Wacky Work Time

May 03, 2024 by Adam in Family

I seem to be riling people up at work lately.  Hopefully I can find some sort of Buddist-like detachment from outcomes.  At least it's been educational.  And today is a mocha day, which is always nice.

Tomorrow is Russian Orthodox Easter.  When I stopped by to get mom for tea this week, I ran into Seraph and Emma working away.  Seraph forced me to eat some delicious potato chocolate cake, promising me more to take home after Easter.  I'm excited to see everyone, especially Jenny who I haven't seen in far too long.

Emma got herself a thesis advisor yesterday.  She'd been nervous about imposing on anyone and has put it off for awhile.  Fortunately she has a good forest biology professor and after chatting with him about the farm for a long while, popped the question and he said yes.

Otherwise the week has been pretty low-key, a little dreary with occasional bursts of sunshine.  Hopefully the loggers will finally be done at the farm sometime this month.  D&D starts up in a couple weeks - I've been printing minis in preparation for future games.  Jo and I had fun playing Cat Quest 2 after returning from our date night.  I'm sure Emma and I will hit up the library later today.

Lazy Rainy Weekend

April 29, 2024 by Adam in Family

Other than feeding kids and kitties and keeping the house generally intact, I'm not sure I did much beyond some gardening on Saturday.  Jo was out at a writer's conference with their friend Jennifer, so it was a kid hangout weekend.  I did manage to add some edging pavers to the garden and it did involve a little bit of chainsawing to remove roots, but that's about it for being terribly productive.  Emma was feeling under the weather, with her most exciting thing being some adventure preparation for a game she wants to run.

We did "fix" the light to the basement, which involved changing the light then realizing the second switch was just stick in between the on and off states.  I also "fixed" my dad's old 3D printer by realizing it kept trying to calibrate the z-index because the magnetic bed got stuck on the pegs and wasn't flat.  It was that sort of weekend.  At least I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies at the end of it.

I'm taking Duncan to the bank this afternoon so that he can setup direct deposit for his new LCC job.  He was asked to help tutor other students, presumably because he's really good with the various tools they use.  It's really cool and I'm proud of him.  It's deeply satisfying watching kids grow up and slowly become self sufficient.

Mocha Friday

April 26, 2024 by Adam in Family

A warm mocha on a rainy day is one of my absolute favorite things.

It's been a generally okay week.  I hung out with my friend Jason last night and helped him setup some software for his upcoming D&D session.  It was fun to geek out about props for his upcoming game and talk about the challenges of being a dungeon master.  Plus we chatted about his job, which involves a bunch of travel and waiting around to be called to the witness stand.  I also helped my other old friend Colin test one of his new puzzle word games.  Who would have thought that the two guys I played Car Wars and Cyberpunk with would grow up to become real professional people.

Work's been a little topsy-turvy, though maybe in a good direction for a change.  My doomed project was dismissed and I was thanked for my service.  A previous proof-of-concept I put together has been declared the preferred direction and the team has dropped this lengthly refactor to turn it into something production ready.

Jo and I managed to get one of the newly raised garden beds ready and a heavier duty trellis setup.  The beds had been invaded by tree roots, despite the gap, and the previous trellis collapsed under the weight of peas and squash.  Hopefully this newer setup works better.

Gardening and D&D

April 22, 2024 by Adam in Family

It was a fun weekend.  On Friday Emma drove us to the library to return with our weekly treasures.  Saturday was pretty low-key, with neighborhood walks, cleaning the patio, and playing video games.

Sunday was one of the most fun I've had playing D&D, with a classic heist that went off the rails and had considerable hijinks.  They didn't quite finish their theft, but they got some of the key tools to pull it off.  Next session they'll have to work in a jail break too as one of the group caused a massive distraction and was caught by the guards.  I also had a great time breaking out all the props I've been working on - it's like a mini Christmas in the middle of a game.

My wayward son called on his drive back from Pheonix where he was visiting friends.  He's got an interview with a wind farm that he's hoping works out.  It involves welding and climbing huge structures, which apparently is what he wants to do.  He's still excited about Alburquerque, making good friends and enjoying the scene.

Work continues onward, with weird obstacles popping up unexpectedly.  I may need to switch to working on something else for awhile as the vendor just threw a "it's not possible" block my way.

Mocha Friday

April 19, 2024 by Adam in Family

I'm loving the warm sunny weather, along with wearing shorts and t-shirts.  It's been a quiet week - tea with mom, chats with Emma, making dinner and asking Ben and Duncan about their day, petting Data while watching t.v. at the end of the day.  Having everything be okay is pretty darn good.

