Mocha Friday Outbreak

February 28, 2020 by Adam in Family

It's been quite a week - between layoffs at work and Coronavirus fears, I think everyone is a little on edge.  The window where we can sell stocks opens up next month - weirdly our stock is up after going down for awhile.  My theory is that people are shifting money into healthcare related industries due to the virus outbreak.  We've talked to the kids about post-school handwashing protocol.  I suspect we'll double-check to make sure we have enough medication and cereal to survive any disruptions, but otherwise I think all is well.

I'm finally getting towards the end of the magic PDF features.  I'm working on some performance improvements, but I'm hoping this ends up being well received.  It's always a treat to see things I worked on in action at a client location, which I got to do today.  Real data is always so cool looking.

The kids are generally all okay.  Spring is on the way and flowers are popping up.  Something is making nests in our compost pile - I think I get to do some repair this weekend if the weather's nice.  How I long for spring.

Pancake Day

February 26, 2020 by Adam in Family

It was the day before Lent yesterday, and my English coworker reminded me that that means it was pancake day.  One of the traditions Joanna brought with her is to make crepes for dinner once a year.  We made a huge batch of whip cream, assorted berries, and the kids devoured them in vast quantities.  It was quite the spectacle.

Work had some layoffs on Monday, including my friend Andy that started the same day at Health Catalyst almost three years ago.  There are certainly some upset people and a realization that the company isn't the tech utopia some thought it might be.  For me personally, all is well and I still enjoy my job and the people I work with.  I guess I've been around the block enough times to realize that these things happen.

Emma had her day of tests, orthodontist visit, and wellness check.  I think it all went really well and was a relief after being nervous about it.  She decribed her doctor as "super fun," which seemed a good sign.  I imagine party hats and confetti were employed.

Ben, Joanna, and I piled on the couch last night to watch Doctor Who.  Ben and I have been comparing Slay the Spire notes, as I got him into playing it endlessly.  Sorry but not sorry.

Pleasant Weekend

February 24, 2020 by Adam in Family

It was generally a good weekend.  The antibiotics kept my face from being eaten from the inside,  the kids were generally entertaining, and I accomplished a few things along the way.

Emma and I had some father-daughter bonding Saturday, going to the library, off to get my haircut, and finally some coffee and board games at Metropol.  Ben had Isabel over and they watched anime in the basement.  Duncan had his friend Ash who moved to Portland stop by for a few hours - it's funny watching all these kids grow up and turn into almost adult looking like people.  Joanna and I managed some weeding and gardening.  I planted peas, which made me happy.

Emma also picked up a book on knitting and Joanna supervised the two of us to put together a few rows.  Emma took it from there and actually finished a square and started what I think will be a hat.  I decided I probably don't have hours of free time, or at least I prioritize things over knitting.  It was fun to learn a new thing, though.

Antibiotic Friday Mocha

February 21, 2020 by Adam in Family

I've been having stuffed up ears and nasal pain the last few days.  After a couple days of non-stop painkillers I decided to bite the bullet and see a doctor.  Sure enough, I had a nasal infection and was prescribed antibiotics.  This morning I'm feeling much improved now that my face isn't being eaten from the inside.  

It's been a generally good week other than that.  Kids have been pretty good.  Joanna and I had a nice date night on Wednesday, followed by puzzle time.  Emma was here last night to play a little Stardew Valley with everyone and then we worked on circuit design for her physics homework.  Had a nice tea with mom yesterday morning, who suggested a doctor visit was something to consider.

As for me, I'm finally making PDFs at work, though they still need a bit of work.  Now that this blog is mostly functional, I started tiptoeing into making a game for fun.  We'll see if it turns into anything or is just an educational thing.

I heard about Isa and college and wish her the best.  That's such a hard time for everyone and I fret about all our generation of kids making their way into the wide world.  I shall endeavor to be a place of solace for all that need one.

Three Day Weekend

February 17, 2020 by Adam in Family

It's been a lovely, three day weekend.  We've all been hanging out in earnest.  Joanna took Ben, his friend Isabell, and Duncan to see the new Sonic movie.  I raise the parenting glass to Joanna for doing that.  Emma and I went to the library and returned with assorted treasures.  I got a couple books on game design, the Stumptown graphic novel, a book about explorers for Emma and a knitting book for Joanna.

We've also all really gotten into playing Stardew Valley and so we spent a few hours today tending farm, exploring the mines, and hanging out with the townsfolk.  I did make a short break to fix mom's oven, which had a melty bit I had to run to the hardware store to replace.

