Blog

Today started a bit rough. Susie had trouble sleeping last night and was up and down all night. I then woke at 6AM as if it was Monday and time to return to working from home for Nike. It was Sunday, and I need to sleep in. Well, I was wakeful for a couple of hours but did manage to get going at 9ish, which somehow was 10ish, and before I knew it, I was running late. I did slip in a few more shorts from the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival that is still going on today on-line. Nothing as mind-numbing intense as the first ones I saw on Friday.

I headed to Mox Boarding House to meet Evan for our usual board games, drinks, and lunch. I got no return on my calls or text and knew somewhere I must have misunderstood our plans for this Sunday. Traffic was light, it is Sunday, but I did manage to get behind a Subaru with a couch strapped to its roof going slow in the left-lane. It is just an Oregon thing about going slow in the fast-lane.

On the subject of Oregon, Portland will be having a protest event about the new Supreme Court selection to replace the Notorious RBG. There will be a Naked Bike Protest. I am a supporter of the cause, but will not be joining as an active participant. I suspect this will get some unique coverage.

Parking Air Volvo in the parking garage outside of Providence Park, I took the elevator up to Mox. As it is Sunday, Sydney and Tatyana were both on duty in the bar. They were happy to see me on Sunday when they both now service, Sydney no longer does Saturdays. Evan was MIA, so I ordered lunch and played 1 person Pax Parmir. I wanted another try at playing it with the automation, and it is so pretty I wanted to set-up anyway. So I ate my wonderful sandwich and crazy spicy but wonderful carrot mole soup.

Evan showed as I was starting to be crushed by the automation, but I had tied the score at least. So I put it way while he ordered the same lunch–it was so good!

We then played Vindication again. This is our new go-to game for two players, and it plays about the same with three or four. It was designed here in the Greater Portland Area, and I managed to be one of the playtesters, so I have a connection to it. Evan has this game down cold, and I was lucky to win by two points. I thought I had him, but I had not counted on all the areas he had control of. I just squeaked by.

Vindication is one of the most beautiful games I own. The colors and the art is just above the level of most games. The pieces are high quality and the theme of the game is uplifting. It has an add-on now that we use and includes some corrections. I recommend both.

Our next game is Scythe and this time Evan picked Russia and again the Militant mat. I picked the From Afar add-on Scotts. I had not played them before I believe and wanted to try out something new. This game we had no combat and we played about an hour longer. I had the Agriculture mat and used it to create an engine to create points. I built out most of my mechs and then my power. The Scotts with all their mechs are a bit difficult to fight so Evan instead focused on Encounters and spreading out. In the end, I scored 103 points that were nearly double Evan’s score. I just kept doing the farming thing and that worked.

I picked up Harlem Unbound from Mox; they have a gaming store, bar, and tables big enough to play games serviced by waiters. I would usually get the newest Call of Cthulhu book at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival today from the publisher, but at least I got it from Mox. This huge inch thick book is about playing horror in Harlem of the 1920s with over two hundred pages of scenarios. You can also go to their website and get PDFs of items to handout print-out such as maps of the area, tickets to shows, and various clues that will lead the investigators to true horrors hiding in Harlem.

I drove home after that and made a grilled ham and cheese for Susie with peaches from a can. I had 1/2 a sandwich.

Today three-hundred thirty people died from the infection here in the USA.

Today I picked the Doctor Who version of Abide with Me hymn. It seemed the right weekend for a Doctor Who version.

Today I am using the new editor. Grammarly finally works with WordPress again! It still works poorly as each paragraph is now a separate block and must be checked by itself.

Today my lawn service worked all day to clear out the mess that is the back corners of my backyard. The blackberry bushes, an invasive species from the Himalayas of all places, grow gigantic here, the irony of the name is not lost on me, and are quite tasty too, if a bit seedy. The Himalayas Blackberry bush canes dry and build a huge bush with the dead brown canes supporting the live canes. The brown dead canes still have sharp points and, when dried, a fire hazard. Having a huge pile of bushes growing in the pine needles next to my fence in the fire season needed to be addressed.

We did salvage the rhododendron and apple tree and trimmed the now large pine free that looked like a Christmas Tree when I moved on October 31, 1996. The apple tree is from the original farm from what I have read. The pioneer family needs a cash crop, so they planted apples. The home was built in the old farm fields, and some of the apple trees were kept. You can see a few of them left that are spaced out, still like an orchard. The apple tree fell-over when the rains and water turned the earth to a mush a few years ago. The apple tree arrested its fall with two of its heavy branches and survived these last couple of years growing sideways. Today we removed all of that and saved all the branches growing up and recovered a huge section of the backyard again. I hope that we can keep the apple tree growing.

