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Dear reader, I am sorry if the recent blog entries (is a group of blogs a ‘bloggal’ or a ‘blogative’?) are more mundane, but my trip starts on Tuesday and hopefully will help you visualize some of the places I will write about. Some of my kind readers have told me they enjoy reading about the usual things. It brings comfort to share the typical American Pacific Northwest (PNW) experience.

After all the travel, it is a pleasure to sit here in my office looking out the window while I write, pay bills, and generally do things online. I now turn on the bright desk light and let the pure white light help me avoid the depression of no light. Something you have to be careful with here in the PNW. The light means I can see, if I look for it, my own reflection on the window with my face floating outside. Yes, I am both here and there at the same time. Both online writing in some digital region with the ghostly Grammarly following along (I can imagine a TRON-like scene of me reporting to you, dear reader, inside The Grid with some angelic-looking program, Grammarly, next to me whispering to me about every typo), and also in the real world, enjoying the rain, hummingbirds, flickers, and squirrels proving who really owns the apple tree, and trying to be creative while writing.

I am reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Message as recommended preparation for the lead part of my trip through the American South, and about Civil Rights. Nothing I would have picked, but still an interesting focus, and the writing is colorful and fun. I have it on my Kindle, sticking to the rule that only history books, textbooks, and writing guides are bought now. And cookbooks are resisted.

Deborah sent me, as a gift, the new cookbook, Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love, by Samin Nosrat, signed. I have read the introduction; it is marvelous and recommended. I did not read her previous cooking book. Deborah and I both heard an interview with the author, and both were intrigued.

My indominable Japan-style roses. Even in the shade and the rain, they are happy.

Monday started, as a ritual, with me not rising to any alarm, and today I threw on clothing and drove to McDonald’s for coffee, hamster surfboards (their hash browns), and an egg muffin thing that might have a cheese product on it. Today, it did not taste like cardboard or plastic, but like breakfast, cheap breakfast, but still good enough. And I will have no cleanup.

I wrote the blog and paid bills. I verified the Quicken downloaded transactions and mourned my IRA balance at US Bank (down again). Their fees have gone through, and my stocks, dividends, and earnings have yet to materialize to keep my balance at my previously recorded value. I will wait a bit longer before booking a reduction. More mind games, since none of this is ‘real’ money—retirement pre-tax.

I showered and cleaned up. I then headed to First United Methodist Church and brought three Christmas CDs—some of Susie’s favorites—for Jack to use at the church’s Christmas Fair on Thursday through the weekend. There, I dropped off the CDs with Wendy and checked out the progress. Sheetrock will be installed today. The mudding follows. This is the remaining structural work. All looked good.

I stopped by Taco Bell and had their strangely terrible but also good Mexican Pizza. They had brought it back to the menu. I went through the drive-through, but ate it in my car listening to the radio. Local Oregon Public Broadcasting political news. In rural Oregon, this might be the only news, and OPB ensures that all voices are heard. OPB receives no state funds, though in other states, there are multiple PBS stations—often one per large university—but in Oregon, there is just OPB. They try to be voices for everyone.

Next, I dropped in to the local ready care and got some help with a minor health issue. Prescriptions and directions were given. It will likely clear up soon. I did have to chase the prescription because Walgreens had the old phone number, and I did not know I needed to take it to another Walgreens. I learned that at the local one, ugh. I managed to call the other store, head home, wait on hold, and then speak to a helpful person who said they could fill it in 90 minutes. I was vacuuming and cleaning toilets when the call came in—30 minutes later—that they had filled it (!?). An hour later, I stopped the vacuuming and drove again across dark and wet Aloha to get the drugs.

Everything was good, and soon I was driving back. The traffic was heavy, and I made the mistake of not pulling into a parking lot but of jumping the curb. All was fine as I took it slow. Slightly frazzled, I got home.

