Sorry but I was up late on Saturday playing board games, and I had a status meeting in the morning on Sunday, so I am just getting to the two-day status. It is always hard for me to write these long ones. So please forgive me if I slipped into just reporting here and there.

Saturday 4June2022

The morning started with me getting going at 7ish, with my alarm waking me. I had an 8AM meeting, even on a Saturday, as the shoe company is installing our new software this week. I managed to find a bagel (I still have a few frozen local bagels from Einstein’s Brother from last month–all the New York City bagels are gone now) and have that with some local yogurt (Tillamook). I then attended a short meeting. Next, I got dressed and collected all the stuff to play a movie for Susie. Finally, I headed out in Air Volvo to Tigard.

I got there at 10ish, and Susie had finished her breakfast. Jennifer had her up early, and that worked for me. Susie’s mother, Leta, was headed on a trip with Susie’s sister’s family, so we called Leta in time for Susie and her to chat for a while.

Susie and I were soon watching Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. I like this movie as the main characters are young adults now, and the adult characters are all clearly aligned with their roles. Thus the acting and storyline flow more for me. But, this film has a tragic ending that disqualifies Susie from loving the movie. I forgot how much I liked this one.

I had a lot of items to finish at the house, so when the movie ended, I kissed Susie goodbye and headed home in Air Volvo. I managed to avoid any police or other events on the way back.

I decided on fast food for a late lunch, but I wanted to avoid the heavy burgers and fried food. Now, I have always been a fan of Wendy’s. As I have written before, I remember when it was a new chain, and we would drive to Owosso, Michigan, from my hometown of Laingsburg to have a burger that seemed premium quality. Back then, the chili had green peppers and a lot of flavor.

So I ordered a baked potato with a large chili. I like to put the chili on the potato with the sour cream. The chili had a pile of onions dumped on top; I had ordered the chili with onions. The chili was not hot, and the beans were only 1/2 cooked. The onions did not cook at all when stirred into the chili as the product was near room temperature. It was terrible, but I was hungry and ate it.

I then started back on the balloon model. I needed to get it further as I needed it for Sunday’s Dungeons and Dragon game. So I began to rig the model after installing deadeyes for the main balloon lines to attach to the basket. I managed to use brush-on super glue to lock in the ropes. I then painted them black over the cement to look like tarred ropes. Next, I cut the extra brass leads from the deadeyes and painted any ends showing black as if it was a metal bolt. While simple, my extra-wide basket allowed Dungeons and Dragon figures with bases to fit together in the model. I lastly rigged the railing lines.

I had built the balloon part months ago from a 6″ styrofoam ball. The rigging and basket and the supports (now a post of transparent plastic rod 1″ thick) had me flummoxed for months. I bought some parts on eBay from some defunct wooden ship models, which got me headed in the right direction. I built much of it like a wooden ship model but using a simple rigging plan.

I attended the 4:30 shoe company status call.

I then headed to Portland, stopping at McDonald’s for a shake and fries when I was still a bit early. Richard and Shauna, and Shawn played some board games. I got to fail again at the word game Word Jam. I don’t do word games, but this is one of the better ones.

After that game, Shauna left us to play Arc Nova. This is the same board game I have played for the past three weekends and lost. And tonight, scoring -14, I had my best night. Shawn had a positive score, a good showing for his first game. I again got stuck about 3/4 through the game, but I made fewer mistakes and misplayed not building more buildings in my Zoo. I do like the game, but each turn is complex–and those types of games are hard for me to win. Richard, Shawn, and Kathleen are excellent at these Euro engine-building games.

Arc Nova is a colorful game!

We played another short game, No Thank You, that has you measure risk and try to hoist risk on the other players. We all managed to win one game–My only win that night. After that, I drove home and got home at about midnight. I went to bed without writing the blog.

Sunday 5June2022

As I am rushed, it is already late on Sunday; I will go in reverse order as it seems easier for me to write.

I returned from Dungeons and Dragons at 9:15 and started rushing through the blog. At D&D, we continued our campaign that Matt is leading. We are playing a story in a fae enchanted land with one of the non-playing characters I play being a tiny talking mushroom! In our story today, my drunken master monk character, who can’t stop talking about brewing, led a raid on the evil hag’s apartment and, as usual, stole her stuff. I can’t give spoilers here, but we did steal our payment and left evidence that implicated someone else. We then demanded payment. It was fun to mess with the straight storyline causing the evil hag to make up for the “loss.”

