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Tonight ended with Susie and I finished dinner in the local Red Robin. We returned from dinner there. It was so cold, me just wearing a sweater, that my teeth was chattering. The winter winds from the high desert are blowing strong. The winds are much colder than the air temperature coming from the cold desert east.

We went to Red Robin after I drove back from Portland. Susie had been home all day and wanted to “do something.” Movies are usually Saturday night gig with some bars with live bands as an alternative. Not possible now with Covid-19 running out of control again. So Red Robin. There was a twenty-minute wait for a table! We sat in the running car until they called us on my cell to tell us they had a table for us.

Susie was thrilled to get her “Southern Comfort Manhattan on the rocks with two cherries.” I had iced tea (which I forgot makes me freeze in the winter). Susie had the “petite Banzai Burger plain” (Teraki sauce on a hamburger with only cheese and pineapple on a bun). I had their version of a Cobb Salad.

I left Portland a bit late. I had driven with Evan in Air Volvo (the name of my XC60 Volvo) to Mox Boarding House that morning. We had played three games, and the last one, Scythe, ran over a bit as we played with less combat. I have played the Japanese (purple) maybe once before; thusly, I had to be careful as I did not know the faction very well. Evan went with Saxony (black) again. I completed all the enlistments, upgrades, building, mech production, and completed objectives, which meant a longish game. I won with a score of over 70+. Japan scores huge if given a chance to play a long game–I have lost to Japan a lot on the Fenris Campaign version of the game. Evan had trouble playing Saxony as efficiently as I ran Japan, and I was able to win.

Before Scythe, a game of Vindication ended early and sent us to play a game of Scythe. We drew the game’s fast ending (please consider that the ending conditions for the game are drawn at random and continue to be drawn as players score more honor-victory points) that the game ends when one player owns four areas than anyone else. This is easy to cause. I rushed the game as it gave me an easy win over Evan. Please understand that Evan did this to me a few games back when he was still learning the game.

Vindication is an excellent game, and I strongly recommend it. I was involved with Marc, the game designer, in early test versions of the game. I am so happy with how well the game plays and looks!

Before this, we played a long game of Concordia. We had a new player, another Michael, and it became a learning game. Michael quickly grasped the rules and play. I was happy to see Evan, who only learned this game a few weeks ago, explaining the game too. We played an excellent three-person game, and Michael (not me) wiped the board with us. It is the danger of playing a learning game that you lose to new players. I tied for second with Evan and more than ten points behind Michael–not quite a spanking.

The day started about 9ish, as I had a hair cut with Zerida at 10. I managed to be on-time, and after getting my hair put back to order, I picked up Evan at the park where he plays Pickle Ball. The other players wave and smile at me. Evan told him about our board gaming.

I slept well, but I am reading a new book and keeps me from sleep as it is a space opera styled book, and it is hard to put down. Yes, I so far really like A Memory Called Empire. It is a Hugo Award winner.

More than seven-hundred eighty people in the USA died from Covid-19 today.

I found this instrumental Corvid-19 version of Let My People Seek Their Freedom. This is Methodist Hymnal #586.

Many Fridays end early with bright sunlight and an adult beverage with friends at some friendly place where everyone knows your name, like the song. That was not where today was headed. Deadlines are due, and director emails asking you to perform some rituals to summon help for some computer and process problems came raining down. I know I am in for it when the Friday status meeting is friendly and pleasant, and all the issues have resolution dates of today are red-colored on the status report, and everyone is sure they will resolve by the afternoon. And it is your team that is solving the issues.

Alexander the Great knew the legend that the man who can untie the great Gordian Knot would rule. He took out his sword and cut it. He did not work with computers. My knot is made out of unbreakable procedures and multiple computer systems with so many owning teams it is congress-like. It was going to take a while to fix stuff.

