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Today is the first day of my sabbatical, and the first day in months I have not opened my Nike laptop. Yesterday (Day 0) was a working day with me finishing up about 3ish and headed to the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival at the Hollywood Theater in Portland. This is my fourth fest, I think, and my third in person. Last year was only online.

On Friday, as I was checking in, I was invited by the directors of the film fest to record reading my microfiction so they can include me in the online or streaming version of the event that will be released in a few weeks. I at first demurred. My voice is not that good for these things, but I wanted to support the Festival, so I will do it.

Friday (Day 0) was a set of horror short movies and a long full-feature film. I enjoyed all of them and was happy that none scared me. One was a comedy, and it was perfect. I drove home at midnight.

I started the first day of my sabbatical by sleeping into 8:30ish. I managed to do the dishes and have some fruit for breakfast. I made Susie something and then drove Air Volvo back to the Hollywood Theater.

I captured my fav seat; I was 30 minutes early, so it was still available, near the front but to the side. I got a beer and pizza from the “pie hole” to Sizzle Pizza. I had the pepperoni pizza, skipping the vegan version, and enjoyed real cheese and meat.

I went up to the vendor area and met three authors and the publisher of Jackanapes Press. I bought the books of the authors that were there at the both, and they signed copies. It was a pleasure to meet them, and I have already started reading one of the books.

The movies were longer and much more intense this time. The shorts were dark and cosmic-horror-filled. I only watched the first block and then headed out. I will miss the new full-length creations, but I can only sit so long and watch.

Usually, I find a Call of Cthulhu game or bring my own Cthulhu Wars board game. This year that is not possible with the pandemic. I decided to find a second lunch (lighter) and decide then what to do.

The trendy Nectar Cafe is in the strip mall just out of sight of the Hollywood Theater, and I have eaten there last time (2019!). Food is primarily vegan, and coffee is a science. So I have the soup, a bisque of veggies, and a grilled cheese that has well no cheese.

The two goth girls drinking coffee were fully decked out with bones and tall black hair. The manager had devil horns, a red mask, a red outfit, red tinted makeup, and demonic red contacts. She was friendly, and I asked about her eyes. She told me that the sinister contacts lenses are just like any contact lenses, and you can see through them just fine. They asked me about my Umbrella Corporation badge (a prop styled after Resident Evil movies). Apparently, that kind of made me fit in.

I enjoyed my soup, and the grilled cheese was filled with veggies and was almost a salad. The cheese-like product was overshadowed by the bread and the veggies, which may not be a bad thing. It was good. The soup was lovely.

I decided now that it was 4ish, it was time to head home. I drove Air Volvo home. I think that is enough for me this year.

Reaching home seeing little traffic, I took a nap, fell into a deep sleep, awoke dreamless (which is a blessing after this afternoon’s shorts), and started again at 6ish on house stuff. I made dinner (chops with corn on the cob and cornbread muffins) and have tried not to find anything to do and just read a bit.

The cornbread muffins are Bob’s Red Mill mix and are just terrible. Last time for that.

Mister Lincoln rose has finally opened. I nearly perfect tea-styled rose.

I decided I needed to start the blog for my break. Here we go! I hope you like it.

Working backward this time, I am just up from a nap and reading. I stopped by one of my fav places to have their beer: The Hair of the Dog. There Adam beer is some of the best beer I have found. It also has a high alcohol content, so it comes in smaller glasses. Thus a nap was often required. Again, I had their Brewer’s Plate, and this time it was terrible. They have not got the food working yet–if you are there, stick to nuts!

I preceded the drink with a visit to Guardian Games. They are still not renting rooms or having open gaming. I miss playing in their rented spaces and open spaces! I did purchase a 28mm scale siege weapon that was 25% off. A already painted and ready to use catapult for tabletop play!

Before, this was a medical test. I brought a picture of a cat with me. The operator of the CAT scan did not think it as funny as I did. CAT scans are quick and easy.

I enjoyed Portland traffic with Air Volvo from Beaverton to reach Good Sam hospital for the test. Traffic was slow, but I gave myself plenty of time. I was thirty minutes early and read my Kindle in the car until time for my appointment.

I should comment on that I am using a new app, Parking Kitty, to pay for parking. It means I do not have to play with the uniquely user-unfriendly Portland parking machines. The parking machine must have your plate numbers, and usually, you can not see your plates (I never remember it), and often I type one of the letters in my plate number wrong. I notice after it charges me, of course. Now the app avoids this.

Before this trip, I made Susie dinner and rested a bit. I also got some gas in Air Volvo and washed it in a car wash down the street. The winter dirt was showing a bit.

This morning, I got going at 6 to get Susie to her medical test in Portland and at Good Sam. So, yes, I had to take Air Volvo to Portland twice. Susie’s test was over quickly, and we got back. I picked up a breakfast/lunch for us at McDonald’s. Susie loves the apple fritter.

