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Monday happened again! As usual, I have trouble sleeping on a Sunday night. Even in high school, I always have trouble sleeping on the change of weekend to more regular hours.

I slept into 6:30ish as my first Zoom meeting, yet-another-status-meeting, was at 8AM. This was followed by status meetings that go on until 10:30 with almost no stop except some meeting end early, leaving you with twenty minutes to work all the little issues appearing in email and in Slack channels. I had quite a few crises of the moment that filled in the spare moments.

I also blocked a week-off in April for a short vacation. I have to get my driver’s license updated, and this is complex in a Covid-19, and I am now old enough to require the mandatory eye check. I have to be at the state office on April 15th early and in a distant office as that was the only one with appointments. I had to wait three months to get the appointment. It is my birthday on the 16th so I thought I should just enjoy the week.

Susie rallied for her Monday appointment at 9ish. She had hair, fingers, toes, and so on with Zeriada. Her driver was on time, and she picked up her fav of McDonald’s Happy Meal Chicken McNuggets. I ordered Massaman Curry (beef) from Ma-Now Thai Cuisine delivered by GrubHub. I took a short break and prepared my Roll20 Dungeons and Dragons game. On Monday we play so I often prepare at lunchtime. I checked that the maps were ready and reread the material to be ready.

I also managed a walk today despite all of the meetings and some booked over my walking time. Oregon Spring is beginning to brighten with flowers:

The status meetings were non-stop again in the afternoon, and while listening and commenting here and there, I was replying to email and slack requests. I also did some reading on how to connect some software together.

I finally stopped about 4ish and rested a bit, and read.

I made dinner of tacos made from boxed taco shells and ground beef cooked with a flavor packet.

The tacos were fine.

For Roll20, I had one player skip and one late. So we played with the smaller group. I came up with an alternative to the normal plan. The players fought one of the boss monsters with the reduction that it had killed and captured the two missing players’ characters (In D&D 5E, you can be brought back from dead, so this is just for effect) and so the boss monster, an undead wizard, available spells were reduced. We also agreed that this was an alternative time-line caused by the Mad Mage, and if they all died or were defeated, we would restart as if this had not happened.

In otherwords, I was going to try to kill the players’s characters and they were going to kill my monster. If I win they get a save point to return to.

The battle was not that close, but I did scare the players a bit. With spells like The Finger of Death, the boss monster got a few hits in. The battle was emersive and I think we all enjoyed the challege. The players finally defeated it.

With this type of undead, it will reform if they do not find its phylactery and destroy it or at least get the life-force containing item far away from them.

They returned to the wizard’s tower and found the vault where the phylactery was kept. A hideously powerful woman snake-like demon with six arms and each wielding a sword, much more dangerous in some ways than the undead wizard, protected the vault. Just at this moment, Bill showed up–he was late, and his character is an evil paladin that loves to slay demons. Matt’s dwarf cleric was in the coils of the demon, and Macker’s druid was near death. Between their wizard, played by Cory, and the paladin, the demon was finally overwhelmed.

That is where we ended tonight after they discovered that it was tough to destroy the phylactery. No need for that save point after all.

I then helped Susie send some Saint Patrick Day items to her family.

I deleted about 1/2 of this blog–work details, church politics, and retirement thinking do not belong here. Events at work and with my church have upset me. It is a hard tonight to find my way.

12,853 people were vaccinated yesterday. We are out of Johnson and Johnson vaccine already. We still have not been able to schedule shots.

Seven hundred and eighty-eight people in the USA died today from Covid-19.

I have done This is My Father’s World, but it just fit with my day. I found this Covid-19 lockdown version.

 

I started this morning very late. I was up at 9ish, which is like getting up the next day for me. I was going to paint figures or do crafty stuff. Instead, I made oatmeal from scratch and watched a terrible but delightful movie, in Chinese sub-titles on Prime: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame. I have read the van Gulik Dutch version of Judge Dee translated to English; I like translated detective stories, and I loved Judge Dee and a China that, while fascinating, is just imagined. This was not like anything I read, but the wire-foo and story-line were just great. The special effects and the view of the imperial city were worth the time. It was over two hours, so I spent most of my morning and early afternoon on a guilty-pleasure while eating oatmeal. I may have to find some more Detective Dee movies!

I had to do a bit of caregiving this morning–late afternoon. Susie is OK.

