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Work started at 7ish again with me rolling over and waking a bit late, so really 7+ish. I had my first meetings, and then endless emails and issues started popping in. I found no break possible; even bio breaks were hard to find today, and I finally got dressed about 10ish!

There was a lecture from Standford on timing within the Internet hosted by Nike leadership. Professor Balaji Prabhakar talked about “Circuit Training: The Role of Time in Distributed Computing.” This, at first, like many academic presentations, appeared to be about well-understood areas–I seldom listen to the whole lecture. However, soon it was clear Professor Prabhakar showed a useful and alternative solution to a complex issue that fascinated me. He created a process to internally correct the speed of computer systems, virtual cloud ones, so their clocks were kept closely align. If you have aligned clocks, you can then know how long something takes and detect bottleneck issues. This is usually impossible as the misaligned clocks make it impossible to compare any timings. Thus delays and bottlenecks issues are impossible to spot as they are indistinguishable from mismatching timings. With closely aligned clocking, performance can be improved by load balancing algorithms as a simple rule to delay adding loads to busy computer instances. Professor Prabhakar’s work was interesting and a fun way to start my morning. It will be interesting to see if his work will become the standard for virtual cloud clocking.

I then was back into the status and alignment meetings all morning. This was interrupted by Susie needs some caregiving and some emergency laundry.

I drove Air Volvo to Chicago Pizza and had lunch of a stromboli and salad and got a pineapple and ham for Susie to-go. I am again trying to get over the fear and eat out at the same places I used before the pandemic.

The afternoon was more alignment meetings and a demo. I had to demo the demonstration scripts and processes I built for installing programs and running them on yet-another-cloud-software-product. I managed to have my demo fail the first time but got it to work the second time. We will see if this helped. The shoe company has hired a vendor to implement a like process from their experience with the yet-another-cloud-software-product.

That was my last meeting for the week.

It was such a nice day out I took pictures of the Volvo Cave and Air Volvo.

 

I made dinner of Schwann’s Chicken Cordon Blue, beans, and mashed potatoes. Yes, all Schwann’s. A bit of comfort food, and with the temperatures into the 90+ range next week, it is best to get the baked food consumed now.

Susie was still running a bit slow and not dressed. I decided we could catch a movie on Friday instead. So Susie watched some old shows on cable while I started back onto Game of Thrones.

Well, I am impressed now with The Game of Thrones. I have reached past the second season and starting the fourth season. Unlike the first and second seasons, the story moves, and I cannot predict what will happen next. I am starting to spend hours watching it.

291 people in the USA lost their lives today to Covid-19.

Thy Word Is a Lamp is a hymn (#601) that I randomly turned to in the Methodist Hymnal. I did not know it, but it would be fun to sing at church. I think it is a bit fast for my church, and I am not sure about the musical interlude in the middle of this for our group singing. Still, I would like to try it someday.

The morning started at 6ish, and I again, without shame, rolled over and got started at 7ish. I had hours of meetings this morning. I spent most of the meetings trying to fix an upgrade (called SPAU for those who know SAP) while listening and responding a few times. I try to not be that guy who is asked a question and never heard it and has to have it repeated. I worked but also listened.

I also had a few crises of the moment to deal with. Some of the issues exploded into the status meetings and email. I managed to get the fixes done so the emails would stop.

I stopped for lunch and collected Susie, and we took Air Volvo to the Home of the Whopper. We took our lunch to the local park and ate in the car, watching the folks enjoying the part and the sun. I opened all the doors and windows when we were back. It was warmer outside, and the breeze felt good while doing fixes (SPAU).

Work ran beyond 5 as I had little emergencies to deal with.

I had a bagel for dinner and made Susie Beedaroni, a homey fav for Susie.

I then drove to church. I am on the sound system committee, and we went to the church to look over the challenges to make things create for the future and properly stream and record sound. No masks as everyone is vaccinated except Sophia, as she is yet too young for the vaccine. We looked at the options and talked a lot. We also tested some of the equipment, and Howard even played the organ to show us how some of the speakers work for it.

This was the first time I have seen the church folks in person in more than 14 months. I spent the Christmas holiday in Amsterdam in 2019; many folks I have not seen for 16 months! It was strange to see people again and some new faces. There were some hugs, but I am not prepared for that and did elbow bumps instead.

Dan Gray and I left and had a beer at Ickabod’s in downtown Beaverton. We talked about the issues of poverty and tribalism that are troubling our country while enjoying the best fried pickles I have had.

