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I spent lunch at Cedar Hills McMenamins with a friend. We had burgers and drinks, Monkey Puzzle Tree Whiskey for my friend and Ruby beer for me–both made by McMenamins. Even with the wind and rain, we asked for a table outside just out of the rain. Less chance of virus transmission we figure with the wind and the rain, and when the kids all showed up, they stayed inside. I was a bit cold after lunch, but it was much safer. Still odd to see your waiter more aligned to robbing you than serving you. I gave my credit card to the wrong waiter–they had similar bandanas over their face. I then noticed my waiter had dark eyes and hair to match. I will have to pay more attention, I learned in this new world of half masked people.

Also, we started at Old Chicago Pizza, but they are still closed to dine-in. Their website says they are open for dining. We left and headed to McMenamins. It was strange that after more than eighty days, they are still trying to open! They said they would be open on Monday.

Returning to lunch, we also talked about my Howard stories and how or even if they should be published. The verdict is to publish them. I will pursue some local publishers and a publisher I like.

Aside: I am also revising the last story after Susie said that it was well written but she has little idea of what was going on. I am adding a “Spock” moment to his story. This is a moment you see on the old show when Capt. Kirk says in effect, “Spock explains why it is a big deal.” I am enjoying writing the new mini-story.

On the way back, I stopped by Rainy Day Games. I saw a Cyberpunk 2020 supplement the last time I visited and decided I wanted it, Wild Side. This game is not one I play at this time, and indeed, the emergency makes close quarters role-playing games impossible, but I like the material and see it as a source for ideas. I might even play it someday. The space supplement, Deep Space, is my favorite and describes a near-future of space travel in the solar system. Including such useful information as the communication delays for planets in the solar system (i.e., communication delay to Pluto ranges from 240+ to 417+ minutes). It introduces ARG as something for all space travelers to remember: Atmosphere, Radiation, and Gravity. The things you need and getting them wrong will cause you to go “arg.” The game is ironically called 2020 as it was written in the 1980-90s, creating a story of a dystopian nightmare for Earth after 2000 with the game then set twenty more years into a dystopian corporate SciFi version of today.

Cyberpunk 2020 has one basic rules for the players:

The rules:

1. 1. Style Over Substance
   2. Attitude is Everything
   3. Always take it to the Edge
   4. Break the Rules

Again, I do not actively play this game, but it is interesting. It is in the second edition. A new 2030 version is planned to be published this year. The emergency likely will delay this–almost like it is part of the mythos of Cyberpunk…

Here is some music to fit (highly recommended): Adagio For TRON – Daft Punk.

Not working on Cyberpunk or anything computers this day. Instead, I am working on my smaller 1/700 RMS Titanic Model with LED lights. Academy has produced a model already drilled for all the lights (often, you have to drill hundreds of holes to light a model of the Titanic) and provides two correctly colored hull pieces to avoid painting the waterline. The bottom hull is optional, allowing for a easy water-line lighted model.

I have purchased brass etched replacement parts and wooden deck overlays add-ons. This means I have to cut away the cast railings and ladders on the decks. This took hours and I am finally almost ready to assemble something. The brass etched replacement parts come with color directions on what to change on the model (this is the forward boat deck and bridge area and you can see I have removed some railing above the 1st Class Smoking Room near where the band played).

I made Chicken Cordon Blue from frozen–I get them from the Schwans truck. I made mashed potatoes (shockingly I made them from actually mashing potatoes and not from instant–Gene is smiling somewhere). I got out the recipe book and made Hollandaise Sauce from scratch (the lemon juice I will admit is from a plastic lemon, all I had). Dinner was approved by all. Pears from a can–yes, my favorite Free Stone Del Monte pears–was the fruit. Susie liked it!

Protest continues in Portland. The police use of tear gas in Portland has been restricted to “unless there is a serious and immediate threat to life safety, and there is no other viable alternative for dispersal.” I thought this was always true. My education continues.

