Last Work Week

February 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's my last week at PeaceHealth.  I'm mostly looking for trouble, finding infected servers and other quirky things.  I'll miss the detective work, though not necessarily dealing with grumpy people.

The weekend was generally good.  Sam finished his pong clone and moved on to a climbing game with a fun grappling hook mechanic.  Emma and I played Little Inferno, which mostly involved setting things on fire.  Duncan got his hair cut and died to look like a Minecraft creeper, though he was a little disappointed with how it turned out.

My move to Health Catalyst is coming along.  I worked on getting the shed set up a little better.  I put in a wall plate for the network connection.  Emma and I assembled some shelves to hold my plants.  I finished the onboarding paperwork (now digital), so I should be good to go when I arrive next Monday in Salt Lake City.

Joanna texted me this morning saying she found a phone in the driveway and asking me to check the camera footage.  Sure enough, someone was wandering around our house at 2 a.m.  I gathered up the best images and sent it her way.  In the meantime she's been documenting who's been calling and texting the phone and filing a police report.  While initially we thought it might be someone trying to break in, we're leaning towards the drunk young person explaination.

Second to the Last PeaceHealth Mocha Friday

February 24, 2017 by Adam in Family

Work is slowly wrapping up, though I'm surprisingly busy still.  I'm working security incidents, training Patterson, and updating thousands of AD accounts.  It's like they'll miss me or something.

The week is moving along.  Emma's got a lisp with her retainer, which we try to laugh with her about (and not at her).  Joanna and I got new glasses and ordered some first aid supplies - trying to spend all our FSA cash before I leave.  I'm still working on getting setup with Health Catalyst.  I'm doing some onboarding stuff and ordered my laptop today.  

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  I have some house project work, but I'm holding off on moving into my new office until after Joanna moves out.  I suspect Emma and I will continue our video game playing.  Hopefully we can hit the library and do an orientation at the YMCA.

Work posted a very nice farewell for Dave and I.  Looking forward to next week's party.  Hopefully I ordered enough cake.

David Mehl, Digital Strategies web operations/solutions lead analyst, is retiring March 3 after 27 years with PeaceHealth.

A retirement celebration will be held on Friday, March 3, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the cafeteria at the RiverBend Annex. As it so happens, another key member of the Information Services team–Adam Miller, security engineer for Security and Compliance, is marking his last day as well, so the party will recognize both. Adam is taking a job with Health Catalyst.

Any caregiver who has ever logged on with a “3 x 3,” used the Crossroads directory, filled out an electronic survey form or bought and sold on the Swap Shop site has benefited from the innovation and creativity of both Dave and Adam. The two have worked side by side for nearly 20 years.

“We experience amazing benefits from overhearing each other, finding out work often dovetailing,” Dave said.

Here’s what Dave’s supervisor, Digital Strategies Director Scott Alperin, said about Dave:

When I started at PeaceHealth, David was hugely helpful in understanding the wide range of responsibilities of Digital Strategy. However, where I learned from him most was the example he set in pursuing the PeaceHealth Mission as a caregiver, a leader and a team-mate. Every day, everything he has done here has been handled with compassion and personal commitment. Fortunately for all of us, that commitment to the mission will live on for years in the systems he has helped build, and all of the people he has trained, consulted with and touched.”

Party Planning

February 23, 2017 by Adam in Family

I ordered cake for the farewell party for Dave and I, getting a chocolate and carrot cake from sweet life.  It took forever to explain how I wanted the decorations to be <cake>chocolate</cake> and <cake>carrot</cake>, so I ended up emailing the woman taking my order.  I think it's sorted out.

I chatted a little with the new security engineer, who recommended I take my current security job.  I'm still glad I did, though it didn't quite work out the way I wanted.  I suspect development will be better for my stress levels.

Sam continues to get praise for his work at the U of O.  Unity was new to Bill, so Sam's help was invaluable.  I'm glad that worked out so well. 

Emma's got her retainer now, practicing saying her S's.  Joanna settled on an office at 10th and Lawrence.  Duncan and Berry seem to be doing well - Berry continues to be in a very sweet phase, which we all appreciate.  Life's okay.

Three Day Weekend

February 21, 2017 by Adam in Family

President's Day is wrapping up, the end to a generally pleasant weekend.

There was quite a bit of hanging out, from Friday's date night with Joanna, to playing video games with Emma, and doing the usual pizza and science shows Saturday night.  I also managed to wrap up some projects, including running network cable to the back shed.  Berry assisted in digging a trench, with the side effect of getting tremendously muddy.

