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I am writing this while also on Zoom with India tonight. We are running data conversions for the local shoe company.

I have to admit I could have started earlier on the blog, but I am on the last Vatta’s War novel, and it is just so good. I spent the evening reading. I should have been painting figures or doing cool Python programming, or working on some electrical/robot stuff. Instead, I am enjoying the story, and I needed a bit of a distraction. I am feeling much better now.

Before this reading, Susie and I met Mariah at The Rock Wood Fired Pizza for beer and an early dinner. I had just a chopped salad and a red ale. Susie had mac and cheese with bacon. Mariah had a burger.

The staff knows us and even our usual choices. Mariah ordered a mixed drink instead of a beer and shocked them. Then Susie did not order pizza, and I ordered, as I said, a salad. I think they were surprised!

The outside was closed. I think the new lockdown rules have reduced the number of folks in the pizza place. We got the low table in the bar–perfect for Susie. Everyone was being safe.

Before we headed out, I spent the afternoon trying to keep my perspective as I disagree with management on how to write something. It was trying to be my penguin, “smile and wave,” self. It was frustrating.

Before this, I slipped out in Air Volvo to get lunch at the drive-thru Burger King and got Susie a plain cheeseburger and a whopper with cheese for me. I really love their burgers and the veggies on the burger. We got mozzarella sticks instead of fries.

The morning was the discussions that frustrated me and status meetings—hours and hours of Zooming for Nike. I was also reading some documents and, of course, emails.

I slept in this morning until about 7:30 as all the early meetings were canceled.

Another huge number of infections were reported today in India. Please pray for India!

16,907 people in Oregon received a vaccination yesterday. This number will likely increase as more counts are added over the next three days.

885 people died in the USA from Covid-19 today.

I liked this version of The Lord Bless You and Keep You. I have done it before, but I liked it.

Just a short story today as it is a busy workday.

I started at 6ish and started right in. Logged in and started to read emails and find my way.  I had to fix some issues in the vendor patches, OSS notes to those who speak SAP, and spend the morning listening to status meetings on Zoom while trying to fix issues in the code and data structures.

I forgot about the time, and it was past 9 when I remembered that Susie had Zerida and a spa day. Her driver arrived while she was getting dressed. We managed to get ready and be only ten minutes late—a new record for Susie. Not the kind of start for a week I would want, but we got it handled.

Returning to work, I managed to find the issues and resolve them in the patches and listen to more status. It was a pleasure to get my walk at 10ish and make the short walk. It hurt as I walk as fast as I can without running. My legs and back hurt by the time I was home. But no coughing. It is cold and wet–Oregon is back to normal spring! Use it or lose it!

I ordered lamb kabobs for lunch from Gyro House, delivered by GrubHub. I was not feeling right yesterday and wanted to get some protein into me. It was perfect, and I suddenly felt better.

Susie was back about 1ish and had her fav, McDonald Happy Meal with apples.

Status meetings went on for the afternoon, and an emergency meeting at 4ish ended the day for me. It being Monday, I rested for a bit after ordering KFC delivered. Kentucky Fried Chicken was all I could manage as we kept having fixes and emergency meetings.

I managed dinner, and then, it being Monday, I logged on to Roll20. My camera did not work! I switched to the old Opera browser, and everything worked actually worked a bit better than Google Chrome.

We played Roll20 from 6:30 to 9ish. We went over as we started a battle at 8:15, and it was a close one. I managed to scare the players good. Without giving away spoilers, the other major encounters were single dangerous creatures. Often a bad roll or the concerted actions of the players just overwhelm a powerful single bad-guy in Dungeons and Dragons 5E. When I build my own encounters, I try to have many creatures to counter the players’ four to six characters. Tonight four highly armored with huge hit point count scared the players good. The super wizard did not even make them blink, but four bad guys took a while to bring down!

They did meet a bad guy in her lair and with plenty of allies. They sweet-talked her, and she let them go on. She even gave them directions! But Bill did get critical success on persuading.

So a busy Monday.

319,415 people are reported infected with Covid-19 today in India. Pray for India!

Oregon is over 40% vaccinated and continuing to push forward.

455 people died in the USA from Covid-19 today.

I picked Be Thou My Vision for today.

