Blog

Today started in a rush. I closed my eyes for just seconds, and it was one minute to 7AM! I managed to join the 7AM meeting, but no video this morning! I was happy it was booked for an hour, so when it ended early, I rushed and showered and got dressed in time for the next meeting.

This was an international Zoom call hosted by the company SAP about the software we are installing. I volunteered one of my teams to present in the future on how we are using SAP’s tool to do some data conversions, and I think we can share that.

I had a few more status meetings and a few crises of the moment to work through. I managed to slip out and take a long walk today, use-it-or-lose-it. My breathing and legs are not working quite right. I need to get out more.

I received the price list from the Biltmore Estate today, and they can fit us in on Wednesday 11Aug2021 for a 30th-anniversary party in North Carolina. The price is well what you would expect from Biltmore Estate! It is not that far out of line, about $100 a guest plus some set-up fees. No discounts were offered. This is in the lightest of pencil for now.

I took a couple more breaks and read some more of John Brooks’ book The Battle of Jutland. Jutland is the only great battleship battle and happened in 1916 in the North Sea. I also received from India a printed and leatherbound copy of the Battle of Jutland: Offical Dispatches book (OD). The original was scanned and can now be purchased for about $35 from India, bound with free shipping. The original was published in 1920, and all copyrights (if any) have expired. Many obscure military works can be found now as print-on-demand books, and India has always bound books. The copy of OD has some flaws on some of the maps, but if I need a copy of those, I can ask a library in England to photocopy them and send me the copy. I ordered the book when I read that John was relying on it.

I did not know that the OD has every last order, including flags, signal light, and wireless radio-issued orders. It also includes the time received, if received, and notes on how the order was executed. John uses the OD and other German sources to reconstruct the battle order-by-order. I have never read this kind of detail before. I have often wondered about certain events and problems, and now this new book from John Brooks covers everything. I am now trying to absorb all this new information and reading the actual orders in the OD.

The first expensive book I owned was a monogram on the HMS Invincible-class ships that famously exploded in the battle. I read about the battle and the famous HMS Invincible in an old book about WW1 when I was a kid and tried to learn more about the ship. Finally, I even had to buy a book about it. This is before the Internet. Here is the link about the ship with the dramatic photos of the end of HMS Invincible.

Would I recommend this book, Brooks’ book? Oh no! This is specialist work and not a narrative. The narrative book I would recommend to anyone is Jutland 1916: Death in the Gray Wastes. If you like your history as a story with details, this is one for you. The best book on WW1 is, I think, The Guns of August.

Returning to print-on-demand, I do have the manual for artillery used in the American Civil War (ACW) that is quite interesting. I found a cheap reprint on the Internet for that. If you are an ACW nut, like me, you need one of these. I have a lot more respect for gun crews and engineers in the war after reading some (horse maintenance got skipped) of this book.

I also tonight set-up the most complex board game (not wargame–WW1 Storm of Steel takes that dubious honor in my collection and comes with spreadsheets to download), Lisboa. It has a solo version that I have always wanted to play. I also ordered the queen variant and coins for the game from the manufacturer to upgrade the game a bit. It seemed time to try it. It took me 90 minutes to set it up for just me and solo set-up.

I will play it tomorrow; I have to re-read the 23 paged and very colorful rule book.

It was a warmish sunny day. Not our usual here in January.

The state of Oregon upgraded its vaccination rate two days ago to 13,100, and yesterday’s is starting at 10,618 and will likely be increased as the data takes 72 hours to be complete. My home county, Washinton, is at just under a 3% vaccination rate.

3,805 people in the USA died from Covid-19 today.

I went with Here I am Lord for today. This is one of the few hymns I can actually belt-out.

It has been a busy day, so I thought I would start from the usual end and work backward.

4,069 people in the USA are reported to have died from Covid-19 today.

10,172 people were vaccinated yesterday in Oregon, and the number for the day before has been increased to 11,772 as some of the information can take 72 hours to update.

