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Today started with grocery delivery from Safeway. I needed cake flour to make a cake today. Corwin’s birthday is today, and he asked for anything other than a yellow cake.

I was up before eight this morning to get the groceries. I nearly slept through the delivery last time, so I set the alarm to get me up. I woke before the alarm and was up with plenty of time. I put away the groceries and put the butter out to soften for the cake.

I had setup 18Chesapeake last night before heading to bed. I wanted to try it out again after the groceries were delivered. Slip it in before everyone woke up.

I managed to re-read the rules and found most of what I did wrong and learned how to run the stock market simulator and the operational round with more confidence. I did not have to return to the rules as much as the first dry-run. This is not a solo capable game, so I played two players.

The game flow was better. It looked quick interesting as you spend the stock phase running your wealth and ownership. In the operational phase, you run the floated train companies with paying dividends or not and driving the stock price up or down. I still had problems understand what a “route” is and why you cannot run it twice and the restrictions on different routes. I will have to read some more and maybe watch some videos as I am now getting too specific issues. I was happy with my improvements and put it away–I have a cake to make!

I managed to make Corwin a Chocolate Torte for his birthday. I have never made one before. I have a wonderful cookbook, The Cake Bible, that I use for baking. I followed the recipe “Perfect All-American Chocolate Torte” to make the dessert. Corwin and Susie liked it.

We used the fun lotus candle and Susie sang.

I also tried to make some Orange Chiffon Cupcakes, and they are best to be forgotten.

Dinner was from Wild Buffalo Wings, and one order had no sauce. We are not sure if it was them or us. We will be more careful next time. Corwin wanted WBW for his birthday.

Mom, Barb Wild, is still in the hospital. They are again running labs and trying to work out what to do. My sister, Linda Wild, is helping where she can.

I have to work tonight to finish an upgrade. It is already Tuesday in India.

I will have to make this short.

Reports today count over five-hundred deaths from the virus today on Memorial Day 2020. It is Memorial Day 2020 and so we will go with Taps.

Today I missed everyone, yes, everyone. Summer is here, and we should be traveling or visiting or maybe playing Twilight Imperium with Casey and friends. Beer and steaks somewhere, not here at the Volvo Cave. Traffic should be a problem. We should be overcrowded in some bar in Portland, drinking something made here. Maybe a concert on the river standing-room-only. I miss it.

Today started later, as it is Sunday. I watched the online church, and I will leave it that I did not attend any more online church after that.

I have to admit I bingle watched more of The Man From U.N.C.L.E first season (1964) today. It is an old black and white, somewhat hopeful TV show with the USA and the Soviet Union working together to ensure the safety of the world. The show was created just before all the actors that play as guest stars are picked up for their own shows. For example, I and sure you would be surprised to see Leonard Nemoy (Mr. Spock) using a Russia-like accent as a stooge in an embassy with Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) as the ambassador and William Shatner (Capt. Kirk) as a chemist all in the same episode. About half-way through the first season, the acting and writing started to work. I was at first disappointed, and now I enjoy the wacky plots and excellent heroes and villains. I cannot recommend it, but I enjoy it.

I also had bad news from Michigan today. My mother is in the hospital with low sodium and is being kept overnight. So I spent much time waiting and talking and texting. My sister, Linda, in Michigan is handling this the best she can.

Yesterday I also received word from India that the villages I visited so many years ago were damaged by the recent cyclone. This picture from India is from the Kakinada area in AP from my friend Rev. John. I believe I have been to this house or drove by it. I know where it is on a map!

Please help India as they are in lockdown and now this disaster at the same time. You can use UMCOR and ask to help the Kakinada area (specifically the Komaragiri, Nemam, and Pithapuram villages), or I can put you in contact directly with Rev. John if you would like to know more.

So much went wrong today, but we did manage dinner well. Corwin cooked ribeye steaks perfectly on the grill. We had Stella for beer. I washed and made the salad. The lettuce is from the veggie box we got from Olympia Provisions and had to be debugged. It is from a real farm and had clearly shown the lack of pesticides we expect from local food. I washed the lettuce three times. I remember when Susie was working in the Hebrew Home, and the Rabbi would clean all the lettuce over and over. I was finding my inner Rabbi today! We finished the baked potatoes on the grill, and that made them a bit crunchy and tasty. So dinner was perfect–may be blessed!

