Blog

It is Friday morning as I start recalling Thursday, and the steak dinner, dessert, and beer seem still to be with me. I am up at 6 after a night of leg cramps and multiple opportunities to prove hydration and attempts to remove the leg cramps and headache created more hydration, a vicious circle (or at least a sleep-losing circle). I have only a few days to clean and pack now. I’m headed to PDX on Saturday for a hotel stay, as my flight on Sunday is early.

Thursday started with me rising without a headache to another gray Oregon mist-filled morning. I rose after 7 and started the blog, but I knew it would be a tough day to complete it, as I had church meetings every couple of hours. Additionally, most of that will not be a story for this blog; there is no need to overload this blog with private matters, such as hiring and church staff items. I managed a few paragraphs before I had to shower, shave, and so on. Air VW the Gray was ready for me with an 80% charge. Traffic was still heavy, but I arrived a few minutes before my first church meeting.

We spent an hour talking about paint, flooring, colors, and other refresh items in the fireside room and entranceway of First United Methodist Church in Beaverton. We covered some of the outstanding issues and challenges (such as water leaks) in these areas. We agreed to a general plan and colors (specific tiles and flooring samples will be reviewed later).

Next was an interview for a church position. I cannot cover that here. That took me to about noon.

Dondrea, who was in the two meetings, joined me at Red Robin in Beaverton for lunch. I had the ensalada chicken platter (with one chicken breast) and replaced the salad with fried. I meant to have fries on the side, but it worked for me. I stuck to iced tea as I had yet another church meeting on Zoom at 2.

The meeting at 2 was the S/PRC meeting (for those who don’t speak Methodist, that is the HR committee). We had multiple issues to address, and the meeting lasted two hours. Later, I called and talked to other officials at our church about some of the issues. It felt like I was back to working.

Mariah and I enjoyed a later dinner together at BJ’s Brewhouse. Eric was our usual waiter, and soon I had a few beers while Mariah had a nice red wine. We opted for steaks and even dessert, as I mentioned earlier. We talked about travel and writing. Mariah is interested in the trip in November.

Here is the Southern trip website: here.

Like most liberals, I began to follow the Elon-Trump texting pie fight with amusement—I usually ignore Elon and Trump news, it seems contrived to me. And while the dispute appears real, it has captured headlines, which is the standard operating procedure for Trump. I would not be surprised if we see a big make-up between them next week to create more distractions and control the headlines.

From what I have read, Tesla would do better without the changes found in the Big Beautiful Bill, and with liberals turning away from Tesla, might need those tax incentives after all (Elon originally suggested Tesla would not need them). I reviewed some of the updates related to carbon capture, and there are changes in the bill in the tax treatment of carbon capture. This is bread and butter for Tesla, and while I do not fully understand the changes, this bill is not friendly to EVs and carbon capture, and I expect this will hit Tesla’s carbon credit sales (generated by making EVs). It appears to be a serious effort to eliminate most tax benefits of EVs and tax carbon credit-generated income. I cannot imagine this is good for Tesla or Elon’s holdings.

I read more Elric, and the headache returned. I am not sure if it is the bright lights or the food and beer. I tried to sleep with more stories from reading “The Sleeping Sorceress” by Michael Moorcock in my mind.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

I was happy to rise at about 7 without a headache. The air was damp and cool outside as the Oregon Mist and gray skies replaced our California-like weather of the last few days. Coffee was assembled the night before and was waiting for me. I was slightly time-boxed as I had a church meeting at 2. We were interviewing new potential accompanists for the church; I serve on the S/PRC committee (think church HR if you don’t speak Methodist), and I planned to ask the non-music questions.

I spent the morning eating only a banana and a nectarine with my coffee and writing the blog. I also updated my Quicken transactions, ensuring that I know where every dollar is going. I pool PayPal, AMEX, US Bank, Morgan-Chase, and Bank of America into updates in Quicken and inspect the changes every morning. I am not willing to use just one of the Financial providers and trust them. I also find splitting this up gets me better service. Bank of America disappoints in almost every way, but it does earn Alaska Airlines miles. However, I regret paying $95 a year.  A Delta AMEX may make more sense; I am flying Delta more, and the AMEX website and processes are at least clear, directing you to pay off your balance (unlike the obvious ‘let us charge you interest’ website, which offers no prefiled balance payments, unlike Bank of America).