Today’s song is Pass It On—Methodist Hymnal #572.

Susie has ice on one of her wounds. It is painful. This happened last time with the other ones. I hope and pray the pain will leave soon.

Today I cooked Thai styled chicken in the Instant Pot. I used frozen chicken thighs with some seasoning and coconut milk from a can. I made my favorite rice with it, Basmati rice. I did not add the chilis as Susie cannot eat spicy food, but Corwin and Susie liked it.

Susie watched TV while I attended the monthly Theology Pub. This is a Zoom meeting where many folks are drinking, and we discuss theological topics. We, before the Covid-19 lockdown, used to meet local bars to discuss and eat and drink. Now we meet online by Zoom.

Today’s topic was about Doing The Next Right Thing. This comes from a Disney movie, Frozen 2, where there is a moment when difficult choices surface, and the animated story suggests that when the future is unknown, do the next right thing.

We spoke a lot about the happenings in Washington, DC, and about Covid-19.

Before this, I was online all day and did five hours of Zoom meetings. It would have been most of the day, except the computer project is ahead and going well (when was the last time you heard that), and thus all the meetings are shortened or even (!) canceled. I was reviewing and installing a few vendor patches and dealing with the normal rise and fall of emergencies. My daily issues are like the tides here in Oregon–very predictable, and never take your eye off of it unless you to be hit with a sneaker wave.

I got an hour break for lunch. I have an out-of-office meeting on my calendar for lunch-hour. Few people are willing to book over it without talking to me. Corwin and I went to Burger King and McDonald’s and collected a simple, cheap lunch of burgers and McNuggets for Susie. It was a chance to drive the car and get outside!

I managed to sleep in today until 7ish. All my meetings were canceled in the early morning. I then awoke to various emergencies from last night. The world is flat for us corporate types.

The morning again started at 6ish, with my first meeting at 8AM; thus, I had some time to read some emails and be a bit more prepared for all the meetings. I was booked for six hours of Zoom meeting already.

Susie and I slept until the alarm woke me, so I had some better sleep. I am still tired as I never seem to catch-up except on weekends. This, I think, is the new world of working-from-home and trying to manage the Covid-19 pandemic household lockdown.

My phone had alarms from the sheriff and county. It is damp. The winds and rains have taken down trees and flooded the streets. Rivers are huge and rushing. The french drain is full of water in the backyard.

The house seems dry, and the water is mostly in the drain or in the street as it should be. We are fine. Friends had been up all night watching closeby rivers.

Susie is “the-blob-in-the-bed” today. Yesterday was PT, and Monday was Spa–she is exhausted. I let her sleep in. It is somehow sunny today; I open the blinds a bit more to let in the sun. She started up in time to watch The Chase game show. This is an import from Britain and fun to watch. I am usually working when it is on, and just like Jeopardy, my attention often drifts to catch some of it between Zoom calls.

I had a coding question at 4ish today in a Zoom call, and we got the old band together. We all worked long hours together to do the initial conversion practices for master data deemed too large to repeat. We were overly successful. It was nice to chat, and everyone was safe from the floods and Covid-19. We agreed on some more code fixes now that the scope had increased.

I then rushed out without my wallet to have beer and dinner with Mariah. You have to sit outside now. We were headed to a pizza place, but Mariah called me, and we agreed that their version of outside, a closed in tight space in a tent, is not really outside and safe. Back to the Golden Valley Brewery. We were outside and cold. We watched the sunset, but there was no wind or rain, and thus we could stand it. Yes, a cold or a slight case of pneumonia for a beer.

Even in GVB, the customers this time was not being as safe as before. We saw folks take off masks and chat as if the mask was just a ticket to get inside.

Mariah and I talked about traveling and books, and art. I was without my wallet, yes I know, so Mariah bought dinner. Sorry, Mariah!

