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I was up a bit late this morning, 9:30ish. I did the dishes and cleaned-up last night and did not get to bed until 1ish. I like the sink to be empty when I start my morning.

So the sink was empty, and I made coffee and started, not even dressed yet, to write Python code.

Yes, a cup of coffee, toast, and a banana while coding a bit of Python. My friend Dan Gray asked me to take the code he sent me to convert temperatures, an entry-level exercise I often see as an example and make it more interesting. I used my standard headers and practices and then rework the code. I produce a version 0.0.1 and then send a 0.0.2 after thinking about it some more. I made it the program do Kelvin too. It was fun to do the basic coding again. I find it always fun to code in the morning.

I then cleaned a toilet and vacuumed some of the carpet. Susie has a physical therapy appointment, and I can’t have the house looking well-used when we have guests. I got the laundry started and the dishwasher going too. This warms up the house a bit.

Susie was ready when Clare from PT got here. I had to leave as I have a hair cut today. I was there to ensure we scheduled Susie’s new PT days for next week. We all prefer two days a week for Susie. I made sure Susie had water, coffee, and toast with jam when I left.

My haircut was with Zerida, and she follows all those procedures to keep us all safe.

I drove back without stopping. I texted with Evan, and he came over later to play a few board games.

Dinner was not fav but easy. I got the large pack from Taco Bell–making another quick trip. The food was not that great. Too salty this time. I am afraid that Taco Bell went off the list for dinner.

Evan and I played a crazy board game that I had not even punched and put together. Evan got to help assemble castles, towers, flying machines, and boats for Heroes of Air, Land, and Sea. I have painted many of the figures, 60+, but had never played my copy. I decided that today, 2021 January, would be time to try out a two-person game using my copy. It took a while to start. Evan was learning the game, and I was trying to remember how to play. Heroes of Air, and, and Sea is a 4x (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, & eXterminate) game and requires you to crush your fellow players while building your empire. Evan made a few mistakes as he was learning the game, the same mistakes I made when the game was first introduced to me, and we ended without scoring–it was a learning game. I am sure he is ready to crush me in the next game. If you play 4x, it is crush or be crushed.

Again, I wanted to play something fun for 2021 that I have not played for a while. The Star Trek Panic game is one of the best visual board games, I think. You do missions on the Enterprise from the 1960s version of the TV show, and the ship is overlayed with explosions and destruction. It looks so right, and the mechanics feel a bit like you are in the original 1960s series. No game for me is as immersive and also unthreatening. There are some other timed immersive games, but I won’t play timed games. Sorry, they feel like work to me and not a game. This game is cooperative and still feels rushing without the timer. Players work together, but your turn is when you get to drive, literally. Again, Evan had never played this before, so we played the introduction version, and then we played a few more missions after resetting and playing new characters. I played Scotty in the first try and then Jame T. Kirk for the next play. I think Evan liked this one too. It is simple, but there is a strategy and planning to make it work–that is not to destroy the Enterprise with you in it!

 

We had some wine for the last game, and the Taco Bell pack was finished off.

2,107 folks are reported to have died today of Covid-19 in the USA.

I turned to There Is a Balm in Gilead in the Methodist Hymnal today, # 375.

 

I stayed up to see the ball come down last night and have a glass of champagne with Susie. I used the same glasses from our wedding back in 1990. It was strange to see CNN coverage with their anchors a bit drunk and unsure of what to do. It is good to put 2020 in the rear-view mirror.

I started 2021 by sleeping into 8:30ish. Susie was up a few times this morning, so I decided just to get up. I made coffee, read email, and just relaxed for the morning.

Susie needed her bandages changed. It is looking better, and the reaction to the tape products is mostly gone. It is still not healed.

I continued to edit more Howard stories. I am working on the Christmas story from 2016 still. I hope to finish it tomorrow and start on the first long story I wrote. Again, I am not sure what to do with the stories, maybe publish them, but I want them more polished.

I went out and got lunch—a whopper with cheese for me and a chicken McNugget Happy Meal for Susie. Susie was too tired to eat it until later.

I set-up Raiders of Scythia board game today. I set the game for two players. I am playing it against myself. I am still trying to learn the rules and how to play the game better. The rulebook and examples online are good, but the game has many different cards to play, and not every case is covered. I have finally understood the Town Centre’s actions after playing the practice game wrong for four turns.

Raiders of Scythia is from a fav game making company, Garphill Games, and I have some another of their excellent games, Architect of the Western Kingdom, and it took a while to learn that game. This new game is a rework of their well know Viking raiding games. I thought this game’s art was better than the Viking games’ cartoonish art, so I bought this one. I do not usually pick games by art, but it is lovely, and Scythians have always been interesting to me—the bad-guys of history and possible slayer of the biblical Cyrus the Great.

