Tag: gaming

Wednesday: Back to Games and Recover My Hat

alohawild

For the locals…excellent crafty items…I have found three things I need…all at least 1/2 of the craft show prices.

Yesterday (Tuesday), I returned home from Portland. Put my computer down, got out my iPhone, and went to take off my hat. I was surprised it wasn’t on my head. I then checked the house and Air VW the Gray, as I often leave the hat in First Class. It was not there or in Biz Class. I called the Broadway Grill; yes, they have it. Today, Wednesday, I would be driving back into Portland to get my hat.

I rose later. I had finished a book last night. It was a clearish morning, and soon the sky would show some blue, and the puddles would shrink or disappear. I tried to find my focus, but Brazil packing and preparations still steal many of my thinking cycles.

I dressed and connected with Deborah here and there. She is at a work conference in Michigan. I also talked to Dondrea much of the day about the trip and visa details.

I found the near-noon traffic easy, and the water was gone from the roads. It was easy parking too, and soon I had my hat back, a golden ale this time (only average) and a buffalo chicken pizza which, having no breakfast, was soon all inside of me (a regret). I turned on the online broadcast of the sinking of the SS United States, the fastest ocean liner ever built, all 990 feet of it. It was to become an artificial reef today and a diver paradise.

The ship’s stacks were gone (they would break off in a sinking, and the light metal would soon make them unstable), and its mast. It would sink in relatively shallow 180 feet of water and would be only 50 feet down to the top. Passages had been cut in the steel to give divers safer, easier access. Clutter was removed, and air ducts and similar items were removed to prevent them from trapping divers or cutting their hoses.

I checked in, and the sinking would not happen until late. I saw it later that evening. Unlike the Navy weapon-firing sinkings, the Coast Guard required no explosives. Instead, they flooded the liner by pumping water into it and then opening valves to the sea. Holes in the lower decks then finished the job. She sank, beginning a roll that threatened the plan. I learned on Thursday, while I wrote this, that the SS United States is on the bottom on an even keel. Ready soon for divers off Florida. It had been cleaned of toxic items and should be an excellent reef in the Gulf.

I returned home, and a nap overtook me. It is also the 11th day of the 11th month. I remembered my grand uncle, “Bucky” Wild, was there in France at the end of the Great War. He was part of the US forces under “Black Jack” Pershing.

I rose, cleaned the toilet, swept and mopped the kitchen floor. I put out some of the Dungeons & Dragons material for the game on Thursday @6:15. We are playing the converted Caverns of Thracia adventure, but ignoring all the side quests and maps. Maybe next time.

I had too much pizza and was not looking for dinner. I met Dondrea, Z, and the praise band, and later the choir, practicing in the chapel as the AA group had moved from Wesley Hall, now stuffed with Holiday Market stuff. I found many items I may return for.

Z picked Concordia and a small island to play on. A variant startup for the
Balearica map takes us a moment to work out. The ‘D’ cities are not used, meaning we will be tripping over each other, and I notice that there are many brick cities. Brick cities do not count toward the city count, but are the cheapest to build and produce bricks that are always needed.

Z, while picking this compressed map, has some trouble getting organized. She has not played for six months, and we have played this map only once. I have no problem planning and have my turns planned out two to three deep, but I am flexible to change them as the board changes. It is my favorite and best game. I do lose to good players, and I find it best to end the game fast for my style of play.


I had 50 more points than Z at the end, finishing with 7 points, having built in every province and only one brick city. The game uses a complex card-purchase system, which also determines the point multiplier. But despite the point spread, Z had only one house left and would have ended the game in the next few plays.

The guys, Will and Peaches, who taught me Concordia by playing Peaches’ copy at a coffee shop, told me that the winner is usually the person with the most cards, and that was true today. I lost my connection with Will during the Pandemic; I miss him and a few other gamers I lost touch with during the Pandemic. I won my first game to their surprise. I think of them often when I play.

With the game done, choir was also done. We took longer than usual, but I had to talk to some folks headed to Brazil, and Z had to reconnect with the game and find a plan. It is a very difficult map.

With that done, and Z giving her regrets for Thursday’s Dungeons & Dragons game, I headed out. I stopped at The 649 and had a beer and a cheese fondue after learning that Mariah and Emma had finished their night playing trivia. They did win a free drink and got my favorite, an Old Fashioned, and sent me a picture of them enjoying the drink.