We used the balloon model in most of the day’s story. So it was good that I finished it and brought it with me!

I had time to grab a burger from Burger King before the game. After my experience with Wendy’s, I wanted to stick to Burger King and local joints. I have never been disappointed by the local Burger Kings.

Air Volvo carried me from Camp Magruder on the Oregon Coast back to Beaverton to play Dungeons and Dragons. The drive was 90 minutes, with me often flying 60+ on the messy and rough roads of Highway 6 that reach the coast near Tillamook.

Aside: The steam train for tourists and train lovers running backward near the camp. The smoke hides the brown dirt showing on the partially slide that did not block the road!

Rev. Stephen Wolff’s retirement party was today at Camp Magruder in the afternoon.

The party was pleasant and very Covid-19 conscience, which made me feel safe. The snacks were all carefully wrapped. Communion was served with care. It was nice to be included in a relaxed but safe party!

Steve told quite a few jokes and looked very relaxed and happy. I also saw Steve’s kids, Emily and Arthur (plus their kids and families). They were delighted that I could make it. I used to cook with them when Steve served at Beaverton First UMC. When my father passed away, Emily booked all my flights for me.

I was not sure I could handle the 90-minute drive, but it was so lovely to see the coast again that I was pleased that I risked it. I was not too tired and could manage a few-hour party.

Before heading out to the coast in Air Volvo, I was with Susie at the Humminbird House. We watched the first half of the last Harry Potter Movie. The Deadly Hallows movie. This movie is my least favorite of the series (the first half of the book the movie is based on is also, in my opinion, a failure). However, I did like the film better this watching (I also believe, despite its flaws, the movie is better than the book). Susie, who seldom cries, did cry at the end of this movie. I did too.

Susie received a package from my Aunt Kathy. Some socks and a blanket, all purple. Susie loved them!

We managed to fit in a call to Susan’s mother, Leta, despite my need to rush.

Aside: Michelle Nixon sent this picture later of Susie using the new blanket and socks.

Just one more film to go. I had to rush out once the movie was done. A quick kiss goodbye for Susie–and lunch was ready for her. Air Volvo managed to get me to Steve’s retirement within minutes of starting. A fast trip!

Before this, I planned my day and attended an hour of status meeting at Nike at 8AM. Then, I loaded the car with stuff for Susie, Dungeons & Dragons (including the new balloon model), and a gift for Steve Wolff (Doctor Who 28mm figures I have painted). It was going to be a rushed day with over four hours of driving!

Somehow I managed to shower and dressed–I don’t remember.

I started at 7AM. Waking from a short night but feeling ready for a massive day.

I went to bed at about 11ish, still not having written anything. Instead, I kept getting distracted by good things. I had stayed up with David and Michelle Smith on the phone and watched the newest episode of Obi-Wan Kanobi (that I had to learn to spell) on Disney+. We did a viewing group and could sync the watching here in the Volvo Cave and Smtih Mountain.

In the show, Obi-Wan Kanobi, or just Ben, as the character states many times, was good the second time. Again, this is a feature of excellent Star Wars films and now episodes–you can see it repeatedly and still want to see it again. Recommended.

Before this, I was resting a bit. I had dinner and drinks with Evan at a Thai place. While the drink was good, my food was terrible, and thus I will not name the source. I think it is not OK to criticize someone or someplace on social media when they have no means to refute your negative assertions. This blog is about my experiences and sometimes my opinions, not a place to punish folks.

Before this, we, Evan and I, located Central Station Taps in Beaverton, a beer-only place with nice tables, and it is around 4ish; they had not yet got the Friday night crowd. We were thus able to get a table to play a board game and a few beers before they filled up. I brought the board Concordia this time. I brought Venus and Salsa add-ons, but we only added the Forum to the base game. Evan decided on the basic map.

Evan played well, and I could feel him forcing me to act fast and efficiently. I made only one mistake in the game when I picked to build some trading posts in cities in different providences instead of pilling on one of Evan’s best builds in a providence that happened to have two adjacent farm cities (food). For me, having the Farmer and Weaver card and buying an additional Architect at the very start of the game gave me the game.

