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I took off Friday as I have a Covid-19 shot number 2 at noonish.

I slept in as I wanted to be a bit rested before I joined the Great Experiment. Do not misunderstand; I always want the next vaccination. I just know that this one, Moderna, is very fresh and very fresh science. I am sure it is safe and effective, but that does not mean it is not a new human experience.

I managed to sleep until 7ish, and then I signed into work and put on my out-of-office for the shoe company. My calendar is already blocked, I have a non-blocking meeting with my co-workers that is that I am on PTO (that way they see that I am out on their calendars), I have approved PTO scheduled in the PTO tracking tool for WHQ based employees, and I told everyone at the last meetings I was out. I imagine that there are a few people still wondering why I am not giving status in their meetings today despite my efforts.

I celebrated not going to work; I went back to bed and slept until 9ish. I did get to listen to the Friday trash and recycling pick-ups. I got some coffee made and had a banana. My new meds can upset my stomach and this morning was a bit rougher. I forgot to take them before the first coffee. I was well reminded and managed to keep my breakfast down. Not an auspicious start to my day.

I started to look at replacement laptops for my mac, 2014 13″ Mac Pro. I had to replace the hard drive last year, and I put a very nice super-fast solid-state 2TD replacement in it. But it is time to move to more cores, and the failure has been worrying me. I did not notice that it is almost 7 years old. I have never had a laptop last so long and still be usable. This one is running Big Sur! It is still swift; the super new hard drive helps.

Time to drive to Nike WHQ LA Garage for a drive-through Covid-2 #2 shot. I detour to the carwash. The crows have celebrated all over my car. Air Volvo was all shiny for the next trip.

I saw a couple of my co-workers helping. Marc Hopkins and I joked in a meeting that he would collect $20; I got out an Andrew Jackson for him–he just smiled. The paperwork process was different this time and simpler. I was done in less than twenty minutes.

I got drive-thru at Taco Bell and ate it listening to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). I got home and took 500mg Tylenol.

I decided to continue on with Richard’s figures and finish the first faction’s general painting. I have to touch up and fix them and then detail them, but the basic look is done. I also started on the next faction, which is mostly metal and gold colors. I got out bigger brushes now.

I felt better, so I made dinner—baked chicken (skinless thighs) with salt and Herbs de Provance. I made green beans (from Schwann’s) by microwaving and then cooking in a frying pan with butter, salt, and almond slivers. I found some dinner roles, frozen and from Schwann’s, and baked them. A bit plain but still a nice dinner.

I started to feel the flu symptoms starting a bit. My arm hurts. More Tylenol. Sorry if I left some typos…time to rest soon. Typing faster.

I am also painting a druid figure for Zophia, Dondrea’s girl, as she plays Dungeons and Dragons. I found this figure and thought it a close match to a slightly older Zophia as a druid.

I can feel the need to return to reading and resting.

BTW: I did order a new Mac computer. I went for 13″ again with a solid-state drive and extra memory. I selected the M1 super chip version. It will be here in a few weeks. It will be my fourth Mac and again 13″. I like small. I always transfer the contents of one Mac to the next. So, in fact, it is always the same one.

33,411 people were vaccinated yesterday, including Mariah, in Oregon. This number may be increased as it takes 72 hours to get all the counts posted. Many co-workers at Nike had shots today. Oregon opens to everyone over 16 on 19April2021.

Nine hundred twenty-nine died today from the infection. The infection rate is again increasing, and the death rate appears to no longer headed down.

I went with Lift Every Voice and Sing, the NFL version.

I am still working late this night because we have problems with some data conversion and performance issues. I have been involved in the tuning of jobs on SAP systems for years. I am monitoring a test run.

This morning started at 6, but I saw that I had no meetings until 8, so I went and rested for a bit longer. I then read and replied to email and thought about a few of the items that needed to be discussed today. I had coffee, a banana, and some coffee cake for breakfast. I then slipped out for a few minutes to shower and get dressed.

I was back at hours and hours of Zooming for Nike IT. I had status and alignment meetings until lunch. Lunch was Burger King and getting a Happy Meal for Susie with apples.

I continued with work and then was asked to work on a performance issue with the technical teams. I spent all the afternoon and early evening working on the issue. I applied 15+ vendor patches (OSS notes to you that speak SAP) and got them approved to move to the testing system. We were then testing and until about now at 9ish at night. Dinner was a grilled cheese for Susie and cheese and crackers for me with some smoked meats leftover from the Easter Bunny.