Moving to yesteray, Tuesday ended with us staying up late with the David and Michelle Smith seeing the new Marvel movie, Shang-Chi. This was the second time for Susie and me, and we still loved the movie. The action is still fun to watch. We went to Movies on TV theater and we were the only folks in the theater.

Before this, the Smiths surprised us with a text saying lets do a movie. We had then had to find one and agree to meet. We picked, actually David did, the one that was the best for the big screen.

I will then cut Tuesday a bit as it was mostly various status and align meetings for me at the shoe company. Just a normal day.

The change of the seasons are always a bit abrupt here in the Greater Portland Area. We were sunny and 85F+ just a few weeks ago. Now it is coats and hat weather. I am back to wearing my coat and hat. The giant slugs are back! This slug was twice as long when fully extended!

My roses are trying to get those last Fall roses out. Mister Lincoln is almost ready with a perfect red rose.

I think all the aphids froze or drowned! I usually don’t have perfect leaves and a bud with no dots on it from aphid feeding.

I will not include medical stuff here. I have more tests and follow ups.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the story of living during a pandemic in the PNW, USA.

 

Today is my last working Monday until 8Nov2021 started with me sleeping in a bit, getting ready, and making my first meeting. No status meeting, but an alignment meeting. Actually, all the meetings were more about alignment than status today as the data conversions and testing move on.

I will not detail just a typical working day with various discussions and only a single crisis of the moment. It was a pleasant Monday, and I was not tired or frustrated at the end at 5ish.

To avoid the extra expense of GrubHub or other delivery services, I settled for can soup; today, I had crackers to go with the New England Clam Chowder. I spent lunch listening to Nerd of the Rings videos on the histories in Lord of the Rings.

I did forget it was Monday, and Susie appeared, and then we had only thirty minutes to get her ready. We just made it. Susie had her spa appointment with Zeriada today and then brought home a Happy Meal, except it had fries; no apple slices!

During the last meeting, a large 300+ Zoom meeting, I started dinner. Again, I tried the Japanese-style one-pot curry chicken with rice. It needs more salt, but other than that, it came out well. Chicken thighs are cooked in the pot in oil until slightly brown (not fully cooked). Garlic, ginger, nutmeg, green curry powder, and onion are cooked and mixed with washed plain rice. Add a few potatoes peeled and diced with sliced carrots. Add a lot of broth. Bake for 375F for about an hour. Not bad for a raining cold Oregon fall day.

I cooked and cleaned watching Doctor Who the first season. I have HBO Max and decided to watch all of the BBC show again. So far, I have enjoyed the show again.

By the way, I tried to go for a walk in the rain this morning, but the UPS truck dropped off my new docking station for my Apple M1 laptop. So I now have more than two USB plugs and new headphone options besides Bluetooth. In addition, my backup device now is plug into the docking station instead of the last port on my laptop. It was expensive but is the newest technology and should live as long as my laptop lives.

I have picked any music in a while and thought it best to select John Nilsen‘s Morning Has Broken to get back into the habit. I hope you liked the blog, and thanks for reading.

Events have got in the way of blogging, and my desire today to clean and organize even a little bit has me late writing my blog. I also read a book these days, and now my eyes are seeing double while I type. This should clear up soon!

It is Sunday, and I have put away most of the laundry monster that has covered the floor for some time. The need for naps and resting is mostly a memory now. Simply put, the iron replacement is working. I have also sworn off aspirin, and various leakage has halted.

Working backward, I just finished the Cthulhu-based Sherlock Holmes series, and it was just OK, I would say. I thought the author too freely changed the story, but I read the whole three books, and the last 1/4 of the previous book was a page-turner: The Cthulhu Casebooks – Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils. This seemed the best of the three books and I thought this book, the last 1/2 or so, fit both Holmes and The Mythos best. 

Before this, I fried hamburgers, frozen patties from Safeway, heated a can of chili with beans, and Corwin and I had a chili burger on bread. Susie just has cheddar cheese on her burger with Riser’s Potato Salad.

I spent the rest of Sunday watching Season 1 of the new Doctor Who while cleaning and doing laundry. The laundry monster had turned into a pile on the floor, and it needed to be defeated and much rewashed. I had decided to bring this under control.

I also hoped to clean the frig and get my counter space back in the kitchen, but that will wait another day.

I made buckwheat pancakes and sausages for breakfast/lunch. I like buckwheat as that is what they served in the Laingsburg Pancake Breakfast in the 1970s. I liked the more rustic taste. I can still see all the now mostly gone biz men at the grills and singing, “hotcakes., hotcakes!” I remember Mr. Hurst singing with gusto. I only serve them in the house, and usually, nobody is awake when I make them. I might call out “hot cakes!” by myself.

Saturday was a bit different for me. No meetings from the shoe company this weekend. I slept in more than I meant to. I got Susie and me outside and in the car by 11ish, and we reached McMinnville around noon. It is the UFO Festival which has moved to September because of Covid-19. We brought the new travel wheelchair to practice a bit.

