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I had the phones ready for me. We were waiting for the scheduling of Susie’s Covid-19 test. Susie had a moderate fever yesterday, and they want to ensure that this is not asymptomatic Covid-19. We would be called this morning to arrange for the testing. I was up at 6ish as I had a 7AM meeting with the data migration team.

I managed to be on time and made breakfast, a bagel plus a banana, while the meeting went on. I think I drank half the pot of coffee by nine! I am feeling exhausted of late.

We got the call at about 9:15ish, and I dropped from another Zoom call and rallied Susie. We had to be in North West Portland at 10:55. So I got her going, and we were off a few minutes behind my plan, but Air Volvo delivered us early to Portland.

I used the nav in the car. I do no use the phone for this, and it got to the exact spot. I do have to update Air Volvo Nav once in a while for this to work better than a phone’s maps.

I forgot to get gas for Air Volvo. While we had 15 minutes, we found a gas station and filled up Air Volvo.

We then headed over, and Susie got the longest swab on the planet, at least that is what it looked like from her perspective, and she did not enjoy the process.

We will get results in 24-72 hours. I am logging on to Susie’s account with Legacy Medical to check about every few hours. So far, no results.

All the still surviving food places have tents to serve outside. There are also cocktails to go. We resisted that as we are being tested and need to lockdown.

I attended two more work Zoom status meetings after we stopped Burger King and got whoppers with cheese for lunch.

Being very tired, I rested and finally slept about an hour or so. We try not to be frightened by the prospect of facing the infection of Covid-19. It is hard not to be worried.

I ordered a ham and pineapple pizza thin crust for dinner (Susie’s fav) and a salad. We ate that while watching the news on PBS. Susie is feeling fine.

We saw that today is Holocaust Day on the news. People are alone today instead of meeting for this sad day. I wanted to call it out. Susie used to work at the Hebrew Home in Rockville, Maryland and many of her clients were survivors of the camps. It is important to remember.

I went back to writing my Dungeons and Dragons adventure re-write. I got a few more pages done. I am still working out the layout. I am also looking at the rules for using the open license (SRD5 for those who know these things) for this kind of writing. I have published Dungeons and Dragons adventures before (i.e., on Amazon Finding a Broken Sword), and it is all coming back to me.

I will try to get some rest and make it through the usual hectic that is my Thursday on Zoom for Nike.

We believe that we are part of Group 3 of Phase 1B in Washington County, Oregon. We should get our vaccine sometime after Valentine’s Day. The rather obscure rules are here in this hard to find website: https://covidvaccine.oregon.gov/.

10,942 people were vaccinated yesterday in Oregon. The final count is revised for 72 hours, so this number is low. We have over 5% of people vaccinated in our county: Washington.

3,912 people passed away from Covid-19 today in the USA.

I went with a hymn I could sing, and I love Johnny Cash’s version, In The Garden–Methodist Hymnal #314.

Susie has a Covid-19 test sometime tomorrow. We will be called to schedule a drive-thru test in the early morning. Susie may have asymptotic Covid-19. We will know in 24-hours or less if we have Covid-19.

Susie this morning developed symptoms that include a 101F fever, thirst, and exhaustion. These are atypical for Covid-19. I stopped working, canceled Susie’s physical therapy, and then spoke to the nurse, and later we spoke to our doctor.

Returning to the start, I slept into 7ish this morning and started with the first status meeting at 7:30. I did everything in a rush this morning to sneak in that extra 60 mins of rest. India is on Holiday today, Republic Day, and so the 7 was canceled.

I had non-stop meetings, some double-booked, until ten. While listening to the meetings, I uploaded my W-2 into Turbo Tax. I am getting my documents together and will likely finish my taxes in a few weeks. I suspect I will owe much this year.

I slipped in making a bagel and making coffee, of course, during all the meetings. I also had soup, beef veggie from a can, toast, and salad for lunch.

I then went for a walk and made lunch. I discovered Susie was ill at near noon when she was not up yet.

I spent the rest of the day talking to medical people and caring for Susie. The Tylenol I gave Susie, suggested by the nurse, seemed to bring the fever down. I checked Susie non-stop for hours. I lay down next to her, slept for 30 minutes, and then awoke and took Susie’s temperature. I have a touchless electronic device I ordered from Amazon for just this case.

