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Today is Tuesday, so it is a rush in the morning. Sleep was hard to reach last night, so 6ish came, and I was feeling ok. I got online and brought up my Nike laptop with the space monitor I am now using and got through the emails and messages and started my day. Coffee started, meds taken, and then rush to the shower to make the 7AM first Zoom call.

Three more Zoom calls, bagel acquired, toasted, cream-cheesed, and consumed during. Lots and lots and even more coffee is required. The work is not very interesting, and I am looking at 8 hours of sleep in two days, not 16!

My legs do not seem to work right and are very stiff. I slip-out after the morning calls and walk for twenty minutes. I feel better but now more tired–now I have a reason at least.

It is already hot and sunny as rainy has been delayed until October as usual here. The four days of rain was just a call to action to get the gutters ready and prepare to be wet. The sky is the normal darkish blue with no signs of smoke today.

The crows and all the animals are out, and the spiders are clearly starting their own horror movie. I cut the web that is on Air Volvo–a 1/2 inch spider thought Volvo attracts bug. I look up, and the strand of wire on the poles has huge spider webs hung between the top wires about four feet across. The spiders, a brown dot on the wire, are the size of a quarter–just the body, have hung a web about two feet across from slender support lines looking like a flat tent floating between the wires. I have never noticed the spiders on the cables before.

I was going to make my lunch, but the tired get to me again. I order Mexican, but I was not happy with it. I will need a new place.

I have some more writing to do for work and get some thought down and shared. We have a demo of some new software that is perfectly executed. Finally, one of my directors gives a coffee meeting, a thirty-plus people show-and-tell Zoom meeting at the end of the day, that introduces our team and all the cool work. It is a chance to do all that polish you read about. She does a great job while we answer questions in the chat.

The Schwans truck lets me restock. Dinner is now arranged. Dinner was Chicken Cordon Blue, frozen from Schwans, and green beans, also from Schwans.

We watch the debates today. I am not sure I will watch the next one.

The moon is reddish tonight meaning the smoke is returning. Just a bit of haze and not expected to bring bad air. We have a new air filter and the N95 masks are ready.

My neighbors dropped by, with much care, a nice set of garden-grown tomatoes.

On this night of the debates where the President again denied the science on Corvid-19, more than nine-hundred seventy people passed away from the infection just today in the USA.

Today I wanted to honor other traditions today and picked out Psalm 23 in Hebrew in a recent video.

Today I spent the whole day coding and installing changes by hand. It is fun for a computer person to be a programmer again and just have to code and assemble software. I did that all day. I did only one Zoom meeting today; they need me to help with another issue with the software. Thus all day, I was doing technical work. I like this kind of work but seldom have an opportunity to refresh all those coding skills.

I started at 6ish this morning, which came sooner than I like. I was not too tired this morning. I worked through the email and reading some designs to comment on them.

I then blocked my calendar for the whole day and sent out a couple of the messages that I would not be available today. I followed by beginning the coding and technical work.

I broke-out my cool USB-powered spare monitor and used two screens for today; I am returning to a developer! I had the software developer tools on one screen on my laptop and the direction for installing the changes, often line-by-line code, on the other screen. I then put email and message behind the instructions on the other screen so I could follow the unrelenting emails and messages without having to change focus on the other screen. My Apple computer is the third screen and the second keyboard I used today for ordering lunch and following current events.

I ordered a new screen as my current one is older and not as easy to read. It works well for Unix systems, so I will still need it. I just believe that the things you read with your eyes should be easy to read!

Work at Nike computer group uses a work styled known as Agile. Work is split into sprints, and the current sprint is ending. I am trying to finish all of this work before the sprint ends.

I will not go into the details, likely very dull for most people, and just say that I finished my last change at 5:30ish today.

I did manage two short breaks. I went for a walk after lunch, and I stopped for thirty minutes. Mostly, I was coding. Lunch was a lamb gyro from Gyro House not far away.

Dinner was Chinese delivered from Stir Crazy Kitchen just a few minutes away.

Susie’s cousin’s kids are girl scouts now in Boston and we received an email for the chance to support them today. I bought some products to be shipped. They have cartoon images on the email of themselves in 2020.

I then went to read and ended up taking a long nap.

This will be a short, somewhat boring worked-centric blog. These kinds of days happen.

Today more than three-hundred fifty people are reported to have died from the infection.