I ordered some early Black Friday discounted microprocessors, but I am not sure when I will get to them. I headed home before closing the bar. It was foggy, our first fogging night in a while.

I read for a bit and soon slept. I dreamed of traveling, getting lost at the dream airport, and not being able to understand the dream flight process. And then it changes into a train station, and it gets more confusing. I woke early, went back to sleep, and found myself back there, still trying to get home.

I seldom dream that it’s the last day of class, and I learn I missed a whole class on higher calculus or differential equations, and need to pass the final, or that I’m showing up somewhere with no clothing. Instead, I am lost while traveling in a car or trying to connect at an airport or train station. Sometimes I make the flight only to discover it is a flying theater and I can’t find my seat. And each time, an usher tells me I have it wrong and points me somewhere else. I wander room after room until I am in some back-row seat. The movie starts as the flying theater takes off. Usually I wake up then.

Thanks for reading. I did dream of airports.

And please consider next week’s speaker…

Tuesday: Games, Rain, and Dinner

alohawild

It is another Tuesday, which means getting up in the dark to my alarm, reheating some coffee, and trying to get all my morning tasks done. I could hear the rain before I saw it. It was constant, but the ground was not yet saturated, so my backyard did not fill, and I planted grass in the spot that fills and let the grass drink some of the water. Leaf fall has created some local problems, as I have noticed a lack of diligence in clearing leaves from drains. This means huge puddles on roads and various low spots in Beaverton, Portland, and places with more cement than grass. The water can quickly swell to four inches in places. The extra pressure then sends large rafts of leaves into piles that dam up the drains. Like the spice on the desert planet in sci-fi, the water must flow!

I wrote until 8:30 and downloaded my transactions to centralize them in Quicken, so I have a view of my finances in one place (I still have to look at US Bank, as the IRA balance isn’t sent to Quicken, and the car loan is booked only as a debt and asset of matching value). It is helpful. I have been slipping of late and not updating the transactions; I fixed a group of them Wednesday morning. Better. Discipline is important, and I will check everything again in the next couple of days.

I did not finish the blog, showered and all that; I grabbed my laptop and Kindle and boarded Air VW the Gray, having forgotten to charge it. But 34% is good for more than 100 miles. Navigation gave me the disappointing news (I am using Apple’s) that traffic was heavy and slow. And it was. I arrived, splashing through some swollen puddles, one on an on-ramp to the Marquam Bridge. I arrived and parked on the street by Richard’s house. The street was full of mushy crushed leaves. I was fifteen minutes late; the trip took an hour.

Before leaving (backtracking a bit), my lawn service was parked across my driveway. The leaves in my yard looked like a tree had declared war and used a leaf bazooka on my house and yard. I apologized to the yard guys, as they would be spending quite some time collecting the yellow and red proof of the season. I usually see an extra $20 on my bill. I agreed to this because my lawn service at first refused to remove the leaves. It is an excellent deal.

(Ricard in blue is recording our success in the Board Game Geek app. James is in Gray).

Returning to being Portland, Robin could not make the game at the last minute; ISS Vanguard, a story-based board game, was out. I suggested Return to the Dark Tower, a game I had only read about, and one of Jame’s games stored at Richard. James did the teach for the game while Richard did the setup, but I did get in trouble and got a pass for a mistake (losing the game on the second turn seemed a bit extreme). It took until almost 11 to get the game going.

This is a cooperative board game but not a role-playing game. More like a combined solo play with shared objectives. There is some limited interaction. An app runs the game, and a huge electronic black tower rotates and spits out skulls, which are a form of corruption marker. It is quite clever and reminds me of The Lord of the Rings Pandemic version with a dice tower. It is based on an old board game, not a movie, and revised to be cooperative. It is its own IP.

Despite my initial mistake, I enjoyed the game and quickly learned I was playing a different type of character than James and Richard, who were reveling in battles. I was clearing corruption and pushing toward the final battle. By 1ish, we had moved to the endgame, and Richard was able to, thanks to his massively built-up character. The price is about $350 for the complete version. Basic ones are less. I cannot recommend it at that price, but play someone else’s version and remember it takes three AA batteries and an app.

After that, I found a parking spot on Broadway and would leave my hat there at the Broadway Grill. The rain had stopped for a moment, and I walked out thinking I had it on. I called later, and yes, they have it, and I will see them on Wednesday to get it back.

