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I was happy to leave about noon to get my hair cut, a complex process in the lockdown, and drive in heavy traffic on 216 to 5 to The House of Hair. It was a relief to leave my Nike computer closed at the house.

There Zerida met me at the door. All of us masked and keep our distances. I am back to my short gray hair again. Off to Portland then.

On the way to Portland, I received a call from the mothership for Air Volvo, the name of my car, that they can get the spa treatment for the car on two Wednesdays from now. I have to use the app for the Valet Volvo to have the car picked-up and a loaner Volvo supplied, done. I am also ordering the annual detailing of the car that happens with the bonus money from Nike–always in August. I still want that new car smell and feel, for a few months, each year–instead of buying a new one! Once a year, full spa treatment for Air Volvo and fixes (often tires, brakes, alignment, and all that stuff that breaks or wears).

Aside: Yes, Nike paid no raises, but bonuses were paid called PSP (i.e., profit-sharing program, I think). The local car dealers are very happy in August when this is paid. Most of the money in the bonus was made before Corvid-19 hit. Next year’s PSP will likely be a different story.

From there, I drove to Portland, but I then got a text from Evan, and we agreed to meet and travel together in Air Volvo to Portland and have lunch and play a game at Mox Boarding House.

Reflecting on the morning, I did start a very frustrating day at Nike at about 6ish. When the director asked me for an ETA at 8ish for a redesign of the product conversion for all of Nike’s product data to the new SAP systems when he sent me the four short bullet points as specifications at 4:30PM Thursday, I knew beer was calling me in Portland. Before I wrote an outline of a design to the engineers and vendor, I did carry two board games into Air Volvo–I needed a break. While driving Air Volvo, I was getting multiple messages and calls on the same issue. It was time to let go. So let us not dwell on the morning working from home, in the car, and at Mox.

Tatyana and Sydney, bartender and waiters, were there in the bar again, and Evan was happy to meet them and to see the premium service and facility that is Mox. We ordered drinks and food. I had the soup, always great, and the sandwich special. A steak sandwich made from thin-sliced steak. All good.

We learned that Tatyana is a make-up artist for movies. Evan is involved in the local movie scene so they exchanged information.

Besides attending customers, Tatyana and Sydney were playing a card game. I have forgotten the name, but it looked interesting.

We had a long table just for ourselves, so we set-up a board game, Scythe, and I taught Evan how to play. Megan, the manager, and others wanted to see Scythe, so I was happy to share my updated version by setting up the game. Scythe is a “dudes-on-a-board” game so there are some 1910s styled miniatures in the game. I had painted the characters years ago in my copy of Scythe–they still look good. I have painted four sets of these characters over the past three years–I trade a painted set for unpainted figures (I bought a spare set of figures from the publisher). My current version of the miniatures, I have a painted set that has not found a home yet, has a bit more contrast than my first set. I also added some electric blue to the new versions as we see that color in the add-on, Fenris, representing the exotic technology in the add-on that was published later. Scythe has some science fiction steam-punk in the game design.

Evan did quite well in his first two-person learning game and scored about 42 while I did an only 55, winning the game, but Evan nearly caught me.

(The final board)

It was already passed at 6PM, so we headed back. I dropped Even off and returned home.

There more email from work received my reply of “No.”

The check to pay-off the car was received by the bank today. I also paid off all the other credit cards, loans, and other debts. I am praying that my understanding of what is happening in the economy is wrong. I am ready.

Eleven-hundred and more deaths today in the USA are attributed to the virus.

I found this new hymn that sounds very old style to me: Awake, O Sleeper. This is Methodist Hymn #551, but I cannot remember every singing this hymn.

WordPress, the tool I use to write this blog has changed editors, and I am having a challenge using the new editor. Mostly Grammarly does not work in the new editor. It is how I keep the typo count down. I am using the post editor, and this is not that smooth to use.

This will be a short post as I am trying to find my way again.

Today started a bit later. I was tired this morning, so I stayed in bed to 7ish.

Work was full of Zoom meetings. I managed to get through the status meetings and slip out to the pharmacy and get Susie were pill she takes on Thursday before she was up.