My sleep was disturbed by something. I awoke with all the classic heart racing and fear. I could not recall a dream nor any reason for the sudden awakening. I fell back to sleep after a few moments and did not truly reawake until after 9ish. Way late for me.

Later I found a kindle and book I had under my pillow on the floor by the bed. I suspect the crash of them hitting the carpet was what woke me.

I started slowly as I felt a bit off. I read my email. I read the news. I went slow. I did not, and will regret this all day, have breakfast—just coffee.

I finally took my meds and dressed. I watched another episode of Game of Thrones, the first season. It is a very sexy show, and I slowly understand the different characters. So far, the storyline has been very predictable.

I met Evan here, and we drove to BJ’s for lunch at about 1ish. We were surprised to be put on a waiting list. We waited maybe five minutes, and soon Lacy, our waiter, was getting me a drink, and we waited for Mariah to join us. Susie stayed home as she had just got going. I got her breakfast and had some cold streak, a Susie fav, on a plate in the frig for her that she found later. I remember to move my big chair out of the way when I am away.

I had Sorba noodles and just felt more off. I think I did not take my meds at the same time on weekdays and without breakfast, and this messed me up. I will pay attention to Monday and see if the problem just goes away.

We chatted and Evan and Mariah have finally met.

Mariah headed out, and Evan and I went to Wildwood Tap, and only a small table was available outside. We managed to just fit the board game The Lost Ruins of Arnak on the table. We played a fast two-person game, freezing at the last part. It was just too cold to sit outside and play board games under a tent!

The Lost Ruins of Arnak is a deck-building and working placement game with strong resources management systems. I also find the Indiana Jones or Lara Croft elements a bit immersive. I hummed the Indiana Jones theme after I purchased the card “hat” that looked like something I wear. I sort of daydream about my actions while playing. “Of course, I need three compasses (representing means to get to the lost ruins sites),” I think as I move to investigate a new site.

I lost by four points. Evan managed to suddenly run up the research track. I bought a lot of cards. My last action was to tie up the guardians’ overcome count–we both did two. This was a mistake. I should have advanced the research track. Buying cards and doing the research are the most points. I did at least free myself of fear cards and most of my no-value cards. As I said, I was short one arrowhead and finished with too many resources still on my board. I had enough stuff to move up three rows or more if I had the arrowhead (which I burned to overcome a guardian!).

Evan has played two games to my three. He scored better than I did this game and played in the last round three turns after I passed. I had done that to him in the first rounds.

We both like the game, and the game mechanics are making sense. But, you have to be very careful with the deck-building as you can ruin your game by mistakingly shuffling all your cards together! We were careful to follow the procedure printed on the aid card. We had no mishaps.

We paid the bill, just one beer, and headed home. We stopped by Gyro House to get some dessert. I got Susie coffee to go with her’s and made Turkish coffee for Evan and me.

There is a Harry Potter marathon that Susie was watching and we watched for a bit and then switch over to the Oscars. So far, I have not won.

354,341 more people are reported to be infected today in India.

273 people are reported to have died from Covid-19 in the USA today.

I was really expecting a pop-sounding version of Lift High the Cross.

Susie and I have passed out two weeks after the 2nd dose of Moderna. My gaming groups are starting to come back together, and I will likely return to the Portland ones now that we are vaccinated. These groups are mostly vaccinated people and are careful. I have not been willing to risk it until we got past this important milestone.

I visited Richard today to play games at his house. He is a dentist and has been vaccinated for some time.

We played Blood Rage first. I brought my copy with all the painted Vikings and mythical monsters. He beat me at my own game in his first play.

We then played Dune Imperium. A new game published in 2020 I have wanted to play for some time. Richard taught me the game, and I really enjoyed it. Richard did beat me by two points. You have a deck of cards that define what you can do–it is a deck-building game. You place two agents on the board based on the cards you have. This will give you resources, more options for play, and deploying army units. You can get more agents, and some options let you purge your deck of less valuable cards. This is a popular mechanic in working placement and resource management games. This is, of course, all themed to match the new Dune movie, currently held up by the pandemic, which is a bit odd. The game usually comes after the movie. Your turn ends with a revealing step where you can purchase new cards and support your troops. The battle of armies is fought using an abstract system of just counting strength. The winner and 2nd place are rewarded.