The reports are quite difficult for me today. The infection rate is again increasing with California, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, and Florida eclipsing New York State for new infections. Today more than seven hundred people are reported slain in the USA by the virus, including two people here in Oregon. I opened the Methodist Hymnal, and it just turned to hymn 305 Camian, Pueblo de Dios (Walk On, O People of God), and I found this friendly version. So look up the translation if your Spanish is weak, with 6/8, and an easy refrain the hymn is easy to follow.

 

 

 

 

 

I slept in a bit and got started at about 6:30ish for work online at home. Meetings went on all day until about noon. I forgot my haircut appointment was in the morning and had meetings and crises of the moment through it. I was rescheduled to the evening.

Our software was finally approved to move to the next level of testing. It is very freshly written code as we had some set-backs last week that made us write some custom code to handle a conversion. The team is very excited to get this software in use.

I collected Susie and Corwin to head to dinner. Yes, dinner out! We got to Red Robin and were given a table that was surrounded by other tables with balloons. Nobody sits at those. The staff tried to keep all the customers apart. The tabletop was wet with hand sanitizer when we sat down, and paper menus and silverware wrapped in paper napkins were left for us. The waiter never got more than three feet and was usually six feet away and masked, of course.

For the most part, it worked. The little kids that were running around worried me. The parents did not seem to be concerned. I was. The food was delivered by a person with gloves and a mask that was very careful to keep it all safe. When we left, we had to walk by a lot of masked staff. Some recognized me, and I think, it is hard to tell with the masks on, I knew them.

So Red Robin was a mixed experience. The staff was working hard to make us feel safe. Some of our fellow dinners were not being careful enough. But the staff was delighted to see us and did everything they could to make us feel safe.

I dropped Susie and Corwin off at the house and then drove to Zerida’s place at the House of Hair near the Bridgeport Mall. I had to wait until she finished her current appointment, clean, and then meet me at the door and walk me into her space. Very safe.

I then drove back and checked by the church. The pride flag was still on the church–I replaced it a few weeks ago after it was pulled down. It looks good on the church. I then drove home.

The stock market went up a huge amount today. The unemployment rate was announced to be about 13%, and not 20% or worse. This threw the market into a buying frenzy. Later it was announced that the number could have a three present error, and 16-17% was a more correct number. Not sure what Monday’s market will do as a reaction to the misinformation.

I ordered a AA battery charger for Pastor Dr. Wayne Weld-Martin and delivered it today. Wayne has a remote control plane and needed some rechargeable batteries to keep it flying. I just ordered it from Amazon, and it was here the next day. I should also mention the plaque of the Prayer of St. Francis for Peace to President Trump was delivered. Let us hope the plaque helps!

The reports are showing the active infection rate is headed back up in the USA, and today more than nine-hundred people died from the virus here in the USA. Something from Martin Luther for today: Out of the Depth I Cry to Thee.

Today started again with early meetings. I was up at 6ish and in my first Zoom meeting by 7:30. This was more data flow discussion. The workday was full of crises of the moment and Zoom meetings. The end of the day was another team meeting on racism and how we are all trying to understand the issues our country is facing. It left me sad and depressed, but I am happy to see our immediate leadership trying to help.

But as usual, lunch was the highlight of the day for me. Susie was dressed and ready by 1ish and so we drove over to the Golden Valley Brewery (GVB) and had lunch. Yes, lunch and beer with waiters and all that.

Actually, seeing people who we did not know and having food I did not have delivered or made ourselves was a treat!

So we had a nice lunch at the GVB, with me having fish and chips and meatloaf for Susie. Steve was our waiter, and he was at the car wash if you remember from the very beginning of the blogs on lockdown, which was the last time I was there with the wait staff. GVB raised more than $2000 to help its staff at the car wash. I have picked up some beer a few times there and have received their email that they were reopening this week.

Our first lunch in eighty days!

The stock market went up some and down some. The discussion on Bloomberg, I watch Bloomberg while working from home, was just as confused as the market. The NASDAQ has already recovered and is in new record territory (sinking about 67 points today after yesterday breaking a record).

Yes, my 401K is now positive for the year. My prediction that I would break-even by June was off by a few days. I will try to do better (laughing) next time.