My noon runs have been fun while watching the new Fallout show.  Work's still weird as I work away with little instructions on this special project.  It's been educational, i suppose, though everyone I talk with agrees that it's not the approach we'll ultimately go with.  I get paid the same no matter what I do, I suppose.

D&D with friends starts up this weekend and I've got way too many props to hand out.  I'm also transitioning to a new high-level campaign that's coming out in a month, so getting the story to smoothly transition is a little tricky.  It's fun thinking about and I keep puttering around with getting maps and music and handouts ready to go.

Birthday Weekend

April 15, 2024 by Adam in Family

It was a relatively quiet weekend.  Emma and I did our usual library trip on Friday. Ben had his friend Charlie over, and the two of them suckered Emma into playing Hotshot Racing for awhile.

Saturday I took Ben and Emma to the Dark Arts Market at Old Nick's.  It was pouring rain, but they both picked up a few witchy knick-nacks.  Next up was Oregon Art Supply since we clearly didn't have enough art supplies in the house.

Sunday was Ben's birthday, starting with the usual hearty breakfast.  Emma wanted to make a candleholder for her new Dark Arts Market candles, so we headed down to the shop for some impromptu woodworking.  I gave our wayward son a call - the farm job wasn't for him, so he was going to visit friends in Pheonix before settling down at a construction job.  He bought a bass guitar and is settling into his apartment.  He seems cheerful.

Duncan spent the weekend working on a photography homework assignment.  The end result was dozens of pictures of our cat Leiah, which I think he enjoyed immensely.

As the day wore down, Emma drove us to Sweet Life and Sushi Seoul to get Ben's lemon meringue pie and sushi for the birthday festivities.  I think he enjoyed it, along with his horde of presents. 

Mocha Friday

April 12, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's been a relatively quiet week, with the sun peeking out more and more.  Jo's off at a writing workshop for the next couple days.  I've been wearing shorts and a t-shirt, even when the weather suggests otherwise.  At work I've been playing around with Github Copilot, trying to see how useful it is as a coding assistant.  I think it's good on the whole, though it's occasionally misleading or completely incorrect.  The kitties are fine, with Data's kidney issues seemingly back to normal.

Our wayward son seems to have settled in Albuquerque, getting an apartment is a part of town he likes.  Today is his first day working on a farm.  He's made some friends and gone to various concerts.  It's cool seeing him settle in so quickly.

Jo and I had our date night at Old Nick's, with its fantasy-themed menu.  The open mic was a little loud and the food was just okay, but we went for a walk around the rose gardens and it was surprisingly beautiful.

Weekend Festivities

April 08, 2024 by Adam in Family

Saturday was the big D&D day with a new campaign kicking off.  It generally went well, though the snail racing competition had some inter-party fighting.  The open nature of things is a little stressful to run, but hopefully the carnival activities were generally fun.  Hopefully they all had a good time - breaking out minis I painted long ago was entertaining to me at least.  Seraph also got me a cool new D&D t-shirt, as clearly I need more of those.

Sunday was filled with gardening, walks to various little free libraries, and some video game playing.  I planted some sunflowers along with the more practical veggies.  The greenhouse is filling up with fun plants too - hopefully we'll have enough room in the beds for everything.

Sneaking into Spring

April 05, 2024 by Adam in Family

I spent a couple days wearing shorts and t-shirts, feeling like a better version of myself as I frolicked in the sunshine.  I snuck away from work to mow the lawn and clean the porch and patio.  It was all very lovely, though we quickly returned to cool, rainy weather.

I was handed a new wacky project at work, so I'm feeling thrown to the deep end once again.  I'm not really working with other developers, reporting directly to a director, so I'm feeling somewhat disconnected from everyone else.  We'll see how long it lasts.

I've got a new D&D campaign starting tomorrow - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.  Our brave adventurers are returning to the magical carnival where they each lost something as a child.  I think I'm mostly prepared except for a few minor things.  Plus I've got some popcorn to make to set the carnival mood.

Three Day Weekend

April 01, 2024 by Adam in Family

It was a nice weekend all around, with Emma coming over early and filling Friday up with various fun things.  I caught up on some correspondence, setup my dad's old 3D printer, Emma and I went to the library, and then we had tea with my mom.  Dad's old printer is bigger than my current one, so I tested it out with a couple prints of an ink stamp holder I'd been wanting to try.  Tea with mom was nice, and it turns out some more logging money finally came in.  Hopefully the loggers will finish up doing what they're doing and we can get on with the business of managing things ourselves.

I read a few graphic novels, played some games, and prepped some D&D.  Emma and I took a few more cherry branches and turned them into spoons and spatulas.  Jeaux and I emptied one of the garden beds that the fig tree had grown roots into.  I think we have a plan to keep them out in the future.