A nice night to see church friends.

434 people are reported lost to the virus today in the USA.

I Love to Tell the Story worked for me today.

Again, boring, I think, is a blessing during a pandemic. Today I was just working and reading a bit. I wish I could tell you some fantastic tales of adventures at the shoe company, but alas, it was a normal day.

It started with the alarm at 6ish that I promptly ignored, and started at 7ish. I went through the email and saw that SPAU was hit for the upgrade. I now have days of work resolving the conflicts in the SAP upgrade using the SPAU transaction.

I used the SPAU to download all the issues and update a spreadsheet that is likely a direct descendent to the first one I used in the early 2000s. Yes, this is an old-school SAP process. I used Excel-fu to convert the data and copied it into the right sheet to have more Excel-fu to totals across sheets.

I did this while politely listening and even participating in Zoom call after call. I left the camera on for some meetings, and I suspect folks thought I was rather intensely listening. I was doing Excel-fu and then start resolving the issues in the upgrade, SAP-BASIS-fu.

I called Happy Panda and discovered they are still not open for lunch (they are open for dine-in for dinner). So I instead stopped by and was happy to see them and do pick-up. I had Generals Zhou’s Chicken and Chicken with Cashews for Susie. It was fun to drive Air Volvo today.

I will not bore you with the details of SPAU. To handle SPAU requires a deep knowledge of SAP change control, hearty fear of change, and a willingness–even with the fear–to make educated guesses when faced with obscure if not arcane error messages. I have done it for years, and there are few of us experts at Nike development standards and ABAP (the language the SAP created for their software) that do SPAU. It is an acquired taste!

I managed to clear about 1/3 of the entries by 6:15, when my last Zoom meeting ended. Tuesdays are long days. All-day SPAU tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I was a bit fuzzy after hours and hours of reading vendor patches (OSS notes for you SAP folks) and not willing to make dinner. Corwin ordered Mexican Food delivered. 

So just work today.

I am having a terrible time with coughing and sneezing. I am also still having muscle pain in my legs–I lost some sleep to the pain. I suspect that it was from driving and walking the beaches this previous weekend. In other words, exercise.

353 people died from Covid-19 today in the USA. According to the governor’s office, our county, Washington, is above the 70% vaccination rate. Oregon is struggling to get that whole state to 70%.

Blessed Be the Ties that Bind seemed a good choice.

I managed to sleep until 6ish and rolled over, and got going at 8ish. The project I am working on gave us a day off at the shoe company. I did have a few emails from Nike folks, but mostly I was able to enjoy the day off.

I did not plan the day and was just catching up on items that I need to get done.

I painted a bit more of the Scythe miniatures. I have most of the Vikings (blue) faction done. It is strange how fast they finish after painting the four-inch-tall figures. These take no time at all.

After Susie was off to her 9 Spa appointment with Zeriada, it was toes today, plus other items. I watched some more Game of Thrones this morning after Susie left. It took me some time to find where I left off (season 3, episode 6 is next). This episode moved and was over before I was ready for it to end–an improvement. I will try some more this week.

I then dressed and managed to stop by Powell’s, our used and new local bookselling chain, and picked up a few gifts to send Linda. She texted me that she left a hoodie behind. I found it and mailed it to her today as one of my chores. I would include a few extras, but Linda is off to another assignment in Wisconsin for a month at a kids’ camp. I sent the hoodie to her house and will send the extras to her new address in Wisconsin when she has it.

I wanted a nice lunch, so off to Pastini. This is a pasta chain. Ours in Beaverton version seems just a bit better. It could just be the wine. I had the lasagna, and my order was remade as it was cold. Even burning hot, I have had better. The salad and the garlic bread mostly made up for it. The large pour of wine on a Monday early afternoon, Growers’ Guild Pinot Noir, was a bit basic, but it grew on me as I had it with food.

I got Spumoni for dessert and got a dessert for Susie to go. Again, everyone was masked, and the customers were careful too.

From there, I went to the dry cleaners and alterations to have my new Lands Ends paints shorted. I usually order from LL Bean, but they are out of stock of pants. I returned to Lands End, and everything was possible. I had some problems with Lands Ends shirts years ago and switched to LL Bean. I may continue with Lands End–the slacks are nice.

This is part of my goodbye-2020—new pants. I plan to replace all the pandemic pants with new ones—just time to get it behind us. I am short, so I just order them unfinished and have them adjusted here.

