Today we played the classic Dungeons and Dragon adventure called “The Tomb of Horrors” initially published in the 1970s online. “The Tomb of Horrors” was designed as a convention adventure that was later published to be used with the newly published revised version of the game, then known as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. These rules are now open and available as OSRIC rules, Old School Reference and Index Compilation.

Today we played online in Roll20 with new color art, maps with automatic lighting effect, video chat, and automatic rolling and descriptions of spells cast. The new online version of the same adventure. The last battle was still hard on the players. One player’s character was knocked out. But the evil undead Acererak, the villain in the story, was destroyed with the players gaining vast treasure and powerful magic as they finished looting Acererak’s tomb. It was a romp!

I played this in the original rules in 1979, I think, with the old rules. I still remember it.

Today work started with video conferences and emails at home at about 6:30AM. I woke at 6:00 with my alarm and then rolled over for just a second. It was 6:30 when I woke again. The day ended with a meeting of the directors that work for my boss for a staff meeting at about 5:30. I am scheduled for a meeting with India at 2:30AM Tuesday morning.

Corwin made dinner, baked spaghetti with Italian sausage. It was good and I had to eat while running the game as we start at 6:30PM every Monday. Lunch was from Gyro House, a Lamb Gyro. Lentil soup and baklava for Susie.

I can’t believe we are hit the fiftieth day.  We are hearing that California is starting to release the lockdown a tiny bit on Friday. Oregon will likely align with California and Washington rules. There is a thought that we will be allowed to return to church on Pentecost Sunday. We discussed in the staff meeting all the people we don’t see anymore. We are working in just the small circle of people we need to get tasks done. No seeing all the other folks we would just see and talk to. I miss the desk staff and the baristas in the morning.

The stock market was up just a bit today. The president is talking about a trade war with China. Today the story was a bit not too terrible and not so good–the market just swayed back and forth. The markets did hear from Warren Buffet today, and he is not happy. He sold his airline stocks and has a pile of money, but no cheap stocks to buy. Remember, interest rates are near zero. The Fed and Central Banks are pouring in liquidity into the economy, there are no bargains on good companies. That was why they did it–to keep the companies alive through the emergency. But some weaker companies are at risk; J Crew declared bankruptcy today. Neiman Marcus is showing signs of going the same way.

The reports are that the virus killed more than one-thousand three-hundred Americans today, a slight increase over yesterday. I found this song to remember all the people we lost today, I do not know, but I liked it: Raise Me Up.

Tonight we replaced the cornbread muffins that I made from scratch with the most excellent Famous Dave’s brand from a box. Perfect! Dinner was my reworking of Susie’s dietetic meatloaf recipe. Bread crumbs, apple sauce, one egg, Worcestershire Sauce, a pound of 80% lean ground beef, and because we are Americans and Susie and I are both from the Midwest, stuffed with cheddar cheese–Oregon Tillamook cheese! Susie usually uses oats in place of the breadcrumbs (did not have them). It was acceptable to Susie.

Lunch was made by Corwin. He took the leftover kielbasa and other meats and added to the Kraft Deluxe Mac and Cheese. Yes, we have been cheesy all day. I had the rest of the Jambalaya leftovers, but I did try the lunch. Cheesy!

I suspect our cholesterol levels will reach new highs. I suspect we will have to find some fruits and veggies to live off for a month to fix that. Oh my!

I received my little umbrellas from Amazon today for my meetings at Nike. I thought it was time to start having little umbrellas in my drinks, usually water (no really!), while in the meetings. Last week I changed my background to tropical and put on my pith helmet for Zoom meetings. Now I have the little umbrellas to put my glass during the meetings. I am ready for next week’s video-a-thons.

I have been working on electronics much of the day between chores. I have not built that much as put away the last six-month or more of new gadgets and other cool items. It took most of the day. I have a large tool cabinet now full of more cool stuff.

I also tried again to make my lightning detector well detect. So far, no luck. I have a device that simulates a lightning strike, but it is not being detected. I don’t know if the detectors are faulty or my generator is faulty. So that project is on the back-burner now. I am still working on the radios, and that is working. I ordered more from Sparkfun as the two I have are just enough to test. I need one to put in the robot and one to put in the controller. So I am short at least one.

Corwin has suggested for years that I should build some props out of all the cool stuff. Today I started on that plan. I have an excellent encoder you can control the LEDs that light it and is on a break-out that makes it all software control. I have some old fashioned needle meters. I have piles of NeoPixels I would connect up. So I have started by painting a box black, yes, a “black-box.” I have some Expresses from AdaFruit I wanted to use for something. They can control speakers. So I think I have a place to start.

Turning to the news, the reports are that the American death’s from the virus fell to just over one-thousand one-hundred-fifty this Sunday. I went with an old Church of England hymn: Just as I Am. We remember all those who came before us and those we lost today.

Today was a typical rainy day here in the Portland area. One of Susie’s doctors called and asked me how she was and rescheduled her eye appointments. The doctor offices are coming out of lock-down now, and they are calling to work out what to do. Susie is well, so the doctor has put off her next appointment until July.