Emma saw the dentist today.  Her lower teeth are coming in quickly, so she only got a retainer for her upper teeth.  The whole thing was really inexpensive, especially compared to the thousands of dollars the orthodontist wanted to spend.

Sam had a good time at his work study today.  I hear he's actually pretty useful and knows more about Unity than the person he's working with.  Sam also made a pong-like game the he's been expanding into weird and crazy game modes.  He, Isa, and I played a three-player game where time occasionally froze and it was insane fun.

Joanna has settled on a new office and is getting that organized.  She's off playing soccer tonight, retunring shortly.  Berry has been helpful and sweet this weekend.  Duncan has been full of mischief.

Tomorrow I return to work, onboarding the old security engineer, doing some analysis, and writing up thoughts and documentation.  Dave and Glen are party planning - fortunately I just have to order cake.  Two more weeks.

VR Sam

February 20, 2017 by Adam in Sam

Sam started his senior project today, a work study project at the U of O's psychology department.  Isa and Emma came along, to offer moral support and try out the VR demo.  We met Bill Troyer, who was setting up the psychology experiment - it involved the Oculus Rift and taking measurements.  Sam's going to be working with familiar Unity and writing some code to save data out to a file.

Bill let us all try out the demos, which were pretty cool.  There's a real sense of presence that's hard to describe.  Then we were put through the psych experiment itself, which was fairly disorienting.  Essentially moving our head did nothing to change the view, and then our view was moved around back and forth.  It was hard to stay upright.

Hard Time for Babies

February 17, 2017 by Sue in Wielesek

I'm doing these in chronological order.

Greg's brother Dan and his wife Bree were expecting their first baby, a little boy, in mid-February. I spent time with them at Christmas at Sadie and Greg's and later at Peter and Jane's house. They were sweet and happy and not expecting any problems, but when the baby was born, the cord was wrapped around his neck. They rushed him from the local hospital to Massachusetts General, and admitted Bree, too, so she could be with him. I haven't talked with Sadie today, but of course the big concern is how much oxygen he lost. I'm asking Sadie to add an update, and I'll try to call her today too.

The next, and I guess, now less worrisome situation was with Callie. Their baby was due momentarily, and I guess she went into labor about 10 or 11 Wednesday evening. Last night (Thursday) at 10:30, no little critter had arrived, and we hit the hay. When I woke up this morning, no news. I called Betsy about 6:30, who said the baby is fine, but that Callie had a rough time. About 2 AM they decided to do a Caesarian, and some scar tissue from Nat's C-section tore and Callie was bleeding badly. She is in the ICU, but according to Meg's text at 10:30 this morning, she is doing much better, and was watching "Finding Dory" on her phone.

A bit of cheery news - I'm not sure you are FB friends with Sadie's Anna and her wife Susannah, but they had a little boy, called Maxler, who looks healthy as a horse.

So, regardless of whether you're a Sci-Fi nut, and believe in the Opiguchi Hotline, or a nerd, and believe in the Celestial Internet,  or meditate, pray without ceasing, or if Ganesh is your go-to elephant, send lots of loving thoughts for these little guys and their families. 

Love you all so much, Mom

Mocha Friday

February 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

I continue to wrap things up at work.  Most things are in boxes that I'm slowly hauling away a couple per day.  My plants are cheerful in the warm, bright space - hopefully they survive in the back shed.  Yesterday Joanna coordinated the addition of a new electrical outlet, only grumbling slightly that it wasn't done for the year she used the space.  

The other big thing is hauling away a broken treadmill from work.  I've been given the green light to take it away - it's my old ancient favorite one that was too expensive to repair.  I think I can fix it, though - I can't let old Bessie be sold for scrap.  The plan is to rent a U-Haul this weekend and take it away.

My flights are booked to Salt Lake City.  I'm starting to get excited about the new job.  I keep tinkering with new web technologies in my free time.  I don't quite feel competent, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Front end web development is changing at a rapid pace.

Dave Mehl and I need to do some party planning.  I want to order a couple cakes and send out invitations.  People keep stopping by my office to say hello and farewell.  I'm going to miss a lot of people.

Tonight is date night with my lovely wife.  I'm taking Monday off to take Sam to the U of O and play with VR goggles.  Emma's demanding more co-op game playing, which I'm happy to assist with.  Life is well.

X-Com 2

February 17, 2017 by Adam in Adam's Games

I finished up X-Com 2 earlier this week.  It was generally satisfying, with some interesting tweaks to a familiar formula.  These days Emma and I are playing through Divinity: Original Sin, which has great co-op.  The new Torment game that I kickstarted a couple years ago is finally coming out.  Hopefully it lives up to the old Planescape: Torment game from twenty years ago.