In many really simple turn but challenging strategy games, you need to focus on what you have purchased and make it work instead of trying to do everything. This is the secret to Concordia and other board games–may be the secret to life. Also, there are always those end-of-game conditions, and having all your colonists on the board is worth many points at the finish and gives you more options until the game ends. To win, you need to keep working towards the final goals balancing that with your short-term goals–also a secret to life.

Before all the beer, food, and gaming, Evan and I visited Susie at the Humminbird House. I brought a larger screen that plugs into the wall, suitable for dark Harry Potter images. We watched the fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We were between breakfast and lunch when we arrived around 12:30ish. Susie often skips lunch and eats dinner instead. This was true when she worked for Marriott years ago. So her lunch would be 2-3PM or not at all.

The film was still good after all these years. Like the Star Wars shows, this is one I could watch repeatedly. The actors, and they’re a lot of them now, are into their characters, and the special effects no longer look added but are included in the movement of the actors. Spell casting is no longer flipping a wand about; it is more visceral and causes smoke. Now, all the bad guys come into the story and have more extended appearances adding to the dread and drama of the story. Starting with this movie, Bellatrix’s insane laugh starts to haunt us. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix are among the best ones. It is Susie’s fav, and Evan gives it high marks too.

Aside: I set this up in the Activity room so we don’t bother the other four residents.

Going back, Susie was happy to see me; she was waiting for me. I was there after making a stop at the pharmacy (prescriptions were running out) and getting some lunch (a spicy chicken sandwich from Popeye’s), and getting gas ($90!). I noticed today that Susie is speaking more, she is still hard to understand, but I hope that will improve. Susie says, “I am trying.”

Before getting to Hummingbird House, I talked to the gas pump jockey, and apparently, he is the manager for the Chevron Station on TV Highway. He complained that he has to pump gas as he cannot find folks who can make a change, do the basic paperwork, and be reliable. He also complained about how much gas costs and told me that the sign was wrong, he had not updated it yet, and I was paying even more than it said! He has been raising prices every other day.

Before listening to the gas station woes, I was home working a typical work-from-home Friday for the shoe company. This meant laundry, dishes, and even a bit of basic model work while listening to meetings and reading endless updates in my work email, texts, and Slack updates. It was a busy morning with me fitting in a shower and dressing between calls.

I woke at 6:15, made coffee, and had yogurt for breakfast with a biscuit. I slept well but could have used more sleep. I was tired most of the day.

 

The day started with me waking up at 6:30AM with no alarm. I had a meeting at 8AM, so I was rushed with me starting late. I managed to find breakfast and made coffee. I then rushed to take a shower and dress. I was out the door on time.

Air Volvo delivered me before 8AM to the office at the shoe company building, Clubhouse. I managed to get to a desk and then a conference room for the first meetings. I was doing OK with the stairs and moving in the morning.

I got a break in my schedule after 9 and headed to Susie’s place at about 10:15AM. I saw none of Beaverton’s Finest on the roads and reached the Hummingbird House.

Susie resides at:

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Susie was still working on her breakfast when I got there. She had a good night, and her speech was clearer this time. Susie now feeds herself and picks up her drinks, usually without choking. Oatmeal today with apple sauce.

When we managed to take a break from the food, we then called Susie’s mother, Leta, who was still headed home when I reached her. She called us back once she was home and chatted with Susie using FaceTime. I was still feeling OK, and after Leta rang off, I took Susie for a short tour in her wheelchair outside. We did the porch and then out to the street. It was still cold, so I did not head to the park, Metzger Park, next door.

I ran a bit long, as Susie was sad when I left yesterday, and so we had a forty-minute visit. I then rushed, but not speeding, back to work. I was there only for a few minutes. After that, I had a lunch meeting on some new ideas and work I was thinking about. None I can cover here. It was a productive lunch.

Next, I returned to work. And I soon felt terrible. I managed to walk into a wall. I was not sure if it was lunch, exhaustion, or the Covid-19 shot I had on Monday (likely the cause), and I told Brad I would head home. “Are you OK to drive,” Brad asked? I told him I thought I was OK. I did take the elevator. I made it home without incident, with Air Volvo seeming to know the way without my help. I sent Brad a text that I was OK.

