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Gov. Brown of Oregon declared our area to be in extreme danger from the virus, and we will continue with the lockdown for at least two more weeks. Susie and I are being even more careful than before as the hospital rates and deaths spike here. Oregon is running about 85% ICU beds in use with a close match for regular beds too. California appears to be headed to having no beds left. I have heard that Oregon is hosting the Idaho folks that need hospitalization.

The UK is getting the vaccine now. The USA will approve the same vaccine on the 10th. The Russian vaccine began general use today.

I finished the orcs painting today for the board game Heroes of Air, Land, and Sea. The oil paint for the shading is drying now overnight. I use the oil paint as it dries without a color change and can be whipped off or even removed with thinner without impact the color underneath (I applied a non-glossy transparent spray to protect the initial painting).

Twenty figures is a lot to finish. I finally finished the three personality figures that are unique. They look better shaded but not much darker. The shading brings their faces forward.

The morning started at 6:30 as I was tired this morning. It always feels better to sleep-in those extra minutes!

I had meetings this morning that were mostly status meetings and crises of the moment that needed to be resolved. Some issues have been brought up many times before–I was a bit surprised how little was resolved when I was out for three weeks caring for Susie.

I managed to find a break, I was late for the next meeting, and took a short walk further than yesterday. I usually try to make each day’s walk longer than the day before until I reach about a mile.

Carie from PT came a bit late this noon and worked with Susie for 30 minutes. We wanted to keep it a bit light as Susie fell after maybe overdoing it last time. Susie is to keep doing her standing and sitting exercises. We also went over how to better turn the walker as that was what caused the fall.

I had to stop and leave two meetings as I had calls from the medical people. We arranged for Susie to have physical therapy today at about noon and then again on Friday at about 2:15.

I had the leftovers of Yellow Curry Chicken Thai I made in the Instant Pot yesterday for my lunch. It was terrific a second time. Susie had yogurt and cereal.

Work ended with discussing options on how to flow data out of an SAP ERP to other platforms. This discussion has also been on-going.

I made a more comfort-food dinner for Susie, putting aside all the exotic cooking today. I made chicken cordon bleu from frozen. I made Hollandaise Sauce from scratch to pour over the chicken cordon bleu. I have a whale-shaped egg separator that helps. Adding freshly made Hollandaise really dresses up the generic chicken cordon bleu from the freezer. Next, I made green beans from a frozen microwave pack, but I heated butter and toasted sliced almonds, from a bag, with salt in a frying pan and then dumped the hot-from-the-microwave green beans on top and combined it. This greatly improves the green beans to wilt them a bit in butter with almonds. Dinner was well received.

I then, as I covered above, started back to painting. I found a lid of a pasta sauce jar–I save them; I set it down in my painting area to use it as a little basin. I smear a bit of dark “Starship Filth” oil paint from a tube and pour a bit of “Odourless thinner” in the cap. I have oil paintbrushes–cheap ones, and I use them to brush to shading colors on a figure. I just want enough shading to fill in the lines and get the 3-D looks back to one color area.

BTY: I seldom paint eyes on 28mm figures as I think it a waste of time–a figure with painted eyes looks, to me, like a doll then. Plus, you cannot see the eyes on the gaming table–the eyes are too tiny to see when using the figures. Also, the human habit of seeing faces in random pictures known as pareidolia means I only need to suggest where the eyes go, and most people will see the eyes I did not paint!

I have already primed the dwarves. Next, I will start work on them.

The US stock market was going up and down. It still below’s it high. There are some bets that inflation or interest rate would increase. These bets appear to have failed, and some losses are being realized now that we are at the year and quarter-end; some window-dressing is ongoing on Wall Street. Elon Musk made some new inflammatory remarks about the Tesla company failing despite the 23% gross profit last quarter.

Today the USA had the highest daily rate of death so far from the virus. More than two-thousand eight-hundred thirty people died from it today.

I will go with the fav of O Come, All Ye Faithful with a modern take.

Today was a more normal day at work. Tuesday, I usually have a 7AM meeting, but it was canceled this week, so I had an easy start at 6AM. I also had a meeting with European folks today at 8:30. We try to connect to the European developers every couple of weeks. We make a special effort to make them feel more connected to WHQ by meeting by Zoom every couple of weeks.

After the call with Europe, there were various status meetings, and I had a pile of designs to read. I had a few objections and then agreed to them.

I put a note that I am not approving which was misunderstood, they are approved by others, I just agree that the design is not a risk for Nike. I got a Zoom meeting to explain that I agree.

Lunch was a lamb gyro from Gyro House delivered. I wanted something good for lunch as yesterday was so hard. I could barely finish it.

I did manage a thirty-minute walk today between meetings. My legs are cramping terribly at night; relief may be getting some walking in. I walked a short distant fast. I hope to get another walk in tomorrow and try to get back to the habit.

The last meeting surprised me, I have been out for three weeks on leave to care for Susie, and I believe the issue is at the same place as before.

