Portland Holiday Memory

We found this wonderful little animated skating rink, among all the Christmas boxes from the crawlspace, that we've been going through, with an eye to eliminating a significant number of things. I’ve been wondering where it was, for the past few years. I found this treasure at Julia’s gift shop, a few blocks from our hotel in Portland's city center, on one of my many walks around town. I used to bring it out for us to enjoy, during the Christmas holiday. It brought back such memories from our trip to Portland in 2005, to visit extended family for Thanksgiving dinner. We had quite the unexpected medical adventure, during that trip, visiting several of the Kaiser Permanente facilities around the city. We saw Mt Saint Helens pop off a ring of smoke, while we were eating breakfast in the small self-serve buffet on the top floor of our City Center Marriott hotel.

Bear strike!

Sad to hear of this bear strike by a B-737-300 at Yakutat airport on Saturday evening. Crew and passengers were fine; aircraft damaged; sorry to say the bear didn't make it. 

This real-world incident immediately reminded me of a Microsoft Flight Simulator X mission challenge that I attempted, quite a few years ago. It started as a simple short night hop over the hills from Burwash Landing airport, an inland valley airport, to Yakutat airport near the Pacific coast, in the Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop. The idea was to get across the mountains and land at Yukatat, before a big snowstorm shuts down the airport. The flight rapidly degenerated into a nightmarish scenario, first with loss of airspeed indication, due to an iced-up Pitot tube. Next came a critical (left) engine failure, then a vacuum pump failure, with the associated attitude and directional gyro flight instruments slowly going belly-up. That was followed by a challenging night low-ceiling instrument approach to Yakutat, with the failed engine catching on fire in the procedure turn. After handling all those challenges successfully, I found myself touching down on the snow-covered runway, with limited braking, but thinking, "I did it!" Suddenly a bear comes running across the runway, illuminated by my landing lights at the last moment. I eased in a little rudder to drift left behind the bear on the slippery runway, steered slowly back to the centerline, and came to a stop. After taking a deep breath. I thought, “That would never happen in real life, would it?“ ;-)

Jennefer's great news!

Snow is starting here... it was kinda nice to have cold moist weather today. Sort of sets the tone for a day of medical appointments. At 5:45am, Mandy and I walked a couple of miles around the Swedish medical center complex, and enjoyed our rare experience of seeing the sunrise, while Jennefer got her long awaited follow-up PET scan. Then at 1:30, we were back, and they let me go in with her, to talk to her doctor about the results of the scan. 

The doctor read her scan results, looked down her throat, and said...

* It looks good down there!

* No sign of a tumor!

* Looks completely resolved!

* Beautiful response!

...all of those things are awesome to hear! 

Now she needs to keep focusing on her body’s recovery as best she can, pushing herself to eat and drink more than is comfortable. Her throat still has a hard time swallowing food, but that should improve some over time. The radiation also killed a bunch of saliva glands, and the remaining ones may recover over the next 18 months. It’ll be a long road, but good news helps a lot!

Hope and unity

Kamala Harris said we chose “Hope and unity, decency, science and, yes, truth!” 

 

Joe Biden said, among many things, “Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end, here and now!” 

 

— it all sounds so good to me. 

Is he nuts?

Watching the real-time election analysis, and following chatter on the Net... Am I the only one who thinks our President has gone off the rails? Trying to wreck our democratic election process?? Setting this country up for civil war with his inflammatory lies, if his more violent followers also refuse to accept the (now becoming obvious) election results??? At work, if we were letting someone go, and they misbehaved, we would have Security escort them out immediately, so they couldn’t do any more damage before their last day. I kind of feel like he needs to be escorted out, before he does something even more dangerous, between now and January. I have so much respect for the Presidency - the most powerful position on the planet - but he’s acting like he doesn’t. Get a grip, man... 😱 ⚔️ 👮‍♀️ 💣 🤷‍♂️ 

Big day for Jennefer

Mandy and I are doing the "dog walk around the hospital" thing, as Jennefer gets her feeding tube and port removed. She is so excited. Time to commit to feeding by mouth again! She’ll have to start with blander food, but someday maybe her throat and taste buds will recover enough for her to be eating her favorite spicy foods again. 

Unbelievable

CNBC: Trump campaign says it is suing to stop Michigan and Pennsylvania ballot counts 

I find it amazing, that our incumbent President is attempting to stop the counting of mail-in ballots. Most of those ballots were received long before Election Day. In this time of COVID-19, when people are trying to stay home as much as possible, I would think they should’ve been counted first, since they arrived first. Dare I say it: gee, look who’s *actually* trying to steal the election. Pretty funny, in a nightmarish way. 🤦‍♂️

Happy Halloween 2020

We had a surprisingly high number of Halloween trick-or-treaters tonight! Lots of kids having fun. Most had masks, and some had gloves. Just caught a few pics this year... I used the Waterlogue app to hide most of the details, so the kids' faces wouldn't be discernible.

Fall colors

I'm enjoying the Autumn colors during my walks and bike rides! This is perhaps one of the best views, and it's from my seat at my kitchen nook table, while having breakfast. I'm feeling pretty lucky, to live in a place where we have real seasons, and can enjoy these amazing colors.