I decided to make chicken soup for lunch. I had that with some potato salad and coleslaw. It was a summer-styled lunch. I then put out the trash and got all the recycling into the correct bin from the pile that was accumulating. I did this instead of order lunch or getting one. I just did not feel like paying for lunch today. I am getting cheap!

I continued with meetings after lunch, one session was a bit hot, and I ended it with a headache.  After thirty minutes, they agreed to send me specifications–they could have done that without the meeting. I took a break after that. I then helped with a few more vendor patches and got a few more items sorted.

Corwin made us dinner of Chicken Cordon Blu, frozen from Schwans, and again coleslaw and potato salad.

I collected Susie from the living room, and we sat in front of my Apple computer for Theology Pub Zoom meeting. This is a church group that has been meeting for more than five years. We, be for the emergency, would meet at a pub and discuss a theology question. Beer and food would be consumed, and ideas shared. Patience was the theme, and we discussed how this was close to forgiveness and that having patience did not mean inaction.

I began my next painting challenge today. I decided to paint the mechs from Scythe. I decided to try to use oil paints for the shading. I have never done that before, but it looks so good in the magazines, I want to try it. I started with the white faction in Scythe and have started by masking the base. I want the base to be the original color of the plastic. I did this with the characters I have painted. With the bases unpainted, the mechs are still clearly colored to match the faction. I have a spare set of mechs and characters I bought from the game company’s website.

More to come this weekend.

The reports show more than twelve-hundred died in the USA today from Covid-19.

Today’s hymn is by Charles Wesley: O the Depth of Love Divine.

A short story today as it was a busy but not very interesting day.

Today I am quite tired. I got started at 6AM with my first Zoom meeting at 9AM. I had to get Susie to the dentist at 8:30 to finish the crown for her broken tooth. So the morning was rushed. Susie was in and out within the hour. The paperwork for Corvid-19 being always a surprise as we have temperatures taken to just being there. No complaints from us, we like being safe!

I managed status after another status meeting.

I made a sandwich of pastrami with coleslaw and thousand island dressing.  I made chicken soup that I shared with Susie to go with lunch. Susie had an Eggo waffle with peanut butter.

Susie is just crushed by the dentist and getting up so early.

I slipped in the laundry while attending status meetings and workshops. I had to apologize for the noise when I had to talk over the spin of the washing machine that is not far from me. That got some knowing grins from people. I am not the only person that slips laundry in during meetings!

I made goulash from a German cookbook Michael Giessners’s parents gave me a few years ago: Grandma’s German Cookbook. I was actually cutting up onions and meat while listening to a meeting.  I had to brown the meat and onions and then braise the meal for two hours. This required spices, and canned goods, and stirring while listening to work. I reduced the onions as the German recipe called for as much chopped onions, by weight (!), as the meat! I ordered some of the spices from Amazon, and they came yesterday so I could cook this today.

I suspect my Nike colleagues, when they read this, are going to think I am doing Tango lessons and like strange things when I don’t have the camera on for the Zoom meeting! It is not always true.

I have a special braising pan from the now out of business Chef Catalog company. You cannot heat it above medium as it has oil between the metal plates on the bottom to make the heat uniform and consistent. The lid fits tight and is glass so you can watch the cooking. It makes this kind of cooking a breeze.

I had meetings non-stop from 3ish to 6ish. A took a break between meetings, but it was a long haul.

We made some pasta to go with the goulash. Susie and Corwin liked it.

The show Nova on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) had an incredible documentary on tonight at 9 thus I am late writing. The show is “Decoding the Pyramids” and discusses the new discoveries, some published in 2017, about the builders. I highly recommended it. It is a 2019 episode but I just saw it today.

Aside: Nova is an American premier producer of educational programming originally from Boston’s public television channel WETA. I have watched it for years. My newest fav is “Einstein’s Quantum Riddle.” It is highly recommended.

The bubble that is the American stock market continues to expand.

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

I found this yesterday, and here is a version you can sing along with Oh Happy Day. Another song for Americans making it through these times!

 

Today is really our 30th Wedding Anniversary, but we cannot celebrate it with family and friends, so it is 29th, again. We will have the 30th next year and skip the 31st one. By-the-way 30th is the pearl anniversary.

(August 11, 1990, at the reception–yes, that is a cow as the seal of Ingham County, Michigan. We refer to this document and related rules as “The Cow.”)