Ben still wanted to do our traditional egg hunt, so we hid eggs and watched our teens scurry about finding them.  Emma abstained, though she did nibble on a chocolate bunny left on her breakfast plate.

It's the first week of the new term for Duncan and Emma.  Emma's classes are starting at 8:30 in the morning.  Duncan's taking a lighter term unless his wait list class works out.  As for me, I love that it's finally starting to feel like spring and the world is born anew.

Maximum Nerdage

March 25, 2024 by Adam in Family

I had a very nerdy weekend with back-to-back D&D games.  It was great meeting Jordan's friend Sam and starting the new whimsical-yet-dark fairytale campaign The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.  They played as kids, sneaking into a carnival and all losing something important.  Next session they return eight years later as adults, looking for that missing something.

Sunday was the friend group, with a train heist and jail break combination.  I think it turned out well, moving quickly as they roamed between the rail cars as the train passed through various planes of existence.  After that was a "Lower Decks" style session with everyone playing crewmembers going on their own low-level adventure, starting with a game of poker and 3D printed gold, silver, and copper coins.  I think I ran out of funny voices by the end of the day and collapsed next to Emma on the couch after everyone left.

As for the rest of life, it's the start of spring break, which Jo pointed out was to give parents hope that summer vacation will one day arrive.  Jo painted their office.  Pizza was eaten.  Anime was watched.

In sad news, Jo's uncle Jay died over the weekend.  I met him and his French wife when we visited Cornwall many years ago.  Mostly I remember he was cheerful, with funny stories about the area and the Beatles recording in a little studio up the river we kayaked up.  Jo would like to attend the memorial service, though we're still sorting out the details.

Learning to Spell Albuquerque

March 22, 2024 by Adam in Family

It looks like our wayward son is settling into Albuquerque, at least for the time being.  Seraph's friends connected him with an artist hostel and he's staying in an actual camper with a very nice woman and her husband who uses welding to make art.  The thought is that our beamish boy could get a feel for the town, find some work and a more permanent place to live, then see if any of his friends want to join him on his new adventure.  He's really liking the people and the feel of the town, which warms my heart.

As for the rest of us, we enjoyed our few days of sunshine before the rains came again.  Emma's at the beach with Jamie after her final.  Duncan is done too, handing me a poster he made for a fictional movie for his final project.  I imagine it'll have to go on the fridge.  Ben's been having a harder time of it, much more tired than normal the last couple weeks.  Hopefully some doctor visits will help sort things out.  Our kitty Data got his belly shaved and an ultrasound to check out his kidneys - they look good, so hopefully this last vet visit was just a one-time thing.

Work is moving along relatively well, working with new technologies and mostly figuring it out.  I've got some nice new miniatures printed for my D&D groups this weekend, painted for the friend group.  They've got a clear coat drying at the moment - I'm excited to see the final version.

My foot is much better.  I ran four miles yesterday without any tendon pain while watching a comedy horror movie.  Maybe I just needed to switch genres.

Construction Complete!

March 18, 2024 by Adam in Family

Emma and I finished up the Little Free Library over the weekend and brought it over to Jamie's house for installation.  Emma's not quite sure where it will go, but I talked through the steps of getting a post in the ground and attaching the post to the library.  I imagine that will happen at some point.  Emma was very proud of her efforts.

It was also a warm, sunny weekend with sowing seeds in the garden and doing a bit of cleanup.  I somehow hurt one of the tendons in my foot on Friday, so I was limping around until recently.  Fortunately icing it down and taking it easy seemed to do the trick Sunday afternoon.  We also picked up a few games during the Steam sale, including dusting off the VR goggles to play the latest I Expect You To Die.  It's a great spy game where you solve puzzles and thwart villians while trying to avoid dying in entertaining ways.  Emma mostly played that while I played the cyberpunk survival-horror game Signalis.

Our wayward son continues to travel across the country, really enjoying Albuquerque and pondering hard about moving there.  He's currently in Dixon, Seraph and Robbie's stomping grounds.  Plans continue to be in flux, but he's having a great time exploring and trying to find a good place to settle down.

Next weekend is the start of some new D&D campaigns, so I'm printing out characters and getting things ready to go.  Should be exciting.

Mocha Friday

March 15, 2024 by Adam in Family

Yesterday was somewhat exciting, starting with a SpaceX rocket launch and ending with a pumpkin pie for Pi Day.  I had a long chat with my wayward son, who has left Austin and his friends there and was calling from the woods near Albuquerque.  He took a long hike through the White Sands dunes, a beetle the only animal he saw along the way.  Today he's spending the day at a hiking gym and generally checking out the town.  Next up is a couple days with friends of Seraph and then spending a week in Pheonix.  