The first issue was forwarded to me after being a week old. Within minutes I received multiple communications in multiple media that the problem needed my attention from various directors. A 403 is the worst possible error; it has its own web page, meaning access is forbidden. The email sent to me included a week of reply-all emails (?!) that showed that it was a refusal, 403, and was caused by some change in security (LDAP group deleted?!) or the grants on the views and tables being lost when the data was recreated due to some change not explained (when you rebuild a table you have to save the grants of access and re-grant them or 403 happen). The surprising answer to this was that we will have a meeting/workshop to fix the problem on Monday at 4. The problem moved to next week!

I was in meetings and trying to fix other issues while this was running. Friday was a bit more exciting than I had hoped. As I wrote above, I was thinking more of Billy Joel’s song like Piano Man than a Star Trek moment, “C’p’t’n, I am w’rking a f’st as I can.” I did not wear a red shirt today!

Next, the configuration (config) to use the software is missing and we need to be open for the business today to set-up the system! A quick phone conference and more panic. The users will not be able to configure the system as the missing config turns on what they need to do! It is like we wired the light switch but then installed a whiteboard over the switch. I copy the changes into a new fix and we get it put in. Sort of like moving the whiteboard. I add this to the build manual. Done! It is 5PM.

Before this, Evan comes over after returning from the coast. He comes in during the last panic. We get coffee at Insomnia Coffee with a nice baked good. Of course, I have my Nike computer, and I order in the last fix from the coffee shop for the system while drinking their excellent coffee. As I log back into Nike–my laptop had to load a security patch and reboot; Evan watches as I update the documents and send in the emails and update people on Slack and MS Teams (we are still using both).

There is no Billy Joel music, and the adult beverage is not what I wish for, but it helps to get the job done, “A medium coffee of your choice with cream.”

Friday night! I get home and make Susie eggs with cheddar cheese for dinner. I have reheated pasta last night’s Domino’s order. Evan heads out.

In the snail-mail, I received two gaming items. I got grab bags for the board game Concordia. I saw them on the BoardGameGeek website store. They let you put the random product tokens in a bag, saving time, and ensuring randomness. Excellent improvement.

I also received from www.hfminis.co.uk Scooby-Doo miniatures figures in Dungeons and Dragons scale, 28mm, and they sent a Shaggy miniature (Wolsey in their on-line catalog). They were out-of-stock of “Wolsey” when I ordered a few weeks ago, and so I had purchased a Post-Apocalyptic Wolsey (very well-armed Shaggy look with a fireman’s ax) and hoped I could rework it back to a normal looking Shaggy. Instead, I found a free item of a Shaggy (Wolsey) in the bag. A class act from Hassle Free Miniatures–they knew what I wanted and made more. I suspect they are selling more figures now that a new board game is out!

The crazy video game that I backed years ago, Darkest Dungeon, has gone cardboard! I backed the Kickstarter of the board game version as I like the miniatures’ look, and the Darkest Dungeon tiles will also have lots of other uses. I love the dark art and the voicing of the video game and looks great in a physical version. The Kickstarter is really rocking and has raised over a million dollars so far and is headed to two million! The number of items unlocking is constant. The number of miniatures at $150 pledge is unlocked is huge, a buck and a quarter a mini. Yes, more painting.

I bought a copy of the video game Darkest Dungeon, $29 for my Mac, and loved the game again; the voicing is a trip! The 2D video game art perfect!

I also backed the extension of Grand Hotel Austria, Let’s Waltz also on Kickstarter. The game is one of my favorites but you have to be into Eurogames to love it. You run a hotel and entice customers to stay in your hotel by serving them wine, coffee, cake, and strudel. You also have to support the government while filling rooms to get more bonuses. Now it looks like there is a dance floor for waltzing. So perfect for Austria. There is also an update to the original that I also will be acquiring.

And another crowdsourced game arrived this week, 1975, a Dungeon and Dragon 5E adventure. This is a rework of a lightly published adventure written for the original version of Dungeons and Dragons of 1975. I wanted to see what they would do as I like the style of the author. I have another one coming next month, The Halls of the Rainbow Mage, which I still have the original (for Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 or D20) and ran more than once way back in the early 2000s. It will be fun to run it again on a physical table someday after Covid-19.

