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Tuesday morning started with me raising my iPhone alarm at around 8. I had a game at Richard’s at 9:30, a new weekly game on Tuesday morning (though I will miss the next one). James, a retired doctor I had not seen for more than a year, had acquired a copy of Mansion of Madness, Second Edition, with the figures painted and organizers. This version uses an app to control the game and is best on an iPad, and it is far better than the terrible slog that was the first card-based version. I wanted to try it again; I tried it at a convention, and the game was not fun. I hoped it would be better.

I wrote the blog the evening before, meaning now all I had to do was clean up, shave, dress, and head out. By 8:20, Air Volvo was headed down TV Highway. I stopped by McDonald’s and got a coffee with cream, two breakfast burritos, and a hashbrown. I was surprised that the coffee was good, the hashbrown was excellent, and the burritos were fair to poor. Next time, I will get something else!

I crossed Beaverton in Tuesday rush hour traffic and experienced a few strange lanes slowing. I was in the right lane going fast and saw the left stall at various traffic lights—the difference was twenty car lengths at one light! I was soon on the highway.

The total travel time was about forty-five minutes, about fifteen minutes longer than a quick trip. I was soon waiting with Richard.  Jim, facing difficult traffic from the other direction (Washington State), finally arrived late. Jim explained the rules, and I could remember some of the game.

We started to play, and I was in trouble finding a horror right off. Richard later identified that I picked a weaker character, but this is a horror role-playing game, and I seldom play them for min-max-ing for the best character. My character constantly failed her dice rolls (lousy luck and few good options combined to make it a disaster–but still fun for me), collecting madness and injuries, but it was fun to see what that meant. I managed to cast one spell six times with only one success! I went insane but managed to avoid the fatal version. My madness has no effect (but I could not tell the other players), who thought I was looking somewhat sane for someone insane–perfect.

We had some puzzles to solve, including two “Master Mind” puzzles. I was tired today, so Richard jumped on them. Soon, the built-in timer in the scenario sped up the game, and the mansion was blasted by the eldritch powers the cultists had unleashed. We rushed to the gate and finally closed it and saved mankind. We won.

The game was slow, but the app helped. I would like to play it a few more times to decide if I like it. The simple game took three players four hours to complete.

The base game is no longer in print, but the app is still available. The base game sells for $99, but I have seen $500+ for unopened copies with all the expansions. My first edition copy was scrapped, with me keeping just the figures and the room boards.

After the game, I returned to the Volvo Cave in light traffic from Portland. Planning to reheat leftovers, I then accidentally dumped the Jambalaya on the floor. Disappointed that one delicious lunch and dinner were lost, I cleaned up the mess. I then made Trader Joe’s Kung Po Chicken from the frozen pack. It was not very good and I don’t recommend it, adding to my failures that afternoon. Poo.

I put away the dishes and dropped my Zabar Coffee mug (A gift from Cat Smith), and it shattered. F**k. I clean up yet-another-fail (YAF) and rest a bit. I nod off.

A call wakes me, and soon, it is after 5. I head out in Air Volvo in the pitch dark of winter, with the wind and rain of a Pacific Northwest winter night. All I am missing are the Christmas lights, I think, while Air Volvo finds its way in the parking lot. Next, I sit at a table at Shack Shack, which has surprisingly good burgers and fries, and wait for Dondrea and Z. Soon, they show, and we have food. We had a nice, relatively easy, and cheap meal together.

We hugged, said goodbye, and headed to our separate homes. Soon, Air Volvo arrived at the Volvo Cave through the wet and dark of PNW November. My hat, retrieved from Richard, protected me from the rain, and I felt comfortable in the wet. I must return to The Portland Running Store or REI for waterproof shoes soon!

I cleaned a bathroom, started the laundry, and began to pack. I decided to take a break and watched the last episode of Season 1 of Silo. I was impressed that I had missed something from every episode and the show’s first minutes. A most excellent plot twist, and the chase and resolution were interesting. While the show is dark, having seen the completion of the first season, I can recommend it and look forward to the next season.