The school term is winding down, with Emma and Duncan working on final projects.  Emma has been missing Russian Orthodox Easter, so she's convinced Seraph to team up and make it happen.  Jo and I might get away for a day or so over spring break, though we're not organized yet.  With the weather finally turning sunny and warm, I think we'll try to get some gardening done.  There's also a little free library to finish.  I'm also down to a week until the next round of D&D sessions and have some minis to print and sessions to prep for.

Little Free Libraries

March 13, 2024 by Adam in Family

It was a dreary weekend after a sunny Friday, so we mostly stayed inside.  Friday was a library trip.  Saturday and Sunday Emma and I worked on a little Free Library for her mom's house.  We rooted around the storage area under the porch and found an old window that ended up working well for the front and back.  By the end of the weekend we finished most of it, though I think this weekend we'll finish the roof and keep applying layers of paint and varnish to preserve the wood.

The rest of the week is puttering along.  Work is wacky and I feel thwarted more than I'd like.  I'm preparing for the next D&D campaign and getting excited as I go.  Evenings are relatively quiet - cooking dinner, puttering a little on the computer, and watching tv with a kitty on my lap.  It's a pretty good life.

Trophies!

March 08, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's mocha Friday, something I'm thankful for on these last cold and wet days of winter.  The week has generally been uneventful.  I keep forging ahead at work, though I feel I'm pretty far into the unknown.  Jo had a sleep study Wednesday night.  Ben's slowly feeling better and back at school full time.

I made some trophies for the Tomb of Annihilation players, double sized miniatures that I'm spray painting a single color.  I'm happy with how they turned out and it seems a good way to say farewell to a two-year adventure.  Lately I've been turning my eyes to the next Wild Beyond the Witchlight campaign.  It's far more whimsical and focused more on roleplaying than combat.  Jordan's friend Sam will be joining us, so it'll be a big group.  Plus I'm using some new software, which I think will end up working out well.

As for the weekend, I've promised Emma a library trip.  I'd love to get outside, but the dreary weather may make it another cozy one.  Maybe we'll try our hand at some more woodworking.

Endings and New Beginnings

March 04, 2024 by Adam in Family

The nearly two-year D&D campaign with the family ended on Saturday.  They tromped through the dinosaur-filled jungle, plundered ancient temples, and made their way through a trap-filled dungeon to face an evil wizard.  Seraph's character was turned into a goat-person.  The friends they made along the way were freed from evil hags.  The world was saved.

It was a little sad saying goodbye to that world, packing up the campaign book and miniatures.  Fortunately we've got the next campaign ready to go.  I've been reading it since last summer, printing and painting miniatures along the way.  The players are excited about their new characters.  I'm trying out some new software to help with maps and such.  Over the weekend I put together a sound board with fun noises like monster yells and sword clangs.  It's all about putting on a good performance, I suppose.

As for Sunday, it involved much puttering around.  Jo finished putting together an electric trike for Duncan so that he can get to his appointments without us.  Emma finished drawing a cathedral for her architecture class.  We spent a fair amount of time in the shop, cleaning up, sharpening my grandfather's old woodworking tools, and trying on the new dremel-like tool to finish sanding Emma's bowl.

Now it's back to work, getting ready for a release and trying to figure out the brave new world of application development with Databricks.  I keep making experimental thingies that kinda work, not yet brave enough to put it into the product.  This may be the month that all changes - we'll see how it goes.

Functioning Bathtub

March 01, 2024 by Adam in Family

Our bathtub was installed by the previous owner in such a way that it dripped down into Duncan's bedroom below.  After several years of a hole in the ceiling and tray to catch the drips, we finally got organized to get our shower replaced.  And by "we", I mean Jo, though I helped pick out tiles and open the door for the construction builders.  There was a week of tearing out tiles and the old tub, then putting in new tiles and the new tub.  Finally this week I tested out the new shower.  I was surprisingly excited as I'd been hauling clothes and toiletries up and down the stairs to the main floor shower.

Jo and I went to the Oregon Contemporary Theater to see Cyclone, a musical comedy about a bunch of teens killed on a roller coaster and having to compete to see who gets to return to life.  They were still working out some kinks of the production, but I had a good time going and felt very cultured seeing local plays two months in a row.

I feel I'm making progress at work, despite the overall disorganization.  Hopefully it still stays fun and we get a little more clarity in the weeks ahead.

Tomorrow is D&D with the family, perhaps the last session in a nearly two-year campaign.  Things don't look good for our heroes, but they've already saved the world, so just making it out of the dungeon alive is just icing on the cake.  There's probably a life lesson in there somewhere.