And then the Cleopatra and the Society of Architects: Deluxe Edition should be here soon. This game is a rework of an out-of-print game where you assemble a temple in 3D for Cleopatra. The architect that do the best work without falling into corruption wins. I ordered the painted version. Yes–No painting! I again can use the pieces for other gaming, and since they are all painted, they are ready to use. I can’t wait for this one!

It is getting late and I should wrap this up. Often the writing of this blog is just fun and I am not sure I want to stop.

Today more than nine-hundred people are reported to have died from the virus. Today is also the highest new infection number for the USA. The third wave we feared begins.

I picked a song that could be a hymn, Mercy Now. We will need some mercy now.

It is unusual to have a day, now with elections and pandemic, that is uneventful. There is always something going on that can scare the bejeezus out of you if only you notice it. Instead, I tried to have an uneventful day–even if I had to ignore things.

So I did not watch the debate, I did not watch the markets, and I seldom watched the news.

Today is Thursday, a non-stop day of status meetings and crises of the moment at work. It all starts at 6ish, with my first meeting at 7AM. So it is a rushed start. I did get a break and made lunch, and Susie got going for her Thursday pill and then food.

I was tired and a bit careworn from this week’s emergencies. I decided to cook corned beef hash, from a can, and an egg for lunch. I did not want to order out for lunch today.

Today Jason Carlson from Nike retirement party just after lunch. It was fun to see so many friends on Zoom, and we all talked about Jason’s years with Nike. Jason retired at just over 25 years.

I had some more meetings and emails and reviews but had to stop at 2:30 to take Susie to the dentist. She had a failed filling that needed to be reworked. I dropped her off; after our temperatures were taken and forms filled out, we had no symptoms. Susie’s temperature was 95! Sue got cold in the car.

While Susie was under the drill, I had a few minutes for my chores. I got gas for Air Volvo and washed it at the car wash. The dentist called, and Susie was done, and I picked up a prescription and then picked up Susie.

Susie took a nap. She later said it felt like someone punched her in the face. Tylenol fixed that.

I had one more meeting that over ran by thirty minutes.

Pizza from Dominos was delivered, and we enjoyed that and NFL. No debate for us. Mariah came over with some beer a bit late and partook of our pizza, pasta, and salad all from Dominos.

The NFL play was so bad that we could not agree on a team anymore to cheer for. The Eagles usually get our vote, but they did plays that were astounding in their incompetence. But the Giants managed one moment that is hard to forget. The ball is run, and the runner has headed to the end zone far ahead of the other team, uncatchable, and just appeared to lose his cool and just trip and fall. With unusual directness, the camera replay showed his teammate point out the gaff and laughing.

Susie’s memory problems have improved as the stress comes down, sleep is gotten, and food is provided. Susie knows what day it is again and enjoyed the game and the pizza.

Corwin remember to do the dishes and put the trash out.

I finished reading the story of the sinking of the Lusitania Dead Wake by Erik Larson today. Larson makes the story come to life and brings some closure to the story. Usually, the stories are written about the horrors and the pain, but Larson manages to tie it a bit better together. I would recommend the book. Like some of the newer books on other naval stories I have read, the writer can now recreate the events by combining accounts that were either not available or not accounted for in the past books. I have seen this same ability to recreate history in the book Jutland 1916: Death in the Gray Wastes, which covers a slightly different time and finds sources to tell the story that was always there but not combined so well into a narrative, both German and British. I recommend this one. If one wants to wander away from the sea, Gettysburg: The Last Invasion is also a reworking of history that I enjoyed and covers the days before the battle and months after–the author’s research tells a more clear story than I have found in any other account. I highly recommend it to clearly know Gettysburg. But if one wants to love history, Star in Their Courses by Shelby Foote about the battle is the best of books to feel the battle. It is a good book for a plane or a vacation.

It is a uneventful day. Reading and taking care of things. Chores can be nice.