I read for a while, starting the next book in a series I have been reading for more than a year: A Great Reckoning: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Book 12). This is the next in the series and follows a sorrowful novel that made me cry. But after reading many other books, I missed Inspector Gamache and decided to return to his stories as I travel again. I cannot recommend this series enough. 

After hearing too much noise during drying, I discovered my car keys and inhaler in The Machine. I had failed to empty my pockets and ran them through the wash cycle. Poo. Both still work, but it is more YAF today.

I loaded the dishwasher carefully to avoid more YAF. I ran it and completed the first load of clothing, my shirts, and pants (plus keys and inhaler). Underwear and other items that I don’t care if they are wrinkled are put in The Machine for the next load to be retrieved and put away on Wednesday morning. I will wash sheets and towels as I clean and pack on Wednesday morning.

I started the blog around 8ish and finished it before bed.

And that takes us to now. Thanks for reading!

I find Mondays to be my new Saturday. Like most folks on Saturday or Sunday morning, I just want to sleep in and go slow. Why, I believe, brunch was invented. I have no plans for Monday, but Wednesday is my travel day to Michigan, and I will arrive in Detroit on Thursday morning. I only have a few days to clean and pack, but my flight on Wednesday is at 11:15PM, so I have all of Wednesday packed and cleaned. Still, I wrote the blog slowly and even looked up some things to include in the blog. I was not done until the afternoon. Going slow.

I filled out the form for my healthcare selection for COBRA at Nike. I get a year more coverage, but I have to cover the monthly cost of just under $800. This process will continue my existing coverage, including vision, and I will upgrade my dental. Nike offers improved dental care this year for $10 more monthly. Yes.

I filled out the form and discovered a website option, which was a mystery as it did not recognize my user. Hmmm. I put the form in a large letter envelope. I also wrote my usual memo to hold and then deliver the mail in mass when I return. I put the memo in the mailbox. There was no mail on Veterans Day, off to the closed Post Office.

There, I saw many folks leaving disappointed—many seemed to have forgotten it was the eleventh day of the month. I went to the machine, got my letter accepted, and paid the cost to send it to the healthcare vendor in Kentucky. I also bought some stamps that the machine just printed. They were boring US flags. I would have liked some more colorful.

I returned home, but earlier, I had a liberal cup of coffee to get me started. I also had cereal with milk. I consumed the other walk of my tuna fish sandwich from Subway while surfing the email and not getting anything done. I was distracted most of the early afternoon and was looking at other travel options for 2025, including a possible trip to the UK. Flights are cheap in the winter, but hotels are high in London, especially nice ones by the sights.

I decided to make beef stew today following a recipe from the NYT, but adding a few items. I found my Netflix account on my Apple and put on a murder mystery TV movie, Glass Onion, which was fun to watch again while cooking and chopping. The stew was better than average, but I couldn’t get that strong stew flavor I sought. I enjoyed the show and would recommend it as it is a fun murder mystery. It was also made during the pandemic, and seeing folks in masks and keeping their distance is fascinating. Questions like, “Can we hug?” are flashbacks to darker times.

I had three bowls and added salt to the last two, improving the flavor. My lack of salt while cooking may be the issue. While cooking, I opened a nice bottle of wine I got when Linda and Jesse visited. It went into the stew and into my glass. I was pretty relaxed by the time the stew was ready.

While enjoying the stew, I watched more of the post-apocalyptic episodes of Silo. What a surprise that the evil is in IT. I am nearing the end of the first season and enjoying the show, but it is dark and hard to recommend. The acting, story, and camera work make it all seem real. I will likely finish season one just in time for season 2, which is starting to be released this week!

I washed all the dishes, pans, and everything in the sink or loaded them into the dishwasher and started it. Next, I swooshed the toilets and brushed them. I would either keep cleaning…or head somewhere…

I am writing this at Wildwood on my second beer, all small ones. The La Maison Du Bang!, a barrel-aged blend of barleywine and stout cuvee, is an excellent finish for my day. I have been writing tonight (I have a 9:30 board game on Tuesday morning in Portland). The folks were happy to see me, and I updated them on all my travels.

Thanks for reading. I am closing the bar at 10.