So Many Dungeons. So Many Dragons

February 26, 2024 by Adam in Family

Okay, there weren't any dragons, but I had back-to-back D&D games all weekend.  There were so many funny voices, epic battles, and wrapping up year-long campaigns.  The friend group escaped their dungeon with their loot, returning to their home base to find it all in flames.  Soon they'll move on to a train heist, though the train is flying and they're moving between planes of existence.  The family group finally ended the Death Curse and will soon face the great wizard who has caused all this trouble.  It seems unlikely they'll all survive the experience, but at least they saved the day.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key.  Emma and I visited the library on Friday.  Saturday afternoon we did some woodworking, carving out more of her bowl and starting to make some molds for making tiles.  Jo pruned the fig tree.  Duncan had a school event.  Pizza was eaten and anime watched.

Now it's back to work, fixing bugs and preparing for the future.  Still trying to figure out what that means.

Mocha Friday

February 23, 2024 by Adam in Family

My toothbrush has been perched on the main floor bathroom windowsill as the upstairs bathtub is replaced and the walls retiled.  They guys working on it have been great and accomodating, dealing with the weird surprises of the DIY previous installation.  The unsafe electrical outlet under the tub has been removed and the tub should no longer drip down into Duncan's room, so those things are a plus.

Otherwise I've kept forging ahead with work challenges, hopefully moving in the right direction despite the chaos.  It's a back-to-back D&D weekend, sneaking up on the end of one campaign and the beginning of another.

In terms of the farm, mom called the pump people to get the well fixed.  Jo and Abraham have been talking about remaining cleanup tasks.  They want to wait until March before doing some of the cleanup.  Hopefully we'll have some of the heavy slash removed and roads repaired soon.  I think we'll need to jump into blackberry control before they spring back to life.

Tromping around the Farm

February 19, 2024 by Adam in Family

It was a generally good weekend, if occasionally exhausting.  Saturday Emma and I went to the library and turned some scrap cherry wood into utensils - a butter knife, a spatula, and a spoon.  They all turned out a little rustic, but it was fun and Emma liked the end result.   We found some cherry trees down at the farm, so it's likely we'll have an endless supply for our projects.

Sunday we headed out to the farm in the afternoon.  It was the first time Ben had seen it, so he took a lot of pictures.  I helped Jo load supplies into their shed to finish up the loft, then followed Emma down to the spook y shack.  The goal was to cut some willow and plant it near the upper stream.  I think we ended up with a couple dozen stalks.  Theoretically they'll sprout and turn into new willow trees.  There's quite a bit of erosion in the upper stream, so hopefully it helps.

We also took a look at the pump house.  It had power, which is good.  The box covering the well head had been knocked over, so we put that back.  Water didn't really come out, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

This week we have people working on our bathroom, replacing tiles and hopefully installing the new tub properly.  The hope is that it stops leaking into Duncan's room below and I can finally close up the ceiling.

New Phone, Who Dis?

February 16, 2024 by Adam in Family

After a rough week of doing battle with Verizon, I have a new Pixel 8 Pro that generally seems to work.  Previously the SIM card would periodically die and after three trips to the Verizon store, they seemed unable to help me.  Fortunately I connected with a very nice tech support person and got that sorted out.

Work has been up and down quite a bit lately, but I'm hoping things are settling down.  I keep trying to drive things forward, come hell or high water, and mostly feel successful.  I also have a new manager - Tim - who I hope can help with some of the tricky things we need to work through.

Valentine's Day was low-key and nice - takeout and video games with Jo.  My toe is still healing from the tree planting.  I keep slathering on antibiotics and will likely need to cut back on running which seems to irritate it.  I also just finished a 300+ episode rpg podcast which has made my dish washing, cooking, and other mundane chores far more entertaining.  I have a couple audiobooks to listen to and then I'll start looking for another one.

As for the weekend, I'm excited to have some Emma hangout time.  We might do woodworking.  I'm sure we'll visit the library.  It would also be nice to visit the farm if my toe is up for it.

Gardening, Cherry Trees, and Spatulas

February 12, 2024 by Adam in Family

It was a good, low-key weekend.  Emma was off at the beach, so I might have played a little too much of my new deck-building game.  I did manage to stop and do some gardening, joined by Jo after a little while.  We cleaned the beds and pruned the cherry tree, stacking wood beside the house.  I also puttered some more with D&D props, trying to create a bit of magic in the real world.

Sunday we were joined by Emma who (after petting Data enough times) went with Ben, Jo, and I to Down to Earth to pick up missing seeds.  She was great and organized them all by month so all we need to do is crack the envelopes open and start planting.

