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Today the air quality in Beaverton is rated at over 250 (higher is worse), and Hillsboro is rated over 130. We are somewhere in between. Everything is more challenging today. I move slower and painfully and have to make an effort to keep going. The can of mead (yes, mead) I had during Theology Pub, a church group that discusses theology over food and drinks now on Zoom, has turned being slowed into a broken synchronization of movements. No more mead!

Returning to awaking in the strange yellow light of smoke-filled skies, today started in 88 air quality in Beaverton at about 6ish. I had a 7AM Zoom meeting, so I did my initial emails and checks and rushed to a shower and then, dressed, started my day in earnest.

Hours of Zoom calls, emails, and crises of the moment followed. The light grew more yellow, and the sun was missing, email and meetings and phone calls continued in vail to try to resolve issues. It was frustrating. Lunch came.

I took Corwin to enjoy Burger King. I was going to make lunch, burgers, but I was so unhappy that I could not focus on the task and so I blew $20 on burgers to-go. They are good, and I did not have to clean-up; maybe it was worth it.

I watered the grass while doing meetings in the afternoon. I also have been escalated on, so I have more meetings on Friday for not aligning to another team’s shortcuts. Again, it was not a very happy day.

The sun reappeared, a pale dot, but it at least returned.

I made dinner for two. Corn on the cob, locally grown from my local veggie box delivered last week, and Chicken Cordon Blu frozen from Schwans. I put a dent, small, in all the food we have.

Corwin won’t be joining us as he is headed to help a friend’s family rescue their possessions from the fire and possible looting. I took out the emergency equipment in Air Volvo and sent it with him to help. I keep a toolbox, huge first aid kit, compass, money, jackknife, and so on in Air Volvo–all sent with him to help. He expects to return on Sunday.

After dinner, I had a mead; I saw them on Facebook and orders some, not that recommended. Sort of a cross between soda pop and a beer. I then entered one more Zoom meeting, the Theology Pub meeting. We have been meeting for over five years and have covered the seven deadly sins, and today’s theme was kindness.

Dondrea leads the discussion, and, after a few hours, we were not sure that kindness can be done by an institution as it seemed to involve a personal choice. We were confident that kindness is a basis for most religions. We all agreed that kindness was good for the giver and the recipient and it seemed very important to be kind. We are all worried about the fires and the smoke. We signed-off after about 90 mins.

I filled a bucket of water for the animals that might need a drink and left it in the dark on the deck.

The market fell almost at the same rate as it climbed yesterday. Bonds sold well, which does suggest that some believe inflation will not happen.

The deaths from the virus today in the USA grew to over a thousand. The rate appears to be increasing.

This song worked for me today: Whom Shall I Fear (The God of Angel Armies). It is interesting to see him sing all parts this back in 2013.

Today the morning was clear, and the smell of smoke, while still there, was much reduced. I went back to work and started at 6ish. I had a lot of items to handle as I was out ill yesterday–suffering a sore throat from the smoke.

We are starting to write much of the integration software for the next big go-live in January 2022–yes, that far away–and so I had to review and approve some designs. This means I had to read design documents and approve them or ask questions. This included today a lot of meetings with the various directors and my boss, also a director, and discuss more integration designs. So it was a busy day of designing and talking about designs. It is full of frustration for me, but I will not write the specifics here. I would instead write about what happened than complain.

I had made coffee yesterday, so I had nearly a whole cold pot of coffee that I just kept heating one cup at a time in the microwave. I just could not throw away so much Mexican fair trade coffee. Even reheated, it was still good–I like the taste of border crossing liberal styled coffee any morning.

I watered the grass today. I never do that. But it looks look like dry straw, and with fires in the area, it would be ridiculous to have my lawn catch fire and burn us up! So during the meeting this morning, I would put out the sprinkler and put on a timer on the stove for 15 minutes. The alarm would then reminded while in all these Zoom calls to move the sprinkler. I spent a few hours watering while in meetings. Often saying, I will be back in five minutes and rushing out to move the sprinkler and set another alarm. We are safer now.

There was a note on Facebook from the local Oregon animal control that it would be a good idea to put a bucket of water or two outside. This was so when that bear, elk, coyote, cougar, or other animals that are running from the fire can get a drink and for us NOT TO SHOOT THEM OUT OF FEAR. I would add that you really want the scared and burned bear to find the water OUTSIDE and not want to come in for a drink! I have a bucket on the deck ready for the raccoons and squirrels and anything else.

I also forgot to mention in the last couple of writings that I did watch the next episode of “Lovecraft Country.” The story went far from the book this time, but again I think the revisions fit better for visual media. Also, most of the book chapters focus on a different character and have horrors and magic happen to that new family member. The episodes in the TV version are focusing on two main characters and then add another character here and there. So I am often surprised, and it is a bit scary for me. I recommend it, but it is Lovecraft styled horror with a large budget, so be ready for that!