I think the fest is a bit faded by a lower turnout, and some events like the movie fest were canceled. I have never attended before. We had not dressed up for the festival and will definitely return again with tin foil hats.

I did meet some true believers and bought their self-published and illustrated zine. A small pamphlet. Susie and I had lunch/breakfast there. All seating for all food was outside. We felt safe as most folks had on masks, and everyone was careful.

An observation, I noticed many girls dressed in tied-off shirts, short and tight skirts, and other scanty outfits. “Earth Girls Are Easy” theme was on full display. Folks were happy and enjoying a nearly perfect day in October.

We drove home with a t-shirt from the event for Susie, a Roswell patch for Corwin, and a caramel apple that we sliced up and shared between Susie and me on Sunday. It was perfect.

That night, we played Wingspan’s board game at Cory’s house with his wife Jenifer and their neighbors Mackers and Ann. Mackers won. We had a few drinks, and I helped remind everyone how to play.

Moving to Friday, this will be shorter. I worked the day with various status and crises of the moment at the shoe company. We then met Mariah at Golden Valley Brewery and had dinner and drinks. We had a nice dinner.

I was hacked in Facebook messaging and spent the next three hours withdrawing some link that spread the infection. Then, finally, I was able to clean up most of it.

I hope that this crazy summary works for you.

Thursday morning started with the alarm at 6:30 and me holding out the last minute to get dressed and only was a few minutes late for my first status meeting. I had hours of status meetings, all Zooming, this morning. I slept poorly with lots of dreams last night; it was a hard start!

I had Safeway deliver today, and it was a lot this time. A colossal order, and I still managed to forget the bananas! The order was delivered in the middle of another alignment and status meeting. I left on the camera, and folks watched me, with the sound was off, carry in bags after bag. I then, listening, put away everything. Another day in the pandemic!

For lunch, I made a ham and cheese sandwich–I had bread now; GrubHub and DoorDash are running about $25 or more per order. I just can’t spend that much on lunch here at the house. I was tempted to make hot dogs or even chili dogs but decided to eat the sandwich instead. I do not want to eat all the favs on the first day after delivery!

I made Susie cereal with milk for breakfast.

I had a few more meetings. Then, I drove Corwin in Air Volvo to work. Usually, I let him drive, but if we are running late, I drive.

Next Wednesday, I scheduled some tests for Susie and took the day off as it was early morning tests but went on for hours.

Moving to dinner, I made Bourbon Chicken from a new recipe and made it too salty. I will try again someday and use less Soy Sauce than on the recipe.

Today I got the request from the HP Lovecraft Film Festival (next week!) for my t-shirt size. I also sent them a copy of vaccination card to get me pre-approved to the theater. I have a scan on the cards no and an email to myself with the scan attached if I need to provide it. I am exited to be going on October 1.

Switching to Wednesday, it started the same with me tired and get going late. I managed to make all the first meetings on time, and like most days, I Zoom’d.

I made oatmeal, cut oats from scratch while I listened to a meeting. I like the more chewy and flavor compared to rolled and instant oatmeal. I add my own amount of brown sugar to finish it. Susie has some too but likes the instant better.

The day went by without much excitement. I ordered groceries on Safeway.com between discussions or while listening to status meetings. I had beef veggie soup for lunch as I was not paying $27 for lunch delivered!

The Zoom meetings when on for a while. I did take a break and fell asleep; I quickly rundown. I am feeling a bit better each day now.

After my last planned meeting, Susie and I got into Air Volvo to meet Mariah for drinks and a quick dinner at Stanford’s. First, I had an appointment. Susie got to attend as I parked the car and used my iPhone for another shoe company Zoom meeting. The other folks on the call were surprised to see me in Air Volvo, parked for safety, and having a meeting with video. We covered the issue, and the meeting was quickly over.

Mariah met us at Stanford’s. The bar was closed with velvet ropes. Apparently, it was trendy and packed. So we instead got a table in the regular seating. We had drinks and dinner. I had this giant steakhouse burger. Susie and Mariah had the beef dig sandwich.

Susie and I headed out while Mariah finished her drink; Mariah was walking over. Harry Potter was on a special showing Wednesday night. Susie and I found our seats in handicap, and we enjoyed seeing the 2nd Harry Potter movie. I like this one as the original crew is in it and the original director. The following films look a bit more CG, and the story is also darker. These first two films created images that stay with me of Harry Potter and his friends.

I went right to bed when we got home. Susie required some care giving So too. I was not able to blog on Wednesday.

Sorry for missing a day. I hope you enjoyed this crazy outline of my day. Thank you for reading.

A postscript: I am still struck by the National Guard person helping with directing people at the doctor’s office on Tuesday. It gets to me that we need the National Guard now to make our medical stuff work in Oregon. I think about how bad it is and get very sad.