Emma had also picked up a book on whittling, and we had some cherry wood from the previous day, so soon enough we were making bowls and cutlery.  I stuck to power tools, realizing I needed bigger router bits, but we started in on the bowl.  The spoon didn't quite get finished either, but I grabbed some scraps and we made a nice wooden spatula.  I also got to try out the belt sander I bought the other day and it worked great, other than putting out way too much dust.

Now it's back to work where I get to try and figure out what we're doing next.  Another bumpy ride, I suspect.

Mocha Friday

February 09, 2024 by Adam in Family

My scrapes and blisters from planting a small forest are fading.  I'm generally pretty happy with how my body held up, especially my ankles which I was a little worried about.  Jo's been talking to our logging contact Abraham (who just had a baby) and the hope is that we can sort out the last of the cleanup and repair tasks relatively soon.  Emma wants to start in on stream restoration, getting the willow propagated around.  There are endless projects that remain, but we'll eventually get there.

Yesterday was a busy work day.  I gave a presentation on the cool thing I built.  We interviewed a possible engineering lead for our team.  I fixed a couple bugs that came in as tickets.  It was all a little exhausting.

I keep fiddling with my D&D props, trying to emulate magic with science.  It turns out that the magnet I was using didn't have a strong enough field, so I had to break out the really powerful ones I pulled out of an old hard drive.  Hopefully my players appreciate the weird things I do for them.

Emma's off to the beach with Jamie this evening.  Jo and I plan on doing some garden planning.  Duncan and Ben have their various projects they're working on.  Kitties keep demanding pets.  Life moves on.

Done Planting

February 06, 2024 by Adam in Family

Over the weekend we managed to get a bit over 200 trees planted, admittedly in one of the roughest parts of the property.  Just getting to it was exhausting and dangerous.  Unfortunately that left us around 250 trees to go, so Jo, Emma, and I went out at various times to get trees in the ground.

Yesterday I started after checking in with work and planted Ponderosa Pine along the south road.  Hopefully it'll be dry enough and the trees will get enough sunshine.  Emma also says they drop a fair number of needles to keep the blackberries down.  It was wet and muddy, but I turned on my Pathfinder RPG podcast and tuned out the aches and pains of my body.  The terrain was much better than the day before, but it still took some work to find patches of soil under all the slash.

Jo joined early afternoon and we kept planting and flagging down the hill from their shed.  I think we got 200 trees in that day, stopping right before dinner.  Today I picked up Emma and the three of us went at it again, getting trees a fair ways down the hill.  It's amazing how much land 500 trees will cover.

We're debating next projects - blackberry control and improving roads are high on the list.  It might be fun to put in some trails to make the property more walkable.  After the last few days of hard labor, doing some fun, low-key projects sounds lovely.

Trees and D&D

February 05, 2024 by Adam in Family

Saturday was the big tree planting day.  Emma and Jo were rockstars, heading out at the crack of dawn to go to the annual seedling sale.  We ended up with about 500 trees and shrubs, which was a pretty massive order.  Eventually we found ourselves at the farm, tromping up and down a muddy hill strewn with debris.  We planted one of the roughest corners of the property, which went way slower than planned.  We had Jamie, Emma, Jo, Seraph, Robbie, Dez, and myself and still only managed to plant about 250 trees.  Yesterday Jo went out to plant more.  I'm going to work for a couple hours and then head out to plant the rest.

Sunday was D&D day, where the players battled three hags nearly at the end of the campaign.  Emma pointed out that high level combats devolve into t-rex battles, and this one certainly did the same.  It was loads of fun and a nice break between tree planting.

Culture!

February 02, 2024 by Adam in Family

Jo and I went to see Every Brilliant Thing at the Oregon Contemporary Theater.  It was a surprisingly funny performance about depression, with a lot of audience participation and an enthusiastic single actor.  It was fun to get out and about and do something different.

Tomorrow is the big tree planting day.  We've got checks and dibble bars and a trailer to haul things around.  The plan is to meet up at the farm Saturday at noon and see how many trees we can put in the ground.  I'm trying hard to keep my enthusiasm in check, leaning towards 500-600 trees rather than the thousand or so I was planning before.  The terrain is rough and muddy and we're not as young and spry as we used to be.

Work continues to be wacky, to the point where I'm not sure what products I'll be working on or what I'll be doing from day to day.  At least it's not boring.

I chatted with the wayward Chicago son yesterday.  He was suddenly laid off, but the timing is actually pretty good with his upcoming move to Wyoming.  Yayoe hooked him up with some people she knew, so hopefully he's not driving into town completely blind.  It was nice to hear his voice.

I also tinkered around with a new piece of "virtual tabletop" software for D&D games.  Basically it lets me setup a map for players and organize the campaign.  I think I'll do my next family campaign using it and I'm enjoying playing around with all the bells and whistles. 