Going backward from this evening writing the blog…

We received two pint-glasses from the Golden Valley Brewery as an anniversary gift from the manager. Susie also bought a nice zip-up shirt as we eat there a lot. We had too much food and drinks. We finished with the sorbet. We went there for dinner to celebrate 29 years a second time. In masks and practicing social distancing and trying not to catch Corvid-19; what a strange anniversary!

Before we headed out to dinner, I sprayed Anti-Shine from Army Painter on the War of Worlds: The New Wave figures and put them away. I have two spare sets I ordered from the Kickstarter–they are just fun miniatures that I am sure I can find a use for.

The afternoon was full of Zoom-a-thon meetings of the crisis of the moment. I just tried to help where I could and applied a few software fixes.

I turned on the grill and forgot to turn it off–no more gas now, but it was low. I made a grilled hamburger for lunch. This went well with the potato salad and three-bean salad. It being summer, I wanted to grill a bit for lunch. Of course, now I have to get more propane.

I spent the morning is a rush of status meetings and trying to get a few items done. I had started about 6ish and kept at it all morning. I slipped in a shower and shave between emails and before the first meeting at 7AM sharp.

Today the death rate from the virus is reported above fifteen-hundred, and that rate has not happened since May 2020.

I found another Afro-American spiritual I don’t know in the Methodist Hymnal (#134), enjoy: O Mary, Don’t You Weep. The words don’t quite match the hymnal version, but it flows well. Again, a good song for our times.

 

Today started like many Mondays at 6ish with me getting going and answering emails before 7AM. I handled the crisis of the early morning, had instant oatmeal, and got updated on what today would bring.

I then slipped out before the Zoom-a-thon began and got dressed and all of that. Monday starts with status meetings and project meetings followed by more stand-ups, styled sessions (I sit at home for a stand-up), and more how-to meetings.

Susie has a hair, nails, toes, and so on appointment as usual on Monday with her driver coming for her. This had been moved early as Susie broke a tooth last week. Susie was to receive the royal treatment later today, a crown. This meant getting Susie going this morning.

After Susie driver picked her up, happy to see her dressed, breakfasted, coffee’d, and ready, I finished my morning with a can of chili warmed on the stove for lunch.

I went on with more meetings and more status. I granted various approvals to move software into testing and other reviews. It was a typical Monday, and I started to feel tired by the afternoon. The early start and the endless status usually make me sleepy by the afternoon.

I took Susie to the Dentist after she returned with blue and striped nails and other various changes. Susie was done an hour later. As we have all experienced, an hour with a dentist is a long time. Susie was worn-out and took a nap. I joined her for part of that. I did have to get up and do a few more approvals for Nike.

Next, I cooked tacos using the low salt spices and crunchy shells from a box that announced proudly that the corn used was GMO! Ground beef from Ponderosa Provisioners made the filling really good. I think I will head back to more true soft shells next time.

Groceries were delivered today. I ordered them between calls at Nike and emails. Just a fill-in order. I did forget the shredded cheese. Safeway.com does not provide suggestions from the last order or suggest refilling previous items. I not sure they have thought through their website very well.

Turning to the figures, I started by repainting the brown on the tripod base, a lot of metal color was splashed on the figure’s base, and adding a purple ink from Army Painters to the front to get that hint of alien light to it. I washed the figure’s base with dark tone ink again from Army Painters to get the ground to look more broken.

The battleship was more conventional work–I have a few minature fleets. I mixed up a gray wash, uniform gray, and carefully painted it on. It ran a bit, and I missed a few times, and so the usual touch-up had to follow. I repainted the funnels as they got splashed and bumped by gray and somehow the metal color from the tripods (the tripods seemed to have already zapped the battleships!). I repainted the small boats more white using the paint from the bottle to make them stand out. I then washed the ships with dark tone ink to make the lines show better. This also put back some of the contrast I lost with the wash.

I have to spray an anti-shine coat yet, but that can wait. Just over a few days of work to do all the figures. I am happy, and it is fun to try this new painting style on wargame figures.

Today the reports are that more than five-hundred sixty people who reside in the USA have passed because of the virus.

I found a fun song I had forgotten about, Methodist Hymnal 585: This Little Light of Mine.