I made lunch and dinner. We just had pancakes and bacon for lunch-dinner. I had a few cornbread muffins for breakfast. They are terrible–I bought mixes for next time, Famous Dave’s. Susie also had a late snack of Eggos.

I can smell the solder on me. When I was a little kid, dad was always working on electronics, and the smell of solder is something that makes me happy. I was working on my robot projects today. More parts came from Sparkfun today!

My RFM69 transceivers are here. These are neat newish hardware that replaces all the underperforming versions I have worked with before. These are good for 300 meters, are low power, and have excellent support with breakouts made for these by both Sparkfun and Adafruit.

I built one test platform and put headers on the matching transceivers so I could use my usual jumpers on it. I was able to get them to pass data between each other (once I got the network and node numbers correct). I am using something newish. There is a new 3.3V Arduino Pro that I have soldered into the test platform. Interestingly these Arduino Pro also works in Python, but I had trouble making that work, so I returned to C++. I am am very comfortable in C++, but there is so much cool available in Python. I prefer it now.

(This is the test platform all soldered together)

(This is the Arduino Pro with headers connect to the RFM69 by jumpers)

The Arduino Pro is stripped down, and so I use a serial-to-USB device to upload programs and to read the serial communication. The output of serial I/O is copied to the port so I can monitor what is happening on the device. It is incredible how far these devices have come from the original Italian device made for a class on microprocessors. And how can I not love a device named after an Italian bar? These are best for single-threaded work: the ATmega328 based device is not fast, but the blue-smoke Gini has never appeared for me.

I had a few snacks for dinner. I was just enjoying getting a few bits working on my robot stuff and skipped making dinner.

I called my friend Michelle Smith and she was baking. She got a recipe from the British Baking Show and was making special cinnamon rolls. She sent me pictures. Excellent! I think the whole USA is baking.

The reports are that the virus has taken over one-thousand six-hundred Americans today. I picked one of my favorites that I can sing to remember these people, their medical workers who are witnesses to their deaths, and their friends and family: It Is Well With My Soul.

 

It is always strange to have just a normal day, and that is what we had today.

Susie was up before noon, and we had chicken noodle soup together from a can for lunch. Corwin is going for a hike and will be back tomorrow. It is just Susie and me tonight.

Today, May 1, Oregon opens up dentist offices.  Other states are opening in various ways, and some have reversed the opening after seeing their numbers.

The USA does not celebrate May Day. Years ago Susie’s sister, Barb, went to the Soviet Union and bought a poster, here it is for May Day:

(the image is split into three signs–these are the best–hanging in the third bedroom)

Dinner was late as I was tired again and took a nap that lasted too late. I made tacos but promised Susie pancakes and bacon for Saturday (we are out of bacon).

Today we reached the last paper towel roll. I had bought a set each time we had groceries delivered before it was fashionable to buy too much paper towel. I also worked from home each time I had a cough or sneezes (from allergies) before that was required. I guess I am style-leader, who would think that?

Returning to today’s story, I spoke to Dan Gray about an issue at the church today. To set the stage, you need to know that Dan and I replace the Gay Pride flag that flies from the side of the church when someone needs it. We try not to overly attach it to the church as then there is often no damage to repair when the flag vanishes. When that happens, Dan or I just install the next one–I think we have replaced it more than six times. Occasionally one of the other church people decides to replace and firmly attach the flag to the church without talking to us. Last time the people who took the flag had to work at it and broke the pole, took the flag and busted the pole holding rig. Thus we had to buy a new flag, pole, and pole holding rig and put all back together again. We do place a little bolt in the pole to stop the weather from blowing the pole out of the platform. We recovered one flag from a weather event!

Today we have a new experience. We still have the flag. The pole is broken. The rig may be broken–Dan will check. But the church door has graffiti. That is new. Dan, and I agree,  thinks this is not another attack on our Gay Pride statement with the flag, but just kids stuff.

I have gone to Amazon (still confused about how Amazon could miss their earnings with all the business I am giving them–Amazon reported earning yesterday) and ordered new flags, poles, and a new rig.  I also found a cool security camera. Dan and I have been thinking about putting security coverage on the door and flag, so we can let those who needed our flags explain that need clearly to law officials. We have resisted so far. It was less threatening to just buy a new flag (we are in the forgiveness business), but graffiti has pushed us a bit further. The cool camera has a four-month battery, so we just recharge it every few months. It is on the way. I can always use it here at the house if we think it is still over-kill for a Methodist Church with a Gay Pride Flag in downtown Beaverton.

The stock market continued to sink. Mr. Musk could not resist making headlines and said that the stock in his company Tesla is over-priced. Tesla’s stock price is now not as over-priced. Apple’s refusal to give guidance for the year now thas the market is a bit spooked.