I finished the vacuuming, put away the dishes, hand-washed the few remaining ones, and talked to Deborah for a while. We miss each other. We started another episode of the Kathy Bates version of Matlock. The conflicts are flying, and tricks, Matlock-style tricks (with some even whistling the old theme of the previous Matlock), are demonstrated, and Deborah and I both yell ‘no’ when Kathy Bates’ character even falls for one. It is only the second episode, darker, and impossible to tell where it is going. I like it.

Deborah, three hours ahead and like all of us suffering from night coming sooner, says ‘good night’ and soon sleeps. I, having those three hours, tidy up the house, and then somehow force two suitcases of clothing (for 14 days) into one suitcase without damaging me, my clothing, or the suitcase’s zippers. I believe I must have bought TARDIS brand luggage!

But before that, I head to our local sushi place for dinner. There, I have tracked selected raw fish with rice and miso soup. All wonderful and always so exotic to me. I never grew up with this, and so it seems, always, new to me and fun flavors.

Next, after returning, I dump my carry-on and pare it down to the necessities, remembering I can buy things in the American South. A pair of dress shoes (certainly not fitting in my checked bag) is in the carry-on gym bag this time. Batteries are plugged in to be charged (later to be put in a carry-on).  And finally, using my new meds, I read and try to relax. I managed to push through another chapter of The Message.

Somewhere in the day, I swept and mopped the bathrooms.

Crawling into my sheets, and no leg cramps (no beer!), I sleep only to wake at 5:30ish, as it is a travel day on Tuesday. No rolling over helps.

Thanks for reading!

A brief blog for Sunday.

I rose with leg cramps, but I avoided most of the pain. I am connecting the leg cramps with beer drinking. It is the only thing that corresponds to the attacks. I will cut out all beer from here on.

I rose, found the coffee had not started but was assembled. I pushed the button, and it started. I must have messed up the timer when I changed the clock. Hmmm. I had peanut butter toast with the last of the fresh bread. I was wearing slippers, as my rule is no walking in shoes or slippers to protect my slightly numb feet and toes. A leftover from chemo and diabetes.

With the flowers drowned or going slow due to a lack of sun, the hummingbirds are mostly hanging out at the pines. I see them seldom now. The squirrels are still raiding the windfall apples. The flickers seem to be raiding the tree trucks.

I write the blog until about 9ish and post it. I shower, shave, and all of that. I put on a gray-blue dress shirt and a gold sparkly vest with a New Orleans-themed tie. I wear my black Humberg and black dress shoes. Air VW the Gray is fully charged, and I try to leave with it without the key fob (no), and then it will not leave parked while plugged in (a great feature). I finally (and safely) leave and soon reach First United Methodist Church on the observation of All Saints Day (and Reformation Day). The service is lively and also sad as the names of the Saints who have gone before us are read and spoken (including Susie and Joyce Hill, Susie’s aunt, who passed away this year). Eric K sings the lead in an excellent piece with Ashley playing the French Horn and Brian accompanying on the piano.

Michael R gives the sermon and explains why saints are important to us United Methodists, “From Ain’t to Saint.” We do not worship people, but recognize the vital work they do while living. It is important to us to remember those who came before us and went before us. We see people moving towards being saints as they grow in their faith, Michael R explains.

It was communion, and we had a homeless guy—one of our regulars. I was busy as an usher. I also gave a peek at the construction and kept my eye on the doors. I did not get out of church until 1ish.

Deborah and I connected as I reheated some of the Popeyes’ chicken I got the night before for lunch. We then watched, Deborah in Michigan, the new season of Matlock. It was interesting to see how they are now mixing the stories and developing conflicts between people.

I contacted Mariah because we haven’t seen each other in a while. She agreed to an early dinner at BJ’s Brewhouse. I did get some housework done, as the dishes were done, and the chaos of things thrown everywhere began to recede. At 4, I met Mariah at the bar, and we got a high-top table and had a steak dinner. There, I made the mistake of ordering my usual beer. It was too much, and I could not even finish my steak. Last beer, I think.

