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Today was another day working from home.

Just a short report. Work was mostly meetings today; some included some frustration. This seemed to bother me more than usual. My emotions are too close to the surface today.

Lunch was from Red Robin again. This time I spoke to a pleasant gal from Oklahoma when calling to put in my order. Still, a call center answers the calls for food for Red Robin that is now running from people’s home. The gal had a slight accent and used “y’all.” I had to wait about ten minutes to reach someone to take the order. Apparently, lots of folks are ordering from Red Robin.

I drove to Red Robin. Again, it was nice to get out of the house and drive. This time my lunch was not ready. I filled out a waiting list with my name and the color of my car and was told to wait in my vehicle. They would bring me the food. Forty-five minutes later, I finally was given my lunch. They had a catering order and apologized for taking so long.

There were plenty of parking spaces, as you can imagine, and I parked halfway between two parking spots to give the catering order waiting next to me social distance. Another driver then complained that I did not know how to park. I reminded them about social distance; I was polite.

My Apple computer I used to watch the news while working on my Nike laptop for working from home. The stock market tanked again. A flight-to-cash seemed to be the cause. Even the bond market, bonds usually go up when stocks go down, was flat. This may mean that folks were not buying bonds as a move-to-quality is the typical flight but are really scared and want cash. This is often done to remove any more loss. The vast debt the USA and other governments are generating as support for the economy may have also spooked people from treasuries.

My reaction to all the market falling was to increase my contribution to my 401K. I want to buy more cheap stocks. And that makes me think about this song, a different styled version: Bohemian Rhapsody – Pentatonix. I never go with the crowd when investing.

I made spaghetti and meatballs in a vodka sauce using what we have. The sauce was from a jar. The meatballs are frozen and reheated. Everyday food but it still tastes good.

Corwin is soaking beans overnight to make chicken and bean soup for Thursday.

Forty-one people in the USA died today from the virus. It is also reported that 475 people died from the infection in Italy just today. A song to try to find peace: How Great Thou Art.

Today was like many days, except I did not go to work. My commute was connecting to the Nike VPN. And today had many remote meetings. Unlike yesterday, the video was used more and more. It seems to me that folks were happy to see each other and be seen. We have many critical path items for an important project: The deadlines are unchanged despite the virus issues (not the computer type). A lot of talking, texting, emailing, updates to virtual team rooms all day.

Besides the work items, I was able to boil the St. Patrick’s Day corned beef brisket. I started it at about 11:15 in the morning. I then called Red Robin in Beaverton and ordered burgers for Susie and Corwin and a salad and chicken breast for myself (the Ensalada Plater). It was an excuse to see how our old haunt was holding together and to get out and drive somewhere. There are notes on the door of Red Robin in Beaverton that they are closed except for take-out. Only the foyer is open, the hall to the bar is blocked by chairs. I picked up my food and the bartender took my card at the front–I knew it was the bartender because I would usually sit at the bar and eat on the weekends. When I told her to thank everyone for being there, and I finally got a smile. “Sam Adams,” she asked. I agreed. She did remember me.

Back to more calls and videos. This time with charts and discussions and double booking. I actually left one video meeting that over-ran went to another meeting at the same time, and returned to that meeting.

Once we finally finished I took Susie for a walk outside. She was feeling unwell and unhappy. The walk got her smiling again. We walked to the end of the street in the surprisingly sunny Oregon. It is a bit up-hill. Susie had trouble with downhill so I pushed her back home. We both got a bit of exercise.

I watched the news again on my Apple laptop while working on my Nike PC. More poo in the fan, but new problems. The central bank, The Fed to Americans, did a ten billion dollar rescue to the short term liquidity markets today. America ran out of money. The Fed bought all the short-term debt to put the money back and keep the USA running. I suspect President Trump, like many of his predecessors, is dreaming of the days when only the Washington Post or New York Times was the only thing to worry about.

Returning to things I can actually do something about, I missed that I was running out of an important drug. I needed to get a prescription filled. This is a 90-supply one. So I called the insurance company and talked to a pleasant gal in California. Apparently, technology allows call centers to be remote from home now. Somehow routing calls to folks working from home. She was working from home, like me. As this was an insurance call, she knew I worked from Nike, so I answered some tourist-like questions about Nike for her. The drug will be here in two days–excellent.

Everyone is a bit scared and also friendly and wanting to talk.

Returning to St. Patrick’s Day, Corwin finished up the cooking by boiling and baking. It was great. We drank the dark beers we purchased yesterday and had corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots.

I took a short beer-induced nap.

