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Susie had some trouble getting to sleep, but I did manage to sleep once she got settled. It is always hard to start at 6:30 with only five hours of sleep, but that is a typical Monday now. So off to get the work week started by reading emails and Slack channel text messages. I was able to get breakfast and cleaned up in time for the first meeting.

I was late for many of the following meetings as there were many crises of the moment and also wrote an email on my Apple computer about the risk of the delta-variant for my church. I summary of the facts as I understand them. All of this had me late for status meetings.

The project is getting hotter, and I see some panic. This is usual as we are just a few months from the final build, and there are many issues. This, too, is normal, but we have many new people, and leadership seems uneasy.

I ordered out for lunch. No more going out to lunch with delta-variant exploding in Oregon. Instead, I had Grubhub bring me a Monta Cristo sandwich from the French place, La Provence, at Orenco Station. It was lovely.

Susie was up in the early afternoon, and I got her breakfast, water for her pills, and coffee.

I had a few discussions online at the shoe company. Finally, the crises of the moment stopped, and I had a quiet afternoon. I rested a bit.

I also called my health care provider to explain why my doctor’s appointment for Tuesday is not covered. The doctor’s office called me to check my insurance was still the same. The agent said that should not be a problem and would call the doctor’s office. I told them I need to see the doc and please stop the shenanigans. I see doc early on Tuesday, and I hope this is all fixed by then.

I made a salad for dinner, a chef styled with many veggies, cheese, and some lunch meats. I made cold roast beef and swiss sandwich for Susie.

We tried to play a new campaign in Roll20 today, but the material is not working. The maps, the most important part for the players, are completely dark. Roll20 has a new lighting system, and somehow this content is set to be dark. I will see if I can fix it. But, we could not play much today. A waste.

I called Dan Gray, and we talked about the choices for our church. We feel in our hearts we want the truth to be different, but the facts suggest that it is more dangerous now to have the church open than before. So the path forward is hard.

Today the skies here are clear and the light white again, not yellow with smoke. The temperatures are lower. We left the AC off and opened the front door to catch a little breeze.

My roses are still blooming even in the dry heat. You can see the photos a bit of fade, but still, they are nice.

This is a Japanese-styled rose that is nearly indestructible. Even salt tolerant.

This rose is bleached almost white by the heat and sun and is about 1/2 sized but still nice. There is also a tiny garden spider hiding in it that is not in the photo.

I will see if I can recover the Roll20 content or ask the Roll20 to refund (that usually gets their attention). We may try the Call of Cthulu role-playing game in Roll20 if the Dungeons and Dragons content is not an easy fix.

I have hit my time limit. So I will stop there. I hope you enjoy the blog!

I started Saturday with not being able to sleep and was up in time for a meeting for the shoe company and did the dishes and laundry that had stacked up for a few days.

The light was yellow again Saturday morning from the fires. The smoke also covered the coastal mountains as a small fire started on the coastal forest was also burning over the weekend (it is out now).

I finally got back to painting some figures. All my joints would hurt, undoubted the results of the flu shot, during the day. The pain would just move around all day. I did manage to paint a bit of the Scooby Do figures. This is the second set I have painted from Hassel Free Miniatures. I have a couple miniature companies in the UK where I can purchase miniatures that are knock-offs of a movie and so on. There is a Trojan Bunny out there I have yet to get from Studio Miniatures (that is where I purchased a Lara Croft look-a-like miniature).

Evan contacted me and let me know he would be late.

I did more painting and chores. Then, I mailed my copy of Fresh Brewed Murder to mom. I think she would like the light story. The next book in the series will be out soon.

Evan was finally here at 3PM. He took a quick shower, and then we headed to Mexican for lunch and then just one game at The 649 Taproom. The gals were running the taps, and they had a small but constant crowd. Everyone was back to masks, but I noticed that some guests did not follow social distancing. The staff was also changing their stances by guest; farther from me but closer to other folks showing less attention to safety processes.

Evan lost just by three points in our board gameplay of The Lost Ruins of Arnak. So we included my new 3D replacement parts. The game looked a bit better with less cardboard. I ordered the new parts on Esty, and they came by mail on Saturday. The mailman came to my door and asked if I was Michael Wild, and when I said I was, he then signed the package for me and handed me the mail while trying to keep our distance.

