and that so far has been true (both good and bad, but I believe primarily good).

I later met with Subha, also one of my hires, and we chatted about work things. It was also good to see her.

I headed out after a few more updates on Slack messages. I had to explain some of our plans for data conversions now and in the future. Folks were happy to see that I replied and was back in the saddle. I received some very kind comments.

I arrived at the Volvo Cave without incident or raising crime rates in Beaverton by using my phone. I started dinner while listening to the last status meeting today. I made Chicken Cordon Blue with corn and mashed potatoes. The chicken and corn products were from the freezer. I found I had no milk to make instant potatoes. I took the slightly expired powdered milk(I only keep some in the pantry in case of a disaster–at least we can mix up some mix), washed out a two-quart milk container from the recycling, mixed up some milk, and then made instant potatoes. Yes burning through a lot of pantry and frozen items!

I wrote the blog for yesterday while I cooked dinner. I made enough for two. Corwin enjoyed it. It was a bit plain, but still not bad.

I then read for a bit. Next, was the Theology Pub Zoom meeting at 7PM. This is a monthly meeting, before Covid-19 it was at a bar, where we discuss and try to understand Theology. Today’s topic was Redemption. Which is a word we mostly associate now with returning cans. But, it does have importance to theology. We talked about how Jesus has redeemed us, but there may be a price for this. We need to live a good life to be fully redeemed. Some of us are uncomfortable with this idea and thought the idea that there is a price is not Biblical. We also discussed that Redemption seems to be missing from the more extreme beliefs. Folks in the extreme groups focus on end-times and punishment and not redemption which seems more aligned to Jesus and later apostles’ writing. Redemption, without price, appears to be missing in political discussions.

Also, I described my experiences of the last six months and how to me it seemed more like a journey, not one I would have picked. I admitted that it was not faith but my trying to just get to the next day that got me through it. I knew people were pulling for me (and praying for me) and I would not let them down. I would get Susie and myself to the next day. It was very hard to talk about.

We Zoom’d for about an hour. I then took Corwin to Sherry’s to get pie and more food for Corwin. This takes me to now.

I took some photos of my roses today; please enjoy the following.

This is an unknown English rose I planted years ago near the deck. It could be Mary Rose, but I am not sure. You can see that something has been eatting the leaves. Growl.

The new Wedgewood climbers are almost ready to bloom! They grow 10′ tall! The leaves are nearly perfect–no pests here!

The stressed-out Cardinal Richelieu is trying to put on a once-a-year show.

I was playing a board game at Richard’s house in Portland, so I did not get home in time to write. Also, I had work meetings until 5ish and other medical things to deal with, so I could not write it in the morning.

Thus:

Going backward, I got to bed at about 11PM with me reading until I started to fall asleep while reading. I always find this strange, and I fall asleep dreaming about the storyline I was reading and then wander off in s dream-like state to some other thread. I often awaken as I suddenly realize I am not reading the book as my thoughts are not fitting the story, or when the Kindle hits me when it falls out of my hand.

So I managed to get a few minutes in on the book that I really started to enjoy and then put it away as I fell asleep twice reading. I am now able to be fully asleep and still hold the Kindle. Susie used to find that funny when she looked over and realized I was sleeping with my Kindle open. I would, of course, deny I was asleep, “just resting my eyes.” That would get me an eye-roll or other comment.

Before putting away the Kindle and sleeping, I took Air Volvo home from downtown Portland: Richard’s house. We played a new board game, Western Legends, and all gave it good marks. It is a dudes-on-a-board with a light element of role-playing, but mostly worker placement and point scoring for goals. It used a deck of playing cards for gun fights and general combat, with the high-card winning. Something I have seen before in many dudes-on-a-board games and even Role Playing Games (RPG). This game did not have a campaign like some other board games with a touch of RPG, so it reminded me of Blood Rage and even Pandemic.

