Life in General

2019 September 1

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It´s a new month. I promised on August 1 to update you. In July it was Watercolor Month. August became a writing month, specifically Blog It Month. So far so good. There are lots of posts, nearly one every day, on a variety of topics. Mark it down as a success.

This inspiration came from Austin Kleon and his book Keep Going. In it he advises to do a little bit every day, to share what you find, and (well) Keep Going.

I´ve chosen a thing to do for September. I´ll tell you about it in October. Why wait to tell? I´m following the advice of putting my energies into doing it, not talking about doing it.

TAVR: One Year Later

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A year ago today, through the afternoon, I was on a table with my chest wide open while the surgeons searched for the leak in my heart.


Earlier the TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement) had gone well. If it weren’t for the hole poked in the side. Yeah well, Adventure #1 started. Hooray to Jennifer for hanging on through the multi-hour ordeal. They did find it and patched me up. Time for adventure #2, waiting to strike on the 31st of August.

Several hours later I’d wake up after the 20% chance of the procedure working. Hooray for keeping my luck in stock for the important things.

My Blessings

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I get to go on Jury Duty. Though in truth my name has ever been pulled up to leave the waiting room. Today I was among the people let go at noon. But still, I listed to them calling names for a jury pool in vain.

I had my hopes up
to be called, to be chosen
summertime sent home

Quick Haiku, in need of work

It should also be noted that Chris “Bicycling will save us” Collins reminds me of something I remember.

@chris_in_cal: @MichaelRpdx When counting your blessings don’t forget ‘My radiant full thick wavy head of hair’.

Chris Collins, on Twitter
Happy Day, Well until I’m sent home

PS – I’ve extended my streak of not being called. Next time up when I’m 64. 


			


					
			





	

					

				
Walking
		

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After driving back from Salem it was kinda late. 7:00ish or so. I wanted food. But I wanted a walk too. There was a place, a mile away, I could go there,  so I did.





I grabbed my backpack, which was with me,  put it on and started up hill.  Then up more hill, to the flats of Boise Street. That’s where the destination was, right where Boise intersects with Foster Blvd. It’s a remodeled street with occasional pedestrian crossings.  It was a quiet night, there was no traffic to speak of, certainly none on Boise. Just a car on 52nd Ave, who stopped and waved me to cross. I waved and mouthed “thank you.” In fact I was in a hurry, walking as fast as I comfortably can.  At Foster I passed by the Fopo Tavern where I’d never been but need to, and past the Tambayan, where I had been, but too long ago. Soon I was at the spot where one of the street crossing is. Press the button, and flashing yellow light go on. A voice points out that traffic may not stop, so be careful (in English and Spanish). But they did stop. Yay!  for traffic and their lights. 





It was time for Char, a new pizza place. Another pizza place? Portland has plenty. There are eight within a mile of where we live. Jennifer had observed the plants outside weren’t kept up. I’d read a positive review. So I was ready to give it a try. It wa Is mostly empty. But I spotted a rack of pizza by the slices.  To cut it to the short description, I had Hellspawn, Secret Agent Chubbsmcgee, and Pepprmint.  I’m sure in the future I’ll have Feral Cat. Two of the three were vegetarian and fantastic. I





OK, I truthfully could have done well on just one slice.  But I wanted to try a couple to find out what the place was like, and the last one, well it was just coming out of the oven. Fresh Pie!





It was a good thing to have walked. So I started to stroll home.  It seemed like a lot of houses were dark. I’ll need to go out at night again, and check on how lit up the area is. As I got home I looked up and saw brightly shining starts. It seemed to be Jupiter and Saturn. Watching over (??) Portland in the late summer. 





Back inside, it felt good. Jennifer and I will walk on over when she’s back.








			


					
			





	

					

				
Frittata for Breakfast
		

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Hash browns, hash browns with gravy, smashed potatoes, plain old fried potatoes. There are many ways to have potatoes for breakfast. Lately, I’ve been making them frittata style for breakfast. 





Here’s how I make them.





For each person eating:
 Have 1 medium-sized potato, boiled up to doneness
 grate them into a bowl
 add two eggs
 beat them up until, well you’ll know.
 Add salt and pepper to taste.





That’s the basics.





To the basics add:
 finely chopped onions
 chopped red or yellow bell pepper
 some salsa or hot sauce
 or whatever you like





Put it in a skillet preheated to slightly more than medium with a generous coating of olive oil and/or butter. After a little bit, put a cover on it.





Perhaps you’ll want to top them with grated cheese. We used a “mature” cheddar cheese from Great Briton. It’s harder than normal cheese, but not as hard as parmesan, which would also be great. Or a spoonful of soft cheese, treat it like butter and syrup. Tomatoes, roughly chopped, added near the end of cooking is great. I’m sure you can added more things. 





Well, that’s how I’ve made them. I’ll be making more soon.