I had a bowl of chili and a Caesar salad, but was surprised that Mr. Toad’s Wild Red Ale, something I have ordered there for more than a decade, was no longer offered. Wow! I had some rice beer and wrapped my coat tighter as the wet cold seemed to get into my core. I finished the blog there. The salad didn’t get finished, but the hot, spicy chili helped.

The water was nearly flowing over the sidewalk as the leaf dams rose, increasing the pressure in the street. I nearly cleared the mess, but I didn’t want to get soaked. It is Portland; if the water runs on the sidewalks, it could flood basements, but folks know what to do here.

Puddles by the house weren’t an issue; the water was already receding, and leaf dams were being broken. My lawn was now just sprinkled with leaves: bright yellows and reds against the bright green grass. My roses’ blooms are rotting before they can open. The roses are growing slower now and will soon just sit and sleep until the days get longer after December 21st, the winter solstice this year.

I napped the rest of the afternoon away. My sleep has been short lately. I found a text from Mariah and learned that Emma was available for dinner too. We picked the not-cheap Golden Valley Brewery as I had a coupon (but still it is about $60 each). It was new to Emma who I picked up.

We stopped next at Powell’s. I had a copy of a book I did not have from my Kickstarter for the Caverns of Tracia. There were bonus maps, but I had no material that matched them. I remembered I cut my order at the last minute from all-in to just 5E stuff. I do not play DCC, an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons, which is the bread and butter for Goodman Games, which did the Kickstarter to convert the AD&D Guilds’ Guild adventure to newer tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). They did not do a 5E conversion for the maps, since it was all new material. Hmmm. I ordered the DCC guide for $10 from Powell’s.

A quick look, and yes, it was what I needed if I ever wanted to use the maps (not this time, but maybe some day). I would have to convert it to 5.5E D&D if I used it, but that is not too difficult (I do have their 5E monster and magic guide and one 1st-level stand-alone 5E adventure). I did read many comments criticizing Goodman Games for not producing all the work in 5E, but I remember it was clear, and I did, on purpose, not get this guide. But now I decided to acquire it.

Mariah was waiting for us, and we soon were buried in excellent food. I did not like my salmon, as it had a strong flavor; my mistake. We chatted about D&D, books, and writing. It was an excellent dinner.

I returned home and put away the solo board game, Plague of Dracula; I had left it out because I finished late, and I had no time in the morning to put it away. I did the dishes. I did not fold the laundry.

I finished Louise Penny’s A World of Curiosities, the 18th novel in the Canadian Crime series with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I had stopped reading them as I did not want to run out and, while well written and full of life lessons, poetry, and, well, Canada, the author covered terrible crimes too. I cannot recommend it more, but I understand they are dark, and one ended with a funeral for a major character. I cried all through that.

I slept after that, just before midnight. I had dreams of filling out visa forms and then being back at work, and I woke with a start at 5:30 and had trouble returning to sleep, as if I needed to code something or fill out papers or something like that (the dreams/nightmares fade from my memory).

Thursday: First D&D at Home in Years

alohawild

I rose closer to 8 than 7 and was soon drinking reheated coffee and back in my office writing and trying to reassemble the previous day into a narrative. The narrative this time was a bit disjointed, but that was a new way of writing it. It is important to try new things and also to get it done. Writing and publishing every day is not easy, but it has its own pleasures. The mental exercise and writing practice are always good. I only regret the time, as there is always something to do in the morning that gets missed. But still, it is worth it, I think.

Focus was messy, and a pheasant appeared in the backyard. I did not know we had them. Dondrea looked at it after I called her with a what-is-that photo. Yup, the usual pheasant, and they are hunted here. I had no idea and did not expect a pretty male in the backyard.

To me, it looked like he was wearing a collar with a bow tie. A formal affair on the lawn!

I had a few other distractions and was reading more election news. It looks like Alaska, after running voter-ranked updates, will still go blue. I talked to the church, and Wendy was waiting for me. I tried to rush. I got the blog out with a few last-minute inclusions that I pinned at the end. I could not pull on the threads of memory and get one continuous story. Instead, I would find another thread that seemed unconnected to the others. I pasted them in instead of rewriting again.

I published the blog by pasting a link on Facebook and emailing others. Some have subscribed and get an email when I publish. I also have some fellow bloggers who get my blog as a suggestion from WordPress. I peek at their sites. They have excellent sites. I do not see many that post more than once a week. Hmmm.