I could not finish the meeting as Susie had a care issue, and I had to do some caregiving. We got to use the new shower design: no doors now and just a shower curtain. The suction based handholds also work. I check them every morning and remount them if they come loose. Susie’s shower went well, and I managed only to be damp and not fully soaked.

I made Thai Yellow Curry Chicken in the Instant Pot. The new toy to make quick dinners. I cut-up three carrots in large pieces, 1/2 onion chopped, a green pepper cut in large pieces, a handful of fingerling potatoes, spices, and coconut milk. I cooked rice in a normal pot. The chicken was rock frozen chicken breast tenders from a bag in the freezer. I bought these from Smart Foodservice (formally Cash and Carry). I set the Instant Pot to 14 for poultry.

It was just Susie and me for dinner, so I made a smallish dinner and rice. It was tasty, but I had held back on the hot spices as Susie cannot eat them anymore. It was good, but next time I will add some ginger.

Susie and I watched the news on PBS and then I returned to figure painting.

I am finishing up Orcs for the board game Heroes of Air, Land, and Sea. The personality figures needed to have the base painting finished. I had an issue with one figure, the red robe looked like a red x-ray. The red color was in the low areas and the high areas were darker. I have had this problem with the red paint before. I went back to basic painting and painted pure red on the high spots and edges to correct the look. The figure looks better now. The other figures just had some basic fixes and a few missed bits that I had to finish. I will spray paint a clear varnish tomorrow. I will then finish them with oil paints to shade the dark bits. This restores a few details by having them show up better. I will then finish, after oil paints dry, with a last clear varnish. I use oil paints as they shading does not fade when it dries and I can, unlike inks or varnish dips, can just wipe it off and try again.

I have started on the next faction, dwarves. The priming is done.

The market went up a bit today. The market is about where it was last week. Nike stock is at $135 or so.

Today the deaths rose in the USA to the second-worst day so far this year, Two-thousand six-hundred fourteen.

I found this Carol of the Bells.

Today started at 6ish with me getting started on work email and getting time sheets and other details settled. My first meeting was not until 8 so I had time to read emails and get organized. I had breakfast and then slipped in a shower at 7ish.

I spent most of the day trying to remember what issues I still had remaining from three weeks ago, very few. I also was welcomed back and tried to help with some of the crises of the moment.

I will not go into details as work is not that interesting to most folks. The project has spent the three weeks getting closer to its milestones. I have been out ill for weeks and find when I return that nothing seemed to change. Instead, this time real work was done and real progress made by my teams.

Susie started up about 10ish. We had a nurse we thought was coming to review Susie’s meds. Instead, it was a call from the health insurance about alternatives to Susie’s more expensive meds. I was not impressed.

I made a salad for lunch with some ham and cheese and olives. I made Susie a grilled ham and swiss an hour later when she was hungry.

Between meetings, I drove over to the restaurant supply store (formally Cash and Carry) and got chicken and beef for upcoming meals. It was about 1/2 price of what I pay at Safeway.com. We have the fixing but not much meat.

For dinner, I made chicken thighs Italian style in the Instant Pot. I made some pasta and opened a can of sauce. It was light and welcomed for dinner.

Tonight is Dungeons and Dragons with all six players on Roll20. We started were we left off with the missing players being popped back into the fight by the Mad Mage. Down on the tenth level full of evil spider elves (known as Drow) the players are searching for glory. The managed to defeat the stone golem spider statue and an a horror of a Drow transformed into a partial scorpion. We played for two hours with just a few technical issues. The Roll20 software handles all the dice rolling and present the players with a 2D view of the complex with dynamic lighting.

I am tired and a bit dizzy as it has been a clear day, and the pollen is still getting to me. I will get some rest. It was hard to get back to work, still care for the house, and ensure Susie is OK.

Today the market took back some of the increases. The lack of a stimulus plan and the increasing infection rate in the USA has the market worried. My 401K is showing just under a positive 16% return for the year.

Today the reports are that more than twelve-hundred thirty people died in the USA of the infection.

I went with a fav of mine and I like the dark singing in this versions: We Three Kings.

The morning started at 8ish for me. Susie was up a few times in the morning. I could try to go back to sleep or get up. I started the day. I have figures to paint!

Today I managed to get the 12 surf orcs painted and ready for shading. I just finished the warrior’s figure painting. I am letting them dry a bit while I made and served dinner. Then I did the dishes and folded laundry. I have to fix up the warrior bases before I spray them with the first protective spray. I still have three personality figures to complete.

I was hoping to complete the orcs this weekend as a treat to myself for the holidays. Just too many things going on to get them done. It is a bit difficult as it is twenty figures!

This morning I was painting and doing dishes. I also had the dwarves drying. This is the next faction I am painting. I have the first coat of black on them. I tip them over and paint them, and then, using rubber gloves, I straighten the figures to dry. It is a bit tricky but produces a very nice finish. I paint the front and the back this way. Previously, I would mount the figures on a board using sticky tack and hold them and spray them with the other hand. And breathe in lots of paint–not anymore.

I made cheese burgers for lunch which was breakfast for Susie and Corwin who slept in.