Mariah called, and we meet outdoors at McMenamins Cedar Hills location. We had hot buttered rum (just above lukewarm when we finally got it–they seemed a bit disorganized) and then some locally made beer to welcome in 2021 with a snack. Susie stayed home; lockdown required us to sit outside in the rain under a partial roof and a propane heater next to us–not something Susie would enjoy. We got the last two-person dry table.  We talked about writing and travel.

I returned and watched RATATOUILLE: THE TIKTOK MUSICAL. A reworking of the Disney animated movie. They did Ratatouille loosely based on the movie as a staged set of shorts and compiled group singing. While not all of it was great, it was short (less than an hour), and some of the singing and acting was great. I bought a ticket that is going to support the Actor’s Guild.

I made light snacks for Susie. She ate her Chicken McNugget Happy Meal late. I had fries and a salad with Mariah.

I watched the Doctor Who New Year’s special today. We have not seen the Doctor for a while. The show was fun, and I liked it–Daleks everywhere. The camera work was different, likely the impact of Covid-19, but still a familiar feel.

2,129 people in the USA today died from Covid-19.

I went, for 2021, America again for our song.

Today started at 9ish, and me going slow as I had no plans for the day. I have a bottle of cheap California sparkling wine and hope to stay awake to open it and toast in 2021.

I was surprised to get some last-minute items in 2020. My coin sets from Canada for 2020 were delivered today, yes the last minute. I have one set next to my 1999 and 2000 coin sets, and the other is a gift. This is to remember the year many of us thought about moving to Canada.

I started the morning by not shaving. I want to shave off extra 2020 tomorrow!

I also received the printed cards I made for the massive game Twilight Imperium 4. The new cards were presented in new rules but not supplied in any add-on. I learned how to make cards from instructions online using the MPC, Make Playing Cards, website. I made four copies, one for me and a local gamer and two to give to others who need to update their copy of TW4. The new cards replace some existing cards in the game, rule changes and content updates, and are new cards for new content and some special scenarios. It is exciting to learn how to make replacement gaming cards.

I continued to edit and write today. I finished editing a third Howard story. This is Howard’s Christmas I wrote in 2016 and is the second long Howard story I wrote. I have started editing the first long story, Howard 2016, about Howard’s Amsterdam and Istanbul experiences. I wrote the first story when I could not sleep on the plane back from my own trip to Amsterdam and Istanbul in 2015. I was there for some terrorist attacks, and it was the first time I used my Situational Awareness training from Nike to be safe. I was having trouble relaxing on a USA flight from Europe. I wrote the story to distract myself. I should have it up to snuff tomorrow. I do not know if I will publish them, but I would like them ready to be read.

Susie was up late this morning and then again this afternoon, and her wound in her back had an issue. Like her mother, she is allergic to certain tapes and medical products that use the same adhesive. Susie had blisters everywhere she came in contact with the bandage I put on yesterday. I cleaned up the blisters and replaced everything with a simple dressing. Susie took some Benedryl and aspirin to get the rash and swelling back under control. She is better now. She is not getting a break this time!

Dinner was a baked potato with the works and our usual frozen from a box Chicken Cordon Blu. Comfort food if you like. We had some canned pineapple as a dessert.

I also made bread today. I baked the bread in pans this time, and it is a bit better. I have ordered more flour and sourdough stuff from King Arthur Flour, so I continue this adventure. The bread is good, but I want huge bubbles. I am making good sandwich bread, I want so much more.

I was thinking about writing some musing on our shared experience of 2020. F**K that! I just want the year gone. I can hear all the fireworks, most illegal, going off tonight—good riddance to 2020. If 2020 was a song.

3,438 people on this last day of 2020 are reported to have passed away from Covid-19 in the USA.

And I picked on Eagle’s Wings to fly to 2021. I picked Michael Crawford’s version (Phantom of the Opera) as he can sing well in the minor key.

I managed to sleep into 9ish this morning. I could do some editing this morning to my Howard stories fixing up all the detected faults and a few I saw. Breakfast was a cinnamon roll I made yesterday. I frost them before they are served. Susie had one later when she got going about 10:30ish. Susie had physical therapy today, so we needed to be ready by noon.

Susie ran through the exercises with Clare, our PT. Clare had her Covid-19 vaccine shot a few days ago. She had a fever, and her arm that received the jab was so painful she could not lift it yesterday. This went away the next day. She checked her temperature before entering the house. As she was symptom-free, we decided it was OK for her to visit. She, like many PT folks, is tested for Covid-19 all the time. Her test was negative today.