I shower and all that. I next head to the garage. Air VW the Gray now under a safety recall and cannot charge over 80%. This cuts my range by 50 miles, to 250-ish on an 80% charge. And while annoying, the 80% charge is faster, as physics means that the next 20% takes the same time and power as the first 80%. The lost power generates heat, and it seems this heat has, in a few cases, been too much. I unplugged it at 81%

Aside: In cases of excessive heat, some batteries in an EV battery pack balloon. This then crushes other batteries, causing them to short, releasing all the power stored in them immediately and starting a fire that cascades into shorting more and more batteries. Kaboom. It is like lighting off a gas tank in a conventional car. Releasing all the power in all the gasoline at once is bad too.

I head to the church, and Wendy is happy to see me. Jack C and I use the cart to move the 4,900+ mass-mailing postcards. The USPS only takes up to 5,000 in a submission. Last time we did this in three batches, but this time Wendy has split it into two uneven parts for the 9,000+ cards.

The cart catches three times, as Jack C and I struggle with the larger mass. We dump them three times, but manage to reassemble them back into the proper batches. We get them to the cargo hold and then out again, but the cart hits a bump, and we scramble. It would have been funny to watch. Like Red Green doing a mass mailing for Possum Lodge; we both had suspenders on (for those who need a reminder of who this is here). While I filled out the forms, Jack explained he was wearing his extra-strong suspenders so we wouldn’t get plumber’s crack. The mail guys were dying laughing. They accepted the mailing, and I took Jack C back to the church, returned the cart, and gave Wendy the receipt. Done!

I headed off to return my shirts at REI and soon was chatting with the clerk about Brazil and our trip. I have found that REI staff love to talk about travel, hiking, and their product. I found three new shirts, light material, for the trip, XXL and a bit stretchy. They fit. Added to my pile of things for Brazil.

I then went to Jersey’s Mike for a sub. I like the Spicy East Coast Italian. I walked in, said I was there to enjoy their excellent sandwiches, and they told me that they were out of lasagne and other pasta dishes (they don’t have them). They offered me a bread-and-lettuce sub to take to a nearby Italian pasta joint for a lasagne sandwich. I chose my usual instead and had it cut into quarters. I ate just a quarter and saved the rest for later.

I returned home and tried to stay calm, as I have a Dungeons & Dragons game, the first one in about a decade at the house, and picked up a NY-style take-home-and-cook pizza with a plain salad. I got the game ready and set up my usual start of a graveyard and did my bad Scottish accent (trying to channel M@’s acting skills while playing DM for our games) when Emma, Mariah, and Joan S showed up at 6:15-ish to play.

Mariah had some basic ideas, and Emma was an expert player. Joan S was new but rolled more 20s than I have ever seen. Emma created the characters for everyone and handwrote all the information in perfect tiny handwriting.

I had my tree collection, and soon the story started with Emma poorly negotiating a price to clear the local graveyard of “shinnagins” from some passing necromancer. They headed there with their 15 gp paid in advance (it was so cheap that even the town leader, Jim, paid it now) and soon discovered an animated skeleton was loose in the graveyard.

They decided to take it from a distance, as Joan was a rogue and was good at it. Also, Emma was playing “laser cleric” and started blasting from a distance. But while Joan S perfect 20s continued on her hide rolls, this left only two targets for the undead, which produced a hit on Mariah’s barbarian orc.

A rush and more long-distance shots, and the undead creature was re-deaded. But more started to crawl out of the ground (I have specially made figures for this look, but they are mummies; still, they looked the part). The battle continued, and soon more undead were popping out of the ground like weeds. The cleric, Emma’s character, tried a poison spell (but failed an intelligence check; these undead are immune to poison, being animated bones). The blasting worked better the next time after the undead missed the second time (I was not rolling the 20s that Joan S was).

Cultists were found to be hiding in the ruins of a chapel (I wish I had taken a picture of the setting). The DM was surprised by how fast they were dispatched; Joan S’s character was unstoppable. With that done, I practiced with new D&D players. It was fun and helped everyone get used to the play and the new characters. Everyone had a good time and got their turn in the spotlight. Prefect.

We started the Caverns of Tracia campaign, an original 1970s adventure that has been converted to 5E, with a fast-forward to the dungeon crawl, as the travel and finding are less interesting, I think, than just walking down steps into a lost complex, the meat-and-potatoes of old school tabletop role-playing games (TTRPG). The adventurers hired someone to carry their light. Joan S has a human who cannot see in the dark. I had a light-bearer figure (another TTRPG, Frostgrave, has special figures, including the cultists and the light-bearer we used).