After the game, we only played one game as it was already 6:30ish. We returned home and watch the movie John Wick and then Svengoolie’s take on 1959 The House on Haunted Hill. This is one of my fav old horror movies with Vincent Price, lots of drinking, and some great lines. The ending is not that good, but the original had a skeleton fly out of the screen and scare the audience. This movie created the mythos around the haunted house that created so many movies later.

We ordered Pizza Hut while we watched all the movies. I managed to get to bed a bit early. Unfortunately, the pizza and I did not enjoy each other.

I overslept and missed the 8:30 meeting, and decided that church was not happening today. I was tired, and well, I was having some issues that made it clear to stay home. I was often resting today because of the issues.

I made cream scones, peaches, and cream styled from a mix, King Arthurs.

Susie slept late and then had caregiving that took the rest of the early afternoon. I, too, was having issues that best not be described. I had to do the laundry and remake the beds. I grilled hamburgers for lunch with corn on the side–I love corn. No buns, just a bit of cheddar on the burgers.

I ordered groceries online, and those were delivered this early evening.

I fell asleep while reading. I dreamed I was watching a movie. I did not want to sleep as I had dinner to make and dreamed of turning off the movie! Yes, I dreamed I was sitting in front of my Apple trying to stop the movie. I did awake with my hand moving on the bed as if it was a touchpad!

I made dinner using Schwann’s Chicken Cordon Blu, baked.  Schwann’s green beans were microwaved first, then in a hot pan, butter cooked some garlic and almonds I sliced up, added the beans, and wilted them. This adds a lot to frozen beans. Finally, I made rice in broth as a starch side.

I prep’d some Roll20 Dungeons and Dragons material for my Monday game (Roll20 is an online site that allows you to play D&D paper and pencil style, but automated and over the Internet). I have purchased some new material from a different source and fantasy universe. I usually stick to the standard 5E (i.e., Fifth Edition, the current version of Dungeons and Dragons). But, there is nothing left for the current power level of the characters in the standard material from the makers of 5E. So, I decided to try something from the Burning Sky campaign. This is a giant 5E campaign you can buy and play in Roll20 with revised 5E rules and settings. I can make it work with my usual approach to keep the details of gods, religions, and settings in the deep background and focus on the players instead. You know, if you, as DM, have to read and explain things for more than a few minutes, something is going wrong. I hope my players can enter the war and help the Rebel Alliance defeat the fallen empire by destroying the empire’s superweapon (why does that sound familiar?).

Well, that is about as far as I can get tonight. I am already beyond my normal timeboxing of 90 mins. I hope that these blogs are interesting and you enjoy them.

I decided to write this blog the next morning after taking out the trash and breathing in all the smoke without a mask and was then very tired. So, I will be more careful today. But, the air is, why yellow, is not a hazard.

The day started with starting at 6:30ish and me doing the normal stuff of getting up, catching up on work and my home email, and then reading the status and other information at work in various slack channels. The morning was dullish, with the smoke already making everything yellowish.

I had hours of status meetings in Zoom to cover status and various other issues. We had a build in the morning, and I helped with some of the planning. It was a bit old school, and we found our way.

The afternoon was a few more meetings and taking a short rest. I tire easily now.

The smoke was in the valley, and I was often coughing.

I had Mexican food delivered again by Grubhub. The delta variant and the smoke kept me indoors today. It is no longer about overcoming fear but surviving again!

I made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for Susie and me.

I had a theology pub meeting in Zoom (we used to meet at a bar–most folks have a drink while on the Zoom meeting), and we talked about religion and the problems of inclusivity and elitism. Much of the discussion was about how to include and how the “elect” or the belief in elitism (that you are right with God or gods and others are not) impacts how people see religion and, in our case, how it impacts a group of Methodists. We did not find many answers on Thursday night, but being inclusive seems a start.

After that, I read and then slept.

Friday started at 6:30ish with me not getting dressed as I read lots of emails and status and even attended a status meeting. Today is bonus day at Nike, so my bonus showed in my bank account. I paid off some small debts, and my only debt is the house loan for a few moments.

I managed to slip out of the meetings and shower and dress. I then helped solve a break and looked at a few other issues.

I finally broke away from work to get some chores done. Then, I had a haircut at Zeriada’s, and now with the mask mandates back and smoke, I was wearing an N95 mask. I also have to call to get the door open as the place is fully locked.