The chances for a repeat of this on her second dose, in 20+ days, is unfortunately 84%. These are not considered serious side-effects.

I have a new IR Thermometer from Amazon; it is a no-touch measurement. I can now check folks that visit. We have only a few visitors, but as the vaccine changes this, we should still check that folks do not have a fever.

We had Happy Panda lunch today delivered by DoorDash. I had orange chicken (not spicy), and Susie had chicken with cashews. I had it delivered just after Clare left. Susie took a nap after lunch and her PT workout.

I completed the editing for two Howard stories, which meant I could add to the last story and epilogue for Howard’s Lockdown. I am a very disciplined writer and want the editing done on previous writing before starting more writing. The stories are more than 7,000 words and so the editing ain’t easy.

I am reading a new book, a physical book Michelle Smith and family gave me for Christmas: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I am delighted with the book by V.E. Schwab. “But ideas are so much wilder than memories, so much faster to take root” is just one quote in this modernish fairy tale. I did not like some of her other books, but I could not put them down. I think it was her willingness to kill-off likely characters that made me less receptive to her other books. I like this one. It is recommended.

I dragged out the Instant Pot and made Tagine spiced Moroccan Lemon Chicken. I cut up some 1/2 onion, throw in some olives, two tablespoons or so of Zamouri Tagine Chicken Spices, two cups of water, and frozen skinless and boneless chicken thighs. Set the Instant Pot to poultry for 14 and press go. I made rice, correctly this time, in a pot on the stove. Thirty minutes and we have dinner.

I have so many books and magazines to read! The “Dreadnoughts” Strategy & Tactics Quarterly came in the mail today. I received my copy of 2600 The Hacker Magazine came in yesterday. I have still not finished Brook’s amazingly insanely footnoted book on the 1916 Battle of Jutland (the same battle is also covered in Dreadnoughts). I had my John McKay drawing of the 1637 Sovereign of the Seas show this week too. It has pictures of almost every bolt in the warship. It is the first reconstruction to this level. I have a second book by John McKay on the way too.

I will be reading and writing these four days.

3,880 people died of Covid-19 today in the USA. The worst day so far in the USA and the worst day for the world too.

Today, I found a communion song by just opening the hymnal, Methodist Hymnal #640, which I have not heard before and liked: Take Our Bread.

 

 

Susie had some issues that required some caregiving at 4ish this morning. The morning 6ish seemed to come too soon. I managed to get started, but Susie was in some pain, so I re-bandaged her wound in her back from Mohs surgery and got her an ice pack to stop the pain.

I made coffee, drank almost a whole pot, and had a bagel and banana for breakfast.

Today was the last normal working day for 2020 for Nike. Nike closes this year for The Day Before New Year’s Eve as an official USA holiday. I managed to keep up for a bit, but Susie got going about 11:30, and I had to make her breakfast. I sent a note that I would stop early today to some folks and then just followed by email.

I made a taco salad for lunch and scrambled eggs with cheese for Susie later in the afternoon. This is one of her favs.

I then slipped out for a few minutes. Susie was too tired and went to rest. I picked up milk, eggs, and many basics. I have a new recipe for cinnamon rolls. It uses a new technique I have never done before, tangzhong. This is a Japanese baking trick that has you cook some flour in milk to a paste and then add the baking ingredients to the tangzhong. This helps the bread rise and be pillowy.

I made the tangzhong by cooking two teaspoons of bread flout in whole milk. When it was a paste, I put it in the mixing bowl, added cold milk, and followed with the rest of the dough’s ingredients. I let the dough hook do all the hard work. The dough was left to rise in a large bowl for about 90 mins. I then made the dough into the rolls. I used dental floss to cut the rolls (that is the suggestion in the recipe).

They turned out perfect and very light. Usually, the rolls are tough and chewy. These are soft.

I used Vietnamese Cinnamon that I got last year. It is sharper, and less is better. I used only two tablespoons in the filling.

I finished the editing for one of my Howard stories. Howard in Amsterdam is done. I might extend it and Howard’s Lockdown before editing some of the earlier works.

I put on a movie and fell asleep watching it. I will likely do the dishes and crash.

Corwin made mac and cheese with chili. Susie ate that for dinner. I made a chef’s salad with some leftover ham and salami and cheese. I made croutons by toasting some of the bread I made.

I am glad that tomorrow is a break.

3,398 people in the USA are reported to have died from the virus today. It is one of the worst days.

I turned to hymn 512 in the Methodist Hymnal, Stand By Me. This is Elvis’s version.