The reports, on this May Day and when some restrictions are being lifted in some states, are that more than one-thousand eight-hundred people died from the virus in the USA. It was also reported that certain political cronies are trying to have Florida underreport deaths from the virus. It makes one remember the scene in the movie Jaws when the local politicians prevent the sheriff from closing the beaches. This makes the choice of the hymn easy today, Trust and Obey.

 

 

Again, a short story today.

Today was a mostly regular day at home working from home. I went out to get the mail and got hailed-on while the sun was out. Yes, Oregon’s weather is back to normal.

While at the virtual workday, the crisis of the moment happened or, as happens more often now, was declared not ready, and the meeting is delayed–within hours or often minutes of the scheduled meeting. I was able, as many of my fellow workers undoubtedly also do, to ignore the video conferences and do the work during the discussions. So I slipped in some actual work today.

After working online all day, I was unusually tired (still am). I managed to make dinner of baked chicken and rice with canned peaches instead of a cooked veggie of some sort. I have discovered a fantastic canned product of peaches: DelMonte Freestone Sliced Peaches. The story is that as the emergency began and online delivery failed, I had to buy groceries in person and saw the peaches and grabbed a lot from the shelves of Safeway. Various other fruit was sold-out, but the slightly more expensive peaches were plentiful. When we opened a canned later, we discovered peach heaven in heavy syrup (most of the syrup is poured down the drain).  We now have at least one can in the frig. I like my peaches cold.

This reminds me that today we had a unique lunch experience, lost lunch. I went on Grubhub while in a video conference and ordered a couple of burgers from RedRobin around 10AM. As lunchtime approached, the food did not approach. I received updates that my lunch was delayed. Grubhub has a screen that lets you track the progress of delivery on a map. I saw the driver icon drive towards Portland on highway 26–that is not picking up the food, nor will you reach my house that way. I went to the help screens which took me back to the map where my driver was now in the West Hills nearing Portland–not my definition of “help.” I tried “help” again and discovered I was expected to text or call the driver. Apparently, food delivery is my problem. Grubhub just supplies the website and the connections for a driver, a lunch provider, and the purchaser of lunch. So I texted the driver after finding the driver’s contact information on the map screen. No response after ten minutes.

I found the chat option after I picked the “Other” issue for my food not being delivered in “help.” I was at first the 52nd in the queue. I watched the number tick-down in ten minutes and finally, Isabella said “hello” via chat. I suspected that she was a chatbot. She informed me that she could not reach the driver, and Isabella then canceled my lunch with a full refund. When she asked me what more she could do, I was suspecting she was not real and said I needed nothing more just like the nothing lunch I received. This statement was my attempt to confuse the chatbot. Instead, I got sad emojis and an apology. I thanked her for her help and told her it was not her fault. Isabella is human and works to get people’s food to them.

Where ever you are Isabella of Grubhub–thanks for helping us!

I bravely re-ordered by “express” the exact same order that arrived thirty minutes later.

Aside: Here is Eric H. Cline’s lecture for those who have an hour for this amazing chance to learn: 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Eric Cline, PhD).

My sister Linda received the gift I sent to her today. One of those super battery starters that you plug into the wall. My mother’s car batteries went out and I thought Linda, living in Michigan with hot summer and real winters, could use this. A late Easter gift.

GOOLOO 800A Peak 18000mAh SuperSafe Car Jump Starter with USB Quick Charge 3.0 (Up to 7.0L Gas or 5.5L Diesel Engine), 12V Portable Power Pack Auto Battery Booster Phone Charger Built-in LED Light

It was on special last week, twenty bucks off, so I just ordered it and had it delivered by Amazon to Linda in Michigan.

I also learned from Linda that the wild unsigned birthday card I received was from her. It is a super pop-up card of a birthday cake with a yellow submarine ala the Beatles.

So today was like another birthday for me and another Easter for my sister.

Turning to the reports, I managed to watch a bit of Bloomberg while working. I keep Bloomberg TV running on my Apple while I do Nike work on the supplied Nike laptop. The market gave back most of its gains today that it had yesterday. Earnings came in today. Amazon, despite all my help, missed their earnings targets (how they could miss as they are just about the only shopping left running in the USA, shows how badly Amazon is executing). Apple is fine. Others were a mixed bag as expected. Oil is going up as somehow they finally found a way to cut production with consumption at new lows. Air pollution and also at a new low. That does make one think. Many experts are surprised that people are gobbling-up cheap stock. They applaud the purchase at “the dip,” showing that the regular investor seems to understand “buy-low-sell-high,” but mused that the ordinary investor may not be ready if this is not the bottom.

One of the commercials on Bloomberg, they have many, shows an antique auction and the typical strange characters and goings-on. Then the next item is a bowl of dip in the sale. The text or lead for the commercial is “Helping you buy the dip” I was laughing out loud on that one. Nice to see someone out there with my kind of humor. I will have to get some dip.

The reports are not much of an improvement in the USA, more than another two-thousand two-hundred more folks passed away from the virus this Thursday. Today’s hymn is one I can sing, God Will Take Care of You.