More than six-hundred Americans perished from the virus today. The New York Times listed the names of all the Americans they know that have died with a few words on some. The death rate has fallen today to March’s levels. The infection rate is holding the same for the last three weeks. I found this “Thank you, Lord.”

 

 

 

This morning was a near mistake. I had not slept much for days, and so I slept into 9:30. The phone rang, missed the call, and then heard the truck! I ran out in my robe and stopped the Safeway truck. I had slept through the delivery of our groceries–I was once again having groceries delivered. With the use of a mask now becoming a political statement, I believe it is no longer safe to head back into Safeway, so I will order my groceries again.

I was initially ordering all my groceries online, and then the deliveries windows were weeks out. It appears that Safeway and others have fixed this so I can order again. Now I feel I have too.

I started on a DIY project. A model room in a book store: Sam’s Study. I managed to get started and then put it away to play a board game.

We decided to try Fury of Dracula, one of my best games. It is a hidden movement game that is the hunt of Dracula. One player is Dracula, and everyone else is hunting the vampire. It is now in its third version (with a fourth edition that is a reprint).

I made Pork Vindaloo today from the same recipe I used before, but that time I used chicken. It was a great success with pork. It is not an easy dish to make, but I am getting more comfortable as I have now done it more than once.

While I was waiting for that, I managed to get a few pictures of my roses. I am not sure what the name of this one is. It looks like a David Austin Rose.

And this rose, with the substantial sharp thorns, is lovely to look at. It is just getting going now.

I did have to get out and get gas for the gas grill. Corwin goofed and forgot to turn it off last time. Happens. Steaks for Sunday. Grilling is mandated this weekend I think.

I also, while keeping distance, went over to the next door’s backyard to see the amazing landscaping Chris is doing. He is putting doing a dry stream in the back. We talked, and it better to work on your house and maybe add rooms than try to buy something and remodel it. Homes are just too expensive.

About the board game, I played Dracula and won. I defeated the hunters three times and managed to score one vampire placed. As Dracula, I managed to circle around the hunters in Germany and France–they thought I was in the East. The hunters found one of my vampires and then had terrible luck and were defeated by it twice.

More than one-thousand people lost their lives to the virus today in the USA. The song is a country version of a hymn, but I like the fiddle playing: Lord, I am Coming Home.

Today is the beginning of Summer 2020. Nike closed at noon this Friday for summer hours. It feels strange to start summer hours and even summer in lockdown.

I worked all-night again. Getting some sleep from 3 to 7 and then a nap this afternoon. I am done with work until after the holiday, India time: Monday night late.

As it was summer now, I decided to cook my lunch. Found pork tenderloins wrapped in smoked bacon in the freezer. Defrost those with running water in the sink. I found a can of baked beans. I fried the fillets in a pan browning each side while heating the beans in a pan. I then put the pan in the oven 425F for ten minutes (too long actually) and then when done (overdone) used the pan, being careful to use oven mitts to hold the hot pan, added butter to the crunches in the pan and bourbon just a touch. I also added bourbon to the beans. I put the pan sauce on the tenderloin and served with beans.

I overcooked the tenderloin, but it was still good.

Susie was up about noon today. She had more scones.

I got out my matt and terrain items with work finishing and lunch baking. I used to play Frostgrave, and so has a collection of fantasy ruins for 28mm scale figures. I set up a “smash and grab” scenario for Pulp Alley.

I was playing by myself just to learn the rules and see how it felt. I had to get some markers for damage. I have some replaced Scythe parts that worked perfectly. I bought more “bling” for Scythe, and the more plain original wooden parts are now extra.

I played my first game. It plays fast, and I had to look up only a few rules. I thought it too simple, so I had my two leagues fight it out. That was a lot more interesting.

I finished lunch, took a nap, and reset the game. I played another game for four turns. It again played fine. The Fortune and Reward cards really make the game fun. I avoided combat between the two teams this time. I rolled more normal results this time–the first game I had unusually good rolls–and the gameplay was better.