Today I sent into The Biltmore Estate a possible wedding anniversary plan for our 30th. Yes, 1990 was 31 years ago–we decided to count 29 twice. The plan is around 11Aug2021 in North Carolina, near or in Ashville; we will then celebrate the 30th, slightly delayed. The other option is to get a rec-room at Brooks-Howell Methodist Home and have it there. Susie’s family meet there in 2019 for Joyce Hill’s, Susie’s aunt, 90+ birthday. Assuming we will be over with Covid-19 by then, I am planning a party.

I called “General” Glenda, another of Susie’s aunts, that lives there too, to look into the Brooks-Howell options.

We also want to travel to some sights in the area, and I want the little folks that might come to pick some options for us–with their parents’ involvement, of course.

Next, we will travel to Washington, DC, and see the sights. I used to work in Washington. I want to tour my favs, and maybe I can help direct a tour of the more hidden items.

From there, it is Amtrak to New York City. There to see the Smiths and see a show and the city a bit.

We then fly back from NYC to Oregon (or where ever you live). We will try to connect up with folks here and there.

This plan is in the lightest pencil.

I am also planning to be in Rome in October, the second week. Again, in the lightest pencil. I am looking for the Dan Brown tour.

Finally, I did play a bit of Brass: Lancashire today. I managed to get most of the rules right. I enjoy playing it, and it is the 19th best game according to the BoardGameGeek website.

A busy day of working and planning and meetings.

9,071 people were vaccinated for Covid-19 in Oregon yesterday.

4,098 people died from Covid-19 today in the USA.

I went with All Things Bright and Beautiful. Thinking of traveling again and playing a board game set in the UK has me going with this song.

 

 

Today started at 6ish. I managed a bit more sleep, but it was still a hard start.

The first meeting was at 7:10, and then Zoom meetings started for three hours straight. Tuesday is a busy day as all the status meetings on Monday are expected to have brought forth some work.

I had no real crises of the moment, and the three hours went by fast.

I finally got outside in the pouring rain and managed a damp short walk. I still have breathing issues and stiffness. Mostly this is a use-or-lose-it problem. I will walk further each day and try to get back to my normal two-mile walk a day. With all the surgeries and Susie’s stroke, I have let this slide too much.

Susie’s bandages all came-off yesterday, and she is feeling better, and she had Physical Therapy today. PT was during the big status meeting at 1PM, so I missed some of the PT with Clare. I did use the gun-like IR thermometer to check everyone before Clare, our PT person, got here. I greet her at the door the same way, the Covid-19 greeting, “We have no symptoms.” She had her inoculation first shot, and Clare will get the second shot at the end of the month. Masks are worn, of course, and hand cleaning is done with care.

I am hopeful for a Covid-19 shot in late February or March. Let us hope Oregon and the Feds can get their act together and get’r’done.

Once my meeting on Zoom was done, I caught up with Susie and Clare. Susie is still too unsteady and becomes tired too quickly with a cane. Leaving the walker is still a distant goal for Susie. The exercises today and work-out are to get Susie to stand up straight as this will get her to be safer and maybe get to use the cane. Susie was also timed and appears to be improving.

Before, Susie found it hard to get up this morning. I understand! She managed to get a waffle for breakfast and take her pills before PT. Susie was tired and then rested for a few hours.

Susie then asked me about lunch while I was in another Zoom meeting. I had one scheduled with 10 minutes lead time. That was back-to-back to another in the afternoon. I finally made Susie a grilled cheese (cheddar) sandwich when the meetings ended. I then, using the same hot pan, grilled burgers for dinner. Susie loves a cold burger as long as it has cheese on it. I had a hot burger. Corwin grabbed one too. As expected, Susie had a cold burger a few hours later.