Sometimes I randomly open the Methodist Hymnal and then try to find something on youtube that fits: Kyrie Eleison. Today that worked well, #483.

Mariah wanted to watch the NFL, and the first game was 10ish! So I was up early 9ish on a Sunday.

We had the tell-tale chirp of the smoke alarm to wake us this morning. The battery I installed three years ago was dead. The instructions are on the backside, so I got out a chair and removed the smoke alarm to read the instructions–kind of silly to put the instructions in the only place I cannot reach. I ordered expensive extra-life batteries on Amazon and will re-install it later. The detector is currently running on batteries in the bathroom.

Susie had some issues this morning, and I had some laundry to do. She was OK.

Corwin left this window open, and the house was well aired-out and 63F. I closed his window and turned on the heat back on. We are comfortable again.

After getting dressed and dealing with a chirping smoke detector, I had a few minutes to work on my 3D printer. I managed to get the Z-axis installed in the 3D printer today. I am now to the power supply and wiring, and that did not seem like something to rush and then stop and watch football. Maybe Monday.

We could not get the Eagles game as, despite the expensive cable I have, it looks like you have to buy CBS access to get all the games! I was surprised as I thought I had all of the NFL. It was fine to watch the 49s instead. It was a good game.

After the game, Mariah and I had a beer and lunch at Golden Valley Brewery. Their food is good, and they seem to make the extra effort to keep you safe. I had the cob salad, and Mariah tried the swiss mushroom burger, my usual.

Aside: We learned today that the Proud Boys rally and their attempt to bring some more beat-down on liberal Portland on Saturday failed to attract many Proud Boys. Rumors are the rally attracted just a few hundred folks. The left-wing social media did say the Proud Boys did at least managed to raise $30,000 this weekend to pay for their legal bills. Apparently, the Proud Boys are facing multiple lawsuits from Portland-based groups.

I returned home and rested, and made dinner. I made our German styled Goulash. I made some pasta to go with it.

I also managed to find the time to watch another episode of Lovecraft Country. I do like the show, but it has drifted far from the book I enjoyed so much. I have no idea where it is going now. Again, if you like the Hollywood version of an African American experience of horror set in the 1950s this is great.

Mostly just a quiet day. I read more of Circe and I am still liking the book.

And I have been trying to find an excuse to put this in a post. Just something silly while I am thinking of returning to work on Monday: You’ll Be Back.

It is reported that more than two-hundred seventy people lost their fight with the virus in the USA today.

I went with Stand By Me for the song for today. Methodist Hymnal # 512.

 

I finished tonight with working on my 3D printer. If you remember from a previous day’s blog, I was stuck on the header assembly. It would not go together, and I believed I would have to re-drill a hole, but instead, I used a drink umbrella to hold the hole in place while I put in the first screw. This kept the head in place, and when I put the next screw in at first, it did not work, and then it banged into the hole and connected. All done! I should have used a drink umbrella sooner; I know that is what you, the reader, is thinking.

I had an issue with a zip tie that came loose. I pulled on it, and it broke, and the needle-nose pliers, properly named, slammed into my thumb and cut me. Corwin was properly impressed, having seen the event, and commented that I managed to cut myself with pliers–that is hard to do, he said. I called him names.

I was able to cover the next two steps of the build. I am on page 23 and step 16. There are forty pages.

I added the drink umbrella to the printer next to the glow-in-the-dark zombie I found in the box.

Aside: Years ago, I wrote a 4E Dungeons and Dragon adventure where zombies, frozen, fell from the sky. I created the table-top experience with a bag-o-zombie glow-in-the-dark that I pour on the gaming map on the table. It was a lot of 28mm plastic zombies. I have one tacked with the umbrella on top of the printer.

I picked up Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for dinner on the way home from Portland. KFC was very tasty today–very well made and fresh. I have noticed that take-out is well made now. Nobody in the current disaster wants to deliver sub-par food or service. It is unpatriotic and fatal to a business to provide bad or even average food.

I went to the Mox Boarding House to play games. They were happy to see me another Saturday showing up for lunch and some games. Evan joined me there, and we played Vindication. I have met the designer of the game who lives in Vancouver, Washinton, just across the Columbia. It has an uplifting theme and is very colorful. The whole experience is to build up your character and win with the most honor. I won this time. I managed to pay attention this time to the different domains and kept mastery in four of six–last time I played Evan, I lost track and lost. Again, it is a positive game as you do things to be a master of significant domains of good character: Vision, Intelligence, Wisdom, Strength, Courage, and Inspiration.