I decided that La Provenance need my business. I ordered their Monte Cristo sandwich for lunch; their version is enormous and something special. I had it delivered, but I was disappointed by the sandwich as the ham and cheese were not as good as I remember it. It was still good, just not great. Next time I will order the corned-beef hash with poached eggs.

Work continued until 5:30PM with a short few breaks. Susie was up around 2ish. The smoke returned as the winds changed directions again. The sun went away, and the sky went red and gray.

I asked Corwin to make dinner, but he did not get going in time and had to leave before we got it going. We made baked chicken, boneless and skinless chicken thighs, with just salt and pepper. I peeled potatoes and carrots for sides. I served up steamed carrots and mashed potatoes. Susie liked it. Plain food is often good.

I found a rose, slightly heat-stressed, and it seemed a good sign for today that things will be better soon.

(this rose came with the house and was transplanted here long ago from another home by the previous owner-The rose bush is likely older than me)

Today the US market decided to fly up at breakneck speeds. Nike stock is up to $114+.

More than twelve-hundred people in the USA died from the virus today, according to published reports.

Maybe it is early for a Christmas song, but it looks like it is snowing here. Niño Lindo and Methodist Hymnal #222.

Today I did not work from home. I took the day off–as much as you can in a lockdown.

I stayed mostly inside. I did see the smoke blow away and then tonight blow back into the area.

(It was darker a bit later as more smoke headed out way. My friends refer to the smoke in their posts as “Mordor” coming for the Portland area).

My throat and eyes were burning most of the day. I did not talk that much today. I took the day off to avoid having issues with my throat–bad air conditions do me harm.

So I stayed inside, except for a few excursions to get the mail and check the sky and mostly read.

I made cheeseburgers for lunch. Frozen patties were part of the grocery delivery from Safeway today. This time everything was perfect from Safeway, and they delivered an hour early. So we had patties and buns. So I grilled up three patties and added cheese. I did think of this: Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Corwin headed out later to play chess I think with a friend. I found the box of potato skins with cheese and bacon in the freezer from Schwan’s, and so Susie and I had those for dinner with a side of fresh cucumber from our local box of veggies. I am trying to use it up!

Corwin did the groceries today and said, “We have too much food!” Having two different sizes of olives? Two heads of lettuce? Quart of teriyaki sauce? Well, maybe we are a bit over-stocked.

I watched “Foyer’s War,” the BBC show and recommended, today while cooking and doing the dishes. Again, keeping it a quiet, slow-moving day.

I liked to tell you that I did interesting things today, but no, I just read a book and made some easy meals. That is what you do when the air is difficult.

The US stock market fell over six-hundred points. One of the trials for the vaccine in the UK has trouble with side-effects. That leaves two vaccine in stage 3 without issues, so far. In more bad news, the US Senate appears to be deadlocked against stimulus as the US unemployment rate fell from unimaginable bad 10% to 8.5% horribly bad. But, my Ford stock went up and Nike is at $112+. According to my information, the market is no longer betting on tech stocks and is looking at inflation returning. That is my concern, and I hope I am wrong.

Today the reports show that about five-hundred people died from the infection in the USA today.

I found this version of Pues Si Vivimos that mostly matches the Methodist Hymnal #356. I think I have done this before, but it is a good day for it.

The winds and the smoke came today. We have some unusual pressure event that has spun up the winds and created a bizarre spiral wind in the valley. The wind blows for each direction as if it was a swirl of air. The wind then stops and starts again. The wind has wrapped and unwrapped my USA flag on its pole from the direction changes, weird! The sky went gray, and the sun yellow as the smoke fills our valley from the Mt. Hood fire and other fires further away. Air Volvo, green-gray, is gray now with ash. The wind has dropped branches on Air Volvo, and I was hit by a small branch standing next to Air Volvo!

Air Volvo already grayed and bouncing off small branches.

I thought of parking Air Volvo on the street, but where would be safe? Trees are everywhere. So Air Volvo is in the driveway.

Before the air turned brown and the wind started dropping sticks on me, I started with a rush at 8:15ish as Susie had appointments and a driver. So we got her off to hair, nails, toes, etc. by 9ish. I then finished my Scythe boardgame work so I can put that away. I made the last small fixes and sprayed them with the final coating to protect the oil paints for shading.

As this is spoiler content for Scythe, no pictures.

I got a text from Mariah to have lunch. Susie was still with her appointment, so I met Mariah at Buffalo Wild Wings in the outdoor seating, and we had wings and talked about writing. We both had a refreshing beverage, Coors Light, and waved off the wasps until we had finished. The wasps then came for the leftovers in packs. We gave up the table to them and paid the bill.