After the haircut, I drove back and picked up the prescriptions waiting for Susie and me. RiteAid had called me with a recording to come and get them. They also have flu shots. So I had one. I learned that I was the first person to get the shot at this RiteAid. The pharmacist has given me many inoculations over the years.

I watched work email and the Slack channels on my iPhone, and nothing was an issue.

I rested and read a new book: The Cthulhu Casebooks – Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows. It is a reworking of the Holmes story rewriting the first story and explaining why one character disappeared in the original stories; something I had wondered about.

Mariah is back in town and text and called, suggesting having some beer.  So we celebrated bonus day by having dinner at BJ’s Brewhouse. Everyone was back to masks again. The AC was working well, and we had a nice dinner with drinks.

I ordered a double gin and tonic. Surprisingly, Susie’s drink was delivered as a double while mine was the normal size! But, of course, Susie took a nap when we got home.

There is now a fire burning in the coastal mountains, and they are white with smoke now.

I am trying to get caught up on the blog. So I again will try to skip the less interesting items like what was for lunch. A year ago or so, I was still getting questions about how safe it is to get food delivered.

Monday was a day off for me, and I decided to try to sleep in. I managed to sleep until 8:30ish. Then, I was up and made a light breakfast and read emails, and tried to ignore the dishes in the sink. I was almost out of clean clothing, but I also resisted doing laundry on my day off.

I found an old Doctor Who I could not have seen before. The BBC in the 60s erased shows instead of keeping a copy. Thus many episodes are lost. For $2, I could buy a re-recreation of an old 1967 show. Apparently, a voice-only recording was available, and this was combined with computer-based animation to reconstruct the show. The sets are recreated from photos and other records.

The show has many episodes, and watching them used up the whole morning. It is at best an acquired taste as these episodes were made 50 years ago. They are more like soap operas than SciFi. I enjoyed the show and was watching how they recreated the screen to match the sounds. It was fun, but again you have to really like Doctor Who to watch this.

I made my lunch and got Susie her lunch.

I ordered pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner, and we watched the news for a bit.

I attended the Social Action meeting for the church at 7ish. I have never been able to attend as I usually have a Dungeons and Dragons online game on Monday nights. I have a new flag for them, a gay pride flag with a diamond shape with more colors to represent the trans and other communities. I just learned about this flag and have one now for the church.

I called Dan Gray after the meeting to ask about how to fly or mount the new flag. We are still trying to work that out. We plan to keep flying the original pride flag also.

I managed to slip in a bit of rest here and there as I still tire easily on Monday.

Tuesday morning started at 6:30 in the morning, and back to work. I started by putting on music and doing all the dishes, three days worth.

Next, while listening to Zoom meetings, I did the laundry. I have not folded it yet. That will likely be during Wednesday morning meetings.

I had hours of status meetings and alignment meetings. I also had to read a few days of emails and Slack messages. I did this between chores and while listening.

At 10AM, all the meetings stopped for a bit. I am feeling better as some of my health issues are starting to go away. The actions I am taking have positive results. Thusly, I went for a 30-minute walk to help get my legs to feel better and help my breathing. Use or lose it!

More status meetings and then lunch.

Lamb kabobs for lunch at Gyro House. Their AC is working in the 90+ heat. So I do more reading on my laptop while drinking iced tea, unsweated. It was a nice break.

Another meeting, and I am free of meetings. And that is good as the exhaustion starts. I have overdone it a bit.

I order Chinese delivered from Taste of Sichuan. Their food is better than most of our local places.

I am feeling better, but the work, excise, and house chores have made me tired. A good tired. I think I will stop here.

I was very busy this weekend, and my current health issues make me tire easily. Also, I feel that a blog needs to cover more than what was for lunch now that we are coming out of the pandemic. Of course, we may return to lockdown, and I will be writing about lunch again if the variants get worse and we all lockdown again. Then just getting lunch delivered and groceries send is a big deal.

So returning to Friday, I started the day as usual and had a few status meetings and emails to read and send. I also got my lab results and was a bit unhappy as there are some issues, but no medical person said anything. We have a website and even graphs of results from previous tests. I did follow up with a message about one missing test appointment.