Today the country said goodbye Mr. Floyd today. The Oregonian reported tonight the statement “We do not have justice, so we do not have peace,” from a person in the crowd of the protesters in Portland. “We can be non-violent, but we cannot be peaceful.”

Dinner was lasagna. I made it from scratch. I used the no-boil very thin pasta. I do not like thick pasta for lasagna. I often make the pasta from scratch, but this very thin no-boil pasta works perfectly for me.

We finished the Moulin Rouge movie today while having some Purple Cow wine and having the lasagna.

The reports show more than one-thousand people were slain by the virus today in the USA. The active infection curve continues to point down. I thought it would be good to pick something old for today and the Morman Tabernacle Choir did a nice version: Faith of Our Fathers.

Today the riots cooled a bit into protests. Work began again at 6AM, which I was more ready for. I did drink almost a pot of coffee to get through the morning working from home still. The work was mostly status meetings, discussion on how data flows in the existing systems, and a few conversations about getting things built in the testing systems.

The day ended with a discussion with our team about how folks are doing. It ended with me sad and tears in my eyes. I am greatly saddened by how hard the racism still present in the USA is hurting my co-workers from around the world. I am heartbroken.

I had chicken noodle soup from a can for lunch. Corwin and I made Jambalaya from a box mix for dinner with sausage from Olympia Provisions that we still have. No seafood as Susie is allergic to fish. It is comfort food.

The stock market ignoring the virus, the battles in our cities, the racism exposed, and unemployment of 1 in 4 went up so fast it must have made a sonic boom! Nike stock reached more than $104 a share today. The stock market is showing a V-shaped recovery, while other indicators are showing a checkmark-shaped recovery.

We watched about half of the movie Moulin Rouge as I like the music–this is the new version of the story. I am sticking to musicals for a while. They seem to help me re-focus.

We had a request for this song: Alaska Hymn.

The reported infection rate, as measured by active cases, finally went down in the USA.

More than one-thousand people were reported to have died from the virus today in the USA. Here is a song to remember our loss today from St. John Methodist in Alaska: St. John UMC Virtual Choir “Take Root In My Heart”.

Work started with me sleeping too late and being quite late for my first meeting. I then had a crisis of the moment and a few more items. Mostly it was a day of trying to finish up loose ends on our recent delivery of software and getting ready to start the planning for the next quarter of work. The migraine headache did not help.

The news is full of the cologne of chaos, the smell of black powder, and odor of tear gas. I am very angry, but I will not dwell on the obvious here.

While all this was ongoing, total chaos, Susie had her first day out in more than 78 days for nails, hair, face, and so on. The state has unlocked stylists and off Susie went. Also, her driver Muhammad is back to take her. So we finally have Susie back to her normal schedule!

I made lunch from some hot dogs, sauerkraut, pickled beets, and pickled carrots. Most of these are leftovers from our previous orders. Susie had Eggos for breakfast-lunch.

I picked out this song for Susie’s first big day: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). I hope you will play it–it is just fun.

The headache is not terrible, so I was able to watch the stock market ignore the virus, the perfume of chaos in our cities in the USA, and the unemployment number that suggests one-quarter of the country is out of work and shoot up like a rocket. My 401K losses are now reduced to -1.1 percent for the year. My thought to break even by June failed, but I think by the end of June I will be in the black for the year. My investment plan is simple, belief in the USA economy and continuously buy the markets.

I made Pork Vindaloo again for dinner. Corwin thought it excellent.

I wish I could make this more interesting, but I am tired, and the light hurts my eyes.

The deaths from the virus reported is over one-thousand, one-hundred today. The current infection number still appears to be coming down. I picked a prayer for today, Prayer of St. Francis,(Make Me A Channel of Your Peace) sung by Angelina, EWTN, as it seemed to be something we need today.

And you are not the only one that I sent this prayer too, I sent a wall plaque from Amazon to President Trump with this prayer on it. I hope it will help him find peace.

If he just read that prayer on TV I sent him, imagine the good that might happen!

Look for us here in Aloha, Oregon, where the smell of chaos has not yet reached, trying to find peace and a means to share it!