We talked about travel and houses and caught up. Mariah works for a big corporation, but, like me before retirement, is finding that the pay, health care, and relative stability make up for a lot. Still, work leaks into your thinking and your personal life, and you do think differently than folks with more freedom. I think it was a good exchange for me.

We head our separate ways, unlikely to see each other until December, given all my travel. I return home and try to find some focus. I spent a few hours on our travel plans and sent a new email with what I have for folks for the two-week trip. I then write more of my Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure for folks in New Hampshire. With the time change, Fall-back, I am tired at night. I get my Kindle and read more of the assigned book and make it a few more pages. Sleep comes soon.

I have trouble all night with leg cramps, at one point having to rise for twenty minutes to get the pain to stop. I try water and other solutions, but none work. Have not been this bad since the last time I had a beer or two. Hmmm.

I manage to sleep but rise late at 8.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

At the end of the evening, in my PJs, I went around and changed the few clocks that were not automatic. Air VW the Gray surprised me by changing in the late afternoon and confusing me for a while. I had missed dinner, and I stopped by Popeye’s and got some spicy fried chicken for a late dinner. I had about 1/2 of it. I ate that and watched the last episode of Slow Horses again. I watch them twice to see what I missed. I find I like spy shows, and when set in the present, they are fascinating. This one involves mistakes in computer access and security, and I find it interesting. Social hacking combined with some old school honeypots and trojans.

Before this, I managed to score lower than my best and last of four in another try at the board game Grand Hotel Austria at Richard’s house. Laura led the whole time, but then Ricard broke out, finding a new engine in the game. Kathleen was distant from my score. I still like the game, but the wait for turns can be long, and there is no reason to look at the board, as it changes all the time, until it is your turn. Richard and Laura think the game is a bit random with the staff cards and relies on dice rolls for part of turn control.

Before taking the EV to Portland, I was at the house getting ready for next week’s trip. I was not making that much progress. I had two more reservations (completed Sunday morning) that are needed for the journey. Deborah and I found time to finish the season of Murders Only in the Building, watching together—Deborah in Michigan—and I thought it was an excellent conclusion. Of course, there was a new murder for the next season, already approved to go forward.

I called Joan S; she was free, so I picked up for a sort of lunch. I ate a salad while she had a Diet Rite at the McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Imbrie Hall. We chatted and just enjoyed some time together. Joan S cannot drive yet, and so I try to help here and there. I figured she needed to get out, and it was fun. We also stopped by Kohl’s to return something.

Before this, I had some chores. I picked up travel-sized toothpaste and other like items at Walgreens. I mailed a card to Mom Wild and a set of Eastern Oregon Tourist magazines to Deborah. On her visit in February, we might, if the weather works, head to Bend and places east in Oregon.

(Should I take gum, Jesus, or Swift?)

Before all of this, I did paperwork. I successfully applied for insurance options on HealthCare.gov. I was approved! I have to pick an insurer by December 15th. This is contingent on my existing doctors taking the new insurance. I am surprised to find that I will miss UnitedHealthcare (not available to be extended), which, despite its iron-handed corporate approach to providers and customers, seems to be widely accepted (back to that iron-handed comment) and, despite often having to appeal (yes, more iron), does finally cover things I need. Regency (Old Blue Cross/Shield), Providence (very local), and Kaiser are all on the list, and I am looking, just for me, about $1200 a month to enjoy their lesser coverage (with dental). While packing, I will also select a few and call my Legacy-based primary, my Providence-based brain surgeon, and my OHSU-based oncologist to find out what they accept.

I hope there is a Venn diagram of coverage, price, and docs that means I can make this work with me only paying more (again, who would think I would miss $780 a month for UHC). But at least I have options. I remember what it was like before ObamaCare, and how someone like me—61 and retired—could not get any insurance at any price. Yes, dear readers, that was what it was like. I spent a few years with no coverage when I was young, with untreated migraine headaches for years (it was primarily caused by high blood pressure).

