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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.

I got started about 9ish today, finally sleeping the night.

Today I wanted to finish all the figures I started. I had not got as far yesterday as I was too social. Today I was going to keep the social interaction down, and I will resist the urge to play a board game.

Mostly I succeeded, but the figures are not entirely done. These are figures for War of the Worlds: The New Wave board game.

I started yesterday, and I primed, and dry brushed the sides of the alien building to bring out the detail. I painted all the other figure black and then misted them from above with a white primer. This brings out the feature and helps create the 3-D look in the models. I use Citadel Chaos Black and Tamiya Fine Surface Primer White, always. The human buildings are just straight walls–there is no detail to bring out. I also thought the battleship, tank, and aliens did not need any more detail brought out. When I am doing 28mm Dungeons and Dragons figures, I often have to dry-brush them to get the details to come out.

(the initial work has an X-ray look)

This next thing is to paint with a wash like paints. I have a small bottle made up of the proper ratio of water to flow enhancers that you can get at an art store. I use Liquitex Flow Aid Acrylic Fluid. Do not use it straight–trust me–it is supposed to be diluted.  You want the white and black of the primer to show through the paint, and you want the tints much reduced.

(my flow bottle and the start of painting)

The colors are just painted on with a larger brush, I use the regimental brush from Army Painters, to get the base colors. Mistakes are easily corrected later, so I do not spend much time on being too careful.

(the flying saucer in front is just painted with a flow enhanced steel color and the dark edges are not the light but the dark shading)

(here are all the figures I am working on in various points of work–this was about 7ish this evening)

Continuing with the narrative, I then apply ink to bring out the lines and to darken the color and make it more irregular, making it look more real. I did not mix my own color but used Dark Tone from Army Painters tonight. Actually, it was too dark, and I had to dry brush metal back on the figures to brighten them up.

The tanks are just green. I just mixed Army Green from Army Painters with a flow enhancer to get a nice 3-D look. Most of the shading work is then done by the primer, and I will just do touch-up and maybe some dry brushing. I then added Soft Tone from Army Painters to add some brown to the look. The problems with the inks are that they dry lighter than when you put them on. My tanks look dirty and worn when inked, but appear slightly dusting when the ink dries.

(two uninked and two still wet from ink tanks)

The battleships are more complicated as they require seascape, waterline red color, black stacks, white boats, and then battleship gray. I did the sea with a blue wash to let some of the primer shade come through. I then added white for foam and washed the sea with dark blue ink to make it look like water with waves. I have to add battleship gray and touch-ups.

I got to the tripods, and they need more work on the base and add some highlights and maybe a purple ink. The shading is done again by the underlying primer white and black coming through the metal color.

I am not sure other than some touch-up if this is creepy enough now. Purple shading would not make it look any better.

The flying saucers are mostly done with just some ink for the ground needed. I painted the death ray, white, then yellow, then orange at the base, and again white at the top. I finished it with a light red ink that pooled on the base.

(notice it is brighter on top from dry brushing a hint of metal, but it is still dark on the edges)

I find this new way of painting produces some easy highlighting. It prevents me from painting different layers for different light.

(These are Brother Vinny’s figures done with a black priming coat, white light spray, dry brush white, and then flow enhancer paints)

Returning to the start of the day, I did the dishes from the previous day and then had a salad for lunch. I connected with the church folks on Zoom twenty minutes late around 2ish+. I ordered and picked up Papa Murphy pizza today.

Today over five-hundred thirty people who reside in the USA died from the infection.

I found one I know that I have not done yet! Sweet, Sweet Spirit is known as Methodist Hymnal #334 and is one I can actually sing. It is a good one for all that has been happening.