I finished my mocha and will leap into the unknowns of work shortly.  At least there's some well-understood bugs I can start working on for today.

D&D&Trees

January 31, 2024 by Adam in Family

Somehow I'm giving the weekend update in the middle of the week.  Life's been busy lately.

Saturday started with a hearty crepe breakfast, followed by a trip to the library with Emma and then waiting at the Verizon store for a long while to get Emma's new phone setup.  It's a retro flip phone that she's very happy with.  

Sunday was D&D with friends, where I now worry I've made some of the players far too powerful.  Hopefully the rest of the campaign will continue to be interesting and challenging.  At least I got to bring out some fun minis.

Work continues to be full of uncertainty.  I keep making cool things that might actually become useful.  My old friend/manager Glen is being hired back after being laid off and turned into a contractor.

Tuesday Emma and I headed to the farm, preparing for the tree planting on Saturday.  The ground is all pretty rough with tree debris everywhere, but we made it around and practiced with the dibble bar.  I was pretty sore later that day.

This afternoon mom and I plan on setting up a farm bank account and deposit the first logging check.  So begins the lengthy road towards making a forest again.

Escaping the Week

January 26, 2024 by Adam in Family

Jo and I went to Trapdoor Escape Rooms for date night this week, solving puzzles and getting plenty of hints from the voice of God.  In this case God was Ryan who was watching our hijinx and taking pity on us.  We escaped with a minute and a half to spare, which I strangely feel pretty good considering it was just the two of us.  The puzzles were entertaining - voodoo dolls we had to wire up properly, black lights revealing the unknown, and an ouiji board that doubled as a typewriter to enter names.  It was inspiring for future D&D props I'm scheming.

Work has been somewhat tumultuous - I may be working on new products with new people, though hopefully I'll still be working with Jacquie and Corinne.  In the meantime, I keep working on cool things and impressing coworkers and managers, though we'll see where it ends up.  I sometimes get tired of people fiddling around and just want to get things done.

As for me, it's been a pretty quiet week.  I started playing a new game based on The Expanse.  Ben's ear infection continues to make him uncomfortable, though hopefully the antibiotics start working their magic soon.  I'm having fun making D&D minis and prepping for upcoming games.  This Sunday the friend group starts up after a long hiatus.

I'm also getting ready for the great farm replanting.  Hopefully all the people, equipment, and seedlings come together and the loggers are done enough to let it happen.

Birthday Being

January 22, 2024 by Adam in Family

I'm not sure I did anything terribly important all weekend.  I took Emma to get her school books.  Laundry was done.  Meals were made.

It's Jo's birthday today.  Unfortunately nearly all the presents were delayed by the weather, so it's mostly cake and a gift from Yayoe and Duncan.  It'll have to do.

Jo was out at the farm giving updates on the logging, which apparently continued, including in places they weren't supposed to.  Jo talked to Abraham today and got an apology and a tentative okay for replanting most places on the property.  My tentative plan is on February 2nd to buy a bunch of seedlings and head out to the farm to plant until we can't plant anymore.  The following day is a D&D day, so I may take the Monday after to keep planting.  It'll be good to get the recovery going.

As for me, I'm mostly doing okay.  I continue to work on my skunkworks project at work, hopefully ensuring a measure of job security along the way.  It doesn't feel like a sure thing in the tech industry these days.

The World Melts

January 19, 2024 by Adam in Family

I walked to my shed in flip flops as usual today, mocha in hand.  No longer are the ice cleats necessary to safely get to my backyard.  Driving around yesterday was just fine - Emma and I did a little outing to the library together.  I also heard from Seraph that they have power again.  Duncan and Ben have been out of school but Emma started up yesterday.  Hopefully things will settle down soon.

Work is getting slightly more organized, or at least there are some new people involved.  I did some fun work on some future-facing things, barely duct taping things together as a proof-of-concept.  I'll keep working away until I have something that's pretty looking.

The tree and native plant sale is in a couple weeks, which may be the window for replanting at the farm.  With all the chaos of the last week I'm not feeling particularly organized about it.  Last I heard logging continued, so I'm hoping to coordinate so the loggers don't destroy the trees we just planted.

I think our house is relatively unscathed from the storm.  Jenny had a friend without power staying with them.  Bob had a fall on the ice.  Most everyone else seems okay.  Broken trees still litter the streets, but things are on the mend.

Ice Saga Continues

January 16, 2024 by Adam in Family

We continued our ice-filled adventures yesterday, feeling very lucky to continue to have heat, power, and hot water.  Emma was getting a little stir crazy, not being able to do her weekly library run and we didn't manage to get to the U of O bookstore for her first-week-of-school books.  Jo and I started the long defrosting process of the Subaru, with me mostly playing a supporting role and watching the former northern New York resident do their thing.  Eventually we removed all the ice, put on chains, and headed out into the winter wonderland.