Slowly Getting There

February 16, 2017 by Adam in Family

My office is slowly being packed and I'm arranging the last little things at work.  I've been surprisingly busy - cleaning up 5,000+ AD accounts among other things - I'm not quite sure how they'll manage without me.  Wednesday they announced the sale of PeaceHealth Labs to Quest Diagnostics.  Lots of glum, worried faces.  Some things I won't miss.

Andy, Glen, Jonathan, and I are planning our reunion at Salt Lake City.  It'll be nice to see those guys again.  I continue to work on my web development skills - lots of cutting edge stuff seems to have come out in the last few years.

After some excitement I think I've got Sam set up for his Senior Project.  He's going to be working for the U of O psychology department, making Unity projects with the Oculus Rift.  He knows Unity really well, so it's a great fit.

Dad was over yesterday, having me sign his will.  We jabbered away through dinner, catching up.  It's always a treat to hear what crazy project he's up to these days.

Joanna is looking at another office.  I'm surprised at how many little areas are available around town, though some are fairly quirky.  Hopefully this is the one as it's just a few blocks away.

Change is in the Air

February 13, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a generally pleasant weekend, with Joanna picking up Emma and meeting me at the eye doctor's.  We have some flexible spending account cash to spend before I leave, so I'm updating my ancient glasses with slightly less fuzzy ones.  Emma and Berry gave us pointers on which frames looked the coolest.

Sam and Isa hung out for most of the weekend, playing through all my old video games.  He asked if I had downplayed how good some of them were as he really liked them - Firewatch and Life Is Strange were both story-heavy games with good aesthetics.  Emma and I kept playing Divinity: Original Sin, as she's pretty hooked on it.  It's a fun RPG that plays well on a big screen with controllers.

I took Emma and Berry outside when the sun poked out and I spent some time planting peas and beans.  The girls hunted for worms in the mud, having way too much fun.  I'm feeling the urge to spend some time on making the back yard prettier, as that'll be my view when I work from home.

I spent the afternoon mentoring Daniel.  We added a UI for his little Unity game - adding a score and hearts.  My favorite part was making the laser fully automatic.  Saturday night was pizza and White Rabbit Project, continuing our tradition.

Sunday Emma lost her glasses and we spent hours cleaning her entire room.  Eventually I found it on the lowest shelf of the shelf she put it on.  It had just fallen down in the middle of the night.  My mom came for dinner, which was nice.

I'm coordinating my Salt Lake City trip with Andy, Jonathan, and Glen.  Hopefully we can hang out together a bit while I go through my orientation.  I've also got some party planning with Dave.  People keep coming into my office to say farewell.  Change is coming soon.

Nice weekend!

February 13, 2017 by Sue in Wielesek

It was great to see bits of sun this weekend. Bob and I hung out a lot of the weekend, since he has long clotheslines, and I wanted to wash sheets and dry them outside. Perhaps my role as a grandmother should include a tutorial for the grandchildren on Laundry. Do they even understand the role of non-chlorine bleach, or, for that matter, liquid starch. Sometimes I feel that I've failed them.

I do want to say how much I appreciate Adam and Joanna having me over for dinner last night. Not only is Joanna a great cook, but it's especially fun to check in with the kids. They tend to grow about an inch a week. Adam once more cleaned the malware off my old computer and started a thorough scan. It's also been fun to hear about his new job. Good week, everyone!

Mocha Friday

February 10, 2017 by Adam in Family

I had a good day yesterday, driving up to Vancouver with Glen.  We chatted about life, old times, and Health Catalyst.  Yesterday was spent dropping off security equipment, crashing Dave Mehl's farewell lunch, doing my exit interview with HR, and saying a number of farewells.  My anxiety is generally lower now that I've made my decision and am moving on, though it occasionally hits me that a big change is looming.

Finished my mocha.  Still somewhat busy at work, though I can tell things will start taipering off.  Doing some informal penetration testing of some new remote access servers this morning, which is kinda fun.  Dave and I have to plan a party for early March.  I think I'll just get some Sweet Life goodies as a gift to my coworkers.

There are some strange transition things to plan over the next month.  We've got to spend all our FSA cash.  I want to get the back shed a little nicer to work in full-time.  Joanna continues to look for her own office space.

Looking forward to the weekend.  Emma and I have been on a video game co-op run, which I hope to continue.  I'm still honing my web development skills while I can, trying to brush up on machine learning.  Interesting times.

Roadtrip!

February 09, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm heading up to Vancouver with my old manager Glen Campbell today.  The plan is to drop off some security equipment, have a farewell lunch for Dave Mehl, and then do my exit interview with HR.  It'll be nice to catch up with Glen and get the scoop on my new job.