I then headed to Hillsboro. The local game store was closed for the holiday. Good for them! I walked to the excellent hobby store, Hillsboro Hobby Store, and found them open and went in and purchased something. They have the best old model kit collection. They are on the Internet selling for years. Today I found a Prinz Eugen heavy cruiser in 1/700 scale. When I opened it, the kit has the etched brass for the model, all for the excellent price of $24.99 (no sales tax in Oregon).  I do not know when I can build it, but I was happy to get this one.

I then went to Insomnia Coffee to write. I got a muffin and coffee. I got back to “Howard’s Lockdown” and made some more fixes and chatted with a few folks, everyone in masks, and keeping our distances. I find the Insomnia Coffee locations make me feel safe, and all are peaceful places to write. I am about 1/3 through the story for fixes.

I came home and took a short nap and got the bedding in the washer. I find that when pollen is out-of-control that redoing the bed helps. With the addition of smoke, wind, and Covid-19, I wash it even more!

I then made home-made all-rotten-potatoes (that is what we call them) with ham, excellent locally made ham from Olympia Provisions. Corwin cut up an onion for me while I sliced eight taters, put that in a glass dish, added some butter, and then cut pieces of the perfect ham and put that on top. This bakes forever (over an hour). Pulled it out about halfway cooked and added heavy cream and shredded cheddar cheese. Always covered in tin foil in a glass dish. It is a bit plain, but the ham and cheese and cream make it work.

The winds and sticks then started falling. I began to feel the burn—my eyes and throat. I put in for PTO, Paid-Time-Off, as I do not want to talk with a burning throat–I had endless Zoom meetings on Tuesday.

More than two-hundred eighty persons in the USA are reported to have died from the virus this Labor Day 2020.

With the winds, smoke, riots, Corvid-19, elections, and so on, this seemed the right song for today from Motown from 2009: Detroit Mass Choir – The Storm Is Passing Over. It will be alright.

Yes, we have reached 175 days locked down. From all I have read, I would say we are now halfway through this emergency. The President has pushed hard for a vaccine, and we have to remember though I do trust him, I know the people making the vaccine love their children–it will be safe. It takes three weeks for the vaccine to work, and it requires two doses, so you are looking at six weeks. Assuming we get a vaccine released in early November, that puts it out about twelve weeks (84 days) and then to get it to everyone that needs it will be a month or two (60 days). So I believe we are beyond the halfway point. As said in Doctor Who, “halfway out of the dark.” We have months to go, and it will be hard to wait, but the dark is fading now.

Today I got going about 9ish. I did not sleep until 2ish, so I still did not get enough sleep. Maybe tonight. I just want to do so much in a single day. I only head to bed at a reasonable time when I have work the next day.

I have to admit that I had a bagel and putted around. I then watched “Deadliest Catch” on Discovery. I found some pasta leftovers and had that for lunch while I watched the crab fishing reality TV show. This and the Alaska Gold shows are almost the only show I watch. I did miss “Lovecraft Country” today, but I watch it on my Apple and will catch-up this coming morning. I loved the book, and I like how they have presented the same themes with changes to fit more visual media.

Returning to crafts, I also worked on my Scythe items, getting them to the last stage, oil paint shading. This is my newest system of painting. I like oil paints as they do not change color or fade when they dry. I also have an excellent nearly clear spray I put on before the oil paints. This protects the acrylics I use for the main detailing. I have also moved to use homemade decals. I create a design and then print it on decal paper, expensive but available online, using my inkjet printer. I then spray the finished sheet with a heavy coat of the same spray I use on the figures. This makes the design waterproof on the water decals–my first attempt without the stabilizing coat was not very successful; it melted. I cut the decals and then use water and a paintbrush to apply them. It requires some skill and luck. The decals are also transparent, so it is best to white color under them.

I tried last night to work on the USS Maine, but the kit has some issues and will require me to do some rework (holes are the wrong size for parts, some parts have to be assembled, masts need to be replaced with brass wire, and some parts may have to be replaced). That is rainy night work, so I will pick this up in the fall. Disappointed, but instead, I will paint some more figures.

Corwin and Susie got going later, and I asked them if they want to head out for dinner to celebrate the holiday. It is hard to go camping or visit the beach without taking risks–so masks and dinner are about as risky as I can get. We did nearby Orenco Station and found the French place was again only take-out. So there is an excellent Thai place, so we did that: Nine Dang Fine Thai. The food was excellent, and Susie and Corwin finished with a colossal coconut ice cream dessert. I had to help Susie with her’s.

We then came home, and I got out the old DVD of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and we watched it. I forgot how good it was. We enjoyed just watching it. You could hear one of use saying one of the lines once in a while. I miss going out to movies.

About four-hundred people in the USA today passed away from the virus.

Yesterday I picked an opera. This time I went the other way with some Latin: Ave verum corpus (Byrd) The Gesualdo Six at Ely Cathedral. I had to look this up, and you can find more information here: Ave verum corpus Wikipedia.