The blog, which is approximately 600 words in length, was completed and published around 10. I was soon dressed, though I did talk to my neighbors when I went out to post a card for Mom Wild earlier (I send something every day). They were in work clothing while I was still in slippers and a robe (definitely making that ‘retired’ statement). I took the too-large T-shirts to the clothing drop-off (all washed and in good condition) and then visited the SBC Recycling center to drop off the inflatable mattress that had been used only once in the last fifteen years. I missed my turn and had to do a Michigan-like left (a U-turn) to get there. They were happy to receive it, charged me nothing, and were sure they could find a good home for it (or recycle it).

I then headed to Panda Express and waited behind a family, each of whom was getting a separate meal. It took a while, but everyone was smiling as they had two bags of meals. This was then carried to a seat after an ocean of drinks was loaded into cups. I had the three-option combo with a glass of water and enjoyed some of my choices. Others were industrial Chinese-style food.

Next was a church interview, and I will leave those details out as it is private and not really my story to tell. It was more than an hour of listening and asking questions.

I returned home and soon a nap overtook me. I rested for more than an hour and woke, now with the same headache I had had for a week. However, drinking water solved it, and soon, skipping dinner, I was out the door and headed to the church. I was a few minutes early, and we resolved to try Concordia, but with the larger map, as Andrew was joining us. Z grabbed most of the personality cards, while I grabbed the Weaver card and saved my win. Z’s and Andrew’s scores were close, with Z just ahead of Andrew. We all enjoyed the game and know that the score we achieved was when Andrew had to sing in the choir, which would have changed. I believe I would have been in last place, as Andrew was ahead in building, and Z needed just to build to match her cards.

After that, I headed home and made a half sandwich with ham (Italian thin-sliced ham, similar to prosciutto) and cheese. I heated it in butter and added some water to steam the sandwich hot through. It cut it into squares (not diagonally) and enjoyed it for a late dinner or snack.

I was tired and went to bed early. I read some more Elric and liked this story too.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday was a busy day, and as I write this blog on Wednesday morning, I realize that I need to start packing and cleaning the house. I like to come home to a clean and ready house, as I am often tired when I return. Doing laundry and going slowly is my usual routine on the first day back (this time, I will have a game that evening and only ten days before my next trip). It looks like I have only Friday clear to clean and finish packing.

I rose at 7:30 and did not write the blog at all as I was in the shower at 8:15 and out the door at 8:45 to board Air VW. The morning was spent updating Quicken (I had to pay all my bills and monitor that), transferring dividend payments (Ford and JP Morgan Chase preferred shares had been paid out) to my checking account, and attending to various other tedious but necessary tasks related to my modern finances.

The drive was a chance to enjoy a California-style morning, with the sun bright and hot. It was more enjoyable than I planned, as it took just under an hour to reach Richard’s place, with all the usual slowing as I crossed Beaverton and was inbound to Portland. I don’t like traffic jams on bridges, as the bridges bounce a bit, but you really feel it when you’re stalled and not moving.

I arrived only a few minutes late. James and Richard were setting up Tainted Grail, a dark cooperative role-playing game with a dark fantasy theme and a hint of King Arthur legends. An app, like in Mansion of Madness 2nd Edition, runs the game. It is fiddly and complex, and I didn’t enjoy it much the last time, but it’s worth trying. James bought a secondary market version with painted figures and is sharing it with Richard and me to enjoy. We played the intro version and tried to learn the game. I had trouble last time with the iconography and all the complex interactions for combat, and we realized that combat alone is challenging.

We reset and played the intro game again. It went better as we had the rules down better, we had watched a recommended video, and I watched with care. I found myself playing the role of a rules lawyer, to my surprise, as James and Richard, as usual, rushed through things, and I insisted we follow the process. Also, despite being cooperative, Richard was driving to get resources for himself and upgrading his character’s abilities. But that meant I could move the stories forward, and since I was playing a druid, it just seemed right.

