Blog

Sometimes it is a good writing trick to go backward.

The reports show that more than three-hundred forty Americans were taken by the virus today. Today I picked a flash mob in the center of Nuremberg to remember all that we lost and the good things in life like a flash mob.

The stock market went up. It is all over the place these two weeks! My 401K is showing a loss of more than three percent again. I have my seatbelt still on!

End of the Stay-cation.

I took Susie, Corwin, and Evan to BJ’s Brewhouse for dinner. It is the first time we have been able to eat there in about four months. They opened again for dine-on only last week. The place looked odd with the tables and people, so spread-out and no sports crowd in the bar. Monday night football and well any sports were always well attended there. The food seemed better than I remembered it, and the beer was still good. The staff was careful.

Before that, Corwin and Evan were both proud to beat me in a game of Istanbul. I taught Evan the game. The game was close with Evan ending the game by attaining the fifth ruby, but Corwin was able to beat him by getting a fifth gem and more money. I was at four gems and was one move away from my fifth and thus lost.

As I was planning to play Istanbul I got a text from work. I had to approve some access to a server at Nike. The only other person who can approve the access is on vacation, so I handled it, always available. I sent them a text that their access should go-thru and they thanked me.

Before all of this, I decided to watch another opera on the Internet from the Metropolitan Opera, The Magic Flute. I have always wanted to see this opera live, but I can at least see it while I fold the laundry and have lunch. So that is what I did, I folded the laundry and ordered lunch from Gyro House to be delivered and watched and did laundry. This is from another opera house, Dark Queen, but from the same opera.

I discovered that there is an add-on for my newly purchased board game, Istanbul. This is the “Kabab Shop” tile. It replaces the “Fountain” tile and allows you to send your family member back to the “Jail” tile or to recall your assistants like the Fountain. In the normal game, only other players can send you family member pieces back to jail. I found one of the “Kabab Shop” tiles for sale at BoardGameGeeks and was surprised that the person lives in the area and will drop off my purchase tomorrow! The Internet enhances the gaming experience in so many ways.

And before that happened, I worked on the Titanic model and attached all the little buildings and deck houses to the boat deck. I also folded the etched-brass bridge area and attached it. If you remember the movie, the captain stays in the bridge area until it is submerged, and then the windows dramatically break–that area is what I built today. I remember reading in a wreckage account that the bridge roof was seen floating on the sea–it is gone in the wreck. On the model, all of this is glued in, and I should let it all dry before I try anything else, a lesson I was reminded of yesterday–I fixed one window today. I have three more to replace yet.

I started on the model after I finally recovered from and terrible asthma attack and slept in until 9ish. I had breakfast of some chocolate croissants. I was awake at 5:30AM with a nightmare of not being able to breathe and I awoke and it was not really a dream. I got up and took my medications and was better by 6:30AM.

Sunday, I awoke and then rolled over and sent early morning Sunday on its way to people who actually wanted it. I wanted nothing to do with another early morning!

I was up about 10ish. I felt much better. Finally, all the stress was leaving me alone and letting me have a day. So I made some coffee, Mexican and Fairtrade, and I love the taste of liberal board-crossing coffee in the morning. I deleted the Trump and Pence emails asking for money. I instead sent $50 to Biden–it was my first ever gift to Biden’s campaign. It went with the coffee this morning.

I then focused on something more hands-on. I added tiny brass-etched windows to the Titanic model over the poorly cast plastic windows. These windows are for the officer quarters, the grand staircase, and the wireless station. I then added these long plastic pieces to the deck. The pressure I used nearly broke the parts, and the windows I so carefully glued in so many places were damaged. I lost about four. I put the Titanic away after fixing everything I could and let the glues dry. When I make two mistakes, I stop. I also glued a tiny ladder on the side and then damaged it.

I read more Maisie Dobbs today. It helped me relax. I am on the tenth one, but there are fifteen at the moment, so soon I will have to read something else.

Lady Ada in New York City started their Halloween eye hardware for sale. I ordered one and another Grand Central M4 board with headers this time. The Grand Central M4 is my go-to board for Python-based robotics.

I also watched the rest of the movie Dune. I had purchased the movie yesterday on my Mac and finished it today.

I spent the afternoon watching the complete Metropolitan Opera of Massenet’s Cendrillon on the Internet. It was fun to sit back and enjoy a few hours of opera, something I do not get to do very often. They have one free opera a day.

I made Pork Vindaloo today. I was wrong with the spices, and so it is a bit tame. I will go back to the original mix next time. It was still good.

I played more Istanbul board game today. I learned the Coffee and Baksheesh addition. I just played against myself with a two-person set-up. I liked the addition of bags of coffee (liberal?), but the larger board made moves more complex. Planning had to be done with more care. I liked that!