 

A few typos from Grammarly are being fixed…they are crazy today.

Sunday is often another day of me squeezing in a whole weekend in a single day. While I am retired now, this habit is hard to break, and many working folks are doing the same thing, and I just follow that. It was Veterans Day weekend, but I celebrated it by remembering my Grandfather’s brother, “Billy” Wild, who was in France when the war ended in 1918 under “Blackjack” Pershing and fought, according to some records I have seen, in many significant battles for the American forces. It was then the “Great War” and was the death knell of the old European system and the end of royal control of Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungry. It was unsuccessfully known as “the War to End All Wars,” sadly, countries would have to call up their young people for more wars. It is good to remember all those who served.

An aside: The Wilds were the children of the immigrant Willhelm “William” Wild, a farmer in Cannonsburg’s Michigan. They were William “Billy” Wild, George, Edward (my great-grandfather), and Lilly. A young daughter, Alice, died young, likely from the Spanish Flu. Only “Billy” was a soldier.

Returning to our story for Sunday, I rose and finished the block in time to dress and still be early for church. The liberal coffee pumped me up with joy and caffeine. Nothing like fair-traded coffee to make you feel you are helping the world while getting your jolt. The words and events of Saturday spilled on the virtual page in WordPress, and with help from Grammarly and my re-reading (often of the ‘fixed’ text), they were assembled into readable work. I published it and headed to the next step on Sunday.

I washed up, shaved, and brushed my hair (which looked like I had been electrocuted while sleeping) into something that would not draw comment. I found a white dress shirt, blue sweater vest, and pride tie. To finish the church look, I added grey-blue LL Bean pants, black shoes, and dark grey socks. My brown wool hat (forgotten at Richard’s) is missing. I wore the black Humburg hat this time.

I arrived soon for church, First United Methodist Church in Beaverton, and was twenty minutes early. Coffee was ready and most welcomed. Soon, the church service started, and the music was easy to sing today. The choir was reduced by some folks traveling, and we even sang with them. I kept hearing this excellent singing, but I looked right and could not find the singer. I sat next to Eric, but he was on my left side. My loss of hearing on the left side means I misidentify the direction of sound. I was hearing Eric on my left through my only working right ear. Somedays,  after a brain tumor, this new life of mine is fascinating!

Pastor Ken started a new series of sermons on a minor prophet book, Micah. Ken repeatedly pointed out that Micah is about terrible things happening to believers. Tragedy is part of life, and the “prosperity gospel” often taught in the USA is false. Just because you were lucky or successful does not mean you are blessed and righteous. Micah argues that the prosperity of Jerusalem in his time was what was wrong. Instead of focusing on justice, compassion, and community (my words here translate from Ken), their leaders built glory in the capital and a monument to their righteousness. Nothing would survive from this temple (though a few dubious claims exist). Falling into Doctor Who’s words (my words again):

Never be cruel, never be cowardly….hate is always foolish…and love, is always wise. 12th Doctor

Ken also talked about prophetic words and prophecy and how they must be included in our experiences to have a complete experience—something I had not heard before. Looking back, I see that it was built into some of the Sci-Fi I watch with the 12th Doctor, which often falls into prophetic speech styles. I also find Martin Luther King’s speeches, especially his last one, powerful. Ken identified them as prophetic.

Ken has me now looking for prophetic words and language. He offers that these words are not said by the elite but by the minority and those working for justice. This is a new way for me to think and consider prophetic speech and what it means to me and the world.

After church, I stayed until they locked the doors, catching up with people before heading home. Air Volvo stopped, on a whim, to get a tuna fish sub at Subways. They offered to cut it in half and wrap each so I could have the second half on Monday, which is perfect. I paid the 20% tip and thanked them.

Which reminds me of Susie’s worst joke:

What is the main difference between a carp and a piano? You can tune a piano, but you can never tune a fish.