I did manage to walk out into the heavy flakes of snow we had today. We had a light wet dusting today. It was fun to see the snow today.

Zeriada sent over soup and dinner. I made that for Susie after she was up. Susie’s fever is gone. It is unlikely then to be Covid-19.

We watched the animated movie Coco on Disney+ while eating. It is an excellent movie. It did make me cry, but those emotions were likely related to the events of the day.

I am reading Caste: The Origin of our Discontents. This was recommended by Jack Cone, and so far, I would recommend it. I am reading the Kindle version. It main discussion that race is actually a caste problem. It also points out that it is our country and, therefore, our problem to solve. I believe the author may be right, and I am enjoying learning this new viewpoint.

10,178 people were vaccinated today in Oregon. These numbers are updated for 72 hours, and it is likely the number will increase. More than 5% of our county, Washinton, is vaccinated.

4,045 people died today in the USA from the virus. This number suggests this will be the worst week in history for the USA, I am sorry to report.

I picked no hymn today, but I picked one of my favorite songs: Breathe (2AM).

Working backward this time. I am finishing The Last Emperox. I have loved this final book, and I am sad about the ending, but it works. I am a bit late writing as I wanted to get past the excitement of the main story’s resolution. I recommend the series.

I got a call from work, and, as there is no rest for the wicked, I have more work and a new problem to solve. I will start on that on Tuesday.

We picked up Chinese food from Taste of Sichuan. I was too tired after this weekend to cook another dinner today. Susie, Corwin, and I each picked something. We watched the news while we ate. I was catching up on what was happening.

Seven hours of Zoom calls, most status, was today. I made a salad for lunch and walked for 1/2 an hour today. I was a bit unsteady today and tired.

I received a lot of thanks today for working through the issues with my teams over the weekend. We will still working on some corrections today and the next couple of days, but the basic work was finished yesterday. Everyone seems happy.

This will be a short story today. I am tired. Today I had a few cookies. I eat one maybe once in six months. Today I had three!

6,182 people were vaccinated in Oregon on Sunday. The number will likely increase as the data takes as long as 72 hours to be collected. Washington County, where we live, is now at about 5% vaccinated.

1,897 people died of Covid-19 today in the USA.

I went with Now The Slience–Methodist Hymnal #619.

I started this morning with the alarm at 7. I ignored it. I finally got going about 8ish. I checked, and new foobar had not happened at the shoe company, and my coworkers were cleaning up some of the problems. I updated the status that we were still fine. I did that again at 3PM and said that it was the last update today. I did check emails and status all day.

This will be a short update as I spent the day watching and waiting. I finished a book.

Susie was up late in the morning and watched ice skating. While she was watching skating, I met Mariah for a drink, I really needed one, at the Golden Valley Brewery. It is 38F, and in Covid-19 world, it is metal tables, outdoors, socially distanced, and everyone masked. I put a blanket on the chair. I gave the blanket to Mariah when she arrived (my chair was warmed-up). I had a Spanish Coffee and a cup of warm water (yes, just to help stay warm). Mariah had the same drink. We ordered veggie nachos. We chatted in the cold and ate and ordered another hot drink. I had a coffee with a shot of Amaretto. Mariah had a Hot Orange Toddy. We enjoyed the peace of being somewhere else in the rain and cold of Oregon.

After I drove home, I played another game of Terraforming Mars today. I played the EcoLine Corporation solo and played to the 37th generation (solo games start at 20). I found the game immersive and interesting.

I also made dinner while I played. I baked potatoes and made filets for Corwin and Susie. These are from Schwann’s, and I let them defrost a bit. I fried the still-frozen steaks in a small frypan with butter. I salted them. I got them a bit browned. I then put the whole pan in the oven for six minutes. I flip them over (not touching the burning hot pan’s handle) in the over and cook for six minutes more. If you want them more done, it is longer. These were medium-rare to rare. I find filets steaks hard to not burn to a cinder on a grill, so I cook them this way sometimes. These were small but good.

I pull the pan and put a hot mitt on the handle!

I had just the potato with butter and the works as I had nachos. Susie and Corwin liked the steak and potatoes.