The adventure started with them not scaring the bats (I rolled my first good roll, but it was for the light-bearer). We ended after the players had the crap beat out of them by lizardmen, with one lizardman already injured by a previous encounter. I should have reduced the number to two, as monsters are, despite their low rating, too strong for 1st-level newbie adventurers with 20+ hit points and 20+ attacks.

We stopped with the lizardmen, realizing the puny adventurers weren’t the usual bad guys and might be willing to heal their wounds, and called a halt, as they had bloodied the adventurers.

And with that, the players, Emma, Mariah, and Joan S, headed out, wondering what would happen to them next Thursday when we start again. I put the dishes in the dishwasher and ran it. I managed to resist pizza, but I did have a bit of salad. Later I had some cheese with some pickles, as I seemed hungry tonight.

I started a new spy show, Black Doves, set in London, after hearing Keira Knightley, who stars in it, say in a BBC interview celebrating the release of season 2 that it was a crazy fun show. In the interview, with her now playing a spy and doing fight scenes, she said she was ready to take over the role of James Bond. I watched three episodes and didn’t go to bed until after 12:30. It was fun and recommended.

I soon fell asleep and woke up once. Thanks for reading!

Saturday: Halloween 2026

alohawild

I returned home on Saturday after playing games and saw that I had forgotten to leave a light on. You could not see the table and candy very well. My bowl of candy was still full, though it had been reduced; I grabbed a few and went inside. I had a few to celebrate. I had returned from Richard’s in Portland to Beaverton, driving more slowly and with careful attention. Black-on-black costumes are hard to spot at night.

We played the newish cooperative board game Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons and fought some famous D&D villains in a D&D reskin of the fun Horrified series. Richard bought it to play tonight, and soon we were fully immersed in the adventure. It was extra fun for me, since I had played D&D in those locations and run the villains. I knew the villagers’ stories we needed to rescue. I could imagine what they looked like as I ran the matching adventure in D&D during the Pandemic using Roll20. Without spoilers, it was a fun game and not easy. A good balance.

We played the first game, and Richard’s character became “dark” but had to drop an item at the end of every turn. We made it work and managed to almost complete the defeat of the three villains (each a separate puzzle to solve), but the monster deck ran out, and we lost. It is the main timer of the game. Strahd, a famous D&D vampire, takes multiple turns to defeat. I was surprised by how much of the D&D canon they reproduced. I enjoyed the game and recommend it to my graybeard D&D players who remember the vampire Strahd before he became more than a single adventure.

Before this, I was at Lucky Labrador having lunch and playing Plague of Dracula

Before this, I was at Lucky Labrador having lunch and playing Plague of Dracula, as it was Halloween. This is a solo game where you try to stop the vampire playing in a Bram Stoker-like story/game. I had a BLT and two beers (yes, I said salads and water now, but it was Halloween and their BLTs are so good).

I brought my laptop and books in case I found it too tedious, as solo games can sometimes get repetitive. I did manage to fight off the vampires, with one bite from Dracula removed by Dr. Seward infusion work. At the time, I ran out of time; Renfield had escaped, the hunters were well armed, Van Helsing had arrived, and two nests of coffins were eliminated. Attacks on Mina and Lucy had been repelled with no loss. I found the game telling, as you, dear reader, can see, a story as you play. Writing your version of the novel.

I did not get to finish, as, like many solo games, Plague of Dracula takes lots of time. In solo play, the game structure slowly builds the tension and capabilities of the player. The clock, in this case the number of turns, seems slow at first, but then everything seems to happen at once. I will return to the solo game again.

Before this, it was a usual morning: I reheated coffee and rose late from lack of sleep, pushing myself to make the best of the day. I wrote the blog, read lots of church items, and tried to assemble candy for the kids (and adults).

Though out of order, when I returned to the house, I brought the kitchen back to order (while enjoying a few bits of Halloween candy) and bought the current season of Nova on PBS: Store Age Masterpieces (S53, E11). I watched the show about the prehistoric cave paintings from over 35,000 years ago. These are the ones done as 3-D drawings and show movement, of sorts, in flickering firelight. Once again showing that ancient peoples were artisans and very capable.

I fell back on the manual clocks, as it is time change day.