I then started on the housework. I did the dishes and ran the dishwasher for what was left, less than a full load, but I wanted the dishes all clean. I ran the laundry. Then, after dressing and showering, I decided to climb the laundry pile. Clean laundry was just piled up, an Everest of clean clothing. I mentally prepared myself by putting on the Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack from the movie and began the struggle. I made multiple attempts to summit our Everest, returning to base camp often to put away the now-folded laundry while singing lines from the Phantom. I finally managed to reach the top, in this case, the bottom, and found the floor under the pile!

With the laundry sorted and put mostly away, it was time to risk everything. Yes, grocery shopping. Off to Wholefood where compliance to social distancing and masks is not questioned. I filled my cart with Organics and other goodness products. Ensuring that I got no-fat milk, eggs, multi-grain bread, and breakfast items. I am much more a fan of instant oatmeal now!

Dinner was arranged by procuring a premade-ready-to-cook meatloaf (not up to Susie’s standards, I later heard). I returned with my bounty, paying 20 cents extra for using paper bags as mandated by the State of Oregon. I would usually use my own bags, but then I have to bag the groceries myself and be close to the cashier, and that just is not something I am willing to do yet; 20 cents is worth it.

I put away the groceries and then, tired by all of my work, took a nap. I get up and start dinner forgetting the I am supposed to meet Mariah tonight to celebrate her poem being published. Corwin finishes dinner and serves it up for Susie and himself.

I head to the Golden Valley Brewery, which is packed, for the reduced seating, and we have a salad to celebrate. I stick to coffee with Mariah having a Spanish Coffee. We talk about possibly moving away from a trip to Rome this October to a USA road trip. Mariah and I can share the driving, and we could rent a van and travel comfortably from Oregon to the Candian Rockies, Denver, then follow the Mississipi to New Orleans and then fly back (or even drive back). It is an alternative that may be easier for Susie, and it is a cool trip.

I logged back on to work India morning time, 9PM PST. Tonight there is not much for me to do as we need to wait for other teams. So just a short meeting tonight.

16,414 people were vaccinated yesterday in Oregon. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is already used up in Oregon. We still cannot get an appointment, but I still believe we will get one soon. These numbers are usually low as it takes 72 hours to get all the counts and post them.

Seven hundred sixteen people died today in the USA from the infection. I am happy to see such a low number, but we must witness the loss of so many people today.

I found this fun version of the hymn Trust and Obey on the Internet.

We are approaching the first year of this daily blog. I remember March 2020 as the country, specifically Oregon, began to understand how bad this was and what we were facing: Lockdown. In the old blog from last year, I see we thought we would be back to work in the buildings at Nike in April 2020. We now know that we will not be back in April 2021!

I was reading this nice book published in the 1920s about some girls’ day-by-day experience of sailing an old Windjammer across the pacific just as I started this blog. I enjoyed their book and decided to write my own experiences for the few months, I thought, of lockdown. Now we are a year together, and likely I will continue for most of 2021. What a strange and terrible journey we have had: Covid-19, smoke so bad you could not leave your front door, murder hornets, wind storms, elections, and endless riots.

But, today was a lovely sunny day which never happens in March in Oregon. I felt like the weather or 2021 was apologizing for last year! Today sun made the fears and nightmares fade a bit for me.

I started this morning waking early and then smiling and going back to sleep. No early 6-7ish meetings with India. No status Zoom calls. Nothing to worry about. I also had no breathing issues and no headache. No nightmares of searching and wandering to find my way back. It was just blessed sleep and awakening to a sunny morning in March 2021 (not our normal endless sideways March rains).

I managed to make coffee and just handle email and all of that. I was to meet Evan in Mox in Portland around noonish (actually, I miscommunicated, and Evan was there about 1ish). Susie started at 10ish, and I managed to get her breakfast and a snack. I watched music videos on my Apple, and Susie must have heard the Led Zepplin and decided it was time to start. I did the dishes and laundry to music videos on YouTube today. Dishes and laundry get done faster to Kashmir.

I dressed and loaded up Air Volvo with board games and headed out before noon.

For some odd reason, I had no traffic on my ride into Portland aboard Air Volvo. Last weekend when I made the same trip, I was awash in overly polite slow-moving vehicles with Oregon and Washington state plates. I had to put on my sunglasses (yes, Nike sunglasses) and balance the glasses on my nose to prevent them from fogging-up. No traffic, and it was a perfect day. I managed to reach 50+ on 26 headed into Portland for a brief moment. It was nearly a perfect drive into Portland from the Volvo Cave.