I rested and slept for about two hours. I was still woolly-headed, but I felt better with some rest. Feels like a Covid-19 shot reaction and also suffering from allergies (pollen numbers for grasses are high).

So I decided to make dinner.

I found the frozen precooked salmon from WholeFoods. I microwave it until it is thawed, cover it with local seasoning, and bake it to get it hot. Comes out nice. I made corn, also biscuits, with both being frozen Schwann’s products. So I reduced more frozen food and had a nice healthy meal of salmon. Corwin liked it.

I saw that the furnace controls wanted the filter replaced. So I climbed on a chair and replaced the filter. It takes no time. When I was taking the ash-gray-stained old filter (they start white) to the trash, it is trash, and recycling on Friday, I met the neighbors, Harper and Chris (Chris is Harper’s mother) who live next door, and they asked about Susie and my health. We then toured all the roses at the house. Chris loved the roses and the new ones she could see from the fence between our houses. I am sure they will want to see them when the new roses bloom in about a month (or less if the rains are gone next week).

I then went inside and wrote the blog.

Here are the roses now much more in bloom.

Mister Lincoln has another flower and is likely to bloom all month.

Pink moss has a lovely scent that fills the air. I have the window open next to it. It will bloom all month but only blooms once.

David Austin’s Herbalist, nearly impossible to find now, is a continual blooming rose that hints back to the Rose of Lancaster it is named after, which only blooms once.

The painted rose, an impossible to get rose with call letters are “MACpic”, is repeat blooming and looks like a white rose that has been painted red, like in the Alice in Wonderland story

The day started with me waking on time without my alarm on. I was sure I put it on, but I woke anyway. So off to make coffee and breakfast in the morning, yogurt and peanut butter toast. After that, I read emails for a brief few minutes and then went off to the shower and to get dressed. No time this morning for going slow as the first meeting is at 8:00AM.

Next, Air Volvo made a short trip of it, with some traffic on TV Highway due to a stalled car. Arrived with no incidents, and I soon was in a two-hour demo. After that, I had a short break before another two-hour planning meeting. I will not share any details of either meeting, but I say presentation skills at Nike have slipped. Yikes! I did manage to get a coffee, still free, between the meetings.

After the long meetings, I managed to snag a free lunch–still celebrating our return to the office. I had an excellent Cubano sandwich with thin-sliced baked pork and sliced pickles. Nearly perfect, but I wanted a nap an hour later.

But, before the Cubano made me sleepy, I headed out for my daily trip to see Susie. It is about twenty minutes there. So I get twenty minutes with her. Susie was pleased to see me–I was much later as all my meetings took the whole morning. Jennifer let me know that Susie was worried she would have to leave the Hummingbird House. Susie was worried that the fall disqualified her from staying or there was a time limit. But, she is very happy there, and Jennifer and I told her she lives there now and can stay there. Susie was much relieved.

Susie, as usual, spoke to her mother, Leta, on my iPhone. We then sat and held hands for a bit, and then I was out of time. Susie’s face fell slightly when I told her I had to leave, “so soon?” But, I get only an hour during workdays. I will be back the next day and every day after that. I come every day. I forgot to take a picture as Susie was sad to see me go. It is hard some days.

Back to work, more coffee, and a few crises of the moment to make it more interesting. I was working on understanding some cloud operations this afternoon on Azure. I know Amazon’s cloud and have my own account and servers in the cloud, but I felt I needed to learn more about Azure, Microsoft’s offering for cloud services.

So far, I like Amazon better, but I am sure there is something in the Microsoft cloud, called Azure, that I will like–I will keep digging.

I left after the last status meeting. I returned to the Volvo Cave without incident.

I made a salad for dinner, but Corwin eating cold pizza got me to enjoy one piece of cold pizza too.

I noticed that some of my other roses have finally bloomed. Also, the new climbers have buds on them, so we should see the Wedgwood roses soon! Mister Lincoln is starting on some more huge blooms.

The rugosa rose is a Japanese rose that does not mind salt. It has dark green leaves, pointed blooms with dark hair-like fibers, and plain thorns.