BTW: I never shop for pants. I have ordered pants and dress shirts online for more than ten years.

I stopped by the pharmacies for supplies and prescriptions. Needed to restock my meds and Susie’s too.

I returned home for a short rest and then off to the eye doctor. I forgot how painful the light is and was also not surprised with my first eye-glass prescription, optional. My vision is now 20-30 but still in the range of needing no correction (I did pass the driving eye test on the third try in April). The doctor said that cheaters are recommended. I got a prescription, and I will get some glasses soon, I think. I do not need them for my figures and model work. I already use 3x bifocal safety glasses.

I need a very bright light to work. Doctor Brown said that it is mostly about being older. He has experienced the same change. I have the start of cataracts, but this is not yet impacting my vision or causing my need for bright light. I will return now annually to check that my eyes are not getting worse.

Mariah texted, and we met at BJ’s Brewhouse for dinner. I had a Southwest Salad, Susie had ribs, and Mariah at steak. The unmasked waiters surprised me. Apparently, the rules changed again, and fully vaccinated wait staff may go unmasked. This took some getting used to! Our waiter, Sean, has waited on us in a mask before. Now we see his face. It was disconcerting. Again, I am trying to lose my fear.

Food was good, and the customers masked when leaving.

Mariah and I talked about my thoughts on another Howard story. I am thinking of “Howard’s Unlock.” I already have a “Howard’s Lockdown” story done. More to come.

Finally, a nap and now writing.

205 people are reported to have died of Covid-19 today in the USA.

I picked For All thee Saints as the world’s death rate still explodes. We remember all who now rest from their works.

I could not sleep this morning. I had to drive my sister to the airport this morning. I often make up too early on days I have tasks to do. I was up about 6ish and ordered bagels delivered from Einstein Brothers to the house. Linda and I got going with coffee and bagels by 8ish. We left for Portland International Airport (PDX) at 9:15ish. I dropped Linda off at 10ish, two hours before her flight, and last I heard, she was on her last flight.

I then headed into Portland to check out if the gaming stores or other places I used to hang out were open yet. There was a crash on the highway on my normal fast way out of Portland–an alternate route via a gaming store made sense. None were open until noon, and some are still closed, like The Hair of the Dog bar that has not been open since the first lockdown. I drove across the town and headed home.

I decided to stay home today and work on figures. I am painting my second set of mechs for the board game Scythe. The makers of the game will sell you a spare set of miniatures so I can paint a set while I have another set for playing. I am starting with the Norse (blue) faction.

I also finished the masking on three other factions. I like the bases to retain the original color of the game. This time I am using masking tape. Tamiya masking tape works the best, and I always have some ready for a model or figure painting.

For these figures, I am using the newer painting process. First, I paint the figures black. I then mist the top with white. Next, I dry brush white to make the detail stand out–they look like x-rays. Next, I dilute the paint with a flow enhancer and let it just cover the dark and light. This creates a pre-shaded look that I really like for “working” models. In contrast, the mechs I did for Richard I kept bright and clean. I used no diluted paint and white and gray primers, not black, for these larger models. But, I want these to look like they are in the field. This technique produces the look I am looking for.

Corwin and Susie had Mexican delivered while I went to play our first in-person Dungeons and Dragons game in 14 months. Unfortunately, Corwin could not come yet as he has two more weeks before he is considered fully vaccinated.

It was a bit awkward as we had to remember the story we were playing. Then, we had to get our characters together. After that, we slowly found our way back into the flow of the game. Matt is our Dungeon Master, and he is focused on the fun and the story, which brings this off with lots of laughing and a few surprises.

At one point, Karen, playing our dwarf fighter, learns that her weapon is not magical. I notice I have the Magic Weapon spell. Obviously, we had a plan from 14 months ago. So my wizard, a gnome, makes her weapon magical, and combat goes better after that. I later discovered I had healing potions and used them to bring back Cory’s character twice. Apparently, I had a plan as the backup healer 14 months ago. Cory’s cleric is the main healer.

We had to look up many spell effects and some other basic rules, but we had a nice time and play again in two weeks. We play on Sundays, usually every other one, from 5:30 to 9ish. The group has been meeting for more than ten years.

A nice day. Monday is an official day-off from the big project. I will likely not have to do much on Monday. I did get some emails on some issues and sent replies.

As it is a weekend blog, let stop there!