I played Butch Cassidy and had an old west-styled figure with my color, black, added as a ring to the bottom of the miniature. For my play, I went with the outlaw approach (the lawman approach is easier I think) as it matched my color and character. I managed to fight and win most of my gun fights, deposited the gold I stole in the bank, robbed the same bank, and generally had a great time being the outlaw. The Marshal eventually caught and defeated me, but I managed to tie for second place in a six-person game. Unfortunately, I could not catch up to Richard’s points with final scoring, the game being too new for me to know all the ways to get Legendary Points, but I got quite a few. Next time!

I would recommend the game, just the base game is what we played, and I always like a game where you can play Poker as an action. So if you want something more board game than RPG, and like the theme of the Old West and Poker playing with cattle stealing, then this would work for you.

I left work to reach Richards after 5ish with my last meeting running it full length. I drove Air Volvo to Portland in some traffic, but not too bad. I picked up a shake and french fries at McDonald’s on the way and ate them in the car. Richard and Shauna also served cheese and crackers. I was introduced to four folks I had not played with before. We then dived into the new game. Learning Western Legends mostly as we went. Again, we all enjoyed the game.

Still going backward, work in the afternoon was some meetings, updates, and a few crises of the moment. I had free lunch and coffee. Getting a savory crepe wrap with brisket-style beef sliced up with veggies for lunch. It was tasty. Coffee was, despite my diabetes, sweat chia as I needed the pick-me-up.

Before all the meetings, emails, text, slack messages, and Zooming, I slipped out to see Susie. Susie was finishing breakfast and was feeling better today. The rest and sleep seemed to help. As usual, I called Susie’s mother, who we caught just as she was pulling into the garage at her house. Susie and Leta had a friendly chat. I had a quick visit as I had to get back to work.

Before this, I was at work, arriving there before 8AM. The first status meeting is at 8. My drive was easy. I started at 6:15 with a shower and then some breakfast with liberal coffee. I slept well, but, as usual, I could have slept the day away. Some day!

 

The morning started with me regretting waking. My alarm woke me at 6:15, but I felt certain I should have had more time and rested for another 15 minutes. I then got up, hopped into the shower, and got dressed. Next, I made coffee–liberal coffee, found a yogurt for breakfast, and read email, text messages, and Slack notices, rushing through all of this. Finally, I managed to climb into Air Volvo just after 7:20 and drove to the office at the shoe company before my first meeting at 8:00AM.

I had a lot to read and follow with the data conversions running nearly perfect for the new software. I managed a few crises of the moment and meetings overlapping. A busy few hours.

I then walked out to see Susie. Air Volvo seems to know the way, and I had no incidents and ignored any messages on the phone while driving! No crimes were committed.

Susie was in her recliner when I got there (after filling out the paperwork) and looking grumpy. Susie said she felt awful and was too tired to eat breakfast and would not have lunch. Susie seemed upset that she felt terrible and could not eat. To make matters worse, I could not reach her Aunt Glenda for the daily call (her mother was out this morning and afternoon). Susie just wanted to sleep, and I asked Jennifer to put Susie back in bed.

I was worried that we would be headed to the ER or I would get called back in the late of the night.

I returned to the shoe company in Air Volvo using highway 216, often called the Devil’s Bowling Ally. The southbound lane of 216 was blocked now (I had just used it) with a wreck of a 5th-wheel trailer and an RV. Ambulances and police cars were everywhere. It was terrible to see–someone’s vacation had gone terrible.

I managed to get back to work at about 11:30, taking a few extra minutes with Susie when she felt so bad. For me, lunch was a chicken pita from the Twisted Gyro truck–Free lunch via a truck and coffee are still being offered at Clubhouse to celebrate our return to the building.

I ate at my desk and started looking at more offerings from Azure from Microsoft. I also was happy to learn more about Pytorch. I spent a few hours reading and trying out Azure and Pytorch.