I also cleared the password and got access to my Social Security Administration Account with the US Government. I saw my 2024 wages, my last, are finally recorded. I checked with the software, and I should apply for my early retirement ($2700+ a month starting in May or June 2026) after December 2025.

I printed out my eligibility notice. Best to have a hard copy, I think. I would prefer a name I know for insurance, to pay less per month, and pay more for services. I do have to do an MRI and a CT Scan in 2026, and those will likely cost me thousands instead of hundreds now, even with the new insurance (again, I can’t believe I will miss UHC).

Moving backward in the story, I started packing by moving luggage to the spare room to get organized. I had showered, all that, and dressed. I did not put on my slippers, and I did slam my foot into the bed supports. I fell onto the bed. “Broke a rule,” I called out. No walking without shoes or slippers! My feet are partially numb from the chemo and diabetes. I was lucky, I had not hurt my foot.

As usual, I did the morning things after rising in the dark at 7ish. The coffee was made, and I finished the cottage cheese for breakfast.

Halloween opened with me rising in the dark. To my surprise, the sound of rain in my gutters was absent, and the skies slowly changed from black to blue—a lovely morning sunrise! I had placed a pumpkin-shaped bucket of candy outside the day before, and when I mailed the cards this morning, it was still packed with small candy bars. I would not be home for the trick-and-treating, but at least any little spooks would be resupplied should they be passing by, and anyone else. Of the 29 Halloweens, I can remember only the last two as not part of our six-month rain festival, often with pouring cold wet, and those were 2023-2024. I remember the pandemic ones were clear too, but those were putting out the candy with hand sanitizer and paper towels. This time it was candy in a bucket.

I wrote the blog and did a small amount of laundry for Friday. It is just me, and I keep the loads small, allowing The Machine to complete the work in just a few hours. I watched the run rise and the squirrels enjoy the apples on the ground.  The roses are in slow mode, and blooms grow and fade in slow motion now that sunlight is much reduced. Wet, messy leaves are everywhere. My lawn service cleaned up the first of the onslaught, but after a few days, it looks like they were never here. Yes, welcome to late fall in the Pacific Northwest!

I located my ‘V’ mask and my tophat, put on a red vest and a white shirt, and said, “We are ANONYMOUS.” I passed on the tie as rain was forecast, and water spots do not improve a silk tie. I was ready for Halloween.

I talked and texted Deborah all morning. We both followed each other’s day. We were both busy.

I had cold pizza and leftover salad, added a hard-boiled egg and some olives, and caught up on YouTube. I watched ShipHappens and more of Drachinifel and his breakdown of engine designs for 1900s-1945 naval ships. I then scooped the laundry onto Monday’s pile of yet-to-be-folded clothing, hung up shirts and pants, and tried to get a bit more organized. Failed. Boarded Air VW the Gray and headed to New Cascadia Traditional, a pizza and bakery for gluten-free goodies.

Traffic was not heavy, but the skies were no longer blue. Rain was coming! I parked the EV in what would later become a damp adventure to recover the vehicle. I was early and had a kombucha (no booze) while I wrote a status report for the church—all good news—for the refresh. The reports are one page and presented as memos. This is the 11th report, styled as the Halloween report, with nothing scary.

I returned to my adventure writing (Dungeons & Dragons 5E), putting aside my fantasy novel for now, and started to make real progress. My thoughts began to coalesce into actual rules, creatures, encounters, and text. This is a one-shot adventure for a single play, but it needs to create a strong memory. I asked about the 2012 version, and my players still remember it. I make some features harsher for higher-level adventurers. It needs to be scary! And writing on Halloween 2025 adds a certain je ne sais quoi to my writing today. Evil and darkness seem to come to me with ease as I write. Portland, in the rain, dark, and goblin-free glutan-free* baked goods, seems steeped in necromantic energy today (evil laugh here).