I parked in the parking garage below Mox, carried two games in, and was greeted by all the Mox folks. I got the white table, a smaller table, as we are just two people. I was offered a better table, but we had smallish footprint games. I ordered a beer. I waited about an hour for Evan, but it was a nice day.

Tim, our waiter, brought me tea sandwiches while I waited. It is sort of cheese spread on toast. I like it.

Evan got there and ordered a coffee drink and chips with queso. We then played our first game. Today was Wingspan. One of the best games in 2019 and still a pleasure to play. You run a bird sanctuary and whoever runs the most efficient sanctuary wins. The game was designed by a bird expert and comes from the same team that brought forth Scythe. I also have a few bling items like wooden painted food tokens that improve the immersive feel.

Evan had only played once before. I purchased a training set from Stonemaier Games’ website for Wingspan. We tried it out. It comes with additional bird cards not found in the original set. It helped Evan remember how to play. I also have the new scoring board instead which we used instead of the light cardboard one that comes with the game.

I had not played for a while, and I did get one rule wrong, but we found the mistake fast, and it had no impact on play. I managed to get an engine going; my owls kept eating other birds. I also had picked up a few favs that generate a lot of points.

One of my complaints against Wingspan is that birds are randomly drawn from a huge stack of cards. I managed to get three birds that drove tucked cards, a polite-looking process representing predation, and Evan had none. This gave me an easy winning total. It is a pretty game, and I have slowly learned the names, habits, and look of many North American birds (I have not purchased any additional birds now available). I would recommend it, but with the caution that some games may hinge on luck or lack of luck.

The little eggs are just adorable. I have the purple eggs add-on. This pic is after the game, and my board is partially pulled apart to count the tucked cards. Evan’s board, on the top of the photo, is still correct.

My fellow gamers who are fans of Wingspan would likely say that I should learn to play the game better…

We played Architects of the West Kingdom next. This is a worker placement and resource management game. We had not played it for a while at Mox. I have the stupidly expensive painted meeple replacement that looks fantastic until you see the price. I also have the coins (don’t ask) that are metal. We played with the expansion, Age of Artisans, and the promo card add-ons. Garphill Games, which publish the game, produce add-ons that rework some of the game, and the games then play better with the add-on. This is true with Architects of the West Kingdom, and I heard it is also true with the Viking games–I have not played the Viking raiding games.

Note: I have Raiders of Scythia, another raiding game by Garphill Games, and I have not played it enough to comment on it other than I love the art. And I bought the expensive metal coins for it too.

We skipped the drafting part of the game. With two players, it is not that useful. I ended up with high-value buildings that gave me the game. Again, luck was on my side today. I managed to avoid any mistakes and worked my way through the game to win. I think we will have to use the drafting rules next time. You take a card and then pass the hand to the other player. They have a hand of cards and do the same. This creates a balance—next time as you must pass some good cards on to the other player.

Yes, I played Bertha–yellow.

I had a shot of Amaretto with coffee. Evan had a coffee drink. We then said good night to Mox. I drove home. No traffic and the sun was gone, and we back to grey Oregon.

Corwin and Susie ordered Mexican food delivered, and I shared in the tacos.

It was not a bad day, and I enjoyed writing today as I am not in a hurry or working India hours while writing.

18,943 vaccinations were given in Oregon yesterday, including 1,008 Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccinations. This number will likely increase as it takes 72 hours to collect and post all the counts. We can still not schedule a shot, but I am hopeful that all of this will get easier soon.

Even with the good news, we still have to witness that 1,515 people are reported to have lost their lives to the virus today. Many must die alone as it is not safe for their families to be with them. I cry for them.

I found this jazzy version of How Shall They Hear the Word of God–Methodist Hymnal #649. It includes a prayer. I hope you like it.

 

This evening I got a few items in the mail. I got a mold for resin from China today. It was supposed to arrive here much later, but my very polite posts on Etsy.com seemed to get folks in China to send it early. I am now thinking about mounting a vacuum tube from the old Tesla company in Czechoslovakia that I bought for another art project into some resin and adding some electronics for it to light up. I have resin now, a set of glitter to mix into the resin, gears, and other tiny watch parts from Micromart that could add some mechanical flavor. I think I can make something cool. I will put some Neopixels with the vacuum tube. I have cut a hole in the base to put a light into the base as if it was a running tube. I will see if I can make something nice out of an old Soviet Bloc tube.