I added too many weaker cards to my deck. I also did not understand that you need to get cards from a specific group to use their special abilities. This meant my hand was weak some rounds. I focused on combat, which kept me in the game, but not getting the extra agent was a disadvantage I never recovered from. The intrigue cards created a more Dune feeling to the game. They also have extra scoring options. I would have picked up more had I known next time! Also, the loss of all troops used in a battle reminded me of the other Dune theme game I have known simply as Dune (2020).

This new game shows how we have polished game mechanics in the past years. The game flows and is easy to understand. While it is not as immersive as the chaotic and negotiate-focused, and simply insane rules of Dune (2020), it is a pleasure to play.

It did remind me of my recently purchased The Lost Ruins of Arnak board game. Many of the same mechanics are repeated here.

The day started with me sleeping in until 9ish and then painting figures for part of the morning. I also watched the first episode of Game of Thrones. It is on HBOMax, which we have. I am not sure I liked it, but I managed to get to the second episode of season 1.

I got Susie breakfast and then headed out to get my haircut. The rains are back, and I can breathe again. I drove, in heavy traffic, to Zerida’s place. It was busy but the rains made it a nice relaxing drive in Air Volvo.

I made Susie and I grilled cheese for dinner. Corwin later cooked steaks for her and his friend Andrew who moved today, just walking distance away now.

I drove to Portland and met Richard for games at 6PM. There was light-ish traffic to Portland tonight.

It is getting late and already Sunday so I will rush a bit.

349,313 more people are reported infected in India today.

29,160 people were vaccinated in Oregon yesterday. This number will usually increase as the counts are collected.

742 people died in the USA today from Covid-19.

I picked Amazing Grace for tonight.

I got an email at 3ish on Friday morning that the patch, OSS note for those who know SAP, had broken something. So I saw that at 6AM and logged on and started fixing it and applying, you can guess, more patches to fix the patch. The vendor, an SAP partner, had not put the proper predecessors on their notes. Three hours later, I got rid of the Syntax issue and found another fix for more issues. I was asked to not fix this until they had looked some more.

I slipped out from coding and applying fixes to shower and get dressed. Thusly, I was all clean and shiny for the first of two hours of status meetings. I was still fixing a few items and approving a few fixes as I was not needed for much of the status meetings.

I rested instead of walking in the pollen-infested air. The rains are returning tonight, so walks will be in the rain–Pacific Northwest style.

Lunchtime came; I had a chocolate-filled pastry I made yesterday with a banana for breakfast. I made grilled ham and swiss for Susie and me.

I finished The Deadly Assassin from Classic Doctor Who with the legendary Tom Baker. Once in a while, I listen to a voice-only new adventure with the 4th Doctor. Tom Baker has returned to the role for voice versions with his companions on Big Finish Productions.

One move meeting this week. I helped explain the source of currency rates at Nike and how we implement them now and shortly in new versions of SAP. Our analytics developing folks wanted to literally know how the money works at Nike. We told them where to get the official rates for currency conversion and whom to ask from the business and IT side if they need more help.

I took a break and read some more. Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War series is just fun. I was not expecting her to go with a running joke and create a Planet Cascadia that seems like the PNW in space! It is hard to put down. I am on book four!

I went out and purchased pizza from Papa Murphy’s. This is a PNW chain of take-home-and-bake raw pizzas. They have salads too. I was shocked to find it packed with masking-wearing people. I waited another 15 minutes more for my two pizzas and salad as they were behind. I waited outside. Folks seemed to reduce social distancing while in line for their pizza in the store. When I was briefly in the storefront, I asked them for my pizza politely and thanked them. My pizza moved up on the list. It is always good to be polite and friendly in the PNW. My standing outside and watching through the window glass also made them happy. They waved me in, and I passed all the now too close people to get my pizza.

I slightly over-baked one, but it was good. Pizza and salad are my favs.

The furnace/AC controls reminded me to replace the filter. I did that. I had trouble getting the super filter out of the space. I replaced the expensive filter with a more plain filter for the summer that goes in easier. I will pick up a new super filter this summer. The filter was gray with pollen and dust.

Not an exciting Friday, but just busy.

India reported another 345,157 infections today. A record. Pray for India!

30,342 people were vaccinated yesterday in Oregon. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was re-approved for use in the USA today. The numbers for Oregon will likely increase as it takes 72 hours to get the final counts.

790 people died today in the USA from the in Convid-19.

Down to the River seemed like a good choice today.