Today the reports show that nearly three-hundred people died in the USA from the virus. I found this blessing in Hebrew and thought we could use it to remember all the people we lost.

 

 

The morning started too early. I could not sleep and so I was up at 6:30 AM on a Saturday! Corwin, apparently looking at a new workout plan, was up early and was just finishing bacon and eggs, enough for two! Well, my timing was better than I expected.

I had left my new game, Istanbul: The Big Box, out and we reset it for two players and played a game. I had to teach the game, but I played it against myself yesterday and had the rules and even some of the strategy down. The game is an award-winning design that has your merchant touring the markets in Istanbul with a cart trying to attain the right resources to trade for more resources or rubies. The player with six (or five for more player) rubies ends the game and likely wins. The game is light easy to learn and has a strategy that become apparent even in your first game (like you need your wagon to be bigger), but you seldom interact with other players. This means you are not actively completing and keeps the game happy.

Aside: I have played it before, maybe once before using Guardian Game’s copy from their library. The game store has an impressive collection that is available to play-before-you-buy or just to play. You can also get a beer or other snacks and drinks there. We often rent a room there to meet and play.

I punched and assembled the game yesterday and put the stickers on the wrong piece for the player’s merchant (it is thicker than the assistant pieces, I discovered later). I went to the website to see if replacements were available. I had to switch to on BoardGameGeek to the Istanbul game and found alternatives for the stickers–all women. I liked that. So I scanned in all of the pieces. I then removed, destroyed, the stickers from the assistant piece and then cut out two women colors and three men colors and used school water-soluble glue to attach the new paper printed replacements this time on the correct and larget merchant disks. My cutting was not perfect circles, but they looked good enough, and having the white and yellow merchants now be women, one with her head covered, really worked for me.

I then scanned in two images from the board to see if I could make two more unique men from the game itself. The art was just a bit too dark and did not add as much as the women merchants, so I left the game as is. Only make changes that improve play or the comfort of the game.

I am not feeling well today. Could be the lack of sleep and stress (more layoffs at Nike) and Susie is still a bit confused, and this makes it a bit hard on me. She did ride her bike today.

I went, for the first time since February, to Wholefoods. I wanted some Mexican Fairtrade coffee. I have vowed that I would drink coffee that the President would not approve of since his election. I have had to use Duncan Donuts coffee when ordering from Safeway. I drink overpriced, fair trade, border crossing, and liberal coffee! I picked up a selection of cheese and meats for a cheese and meats tray for dinner tonight. I was, as always, surprised the bill at Wholefoods.

Everyone had a mask and the store seemed very careful to keep everyone safe. I chatted with the checkout guy. He suggested ordering and delivery services, as I was still nervous about being in the store. The cheese seller told me that Wholefoods has never slowed down since the lockdown (there is a sad sign that says no free cheese samples to protect us).

After I put away my new items, I took another long nap. I am still tired. I played myself again on the game Istanbul, such an excellent game it is fun to just play.

I received today the new metal masts for the Titanic model. The plastic one often breaks when you are working on the model and are out-of-scale to make them stronger (out of scale by 2x). These new masts are from on the web from Master Model of Poland and are made from brass and machined to scale. The Internet creates a market for all sorts of unique items for models and gamers like 1/700 scale masts for RMS Titanic–I ordered the masts from eBay and took a week or so to get here. The gaming and modeling and model train folks now can have impossible to get items. Previously, I ordered metal propellors for HMS Dreadnought and gun barrels. They look perfect on my version of the battleship!

I put away the games and got back to the Titanic model. I am mounting replacements for tiny windows and door frames.

Today the reports show more than five-hundred Americans were slain by the infection. I found this church’s version: Stand Up and Bless the Lord.

Last night I stayed up and worked on the Titanic model a bit, and I made more progress today. I was up late. Another day on my stay-cation.

I slept into 9ish and did not get dressed until afternoon. I was still tired, and Susie was still in some pain from her fall and seems to have some slight confusion. So it was a slow start.

But then we went out for lunch. Yes, outside at La Provence in Orenco Station. It is right on the max line and is one of our better places for food in our area. There Corwin and I both had a Monte Cristo while Susie had French Onion Soup. We got croissants to go–I had one later for dinner as the Monte Cristo was huge.

We came home, and as I said, I worked on the Titanic model. The boat deck is slowly finishing.

Nike released its earnings today and announced layoffs. It was a surprise all around.

I also ordered last night a copy of the Istanbul boardgame. I placed it once, and it was recently recommended again. I gave a copy once to the Smith’s girls, but have only played it a few times. I really liked it and wanted the add-ons, which all came in one box now.