*I had to keep that mistake from Grammarly visible for this writing!

Kathleen appeared in full elf ears, make-up, and rings. Only her smile has me recognizing her. We get personal pizzas and drinks (tea with milk for me). My pizza was cheese-free and topped with roasted veggies. It is light, and the crust was more cracker than bread—excellent! We mostly chat and enjoy the busy store, where folks are often dressed as their favorite friendly creatures or undead. We finally find some focus, and I make more additions and start to get two encounters done and rules for the surprise set.

I miss my glasses as I travel out of Portland in the dark. Once again, the traffic lights are doubled, but control of the car is shared between me and the EV’s AI, keeping us both between the lines and safe. I arrived with a few warnings but stopped the VW in time (it was threatening to brake for me — sometimes it is so controlling).

I collected my laptop, my hat, and my mask, put them away for another day, then got the wet, floating candy and put it out to dry. The packaging is waterproof, but I sampled some to ensure quality. No issues.

I wrote more and finished another watching of Grayhound on Apple+; one of the best WW2 movies (the new version of Midway being the other). I have four more encounters to write and then the ending. I will be adding an environment challenge, too. I am thinking of deleting the bonus encounter, but we will see.

My usual approach is to vary the encounters with different creatures and attacks. This allows me to ignore one that gets crushed, as player groups are often good at one or two types of encounters. If I vary them, I should hit a couple of harsh ones. DMs, and I include myself in this, often get unhappy when the encounter they spent all this time on and writing is crushed, and are tempted to add to it or cheat a bit, but I have learned (thanks M@) to just move on and let the next one be different. I will scare the players with a couple of them!

I read the rules for the Let’s Waltz add-on to the Grand Hotel Austria board game. I learn how most of the other options work. I have already added the More option (number 5), which adds a few more cards and options to the base game. We included Ballrooms (number 1) in our last play and decided to keep it. I looked at the Celebrities (number 2), and there is a warning that it may add too many rules when included with the Ballroom option. Hmmm. I looked at the New Hotel entrance way (number 4), and that looks good for folks who want to vary something. Maybe not for our second play of Ballrooms, but I liked it. I will present the choices and let the group decide.

I was too tired to read when I crawled into bed. I soon fell deeply asleep, and I think I wandered in my sleep-dream world, waving my hands like a dark sorcerer and creating evil catacombs, dungeons, and creatures to stop adventurers. This Saturday morning, I feel like some ideas are floating in the back of my mind, waiting to find their way into my Word document.

Thanks for reading.

 

Just as I had given up hope of seeing the blue sky or the sun, it appeared late Thursday morning. It was a busy day, unexpectedly, but not very interesting. It will be a short blog today.

I was up later, which was a good thing, as I finally switched back to this time zone (though I leave next week for New Orleans). I find that at this age, I bounce back more slowly, but I suspect it is just retirement mode, and I can notice it now. Before, I was busy and there was much to be about, and there was no time for being tired. I remember three+ shot coffee drinks with sugar to keep going. I do not miss the all-nighters, weekend work, often with limited sleep, or reaching 40+ hours worked by Wednesday morning! Those 100-hour workweeks were harsh!

I write the blog, explore my email, unsubscribe from right-wing stuff that mostly wants money, and one Republican congressman offering to let me pay him for a newsletter. No.

I enjoy my cup of coffee with more peanut butter toast, write the blog, and update the Quicken transaction flow. Ensuring they are correct and meaningful. It is easy for you to do it every day and check them about every month.

With that done, I focus —or try to find focus —for writing the blog. The sun rises, the dark moves to gray, to white, and a hint of blue suggests the sky will show later (and it does), and the squirrels, fearless in my backyard, are bouncing all over and investing the lawn with their bounty to be used later. The slightly fermented apples of my old apple tree are enjoyed, and the furry treasure planters seem even more careless after that. The birds also come for the apples, and their flying seems more complex afterward.