Today the reports show more than nine-hundred seventy people in the USA died from the infection.

I picked this hymn Eternal Father Strong To Save.

Susie’s eye doctor said that her issues are not serious and will likely clear-up in time. We spent a few hours, as usual, at the eye doctor. Susie will be rechecked again in December. The dentist is tomorrow. We are waiting to hear on the date for Mohs surgery doctor for the bit of cancer on her head and back. More on that later.

The morning began later than normal at about 715ish. Corwin had not made it back home last night so I got up and made coffee and read my email until the groceries arrived from Safeway.com about 9ish. I carried in the six bags and put them away.

Susie was up on time and we left on time after more coffee.

After the appointment, we drove home and Susie took a rest and I made grilled hamburgers for lunch. Susie had her’s later for dinner.

Susie’s rest was interrupted by the tree doctors next door. Our neighbors had their big pine trimmed, and some of the smaller trees were removed from the fence line. They landed some of the trees in my yard and asked permission to clean-up my backyard–of course, I agreed. It was loud. The tree looks a bit safer now and ready for our windy, wet winter.

I then took a nap too. I was also reading Dead Wake by Erik Larson about the story of the last trip of the Lusitania. He tells it like a story. I enjoyed his other book about the Chicago Fair of 1893, and I am enjoying this one. I have read with some the surprise that the famous film of the Lusitania leaving New York is from that last voyage. There was a film crew for that day.

I had a ham and cheese sandwich with corn chips for dinner.

I am going to try to finish this early. I want to make cup cakes, German Chocolate, tonight. And then David and Michelle Smith called and talked for a while…I will see if I can get those done…

It was a quiet day and non-eventful. The best we could hopeful.

Today it was reported that more than twelve-hundred twenty people in the USA died from Covid-19.

I found this song in the Methodist Hymnal (#655), the words are a bit different–but it so good I had to go with it: Fix Me, Jesus.

Today is hard. Susie developed eye problems yesterday and, while her vision is not getting worse, we need this checked. Susie also learned today that most skin biopsies came back as cancer or pre-cancerous. Susie will need Mohs surgery. We will have been scheduling that soon.

I had to explain the appointments to Susie four times today as she could not remember the call with the eye doctor. Susie is having difficulty with short-term memory today. We will start with the eye doctor tomorrow.

To make matters even harder on Thursday Susie has another dentist appointment. An old filling has failed and they have to redo it. That will be in the afternoon.

So a hard week already and it is just Tuesday.

Work started as a marathon at 6ish, with the Zoom meetings starting at 7. I get up and make coffee and then rush all day. I also had to get Susie going at 8ish, which turned into 9ish, to call the eye doctor. I had emails, text, and reading and agreeing to documents all morning while listening to Zoom meetings.

I made an order from Safeway.com for groceries between meetings. We were running low on eggs, out of milk, and various meat items. I also reloaded the soups and cake mixes. More cupcakes! I did not know I would not be home for the delivery window as I had not heard from the eye doctor. Corwin is committed to taking the order delivered on Wednesday in the range of 8-12PM for me.

Returning to the story, I got Susie some food. She called the eye doctor, and then we waited for their return call. This afternoon we learned we would be there at 11:45AM tomorrow, and I then took off Wednesday from work. Susie can often handle an eye appointment without me, but this is a sudden change in her vision, and Susie has short-term memory issues today. Thus I will drive her there and take the day.

I had chicken noodle soup from a can with a bagel for lunch today. I made Susie some yogurt and Cheerios for breakfast-lunch. She had a scone for a snack later.

I had more meetings. We got the call from the skin doctor and the report of cancer this afternoon.

Dinner was tacos. I make my own spices now. I ate too many. When I am upset, I eat too much. I also love tacos.

I will get some rest tonight and let the shoe company try a day with me away.

We would not ask for these problems; it is not a journey we picked, but I know the journey will be made, and we will face it together.

Today a lot of people passed away from the virus–more than nine-hundred ten.

Today’s song is one that fit: Shall We Gather At The River.