I punched the game out and put it all in bags, I had to set the Titanic aside while I work on the game. It was delivered on the same day I ordered it.

The news is that the infection rate is skyrocketing in the USA. Today in the USA, more than six-hundred sixty people died from the infection.

Nearly, forgot the hymn! I found this one from Fanny Crosby in 1869: Rescue the Perishing.

Today was a stay-cation day for me. I slept in. I was slow to make coffee and to get dressed. I tried to not focus on work that I was not doing–it takes a while to detach from a 7/24 work pace. And it was not long before I was back online moving a vendor software patch (a group of manual OSS notes to those SAP folks out there). I then logged off and unplugged the Nike laptop.

I had left some frozen Italian-styled meatballs in the freezer last time I cooked pasta. I got them out and a jar of sauce. I baked the meatballs and heated about 1/4 of the sauce and toasted some bread. I made a favorite of mine, a meatball sandwich. I used sour cream for the cheese–it is better than other choices (none of which I had anyway).

I left the house after that, I had a check to deposit. There were a few hobby supplies I could use (I was running low on Tamiya super-pure version of lacquer thinner), and a few items would be attractive I am sure (I have some new sanding needles and rigging string .02 mm now), and lastly, the local gaming store might be a nice stop. Of course, this would be followed by a stop at the pharmacy for prescriptions and more house supplies. Must not forget to stop at the ATM and deposit the check!

How could there be traffic! It is after lunchtime, and speeds are slow even for overly polite Oregon standards. The fast lane can only be called that as it is at least running 1/2 the speed limit.

I make it to Tammies Hobbies with mandatory masks now. All the folks are keeping their distances this time. My previous trips were much less attentive to the new local social conventions of six feet apart. Now the attention is now better–I feel a bit safer now. They have a new section full of science fiction models with good coverage of Star Trek. I see the huge Enterprise model and manage to resist it again.

I get a text from Dondrea to get some pictures of our church. I get the flag and the word boards for her. The church is busy, as this is a food day. The church is supplying food to people in need. Everyone with masks but it is hard to hand out food without getting close.

(I have replaced this flag many times–always happy to see it still there. I do have two more ready when some person steals this one)

(One of the signs)

(And here is another one with an interesting choice of words)

There are a lot of homeless and food challenged kids by the church as our church works with organizations to help them. I told them to relax as I was taking pictures of the church, not them. They were sitting in the shade on the grass. They even waved to me as I left.

Hunger does not stop for protests, riots, or viruses, particularly for school-aged kids in a year without school lunches.

Next, I get a call. I have been traveling so slow that I have missed my call with Australia. I have been asked to speak there on computer stuff. So we do the call over the phone while I drive home–I park in a parking lot and finish the call.

The Mastering SAP conference in Australia is going all digital as there is no real way to have folks travel there in October. Steve, the owner of the event company that is putting it on, has created a new format of ten-minute presentations and then interactive discussions and online messaging to make it a positive experience. They want to create a new format that will be worthy of people’s investment of time and money. I will be part of a panel now. I agree to be part of this as I, too, want to be part of a better format. I have to do a video of my slides and then work out with the panel what we will talk about. This is not my comfort zone, but I want to know how to do this kind of communication better. I am signed-up to learn and participate.

Once the call is over, I am at Rainy Day Games parking lot and thus visit the local game store. Everyone has a mask, and social distancing is practiced. A new Dune Expansion has been released! I have been upgrading my copy of this game, Dune, with a new map and new counters. Now there is an expansion. This was a unique game when it came out with the movie so many years ago. It was the first real political game since Diplomacy that is very thematic. The version I have is last year’s re-launch of the game after years of waiting.

I am excited to get this unexpected add-on. It has some new rules and corrections that make me want this virus thing to stop so I can play this six-person game soon. I do suspect that it will wait for the next game convention: The Spice Must Flow!

I stop by the pharmacy and pick up a prescription and some supplies. The staff all know me and wave as I leave. I once got them all passes to the Nike store–one year Nike was very generous with passes so I shared them with the pharmacy. They are always making sure I have my flu shots. I am not sure I get the better, if not sharp, end of the exchange!

Home. Yes, the check is still in the car. I guess I will try tomorrow to get that deposited. Rushed home and read the rules.

Corwin cooks dinner. New York strip steaks. I make the marinade from scratch and it sets the grill nearly on fire. The steaks are Chicago style. Molasses mixed with wine, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce must be a secret rocket fuel mix!

The reports show more than six-hundred forty Americans lost their battle with the virus today. I have a request from Rev. Anne Weld-Martin to share this song: We Rise Again.