The spinners from the trees are flying all over, rising and falling as the wind creates updrafts over the fence walls. It is marvelous to watch. I sip my coffee and try to write, but the fall show is hard to ignore.

I call Peak Vision (you can see Mount Hood’s top just over the trees there) and they agree to a 3:45 appointment. I need to resolve my glasses issue. I want to wear them all the time, which is different. I can see well at over 10 feet, but I cannot wear them to use my computer or talk to people. I need something different. Deborah makes many suggestions, having more experience with this than I do (this is my first pair of glasses for aging eyes).

Deborah and I connect by phone and text all day. Later, we will watch another episode of Murders Only in the Building together. We miss each other, but we stay in contact most days.

I get a few cards out before the mail comes, and when the mail comes, it is mostly stuff I toss.

I managed to book the rest of the hotels for our trip, and later I booked an IHG near the airport for myself. I have an insanely early flight, so it is best to just use the hotel shuttle rather than risk an expensive Uber and a traffic mess. I looked first at Aloft, but they wanted an extra $100 for a night ($300 should be a nice hotel).

I call Leta to say, “Hello.” Her mouse on her Apple computer has failed. A new one was acquired, but it too does not connect. One of the reasons I keep a wired mouse for my Linux systems. You never know when something will update an interface or when the batteries will fail. I tried to help, but even restarting and alternating between the mice got no response. Ugh! It is nearly impossible to diagnose over the phone, even with the video, and I called Leta’s daughter, Barb C, to see if she could help or had any ideas. I could not help.

(I am trying)

Next, I board Air VW the Gray and stop first at Happy Panada for lunch. I had the usual American version of Chinese-style lunch. A group behind me was loud and opinionated, so I put on music on my laptop to drown them out a bit (with the waiter’s permission). I was trying to work on the hotels and other stuff, but it was too loud even for me. I paid my bill, enjoyed a fortune, and headed to the glasses place in the EV.

The traffic was typical, but 217 is somehow not under reconstruction (for most of my nearly 29 years here, it has been being reconstructed for various reasons), and traffic was only slow in a few places. Wow! I arrive an hour early, slip into a nearby Starbucks, and avoid buying anything, as the line seems long each time I look.

Two folks are working with one woman, using the two-screen setup on her Windows laptop. Another person was clearly doing some kind of call response, using the coffee joint as a temporary base and source of Internet, with headphones too. I have an extra screen too, but I am out of the habit of using it. Hmmm. Maybe I should get it out, return to headphones, and work from coffee joints. I used to do that. All interesting.

Because of the hearing loss from the brain tumor (all my hearing on the left side is gone), I may speak too loudly on a phone, and I do talk to Joan S for a while and walk outside. I see the woman looking happy that I stepped out. Yup!

Glasses were mostly me apologizing for misunderstanding, and the glass folks and my Doc reworking the glasses. I paid $160 more for the improvements and was told my insurance covers a second pair, so I will do that in December (before my COBRA coverage ends) and get to enjoy no eye coverage in ObamaCare. They took back the glasses, and I should get a revision when I return.

I drove home, but stopped at the local store to stock up on candy. Still amazed that 217 is working and has worse traffic than 217 in Beaverton! I get a cheap bucket for the candy. At home, I move the table and put out the candy a day early. I talk to my neighbors and they get some. Excellent! Today is the close of the 28th year at 20625 SW Clarion Street, Aloha (Beaverton), Oregon 97003 (or 97006 and Aloha).

(Free candy to celebrate spookiness on top of an EV that had a ‘free’ EV rebate from the government–as scary as it gets for some folks. Boo! From a liberal.)

I managed to write some more of my Dungeons & Dragons adventure and made my first encounter more fun. Hill giants with a potion of speed and a pile of rocks. Put evil DM laugh here.

Time was somehow already late. The day, like most now, disappears in a poof of unexpected tasks and confused usual tasks, but I will still record them here, and even this quietish day has 1000+ words.

Thanks for reading!