I tried to start Brass: Lancashire. This is a board game I am trying to learn and may someday play with someone. It is a worker placement and Euro-style cut-throat game. Usually, Eurogames are not mean; this is an exception. It simulates the industrial revolution, and you have limited resources and placement options. Also, you can gain points for yourself and your opponents by performing some actions. This usually means you prevented your opponent from getting all the points! I managed the basic set-up on the table, but I was tired. Maybe tonight still or Wednesday.

6,668 vaccinations were given yesterday in Oregon for Covid-19. That is a slight improvement in the rate.

4,262 (a new record) people died from Covid-19 in the USA today. The worst day yet. For D-Day in WW2, 4,414 are recorded slain, for comparison.

I went with Precious Lord Take My Hand for today.

 

Today started at 6ish. I had trouble sleeping and broke-out into hives on Sunday night. So sleep was minimal. I was welcomed back and kindness offered by most of my fellow Nike employees.

I was tired. I just muddled-through. I drank lots of coffee, Mexican, non-GMO, fair-trade liberal.

I rallied Susie between and sometimes during Zoom calls. My morning was just different Zoom meetings after another. As usual, Monday morning Zoom meetings are status or alignment discussions. Nothing I had to lead or, if I am honest, needed me as a critical resource. I tried to keep listening as I got Susie up.

Susie was so tired I helped her find her clothes and kept her focused on the clock. She was supposed to be leaving at 9ish.

We got done, and Susie’s driver did not show. A call and a text later and we learn that there was a mistake when we are ready an hour too early. At ten, Susie headed off to Zerida’s place for hair, nails, and so on.

I few more Zoom calls, and then I am free for a few hours. I order food for Corwin and me from Gyro House. I have the lamb Gyro, and Corwin has the fried chicken. Susie picked up McDonald’s Happy Meal, her fav.

A status meeting, and one more meeting on data flowing, all Zooming.

I then have to make my first sourdough bread. I must make it as the starter is ready. I have an online recipe and try to follow it. The mix is too wet. I think I must have added 1/2 cup of flour before I took it off the hook. And it is not fully mixed! I then grab my bread mat and flour and knead and finally get the texture I think should be right. I get it in the mix into an oiled bowl and let it rise. I have to then make the starter again. Used almost all of it up! I measure out water and flour to feed the scraps of starter left in the crock!

I throw the mix twice as directed. It was supposed to be a fold as stated in the instructions, but it was more like grab, tear, and put back.

I make a nice round loaf with lots more extra flour on a sheet of parchment paper–I thought it was already a miracle. I heat the dutch oven for 40 minutes at 450F in the oven. I am to slide the loaf and paper into the pot. The loaf falls off the paper and plops upsidedown into the pot. I just shake my head. I sprinkle water on the bread to make the crust hard. The bread cooks covered for 15 mins and 15 uncovered.

It is almost a perfect loaf, slightly undercooked, but tastes right, and I like the big bubbles. Also, the starter is fine and already filled the crock! I have survived, and so had my starter for our first loaf!

I made a huge mess making the one loaf, and I did all the dishes and clean-up the cement-like dried starter from silverware and bowls.

I have Roll20 online Dungeons and Dragon game today. We play every Monday at 6:30PM local time. So I order Papa Murphy New York styled pizza. This is a take-and-bake pizza. Meaning you get it raw. I drive over and pick it up and put it in my still-warm oven. I have dinner just as the online session is to start. We have everyone today that normally plays. We play for two hours in the Mad Mage Dungeon with me DM-ing. I think everyone had a good time.

We were doing this before Covid-19. This lets me include distant players, Bill in Minnesota, and folks recovering from health issues. We have played many premade adventures and campaigns. There is some excellent stuff. The Mad Mage is not as good content as some of the adventures, but it is huge.

My friend M@ read one of my Howard stories, liked it, and sent me some fixes. I have made the corrections–all small errors.

5,422 people were vaccinated yesterday for Covid-19 in Oregon.

1,964 people died from the virus today in the USA.

I picked one of my favs to sing at church, Soon and Very Soon–Methodist Hymnal #706.