Tonight I tried to learn the artificial intelligence part of a boardgame, Pax Pamir. This is a fantastic game that recreates the political situation in the 1880s Afganistan and has a particular AI to create another tribe to play against. The board is a small carpet that is a map of Afganistan. My gaming friends want to play it, and we want to add the AI in for the full experience. I spent a few hours learning how to play again and how to use the AI.

(This is a card part of the play. The coins are metal. The game is available in the secondary market–expensive. A new Kickstarter is running: Pax Pamir Kickstarter)

The kitchen looks like the Galloping Gourmet had a bad day. We will have to clean-up soon.

Glad I could write again and that things happened that I think are valuable to record.

Word today is that the death rate for the virus is over six thousand for the world. Here is a song for the world: This Is My Song.

 

 

It was a strange feeling to get up early and not go to work. I did my normal steps, including making coffee and reading my email and then reading the news. I then cleaned up and dressed and sat down and logged on to work. There were a few items left from last week, so I was busy for a bit. It felt strange that this was the start of two weeks or more at home.

I have two laptop computers in use at one time. One is a PC for work, and the other is my own Apple. My network, Comcast, is fast and easily able to handle multiple fast high bandwidth connections. I did hours of phone meetings on the work PC, often using the video to be seen. I noticed that the other folks did not use video. As I present online and in-person at conferences for a national and international audience, I am comfortable now with public speaking by a PC camera or with a mic live. Not everyone apparently is comfortable with video.

While all of the work stuff was going, my Apple computer tracked the outside world. I can say that the poo was being expelled by the fan. The stock market found new ways to reduce my retirement. The USA and other places are locking-down even more. More folks passed away. World banks were promising to rescue us and the markets–I was trying to feel better about that, but I just watched The Big Short movie and had so little faith now in bankers and central banks. So it was just a terrible swirl of bad news. I tried to not look.

I kind of felt like this song about the news and markets: 50 Ways to Say Goodbye.

But, I got an email from the Golden Valley Brewery (GVB) to join them for St. Patrick’s Day by either coming to dinner or getting it to go with beer to go too. I have the making for dinner already, but the beer list was looking good.

Old Chicago Pizza could order on-line. Other offers appeared in my email, and kind notes appeared on Facebook and email from friends.

It is in the 50Fs and sunny in March. The kids were playing kickball–no school. So despite the new lows on the market, it seemed a great day.

So once work was over, Corwin and I got in the Volvo to get some beer from GVB for St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow. We found a massive power failure! The street lights were out, and GVB closed not by a virus but a tree on the powerlines somewhere! It took a while to get back to where traffic lights worked again.

Home and Corwin made dinner. New York strip steaks with corn and mac and cheese as side dishes. Our first locked-down dinner. We had stopped by Rite Aid to get some beer and some various supplies. They had paper towel rolls! Even paper products were re-appearing. Maybe it was not so bad.

At 6:30 is Dungeons and Dragons on Roll20 with four players. Everyone was ready, and we played two hours of gaming tonight. That was fun with all the software and game working.

(Roll20 screen for Dungeons and Dragons, 5E).

I received an email from Australia. I was supposed to be there at a computer conference today, Mastering SAP Conference 2020. It postponed and my trip canceled. I am invited back in October when they relaunch it. I am ready for a relaunch!

So a day of terrible news, sun, nice notes and ideas, games, and powerful weather.

 

Today was my first day getting ready to work from home and living more inside than out. The Shoe Company has asked us to work from home when we can until April. Also, today, our church was closed. From what I have seen, everything is closing or moving to restricted schedules. I talked to the church folks, and maybe some kind of electronic solution may be found to have church service or at least to connect up. For those who need a church song, the Methodist Anthem: 1000 Tongues. This is the best version I found.

(The sign at our church)

I was surprised yesterday when my Saturday night trip to Portland to play boardgames was quick. No traffic at all. Beaverton, usually humming on Saturday night with traffic, was not busy. The roadways on my trip home after midnight were shockingly empty of cars. Actually, traffic was so light that we missed our turn and traveled the wrong way on a one-way street in Portland–nobody was on the road, and there is no sign! I then took a wrong way U-turn to get a place to drop off my fellow gamer (I having a car often play Uber for them–no charge). Why not?

Preparing dinner today, my previous load of Safeway.com groceries included two corned-beef briskets. I did not know their size, so I ordered two. They are huge. So we had a boiled dinner today to get in early on St. Patrick’s Day. I started early boiling the brisket. After about four hours, I then use the water to boil potatoes and carrots and bake the brisket.