James and Richard started moving together and fighting many monster encounters. I mainly traveled alone. I did have to run away once, but I kept resting and exploring more, and soon was healed and well resourced. The redo, and this time following the gameplay, and I thought it was OK. To me, it is still slow and fiddly when compared to a role-playing game with a Dungeon Master (DM), such as Dungeons & Dragons or Call of Cthulhu.

We stopped about 2 when we had completed another quest. We will pick this up and play the following story when I return from my travels in June. After we put most of the game away (it has a save process that allows it to be picked back up at the point where we stopped), I headed out. I parked Air VW the Gray near the Broadway Grill in SE Portland. There, I had two excellent local beers named for the Disneyland ride, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I had the East Coast Meatball Calzone, which at first seemed like chicken instead, but it turned out to be actually sliced meatballs. No red sauce is included in the calzone (meatballs, green peppers, onions, and cheese), but it is served with hot red sauce in a soup cup, and I dipped my bready calzone in it. Excellent, but a caloric disaster.

I returned to the EV and, with the blog posted and my headache better (food, beer, and water helped), I headed home. I got to enjoy the bridge for twenty minutes and watched a navy ship moved down the river by tugs under all the bridges. I managed to take a picture of the bridges all up, but traffic started to move, and a pic of the navy ship was not possible. The bridge bouncing a few times when large trucks moved convinced me to keep moving!

I arrived home with Beaverton delivering heavy traffic, too. It was a ninety-minute trip back! But with bridges, ships, and sun, it is still enjoyable. Best traffic jam yet!

Home was chores and more headaches. I rewatched the Doctor Who episode; it may be the last. I made a salad with some roast pork added for protein for dinner. I read the “Sleeping Sorceress” by Michael Moorcock, one of the better Elric stories, and I would recommend it.

I received additional stamp mounts from another vendor in the US mail. I was finally able to update my US Revenue collection with new stamps, which had been kept in a mostly complete album I purchased at an auction years ago, already containing some stamps (it was a lucky auction and the price was very low); I continue to add to it. I also replaced some mounts that were reversed to fit stamps when I and the previous owner did not have the correct size. I replaced some of the mounts where the stamps were getting loose. Better. Some stamps I bid on are often 1/10 of the catalog value. I also buy some sets for the less valuable stamps. I have many spare battleship revenue stamps and frequently put them in a frame to give away, as they are fantastic-looking and from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.

And with that, I went to bed after doing the dishes. The headache had faded out, and soon I got on the dream bus and visited many pleasant places, but all are forgotten now. I did wake at 4ish to prove hydration. I slept until 6, as it was overcast on Wednesday morning, and the Oregon Mist washed the pollen away, and the headache did not return to wake me.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

Mondays are quiet for me. It is like my Saturdays, but without the Saturday cartoons. I am still experiencing headaches and woke up with the sunrise, then got up around 7:00. I collected the dirty clothing, stripped the bed, and washed the sheets. I do not always get the laundry put away on Friday. The weekend gets in the way; although I am retired, I find my weekends busy, as people who work meet me on the weekends and pile on gaming, church, and cooking into the weekend.

I wrote the blog, it was short, and I paid my bills. I had to transfer money from a high-interest account to a zero-interest account; leftovers from another time when you were happy not to be charged for a checking account. Having moved my IRA to US Bank Wealth Management, I now receive refunds for any charges, including ATM fees.

I wrote a summary of my upcoming trips in an email and sent that out. It had flight information for me on Sunday. I did not include that in the following trips and will send it out close to the travel times to those who need it.

I made lunch instead of buying it. Today, it was canned Stagg Chili, which is a favorite of mine. I added some shredded cheddar and some Southwest-style chips to it. I heated it on the stove and enjoyed it while watching another movie. The Odessa File is a favorite book, and the film I found to rent for $3.99 was worth the price. I see there is a recent series version that I will have to try. There is a magical moment when the viewer or reader of the book learns why the reporter suddenly dropped everything and takes up the story, and they managed not to blow it in the less-than-stellar 1960s movie. The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File are great books, and I recommend them. You should be able to find them in your local library or at a local used bookstore for a reasonable price.