I always say the punchline when I have tuna fish. Reaching the Volvo Cave, I removed the tie but kept the rest of the outfit. I ate and watched more videos on YouTube: ShipHappens, Battleship New Jersey, and the always-impressive Drachinifel. I rested and read some more vegan cooking suggestions. Their meat replacements have my attention, and I will try to get the ingredients and make some of them. While not vegan in my choices for food, it is an exciting idea to produce food that anyone can eat, and less meat is likely good for me. The piccata recipe with a non-meat focus was exciting. I also like their stuffed peppers and may make them soon.

Next, I did the dishes and left early. I headed to the former Rainy Day Games, now Guardian Games (Aloha), and checked if they had Enigma: Beyond Code for sale. No. Mike, a long-term employee and expert gamer, checked and agreed with me that the game’s rating was low, and it was only available now through Amazon (assuming the original publisher actually has copies). I checked for a friend to see if the game was worthy of exploration. No. They do have Duel Middle Earth on display. After playing Richard’s copy, I told Mike I liked the game better than the original version. I also described that I enjoyed Unconcious Mind. I commented that some of the older games are still for sale, and Mike told me that many folks are still playing them, which surprised me. I understand now with Richard’s and my jumping to new games, we are not playing old favorites. Hmmm.

I have canceled my Kickstarters and will resist purchasing games, role-playing, and models as I got my insurance quote of $782.34 monthly for COBRA coverage. I will try to reduce my et cetera expenses and focus on being retired. I plan to travel and enjoy many places next year but must live more frugally between trips!

I managed to escape the local gaming store with no losses.

(my figure has the blue shield raised in the air)

I boarded Air Volvo and soon arrived at M@’s place, where we played more Dungeons and Dragons with our group of five. We are 17th level and powerful, and the traps and monsters we faced in play were also deadly and powerful. Within a few moments of the game, my character was blasted and failed every roll. A process that would continue most of the night. We have a simple goal, recover an item.  We reuse a few traps to eliminate some risk and ignore more of the tomb we are raiding. M@ announces that we succeeded and will rise to another level. Also, due to M@’s and my travel, we will meet again on 19 Jan 2025!

(Scott and Matt, with the beard, in the back. Mackers and Karyn in the front with me holding the iPhone)

It was fun, but the details cannot be covered here. I headed home, read for a bit more vegan recipes, and prepared for bed. I soon slept and did not wake until the morning at 4 to prove hydration.

Thanks for reading.

I was home late, after midnight on Saturday night (Sunday morning). It was a cold, clear night, making the dark drive across Portland and Beaverton pleasant. My fellow drivers did not perform any driving stunts this time, but I saw one car change to the left lane (the fast and passing lane) and then slow down. Another car, unable to understand this, was speeding and changed into the left lane and then suddenly had to brake. I was glad there was no contact and just shook my head. With pleasant traffic, no rain, and a clear night, the tall bridge did not scare me, and my trip was fast.

On reaching home, having no dinner, I just forgot that I had made a plate of ham and ate it too fast, and maybe it was too salty. I had some refluxes and later leg cramps. More water! I showered and stumbled into bed before 1. I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep once the reflux calmed down. Ugh!

Returning to my time in Portland, I was leaving Richard’s house in SW Portland after we talked politics for hours after playing three two-person games. We often cancel with just us two for games, but I was already in Portland, and we started early. The games were Unconcious Mind, a new game I had just seen in the gaming store: a Middle Earth version of Duel—The Seven Wonders—and Istanbul with Mocha and Baksheesh. I lost them all the games, but all were good, and I was at least a threat or scored well.

(We play in Richard’s home theater room)

I have described Unconcious Mind before and like the game, but I won’t repeat myself. It is too long and complex for my church group gaming, but I am tempted to get a copy (though the $200+ price tag for the upgraded version has cooled my willingness to do so). I scored 125, but Richard, having one of those perfect games where every random item improves your score, was having a ball and scoring double my score. Had he not forced the game to end sooner than I liked, I would have scored even higher. It was a high-scoring and fast game, as I had the rules down and enjoyed the game. Richard kindly noted that his morning group did not break 100 in Unconcious Mind, “Yours was an excellent score.”