Today is also the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. I usually spend today in Portland at the Hollywood Theater watching scary films, eating popcorn and drinking a beer while watching, playing board games and role-playing games based on what we call the Mythos, and seeing old friends. Usually, I can buy some real creepy items: pages of the dread Necronomicon, specimens in bottles, woodcuts from the medieval times clearly showing Mythos creatures, and items made of bones. All fake, of course, but well-executed. Dinner would be pizza or a local food place suddenly full of friendly but very odd people talking strange topics. I really miss it today.

I watched about three hours of feature-length horror and hours of shorts, my favorites. I have to stop and relax and start again. My imagination is a bit too vivid for some of these. This year’s selection is well done and often just one actor due to the emergency.

Susie missed breakfast and lunch today. I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. I used Ragu from the bottle. I poured it on pasta with meatballs, frozen that I had baked with bacon (which I saved for cooked tomorrow). Everyone was surprised at how good everything was. Ragu, the original, appears to have been improved. It was a bit bright, but I thought it good. I think not cooking with the meat in the Ragu helped.

Today, more than seven-hundred fifty people in the USA, including eight in Oregon, died this Saturday from Covid-19.

I found this nice video My Father’s World.

Tonight I had time to watch a few horror films. In 1996, the same year I moved to Oregon was the first H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and this week is the 25th festival (the counting is a bit off, I think, as I am in my 24th year in Oregon, but it is likely non-Euclidian counting). I have purchased my pass to everything and shirt and pass for the weekend on Kickstarter. This is all on-line this time, and so I have been watching here at home. I have been watching the shorts, my favorites, and a few of those are intense!

I will be watching more tonight when it is dark, and more films over the weekend. I miss having a nice chair in the Hollywood Theater in Portland, eating popcorn, and seeing all the folks. Getting a pizza slice from the “pie hole.” I miss playing a round or two of Cthulhu Wars with my painted set. It has huge six-inch figures, painted in all their horror glory, that are so satisfying to move on the board. Also, there is usually someone with a scenario of Call of Cthulhu to play. I miss the experience.

Less missed will be the stupid long lines for the men’s room and to purchase beer and food. Then there is the slight mildew smell and the uneven floors, including the crazy dangerous steps in the upper theater where usually I spill popcorn when I trip. It is a bit of a dive.

Next year had yet-another-thing to do when things get back to normal! If there is a normal next year.

Today started at 7ish, as I needed a little more sleep. My first meeting was later, and I had emails, text, and some reading to do. This went on as we tried to get some items finished today. They will spill into next week.

Lunch was reheated Chinese food from earlier this week. I then decided to make cupcakes using German Chocolate Cake mix and coconut pecan frosting. I started on the dirty dishes from the previous day, and the dishwasher was full of clean dishes, so I quickly cleared up that mess. I found all my paper cupcake liners and my cupcake pans and got them made. I frosted them after they cooled.

I went outside and gave away cupcakes to the neighbors who were all out doing things. Reaching carefully not to break social distancing. It was nice to see them.

I finished work with more emails and more thoughts about software installs.

Dinner was pork chops, frozen from Schwans, leftovers. I had one bone-less, one bone-in, and a pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon. I defrosted them in water and then marinated the chops in teriyaki sauce, next frying them in a near smoking hot pan with light oil, then putting the pan in the oven to finish.

Before that, I made corn muffins from a mix to go with the chops. I also found mixed veggies in the freezer and got them into the hot oven too. It was a good dinner. Susie had three muffins!

I watched more shorts from the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, setting up my new monitor on my Apple. It is a bigger screen. Nothing was as scary or intense as the first two shorts!

I have paused the films to order groceries on Safeway.com and then to write this blog. I will be back tonight to watch more.

I was shocked to see the President enter the hospital. Again, prayers go out to the Whitehouse folks and the First Family.

More than eight-hundred sixty people died from the virus today. The death rate has slowed as treatments have improved. The death rate is 3-4% now.

I decided on something for the President and the Whitehouse folks: God Be with You Till We Meet Again.

 

Sorry, this is late and a bit rushed…it has been a crazy day!

I had just finished up working for the day from home. Then a strange text from American Express appeared on my phone. My card was stolen, or I was in California buying cat litter from InstaCart. I replied to the text to stop this and called Fraud for American Express, and we agreed to replace the card now. I tried to log on to the American Express website and had some access problems likely caused by the shutdown. While using the chat to learn what else, if anything, was charged on my card, I receive three delivery confirmation emails.

I figured the delivery was to the thief in San Fransico until I step outside. There are three huge jugs of kitty litter! I move it to in front of the house–I don’t know what to do with them (Later InstaCart said I can keep them).

A tried some experimenting today and discovered that I did have an InstaCart account created in 2019, and my Amex was set-up to buy items. I tried delivery of groceries before in 2019 and found it then too expensive. I had forgotten about it; I had not used the account again. Some hackers broke into the account today and tried to steal the Ameican Express card by running in test orders–it is what I would do if I was a hacker. American Express detected the fraud and shut down the card.