I felt better after my visit to Portland, playing games, chatting with Deborah, and just enjoying the day. It was a good day.

I was a bit sad a few times. It is my 30th year in the house (we got the keys on Halloween), and many memories rushed back. But as I said in yesterday’s blog: Thirty More!

I also missed that I stopped by the Comic Monkey on my way into Portland and got the #2 of the D&D comic. I had ordered it. To park, I did a U-turn, and a big black SUV was annoyed as I cut them off. I read the comic and loved it. Here if you are interested, dear reader.

And with that, I think I will say thank you for reading!

Saturday: No Game and Lots of Tasks

alohawild

On Friday, Richard asked me for suggestions for board games for our usual Saturday night play, and I was hoping to play the newish Fromage game or another game of the same ilk, but themed around baking. On Saturday afternoon, Richard sent me a note that it was just the two of us, so I decided to skip.

I had traveled to Portland that afternoon and was now drinking a beer (just one now, as I am cutting back) and eating a bowl of peanuts. I finished my Dungeons & Dragons paperwork; my character was now 15th level (12th-level sorcerer/3rd-level bard) in M@’s Sunday game. I had to give up a magic item (only to discover, as often happens in 5.5E, that a rule change means I can keep it and had to redo my work again Sunday morning) and correct some mistakes. These were in an area I seldom, if ever, use, and after manually updating a character fifteen levels, a few slipped in.

After talking to Deborah, I headed home, finished my beer and peanuts, and paid my bill. Lucky Labrador’s on Hawthorne was busy, and I had to park on the street for the first time in months. The staff was delighted to be busy. I chatted with Deborah as I crossed Portland and Beaverton, and then we did one of our favorite long-distance activities: watching a show together. Elsbeth gets better each season and reminds me of Columbo and Nero Wolf books. The main characters become settled, and the actors become the characters for me. It is wonderful to see an old formula still work. But underlying currents also become clearer with each season, adding to the story and possibly changing the beloved main characters. This is a newer formula, and I like that too.

We managed two shows, and then it was late, and Deborah said good night and ended her day. She watched the shows in bed with her dogs. I made dinner, a salad (as I promised myself), read, did the dishes, and cleaned up the kitchen a bit.

I was soon in bed, reading more Dungeons & Dragons adventure, The Caverns of Thracia, that I am thinking of using for a new Thursday night game. It would be less work to use premade stuff. I also got that as a Kickstarter, and it would be a shame to leave it on a shelf. Unlike the three volumes the next adventure in the set took, this one uses a one-inch-plus-thick book that includes the AD&D version and is a bit unwieldy. The Kickstarter includes a supplement of player handouts that makes that part easier. It lacks large maps or other cool items like the Beadle & Grimm versions of other adventures (though those are often $400+; I can see why the Kickstarter did not go that far, and B&G usually works on established adventures).

I noticed a flaw in the adventure’s flow, and I think I had that problem when I played it thirty-five years ago. I worked out how to solve it. I will have to start making notes on how to play it. I am also headed toward removing some of the complexity, as it will not add to the enjoyment of the game and will take time. There is only so much time for gaming; it is best to remove anything that doesn’t improve the experience, a lesson I learned from M@.

I purchased The Borgias, an old BBC show from Apple TV, and watched an episode. I did buy a season, but I may have made a mistake. I hope it gets better. I do like this time of history and know the Medici’s story. We will see.

It was soon after 10, and with the time change, early rising a few times this week, and two vaccines (my left arm hurts from the COVID-19 shot), I tire easily and feel like I am dragging all day. I put aside the adventure, turned off the light, pulled up the blankets, and instantly fell asleep. I woke around 3, proved I could rise, and also proved I was hydrated. I woke in the dark before sunrise on Sunday.

Back at the start of Saturday, I rose in the dark, overheated in my 66°F house under too many blankets. I managed to kick some off, but sleep still didn’t return, so I crawled out into the cold house (it would soon heat to 69°F), found my slippers and robe, located liberal coffee already made, and reheated it in the microwave.

Breakfast was just a banana. I need to make more bread for toast. I use a cheap Amazon Basics bread-making machine. I may go back to the old-school way I learned, like many, during the pandemic.

I puttering around the house after the blog and reheated the Indian-style food I made the day before. It is too much food, and next time I need to split this up into smaller containers. I watched more Battleship New Jersey videos and ShipHappens on YouTube. I then headed to Portland.

And that is full circle. Thanks for reading.