I finished the middle book of the space opera, and I was surprised how good the middle book finished: The Consuming Fire. I have the signed copy of the last book; it was ding-and-dent from Subterranean. Press. I had started the last book first, liked it, and so ordered the first two on my kindle. I am now returning to that final book.

I did not finish the board game as it is getting late. I have to put it away as I have to work a nearly non-stop day tomorrow. I have one system in production for two weeks, one that went live today, and a first-time install and testing for the software to go-live in October dark and in use in January 2022. Yes, I am testing and installing stuff for 2022–that install took much of Saturday.

Susie is walking better and more awake. She forgets she can’t walk once or twice a day. I find her in the kitchen, or the bedroom with the walker left somewhere. I think she is getting better.

11,243 people were vaccinated in Oregon yesterday. The numbers will likely increase as the data takes 72 hours to be complete. Here in Washington County, we are just under five percent vaccinated rate.

1,844 people died today in the USA from the virus.

I went with Soweto Gospel Choir – Amazing Grace to remember all we lost today and the hope we have as the vaccine is received.

 

Today I started at 7:30ish, which is a bit early for a Saturday. I logged on and checked that the foobar at the shoe company was not worse and then went and took a shower and got ready for a long day of working from home on the weekend.

I connected with my co-workers and started-up the process again. We had to restructure about 50+ remaining software updates, configuration values, and fixes. This is then followed by pushing the changes to the target. We then examine the results and try to fix the failures. We got about 1/2 way by noon. I also have to do status updates. It was a busy online morning all on Zoom.

I had a registered package from Russia that I had to go to the post office to get. Not a place I want to visit in a pandemic! The line was very long and socially distanced, so I did not feel at risk. I chatted with the gal in front of me; she is a nurse and travels to the middle east. The mail folks went through the line and took any pick-up slips, like mine, and brought you the item. I had to sign for mine. I was late for returning to work as I picked up lunch for Susie and me. Chicken McNugget Happy Meal and a two cheeseburger meal. I always think of dad when I order his fav, McDonald’s regular cheeseburger.

Back to work. By 4PM, we had everything done and reported our finish to leadership. There are some follow-up items, but the emergency is over.

I took a nap and read a space opera book: The Consuming Fire. The book is a typical middle book. It is not quite as interesting as the first book; it moves multiple stories to the concluding book. It is still fun.

I finally got started again around 5:30ish and made angel hair pasta with meat sauce and heated up some fresh garlic bread I bought in Safeway yesterday. I got the Paul Newman sauce from a jar hot on the stove while browning the ground beef in a large frypan. I then take the sauce off the heat and the meat off the heat. Once a bit cooler, I pour the sauce into the frypan (low-fat ground beef is used). It should not explode and just lightly boil as it hits the hot pan. I stir it all together and let it settle on low. I heat water and make the pasta. I plate it by putting the pasta in a bowl, cover it with the now chunky sauce and small slices of garlic bread, browned well from being in the 350F oven for a while.

It makes a nice dinner.

Turning back to the package from Russia. It is a gaming board to use with the board game Terraforming Mars. This is the 4th best game according to the BoardGameGeek website. It is also hard to learn without help, and the game components in the base game are a letdown. The cheap paper board makes the game almost unplayable. Most players buy some upgraded third-party components once they decide the like the game. I finally order replacement boards from GameFit. I did not know they, GameFit, were in Russia at first, and I did wait about eight-weeks for the parts, but they are perfect.

GameFit is based in a former Soviet Military city. This is one of the new industries in this Siberian city. I decided to try them out and was unhappy when the package vanished between Russia and the USA. GameFit got a tracking number, and it finally was delivered today, eight-weeks to the day.

I find Terraforming Mars a bit of a time-sink; it should be faster. Many folks love the game. I am still on the fence.

I played a one-person game today with the new board from Russia. I lost track of time and had a very interesting immersive time terraforming. The board prevented messing-up my board, and the wooden board kept everything organized. I found myself planning my work than pushing cubes around and wondering if I had picked the right one. The board helped and improve the immersion.

I have just the base game. I did enjoy playing. I will reset and play again tonight. I am delighted with my new toys!

11,150 people received vaccinations yesterday in Oregon. The number will likely increase as it takes 72 hours for all the data to be received.

3,427 people in the USA died from Covid-19 today.

I went with a video I loved: We’ll Understand It Better By and By.