Susie and I then watched the second half of the musical Chess. This is the staged version done at Royal Albert Hall. The DVD was a thank-you gift for a pledge to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). Here in Oregon, we have one PBS station, OPB, and it is broadcasted on different channels in different places. Originally, the state covered the costs for OPB, but Republican control of the Oregon House changed that, and now OPB is 100% funded by donations and grants–no tax dollars. We all admit that it is better this way.

I started dinner, flat iron steaks from the restaurant supply store–defrosted, baked red sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter, and salad with chopped celery and carrots. I am trying to make dinner from what we have in the pantry and the frig.

I marinated the steak in Teriyaki sauce (also from the restaurant supply place) and then grilled them on the gas grill. I forgot that sweet potatoes are baked in a disk, they leak sugar, so I have a small mess to deal with in the oven. I put them in tin foil like regular potatoes–wrong.

Here are the surfs all ready to be shaded with oil paints.

Here are the warriors that need a few fixes on their bases.

And here is one of the personality figures getting close to finished.

I return to work for Nike from home on Monday. Susie has a nurse here on Monday at 11:30. We will try to make it work. I am approved until January 3rd, but I want to see if we can make this work and start back on Monday.

The reports show that more than eight-hundred ten people died today from Covid-19 in the USA.

I liked this version of What Child Is This? I like Greensleeves.

Susie was up and down last night. She could not sleep. I started my day with interrupted sleep at 8ish. I had a 10:30 appointment for a haircut with Zerida. I needed to be back to help Susie get going to make the 1:30 appointment for hair, nails, etc., also with Zerida. We have a nurse coming on Monday to talk to Susie that does yet have a time; apparently, they will call and let us know. We could not do Susie’s normal Monday, so Zeriada moved it up to today. So a chaotic morning and early afternoon.

I made my appointment and even managed to stop by McDonald’s and get their burrito breakfast with coffee. I was beginning to have that mad scientist look so it was good to get my hair back to the “you can trust me I am an old IT guy” look. I return to work on Monday (working from home Zooming) and need that safe look.

I then returned home. Remembering that it was Black Friday weekend and local business support day, I stopped at Tammies Hobbies and bought a book on figure painting with an example orc. I was already painting orcs, so I bought it. It is for museum quality and for a huge model, not a 28mm figure. I am painting an army, so I will be taking some shortcuts. I was happy to see I use the same brushes, Kolinsky sable for most work, and some of the primer painting on the model also matches my approach.

I then rushed home and got Susie ready. She was out for a few hours. I had ordered lunch from Biryani Corner using Grubhub. I wanted to try their version of Chicken Tikka Masala with plain naan. I used to make this for a few hundred people, and I wanted to try theirs. I ordered not spicy. Biryani Corner’s version flavor was less complex than mine, but it was nice to try it. Mine, even the Methodist version, is more spicey than their plain version. I should make it again!

Corwin and I removed the glass doors from the shower. I received the new plain shower curtain, clips, and rod from Amazon over the last few days. The occupational therapist required that I remove the doors. Done! Susie has more room now and the doors are no longer in the way.

I then started on Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea board game orc figures. I spray painted the primer and the first highlighting last night. I first dry brush white to bring out even more details.

I then paint the bases and let everything dry for an hour or so. I watched the Mandalorian on Disney+. I then returned to the mostly dry figures and added some basic colors. I mix the paint with a flow enhancer and water. I want the paints to be very thin, so the shading already on the figure comes through the paint. This saves me lots of work as I avoid the multilayer painting to get the shading and highlighting.

Susie returned late, about 4PM, and brought her own dinner, McDonald Happy Meal. Susie got her fav: Six-piece Chicken McNuggets. Corwin and I had leftovers. I dropped the ham and broke the plate. It was a gift thirty years ago at our wedding. I was not happy about that!

I checked, and even the replacement center does not have one at some exorbitant price! I am on a waiting list.

We put on the musical Chess from our DVD (it was a pledge gift from PBS years ago), and we watched about half of it. Susie was tired and went to bed early to read and relax. I went back to painting. I was rushing a bit as there are so many figures in this little army (twenty figures). I managed to finish the basic painting for the surf figures (twelve) and started on the others (five warriors and three unique personality figures).

I will finish the details on the surfs and then finish the rest of the painting. Next, I will spray them with a protective coating and then use oil paints to add more black shading. Oils do not change color when they dry, unlike the inks I used before, so I know what I am getting. I then spray another light protective coating, and the figures are done.

On medical items, Susie is using a journal to help with her memory problems. It seems to work. She writes down what the day is, what pills she took, the food eaten, and the event that happened in the day. The memory then seems to stay.

Susie still gets tired, and you have to be watchful when she is this tired. I have been checking on her all afternoon and evening.

I should say I did all the laundry too and picked up the house a bit. I will vacuum and clean the bathrooms on Sunday. I decided I want to paint the orcs this holiday weekend. I will paint the dwarves for the same game during the week and finish them up on the weekend. If I am not painted-out, I will do the elves. That would get the base game painted.

Today more than twelve-hundred ten people in the USA.

I thought it is time for the Little Drummer Boy, African style.