Middle Earth Duel is a two-person light game of card play and goal-seeking, all reskinned and redesigned for the new theme, The Lord of the Rings story. I think it is better than the original, and it seems to be an excellent game that flows well and has clear choices. I will likely purchase it as it is small, fast, and fun. I was chasing Richard, and he just managed to beat me by buying something that let him pick a card and unite the Free Peoples against Sauron (me). I was two steps from the little hobbits, had control of 1/2 of the lands, and would have won had the Free Peoples not found a last uniting card in the discard pile (“There is a discard pile?” Was Sauron’s last words as his tower fell and his ‘eye’ went out). Next time, Precious.

Istanbul has also been covered before. We played a back-and-forth game of two-person Istanbul, which is more of a race with just two. I reminded Richard of how to play (we had played a year ago), and soon, he was pushing me around a bit. I was being less efficient than usual as I was teaching and could not quite get organized in my thinking. Richard got the last ruby, but I managed it too. I had less money, so I lost on the tiebreaker again. That makes three losses in a row for Istanbul for me. Hmmm. But it’s always good to be a close game.

Before the games, I was at Lucky Labrador in Portland. It was busy, and one group was playing a Compass Games war game, Brotherhood & Unity. Compass Games simulates real-world and recent military events, such as the Bosnian War, as in this game. I just watched a few plays. I checked, and it is well-rated for a war game and not expensive ($45 and cheaper). I have from Compass Games, which is still unplayed, their China versus USA naval game.

Various other groups of folks were meeting for a beer. I found a table, a beer, and peanuts and did some work, though I was distracted a few times. I finally worked out how to put text into my notebooks on Kaggle. I was back to Python work, but just trying to figure out the logistics of adding text to the Jupyter Notebooks used in the competition. I was still part of it; I still have a few months to improve my score. I doubt I can do better than a mid-ranking, but still, it is something. After leaving for two years, I am trying to get my head back into AI. It is also fun, and you can impress your friends with remarks such as, “My Python code ran my AI classifier, and I got decent results by using bagging this time,” with a knowing look.

Richard contacted me early and invited me over, and soon, I was headed there after paying my less than $10 bill (another reason I like it there). The hall was quieter when I left, as some groups broke up before dinner. As I walked out, I saw that the war game group was still fighting the Bosnian War with a three-person version.

Before this, Air Volvo took me across Beaverton to Tigard. I avoided some Saturday afternoon traffic by ignoring navigation and driving through my usual backroads in Beaverton. I reached Walmart, and there, I received two travel-sized tubes of toothpaste.

Dear reader, I know what you are thinking, but why? I ordered new travel-sized toothpaste from Walmart to avoid using Amazon as I am trying to abandon the less-than-camouflaged politics of Jeff Bezos, paid for by his billions made on Amazon. Effectively, “F**k you, Amazon,” but I need a replacement, and while Walmart is not the land of liberalness, it is not another billionaire-controlled ego-project. I had to add to my order to get free shipping, so I added a few other items I needed to reach $35. All wonderful, you would think. But no.

Walmart decided that I would pick up the toothpaste in Tigard as instructed. At least three Walmart locations are closer to my home, but I am aligned with this idea to drive to Tigard. I would need to download and install their app and then use it to get my toothpaste. I did. Thus, on Saturday early afternoon, I headed out in Air Volvo, with my app telling me where to get my toothpaste. I drove 11 miles. Parked in an official pick-up location. Used the app to tell them where I was. Soon, a little bag with my toothpaste was brought to me by a slightly confused Walmart employee wearing a reflective vest.

Tigard to Portland is a lovely drive along the river and with less traffic. I headed to Portland from Walmart with the precious toothpaste in the cargo hold. There was parking in the Lucky Labrador lot, which was all good.

“But what about the rest?” you ask. All but the creamer was delivered to the wrong house–I have a picture that is not my house with the package. They refunded it and sent me a discount of $10 for my next order. I talked to a nice person on the phone while drinking a beer at the Lucky Labrador; the only way I would call Walmart customer service was with beer, and they handled it quickly when I discovered that the pickup was not the missing items.

The creamer is being delivered next week as it seems to be a complex item. Another truck will bring it; it took two weeks to get to me. I hope it appears at The Volvo Cave soon. I am out.