We then played a three-person game of Scythe. John was at Mox to play games, and he joined us, masked, in the big room with plenty of space. John was familiar with the board game but never played before, so I went over the rules with Evan filling in when I glossed-over something he thought important or when I missed something. We played after a quick review, and John caught on fast. I was playing Poland, and I was in my own little corner–perfect for me, and the faction was playing the Patriotic mat and managed to pull ahead and stay there. I focused on building-up as this is a resource management and dudes-on-board game. John had Saxony and Militant mat, so he was a bit scary, but as he was just learning, he did not build up fast and attack–usually, Saxony is a terror with Militant mat. Evan had Norse faction and Innovation mat that pays you to upgrade. He grabbed the center and dominated his part of the board. I stayed away until the very end, just building and slowly spreading out. I had a few good encounters that boosted my popularity. End scoring is higher the more popular your faction is. This gave me the game.

(This is the final map. Notice the white heart is highest)

Lunch for me was a burger at Mox. They had no specials to tempt us except for a wonderful dessert we all ordered. The burger surprised me as it had cucumbers soaked in vinegar–not real pickles. It was good.

Before I headed to Mox in Portland, I met Mick from my lawn service. We need to have some work done to clear out the mess in the backyard. Next Saturday, he and his crew will get the soon to be impassible jungle back to a nice bit of bushes and trees. He does not fix underground pipes for my gutter water. I will have to continue to search for someone to replace and repair those.

I started at 9:30ish and had a 10:15ish appointment with Mick. I had some corn muffins I made late last night to be here for Susie and me this morning.

Today more than seven-hundred thirty people in the USA were reported killed by the infection.

I found this song that I have never heard before: My Lord, What a Morning. Methodist Hymnal #719. The singer’s story is amazing and shows the truth about all those Daughters of the Revolution: Marian Anderson. More of her story: Concert in Washington DC.

 

I awoke from a nap this evening. After dinner, I was just too tired to do anything and fell asleep. I read a new book, Circe, and nodded off having finished Yes, Chef late last night–I finally stopped at 1ish. Both are excellent reads, and the late-night reading explains most of the need for a nap.

Corwin took off, so it was just Susie and me for dinner. I made baked potatoes with bacon, cheese, and sour cream. Two smallish potatoes each. Susie was not ready for dinner, so I went to read and fell asleep, and the first potato was a bit cool. I heated Susie’s second one up, and that was better. I had mine cool.

Before this, I got to write for most of the afternoon documentation for Nike. It always surprises me how slow it is to get the initial work done. You then just add to it and polish it. I am using Confluence to do the documentation, so I have to follow its rules and try to match the style. It is also a learning curve. This is my second go at it, and I have the tooling working now. So more actual content was made today than last time, which was mostly about formatting and WTFing and DIYing–lost of -ing.

I love to write, so it was fun, but computer architect writing is quite tricky. You have to find the right words to explore the topic while not stepping on someone toes. There are so many big toed people. I also need to clearly state the direction as this is not a How-to but Do-it-this-way document. Again, a balance between being overbearing and being apologetic. I managed to get some items into a first draft, and some started this afternoon. The balance is still a bit direct–more polish will come.

Looking outside, it is raining. I wrote a long detailed email to the lawn service and asked if the lawn folks can clear away the dead trees and blackberry bushes in the backyard. I also asked them to fix the pipes that carry the gutter water away from the house. We have a cracked pipe and a smashed and may be blocked pipe to the street. Last year I had a small pond for a while in front of the house. It is time to deal with it and I have money. Time to invest.

Lunch was before all of this. I had trouble deciding lunch and settled on Chicken Bento with Miso Soup. Something exotic was delivered for Friday. It was just average.

Before this, I had meetings every 30 minutes on Zoom all morning. I was also trying to finish up items that were still not done this week. Mostly, I had to write emails about getting something fixed so I could do the task.

I was awoken by the alarm at 6ish and got going at 7ish. Too hard of a morning to start at 6!

Sleep was full of dreams, as were all my naps today. I cannot recall my dreams from last night or from the naps today, but vague images linger, and some dreams included traveling, and I think long-gone family members. Good dreams.

Today we count more than eight-hundred fifty people slain by the virus today in the USA.

I went with something I can sing: Do, Lord, Remember Me. Methodist Hymnal #527.