I checked, and there is a Java library to directly access an account in InstaCart using a technology I use at work and in my own Python coding, APIs. This was just like the hack I experienced a few years ago with Dominos. A hacker apparently ordered two pizzas from Dominios in Detroit using their cool APIs and my credit card number–Amex shut that down too, and that is how I have my current card now being replaced. InstaCart also has APIs to just order from your own coded application from what I saw on GitHub. Some hackers must have used my account to learn how to create orders and hack InstaCart.

Again, I have seen this before–usually costs me a few hours and is why I use American Express for some Internet items. Their hack detection is excellent.

Again, the American Express card is locked down, and a new card is on its way. The new password on the American Express card is also hard to remember and not likely to fall to any easy cracking.

So a late afternoon full of exciting learnings on security…with kitty litter.

I chatted with InstaCart, and they said I can just dispose of the kitty litter as I wish.

I also got a note that my payment for Amazon Prime was declined. Yes, the American Express is locked-down! I had to go on to Amazon and fix that.

This morning started at 6ish with a 7AM call rush again. I was ready in time for the call on data conversions on Zoom. I drank a lot of coffee this morning as I rushed through the Zoom meeting, email, text, and calls using Microsoft Teams. I also had some designs sent to me to be immediately approved or rejected. So it was a crazy rushed morning.

Susie was up in the morning to take her Thursday meds. Because she was up and it was lunchtime, I made her a grilled cheese sandwich and canned pears. I had soup from a can and a grilled cheese also. We are now out of cheddar!

The afternoon was full of coding and also trying to get the install of software working for Nike’s newest production computer–one of mine. We had a few more Zoom and team calls on that. I had to check and fix some changes line-by-line. One of the vendor patches had changed, and now I need to find the differences and align the code to match. I put on music for that kind of work. I managed to fix a few issues and sent it back to testing. Rushing all day!

After that, the Amex issues surfaced, Mariah had called me for a beer, and after the crazy day, I drove over to and joined her for a nice salad and a Ruby at McMenamins. Just one beer, but it was so good!

I am sad to learn that the President and First Lady have the infection. Please pray for them and for the Vice President.

Today more than nine-hundred twenty people are reported to have died from the virus in the USA.

For the President, his family, and the USA, I picked this: America.

 

 

 

 

 

Today, the last day in September, I hit the 24th year of working for Nike. It is hard to imagine 1996, and starting at Nike was so long ago. I began in 167th West building, working for the Europe Warehouse group in Beaverton, Oregon.

Susie and I lived for a month in a furnished apartment in The Lakes until we purchased what I know call the Volvo Cave. I drove The Buick back then.

Returning to today, I slept in and got going at 6:30ish, and I then had to rush to be dressed for our 7AM all team, a Zoom call. The call exchanged the usual material for an interview with Mo Farah, gold medalist in track. He was friendly and happy to talk to a bunch of Nike computer geeks about life. That was then followed by Zoom calls, none as cool as that, about various issues and status reports. Tomorrow is the start of the next group of work, a new two-week sprint of work (the turn sprint seemed to have more meaning today after the call with Mo Farah). It was a rush all day to finish.

We also had a Zoom meeting about the history of racism in Oregon and how Oregon was founded as a whites-only state. We continue to discuss racism and how to make things better often by just recognizing the past, often the recent past.

I had a short break and walked quickly to the end of the street and back. My legs are working a bit better today. I think it is a simple use-it-or-lose-it issue caused by too many weeks working from home day-after-day.

I had time to make my lunch today. I cooked a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato slices form the fresh bunch that my neighbors brought over. I had a can of beef veggie soup to go with it.

I close the Nike computer and turn to the website Board Game Geek for lunch on my personal Apple computer. I like to do a full-stop from work and look at gaming videos and updates as a way to recharge. While eating my sandwich and soup, I learned that one of my favorite games, The Grand Hotel Austria, has a Kickstarter for an add-on starting in a few weeks. It is called Let’s Waltz and will likely add some more options to the game and to reprint the base game (it is hard to get a copy). I have upgraded my copy of The Grand Hotel Austria by 3D printing a bust of Emperor Franz Joseph as a marker for government support in the game and buying 3D printed wine, coffee, strudel, and cake markers. In this game, you have to supply guests with goods before placing them in their rooms. I love moving little strudel and coffee cups!

(some of the components; include the bust I made to replace the black square wooden marker)

I had some more coding to do this late afternoon, and I had to read and approve a pile of designs. I rejected one, and it was quickly revised to follow closer to my expectations. I find an argument is easily ended by deadlines and practical requests. I worked until about 5ish; all my tasks are done.

Corwin started up dinner for me, Moroccan Chicken with preserved lemons and olives. I have tagine spices already, so just need to cut up veggies and throw it together and bake for about an hour. I used a dutch oven, but it still works out.

Today the deaths of more than nine-hundred fifty people are recorded as lost to the virus.

Today I thought I would repeat this one: It is Well with My Soul. I think we need that after the debates!