Visitors!

I always enjoy having visitors, but during this crazy and disappointing year, I appreciate them even more. My brother in law stopped into Denver for a couple of days, on his "Covid road trip," and I was glad to enjoy some time with him both days. We surprised ourselves by taking my longest walk of the year. Mandy and Mookie did very well!

 

My ex-neighbor's kids drove back to the Denver area from their RV campground in the pacific northwest, going through their storage lockers, picking up some things to share with their relatives, and stopped by to pick up some mail I was holding for them. We have such a long history, it was heartbreaking when they moved away, to go wandering the country in the new trailer RV, so it was a real pleasure to have them visit for a few minutes, before heading out to get more things done.

Smoky Fall morning

We were just sitting down to dive into our delicious-looking Friday morning takeout breakfast, and while the smoke was fairly thin earlier, we noticed we can barely see the hills now. 

I guess the smoke is starting to behave as forecast today. Scary thought: I now check the smoke forecast every morning 🤷‍♂️ 

My coffee concoction this morning - I’m trying a different approach to enjoying the Pumpkin spice mini meringue cookies that Jennefer brought home from Sprouts farmers market. They’re a little too boldly spiced for me, when I just pop them in my mouth for a treat, but they’re pretty tasty with a cup of strong coffee!

Adele has passed

Adele Siegel’s close friend Alice let us know today, that “Our dear friend Adele left us this morning. This beautiful, funny lady will be missed.“ She posted this photo of Adele, along with her announcement.

Her son Harvey arranged for her obituary to be posted by the Palm Beach Daily News: "Adele Siever Siegel, loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend found her final peace on September 18, 2020 at the age of 96. She was a founding member of the Jacob Kravits Center and the Palm Beach Country Club alongside her loving husband, Mac Siegel, with whom she always found a ready and elegant dance partner until his passing in 1989. She became the chair of a Palm Beach American Heart Association gala/auction and actively worked to enhance their charitable legacy. Mrs. Siegel enjoyed golf, tennis, bridge, and telling a good, but decidedly rowdy joke. She loved to laugh and share her joys with all. She is recently predeceased by her longtime companion, Sumner Hushing. With her passing, an epoch of old Palm Beach also closes. Private Services will be held in New York City. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations in Adele's name to the American Heart Association"

Adele started dating my dad in the mid 1990s. Having a lot in common, they enjoyed each other's company, and traveling our country's highways together in the summers, visiting friends and family, playing golf and tennis, and enjoying the magnificent sights to be seen throughout the United States. We first met her at our home in San Diego, when they were taking a tennis clinic at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.

 

She was a sweetheart - with that devious twinkle in her eye - and we welcomed her into our small family. We had so many lovely visits by her and Dad, and with them, and with her, as recently as this January, before the COVID-19 craziness started. This photo is from June 2015, after I began traveling again. She loved her home in Ballenisles, for good reason. We had just finished a delicious buffet breakfast at the Club, and went outside to enjoy their gorgeous view for a moment. She would graciously host us at her house, when we visited, and we loved walking through the surrounding neighborhoods, and enjoying the beautiful landscaping throughout the community.

 

I’ll miss her a lot.

Adele in Hospice

Some concerning news this morning, from Adele Siegel’s son Harvey: Adele went to Palm Beach Gardens hospital, with a broken hip from a fall at her rehab facility on August 31. She isn’t doing well, after the surgery to pin her hip back together. She already had some dementia earlier, but now the anesthesia and subsequent pain meds have her very disoriented. She‘s had problems swallowing for years, but it‘s worse now. They wanted to install a feeding tube, but she was having none of it. She’s unable to talk - pretty much out of it. Harvey is not optimistic about her recovery - they recently moved her to hospice. So sad we can’t call and talk with her. I asked Harvey about sending a card and flowers, and he said she's not capable of knowing or appreciating something like that. 

Update 9/17/2020: Adele’s good friend Alice says that "Adele is still with us, but she is unconscious, and feeling no pain."

We are holding her close in our hearts. I’m also very sad, that my dad couldn’t be there for her, during this difficult time. This photo is from our visit in January, before the COVID-19 concerns kept us from traveling to visit again.

She’s eating (a little)!

We enjoyed a pleasant visit from my niece today. It was nice to be able to enjoy a barbecued chicken dinner on the deck, especially since Jennefer was able to eat with us, for the first time since starting the radiation treatments on her throat, so many months ago! 

Here’s our last view of the sun from my quickly-cooling deck, before it gets too cool for comfort out here. Big weather shift forecast today, from a high of 90° to a low around 30° with possible snow tonight.

Colorado Air and Space Port

Caught me by surprise! I thought I was flying into Front Range Airport (KFTG) from Las Vegas in my (simulated) Daher TBM 930, but got frustrated when I couldn't find the official Airport and Approach charts. It turns out, they've renamed it to Colorado Air and Space Port, with a new identifier KCFO. I knew of the effort to become a landlocked spaceport, but not that they were going to officially rename the airport, and give it a new identifier.