Today was also Theology Pub, and we talked about America without God. We talked about how church-going and organized religion is fading in America. Many of us concluded that the main issue is churches’ attempt to be everything to everyone while trying to focus on social awareness. Worship needs to be the focus and must be done well instead of being a lesser focus.

We talked about flying flags today in our church meeting. My flag was torn up by a storm, and I had not replaced it yet. I ordered a replacement today. I usually have the USA flag on the house, even as a liberal.

I am tired and will stop as I am making mistakes.

I am on PTO for a week and this Friday for my Covid-19 vaccine second shot.

27,783 people were vaccinated yesterday in Oregon. This number will likely be updated higher.

1,009 died in the USA today.

I went with America the Beautiful today. It was another lovely sunny (!?) day in Oregon today.

Tonight I made dinner a bit early. Susie was looking for dinner early, and so I made it a bit early. Susie took a nap and just got dinner at 8ish at night. So much for my plan. I will first write this and then paint some figures tonight.

The morning started at 6ish and another day of Zoom class on administering GitHub organizations for the enterprise version. The class went on for three hours. I learned a few more items and discovered how little I know about merging software using the git process. We don’t use it for our stuff as it is generated. It was a worthy class. I did slip in a bit of multi-tasking for the shoe company when the more obscure features were explained.

The rest of the morning was status meetings and me looking at vendor patches (OSS notes for those who talk SAP). Another set of possible fixes appear to be needed.

I slipped in a short twenty-minute short walk. The first time this week. My breathing was a bit heard, showing that I am slipping a bit. More walking! Use-it-or-lose-it!

I reheated the beef stew I made yesterday. I had some canned peaches to go with that. A piece of buttered bread is always great with stew. It was a quick and nice lunch.

Next, more vendor patch discussions and a few crises of the moment kept me busy for a while. I finally took a break and then checked in a few more times. I then made an early dinner and watched the first half of The Phantom Menace. The worst, in my opinion, Star Wars movie. Disney+ version was the slightly reworked version, and it seemed to work better. I could only watch the first half in a sitting. I will find some time for the other half later.

I am tired today, and tomorrow is my last working day for a while. I finally took off a week plus a day. I was off for a month as a full-time caregiver for Susie after her stroke. I had a few days off around Christmas, but this is the first break since the 2020 lockdown.

I have my next Covid-19 shot on Friday; I can’t play games with Richard this Friday.

Casey is thinking of playing board games in a few weeks out when he is on break. We are both vaccinated, and I expect it will be safe.

24,097 people were vaccinated yesterday in Oregon. This number will likely be increased as they collect more data.

Eight hundred ninety-seven people died of the infection today in the USA.

I went with the same version used before for The Lord of the Dance. It is a good song for after Easter and another (!?) sunny day in Oregon.

Lockdown may end in a few months. The infection rate is still too high in Oregon to unlock, but California is now planning to end lockdown on June 15th and just have masks and social distancing remaining.

Gov. Brown here in Oregon agreed to open up vaccinations to everyone above 16 on 19April2021.

Tuesday morning is always a rush. Instead of a meeting on data conversion software, my first meeting is a three-hour training course on administering Nike’s new setup for GitHub. The course is put on by GitHub staff, so not something to miss. The class has another three hours tomorrow morning. The class started at 7ish and filled the whole three hours. I have to admit I did a little multi-tasking when things bogged down into discussions on how other teams handle audits and separation of duties. It was a great class, and I have learned about GitHub Actions which allows automation inside GitHub.

I then returned to mostly status meetings and some alignment meetings—more Zooming at the shoe company. I had a short break at 11 and ordered lunch which I ate while meetings ran through my lunch hours. I also did not get a walk; meetings were booked over my walking time. So crazy non-stop Zooming on the status and also agreeing to the various solutions.

Lunch was Mexican from GrubHub, Don Chilitos Mexican Grill. Before that, Corwin was up and made breakfast. I had some of his baked eggs. Very good.

The afternoon was filled with more status meetings. I could not multitask during the meetings as I had to follow along in case of questions. I got a few.

I was tired and went and rested for a bit. I also started defrosting the stew beef for dinner. I then slipped out to Safeway and got some items I missed last time grocery shopping and to help make stew tonight.