As it is summer and Friday, I decided to stop working in the afternoon. Nike has summer hours on Friday, and so we often stop at noon.

I went to the hobby store for a few items and brought back Susie’s dinner, her fav, McDonald’s Happy Meal. Then, I drove in usually easy traffic into Portland to Richard’s house.

We played two games of the Vindication. I spent most of the first game explaining and helping others. We had a four-person game, and I was the only veteran player. Unfortunately, I managed to score last! However, Kathleen picked up the game fast, Richard managed to score high, and Alex managed to pull just ahead of me. They mostly liked the game, and we looked up how to buy a copy once the new Kickstarter ends.

I drove Kathleen home after playing one more game of Vidincation that we had only three rounds until we tipped an end-of-game trigger. I managed to repeat the same score positions (I was last!). Everyone seemed to like the game. However, they were unsure of the end-of-game triggers as it seems to end the game too soon, and the game felt a bit random to Alex.

Saturday was a slow start for me as I had trouble sleeping. It is hard to get to sleep after playing games at night, and the medical issues were on my mind too. I had the classic too tired to sleep. I managed to sleep for only a few hours and was up at 5:30AM.

I had time to do all the laundry, dishes, cook breakfast, and watched an episode of Warrior on cable. Evan was over at 1ish, and we had Mexican food for lunch and then headed to The 649 Taproom to play two games of The Lost Ruins of Arnak.

This is a new fav board game of mine that came out in 2020. I bought a copy after playing a two-person game with Richard. I like the theme of the 1920s Hollywood version of archeology with hints towards Indian Jones and Lara Croft.

This is often called a mid-weight worker placement and Euro game. It also includes a deck-building mechanic with deck thinning, which I think adds to the game’s charm for me. We played on the advance board this time, and we also had some misplays. For example, we did not get the iconography in some cards that only apply to campsites, not the more valuable explored sites. We corrected that and a few other mistakes.

Evan crushed me in the first game, and I came back and took the second game, but barely.

We returned and picked up Susie and went to the movies and saw the next Suicide Squad movie. We loved it. It was a freaky, fun movie. Peter Capaldi was the bad guy and seemed to channel all his villains from his Doctor Who days to make a believable and horror of a mad scientist.

We finished with the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. We had caught the early evening movie so we could make dinner work. We had a nice dinner, and that was the end of Saturday.

I managed to sleep a bit. We were up and out by 9ish to drive to the coast to see the Smith family at their beach house. The drive was 1:45 long with a strange wicked drive on a highway innocently called 53. It was two lanes and was a workout to drive. My speed was seldom above 30 as there were so many curves. It climbed within sight of Saddle Mountain’s summit (I was a bit surprised by seeing that). Apparently, Kat Smith, David’s and Michelle’s daughter, followed the same guidance and drove this on her trip too. It is now known, to the Smiths, as Kat’s turn-off, and it is avoided.

We were there at the beach house before brunch time. We had not met in 15 months. We were delighted to see each other. We then had brunch at The Yolk. The Yolk is open for brunch only and offers amazing breakfast food (except the biscuits and gravy I had, which was average at best).

After that, we returned to the Beach House and played Concordia, another board game. I had to teach this game too. Michelle and Kat played with me. Susie and Kat as a team. It took a while, but soon Michelle understood the game and started building her Roman Trading Company; the goal of Concordia is to build the best trading family. Kat started to get it and focused on food production. Kat built her last trading post and started the end of the game. I managed to pull just ahead of Michelle with Cat far behind; she had not purchased as many personality cards as Michelle (having cloth and wine trade covered), and I (bricks, tools, and having all my colonists out) and thus scored less.

We played a partial second game and had to teach David the game. I think everyone liked the game. It is one of the best light-to-mid worker placement Euro-styled games. It uses a deck-building process, but there is no deck thinning.

Kat made vegetarian-styled burgers and with fruit. It was nice.

We drove home convoy-style that night. David led, and we watched the sunset in the Pacific as we drove along the beach for the first ten minutes of the trip home (David did not take 53). Unfortunately, our homebound trip was delayed by paving highway 26. I put in for Monday off after I got home. The travel and my illness slowed me down today.

I am time boxing this blog to two hours of writing. So I will cover Monday and Tuesday together tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! Be safe. And as an IT person, I always say, “And don’t break anything!”