Totally insane, but it’s a good story.

I rose at 7ish and wrote the blog. I had liberal coffee, finished the last of the Trader Joe’s version, and consumed Trader Joe’s cereal with milk. I put away the laundry and finished the dishes (though there was a new set of dirty dishes on Sunday morning). I plan to mop, dust (for the first time in years), vacuum Monday through Wednesday, and do laundry to have everything excellent for my return, as is my habit for traveling.

I cleaned up, shaved, and dressed in a dress shirt and my green sweater vest with my usual LL Bean pants. The sweater and shirt are getting floppier as my belly shrinks (but not fast enough). I am looking forward to new Large-size clothing in the future.

I had leftover gnocchi for lunch while watching videos on the ShipHappens and Battleship New Jersey YouTube channels.

And that takes me full circle!

Thanks for reading.

 

I rose after my alarm started at 7. Finding the kitchen, I assembled the French press, poured liberal goodness into its glass bottom, and covered it with the screen and top. My electric kettle supplied hot water. I am still resisting this time zone, time change, and darkness. The sun was yet to rise! I turned on my wide-spectrum light, but the loss of light depression (SAD, Seasonal Affected Disorder, is another name) was not impacting me today. It was a naturally bright, cold, and happy morning in Oregon, not our usual grey and damp and coffee drinking start. I was feeling that I was not getting enough walking and overeating (though my weight is unchanged and my clothing loosely fitting). I planned to get out these next couple of days.

I will head to Michigan on Wednesday next week and return to the Pacific Northwest late on November 20th.

I spent the morning writing, finding focus, and writing fast. Unfortunately, Grammarly had an outage, and I had to rely on Microsoft to help edit the text using MS Word. It missed dozens of typos and wording issues that Grammarly found once it was running again about an hour after I published the blog. That left me disappointed as I thought I was better. Poo.

I use these tools to remove the typos and poor wording that stream-of-conscious writing produces. I don’t have the time to review my text three times and read backward. I need Grammarly to find those so I can make this production, writing a blog, a couple-hour task, and not a whole day process. I let WordPress handle posting details and the care and feeding of a blog website. Yes, WordPress is training wheels for a would-be influencer, and the tagging is rudimental, but I am using it just to post. Before, I wrote an email or a lengthy post on Facebook, but I like having more control and clear ownership. I pay for a service from WordPress, and I clearly own the content. But the tools can make you lazy. Hmmm.

Returning to the narrative, breakfast was a banana and cereal with milk. The coffee helped me find my focus and ignore all the political news. I am not reading much now as most of it is still ash-sorting.

I wrote until about 9ish as I completed the blog. I cleaned up, shaved, and so on. I dressed in a T-shirt and often would wear my now baggy blue sweater as I quickly get cold, a leftover from chemotherapy. I watched another episode, well, half of one, of the show Silo on Apple+ and enjoyed the unpredictable post-apocalyptic story in season one. Sort of a mystery and crime story, all mixed in a space-opera setting except underground and after the mysterious poisoning of the world. I will manage another episode later in the evening but can only take the darkness in short doses.

I opened a can of baked beans (with pork) and heated them in a pan. I had that with some crackers. I headed to Hillsboro for a walk. It is a lovely walk with many Antique stores and other distractions to make it pleasant. I found parking without issue on Friday early afternoon.

I walk up and down the streets and talk to friends on the phone while I walk. It feels like I am not alone when I chat and walk, though I travel well by myself and am comfortable walking anywhere now, be that New Orleans, Casablanca, Chicago, East Lansing, or Portland. However, I am always watchful and try to notice things that could be a risk and avoid them. The situational awareness training is always there.

I did not find any antiques I needed this time and avoided buying coffee or expensive pasta by not stopping at a foodie store. Next time, I will stop by the edgy crystal shop to look for Christmas items. They often have excellent earrings, boxes, and soaps, all good gifts.