I think the normal rules with scenarios with more details would really improve this.

I received my Dangerous Dames cards for Pulp Alley and figures from Canada for the Kickstarter. So more metal figures to paint!

I received an email from Pulp Alley. They have my order for the complete rules and cards, but they need to delay it until more cards are printed. I replied that it was OK and sent them a picture of the set-up. Dave replied and said he loved the pic and told me to email them any questions on how to play. The world of the Internet supported gaming is just so fun!

Dinner is KFC delivered today.

I am still sleepy from the no sleep for three days. So a short set of stories today.

The stock market went up and down and ended close to where it started. The market is up for the week.

(you can see the check-mark recovery in the one-year chart)

The V-shaped recovery is still not happening as the market cannot get above 25,000.

In news to make you purchase a red flag and wave it, Zuckerberg of Facebook is collecting information where employees are now living and planning to cut their pay because of their reduced cost to come to work and the lower labor costs in some markets. So if an employee moves to a rural area to reduce their cost of living–now permanently working from home, they will be paid less now. According to the same report, there is also no plan to reduce executive pay as that would lose their access to executive talent. This does come to mind.

Today it was reported that Oregon has 47 new infections and 2 more deaths from the virus. Also, today more than one-thousand two-hundred people died in the USA from the virus. I found a summer hymn to remember our loss: RUTH-SUMMER SUNS ARE GLOWING.

I worked again through the night with India. It is a bit hard today, and this afternoon I felt unwell and took another nap. I am trying to finish this work, which is on the critical path for the big project I am on. This is the second system for the same upgrade, and so we have fixes for all the breaks. I am doing my all-nighter on the upgrade and then working my regular day taking naps when I slow-down or feel unwell from the lack of sleep.

Last night after I finished the previous blog, I made scones. Before the emergency, I bought a mixed case of scone mix from King Arthur Flour. It is cheaper to buy a case full, and we often would make two boxes a week. The mix makes perfect scones. Now that does mean cutting in cold butter into the mix with a pastry knife (you can use a fork if you are more patient than me). They should be just undercooked with bits of brown.

Today it was a sunny day, but a cold wind from the desert came. I skipped the walk today.

I thought some more pictures of my roses would be a good item for today. I walked around and took a few pictures.

My only surviving David Austin Rose, The Herbalist, is in full bloom and brightens the front of the house.

The moss rose is getting started now.

And finally the Cardinal Richelieu, the bad guy in the Three Musketeers, Rose has bloomed with its true colors. This rose will fade within hours of being cut.

This rose is hidden in my backyard as, for most of the year, it is just a bunch of sticks with thorns. It blooms once at the start of summer.

Here is my theme song: Jimmy Buffett “Pencil Thin Mustache/Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit/Boat Drinks” Live. With the holiday coming…

Lunch was ordered from La Provence again. This time I had the tuna sandwich. I could only eat half of it. Susie’s Tiramisu is still in the frig–she has had a lot of scones!

I watched Bloomberg while working. I keep my own computer on Bloomberg, and I order lunch on it. The Nike computer is the one I do work on. I watched the stock market go up and then down. The discussions now are moving from a V-shaped recovery to a Check-mark-shaped recovery (which is something like not as good as V-shaped but not the dreaded L-shaped recovery). My 401K has improved back to -4.7 percent down for the year. I am hoping to break-even at the 1/2 year. The market was driven up by check-mark talk and driven down by China-bashing from various sources.

I did not get back to Pulp Alley today. I did cut out the cards for the game in the free downloads. I just have to put down a matt, some 28mm terrain, and play. I have the little tape measurers for Frostgrave. I hope to play this over the holiday weekend.

(I put in some 28mm Doctor Who figures that never get much use for scale)

Today more than one-thousand four-hundred people died from the virus in the USA. The infection rate is stable but not yet declining. It was reported that the actual stating of infection rates is now a political statement–deep breath required. Today’s song is for those folks we lost today and the medical works which are the witness of their passing and for those who grieve: The Holy City.