First Flight in MSFS 2020

I just finished my first flight using Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020! I was very uncomfortable for the entire flight from Centennial (KAPA) to Aspen (KASE), as aside from the primary flight controls, everything (notably keyboard and joystick shortcuts) is different than it was in Microsoft Flight Simulator X, and of course also different than X-Plane 11, that I've been using for the past 21 months. 

However, the scenery and aircraft are as detailed and beautiful as promised, and hopefully I'll get the hang of identifying and customizing the shortcuts soon. I'll lean on the side of optimism, and say I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to many more fun flights. Pics from my trip are here. 

Sad but unsurprising

A 90-year-old Florida man who dressed in full protective gear to be close to his wife and say a final goodbye has died of COVID-19.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/coronavirus/90-year-old-man-dies-weeks-after-saying-goodbye-to-wife-wearing-protective-gear

I’m so sad seeing this story, but... no surprise? After seeing that his non-N95 mask has huge air gaps around his nose, and she’s not wearing a mask, after all that’s been said about how masks protect the person you’re talking to, but not the wearer. Not to mention sitting in close proximity for an extended period of time, which practically guarantees he will get it.

We stop transmission with: 

1. Mask on infected person

2. Distancing and airflow

3. Sterilization and no touching

However, at 90, and with such a close bond, maybe he really didn’t want to survive, if she didn’t. It would've been even sadder, if she pulled through, and he didn't.

AT&T is retiring 3G

I gave K's old iPhone 5 to my sister, years ago, and while she doesn’t feel she needs a cellphone, she’s been loving having the camera and the RunKeeper app for her walks in the forest. She had a local shop replace the battery last year, since it wasn't holding a charge, and she expected it to last her five more years. I warned her about evolving technology, and advised she just upgrade it instead, but she was hard-over on doing the simple thing, and not having to deal with learning how to use a new phone. Yesterday, she received this email (click on the pic), and innocently asked me what I thought it meant. Heavy sigh. I couldn't find anything about it online, since nobody had reacted to it yet, and wondered out loud if it might be a scam, and also worried that it might be real. The good news is that today, I am finding lots of information, including the encouraging fact that AT&T failed to mention that it won't happen until early 2022. Here's AT&T's more specific notice, and the list of phones that will work on the new network.

Dear Diary 2020

😅 Bwahahaha! Totally worth the short read!

Dear Diary 2020 Edition,

In January, Australia caught on fire . I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran . We might actually still be almost at war with them . I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped the crap out , but then there was this thing happening in China, then Prince Harry and Megan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial , and then corona virus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.

In February, Iowa crapped itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took Ten. Whole. Years. to rip up a speech, but then the WHO decided to give this disease a name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty , and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink , and everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, stuff hit the fan . Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust , but then Italy shut its whole country down , and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized, a pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in US , but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu , but then COVID Not 18 was like ya’ll not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks , get y’all to close all of the schools so y’all can appreciate teachers for once (because you can’t teach them anything other than how to use a touch screen ) close down all of salons so you can’t get your hair or your nails done , everyone had to work from home and attend Zoom meetings in their underwear. The DOW took a crap on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing (I still don’t), We were then all introduced to Tiger King and the ONE thing we can all agree on this year, Carol totally killed her husband ..... whacked him! And then Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross and were all searching for lotion now.

In April, Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race , but then NYC became the set of The Walking Dead and we learned that no one has face masks , ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID, and by now our outgrowth is showing, so there’s a shortage on box hair dye and all of our hair dressers are like, NO DONT DO IT!!! But, then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life … or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In May, the biblical end times kicked off, historical locust swarms, we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games . However people forgot to let us know. people legit started to protest lockdown measures with AR-15s, sports events were cancelled everywhere. But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city ,which was confusing to some of us because people were definitely gathering in crowds of more than 10 and for sure closer than 6 foot away from each other. Those people must have forgotten about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing. A dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed the Earth .

In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a God given right (still haven't found that part in the bible or even in the constitution). then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio signal coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days , and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly .... not that great . All of the Karen’s came out at once, and people started tearing down statues. Everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works , but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Coronavirus. Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic , but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert , which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud. We then learned of meth-gators , and I'm like that is so not on my flipping 2020 Bingo card can we use it as the free space?? Then we learned that the Congo's worst ever Ebola outbreak is over , and we were all like, there was an Ebola outbreak that was the worse ever? ....... and don’t forget we just discovered FLYING SNAKES! , seriously! FLYING SNAKES!!!!

So here comes July…. at this point we are over it, just tell us what’s next .... Aliens? Zeus? Asteroids? Artificial Intelligence becomes self aware? Can it just be something cool or fun for once? Maybe even a good laugh, like hahaha April Fools! We all actually wouldn’t mind that joke at this point. But No joke.. Kanye West announces he is running for President

I have no idea who wrote this. This doesn't even cover what is happening in Canada!! OMG...what's happening in Canada? Also, why didn't I know about the whale in the Amazon? Or a few other things because I just can’t keep up anymore! But I’m sharing it because as long as we make it through 2020, I really want this to pop back up in the memories a few years from now.