I locked in nearly 4,000 steps for the day (as did a friend on the phone who called, and we walked together by phone) and felt better. During the walk, I noticed that my left leg seemed weak and painful, a new thing. I took some painkillers, and that seemed to help. My balance was off some, and I think the lack of walking for two weeks has been a setback. Later, while cutting my toenails, I had to reach for the grab bar as I suddenly started to fall into the shower sideways (towards the left, my bad side). It would have been a bad fall, but I arrested it. I will be more careful!

Next, I started chopping to assemble the items for yet another try (YAT) at Jambalaya, but this time without seafood and selecting a brown-style concoction. I chopped (and cried for) more onions. I realized the recipe was too large and cut it in half (four cups of rice and onions is too much for me). I had to do the dishes from yesterday’s Italian dinner and prepare the kitchen for the next adventure.

I replaced chicken with ham and smoked sausage with andouille smoked sausage in a large pan with a lid. I cooked the meat while finishing the assembly of the components. I used cane syrup for the brown sugar, which surprisingly added a smoked flavor or, more likely, increased it when I carmelized the sugar after removing the meat. I added the trinity (onion, green pepper, celery) but delayed the pope (sliced garlic) until later. I included not a roux but Kitchen Bouquet sauce from a jar, as I learned in New Orleans (a cheat and an improvement). I cooked this until it almost stuck to the pan. This turned the veggies black, but I had no fear. I returned the meat, added the pope to the pan, and let it all get settled and friendly with each other again. I added a regular-sized can of fire-roasted chopped tomatoes and scrapped the pan bottom to get all the smoke goodness in the sauce. I put in more than a tablespoon of Joe’s spices from the class (Bayou blend) and a tablespoon of their Cajan Worcestershire sauce. I added some of their dried garlic, too. I added two cups of rice I had (Indian style, but no matter) and three and some more cups of chicken broth from a box. I bring it all to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to a low temperature to match the usual rice cooking process. It was done after twenty minutes.

The flavor is good, and it was excellent with a sprinkle of Joe’s spicy version. If you want to make it perfect, add some drops of the Cajan Worcestershire sauce. The smoky flavor is there, and the touch of heat is good. The extra sprinkles add more heat to a level I like. I am satisfied with the result, though most folks would want it hotter spiced.

I have three bowls, each with more sprinkles of hot spices. I return to the kitchen, seeing that the house elves still haven’t done anything, and it looks as if a Cajan chef blew up. I do the dishes and put the cooling Jambalaya in the frig. Soon, the kitchen is back to its usual chaotic mess, but it is familiar.

Corwin visits and has a few bowls of reheated Jambalaya with sprinkles. I get a high-five from him. Since my brain surgery, I have had some trouble with taste, and I am never sure of my cooking with these new spices and processes. Corwin is my taster. All is good.

Corwin and I agree that he can be paid to remove the leaves from my gutter (I will have to pay someone). He will take a payment to ensure no leaves remain after the trees are empty and will clear the mess as it happens. This means multiple passes, I am afraid.

We decided not to drink beer but to enjoy ice cream and headed to Salt and Straw in Beaverton’s Cedar Mills Crossing in Air Volvo. We arrived after 8, and there was a crowd of mostly Asians and Indians in line or enjoying ice cream. I suspect the American crowd was earlier and the date crowd of young folks later. I had a Pumpkin Pie Tiramisu cone, and Corwin went for a Parker Roll and other flavors I don’t remember ice cream cone. All good. We walk around the strip mall and learn that the new La Provence closes early at 8PM (and sooner on Mondays and Sundays). Soon, we were cold (the ice cream countering the warmness of Bayou-style spices), boarded an Air Volvo, and returned to the Volvo Cave without issue. Corwin collects extra ham and Jambalaya for easy lunches/dinners and heads out.

I watch some videos on the ShipHappens and Battleship New Jersey channels. I shower, put on PJs, and read for a while. I blast Christopher Cross’s best music on Amazon’s Echo device (I still pay for music). I return to quiet music to sleep by to cover the strange house noises that wake me. I used to wake immediately when Susie called, or she fell or was lost in the dark, and I still wake for odd sounds–years as a caretaker. Best to cover the sounds with music.

I sleep until 6ish without waking.

Thank you for reading.