The store was immaculate. The one-way direction signs were no longer on there. I would have to do long circles before following directions. Now I can just need a mask on; everyone had one on, and it was worn properly. Social distancing was maintained. My check-out guy today was Aws, a kind man from Iraq. We are always happy to see each other.

Corwin roasted potatoes and carrots while I was out. He sliced up some onions and cooked them with garlic for me. I added the meat to that, and we let that cook. Once the liquid was mostly gone, I added half a can of tomato paste and stirred all of that to make sure it would brown but not burn. I added a cup or so of wine to dissolve the cooked bits. I then added three heaping tablespoons of Hungarian sweet paprika and 1/2 a tablespoon of ground caraway seeds. I added in a teaspoon of sugar and stirred this together. You need salt, more than I used, maybe two tablespoons, but be careful with that. Heat that and stir until fragrant. Add a box of beef broth. Get to a boil. Turn down and let it gently bubble and simmer for 45 mins. I later added the fully cooked roasted veggies and some corn starch in cold water to thicken.

While I was cooking, I watched Nike email and painted Richard’s figures. I got the main colors painted on the first set of figures. I have primed the next faction and will wash another six figures tonight. These are larger figures; I use larger brushes, so it won’t take forever. I am trying to follow the colors from the game; the figures have a main color shade; in this case, it is reds.

I am hoping to get some more figure painting done tonight. I can’t decide to finish one and then repeat it on mass or just do one color at a time for all. I think I will continue with one color for all of them as it will accelerate at the end.

There were no caregiving moments today; Susie is better today.

21,170 people were vaccinated in Oregon yesterday. This number will likely improve as it takes 72 hours to get all the counts into the total.

Nine hundred six people died today in the USA from Covid-19.

I picked The Lord Bless You and Keep You. It is just after Easter, and with the news that the end is in sight, it seemed good for a blessing song for all of us.

I was going about 6:15ish this morning. Corwin was up, and there was coffee made. I worked through the email and text from late Friday through Monday early. Remember, many of the folks are now based in India, so I get emails at all times. The world is flat.

I had non-top Zoom status meetings. I did manage to break off and get cleaned up and dressed. Susie had Zerida today a bit early, 8:30ish, for hair, nails, toes, and so on. Her driver was on time, and Susie was ready and even had coffee in a to-go cup.

Work at the shoe company continued with what seemed like endless Zoom meetings. One of the meetings was on the reversal of the conversion plan of the last four years, and that one was a bit interesting. I had a lot to say at that one. We need to rethink the sequencing, details I will not bore you with, and I can’t really share.

Lunch was taking Air Volvo to Popeye’s and getting a Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Corwin was up, so we sat together listening to the radio with the windows down, eating our sandwiches. We got home just as Susie got there. She had her fav of McDonald’s Happy Meal Six-Piece McNuggets with apples.

I then got back to Zooming for Nike. I had a few more meetings about status and planning, and I could not do any multi-tasking as my name and my projects came up in each meeting today. Yes, things are heating up.

I also put in for Covid-19 time off for my shot on Friday. Susie has her on Saturday. I also took off next week. I have Covid shots, a doctor’s appointment, and I have to drive early to ODOT to renew my driver’s license. I have an appointment I scheduled two months ago! I am old enough that I have to have an eye exam. My birthday is Friday, and I would not wish to work my birthday, so I took the whole week.

I finished the day and went out to get the mail, and there was a medical bill, over $20,000. This is just painful. I called the insurance company to have them explain it, and it appears they have not put in some update that Susie has no extra insurance, meaning they refused the claim. It was for Susie’s stoke. The insurance, United Health Care, updated their records again, and maybe the fourth time, we have no other insurance health care coverage for strokes. This should go away.

Susie then had some issues that required caregiving. She is alright. I just had to do some unplanned housework. It was about 45+ minutes of work.

I then made dinner. I breaded some chicken breasts, split, defrosted, from Schwann’s and fried them in a pan with very little oil. I finished them in the oven to avoid burning them on the stove. I also cooked Schwann’s Fire Roasted veggies on a cookie sheet. Lastly, I added a slice of Easter ham and swiss cheese to the chicken. It was OK. More cheese next time!

I primed some figures I am doing for Richard. I have washed the next faction.

It was a busy day. Allergies are hard. I am just getting ‘r done.

14,314 people were vaccinated in Oregon yesterday. This number will likely increase.

Four hundred fifteen people died today in the USA from the infection.

It is a wonderful day here on Easter Monday. I had to go with Morning Has Broken.