Safeway.com had no red potatoes, so I bought some when I was in Portland a bit early for the game at Zupon’s. They had plenty. Shortages, I believe, will be a bit random.

(no TP!)

Today I prepared my order for Safeway after starting to boil the corned beef. I have purchased groceries online for two weeks. It runs about ten bucks fee plus I give the drivers a 5 buck tip. Susie has a reduced immune system, so I thought it better to get the groceries delivered with minimal handling. Today I discovered that I could get delivery next weekend at best. Well, it was good while it lasted! I got into my Volvo and drove. The Safeway, five minutes away, had little bread, no toilet paper, and plenty of coffee. Very PNW! Other items here and there were out. Dried beans, for example, could not be purchased. Oddly, canned beans were plentiful. Realizing that I could not expect this to get better, I loaded up the cart and bought what may be the end of the no-fat milk supply, two half gallons.

There are no bananas. Corwin and his friend made banana daiquiris–possibly drinking the last banana! I was humming “The Last Banana in Paradise” after a Parrot-Head song: Cheese Burger in Paradise while shopping. Everyone at Safeway, customers and the staff, was friendly and looked a bit worried, and some folks looked like they had never been shopping before. 

The deli counter was happy to keep the social distance high. The butcher was pleased to come out and find some good steaks for me. We agreed that New York Strips marinated in teriyaki sauce and grilled was a good idea. I thanked all the Safeway staff I saw for being there. They said they were happy to help us. Here is the PNW we are used to floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and now viruses. We are always polite and happy to see each other. One older man was wearing a mask.

I have dried milk and a quart of pre-beaten eggs, just in case.

(Oddly, Safeway brand 5-seed bread is one of the loaves they still had in stock–which is Susie’s fav)

(Plenty of coffee)

I have Baby-wipes if our week supply, previously delivered, of toilet paper runs out. I have bleach if we need to make our own cleaning supplies. I made Michigan Chili (Mid-West styled chili with beans and very little spice and stewed tomatoes) on Saturday afternoon, and there is chili left, as I planned, for Monday.

Today I baked some scones. My order of a case of scones mixes from King Arthur Flour came in on Saturday. We have Cinnamon Pecan now–I have to cut in 1/2 stick of butter and some milk and an egg for each mix. My friends asked me online if I had enough jam? I have now ordered that online. Soon we will be safe from a being awash in baked good, but without jam! I have some limited supply of jam that should last us.

Here is my inventory picture. Corwin was concerned that my displaying this picture, we would attract raiders. With the deficit of jam, at this time, I believe we are safe.

I have important gaming items ready. The website Roll20, a site to play Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu role-playing games (RPG), is advertising itself as a way to safely play games. I have my regular Roll20 twenty game this Monday. We did not know we were leading the way!

I just started on Call of Cthulhu and bought the content for the RPG. Players get it free if I buy it. So looks like we will be playing some CoC as it is known. So we are ready for RPGs too for the start of lock-down. Anyone for an RPG?

Turning to the sad, more than four hundred people passed today from the virus according to the news. This includes one death here in Oregon. We will remember them with a song: Lift Every Voice.

We will be here until April, at least. See you again soon, online.

 

 

 

 

It has been a few months since we left Amsterdam, and the usual chaos that is life has taken over. I feel like I never really finished the blog as it needed that last true story that would finish it.

(Our local volcanos)

(The photo of your foot on the carpet at PDX–a unique carpet pattern used only in PDX–is how you say “happy to return to PNW.”)

What do I remember about the trip now a few months ago? Very little of the flight back other than the crew helped Susie get off of the plan and waited for us before leaving. That was very kind of them. We had an Eastern European driver that took us home. He was pleasant and happy to get a long trip as a Lyft driver, PDX to Aloha. I then did the washing and unpacked us. Back to work!

The night before we left I remember that Corwin convinced me that we could use a car to the airport instead of getting up an hour early (4AM) to roll Susie to the train station, get tickets, and then get on a train (with luggage) and then get off of a train and get Susie and luggage. The hotel took care of the arrangements and the wake-up call. To my defense, I thought that we should try to experience more of the public part of Holland. I was not influenced by the intoxicants that are always in the air in Amsterdam, I think.

Thinking back, I plan to spend another Christmas in a few years there again. The art we saw was magnificent, but we missed the history and much of the culture. Maybe a bus tour of Holland or some other day trip. The painting we saw will stay with me, but the view of the master’s tools will always be with me (I later learned that we were not to take photos of this).

And the plain silliness of a tourist town…

So we all remember Amsterdam with happiness!

It is recommended as an adult place (just not for kids) and a place to learn and enjoy. We do not miss it–we will return soon.