Next I headed out to Wildwood for a beer and to read more Artificial Intelligence. I have still not heard from HOPE_16 if they want me to present; I read more options for AI and Python code. There, I saw Jim V, my former director at Nike, at the bar, enjoying a Monday morning beer. We chatted for a bit, but I headed to a table and ran Python examples in my Jupyter Notebook setup in Visual Studio. Later, I learned that the green light, which was on for the first time in six months, meant there was free beer. I asked, and a can of an excellent Washington State-made pilsner was shared with me for no charge.

I continued to try to understand the more than 2-dimensional use of least-squares line detection and learned that it faltered when data sets were smaller and required the use of more complex error-correction processes. All of this was hard to retain or understand without clear examples. I will have to write one myself, as I couldn’t understand the plus/minus logic.

With my head spinning less from one and a half beers and more from Python code, I reboarded Air VW the Gray and headed home. But before heading home, I stopped by for a few groceries. With a few bags filled, including some garlic bread, I returned home. I found the pork roast, which was less than $8 at Safeway, and salted and spiced it before roasting. I steamed some aging carrots, and that, along with the garlic bread, was perfect with the just-cooked pork. I finished the movie, ShipHappens’ newest update, and The Battle of the Coral Sea by Drachinifel.

I looked at hotel rooms for Saturday night at PDX. I have an early flight on Sunday and can’t get to PDX without leaving my car there or paying for a shuttle or driver. A waste, in my thinking, and could be held up by a traffic incident on Ship Week in Portland for the Rose Festival. Instead, I will get a room. A looked at Aloft and read that someone claimed their room was broken into. I called the hotel and they explained that it was safe. I will order a room and avoid the morning rush.

I did the dishes, put away the laundry, made the bed, read some Elric, and soon was sleeping.

Thanks for reading.

 

Sunday was completed with me playing Dungeons and Dragons 2024 version at M@’s place with most of our usual group, starting at 5:30, but I was ten minutes late. This is my first time playing a sorcerer, and our second time playing D&D 2024. We had a couple of dives into the rulebook, as there are some subtle changes that I think clarify some of the previously inexplicable rules and provide a framework that allows other rules to apply now. We played hide-steal-run most of the play. We even had dinner with one of the factions, but did not sign up with them. We avoided much of the battle with the local bad guys until reaching the crypt level, and then hit one of the classic encounters. Jason of the Argonauts-style arcane undead skeletons, and we got harshly hit. Another battle ensued, and we were able to inflict enough damage to avert severe consequences. We are still getting accustomed to our new characters and how we interact with them.

Scott and I chatted for a while, and then I returned home. I had slept poorly and went to bed early. I managed to sleep until sunrise.

Going backward, before heading to the game, I watched the season finale of Doctor Who. I had already seen some of the details in the press and was interested to see how they wrapped up the season. I thought it was a good episode and did not seem like a rush to complete storylines and move on to the next. No spoilers, but I thought it was a good season (though the dancing and singing routines seemed forced to me). Recommended with only minor complaints.

For lunch, I had some thin Italian ham (like prosciutto) with cheese and Triscuits. I had a burger for dinner that M@ makes for us (thanks, M@). Breakfast was a banana and coffee (and a donut hole at church). I finished the blog I started in the morning somewhere in the afternoon.

Before all of this, I was at the church and filling in as the usher, and arranged for folks to watch on the next two Sundays while I will be traveling in California. I had to help a few people, and it was a communion Sunday. I was busy throughout the service.

Dondrea’s sermon was on unity and also not abdicating Christianity to the nationists and folks who exclude the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner (who are called out for us to help by God) as not being citizens or deserving of our help. Nationalism is not the same as patriotism, nor is it a form of Christianity. Dondrea covered that we have to object when our religion is perverted into some kind of false religious self-serving political movement. We need to be about being Methodist (we are older United Methodists, not the newly formed Global Methodists who are part of a nationalist movement and exclude people), which means helping others, providing healthcare and food, supporting human rights, and generally being kind. We don’t exclude. There is a pride flag on the side of the church. We even serve both caffeinated and decaf coffee after church!

I rose with another headache from pollen at sunrise and tried to roll over. My colon, truncated 25cm from colon cancer, wanted some attention, too. It was a rougher start than I would have liked. I started the blog.

And that takes us to the end. Sorry for the short story and a few photos.