It was pretty quiet, though the roads were generally fine with chains and all wheel drive.  There was an Albertson's trailer abandoned on the sidewalk, and a few trees down, but otherwise not too much destruction.  We went down to 18th, up Willamette, stopped for gas, then headed down 40th to send Emma off.  Jo had cleats for their boots, so Emma stopped her crawling across the driveway ice to be escorted to her front door where Jamie waited.  It was a nice dash of comedy along the way.

We stopped by Capella Market to stock up on supplies for the next few days, so we're in good shape overall.  No school yesterday or today at any of the high schools or colleges.  We'll see what the next few days bring.  Theoretically the graduate teaching assistants go on strike tomorrow, so Emma's classes may be disrupted even more.

As for me, I'll brave the treacherous journey to the shed and try to remember how to work.  I took some Advil for my sore ice-removal muscles.  I might do a fourth day in a row of mochas.  We'll see how enthusiastic I'm feeling.

Snow Days

January 14, 2024 by Adam in Family

I woke up to no hot water - I'm guessing the insulation we usually wrap around the exposed hot water pipe wasn't enough.  I'll be out with heating pads later this morning, but for now I'll settle for hot tea and toast next to our fireplace.

Yesterday was fun - we headed outside to shovel driveways and walk around the neighborhood.  Everything was pretty and covered in ice.

D&D was sadly postponed yesterday as the roads were so bad.  This morning Seraph texted that their power was out and the roads were worse, so maybe not for another week or two.  We're right at the end of the campaign so I'm itching to get into the endgame.

I had my cup of hot tea and toast.  Soon I'll gird my loins and head out to try warming up the pipes of our exterior hot water heater.

Mocha Friday

January 12, 2024 by Adam in Family

I somehow missed my usual Monday update.  Last weekend and this whole week has been surprisingly busy.  Last Saturday Emma came over, along with library trips and video games.  Sunday was D&D with friends, nearly done with an old-school module with classic RPG traps, puzzles, and hijinx.  As for this week, Meg and Dick were visiting my mom, so I took out some time to visit and take everyone out for goodies at Hideaway Bakery.  Work continues to go through a variety of changes - we're finally getting a new project manager today, which is a good sign.

Finally, I had an impromptu dinner with a bunch of current and ex-coworkers, many of which came to Health Catalyst from PeaceHealth and were let go after the latest round of layoffs.  It was fun catching up, especially with my old manager Glen Campbell, and everyone seemed in good spirits to get together.

I've heard that logging continues out at the farm.  I wish we knew what the plan and timeline is - we're hoping to start replanting in February, but if they're planning on burning slash that's not going to happen.  The contract said they'd be done by the end of the year, but here we are.

The weekend promises more D&D, this time with family.  I'm excited to be so close to wrapping up a two year campaign.  Emma has some school things to sort out - she dropped a class and ended up signing up for an architecture class out of the dregs of remaining classes.  I'm also hoping to start finishing Deep Space Nine after so many years - I think we have one more episode to see how it all turns out.

First Mocha Friday of 2024

January 05, 2024 by Adam in Family

I'm sipping my mocha and listening through sexual harrassment videos at work for the 6th year running.  Always a good time.  They keep trying to refresh all our required annual training, but the two hour lecture from the lawyer hasn't ever changed.

Otherwise work is fine, still up in the air as to what our team is working on next.  I'm still staying busy and moving things forward despite the uncertainty.

Ben's started up school again - he gave me a long update on his economics discussion in class yesterday.  Duncan continues to just wear PJs, though it's his last day off school.  Emma's at the beach with Jamie one more day, then back to school next week.

As for me, it's a D&D with friends this Sunday - with the holidays it was delayed for a long while.  I think Saturday we'll do a Christmas cleanup and take down decorations.  Good start for a new year.

Happy New Year!

January 02, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's technically the 2nd day of 2024, but the thought's the same.  I have three days off work this week, so it's been pretty low-key.  We did our usual watching Japanese commercials, boy bands, followed by pina coladas and watching the ball drop in Time's Square.

Yesterday Emma and I went out to the farm where we surveyed the continuing logging project.  Mostly we hung out near the shack and looked at what needed to be done to renovate it.  Then we had a burst of energy clearing the road of logging debris, which completely wore me out and we headed home to take it easy.

Today we've been doing more indoor things - video games, finally finishing the pewter brooch we started, and Emma nearly finished weaving a basket.  One more day of rest and relaxation before returning to work.