After work, I did a few more status meetings and then headed back to Susie’s place. The traffic was much worse at rush hour, but soon, without accidents, Air Volvo reached the Hummingbird House. Susie was back in her recliner and was feeling much better. The rest helped. Susie was ready for dinner. We managed to call Leta, Susie’s mother, and then her Aunt and Uncle, Glenda and Gene. Susie was delighted to chat with all of them.

Again, she was feeling much better. But, Susie was sad to have me leave as the nurse aide started up dinner for them, but it was time for me to get moving on. I kissed her goodbye and headed back into Air Volvo. My worries were relieved.

Mariah, a friend, had sent me a text to meet her at BJ’s for dinner at about 7ish. I was there, after enjoying Portland-Beaverton traffic, thirty minutes early. I got a beer and waited. I ordered a fried mac and cheese ball appetizer (it was strangely excellent and appalling at the same time). I had the ribs, ordering enough to take some home, and Mariah had the steak.

We talked about various subjects. Mariah wants me to get a muscle car; not likely at this time. We talked a little about writing. I am already thinking about writing my next 500-word horror story for the H.P. Lovecraft Portland Film Festival–I won last year’s contest.

Mariah and I said our goodbyes. I could hear her start her car across the parking lot! I was home soon and rested and read for about an hour.

I got a package of special rose food from Heritage Roses. I am hoping to help my two stressed roses.

I then started the blog. I am fatigued tonight, and to make it worse, I have back pain–I never have back pain. I took some Ibuprofen and Tylenol for the pain. The pain is fading.

The day, like most Mondays, starts with my alarm at 6:15AM. Meetings begin at 8AM, so I jumped right into the shower and dressed. I then found some yogurt in the frig and had that with coffee; I had breakfast as I read emails, text, and Slack messages to get caught up.

I was ready for the status meetings starting at 8AM, going to 10ish. During the status and some more software meetings, I slipped out to cut a few roses from our plants here at the Volvo Cave. I found a small vase and headed to see Susie.

I started from the Volvo Cave; it took about 30 minutes to reach the Hummingbird House. Air Volvo got me there without incident. Susie was just finishing breakfast when I arrived and was happy to see me in the morning. We called her mother, Leta, and they chatted for a bit on my iPhone.

I then took Susie to visit the park, Metzger Park, next door. It was cool in the shade and comfortable in the sunlight, so it was comfortable once we got off the porch. Dogs were being walked everywhere. A mother with two daughters played on the basketball court (using chalk to decorate it). One of the girls ran for the door and headed to the street with her mother running after her. There were no cars, and mom reached her in time and pointed out the road to the little girl). I was laughing, and the mother smiled.

Susie enjoyed the short trip and the drama. Soon I was out of time and kissed her goodbye. I managed to return home without incident.

I then ordered a Monte Cristo Sandwich from the La Provence Orenco and an extra croissant for later. I planned to eat 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner. Grubhub delivered the sandwich in less than an hour; still hot.

I handled a few crises of the moment and carefully followed along on the email and Slack messages all afternoon. More status meetings at 4ish. As planned, I had the 1/2 sandwich for dinner–it was wonderful. Sadly, I was not thinking and left out the croissant, and Corwin had it with his dinner (he finished off the salmon from Wholefood)–no croissant with coffee for me in the morning. I should have ordered two croissants!

While all this was going on, I washed my bedding. Then, I remade the bed and read for the evening. I did try to do some writing, but I was too tired to write very much on a Dungeons and Dragon adventure I had started when the chemotherapy made it hard to do anything but sit. I am embarrassed to say I can’t remember clearly the great ideas I had for the adventure. But, I find they will come back to me–I just remembered one idea. No chemo head, just me having too much on my mind.

I am sleepy and will read for the evening.

My mother, Barb Wild, fell on Saturday night and is now recovering at home. She was not seriously hurt, but it was a bit scary at first.

Evan called me and let me know he visited Susie for a few minutes at lunchtime.