I have ordered some induction parts that I can use to make a charging light. That will be a second vacuum tube; I have some Edison vacuum tubes too!. I have ordered that from AdaFruit, one of the world’s best suppliers of DIY electronic and small computers.

I also received a used book from the Curious Book Store in East Lansing. It was just a few more buck to get a copy from my old stomping ground of this used book store on AbeBooks.com. This is a textbook on the solution to Fermat’s Last Theorem. The Curious Book Store inventory is online, and once and a while, it comes up as an option on various web searches for more obscure items; I always try to buy from them when I can.

I also received from Micromart little model windows, but they are too large for the wargaming models I am working on. I will see if I can “steal” some extra windows from the Titanic model I am building currently on the back-burner. Those are etched brass and tiny and might work.

Work started at 7ish. I was able to sleep in a bit. It was still slow going. I managed to get ready in time for the first of a few hours of status meetings on Friday. I could also hear the trash trucks as Friday is trash day for us. I was too tired to go for a walk, so I skipped that today.

I managed to get back to coding my install scripts and undid most of the work I did last night. It was not working. I managed to get everything to work and to clean-up some of the work. I just rewrote most of it.

I went out for lunch; I drove Air Volvo to the gas station (I think it is the first refill this year). I then drove to Wendy’s and brought back Wendy’s chili for lunch. One of my fav. I remember when there was only one Wendy’s in Owosso, Michigan when I was still in high school. It seemed so special to get a burger at Wendy’s that tasted so good. Wendy’s, to me, is a high-class burger.

I had a few more status meetings, and I finished the scripts today. It all seems to be working.

I made dinner after a short nap and doing some Fritz Leiber reading. I am reading that to relax a bit. It is Swords and Sorcery style and my fav. I recommend Fritz Leiber’s world of Nehwon books.

I made scrambled eggs with a bowl of canned peaches for dinner for Susie and me.

I went back to work in the morning India time, 9:30PM, and we had a short alignment meeting. We will get Saturday and most of Sunday off.

22,428 people were vaccinated yesterday. This number will likely increase as the final counts take 72 hours to post. I checked again today, and there were no appointments available for us. We will keep checking.

1,794 people in the USA died today of the virus.

I turned to We’ll Understand It Better By and By and this version is my fav so far–Methodist Hymnal #525.

Today started at 7ish as I could sleep in an extra hour today.

Today I was again in Zoom meetings for hours on status. We also had run one of the conversions, and the data was having issues, which caused some political reactions. We had to explain in detail and research the issues. As we convert what we have with the data and configuration available, we cause others’ issues.

The day was spent on meetings after meetings, all on Zoom.

I missed my walk as the meetings were booked over it. I did make it out at 12ish to drive to Taco Bell in Air Volvo and brought back tacos today. Susie likes plain tacos, and I prefer supreme tacos.

More meetings on data and conversions on Zoom happen all through the afternoon. I finally get to writing Groovy and BASH for the install scripts I need to write.

I try to make Morroco Chicken using the Instant Pot. It was not quite right, and Susie did not eat much.

I was back online at 8PM for India morning. I listened to the data conversion meetings while writing more code and testing. I have it almost working.

So not a very interesting day for my blog, just work. I did the laundry too. Sorry that I had a hectic but not very interesting day.

I spoke to Cory today; he called me to see how we are doing. He is handicapped, lost two legs, and is getting his second shot this weekend. We have played games for years, and I hope we can play again in April or May once we all get shots. I have a new version of Frostgrave, and Cory liked that game. This is a table-top figure game, not a role-playing game. You use little tape measures and laser pointers and run a team of 28mm figures. I have ruins and rubble to fill a map with so you can recreate the ruins of the lost city of Frostgrave on the table. It would be fun to get this going again. I have more ruins coming, some printed resources, and specialized 28mm figures ready and some to assemble and paint.

16,376 people were vaccinated yesterday in Oregon. This number will likely increase as it takes 72 hours to post all the numbers.

1,993 people in the USA died from the virus today. The numbers appear to still be decreasing.

This Is My Land is my fav hymn, and I found this nice version today.