I've also been working hard at replacing this blog with a new one which generally looks the same.  It's all new under the hood, but it uses the same stuff I use at work.  Let's see what happens when I click the Save button . . . 

Sadly not much.  I had to switch back to the old blog software.  Back to the drawing board.

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 14, 2020 by Adam in Family

Happy Valentine's Day!  It's been a slow, low-key week, with Joanna playing lots of Stardew Valley and recovering from the cold.  The kids have all been doing well.  Ben and I have been playing lots of Slay the Spire and praising its awesomeness.  Emma was over last night and we started looking at college stuff and volunteer opportunities.  Occasionally she gets a little excited, which gives me hope that the transition to college will go okay.

Otherwise life is generally doing okay.  I'm cranking out PDFs at work after quite a bit of effort.  It's funny how I keep working on printing stuff, over a quarter of a century since my first web application.

Healthy Monday

February 10, 2020 by Adam in Family

I started to feel better late on Saturday and by Sunday I was feeling like a million bucks.  Going from miserable to normal was really uplifting and I spent the day doing little projects that I'd neglected for a long while.  The new version of this blog is getting nearly ready to go, though there are still a few little tweaks I want to make.  My reward for getting it done is to start a game project, though we'll see if that ever becomes more than a thing to mess around with.

Emma and Joanna got the Stardew Valley bug, with Emma playing every possible moment and then Joanna picking it up for mobile.  Emma was having fun taking care of her chickens and puppy in between fishing.  She did manage to get her homework done and went off to see a play with Jordan one day and shopping with her mom the next.

Unfortunately Joanna got the cold and has been sniffling and taking it easy the last couple days.  Hopefully it doesn't last long.

Sick Mocha Friday

February 07, 2020 by Adam in Family

Ben's been sick off and on this week and last night it made its way to me.  I was pretty low-key last night and generally useless today.  I worked a little this morning, slept and took it easy for a few hours, and went back to work in the afternoon.  I did manage to setup the new t.v. that arrived today, under the less-than-approving eyes of Joanna.

I'll work on my work printing thing for a couple hours and ease into the weekend.

Snowing in Texas

February 06, 2020 by Adam in Family

Sam texted this morning, reporting that it snowed last night.  I think it was just a dusting, but it's such an unusual event that I think everyone got pretty excited.

The week has been pretty quiet.  Emma's been taking junior tests in English and keeping her phone off.  Somehow mom and I missed each other yesterday for our usual tea date.  Joanna and I did manage toget out last night, though our neighborhood Mexican food place is getting too popular so we were bumped over to Cafe Yumm.  There was this guy leading a table full of little girls on a mini-RPG adventure.  He'd have them pick a number between one and ten, and played a Lord of the Rings song on his ocorina.  I told Joanna it was a gateway adventure for more hard-core fare such as Dungeons and Dragons, but I secretly wanted to sign up and join them next week.

As for work, I live and breathe printing to PDF.  One of these days I'll hopefully get to do something different.  I managed to read a little more of Winter Tide, which is a surprisingly good mashup of the cold war and Lovecraftian mythos.  And then there's Slay the Spire, which I can't stop playing.  I'm in the middle of a run where I can occasionally pull off infinite damage if I'm lucky, followed by a rush of seratonin in my brain.  Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

Another Hanging Out Weekend

February 03, 2020 by Adam in Family

It snowed the tiniest amount last night.  I managed to scrape a little snowball together and flick it at Emma, though I think it turned to water before actually hitting her body.

It was a pretty low-key weekend.  Ben had has friend Isabell over.  Emma went to lunch with Yayoe.  Duncan played video games and made videos of it, though I can't exactly complain as I did the same.  We chatted with Sam which was a treat, followed by playing various video games.

Soon I'm heading out to the shed to work on printing some more, this time with a plan that's crazy enough it just might work.

Seeing Visions

February 01, 2020 by Adam in Family

I saw Dr. Arbow last week, who as always enjoys experimenting on his patients.  I had mentioned my challenges seeing things up close and he lept into action, giving me one contact for distance and a bifocal one for close up.  It's led to a weird week of having great up close vision but somewhat lousy mid range vision.  Essentially it felt like I was wearing an eye patch, though made from some sort of gauzy film.  We'll see if I last the three weeks until my next appointment.

Otherwise life has been the usual mix of tricky, weird, and wonderful.  I spent way too much time dealing with printing over the last week at work.  It turns out making PDFs look nice is an impossible task.  Joanna was feeling kinda lousy this week, but hopefully is a little better today.  The kids are all their usual quirky selves.