I'm strangely enjoying my job even more now that I'm leaving.  People are stopping by and congratulating me.  It's like I'm appreciated or something.  I also had an interesting security detection yesterday which I researched and decided our tools had blocked it, though the user clicked a few links and buttons they shouldn't have.  I was also asked to write an emergency script to get a thousand doctors working properly again.  I do like writing useful code.

The rest of the family is generally doing okay.  Duncan and Berry had quite the row at breakfast yesterday, but they've apologized to each other and are back to normal.  Sam's been playing games, enjoying his science fiction class, and hanging out with Isa.  Emma comes home tonight, which will be a treat.

Joanna's worrying about her business and renting an office space to work out of.  I feel vaguely guilty for taking over the back shed, though it's a little small for her.  Sometime this month I need to run network cable out to the back and wire it up properly.

Sick Weekend

February 06, 2017 by Adam in Family

We had a bit of a wet, sick weekend.  Friday night Joanna and I went out on our date night, which was very pleasant.  Saturday morning I scooped up Emma and took her and the little kids to the library.  Unfortunately I got some sort of head cold by the afternoon and was pretty useless for the rest of the day, sleeping and letting others make pizza.

Joanna was sick on Sunday afternoon with a migrane, and Emma had a stomach ache.  I tried to get Duncan modding Minecraft - the process is pretty complex.  Sam showed off his latest game changes.  Emma played through a video game while I watched.  I continued practicing my Angular web development skills.

I gave notice at work this morning.  I keep finding new people to tell.  My next step will be to get the shed ready for continuous work, mostly by getting network connectivity out there.

Farewell PeaceHealth

February 06, 2017 by Adam in Adam

I gave notice today.  Tom was gracious and understanding.  I spoke with my team mates afterward - Daniel was somewhat surprised.  I think he felt a little bad luring me away from development only to have me leave that position.  I assured him I've really appreciated working with him and learning a tremendous amount about security these last few months.  I've spent the morning telling a few others, though I need to make the rounds at some point.

I'm going to work at Health Catalyst, going back to web development.  Things started the day I was written up - I had lunch with Glen and he notified a recruiter that day.  I had to scramble to put a resume together and then there was a long period of interviews, making sample code, and delays for the holidays.  I'll be doing full stack Angular and .NET development - all very cutting edge.  I'll be working for an ex-PeaceHealth person and will likely have a fair amount of interactions with some of the six other ex-PeaceHealth web developers.  It's quite comforting.

Still have a lot to sort out and transition, both at work and at home.  I'm pondering moving into the back shed and working out of that space.  It's quiet and isolated and pretty, though I'd want to get another power outlet and good network connectivity.  I have some party planning to arrange, especially as my good buddy Dave Mehl is leaving the same day as I am.

The times they are a changin'.

Sleepy Mocha Friday

February 03, 2017 by Adam in Family

We had a 1:30 a.m. downtime this morning, updating a certificate on a series of servers.  I think we had six people on the call, plus a Microsoft rep.  While it didn't quite go as planned, we managed to wrangle the cryptic commands to do our bidding and everything was restored.  

Only Sam had school today, but I sleepily jumped out of bed and made breakfast for the kids without thinking about it.  Everyone was being pretty lazy, but I eventually got ready for work and headed in about an hour late.  I have a critical meeting coming up momentarily, but then the afternoon is pretty free.

We're all doing relatively well these days.  Emma and I played more of the co-op Laura Croft game last night after she and Joanna went to a writer's thing.  Emma's job shadowing Joanna to learn what writers do.  Sam continues to work on his horror puzzle game, implementing knot tying last I heard.  I also turned on sharing through Steam, so he's playing through all these games that I have in my library.

Joanna and I have a hot date tonight.  It'll be nice to take it easy a little for a couple days.  Security has been a little exciting lately.

Mid-Week Update

February 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

Things just keep moving along.  Work has gotten a little crazy and it looks like I get to do a Friday at 1:30 a.m. certificate upgrade.  Hopefully I can do that, get a little sleep, and then get to work for a 10 a.m. meeting.

The family is doing well.  Joanna had a good soccer game earlier this week and has managed to recruit some more teammates.  Sam finally got in touch with a job shadow person and hopefully will spend some time with him today.  It's with the psych department at the U of O and they're doing some cool VR stuff - hopefully he has a good time.  Berry got wonked in the face with a basketball.  Her face is fine, but her glasses may need some tweaking.  Duncan keeps growing and finding clothes that fit him continues to be a challenge.  I saw Emma last night - she's her usual sweet and cheerful self.

All is well.