Years ago, Heritage roses sold some lost roses. Literally, the roses lost their names, and so they would sell them cheap as “lost.” This is one of them. It is a beautiful modern rose–likely a floribunda rose of some name:

And the damaged and struggling Cardinal Richelieu put out a flower finally. The dark wine-red reminds you of the Cardinal, the bad guy for the Three Musketeers, His Grand Eminence:

I hope that is enough. It was a sad day for me to leave Susie after a short stay (the sadness stayed with me today), but I hope she is less worried now. Susie asked me to have more people visit her in her new home.

Susie resides at:

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

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

You park in front of the residence or at the basketball court parking nearby. Do not use the front door, but walk around to the back door, the entrance to Allegiance Senior Care (follow the signs). Ring the bell. Someone will let you in. Fill out the screening form and ask for Susie.

Lastly, watched the first episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+. I liked it and thought it was a good continuation of the story. No spoilers, but it was good and fit the accounts you already know well, at least so far.

Today I started feeling like I had a hangover from a party I could not remember. So my alarm went off at 6:15, and I moved in five minutes. My first meeting was at 8:30, so I did not have to rush, but I could not go slow. So I read some emails, had breakfast, and then ran to the shower and out the door at 7:40ish. Only to get out of the car and come back in and get my phone. So yes, it is going to be a Tuesday-Monday combo day.

Aside: I corrected the email from yesterday. Hope it was fun to get an anti-drug message from me instead of a link to the blog. It was not my plan nor do I need law advice for drug charges. It was just a mistake. I was looking to reply to a FaceBook post and forgot to redo the copy for the email. Sorry for the mistake!

I am feeling off as I had my Covid-19 cocktail booster (adding Pfizer to Moderna) on Sunday, and it takes two days for me to feel terrible. I had trouble sleeping last night (like before) and found my body not running right on Tuesday morning (like before). Ugh!

Thus Tuesday morning, I had a few meetings that I managed to find a conference room and share with some folks. I headed off to see Susie at 9:45ish as my 9:10 meeting ran short. Air Volvo arrived without incident or raising the crime rates in Beaverton by me touching my phone while driving (for a $265 fine). Susie was up late today as she had fallen last night and then had trouble sleeping (finally sleeping at 2AM). Susie was going slower this morning. Jennifer was caring for her this morning. So she started breakfast, paused, and then we called her mother, Leta, and they chatted for ten minutes.

While they chatted, Jennifer and I went over what plans they are executing after the fall. Susie now has a crash mat next to her bed, and they have lowered her hospital bed when she rests so that if she falls to the mat, it will be a short distance. They are also moving the table away from her at night. This will prevent her from colliding with it in a fall. All good plans.

Susie continued breakfast after finishing her call with her mother. I checked out the crash mat, and it looked perfect. I could only stay twenty minutes on a workday, so I was soon off again with a kiss and back to the shoe company without any events.

I started working on some older stuff I used to do. I was trying to get my mind back to coding and building software. I spent the rest of the day trying out things, fixing old code, and remembering how Amazon cloud servers work. I was proud that my Linux came back to me. My Python was doing OK, but my old code includes items that have been deprecated. I use Python and some of its best libraries for Artificial Intelligence and heavy math routines, but the libraries have made many changes in the past years (Covid-19 did not slow down change)–I have to figure out how to make my code work again. It is hard to keep up!

I stayed through the second status call at work at 4:30. I was exhausted but wanted to be on the first call status with China. It felt good to be back on Zoom calls with 100+ people.

Except for the exhaustion and the getting cold, I felt more like myself today. But, I also took the elevator as I did not trust myself on the stairs. So, I need to be careful!

I ordered a pizza on my phone, not while driving, from Papa Murphy’s. These are take-home and baked pizzas and are a bit cheaper, and they are often better than the delivered cooked pizzas. I also ordered a chicken Ceasar salad to go with it. I picked them up when I got to the strip mall by my house. And arrived home in Air Volvo without incident.

One of my more spectacular Kickstarter items arrived. A new version of a late 1800s art book: Pater. This is a subscription to the new book about Alphonse Mucha‘s work called Pater. I have a few Kickstarters I do just for art, and Art Nouveau is a style, which Macha is known for, that Susie and I both like. Our wedding invitations were in that style. I have two copies and sending another out, soon.

I watched some news; it was depressing, and then I enjoyed pizza and reading. But, that is about it as I am so tired.